Star Wars: Ryloth Under Siege/ Chapter 2: Investigation

Luke was laid down on a stretcher in the med bay, scanners running up and down his body while a worried C3P-O paced at his bedside. Leia spilled into the room and dove straight for her brother, wrapping her arms around him and leaning a bit too hard on his wounds, causing him to audibly wince in pain. She pulled away quickly.

"I'm so sorry, Luke!"

"It's okay. It's the best pain I've felt today. Sorry I have to be beaten senseless to come visit you these days."

"What happened?"

"Wait for Han and Chewie."

"Wait for-"

Han Solo burst through the door, his face agape in query, with Chewbacca quickly behind him, all roars and inquisitive whimpers.

"Kid, look at you!"

"You should see the other guys," Luke joked weakly.

"Is this the First Order?" Leia directly asked. All the noise and air fell out of the room. Even 3PO stopped pacing.

"You know about the First Order?" Luke asked.

"Yes. We've traced its roots to one of our own, an older Clone trooper. And we have reason to believe they've hacked our databases."

"Wait, if you were attacked--" Han's mind started down a dark line of thinking. "At the Academy? Is Ben-"

"He's fine, Han. They're all fine. I wasn't attacked. I was fought back."

"Fought back?" Han responded. Chewie growled a similar question.

"I took a sabbatical from the Academy to chase down a lead on the First Order. Didn't think it was legitimate until I encountered their defenses." He raised his arms to make a display of his wounded body. "Totally legit, and totally defended."

"Well, that's it. We're heading over their right now." Han said, defiantly, straightening to his full height.

"Like Hell you are," boomed a voice from behind him. They all turned to see Commander Stone at the front door.

"Commander, with all due respect, this should be a council decision." Leia interjected.

"With all due respect to you, General, I disagree. If Major Scrape is behind this then it's a Clone issue and will be handled by Clones." Stone countered.

Han pointed down at Luke on the med bay stretcher. "That is a Jedi Knight, Commander. The last of a line that commanded you during your Clone Wars, and you see what they did to him. This is not a Clone Issue; this is a Galactic Issue. We need to get down there and stop this First Order before it becomes something else. Before it becomes something we can't stop."

"General Solo, your words are impassioned and sensible at the same time, but I must insist that we all remain at this base until we can ascertain the depth of the hack and the amount of intelligence gathered. We are already at risk and until we know the scope of it, we need to keep our heads out of the line of fire."

"Hide?" asked C3P-O, intrigued by the concept. Stone nodded.

"In the meantime, I do see the advantage of discussing our next course of action with the council. I am humble enough to admit that you're correct in assuming the issue is larger than my initial, selfish reaction." Stone looked to the ground in shame. Leia rose and met his gaze, turning it upwards.

"Then let's get to the council chamber and get started on our deliberation. As soon as we're cleared for recourse I would like to have a plan ready to enact."

"What about us?" Han asked as the others turned to leave, causing them to turn back. Chewie again barked his solidarity with his old friend. Leia looked to the two of them, then to Luke, then back to them.

"Stone is right. We don't know what they know, but we know they're on high alert. It's too dangerous to go in blind. Stay put until we know what we're dealing with." Han looked to the ground and clenched his right fist, a sign Leia knew all too well. "Han, that's an order."

Han snapped his head back up and leered at her. He softened his face and nodded. Leia and Stone turned and walked out of the room, followed by a quickly shuffling C3P-O. Once their footfalls were distant whispers, Han looked to Luke and squeezed his hand.

"Tell me where they are, kid."

"But Leia agreed we need more intel."

"And I agree, as well," Han smiled. Chewie murmured something to his friend. "But our way is faster."

--

Minutes later Han and Chewbacca, along with R2D2, were speeding across the landscape of Dantooine Western Desert. R2 beeped happily through the intercom as Han read his transmission through the speeder's dash controls.

"I don't know if lucky is the word for it, but it is rather convenient that they happen to be on the same planet as us. Two sides of the same coin, eh, Chewie?" Chewbacca barked in dissent.

"Eh, what do you know?"

They sped along in silence a bit longer before Han saw the outline of a gigantic downed Imperial Star Destroyer appear on the horizon. He knocked on the back window of the cabin, near where R2 was positioned in his co-pilot bubble.

"Slow it down and keep the scanners hot. I don't like surprises and I'm willing to bet they don't either." He looked over at Chewie, nodded, then pulled his blaster. He checked the weapon for readiness, then regarded his furry friend again. "I've got a bad feeling about this."