Nebulous - Han Solo [2]

Not All of Us

"Are you actually kriffing kidding me!" Tasha shouted as the ship spluttered the hyperdrive not engaging. She glared at Lando as he looked around for an answer. Chewie murmured something to her, and Tasha snapped back: "well we need to do something about your language too!"

"They told me they fixed it!" said Lando, seeming as frustrated as Tasha as she continued to curse.

"Yeah, well, obviously they didn't!" she shouted back, her eyes firmly fixed on the view port, her teeth bared in concentration. "Chewie, go see what you can do!" the Wookiee howled his affirmation before jumping out of the seat, nearly bowling over Lando in the process.

"You better hope to the Force he can fix that or we're dead mynocks!" said Lando, sidling into the chair only to jump back out of it again when Tasha growled at him.

"You better hope he can fix it or you'll be dead waaaaay before then." The ship surged forwards, and Tasha fought the urge to let out a screech as the white lights of hyperspace filled up the view port, throwing her back in her chair.

 "It'll be about half an hour before we reach the fleet." Tasha said, sitting down in the main hold with everyone else. Luke was asleep, but even that couldn't hide the extent of his injuries. His right hand was missing, Vader's lightsaber having cauterised the wound, and he was pale, a slight sheen of sweat over his forehead. Leia was sat staring at the games table in the centre of the room, her finger absently tracing its patterns. She looked more defeated than Tasha had ever seen her. Chewie was slumped down next to her, the otherwise silent air punctuated with his quietly heartbreaking mournful growls. Then, there was Lando, perched in a chair by a console, not looking overjoyed by the turn of events that had left him here with a vengeful princess whose best friend he had just betrayed. Tasha sat a hand on her hip, sneering down at Lando.

"I'm interested to see what they choose to do with you," Tasha spat, her voice not even beginning to hide her contempt.

 "Tasha," said Leia, raising her head with a sigh, "come on."

"He sold us out, Leia, why can't anyone see that!" she shouted in reply, although the smaller girl didn't even flinch, which is more than can be said for Lando, who seemed to jump four feet in the air at the tone of the raven girl's voice.

"He saved us," Leia replied, her voice sounding unbelievably quiet next to Tasha's, though holding no less power. the older girl gritted her teeth, an expression of pain on her face.

"Not all of us," she said, her voice barely concealing the tears that had begun streaming down her face. Her green eyes cast another cold look at Lando, who was seemingly fascinated by the floor, before storming out of the room before any of them could hear her sobs. Leia sighed again, rubbing a hand over her face. Her eyes flickered over to Luke, whose breathing, while stable, still wasn't strong. Without Lando he'd be dead. They'd all be dead, whether Tasha wanted to admit it or not.

"I'm sorry," Lando said, still not looking up. Leia looked over at him, tired and resigned now her adrenalin had worn off after the fight.

"She doesn't blame you, you know," she replied. Lando scoffed, looking over at the brunette with his eyebrows raised sceptically.

"Sure, she doesn't."

"She's angry at herself," Leia explained, resting her head on the table on a cushion of her forearms, brown eyes still on Lando, "you're an easy person for her to direct that anger at right now."Chewie let out an affirmative grumble, nodding his head before collapsing over the table next to Leia.

"She really cares about him," Lando said with a sigh. Leia nodded as much as her new position would allow before she shut her eyes, a small snoring sound coming from her not a moment later.

 Tasha didn't know how long she cried for, or even when she fell asleep. The next thing she knew, Chewie was shaking her awake with his huge furry paws, and she could see the fleet ships out the viewport in front of her. Luke was quickly wheeled out by a medical team, completely under from painkillers and whatever the hell else they had given him. Leia looked as composed as usual now, and Lando looked slightly less nervous when Leia told the guards he had saved them. it took everything Tasha had to not snarl at anyone who would listen that he hadn't, but Leia gave her one of those looks and her protests died in her throat.

"Princess Tasha," said one of the guards. He seemed young and slightly nervous. Tasha smiled at him in what she hoped was a reassuring way, funny how this situation was so like the one at the start of this journey, the young soldier who stole her the access codes to a speeder for a smile.

"Yes?" she said, her voice calm, strong . . . professional.

 "General Reiken wanted to see you," he replied, his nerves seeming to disintegrate before Tasha's eyes.

"Of course he does," she muttered under her breath, brushing her hair behind her ears and tugging on the sleeves of her jacket. The walk was short to the bridge, but she could still feel the restless energy coming off the young soldier who led her there, only increasing the nearer they got to the door.

"I just wanted to tell you, princess," he began, his fingers fidgeting with his data pad, "that we'll do everything we can to get captain solo back, even if . . ." he cast a nervous glance at the people through the door, "even if some people don't believe him to be worth the effort." Gratitude and disbelief washed over Tasha, and a genuine smile crossed her face.

"Thank you."