What Could Have Been Part III: The Destined Warriors

Escape Route

Leia

As much as she wanted to stay there in Han's arms, Leia knew that they were still in danger. It was time to get moving.

Han seemed to read her mind. "We'd better get out of here." He grabbed his blaster off the control panel and slid the helmet back over his face. The mask made Leia crime ever so slightly. He looked like one of them. She tried to put the thought out of her mind as she grabbed her lightsaber off the panel and followed him out the door.

Han paused in the hall, his masked head swiveling left and then right. "Any plans on how we're getting out of here, Flyboy?" Leia asked, as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting. Her cell had been dark but the hall walls were a glowing stark white. Han ignored the comment. "Working on it..." He muttered to himself as he studied both directions of the halls. Leia's hands were on her hips now. "Don't tell me you don't know how to get out of here," she said in disapproval. Han finally made the reluctant decision to head left down the narrow corridors. "I know how to get out," he declared defensively. "I just forgot."

Leia rolled her eyes as she followed after Han. "Some rescue," she remarked to herself. After a few turns, they hit a dead end. Even with his face covered, Han was clearly confused and baffled at his mistake. "Maybe we should ask someone for directions," Leia suggested impatiently. Han pulled off his helmet. "I don't suppose you're going to thank me for saving you any time soon, Your Ungratefulness?" He snapped back. Leia simmered. "If it's all the same to you, dear," Leia said, emphasizing the dear with irritable undertone. "I prefer to say my thanks when I'm not sneaking around an enemy ship!" Han raised his eyebrows. "Well we won't be sneaking around long with all this yelling! We need to turn around," he announced loudly as he slid his helmet back on. Leia grew red. "You're the one yelling!"

"What's going on here?!"

Both turned around to see two navy armored clones pointing guns at Leia. Leia raised her hands over her head and glared at Han. "See what you did?" Leia growled under her breath. Han took a deep and slightly aggravated breath. "Stay calm," he instructed. One clone ordered Leia to stop talking while the other contacted someone over his intercom. Leia was too annoyed at the moment to comply. "What do we do now?"

Han shrugged as he looked cautiously at the guards. "What I always do; Talk my way out of this," he answered out of the corner of his mouth. He smiled at the guards. "Fellas," he began in a friendly tone. "I'm glad that you're here. I just caught this prisoner trying to escape. I would have stopped her but my blaster wasn't set to stun. See?" he asked. In the blink of an eye, Han drew his weapon and put holes into his 'fellow' clones. Leia was suddenly thankful he had put his helmet on before the men had arrived. The two navy helmets clattered to the ground. Han stepped over them and started down the hall again. "That's two times I've rescued you in ten minutes. I'm keeping track," he chimed. Leia chased after him. "That last one doesn't count. It was your yelling that got us caught," she pointed out.

After that, Leia kept quiet. She was more concerned with staying alive than winning a debate. They raced down hallway after hallway; each one turning out to be dead ends. Soon, they were both out of breath and even more lost than they had been. They were lucky enough not to run into any clones, but it was only a matter of time before that luck ran out.

"Stop right there, soldier!" Around the corner a cluster of clones were waiting for them with guns at the ready. Leia froze in her tracks. A look of panic formed on her face. Han had his blaster dangling between his thumb and forefinger. Not even his unmatched shooting skills would get then out of this one. The navy masks of the men seemed to scowl as if that were their real faces. Leia felt her spine stiffen. "Got any other tricks up your sleeves?" she asked Han in a deadpan tone. A nervous grin appeared and vanished from Han's face as troopers circled them and confiscated his gun. One of the men shoved him to his knees. "I'm open to suggestions," he grunted.

Another trooper seized Leia's wrists behind her back. She lurched forward in an attempt to free herself but the grip on her arms was strong and yanked her backwards. One of her wrists twisted and pain shot through her hand. She breathed shallowly. The white walls suddenly seemed closer than before, like they were caving in on her. The pain in her wrist pulsed through what felt like her whole body. The navy helmets moved in blurs around her; their voices cold and steely like their eyes. Leia took a breath. This wasn't the tine to panic. Her life as well as Han's were on the line.

Leia focused on the men around her. She relaxed her muscles as tine slowed down around her. She felt the Force rising inside her. It flowed through her fingertips. She had an idea.

Even as it happened before her eyes, Leia wasn't fully aware what she was doing. First the soldier holding her arms back let go of her arms and fell backwards. Confused, the rest of the clones moved in on their escaping prisoner as Leia spun around, her lightsaber leaping into her hand and igniting its emerald blade. Her sword made contact with two navy bodies in a single swing and they toppled to the ground in pieces. She turned toward Han and the soldier pressing him to the ground. A quick swipe of her hand and Han was free. He tore off his helmet and lashed it at his attacker. The trooper dropped his blaster which Han was not hesitant to collect for himself and use on its previous owner.

Han could handle himself. Only two armored men remained, one of which Han was already going after. The other began shooting red hot laser blasts at Leia. She deflected each one in tactical sweeps and sent the bolts back toward their origin so that the clone was forced to dodge them.

One final blast angled just right and hit the clone dead center in the chest. He fell back with a thud and Leia exhaled; grateful to be able to retract her lightsaber and slow down her brain. When she turned around, Han was waiting patiently for her; his own opponent already down. "What took you so long?" He asked with a cocky swagger in his voice. His smile, with its crookedness and confident, was like looking back in time to their first encounter on Coruscant. He had changed so much but there would always be that smirk.

That smirk vanished as the echos of boots reverberated down the winding halls. Han glanced desperately in search of an exit. "I've got an idea, but you're not gonna like it," he said almost to himself. Leia watched anxiously for clones coming around the hall. Their footsteps grew louder. "What is it?" Han didn't answer. Instead, he readied his blaster and aimed for a waste disposal shaft in the side of the wall. Leia's eyes widened. "Oh no! We're not doing this a second time! I am not swimming through garbage again!" she said firmly. Han ignored her protest and blew open the hatch. Leia took a good step back. "Not happening," she reiterated. Han peered in. "Doesn't smell as bad as the first time," he observed optimistically. Leia cringed at the odor rising out of the garbage shoot. "I'm fine staying up here."

Now voices could be heard from the soldiers as they grew closer and closer. "Well I'm sure the helmets with guns will be thrilled to find us for them to arrest us," he argued. Leia pondered the thought and looked down into the dauntingly dark hole of garbage. "You better know what you're doing, Flyby," she said, preparing to jump. Han shrugged.

"I don't. Which's exactly why I'm doing it."