Chapter 8 – Icarus Part II
Ord Mantell 3ABY, Pre-ESB
Leia glanced at Han as they approached the meetup point, holding hands. His strong jaw was set in a determined line. It looked like he was ready to play and win the Smashball Galactic Series. That steely focus was so attractive, and she sensed it was one of their shared qualities that made them such a great team - in an op, in bed, in life.
They were all dressed in hot couture fashion disguises for their negotiations, fresh off the runways of Coruscant Fashion week. Han in a wig with a slicked back ponytail and glued-on goatee to obscure his scar. Leia was so tired of wearing monochromatic white snow suits that she was willing to give in to the discomfort of the very form-fitting azure dress with a daring slit, elaborately wrapped wide belt, and blond wig fashioned into a complicated set of nots. Luke and Janray were similarly fashionably clad. She was confident even Imperial facial recognition drones wouldn't recognize them and they would pass for high rollers bored of their safe lives on Coruscant, looking to lose some credits in the casinos of Ord Mantell.
The meetup was to be in a private banquet room in an exclusive restaurant for exclusive clients of an exclusive casino. In other words, they were assured no questions and lots of privacy. Leia briefly squeezed Han's hand before she straightened her spine, took a deep breath, and entered the room like she owned it.
She scanned the room, expecting to find a middle-aged woman, but was instead met with a well-armed, large humanoid. How the hell had this happened? Wedge, Sana, and Evaan had been casing this place since last night. Were they dead?
Han drew his blaster as soon as he saw the man.
"Skor! What the fuck is this?" He kept his blaster trained firmly on the man's chest while he moved in front of Leia and Janray and Luke flanked her. Han said a silent prayer that they had stayed alert.
Leia was debating internally whether to throw her title around or let Han take over, and she quickly decided this must be someone from his past and she should give him lead.
"Solo, it's been a while. Princess, how do you do? I'm Skor, used to run in some rough circles with your boyfriend here, back before he became a straight, whipped rebel. Skywalker, I'm a big fan." He looked at Janray appraisingly as she defiantly filmed him with her holocam.
"Missus, you'll be wanting to turn that off now." He pointed a second blaster at her.
Janray looked at Leia who nodded. She complied as Skor removed the holo disk and stomped on it, crushing it and making the footage unrecoverable.
Leia, Luke, and Han all appeared to be communicating with their eyes to come up with an exit plan. Where the hell were the other three?
A loud bang snapped all their heads to a concealed door, as a regal humanoid woman in her 40's entered. Leia's eyes sparked with rage and recognition at the medical supplier's betrayal.
"Morva Stilpen I presume? This was not our agreement. We have an entire team ready to crash on this location. I've already signaled them and they are just waiting for my go. Put down your weapons now, and you and your bounty hunter can walk away, no questions asked."
Morva gave Leia a haughty sniff before snapping her fingers. Two burly stooges perp-walked Wedge and Sana through the secret door. Leia maintained a straight face but was thanking the goddess that Evaan hadn't yet been discovered. They still had hope.
"This entire team? I expected better of you, Your Highness. Put your weapons down and kick them over here. Your holdout blasters and the lightsaber too, Jedi."
Skor performed a pat-down of the group, finding Han and Luke's holdout blasters.
"What is it that you want?" Leia questioned evenly, giving nothing of her pounding heart away in her steely voice.
"I do want to do business with the Rebel Alliance, and I'm even prepared to sell you enough medical supplies to keep your rebellion healthy and put together for a year, at cost mind you. My husband Skor and I are also here to warn you and Solo. It seems my husband owes him a favor."
Han looked at the couple suspiciously.
"Warn us about what?" He scowled.
Morva appraised them before beginning. "Word on the Smuggler's Moon is that the Hutts and the Empire have teamed up to capture you two. Solo you are wanted dead or alive at 2 million credits. Princess, you are worth 3 million, alive only. But, captured alive together, Loves, Darth Vader himself is offering 10 million credits. The Princess will be publicly executed by the Empire and Solo will be handed over to the Hutts and they mean to make examples of you. It seems your little love affair is creating some costly headaches for the Empire. Worlds with strict regulations on life bonds and love have become emboldened and several have revolted. What started out as underground passing of romance gossip has created an undetectable, untraceable conduit of information sharing for insurrections and other acts. They want to crush your little love story as publicly and ruthlessly as possible."
"What's in it for you?" Solo asked in a menacingly deep voice. He knew someone like Skor was always on the take.
"There are many things at stake. Skor and I are also an unlikely couple. From different social classes, different worlds and cultures, just like you two. But we aren't even the same species of humanoid. Our love has been rejected. Our marriage is forbidden on both of our home worlds. We have been outcast as a couple, made illegal, with an illegal child whose birth we could never register, unwelcome nearly wherever we go. We are great fans of your courage to let love win. To find hope and courage, even in a war. And Solo, you know why we owe you. But we aren't all touchy-feely feelings, are we Skor? We want credits, Princess. Lots of them. So, we will sell you the medical supplies at cost as promised. We want to continue being in the business of screwing the Empire by doing business with the Alliance, but walking away will cost you an additional 1 million credits. A real bargain, all things considered."
"This is a ransom?" Leia asked scornfully. Could they go one kriffing mission without being double-crossed?
"You surely weren't expecting charity, were ya, Princess?" Skor asked mockingly.
"You owe me a helluva lot more than a discount and ransom, Skor, for what I did for you! I saved your fucking kid's life." Han's growl sounded absolutely deadly.
"Well, see here Lover Boy, my missus wanted to ask you for 4 million and I talked her down. Or we could just turn you both into Vader himself and walk away with 10 million. Up to you lot, innit?"
Leia stepped in front of Han to complete the negotiations as head of delegation with her hands clasped behind her back, obliquely pointing a finger at the holdout blaster concealed in the elaborate belt wrapped around her waist, the only weapon of the group still undetected by Morva and Skor.
"Medical supplies at cost, no ransom, and we agree to special operations on your home worlds to disrupt Empire presence and control. I don't have access to the amount of credits you're asking for."
Han stepped closely behind her, one had gently on her shoulder, as if demonstrating a united front to the other partl, while deftly grasping and concealing Leia's blaster in his robes.
Skor and Morva exchanged looks and Morva jutted her chin at Han.
Skor reached over Leia's head and whipped Han with his blaster, drawing blood on his cheek. He pushed the muzzle into Han's forehead while Leia looked on in horror.
Janray had been covertly recording the entire time from a holocam concealed in her necklace. Despite the danger, the artist in her couldn't help but weigh and measure the powerful images of Leia and Han working calmly as a team while in mortal danger. If they survived this, she would have incredible footage.
"Are you willing to risk Solo's life, Princess? We can just take him dead and get 2 million from Jabba right now. Maybe you don't care to slum it with him any more?"
"You can lower your blaster Mr. Skor, I'm here to negotiate in good faith, but let me be perfectly clear. If you attempt to harm Captain Solo again, I will kill you both. Credits are what you want, and I'll do my best to get them to you. Surely you prefer the credits to death? I'm frankly not sure we have enough in our accounts to meet your demands – these are lean times, after all. What else might you want?"
"1 million, Your Highness, or your boyfriend gets sent to Jabba in a casket."
"I'll transfer the 150,000 now. Our freighter is awaiting the shipment on Nar Shaddaa as we had agreed upon. If I get confirmation the supplies are transferred and the crew makes lightspeed, I'll transfer the last 100,000. Captain Solo once saved your child's life. I'm confident this will make us even, and we can work together going forward. Good days are coming for the Rebel Alliance and you can cash in."
"Those terms are still not acceptable. An additional 500,000 or no deal."
Leia glanced at Han in consultation. She was authorized an additional 500,000 so this seemed to be a fair cost to get out of this mess alive but at a terrible cost to the Rebel's coffers. She urged him with her eyes to finish the negotiations. She had teased him about lacking diplomacy, but he was incredibly effective as a negotiator.
"We pay 100,000 of the ransom once our crew escapes Nar Shaddaa, and another 200,000 once we enter hyperspace. We can even authorize the exchange of a new hyperspace engine that could do the Kessel run in 13 parsecs. That item is nearly impossible to acquire these days. You'll have to take our word for it, or you'll miss out on future lucrative dealings. We are going to defeat the Empire, Morva Stenpel, and who will be the primary medical supplier as we rebuild the Republic?"
Morva nodded at Skor, who picked up his comm to signal his warehouse on Nar Shaddaa.
"I need to pull out my comm. Can you manage to restrain your goons long enough not to blast me?" Leia asked in her most icy royal voice. Privately, she was almost swooning with Han's use of we when describing the future success of the Alliance and defeat of the Empire. He was really in this with her, with them!
After Morva told her henchman to stand down, Leia pulled her comm and signaled her team on the smuggler's moon to begin loading the medical supplies and she transferred the money. She also quickly sent the SOS "observe and wait" signal to Evaan, just in case she didn't have eyes on the room. Within 15 minutes of tensely waiting, Leia received confirmation that the supplies were loaded. While waiting for the second communication that the team had safely left Nar Shaddaa, Leia racked her brain trying to think through their next moves.
Leia was no fool, although they clearly took her for a pampered Princess. These two ass-clown mercenaries could hold them for ransom indefinitely, changing the terms and amounts as long as they wanted. Escape was their only true option. She exchanged a look at Han, confident they were on the same page and looking for an exit.
She caught Luke's eye and glanced almost imperceptibly at his light saber, which the Skors had placed on a nearby table. Leia willed him to understand she was asking if he could use the force to retrieve it. He seemed to understand and blinked at her. All the while, Janray continued to record the unspoken conversations and body language. They still had Evaan somewhere out there and they had to be ready for when she made her move.
A smoke bomb went off, and the room was plunged into darkness. She heard three blaster shots in rapid succession and thumps as something large hit the ground.
There was a tussle and a crash followed by more blaster fire. Leia strained to see and hear what was going on as the four of them dove for cover behind a huge ugly metal statue near the front entrance to the banquet room.
Han, now in his element kicking ass with Leia and Luke, wanted to help Leia score points with the romance story, and confident Janray was still recording them, grabbed Leia's face roughly and kissed her before whispering, "I love you, let's get 'em."
Leia's eyes widened in shock, unsure if he was playing for the holo or had meant it. A question for after they unfucked this situation.
She heard a muted thunk as Luke's lightsaber flew from the table where it was being held, into his outstretched hand, his eyes still closed in intense focus. Han's blaster came in rapid succession. Luke tossed the DL-44 to Han and Han handed Leia her holdout blaster.
"What's the plan, General?" Han questioned as they checked the charges on their blasters and Luke ignited his lightsaber while they remained crouched behind the statue. It had felt like 10 minutes, but Leia knew Evaan had arrived less than 15 seconds ago. It was time to move.
"Han, you and I will get Wedge and Sana. Watch for friendly fire on Evaan. Luke, protect Janray so she can continue to record. You are all authorized to use deadly force, if necessary." Leia took a deep breath, nodded at Han, and they both rolled away from their cover location, as they ran in a crouch up each side of the room under concealment of the smoke bomb. Han had managed to snag their remaining confiscated blasters off the table and tossed them back to Janray and Luke.
Leia could barely see Han across the room, but could just make out he was pointing to the two goons tussling with Wedge and Sana. He watched for an opening and gave a silent signal before they both fired, striking them dead. Sana and Wedge collected the goons' blasters and ran at a crouch to join Luke and Janray as Han waved them past.
Leia looked over to see Evaan was pinned in an alcove, exchanging fire with Morva and Skor, who were rapidly advancing on her position. Leia signaled for Han advance to a table 10 meters ahead as Leia crouched to meet him. She ducked her head above the table enough to get a bead on the deceitful couple's location and the angle their blaster fire would take, confirming Evaan wasn't in the crossfire. She squeezed Han's hand attention, indicated he would aim for Skor, she for Morva. They exchanged a look of mutual admiration and not a little lust at the danger of the moment, their effectiveness as a team, and they sprang up and fired.
Morva and Skor fell dead with loud thumps and Evaan dove for Skor's military-grade blaster.
Han had a triumphant look on his face as the smoke cleared, gazing upon Leia with an intensity and passion that stole her breath. She heard the others clearing the room to confirm all combatants were down as Leia and Han took swift steps into each other's arms, lips meeting passionately as arms went around each other in profound relief to escape yet another tight situation unharmed.
Leia pulled back enough to look up at Han and run her thumb gently across his scar. "Guess your Corellian luck saved the day again, huh Hotshot?"
"Nah, that was all you, Princess," he said proudly as he gently kissed her.
She smiled at him, so happy. Happiness - something she'd never thought she'd feel again, didn't even think she deserved. And yet, here she was with this man she loved, and she was happy!
"You love me," she teased him, a completely delighted look of glowing wonder on her face.
"I know."
Leia laughed at the very Han reply as she let the waves of happiness roll over her.
As Han pulled Leia against his chest, her head snapped up at a commotion not more than a few meters away.
A juvenile male humanoid, unmistakably an older child of Skor and Morva, tears streaking down his face in terrible anguish and grief, appeared out of a secret hatch in the floor and bellowed, "Solo!" as he raised his blaster at the man who had killed his father but once saved his life.
Without pausing to think about the morality of killing a teenager, Leia fired her blaster at the boy's forehead and screamed Han's name as she shoved him out of the way. Physics failed her then, as her slight frame could only move his large one so much out of harm's way of the boy's blaster. The boy dropped to the floor, his blaster firing once more in reflex, as Han and Leia tumbled to the ground.
Leia looked between their tangled bodies, and realized she was covered in blood. She absently thought it didn't hurt as bad as she thought it would to get shot. Before Han groaned, clutching his side, eyes rolling back in his head as he gasped for air, and went deathly still.
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