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There is no place for rampant idealism in this galaxy, the Emperor saw to that. I've found that people with their heads in the clouds oftentimes end up face down in a pool of their own blood. And yet here I find myself surrounded on all sides by idealists and would be revolutionaries. They are a decent group of people to be sure, Hell, they are probably some of the finest people I've met in a long time. But that's the problem. I don't really care much for their little rebellion because frankly I think their cause was doomed from day one.
The Empire is just too big and too organized for anyone to damage it, let alone overthrow it. It's ruler is too smart to allow himself to be overthrown. I should know, I used to work for him.
In my relatively short time alive I've traveled from one side of this galaxy to the other and I've seen for myself the long reach of Palpatine's Empire. I've seen its supporters at work. I know how they think. Ever since old Palpy declared himself king of the universe the Empire's top goons have operated under a siege mentality. Vicious, callous, and ultimately as paranoid as their boss, the Imperials will go to any length to remind you that they are large and in charge, and don't you forget it.
I sympathize with the rebels, I really do. I don't like the Empire any more than most out here on the Rim, but frankly it is not my problem. I tried once to make a stand. I haven't told the kid or the princess yet, but I used to be an officer in the Imperial Military. I was young and stupid then (a little more world weary than others of my age, but optimistic comparing to myself in later years to be sure). I thought that I could make things better working with the system. You know, do my part, and maybe hope that my good work would rub off on others.
I'm not a person who is easily led to believe in things like good and evil. We live in a morally grey universe as far as I'm concerned. So take what I say to heart when I say with absolute and uncompromising certainty that I discovered during my time in the military that there is pure evil in this universe, and at the time I was working for it. I've never met the Emperor or seen him in person, but if there is one thing that I am certain of it is that he is the dark heart of the Empire from which all that is wrong with this system radiates outwards and trickles down to the everyday trooper that carries out their master's will.
The spooks running the military were the textbook definition of incompetent; a bunch of armchair generals who took an absurd amount of pleasure in droning on and on about the nature of dedication to the Imperial cause. The most politically orthodox of the bunch were the absolute worst, singing the Emperor's praises with no end in sight while senselessly sacrificing troops by the thousands. Let's just say that listening to Commander so and so give lecture after lecture on the virtues of Palpatine's New Order got old fast.
Then of course there was the racism. The Old Republic may have been run by a bunch of corrupt blowhards, but at least they didn't enslave other beings on account of them being "alien filth". I never really got the whole racism thing. Okay, so they look different. So what? What is the big deal? In my travels I've met plenty of aliens, and frankly most of them have more common sense than the entire Imperial military combined. But the Emperor seems to be a clever old man. It makes sense I suppose. It gives the stupid lower class workers a scapegoat to hate and divides society against itself, allowing the Emperor to have better control. It is a smart move. Horrible, but smart.
That is what got me drummed out of the service. I raised a weapon against a superior officer and had him stunned. Why? Because he was going to shoot a Wookiee that he had recently enslaved, a wookiee that had done nothing to deserve such hatred. I got dishonorably discharged as a result and went into smuggling. That wookiee was none other than my friend Chewbacca, and he has been at my side ever since.
Chewie has been a good friend over the years, and it is obvious that he sympathizes with the rebels even more than I do. In fact, if it wasn't for his life debt to me (which obligates him to serve the person who saved his life) I think that he would have joined the Rebellion in a heartbeat.
His people have suffered greatly at the hands of the Empire. Back in the days of the Old Republic Chewie says that his people were held in high regard in society. But with the dawn of the New Order the Wookiees found their homeworld overrun on Palpatine's orders and their people enslaved.
That is the problem with the Emperor. He's meddlesome. He just can't leave well enough alone. Rule one of smuggling is to know your limits. Rule two is don't be too greedy, or it will cost you. Rule three is know when to cut and run. But it seems that old Palps never heard about the rules of smuggling, and if he has he probably doesn't care. He needs to control everything. I've been to the Core Worlds and I've seen what they have become under the Emperor's rule. Palpatine has used these planets as his own personal playground, creating a laboratory in which he can experiment on and play with the people under his thumb. Enough is never enough for him, and he seems to have no idea just to what limit people are willing to pushed before they push back hard.
He seems to have a lot of fun pushing people around and plotting how to push people around. Now that I think of it he is a lot like Jabba the Hutt or any other crimelord I've run into. They both scheme away with morally questionable plans that are meant to increase their own personal wealth and prestige. In both cases they have no disregard for the people they manipulate and no personal qualms about the people they hurt.
Don't get me wrong, I'll kill someone without regret if I find myself in a tight spot (just ask Greedo) but I try to avoid collateral damage when I can. Palpatine doesn't care who gets hurt just as long as things get done.
I suppose this is why I only accept jobs in the Outer Rim now. The Empire's presence in these parts is less pronounced than it is anywhere else in the galaxy. It is best to keep out of sight and out of mind as far as Palpatine and his Empire is concerned. The Empire may be a monolith, but there are cracks in the armor just wide enough for a man, a wookiee and a small freighter to slip through undetected.
The thing is that I believe in freedom and being free. I just want to do my own thing and try to get by as I see fit. Palpatine though, he wants us all to live the way he wants us to. We're like droids to him, easily programmed, meant to be ordered about, and ultimately disposable. But that is not who I am. Han Solo takes orders from no one. I'm willing to fight for my own freedom, but I'm not exactly willing to lay my own life down on the line for the rest of the galaxy. My experiences in life have proven again and again that I should never risk my own skin for others when I don't have to.
I'm not really a philosophical guy or anything. I don't usually waste time pondering the great mysteries or wondering what could be, that isn't my style, but sometimes I wonder if the rebels ever could win.
I don't really think so. Maybe they have a fighting chance now that the Emperor's personal doomsday machine has been blown sky high (which I helped to do thank you very much) but the odds are against them. I've met men like the Emperor before. They are spiteful to a fault. He is going to do whatever he can to bring down the Rebels now, and his wrath certainly isn't going to be pretty.
The Emperor is an angry giant, slashing and burning everything and everyone that gets in his way. The Emperor is on a warpath now and he is going to show no mercy to anyone who defies him. I don't plan on being around when he comes a knocking. That is how men like me survive, we keep our heads down, or mouths shut and we stick to the shadows.
Either way, the Rebels probably won't win because of their ideals. They are to moral and self-righteous for their own good. The Emperor has no inhibitions when it comes to getting a job done. Bomb a city? Destroy a planet? Torture thousands? He'll do it in a heartbeat and he'll sleep well the next night. He is a creature without regrets or boundaries. All that matters to him is winning. But the rebels have their principles, principles that could keep them from doing what needs to be done and winning.
But I don't intend to stick around to see it. I have a bounty on my head that I have to deal with. The Emperor and his men are far away from here and are a minor problem for me personally. Out on the Rim folks have to deal with more immediate and pressing concerns than some genocidal dictator living on some far away planet. I wish the Rebels the best, but it isn't my war. The Emperor is just too powerful. The deck is stacked in his favor. I just don't see how you can oppose him openly and win.
I walk into the hangar bay towards the Falcon and I'm about to call Chewie and prepare for takeoff when I see Luke working on his X-wing.
"Hey kid, you seen Chewie?" I ask.
"He's in the command center giving Leia and the general some advice on a new base for the Alliance to settle down on." He responds.
Of course Chewie is helping out. He really is a true believer in the Rebel cause. Sometimes I wish I had his conviction.
"I was just about to finish up here and join them. Want to come with?" Luke asks.
I was about to tell him that I was leaving, but then I take a moment to look at Luke and our surroundings. Luke is still that farmboy I picked up on Tatooine, but the idealism has been tempered with something. A confidence, a determination to see a job carried out. But more than that, there is an optimism and a hope for a better future that is quite infectious. Throughout the hangar the men and women at work seem to possess the same quiet hope. Throughout the air there is a quiet determination and unbreakable will to do the job that they have all come together to perform.
And in that moment, for the briefest of seconds I allow myself to believe. The Emperor is a cynical old man who underestimates the will of some people and the desire for freedom that we all possess. What he sees as a weakness is in actuality a strength. He is a fool to believe that he can continue to rule when so many are beginning to oppose him.
My brain tries to remain rational, but there is a small voice in the back of my head that says "they can do this". I'm going to regret this aren't I?
"Yeah, sure kid, let's get going. We wouldn't want to keep Her Worshipfulness waiting now would we?"
Perhaps I'll stick around for a little while longer.