Chewie set his hand of cards face down on the table, leaning back casually and placing his hands behind head, giving a cocky yawn as he did so. Sabaac hadn't always come easy to him, and many a quarrel had come about because of that fact, not to mention many a broken limb. But tonight he'd gotten the upper hand, gathering a few extra credits and a date with a "reputable" Zeltron Lando is acquainted with, should the old cheater come through on his word.
He scanned his opponents informally, appearing to keep an eye on the quirks which either of them might present. But that was all for show. The Wookiee quickly made eye contact with Jacen and the boy winked, signaling him that it was safe to call for a few more credits onto pot.
Lando glanced over his shoulder, but Jacen looked back down at his data pad and attempted to look busy. "What're you doin'?" Lando asked, apparently finding Jacen's silence to be not only out of the ordinary but also suspicious.
Chewie growled to call Lando's attention back to the game. Besides, Jacen was supposed to be working on his language homework anyway. Not that any of it would get done until an hour or so before it's due. He still found it necessary to keep the kid busy and his mind of the situation they were all in.
That, of course, had been the original purpose for the game night they were all having. Though it was hardly going as such. Every few minutes Jacen, Chewie or Lando would glance at the comm indicator to see if there was a message, something that Chewie was sure had caught their observant Jedi Master's attention.
It hadn't been his idea to invite Luke, not that he didn't want him there, but he had never been very good at keeping secrets, and staring down a Jedi all night wasn't going to help. Despite the fact that he'd been the only one a little worried about the idea in the beginning, his two partners in crime were the one's causing the most suspicion.
He was surprised that Luke hadn't mentioned anything, with the looks Lando and Jacen were giving the comm and each other, Chewie could have spotted it if he were drunken blind man with bad hearing.
Luke was apparently a little distracted. He hadn't won a single game, and he kept staring off into space whenever his attention drifted. Chewie'd never seen him like that, or at least not for years and years, back when he and Han first bet the kid and his crazy cooke of a Master.
"This game is going to hell, how about we call it a night and go home," Lando offered with a bit of a sigh. He was losing, so his suggestion wasn't something to be taken seriously.
Chewie growled a definitive "No" and called for a show of cards.
Lando gave an irritated grunt and laid his cards out as Chewie did the same. Luke followed suit nonchalantly, looking bored and tired. Chewie won the round without question. The Wookie put on a smug look and pulled the pile of credits towards his side of the table.
He flipped a credit Jacen's way, but Anakin caught it mid air. Jacen glared at the younger boy, who then reluctantly handed it over, sitting back down on the bunk nearby.
Chewie shoveled the cash into a pouch and put it in a place of safe keeping before returning to the table and setting up to deal another round. He glanced at the comm indicator for the millionth time as he dealt the cards, then grunted at Luke to ask him what was on his mind.
"I don't know... I can't sense her, I can't feel either of them," Luke replied, lifting up his cards to take a look at what he'd got, then laying them back down, exhausted and uncaring. "I just feels like we're not going to find them."
Chewie looked at Lando, and the Lando looked down at the table. When he turned his eyes to Jacen, the boy was feigning concentration on his datapad. He finally growled the only reassurance he could and returned to looking at his cards.
He lumped a few credits into the pot and set in for the long haul on another profitable, yet incredibly boring game of Sabaac. He found it hard to believe, but he might have actually enjoyed it better if he was losing, as long as the room wouldn't stay so uncomfortably quiet. The /Falcon/ had never been this quiet as far as he'd known her, and it was an uncannily annoying sensation for it to be so now.
With a quick glance to the comm light once again, he tossed a card into the radomizer. Then it registered in his head that the light had been blinking and he turned back to look at it. Sure enough, the little red light was flashing it's beady signal across the room. It was then that Chewie noticed the vexing little beeping noise that accompanied the light, but he pretended to ignore it for a minute while he decided on a course of action.
He gave a look to Lando who appeared to have noticed the light as well. "Could you get me a drink, Chewie, my throat's a little dry," Lando said, pulling at his collar as he gave Chewie a reason to leave the game.
Chewie howled a yes and got up from his chair, nodding at Jacen, who then noticed the light, and offered to come with his, saying that he wanted to get a candy bar from the storage room as well. The two then walked quietly towards the cockpit.
Jacen stood in the doorway and kept his eyes aimed toward the hallway leading into the galley, allowing Chewie to take the copilot's chair and cue up the message on the comm. He made sure to play it on a single speaker, and he turned the volume low as the message loaded into the comm's immediate memory.
Chewie set the tracking device on to trace the signals original and found with great relief that there was still a trail to follow in order to locate it. The trace would take a while, so with a thumbs up from Jacen, he flipped the switch and the message came on:
"Chewie, it's Han. Leia and I are on Hodan III, in the mid western hemisphere, about 5 kilometers out from a fort-like installation. We're staying with some natives but the guys behind all this aren't going to go away. We need you to get here, fast. In about 26 standard hours, we're going to be at latitude 25 degrees North, longitude 15 degrees West. Remember: don't tell Luke."
"Don't tell me what?"Luke asked as he stood in the doorway to the cockpit. "Was that Han's voice?"
Chewie turned around and glared at Jacen, who then turned around to look at Luke. The boy hadn't been watching very well, apparently.
Chewie growled an unconvincing "no" as Lando meandered into the group, followed by Anakin.
"Play that again," Luke replied, sure that what he'd heard had been the tone of his old friend.
Chewie protested that it was nothing, but Luke leaned over the Wookie and pushed the comm command to call for the message to play again.
The message played much louder the second time, and Luke glowered at his companions upon hearing that his suspicions were all to accurate. When Han's last comment hit his ears he was puzzled, and a little hurt though he knew that the two captives would have god reason to hold back the information.
"Why didn't you tell me?" his eyes drifted from Chewie, to Lando, to Jacen, and then to Anakin, who appeared as puzzled as he. It gave him a little comfort to think he hadn't been the only one left in the dark.
"Dad said not to," Jacen replied.
"And you chose now to start listening to him?"
The room went a little silent. This occurrence was followed by another long silence, which lead into a quiet pause, permeated by a dinging noise as the bell on the oven in the galley rung out it's news that Lando's nightly snack was warm.
"I'm going after them," Luke said, waking everyone from their mental meanderings.
Chewie gave up on his immediate idea to hit himself in the head again, and turned around in his chair to start of the /Falcon/'s engines. He growled at Luke, telling the him that they were going to follow Han's instructions, and he was to stay put.
"I'm coming," Lando said, slipping into the pilot's seat and aiding Chewie with starting the ship up. He turned back to Luke, "Take the boys and go home, Chewie and I'll have them back by tomorrow morning."
"No, I'm not staying here, I've been sitting around with you four for days on end and I'm not going to sit this out."
Chewie growled at him to leave, though in no way thinking that he'd listen.
"I'll get my X-Wing and meet you in orbit in a hour," Luke replied, ignoring Chewie's protest and heading out the door.
Jacen and Anakin looked at each other, than at the adults. "We want to come." The elder stated.
Luke turned back at his students as Chewie and Lando looked over their shoulders, all saying a quick and finale, "No."
He scanned his opponents informally, appearing to keep an eye on the quirks which either of them might present. But that was all for show. The Wookiee quickly made eye contact with Jacen and the boy winked, signaling him that it was safe to call for a few more credits onto pot.
Lando glanced over his shoulder, but Jacen looked back down at his data pad and attempted to look busy. "What're you doin'?" Lando asked, apparently finding Jacen's silence to be not only out of the ordinary but also suspicious.
Chewie growled to call Lando's attention back to the game. Besides, Jacen was supposed to be working on his language homework anyway. Not that any of it would get done until an hour or so before it's due. He still found it necessary to keep the kid busy and his mind of the situation they were all in.
That, of course, had been the original purpose for the game night they were all having. Though it was hardly going as such. Every few minutes Jacen, Chewie or Lando would glance at the comm indicator to see if there was a message, something that Chewie was sure had caught their observant Jedi Master's attention.
It hadn't been his idea to invite Luke, not that he didn't want him there, but he had never been very good at keeping secrets, and staring down a Jedi all night wasn't going to help. Despite the fact that he'd been the only one a little worried about the idea in the beginning, his two partners in crime were the one's causing the most suspicion.
He was surprised that Luke hadn't mentioned anything, with the looks Lando and Jacen were giving the comm and each other, Chewie could have spotted it if he were drunken blind man with bad hearing.
Luke was apparently a little distracted. He hadn't won a single game, and he kept staring off into space whenever his attention drifted. Chewie'd never seen him like that, or at least not for years and years, back when he and Han first bet the kid and his crazy cooke of a Master.
"This game is going to hell, how about we call it a night and go home," Lando offered with a bit of a sigh. He was losing, so his suggestion wasn't something to be taken seriously.
Chewie growled a definitive "No" and called for a show of cards.
Lando gave an irritated grunt and laid his cards out as Chewie did the same. Luke followed suit nonchalantly, looking bored and tired. Chewie won the round without question. The Wookie put on a smug look and pulled the pile of credits towards his side of the table.
He flipped a credit Jacen's way, but Anakin caught it mid air. Jacen glared at the younger boy, who then reluctantly handed it over, sitting back down on the bunk nearby.
Chewie shoveled the cash into a pouch and put it in a place of safe keeping before returning to the table and setting up to deal another round. He glanced at the comm indicator for the millionth time as he dealt the cards, then grunted at Luke to ask him what was on his mind.
"I don't know... I can't sense her, I can't feel either of them," Luke replied, lifting up his cards to take a look at what he'd got, then laying them back down, exhausted and uncaring. "I just feels like we're not going to find them."
Chewie looked at Lando, and the Lando looked down at the table. When he turned his eyes to Jacen, the boy was feigning concentration on his datapad. He finally growled the only reassurance he could and returned to looking at his cards.
He lumped a few credits into the pot and set in for the long haul on another profitable, yet incredibly boring game of Sabaac. He found it hard to believe, but he might have actually enjoyed it better if he was losing, as long as the room wouldn't stay so uncomfortably quiet. The /Falcon/ had never been this quiet as far as he'd known her, and it was an uncannily annoying sensation for it to be so now.
With a quick glance to the comm light once again, he tossed a card into the radomizer. Then it registered in his head that the light had been blinking and he turned back to look at it. Sure enough, the little red light was flashing it's beady signal across the room. It was then that Chewie noticed the vexing little beeping noise that accompanied the light, but he pretended to ignore it for a minute while he decided on a course of action.
He gave a look to Lando who appeared to have noticed the light as well. "Could you get me a drink, Chewie, my throat's a little dry," Lando said, pulling at his collar as he gave Chewie a reason to leave the game.
Chewie howled a yes and got up from his chair, nodding at Jacen, who then noticed the light, and offered to come with his, saying that he wanted to get a candy bar from the storage room as well. The two then walked quietly towards the cockpit.
Jacen stood in the doorway and kept his eyes aimed toward the hallway leading into the galley, allowing Chewie to take the copilot's chair and cue up the message on the comm. He made sure to play it on a single speaker, and he turned the volume low as the message loaded into the comm's immediate memory.
Chewie set the tracking device on to trace the signals original and found with great relief that there was still a trail to follow in order to locate it. The trace would take a while, so with a thumbs up from Jacen, he flipped the switch and the message came on:
"Chewie, it's Han. Leia and I are on Hodan III, in the mid western hemisphere, about 5 kilometers out from a fort-like installation. We're staying with some natives but the guys behind all this aren't going to go away. We need you to get here, fast. In about 26 standard hours, we're going to be at latitude 25 degrees North, longitude 15 degrees West. Remember: don't tell Luke."
"Don't tell me what?"Luke asked as he stood in the doorway to the cockpit. "Was that Han's voice?"
Chewie turned around and glared at Jacen, who then turned around to look at Luke. The boy hadn't been watching very well, apparently.
Chewie growled an unconvincing "no" as Lando meandered into the group, followed by Anakin.
"Play that again," Luke replied, sure that what he'd heard had been the tone of his old friend.
Chewie protested that it was nothing, but Luke leaned over the Wookie and pushed the comm command to call for the message to play again.
The message played much louder the second time, and Luke glowered at his companions upon hearing that his suspicions were all to accurate. When Han's last comment hit his ears he was puzzled, and a little hurt though he knew that the two captives would have god reason to hold back the information.
"Why didn't you tell me?" his eyes drifted from Chewie, to Lando, to Jacen, and then to Anakin, who appeared as puzzled as he. It gave him a little comfort to think he hadn't been the only one left in the dark.
"Dad said not to," Jacen replied.
"And you chose now to start listening to him?"
The room went a little silent. This occurrence was followed by another long silence, which lead into a quiet pause, permeated by a dinging noise as the bell on the oven in the galley rung out it's news that Lando's nightly snack was warm.
"I'm going after them," Luke said, waking everyone from their mental meanderings.
Chewie gave up on his immediate idea to hit himself in the head again, and turned around in his chair to start of the /Falcon/'s engines. He growled at Luke, telling the him that they were going to follow Han's instructions, and he was to stay put.
"I'm coming," Lando said, slipping into the pilot's seat and aiding Chewie with starting the ship up. He turned back to Luke, "Take the boys and go home, Chewie and I'll have them back by tomorrow morning."
"No, I'm not staying here, I've been sitting around with you four for days on end and I'm not going to sit this out."
Chewie growled at him to leave, though in no way thinking that he'd listen.
"I'll get my X-Wing and meet you in orbit in a hour," Luke replied, ignoring Chewie's protest and heading out the door.
Jacen and Anakin looked at each other, than at the adults. "We want to come." The elder stated.
Luke turned back at his students as Chewie and Lando looked over their shoulders, all saying a quick and finale, "No."
