CHAPTER 3:

The early rays of the sun painted the sky with brilliant hues of purples, pinks, and blues, but that was not what held Han Solo and Princess Leia's attention. From the small door that led to a path of escape, the pair had a clear but well-concealed view of the courtyard of the small pueblo-like community.

"Luke," Leia whispered as she crawled out of the door onto the rocky ridge that led to the perilous, rugged hills that provided the backdrop of the rural community.

Han squeezed through the opening and grabbed Leia's foot, pulling her back into the morning shadows before she was discovered.

"I'm not lying," Luke's desperate whine bounced off the hills. "She's not the princess."

"This is who you invite into our mists?" a young man with bright red hair stood atop wooden platform that laid on the wide mouth of the inactive fountain and screamed at the onlookers. A bound woman at least a decade older than the princess bowed her head as angry youth pressed the nozzle of an archaic blaster pistol against her temple.

Not onlookers, Leia realized. Prisoners. The boy's chest rose and sank with his words, "You're risking our lives by inviting such trash into your homes."

"He's not lying!" a kneeling Givin yelled. "Please listen!"

"Shut up!" a gray-haired man wielding a blaster knock the alien on the back of his bald head, knocking him to the ground.

"And you risk our families by allowing these sub-humans to co-exist with us!" the red-haired boy waved his blaster around, briefly aiming at the various non-humans in his unwilling audience. "You're bringing the Empire upon us!" He scowled as his dark eyes quivered, "And you, rebel, dare lie to me."

The youth's weapon stopped on Luke, and Han threw his body on top of Leia to stop her from jumping off the ledge.

Luke's blue eyes stared up at the boy who was probably the same age as he. His voice calmed, "I'm not lying, and if you kill her, you will be killing an innocent."

"None of you are innocent!"

Luke tilted his head and said, "She's not the one you're looking for."

The red-haired man's freckled face relaxed and he lowered his blaster. A bearded man carrying a large club stomped over to Luke, "Don't let this rebel fool you. You have the right one!"

"No," the pleading whine seeped back into Luke's voice, and Chewbacca growled and shook his tethered hands. "You can't kill that woman!"

The bearded man with the club swung at Luke. Luke crumbled to the ground, and Han clamped his hand over Leia's mouth to prevent her from screaming. Chewbacca lunged at the man, and another stepped forward and electrocuted the huge Wookie with a nerf prod. Chewbacca's body convulsed before he sank back on his haunches. The man hit Luke's unmoving body several more times, and Leia struggled to free herself from Han.

"Leia, stop," Han whispered into her ears. He squeezed her tight against his body. "We can't help them."

"I should kill you all!" The youth on the platform screamed, drawing Han's and Leia's attention. He waved his blaster around again pointing it at various people in the crowd. "How could you betray us?" he sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. "You are our friend, our neighbors…"

For a moment, the distraught young man sagged, his blaster-wielding arm dropping to his side. But then, he looked at the bound dark-haired woman next to him, raised the blaster to her temple, and fired three times. Leia's body shook with each shot; Han pressed his cheek against hers and tightened his hold on her.

The youth in control stared down at his handiwork and retched. He turned his dark eyes upon the shocked faces before him, "Why did you invite them here?"

"Joshua," a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair called out. His hands were bound behind him, and he seemed pained to be kneeling on the rocky ground beneath him. "Can't you see what the Empire is doing?"

"What is the Empire doing, Aaron?" Joshua cried. "They provide us jobs, protection."

"Protection?" a brave Rodian prisoner called out and was immediately punished with a beating from the closest captor.

"Can't you see that your actions will bring the wrath of the Emperor upon us?" Joshua continued, unperturbed by the alien's beating.

"El'hias is your neighbor, your friend," Aaron responded. "He has never hurt you."

Joshua licked his lips and glanced at the bloodied Rodian, "El'hias should have left when the Imperials gave him the chance. Like the rest of you…aliens!" He waved his blaster around, "The least you could have done was keep your heads down and the rebels out of our homes."

"El'hias has nothing to do with the rebels, boy!" Another human prisoner called out. "Neither does Hoquay or Droia or Drena!"

"Oh gods," Leia whispered. "They're going to die because of me."

"They made their choices, Princess," Han tried to pull her back further into the shadows.

Still secure in Han's embrace, she rolled unto her back and looked in his eyes, "None of the non-humans had anything to do with us. Only seven of the humans out there are part of this cell. Cendra, the woman he killed, that was supposed to be me. And Chewie and Luke… Whose fault is this?"

Han pressed his lips together as he evaluated the pained eyes of his companion. He leaned on one elbow and smoothed her hair, "This isn't your fault, Leia."

The pain in her large brown eyes melted into anger, "I've got to fix this."

Taking an advantage of Han's lapse in vigilance, Leia kneed him in the groin, knocking the air out of his lungs. Han grunted and rolled off of her, curling in pain. "Sorry, Han," she muttered before she scrambled toward the edge of the tiny ledge.

The girl's attack was hesitant, and Han knew she held back. He gasped for breath, but that didn't stop him from going after her. He pushed himself to his knees and launched his body toward Leia, flattening her against the ground. She gasped and kicked as she tried to free herself. Han wrapped his legs around hers, preventing her from doing further damage to him. He wrestled one arm behind her back and pinned the other against her chest.

Han applied slight pressure on her arm and whispered into her hair, "If you're gonna try a move like that again, you better do it like you mean it, Princess."

"Let me go, Han," she pleaded.

"Uh-uh," he tightened his grip on her, "Reeiken would have my hide if anything happened to you."

"Always thinking of your self!" she rested her forehead against the gritty ground in an attempt to relieve some of the pain in her arm.

The venom in her voice pierced Han's heart. He wanted nothing more than to twist her arm harder, to hurt her physically as her words hurt him. But he could never intentionally hurt her, and just the thought of inflicting pain upon her plagued him with guilt. He slightly eased up on her arm, "Yeah, that's why I'm here."

Leia's body went limp, "I can stop this."

"How?" Han loosened his grip but didn't release her. He had enough of her games for one day, and he wasn't going to give her the chance to make a fool of him again.

But all the fight in her was gone. Leia's head rolled so that her cheek lied upon the ground. Her hair covered her face, and it rustled with each breath she expelled. Han kept most of his weight upon her, but he released the arm he held behind her back. It flopped to her side.

Solo's head drooped with exhaustion, and his breathing fell in time with hers. How? If she wasn't in his charge, would his instincts and actions be any different than hers? His best friend was out there suffering, and the kid…He wanted nothing more than to start picking off their captors one by one, to rush out there and avenge the ill treatment of his friends. But where would that get him? Who would take care of her?

Maybe it was a blessing that she was with him. His desire to keep her safe stopped him from acting irrational—well, it at least made him think a few seconds before he acted.

The shouting below was muffled by a loud rumbling noise. Han's head popped up, but Leia remained still. Several heavy terrain vehicles lumbered down the narrow path that led to the middle of the courtyard. The red-haired boy's head swiveled around.

"Karry!" He jumped off his platform and ran to meet his friend.

Karry, a couple of boys, and one girl climbed out of the first vehicle, but the occupants of the other vehicles remained where they were. Karry embraced Joshua and walked straight to the makeshift platform followed by the rest of the group. He hopped up on the platform and circled around the dead body of the dark-haired woman Joshua executed.

"What a mess!" The girl pushed the brim of her hat back and wrinkled her nose at the sight.

"Karry!" a captive old man called out. "You can stop this madness!"

"Shut up, Pret!" Karry slung a mean looking blaster over his shoulder, "You're the one who brought on this madness!" He turned his attention to Joshua, "Whaddya do?"

"What we planned," Joshua jumped up onto the platform and stood next to Karry. "Killed the princess."

Leia's head raised, and Han fought the urge to push it back down. He knew they should take the opportunity to escape before they're discovered, but his need to find out the fate of his friends was as strong as his companions. Han cradled her head against his own, "Let it go, Sweetheart."

"This ain't the princess," Karry kicked the lifeless body.

"What?" Joshua's countenance darkened. "She was with the Wookie and that guy over there just like you said she'd be."

All eyes, including Han's and Leia's, focused on the crumpled bodies of Luke and Chewbacca. Leia let out a stifled cry. Han pressed his lips against the side of her face, "They chose to help her. They were just trying to help."

"That's not her," Karry jumped off of the platform. "Natch," he walked over to the man who was guarding the obvious escape routes from the courtyard. "You were responsible for getting her."

"Sal commed Gage and me," he nodded at the man who had struck Luke earlier. "He said they got her."

Karry's gray eyes found Sal's, "Huh. You got the wrong girl."

Sal grimaced, "Guess I made a mistake."

Karry turned away from him and back to the red-haired kid, "Guess you did."

"We placed the sensors like you said," Joshua said. "No one's tripped them."

Karry jumped back upon the platform, "Your Highness!" His voice bounced off the rugged hills, "Show your self!" He held his hands out and pivoted. All eyes searched the hills with him. Karry turned back to the captive audience. He cocked the large blaster, "Show your self or El'hias dies!"

Leia's large brown eyes widened in fear, and Han held her tucked under his body. He gently placed a hand over her mouth, "You can't do anything." She trembled in his arms, and he placed a kiss on top of her head.

A heavy silence hung over the courtyard as the sun stretched its warm rays. Karry licked his lips, his gray eyes searching the surrounding area. He pulled back on the trigger, and the Rodian cried out before he dropped to the ground. Leia attempted to escape Han's grasp to no avail.

Several long minutes passed, and all waited for the next sacrifice. Some of the non-humans cowered, their eyes fixed on the ground as if this futile action would spare their lives. Karry slung the heavy blaster over his shoulder, "She's gone."

"How do you know, Hun?" the girl looked up at the man.

"She'd never let anyone die in her place," Karry explained. He glanced around for a moment and then relaxed, "See what inviting the rebels into our community has done? It has torn us apart."

"Come on, Karry!" one of the human captives called out. "Let's just forget this!"

"How can we forget it?" he waved his weapon at the captive. Karry looked at Joshua and then at his retinue, "I know how. All aliens leave!"

"But this is our home, too!"

Karry's countenance darkened, "Then you should have kept the rebel scum out of our backyard!" He pressed his lips together, "You aliens got to go, and we know just how to get rid of you." He nodded and his buddies in the audience started herding the non-humans toward one of the vehicles, "Selling them to the slavers will bring us money."

"Blood money!" a human captive called out.

"We need the money, and we need to make sure the Imperials never suspect the rebels were ever here," Joshua yelled.

"Joshua is right," the girl confirmed. "If the Imperials ever think the rebels were here, they'll make life hell for us. We've got to think of our families, our friends."

"Whadda bout the two rebels?" Gage asked.

Both Han and Leia held their breaths, silently praying in their own native language that the gods would spare Luke and Chewbacca one more time.

Karry scrutinized Luke and Chewie, "Tie 'em up. Leave 'em here on the fountain." He jumped off of the platform and walked toward the vehicles followed by his entourage. "Let the heat and the breggan beetles eat them alive. Then maybe you all will remember that the actions of some affect us all!"

With that, Karry climbed into the first vehicle and drove away, leaving Joshua and the others to clean up the mess. Han and Leia watched in horror as Luke and Chewbacca were bound and lifted onto the wooden platform that covered the fountain. Neither regained consciousness despite the rough treatment. But that wasn't what sickened Leia the most. Those who were once captives, even those who asked assistance from the Alliance, helped the captors with the laborious task. Once Chewbacca and Luke were securely in place, the crowd disbursed and returned to their daily activities as if nothing happened.

All Han and Leia could do was to stare at the horrific spectacle Luke and Chewbacca made. Leia willed Luke or Chewie to move; surely if Chewbacca regained consciousness he could easily break free. She glanced around the courtyard. Nobody was paying even the minutest attention to her captive friends. If Chewie could break free…

Han nudged the princess and pointed to a rooftop across the way, "Let's hope Chewie doesn't wake up."

Leia scanned the other rooftops in her line of vision. One, two…five…two more, "How strong do they think unarmed Wookies are?"

"They aren't worried about Chewie," Han began edging his way back from the edge of the ledge. "They haven't given up on you."

The princess followed him, "So charging out there and rescuing Chewbacca and Luke is out of the question."

"No," Han gave her a small smile and touched the tip of her dirt-smudged nose, "but we should do a little plannin' before we do any chargin'."