Hoth

It was four hours later, and Han or Luke had still not arrived at the Echo Base.

Leia paced back and forth by Luke’s X-wing starfighter when she saw Chewbacca and Danielle come down from the Falcon’s ramp. Leia walked over quickly. “Did you find them?” she asked worriedly.

Danielle shook her head. “My mind alone couldn’t get through the storm that far, and there were so many life forms besides humans that Cerebro couldn’t tell the difference.”

Leia shook her head in disbelief. Cerebro was custom made by Chewbacca to help Danielle scan galaxy-wide for life forms that could be Force sensitive, or mutants. “My God,” she murmured.

Danielle stiffened, and Leia turned to see why. Major Derlin’s lieutenant had run up. “Sir, there’s still been no – ”

Derlin held up a hand to stop his lieutenant, then nodded his head at the small group. Threepio and Artoo came up, too. The lieutenant swallowed, obviously thinking. “Still no contact from Captain Solo or Commander Skywalker.”

Danielle buried her face in her hands, and Chewbacca whined his own worry. Threepio turned to Leia. “Artoo has found no signals when he has scanned the area,” he reported. “Although, he admits that storm interference could have held him back and that his sensors are very weak.”

Major Derlin shook his head. “Princess, we have to close the doors now,” he told her.

Leia looked at Danielle, who walked away from the group, standing with her back to them, clenching her fists. She felt a pain of sympathy for the Dathomiri woman, who Han was like a father to and who had been getting along quite well with Luke. “Do it,” she whispered.

There was a rumble before anything else could be said as the blast doors to the outside began sliding shut. There was a crash as they slammed together, and Chewbacca threw back his head and howled.

All they could do now was hope that a miracle could happen.

***

Out in the blizzard, Han was hoping for the same thing.

He rode his tauntaun out as far as the sensors, then checked around. He still couldn’t see a single thing past his mount’s head.

Then he heard a voice in his head that he didn’t recognize: “Pyro.”

Han jerked, looking around. “Who’s there?” he asked.

The voice chuckled, and Han realized it was male. “A friend.”

“And how do I know that’s true?”

“You are one of the new generation of X-Men. As was I years ago.”

Han blinked. “So telepathy was one of yours?”

“It was. It still is. Keep riding on, Pyro. You’ll find what you’re looking for.”

Han nudged the tauntaun with his heels, and the tauntaun skittered forward, then kept trotting. “So do I get to know what your name is?”

“Back then I was known as Colossus. And there is your friend.”

He felt the presence leave his mind, and Han’s jaw dropped when he saw a shimmery figure fade in the snow, leaving Luke for him to see. “Luke!” he called, jumping off of his mount and ran the rest of the way.

He dropped to his friend’s side, then realized he was muttering stuff: “Ben . . . Yoda . . . Dagobah system . . . ”

Han was wondering if Luke had gone delusional, then shook his head. He’d just had a freaking voice talk in his head, so Luke getting one wouldn’t be something to laugh about. “Just hang in there, kid,” he muttered, and started getting the shelter ready, conjuring up a flame and placing it down by Luke.

With a little bit of luck, maybe they could survive the night.

***

Danielle closed her eyes, tapping into Cerebro. Her mind reach expanded past the Echo Base, and she felt herself tap into the patrolling snowspeeders’ minds. “Zev, you hear me?” she asked. “Rogue Two?”

“I copy, Storm,” Zev’s voice replied. “You with me?”

“Trying to find two mutants in a clear morning should be fine,” Danielle replied, flipping a few switches. She moved her mind past Zev, trying to get a clear lock.

She jumped when she heard a voice in her head. “Storm.”

“OK, who the heck are you?” she asked.

The voice chuckled. “Your boss told me the same thing yesterday evening.”

Danielle’s heart leapt. “You know where they are?”

“Do you trust me to guide you?”

Danielle hesitated, then slowly nodded. “Yes.”

She felt the telepathic mind slowly connect with hers, and it gently guided her throughout the snowy tundras, and she felt two mutant minds connect to her. She gasped, and the voice chuckled in her head again. “Are those two they?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Thank you.”

“Anything for the next generation of X-Men.”

“Zev,” she called out.

“Here, Storm,” he replied.

“I’ve found them. Just follow my instructions.”

“Standing by.”

***

Luke snapped awake, lying in a hospital bed quite unlike the snow he had remembered falling in previously. And before that, Ben spoke to me . . . something about Master Yoda in the Dagobah system. He shook his head before leaning back and banging it against the headboard.

“That’s not going to help you any, Luke.”

Luke blinked, looking up as Leia entered, leaning on the inside of the door. She was smirking. “How’d I get here?” he asked, sitting up.

Leia walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Han found you in the snow. He said he was guided by some voice in his head. The next morning, Danielle found you with Cerebro saying that a similar voice helped her.”

“Thanks whoever took over the X-Men’s heads,” Luke muttered, leaning back again.

“I did,” Han’s voice commented, and he entered with Danielle and Chewbacca behind him. “And I’m pretty sure he heard me since Dani came to my rescue.”

“Zev came to both of your rescues,” Danielle corrected, leaning down and hugging Luke. “How’re you feeling?”

“Great, thanks to both of you,” Luke replied, hugging her back.

Han smirked. “That’s two you owe us, kid.”

Luke rolled his eyes but smiled, thinking back to the Death Star. “Keep telling yourself that, Han.”

Han nodded, then turned to Leia, leaning back. “So, Princess, guess you made us stay around a little longer.”

Luke looked around, confused. Danielle leaned down and whispered in his ear. “All ships have been grounded until the energy shield’s back up.”

Luke nodded his understanding. Leia just gave Han a glare that could rival his lasers. “I had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

“So, nothing at all? Nothing from the heart?”

Danielle started coughing into her hands, but Luke could see the tips of a smile working at her lips. Chewbacca started urfing in laughter, too.

Han threw looks at both of them. “Well, laugh it up, X’s,” he drawled, sauntering over to Leia and wrapping an arm around her waist. “You didn’t hear our little conversation, did ya? She expressed her true feelings for me.”

That’s when Danielle started bursting in laughter. Luke just blinked. I missed something while I was out, didn’t I?

He looked to Danielle for an explanation, but she was just smiling and shaking her head. Leia, however, was going on a full tantrum. “Why, you . . . stupid . . . scruffy-looking . . . nerf herder!”

“Who’s scruffy looking?” Han asked innocently.

Leia rolled her eyes. “You really do not understand women.” And before Luke could react, she leaned over and kissed him.

He could hear Danielle’s giggling from beside him, and somehow he knew that this was just to get on Han’s nerves. As Leia pulled away, she threw a casual smirk at Han and left.

Danielle had her hand over her mouth, and she was giggling so hard she was crying. Han just glared at her. “What the hell was that?” he asked mildly.

Danielle took her hand away, shaking her head and heading for the doors. “Just like you always said, Pyro.” She punched him in the arm. “Payback’s a bitch.”

Luke leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. Well, now, whaddya think of Rogue now?

“Private personnel to the command center,” the PA system overhead rang.

Han sighed in relief, then patted Luke’s arm. “Take care of yourself, kid,” he told him, then walked out the door with Chewbacca, and the droids followed.

***

Danielle laughed, high fiving Leia as soon as she made it to the command center. “Payback’s a bitch!” she crowed. “Nice job!”

“You don’t mind?” Leia asked, still smiling.

“Nixie, I just saw Han’s mind be blown. Yes, that was worth you kissing Luke.”

She smirked, then put on a straight face as Han and Chewbacca came in with the droids. “What happened?” Han asked.

General Rieekan walked over and tapped a place on the scanners. “We have a visitor.”

“What is it?” Leia asked.

Danielle closed her eyes, trying to find that place. A shudder ran through her, and she opened her eyes. “It’s metal.”

“Not a wampa,” Leia decided. She frowned, then adjusted something on the board. “Hold on . . . something’s transmitting.”

There was some gibber gabber of electronic noises, and Threepio straightened to attention. “I’m fluent in many languages, but this is not something the Rebel Alliance uses,” he reported. “It could be an Imperial code.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not friendly,” Han summed up. He took Danielle’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go.” As they walked out, he looked down at her. “Since when did I ever say ‘payback’s a bitch?’”

Danielle shrugged. “You never said it. You always thought it, though.”

Han stopped short, staring at her wide-eyed. She chuckled and continued through Echo Base, heading for the exit. Payback really is a bitch, she decided.

***

The Imperial probe droid turned away from Echo Base and started hovering off in a different direction. It heard a whine from behind, then turned to see a furry Wookiee head poke up from behind a snow dune. It fired two shots at the probe droid, both missing. The probe droid shot back, but the Wookiee dropped down below.

That was when the wind began picking up.

The probe droid turned and saw two Humans standing in black suits with X’s on them. One of them – a woman – had glowing white eyes, her streaked hair whirling around her. The man had glowing red eyes, and his body was slightly smoking.

The blizzard picked up, and the probe droid lost sight of the two. There was a sizzle, and then two red lasers lanced out and hit the droid.

It exploded on the spot.

***

Leia waited anxiously for Han and Danielle’s report. The comm system had slight static, then Han reported, “Not much left.”

“What was it?”

“Self destruct of some sort,” Danielle replied. “Han got him good, but it would’ve only been enough to punch a hole through it. The thing exploded immediately.”

Leia confirmed what Threepio had said earlier. “An Imperial probe droid.”

There was silence. “Then we’d better bet the Empire knows we’re here,” Han commented.

Leia turned to General Rieekan, who spoke crisp orders to other officers.

Trouble had arrived.

And the Galactic Civil War was heating up again.

***

Anyone wanna guess who was talking to Han and Danielle by mind contact? *hint* From the prequels! Winner gets the next chapter dedi!

May the Force be with everyone!

WritersBlock039