desolate.

08. the escape.

The entire Imperial staff seemed to know they were there, so they figured it was useless to keep their disguises. Beau only tossed the cap aside and picked further at the patch on his arm as Han and Luke shed the stormtrooper outfits, and Leia fixed her hair.

"If we can avoid any more female advice, we oughta be able to get out of here." Han said as he kicked the costume aside.

"How? Everyone already knows we're here." Beau countered, and to further prove his point, the alarms around them blared suddenly. Chewbacca howled and ran off, and Han rolled his eyes and raised his blaster, shooting the alarm.

"They'll hear!" Leia cried, but it was too late. She turned to Han with a scowl on her face. "I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. Okay?"

Han scoffed and stalked after her as she walked towards Chewbacca. "Look, your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight - I take orders from just one person, me!"

"It's a wonder you're still alive." Beau commented, crossing his arms. He glanced at Luke and shook his head, who merely shrugged in response.

"Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?" She made a face at the wookie and side stepped around him.

Han glanced at Beau and Luke. "No reward is worth this."

They hurried through the halls to the hangar, and Beau was still surprised they had gone undetected so far. Arriving at the bay, they peered through the window down at the Falcon, surrounded by stormtroopers.

"C3PO, do you copy?" Luke called, clicking the commlink. "We're right above you, stand by."

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought." Leia said amazed, glancing between Han and the Falcon.

"Come on," Han waved them on, and they left the hidden spot, running right into a group of stormtroopers.

"It's them! Blast them!" A trooper shouted, but Han fired first. The other troopers turned, and Han grabbed Leia by the hand, pulling her and Chewbacca along as the trio took off down the hall, leaving Beau and Luke behind.

"Where are you going?!" Luke shouted after them, but they were further enough down the hall that they couldn't hear anymore, especially while Beau heard the blasts coming from Han.

"Let's go," Beau said, taking Luke's hand. Troopers started to follow them now, and they ran across to a new room. Luke was lucky he stopped, otherwise he would've fallen into the bottomless cavern below. Beau grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.

"I think we took a wrong turn!" Luke exclaimed, glancing around.

A blast shot past Beau's shoulder, making him jump. Turning around, they saw the troopers standing there and firing at them. Luke started to fire back, but Beau shut the door on the troopers. Luke shot at the control panel, locking the door momentarily.

"How do we get across?" Beau wondered aloud, glancing uneasily down the cavern. The troopers made it to the other side, blasting down at them. Luke fired at them, and when one trooper fell into the cavern, the others seemed to back off. Beau took Luke's blaster and fired at the others as Luke tried to get out his grappling hook, and he managed to free it, swinging it upward and locking it onto one of the beams above.

He grabbed ahold of Beau, wrapping his arm around his waist as Beau clung onto Luke. He looked away, staring at Luke as he was about to kick off and send them swinging across the cavern. Quickly, Beau pressed a kiss to Luke's cheek, and Luke grinned at him as they swung across.

Luke pulled free the hook and they snuck off down the hall, away from the troopers. They made it around the side to the hangar, where Chewbacca, Han, and Leia already were, watching the troopers guard the ship. Beau and Luke joined them then, Beau surprised that the group survived.