Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

18: The Battle of Hoth

The atmosphere surrounding the Rebel base was frantic, but orderly. Pilots rushed to their ships, captains and commanders looked upon the evacuation procedures with focused but grim expressions while barking out orders with a reverence that every person in the immediate vicinity instinctually stopped to listen to on their way to their own duties.

There was only one person going against the current of pilots racing to their ships and prepping for battle. Luke shimmied and shoved his way gracefully through the crowd, blue eyes wide and searching as he shrugged on his heavy weather piloting jacket. The Millenium Falcon was definitely a stand-out amongst the smaller T-47s and other aircraft besides the Mon-Cala cruisers, a fact Luke was now grateful for.

The young pilot finally broke past the brunt of the current and jogged over to the smuggling ship urgently. Chewie looked over and garbled a cheerful greeting, which warranted a smile from Luke. "Chewie, take care of yourself, okay?"

The Wookiee wrapped Luke into an aggressive hug after Luke gave him a friendly pat on the arm, and Luke gave an oomph as the air was pushed out of his chest not necessarily uncomfortably. He chuckled and patted Chewie again. "Okay, okay." He gasped, detangling himself and shooting the Wookiee another grin.

Luke glanced past Chewie to see Han talking with a lifter droid on top of the Falcon. "Hey, kid!" He called from above, turning back to tell the droid to wait for a moment before addressing Luke again. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Luke nodded, suddenly not entirely sure what to say next.

Han cleared his throat and shifted his body weight onto his elbow restlessly, also unsure of what to say. "Be careful." He finally managed.

"You too." The younger man held up a hand as a gesture of farewell, then started to walk away. But he'd only walked a few steps before he stopped and glanced back. Han looked back up at him, and in that moment the two men expressed everything neither of them could say aloud. After a second or two Luke gave him a halfhearted smile and continued walking, with Han watching him leave and not sure whether to smile or frown.

The crowd had faded away now, most pilots and other workers already reaching their stations, so it was much easier for Luke to navigate the hangar. He immediately spotted a group of pilots bunched over by the center of the hangar and quickly joined them to hear Leia speak.

"...leave as soon as they're loaded. Only two fighter escorts per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transports."

It was moments like these when Luke remembered just how strong and powerful Leia really was when she wanted to be; proud, standing tall, ushering commands as if she was born to do so, and maybe she was. It wouldn't have surprised him at all if that were the case. Her commands were snappy and her eyes were sharp, combing the crowd until they rested on Luke for a split second, then continued on.

"Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?" A pilot, Hobbie, asked hesitantly.

Leia's stare flashed towards him, not angry but not exactly sympathetic either. "The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure that any enemy ships will be out of your flight path. When you've gotten past the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point." She glanced around her, a sense of urgency to her voice that wasn't there before. "Understood?"

Every pilot gathered either nodded or emitted some form of affirmative, to which Leia nodded firmly. "Good luck."

"Okay, everyone to your stations! Let's go!" A deck officer declared, and the pilots scattered quickly, leaving only Luke and Leia.