Crazy Old Man: Han Solo
0 BBY
Han crossed his arms across his vest and leaned against the landing strut of the Falcon. The roar of engines filled the landing field in front of the Great Temple on Yavin IV. Han turned his head as thirty Alliance starfighters drifted out of the hangar, pointed towards the upper atmosphere, and burned engines. The din of their sublights gradually faded and the noise of the jungle resumed it's usual clamor, only now Han thought it a bit quieter. Perhaps even the wildlife knew what was coming.
This rock was about to be dust. There was no avoiding it. Against his better judgment Han had sat in on the briefing. In spite of himself, he'd been thinking about joining in the fight, but only if there was a real chance. Han didn't want the Empire rolling around blowing up planets any more than anyone else, but he wasn't about to throw his life away on an unarmed rancor hunt. Turned out destroying the thing would take a miracle and Han had decided it was time to beat an exit.
He wasn't crazy. That was the line he kept repeating to himself as he stared up into Yavin IV's sky. Not like everyone else around here. Lot of brave men and women were about to die for a lost cause, one that a younger Han might have believed in himself. He'd been there though, did the right thing, made the right choice.
And then he'd lost almost everything. Could have pocketed sixty million; instead, he walked away with the clothes on his back, his new friend Chewie, and only enough credits for a stake in a game of Sabacc. Everything since then had come from Han watching out for himself and for Chewie. They didn't need anyone else or any causes getting in the way. No princesses, farm boys, or crazy old men.
Han grimaced as he thought about... Ben. Yeah, that was what the kid had called him. Or Obi-Wan, or something; Han hadn't really gotten the details. Didn't matter. He was dead now, but at least his friends had come through and paid the seventeen on delivery, and then some for the heroics aboard the Death Star. Han had considered that a little bit of a miracle, as he wasn't entirely confident these Rebels had had that many credits between them. Turned out this group was the real deal; had funding, people, and equipment. Too bad their enemy could blow up planets.
Chewie walked up to the Falcon with the cart of supplies. The Rebels had been generous and let them take whatever they needed. Made sense as their whole base was all about to be a debris field. "Alright, let's get out of here, Chewie. No need sticking around for the fireworks." Chewie nodded and pushed the cart up the ramp of the Falcon.
Han took one last look at the sky and the departed fighters, a strange feeling tugging at his heart. He didn't like it. "Don't get involved," he reminded himself and stepped up the ramp, hitting the panel to close up the ship. Gases hissed as the Falcon pressurized.
In the cockpit, Chewie was already going through the pre-flight checklist. Han joined in, the motions automatic and comforting; he and Chewie had done this a thousand times. The Falcon was home. Family. Like Chewie.
Han thought about the others and smiled to himself when he remembered the princess. He would have loved a chance to try and get her to see things his way. Would have been a real challenge. And the kid? Luke was someone that could have been a real help. Truth was, he reminded Han a little bit of himself when he'd left Corellia. Bright-eyed. Eager. Ready to do the right thing. With a little bit of toughening, Luke would have made a great part of he and Chewie's little team. Pity he'd be dead in the next few minutes.
Then there was the old man. If Han was being honest, the guy had gotten under his skin. From the start, he'd been unimpressed with Han's boasting about the Falcon. Han didn't mind if you insulted him. But if you didn't pay the proper respects to the Falcon? More than one bar fight had been started that way.
And then there was the mystical mumbo-jumbo and his crazy confidence. Han wasn't sure if Obi-Wan had so much as flinched at the Death Star or anything that happened afterward. And then there at the end? Fighting with his laser sword against… What was that? Some kind of stormtrooper officer in all black with a red laser sword? It had made chills crawl up the back of Han's legs. Seemed almost as if he'd been fighting just long enough to make sure they'd made it back to the Falcon. And then he just, gave up?
None of it made any sense.
"We sure fell in with the crazies this time didn't we?"
Chewie grumbled something in dissent.
"Look, I liked them too, but come on; look what's going on here. Nothing that you and I need to be a part of. We aren't going to die today."
The Wookiee finished the preflight sequence and fired up the repulsors. They whined as the Falcon lifted slowly off the ground. He turned to Han and reminded him how someone had already died today and that that was the only reason they were still alive.
"What, you talking about the old man? He was crazy, and you know it. He was claiming to be a Jedi. The Jedi have been dead for years."
Chewie agreed that the man was crazy, then made a rude joke about how short-lived humans were. Han ignored it, but was taken back when his co-pilot declared his belief that Obi-Wan had been a Jedi."
"Oh come on Chewie, you can't possibly have believed that garbage heap, cause if you do I got a pet dianoga to sell you." That joke was probably in poor taste considering their little mishap in the trash compactor, but Luke wasn't around to hear it, so Han didn't care.
He fired up the sublights and sent them burning towards space. His partner growled a fierce rebuttal. Apparently, the Wookiee had known several Jedi back in the Clone Wars. He rattled off a few names that Han had never heard of, and seemed irritated that Han wasn't impressed by them.
"Look, pal, I was a kid when all these people died, sorry I've never heard of em. What's that got to do with the old man?"
Han's eyes narrowed as Chewie claimed to have heard of Obi-Wan Kenobi back in the war. Seems he was a bit of a legend and just about everyone in the Republic had heard of him back in those days.
"That old man? There's no way he…"
Chewie interrupted with a harsh bark.
"Fine, fine, let's say that was him. What's your point?" Han had a feeling he knew where this was going and he didn't like it.
Chewie cut right to the point. A living legend had trusted them and given his life for them so that they could escape. And Han was too busy worrying about the skin on his own back to even bother to care about what was going on.
"Hey, pal. Come on; I don't mean that…" Fear suddenly gripped Han. Truth was, Chewie was a lot better person than he was and some days he wondered why the Wookiee even stuck around. They'de done a lot of things that he knew Chewie hadn't approved of. It wasn't that Han liked those jobs either, but they had debts, and debts had to be paid. Han knew that for all his bluster, Chewie was a bit of a softy and hated the lifestyle they lived.
Someday he was gonna get fed up with Han and leave. Go back to searching for his family.
And Han would deserve it.
They broke out of the upper atmosphere and Han punched the throttle to get away from Yavin IV. Chewie let it drop for now, and Han was grateful. He knew it would come up again, maybe even be a real argument this time. They cleared far enough away from the moon to see the ominous Death Star beginning to rise from Yavin like some sort of nightmarish dawn.
The last dawn a lot of good people would ever see. Han wiped sweat away from his forehead as he turned to the navicomputer and told it to give him the first coordinates it could spit out. He didn't care where they went. Anywhere but here was fine with Han.
"...idn't go in. Just impacted on the surface."
Han shot a look at Chewie. The Wookiee had patched into the Rebel comm frequencies. Han didn't dare turn it off.
Suddenly Luke's voice crackled through the speaker. "Red Leader we're right above you! Turn to point… 05. We'll cover for you."
"Stay there I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run." There was a shriek of twisting metal and shattering electronics and the voice cried out before cutting off in static."
Han could feel Chewie looking at him. He could feel the beating of his own heart. It was so loud he wondered if Chewie could hear it too.
"Biggs Wedge, let's close it up. We're going in. We're going in full throttle." Han imagined Luke in the X-Wing with two wingmen, screaming down that trench at full burn. The kid was brave. And he needed help. The navicomputer chimed that the coordinates were ready. Han turned to it but then paused, something in him needing to hear the battle. Time stretched and each second seemed to be a tiny eternity, marked only by the beating of Han's own heart.
"Luke, at that speed will you be able to pull out in time?"
"It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home."
Han looked over at Chewie. Chewie nodded, and Han knew that he was about to do the dumbest thing he had ever done. Dumbest thing he'd done in ten years at least, since when he'd given away sixty million in coaxium.
This would probably get him killed.
He grabbed the flight controls and wheeled the Falcon around to point it right at the Death Star. "Hit it, Chewie, before I talk myself out of this."
Chewie pushed the Falcon's engines way past their safe limit. As Han felt himself pushed back in his seat and the abominable planet killer grew larger and larger, he thought about the princess. If he ever wanted to get that second chance with her, they were going to need that miracle. He thought about the farm boy and hoped the bright-eyed kid would get his chance to see the Galaxy.
As they passed through the magnetic field, the Death Star filled their entire field of view. The comm chatter continued, but Han only half paid any attention to it. Luke was in trouble, losing wingmen fast. If Han didn't get there in time…
He closed his eyes for an instant to shut it all out and clear his mind. Instead, he thought about Obi-Wan.
Jedi? War Hero? Crazy Old Man?
Maybe he was all of those things. Either way, he'd given his life for Han.
It was a debt Han needed to repay. And Han always repaid his debts.
He saw the trench from above. Their high angle of approach gave them a good view of the lone X-Wing; Luke, trailed by three TIEs. "Get us in range Chewie!" The Wookiee roared something about the engines blowing out if he pressed them anymore. "I don't care, just get me one shot."
Luke's voice crackled over the speakers one last time. "I've lost Artoo."
Now the kid really was alone. Had they come too late? They could pull up, even now. With the speed they had, there wasn't a chance the towers would be able to track them. They could pull up and disappear.
But Han repaid his debts.
The TIE fighters came in range. Han lined up the guns and squeezed off a single shot, instantly vaporizing one of the TIES. "Yeeehooo!" Han shouted into his comm, broadcasting on all frequencies. Let them all know he'd come, Rebels and Empire. Han Solo wasn't leaving yet.
The confusion of the sudden assault broke the formation of the other two TIEs. One veered to the side, colliding with the flight leader, and destroyed itself. Han lost track of the flight leader. It wasn't a threat anymore, and the job wasn't done.
He shouted into the mic "You're all clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!"
End of Act V: The Final Journey
Author's Note: Oh I'm so glad I was able to work this story out and finish up my little trilogy of stories on the death of Obi-Wan. I've always loved the idea that Obi-Wan kind of got under Han's skin and not just in the nuisance sort of way. Maybe that Obi-Wan's calm facade really did rattle Han's cage and got him to thinking. And with a co-pilot that knew Jedi back in the Clone Wars (weird decision Lucas, but I'll run with it…), maybe Han DID start to think there was more to the old man than meets the eye…
A few more stories to go. One last short act on the legacy of Obi-Wan Kenobi and this thing will be done!