Chapter 18 - Meeting Legends
The Emerald Raptor
Edge of New Republic Space
Their situation had already been desperate, but now it had moved to near hopeless. Poe's mind raced with plans, counter plans, and then promptly shot down each one despairingly. They couldn't run, they didn't have enough power to fight, and the ship fast approaching them had all the intentions of boarding them. As the ship approached though, he saw that it was oddly shaped and most certainly not like the dagger design of First Order warships.
"What is that thing, anyway?" Poe asked. Rey scrutinized at it for a long moment, tilting her head to the side.
"I think it might be a freighter."
"A cargo hauler?" Poe asked in disbelief, "The heck is it doing out here?"
"That beacon must've attracted it here," Finn answered, "Poe, did anybody come by the ship while we were gone?"
"Not while I was there," he shook his head, "Rey?"
"I have no idea. For all I know, Zuvio might've installed it without me knowing. Maybe as an insurance policy, I dunno."
"That be the case," Poe interjected, "what are we dealing with here, exactly? I mean surely these guys can't be First Order. They wouldn't send a freighter to get us, and we're in New Republic Space now!"
"No, but I do think I know who this might be," Finn replied, moving up to the cockpit to get a closer look. Unfortunately, details aside from shape were blacked out with the sun being at the ship's bow. Still, it was enough to make the assumption. "The First Order has a number of pirate and mercenary companies on payroll."
"That makes sense," Rey nodded, "plausible deniability. Plus, while those jackboot thugs-no offense."
"None taken."
"Well, they can't come into our space, but a mercenary company could, right?"
Poe shrugged, "The charter is still in effect, sure, but a lot of Counselor Organa's policies back when she was Chancellor dried up most of the work out here."
"Hence why they came to us," Finn concluded, "we were willing to pay, and this is exactly the sort of situation they were hired for."
"Great," Poe groaned, "what are we dealing with, exactly?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. Guavian Death Gang, Crimson Corsairs, Fett's Bounty Hunting Guild... It could be anybody and they could be bringing anything."
"Great again. Rey, is there someplace to hide?"
"Yes, but if they search thoroughly enough or bring sensors, they're going to find us."
"Hmm, that's true," Poe said, putting his hand over his chin, "we'd need something to kill 'em remotely or put them down long enough so we could sneak past 'em or something."
"Do we have any explosives?" Finn asked, "I could jury rig one of the doors."
"You are not putting bombs on my baby!" Rey exclaimed, "Besides, we don't have any."
Vee-dee-Bee-Boop, BB-8 suddenly said.
"What'd he say?" Finn asked.
"Nitro-Tibana Gas," Poe answered, "Finn, you think these guys might bring hazard suits or something like that?"
"Doubt it. There's still a breathable atmosphere."
"Good. We can try poisoning them, then. Rey?"
"I'd have to disassemble one of the fuel intake valves. I have no idea how long that will take."
"Well, we have about ten minutes before that thing swallows us."
"I can certainly try."
I thought you Jedi didn't believe in trying! BB-8 beeped sarcastically, Do or do not and all that drivel?
"That's not even what that line means!" Rey exasperated.
"Focus you two," Finn growled, "we'll need respirators. You have any?"
"Go down to the galley. Left wall, third drawer over."
"Copy," and Finn was off to get them. Rey quickly followed suit, shouting as she did:
"I'll need BB-8!"
Poe nodded, and the droid took off after her. Poe sat back in his chair, and started flipping off sub-systems throughout the ship. Their plan hinged entirely on whoever it was to keep moving towards them and not get too suspicious about their stranded prey. So, he had to make them read as bent, broken and stranded as they looked. When he was finished, the ship was simply floating in the vacuum.
"Okay, hope this works," Poe grunted as he swung out of his chair and made his way down to the engine room. He actually tripped halfway there when Rey popped up from the floor beneath him, the grating falling to the side.
"The hell?" Poe asked as he collected himself from the floor. Rey shot him an apologetic look before she disappeared under the crawl space.
"Sorry," she called out to him, "the intake valves from the engine room were sealed by the heat. I had to follow the fuel line to another one."
"Y'know, you've got a bit of an affinity for crawl spaces," Poe smirked.
"Not as much as Master Solusar," she replied, her voice muffled as she stuck her head in something Poe couldn't quite see, "you should've seen him after the Nakatomi Affair. I'm surprised he didn't lose his feet after walking barefoot on all that plas-glass."
"I heard about that. Something 'bout terrorists or something?"
"Yeah, Kam was visiting his wife for Life Day when the place got hijacked. They wanted to steal the company's bearer bonds. He got separated from his lightsaber and had to take them out the old fashion way. Heh, everybody started calling him 'cowboy' after that-ow!"
"You okay?" Poe called down.
"Yeah," Rey growled, doing her damndest to keep the pain out of her voice but failing, "burned my hand on a fuse line. Just a few more minutes and I'll have it-"
Suddenly, Finn came running in, "We've got a problem."
"Oh great," Poe snorted, "now what?"
He was answered when the ship started to jolt and spasm as if a giant hand had just plucked them from the vacuum and was dragging them away, kicking and screaming.
"Tractor beam," Finn answered.
"Well, that speeds things up," Poe facepalmed before dragging his fingers through his hair, "that gives us about 60 seconds to bend over and kiss our sorry butts goodbye."
"60 seconds!?" Rey exclaimed from below, "I can't do this in 60 seconds! That's not enough time!"
"Could we try going the other way?" Finn asked.
"If the engine was working properly, yes," Poe grumbled, "If we put anymore pressure on it, it might just blow."
"Plan B, then," Finn nodded as he threw over a pair of respirator mask over to Poe. He then gestured down in the hole, "get in, and hand this to Rey."
"Whatchya thinking, buddy?"
"Well, it will take at least a few minutes for them to board us. We use that time to our advantage."
"Well, it's better than nothing, I suppose."
Quickly, they got to expanding the bulkhead so the three of them could fit when they heard a loud Clunk!
"Magnetic lock?" Finn asked, to which Poe replied:
"Yup," and they closed the grate on top of them. Now underneath the flooring, their ears were filled to the brim with hyper-venting and cooling lines humming all around them. While it did rob them of proper hearing above floor; it also allowed them feel even the slightest vibrations, especially when whoever it was attached a boarding pylon to their bulkhead. Finn signed they would have about a minute before they were boarded. Poe signed back that would only be if they were taking their time.
Then they heard a loud hiss of compressed air, and somewhere across the ship a bulkhead door opened. After that, they heard voices through the humming. Machine voices.
"Uh oh," Poe breathed.
"What now!?" Rey cursed under her breath before she felt it through the Force and then through the floor. Metal foot falls echoed above the deckplatting, the weight of them vibrating sharply through them.
What are we looking at? Poe mouthed.
I dunno, Finn replied, probably droids.
Well, gas is out, then, Rey mouthed to the pair of them as she crawled back to them, BB-8 close behind, what now?
Poe answered by drawing his blaster pistol and pointing it directly at the flooring above them. Finn followed suit with his F-11, BB-8 with his arc-caster and Rey put the emitter of her saber flush against the deck plating. For a very long moment of hummed out dread, they felt and heard nothing beyond the humming of the engine. Another minute passed, the ticking of seconds becoming maddening. Now they could feel patrols milling about the ship until they finally felt one stop right above their position.
"Area secure, west wing," a mechanical voice echoed.
"No life signs detected in East Wing," another said, "rerouting patrol routes to center redoubt."
"Roger Roger," a third acknowledged and they began marching off in the opposite direction.
I think we're clear, Finn mouthed. But he soon ate his words when the droids suddenly stopped and marched right back.
"Life signs detected," one of the voices said, "commencing scans."
The four of them all looked at each other and as one nodded. With a mighty kick, Finn knocked the platting away as Rey and Poe ascended from below. Poe drew sight on a rustic brown B-1 battle droid and swiftly dispatched it with a blaster shot to the head.
"Hostiles encountered!" the droid's head babbled as it flew from its shoulders, but not before BB-8 grabbed it with an outstretched mechanical arm and chucked it at another droid like a galactic pitcher, knocking it over in the process.
"Jedi detected!" the other two droids echoed as Rey ignited her saberpike and quickly chopped the pair of them to pieces. Now they could hear more coming down from either side of the hallway. Finn rose from the underground and began shooting down one side while Poe suppressed the other.
"If they come out with a combined assault," Finn cursed as he clipped one droid in the shoulder, "we won't be able to last long without cover."
"I'm thinking, man. I'm think-"
"Stop shooting, you two," Rey suddenly said.
"What?" Finn asked, "Why?"
She answered him with a knowing smile, "Because we aren't in danger."
She then stepped out into the hallway before the men could grab her, deactivating her saber and slinging it over her shoulder. She held her arms wide, and after a moment a pair of B-1's crept around the corner. They're weapons were not drawn, instead being held at their sides as they stared at her for a long moment. Then one of them nodded:
"Identity confirmed. Threat Level: minimal. Captain Solo, advise boarding now."
"Captain Solo?" Poe asked, "What the-"
Somewhere off in the distance, a hydraulic door opened, and soon after a pair of footfalls echoing off of the aged metal. One nearly overshadowed the other with the sheer weight behind it, and when the pair rounded the corner, Rey's smile widened, her hands on her hips.
"Well, well. If it isn't Mr. 13 Parsecs himself. How have you been, Mr. Solo? It's been a long time."
The look of a man marked by experience and world weary, dumb luck and jaded know-how beheld her. The eyes still maintained the same cynical, idiot-weary expression they'd always had, and the hand resting on the butt of his blaster looked sharp as ever. If anything, the only real change to him was that he had just a few more white hairs than before.
He tilted his head after a moment, a craggy smile playing on his aged face as he gruffly answered, "It was 12 parsecs, kiddo. And don't call me Mister. It makes me feel older."
Beside him, the Wookie scoffed and growled, crossing his enormous shaggy arms as he did.
"No, I'm not old," he growled indignantly, jutting a finger up at the Wookie, "and most certainly not as old as you, furball."
The Wookie gasped in mock hurt and growled a rebuttal, his eyes rolling as he did. Rey smirked at this, crossing her arms and shifting her stance to put her weight playfully on her hip:
"Don't you know he's still in his prime, Mr. Solo? 236, after all, is still child's play compared to most Wookies."
"He's 234, for your information, kiddo," he countered angrily, "and you stay out of this."
"Oh please," she smiled playfully, "have you ever known me not to?"
An aged smile passed by his craggy features and he shrugged his shoulders, "No, I suppose not. My son certainly didn't think so."
"No, I suppose he didn't," she nodded simply and a slight bit stiffly. A moment of silence came and went between them, their eyes searching each other for something they had no idea what before Rey took off at a run and almost tackled into the elderly man. Han Solo however, had been long expecting it. He clutched her to him tightly, squeezing her slightly as she buried her face into his shoulder.
His hands rubbed across the back of her head as he whispered softly to her, relief heavy in his voice, "I'm glad you're alive, Rey."
She looked up into his softening eyes, her face trembling. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying. "Me too," she replied, trying and failing to keep her voice from breaking as a million emotions ran through her like a waterfall at high noon.
"Shh," Han soothed as he took her face comfortingly in his chest, "it's okay, it's okay. I'm here. You're safe now."
"I know. I just…" the rest of it died in her throat as she looked over and saw the Wookie pouting rather playfully. She laughed at him, "Oh don't think I forgot about you, Chewie."
Chewbacca chortled heartily, and practically plucked Rey from Han's arms into his. And while this hug was nonetheless warm, comforting and full of long suppressed joy and relief all bottled up into one, it was still a hug from a Wookie. Rey quickly croaked from the Wookie's awesome strength and just before the rest of her life could be crushed from her; Chewie set her down, playfully rubbing her hair and shooting her a question with a sly smile on his lips.
"Oh you mean besides getting my ribs cracked? Yeah, I'm good, you big goof."
A long stint of laughter followed that as the cuddly Wookie once more decided to mess with the Jedi's hair. "Oh, would you stop that? My hair is not your plaything!" she exclaimed as she tried to push the Wookies giant paws away, but it was of no use. Chewie just smiled wolfishly and continued pawing her head.
Grrrarr! The Wookie growled cheerfully.
"I don't care if it's fluffy-would you stop already!?"
Han cracked a sardonic smile at her, "Don't you know not to argue with a Wookie?"
"I'm not letting this Wookie win-hey would you let go of my braid!?"
Poe, Finn and BB-8 all had to resist laughing at the Jedi's discomfort, but that didn't last very long. BB-8 actually attempt the beginning of his long enacted revenge by pulling out his cam-recorder before Poe smacked him across the helm and gestured a warning finger at him.
"Huh," Finn whispered to Poe after a moment, "I didn't realize she knew the General Solo."
"Um, Solo?" Poe whispered, "Her boyfriend, Cale? Did you seriously not realize that he was the son of Han and Leia?"
"I thought that was a common name on Corellia," he shrugged, "I didn't realize that he was the son of such famous figures… I really should have realized it the moment you said his cousin was Ben Skywalker." he whispered back.
"And who the hell are you?" Han growled moodily as he put his hand close to his blaster and stared at Finn intently.
Finn suddenly snapped to a sharp salute, "Finn, General sir. My name is Finn."
Han raised an eyebrow, "Finn? What like that fish on Dac, or Mon Cala, or whatever the hell they are calling it now a days?" he looked squarely at Poe, who could only shrug.
"Sorry, sir. It was my idea."
"Your idea? The hell is that suppose mean?"
Poe looked sideways at Finn, who in turn seemed to stiffen like a statue. Poe sighed after a moment, "He's a friend, sir. He-"
"I'm a Stormtrooper, General," Finn interrupted.
Han just stared at him, unblinking. Chewie stiffened a bit taller, his hands releasing Rey and going low for the bowcaster slung at his hip. Han's cold, hardened gaze bore through Finn's eyes and directly into his soul; searching. Finn felt unnerved by the unblinking eyes, and he caught the sudden movement of leather popping from the holster.
"Commander Dameron," Han said cooly, his gaze never leaving the self-admitted enemy, "explain."
Perspiration pooled at Poe's brow as his eyes moved from Han to Finn. Strangely though, he noted, Finn wasn't sweating. He wasn't even fazed.
"I'll be perfectly blunt, then, sir," and Poe began explaining the events of the past week, and namely Finn's role in all of it. Han said nothing and remained utterly unchanged in posture or in his gaze as he continued to stare down the former Stormtrooper. Finn likewise remained stoic. Eventually, Rey took up the tale for her part in all of it, and Han's eyes softened afterwards.
"So," Han finally said, "you grew a conscience, huh? How convenient for you."
"I suppose it is, General sir."
Han shot him an annoyed look, "Don't call me General, boy. I resigned my commission twenty years ago. I'm just a humble merchant now."
"Are you now?" Finn countered, "Awfully convenient that you arrived right as we dropped out of hyperspace."
"Don't get funny with me, boy."
"I'm not. I'm just making an observation."
"He does have a point, sir," Poe stepped between the two men, his arm defensively covering Finn, "what are you doing out here? How'd you find us?"
"I would think that both of those would be obvious," Han deadpanned. "especially if Rey explained the origins of this ship to you."
"So, you installed that beacon on this ship?" Rey asked, fully knowing the answer. Han cocked a half smile at her.
"Kiddo, did you really think I'd let my son run off with you on this pieced together hunk of 12 different ships without a little insurance? The moment your hyperdrive went online, so did that beacon. And it led us right to you."
"You could've told me first," Rey replied softly.
Grrawr! Chewie growled and Rey nodded soberly.
"Yes, I suppose Cale would've tried to rip it out if he knew. "
"You're damn right he would've," Han said with a little pride, "he's my boy. I wouldn't have expected any differently from him."
"You still could've told me," she repeated, a little more hurt this time. Han smiled like any father would and took her by the shoulders.
"Kiddo, I love you like a daughter, but you're terrible at keeping secrets. You got that from your dad."
"Yeah, I suppose so," she said distantly. Han's face saddened slightly. He didn't need to ask the unspoken question. Her forlorn look was enough, and he patted her shoulder comfortingly. This was followed by Chewie taking her in a softer embrace, his big arms enveloping her like a toy. Han turned back to Poe:
"Now, to answer your first question: Leia assumed the worst and I went snooping around Jakku. Problem was, nothing was coming or going, so we parked and waited."
"That makes sense," Finn nodded, "the Admiral would've requested SATCOM support if operations on Jakku had to be extended. Jam all communications coming in or out."
"Admiral?" Han asked suspiciously, "Which one?"
Finn froze for a moment, but eventually relented. There was little point now in holding back what he knew.
"Grand Admiral Ramius Hux," Finn answered, "he was given operational command of the mission to Jakku."
"Ah," Han shook his head, "Ackbar's gonna love this."
"They faced each other over Jakku, if I'm not mistaken?" Finn nodded, "Our history teaches that the two of them were the masters of the stars only being outmatched by Grand Admiral Thrawn himself." Finn mused to himself.
"Huh, I don't think Ackbar would expect flattery from an Imperial," Han grumbled softly.
"No, not flattery, sir. Respect. We may have lost the war, but we're willing to admit how and why."
"'We'?" Han repeated doubtfully, "You almost sound like you're still a Stormtrooper."
When Finn's eyes became rather downcast, Poe was quick to stand to his defense, "Sir, you have to understand that he was inducted and trained since he was kid. If you expect him to-"
Finn suddenly held up his hand, "Poe, he's right to mistrust me. I would've been surprised if he didn't."
"You're a sharp one, kid," Han smirked, "I learned a long time ago not to trust anything that seems too good to be true."
"A lesson most of the old Jedi could have learned," Chewie grumbled softly, granted only Rey, Han and BB-8 understood that bit.
"Oh come on," Rey protested, "they weren't all like that."
"Yes, but the point still stands," Chewie countered, "I gladly would've given my life for them, and you, but that does not discount the way things played out in the end… as unfortunate as they were."
Though he couldn't understand what the Wookie was saying, Finn could guess the intent via his body language. To him and Han, he nodded, "Indeed."
Han took on last look at the man before he finally sighed in resignation, "We'll figure out what to do with you later. In the meantime, we need to get the hell out of the system," and with that, he turned about and headed past Chewie, bellowing out to the standing B-1 with a yellow insignia, "have the Raptor brought into the hangar bay and have our tech teams take a look at the engines."
"Roger Roger," the commanding droid replied, and began issuing out orders to the rest of network. And with that, Han disappeared around the corner, leaving everybody there standing rather awkwardly.
"I… guess we follow him?" Poe more stated than asked, but it got the reaction he wanted. The posse quickly took off after the retired smuggler. After a few seconds of waiting in the boarding pylon for the pressure to normalize, the blast doors finally opened with a loud hiss. Before them was the massive interior of a freighter, with an army of droids bustling about and generally moving very large crates via grav-trays. Behind them, the boarding pylon retracted and the Raptor was moved further up into the bowels of the ship.
"Okay, I gotta ask," Rey piped up, "why do you have so many droids around? I thought you hated droids?"
Han shrugged, "I do, but they're cheaper than hiring an actual crew and they complain less."
"Complain about what exactly?"
Their answer came when one of the shipment crates passed them and it erupted with a sudden and violent roar as something inside tried to break out. Poe's head turned very slowly to Han, "Sir, what the hell are you transporting?"
"Lots of things," Han shrugged as they kept on walking, "spice, contraband, most black market goods you can think of… and that of course was a wampa."
"You're transporting wampas!?" Poe exclaimed.
"Grrarw!" Chewie growled matter of factly.
"What do you mean that's not the worst your transporting?" Rey asked rather indignantly, "What do you have that's worse than a wampa?"
Han shot her a knowing grin, "I think it'd be better if we just showed you."
A moment later, a cheap looking hovercraft came up and Han quickly shoved its droid pilot out of the seat, with everybody else piling in. A minute later, they quickly saw what Han meant. Rey shook her head in disbelief, "Han… I know Uncle Lando would be crazy enough to try something like this… but you of all people?"
"Who do you think got us most of the critters?" Chewie smirked at her and all Rey could do was just groan with barely suppressed dread.
"Why do you even have these things?" she asked.
"'Cause," Han laughed, "they're worth a fortune each, they're a good cover, and nobody ever stops to check your cargo when you're hauling around at least thirty of the most dangerous monsters one can find."
"And nobody cares if a couple hundred droids gets smashed in the process, so I call it a good tradeoff!" Chewie laughed heartily, which drew an annoyed growl from BB-8, who flew up to his face and jutted a finger at him:
"Oh yeah, furball? How'd you feel if I turned you into a bonfire, you walking flea carpet?"
Chewie bared his teeth at the droid and growled something so fast, so incomprehensible and so vulgar that only BB-8 himself could understand him. The result was that Finn and Poe had to restrain him from pulling out his plasma torch. He was babbling such incoherent machine babble that the only thing they got out of him was:
"Lemme at him! Lemme at him! I'll barbeque your sorry-"
Chewie merely smirked at him and leaned back in his chair with his hands cushioning his head. A moment later, the hovercraft took a left onto an overlapping ramp, taking them right above a massive array of containment cells, with all of its occupants leering at them either apathetically, curiously, or hungrily. Of the ones they could see, the company counted Acklays, Nexus, Wampas, Reeks, Dragonsnakes, Corellian Sand Panthers, Varactyls, Feral Maru and…
Rey's face suddenly paled. "Stop the car. Stop the car!"
Han did so, shooting her an odd expression, "What? What is it?"
But she wasn't listening. She was running over to the railing at full pace, her fear engulfed by a sudden fear that none of the others had ever quite seen. Her eyes focused on a massive hunk of brown, gray and red muscle sitting silently in the corner of its cell.
"What the hell is that thing?" Poe asked when he, Finn and BB-8 came running over. The creature had all the appearance of a Rancor with its tonnage of powerfully built muscles, claws and monstrous maw. However, it was significantly smaller than a standard Rancor, and unlike a Rancor, this beast was covered with a thick carapace of tan and red colors, tusks and spines growing out of its back, spikes hither and thither, and a massive bone frill obscuring much of its head.
That is until it stirred quietly suddenly and with a deliberate slowness, reared itself up to its full ten foot height and looked up at them. Surprisingly, its face was narrow and wide, with an array of teeth and chompers spread across a two footspans. It's beady eyes though were the most terrifying though. Red and black orbs that narrowed very slightly as it gazed past them, and directly at Rey.
It let out a purring hiss, low and rumbling that they could feel tightly in their bones. Then its long forking tongue licked across its face as it carefully reared up and reached its massive clawed hands upward towards them. It flinch with pain when it tried to pass the energy containing, but only momentarily. It crained its head slightly to the left, and gave the Jedi a toothy grin.
Rey was petrified to the spot. Her skin had turned ghostly, streams of sweat pouring down her as her eyes gazed down at the beast widely. There was strange, ravenous aura that the monster was giving off. Finn could feel it, like an oppressive heat upon his skin. He looked at Poe, and he felt it too. When they looked at Rey, completely rooted to the spot, they knew she was getting the full treatment.
"Rey? Are you okay?" Poe asked as he shook her shoulder, but she still didn't respond to his voice or touch. At this, Finn immediately grabbed her and pulled her away from the ledge, and by extension, the monster. When she was put back in the hovercar, she started whispering something that they couldn't quite hear.
Then she started to get louder, her face contorting into uncontrollable dread before she snapped out of it and began to screaming, "Kill it! Kill it! KILL IT! Oh for Force sake, kill that abomination NOW!"
"Easy," Finn soothed, "you're safe. You're okay."
"SAFE!?" NONE OF US ARE SAFE WITH THAT THING HERE!"
"Sir, what is that thing?" Poe asked Han pointly, whose face was caught between guilt, worry and utter confusion.
"It's just a baby Rancor we picked up on Kashyyyk-"
"THAT'S NOT A RANCOR!" Rey screamed at him, "THAT'S A TERENTATEK!"
Han and Chewie's faces collectively paled, "Oh no."
"A what?" Poe asked.
"It's basically a Dark Side Rancor that sees Jedi as a living sandwich," Han explained as he buried his face in his hand with groan, "Luke told me about them once. They only show up apparently when that stuff is on the rise."
"Y-yyou mean like n-nnow?" Rey stammered, rolling back and forth while trying not to hyperventilate.
"What the hell did it do to her?" Finn asked, anger clear on his face.
"Grrrrar!" Chewie growled, to which Han translated:
"They have some kind of weird connection with the Force. Allows them to use a kind of mental attack on Jedi," he looked painful at the fear stricken Rey, "paralyzes them."
"For how long exactly?" Finn asked.
"I don't know."
"One way to find out!" Chewie growled, shouldering his bowcaster and marching over to the cage, "Han, open the cage. I'm gonna kill it!"
"Chewie, don't!" Han growled.
"That thing hurt her. It's gonna die for that!"
"I know, but it'll take more than your bowcaster to do it, and I don't wanna risk it getting loose!"
"I'll kill it with my bare hands if I have to," Chewie roared, "I'll even use my claws if it comes to it."
"D-don't…" Rey stammered, "M-mad C-claw… don't, p-pplease."
"Chewie," Han took his massive shoulder in hand, "we'll throw the damn thing out the airlock later. Right now, let's try putting some distance between her and it, 'kay?"
"...fine," Chewbacca grumbled. He marched back to the hovercar and plucked Rey up in his arms, cradling her like a baby. Immediately, everybody else got on board and got the hell out of there as quickly as possible.
The Terentatek watched them go with gleeful intent. It let out a soft purr, eager with the delightful knowledge that it would soon dine on the blood of not one, but three queries to consume… and then that ecstasy was darkened by the knowledge he would have to go through the predator first.