Mr. Right
A/N: This story was inspired by, or is some kind of remake or mix of It happened one night, Die Hard 1+2, Daylight, Speed 1+2, Hostage, Lethal Weapon, The Specialist and quite possibly every action movie I have ever seen. Hope you enjoy it!
**1**
The sky over Imperial City was as busy as ever as hundreds of speeders rushed over the hyperlanes in dazzling speed and mostly ignored the traffic lights, while speed-control was doing its best to stop the offenders. But that was not the worst crime. Down below, in the so-called 'lower levels´, lots of shady businesses took place and the air was foggy and dirty, but the higher one got, the cleaner and the more luxurious the skyscrapers became. They were silver and white and light blue and shimmered in the sky, with lovely balconies and stunning fountains and roof-gardens. A beautiful sight, which, sometimes, stood in stark contrast to what happened inside.
"And what's this now? A hunger-strike?" Bail Organa said, eyeing his young daughter, working hard not to let his annoyance show. Leia had always been stubborn, had always had a temper. But this was getting too far. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken her to Coruscant so soon.
"I have lost my appetite."
"No, you haven't. Please, stop this nonsense."
"I won't eat until you allow me to leave the flat," Leia said stubbornly, with arms crossed, glaring down from the balcony.
"You know it's not going to happen."
"You can't give me house arrest anymore, Dad! I'm 18! Which makes this a hostage situation! I can do whatever I want."
"Not if that means marrying Prince Isolder!" The otherwise so controlled viceroy of Alderaan said, struggling to not let his contempt for the man show.
"But I'm already married to him."
"Not under Imperial law and not under Alderaanian law either. And I will make sure it stays that way."
Two droids rolled in with plates of superb bakery and fruit, but Leia showed them the door.
"Get out!" She yelled.
With some high-pitched, squeaking sounds the two droids rolled around, crashed against each other, almost lost some of the food and then rolled out again.
Leia turned to her father once more. More determined than ever.
"You can't lock me up in here for all eternity, you know?"
"I do. And I don't plan to. The Tantive IV will arrive this afternoon and Captain Antilles will bring you back to Alderaan. There we will settle this once and for all."
Leia bit her lower lip. This was bad. Like really bad. Once she was back in the palace there was no way she could flee the palace and its strict court ceremonial and she would never see Isolder again!
"Dad you can't do this! I love him!"
"Love him?" Organa laughed. "You only met him once and that's when he popped the question."
"But Dad! He's right for me. I know it! And I don't know why you are complaining! He's a Prince and that should make you happy."
"A Prince that cares more about his looks than the state treasury."
„Dad!"
"He's a gold-digger, Leia."
"I love him."
"You don't even know what that word means, young lady. You fell for his good looks and charm. That's all. I will not let this happen. You will go back to Alderaan and our lawyers will prove that you were somehow dragged into this."
"I will not play along, Dad. Not this time."
Bail sighed. She looked like Padmé: dark hair, dark, deep eyes, in a simple, yet elegant white dress, but this was Anakin's stubbornness he was facing now. Once Leia had made up her mind, it was hard changing it. But he could not give in this time. For that, he loved her too much.
"There will come a time when you'll thank me for this."
"Never!"
"A Princess doesn't shout."
"Stop telling me what to do!" With that the Princess left the room, fuming. "Because I won't!"
Leia knew she had no time to waste, so she walked quickly into her room, gripped a backpack and threw everything she thought was necessary for a short trip. To Hapes. She would just sneak out, book a flight and once she was there, with her Prince, there would be happy ever after for them. Quickly she changed into something more comfortable and less Princess like, or so she thought, and then sneaked out of the flat, carefully avoiding the guards. Once she even had to throw a flower pot to divert one of the guard's attention, but everything worked as planned and so the young Princess was on her way to Coruscant's main Spaceport.
There it was very, very crowded. Leia had no idea how to buy a ticket and was shocked to find that direct passenger flights had to be booked in advance and the only flights left were those that were long and with many intermediate stops. Leia swore silently. So it was either that or going back to the flat. Admitting defeat, saying good-bye to Prince Charming.
How could her father be doing this to her? If he really loved her, he would want her to be happy and that would mean: Isolder. He was so wonderful. So nice, attentive, sensitive, he listened to her and he looked so good. And he was a Prince. What more could she possibly ask for?
No. She would not return. A long and uncomfortable flight it would be then. With many, many stops. But nothing in life came for free and if you really wanted something, or in this case someone, you should do it, right? But how? She had never bought a ticket and the queue looked long and uninviting. Plus, she did not want to be caught on those cameras. With that in mind, Leia pulled the hood even further down into her face. Her father, surely, would have the vids checked. So what to do now?
Well, Coruscant Spaceport had more than a few beggars and so Leia paid one of them to buy a ticket for her, which turned out to be one of her better ideas, as the whiskey-smelling Sullustan quickly returned with the ticket to get his reward, which no doubt he would spend on the next drink. But she couldn't care less at the moment. She had her own problems.
"When does the first flight leave?"
"In twenty minutes."
Leia ran to her platform as fast as she could but luckily made it right in time. Breathing heavily, she made her way through the seemingly never-ending compartment, until she, finally, found an empty seat at the very back.
Finally calming down, she looked out of the window, contemplating once more what had happened today. Everything had happened so fast and she did not want to worry her mother. And the people here, they looked – almost scary. So many different species and most of some looked like they had a hard time.
But what did she know? She had spent all her life in palaces and luxury flats. Well, there probably wouldn't be servants offering her food any time soon.
Was this normal? Was she really up to this?
"Excuse me, lady." She suddenly heard a quiet, but at the same time strangely authoritative voice, interrupting her thoughts. "But the thing you sit on, belongs to me."
"Excuse me?!"
**2**
She disliked him the minute she saw him. Tall and arrogant; looking down on her like she was some troublesome insect.
"The seat." He clarified. "You are sitting on my seat."
Yeah. He better meant that! Otherwise… Yes, what otherwise? There was little she could do without her personal guards. Sith!
Leia waited a bit longer, but no apology for the ambiguous comment left his mouth. Quite the contrary, his lips were closed tightly, forming a thin line, while his red eyes drilled holes into her.
"Well, you see, I prefer a window seat." She gave him her sweetest smile. "So, if you don't mind."
"I mind." The alien said quickly, no emotion betraying his face.
How dare he! This was not how a gentleman should react!
Leia swallowed, calming herself. What now? He did not look like he would change his mind. Perhaps his race didn't care for courtesy and politeness. Or it was just him. What was he anyway? His blue skin looked Pandoran, but the eyes didn't fit. Probably a crossbreed. It didn't matter. Considering the circumstances, it was probably better to give in. After all, it would be a long journey.
The Princess sighed.
"Alright then." She said and handed him her backpack. "Please hold this for a second."
"Are you talking to me?" The alien asked irritated but held the bag nevertheless.
"Yes. Who else should I talk to?" She then got up, took her bag and showed him to sit down.
"There. Your seat. Happy now?"
"No, but that hardly matters."
He took out a datapad from his bag and then locked his bag in the storage space above their seats. Leia considered doing the same but wasn't sure what she would need. The first ride to Corsin alone would take 24 hours and she had never traveled like this before, so she just kept her backpack and placed it in front of her feet. Apparently, her travel companion wasn't very talkative. He had not even introduced himself! Another factor that proved his ill character. Well, she didn't care. After this trip, she would never see him again. Leia got out an old-fashioned book and started reading, but every now and then she couldn't help but glance at the mysterious man next to her. Despite his bad manners, he wasn't half-way bad looking. Not that that could make up for his obvious shortcomings.
About three hours later, Leia became hungry. Yes, her father had been right. She hadn't lost her appetite. It had only been an attempt to blackmail him, which had left her hungrier than ever. Unfortunately, she couldn't just send one of her servants to get food. Carefully, she studied other people how they did it. It was rather easy once you understood the system: Push a button on the seat, wait for a droid, order food and pay, and then wait until it's delivered to you.
She could do this.
Backpacks were not always useful. Now, for example, she had to take out every single item in order to find her purse, which, of course, was at the very bottom. But that in itself wasn't the worst thing about it. The alien next to her was watching her. Yes, at the moment she was taking up some of his space, but - what was in her bag was none of his business! And why was he interested in it in the first place? Was he perhaps a criminal who wanted to know if there was anything worth stealing in her bag?
She studied him out of the corner of her eyes once more. The hood didn't help, but she was too afraid to take it off. No, he didn't look like a criminal. Not that she knew many criminals, but he looked too well dressed for that. Well, criminals could look decent too. But probably not those who made their living by stealing handbags. And the way he spoke implied a certain level of education. Perhaps he was just curious. Still, she didn't like it.
After she had found her purse, Leia ordered some food and then, a couple of hours later, she took out her datapad as well and did some shopping on the HoloNet. Clothes, which she had send directly to Hapes. If she were to meet Isolder again, she wanted to look good.
With Isolder on mind, Leia fell happily asleep and when she woke up later, sometime during the middle of the night, she was sure to feel her head resting on his strong chest, inhaling his wonderful scent. Only that her back hurt and that the bed was shaking weirdly.
Oh no! No, no, no, no, no!
Leia jerked up and faced the alien, feeling the uncalled rush of blood in her cheeks.
He was still awake, reading something.
"I… I'm so sorry!" She stuttered, but then changed her mind. She shouldn't apologize for this. She was a Princess and no gentlemen would have let this happen!
"Why didn't you shove me away?" She asked then, resolutely. "You misused the situation."
The alien laughed quietly.
"I did what?"
"You misused the situation. It's - not proper."
He put the datapad down.
"Lady, it was you, who used me as a pillow."
"I…I…" She stuttered again. This was humiliating!
"It was an accident." She said finally. "Don't get any ideas." She added then, in the most Princess-like voice she could muster.
"Believe me, I won't."
Everything that left his mouth as aggravating, insulting! She just had to… Leia looked around. Apparently, some of the passengers had left already. She must have slept through one or two stops, but now some seats in the opposite row were empty, so she just took her things, without saying goodbye, and changed seats. Finally, she was rid of him.
Her father had once told her never to easily switch from the devil you know to the devil you don't, and never had she understood this lesson better than now, as her new seat turned out worse than before. The fat lady in front of her had pulled her chair back in order to sleep, leaving her with almost no space whatsoever, behind her two kids were playing with their flashlights and then a middle-aged Human man sat down next to her, making some not so subtle advances.
At first, she had thought she could handle him, but, after a while, things got out of hand.
"I think I should buy you a drink. That will crack you up a little, sweety?"
"No. Thank you. And I'm not your sweety."
„Ah. I like feisty women. Especially when they look like you."
He was drunk, she could tell, and the way he grinned at her made her stomach turn. She pulled her hood further down.
"I do not like the way you talk to me. Please leave."
"Women say no, but mean yes."
He was smelly and Leia automatically leaned back when he came closer.
"And there you are wrong. Leave me, or you'll be sorry."
She had said it without thinking. But now regretted it, as his eyes suddenly changed. What had she thought of ?! Yes, he would regret it, but, unfortunately, not before she would! She should have been more careful.
The man looked at her coldly.
"Do you think you are better than me? Treating me like that? At first, being all nice and then turning into an Ice-Princess? Do you think you can threaten me? That I'm afraid of you, little Misses?"
"Leave." She said again, trying to hide her fear.
"I will break your spirit and ride you in like I do my horses."
What?!
"You will leave her alone."
Leia looked up at her unexpected savior. It was the Pandoran!
"Yeah?" The man asked, carefully eyeing his opponent. "And who are you?"
"My identity is none of your business, but I will make you mine if you do not stop harassing this lady."
Although his voice was quiet, there was steel in it. Leia sized him up. He looked kind of aloof and impassive and was built like a man who could easily shove someone through the wall. All in all, he looked like a man that should not be trifled with. Apparently, the man next to her came to the same conclusion.
"Alright. I was only making conversation. No reason to get upset."
With that, he stood up and left.
The blue alien looked down at her and then, apparently, made a decision.
"Follow me."
Being still too happy about the rescue, Leia did as she was told. But then was more than a little surprised when they passed `their´ seats.
"Where are we going?"
He didn't answer and then, all of a sudden, Leia found herself being pushed into one of the toilets.
"What are you doing?!" She pushed him away. "How dare you!"
"Like this, you will never make it to Hapes, your highness."
Leia froze.
How did he? He couldn't possibly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said finally. The Pandoran grabbed into his pocket, activated his datapad and handed it to her.
"Congratulations. You made the front page."
Oh no! She quickly scanned the article. Her father was searching for her. And there was a reward offered for information about her whereabouts. 15.000 credits! Oh NO!
"Your father…"
"I'm not Princess Leia."
"Really?"
"Yes. People confuse me for her quite often."
The alien sighed.
"Your shoes cost about 500 credits, your hands show that you have never worked once in your life, you treat people like they live to serve, you read expensive paper books and you spend money like water. Do you want me to go on?" There was a brief pause. "And constantly wearing this ridiculous hood does not help to conceal your identity."
With that, he pushed it down and lifted her chin to face him.
"And last, but not least, you look exactly like her."
Leia briefly closed her eyes. He was right. There was no use denying it. "Please, don't notify my father."
"Give me one good reason."
"I'll give you the money. More money if you want to! As soon as we reach the next major spaceport. I promise."
"Do I look like I want your money?"
There was a brief pause. No, he didn't, but most people wanted it and there was a certain stereotype attached to Pandorans.
He shook his head.
"I am not. But if you ask me, you should go back home. You're obviously not up to this."
"But I did not ask you and I am quite capable of handling this."
"Not by what I have seen so far."
Suddenly the ship jumped out of hyperspace rather abruptly, making her crush right into his arms. Leia flushed with embarrassment. Oh Sith, here she was, the Princess of Alderaan, cramped into a far too little toilet of a public transport ship in the arms of a total stranger! She could only imagine what was going on in his head.
Shyly, she looked up, only to find that he was not interested in their somewhat compromising situation at all. Instead, he was looking out of the tiny, square window, a thoughtful expression on this face.
"This is not Corsin."
**3**
Without a word, he left the toilet and quickly walked down the long corridor.
"Where are you going?" Leia asked and more or less jogged after him.
He stopped at a larger viewport and looked around.
"What's going on?"
"That is what I am trying to find out."
"But you're looking for something." Leia insisted.
He took a deep breath and then refocused on Leia, who now had her hands placed on her hips.
"Listen, Princess, a ship like this doesn't just crash out of hyperspace. Either it was pulled out by strong gravity projectors or the hyperdrive crashed."
"And?"
"No indication for gravity projectors from what I can see, but that hardly says much."
He walked farther down the corridor, passing rows and rows of guests who became more nervous by the minute. Once they reached the next major staircase, he studied the ship's layout which was printed on one of the many notice boards. It was pretty straight forward: Five passenger levels, luggage in the bow, kitchens between level two and three, engine at the back and the bridge at the front. In between, there were many staircases, turbolifts and maintenance shafts.
All of a sudden there was an explosion, and then another one. The lights went out and dark-red emergency light flooded the corridors.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Leia whispered.
Then there was a loud rattle over the intercom, followed by an announcement:
„Attention. Attention. This is the First Officer speaking. To all passengers and crew. Please go to the escape pods immediately. The ship is to be evacuated. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."
Suddenly, all hell broke loose. People screamed, stumbled over each other and fought for access to the suitcases.
"Is this a joke?!" Leia yelled and only now realized that she was still following the Pandoran.
"Hey mister, the escape pods are over there!" Leia jumped over a fallen trash bin and pressed herself through another door between two smelly men.
"Hey!" She yelled once more.
"I am not going to the escape pods."
"And where are we going?"
"Bridge."
Leia was completely out of breath by the time they had reached the bridge and held on to the door frame, only partially understanding what was going on.
The room was fairly small for a bridge. A large viewport, two large control consoles, a command chair and security cameras on their left and right. There was one man reading out some data, one at the helm, and two guards standing attention at the door.
"I'm sorry, Sir. But you are not allowed to be here right now. Please go to the other passengers and get yourself an escape pod."
The Pandoran didn't listen and just walked past the man to check some screens.
"Are you deaf? Get off the bridge or I'll have you removed!" A Human man with black hair and brown eyes yelled.
Without taking his eyes off the screen, the Pandoran took out his ID and showed it to the man.
"Grand Admiral Thrawn, Imperial Navy."
"And what's that to me? This is a private company!"
The alien, no, Thrawn, pointed at the schematics.
"Have any of these hull-breaches been confirmed?" He asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
"What do you mean with confirmed?" The young man shouted in irritation. "There was an explosion and the computer showed hull-breaches. Then I gave the order for evacuation."
"Yes, very textbook," Thrawn said with unhidden disproval while tapping on the computer console.
"Listen man, you may be some hot shit in the military, but this is my ship and…"
"Your ship? Where is the Captain?"
"The Captain is dead."
"What?!" Leia suddenly heard herself yell from the door.
"How do you know that?"
"One of the crew found him dead in his cabin." The young man swallowed. "With a note saying the ship was about to explode."
"It's not going to explode. It is about to be stolen."
"But two decks are already destroyed!"
"Because the computer tells you so?" Thrawn sighed. "Mr. .." He checked the man's nameplate. "… Hernandez, have you ever experienced a hull breach? It feels like a photon torpedo has hit close by. That was not a hull breach. Never mind two."
"But the fire alarm went off!"
"You misunderstand me. There was an explosion, but a minor one, nothing that would seriously damage the ship. The data you have here obviously has been tampered with."
Hernandez gaped at the man in front of him.
"Have you managed to send a distress call?"
"Communications is off too."
There was a short silence.
"What now?"
"Now I will tell you what we do: First of all, your men will check the turbolifts as I'm sure there will be people stuck in them. Second, your cargo and security chiefs will check if there is anything worth stealing on board this ship and we…" He looked at Hernandez. "… will regain command of the ship."
"And how are we supposed to do that?"
"At the only place possible." A small smile appeared on this face. "Engine room."
With the typical swishing sound the door opened and Thrawn and his small entourage entered the armory. It was a long room filled with blaster rifles and all kinds of explosives.
Without thinking twice they started changing clothes. Leia couldn't help but stare at the Imperial who was standing in front of her now, in a pair of black trousers and a black undershirt, which showed off some perfectly sculpted biceps that looked like they came straight out of an anatomy book. He might be twice her age but, hell ….
"Grand Admiral, eh? And when did you plan to tell me that?" she asked, while he put on a black military-style vest and equipped it with weapons in different shapes and sizes.
"You know now." He said flatly and threw her one of the rifles.
"I take a blaster."
"No, you won't." He grabbed her upper arm and dragged her along the corridor.
"Contrary to whatever one might have told you, a blaster is no replacement for a rifle."
"Where are we going?"
"We are going nowhere."
Suddenly he opened a door and shoved her inside.
"Fire at everything that moves."
With that, the door closed.
Furiously the Princess hammered against the now locked door.
"Open up, you freak! You can't do this to me! Wait until my father hears of this!"
**4**
Trying to avoid the cameras, they used the `short cut´ through the luggage compartment. It was dark and cluttered, full of droids and heavy machine sounds filled the air. Everywhere were conveyor belts, passing each other like Coruscant hyperlanes, blocking their way and, unfortunately, sight.
Suddenly they saw two men talking in a corner. Both humans, one black, one white.
"Your men?" Thrawn asked, but Hernandez only shrugged.
"There are many people working here and…" He checked his company datapad "….according to these readings not everyone left, even though there should have been enough escape pods. Level 5 wasn't even completely booked."
"Wait here."
With that, he turned around the corner.
"Excuse me."
The Admiral held up a datapad, which was too far away for the two Humans to decipher it from that distance.
"This is a restricted area."
"We work here."
"Really? And what do you do? Protecting the leftovers? Please show me your IDs."
Instantly both men reached into their jackets - and drew their guns.
"Thought so."
Instinctively, Thrawn reached out and threw one of the suitcases at the attackers, at the same time his backup started firing. Then the Admiral reached behind his back, for his rifle, while the two men separated, one held on to a conveyor belt, while the other ran towards the next exit. Thrawn followed the second, then stopped quickly and looked around before firing up into the air. As a result, a couple of suitcases fell from another belt, burying the man underneath them.
"I'm afraid your journey ends here." The Chiss said, while he approached the man. He tried to reach the gun he had lost, but it was too late - the energy bold hit him right between the eyes.
Judging by the background noise, the others were still after the second guy when Thrawn was already searching the first.
Finally, Hernandez and his men arrived.
"We've got him." The First Officer said happily.
"Threw him out of an airlock." Explained his blonde comrade.
"And I found this." Thrawn held up a comlink."It's an open frequency, which means they are no professionals."
He put it into one of his pockets. "If we're lucky this will play into our hands."
Leia was furious. He had locked her up! Someone was trying to steal the ship and he had just left her in this - what was this anyway? A broom cupboard? Oh no, she would not just wait here until the thieves got her. As a Princess, she had gone through a quite a few survival and hostage trainings. Quickly she checked the paneling. These kinds of ships were cheaply built. A smile appeared on her face. The ceiling. It looked like it could be opened.
Apparently the oh so smart Grand Admiral hadn't considered that!
Rapidly she shoved the metal panels away and climbed on top of the roof. There was a shaft above, full of cables, but luckily she was rather small. And up there, on the right, she could see a proper maintenance shaft. She just had to reach that and then – the engine room. They would not leave here and she would not let them have all the fun on their own. After all, she wasn't that kind of Princess.
Taking a deep breath, Leia pressed her back against one side of the shaft and her feet against the other and with that was on her way up.
"Use public transport they say." She hissed under her breath.
"Save the environment they say." She pressed out.
"Well, frack you!"
A pair of glowing red eyes shone through the ventilation shaft.
"How many?"
"Four." The Chiss said.
The ship shook heavily. Apparently, the engines were back online, which gave them exactly the distraction they needed. With a foot kick, the ventilation shaft opened and they started to fire. Two men went down immediately, one barricaded himself behind a computer console and another behind a wall. Then one of their men screamed and went down, his gun rolled over the floor and the man behind the console tried to reach it. Bad decision as Thrawn shot his shoulder, perhaps his neck. With a loud howl, the man returned behind the console. Hernandez tried to get him but shot only the console so that electric sparks flew through the air.
"Careful!" The Chiss warned. "We still need that."
The man behind the wall tried to reach his comrade but was shot in the process. Then the end came fast.
"Bower is dead," Hernandez said finally while leaning over a motionless body.
"So I have seen." Apparently, the Admiral wasted no time on sentimentalities and quickly went over to the console, put his gun down on top of it and activated the screens. On the console were other technical devices which were probably the reason the bridge got the wrong data.
"Here the data seems to be correct." The Chiss said. "Our position is Gamma Alpha, Section 9. We are only 3.37 parsecs from Corsin, with course…." He shortly stopped. "…4.3."
"What so special about course 4.3?" The blonde man inquired.
Wordlessly Thrawn zoomed in and the star map now showed a large Imperial Space Dock.
"I think we know now what all of this is about."
"Frack."
"Can you change the course?"
Hernandez came over and typed in some commands. He then unplugged off the foreign devices and restarted the operation system and repeated his efforts, but then shook his head.
"It's no use. They changed all the command codes and they just killed our best slicer."
„How long till impact?" The blonde man asked, his face pale while studying the screen.
"The dock is 3,01 lightyears from here. At this rate, 40 minutes."
"What does that mean?"
"That means we are screwed. That's what it means!" Hernandez hissed and ran a hand through his tumbled, dark hair.
"Do you think it's the Rebels?"
"It's the most likely scenario," Thrawn said. "Maximum casualties with little to no loss. A good strategy for their situation. Hijacking ships and crashing them into state property. As far as I know, there are three Star Destroyers at Space Dock 11 undergoing repairs. At the moment, they are little more than sitting ducks."
He searched the desk until he had found an empty data crystal, put it inside the console and started copying some data.
"What are you doing?"
"Gathering information."
"What for?"
"No. Whom for."
Leia happily walked towards the engine room. Thankfully there were many signs all around the ship. Men always pretended like only they were capable of handling the enemy. She was still fuming inside. Locking her up like that!
Ah, yes, there it was. Leia opened the door and froze.
There were dead people lying everywhere!
Sith! Looked like she was too late. What was she supposed to do now? She had no idea where the others were. Well, she could crawl back into the closet, or…
Like an answer to her question the door suddenly opened and she at looked two blaster rifles, aimed right at her.
"Look what we have here." A man said and smiled and nodded at his backup. "Call the boss and tell him we've found something."
Leia was blindfolded but had a feeling they brought her somewhere in level 5.
With a harsh push, they shoved her into a busy sounding room and then took the blindfold off.
"Does that look like a security guard to you?!" One man yelled, pointing at a screen.
Leia smiled. Apparently Palpatine chose his men by more than good looks.
"Find out who that guy is and what he's up to. Now!"
He was about thirty and had dark stubbles on his chin. Well, with a cigarra hanging out of his mouth, the sleeves rolled up and tattoos all over his arms he definitely looked like a gangster, perhaps a pirate, but the accent didn't fit.
"And who are you, little lady?" He grinned.
"She carried this with her." One of the bulky-looking men behind her said and handed the other man her rifle, who eyed it carefully.
"It's the same model the guys on the security cam use." He said then, took her by the arm and pushed her towards the screen.
"You wouldn't happen to know these guys, would you?"
"I – I just found the rifle…I..."
"Hey boss, I think I've found something. He's one of the passengers."
He showed him a picture of another security cam, showing the Chiss sitting right next to Leia.
Leia swallowed and felt everyone's eyes on her.
"Just found the gun, yeah? The two of us will have a chat now and you better be cooperative."
She should have stayed in that closet.
There were only the two of them left when they reached the long-distance transmitter.
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Sure? No. But there is a reason most people don't know about this. You see these systems are not exclusively linked to the ship's board computer and the Empire paid the Corellian Engineering Corporation well for some tweaks. It really depends on the model." Thrawn pushed the data crystal into an empty slot and switched the holographic transmitter to an encrypted frequency. The Imperial Emblem appeared on the screen.
So far so good.
"Computer, open a priority-one secure channel and hail the ISD Chimera. Voice Identification code: Alpha-ICD-10-GM."
The emblem started to rotate, then a friendly female face appeared on the screen.
"Admiral Thrawn." She smiled.
"Senior Lieutenant, Hammerly."
"Are you – Are you hurt?!" She pointed at his bleeding shoulder. "I thought you were on holiday!"
"I wish. Lieutenant, this is not the time. Please get Captain Pellaeon on the line, I have some important data for him."
"Of course, Sir. Hammerly out."
The emblem appeared again.
"Nice lady," Hernandez commented from behind. "Single?"
"You have got to be fracking kidding me." The man said when he studied the data. "GRAND ADMIRAL Thrawn."
"Yes. You see you can't win." He laughed at her. "How sweet. But that fancy title does not make you sugar daddy invisible."
"He's not my sugar daddy!"
"Older than you, makes a ton of money and probably buys you everything you want." He touched her golden necklace, which Leia knew did not look like a simple person her age could afford it. Still, she held his gaze and then glared at him.
"Not just beautiful, but also spirited." He leaned back, smiling at his comrades.
"Say what you want, but the man's got taste. It's disgusting, really, but not surprising. These Imperial bastards think they can buy everything." He took a deep drag of his cigarra.
"Yeah." Another one agreed.
"But once we blow the Space Dock up even your mighty Grand Admiral might lose his job over this."
"Blow up the Space Dock? Have you lost your mind! There are thousands of people there!" Leia yelled.
"Spare us the moral high ground, kid." An Asian guy from the far end of the room commented suddenly. She hadn't even seen him before.
"Yeah." The blonde guy said. "Like the Imperials have ever given a shit about that."
"Right." His comrade agreed. "But this time it's them. Let them have a taste of how it feels to see your people die. The Alliance has bled enough."
These people were part of the Alliance? The Alliance her father was supporting? With his actions and financing? These people were murderers!
"Are you telling me you're working for the Alliance? The organization that fights for a better galaxy?"
"Right we do. We are more of a – side faction – but yes." The blond man said.
"You are not making the galaxy a better place by killing innocent people!" Leia insisted. "And the Empire will hunt you down for this. Violence can only bring violence."
"Oh frack, another good-doer."
"Hey lady, we don't like it either. But it's the only language these people understand." The group leader said.
"That's rubbish! We are all intelligent beings. This cannot be the way."
"And what is the way?" He inquired, inhaling the cigarra smoke once more.
"Talking. Listening. Negotiation. Compromising."
"Oh boy…"
"Looks like he fucked her in more than one way."
The men laughed again.
The leader put a hand on Leia's knee which she, unsuccessfully, tried to pull away.
"Don't worry my beauty, once this is over, you'll experience a real man."
"You disgust me!"
Grabbing her by the hair, he pulled tightly, his dark eyes gleaming.
"He's certainly your something, which makes you - my something."
"The answer is no, Captain. Good day."
With that, the screen went black and Captain Pellaeon turned around to look at Commander Schraad.
"I don't believe this."
"He probably thinks it's a shortcut to the next promotion."
Sometimes he couldn't believe what the Empire had become. If they did not stand together, how could they hope to ever crush the growing Rebellion?
"What now? It's the Grand Admiral's life on the line here."
Schraad bit her lower lip.
"I've heard Grand Moff Tarkin has a lot of influence these days…"
"Tarkin?" Pellaeon repeated. "But he's a politician. He has no say in military matters."
"I am afraid these days everything's politics, Captain," Schraad said and smiled sadly. "He won't do it for free though."
"Of course not."
Pellaeon sighed. He would probably regret this at one point, but Thrawn needed help and he could never be there on time.
"Senior Lieutenant Hammerly, please contact Grand Moff Tarkin. And tell them we have no time to waste."
"Yes, sir."
Thrawn swore under his breath when he looked inside the empty cupboard.
"She escaped through the roof."
"Really?" Thrawn asked sarcastically and shook his head.
"We will never find her in time. I have seen there are still some escape pods at level 5. We should leave for as long as we still can."
Suddenly, he heard the comlink crackle.
"Team three, why haven't you checked in yet?"
"If I answer that can you locate the position of the caller."
"Probably."
Hernandez took out this company datapad and attached it to the small comlink.
"But so can they."
"Team three. Is everything alright?"
The Chiss put the comlink to his mouth.
"I'm afraid team three has left us. Permanently."
"Ah, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I have heard so much about you."
"How come?"
"Oh, you see, I have a great admirer of your work here. Don't you want to say hello?"
"We are at level 5 somewhere…" There was a loud crash on the line, silencing Leia.
"Don't touch her."
"Or what?" The man on the other side laughed. "No, Admiral, you will stop killing my people or your friend and I will get to know each other. Close up and personal."
The transmission ended.
"Do you have their position?"
"Yes, but even if we make it. There won't be enough time to return to the escape pods."
"He didn't sound like someone eager to become a martyr. We will make it out."
"Come on. Let's get out of here."
The man with the cigarra pulled the handcuffed Princess to a large rack, behind which was a secret entrance to an escape pod.
"Yes, sweetie, you are coming with me." He smiled at her. "A bit more enthusiasm, girl. After all, you and I will have front row seats for the big show."
Suddenly an explosion erupted from the other side of the room, which almost threw Leia forward onto the ground.
Leaning against the wall, she then looked up again, the two men closest to the new hole in the wall had been thrown against another wall, chests burnt with blaster fire. Then she saw Thrawn. He fired two shots and the blonde man behind the console turned around, grabbed for air and died, while the Asian man from behind tried to escape through the second door.
Hernandez aimed at him but had apparently forgotten about the group leader.
"Careful!" Leia yelled, but it was too late. He was hit in the stomach and would die a painful death.
Suddenly there was a strange sound and Leia couldn't help but look to the viewscreen. A Star Destroyer. She would have been happy if the man behind her hadn't used the moment of distraction to pull one arm around her throat, pulling her towards him, while his other hand held a blaster to her head.
"How did you do that?" He asked and glared at Thrawn, who, in return, was aiming straight at him.
"It doesn't matter. It's over. Let her go."
The man behind her shook his head.
"Tell your people to stand down or I'll kill her."
"I won't and even if I did, do you honestly think they put the life of that girl over Space Dock 11?"
"What kind of rescue is this?" Leia yelled. "Shoot him!"
"I believe he's afraid of shooting you too. Rightfully, I would say." He pulled her closer to the pod's entrance.
"Yeah? Like he would care!" Leia said, gesturing wildly with her cuffed hands. "He totally ruined my trip! Then locked me up in a broom cupboard and now - NOW - I've got a mad man's BLASTER at my temple! Well, thank you, Thrawn!" She yelled and forcefully pulled forward. "I've had ENOUGH for one day!" Then she turned around with all her might. "Shoot the fucking bastard!"
And he did.
Shocked Leia looked down at the lifeless body at her feet.
"I - I can't believe you did this. I could have died!"
"I'm a good shot." He didn't bother to uncuff her and pulled her right into the escape pod.
"I could have DIED!" She repeated. This time more forcefully. "I thought there would be some kind of backup team. Your freaking mental!"
The door closed and the Chiss wasted no time before hitting the activation button.
Shortly before the deadly passenger ship crossed the point of no return a large Star Destroyer opened fire.
The viewscreen of the small escape pod was filled with blinding light as the ship silently exploded in the vacuum of space. Then a shock wave tossed the tiny ship from one side to the other. Leia fell to the ground with a groan.
"I will never use public transport again."
Then, finally, there was – nothing.
**5**
"Princess?" She heard a measured voice from somewhere. "Can you hear me?"
Slowly she opened her eyes and then blinked against the bright light.
"What happened?"
"The shock wave. You must have hit your head."
Leia sat up but remained seated on the floor.
"How long was I gone?"
"Not long. Only a couple of minutes. Are you alright?"
Leia shrugged and tried to stretch as far as she could, given the circumstances.
"I don't think so, but my arms hurt."
Carefully she checked her wrists. The handcuffs would leave marks, for sure.
The Chiss checked some cupboards until he returned with a tiny laser-knife and said down in front of her, before taking her hands into his, starting to cut through the material.
"Don't move."
He had beautiful hands, Leia thought. Large and with long, thin fingers. She briefly looked at his concentrated, handsome face and then bit her lip, quickly looking down. This closeness was making her head turn. She shouldn't feel like this. She was on her way to Hapes. To Isolder. Right?
With a surprisingly soft `plop´ the handcuffs fell to the floor.
"There you go."
Leia instinctively started to massage her wrists, while he got up and took the first aid kit from the wall.
"Are you hurt?"
"A minor war wound."
He took off the vest and the black shirt underneath.
Leia held her breath. She wasn't sure what was worse, the not so minor looking blaster burn on his shoulder or the way she probably gaped at him right now, while he cleaned the wound with alcohol. The pain made him wince momentarily.
Not knowing how to handle the situation, Leia did what she did best, talking.
"Aren't you a bit pain-sensitive for a soldier?"
He looked at her and then grinned a bit too playfully.
"I saved the Princess from a madman and all I get is mockery?"
"You will survive." She said, now in her Princess-voice again, and finally got up. She did not want to look at him, so she turned around to the view screen. Still, the metal frame was as good as any mirror.
"There are places a man would be knighted for this, you know?"
The Chiss said while putting the alcohol bottle back inside before opening a bacta patch.
Leia couldn't help but smile.
"I'm afraid Alderaan abandoned knighthood decades ago."
"How come they abandoned knighthood but forgot about the monarchy?"
He quickly attached the patch and put the shirt back on.
"You are an insufferable creature, do you know that?" Leia said and turned around again. Finally confident enough to face the `enemy´.
"Is this how you treat a wounded man on Alderaan?" Suddenly he was standing right in front of her. Oh no. This was not good. Leia felt her stomach flip.
"With mockery and derision?"
"No."
He shouldn't have come this close….
"Actually…. Alderaan is known for its sympathy and…." Leia smiled shyly and without really knowing what she did, placed her hands on his chest. "… loving care."
She looked up into his eyes.
What was she doing?
She pushed herself up.
Now or never.
And kissed him.
He didn't respond. She kissed him again. He then placed both of his hands on her hips, but instead of returning the kiss and pulling her closer, he gently pushed her away.
"No. I'm sorry, I should have stopped this earlier."
"Why?"
There was a short moment of silence before he answered.
"Perhaps I've had enough excitement for one day."
Whether he wanted to end it like this, or simply tried to turn the conversation back to its previous playful tone, Leia didn't know, but she wouldn't let it happen and so she held on to him.
"But…Don't you… want me?" At the moment she didn't care how pitiful it sounded.
"Things are not as easy as that, Leia."
"But I…"
"You what? Love me?" He shook his head and finally pushed her away. "You don't love me any more than you do Prince Isolder."
Leia's head snapped up.
"Is it about him? I'm not married to him! Not really!"
"Good. Because you are too young to talk about marriage." By now he was at the other side of the pod.
"You never answered my question," Leia said quietly, while he put the vest back on. He closed the first aid kit and then their eyes locked for a second.
"It's not going to work."
The pod shook when the tractor beam took control of them, ending their conversation. Leia held on to the viewport's frame until the pod was quiet again. But then turned around and just stared out of the viewport without seeing. She couldn't look at him now and her mind was on fever. She had humiliated herself by confessing her feelings and now she felt her cheeks burning. There was anger, followed by the pain of rejection and embarrassment for all of it.
All in all, it was too much and too unknown to handle, so the Princess did something very out of character, she remained silent, as she needed every ounce of will to remain in control of her composure, until, finally, the door opened, putting an end to her misery.
A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER
It was a beautiful, sunny day on Alderaan as Leia lay in a garden swing in the Royal Gardens, surrounded by the most stunning, colorful flowers, wearing a white dress and partially covered with a knitted, white blanket. In front of her, there was a small, white garden table. On it, there was a teapot, filled with the finest, steaming herbal tea, a half-read novel and a bowl with small chocolate treats.
It would have been perfect if Leia's mind hadn't been somewhere else entirely. Two days and two extremely intense hours - that's all it had been. She didn't know him. Still, he was all that was on her mind. Why? He had said it wasn't love. Hormones and adrenaline? Which had filled her bloodstream due to the extremeness of their situation? Then why did she still feel that way? It had felt different with Isolder. And hadn't it been for the comparison, she might just as well have forgotten about him altogether.
It hurt. Rejection. Or one-sided affection, or however you wanted to call it. But he was right, wasn't he? It would never work. If Isolder had been a bad choice, Thrawn was an impossible one. An Alien and an Imperial.
When she closed her eyes, she could still feel his lips on hers.
They could have an affair. But did she want that? To be an affair? A woman in the shadows? And what if she would get pregnant? What stupid thoughts! Leia realized suddenly. He had said `no´ and she was thinking of having his children! This was ridiculous! And embarrassing...
"You have to eat, Leia."
The Princess looked up and shielded her eyes against the sun.
"Father." She said and forced a sad smile.
Bail reached out for a chair and pulled it over. Strange, it felt like they were back at the start. Like a deja-vú.
"You gave us quite a fright, and your mother and I, we hate to see you like this."
"I know and I am sorry. It was childish of me. I promise I will never do it again."
There were tears in her eyes and Bail sighed. His strong, little Leia. He hadn't seen her cry in a long time.
"Is it still Isolder?"
Leia laughed and quickly dried her eyes. "No, father. It's not."
"I see." Bail remained silent for a while. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She smiled. Her father was a brilliant politician and a great negotiator, but it felt strange when he tried to use his skills in personal situations. Though she knew he meant well. He had a good heart. Was he aware of the ugly side of the Rebellion? Or were they just using him? Leia knew once she stepped into his footsteps, as the next senator of Alderaan, they would approach her too. And she would not listen.
"To be honest you are the last person I wish to talk to."
"Understandable, I guess." He shoved the chocolate over to her. "Here. You have to eat."
For the sake of her father, Leia took a piece of chocolate.
"Do you love him?"
"Dad!"
"It's a simple question."
Father and daughter looked at each other for a moment.
"I will get over it." She said finally and then brought the chocolate to her mouth. It actually wasn't so bad.
THE END (?)