Beating Heart ♔ Rey

eighteen

Chapter Eighteen;

Hester was a jumble of nerves the entire journey to Starkiller Base.

To while away time, she grabbed her lightsaber and went through numerous movements, letting the Force guide her. The familiar routines were soothing on her nerves and when Han told them they were nearly there, she walked into the cockpit feeling slightly more prepared for the mission that lay ahead.

"How are we getting in?" Finn asked.

Hester smiled grimly. She had already discussed this with Han. Their plan was definitely a risky one, but it was the only option they had a valuable to them.

"Their shields have a fractional refresh rate," she explained. "They keep anything traveling slower than lightspeed from getting through."

Finn froze. His eyes widened to the size of saucers and for a moment, he appeared faint.

"We're going to make our landing approach at lightspeed?"

Chewbacca roared a long, victorious sound. Hester chuckled. She could have guaranteed that Chewbacca had just roared, "Hell yes, we are!"

The Wookie's exclamation was a welcome sound - if diffused the tension in the room. Hester had been feeling apprehensive about their landing, aware of the many hundred ways it could go wrong - such as being unable to pull up in time and going crashing into the ground, skidding off a cliff's edge, making impact with a large rock, just to name a few - but his confidence settled her nerves somewhat so she felt more anticipation than fear.

"Alright, Chewie, get ready," Han said, his eyes not lifting on the panels in front of him.

Chewbacca growled out a response. Hester seated herself further back in the chair and gripped the edges.

"And now!" Han yelled.

Simultaneously, pilot and co-pilot hit switches and the Falcon hurtled out from hyperspace, the blue vacuum shifting instantly to a view of the planet surface. Hester cried out. The familiar snowy planet was being viewed only 100 feet below them. Her grip on the chair tightened instantly so her knuckles turned white and her entire body tensed as the Falcon hurtled toward a thick forest.

"I am pulling up!" Han bellowed as Chewbacca roared, but there was not enough time; the forest was too thick and the Falcon was travelling too quickly. Hester squeezed her eyes shut as the Falcon hit the forest.

The spaceship lurched, battered from either side as it slammed through branches. Hester gasped as she was rocked violently from side to side; her eyes flew open in shock and all she could see was a confusing twist of cris-crossing branches as the Falcom ploughed its way through the thick forest.

Alarms blared throughout the ship, assaulting her ears as the Falcon shot momentarily up toward the sky. Chewbacca growled and Han yelled. "If I get any higher, they'll see us!"

Hester's stomach lurched as they dived back down into the trees. She glanced over at Finn and they shared a wide-eyed, terrified look at the constant impacts against the trees that threatened to make Hester throw up whatever food was still in her stomach.

And then, without wanting, they burst free of the trees and entered a vast, snowy landscape that Hester only caught a glimpse of before the rammed into the ground, bouncing across the snowy floor at a speed that was still all too fast. Snow sprayed across the cockpit window, though it wasn't enough for Hester not to spot the approaching cliff that they'd hurtle off should the Falcom not come to a stop. Her inside froze like the ice outside as her heart leapt out her throat. The Falcom's speed was reducing as they dragged through the snow... not fast enough, or were they? Hester squeezed her eyes closed and braced herself for the sensation of falling into nothingness.