Hearts of Rebels | Star Wars Fanfiction

Chapter XV

"Ow," Rhea rubbed her face as pain streaked through her cheek, it throbbed for a few seconds before subsiding. She dismissed the sudden pain, blaming it on the cold as her fuzzy friend, Chewbacca, barked at her.

"I'm good Chewie, but the longer we stay here, the less of my body I can feel" She shrugged, handing him a tool. He grunted in response and continued welding the broken central lifter. She looked up from the scorched metal of the ship to watch the hangar bay the Millenium Falcon currently resided in.

Droids scurried across the hangar bay as troopers rushed about doing their different duties from unloading supplies, repairing starships, cleaning droids and some just having friendly chats. Finally the person they were waiting for arrived.

Han Solo, a smuggler turned Rebellion hero, rode into the hangar atop his snow lizard to everyone's amusement. He swung off the Tauntaun, ripping his hat and gloves off with plain annoyance as he made his way over to them. Chewbacca switched his tool off, lifting his face shield so he could let out a series of aggravated roars.

"All right, don't lose your temper, I'll come right back and give you a hand" Han held his hands up, rolling his eyes at the Wookiee.

"How's your new ride, Han? I think she suits you," Rhea gestured to the Tauntaun he had ridden.

"Real funny Rhea, how 'bout next time I just take your X-wing instead," He huffed.

"You go anywhere near my starship, Kayfive will zap you before you know what hit you," She sneered, twirling a hydrospanner around her hand. Han gave her a fake smile that quickly turned into a scowl as he walked away.

"Hey. Wait, Han" She called. He spun back around, mouthing an angry 'what'. "Where's Luke? I thought you two went on patrol together,"

"He said he saw a meteorite" He gave her a brief shrug and went back on his way.

"That bounty is really getting to him, isn't it?" She snorted watching the smuggler go further into the base.

Chewbacca grumbled a reply, motioning for her to get back to work. Once they finished repairing the top of the lifter, they moved below the Falcon, taking apart the lifter's lower half attempting to fix it.

"No, I don't think that's the problem," Rhea replied when Chewbacca pointed to a part of the lifter's inner workings. They both cringed as an exasperated voice began shouting at them.

"Why do you take this apart now? I'm trying to get us out of here, and you pull both of these" Han snatched the metal out of Chewbacca's hand, throwing it onto the ground.

"Well the ship's gonna fall apart if you don't fix it, Han" Rhea riposted. He turned to her slowly with an irked look.

"Listen farmgirl, this ship has been in worse repair than this. Don't start telling me-"

"Excuse me, sir," Their golden protocol droid, C-3PO, interrupted them, saving Rhea from Han's lecture.

"Put them back together right now," Han ordered the pair. He stalked off with C-3PO, leaving Rhea and Chewbacca to put the lifter back together.

Once they had welded the last piece of metal, Rhea was yanked away from the ship. She let out a yelp of surprise, spinning around to see it was Han. He put a finger up before she could say anything.

"No ones seen Luke," He whispered. Her face fell immediately. She looked over his shoulder, her eyes darting across the base, desperately searching for their friend. When she saw no sign of Luke, panic began rising in her stomach.

"I thought you said he saw a meteorite?" She reminded him.

"Yeah I did, something must've happened to him. Stay put. I'm gonna check again with the Deck Officer before heading out," He hurried off before she could react. She went back to Chewbacca and tapped his shoulder.

"Chewie something's happened to Luke. I'm going to go look for him, if he comes back before me then contact me" She tossed him her commlink, he barked an 'okay' as she jogged off into the base.

She slowed down once she reached the chamber that held the Tauntauns, spotting a single mechanic in the makeshift stable. She walked up to the closest stall, tying her scarf across her face and securing the protective goggles over her eyes.

"Excuse me. It's nearly nightfall you can't head out," The mechanic explained once he noticed her. Regardless she opened the stall and hooked her foot in the Tauntauns stirrup, pulling herself up onto it.

"Don't worry about it. I've got clearance from uh, Captain Solo," She lied, wrapping the reins around her hand. The Tauntaun protested, throwing its head back as she spurred it forward. The mechanic moved aside, letting her pass until he realised what she had said.

"Hey, wait. Captain Solo can't give clearance! Come back!" She tightened the reins, and the Tauntaun bolted off into the fading sunlight.

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