Chapter 8
The Falcon flies over the endless green forest, heading towards a castle residing on the edge of a picturesque lake. Han lands the Falcon among the parked freighters.
Rey immediately rushes off the ship in order to experience the forests surroundings. BB-8 follows after her.
Han heads to the back of the ship to the lounge area. Chewie, now up and about, passes him to head outside.
He looks to the back of the ship and sees Elsi curled up on the bench fast asleep. He was worried that him speaking about Ben and the past to Finn and Rey would cause Elsi to have nightmares about the memories. The smile on her face indicated otherwise. Seemed like she was having a good dream, hopefully full of good memories.
Leaving her to rest for a few moments more, he heads to the storage unit to retrieve some old blasters.
Finn walked up behind him concerned. "Hey, Solo, I'm not sure what we're walking into here-"
"Did you just call me Solo? And keep your voice down." Han gestures to Elsi who was still asleep.
"Sorry. Han- Mr. Solo. You should know, I'm a big deal in the Resistance. Which puts a real target on my back. Are there any conspirators here? First Order sympathizers?"
Han had enough with Finn, it was obvious he wasn't part of the resistance. "Listen big deal, you've got another problem. Women always figure out the truth." Han hands him a blaster and then heads over to wake Elsi.
Finn walks off the ship, filled with guilt for keeping Rey in the dark about his past.
"Elsi?" Han whispers kneeling by her side. He gently brushes her hair off her face in a fatherly gesture and he is happy to see that she still has a small smile on her face. "Elsi?"
She slowly starts to wake up. Elsi jumps a little at seeing someone above her. But after realising it was just Han she calms and flushes a little in embarrassment that she was just dreaming about this man's son.
"We're here. We'll be heading out in a moment."
Elsi sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
"I guess that using the force again really took a lot of energy out of you huh kid."
"Yeh I guess so." Elsi stretched out her arms above her head.
"It might be a good idea to practise some more. Get used to it all again. You never know when you might need to save someone."
Elsi raised her brow at Han pointedly. "Is that supposed to be a thank you?"
Han chuckled under his breath. "Yeh I suppose it is."
"Well it's the least I could do after all you have done for me." They both stood. "Besides wouldn't want you to be screaming the ship down like Chewie did if that shot had hit you."
Chewie obviously heard them from nearby and let out a roar in protest.
Elsi and Han laughed.
"You go ahead Han, I'll catch up, just got to get sorted first."
"Sure thing kid."
As Elsi watched Han head towards the front of the ship, she teasingly called out to him. "And don't worry, I didn't move any of your stuff around, whilst you weren't here."
Han smiled at the memory of his son and Elsi's prank from many years ago, happy that the woman in front of him still retained the fun part of herself from all those years ago.
Han walked down the ramp and out of the ship to hand a blaster to Rey.
Elsi needed to cover her face. They were heading into Maz's Palace. It's a big place for gamblers, traders, bounty hunters, and mercenaries. Elsi knew she would be recognised as the bounty hunter 'The Fae', so she had to protect her identity. She put on her full face mask and cowl hood. She made sure that her blaster was fully charged and loaded and took a moment to feel the force surrounding her.
Letting out three large breaths Elsi could feel as objects in the room started to rise around her and slowly she lowered them back down; fully in control.
Deciding she was ready Elsi left the ship and headed off after the others.
As she neared them she heard Han speaking.
"Do you think it was luck that Chewie and I found the Falcon? If we can find it on our scanners, the First Order's not far behind. Want to get BB-8 to the Resistance? Maz Kanata is our best bet."
"We can trust her, right?"
"Relax, kid. She's run this watering hole for a thousand years. Maz is a bit of an acquired taste, so let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don't stare..."
"At what?"
"Any of it." Han and Elsi said together as Elsi caught up to them.
"I'm going to go in round the back, check around and make sure no one follows you as you speak to Maz." Elsi walked past them and calls back over her shoulder. "Oh and Han, lets try to get out of this without owing anyone anymore money yeh?"
Han scoffed in response and Elsi walked away before he could make a retort.
Elsi ran off around the side of the building to head into the palace through the back so that she would be undetected in the shadows. Last thing she wanted was for someone to recognise her as a bounty hunter and question what she was doing there; even if it was often a place she would hang out. She still didn't want Han and the others to learn who she was. She only hoped that they ignored the gangs that questioned whether she was 'The Fae' when they boarded Han's ship.
Elsi entered the hall through the back window. Sticking to the shadows she could see the crowded hall full of both aliens and humans. Many were gathering around in groups gambling, drinking, arguing and even fighting.
Elsi followed parallel with the others as they walk up to the four-foot-tall alien Maz.
Maz turns to look at Han as he approaches. "HAN SOLO!"
The room goes silent. Elsi surveys the room and checks to see any potential threats.
"Oh boy." Han mutters under his breath. "Hey Maz!" he shouts louder over at her. Maz walks towards him.
Elsi sees them discussing things as Maz leads them over to a table to eat. She was really hungry but knew that she couldn't walk near Han Solo and have everyone associate The Fae bounty hunter with him. They all needed protecting.
But that wouldn't stop her from grabbing something from the bar counter.
Elsi sat down on a stool and ordered a drink.
"Been a while since I've seen you around here Fae."
Elsi looks up shocked at the other bounty hunter that sat down on the stool next to her.
"Hey Zizu."
"Heard you've been busy." Zizu and Elsi had met a few times over the years, mostly when their bounties had crossed. She didn't dislike him, though she wasn't particularly fond of him either. He didn't know what she looked like due to her mask, but she equally had no clue of his identity due to his own disguise.
"Yeh and what's that supposed to mean?" Elsi questioned cautiously.
"Rumour is that The Fae was found on a giant Freighter with Han Solo and a resistance droid. Seeing that the resistance droid is here, as is Han Solo, and you as well. Let's just say it's not that hard to put it all together. Are you working with them?"
"I wouldn't speak so loud if I were you Zizu, you may not be speaking much longer." Elsi had calmly pulled her blaster out whilst speaking, to which Zizu put both his hands up in surrender.
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't worry 'bout it, I'm not gonna say anything, just thought I would warn you." Zizu moved closed to speak quieter. "The corner to the left, see Grummgar and Bazine?"
Elsi glanced out of the corner of her eye to see the enormous Grummgar sitting with Bazine, both low life's. They were looking over at Hans group, watching them suspiciously as they spoke. At this point for some reason Maz was crawling across the top of the table towards Finn. "Yeh?"
Zizu continued. "Heard those two just became loyal to the first order. Bet that they will have heard the same rumours as me about that droid and any moment they're going to alert the enemy of this location." True enough a moment later Bazine left Grummgar's side and headed out of the room down a dark corridor.
Elsi shot up and rushed to follow her, leaving her untouched drink behind.
Elsi attempts to rush through the crowd but there are too many people in her way. She needed to stop Bazine before she contacted the first order.
As Elsi rushes through the crowd as stealthily as possible she notices Finn and Rey talking, or rather arguing in front of a rough group of transport dealers.
She overhears Finn. "I'm not Resistance. I'm not a hero. I'm a Stormtrooper."
Elsi should have guessed. He seemed to know a lot about the first order and he definitely wasn't resistance. She felt bad knowing he was stolen from home as a child and forced to fight in a war that wasn't his, for an army that never even gave him a name; just a number. She made sure she would talk to him about it later.
Elsi turned her attention back to the task at hand, only to see Bazine enter a dark corridor in front of her. Bazine began to pull out a communicator.
"Inform the First Order, I –"
Elsi snuck up undetected behind her. "Don't even think about finishing that sentence." Elsi had a blaster pointed directly at Bazine's head. "Hand over the communicator and maybe I'll let you live."
Bazine lowered the device from her face and peaked at Elsi. "Fae, its been a while. Heard you chose the wrong side. Seeing as you're here with that droid I'm guessing I was right. Unless you were planning on handing that thing over to the first order yourself." When Bazine saw the look on Elsi's face she decided to edge her on a little more. "There's a pretty decent reward on that droid, and on anyone caught with it as well. Thought that would be something you would be interested in, seeing as you have no loyalties to anyone."
"Careful Bazine!" Elsi pressed the blaster harder onto the side of Bazine's head, causing Bazine to raise her hands in defence; though she did so almost mockingly. "Don't forget that I can beat your ass with or without this blaster in my hands."
"Yeh, well at least-" Bazine's mouth continued moving but no sound was coming out. She was still talking, though Elsi couldn't hear her. She looked around confused. A blur of sound echoed through Elsi's ears; as though the world was under water. Flashes appeared before her causing her to automatically clasp her head in pain and fear.
Bazine, seeing her chance, kicked the blaster from Elsi's hand, followed by a roundhouse kick into her chest knocking her back into the wall. "Don't worry I'll let you live. But only so that the first order will pay me more for delivering you and the droid alive." Bazine leaned down to stare at Elsi who was still against the wall, clutching her head. "Looks like I'll be taking that reward Fae." Bazine pulls out her com device and begins to send a transmission. "Inform the first order that I've found the droid and the fugitive rebel scum accompanying it."
Authors Note:
Hi all, I hope you are enjoying this story. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Next chapter is one of my favourites, something I have been leading up to. Could it be the reunion? Thanks everyone for reading my story. ZV.
