Heirs of the Fallen {1}

Chapter 13

"Where are you, kid?" Han shouted as he walked around the city, not finding Luke anywhere near him. Probably run off on some wild bantha chase. Why is it always me going to save him? He's the blasted Jedi! He should be saving me!
Han jogged down an alleyway with Chewie right behind him and heard a faint voice. "...don't have anything you want kid. Now get out of my sight." Han leaned in closer to the conversation. It sounded like Luke, but it was too muffled to be reassuring.
Han slipped up higher, peering down at the two figures. Yep, that was definitely Luke, but he was in his pirate tunic and his hair was too dirty from all the junk in this blasted air to seem blonde. And a hooded person, a girl by the sound of her voice, and a small one too. Some Jedi you are, letting a little kid sneak up on you like that. Han sighed and slid down the pipe he climbed up, not making a sound. He landed lightly behind the person, flashing a crooked smile at Luke. Luke just shook his head slightly, not daring to give away Han's cover by looking at him.
Han slowly drew his and pointed it to the person's head. "What's goin on here?" He asked, hand nonchalantly on his blaster.
The person flipped around with wide eyes under a hood, Luke momentarily forgotten. "How on Raxus did you sneak up behind me?" She snarled. Han held up his non-occupied hand with a mocking shrug. "I dunno. But you'd better let my friend there go, or else you'll find your brain splattered against the wall."
The girl hesitated, then spoke with defiance. "He walked into me. He was talking about an Artoo, whatever that means. I just wanted to defend myself when he basically bumped into me." Han wanted to smack Luke for being so stupid. After all, what did being a Jedi even mean if you couldn't sense someone five feet on front of you?
Seeing Luke wince slightly, Han knew he got the message. Good. "Sorry about my friend here, kid. He's been a little loopy ever since some nasty business on Cato Nemoidia. The native Nemoidians there are crazy." Han said, trying to cover for his beyond-stupid friend. He was gonna talk some sense into Luke as soon as they figured what was going on on this junk heap of a planet. He just hoped this girl would find out who they really were.
At that, the girl relaxed slightly but still had her guard up. "Well, don't bug me again, or you'll have blaster bolts up your nose."
Han nodded slightly and signaled to Luke. Looking warily at the kid, Luke used his finger to point the blaster away from his face and made his way around the girl to Han. Han started to leave, but stopped when he noticed Luke hadn't left at all.
"I think you have something you want to give me, girl." Luke said, his voice accusingly smooth. The girl stared at him. "Mister, I think your friend here is loopy. I haven't taken anything from him." Han believed her at first, but Luke held strong with his hand out. "I don't appreciate liars, kid. Now give Artoo and his stolen power coupling over." He gestured with his hand.
The girl just stared at Luke with her blaster pointed at him. For an awful moment Han thought the kid was gonna shoot him and tightened his grip on his blaster. But, to his relief and slight surprise, she put the blaster away and tossed Luke the power coupling. "Here's your blasted droid." She said, stepping back a couple of feet for Han to find that the girl was the only thing keeping Artoo upright. The droid slammed into the ground, powered off.
Luke plugged the coupling back in, then Artoo came to life with a little beep. He swiveled his head at the girl and blurped a few choice words at her, and Han didn't need a translator to guess what they were. He nodded at the girl, who grumbled and stood there as they walked off.
Han stopped again when Luke did to find him staring back at the girl. Again? He thought, exasperated. "Cmon dude we've gotta go!" Han said through his disguised accent. "No need for that accent anymore, Han. She already knows who we are." Han looked over in shock to see Luke's eyes narrowed at the girl. "Your mental shields are going to have to strengthen up if you want to block out a Jedi Master, kid."
The girl stared defiantly back at him. "I know. That's why I'm working on it, Master Skywalker." She emphasized the word as if making fun of him. Luke narrowed his eyes even more, then Han saw them widen immediately. Han followed his gaze to find a lightsaber on the girl's belt. Wait a minute...
Han looked closer at the lightsaber and immediately understood why Luke had been so surprised. It was his old lightsaber, lost on Bespin almost two years ago.
"Where did you get that?" Luke asked in a steely calm voice. The girl patted the lightsaber. "I would say none of your business, but considering it used to be yours, I found it in a bulk trash delivery. It came from Bespin, obviously." She replied, leaning against the wall casually.
Han noticed the casual attitude, but considering she still had her hood up it seemed the kid didn't trust them. "What's with the hood?" He asked, gesturing at the hood and trying not to sound too casual.
"Oh, this thing? It's just precautionary, in case anyone sees me. I don't exactly want to be recognized."
"Why?" Han asked, putting an over-the-top amount of suspicion in his voice. "Because." She replied evenly, glaring at him from under her hood. Han saw, with slight interest, that the girl's eyes were multi-colored, one bright blue and the other bright green.
Han grunted. "Cmon Luke, we're wasting our time with her. Let's go." He started walking, but to his dismay Luke wasn't following him. For the third time.
"Can I have my lightsaber back?" Luke asked, his hand stretching out again. The girl replied, "What's it to me? You can just unhook the thing from my belt with the Force and leave."
Luke stopped. "Because I don't want to forcefully take it from you. That's not what I do. Well anyway, give it here, kid. You don't even know how to use that thing and I don't want you hurting yourself with it." Luke glanced her up and down. "You don't look like a Jedi I would've seen, and I'm also supposed to be the only one around."
"I've used it at least three times already." she objected, "I'm kinda good at it too." the girl added on smugly. Luke groaned. "Stop messing around and give me the-"
Han turned around as he heard Luke stop abruptly. "Kid?" He questioned, eyeing him. Luke visibly shuddered, causing Han's concern to grow. "You alright?"
The girl was alerted now, too, peering at Luke with curiosity. Luke regained his posture with a visible effort, and replied, "there's a missile out there, somewhere near here. It's heading towards a planet."
Han's eyes widened, and all of his senses were on high alert. Obviously noticing Han's discomfort, Luke turned around and said calmly, "It's not heading for us, Han. Calm down." He chuckled slightly. "Besides, don't you think I would warn you if the missile was heading for this planet?"
Han was about to retort that he didn't know that, when Luke's facial expression became abruptly more serious again. "It's heading for Klemied..." He trailed off. And Han didn't need him to finish. If that missile struck the Senate building... "Let's go!" He snapped and started into a full-fledged sprint towards the Falcon. Luke followed closely behind, his old lightsaber forgotten.
As they rounded the corner, Han sped up the ramp of the Falcon, beckoning to Chewie to help him start up the ship. As Luke and Artoo came aboard, he closed the ramp and took off into space, heading straight for Klemied.
Han sat back in his chair, knowing that could've been a lot harder than it was. He sighed and exited the cockpit, hoping to get a drink. "Force knows I need one after today." He grumbled as he headed towards the stash of bottles in the corner of the Sabaac room.