As soon as the vegetation and plaster melded buildings of Al-Adreen came into view, so did the sprawling warehouses that made up it's space port. As the Alliance units and accompanying prisoners approached, the full extent of it's rusticity became clear. A ramshackle collection of open structures, their bays marked with roughly hand painted numbers, together with a smaller collection of what could have been offices for booking ships in and out, the port seemed to be more or less abandoned. A half-hearted attempt had been made to control the foliage from creeping over the roofs of the warehouses, allowing enough space for a variety of small cargo craft to enter unhindered but the only ships present in it's bays today were the Talon, the Vohemar and the Falcon. Taking up a large corner of the settlement, the port sprawled in a haphazard fashion towards the town square and easy access to the cantinas and gambling establishments.

"You found a very convenient landing area." Leia observed as Han walked out of the Falcon's bay to meet her. He gestured around him with wide arms.

"As soon as the Empire arrived, no one wanted to stick around so I figured there'd be plenty of space. I was just negotiating with the port authority to allow us all to use some bays when the other two ships turned up and they decided to leave us to it." She pulled an impressed face. "I use the term port authority loosely, you understand." he added. Looking at the rather loose appearance of the place, she completely understood. The convenience of it made it a ready made pirate haven especially with the lack lustre security checks. It was hardly surprising their numbers had increased over the years. It didn't take long for word to get around even on the Outer Rim.

Han took the flack jacket she had removed during the walk out of her hand and dropped it to the floor. Wrapping their arms round each other, he kissed her hair as she lay her head on his chest.

"It's good to see you." he said quietly.

"It's good to see you too." she said. "Although, it has only been a few hours, you know." She looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"I know, but there was a strong possibility you'd come back in a body bag." he tried to joke.

"I told you to trust me. Stop worrying." She gave him a little squeeze.

"I do trust you." he smiled wryly. Worrying about each other was to be expected now they were lovers and they both silently acknowledged the fact.

Han watched the rest of the units arrive in dribs and drabs over her shoulder, battle weary and dirty. The peacekeepers marched their imprisoned colleagues over to the bay where the Vohemar crew was waiting to load them on board. They looked like they had had the stuffing knocked out of them and he wondered whether they would ever be the same again. A pang of loathing for the weak-minded Duke washed over him, tinged with concern at the hand pulling his strings. It was something he knew Leia would not have forgotten about, something that she would have to investigate, however low key she kept it.

She caught him looking at them and followed his gaze.

"There are so few of them aren't there? I thought there would be more but I suppose I mustn't complain. Hopefully it means not many were subjected to Delcar's experiments. We'll see what the peacekeepers turn up when they do a sweep of Cato Neimoidia."

"What's going to happen to them?" Han enquired.

"We have methods of reversing their conditioning. Gentle ones. They'll be treated well." she assured him.

"And the stormtroopers?" He glanced at the higher number of white armoured clones that were now being filed into the warehouses under guard.

"I'm going to let the Admiral and Mon Mothma deal with them. I think I'm a little biased in that department." she said wryly. "I'm best staying out of it." She released Han from her embrace. Luke was helping the peacekeepers; she had seen him board the Vohemar assisting an injured officer. The generals were organising the secure holding of the rest of the prisoners. She would check in with Blake and the admiral and, when their skirmish was in hand, they could all go home and turn their attention to other things. For once, she had things to look forward to. She pressed the comm earpiece to connect with Admiral Ackbar but got static. Their secluded location likely interfering with the connection. At the edge of the port nearest the town square, there would be more open space. Looking at Han, she pointed to her headset. "I'm going to get a clearer signal." she informed him, making for the edge of the hangers and away from everyone else.

Coming out into the open air, she felt the warmth of the sun and turned her face towards it to let it soak into her skin. Although it was the autumn season on Takodana, the weather had been particularly kind to them since their arrival and she particularly liked crisp, sunny days rather than the humidity they'd had to suffer on Thyfeera. She hit her comms again.

"Admiral Ackbar. Come in please." she said.

"Princess Leia, we were starting to wonder what had happened to you all." he babbled, his vowel sounds distorted by the cumbersome shape of his Mon Calamarian face.

"I apologise for not contacting you sooner, Admiral. We were all rather occupied with a more complicated situation than expected but are now secure and ready to transport prisoners off-world. What is your status?"

"We have them on the run. They've taken some heavy losses and are in pretty bad shape. I'm in two minds whether to bother chasing them. I think the damage they have sustained will make it impossible for them to go to lightspeed and the years it will take them to get back to where they came from will teach them a lesson." Leia smiled.

"Whatever you think is best Admiral. I will be transferring the stormtroopers to the Home One to return to Chandrila. I will leave it to Mon Mothma and yourself to discuss how to deal with them."

"That's very generous of you, Leia. I would have thought despatching them now would be a more fitting fate for them."

"They're just doing a job, Admiral, albeit a rather sordid one. They should face justice but I won't entertain murder. Have you been speaking to General Kobar by any chance?" She found the similarities between the two old war heroes rather uncanny.

"Ha! Kobar and I will discuss it over a drink sometime soon I am sure of that." the admiral enthused. Leia chuckled to herself, a mental picture appearing of the two of them putting the galaxy to rights over some Mandalorian Ale, Kobar's wattle inflating and Ackbar's tendrils waving in dynamic effusion.

"Good, well, we'll send the Talon to you as soon as we are loaded." she confirmed. She signed off.

Leaning for a moment against the entranceway of the hanger she shut her eyes briefly, trying to concentrate on breathing in and out to let herself finally relax. At least that was one technique she'd picked up from Luke that she was happy to use. It didn't seem to be working as quickly as usual this time though. Keeping her eyes shut, concentrating on the sunshine on her face, she tried harder but the more she slowed her breathing, the bigger a niggling feeling became at the back of her mind. She shifted her concentration to that feeling. Come on then. She challenged it. What are you trying to show me? Her breathing slowed so much she could hear her own heartbeat pounding, loud in her ears. Her eyes still shut, she saw a white armoured hand, the hand gripping a laser rifle. Han?

"Han!" She must have yelled his name so loudly she could hear her voice crack, as she whirled round to face him. She pulled her blaster before she was aware she'd done it, aimed and fired. It was as if everything around her slowed down so that she could take in every detail. A stormtrooper, having managed to escape his bonds unnoticed, grabbed a laser rifle from the nearest lieutenant, aimed and fired a bolt, at who, she couldn't tell but Han was in the way. Her bolt hit the trooper dead in the chest, blowing a hole in his armour and dropping him to the floor. Too late. Curse her inability. By the time Han looked in response to her cry and turned in the direction of her aim, he was hit by the laser blast and thrown backwards to the ground by the force of the shot. His pain became her pain, the shock wave of feeling spreading through her body like she'd been hit by lightning. It must also have become Luke's because he came running down the Vohemar ramp as she recovered herself and they both began running towards Han. She threw herself to her knees beside him, grabbing at his clothes to search for the wound, his blood starting to seep out across his cream coloured shirt. "Han?" She looked into his face, at his closed eyes. There was no response. "Oh. Please, no." she entreated, mostly to herself, staring in horror at the blood on her hands. "Get a medic!" she yelled over her shoulder. Within seconds, they were surrounded by security force medics, with Chewbacca roaring deep concern and General Madine who had run to assist. Leia's feeling of anguish was overwhelming and her eyes filled with tears. "Too slow." she shouted at herself.

"Princess, you have to let go." a medic instructed her as she still had her hands pressed tightly over Han's stomach wound. "Step back and let us do our job." He stuck out his arm to guide her away. Luke grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her backwards.

"Let them work." he instructed. She turned sharply towards him, a mixture of distraction and anger on her face.

"I saw it and was too late. I should never have started to relax" she confessed. He took her by the shoulders and stared gravely at her.

"If you hadn't relaxed you might not have seen it at all." he explained. She breathed heavily, hugged her own body and turned back to watch what was happening. The medics were skilled, she knew that. She had faith in their expertise in tackling battle wounds. He would be OK. Please let him be OK. She became aware of Chewbacca leaning his head against a hanger bay wall and moaning sadly. She felt empathetic. He must be suffering as much as she was. She went over to him and put her arm on his.

"Chewie. He'll be alright." she reassured, moving in to give him a hug. Chewbacca returned it, his warm arms like a comforting furry blanket round her shoulders. She wasn't sure her small frame was as comforting to him but perhaps her presence was. They'd both been here before, she mused, watching Han helpless. This time, though, it was far more serious.

A young lieutenant approached them, a sombre expression on his face. She didn't want to hear bad news. Surely she would know if it was bad news. She ran her tongue over her lips, Han's words suddenly echoing in her head as though he were standing next to her. That's your tell, Sweetheart. He was right. She always did that when she was troubled by something and she'd never noticed before. She loved him so much it hurt.

"Princess. He's asking for you." the lieutenant informed her. Chewbacca growled happily and she squeezed his arm before jogging back to where Han was laying, dropping to her knees and looking lovingly into his now open eyes. He smiled weakly.

"Now, I'm going to have to buy another shirt." He managed to speak through the pain. She gave a relieved laugh. "That was a good shot but next time, try shooting the bad guys before they shoot me." he admonished.

"I'm sorry. I was too slow." she said guiltily. He winced in pain.

"I don't know." He took her obvious look of guilt as a cue to continue to tease her. "What's the point of having a Force sensitive wife if she doesn't use it to save you?" She looked mock indignant.

"I did my best. I think you just got yourself shot to get back at me, didn't you?" she retorted. He squeezed her arm.

"I'm joking. It wasn't your fault. None of us were watching them." He winced again. She threw a concerned look at one of the medics.

"He needs a bacta tank." the medic explained. "We're preparing a bay on the Vohemar and we'll run him back to Thyfeera. They've got the best tanks." She nodded. The centre of bacta production ought to have the best tanks. Han squeezed her arm again.

"Don't think this cancels our plans, Sweetheart. I'm coming back for you." She grinned.

"I'll hold you to that." she assured him. The medic administered pain killers as Leia ran her hands through Han's hair comfortingly. Her team had done a good job of patching him up and soon he would be on his way to the healing treatment.

"Leia. You need to take this call." General Madine interrupted, handing her a datapad with the Admiral's face flickering on the holo-display.

"Yes, Admiral?" she acknowledged into the pad.

"Leia. We thought the star destroyer was retreating but it seems it moved further round the planet and took up orbit out of our sight. Our sensors have picked up several craft heading back to your co-ordinates. They're carrying heavy rockets and space bombs. If they hit your location, nothing will be left standing."