Kalon - Han Solo [1]

CHAPTER 5 : Old Friends and New Enemies

Tasha was stood around the other side of the ship when she heard it.

"What a piece of junk!" came the exclamation of who Tasha supposed was the farm boy. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. This was the fastest ship in the galaxy. Well besides the Vengeance that is.

"She'll make point five past light speed." She heard Han say, and could hear the same annoyance she felt in his voice, "she may not look like much but she's got it where it counts, kid," so it was the farm boy, thought Tasha, "I made a lot of special modifications myself. But as you can see, we're in a bit of a hurry so if you'll just get on board, we'll gat out of here." Tasha made her way slowly around the ship to Han, who was shaking his head at a bronze protocol droid that seemed familiar somehow.

"You've got low standards. If anyone talked about the Vengeance like that I wouldn't let them near her, no matter how much they were paying." Han laughed, his fingers fiddling with some wiring.

"Here," said Tasha, pushing him out of the way and taking the wires between her fine fingers, joining them effortlessly. "Women make much better mechanics."

"Oh yeah? How'd ya figure that one sweetheart?" said Han with a slight sarcastic touch to his voice.

"Smaller fingers," she replied, shrugging. Han looked as though he was about to say something, but their conversation was cut short as a group of stormtroopers burst into the hanger.

"There's the girl!" yelled one of them.

"Blast her!" shouted another. Laser blasts sounded around the two renegades, and Tasha quickly drew her blaster, retaliating with shot after shot.

"Tasha! Go!" Han shouted at her over the din, but, in typical Tasha style, she ignored him. He rolled his dark eyes in exasperation, pulling her after him into the Falcon.

"Chewie get us outta here!" Han shouted as Tasha took off for the cockpit. She threw herself into the pilot's seat, flipping the switches to get them moving out of here. The Wookiee made a howl of protest at having the girl sat in the pilot's seat, and he wasn't the only one.

"Move it, princess!" Han barked from behind the raven girl.

"Now's no time to argue, lover boy!" she snapped back, the ship's engines singing their song. Han picked Tasha out of the pilot's seat and sat her in the navigator's chair.

"What the hell-" she protested.

"Now's no time to argue, sweetheart!" he mocked sarcastically. "Star destroyers! Two more of them coming in. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought." Han said to Chewbacca, flicking a switch above his head, "Angle the deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to light speed."

"I can do that!" Tasha piped up, busying herself with the control panel next to her. The farm boy ran in, followed by an old man. Tasha didn't even look up.

"They're gaining on us!" Tasha insisted.

"I thought you said this thing was fast!" the young blonde boy commented, slight panic rising in his voice.

"Watch your mouth kid or you'll find yourself floating home!" Tasha snapped at him, startling him and causing Han to smirk slightly.

"How long until you can make the jump to light speed?" asked the old man.

"A few moments Obi-wan, as soon as I get . . . the . . . co-ordinates . . ." Tasha's voice trailed off as she realised exactly what she had just said. It couldn't be, could it? Her head shot up as her brain whirred, trying to catch up on all this new information.

"Long time no see, Tasha." He said, smiling at the slightly shocked expression and her gaping jaw. He of all people knew that that was something that was hard to achieve. Still unsure as to what was going on, Tasha shut her mouth, trying to pull back her usual smirk of self-confidence.

"Likewise master Kenobi," she replied, happy to see him.

"Go in the back and strap yourselves in, I'm about to make the jump to light speed," Han ordered. Obi-wan and the boy dashed back out the way they'd come and back towards the passenger lounge. Tasha stayed where she was, double checking co-ordinates and mapping of regions she knew off by heart.

"That goes for you too, sweetheart!" he snapped, turning in his chair to glance at her, and finding it difficult to take his eyes off of her once he had.

"Not on your life, lover boy," She retorted, staying put.

"Tasha seriously," he stressed. She rolled her eyes at him, standing out of her chair, and walking towards the end of the cockpit.

"Only for you, Solo," she commented as she went, strapping herself in.