Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

8: Hunting

The voyage to Teth wasn't problematic, much to Leia's relief. The passage through Imperial space went smoothly, and she was surprised to find less of the fleet than she'd expected. Both her and Han assumed that it was because of increasing Rebel attacks, and at the thought of it her chest squeezed with fear for both the Rebel Alliance as a whole and Luke, who was still stationed on a base as far as she knew.

Han set down on a landing pad, and Leia observed from the cockpit window as a few humanoids wearing less than shiny armor approached the ship. "Are those your traders?"

"It looks like it. Chewie, get the crate ready. Let's make this fast and painless."

"What should I do?" Leia asked defensively.

Han looked her up and down. "Sweetheart, I think it's best if you stay in the ship. They won't be expecting you and-" He added, seeing the angry look on Leia's face. "We may need a quick getaway if things go bad."

"With you, things always go bad." She muttered just loud enough for him to hear, situating herself in the pilot seat and keeping the engine running. Soon after, Han and Chewie emerged from the ramp carrying the weapons crate. They opened it and showed the merchandise to the buyer's representatives, then accepted the case of credits. Han and one of the aliens shook hands, then they were on their way back to the ship.

Leia blinked in surprise. Apparently the smuggler was actually decent at smuggling every now and then.

"Well, what did I tell you?" Han grinned as he sauntered back into the cockpit. "Fast and painless."

Leia made a hmph and switched places with him. "What now?"

"Now, Princess, we go get the Falcon back. The person who gave me this ship held her with him so I'd have incentive to go back and give him his share of the reward." He gestured to the case.

"Oh no." Leia groaned. "You're still flying that bucket of bolts around?"

Han turned his head to stare at her in shock. "You really think I'd stop flying the fastest ship in the galaxy?"

Leia just rolled her eyes and strapped in, and Han flashed her another grin before taking off.

:-:-:-:

If anything the Imperial shuttle Han, Leia, and Chewie rode in gave them more trouble than they'd hoped for in Outer Rim space, but for the most part that part of their journey was smooth as well. Leia was beginning to think they'd pushed their luck too far when they landed on the planet surface of Teth.

Han voiced her opinions out loud. "You know, I'm not complaining, but I think we've been a little too lucky this time around Chewie. Stay alert."

The Wookie nodded, and this time Leia followed the two out of the shuttle and into the forest. "So, where is this friend of yours?"

"He'll know we're here."

"Am I supposed to be reassured by that?"

"You can feel however you wanna feel about it." Han shot her a look. "But you hardly feel reassured by anything."

Leia scowled and crossed her arms as they waited for what seemed like only a few minutes before she heard a humming in the distance. "Is that your friend?"

"Yeah that's him alright." Han placed a hand on his hip, close to his holster. "Chewie, get ready."

Seeing Han on the defensive, Leia suddenly wished she had a blaster of her own. But she didn't have much time to think because armor-clad humanoids with jetpacks landed in a circle around them. She just hoped that if worst came to worst Han and Chewie would be capable of keeping them all alive.