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Irreconcilable, Perhaps
Chapter II: In A New Light
"Don't be fooled into thinking anything," Leia said as she pulled her helmet on and climbed into the passenger's seat. "I just gave in because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get away at all before dark."
"Whatever you say, princess," Han replied, unmoved, and sat down in the pilot's seat.
"Stop calling me that!" she snapped at him.
With a hiss, the glass dome lowered over the speeder. For a moment, Leia toyed with the idea of simply turning off her base radio in order to have some peace and quiet for a moment. But then she thought communication with the pilot was worse.
A high hum sounded, the engine started, and they rolled onto the runway.
"Don't you fly like crazy," she ordered into her mike. "I don't care if you wreck your ship, but this speeder is the property of the Alliance."
"Don't you have any confidence in me, sweetheart? I've already sat in the cockpit since..."
"—I still played with dolls, yeah yeah. Somehow, that doesn't calm me down at all. "
The repulsor drive howled when Han Solo accelerated the snowspeeder, and they shot over the edge of the northern plateau into the icy desert. Lea supported herself on the backrests of her seat, pushed forward by the speed; the passenger, who was responsible for the twin laser cannons among other controls, sat with their back to the pilot. "Could you fly a few more circles around the base? I would like to see the progress of the work from above. "
"Whatever you want," he replied. The speeder made a tight turn and looped over Echo Base, which lay on an ice-covered mountain slope.
The base itself had been built into the massive ice caverns in order to draw as little attention as possible to its location. General lack of space demanded that the generators required for every-day operation be installed into the delicate glacier walls. Apart from Hangar 7, there were two other entrances on the south side of the premises, which were mainly used by the larger transport ships. Trenches had begun around the base. The construction of the DF.9 turrets was almost complete.
"The general is right; the work is going well," said Leia with satisfaction.
"As if those would help us if the Empire really got onto us," Han commented. "You know that as well as I do."
"Of course, but they'll buy us enough time. And thanks to the sensors, which the special season should be scouting out, we will hopefully be warned in good time as well."
"Well, if you say so..." She could clearly pick out the disbelief in his voice.
They flew again along the north side of the base, where the v-150 ion cannon loomed. "It's really fascinating what has happened here in the last few months," said Lea. "The final tests are currently being carried out on the ion cannon, and then it will be ready for use. Hopefully that will keep the Imperial Starfleet at bay long enough in the event of an evacuation."
"You've thought of everything, huh?"
"Do you have any doubts about my strategic abilities?" she asked challengingly.
"By no means, your Highnesses!" he returned. "But the thought that, in an attack, our lives depend on trenches and an ion cannon that takes longer to reload than me flying from here to the Anoat system is not exactly comforting."
"By then, you wouldn't have to be here if it worries you so much," she said pointedly.
"Are you saying I'm scared?" His laugh came through her headphones. "I've survived things, you can't even imagine, honey."
He let the speeder rise steeply, and they flew over Echo Base with only a few meters' distance to spare.
"Above all, I can't imagine how you and your Wookiee are still alive with your way of flying," she commented, instinctively bracing her arms.
"Don't worry, you won't crash with me."
"Good, because being stuck with you in the ice desert is not exactly on my agenda."
"Why not? Could be romantic."
An icy silence came from Leia's side of the cockpit.
"Oh come on, why can't you just admit that at least you don't hate a smuggler like me as much as you say you do? Or would that be too much for your royalness?"
"You can turn off here," she said, simply ignoring his last remarks. "Fly towards the Moorsh Moraine, the plateau to the north. I'd like to take a closer look at the terrain there."
"Fine!"
He jerked the speeder around harder than necessary. Centripetal force pushed Leia to the side, and an oath broke through her lips. "I should have known it was a bad idea to let you fly!"
"Well now, don't get so excited; that wasn't anything," he said, voice relaxed. "I've got this machine fully under control."
"You say that!"
"Listen, the Correlians are the best pilots in the whole galaxy! Ever heard of the Corellian Engineering Society? They built some of the best ships in the universe."
"One of them isn't your Falcon, by any chance?" She raised her eyebrows skeptically, even if he couldn't see it.
"Naturally. The freighter YT-1300. Although I have to admit that there isn't much left of the original parts."
"No surprise. That's exactly what it looks like."
"Hey, can you stop insulting my ship?" he asked indignantly. "What do you have against her anyway?"
"It's unreliable!"
"It has character!" he corrected. "There's no other ship like her in the universe."
"That I believe."
For a moment they were both silent. The ice and snow-covered ground rushed some hundred meters below them. Time and again, crevasses opened below in it or low mountain ranges rose up to meet the speeder. A herd of giant wild tauntauns passed on one level, the upright snow lizards that the rebels used as mounts.
"One of the things I do know about Corellia is that there are a great many pirates and villains living there," she said finally. "Projecting along the average, I guess you are probably a typical Corellian." She grinned slightly. That would win her the argument, for sure.
"I already know what you think of me," he said dryly. "But smuggling goods past the empire is not exactly a capital crime."
"You're still a villain."
"Maybe there just haven't been enough villains in your life yet?"
"I doubt that," she muttered. But the triumphant grin didn't completely disappear from her face.
The speeder cruised over a lake, the water of which had long ago frozen into a dark ice sheet that had cracked in several places. Then there was only white snow under them again, a cold desert that stretched out to the horizon.
They didn't speak to each other for a while. Leia studied the surface beneath them carefully and resolved to delve into the maps again once she returned to Echo Base. Knowing the terrain well could be of vital importance in an attack.
"We'd better be going back soon," Han said finally. "It's getting dark, and it's better not to be out here then. You can continue your ...exploratory flight at a different time."
"It's that late already!" Startled, Leia glanced at her watch. She hadn't noticed how quickly time had passed. "Right. You're right. Better we go back," she decided. "If the temperature drops, that could still paralyze the speeder."
"My thoughts exactly, sweetheart. And I'm really not keen on a night outdoors."
"You think I am?"
The speeder maneuvered into an elegant turn and then shot on, back in the direction of Echo base. Leia felt Han increase their velocity and wanted to have a look at the speedometer. The ground beneath them blurred into a white surface.
...Or maybe better not.
"Are you having fun up here?" she asked.
He laughed. "Not the same as the Falcon, but this cart has a lot to offer."
"Oh, wonderful," she muttered, frowning wryly.
She sank into thought and was torn from it only when the glider suddenly braked and lost height. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Do we have a problem?"
"Nah, but you should take a look out at that," came Han's voice from the headphones.
"Why, what?" She tried to turn her head, but couldn't see anything suspicious. "What is it!" But she got no answer. The speeder sagged deeper and deeper and finally landed on the ground in the flat plane, if a bit roughly. With a hiss, the dome opened, and freezing cold air swept through. Leia pulled the collar of her jacket higher, released her belt, and clambered out.
"Now if you would finally have the kindness to tell me—" She turned and fell silent.
It was wonderful.
To their right, the last streak of the Hoth star was disappearing in a deep blue glow over the horizon—even so, Leia's eyes remained transfixed on the fantasia of colors spread above it. In the south, a shimmering band of red and purple light wound across the velvety black sky. The colors flowed into one another, moving easily like a hologram of ribbons.
"This is... really wonderful," Leia said softly.
Han nodded. "An aurora borealis—so far from the vpole, it's quite rare. Charged particles of the star hit the atmosphere and make the oxygen atoms glow. You see, even this ice cube has something beautiful to offer."
"Yes, actually." She smiled.
"Reminds me a bit of the rainbow storms on Yavin IV... Have you seen one of those?"
She nodded. "They are breathtaking. The whole sky in all the colors of the rainbow..."
"Here, the whirled up ice crystals break the light of the star..." he explained. "The principle is actually not that different from a normal rainbow."
She crossed her arms and eyed him, shaking her head. "You need an explanation for everything, don't you? Can't you just enjoy a phenomenon like this?"
Han just shrugged. "I'm a spaceman; what do you expect from me?"
"Yes, what do I expect from you..." But it didn't sound too mocking, almost gentle.
They just stood there for a while and watched the dancing arcs weave and glow, weave and glow. When Leia began to shiver, Han involuntarily put an arm around her and pulled her a little closer to him. She let it happen, and together they watched the colors slowly fade into the sky.
A/N: Reply to reviewer "Guest": Thank you! I'm truly glad you enjoyed reading these two goofs. I enjoyed writing them!
