First, it was the hyperdrive. Rather than stars stretching into brilliants lines of light, the Millennium Falcon continued its sluggish crawl through space. From the navigator's seat just behind the pilot, Leia mocked Han, asking, "No lightspeed?" The only reply the captain could muster was an affronted, "It's not my fault!"
Shortly after that, with the junky, destitute of a freighter resting in the belly of a space slug, the Falcon's inner workings buzzed in agreement with the hyperdrive: maybe age and rustic parts were a match for this YT model. The negative power coupling, as C-3PO had hurried and made the top priority to inform the ship's captain, had reached its untimely end. Put bluntly, the part was beyond repair and required a replacement as soon as possible.
According to the Millennium Falcon's cocksure and brash captain, the hunk of junk should last at least until her crew reached Bespin in the Anoat sector.
Should.
In reality, it was shortly after diving out the mouth of the giant space slug when Leia had begun to notice worry lines creasing Han's expression as he stared out the cockpit into the endless night. While Chewbacca kept himself occupied on the opposite end of the ship, Leia curled up in the wookiee's oversized chair, stretching out her legs until her cold toes tickled Han's shin. "There's not a lot out there to be staring at," she noted aloud, allowing some of her concern to surface when Han didn't yield to her efforts.
"Yeah," he agreed, finally breaking his focus to look at her. "That's the problem."
"You aren't having second thoughts about Bespin now, are you?"
"Hardly. I still think Lando's our best bet to get the Falcon back into shape. Just wondering if we might have to make a stop before then."
"For repairs?"
Han woke up the nav computer, dragged a finger across the screen to highlight their trajectory. "There are systems nearby- between here and Bespin."
"Most aren't in our path, though."
"But we'd be able to reach some of them."
Leia didn't fancy the idea of planet-hopping on their way. Ultimately, they were headed for the fleet. Visiting Bespin was one stop; potentially leaving their mark on a few planets was not settling well in Leia's gut.
