Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

33: Determined

The Falcon landed with an ungraceful clunk that made Han wince, but nevertheless he was happy to be on the ground again after a few days of travel. He stood up and peered out the window into the hangar of the Mon Cala cruiser, then glanced down at Lando who was sitting behind him. Anyone else wouldn't have been able to detect the nervousness radiating off of him despite his cool expression, but Han was not anyone else; he was an expert at pretending to be cool himself.

"Chewie, take Threepio to droid maintenance." Han mumbled to the Wookiee. Sensing the two men needed space, Chewie nodded and barked in agreement before heading back to the cargo bay to grab the protocol droid.

Han and Lando stared at each other for a moment, both men not entirely sure what to say. "I had no choice." Lando finally declared solemnly. "I would have made any other if I could have."

The former smuggler-turned-Rebel narrowed his eyes lightly at that. His teeth teased his lip before he answered. "Yeah."

Lando blinked at that, not sure whether it was an agreement or a sarcastic comment. He eyed Han hesitantly, and Han walked past him but as he did so he put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Don't make me regret this, buddy. He helped Lando up out of the chair and not-so gently pushed him in front. "C'mon, we'll see what the Rebellion wants to do with you."

A few Rebels had arrived after Han had given his clearance, and some were already taking Threepio off of Chewie and taking him to maintenance themselves. "Captain Solo." A general greeted with a firm handshake. "I heard you've had quite an ordeal."

"Tell me about it." Han grumbled, gesturing to Lando. "This here's my friend Lando Calrissian. He'll tell you everything you need to know."

The general cast a look at Lando who nodded, then beckoned him. "Alright, in that case come with me. Solo, get to the medical bay."

The two men walked off together and Chewie approached Han, barking curiously. "I dunno." He replied quietly, staring after Lando. "I hope I made the right choice here."

•••

Leia's X-Wing landed a few hours after the Falcon. She hopped out of the cockpit and left the helmet inside, marching towards the nearest deck officer. "I need to speak with whoever is in charge of the ship." She demanded firmly.

"Commander, I don't think that's-"

"Now."

Leia's fiery glare stunned the man into silence, and he nodded hesitantly. "I... I'll see what I can do."

He went in search for the nearest commanding officer with Leia hot on his heels, and once he found a general inside one of the briefing rooms he explained Leia's plea. The general gave one look at her, her bruised face, bloody nose, and angry glare, and told her to follow him.

Leia now marched angrily after the general with Artoo behind her, passing by the medbay where the astromech saw Chewbacca through the window. He whistled a loud greeting and the Wookiee's head shot up, giving a greeting of his own. Han, who was receiving stitches on his chin, pushed the medical droid's hand away and turned around to see the astromech wobbling urgently in the doorway. He gave a loud wail and Han got the memo, quickly standing up and pushing his way through the medbay hall with awkward "sorry"s and peering out the door. "Artoo? Where-"

The droid immediately started speeding away down the hall, leaving Han almost in the dust. "Hey!" He snapped, jogging after him and catching up but still having to walk quickly to keep up afterwards. "I didn't even know you could move this fast." He muttered grumpily, annoyed at having to run to catch him in the first place.