War {3}

Chapter 7

Leena breathed fast and heavily as she slowed to a walk, approaching the main briefing room of the Military Sector. She caught her breath, took a deep one in, and entered into the room, simultaneously feeling multiple eyes on her.

"Sorry I'm late. I was caught up doing something." She clarified, wincing at how pathetic the excuse sounded when in reality she didn't have an alarm clock anymore, so she didn't wake up on time. Dender, however, said nothing, simply continuing with his briefing. But she didn't miss Luke's condescending glare as she walked over to him.

"As I was saying, the planet Jutùre is one of the main possibilities that could work as a base for us. We are running out of time and oxygen on Helias Prime, with our base being underwater and needing time to recycle the air. Besides, this base was never built as a permanent option, but as a quick getaway location if anything happened. Our time here is just about up."

Leena couldn't help but be relieved; she hated being underwater like this all the time. She made her way over to Luke, who was looking at the topographical holomap of the planet skeptically.

"The only problem is that the planet is in the same system as Hijjan, the Imperial capital. They would know we're coming." Dender explained, and Leena's hopeful charisma died away instantly.

"Well then why did you say that the planet could make a good base?" Han piped up, frowning. "If the Imperials are alerted to our presence, it's over."

"There could be a way." Leia argued quietly, crossing her arms and approaching the table. The rest of the room fell silent, listening expectantly. "The Imperial blockade of the planet is only on one side, because the other side is surrounded so thickly by asteroids it would be impossible to get through."

Han opened his mouth, but Leia gave him a pointed look. "Impossible." She repeated, and Han grumbled something to himself but nevertheless continued listening.

"But." She continued, zooming out on the planet's surface so that the entire planet could be seen, and turned it so that the asteroids were facing the crowd of military leaders. "I had someone run a schematic on the asteroids themselves, and it appears that they only weight a few pounds each."

"So if we send an armored ship in?" Luke inquired, looking at his sister with curiousity.

"The asteroids would only leave a small dent in the exterior." She finished firmly, looking at everyone for approval. "And if we settled down on that part of the planet then the Empire would never know we were that close to its capital because they don't have surveillance."

"Their mistake." Leena commented dryly, and she could see the beginnings of a smile on Luke's face from her comment.

Han spoke this time. "I like the idea, but that seems a little risky, even for me. There are way too many asteroids to only hit the exterior, even for a heavily armored ship. We'd need a small one, and that could be even more dangerous than a big one in some cases."

The room was quiet, and all were surprised when Leena's voice was heard. "You said each asteroid was only a few pounds, right?"

Leia nodded, and Leena continued. "Well, this may seem a little far-fetched, but if you take one or two of us-" She gestured to the three Jedi- "with you, then we could help clear a path."

"I don't know, Leena. That's a lot of work for even all three of us." Luke commented, looking down at his apprentice doubtfully.

"Well, we have to try something." She argued adamantly. "And I feel like this is our best bet right now."

Luke was silent, and Leena allowed herself a small smirk of satisfaction before Dender spoke again.

"It doesn't seem like the worst idea." He admitted, looking at the three Jedi pointedly. "Can you handle it?"