Nebulous - Han Solo [2]

The Return of the Princess

"I'm still finding it hard to believe that Reiken was an Imperial spy," said a lifesize hologram of Mon Mothma, one of the leaders of the Alliance. Tasha's face was fixed in a concentrated scowl as she stood around the table showing the model of the galaxy, positions of imperial and alliance ships pointed out as tiny pinpricks, some with labels of specifications, the planets colour-coded based on the strength of the imperial presence there.

"I know ma'am," she replied, "it makes you wonder exactly who we can trust." There was silence for a moment as everyone in the meeting looked at each other. Mothma spoke again.

"It is clear we need to post new leadership over our military after this incident, someone we know we can trust," she said, her quiet voice continuing to command the attention of the room, "Tasha, we believe that you're the best person for this post." The raven girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Me?" the older woman smiled slightly, her eyes softening.

"You have shown us over the years, and even over the last couple of weeks in the wake of Captain Solo being taken hostage and Reiken being proved a traitor, that your leadership is invaluable and that you are willing to do whatever is necessary in order to preserve the lives of your friends and people under your command." She paused, and Tasha felt the eyes of everyone on her. "and that is exactly what we need." Tasha had no clue what to think, or do, or anything, so she just stared determinately at the holographic map, eyes glued on Tatooine.

"How is the rescue mission for Captain Solo coming along?" asked General Madine, an ex-imperial officer that Tasha liked. He was no-nonsense, sensible, spoke his mind.

"We've narrowed down his location to an area on Tatooine where the bounty hunter's ship was last seen." She flicked the table with the pad of her finger, the planet ballooning in size, highlighting the area she was talking about. "So we assume his destination was the palace of Jabba the Hutt. As the mission is dangerous, I've asked for volunteers. But our main problem is getting a man on the ground to do some recon of the security around Captain Solo, what, um, condition he's in, etcetera etcetera. I hope to have a plan together for his extraction within the next 24 hours."

"Who has volunteered?" asked Madine.

"Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian, the man from cloud city. Other personnel such as mechanics and pilots have offered their services too. I'm holding a briefing about the mission as soon as I finish up here," she smirked slightly, "you're welcome to stand in if you want to . . . check up on me." The general returned her look.

"That isn't necessary. If you require any extra resources, let me know." Tasha nodded before looking back at the screen, her eyes flitting to the desert planet. Mothma noticed, a concerned look passing her face before she spoke.

"That is enough for today, however I would like to speak to Tasha, alone." All the other holograms around the table disappeared, the other officers present acknowledging Tasha before exiting the room with hushed conversations.

"Are you sure about this?" Tasha said through a slightly shaky breath, still looking at the map, "trusting the 'monster girl' with command?"

"You're the best person for the job," she replied simply, "and I can tell even you don't worry about the monster rumours anymore." Tasha smiled sardonically, but Mothma didn't quite believe the expression.

"You get used to telling yourself something everyday for three years, it doesn't just disappear in one epiphany-style moment and never bother you again."

"I'm not saying it does," Mothma replied in her irritatingly calm tone, "but I mean what I say, Tasha, and I wouldn't put this rebellion into jeopardy, I wouldn't give you this job if I didn't think you were up to it." Tasha sighed again, running a hand through her hair, collecting the strands that fell out before shaking them to the floor.

"I wish I had that much faith in me."

*** 

"Wedge, your recon flight? What did that show again?" asked Tasha, her pony-tail discarded and her hair lying in sheets around her face. Wedge gave her a strange look: he'd been through the recon data twice now and he knew Tasha had been studying it as well. He cleared his throat a little before beginning speaking.

"Well, as we know, Jabba's palace is located here, a little way out into the dunes so as to not be close to Mos Eisley or any major spaceports, but also clinging to this ridge here, in order to provide some cover, and also as he turfed out its last residents."

"Come again?" said Leia, a little confused.

"Jabba's palace used to be an old monastery for some bizarre group that used to cut their brains out, stick 'em in jars and plug that jar into AI legs for them to walk around on." Tasha filled in. Chewie gave a small shudder, his fur rippling and Leia didn't look all that happy either.

"And we're sure that's where they took him?" asked Lando. Wedge nodded.

"All the information we have about Han, his situation, the bounty hunter, it seems to most obvious answer." Said Tasha. She let out a weary sigh.

"So, now we know where he is," began Leia, "how the hell are we gonna get him out?" Tasha waved her arms around aimlessly, looking around the clueless faces at the table.

Lando fidgeted slightly. He knew that Tasha didn't trust him, he didn't really blame her though. But, he felt this gnawing inside him, a gnawing he felt ever since they had landed on Cloud City. Maybe there was a way for him to make that feeling leave him alone.

"I know a girl," he began, only to be cut off by Tasha scoffing slightly.

"Course ya do," she said with a smirk.

"Tasha, let him speak," Leia hissed before turning to Lando and gesturing for him to continue. All eyes turned to him.

"She works for the Crimson Dawn syndicate, one of their main generals, she might be able to help us." He elaborated.

"Crimson Dawn do a lot of business with the hutts," put in Leia, looking to Tasha for her assessment of the conversation.

"Which begs the question: why would they want to work with us? They have nothing to gain from this." The older girl replied.

"Just trust me on this one," said Lando, holding his hands up, "if anyone will help us, its her."

"Alright," said Luke, who'd been silent the whole time, playing distractedly with the tendons in his new false hand, "Lando, go meet your contact, see if she can help us. From there, we'll try and work out a plan."

"I'll go with you," said Tasha, nodding to Lando, causing the whole room to stare, eyes wide, "I want to keep an eye on you." He returned her smirk as the whole room erupted into a chaos of objections, which Tasha silenced with a wave of her hand.

"This is my decision. And besides," her face broke into a grin, "I'm the princess of the rebellion."