Tess Naberrie ran cool water over her burnt hands. She had removed the bandages to clean and air out the wounds. They were looking a little better now and the feeling in her fingers was finally coming back.

After an hour of literally standing over Tess expecting her to do something she wasn't supposed to, Chewbacca finally gave her some space. They had the doors adjoining the two hotel rooms both open, but he was lying down in one and Tess was trying to pass time in the other.

A beeping noise from the bedroom startled her. Realizing it was the portable holocom in Chewie's room, she quickly dried her hands and ran over to answer the call before it woke the Wookie—just in case it was Luke. Han had been mad at Luke the last time he contacted them so Chewie would most likely feel the same way. Despite her efforts, the Wookie did wake up with a loud yawn, but instead of Luke on the other end of the holocom, Lando Calrissian's blue holographic form appeared.

"Can you get Holonet access right now?" he blurted, not even giving Tess a chance to greet him.

"Well, hello to you too," she responded sarcastically. She sat down on the bed and Chewie placed himself to the right of her, barking a hello to his friend.

"Tess!" Lando snapped. "Holonet. Can you get it?"

The teenager's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she gestured for Chewbacca to turn on Holonet.

"Chewie's turning it on," she explained. "What's this about?" Lando shook his head.

"You have to see it for yourself."

With Lando still on the line, Chewbacca pulled up Holonet on the transmission. A man in an Imperial uniform was speaking and the headline under him made Tess' heart stop.

TESS NABERRIE: THE EMPEROR'S SECRET DAUGHTER

Riding the elevator up to the twenty-first floor of the Skyrail Inn, Han replayed the public execution he had just witnessed in his head. He couldn't shake the image of that man's face right before he was tossed into the crowd. Regardless of who the Admiral was and what he had done, Zkab's self-proclaimed "show" was a sadistic, inhuman display. The approval of the crowd was even more sickening. Between Han, Leia, Luke, and Tess, the Empire had played their most brutal cards and Han still wouldn't wish a Zkab execution on any of the Imperials involved. Granted, he and his friends were probably the only ones who were dealt with by Darth Vader directly on those occasions, so most of the animosity was aimed at him.

As Han neared the two hotel room numbers he was looking for, he heard a metallic crash. He quickened his pace.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Then, a familiar scream made him break into a run.

"Put me down!" It was Tess.

Han finally found the right room—following the numbers and the sounds—and banged on the door with his fist.

"Dania!" he called, remembering her alias. He heard another scream from her, followed by what sounded like a foot against the door amidst a violent struggle.

The door few open just before Han reached for his blaster.

"It took you long enough!" Chewbacca barked in Shriiwook.

Behind him, the room was completely destroyed. A pillow had exploded, the bed sheets were everywhere but on the bed, the mattress had a deep tear, and a lamp was broken on the floor.

"Where the hell is Te—Dania?!" Han demanded. He made a note to himself to lower his voice, especially when using their real names. Chewie rolled his eyes and nodded towards the closet that he was holding shut. The Wookie opened it just long enough for Han to see a furious Tess. She had a sheet rolled into a rope and tired around her middle, restraining her hands. She mumbled an impressive string of curses through the tape on her mouth. Just as she was about to charge out, Chewbacca slammed the closet door shut. They heard Tess run into it and fall to the ground with a thump. "What the hell, Chewie?! I told you to watch her, not kidnap her!"

"She kept trying to get her lightsaber and leave!" Chewie retorted. "She wouldn't take no for an answer!" Han suddenly second-guessed opening the closet.

"Who has the lightsaber?" he asked in a lowered voice. Chewie held up the metallic cylinder, tossed it into the opposite room, closed both doors that lead to it, and stood to guard the doorway. Han nodded. "Good idea."

With that taken care of, Han slowly opened the closet door. Tess had managed to stand up. Han waved her out of the closet. The girl walked slowly to him, allowing him to take the tape off her mouth. Then he turned her around to untie the sheet rope. She glared darkly at Chewbacca.

"I'm going to shave you in your sleep," Tess threatened the Wookie. With her hands released, Han was surprised that she had managed to keep herself from slipping into another hand seizure of Force lightening.

"Alright…" Han sighed, guiding Tess to the edge of the bed and making her sit. "What happened?"

"Everyone knows about me," Tess muttered through clenched teeth. "It's on the kriffing Holonet." Han stood over her with his hands on his hips, making sure to block her exit just in case she was as adamant about leaving as Chewie implied.

"What do you mean?"

"Tess Naberrie, the Emperor's secret daughter," Tess sneered. "It's all over the Holonet. They're acting like I was this big secret he was hiding, but I swear, this has Palpatine's wrinkley handprints all over it! Even when he's dead he's in control! They're saying he had an affair with Padme Naberrie. An affair! With my mother! They're saying he paid for bogus emergency procedures to keep me alive after she died! They're talking about him like he's some misunderstood saint!"

Han just stared at the girl for a moment, then looked to Chewie for confirmation.

"How accurate was the description of you?" he asked.

"They have pictures," Tess informed him regrettably. "Good ones. From when I was on the Death Star a week ago. The security system got them."

Han grimaced. That was bad.

"Did they say anything about who you might be seen with?"

Tess shook her head.

"What about a reward?"

She shook her head again.

"I don't think they want me," Tess clarified, still refusing to simmer down completely. "I'm just…I wanted to kill him."

Han knelt in front of the girl, carefully avoiding her hands, just in case.

"Kid…he's dead."

"I know that," Tess shot back. She took a deep breath. "I just needed to get out…see Leia...find you…make sense of things, I guess. I really don't know what I was going to do. I just couldn't sit here any longer. And I was only going to bring the lightsaber for protection." She glanced at the Wookie. "Sorry, Chewie."

Han wondered if this was the kind of thing Luke had to deal with on a regular basis in training Tess. He recalled the Jedi mentioning something to him about Tess being far too impulsive sometimes and not thinking things through. Han could definitely see that now.

Outside the door, a dull roar of voices approached. Han and Tess exchanged glances. He listened for a few more moments. The voices seemed to stop getting closer, but they still got louder. The Corellian raised a finger to Tess, telling her to stay put. Expecting her to listen would make him an idiot, but it was worth a try.

Han slowly cracked open the hotel door and poked his head out to have a look. Sure enough, the kid's head craned for a peek right under him.

The commotion was coming from halfway down the hall, where a man was barking at his assistants. The purple hair sticking out as an immediate identifier, Han gritted his teeth at the sight of Teyr's favorite public executioner.

"You tell me you're bringing an admiral and all you give me is a kid who flies a ship?!" Zkab erupted. "Tomorrow we're breaking out the Empire's torture devices we got from that admiral's ship and putting them to good use. But it won't be worth it unless you find someone Turos Noth actually wants to kill!"

At that, Han pulled Tess inside and slammed the door behind them.

"Do you know what that was about?" the younger of the two inquired worriedly. Han nodded.

"His name is Zkab. He runs public execution of Imperials in the street like it's some sick game show." Han looked at Tess seriously, a hand on each of her shoulders. "Whatever you do, don't let that man see your face. If he finds out who you are…" Han's voice trailed off.

Tess gulped, her eyes bulging with fear.

"He already has."

A knock on the door made all three residents jump. Han quickly moved Tess around to corner. Then he remembered the state of the room. He opened the door just a crack to see a head of blindingly purple hair and to lock eyes with Zkab himself.