Snapshots of the Future - Han
Summary: Han Solo finds that he's more popular than he thought.
"Tell me again what we're doing here?" Han asked.
The [i]Millenium Falcon[/i] was powered down, clinging to the side of an asteroid in an attempt to be as inconspicuous as possible. They were in a system so insignifigant that it didn't have a proper name. All there was in the [i]Falcon's[/i] atlas was a collection of letters and numbers and a note saying to refer to the Imperial Archives for more information. It was too bad those Archives didn't exist anymore.
Not that it mattered. After two days, Han was pretty sure there was nothing worth seeing here.
"Let's see, where tob start?" Leia mused from her copilot's seat. "Alliance intelligence has uncovered that an unknown party has been buying and/or stealing old ships from out of moth balls. That's all kinds of ships, not just warships."
"Yeah, yeah, I know that," Han muttered. "Remind me again why we're out [i]here[/i]."
"Here was your idea," Leia replied. "Something about an anonymous tip, I recall."
"Ah, I knew there was a good reason."
"Ready to give up?"
Before Han could reply, the panel given over to the newly installed sensor package began beeping away for attention.
"Hey, flyboy, looks like you were right," Leia announced when she checked the readouts. "We have a pair of Uglies in system. Looks like they're doing a scouting run."
The panel displayed both uglies. One was a heavily modified TIE. The solar panels had been replaced with drive nacelles from a Y-Wing. Mounted on each nacelle was a huge dish that were tentatively tagged as some kind of sensor array.
The second ugly was a B-Wing. The laser cannons on the wingtips had been replaced with what appeared to be the nose assemblies from several X-Wings. The [i]Falcon's[/i] sensors said these were loaded to the gills with Proton Torpedoes.
"Y'know, Leia, I think it's best if we just stay here and pretend to be an asteroid," Han said after seeing the readouts.
"Master Han," Threepio spoke up from the communications station, "I am intercepting traffic between those fighters. It appears to be mostly Droid to Droid protocols. Oh! They are signalling an all clear to someone out..."
"SITHSPAWN!!!" Leia exclaimed suddenly. "What is that?!"
"That" was a ship dropping out of hyper practically in their laps, accompanied by clouds of Uglies. But if the fighters were Ugly, the ship was Hideous. Han suddenly understood where all the missing ships had gone. They had been combined into this monstrosity. Ships and parts of ships were jammed together apparently at random, joined together by equally randomly placed cables and support struts. Here, a series of Blockade Runners were placed upright like crops on a farm. There, half a Mon Cal cruiser lay half buried by a driveless Nebulon B. And everywhere on what passed for the surface were turbolasers and ion cannons. Droids were everywhere, working to attach still more ship parts to the conglomeration. All together, the monster was the size and rough shape of a Super Star Destroyer.
"Nothing I want to mess with," Han replied faintly. "Let's try our best to remain unnoticed, shall we?"
"You're not going to try to run?" Leia asked surprised.
"I might have, but I'm not as young as I used to be," Han told her. "And [i]someone[/i] vetoed buying one of those new cyberbasil systems. We could have used the extra shielding."
"Excuses, excuses," Leia said dismissively. She frowned at the sensor readouts. "But I think we're going to have to run anyway."
"Why's that?"
As if in reply, the whatever-it-was reached out with a tractor beam and snagged a passing asteroid. Drawing the rock close, the ship's weapon systems began lashing out at the rock. The pieces blown off were passed into what looked to be an ore processor.
The [i]Falcon[/i] was on the next nearest rock.
"Okay, time to scoot," Han said quickly. He began going through the emergency start up sequence.
"Master Han, Mistress Leia," Threepio interupted. "The primary vessel is inquiring if any of the escorts have seen the [i]Millenium Falcon[/i]. Shall I reply?"
"NO!" Han and Leia yelled simultaneously.
"Well, we seemed to have walked into a trap," Leia said conversationally.
"Right, whatever," Han replied, throwing the throttle to full power. The [i]Falcon[/i] practically leaped off its rock, and sprinted toward the... thing. It was between them and the way out.
Several Uglies started to move towards the [i]Falcon[/i], then seemed to think better of it. They went back to their patrol routes. The others resolutely ignored the Falcon.
"That's odd," Leia commented. "They're not even trying to target us."
"Guess my reputation precedes me," Han quipped absently. He wasn't about to question their good fortune.
"Master Han," Threepio piped up suddenly. "The main ship is hailing us."
"Oh, really?" Han asked, watching surface features flash by.
"Yes, they have an invitation for...I believe their exact words are 'The Great Solo'," Threepio reported. "I believe we are to be their guests of honor."
Curiosity pricked, and more importantly, ego stroked, Han brought the [i]Falcon[/i] to a screeching halt.
"Hey, Goldenrod, ask them for docking instructions," Han ordered.
Summary: Han Solo finds that he's more popular than he thought.
"Tell me again what we're doing here?" Han asked.
The [i]Millenium Falcon[/i] was powered down, clinging to the side of an asteroid in an attempt to be as inconspicuous as possible. They were in a system so insignifigant that it didn't have a proper name. All there was in the [i]Falcon's[/i] atlas was a collection of letters and numbers and a note saying to refer to the Imperial Archives for more information. It was too bad those Archives didn't exist anymore.
Not that it mattered. After two days, Han was pretty sure there was nothing worth seeing here.
"Let's see, where tob start?" Leia mused from her copilot's seat. "Alliance intelligence has uncovered that an unknown party has been buying and/or stealing old ships from out of moth balls. That's all kinds of ships, not just warships."
"Yeah, yeah, I know that," Han muttered. "Remind me again why we're out [i]here[/i]."
"Here was your idea," Leia replied. "Something about an anonymous tip, I recall."
"Ah, I knew there was a good reason."
"Ready to give up?"
Before Han could reply, the panel given over to the newly installed sensor package began beeping away for attention.
"Hey, flyboy, looks like you were right," Leia announced when she checked the readouts. "We have a pair of Uglies in system. Looks like they're doing a scouting run."
The panel displayed both uglies. One was a heavily modified TIE. The solar panels had been replaced with drive nacelles from a Y-Wing. Mounted on each nacelle was a huge dish that were tentatively tagged as some kind of sensor array.
The second ugly was a B-Wing. The laser cannons on the wingtips had been replaced with what appeared to be the nose assemblies from several X-Wings. The [i]Falcon's[/i] sensors said these were loaded to the gills with Proton Torpedoes.
"Y'know, Leia, I think it's best if we just stay here and pretend to be an asteroid," Han said after seeing the readouts.
"Master Han," Threepio spoke up from the communications station, "I am intercepting traffic between those fighters. It appears to be mostly Droid to Droid protocols. Oh! They are signalling an all clear to someone out..."
"SITHSPAWN!!!" Leia exclaimed suddenly. "What is that?!"
"That" was a ship dropping out of hyper practically in their laps, accompanied by clouds of Uglies. But if the fighters were Ugly, the ship was Hideous. Han suddenly understood where all the missing ships had gone. They had been combined into this monstrosity. Ships and parts of ships were jammed together apparently at random, joined together by equally randomly placed cables and support struts. Here, a series of Blockade Runners were placed upright like crops on a farm. There, half a Mon Cal cruiser lay half buried by a driveless Nebulon B. And everywhere on what passed for the surface were turbolasers and ion cannons. Droids were everywhere, working to attach still more ship parts to the conglomeration. All together, the monster was the size and rough shape of a Super Star Destroyer.
"Nothing I want to mess with," Han replied faintly. "Let's try our best to remain unnoticed, shall we?"
"You're not going to try to run?" Leia asked surprised.
"I might have, but I'm not as young as I used to be," Han told her. "And [i]someone[/i] vetoed buying one of those new cyberbasil systems. We could have used the extra shielding."
"Excuses, excuses," Leia said dismissively. She frowned at the sensor readouts. "But I think we're going to have to run anyway."
"Why's that?"
As if in reply, the whatever-it-was reached out with a tractor beam and snagged a passing asteroid. Drawing the rock close, the ship's weapon systems began lashing out at the rock. The pieces blown off were passed into what looked to be an ore processor.
The [i]Falcon[/i] was on the next nearest rock.
"Okay, time to scoot," Han said quickly. He began going through the emergency start up sequence.
"Master Han, Mistress Leia," Threepio interupted. "The primary vessel is inquiring if any of the escorts have seen the [i]Millenium Falcon[/i]. Shall I reply?"
"NO!" Han and Leia yelled simultaneously.
"Well, we seemed to have walked into a trap," Leia said conversationally.
"Right, whatever," Han replied, throwing the throttle to full power. The [i]Falcon[/i] practically leaped off its rock, and sprinted toward the... thing. It was between them and the way out.
Several Uglies started to move towards the [i]Falcon[/i], then seemed to think better of it. They went back to their patrol routes. The others resolutely ignored the Falcon.
"That's odd," Leia commented. "They're not even trying to target us."
"Guess my reputation precedes me," Han quipped absently. He wasn't about to question their good fortune.
"Master Han," Threepio piped up suddenly. "The main ship is hailing us."
"Oh, really?" Han asked, watching surface features flash by.
"Yes, they have an invitation for...I believe their exact words are 'The Great Solo'," Threepio reported. "I believe we are to be their guests of honor."
Curiosity pricked, and more importantly, ego stroked, Han brought the [i]Falcon[/i] to a screeching halt.
"Hey, Goldenrod, ask them for docking instructions," Han ordered.