Chapter XVIII: Imperials vs. Rebels
"I have a good feeling about this!"
The princess's feminine voice was heard, her words coming with an odd excitement for what was going to follow; she smiled, and with a hand movement, she removed the Wookiee's chains, he growled, too startled to thank her. The rest of the prisoners looked around every wall of their cell, clearly not sharing the feeling Leia was talking about.
"I have the exact opposite," Solo said, his worry almost showing; he walked towards the door, trying to get a better clue of what was happening, peaking at the noise from outside. There was no doubt as to what was going on. "Sounds like they're having problems," he frowned. "And we're about to, as well!" he cried as he felt with dread the movements around their cell.
"Something is flying above us! Oh, Princess! Did… Did something land on us?" C-3PO didn't ask, more like cried in a frightful voice.
"Imperial ships…" Leia muttered.
"I think they're going to rob you of the pleasure of killing the rebels," Han muttered in a steady yet unnerving voice.
Leia ran to the door, too. "They're being killed," she said calmly, never losing that frighteningly sweet smile.
"Oh dear!" the golden droid exclaimed. "My lady, what are we going to do?"
"They're defending themselves well enough," Leia muttered, mostly to herself, ignoring C-3PO's question. "Stupid troopers, if they leave one of them alive, I'm going to kill them!"
The walls kept shaking around them.
Han was standing very close to the princess, they both had their ears glued to the door; at the proximity, Leia saw him gulp. Then take a step back. She found that more disturbing than the battle that was happening outside.
Something was changing in him and she didn't like it.
She put her hand on his shoulder, and felt his whole body grow tense. "What did I do to you?" she asked, unable of not sounding so bothered. "Why are you treating me like this? Han, speak to me!"
He looked at her all confused. "Princess, I don't think right now is the time to have a conversation—"
Indeed, it wasn't. The walls kept their earthquake-like movement, this time with more intensity, Han put his hands on the wall in front of him, as if he could hold it together; Leia finally focused on something other than Captain Solo, she set her brown eyes on the ceiling, instantly knowing the walls weren't their biggest problem, but before she could try to even stop it from happening, her world went black.
Chewbacca actually managed to protect C-3PO, putting his big strong frame in front of the crying droid. The door had opened seconds before the ceiling fell on them, and Han was able of escaping practically intact.
The vengeful princess wasn't so lucky.
Han looked around the rubble, screaming her name, till he found her white face, looking grey with so much dust on it. He took her out of the debris mess and dragged her small body, trying to get her to safety, which seemed to be impossible as blaster fire rained around them.
"Chewie, we need to get out of here!" Han cried, not even knowing if his friend was still alive. "Chewie!" he cried time and time again, knowing the noise was too loud for the Wookiee to hear it even if he was around and alive.
He cursed endlessly as he ran around the rebel base with Leia in his arms; watching the rebels and stormtroopers as they fought, as they killed, as they fell.
He then seemed to find a safe space at last, behind a tall ancient-looking stone wall that was miraculously still standing; he grabbed the princess even tighter, a huge knot forming in his throat as he felt how cold she was. "Come on, Your Highness!" he cried as he shook her madly. "I thought you wanted to kill the rebels! Come on, Leia, wake up! This is your one chance, you haughty royal pain!" he didn't notice how much his voice was breaking; it sounded raspy and weak.
Solo then screamed, startled, as a rebel with blood coming out of his mouth suddenly appeared next to them. The rebel, who barely looked above twenty, groaned in pain before collapsing to the ground. On the floor, he regarded Solo and the princess for a second with a strange glance before closing his young eyes forever.
Han tried to ignore the corpse next to him, knowing perfectly well he couldn't do anything about it; if he left his hiding place he could endanger the already hurt girl in his arms. But Han felt the rebel's closed eyes penetrate into his troubled soul, and wanting to not see death anymore, he walked straight into it.
He walked straight into the battle.
He felt stupid for moving as he saw there was no other place to hide anymore, and there were many more dead bodies here, both from rebels and imperials.
I should be dead by now, Solo thought with a splash of irony amidst his fear. So why wasn't he dead? Looking at the fainted girl in his arms, he wondered if maybe she had anything to do with it…
Could it be…. The Force?
Hmmm, he mentally shrugged. The present situation was taking a lot from him, getting him almost religious. It's just my luck and fear, he nervously told himself, it's just luck! Was it? Well, that and these damn imperial soldiers can't shoot to save their lives!
Good thing the princess can't see them; she'll angrily kill them even when they're on her side…
He walked and ran and took cover, every second that passed being less able of believing he and Leia were still unscathed. It's just luck… it's just my luck!
Well, if it was just luck, at some point he'd have to run out of it. And oh he did! But not to such extent. A Skywalker protected him, even while unconscious, even without knowing.
Two white-armored soldiers pointed their blasters at Solo, clearly just wanting to frighten him, as they didn't fire. Why?
"Put the princess down," one stormtrooper ordered.
Without realizing it, Han clung to her even tighter.
He shook his head. Was that selfish? Was he sentencing her? Would the fire pass through Leia so it could reach Solo? Of course not.
She was like a shield between Han Solo and death.
For one short foolish second, he thought they would leave them alone, till he heard, "Set for stun."
Han wanted a blaster as much as he wanted Leia to wake up.
The two stormtroopers pointed their weapons at Han, now without the worry that they might also hurt the princess; slowly, Han backed away, praying they would miss, which was very unlikely giving the distance. Blaster fired but it did not reach Solo nor the princess, instead, the two stormtroopers fell dead to the floor.
For a second Han was shocked, till behind the stormtroopers he saw a rebel holding still her ray gun up. It was a female rebel, the one who usually brought the food to the princess.
She ran till she was a step from him. "Is she dead?" she asked, referring to Leia.
"No," Han said, still struggling with his confusion.
The rebel's face was unreadable, pretty much expressionless. "Come on," she said and motioned Han to follow her. He did not move.
She narrowed her eyes in anger and handed a sporting blaster to the smuggler. "I'll watch your back but you have to hurry!" she cried, now with a seriously annoyed frown on her face.
Han finally recovered his senses and followed her.
Solo could practically hear the sound of his fast-paced heartbeat as he ran, first through a dark room with only a few green lights still shining. Then through hallways where he could actually see nothing. Till at last the rebel stopped and indicated him to do so, too.
This room they had entered was very strange, it made Han think that they were suddenly in another planet. First of all, it was very quiet. Though the battle was far from over, Han couldn't hear anything anymore.
It was wide, an even to Han's careless eyes, quite magnificent. He walked behind the rebel over the paved shiny stone floors, still holding Leia in his arms; he was shocked to see her still fainted, so when he heard a few low moans from her and felt her move a little, even when it was in pain, he breathed out in relief.
The rebel was now guiding him through a tall stairway, which ended in a podium. He looked down from the top feeling an odd sense of power, which quickly departed him as he remembered the situation he was in. Then he thought annoyed of how he didn't even know that. What was happening? Why did the rebel help him? His male vanity was now lifted.
"Listen," he said, when he was unable of standing that long silence. "Thanks for helping me."
"I'm not helping you," she answered coldly.
"Alright," he accepted, his vanity sobered. If he was not holding Leia, he would've scratched his head in confusion. "Thanks anyway."
The rebel this time didn't answer.
She disappeared for a moment behind some long, velvety white curtains, and when she came back, she had an astromech droid with her.
"Lay her down," she commanded Han. In any other situation he would've laughed at her for ordering him around, but he owed her his life, and the request was not so crazy- while his arms were growing tired.
With supreme delicacy, he laid her down on the shiny floor.
"K-2, scan her," the rebel ordered her droid. After reading the report, she didn't smile neither frowned, so Han had to ask:
"What do you think? Will she be alright?"
"She's just bruised," she said, carelessly.
"The freaking ceiling fell on her head!" he cried. "Your stupid droid must be broken, or you're lying, or—"
"Hey, hey," the rebel interrupted him. "Shut up. She's not going to die. She's as lucky as you are, Solo. The cell in which you were is the only room in this temple not built thousands of years ago. It is the only room that wasn't built with hard stone, which is why it fell, and why Leia is still alive."
"Oh," Han seemed relaxed. "Wait," he then said. "This is a temple?"
"A Sith temple. I mean not anymore but at some point it was. And this," she looked around the wide surroundings. "Is the Throne Room. Grand, isn't it?"
Han grinned; he was starting to lose interest in her words. "Why are you helping us?" he asked.
Her blue eyes reflected scorn and resentment. "It's none of your business. You can accept or refuse the help."
"Alright," he cleared his throat. "I accept it."
"Wise choice."
Leia started to moan again, she moved around and muttered things Han couldn't understand. He tried to approach her but the rebel stopped him with a word, without looking at either of them.
"She's in pain," Han argued.
"Yes," the rebel accepted nonchalantly. "Leave her."
In spite the fact she had just saved his life, Han was starting to dislike her. He reached over to the princess anyway.
He put his hand on her shoulder, he thought he did it very carefully and slowly, but when the princess shrieked in pain, he coiled back.
The rebel grinned at him, not particularly for Leia's pain, but more in an "I told you" manner.
"She's a Sith," the rebel then said. "They thrive in pain. This is actually good for her."
"Who told you such a stupid idea?" Han snarled.
"One must know well their enemies," the rebel's face darkened in an odd manner. Han could almost tell it was vengefully.
"Why do you think of her as your enemy?"
The rebel rubbed her eyes in a tired manner. "I never said 'her'."
"So you meant… the Emperor?"
"It's never been well concealed that he's a Sith Lord."
"Whatever, girl. Listen, are you sure we should stay here? Shouldn't we, like, try to run away?"
"Yes, but not yet."
"When, then?"
"When the battle's over."
"When will that be?"
"I don't know," she said between clenched teeth, clearly out of patience and weary from his questions and conversation. Han suddenly felt like a child with all his questions. For a moment he felt as annoying as C-3PO.
Thinking about the droid got him thinking about his Wookiee friend, then about his ship. He wanted to leave the rebel base and that accursed planet he didn't even know what was called. He couldn't stand looking at the rebel's careless face, especially when she knew their situation so well, much better than him. But maybe that's why she was so calm? She knew there was not much they could do.
Han knew that too and after kicking himself, he stopped worrying so much.