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Skywalker Resurgent Ch.4: Never Let Them See You Sweat
We arrived at Mos Eisley a little over an hour and a half later. It may not have been much to look at, but it was the main starport for the planet and the only prudent place to look for a ride offworld. That meant a lot of ships were always passing through and we could see plenty of them parked in the landing bays we could spot as we gazed over the large town from a nearby cliff as we approached. Of course, the view was somewhat soured by the sight of a pair of Imperial shuttles parked on the outskirts and a temporary camp being set up around them.
As we pulled up to the port, we noted that there was a checkpoint set up along the main road into town. About a dozen stormtroopers were scattered about either in overwatch positions or checking people coming in to town. Not wanting to make a scene by trying to circle the port and look for another way in, I kept going forward and pulled up to the checkpoint closest to us. We were fourth in line to be inspected, so we had a few minutes to spare.
"Let's keep it calm and quiet and there won't be any trouble," Kenobi warned softly beside me.
"Agreed," I said. I glanced behind me, just in time to see Leia shift in her seat and seem to hide something in her lap and under the cover of her shirt. Her position hid it well, but it wasn't hard to guess what she was concealing. She had also pulled out a white headscarf from somewhere that covered most of her braided head and much of her face, leaving her eyes exposed for her to see clearly. As far as disguises went, it had the benefit of being simple, yet effective.
"Relax," I told her. "It's just a checkpoint and we're just some locals looking to come into town to make a sale of our grandpa's droids. We'll cruise right on by."
"I'll be ready if this doesn't pan out," she insisted. "I can't allow them to uncover my real identity or to take the droids."
"We've got this," I told her confidently. "Just sit there and try to look like a typical bored teenager. This won't take long."
The last speeder in front of us was soon finished and we pulled forward. It was showtime.
"State your business for being in the port today," the sergeant drawled out, obviously tired of having to ask that question countless times already.
"Looking to sell our grandfather's droids," I returned promptly, almost eagerly as I put on the act of being a nervous but compliant local. "I'm here to drive because the speeder is mine and my sister is here mostly to haggle and probably shop while she's here. Blasted Jawas refused to offer a good price, so we're hoping someone here is looking to-"
"How long have you had these droids?" the sergeant interrupted.
"Uh, about four or five seasons?" I answered, turning my head to my 'grandfather' as if seeking confirmation.
"Five seasons," he answered politely.
"Five seasons, sir," I nodded and smiled back at the sergeant, putting on my best 'dumb farm boy' look.
"Let me see your identification," the sergeant ordered.
"You don't need to see our identification," Kenobi said in a friendly tone, waving his hand at the stormtrooper sergeant.
"We don't need to see your identification," the sergeant and his two troopers repeated in a bland tone.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for," Kenobi said next.
"These aren't the droids we're looking for," the three repeated.
"They can go about their business," Kenobi continued.
"They can go about their business," the three repeated again.
"Move along," Kenobi finished.
"Move along," the sergeant alone said this time, waving us through the checkpoint and into Mos Eisley proper.
I waited until we were halfway down the street and well away from the checkpoint before I shot Kenobi a sour look. "You couldn't have just done that from the start?" I asked.
"Everything is a learning experience, young Luke," Kenobi answered, smiling a little too broadly for my tastes.
"And those were a lot of blasters being pointed at us," I retorted.
"And yet," Kenobi replied. "You handled yourself well. You didn't try a mind trick of your own, I noticed."
"Because I have no practice with it," I replied, swerving around a dewback that was standing a little too far into the street. "I'm not about to attempt something like that on the fly when I've already got you riding shotgun. Y'know, for a man who is a famed negotiator, you certainly kept quiet in that confrontation." I said, placing extra emphasis on the word that was also Kenobi's old nickname from the war.
"Nevertheless, you handled yourself well," Kenobi repeated. "I wanted to see how you responded to real pressure and you performed well. You had a good chance of getting by on your own, even had I not been there. You will have to practice more with the illusion and deception arts while using the Force, my student."
"Oh indeed, Master Jedi," I responded, not even hiding my sarcasm at this point. "I shall endeavor to meet those lofty expectations you hold for me."
"I'm sorry, but could someone explain just what happened back there?!" Leia suddenly demanded, interrupting our banter.
"Kenobi's full of himself. That's what's going on," I answered. "But I suppose you mean at the checkpoint. That was a Jedi Mind Trick. Works well on weak minded folk and people who just aren't paying attention. It probably didn't hurt that he and his buddies were likely bored as hell from having to stand guard at a hot and sandy checkpoint in what is essentially an insignificant little town in the middle of nowhere. Basically, Kenobi tricked them by telling them to think and even do things that came easily to them. Letting us go is a good example of that."
"You had them in a sort of trance," she responded, seemingly talking to both of us now. "They just repeated what you wanted them to."
"We were fortunate that those stormtroopers weren't the sharpest bunch," Kenobi replied modestly. "And Luke was correct that they were barely paying any attention. I speculate that they've been at this for some time and are growing extremely bored with their assigned duties."
"Would that work on anyone?" Leia asked curiously. "I can think of quite a few uses for a power like that, even if it only worked on idiots."
"Not always," Kenobi clarified. "A Jedi has to be careful in their approach to the technique. Too much and either it'll be noticed, or possibly put the subject in a catatonic state. Too light a touch and it just won't work."
"Not to mention you have to be careful to get the whole group," I commented. "If he'd only gotten the sergeant back there, his two buddies would've noticed right away that something was up. Then, there are the species or individuals who are naturally immune or extremely resilient to it by virtue of biology or mental fortitude. It's a great trick, but only when used in the right time and place."
"I see," Leia said, still sounding intrigued by the concept.
We decided it'd be a lot more convenient as well as safer to rent a small storage shed beside the starport for the next few hours to put the droids in along with the speeder. I already knew the bar wouldn't let them hang around with us (because they weren't paying customers) and I didn't want to risk a patrol walking by and seeing the two out in the open. The Empire might be making a thorough search of the area, but even they would hesitate before cracking open random storage sheds on a planet controlled by the Hutts. Too much trouble for them when there were plenty of random citizens and droids in the open to harass.
Leia was locking the shed up and advising the two (read: Threepio) to stay out of trouble and out of sight. I had already asked Artoo to make sure nobody tried to steal the speeder and told him to comm me if anything came up. He replied with a 'On it, sir!' that I felt should have been accompanied by a jaunty salute if Artoo had arms to perform the action with.
I leaned over to Kenobi as Leia finished locking up the shed.
"You remember the plan from here on out?" I asked quietly.
"Of course," he replied, just as quiet. "You feel confident proceeding as we originally discussed?"
"Absolutely," I told him. "As a reminder, keep an eye out for the Anzat in case he feels like trying to take a bite out of any of us and be ready if and when those jerks try to pick a fight with me at the counter."
It may surprise some people to know that the 'Cantina Scene' in the original film has been expanded upon greatly by various authors in the decades after the initial release. Many stories were made of the bizarre and alien creatures hanging out in the bar and probably were only on screen for a handful of seconds at best. While a number of them were interesting, yet irrelevant, there were a few that stood out. Like the Star Wars equivalent of a vampire that was hanging out and contemplated feeding on Kenobi and I once we entered. He ultimately decided against it, but I admit that the knowledge that he was there and hungry for us made me edgy. Leia also exuded a strong Force presence and I didn't want to risk the temptation to be too strong and have him try to ambush one or more of us.
Then there was the mangy, pig-faced fellow who'd confront Luke at the bar, Cornelius Evazan other wise known as Mr. I-Have-The Death-Sentence-In-Twelve-Systems-Let-Me-Yell-About-It-In-A-Bar-Full-Of-Bounty-Hunters-And-Opportunists.
There were probably one or two more details that might've mattered a little but in my defense, the fandom was packed with so much stuff for even the most minor characters that I figured I was bound to forget some of the more inconsequential stuff. The stuff that stuck out in my memory here was pretty much limited to 'space vampire' and 'wanted criminals picking a fight.'
Kenobi nodded his acknowledgement of my warnings as Leia approached, adjusting her headscarf once more to make sure it was firmly in place.
"Where to from here?" she asked.
"Where does anyone go in a new town to find information and elicit potentially illegal services?" I asked rhetorically, a big smile on my face.
~Skywalker Resurgent~
The cantina was certainly looking pretty busy when we walked up to it. A couple of guys dressed like spacers walked in ahead of us and we got a blast of that classic Star Wars Cantina Song, which was pretty standard fare for these kinds of places. At least it had the benefit of being catchier than most of the other music I've heard around Tatooine. This place was starved for good musical taste.
"Probably best for you to stick close and try not to speak to anyone," I muttered to Leia as we waited for traffic to thin a bit before crossing the street to the cantina doors. "We don't want to risk anyone recognizing you or calling attention to us if we can help it."
"I can handle myself just fine, Skywalker," Leia replied. "Let's just hurry this up."
"Fair enough," I muttered, not wanting to argue.
Honestly, I was debating with myself with having her wait with the droids while we handled this. She was an extra element added to the situation and I couldn't be sure what difference that might make. However, I was even more wary of letting her out of sight with all these patrols around. Besides that, I didn't think she would stay behind unless I could first get Kenobi to side with me on this and we both had a damn good reason backing up the argument to do so. Leia was clearly accustomed to being involved in difficult situations, assuming she wasn't the one creating it in the first place.
We crossed the sandy street and made our way inside the rather large cantina. The place was packed with customers drinking, talking, and doing all kinds of stuff. One human-like guy at the bar was enjoying some kind of hookah while I spotted a pair of women dressed identically in green with dreadlocks and painted faces looking disdainfully at the short man who looked like he was failing badly at chatting them up.
We walked up to the bar and Kenobi immediately started chatting with the spacer to his right. Leia was standing right beside him, looking cool and nondescript, which was good. I walked up to her other side and kept her between Kenobi and I just to give extra discouragement for anyone who tried to approach her or harass her.
Sure enough, a complication came at us about thirty seconds after I ordered my drink from the bartender.
The Aqualish beside me tapped me on the shoulder and said something in his native language, which I didn't understand. It just sounded like walrus noises to me. I waved my hand in a negating gesture while trying to convey that I wasn't interested. He apparently didn't like that and gave my shoulder a shove, forcing me to turn to him.
"Guy, I don't understand what you're saying," I told him.
"He doesn't like you," the pig-faced man beside him spoke up. He looked like he had started life as a regular human, but had been in some unfortunate accident that had disfigured his face. The disfigurement didn't appear to have healed in a normal way. More like some kind of accident that was either never repaired or just repaired very badly.
"Well, that's unfortunate," I told him. "I'm going to finish my drink, so excuse me."
"I don't like you either," the man slurred out, clearly intoxicated. "You best watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems."
In any other circumstance, I would have totally ignored talk like that from a random drunk in a bar. I mean, what are the odds of it being true? However, I knew this guy was Cornelius Evazan and he was completely serious. He was a wanted 'mad doctor' who was known for committing horrible experiments on abducted bystanders as well as his customers who came to him for cheap, back alleyway surgeries. There was a story about how he once avoided being captured by Boba Fett by unleashing over a dozen lab-created zombies that used to be people he had abducted and experimented on.
The Aqualish with him had teamed up with him to be his partner/muscle and knew full well what a monster this guy was. He just didn't care since Evazan made for a good cash cow. I didn't remember his name and he hadn't made the wanted posters yet since he had only recently teamed up with Evazan and hadn't gotten notorious enough for his own poster. Everzan was actually a wanted man and had been in the holonews with gruesome pictures of his victims.
Originally, he and his buddy had run off and survived this encounter. Looking at things from my perspective though; I saw no reason not to take up a more civic minded response if the two of them persisted here.
"Guys," I tried, sounding friendly. "Whatever you're after here, it's not worth it. Trust me. Let's just go back to our drinks."
Apparently taking my tone as weakness and not a warning, Evazan took a step forward and grabbed my shirt.
"Farm boy thinks he can just come in here and talk to me like that?" he slurred angrily.
Before I could point out I had come in here and they had then talked to me, Kenobi stepped around to my side and I sensed Leia behind the two of us, probably getting ready to shoot someone if needed.
"Now, is this one really worth fighting over?" Kenobi asked rhetorically. "Let me order you a drink and we can put this all behind us."
Evazan apparently didn't like that idea and let out an inarticulate shout of anger as he pulled back his other fist and got ready to punch me in the face.
Having been waiting for the insane criminal to make a move like this, I pulled out my lightsaber from my belt and held it ready in my hand with my thumb over the activator switch. At the same time, I grabbed Evazan by his arm that was still gripping my shirt and pulled him closer to me, upsetting the intoxicated man's balance and throwing off his punch as I was suddenly holding him in place right in front of me.
I hit the activation switch on my lightsaber.
The white and blue energy blade cut right through the man's flesh as it - obviously - offered no resistance. Due to the angle of my lightsaber at my hip's level and me suddenly dragging my opponent forward, the blade cut right through his gut at an upwards angle and exited out his upper back, flash frying tissue and organs as it went.
Evazan kept his grip on my shirt while he let out a surprised gurgle at the sudden and violent retaliation. He probably thought this was going to be a fistfight and hadn't counted on a 'farm boy' pulling out a weapon. He kept his grip for a moment longer before I deactivated the blade and shoved him back, letting him fall to the floor. His eyes stared wide at the ceiling and he didn't move an inch.
The Aqualish gave an enraged shout like a walrus before trying to charge at me for killing his meal ticket/partner. At that point, Kenobi took a single step forward and activated his own lightsaber with a flourishing movement. The Aqualish was suddenly falling backwards and to the side, now bereft one arm as well as the blaster that was clutched in its hand.
Leia stepped between the two of us with her own blaster out and at the ready, but it was already over. The 'fight' had only lasted a few seconds and the bar was now silent and observing us cautiously.
We all stood there for what I believe was only a few seconds, even if it felt longer. The rest of the cantina's patrons eventually turned back to their business now that the excitement was over and looked like there wouldn't be any more right now. Leia lowered her blaster and Kenobi and I deactivated our blue lightsaber blades. Kenobi turned to me, a look of concern on his face.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," I answered. I let out a slow breath as I placed my lightsaber back on my belt. My hands didn't shake, but I took a calming breath to get myself centered again.
Growing up on Tatooine was nobody's idea of 'safe,' but that didn't mean I was completely callous with taking a life. Growing up on a moisture farm, I had helped Uncle Owen and a bunch of the other local farmers in our community fend off raiding parties of Sand People in the past. I knew for certain that this wasn't my first kill and I had had some time to process the sensation so it didn't bother me overly much to have done so again. Especially not for a scumbag like this.
A serving droid came out and began to drag Evazan's body away. A second one came over to pick up the Aqualish's arm and blaster. Apparently, this sort of cleanup was routine enough that the droids didn't even wait for orders before acting and disposing of dead customers. The bartender was already back up on his feet and was just dusting himself off after having hit the deck in preparation for a possible firefight that never happened.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I was tempted to haul Evazan's body to wherever the bounty claiming office was and collect on the reward for his death. What kept me from trying just that was the fact that I knew we were on a tight schedule here and I had no idea where to go and what paperwork would be required for that. I somehow doubt I could just drag a corpse through the streets until I found the place I was looking for, even on Tatooine. I also doubted that we wouldn't be noticed even faster by an stormtrooper squad if we tried. So with a sigh, I downed the drink the bartender had left out for me and lamented that there would be no easy money today.
A few moments later, Kenobi tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. He did the same to Leia as gestured for us to follow him to where a tall Wookiee with a heavy bandoleer over his chest was standing. He had thick, brown chestnut colored fur and was one of the tallest beings in the bar at about two meters tall.
"Chewbacca here," he indicated the tall Wookiee with a tilt of his head. "Is the First Mate of a ship that just might suit us."
~Skywalker Resurgent~
And there he was. Looking like a young Harrison Ford, he wore his signature black vest with pockets and a white long sleeved shirt underneath that. He had a thick brown leather belt with a blaster holstered on it as well as what looked like a variety of other small tools. His pants were a dark blue and had a distinguishing red stripe running down the sides. I knew this to be the Corellian Bloodstripe, which was an award Han had gotten from the Corellian Military for some reason I wasn't quite sure of. It was the only military award he had been allowed to keep after being discharged from the Imperial Navy.
We all took a seat on one side of the booth. Kenobi took the inner spot near the wall, followed by myself and Leia in that order. Chewbacca took his own spot beside Han.
"I'm Han Solo," he introduced. "Captain of the Millennium Falcon. This is my First Mate, Chewbacca. He tells me you're looking to book passage to the Alderaan system."
"Yes, indeed. If it's a fast ship," Kenobi clarified.
"'Fast ship?' You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?" Han inquired with an air of smugness about him. "It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."
Now, this had been a confusing point for some people and the new canon explanation wasn't much help. The Kessel Run was actually the term for the stretch of space saddled up alongside of the Kessel System known as the Maw. It was a churning nightmare of blackholes and trapped stellar matter that made navigation an absolute nightmare in the region. It also provided excellent cover for spice runners to pick up cargo from Kessel and get it past Imperial patrols which didn't dare get closer than the minimum safe distance as dictated by their navicomputers.
The smugglers who did go closer than that, like Han, were known for their daring and excellent piloting skills. Get too close and you'll get sucked in to the Maw and ripped apart by the gravitational waves. Play it safe and you'll probably get boarded or shot down by an Imperial patrol or even a rival gang's mercenary forces. What Han was claiming was that his ship flew the razor edge across the edge of the black holes and actually shortened the time by a considerable margin and didn't get himself killed. At those distances, time and space started to warp a bit and affect one's flight plan.
I knew he was telling the truth, probably. Han probably had the flight recording stashed somewhere, if only for the bragging rights it gave him. Kenobi and Leia however, looked rather skeptical at Han's proclamation. To be fair, it did sound like he was talking out of his ass here.
"I've outrun Imperial starships," Han continued, Chewie nodding along. "Not those local bulk cruisers mind ya, I'm talking about the big, Corellian ships."
I was working to keep a smile off of my face as I sensed my two companions' lack of amazement at Han and his attempts to build himself up.
"She's fast enough for you folks," Han assured us confidently. "What's the cargo?"
"Not much," Kenobi said lightly. "Just myself, my two young companions, two droids, and no questions asked."
Han smirked at the recitation. "What you guys in some kind of local trouble?"
"Let's just say, we're looking to avoid any Imperial entanglements," Kenobi answered with a smile.
"Well," Han replied leaning back in his seat. "That's the real trick, isn't it? I can handle it, but it's gonna cost ya something extra."
We all remained silent as we looked at him, prompting for him to name his price.
"Ten thousand. All in advance," he informed us.
I could feel Leia's indignation beside me as she seemed ready with a hot retort to that price. A part of me also balked at that clearly outrageous figure, but I was expecting it. I also knew that not only would Han take our counteroffer, but he actually needed that money for something. Jabba had put him on notice for loosing a shipment of spice a short while back and Han had to pay up soon, or Jabba was going to put a bounty out on his head. Jabba mentioning it around Greedo was his way of putting the pressure on Han since Greedo was one of the few lackeys Jabba had around him that was dumb enough to run off and try to shoot Han without any sort of plan. Sure, he was gonna try and overcharge us for this, but at least it was his life he was trying to save here and not simple greed.
Still, I didn't want him to think we were suckers, so I wasn't going to just take that lying down.
"Ten thousand?" I repeated skeptically before anyone could say anything else. "If you're not going to take this seriously, then we're just wasting our time here and we'll get back to asking others. You realize we could almost buy our own ship for that much?"
"Oh?" Han returned. "And who's gonna fly it, kid? You?"
"Easily," I responded flatly, not backing down from Han's cocky look.
"All the more reason for us to walk away now," Leia decided aloud, starting to stand up.
Kenobi held up his hands in a placating gesture and Leia and I both settled down back into our chairs. I think Leia might have caught on to our game here, but it was hard to tell since I could sense she was a bit pissed at Han for gouging the price like that.
"We can pay you two thousand now," he offered. "Plus fifteen upon reaching Alderaan."
"Seventeen?" Han asked, sounding both surprised and skeptical of the offer. After watching Kenobi look him in the eye and nod in affirmation, he gave a small grin and nodded himself.
"Okay, you've got yourselves a ship," he said. "We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking Bay 94."
"We'll get our things and meet you there," Kenobi agreed.
Looking over our shoulders, Han made a comment. "Looks like your little show attracted someone's attention."
Turning my head slightly, I saw the unmistakable shapes of two stormtroopers stepping into the cantina and walking up to the bar. They still had their helmets and gear, so it was probably safe to assume they weren't here for a drink.
"That'll be our cue to depart," Kenobi said, standing up and putting his hood up. Leia and I stood up and followed after him. Before we got far, I stopped. I then turned back to Han.
"One more thing though, Captain Solo," I said.
"What's that?" Han asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Keep your eyes on me and don't react. There's a Rodian by the docking bay entrance. His name's Greedo. He's been eyeballing you this whole time with his hand on his blaster. Mind yourself and we'll see you in Bay 94."
Han's eyes widened, but he didn't jump in his seat or turn his head to look. Chewie likewise didn't react outwardly, but gave a low huff and a growl at the information. Han exchanged a look with Chewie before turning to me and nodding in appreciation. I nodded politely to him and Chewie as I walked away quickly to rejoin the others.
I had no doubt Han could handle Greedo and thus didn't feel the need to stick around and see how things turned out or otherwise interfere. As we all know; Han shoots first.
~Skywalker Resurgent~
POV Change: Han
"Chewie," Han asked slowly. "You said two of them were carrying lightsabers, right? The old man and the kid?"
Chewie huffed an affirmation.
"Definitely something up with them," Han commented. "Seventeen thousand is too good to pass up, but it's also a lot to offer up front for a simple ride, even past Imperial patrols. Maybe they're just desperate."
Chewie growled out a question.
"I don't have a clue how he noticed Greedo or knew his name," Han confessed, frowning at this puzzle. "He certainly didn't look the part of one of Jabba's goons. If he was, why not try and apprehend me himself for a reward? Why point out Greedo at all? And desperate or not, this job is gonna save my neck."
Chewis growled another question, this time with some amusement.
"Yeah, I guess that technically makes me the desperate one. You get back to the ship and get her ready. I'll handle Greedo."
~Skywalker Resurgent~
POV Change: Luke
"You don't think you could have haggled over the price a bit more?" Leia asked. "He's definitely overcharging us on this, even for his supposed talent for avoiding the Empire and getting us there fast."
"It's a tidy sum, to be sure," Kenobi agreed. "However, I believe we will be getting what we pay for. He's certainly confident on his ability to deliver."
"Plus," I added. "We can only really pay him the two thousand right now. For a job like this, we'd have to sweeten the pot a bit if we expected him to accept it and not screw us over. Seventeen thousand is fair for what we're asking, considering he's also taking a few risks with us as his passengers."
"Still seems like he deserves less," Leia grumbled.
"We'll make do," Kenobi assured her. "I'm sure your father will agree that fifteen thousand credits is a small price to pay for those plans and your safe return. Luke, you plan on selling your speeder, yes?"
"Not like I'll be able to take it with me," I replied. "Let's get this done, fast. I don't like how many stormtroopers I keep seeing around every corner."
We got back to our rented shed and picked up Artoo and Threepio. Luckily, Mos Eisley was a busy port. At least, by Tatooine standards it was. Selling my speeder wasn't too much trouble, although I was tempted to try a mind trick when the slippery bastard I was selling to kept trying to drag out negotiations for a better deal. In the end, I walked away with enough that we could pay the two thousand for our trip and had a little extra for anything else that may crop up.
Looking around as we headed to the hanger bay, I was feeling a slight sense of apprehension. I knew there was an Imperial informant somewhere around here, but I couldn't pick him out. That was probably the whole point of his job, but it still annoyed me. I didn't believe for one second that we were just fortunate enough to have completely evaded attention.
Coming up to Bay 94, we met Chewbacca at the entrance. He was leaning beside the wall with his bowcaster rifle out and seemed to have been waiting for us. He opened the side door for us and ushered us all in before closing the door behind us and leading us around the corner to where the ship was parked.
At a first glance, she might not seem that impressive. The scratches on the hull, the sloppy welding jobs on the repair work, and the clear need for a paint job didn't really add up to what most people would call a beautiful ship. However, I knew what a deadly package the Millennium Falcon could deliver. Fast, discreet, and deadly when needed, she was an adventurer's ship. Han had fallen in love with her moments after he first laid eyes on her. He eventually won her in a high stakes sabaac game with Lando and had showered her with all sorts of special upgrades and features over the years, such as the highly dangerous and highly illegal concussion missile launcher concealed in her bow. She was a beautiful ship not because of how she looked, but because of what she could, and likely still would, do.
Of course, not everyone can be so enlightened.
"You actually fly in that thing?" Leia asked skeptically. "Perhaps you're braver than I gave you credit for, Captain Solo."
"She'll make .5 past the hyperdrive scale for ships of her class," Han said, stepping towards us. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I've also made a lot of special modifications to her myself."
Wiping his hands on a rag, Han offered a mocking bow to Leia as he continued to speak.
"But if you don't mind, your highness, we're in something of a rush. So, if you'll just get on board, we'll be on our way."
Leia stiffened for a moment at the sarcastic royal address, but seemed to realize a moment later that it was just Han mocking her rather than actually knowing her real identity. She shot him a glare before turning up her nose at him and boarding the ship with the composed and regal air about her that she had been born with.
Fortunately, it was easy to get loaded up since we didn't really have that many possessions to load in the first place. Other than the special box Kenobi had brought from his hut and the grey duffel with my special project inside, we each only had a pack between the three of us. The droids weren't carrying anything, but I didn't count them in this instance.
Stepping up the ramp, I got my first look at the interior of the Millennium Falcon. The rounded passageways were an earthy tan color and were fairly clean, although showed clear signs of having been lived in by the occasional scuff mark or scratch from a container brushing against the bulkhead. As we entered the lounge area and placed our stuff in the secure holding spots that were indicated by Chewbacca before he left for the cockpit.
We were just done settling ourselves in when we heard a faint and clearly electronically filtered voice shout from the hanger.
"Stop that ship! Blast them!"
The unmistakable sound of blasterfire erupted from the direction of the hanger.
"Just when I was starting to think we'd avoided any Imperial informants spotting us," I grumbled, rushing to secure Artoo beside Threepio.
"Well," Leia said, drawing her blaster and checking the charge. "We got further than I thought we would."
"Chewie, get us out of here!" Han shouted from the direction of the ramp.
Just as Leia took a step towards the ramp, likely to assist Han in fending the stormtroopers off, the man in question charged around the corner and headed to the cockpit. I heard what sounded like a heavy blaster's steady thrum-thrum-thrum from just beneath the ship when I recalled that Han had an auto-turret installed just beside the ramp. He must have triggered it as he came inside.
"I advise that we hold on to something," Kenobi stated from his own seat where he was fastening his seat belt.
Leia and I quickly followed his example as we felt the ship shudder beneath us before lurching up and forwards. I couldn't see it, but I could just imagine the Falcon blasting out of the docking bay at high speed and tearing through the sky at incredible speed. We sat like that as we felt the Falcon accelerate out of Tatooine's atmosphere and into open space. Incredibly, it only took minutes for the atmospheric shaking to subside and stop completely, signifying that we had reached space.
Holding on to the armrest of my own seat, I felt like letting out a whoop of joy but settled for a big celebratory grin. I was in space. Freaking outer space. Living on Earth, I had never really considered being an astronaut but had always wanted to go to space. Even flying one of the little skyhoppers with my friends on Tatooine couldn't compare since they couldn't even leave the atmosphere. I had been eyeballing the occasional ship taking off and landing over the last three years and my desire to be aboard one of them had only grown stronger.
Undoing my seat restraints, I turned to my companions. "That exit likely didn't go unnoticed," I remarked. "Let's hope we somehow caught the Star Destroyer out of position and can make a clean getaway."
Standing up, I made my way out of the main lounge area and headed for the cockpit.
"Stay sharp, there's two of them coming in and it looks like they're angling to cut us off," Han was telling Chewie.
Leia and Kenobi came up behind me as Han turned his head to see us all standing there.
"You folks must be hotter than I thought," Han told us, activating a few switches on his overhead dash. "Got a pair of Star Destroyers moving in to intercept us and I'm detecting two more too far out to even make the attempt. Tatooine's lucky to see even one of those every few months and now they've got four hanging in orbit."
"Yeah, we weren't kidding when we said we were looking to avoid the Empire," I told him. "Can you avoid them long enough to reach hyperspace?"
"I can, so long as I'm allowed to focus," Han commented, waving a negligent hand as he focused on the controls in front of him.
Taking the hint, I stayed quiet and let the man work his magic.
One of the Star Destroyers opened fire as the Falcon ducked and weaved in and out of its forward firing arc.
"And now the fun begins," Han noted without cheer as he piloted his ship through turbolaser fire.
"How long before you can make the jump to hyperspeed?" Kenobi asked.
"Just another minute or two before we get the coordinates from the navicomputer," Han replied, leaning back to check the status of the calculations for himself.
"And here I was thinking we had payed for a fast ship," Leia noted dryly, watching the status of the deflector shield. as the ship shuddered under the impacts of enemy fire.
"You did and that's what you got, missy," Han replied. "Maybe you feel like just making the jump without coordinates and hoping for the best, but I prefer the idea of getting where I'm going instead of slamming into a random star or black hole instead."
Leia seemed ready to retort when Chewie let out a yowl as he indicated something on his control panel that was flashing.
"What's happening?" Leia demanded.
"We're losing the deflector shield, but it doesn't matter since we're almost to the hyperspace limit," Han replied. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder and pointed back to the cockpit entrance. "All of you; out of the cockpit and go strap yourselves back in. I'll be making the jump in less than a minute."
We all scrambled out of the cockpit and went back to our seats where the droids and our stuff was sitting. We had just retaken our seats as we felt the ship give another lurch. But instead of another impact from the Star Destroyer firing on us, it was due to the ship making the transition into hyperspace.
We had made it.
~Skywalker Resurgent~
We'd been in hyperspace for almost three hours since making the jump.
Han and Chewbacca were still in the cockpit and Leia had stepped out to use the 'fresher while Kenobi and I talked with the droids in the Lounge. Threepio had explained about having been in service to Captain Antilles, who had been commanding Leia's ship when it was attacked. He described the attack and boarding by stormtroopers, bemoaning the terror and injustice of having to experience that. Then, how they had found the princess and made their getaway with her in the escape pod. She had entrusted the hard encrypted disk to Artoo and explained that they had to find Kenobi and ask for his assistance but if all else failed and she was captured, Artoo could seek Kenobi out himself with Threepio and carry on the mission. Sensible, once I realized that while Leia could be discovered and lose the disk upon arrest or while evading capture, Artoo would have to be destroyed or taken apart for someone to pry out the secure data disk
Artoo had informed us that he could have carried out the mission if asked, but he was lamenting that he'd have to be saddled with Threepio while doing so. His exact words were more like, 'this shiny, gold plated target would have likely gotten himself caught by the Jawas, resold, and have sat out the rest of the rebellion while annoying some poor farmer in over six million languages.'
I couldn't help but laugh at that. While I was chuckling over the likely truth to that statement and Threepio was providing Kenobi with a translation, we were interrupted by something I'd been dreading happening.
I felt a sudden rush of something that was almost like nausea hit me. I stopped laughing and placed a hand on the nearby bulkhead to steady myself. Beside me, Kenobi did the same, but if anything, looked to have taken it even harder than I did. I could only think of one possible cause.
'Alderaan,' I thought, my gut clenching.
I stood up and excused Kenobi and myself for a private conversation as we stepped out of the lounge and into the passageway. I was fairly confident we wouldn't be overheard out here.
"You felt that too," Kenobi stated. He didn't seem to doubt that I also experienced the same thing.
"Like a wave of terror rippling through the Force," I told him. "Like...the last breath before death came and it carried a scream in it."
"Alderaan," Kenobi told me quietly. I didn't speak at first as I felt like he was correct, but I was unsure. Was that what it felt like when an inhabited planet was destroyed? Was the terror due to the people of Alderaan looking up into the sky and seeing the Death Star fire on them? I spent a moment thinking about it before replying to him.
"I don't get it," I said. "Leia's not a prisoner anymore. Why would Tarkin threaten Alderaan if not to get information?"
"To perform his 'demonstration' of the Death Star's capabilities?" Kenobi pondered aloud. "You said that was likely one of his motivations for not just going to Dantooine since it was too remote for his tastes."
"Maybe..." I allowed. "I suppose we'll know when we get there. Until then, I don't think we should say anything to Leia. We don't want to worry her unnecessarily and this will be bad enough to take in once we arrive, even if it is true."
"I agree," he nodded. "Even admitting the possibility wouldn't do her or us any good. We'll know once we arrive. Until then, perhaps you should continue with your exercises."
We reentered the lounge and cleared a small space for me to practice the last set of lightsaber drills Kenobi had walked me through. Chewie and Leia eventually joined us. Chewie asked if one of the droids would like to play a game of dejarik (holochess) on the board and Artoo immediately agreed. Leia made herself comfortable sitting on top of a crate beside the bulkhead and seemed content to watch me practice with my lightsaber as I went through the motions with Kenobi offering input occasionally.
"Well you can forget your problems with those Imperial slugs," Han said, cockily striding into the lounge area. "I told ya I'd outrun 'em."
"And we never doubted you for a second," I commented idly, stepping and moving into the next series of kata. Nobody else said anything as they focused on their own activities. Whether that was watching me, like Kenobi and Leia, or playing dejarik over in the corner with Chewie and the droids.
"Well, don't everyone rush to thank me all at once," he said dryly. "Anyway, we should be reaching Alderaan at about 0200 GST tomorrow."
I nodded and kept focused on my lightsaber katas, or practice drills. I couldn't be sure how well I was really doing but I at least felt like I was making good progress. At least, Kenobi said so whenever we did lightsaber drills and I don't feel like he was being patronizing when he said it. I didn't have a wealth of sudden lightsaber experience in my head alongside the rest of my knowledge, much to my consternation. This would have been a lot easier if whomever or whatever did this to me had placed the muscle memory and experience of a seasoned lightsaber wielder in my head as well. As it was, I just had to make do with what I had and build myself up the old fashioned way. Fortunately I knew that Luke Skywalker, like his father before him, was a natural genius at lightsaber combat.
Kenobi had begun to explain the various lightsaber forms to me and we had even stretched it into a conversation about what my own extended knowledge had granted me. We had a long conversation/lecture on the virtues and different styles of combat involved in wielding a lightsaber. It was almost like a more elaborate game of rock-paper-scissors with how each form was meant to combat specific threats, but elements of each could combine in various ways to produce more efficient forms and techniques.
Kenobi was originally a practitioner of Form IV - Ataru when he faced Darth Maul in combat on Naboo. After that encounter, he switched his primary style to focus on Form III - Soresu, which was a defensive focused style that was great for deflecting attacks from blaster wielding enemies, but not much else. It was however, a huge factor in what allowed Kenobi to survive attacks from large droid forces like the battle in the Geonosis Arena or at any number of times during the Clone Wars. Combining it with his extensive fighting experience from before and during the war, he took it to the next level and made it a phenomenal defensive style. It was this enhanced style that allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Dooku above Coruscant and to stave off the Dark Side enhanced attacks of Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar. It was this variation that Kenobi had sought to teach me once I had finished utilizing the basics of the simpler style, Form I - Shii-Cho, which Kenobi insisted all of the greatest lightsaber wielders must learn in order to form a foundation. It was this form that Jedi younglings first learned at the temple, typically while having their vision obscured so as to learn how to become more in tune with the Force and their lightsaber.
I was broken from my musings by a loud, laughing roar from Chewie. Apparently, Han had just informed him that Wookiees had a tendency to rip an opponent's arms out of their sockets when they lose and Threepio had informed Artoo that a better strategy may be to just let the Wookiee win.
"You're pretty good with that," Leia remarked as I spun in place to block an imaginary blaster shot.
"Thanks," I replied. "But I'll find out how good I really am the first time I meet an opponent I can use this against for real. Until then, all I can do is practice."
"Even then," Kenobi commented, watching my movements. "You should never stop practicing. While I've been practicing more of late, I've allowed my own saber skills to atrophy considerably and am certainly regretting it now. One must always be practicing learning, and growing in their own abilities."
"Call me old fashioned, but ancient religion and magic tricks are no match for a good blaster at your side," Han commented, leaning back in his chair.
"I'm more open about different weapons for different situations, myself," I replied, not breaking my focus. "Since I use the Force, this makes more sense for someone like me in situations that a blaster would work better for you."
"The Force, huh?" Han remarked, rolling his eyes and making no attempt to hide it.
"You're not going to tell us you don't believe in the Force, are you?" I asked him.
"Kid, I've flown from one end of this galaxy to the other," he started (I was trying not to be offended by that nickname he calls me by. I wasn't that much younger than he was!). "I've seen a lot of strange things. But I've never seen anything that makes me believe there's some all powerful force that controls everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It's all just simple tricks and nonsense."
"Han, I'm surprised at you," I said. I turned off my lightsaber and faced him. "You may not have ever seen a Jedi in action, but you've definitely been alive long enough to have heard the stories at least."
"And that's what they are, kid; stories," he replied. "I've certainly never seen anything that would make me think the Force is real."
"I don't expect you would have," I remarked. "Since the Purge, there hasn't been many examples of Force sensitive beings running around. I'd still think you'd be more of a student of history at least. All those ancient conflicts the old order was involved in and the effects they had on the galaxy, as well as the more recent Clone Wars. The Jedi may not have had good PR, but they definitely made the holonews more than once since they were all acting in officer and leadership positions on behalf of the Republic military."
"Alderaan's own history is filled with examples of Jedi performing great deeds on or for Alderaan," Leia remarked. "Not to mention recordings of them demonstrating their powers and being widely respected for their wisdom in mediation roles and respected as negotiators."
"Corellia had it's own Jedi Enclave, as I recall," Kenobi noted lightly.
"Alright, alright," Han said, throwing his hands out in an exasperated gesture of surrender. "So maybe they did exist. I've just never seen one and there aren't many if any around these days anyway."
"Fair enough," I said, laughing and letting the man off the hook. "But as the saying goes; seeing is believing."
I walked over to our packs that were sitting on the table beside where Chewie and Artoo were playing their game. Reaching in to my pack, I pulled out an old spacer's helmet with a blast shield on it. The shield would block out all outside light and effectively blind the wearer since it was assumed such protection might be needed in special environments such as where solar activity might flare up or an explosive detonation of some kind may otherwise blind the wearer.
Next, I took out a small case and popped the lid open. Inside were three training remotes sitting lined up in a protective foam insulation. Kenobi had drilled me with these many times until I could match their attacks blow-for-blow and not get hit. Today, all three would serve well for a demonstration. I hit the switch on each one and fixed the settings how I wanted them for this exercise. All three drones floated into the air, their rudimentary programming waiting for the activation of a weapon to begin the exercise.
I donned the helmet, activated my lightsaber and stood in a ready position. The drones let out small 'woosh' noises as the moved through the air around me. Reaching out with the Force, I could sense the area around me as I tapped into it. In many ways, this was superior to using my eyes. I could perceive the area around me more in depth than I ever had before with just my eyes. sing the Force like this was like switching to a higher video quality after living your whole life making do with lower quality streaming. Suddenly, I was aware of the whole lounge area and everyone in it. I stopped my senses from extending past the Falcon's hull. I didn't want to extend my focus too far for this, just enough.
All I had to do was tune my instincts into the Force...exhale slowly...keep a firm, but loose grip...and there!
I rotated the lightsaber almost forty-five degrees in a clockwise motion to deflect the first bolt. My lightsaber made a sound as the shot deflected right back to its point of origin. I could tell without even looking that it struck the training remote, triggering its 'defeated' mode as it deactivated and dropped to the deck.
The next two shots came simultaneously. Taking one step back and to my right, I made a twisting sweep with my blade where I was standing just a moment ago. Both bolts struck the blade and reflected back at their senders. Both remotes dropped to the deck a moment later as I deactivated my lightsaber and removed the helmet.
Chewie let out an appreciative howl and actually clapped in appreciation at the display. Leia and Threepio followed his example with polite claps of their own while Artoo congratulated me with a high pitched whistle. Han and Kenobi were the only ones not clapping, but Kenobi's smile was appreciation enough, although I don't think he appreciated me showing off. He'd reminded me once or twice not to allow myself to get carried away and this likely went against his own ingrained notions of Jedi humility.
"It might've just been luck," Han grumbled.
"I'd call being that lucky a power all on it's own," Leia commented smugly, clearly enjoying Han's sour look.
"Your footwork could still do with some improvement," Kenobi stated. "But you've made excellent progress since I've begun teaching you Form III. We'll discuss some of the more advanced forms later."
"Hey, if I'm just that lucky, I should hit the casinos sometime," I told Han.
"Funny, kid. Kindly avoid slicing up my furniture or any delicate equipment while you're on board," Han asked, getting up from his chair. He strolled into the small kitchen area and pulled some ration packs out of one of the cabinets and left them on the counter, only taking a single ration bar for himself.
"We'll be careful," I assured him, returning to my training.
~Skywalker Resurgent~
It was a day and a half journey to Alderaan. All of us had crowded the back of the cockpit to get our first look at the planet as we came out of hyperspace. Han pulled the lever in the center console back and the warped tunnel of hyperspace shifted and collapsed into the star dotted void of normal space.
What we came upon was a scene of utter destruction.
AN: I was trying to get Han off the hook for some of his lines in Episode IV that didn't stick well once the franchise grew outside of the first three films. He was probably born before the Clone Wars and would be about 30, give or take during the first film. We'll make him about 28 or so for this fic, but since age isn't too much of a concern, make him as young or as old as you like in your own heads. I don't think it's really going to come up much, if ever.
Also, to reiterate a point many people have brought up previously; there were only about 10,000 active Jedi in the order before the Clone Wars broke out. That may seem like a lot, but the Jedi didn't interact on the center stage of galactic affairs. They'd get credit for helping out on behalf of the Republic, but most people just viewed them as glorified agents of the government. They didn't have a PR department to get the word out, so a lot of their actions would go unreported unless it came up as part of the regular news cycle for a negotiation or the officer in charge of a certain battle group during the war. We can assume Palpatine's guys did a good job discrediting and suppressing information on the Jedi once there weren't any around to defend themselves anymore.
I will admit that it is kind of weird to consider that Han is so ignorant since Jedi and Sith have been playing some role in galactic conflicts for thousands of years. It's gotta be hard to completely hide stuff like that. Out of universe, we can just chalk it up to one more thing George Lucas hadn't thought up yet. In universe, we can just assume Han doesn't really buy into the stories since he's a pretty practical guy and history doesn't seem to be given much thought by most people in the Star Wars galaxy. Plus, he didn't really get much of a formal education in any version of canon, so maybe he's just ignorant.
Star Wars: Fallen Order is out! I picked up my copy the other day and had a blast! Haven't had this much fun since Force Unleashed 2 came out! Lots of action mixed with Tomb Raider-style puzzles.
I've gotten a couple more requests for certain characters and events to be mentioned. Just to reiterate; this will be mostly Legends stories with only some of the new stuff thrown in here. I'm not doing EVERY Legends story since frankly, as much as I love it, I can admit that the timeline is something of a mess since so many events are smashed in between others. I promise to give serious thought on how to include your guys' requests since some of them are pretty reasonable and I've gotten my own ideas on how to make them happen.
Next Time: A Fateful Encounter & A Daring Escape!
As always, I love to read your reviews! Until next time!
