Hearts of Rebels | Star Wars Fanfiction

Chapter XXVIII

The two Rebel starships popped out of hyperspace and into the blackness of space. In front of the tiny crafts was a magnificent gas giant known as Bespin. Its surface could be seen swirling in breathtaking pink and orange patterns.

The X-Wings broke the atmosphere of the gas giant and raced above thick white clouds. They tipped the wings of their ships occasionally skimming the clouds creating plumes of white behind them.

It was at first quite a relaxing and fun experience for both of them. They bantered with each other as they created arcs of clouds behind their X-Wings.

But after enough travelling, they burst through another thick cloud and emerged the other side to be greeted with the sight of the massive floating city, Cloud City.

As they drew closer and closer, Rhea couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, eventually feeling paranoid. The closer they got, the more often she checked her display panel. It wasn't picking up any ships. No one was talking on any comm channel, and R2-K5 couldn't detect any signals.

No city guards came to identify them or guide them to an available landing platform which Rhea thought would be customary of any mining colony. Especially with the rising threat of the Empire against these small businesses.

That eventually led to a nerve-racking thought that the Empire was already here. She threw the thoughts out of her head as she forced herself to stay in the present following Luke's ship to an empty landing platform.

They hastily landed and killed the engines to their ships, wary that they triggered any sort of alarm. Pushing the cockpits open they hopped out surveying the platform for enemies, yet there wasn't a living being in sight. R2-K5 confirmed this as he retracted a sensor from the top of his head, no life-forms were anywhere nearby their location.

"This place is deserted," Rhea remarked with concern as she walked up to Luke. He shrugged, his mind was only focused on finding their friends and nothing else, an empty landing platform was far at the back of his mind.

R2-D2 rolled out from behind Luke's ship and over his master blurting out apprehension in beeps. Rhea waved for her droid to stay with the two ships before jogging back to Luke just before the door of the platform slid shut behind them.

They both moved carefully down the deserted corridors of the city. Luke in the lead, R2-D2 in the middle and Rhea watching the back. She was about to break the long silence with a complaint that they had gone in a circle when R2-D2 let out a high pitched whistle.

Luke waved his hand dismissively at the droid, but Rhea knew the little droid had detected something. They stopped simultaneously as footsteps began to echo down the hallway across from them.

They both snatched the blasters from their holsters. Luke quickly hid behind the wall while Rhea crouched down beside R2-D2, she placed a hand on the little droid hoping he'd get the message to keep quiet. Instead, he let out a series of beeps and whistles which could be translated to 'I told you so'.

Luke glared at the astromech, making the droids whistle trail off as he quieted down. The footsteps got close enough that Luke dared to peer around the corner, instantly pulling the trigger to his blaster.

Rhea heard the distinct thud of two armoured bodies hit the floor. She peeked around the corner and spotted two dead stormtroopers, as well as two local guards rushing across the hall with something encased in what appeared to be carbonite.

"What are stormtroopers doing here?" She muttered to Luke as she took another look at the hallway.

Before Luke could answer a bounty hunter in thick green armour, a jetpack strapped to his back and a T-shaped visor in his helmet skidded back round the corner and fired a deadly laser at them. It blew a chunk of the wall off where Luke's head had previously been.

"I think the better question is what is he doing here," Luke grimaced at her. She nodded in agreement and leaned out from cover, firing back at the bounty hunter. Instead of taking another shot, he pulled his blaster back and rushed to the corner where the guards had run off to.

R2-D2 was already ahead of the two shaken rebels, wheeling down the corridor giving a slow astromech chase to the enemies. They ran up to the hallway the bounty hunter had disappeared to, but someone else drew their attention.

"Luke!" A familiar voice shouted.

Across the hall, a group of stormtroopers and Imperial officers marched to another room escorting a pair of prisoners with them. Rhea rushed around the hallway, and a red hot blaster bolt whizzed inches from her face and exploded on the wall behind her.

"Watch it!" Luke grabbed the collar of her jacket and yanked her back as another bolt seared through the air.

"Rhea!" The voice cried out to the rebels again. They realised the prisoners were Leia and Chewbacca, Han was nowhere in sight but at least C-3PO could be accounted for, partly. He was strung up in a net bag on Chewbacca's back in pieces.

The squad of stormtroopers fired rapidly at Luke and Rhea covering the officer and their friends. Fear of hitting their friends kept Luke and Rhea shooting back. Instead, they dashed from hallway to hallway, taking cover from the blaster bolts. Until finally, they were a mere meter away from the group.

"Luke! Luke, don't!" The officer beside Leia proceeded to grab her by the shoulders and yank her to the next room, but she managed to latch onto the doorway, giving Luke the rest of her warning.

"It's a trap! It's a trap!" Before she could give anything else away, the officer pulled her through the doorway completely, the last stormtrooper shooting two last warning shots before disappearing with them.

Realising what had happened Luke raced over to the doorway, rushed into the room without a thought. But once he entered the room, their friends and the stormtroopers were nowhere in sight.

"Wait, Luke. Be careful!" Rhea shouted at him as she rushed over, R2-D2 whistling behind her. He turned around to exit the room only to narrowly miss a metal door slamming down in his face and locking itself.

On the other side, Rhea stopped in surprise from the loud clang before zooming over to the door, resting her ear against it in search of any noise from Luke. She yelled his name, but whether he could hear her or something happened to him, she simply didn't know.

However, R2-D2 came to her aide, he leaned his cylindrical body against the door and tooted before letting out a long, happy whistle. He detected a life-form that thankfully, was still alive and well.

She dropped her blaster and moved to the control panel. There was no access port to her dismay. She attempted as many combinations as she could think of until she realised she would have to hotwire the door to open it. Something she knew she and Luke didn't have time for.

She had to try and wrap her mind around the situation at hand, just like that she and Luke were separated, he was now completely alone and most likely lost. She looked about the endless, pristine white corridors that surrounded her before deciding her next course of action.

"C'mon Artoo. Let's try to find the others,"

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