Log Date: 4/22/97, 4/23/97 Log Cast: Winter, Han Solo, Leia Prelude: His dreams were strange, this time, the images blurred and indistinct. But somehow his sleeping mind made the dreams all the more vivid despite this, as though being deprived of the company of faces and places lent strength to the feelings beneath. Made them more fundamental... and therefore more disturbing. _Separation. Friends he'd finally learned to accept as such were no longer with him..._ _Worry. His closest friend -- why hadn't he come? What was wrong? (Chewie, get me outta here!)_ _Need. A handful of days on Palanhi had not managed to ease the ache of not seeing her face for several months before..._ _Fury. How'd _he_ dared to take him away from his mate...?_ _More worry, and obligation. How could he _not_ try the Run, even without his ship (where's the _Falcon_, gotta get her back, they're gonna scrap her, can't let 'em scrap 'er!)?!_ _Helplessness. Profound shame at helplessness. He had to get out, and there was nothing he could do, as though all his wits and skill and luck had abandoned him. He was trapped (no, don't think about the carbonite!)..._ _Fear._ _(Chewie get me outta here!)_ _Fear._ _(Don't think about the carbonite!)_ _Fear..._ And Han Solo woke, shaking, sweating, to find himself somewhere he didn't expect to be: out of Grathix's luxury hotel suite. Unable to believe it, he stared blankly around him, potent dream-memory warring with a jumbled recollection of a Twi'lek woman with a maternal air. He could not remember exactly what he'd said -- but Han _could_ remember that he'd felt compelled to babble at her, his head blurred, his rage at being kept imprisoned dulled-- She'd drugged him. The Twi'lek had drugged him, and now, Solo realized in a hot flush of embarrassment that she'd gotten away with it because _he_ had impulsively trusted her, desperately hoped that he'd found another ally like Amylynn who could help him escape. He'd been wrong-- Dammit! Furious, expecting this new location to somehow be a trick, another jail, Han scrambled to sit up... and only then realized that he sat, alone and unguarded, on a ship's bunk. A ship. His heart sank as he immediately registered that the ship was not the _Falcon_... but lifted again, marginally, when he figured out that the ship _was_ one he knew. The _Lady Luck_. "Lando..." He had no idea how he'd gotten onto his friend's vessel, but the mere fact that he was here meant that he was free. Anxious to find out how it had been accomplished, Han ventured through the ship to find its captain.... ---------- Winter sits back as the ship soars through the blue-white sea of hyperspace..and closes her eyes for the first time in a very long while. Winter looks at you for a moment. Winter stirs as a small beeping indicates the approach of the jump destination, she rubs her head and blinks awake. SF-4961 comes out of hyperspace The cockpit door slides open, and a rumpled, slightly absent-eyed Han Solo wanders into view, frowning. "Lando...." The he gets a better look at who is piloting, and amends, "Not Lando." Jump #3 on nb-3800 copied to Jump #2 Lady Luck: Cockpit This cockpit is crammed with instruments with little or no regard for style or the lastest fashion in planning. The controls, however, are convient to the single pilot of the craft. A slim view of the outside is supplied, and the pilot's chair is deep and comfortable, though it looks as if it had been borrowed from another ship. Blinking lights wink merrily here and there, and the usual screens of information provide helpful or boring information. An open hatchway leads aft, to the main cabin of the space yacht. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Winter => Nav Comp -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- ut leads to Lady Luck: Main Cabin. Winter A windswept, short mane of snowy white hair frames the delicate face of this woman standing before you. Winter looks back to you with strikingly brilliant emerald green eyes, her gaze cold, betraying no emotion in the least. Her skin is the color of pale moonlight on a cold winters night, her lips have a soft rose colour to them. Her frame, tall and lithe moves with a refined poise and grace as she steps, giving the illusion of almost gliding as she walks. Winter notices your glance and responds with only a nod, silent and emotionless. She is dressed in a rather non-chalant manner for the desert atmosphere. A dark grey tanktop conforms faithfully to her body, tucking into a pair of dun colored fatigue pants, which in turn end inside some broken in looking boots, strapped on either side. Around her neck is a bit of meshweave fabric, which can be wrapped about the head to ward off the windy sands. Her normally pale skin is toned with a soft hue of bronze. At her side is a blaster, coupled with a few items on a utility belt. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Palm Blaster => Light Armor => Thermal Detonator Preparing for jump SF-4961 engages its hyperdrive and leaves the system Winter punches the next jump with a tired pace and then sits back once more as she ship safely enters the sea of stars. Han casts a look around as if not quite believing where he is, then asks bemusedly, "Uh, so... how'd I get here?" His brow is furrowed and there's a frown of disorientation starting across his worn features. "And where we at?" Habit makes him sweep his gaze across the control panels, looking for readouts. Winter startles a bit as she arouses from near-slumber, "General...you're awake.." She looks to you a moment with a trace of relief in her eyes, "We are on the Lady Luck..heading home." Winter ahems softly and in a soft moment, pulls herself back to the refined edge you know her for. She sits up in the seat and looks you over, "I did what I could for your state..how are you feeling?" Solo's face... indeed, his entire frame... seems to abruptly, subtly, relax at the utterance of the word 'home', but at your further query, he half-smiles and scrubs the back of his hand across his eyes. "Last thing I remember, damned medic drugged me," he growls out annoyedly. "Then I woke up here. I'm fine, though, I'm fine..." This last comes out of him in a 'this ain't worth any bother, don't worry about it' tone. Winter hands you a cup of steaming coffee.. Winter nods, "You were a tad out of it last night..but thankfully, we got out without any bloodshed other than some nasty scars for Grathix." She sighs, "Now this whole nightmare is over for us all...I am sure her highness will be overjoyed." She smiles a bit, perhaps fleetingly as she sits back with her mug Gratefully, Solo accepts and starts inhaling the coffee, as though he were refueling himself -- and perhaps he is. His head lifts from the mug, though, and his eyes turn worried. "Leia's alright?" Winter nods, "To my knowledge, quite worried of you but well and awaiting you on Calamari." SF-4961 comes out of hyperspace Winter sits up as we exit to Sullustan space. Jump #1 on p-8285 copied to Jump #3 Preparing for jump SF-4961 engages its hyperdrive and leaves the system Winter says, "Next stop...Sluis-Van..." Winter sips her coffee and looks to you, "It is good to have you back among us." Beginning to look more sentient as the coffee hits his system, Han smirks, but not unkindly; his gaze remains locked out the viewport on the stars beyond, drinking in the sight of them. "Thanks," he mutters gruffly. Winter sits back as she looks over the controls and then to the same vast blue-white sea, "Oh? I do not think I did anything of extreme note General." She sips the liquid and sighs as it warms her. SF-4961 comes out of hyperspace CS-9139 just scanned you Communication from CS-9139 -- "Identify yourself." Winter radios, "Independant yacht Lady Luck.." to ship CS-9139 "Got me outta there," Solo murmurs over the coffee mug, before he straightens at the transmission, expression becoming more alert. Communication from CS-9139 -- "Pilot's name?" Winter radios, "Anastasia Targeter" to ship CS-9139 Winter speaks softly, "And? You needed extraction, for that you are welcome." Communication from CS-9139 -- "proceed" Winter radios, "Pardon our asking but do you have a jump coordinate for Calamari?" to ship cs-9139 Winter gives you that "It's worth a try" look. Han_Solo grins crookedly. Autopilot set Han_Solo settles back to watch the flight, once the coffee's down. As if mentally urging the ship on through hyperspace -- and, in fact, as if the sight of hyperspace itself is water, and Han parched -- he keeps staring out the viewport, intently. [The ship flies on for some time, and the two in its cockpit spend no time on conversation... perhaps because the Corellian still finds himself needing to soak in the sight of a starfield, and the woman who's rescued him needing to absorb the simple feeling of a crisis being over? And after a little while...] Winter says, "I am attempting to get us back on course.." Winter finishes making the calcualtions and engages the engines. Winter looks over at you, "Considering all you have been through, you are in remarkable shape." Han has leaned against the side of the hatchway, and he smirks a little at the assessment. "I'll live," he says succintly. He is a bit paler and a bit thinner than he should be, his eyes shadowed and hollowed, but he seems in far better condition than he'd been on Palanhi. "I at least had a bed in my cell this time." Winter sits back and becomes slightly withdrawn, "Etti was a horrid place..." "Won't be booking my next vacation there," drawls Han, though the frown he's wearing blunts his usual wit. "You gotta tell me somethin', though..." Winter sips her coffee, going silent now. Winter looks up, her brows arching in a yes? Han_Solo asks, his tone bluntly direct but his eyes strangely frightened, "Chewie. And my ship. Where are they?" Winter speaks softly, "Unknown at this time." SF-4961 comes out of hyperspace Han_Solo, ever so slightly, stiffens at that news. "Are there reports?" he asks, voice roughening. Jump #2 on nb-1300 copied to Jump #5 Preparing for jump SF-4961 engages its hyperdrive and leaves the system Winter says, "The last I heard of it was before my imprisionment on Etti, after ecsaping there, I went straightaway to Tatooine after only a day on the Deliverance. I am sorry General, I wish I could provide more." Han_Solo frowns more deeply. "The Authority got you too?" Winter simply nods. It must have happened after she saw you under the escort of Alora. She looks to the controls, appearing to calculate out location and destinations..but she really isn't looking at anything. SF-4961 comes out of hyperspace The Corellian looks distinctly uncomfortable now; all he says is, "Looks like we can both use a vacation, then." Winter remains oddly silent. Winter deletes jump number 1 Jump #2 on p-8359 copied to Jump #1 Preparing for jump SF-4961 engages its hyperdrive and leaves the system [Deeply bothered by the news that Winter has given him -- not only that Chewbacca and the _Millenium Falcon_ are missing, but also that Winter had been put in harm's way because of his imprisonment -- Han cannot find words that seem appropriate to say to the woman who's helped rescue him. He beats a bemused retreat into the _Lady Luck_'s cabin, and although he intends to rouse Lando and find out what Calrissian knows, he nevertheless finds himself dropping off to dozing again. And then, much later....] The ship settles with a slight jar as it lands on Calamari, waking you.. Lady Luck: Main Cabin The cabin is luxurious, though a little cramped, with dark colors and sparse yet tasteful trim. Numerous dark blue booth seats line the walls around a clean, slightly scuffed, floorspace covered in a black napless carpet. Toward the aft is a table large enough for five medium-sized humans in booth seats circled about it. Across the cabin from the table, near the cockpit, is a panel and display, new looking, with some non-standard additions. There is an open hatchway to the fore leading to the small cockpit. The Aft leads down the landing ramp, out of the Lady Luck. Towards Port is a sturdy looking door that leads to the Cargo Hold. Starboard leads to a corridor and the Captain and Crew's Quarters. -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- leads to Calamari Coral City -- Main Spaceport. tarboard leads to Lady Luck: Corridor.

ort leads to Lady Luck: Cargo Hold. ore leads to Lady Luck: Cockpit. Han_Solo(#1491POUAx) This tall, rangy man moves with the loose and confident motions of a fighter, someone accustomed to getting into tight situations... and getting quickly right back out of them. His brown hair is cut pragmatically short, but is thick enough to hold a hint of a wave, framing a set of ruggedly handsome features that have finally lost the last traces of youthfulness and are solidly into weathered maturity. A long scar crooks across his chin, adding another touch of ruggedness to his face. Sharp-gazed hazel eyes, prone to shift tint depending on his clothing, miss very little that crosses their line of sight, and he typically speaks in a lazy almost-drawl. He is clad in a rumpled, simply cut white shirt tucked into black breeches; on his feet he's wearing scuffed black boots, and his clothes in general look like he's probably slept in them for a week... in direct contrast to his face, which suggests he hasn't slept at all, with the shadows about his eyes. He is thinner and paler than he should be, and the white shirt hangs loosely on his frame. Winter comes in from the Cockpit. Winter has arrived. Winter enters Lady Luck: Main Cabin Winter emerges from the cockpit as the ship powers down, stretching her back a bit. Winter says, "Well General, we are home, shall we go and see her highness?" Looking slightly sleep-dazed, but visibly anxious, Solo strides in from the corridor, heading straight for the exit hatch as though he'd just been shot out of a cannon. Already in motion as he's greeted, he mutters in passing, "Just point me where she is..." You head down the Landing Ramp of the Lady Luck. Calamari Coral City -- Main Spaceport A large docking bay, people of all races bustling between various terminals, the hum of many conversations in different tongues periodically muted by the roaring of a shuttle's engines. Expansive white walls, smooth and cold as washed stone, gleam in the soft light cast by the fixtures in the ceiling. There is the continuous shuffle of cargo being loaded and unloaded and the need to move out of harms way as a cargo lifter passes by you. Occasionally a wisp of salty air tickles your nose but it quickly fades away. A cargo lifter scoots by as it heads toward one of the private docks then disappears north toward the space platform. To the south the shapes and lights of a lively city can be seen. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => STARFIGHTER: Yacht Lady Luck => Shuttle Information Board -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- aiting leads to Waiting To Be Linked. ivil leads to Civil Offices - Calamari. leads to Calamari Coral City -- North Coral Avenue. Winter comes down the Landing Ramp of the Lady Luck. Winter has arrived. Winter leads you along the bustle of the city to the medical facility... It does not take Solo long to register that he is _not_ following the expected path to his and Leia's quarters; as he follows his escort he demands of her, "Wait -- where are we going?" [Where they are going, it turns out, is to the local medical facility that the NR's personnel have been employing ever since the establishment of their base on the planet. Once he finds out, though, that the reason Winter is bringing him to this place is because Princess Leia is here, Han's strides become more urgent. And shortly....] 907, Calamari Hospital -- Calamari The stench of recycled air and sterility strike you immedately. As does the dominance of the color white and the constant activity around you. Doctors, nurses, and droids scurry along the corridor rushing from one room to the next. Patients are easily moved about by nurses using hover beds. A couple of patients amble along by you, aided by droids or attendants. A large desk lies directly in front of you and a friendly looking Mon Calamari. She nimbly mans all communications and answers all questions with a bright cordial smile. A lounge lies to your left and is occupied by several beings sit around the plush furnishings of the lounge, watching a holovid. Winter has arrived. Winter looks at you for a moment. Winter says, "I was informed her highness was in the facility after suffering a fainting spell." Winter moves us quickly through the guards and into the room, where Leia awaits. "_What_?!" Han bursts out, as he and Winter come down the corridor. "Where he hell is she? Wait, outta my way... Leia?" Winter speaks quietly as she enters, "Your highness?" She is quickly surpassed by the charging Han. Disheveled, thinner and paler than he should be, and hollowed about his eyes, Han explodes into the room, looking about urgently. Winter stops at the door and lets the two reunite as they should. Leia Her appearance is chillingly remarkable. Deep brown eyes set in a smooth oval face the complexion of a china doll. She is small in stature, yet something tells you her frame doesn't hold back her command of any situation she happens to be in. Calm, fluid motions denote her regal lineage and sophisticated heritage. She is striking and beautiful, with long dark hair the color of oiled mink framing perfectly proportioned features. When she speaks, it is usually soft in tone, but with the surprising ability to turn forceful and self-assured. Her movements are subtle and laden with purpose. Wearing a long flowing robe, pristine in it's whiteness, she seems actually.. vivid. Leia lies off in a bed some short distance from the door, a few attending nurses and guards walking around the room. Leia at first glance appears quietly irritated with the nurse talking to her, her voice insisting, "But I'm -fine-, really. I do need to get back to-.. " Her voice trails off and her head turns quickly to the door, eyes lighting on the charging Corellian and a shocked look forming on her face, one quickly replaced by a look of complete relief and joy. Leia looks at you for a moment. Winter puts away her Palm Blaster "Outta my way, outta my way, dammit--" Han shoves past the nurse to the side of the bed, ignoring the woman's squeal of surprise and protest, and plunks heavily down on the side of the bed itself, grabbing the princess and crushing her to him. Winter silently has the nurses and such leave the room, then, with a faint smile, the first in a very long time for her, she turns and begins to walk from the room...content and relieved. Winter .oO(Now, it is done.) Leia wraps her arms tightly around the frame of her husband, burying her head against his shoulder as she hugs him fiercely. Slowly the hug loses it's intensity and she looks up to him, her arms never releasing him fully as if she were silently afraid to let him go. One of the nurses attempts to say something about how General Solo should be careful with the Princess -- "Sir, we are still running tests!" -- before she is urged out by Winter. Han does not so much as glance in anyone's direction, apparently only interested in the woman in his arms. "What're you doin' here?" he groans out huskily. Almost at the same time, Leia asks, her voice chiding like one would a lost child who had just been found, "Where have you been?" Han's question to her quickly silences the princess, however, and she just shakes her head slightly and answers in quieter tones, "It's a long story, but I'm not hurt, and I'm fine now." Her own inquiry not forgotten, warm brown eyes rest on the face of the Corellian before her, soaking up his presence and gaining more and more internal relief with every passing moment. The door closes with a click as Winter leaves. "If you're fine, how come you're in the hospital?" Han growls worriedly, haggard face relaxing only somewhat at Leia's assurances. Leia either doesn't hear, or casually ignores the question as she lets her gaze sweep over him fully, eyes soon widening as she takes in the pale and hollowed form of her husband. Worry creeps into the warm voice, "Han.. we need to get the doctor in here to look at you.. or a nurse, or.. someone.." His only response to _that_ is to tug Leia into his arms again and bury his face against her hair. "I'm fine," he insists roughly, before pulling back again and punctuating his claim by abruptly and ardently kissing his mate. The kiss seems to, at least temporarily, do a better job of setting aside Leia's worries than the verbal claim. She squeezes the Corellian in a hug as she breaks off the kiss slowly, her voice hushed as she whispers a near silent confession to him, "I missed you.." Han pulls back enough to drink in the sight of Leia's delicate face, lifting one hand to cup her cheek as he keeps the other arm draped around her back. At that barely audible admission, pain flares up briefly but keenly in his hazel eyes, though he tries to cover it by a ghost of his usual lopsided grin. "I'm back now, Your Worship," he whispers back. Perhaps he's unaware of the desperate 'I missed you too' being broadcast in his own expression -- a startlingly incongruous look for a man who prides himself on his 'sabacc face'. The door creaks slowly open and a nurse pokes her head in, watching the two from the safety of behind the door before a second nurse pushes the first into the room and follows just behind her. Shooting glances at each other and clearly both hesitant.. the second nurse finally begins making her way over towards the bed that houses the princess and, most recently, the Corellian. While the first moves along obediently to follow the second, her gait is decisively more hesitant and she remains some distance back from the other woman who, as she nears the bed, clears her throat to try and gain some attention politely. "G'way," growls Solo, still clinging to his wife. While this causes the nurse in the rear to shy a step or so back, the second nurse merely plasters a polite expression on her face and says, "General, please. The doctor thinks it best your wife get some rest.. as that is the only thing that can speed up her recovery at this point." That makes Solo look up, and although his harsh expression flickers a little, he insists petulantly, "I ain't leavin' her!" His tone is vehement, but perhaps only Leia can sense the slight tremor in his arms as he hangs onto her. The polite smile on the nurse's face becomes even more forced at the General's crazed insistance to remain and she intones, "Please, sir.. without the proper amount of rest, your wife is likely to have a relapse worse than her initial condition was, leaving her in a serious condition." Leia frowns slightly at the situation in general, and gives her husband a light hug of support as she watches the nurses interact with him. Han flashes an anguished -- and oddly frightened -- look down at the Princess; his resolve clearly takes another hit from _that_ comment. "I'll... let her sleep," he finally blurts out, gruffly. "Get me an extra pillow or somethin', I'll wait in the chair...." His gaze stays on Leia, though, and again perhaps unconsciously it's broadcasting that 'I missed you'... along with, now, 'don't make me leave!' Leia passes a grateful look onto Han that seems to entail appreciation for his wanting to stay near as well as for his listening to the nurses without causing 'too' much of a fuss, and also holds the soft, warm touch that she'll be all right. As she smiles to him softly, it's apparent the happy reunion has taken some out of her, her countenance radiates a tiredness that, at least to Han, must look very out of place on her regal form. [It is with deep reluctance that Han lets Leia shift out of his arms to lie down again on her bed; the nurse he's barked at warily fulfills his demand for a pillow, and Solo settles down into the chair at Leia's bedside. Eventually, after stuffing the pillow behind his head, he drops into an uneasy doze....] Winter has arrived. Winter pauses on her way back from being gone over by the medstaff to look quietly in the room. Leia is quite thoroughly asleep in her bed; Han is slumped uncomfortably in a chair scooted as close to the bed as he could get it. He, too, is asleep, but restlessly, his head jerking slightly in his slumber. Winter glides in with her usual grace returning to her strides and places a blanket over Han's shoulders, warding off any chill, with that she turns and slips out once more. [End log.]