Mastermind

Chapter Two: The Counter-Attack

A week after Erda was found and rescued at the same time the Rebel Alliance had been completing missions destroying Imperial bases, compounds, rescuing spies and senators and rescuing surviving Alderaanians, it was then that they moved to Hoth to set up their new base to hide from the Empire. Many adventures, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, Luke and Erda had gone on together. Most of which where extremely dangerous, but a thrill nonetheless. 

Three years came to pass since the Death Star was destroyed. Since then, Erda had been able to assist in the hangar repairing ships and fighters as well as modifying the Rebellion's blasters, rifles and launchers to a more desirable effect to overpower the Empire's standard weaponry, adding a cooling system when weapons overheat, ion rounds and upgraded stock and other such modifications that would enhance the Alliance's chances at winning battles against the Empire; even plotting weak points in the Empire's transportation. 

It was mysterious that Chewbacca hadn't been seen since he and Han arrived from an errand when Leia tasked herself with finding her furry companion as R2D2 accompanied her. The two looked through the corridors where the Wookie was last seen. One particular door seemed broken, or damaged by someone. Leia was able to shuffle through the gap the door provided, where she found Chewbacca cuddling with a sleeping Wampa. At first glance, she giggled until her friend's situation became rather problematic as she accidentally kicked something which woke the Wampa up from its slumber. 

It gurgled when it let Chewbacca go, allowing him to run to Leia while she distracted the beast as R2 worked frantically to save them both. Once Chewbacca was out of the cave, Leia squeezed herself through in time for R2 to shut the door, trapping the Wampa inside. Later that day, Luke Skywalker was presumed missing on account for not returning to base after scouting for any signs of Imperial presence - probe droids sent onto the planet to search for any signs of Rebel presence. While Erda was working in the hangar, doing some tweaking and upgrades to his own personal fighter, he noticed Han mount a Tauntaun with Leia standing in the middle of the hangar in distress. Abandoning his work, he approached Leia and placed his hand on her back. 

"You okay? Where's Luke and Han?" Erda cooed at her. 

Leia shook her head as she diverted her eyes from the closing hangar doors back to her best friend. "Luke hasn't returned from his area search and Han's gone out to find him." 

"I'm sure Luke'll be alright. Remember when I wound up missing after the Battle of Yavin? You were so worried it was like you were going to burst a vessel?" He spoke humorously to lighten the mood. 

"Yes. You were quite foolish to try to outrun a Nexu, but, lesson learnt, right?" She said sincerely, smiling brightly at the raven-haired man.

"Right, right. Luke'll be alright. Just gotta hope for the best." 

"Hope's been what's keeping us going. I'm just... The Empire is bound to find us again. Sooner or later, we'll have to evacuate Echo Base and find somewhere else to hide until we can defeat Vader and the Empire." 

Erda positioned himself directly in front of her and smiled reassuringly. "That's what I like about you. Your optimism and your persistence. You get stuff done." 

Leia raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have feelings for me, Erda." 

He chuckled nervously at this and faked a smile to her. "Yeah... Right." 

"Hey. You'll find the right someone." She said assuringly and placed her hand on his cheek that stroked downwards as she took her leave. 

Erda quickly called her name without thinking as his feelings began to take control. "W-W-Wait, L-Leia!"  

Leia looked at him, eyebrows scrunched together as he quickly walked up to her and grabbed her cheeks firmly and crashed his lips against hers. At first, Leia wanted to resist, but the kiss was so passionate that she melted into it and gave in. The kiss stole breathe as they both had to pull away for air when Erda's breath hitched. 

"S-S-Should I not have done that...?" He muttered in realisation that what he did was sudden an inappropriate. 

Leia giggled, her cheeks reddening from the cold and her passion for him. "No. It was... just sudden, is all. But, next time, let's do that where no-one is watching." 

She winked at him before taking her leave, which made him flush in embarrassment when out of nowhere, Lykta came along, patting his back. 

"So... you and the princess, huh?" Lykta began when Erda shook his shoulder, removing her hand from his shoulder as he headed back to his ship to resume working. 

The next morning, a patrol was sent out to search for Han and Luke. Early that morning, that very patrol returned with Han and Luke - injured from being attacked by a Wampa - he had to be put in a bacta tank for quick medical healing. Once Luke had recovered, Leia, Han, Artoo, Chewbacca, Threepio and Erda all checked up on him as Luke made a speedy recovery. 

"How ya feelin' kid? You don't look so bad to me. He looks strong enough to pull ears off a gunark." Han said cheerily, patting the farmer boy on the arm to show his appreciation for his braver y. 

"Thanks to you," Luke replied quickly with a smirk.  

"That's two, you owe me, junior. Well, your worship, looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer." 

"I had nothing to do with it. General Riekaan thinks its dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy field." Leia replied grumpily. 

"That's a good story. I just can't think you can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight." 

"I don't know where you get your delusions, laser-brain." 

Chewbacca chuckled which made Han shoot back at him before continuing to wind Leia up. "Laugh it up fuzzball. But you didn't see us alone in the south passage. She expressed her true feelings for me." 

"My... Why you stuck-up, half witted, scruffy-looking... nerf herder!" Leia snapped. 

Han turned back to her, insulted. "Who's scruffy-lookin'?! You must be pretty close to the mark, get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?" 

Leia was now fuming as she walked over to where Erda was standing and whispered at Han, "Well, I guess you don't know everything about women yet," and kissed Erda in front of everyone. 

Luke smiled widely at how he lost that argument. Erda stood completely stunned as Han stormed off with Chewbacca behind him. Leia took her leave also, which was where Erda gave the blonde time to rest and relax before the next unexpected assault coming later.