AN – This is the first in a series of fan fics I wrote, and originally published on under my Star Wars alias, Jedi Linewalker. This vignette is Chewbacca's version of a smattering of events from A New Hope, from his point of view. Hopefully you will enjoy it. Read, review, let me know what you think!
Ever read a history readout? Think they're accurate? Think again. History tends to be written by those in charge, or in the case of a war, by whoever wins. History doesn't have to be centuries ago. History can be five minutes ago.
The history of the Old Republic underwent a very thorough and complete change when the Empire came to power. Events that would rally the Rebel Alliance were deleted or distorted, and bad events that would vilify the Empire were cleaned up, polished and embellished. Sort of makes you wonder if anything is even halfway accurate, when you hear about it.
I have seen quite a bit of history in my two hundred and some odd years. I remember the way the Old Republic was, how grand it could be, and what a great place the galaxy could be then. I saw the first steps towards the Empire, and I saw the Empire rise to power. Because of this, I guess, history has become pretty important to me over the years.
My name is Chewbacca, and I'm a Wookiee. Yes, a Wookiee. What? You didn't think Wookiees cared about history, or would go to this much trouble? Think again. Wookiees have been very involved in the goings on of the galaxy for millennia. We had Senators in the Old Republic Senate, we have many strong leaders on Kashyyyk, and we are a people that are very conscious of what goes on around us, and how it affects us.
Just because we can't speak Basic doesn't mean that we're mindless animals. That's Imperial thinking. Wookiees can't speak Basic because our larynx and vocal chords aren't designed for that sort of linguistic ability. However, we understand Basic, as well as a slew of other languages from around the galaxy, and can read and write in most of them that we can understand. Every Wookiee is different, of course.
Our culture appears very primitive to most human and near human eyes. We live in thatched huts in the tops of enormous trees, and our planet is a jungle, pretty much, from one continent to the next. However, we are more than simply large, strong, arboreal, hairy bipeds. We have refined manufacturing that we do as well. Where do you think the bow caster comes from? Surely you don't think BlasTech or SoroSub makes them, do you?
Anyway, I digress. What got me started talking about history and all this to begin with? It's a shame more humans don't understand Shyriiwook, the language of the Wookiees, because a lot of things would be told different if they did. Many things we Wookiees say, and me in particular, get ignored or mistranslated, and that leads to trouble.
Right as the Empire was on the rise, I met a young human named Han Solo. He saved me from an Imperial slave detail, because he couldn't stand to see myself, and my fellow Wookiees, treated like we were animals. He saved my life, meaning that according to the customs and traditions of my people, I owe him a life debt. I have to travel with him and work with him until that debt is repaid, until I die, or until he dies.
Because of Han, I managed to get myself involved in a lot of events that were key to the Rebels winning the war against the Empire. Most of it, at first anyway, was completely by accident on Han's part. He's a great guy, just not so bright sometimes. He tends to put his blaster where his hyperdrive should be a lot.
Han took up being a freighter pilot not long after being kicked out of the Imperial Navy after rescuing me. Naturally, I went along, because let's face it…the boy's a great guy, but he just wasn't that good a businessman, or pilot. He needed help, and it was my duty to help him. When doing normal freight didn't cut the mustard, he took to smuggling. There was a genius decision.
He'd won this hodgepodge hunk of junk freighter from this guy named Lando Calrissian, an old gambling buddy of his, in a Sabbac game. Lando was an okay guy, but he reminded me a lot of Han, just smoother. Lando was a ladies' man, one of those charming types. Like to see him charm my sister. That'd be frickin' hilarious.
Anyway, he won the Millennium Falcon, the piece of junk ship, and we finally parted ways with good old Lando. He started working for Jabba the Hutt around that time, and if you know anything about Hutts, you know more than they're ugly as all hell and smell awful. They're also rude, and obnoxious and…well, you get the idea.
Jabba had a fondness for running spice, and he hired scores of smugglers to carry the stuff for him. There was a heavy profit in it, but of course that meant that if the Imperials caught you, there was a heavy penalty, and that changed according to the mood of the Imperial officer you dealt with. Can you say "hazardous occupation?" There's even words for it in Shyriiwook. It also screams, "bad idea," but do you think Han Solo listened? HA!
Things led to another, and eventually, Han was on Jabba's bad side. He'd had to dump a couple of shipments of spice, because we were about to be boarded by Imperials. He'd even hired bounty hunters to come after us…and I'm still trying to figure out why I was in the middle of all that…like he couldn't find us. I mean, I know Jabba's a fat, lazy good for nothing slug of a Hutt, but we were not only on the same planet, Tatooine, but in the same city!
Why were we there? Well, it's simple, really. We needed to make repairs to the ship, and it was an older model, which meant we had to go primarily to junk dealers to get parts we needed. You'd have thought that would have been a hint, huh? The YT-1300 is an older ship design, and since the YT-2400 came out, it's all but obsolete. Han, however, stuck with what he knew, namely the Falcon. Unfortunately, that's also where about 85% of our profits went: repairing the damned thing.
Right about then is when the real fun started for us. We were in a cantina in Mos Eisley, one of the largest cities on Tatooine, having a drink, and trying to figure out what we were going to do about that bounty out on our heads. I'd gone up to the bar and was getting us a refill when this old man began asking a fellow pilot next to me about chartering a subtle space flight on a fast ship. He pointed to me, and that's when I met Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time.
After talking with the old Jedi for a couple of moments, his young companion, a fresh faced farm boy not more than twenty, got himself into a bit of trouble with an Aqualish and a deformed human, both criminals. They started trouble, and Obi-Wan relieved them of their troubles…along with their blasters and blaster hands. I had to admit, the old man was good, but he was a Jedi. I expected no less. Hell, I was just surprised he understood Shyriiwook.
As we walked back to the table I directed him towards, he spoke to the boy and said, "Chewbacca here is first mate on a ship that may suit our purposes." The boy looked up at me and I grinned, showing my sharp white teeth, and I think he had doubts there for a bit. At any rate, he followed Obi-Wan back to the table with me.
To make a long story short, we sat, and I let Han do the talking. He, of course, almost scared our charter off. Yet, I have to admit, with some good negotiations, they reached an agreement, and when the Imperials took an interest in Obi-Wan's handiwork, they left. Han looked up at me and laughed, "Seventeen? These guys must be more desperate than I thought. This can really save my neck with Jabba. Get back to the ship and get it ready. I'll meet you there soon as I take care of some business."
Reluctantly, I got up and did as he asked. I knew trouble was coming, and I was right. Jabba was at the docking bay when I got there, so I stayed outside. Some time later, Han showed up, and I caught him before he went in and got blasted into goop. He listened for once, and we came in as Jabba yelled for him to show himself. Han did some smooth talking, and got Jabba to leave him alone…for the time being.
Now we've had our share of close scrapes, and whatnot, and we've scraped by with barely a hair on our bodies as a result before, but little could prepare us for what was coming. Our passengers arrived, and after some debate over the integrity of the ship, which I elected to keep quiet during, we were on our way to Alderaan.
On the way, I played the little droid, R2-D2, in a game of holo chess. The little rust bucket was winning, too! I howled my displeasure, and an exchange of why it was unwise to upset a Wookiee and all that ensued, ending with me having a little fun at the droid's expense. I didn't damage or hurt him, or anything. C-3PO, or Goldenrod as Han likes to call him, was more concerned than R2 was, I think.
Finally, we got to the system, and immediately were pelted with asteroids the moment we came out of hyperspace. "Han, you plotted a course around the Darvarian Cloud again, didn't you? How many times do we have to be pelted with rocks, anyway, before you get the rocks out of your head?" I growled in a tight, almost menacing voice. Did Han translate my words? No, of course not. He simply ignored them, which is better than the habit he developed later.
The planet was gone, destroyed, and there we were, floating around in the rock pile like a bunch of freshly hatched dewbacks. One thing led to another, and we ended up on this huge battle station, called the Death Star. In order to get off this thing, we'd have to deactivate a tractor beam, and that mean going through a legion of stormtroopers. We finally found our way to a secure area where the droids could do their thing, and by this time, Han and Luke had disguised themselves in stormtrooper armor, and carried me around like a prisoner.
The droids figured out that Princess Leia Organa, the girl in the message that started all this stuff, was being held prisoner there, and was slated for execution. So, of course we had to save her. Force and Elements of the World, that was a debacle if ever there was one. Luke gets the bright idea to put binders on me (that's where this whole prisoner thing got started), and we march into the detention area.
Now, bear in mind the Jedi was off to turn off the tractor beam. We were going to rescue the princess. The droids were still in the control room, to hopefully keep us out of trouble. Yeah, right. Well, after Han made a boo-boo or two…or three, or four, or five…we managed to get her out, and ended up in a shootout in which we were nailed down in the passageway to the cell, with no way out. Who'd have imagined that? It's a detention area, and Blockhead Solo didn't quite seem to catch onto that fact for a bit.
So, there we are, shooting blaster bolt after blaster bolt down the passage, with them firing back into it at us, sort of like shooting fish in a barrel. We were the fish. The princess, Force bless her, had spunk, I have to give her that. She blasted the grille off the garbage chute, which I didn't know that's what it was, until I caught a good whiff.
"Oh, no," I growled loudly, snarling. "I'm not about to jump down in there! You have no idea what in the galaxy is down there! I smell…" I was protesting, and quite loudly by this time, the blaster firm in my grip.
Han cut me off, abruptly. "Just get in there, you big, hairy oaf! I don't care what you smell! Just go!" As I crawled into the tight hole, he booted me in the behind, and down the chute I went, howling all the way.
Well, as fate would have it, I was one of the first down there, and as such, I got first pick of the stench, and getting that blasted nasty refuse water in my fur. By the Great Tree, it'd take me a decade to get that funk out of my fur! I made sure the princess was alright, and because of the things I smelled down there, I immediately went to the door and tried to get us the hell out of there.
Farm Boy Luke tried his blaster on it, after he got down, and it ricocheted all over the chamber for a minute, making us all duck and cover. It had the virtue of having not been tried, but it made sense the Imperial poodoo heads would ray shield essential systems…though none of us could figure out why the inside of a trash compactor was an essential system or area.
Then Mr. Hotshot Pilot With Tons of Personality showed up, unceremoniously being dumped on his face into the nasty garbage. While he groaned and griped about what a wonderful smell the princess had discovered, I was still trying to get us out, because I didn't want to stay in there with the thing I could smell. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was bigger than I am, and I'm not small by any means.
Then Laser Brains shoots at the door, with me standing right in front of it, mind you, and another bolt goes screaming around the chamber. They go through a bunch of yelling at each other and sniping on one another, and then Luke disappears. I keep trying to tell them that I told them so, but do they listen? Of course not. Finally, they got Luke free, and the walls started closing in. We finally got out of that jam, and out into a hall, and the guys shed their stormtrooper armor, keeping the utility belts, because let's face it…I could smell them at a thousand kilometers, easily. In the sterile environment here, the Imperials would catch wind of them through the ventilation grilles, if nothing else.
We get to the hangar, and see the ship surrounded by troops. What does Han decided to do? He decides to bluff. In a card game in which we're already being handed our asses, he decides to bluff…in other words, charge them and make them think there's more of us than there are.
He goes diving off after them, yelling and screaming like a banshee, and I follow along, yelling, "Han, you idiot! Are you trying to get us all killed, or is this just a latent talent you've developed over the years?" My bow caster was firing bolts as we ran, and he was shooting, of course. I slowed down and growled, "Turn around, Han, they're about to hit the end of the hall!" Instead of listening, he ran right up on them, and almost got killed, which meant I had to go after him, and got singed in a couple of places.
Well, to shorten the tale a bit, we managed to escape, but only after Obi-Wan was killed by Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel, and we had to kill a few more stormtroopers. We hauled butt to the Rebel base on Yavin 4, and yes, more fun. Along the way, Han managed to further ingratiate himself to Luke and Leia, which basically translates as Leia wanted to strangle him, and I don't know exactly what Luke was thinking.
My good buddy and pal, Han, gave Leia his whole, "I'm not in this for your revolution, princess, and I'm not in it for you. I'm in it for the money, and I expect to be well paid," speech. I swear, sometimes the man has nerf droppings for brains. As you can imagine, this rather irritated the pretty princess, and she basically told him what he could go do with himself, without being in the least bit obvious about it. Amazing how word tricks work so well for politicians, isn't it?
The ship finally got us to Yavin 4, and as promised, Han got his money, and boy was there a lot of it. We were loading the cases of credits on the ship, and I was giving Han some rather surly growls about the whole thing, when Luke came up, and they exchanged words about Han staying, and he mouthing off about the price on his head, and all that. Finally, they reached an amicable parting, and Han turned back to me.
"Luke's right, you know," I growled softly, loading cases into the cargo hold. "They could use a good pilot…which you can be from time to time, when you get your head out of your ass." I thought maybe he'd listen to reason, or rather I was hoping he would. But did he? Are you kidding? "These people are fighting for the exact same thing you are, and that you want: freedom, and justice. The right to do what they want to, not what some Emperor forces them to do. They're facing incredible opposition, and every single ship is one more breath of hope that could become victory."
"Hey, I know what I'm doing," he said, his tone less than confident, pushing another case at me. "Just get this stuff on the ship." And he continued to set cases by me for me to put on board. Just like a nerf headed human.
He and the princess had words, and of course I kept on loading, because I knew he was going to be lucky if he got out of here without Leia, or someone else, blowing his head off, and then he wouldn't have to worry about Jabba's bounty on him. He finally came back and got ready to go, head still intact, so that was a good sign.
We got on the ship and took off. I kept expecting Han to turn around. Despite his arrogance, his hard headedness, and his general ability to grate on someone's ever last nerve, he has a good heart. I love the man like a brother, and that's why I'm so critical of him, but damned if he can't incite me to rage sometimes with his nerf headedness.
Now, remember, the whole time we're flying away, and Yavin is getting further and further off on our scopes, I'm verbally pounding the stew out of Han. I gave him logic, I gave him emotional reasons, I even gave him reasons that didn't seem to have any reason! I was trying to appeal to the sensitive, caring, and compassionate man inside that I knew lay under all that nerf dung he talked.
We'd actually entered hyperspace and were traveling back to Tatooine at a good clip. By this time, my throat had gotten sore, and to be quite honest, I knew I was growling up the wrong tree. He had his mind made up, and he was bound and determined he was going to do exactly what he wanted to, and damn the rest of the galaxy. So, I did what any sane Wookiee, and best friend, would do. I shut up, and hoped the echoes of the things Luke, Leia, and the others had said, as well as what I'd said, would eventually crack that krayt dragon egg of his, and start to seep in.
He sat in relative silence for awhile, mumbling to himself and jabbing buttons with far more pressure than required to make them work. I chortled a bit at his discomfiture, which he found about as amusing as itching powder in his flight pants. This only made me chortle and chuckle more. He kept looking at me, as if expecting me to be staring at him, which I wasn't, but it was all the more amusing because he thought I would be.
Finally, I guess something snapped inside his head, or something gave, whatever it was, he dropped the ship out of hyperdrive and reversed, muttering, "Damn it all, anyway." I was proud of my life brother at that moment, one of the proudest moments I've shared with him in all the years we've been together. This was one of the first times he displayed he actually cared about something other than himself or money.
He computed a new hyperspace jump and we were off, back to Yavin, full tilt. There was a desperation to his actions and expression, a very tangible worry. He knew what they were up against, he'd been knowing. He'd also served briefly in the Imperial Navy. The troopers would be anything but merciful and forgiving.
I growled over at him, my tone low, and rather reproachful, "You could have saved us both a lot of stress if you'd just listened to me in the first place. I just hope there's something left to help when we get back."
He frowned, and turned towards me, "So I had second thoughts, and decided to take a chance and be a 'good' guy for a change. Sue me, already," he grumbled, fingers itching to fly the ship manually once we came out of hyperspace.
I laughed a deep, throaty laugh, and bellowed, "Suing you wouldn't do any good. You haven't got anything for me to be awarded worth them taking away from you." He smiled a bit at that, and I knew that the Han I knew and considered a brother was back.
The Falcon came out of hyperspace near the Death Star. Ahead, we could see the incredible numbers of X-wings, Y-wings, A-Wings, and TIE fighters all swarming around. I hit the com button and we could hear the Rebel transmissions. We heard one of the bigwigs on Yavin say, "Something's wrong, he's turned his computer off."
Han frowned and looked at me. "You think that's Luke?" he asked, his voice actually quiet. Seemed he liked the farm boy more than he let on. This was a good thing, I thought. Before I could say anything, more of the transmission came through.
"Luke, what's wrong? You've turned your targeting computer off."
"Nothing's wrong," came back the young, excited boy's reply. "I'm okay."
We headed towards the Death Star, and the trench where all the fighting was going on. More communications were swapped and overheard, things happening very fast. Suddenly, something caught our attention. Luke was being tailed by three TIE fighters, and he couldn't shake them. The kid was in trouble.
"Not if I can help it, he's not," muttered Han to himself under his breath as we swooped in towards the trench at full throttle, the kind of daring stunt only the best pilots, or the craziest, would attempt. "Hang on, kid, we're coming!"
The ship flipped and turned with matchless grace. I would never have thought this Corellian bucket of bolts could be so graceful, but Han was coming into his own. He'd always been an excellent pilot, just too proud of his own ability for my taste. Now, there was no arrogance or hotshot attitude in his flying, there was only the need to reach his friend before the enemy could destroy him.
We fired at one of the TIEs, and it exploded in a blaze of infamy. The resulting explosion caused one of the others to swerve unexpectedly, and clipped the middle one, the one with the weird curved panels, and the standard TIE exploded against the trench wall, while the other one spun off into space wildly.
"Yahoo!" shouted Han over the com, already pulling the ship out of the trench. "Okay, kid, you're all clear! Now let's blow this thing, and go home!" Han's excitement was contagious and I bellowed my assent as well before the channel was cut for the moment.
My life brother poured the speed on and we were surrounded by triumphant fighters racing away from the Death Star when a bright explosion lit the sky for a brief instant, a flashing ring of light spun out and faded as the shockwaves continued to ride through space. We outran them, however, and soon, we, along with all the other fighters and ships, landed.
There was a celebration going on already. Voices were raised in joy and triumph, and here we were, two smugglers, in the midst of it all. Luke and Leia ran to us, and they were laughing ecstatically. "I knew you'd come back!" shouted Luke excitedly.
"What, you think I'd miss out on the fun and let you take all the reward?" quipped Han in his normal off handed way, but I have to admit, the nerf headed runt grows on you after a while. Luke gave me a brotherly hug as well, while Leia grabbed first Han, then Luke.
"I knew there was more to you than money!" she exclaimed happily. Hugging her as well, and then standing back, listening and watching as they talked and laughed amongst themselves, I realized something.
I realized at that moment that life in the galaxy had changed, again. We weren't free of it, not by a long shot, but we'd dealt them a most critical blow, one they'd be licking the wound from for a long time. I also realized that I'd gained a family in these humans and droids and other beings around us. Han and I were now part of the Rebel Alliance. There was no denying it.
As for the rest of the story, what's been written and said about it is pretty much true…the part about the award ceremony and all, I mean. What happened after the Rebels moved from Yavin to Hoth is an entirely different story, and one that's recorded almost as inaccurately. Perhaps I'll tell it to you someday.
For now, however, you learn that everything wasn't always as it seemed when the first Death Star exploded, lighting up the skies on Yavin 4 with its brilliant, but brief light. You learn that the famous, familiar faces of the heroes of that conflict…Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, and the others, have a slightly different face than what history has painted for them.
Are the faces presented bad, or wrong? Not entirely, no. But one should always have all the facts when one makes a judgment on something, and history is too important to let fall into the hands of those that embellish and neglect purely at their whim to present their idea of how history should read. The truth is not always glamorous, but it is the truth. That's its saving grace, the fact that it is the truth. May the Force be with you.