World of Disney 3

Chapter Eight: The Snow Queen of Hoth

              Hera knew the bond between a starship and its captain was strong, and none was stronger than that she shared with Ghost. After the first grueling night on the ice planet, which saw everyone huddling together for warmth (a gesture Ezra took pleasure in when it came to huddling with Sabine), she took another shot at getting the ship's power back, with help from Chopper. The work was long and excruciating, but the two managed after some time to get it done.  

              She afterward breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Force."  

              Chopper whistled and grunted in agreement with that sentiment.  

              Ghost's heating unit instantly wiped out the freezing temperatures seeped into its interior overnight. Just outside the cockpit, Hera and Chopper could hear the others celebrate at their success.  

              Missing from the celebratory crowd were Adrienne and Vanessa, who yet to return from their suicidal journey into Hoth's harsh climate. This left the crew with a difficult choice that they discussed together in the cargo hold.  

              "No denyin' those two perished out there by now." Zeb supposed. "I say we take off now while we've still got power runnin' through the ship."  

              "I'm with Zeb on that." Sabine acknowledged. "They both knew the danger they put themselves into. There's no point in us suffering the same fate."  

              "We can't just leave them, especially not Adrienne. She's been part of this crew for a very long time and has got us out of more scrapes than I can think of." Hera argued. "No. We should wait just a little longer."  

              Penz, who sat lotus-style beside Chrissy on one crate big enough to suit them both, expressed her opinion whilst in meditation: "I can still sense their presences on this planet. They are alive and well. And we'd be well to give them more time."  

              Her mystic perception became a point of interest with Kanan, who only knew of Jedi to be capable of such a trait.  

              "Kanan?" He heard Hera quietly beckon him. "May I have a word with you?"  

              Hearing the register in her voice at the request, Kanan worried there might have been more trouble that needed to be dealt with. He followed her to his quarters, which was the most private place for them to talk.  

              He was the first to address: "What's up?"  

              "I found out a little something about our supposed 'accident' that landed us on this ice bucket. There was a miscalculation in the trajectory of our hyperspace travel. Hoth is far out of the way of Lothal, which is where I had the coordinates set to take us."  

              "But this planet is located in the Outer Rim, just as Lothal is, isn't it?"  

              "Yeah, except it's incredibly far from the system. This sector is so remote that not even the Empire has been near it."  

              Kanan considered Hera's claims with great suspicion. Bridging them with the strange occurrence that brought their crew to Hoth in the first place, including the two peculiar characters they picked up from their raid on the Death Star, there was only one plausible hypothesis to make...  

              "Someone's going out of their way to sabotage our ship. Maybe to get them to their initial destination."  

              "And wherever that may be, is it Imperial-affiliated?" Hera cautiously questioned.