"Princess?" General Rieekan summoned Leia over with a wave, casting a concerned frown at the screen monitoring long range anomalies. "I think you may want to have a look at this."
"What is it, General?" Leia left her own station and joined the general and the assembled Rebel leadership, certain she had cause for concern about what she would find. "I take it that the news isn't good?"
"It's still too early to make an accurate determination, but our probes picked up a trace of a massive object entering the Hoth system," General Rieekan brought up an image of the object in question, but the quality made it impossible to properly identify it. "Thus far, we haven't been able to capture any clear images, our scopes have taken a few hits from the debris fields."
"But given that we've estimated the object to be just over sixteen-hundred meters in length, I think you can take a good guess at what it is," Wedge added.
"A Star Destroyer," Leia's grim face joined the others, taking note of the Destroyer's position in the system. "They're still skirting along the edge of the system. Do we know whether the Empire is aware of our location?"
"We don't believe so, no other ships have been spotted on the scopes. From the looks of it, that Destroyer is just a scout," General Rieekan answered, though his words did little to calm the group.
"But it means they are aware of our presence in the system, it won't be long before the rest of the fleet arrives to perform a more thorough sweep," Leia remained stoic, hiding her building concern.
The Rebellion had enjoyed a quiet -- if incredibly freezing -- existence on the icy planet of Hoth. A snowy coverage stretched across the surface of the planet and ice clouds shrouded the upper atmosphere in a perpetual white mist, rendering it almost impossible for any Imperial sensors to spot the settlement from afar. However, Leia wasn't naive enough to believe that the safety of the Rebellion was a certain thing, aware that the day would come when they would be forced to make yet another desperate escape, just as they had done following the destruction of the Death Star.
"We should be expecting the arrival of probe droids within a matter of days," General Rieekan predicted, staring intently at the shape as it progressed through the system. "It may seem drastic, but I believe we should start preparing for an evacuation. The very last thing we need is to get taken by surprise, and we know that the Empire is looking for revenge."
"Give the word," Leia nodded, not wishing to bring up the fact that no viable alternatives to the ice planet had yet been identified. Leaving Hoth would quite literally mean entering the unknown. "But we should keep this between the leadership for now, the last thing we need after months of rationing and frost bites is complete and utter panic."
"I'll start getting my men to fuel up and patch up the snowspeeders," Wedge said, knowing from experience how an Imperial ground invasion would play out. "They're not much, but they can do a lot of damage when they're used effectively."
"Good man," General Rieekan nodded at Wedge, giving Leia a small smile when he noticed the brief expression of nervousness that appeared on her porcelain face. "This isn't the news we wanted, but we knew to expect."
"It's the reality of the situation, we all knew what the cost would be for joining the Rebellion," Leia responded primly, still keeping her personal feelings in check, a technique taught to her by her mother.
"You more than anyone," General Rieekan said solemnly, still able to vividly remember how shaken he was when word of Alderaan's destruction reached Yavin. "Tell you what, we have everything here under control, and the scout is yet to alter its current course. Why don't you take some time out to relax? If anything changes I'll make sure that you're the first to know."
"Thank you, General Rieekan," Leia gave the older man a grateful smile before heading off, not quite sure where she even intended to go.
Leia returned the salutes that came her way as she ducked out of the base of operations, still unable to shake off the peculiarity of being seen as a military leader rather than the Princess and future queen of Alderaan. Though the responsibilities weren't too similar, with one being a purely ceremonial role and the other more proactive, the burden was equally hard to cope with at times. At just nineteen, Leia found herself at the forefront of a raging war, one where the galaxy itself was the prize being fought over, placing an immense weight on the shoulders of someone so young.
Leia lowered her head as she passed through the low supporting beams that stabilised the the corridors that had been pain-stakingly carved into the formidable mountainous terrain of Hoth. Heating units were interspersed along the corridors, each generating just enough heat to make the cold air more tolerable, but restricted to prevent the icy caverns from melting and destabilising the catacombs. Hoth might have been a place for the scrappy band of rebels to call home for a while, but Leia almost anticipated the arrival of the Empire, looking forward to leaving the frozen tundra behind and never looking back.
A cold shiver struck her the further she travelled away from the main hub of the concealed Rebel base, wandering aimlessly as she struggled with her thoughts, moving towards the lesser used tunnels and away from the warmth produced by the heat generators. Even her snug heated vest and insulated white jumpsuit did little to keep the freezing temperature emanating from the icy walls at bay, something she was constantly reminded of as the visible breath blew past her painted lips. But she continued on, still without a destination in mind. Lost in her train of thought, Leia failed to notice the warning signs that had been hastily set up near the collapsed ice caverns, marking the section of the base at risk of a Wampa incursion.
Finally, Leia brought her journey to an end, looking around when she realised how far she had travelled in her distracted state. Ghostly whistles filled the tunnels when the air rushed through them, distant rumbles could be heard as the freezing material above the carved caverns settled down on the structural frames. For the first time in a long while, Leia found herself completely alone, not having to worry about bad news, nor having to keep her eye out for a certain temperamental captain.
Glancing around to make certain of her isolation, Leia eased herself away from the main path and slipped into a nearby alcove, dropping herself onto an empty storage container. Leia sat back and laid her head against the soft mesh coating that had been pinned to the carved wall as a method of preventing any debris from sealing up the corridor in the likely event of a bombardment. It was a risky thing for her to do, but Leia knew she had to clear her mind before heading back and chose to use the one method that never failed her.
Despite the chilly gusts that raced along the tunnel, Leia pinched the zip and lowered it, letting the thick jumpsuit separate to expose her skin to the open air. The suit was practical, made to protect its wearer against such low temperatures, but Leia quickly came to dislike the heavy material and the constricting sensation that it produced with the smallest movement. Drawing the zipper past her navel and down to her womanhood, Leia paused to enjoy the sense of freedom that came, smiling as her nipples hardened in the frosty air. It was enough to relieve some of her tension, but not enough for the Princess who was so in tune with the needs of her body.
"I really shouldn't be doing this," Leia warned herself in a soft voice. However, her fingers paid no attention to her words, crawling down her perfectly flat stomach and into the narrow void between her body and the suit. An electric surge shot through the regal woman when the tips of her digits made contact with her moist sex, intensifying as she slowly rubbed circles across her labia. "But I need it!"
Leia held her breath and primed her fingers against her opening, biting her lip as they pushed past her spongy folds and moved into her hot canal. It didn't take much effort for Leia to force two digits in until they were knuckle-deep, flexing around to touch the most sensitive regions. Any other woman would have been content with just the two fingers buried inside her, but not Leia. Unlike her public persona, Leia was hardly the chaste virgin many thought her to be, untouched by sexual desire. Encouraged by her mother, Leia explored her sexuality whenever possible, resorting to ever more daring means of feeding her bottomless well of lust.
A third finger soon joined the assault, sliding back and forth at an incredible rate. Had she been in the privacy of her bed quarters, Leia would have built herself up slowly, utilising a more sensual approach. But being out in the open meant that a prolonged period of self-pleasure was out of the question, time wasn't on Leia's side. Leia plunged her wet fingers and shifted them rapidly, ignoring the cramp that developed as her hand became little more than a blur. Such pleasure was always Leia's go-to for stress relief, but doing so in the open placed her in an uncharacteristically vulnerable condition, lowering her guard as a set of heavy footsteps collided with the grated floor, edging ever closer to the unsuspecting Princess.
A sudden guttural growl was enough to snap Leia out of her orgasmic trance. Reluctantly, Leia withdrew her fingers and threw herself to the ground just as a snow-dusted arm was swung towards her, listening as it slammed into the wall that Leia had propped herself up against just moments prior. The arm struck with enough force to cause the immediate area to quake, burying its long black talons into the thick ice. Seeing it struggle to dislodge its claws, Leia dropped a hand to her side and withdrew her blaster from its holster, lifting in the direction of the Wampa.
