Chapter 25- Ord Mantell and New Base Decisions
A/N: In "The Empire Strikes Back" Han mentions a bounty hunter on Ord Mantell. This kind of covers that.
3 years later...
Lena Skywalker walked through the busy throng that was the Ord Mantell space dock. After three years on the run. Lena, Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, and the droids were on one of the busiest planets in the Outer Rim territories while Talon was with Rieekan, the leader who had taken over as one of the leaders in the Rebellion after Dodonna died. The new leader and the Jedi were searching out a new rebel base. The place the Rebellion had stayed at the longest was Kamino, but an underwater base couldn't have been hidden for long as Talon had calmly told everyone.
At almost 22, Lena could see that her father had a point. Also having Vader breathing down their necks also confirmed that. Talon had told her they were looking into the Hoth system. The planets in that system were frozen wastelands and not all of them could support humans or the other alien races that had joined the Alliance. Lena wondered how a Sullustan or a Twilek could handle that kind of cold, but they wouldn't have much of an option if Talon found a planet.
Lena felt a prickling sensation run down her back from the Force. Someone was near and from what the Force was warning her, someone that could not be trusted. Lena unclipped her lightsaber, hidden in the folds of her long, gray cloak. Lena suspected that the Empire had to have known by now that Talon had slipped through the cracks in the Jedi Purge and that Luke and Lena Skywalker had been born. An informer said that Vader had personally been searching for her and Luke once he discovered the two pilots who had destroyed the Death Star had the last name "Skywalker."
Lena made her way to the docking bay where Han had put the Millennium Falcon. Han and Chewbacca were running preflight checks. Chewbacca roared a greeting. After three years of being with the Rebellion, Lena had gotten the basic gist of the Wookie language. She knew enough to know that Chewie was saying hello. "Hello, Chewbacca," Lena said with a warm smile.
"Did you get the equipment Uncle Cail wanted?" Leia asked as she and Luke left the ship.
"I did the best I could. Being a rebel and bartering is not the best career choice on this planet," Lena said.
"So they didn't sell you the equipment," Luke guessed.
"No, Brother, I didn't. Apparently, everyone likes the special favor that the Empire gives and I am not about to use "Aggressive Negotiations," Lena said as she pulled off her gray robe to reveal her Jedi clothing and clipped her lightsaber to her leather belt.
"Aggressive Negotiations?" Luke asked.
"Something that involves either of us using our lightsabers," Lena said with a grin.
Let me guess, you learned that term from Uncle Cail?" Leia asked with an amused look on her face.
"Something like that, Cousin. In the old Jedi Order Papa wasn't the best when it came to using a lightsaber. He said that Obi-Wan, Master Yoda, and mine and Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, were the best duelists in the Jedi Order. Ahsoka Tano actually gave me hologram recordings of our father showing the best way to use a lightsaber. I found Father's way has a lot to be said for it," Lena said.
"Can I see them when we get back to the Alliance?" Luke asked.
"Sure. I loaned them to Cora as she was wanting help with her lightsaber techniques that neither me or Papa can give her," Lena said as the Force spiked a danger warning. Lena closed her eyes heavily and, breathing hard, stretched out with the Force.
"You feel it too, Lena?" Luke asked after a few pregnant moments.
"Yes, but it's elusive. I can feel danger, but I can't tell you who it is. Han, the Force is telling me that we are in danger and we have to leave now," Lena said, opening her eyes and leveling a glare at the Corellian.
"Whatever you say, Your Highness," Han said and started the countdown for departure.
"Is it that bad?" Leia whispered a question to Lena.
"Yes, but the dark side shadows everything. Until I know what it is, I had better keep my concentration on the here and now where it belongs until the danger shows up. The Force could be showing me the future," Lena said.
"But didn't Uncle Cail say we should be mindful of the future?" Luke asked.
"Yes, but not at the expense of the moment. We have to be mindful of the living Force. My father would say that too. He and Obi-Wan both learned it from Masters Plo Koon and Qui-Gon Jinn," Lena said as a blaster went off and Lena whipped out her lightsaber. A reptilian creature in a yellow spacesuit burst into the hangar and started firing.
"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Han shouted and they all ran up the ramp and Han and Chewbacca went to the cockpit.
Talon hadn't realized the breath he had been holding until he saw Solo's ship land and his niece and daughter left the ship. Where the Rebellion was hiding before going to the new place was a little obvious, but Talon and Rieekan wanted to believe that the Empire wouldn't come to the casino world of Canto Bight while they refueled on the way to the Hoth System.
"Papa!" Lena all but jumped into his arms, even though she was as tall as him. By most human standards Talon wasn't as tall as most men and both his daughter and niece were able to look him in the eye instead of having to crane their heads to talk to him.
Talon pulled her face from his shoulder and looked into first her eyes and then Leia's brown ones. "Are you two all right? I felt a disturbance in the Force that told me you were in trouble," Talon said sharply, running his fingers through Lena's brown hair.
"We're fine. We ran into a bounty hunter, Papa, on Ord Mantell. Solo thinks it was after him and Jabba the Hutt was the one who sent it," Lena said.
"Jabba the Hutt? The Hutts are gangsters. I don't want you dealing with them, Lena. Remember when I told you that Jabba nearly killed Ahsoka Tano and your father, Anakin Skywalker, when they went to find his son Rotta and Count Dooku lied about them killing the huttlet?" Talon asked.
"Yeah," Lena said.
"It's just as much as true now as it was then. Jabba hates the Jedi, even though we didn't kill Rotta. And he might hate you and Luke more because of Anakin Skywalker," Talon said, twisting a lock of Lena's hair around his fingers.
"Whatever, Papa. Did you find a rebel base that even the Empire might not think of?" Lena asked.
"We did at that. Pack your thermals, my child. We are going to Hoth," Talon said with a grin