All the stuff in here is inspired by the Man in Plaid, George Lucas. That being said, enjoy.
Chapter 1
Everything about the Tantive IV, from its sleek hull design, to its eleven sails, to its cannon mounted on the stern, was made for fleeing. It was one of the fastest corvettes the Islands knew. The Tantive, like almost all other ships in the Rebel fleet, looked like it was frugally and hastily thrown together from pieces of old wood and metal, but still managed to maintain a look of elegance. The ship was moderately large, large enough for a minimum crew of about fifteen and room for a military task force of nearly fifty. The ship had no prow, but where it would have been was an enclosure shaped like a barrel turned on its side. This held the steering wheel, pilots, and navigators. The dull wooden deck and gray battered hull contrasted sharply with the intricately carved handrails, hull stripe, and three masts painted maroon. This gave the ship a striking look. At the top of the main mast flew a white flag showing the Rebel insignia, a rounded trident head.
All sails of the Tantive IV were fully open because the ship was currently being chased. A Leviathan-class cruiser was gaining quickly on the Rebels. This ship was gargantuan, easily ten times the size of its prey. It was clearly intended to intimidate. The deck itself was almost as high as the tops of the tall masts on the ship it now chased. The gleaming white ship had no stains and was absolutely, perfectly clean and sterile-looking, as though this was as important as the dozens of cannon mounted on the perimeter of the deck and protruding from two levels of the interior. The cannon were situated directly adjacent to one another and even neatly stacked on one another in some places. Many of these cannons were firing now. One could see the rivets on the impenetrable steel on the hull, steel thick enough to deflect cannon fire like a helmet deflects raindrops. The Leviathan had various superstructures which housed ammunition or personnel. The main sail was the only black sail among the white ones surrounding it. This sail had a black circle with six spokes inside a white circle, as though the black was reaching out to consume the white. This was the symbol of the evil Island Empire.
Cannonballs big enough to choke a whale dented and cracked the Tantive's hull and even changed the ship's course as it cut through the water. Cannonballs rolled on its deck. One ball fired from the Leviathan's cannons was fired over the port and stern of the smaller ship, taking a surprised man into the sea with it. Curiously enough, aside from balls being fired at the Tantive IV's sails and grapeshot aimed at the crew, the cannons of the Leviathan were being restrained; they weren't being filled to capacity with gunpowder. If they had been, the Tantive would no longer have been so dry. As it was, the Rebels' ship seemed much the worse for wear, but still in tact. One of the cannonballs that was fired at full speed crashed high up through one of the Tantive's masts. Men barely managed to get out of the way in time to avoid the mast's landing on the wooden deck which rocked the entire ship. The sail and mast blew across the ship, broke through the handrail, and were cast into the sea as soldiers and crewmen struggled to get out of the way.
Below decks, two men struggled to walk down the corridor as the ship rocked and shook from the cannonfire on the hull and the recent collapse of the mast. "Did you hear that?" said the taller of the two. The shorter grunted affirmatively. The tall one spoke again: "They've shot down the main sail! We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness!" He spoke in a manner in which you could tell he was educated. He walked as if his legs were tied together, and looked like he could fall over every time the boat rocked. A file of uniformed Rebel troops pushed past them going the opposite direction. "We're doomed!" His yellow formal wear, though tattered and torn, retained much of its sheen. He wore gold hoops in each ear, and, like his comrade, was black. The very short person at his side responded in a strange language which consisted of a series of short, high-pitched words and whistles. "There'll be no escape for the princess this time," replied the tall man. The Imperial vessel could be seen pulling alongside their pitiful boat through a portal.
As the gap between the ships narrowed, the men aboard the Tantive IV prepared to fight. The Leviathan brushed the side of the smaller ship as sharp posts sprung out from the hull of the Leviathan, puncturing and securing the starboard side of the Tantive to the port side of the Leviathan. The men still on the deck of the captured vessel hoisted the remaining sails to keep the ever-present strong wind and spikes from ripping bigger holes in the ship. The order was given for all men to retreat below decks. As the men scampered into doors and hatches, the last thing they saw was dozens of ropes uncoiling and falling against the deck.
