Chapter One: The Sandman
The dull, distant hum of engines was intoxicating, he thought, like Yavinese cocktails, only better. Sand, fine powdery stuff, blew through his fingers as he raised a hand to cover his face, trudging towards the X-wing. He never got over how the smell of the city excited him, the wild thrall of humanity that gripped him by the balls and pulled.
The golden-haired man dropped into the hatch of his ship, the whole vessel shuddering with the force of the gales of sand that buffeted it. Raking a hand through his hair, the pilot tried not to think of how drunk he was. The warmth of his blaster, tip still burning like an ember through its sheath, was an indelible bit of evidence however and he lifted the strap of his seat belt over his head and flicked on the preliminary gauges to prepare for take-off.
The pod screen flickered over his head and he cracked an eye open to watch the holo flicker and fuzz. "Sandman, this is the Falcon; do you read?"
"I read you, Han," Mumbled Luke and the rogue's face above him creased with concern.
"You're drunk!" Leia shoved herself into the screen, nose inches away and eyes narrowed. Luke grimaced and checked his fuel and external thermals.
"Yeah," He said, hands still moving at dials and switches. "But not drunk enough, obviously."
Leia looked alarmed for the split second before Han pushed her out of view, hands spelling out placating gestures. He turned back to the screen, "Okay kid, are you heading back to Base? Those Imps ain't gonna wait for you to get your ass in gear."
Luke dropped his head back and closed his eyes against the fluttering light of the sensors, laughing lowly, "Don't you ever get tired of it all? It's like one of those crappy holo-vid shoot-out games; shoot an Imp, reload, shoot, rinse and repeat. God, it's sick! Don't you ever try to steal just a second away? Just for you?"
Han stared back down at him, expression almost indiscernibly pained. "Listen kid, maybe we'd better get back to Base to have this conversation. You know, so we can sit down and think sane—the rattle and hum of the ship all by your lonesome..."
Luke tried not to look like he agreed, slumping forward to lean against his console. "I'm fine. Gimme a sec to get up in the air and I'll land with O1 for a spell to catch a couple of winks. I'll see you two back home."
Han nodded and Luke brushed a finger across the screen switch. It went dark, white blooming across the screen as it opened like a nova of white and faded into black, leaving him with the whistle of sand across as poor compensation for a human voice.
AN: Yes, short, I know. I'm really just testing the water for this genre. Another chapter should be up by tomorrow because I think I like it; bear with me. Please review!