Leia was never a morning person as a child. However, after years of self teaching, she was able to get out of bed with military speed. And such an ability was useful as she rushed out of her chambers with a Rebel soldier who had woken her up to tell her what was happening. Han Solo was escaping.

The control room was abuzz with voices and shouts as Leia entered and immediately went to the comm network, one of the officers was attempting to contact the Millennium Falcon while another officer was directing an air patrol to attack.

"No! Delay that order." Leia snapped. "We are not shooting on Captain Solo. Order the x-wings to maneuver the ship back to the ground."

The officer looked dubious. "I'm sorry your Highness, but Solo is a prime suspect, we can't treat him like an allie."

Leia lifted her chin up, deciding not to explode in the idiot before her. "Tell them to stand down. That's an order, private." She sneered. Promptly the officer nodded, knowing the woman had full power to demote him to such a rank as he set in new orders.

Leia now turned to the comms. "Have you made contact?"

The second officer shook his head. "I've tried, I can't find the same frequency as the Falcon." He said stiffly.

Leia frowned and moved closer, thinking a moment before taking the controls briefly. Within a few moments the channel crackled to life. "Captain Solo, this Princess Leia Organa. I am ordering you to stand down." She said sternly. There was no answer.

"Solo, I know you can hear me." Leia snapped, and she knew it well. As much as she hated the hunk of junk Han flew around, she had come to understand it. All the important details anyways, like how to contact the flying trashcan.

Suddenly Han's responded. "Hello Highness, ready to lecture me about running?" He asked sarcastically.

Leia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Land the Falcon, running will not fix anything!"

"Yeah, because sitting around while your investigators built a false case against me was really working out." Came the strained answer. No doubt Solo was trying to break for space without hurting the rebels who tried to herd him back to the ground.

Leia sighed. "They weren't building a case against you-"

"Listen Sweetheart, this deal is over. Been around long enough to know how you rebels do your jobs."

"Han . . ." Leia bit her lip. For once in her life, at a loss for words.

Helplessly Leia looked around the room, deep down wishing for Luke by her side. Despite his inexperience, he could have helped her a great deal with Han.

"Return to base. Or we will be forced to take extreme measures."

~~~

Han heard a thump behind him, glancing back for a half second to see Tallis rubbing her lekku while helping Chewie untangle a mass of wires they had yet to fix. The temperamental hyperdrive controls to be exact. Without them, the hyperdrive was basically useless.

And Leia's threat was not making things any better as the x-wing's broke off, no doubt taking on the orders to fire on his ship. Han had no doubt they'd try to simply disable the Falcon, but one miscalculated shot could ruin a lot of things for everybody.

So Han didn't answer Leia, despite really wanting to burst out some angry rant at her. Silence was their only move to stall the rebels.

Han glanced at Chewbacca, who seemed about ready as they climbed for space and hopeful freedom. The x-wings right behind them.

Suddenly the ship shook, the shields protected the Falcon, but it was clear now. The Rebels were the enemy.

Han snapped off the comms. "Chewie, if ever I needed you to pull through, now's the time buddy."

Chewbacca roared. Just a few more seconds. Han hoped he could work with that as he spun the ship in a barrel role, barely avoiding an onslaught of laser fire.

"Chewie!" Han tried not to shout at his friend, but it just came out as they left Yavin 4's atmosphere. The hyperspace lane was ahead, the coordinates set. The rebels were firing.

Chewbacca grunted, yowled, and suddenly the pinpoints of stars turned into streaks, mixed together, and the ship rocked as they entered hyperspace.

Han could hardly believe it. "Good work pal!

The wookiee howled in victory as Han clapped him in the back. However such a victory was short lived as the reality of everything sunk in. Han wouldn't admit it, but he already missed Leia, and the kid. Even the old loco Jedi and the annoying droids. He was going to miss them for a long time.

"Alright Chewie, let's get to work. Blue where would you like to get dropped off?" Han asked casually as he and Chewbacca stood and headed towards the back of the Falcon to do a quick check for any major damage.

"Dropped off?" Came the incredulous answer. The Togruta jumped up and followed them, her voice raising. "Dropped off?! That's the thanks I get for sticking my neck out for you two?"

Han snorted. "You're this Jedi aren't you? I'm sure you can get a ride back to the kid."

Tallis mockingly snorted back. "Yeah and the detention block!"

Grinning, Han finally stopped and turned to face the short alien. "Relax Blue, I doubt Chewie would let me dump you anyways."

Chewbacca grunted in agreement, patting Tallis' shoulder. Han sure wouldn't get rid of somebody Chewbacca liked.

Tallis blinked, blushed a dark blue, and reserved herself promptly. "Well, then what are you planning to do?" She asked curiously.

Han shrugged. "Get back to my life of course. We'll pay off Jabba, get back to smugglin', and if we do find something to help Luke-"

"We do have something that can help." Tallis interrupted eagerly.

Han frowned and folded his arms. "What do you mean?"

"I stole some evidence before coming to get you." Tallis said with a smile. "The whole reason I needed you out was because you're the only one I know who could know what this is." From the small brown pack on her belt, Tallis took out something wrapped in thick cloth, offering it to Han.

Han himself was not especially eager, but he took it and unwrapped the object. What he saw was not what he expected. A gnarled piece of heavily scorched metal, with a partial pattern on it.

"Okay, enlighten me why don't ya?" Han asked while moving to a brighter source of light to get a look at what Tallis claimed was evidence.

"It was found after the explosion. They think it's an Outer Rim syndicate insignia, but the Rebels have very little identification technology, so they aren't sure what it is." Tallis explained, followed Han as they stood under one of the Falcon's better working hall lights.

Han made a grunting sound in the back of his throat as he stared at the symbol thoughtfully. He was pretty sure he knew what it was, and where it came from . . .

"It's not a crime syndicate, not a big one anyways. It's a brand, really rare, very hard to find. I don't think the Rebels would've ever been able to identify it." Han mused.

"Where did it come from then?"

Han lowered the piece and wrapped it up, gave it back to the girl and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's a illegal goods company, found on Nar Shaddaa. It wasn't just any bomber, this one was probably a real bounty hunter."

Tallis blinked. "The leadership didn't know about the Empire's bounty til the day Luke was hurt. How could a bounty hunter know."

Han shrugged. "Some hunters have real loyalties to the Empire. They get informed of Imperial bounties first. Sometimes in person even. And it's best to never screw with them." He added grimly.

The young girl grew a pale blue. Han was half afraid she'd faint as Tallis whispered softly. "And I left Luke, Obi-Wan isn't well, there's no one to protect him!" She exclaimed, turning around with the probable intent to do something rash.

Han grabbed Tallis by the arm and stopped her on her tracks. "Take a breath Blue. The Rebels still think I did it, the assassin is more than likely not even on Yavin 4 anymore, he probably thinks Luke is dead."

The kid seemed to calm down, so Han continued, attempting to sound reassuring and confident. "Leia will be taking every measure to protect Luke, meanwhile we'll try to narrow it down and find the hunter." Han didn't include the fact that other hunters might be after Luke. Tallis would not take that well, therefore she really did not need to know.

Slowly the youngster nodded, taking a few calming breaths, and calmed down fully. "Alright, alright... but where do we start? We don't have many leads."

Han gave a grim smirk. "True, but we've got one. Let's start at Nar Shaddaa."