Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to George Lucas/Disney. Anything you don't recognize probably also belongs to them.
Trepidation
Chewbacca settled down on an old couch, that creaked in protest under his weight, as he looked around Xaverri's dressing-room, [Looks like you've got yourself a nice setup going on here.]
The woman nodded, her black curls bouncing, as she gracefully took a seat across from him, "Better than some places I've been, certainly."
[How have you been?] Chewbacca asked, pointedly ignoring the fussy droid that had taken it upon himself to clang around in the room's small kitchenette.
"Oh, can't complain too much. Mostly been doing a lot of travelling for my shows. Ran into a few Imperials here and there, but they weren't too much trouble," an almost feral smile twisted her attractive features at her last comment.
[Still taking on the Empire all on your own?] Chewbacca wuffed knowingly. Unlike Xaverri, he felt no need to censor his speech in the case of being overheard. Xaverri and Han may be exceptions, but very few bothered to learn Shyrriwook.
The woman scoffed, "As if I would get any help from the so-called 'Alliance.'" She scowled darkly, "They are much too soft."
Chewbacca frowned, [You will find that they have had to change quite a bit since Hoth's massacre.]
The woman chuckled, "If that's true, it took them long enough. They became far too cocky after one success."
Chewbacca thought back to the aftermath of Luke managing the shot that had blown up the Death Star, then nodded. [They trusted too much in their own luck without thinking of those that had to sacrifice themselves for the victory.]
Xaverri nodded, "It didn't help that the leaders are a bunch of stuffy diplomats." Her expression shifted toward disgust, "They were too afraid to do anything out-right, even if their inaction lead to more suffering."
Chewbacca huffed in agreement, [True enough, but like I said, they are changing. Even now, while they are not all warriors, many that they recruit are, or are learning to be.]
The woman smiled, and this time it reached her deep brown eyes and softened her hard expression, "Finally, they are learning." She shifted in her seat, as C3PO waddled out of the kitchen, and accepted a cup of caf, "Thank you."
"Oh, you a quite welcome, Miss Xaverri. If you need anything else, just let me know, and I'll get to it right away," the protocol droid nearly gushed.
"That's quite alright. Why don't you head back to the kitchenette?" Xaverri suggested, and Chewbacca stifled a guffaw.
"Oh! Yes, Miss. Right away," the droid exclaimed, and clattered away.
The woman shook her head, "He really is an odd one isn't he?"
Chewbacca shrugged his massive shoulders, [You get used to him.] He paused and tilted his head thoughtfully, [Actually, no. You really don't.]
The woman laughed warmly, "As always, your bluntness is refreshing." She sipped on her caf, "By the way, you've heard about me, but how have you been?"
[Well, the Alliance pays well enough when we do smuggling runs, so up until Bespin, there wasn't much to complain about,] he said with a shrug as their conversation circled to where it had always been heading.
She inclined her head, "Ah, yes. I hear that Jabba has picked up a new wall ornament."
Chewbacca scowled and nodded, [He was taken while we were visiting Cloud City.]
"Calrissian's place?" she asked thoughtfully. "I thought Han said they were 'buddies.'"
Chewbacca growled in reminiscent anger, [They were. Of course, we didn't consider the possibility that the city was going to be held hostage by Vader, of all people, when we decided to stop there for repairs.]
The woman's almond eyes turned to slits at the mention of the Empire's second-in-command, "Well that would do it, wouldn't it? I always said Calrissian had no backbone."
[He must have found one somewhere, because he's on Tatooine working for Jabba as we speak, so we can get an idea of what's going on there,] Chewbacca said with grudging respect.
"Damn," she chuckled. "I guess he finally grew a pair." She tilted her head, "So you don't need me for information. If that's the case why did you come to me? You know I don't usually deal with this sort of thing."
Chewbacca scratched the back of his head, then huffed, [I know this isn't your usual Imperial shakedown scam, but I was hoping we could get your help on this. You've got connections, and you've got skills. We could really use your help.]
Xaverri set her cup of caf down on the table in front of her and drummed her dark red fingernails on her knee, "Any chance we'd run into any Imps?"
[On a hutt-run planet? It's unlikely, though Boba Fett is apparently hanging around, and you know how he is about picking up bounties from Vader.] Chewbacca growled as he spoke about the man that had kidnapped Han, [He may not really be Imperial, but he definitely hasn't done us any favours either.]
The woman nodded thoughtfully, and Chewbacca knew the intelligent woman was turning the situation around in her mind, looking for advantages. He knew better than to bring up the romantic past she had with Han and try and use it as leverage. If anything, it would be the quickest way to get her to refuse. While the two had parted on good terms, she had claimed that the man made her too soft, and if that was brought into her considerations, then Chewbacca might as well leave. Warm and caring, she might well be on the inside, but it was a part of her that she had long ago decided to consciously reject in favour of revenge against the Empire for the death of her family. Any time she felt that her softer emotions were playing too strong of a role in her decision making, she withdrew into herself and rejected everything.
Instead, Chewbacca appealed to her vengeful personality, [If we do this right, we can put the Hutt Clans at odds with the Empire. Everyone knows that the Hutts rule the Outer Rim, no matter what the Empire says. The truce between the two is already precarious.]
Her dark eyes gleamed at the thought, "Now there's an idea." Chewbacca could almost see the cogs turning in her head. She stood and pulled her long hair into a loose bun on top of her head, "I'll need to pack. Why don't you tell me everything you know about the situation and the people involved?"
Chewbacca almost sighed in relief, then nodded, and began to explain what he had learned.
Luke lay huddled in a ball on one of the bunks. He was wrapped in a blanket and wearing all of his winter clothing again, yet he was still too cold to comfortably fall asleep. With a tired sigh he rolled to his other side in an effort to pull the blanket more tightly around himself, only to cringe when his movement made something hard dig into his side. He shifted around in irritation and dug into his jackets searchingly until he felt a metal disk. He pulled it free and squinted in the low-lit room, then cursed quietly. Leia's holo of her mother. He had meant to give it to her before he left the base, but he had forgotten. Luke sighed and shifted the small device between his fingers, tempted to turn it on. He shook his head and slide the device back into his pocket. He would have to remember to give it back to her before he ended up losing it.
Luke pulled the blankets back around himself more tightly and glanced around at the still forms around him wistfully. The day had been a long one, and after taking the first rotation of guard duty, he had really been hoping to get some sleep.
His gaze landed on the current group of guards that stood over their quarantined comrades in the light of a portable lantern, and from there drifted down to the huddled group. He narrowed his eyes and spread out his senses yet again, but just like his previous attempts, nothing felt amiss.
With a huff of frustration, he turned his mind away from the puzzling situation. Worrying about it wouldn't do anything but make it harder to sleep, and he needed to be fully cognizant if he was going to do anything useful once it was time to move again.
With a shake of his head, he forced himself to relax slightly from his tense position, and evened out his breathing. Maybe if he couldn't sleep, he could at least try meditating; after all, the others' emotions were dampened while they were asleep.
If nothing else, maybe the attempt would put him to sleep.
=-.-=
The air seemed to compress sharply around Luke as foreign hatred pressed into him mentally. The suddenness of the strong emotion dragged him from his exhausted sleep, before it suddenly disappeared completely. Within milliseconds a sense of death flooded the area, and Luke sat up abruptly in the bunk. He scrambled to get free of his blanket as he breathed harshly, and his heart beat rapidly behind his ribcage. His eyes darted around the room frantically, while he fought off waves of nausea that pulsed to the beat of the dead.
"Mmm, wha'ssa matter Luke?" Wedge croaked out sleepily from the neighbouring bunk.
"I... I don't..." Luke tried to pull his hazy thoughts together. "Something's wrong. I felt..." Realization struck, "The clone. I've been able to sense his hatred all day... it had calmed down when he was asleep but..." He stood up so quickly that it startled Wedge, "Shavvit. Get up." He gestured sharply at the other man, then started walking briskly over to where the clone had been under watch, not waiting for his wing-man.
Before he had even reached the space he saw the two guards that had been stationed to watch the clone slumped on the floor. "Check them," he snapped to Wedge before he turned abruptly to check the other guards. When he saw that they were in much the same state he cursed loudly, then drew in a calming breath. After a beat he raised his voice, unconsciously using the Force to project himself so that everyone could hear, "EVERYBODY GET UP AND BE QUIET!"
For a moment nothing happened, as everyone's minds tried to catch up with what he had said, then the room became a hive of movement.
"Lieutenant, Sergeant, we've got guards down, and at least one escapee. Pick out some people to watch the quarantined ones, and get our medics on the downed ones," he commanded as soon as he saw the two coming toward him.
They both nodded and headed off. Luke was about to turn to look for Wedge, when he saw the base's Captain moving toward him. Luke scowled as the man approached, "What are you doing out of quarantine Captain?"
"Ye looked like ye might need help, lad," the man shrugged.
Luke's scowl deepened, "Does the word quarantine mean nothing to you, Captain?"
A mulish look flickered across the Captain's face, "Ye sure are a bossy one ain't ye?"
A build-up of tiredness, stress, and the Captain's attitude made Luke's temper start to splinter. He barely refrained from knocking the man down with the Force, instead moving forward abruptly and grabbing the man's collar with his right hand, barely stopping short of his neck. Subconsciously strengthening himself with the Force, he raised his arm, not quite lifting the Captain bodily off of the ground, but lifting him enough for him to need to roll forward on the balls of his feet.
Luke grit his teeth as he made an effort to release some of his wild emotions into the Force, "No, Captain. What you are doing is both insubordination, and dangerous to the rest of your comrades. You'll be lucky not to be court martialed for your actions here."
The man chuckled wildly, "Oi, tha's funny. I like ye, lad, really I do. Ye've got a nice temper on ye."
Luke's face drew up into a snarl before he forced himself to release the man in disgust and shoved him backward. "Guard him," he bit out to several of the troops. "Since he can't seem to follow directives, he will have to be treated as a prisoner."
He waited long enough to receive several "Yes sirs," then stalked off to find Wedge. Luke was certain that if he stayed in the Captain's presence for too long, he would do something he would regret. He shook his head and focused his attention forward. He had bigger problems to deal with.
"What do we have Wedge?" Luke asked as soon as he strode up to where he had left his wing-man.
"They're dead, sir," the older man replied crisply. His calmly professional demeanour did wonders for Luke's lingering aggravation, despite the graveness of the situation. "Neither of the guards appear to be injured, and there's no evidence of a struggle."
"What the hells," Luke breathed as he met Wedge's concerned eyes. "And the prisoner?" he pressed on.
"If I hadn't known he was there, I never would have guessed it. All of the items we confiscated from him are gone," Wedge stated with a frown.
Luke grimaced, "Right." He turned then gestured for the man to follow him, noticing absently that Irys had joined them. Luke walked briskly to where their quarantined members had been placed, his path clearing of people smoothly, until he reached the Lieutenant and the Sergeant.
"Report," he demanded.
"Our guards are dead, sir," Lieutenant bit out, a protective anger simmering in his eyes. "Twelve of the quarantined individuals are gone, and there is no evidence of a struggle."
Luke nodded curtly, then voiced a suspicion, "And their belongings?"
"Gone, sir," the Sergeant chimed in.
Luke breathed in deeply and pinched the bridge of nose as his mind raced, "So the clone, and twelve of our quarantined people appear to have disappeared in the exact same way. No one heard or saw it happen, and I sensed an intense amount of foreign anger briefly before I felt..." he paused and drew in a deep breath in order to ground himself. "I felt all of these people die."
"It seems likely that the people from the base are compromised in some way," Irys postulated.
Luke nodded unwillingly, "It's possible." He turned the situation around in his head, "We need to contact the 'Luck and see what Commander Madine advises. I would prefer to pull out immediately before we lose anyone else, but the choice will be up to him, since we are dealing with an unknown threat."
The Lieutenant nodded grimly, "I'll send some of my people out to the drop-ships, since the base's long-ranged communicator might be compromised."
Luke nodded in return, "In the meantime we'll have to stay on our guard. I know we're all tired, but can't be caught unaware like that again." He shook his head wearily, "No one sleeps."
"Yessir," the Lieutenant nodded, and he and the Sergeant stepped away to follow Luke's instructions.
"You're doing well," Wedge comment quietly. "Especially given the circumstances."
Luke frowned, as the memory of their people's loss pulsed around him, "I'm just trying to do damage control at this point."
"And what is your plan for when Madine ultimately denies us access to return to the ship?" Irys asked knowingly.
"Surely he wouldn't..." Wedge started.
Luke snorted and met Wedge's eyes, his expression dark, "Wouldn't he? We've lost seventeen people from our rescue group in a single mission to an unexplained threat, that we can't guarantee won't follow us back to the ship. He may decide it's safer to cut our losses." Wedge cursed colourfully, and Luke nodded. "Exactly." He looked over at Irys, "As to a plan, I'm working on it. For now, we just need to keep the peace. We may be worrying over nothing."
She nodded, "It is a nice hope."
Luke smiled bitterly, and they all went silent, each lost in their own thoughts as they waited for the verdict.
Lando wondered how his day had gone from relatively normal, to him dragging the remains of several particularly unpleasant sentients that had been attempting to negotiate with Jabba. From his still limited understanding of Huttese, he had figured out that one of the Hutt's employees that usually cleaned up these sorts of 'messes' had been killed a few days prior after angering the gangster, and Lando had been the one lucky enough to be chosen to replace the being.
He grit his teeth and heaved the already pungent smelling corpse of a toydarian up into a hover-cart. If there was anything he knew, it was that his days of smelling at least slightly decent were over for the foreseeable future.
Lando sighed, and turned to return to the Hutt's chamber, only to immediately look down to the floor submissively as he cursed in his head. It hadn't been an issue when he was a messenger, and rarely set foot near his current boss' main chambers, but now that he did he had already seen Boba Fett twice in the same day.
The intimidating man strode past him, and Lando breathed a sigh of relief when he appeared to go unrecognized yet again as the man turned a corner without breaking his stride.
For the second time that day he was actually grateful for his unshaven face, and lengthening hair. His ragged appearance and subservient stance were probably the only things that had saved him from being recognized by the hunter. He just hoped the man never felt a need to run a facial recognition scan on him.
With a now unsettled sigh, he continued forward again. He couldn't afford to do his job slowly if he planned on staying alive.
He decidedly avoided thinking too deeply about his current job, and instead tried to get lost in the repetition again. It was the only way he was able to continue.
Besides, at least he was a step closer to his destination. Really, the job change had been progress.
Lando's stomach twisted uncomfortably as he looked at his next, far more mutilated, transport.
Progress. Right.
Eyes on the prize.
He crouched down and got back to work.
A muffled curse crackled across in the background of the com-traffick, before a much closer female voice spoke into the communicator, "Commander, we've got a problem."
Luke looked up, almost startled after over twenty minutes of nothing but status checks bouncing back and forth between the Sergeant, and the group that had been sent to their ships, "What've you got?" he asked.
"Your droid is detecting a pretty big sandstorm about to hit outside," the woman explained.
Aloud Luke cursed, but inwardly he felt a sense of relief. This would buy them time to figure out what was going on. "How far out is it?"
"Only a few miles, and it's closing fast. Should we try it?" she questioned seriously.
Luke shook his head, "No. Head back to us, we'll regroup and figure something else out."
"Yes, sir," she replied shortly, then the com-channel went silent.
"So what now, Commander?" the Lieutenant asked as he walked up.
Luke appeared thoughtful for a moment, despite having already come up with something of a plan. After a moment he nodded and spoke, "Pick out two of the quarantined people that knows where to locate the base's communication terminal, and their ships. We'll send out a group to each one, and hopefully we'll be able to get a message out at one of the two." He pointed at the Lieutenant, "You're going to stay here with the main group to coordinate." The man nodded, and Luke continued, "Sergeant," he gestured at the other man, "Your group will be going for the communication's room. Pick out some people that are good with repairing electronics."
"Yes, sir," the man nodded.
"I'll be going with the group to look for the hangar." He gestured toward Irys, "The Agent, and I should be able to deal with any technical problems we encounter, and it's a longer trip. I want to make sure the group is well supported. Any questions?"
After the battle earlier, no one questioned the two's abilities, though Wedge did raise his hand.
Luke raised his eyebrows, sensing worry oozing from the man, "Yes?"
"Permission to come with you, sir?" he requested seriously.
Luke searched his expression thoughtfully, "I had planned on having you remain and take charge of the Rogue Squadron again while I was gone."
The man's expression tensed, and something flickered behind his eyes, but his presence in the Force felt resigned, "As you say."
Luke nodded, "Thank you." He turned back to the Lieutenant, "Let me know when you've decided on the groups. We'll set out after our people return from their current mission."
"Yes, sir," the man responded, and Luke watched as he and the Sergeant walked away again, to get things organized.
Now they just had to settle in and wait for the first group to return from the entrance.
Hurry up and wait…
AN: Hello again everyone! I just realized today that I have 114 followers for this story (insert nervous excitement here). That means that I have to live up to a lot more expectations now, so I hope that I'm able to keep up with you guys!
Thank you all! (ノ^ヮ^)ノ*:・゚✧
Random Info:
- Xaverri and Han were in a relationship in the past (Legends/EU). He worked as her show assistant and pilot, when the two weren't sabotaging or running scams against imperials.
- Xaverri's ship is named the Phantasm.
- Xaverri is known in the EU for having fooled an imperial fleet, that was tasked with razing the entirety of Nar Shaddaa, into believing that one of her illusions (made through judicious use of holoprojectors all over the moon) was an entire mercenary fleet for a few minutes during the Battle of Nar Shaddaa.
- Yes, I made a slight nod to Rogue One.
- Writing Lando stuck undercover on Tatooine is hilarious to me. He just seems like he REALLY cares about his appearance, and Tatooine gives zero shits about his opinion.
- I don't remember if I've said this before, but writing military-esque interactions is obnoxious. Too much nodding and 'yes, sir/ma'am'-ing.
