Leia peered out from behind the native shrubbery, scanning the immediate area as the guard glanced in the opposite direction. It would take a few more moments for his group to be the right distance away: far enough that if her should make any noise, they wouldn't hear him.
She pulled her head back behind the cover as the guard returned his gaze to his front and continued his search of the area. He was average height for a humanoid male, as far as Leia could tell, and it wouldn't take much for Han and herself to hold him down if the initial shot didn't knock him out. Though it would be better for him if he went out with a single blow, considering that he'd feel a second one.
Giving a nod to Han, she handed him the stone she'd acquired at the beginning of this particular escapade, when she was still voicing some objections to Han's relatively bad plan. The idea was to knock out the guard they'd followed, and take the comm he most likely had with him (considering the rather organized nature of their captors to this point). This was all fine and dandy, however, Leia wasn't convinced that the second half of this idea was worth the risk.
After obtaining the comm unit (and any other useful tidbits the guard's pack might offer), Han proposed that they use this to contact Chewie, knowing full well that this would give away their position in an instant to any idiot on world or in orbit. When Leia had asked how they would manage to get far enough away from their original position after the message was sent, Han simply replied, "Run."
This was by no means an encouraging thought, taking into account that they were both injured to a certain degree, and neither energy or moral was on a high note. However, with two options to choose from, and one being to surrender, Leia had given up on thinking in a completely rational mind and figured it easier to go along and blame Han later should the attempt blow up in their faces. It was beginning to look like a relatively win-win situation.
Leia lifted her hand into clear view of Han, bringing her first three fingers up one by one as she mouthed the words "one...two...three."
As the third finger rose, the two jumped up in tandem, Han aiming quickly as the guard still stood in surprise, and throwing the rather heavy stone directly at the man's head. The guard's head snapped back fast then fell with the rest of his body to the ground, a resounding thump accompanying the impact.
Leia ran out from behind the bush, coming up beside the body as she kneeled, rolling the man onto his side so she could detach his backpack. She checked his pulse after laying the pack over to one side, and finding it steady she took a look at the mark on his forehead which lay just between his eyes. For all hi shortcomings, Han Solo was a decent shot.
"Will he be alright?" Han asked, crouching near the pack and opening it.
"Yeah, he'll have a hell of a headache, but the gash isn't very deep and his breathing is steady," Leia replied. She turned to Han as he took a comm unit out of the guard's pack.
Leia picked up the pack from Han as he began to fiddle with the controls on the comm, and she rummaged through the bag to see if there was anything they could use. The pack held some emergency rations, an overcoat for harsher weather, and other miscellaneous items necessary for a job on a relatively untamed world.
She found a small took kit and handed it to Han, hoping that it would aide him in modifying the comm, since he didn't appear to be having the best of luck with his bare hands. The last time she and Han had worked together like this had been at the Battle of Endor over a decade earlier, trying to get the door to the shield generator open. That was before Bria died, before everything started to go wrong, back when she still wouldn't change her mind about him being a scoundrel and a worthless smuggler. Though she had to admit that most of the banter and hatred had been a childish facade, just something to hide the fact that she didn't really mind him that much, maybe even liked him a little.
She had been so young then, so naive in many ways compared to the woman she was now. It had been her goal to help people, to right every wrong she saw around her, and some that she couldn't see. She had been able to accept almost everything, from the destruction of Alderaan, to the death of Obi-wan Kenobi.
This was the simple attitude she had once had, this was the ideal in it's purest form. This was what would later mutate, change into what she had become. Her acceptance had come to the point where she would no longer try to change even the things she might be able to, just as her desire to help had led her to give so much of herself to others that there wasn't much left of what she was. It was strange how her innocence had come and gone over the years so subtly that she hadn't even noticed it's passing.
"Leia?" Han asked, breaking into her thoughts as her shook by the shoulder, "You've been staring at the ground for the last five minutes."
Leia shook her head clear, "Sorry, I'm just a little tired, that's all." She turned back to her search of the pack.
As she reached her hand in to pull the last of the pack's contents out, her fingers clasped a datapad. Pulling it out quickly, she silently thanked the Force, "We've got a map."
She looked over the contents of the datapad as Han watched over her shoulder, finding maps of the surface, several caves, and a star chart for the sector they were in. They were on the third planet of the Hodan system, in the Farlax Sector only a few parsec from Galantos. Now they could tell Chewie exactly where to find them.
"Can you get that thing to work?" Leia asked, still combing through the datapad's files.
"It's running on minimal power, all it needs for on planet communications, but if we want this thing to give us anymore than 10 seconds of recording time, the message won't make it to Coruscant," Han said as he took out a piece of the comm's insides.
"Great. You think we can we get this all in within 10 seconds?" Leia asked.
"No, not likely, the best we can do is tell Chewie we're all right and hope he can track the signal," Han replied.
Leia gave a long exhale, glancing back at the datapad, it's display showing map of the surrounding area. She sat up straighter as her eyes came into contact with a useful landmark, "There's a hangar just east of the landing pad we arrived on," she said, pointing out the building on the map, "We could borrow something from there."
Han looked down over her shoulder, "We'd have to walk around the perimeter here," he said, running his finger around the edge of the installment, "but we could probably make it by tonight."
Leia nodded. Since their captors wouldn't expect them to head in that direction because it brings them back through risky territory, they had a better chance of avoiding any unwanted entanglements. It was there best shot as of yet.
"Do you want to talk or should I?" Han asked as he held up the modified comm unit.
"You do it," Leia said, "I'm sure Chewie'd rather hear you voice than mine."
Han nodded as Leia put all of the stuff back into the guard's bag, closing it and making ready to run in the general direction of the hanger as soon as Han finished his message.
Leia watched in silence as Han spoke into the comm, giving Chewie his quickest medai before shutting the comm off, and stuffing it the pack as the two of them made a run for it.
She pulled her head back behind the cover as the guard returned his gaze to his front and continued his search of the area. He was average height for a humanoid male, as far as Leia could tell, and it wouldn't take much for Han and herself to hold him down if the initial shot didn't knock him out. Though it would be better for him if he went out with a single blow, considering that he'd feel a second one.
Giving a nod to Han, she handed him the stone she'd acquired at the beginning of this particular escapade, when she was still voicing some objections to Han's relatively bad plan. The idea was to knock out the guard they'd followed, and take the comm he most likely had with him (considering the rather organized nature of their captors to this point). This was all fine and dandy, however, Leia wasn't convinced that the second half of this idea was worth the risk.
After obtaining the comm unit (and any other useful tidbits the guard's pack might offer), Han proposed that they use this to contact Chewie, knowing full well that this would give away their position in an instant to any idiot on world or in orbit. When Leia had asked how they would manage to get far enough away from their original position after the message was sent, Han simply replied, "Run."
This was by no means an encouraging thought, taking into account that they were both injured to a certain degree, and neither energy or moral was on a high note. However, with two options to choose from, and one being to surrender, Leia had given up on thinking in a completely rational mind and figured it easier to go along and blame Han later should the attempt blow up in their faces. It was beginning to look like a relatively win-win situation.
Leia lifted her hand into clear view of Han, bringing her first three fingers up one by one as she mouthed the words "one...two...three."
As the third finger rose, the two jumped up in tandem, Han aiming quickly as the guard still stood in surprise, and throwing the rather heavy stone directly at the man's head. The guard's head snapped back fast then fell with the rest of his body to the ground, a resounding thump accompanying the impact.
Leia ran out from behind the bush, coming up beside the body as she kneeled, rolling the man onto his side so she could detach his backpack. She checked his pulse after laying the pack over to one side, and finding it steady she took a look at the mark on his forehead which lay just between his eyes. For all hi shortcomings, Han Solo was a decent shot.
"Will he be alright?" Han asked, crouching near the pack and opening it.
"Yeah, he'll have a hell of a headache, but the gash isn't very deep and his breathing is steady," Leia replied. She turned to Han as he took a comm unit out of the guard's pack.
Leia picked up the pack from Han as he began to fiddle with the controls on the comm, and she rummaged through the bag to see if there was anything they could use. The pack held some emergency rations, an overcoat for harsher weather, and other miscellaneous items necessary for a job on a relatively untamed world.
She found a small took kit and handed it to Han, hoping that it would aide him in modifying the comm, since he didn't appear to be having the best of luck with his bare hands. The last time she and Han had worked together like this had been at the Battle of Endor over a decade earlier, trying to get the door to the shield generator open. That was before Bria died, before everything started to go wrong, back when she still wouldn't change her mind about him being a scoundrel and a worthless smuggler. Though she had to admit that most of the banter and hatred had been a childish facade, just something to hide the fact that she didn't really mind him that much, maybe even liked him a little.
She had been so young then, so naive in many ways compared to the woman she was now. It had been her goal to help people, to right every wrong she saw around her, and some that she couldn't see. She had been able to accept almost everything, from the destruction of Alderaan, to the death of Obi-wan Kenobi.
This was the simple attitude she had once had, this was the ideal in it's purest form. This was what would later mutate, change into what she had become. Her acceptance had come to the point where she would no longer try to change even the things she might be able to, just as her desire to help had led her to give so much of herself to others that there wasn't much left of what she was. It was strange how her innocence had come and gone over the years so subtly that she hadn't even noticed it's passing.
"Leia?" Han asked, breaking into her thoughts as her shook by the shoulder, "You've been staring at the ground for the last five minutes."
Leia shook her head clear, "Sorry, I'm just a little tired, that's all." She turned back to her search of the pack.
As she reached her hand in to pull the last of the pack's contents out, her fingers clasped a datapad. Pulling it out quickly, she silently thanked the Force, "We've got a map."
She looked over the contents of the datapad as Han watched over her shoulder, finding maps of the surface, several caves, and a star chart for the sector they were in. They were on the third planet of the Hodan system, in the Farlax Sector only a few parsec from Galantos. Now they could tell Chewie exactly where to find them.
"Can you get that thing to work?" Leia asked, still combing through the datapad's files.
"It's running on minimal power, all it needs for on planet communications, but if we want this thing to give us anymore than 10 seconds of recording time, the message won't make it to Coruscant," Han said as he took out a piece of the comm's insides.
"Great. You think we can we get this all in within 10 seconds?" Leia asked.
"No, not likely, the best we can do is tell Chewie we're all right and hope he can track the signal," Han replied.
Leia gave a long exhale, glancing back at the datapad, it's display showing map of the surrounding area. She sat up straighter as her eyes came into contact with a useful landmark, "There's a hangar just east of the landing pad we arrived on," she said, pointing out the building on the map, "We could borrow something from there."
Han looked down over her shoulder, "We'd have to walk around the perimeter here," he said, running his finger around the edge of the installment, "but we could probably make it by tonight."
Leia nodded. Since their captors wouldn't expect them to head in that direction because it brings them back through risky territory, they had a better chance of avoiding any unwanted entanglements. It was there best shot as of yet.
"Do you want to talk or should I?" Han asked as he held up the modified comm unit.
"You do it," Leia said, "I'm sure Chewie'd rather hear you voice than mine."
Han nodded as Leia put all of the stuff back into the guard's bag, closing it and making ready to run in the general direction of the hanger as soon as Han finished his message.
Leia watched in silence as Han spoke into the comm, giving Chewie his quickest medai before shutting the comm off, and stuffing it the pack as the two of them made a run for it.
