CHAPTER 1:

The hydrospanner clattered to the permecrete floor, muting the string of Corellian curses streaming from Han Solo's mouth. Chewbacca leaned his head over the edge of the Millennium Falcon and laughed at his injured friend. Han shot him a warning look and brought his throbbing thumb to his mouth in an attempt to dull the pain. At the rate they were going, the Falcon was never going to be in top shape. Just as Han bent over to retrieve the fallen tool, an erratic astromech droid slammed into him, knocking the angry pilot flat on the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Han yelled as he pulled himself to his feet, "Stupid, good-for-nothing-always-in-the-way droids!"

The blue astromech droid tweetered and whistled as if it was telling Han off. Han recognized the droid as the one always following Luke around, not the irritating one that wouldn't shut up. Not that this droid in front of him was particularly quiet. His high-pitched squealing was starting to get on his nerves. "Look," Han turned away from the droid, "I'm busy right now, so why don't you run along. Go find Luke or something."

But the droid wasn't going to be dismissed that easily. He shoved his stout metal body into Han again and continued its endless stream of whistles and hoots that took on a more aggressive tone.

"Hey!" Han raised the hydrospanner, ready to conk the annoying droid on the head.

Chewbacca growled and shook his finger at Han. Han froze and glared at his long-time friend. Although he didn't look happy about it, he lowered his hand while Chewbacca climbed his way to the ground. The little droid slammed itself into Solo once again.

"If you don't stop—"

Chewbacca pushed Han away from the little droid. Han shook his head, "How do you know it's trying to tell me something?" Chewie explained. Han sighed, "I don't understand all that nonsense." He looked around, "So where's that droid that never shuts up?"

Chewbacca pushed Han back and ushered the astromech droid into the Millennium Falcon. Han felt that he had no choice but to follow. Chewie led the little droid to the technical station, and it immediately plugged itself into the terminal.

"Oh Sith!" Han yelled when he read the translation, "Does Luke know?"

Of course Luke didn't know. Luke, always the good little soldier, was out on perimeter duty. Han ran his hand through his hair, his adrenaline coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe what this droid was telling him. Before the droid finished, Han took off toward the Falcon's ramp.

Chewbacca roared after his friend. Han yelled over his shoulder, "Where do you think I'm going? I'm going to take care of this!"

It didn't take long to reach the Command Center, mainly because Solo had pretty much ran there.

"Excuse me, Captain," a low-ranked officer held a hand up. "This is a private meeting, and you don't have the clearance—"

"Outa my way!" A determined Han stormed passed the man. Once he reached his destination, Solo slammed the door open and charged in.

"Captain Solo!" General Dodonna rose from his seat, his face red with anger and indignation. "How dare you barge in like this!"

"So how long have you known?" Han slammed his fists down on the table where General Reeiken, General Dodonna, General Serin, and a woman he never met before were holding an intent conversation.

The woman stood up, "Captain Han Solo? I've heard a lot about you."

Han looked the older woman up and down. Han opened his mouth, ready to live up to his roguish reputation, when General Reeiken cut in, "Captain Solo, this is Mon Montha, the driving force behind the Rebel Alliance."

Han took in the red-headed woman, "So what are you going to do about it?"

General Dodonna stood, "Captain Solo, this matter doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't!" Han yelled. "I didn't risk my life pulling her outa the Death Star—"

"She's been missing for two days now," Reeiken interrupted, ignoring the reprimanding looks from his colleagues.

"Two days and you're all sitting around like nothing happened?" Han was exasperated. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Mon Montha stared directly into Solo's eyes, "Absolutely nothing."

"What?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"The rebellion does not respond to extortion," General Serin folded his hands in a temple upon the table.

"Extortion? It sounds more like a ransom demand to me," Han narrowed his eyes on the General. He could swear the man was smirking, and Han wanted nothing more at the moment than a reason to smack that smirk right off of the general's face.

"Captain," Mon Montha pulled all the attention back to her with her firm voice, "May I ask, what exactly do you know about the situation?"

"Princess Leia was kidnapped, and you are all here deciding whether or not to pay the ransom!"

"Well, I'm afraid you do not have all of the facts," Mon Montha calmly pointed out.

Han lowered his voice, "Well, then I guess someone better fill me in before I have to blast someone—"

"How dare you make threats!" General Dodonna interrupted. "Captain Solo, I suggest you leave before we forcefully remove you and throw you in the stockade."

"Why you—"

General Reeiken, thankful he was the closest one to the angry man, placed a hand on Han's arm, and everyone resumed their seats, "The kidnappers aren't asking for a ransom. They are looking for the highest bidder."

"What?" Han's anger melted into confusion.

Mon Montha glanced at Reeiken with disapproval but decided Captain Solo knew too much, and he obviously wasn't going to let it go until he had the full story. She sighed, "The kidnappers will only return her—"

"And we don't know if they will return her," General Serin pointed out.

Mon Montha flashed him a warning with her cold blue eyes, "As I was saying, they will only free the princess if we can pay them more than the Imperials are willing to pay."

"And?" Han held out his hands. Why were they sitting around debating the issue and not giving the kidnappers what they wanted?

Serin leaned back smugly, "As I said before, the Alliance will not give into extortion."

Han started to make his way over to Serin, but General Reeiken stood and blocked his path. Han seethed, "What do you have against her, Serin?"

The general spread his hands out innocently, "Why nothing, Solo. But the Alliance can't go around appeasing the whims of extortionists. That would put us out of business."

"She's a member of the High Command!" Han yelled, "How could you not--? She's dedicated her life to your cause!"

"We just don't have the resources," Dodonna cut in.

"So you're gonna let some whack-job hand her over to the Empire," Han said incredulously.

Mon Montha addressed his concern, "It's unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do."

"Whaddya mean there's nothin' you can do?"

"We don't give in to extortion," Serin repeated with more force.

Solo narrowed his eyes on the man as his mind went to work, "If she's given to the Imperials, they'll probably interrogate her. If you don't care anything for her, certainly you should be concerned about the information they can squeeze outa her. That would put your little revolution out of business."

"Princess Leia has already demonstrated her ability to withstand an Imperial interrogation on the Death Star," General Dodonna's eyes fell to the table and his voice quieted. "We are certain she will not betray us."

"You'd let her go through another interrogation?"

"We have to be concerned about the good of the whole, not just the life of an individual," Mon Montha explained matter-of-factly. "Princess Leia knows this. If she was here, and say it was my life being bargained for, she'd make the same hard decision we did."

Han's eyes widened before they dangerously narrowed on the older woman, "Then you don't know her very well."

Mon Montha tilted her head, "And you do, Captain? How long have you been here? Less than a month?" Han's mouth clamped shut. Mon Montha raised her chin, "Maybe you don't know her as well as you think."

"I know she's sacrificed a lot for your cause already," Han shoved a finger in her direction.

"And," Mon Montha wasn't affected, "she is willing to give her life for her belief in what we are doing." She studied the angry man for a moment, "Certainly, in your short time here, you've learned that about her."

Han stood there, his chest rising and falling, but he had nothing to say to her.

Mon Montha rose, "Very well. I'm glad we have a mutual understanding of the situation." She turned to her colleagues, "General Dodonna, General Serin, General Reeiken, Captain Solo," she nodded to each in turn, "It's unfortunate that we had to meet under such regrettable circumstances. I must get back to our base on Ottega."

The three generals stood as Mon Montha moved to exit the room. At the point she reached the door, she turned to Han, "Of course you'll keep this unfortunate matter to yourself, Captain."

"What? Don't want the rebels to know how much you really care about your own?" Han's brow furrowed in disgust.

"It's not that, Captain," Mon Montha attempted to calm the young man with the serenity of her voice. "Her loss here will greatly affect the soldiers. We cannot have them dwelling on things beyond our control."

"Beyond your control?"

General Dodonna couldn't meet Solo's eyes, "And we must forbid that you from getting involved."

Han eyes narrowed to slits and he smiled, "You can't forbid me to do anything. I'm not a member of your little rebellion. And it's a good thing for Leia that I'm not!" Han stormed out of the room, leaving its occupants to the heavy silence that replaced his presence.

"Captain Solo!"

"I've heard enough!" Han yelled over his shoulder.

"Captain Solo, please hear me out."

Han swiveled around and found himself nose to nose with General Reeiken. "If you're going after her, don't you think you need to know where you're going?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Han clamped his mouth shut as his mind went to work, "I was going to follow her trail."

"I think this will give you a trail to follow," Reeiken handed Han a small disk. "It contains the details of her mission as well as the kidnappers' requests. Maybe it'll give you some clues. Her contact on Finel was named Jenvia Xiera, but that was probably an alias. We had her checked out. I guess she wasn't as trustworthy as we thought." Reeiken shook his head, "Maybe she had nothing to do with it. She went missing as well. Anyhow, it might be a good place to start."

"Thank you, General," Han quietly said, completely taken off-guard.

"I wish I could give you some financial back up," the general's eyes fell to the floor and a flash of anguish crossed his face, "I tried to change their minds…" He looked up at Han, "My hands are tied, but yours aren't."

"I understand," Han said even though he really didn't.

"Please bring her back."

"I will, General," Han shook the weary man's hand and headed toward the Falcon.