An uncharacteristic noise popped from her, halfway between a giggle and a belch, and Leia brought a hand up to her mouth to disguise it.
At a distance working at his own station, General Rieeken grinned at the noise she made. "I take it Captain Solo is checking in," he said.
Leia shot the general and his obvious amusement an annoyed glance.
"How did he do it this time?" Rieekan asked.
Leia declined to tell him and shook her head, determined not to give the smuggler any more attention than he deserved, which was less than what she gave him.
Check-in was supposed to not include details. No name, no location. Nothing. Certainly not a holovid of a Wookiee moving in pretend slow motion, knees bent and feet shuffling forward, arms pumping exaggeratedly and looking behind him in feigned terror.
That Chewie was even in on it-
"He's not enlisted because he's afraid of me," Leia asserted. "He knows I can't answer with desist because of the risk of trace. I would pull him and his dilapidated freighter back here so fast-"
Chewie looked so funny, she was thinking as she spoke. His fangs weren't even showing.
- and hang him by his underwear, Leia finished to herself. If he wore any.
Rieekan had come over see, and when Leia turned to look at him was circling a finger inside his ear, trying not to chuckle.
"I've got to hand it to him," he said, "he keeps coming up with new ones. How did he head this one?"
"Captain Ohno," Leia said dryly.
The move to Hoth was going, for all its secrecy, smoothly. Luke's Rogue Squadron was at one end of the move and Gold Squadron the other; the fighter patrols reported that three of the four transports landed unchallenged and now it was up to the freighter Millennium Falcon to finish moving machinery, furniture, droids, etc. Leia, General Rieekan, and a team of communications experts- jammers and splicers- were monitoring from the old location and would board the last transport for the ice planet soon.
Each time Han landed he reported back, and had displayed a creative streak no one knew he possessed. So far check-ins from Captain Crossbow, Captain Iknow and Captain Yourbeau had been received.
They were aimed at her, Leia knew. Probably everyone thought so. Han wanted something from her, but she hadn't figured out what that was yet. His pseudonyms both annoyed and amused her and she found she looked forward to check-in time. She hadn't reacted yet, though. She was debating how, and if she should.
Chewie carried a crossbow, Leia mused. Captain Crossbow. Maybe this was his idea.
"Why can't he observe simple instructions?" Leia complained. This was mainly for appearance's sake. "The moment Luke replaces Skywalker and chimes in with Wry Talker, or... or Sith Balker-"
"You're pretty good at this, Princess," Rieekan admired.
"- or Princess Gawker." Leia was fairly proud of that one. "We'll need to nip it in the bud. We can't have all of Rogue Squadron rhyming their names."
"No harm in rhyming," Rieekan allowed. "It's actually another layer of noninformation."
"He included a holovid this time," Leia said.
Rieekan nodded. "I saw it." He smiled, but added, "As entertaining as it is, we can't allow any clues for the Empire to pick up."
Leia puffed with self-righteous affirmation. "There's a war going on," she said. "At what point will he take it seriously?"
"He takes something seriously, Your Highness."
Leia snorted.
"The holovid," Rieekan pointed out. "All the funny code names? I'd say he's working fairly hard at it."
"Fairly hard at what? Showing a sense of humor?" Leia doubted. "I'm too busy to make time for nonsense."
"I think that's what he's taking seriously."
"What do you mean?"
"How hard you work. If you live through this, Your Highness, and I hope to the twelve goddesses we all do, you won't remember the war as all terror and battles.
"You'll remember odd things," Rieekan nodded to himself, and Leia thought he must be thinking of the Clone Wars. "You'll remember night. The sound of cards shuffling, how good it feels to sneak some sleep. The people you met. Stories they told you. War gives simple things a different meaning."
Leia hated it when she trembled even though she told herself not to. "I think I'll roll my eyes at that rhyming smuggler same as I do now."
Rieekan grinned knowingly. "There's no danger in laughter. It's a reason we're fighting, isn't it."
Leia thought about it a moment. "I suppose so."
Han wanted something from her. Only a smile? Did he really perceive her as that hard? And was he that immature he just wanted some attention?
Han knew there was one thing Leia Organa was good at, and that was giving as good as she got, and he wanted to see what that was. It kept her on top of her game. It made her a good fighter. It was a challenge, and yes, it was fun.
She realized she wanted to rise to the challenge. It was time to react. If anything, she would give Rieekan and the comm experts the wartime memory of the smuggler and the Princess and their silly name game. "Shall we design a communique to Captain Solo?" she suggested. "What shall we replace Leia Organa with?"
Rieekan glanced at the other communication experts, who were listening. "How about the next inventory list? 'To Captain Lowblow and Chewy Cookie.'"
Leia smiled. "Yes, after that holovid," she glanced at it, "we definitely need to include Chewie. How about Lady's Pajama?" she posed.
Rieekan laughed. "Oh goodness," he said. "I came up with Peas and Banana."
At that, they had a little fun. Han might even smile when he received his updated list. A smile was a simple thing, Leia reflected. Maybe, just maybe, he'd needed one too.