CHAPTER 8:
"Han's hurt!" Leia called out. "Luke!"
"I'm coming," he answered as he rushed to his friends, running bent over behind the cover while continuing to fire on the enemy.
"Pick up your assault," Wedge ordered. "Keep the fire off of Luke."
Before the dust had cleared from the dirty bomb the Imperials used, the firefight picked up with a greater fierceness than before.
"Redge, Tycho," Wedge called out. "What's your status?"
"A little banged up but still up to the fight," Tycho answered.
"Still have more rockets?"
"Three more."
"Use them wisely, but use them now!"
Luke dunked as a blast exploded on wall right above his head. He hurried to Leia and Han, occasionally tripping over crumbled permacrete. The blaster fire was continuous seemed to follow him, but he was more worried about his friend about getting his head shot off.
Then Luke heard a whizzing whine cross the field, followed by muffled screams as permacrete tumbled down on a group of storm troopers—at least eight—across from Skywalker. Luke looked out and smiled as he saw the damage Tycho's and Redge's rocket launcher did. The blast fire was drawn off of him and now concentrated on the direction of where the rocket was launched. The aspiring Jedi was able to reach Leia and Han without having to worry about being shot.
"Luke," Leia breathed in relief as her friend knelt down beside her and Han.
The princess had tried to wiggle her way out from under Han, but she only managed to partially free herself and was now supporting herself on her elbows. There was a pile of permacrete on top of Solo, and his respiration sounded funny to Luke. He began pushing the permacrete off the smuggler's back, struggling with the larger pieces. Leia managed to squeeze out from under Han the rest of the way and helped Luke remove the permacrete.
Once the permacrete was cleared off of Han, Luke helped Leia turn over Han. Solo was conscious but struggling to breathe.
"Help me lie him down," Leia ordered. Then she spoke to Han, "You're going to be fine."
Han didn't seem as confident as she. Luke and the princess rolled Han all the way to his back. Luke adjusted him so that the smuggler's head rested on his lap.
He's bleeding on his side," Luke's voice rose. "And his breathing is impaired."
Leia lifted Han's chin. "His trachea is deviating to the right. His lung collapsed," the princess informed Luke. "Put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding."
Luke unzipped his jumpsuit, removed his undershirt and pressed it against Han's wound. Han winced in pain, and his raspy shallow respiration sped up.
"What are we going to do about his lung?"
"Fix it."
"How?"
But Leia was too focused on restoring Han's respiration and didn't hear Luke's question. She dug through her pouch, pulled out a syringe, and bit off the cover on the tip. She aimed the needle and stabbed it into the side of Han's thigh. Han sucked in an abbreviated breath followed by quick shallow whizzing breaths, and Leia felt his heart beat faster.
"Adrenaline and a pain killer," she informed Luke.
The princess pulled the plunger out of the syringe, yanked back the collar of Han's shirt, and felt around Han's chest. She pressed her lips together and then stabbed the plunger-less syringe into his lung, and although Han's respiration was still rapid, his breaths were deeper.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" Luke looked at Leia in awe.
"When I was fourteen, I helped with triage in the Battle of Plicaucus," Leia said. "Let's look at his wound."
Luke pulled his shirt off the bleeding hole on Han's side. There was a piece of permametal sticking out of the wound.
"How…bad?"
Luke and Leia exchanged looks. Luke spoke up, "Not bad. You'll survive."
The princess bit her lip and said nothing as she looked into Luke's large blue eyes. He shrugged.
"There's a piece of shrapnel in your wound, Han," Leia calmly said. "We're gonna have to get it out." She looked around and spotted one of her comrades not too far away. "Wedge, we need your help."
"I'm coming."
"I have to see how deep the shrapnel is, Han. I gave you a pain killer, but this is still going to hurt." She glanced up at Luke. Keep him steady."
Luke grabbed Han's shoulder as Han braced himself. Leia slipped on a latex glove, put her finger into his wound, and felt around. Han cringed but held in his discomfort.
Leia relaxed. "It's not deep, and I don't think it nicked any of your organs." She gazed into Han's eyes and smiled at him, though the smile didn't touch her eyes. "You'll be okay."
"Great," Han breathed, though he still wasn't confident in her assessment.
"What do you need me for?" Wedge asked.
Another rocket whined through the air. Luke looked up. This time it was aimed at a squad of storm troopers on the ground, killing the whole bunch.
"I need you and Luke to hold Han as still as possible," Leia instructed them. "I'm going to pull out the shrapnel, but I need to pull it straight out so that I won't nick anything important."
"Okay."
With Han's head still resting in his lap, Luke wrapped his arm around the smuggler's shoulder and put his weight into it. Wedge grabbed Han's hips and leaned into him for extra stability.
"Okay, Han. You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
The princess dug her teeth into her bottom lip. She placed one hand on his waist and pinched the piece of shrapnel with the fingers of her other hand. At a very slow pace, Leia pulled on the permametal, careful to pull it straight up. Han clenched his jaw, but moans of pain still escaped.
"Sorry, sorry," she whispered as she continued to pull the shrapnel out.
Finally, Leia had the piece out. She expelled a pent up breath and wore a smile of relief. She reached into her pack and pulled out a small can of bacta foam.
"This is a far replacement for stitches, but it'll clean out the wound and control the bleeding." The princess sprayed the foam directly into Han's wound. Then she turned to Luke. "It's not enough. Give me yours."
Luke dug into his pack and handed the can to Leia. She filled the wound with more bacta foam. Luke pulled out a small roll of medical tape and handed it to Leia. The princess ripped a strip of Luke's blood stained undershirt and placed it over Han's wound. Wedge helped her tape it over Han's wound.
Solo slowly sat up. His pain was minimal and he felt ready to rejoin the firefight. That was when they noticed that things had quieted. They turned their attention to the open field.
"Oh, shit."
In the middle of the field stood an Imperial officer who held Narra by the back of his neck and pointed a blaster at the rebel's head. A squad of storm troopers created a crescent around the Imperial and his captive.
"Stay down," Han ordered Luke, Wedge, and Leia.
"Who is in charge?" the officer yelled.
Han Solo started to stand, but Leia caught his hand. He gave her a small closed-mouth defeated smile, and she let go.
"I am." Han held his hands up but still had his blaster.
"Drop your weapon."
The smuggler did as he was told.
"How many are you?"
"I dunno. I haven't done a head count. For all I know, you killed some of my men."
"And you killed mine," The officer countered. "Surrender and your man will be spared."
"Don't do it, Solo!" Narra yelled.
Han bit the inside of his cheek. There was no way he was going to let that Imp kill Narra but he couldn't just hand over his team to the Empire, especially Leia. Darth Vader would be here shortly. Han glanced around. He no longer saw Tycho and Redge. He hoped they managed to find a good place to hide. And Hobbie? Han couldn't see him at all. The poor kid could have been killed.
"How do I know you won't kill him or my men after we surrender?"
"You have my word."
"You'll just hand us over to Vader," Han countered. Where was Chewie?
"At least you won't be dead."
If he surrendered, they'd all be subject to interrogations, which would come with torture. Leia could withstand that; she proved that before. But his other team members, there's no way they would hold up under that kind of pain. If Han cooperated with this Imp, he would be dooming the whole Alliance.
But Solo wasn't going to let Narra be killed while the rest of the team made their escape. His hazel eyes fell to his comrades next to him. His eyes widened and retracted.
Where's Leia? Han mouthed to Luke.
The kid looked around. He hadn't noticed her leave. Luke ran his lips between his teeth, as his heart began to beat hard against his chest, and his anxiety rose. Perhaps Leia retreated deeper into the crumbled building. Perhaps she escaped did so to avoid being interrogated by Vader. Luke had sensed her fear growing during the exchange between Han and the Imperial officer. He was glad she would get away, but he knew she wouldn't just abandon them, which caused him more anxiety.
Han's didn't know if he was angry or relieved by her absence. She had to be afraid, but he just couldn't see her running away and leaving the team.
"You're greatly outnumbered!"
"But we've managed to take out quite a bit of your storm troopers."
"Your time is running out," the Imperial called out. "Either you surrender and spare this man his life, or my troops will kill all of you. You can't take out all my storm troopers."
Han grimaced. This stupid Imp was right. Do they fight to the death? Or do they surrender? He wasn't looking forward to an Imperial interrogation, but what choice did he have?"
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The princess listened to Han and the officer exchange words. She knew Han was stalling, but she also knew his stalling would do no good. They had been defeated. She had to move fast. Leia scaled the rubble and crushed permacrete that once was an apartment building or something of that sort that had multiple levels. The destroyed building's remains were piled high and she was able to climb into the still standing building next to it with stealth. Once she got into what she figured was the second floor, she rushed over to the glassless window. She positioned herself so that she would be able to stay as still as possible, laid the nose of her rifle with care on the windowsill, closed one eye, and looked through the sighting. Leia knew she had only one shot so this shot had to count.
The princess held the rifle as steady as she could. Han's time was running out, which meant the team would be surrendering. She inhaled, held her breath, and squeezed the trigger.
"Hah!" the princess exclaimed as her shot nailed her target: the head of the Imperial officer. She then began to pick off the storm troopers.
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"Leia?" Han looked up where the fatal shot came from.
Luke smiled. "Yeah, Leia."
Han returned Luke's smile as his awe for the diminutive princess grow. But they weren't out of trouble yet.
Narra dropped to the ground as all hell broke loose. Most of the Imps fire was focused on Leia's position, but other storm troopers began firing at the other rebels. Han dunked down as he was bombarded with blaster fire. He cursed to himself; Narra was still out there and exposed. He saw Narra retrieve the fallen Imperial's blaster, but the rebel was greatly outnumbered and in the open. However, Han, Wedge, and Luke were pinned down and they couldn't do anything for Narra. The best they could do for their comrade was cover him with blaster fire when they had the opportunity.
Then Luke climbed to his feet, lit his light saber, and leapt over the permacrete that served as their cover.
"Luke!" Han yelled but the kid was already out in the open.
Intent on reaching Narra, the aspiring Jedi twirled his light saber in several full circles, blocking the blaster fire that came his way. He twisted and turned his weapon. The blaster fire from the storm troopers ricocheted off the lighted blade and hit his enemies. Narra kept firing from his seated position. Luke blocked the blaster fire that came at Narra, grabbed Narra's upper arm, and hefted him up to his feet. Narra and Luke stood back to back as they fought off the storm troopers. Han and Wedge climbed to their knees, exposed their heads and shoulders, and fiercely fired at their enemies. Shots came from Hobbie's position as well, which brought relief to Han. Tycho and Redge also opened fire at the storm troopers. They all managed to pin down the Imps, allowing Luke and Narra to make it back to the relative safety behind the permacrete rubble.
Leia kept picking off the storm troopers from her position in the window of the building, drawing a lot of fire her way. She felt secure in her position; it'd take a skilled sniper to take her out, and she hadn't noticed any Imperial snipers out there. The storm troopers continued to miss her, most of their blaster fire hitting the spot above her and below her….
The princess expelled a Corellian curse she picked up from Han when she figured out what the Imperials were doing. She pulled her rifle out of the window and began backing up. But it was too late; the wall above her fell upon her as the wall she had propped her rifle on crumbled. She screamed as she disappeared into the rubble.