Most of these characters and planets, etc. Belong to Lucasfilms and Disney. Just playing around with the toys and having fun. This will be part of a series of stories that follow the original trilogy in order, filling in bits and pieces of the time line, some will follow canon better than others, but mostly take it as AU. The further the stories go, the more AU they will go. They can be read as stand alone stories, or read together. This is the first one.
Mission to Carida- Some months after the Battle of Yavin.
General Dodonna got nervous every time that Princess Leia insisted on leaving the protection of the rebel fleet, but she was very restless, and very stubborn. It was not that very long ago, that she was held captive by the Empire on the Death Star, and then she took off without any permission and leaving only a holo because she knew that they would never let her go. She was too important to lose, but it was like clipping the wings on a bird to not let her do something. She had so much fight in her and yet, always survived, so far anyway. The fact that she took off again and left a message was no surprise, but it didn't mean that they would not be worried for her safety. When she heard of a chance to arrange for some medical supplies from an old friend on Carida, it worried him further, as that was a place that was held firmly by the Empire and of course, she insisted she go herself. In fact, the friend implied that she only trusted Leia. General Dodonna could only hope that it wasn't a trap. He insisted that if she go, she take a team with her and a ship that could not be identified or associated with the Rebel Alliance, and since they had recently acquired a Ghtroc 720 small freighter in a skirmish in the Outer Rim, it should be perfect for such a mission. Princess Leia insisted on picking her own team, fortunately it usually included Skywalker, Solo and Chewbacca, but Solo and Chewbacca were on a supply run and he hoped they would return before she had to depart for the mission. They were a day late bringing in some food supplies from their last blockade run. Dodonna didn't really care for Solo that much, but knew that that group would always put the life of the Princess ahead of their own, even if they boasted otherwise. Skywalker should be back from maneuvers soon, and maybe a few of the other squadron could be spared to go along as well. It was a dangerous place.
Princess Leia came to him as he thought about all this in a bad mood. "High Command is insisting that I send someone else to Carida! General, please, you know I can handle this mission. I thought you had my back on this! Cracken even offered to go himself! He can't be spared right now! I am really just sitting around here doing nothing right now but taking in ship logs and setting up supply runs. We talked about this!"
"Your highness, I have a ship to use, you only need pilots and a team. Get a team together, and I will see what I can do for disguises, codes and authorization materials. Carida is a dangerous place, and your meeting place is near the academy. The Empire has a great hold on that planet. I get nervous every time you are anywhere near the Empire's hold. If you got taken again..."
"General, I will be fine. You know better than anyone I can take care of myself. Just go and talk the rest of High Command and convince them. Or let me go, and don't even let them know I left?"
"Oh Princess, you know what happened the last time I did that. I thought Mon Mothma would have my head! You do realize it's because they care." And General Dodonna proceeded to try and help the Princess.
The red squadron came in from maneuvers and Leia went out to meet them. She told Luke about her plan to go to Carida, and asked him if he would go.
"Aww sure, Leia, it would be good to get away from here, it's been too quiet. Wish I was going in an x-wing though, would love to take out a few of those Star Destroyers all by myself."
Leia gave him a look, and then laughed. "You know that even you couldn't do that, Luke. Would love to be able to do that, but you know? We have to go incognito, we are just supposed to be a bunch of suppliers who are selling to the Empire. We will have empty crates full of rocks, and exchange them for medical supplies. An old friend arranged this. We have codes and will need all the proper identification and I need to get my team together so I know who to get badges for. It's not going to be an easy job though, but even Dodonna thought I should ask you. He doesn't even want me going at all, none of them do, but I have to tell you, that I would be going anyway without them knowing if I had to. You know better than anyone how that goes." and she gave him a wink, remembering how he watched her escape to help displaced Alderaanians.
He suggested Wes Janson join them, and she agreed as long as he could be spared. Janson had just been doing maneuvers with Luke and was looking for some action outside of the base. He was a sharp guy, but he did tend to get a little carried away sometimes with his sense of humor, but he got along well with Luke. She hated taking away two great x-wing fighters though, but if luck was holding out, it was pretty quiet and there were a few of them around if something did happen. She would now need a couple of ground crew guys and secretly hoped that the Falcon would return before she left. She pretended otherwise, but she trusted Han and Chewie and they were great in the field.
It was as she was making sure that the Ghtroc 720 had everything they needed, that the Falcon had pulled in from it's food run. She went out to meet it, with a data pad, and called a few of the guys she had helping her with the freighter to come help unload.
"Well, Your worshipfulness, you came all the way out here just to see me? I am flattered, couldn't wait for me to get back now, could you? Did you miss me?" Han said with a cocky grin as Chewie just howled with laughter and hugged Leia.
"Actually, I am glad to see you and you are a day late!"
"Glad to see me, of course you are! See Chewie, she did miss me."
"Um actually I need you for a mission, if you are willing to do it. I need a pilot and a co-pilot to take me to Carida."
"They are letting you go to Carida? Wow. I can't do it. The Falcon will be recognized there. Sides, I just got back from my last run, and we had some trouble. A couple of tie fighters showed up and then a star destroyer showed up, but we got rid of those tie fighters and were able to hyperspace it out of there. Got some damage though and a shield went down, and don't worry, we changed coordinates a few times so they couldn't trace us."
"Oh you won't be using the Falcon, it's this Ghtroc 720 right over here. So, can you do it?"
"Wow, I haven't seen one of these in a while. I knew one of them on Nar Shaddaa some time back, it's not the Falcon, but sure, I will do it, let me have a look at it. If you can get the Alliance to pay for the repairs to my ship." Han replied.
Then the Princess looked around, the crew had unloaded the Falcon, and she needed to brief Han on the secret nature of this mission, that only she knew and she couldn't even tell High Command. This was a matter outside of them, and it involved an individual in the underground on Taris. She felt it was important to let him know, and trusted him, plus he wasn't an official member of the Alliance. Sometimes that was a good thing too, even though she wouldn't admit it.
"I need a word with you in private, can we go on board and chat a bit."
"Oh your highnesses, I thought you would never ask."
She whacked him and went up the ramp.
"Ok what is this about."
"This friend of mine is someone I knew when I was a Senator on Coruscant. They are actually now a staff member of the Imperial Academy there, but it's someone I trust, and not only are they an Alliance sympathizer, but they also want join us." The Princess whispered.
"Are you sure this isn't a trap, this really feels like a trap."
"It's not a trap. I can feel it. It's very dangerous though. We are disguising ourselves as suppliers. Only we are bringing in crates of rocks, and my friend is leaving with us. I can't bring him directly to the Alliance right away though, we have to take them to an underground group on Taris, you just can't bring anyone directly to the base. I have a contact there that will be expecting him. I trust him, but I don't TRUST TRUST him you see. It's important that it's me though, as they know who I am."
"Sweetheart, most of the Empire knows who you are. I hope you know what you are doing."
Leia left the ramp and started yelling "NEXT TIME MAKE SURE YOUR COUNT IS RIGHT! I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW YOU MISSED 10 BOXES! THE ALLIANCE ISN'T PAYING YOU TO MESS UP CAPTAIN!" and then she departed as a few people stared at her. Of course, Han didn't miss 10 boxes, but it made Leia nervous when they saw her board and leave his ship alone. She always needed an excuse.
On the ship, Leia sat with Luke and Wes in the lounge and briefed them on what they would need to do. "We have to all dress up as crew, as if we are supply runners for the Empire. We will make it look like we are trading goods. Do you guys want to know what is in those crates over there? It's rocks! " She laughed "We are exchanging rocks for medical supplies."
Luke motioned for Swab, an Abednedo soldier and Clovis, a big burly man who worked in the hanger on the base, to come over to the seats, they needed to hear this too. "We have uniforms and Imperial Identification for all of you" The Princess continued "I am going to try to make myself look like a man, though I still have to be recognized by my friend, and I gave them a code word. Don't ask questions. And do not take any chances, if it looks like the deal is going to go sour, then we are out of there. I mean it, no chances. We will be at an Imperial loading dock, and don't be alarmed, there will be stormtroopers everywhere. I have one box that has Corellian Whiskey in it, that is what they think we are bringing in exchange for the medical supplies. That is the one box that you will show the stormtroopers. Also, I want you all to be armed. You will have to hide it somewhere where it won't be seen as to not be suspicious. Luke, make sure your lightsaber doesn't show, Maybe even leave it on the ship. If something goes wrong, we may have to shoot our way out of there. And leave it on you when you board, and after we take off."
Janson spoke up, "You mean to tell me there was a whole crate of whiskey sitting at the base and we didn't know about it? We have been drinking homemade Jet Juice for the past couple of weeks. Princess if I had known..."
Leia just rolled her eyes and said, "Janson, we needed it for this mission, it just came in and it seemed like the perfect ruse. The Imperials love their liquor. Anyway, I did bring something I have been hiding for you guys, don't let Han and Chewie see it because I stole it from the Falcon." and she brought out a box with some cold ales and she passed them around. "Cheers to the mission!" And they raised their bottles.
Carida's docking port was very clean and orderly. They had no trouble getting onto the planet and into the docking area with the codes they were given. They even had a contact, Leia's friend was coming to the dock himself (as the crew was not privy to the fact that he was coming aboard yet), and as Leia said, the stormtroopers, with the friend there to supervise, would be happy with the one box opened for them, that they knew had the whiskey in it and not the rocks. Luke, Wes, Han, Swab and Clovis all came out to load and unload for the crew taking the crates of rocks to the location they were to be delivered, and then started loading up the medical supplies to the cargo hold on the freighter. Chewie would have been a great help, but being a Wookiee, he would stick out like a sore thumb on this planet and they couldn't risk that, it was bad enough to have an Abednedo with them. Leia was wearing a beard, hat and a disguise, but her friend, Lieutenant Pyler knew who she was right away, and they stood shaking hands quietly. While they were loading, Lieutenant Pyler was supposed to sneak into the cargo hold and make it look like he was just inspecting the crates, when really he was coming on board and not leaving, and Han took him to another area of the ship to hide him until they left the dock. Luke and the others didn't notice. Off in the distance, the crates of rocks and whiskey were being transferred by a trolley to a transport. Suddenly, as the crates of rocks and whiskey were being loaded onto a transport, one of the crates busted open. It wasn't the whiskey. A young officer looked, nodded to the stormtroopers, and suddenly they were coming for them. Blasters ready, with only half the medical supplies on the ship, Luke, Wes, Swab and Clovis started firing at the stormtroopers at they ran towards them. Han came out of the cargo bay shooting yelling "Get up here! Leave the rest! Let's Go!" The men ran up the ramp, a box fell off and landed on the dock, at least they got half the supplies on board as the ramp closed. Han ran to the cockpit, with Chewie already there and ready to go, and called "Luke and Wes, get up here, I need you to run the guns, we may have to shoot our way out of here!"
Swab and Clovis moved their way towards the lounge and were surprised to see Lieutenant Pyler there with Leia. Princess Leia said "It's ok, he was supposed to come with us. Just sit for now. We have to get out of this system, you might want to strap yourselves in. It's probably going to be rough."
Six tie fighters came out and while the guns on this ship were no match for what was on the Falcon, Luke and Wes did a pretty good job taking them out and getting them off their tail before they were able to go into hyperspace. Han stood up and said, "You guys did great. I have to tell you something so you won't be surprised. Lieutenant Pyler is on board. It's ok, it was part of the plan. He's in the lounge. We are taking him to Taris, and leaving him with a contact before we rendezvous back to base. The main part of the mission was to deliver Pyler. The medical supplies was a bonus."
Janson could only think about that whiskey that they traded for only half the supplies. Luke patted Wes on the back and they walked over to the lounge to meet the rest of the group. "Aww, Wes, Maybe we can pick some up in Taris." Said Luke. Wes got a smile on his face with that hope. Clovis got up and got everyone something to eat and they asked Pyler about what he did on Carida and why he wanted to leave the Empire. "What they do to these kids got to me. I used to work in the Senate, when they dissolved that, they sent me to Carida to work for the academy. I worked in the medical bay, bring in shipments, that was how I got those boxes you have in your cargo hold. I got some documents for the Alliance from the academy's system and Princess Leia is taking it to the General at your base. They are tough at the academy on Carida. I saw kids die from some of the exercises. It just was brutal. It's hard to see that, bad enough to see it on combat, but not as part of education."
They had different codes for Taris and had no trouble getting to the dock there. This dock was a huge difference from the one on Carida, and Han just smiled and said that is felt like home, though he wasn't sure he had ever been there. The dock at Taris was a really rough place. Pyler had given Leia the chip with the information to take to the base, and then Lieutenant Pyler begged Princess Leia to stay on board, and Luke and Wes were assigned to take him to the rendezvous location to meet their contact. Han wanted to come, but was afraid someone might recognize him, especially if Chewie insisted on tagging along. Swab and Clovis got out just to get out and walk around the docks a bit, maybe hit a cantina nearby, or find some whiskey for Wes to bring back home. It was a rare thing for them to be able to do that, and they thought they would take the risk. Luke, Wes and Pyler followed the directions and entered a cafe and sat down. Leia told them that the contact would find them, and not the other way around, with the code phrase, "Nice weather, Hey." and they were to invite them to sit down. Everything worked like clockwork and Pyler and the contact left. Luke and Wes returned to the ship, but Swab and Clovis had not come back. Leia tried to com them, but there was no answer, and Han, Luke and Wes volunteered to go look for them. They weren't supposed to go far, and figured it was just one of the dock cantinas. They hear blaster fire and run towards it, it wasn't coming from a cantina, but an alley nearby one. Swab was out cold, and Clovis was shot in the arm. Clovis said, "Some Rodian tried to rob us! We didn't have much on us, so he knocked out Swab and shot me! Wes, sorry, I had a bottle of whiskey for you. It's gone now. It broke when Swab got beat up." Luke thought about running after the footsteps, but thinking better of it, decided it was just better for them all to go back to the ship, Wes and Han were already trying to get Swab up and carried back. Here they were thinking they would get trouble on Carida and it happens on Taris. They got Swab and Clovis back on the ship, Swab's injuries were minor, but he did get some glass in a cut, and Chewie dressed up Clovis's arm with bacta.
The flight back was uneventful, and when they returned to the base, Leia gave the chip to General Dodonna. He wasn't even aware that this was going to be part of the mission. Leia had kept the part about Pyler getting information a secret. It would have just worried them more, and made them try even harder to allow her to go at all. She made them think it was all about the medical supplies, and High Command was a bit upset that only half arrived, until they heard the rest of the story from Princess Leia. Leia made a note not to allow anyone to go look for cantinas unless it was part of the mission, or well anywhere, to avoid what happened to Swab and Clovis. They just can not afford to lose men in that way, and it could have been a lot worse. Those docks are rough. High Command was thrilled to get the information, and was surprised how detailed it was. It appeared that it could be a great target to injure the Empire in the future.