Love never dies

Chapter 9

"Are you sure this will work?" Dorme whispers nervously, glancing around.

"Positive." Panaka replies "We all know the plan, and the guys are on backup, if need be."

We're crouched behind some storage crates on a platform overlooking the Southern Corellia Spaceport . Our plan is simple, get into the spaceport unnoticed, steal a ship unnoticed and fly to Naboo-unnoticed. Basically, we have to do a lot of things unnoticed. Easy peasy when there's stormtroopers watching every square foot of the spaceport. "Is Han in position?" Dorme asks.

I quickly fish a mirror that Dorme lent me out of my bag and flash it before stowing it back in its bag. A moment later, there is a similar flash on the other side of the space port. I nod at Dorme "Yep, he's ready." I say "Lets go steal a ship."

Moments later, there is a large explosion on the other side of the spaceport. Good. That means Han's successfully provided us with a distraction. "Time to go." I whisper to Dorme and Panaka. They nod and jump down from the ledge. I follow shortly after. We sneak through an out of order security gate unnoticed, then mingle in with the scared and confused crowd. Easy phase-complete. "Ready to split up?" asks Panaka, handing a comlink each to Dorme and me. We nod simultaneously. "The ship's number is 47392, and the clearance code is So19 . Got it?" he says.

"Got it!" I say "If all goes well, I'll see you all on the ship."

We then split up and go in different directions, taking different paths to ship no. 47392. That way, if one of us is caught the troopers won't be able to tell if there's more of us or not, or if we're heading in the same direction.

I weave through the confused mass of people, checking the ships numbers as I go by. A little way away, I can see a crowd of stormtroopers and random, inquisitive pedestrians observing the damage Han inflicted. I have to say, he did a good job with just a couple of thermal detonators. "So,  you like the display then?" a cocky voice calls out tauntingly behind me.

I wheel around to see Han leaning casually against a freighter, a smug look on his face. "Beautiful." I smile, rolling my eyes.

"Ya think?" He laughs "Glad you agree with the rest of my doting fans."

"Wha-?" I say, before noticing the humongous crowd gathered around Han's artwork "Oh. Haha. Very funny Solo. Come on, we've got to get to the ship."

Han sighs before standing upright. I gesture for him to follow me, and we both zigzag through the crowds until we reach the docking bay where our ship is stationed. I quickly key in the clearance code before stepping inside. As the door slides shut, I take a moment to articulate the ship. Like most of the other vessels at the spaceport, it's a Corellian Frieghter. From what Han and Panaka have told me, it's a 5.2 model, beginning to go out of style but still common around the galaxy. A fairly good discreet ship. Observing it, it looks a little banged up and is missing a few parts; it's probably seen better days. Captain Panaka suddenly pokes his head down the access ramp. "Come on you two!" He yells "This ship's all fired up and ready to go, we're just waiting for you lot!"

"Alright, we'll be there in a minute!" I yell back, before grabbing Han and racing up the ramp.

As soon as we get into the ship, Panaka presses a series of buttons that close the ramp and airlock. "Get strapped into your crash webbing in the cockpit." he says "Han, I think you should be good to co- pilot, and Padme, you should set up the ship's navigation to Naboo."

I nod and race to the cockpit, while Han stays behind to ask Panaka a few questions about the ship. Dorme's already strapped in, looking nervously out of the window. I sit down beside her. "Are you alright?" I ask.