Wedge Antilles enjoyed his job. He was a successful rebel pilot who, along with his good friend Luke Skywalker, had started an elite group of pilots called Rogue Squadron. He was surrounded by great friends, although he saw most of them as family. And he spent all of his time doing things he loved…which consisted of being a pilot, gambling and overall, just being a Corellian male.
But Wedge had to admit, the Rebellion wasn't exactly the most captivating place to spend one's life. It was work, after all, and there certainly weren't a lot of women around as distractions. And so, it was no surprise to him when he came up with the best idea in the history of best ideas.
It started out fairly simple, with just Janson helping him plan it, but soon it morphed into the entire Alliance being involved. What started out as a betting pool for a few people turned into a Rebellion-Wide race to the finish.
As the idea grew, Wedge eventually decided he would need to include everyone, and he could make the entire thing much bigger than his initial plan. So, one fine afternoon sometime after the battle of Yavin, he gathered everyone into one large group and launched his idea.
"Ladies and Gentlemen; Rebels of all kind, may I present to you the ultimate competition…the best idea in history…the most spectacular race ever…That's right folks…this is madness! Pure madness!" And then everyone watched as Wedge pulled a sheet off the wall and uncovered a bracket. It was intricate, with places for at least 20. "This is the competition to find out everyone's favorite rebel of all time. We start off by taking volunteers, who will then face off in the tournament. Each day we'll vote for who will move on and who will fall out of the running until we have a winner. Who's in?"
Several hands shot into the air, and many others began to discuss the matter at hand. Wedge quickly wrote the first names onto the bracket, filling them in fairly across the entire board. Luke joined in, asking if it could be any rebel, and quickly forced him to add Obi-Wan Kenobi to the list, as well as several other deceased friends he felt should be in the running. Han nominated himself, and after a bit of begging on his part, got Leia to join the bracket as well.
It wasn't long before every spot was filled, and Wedge was more than happy to announce that the tournament would begin the following day.
The competition ran its course, and within a week or two it found itself in the second round. While Han Solo thought this was one of the most ridiculous things he had ever heard of, he was still pretty confident about the whole thing. He was, after all, Han Solo.
Somehow, and beyond Han's knowledge, the creepy Jedi had moved on to the second round despite the fact that no one really knew who he was other than Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie. Still, it meant that Han was now facing Obi-Wan Kenobi, which he was sure would be an easy win to bring him into the third round.
As was the norm on the rebel base during the tournament, Wedge's voice came over the base speakers to remind everyone to put in their votes. Han knew, of course, that within a few hours that same voice would announce him as the daily winner, and that he would move on, but why let it get to his head?
Han was with Leia when Wedge's voice did finally sound again, and he leaned back in his seat as he waited for his victory to be announced. He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, resting his head against the back of the chair.
"Nervous?" Leia asked with a mocking tone as she carried their caf and set the mugs on the table before them.
"Of course not" Han responded quickly. "Why in the galaxy should I be worried?"
The first bracket was announced, with Luke narrowly beating out Janson. And then Wedge continued, "And in a shocking defeat, Obi-Wan Kenobi moves on to the next round."
Leia almost spit out her caf in order to laugh, but Han didn't move. His expression stayed the same, his eyes still closed and his head still resting on the back of the chair.
"You heard that, right?" Leia asked, still stifling a laugh. "You just lost."
Han slowly changed his position to sit up, his eyes opening, but he didn't say anything.
"You lost" she repeated, taunting him. "Got that? That doesn't bother you?"
Han stood then, and turned to Leia, who was now smiling. "It doesn't bother me. No. It's no problem" he rambled on. "Why should it be a problem?"
"Because two minutes ago you were sitting here absolutely sure you were going to win and now you've lost and I know you can't stand it." They were silent ofr a moment. "Plus, you did just lose to a dead guy," she finished, snickering.
Han pointed a finger towards her after another moment of silence, "Just remember that when you lose to a droid in a couple of days. You won't be laughing then!"
He was right…a few days later Leia was no longer laughing, and she never reminded Han about the competition again.
For those that either follow my daily blog or have been following the This is Madness competition on the Star Wars website, you know that this story does, in every way, tell the exact truth. Han losing to Obi-Wan just didn't make much sense to me, but I decided to take it as Han would...and that led to me thinking about what would happen if a similar competition did exist in their galaxy?
So here we have This is Madness, based on the character tournament on the Star Wars website. I do suggest going to vote even if Han has been knocked out. I'm going for Vader from here on out. Oh, and the droid that beat Leia? R2-D2.
Promises is coming along, for those that follow that portion of my writing. I am still without a laptop, which is a bit of problem (I was lucky enough to secure some time on our home computer this evening, but I had more to do than edit...so I only really had time for this short story). There's a new chapter to Repairs coming along as well...so if I ever get time, computer access and/or a new laptop, the future looks bright!
I hope everyone has been well and had a happy Easter! Review if you feel inclined and I'll do my best to reply to you in a timely matter! And as always, feel free to check out either of my blogs, which you can find directions to on my profile.