Revelation

That was not supposed to happen. Crash landing on an unknown planet was not in the plan. But then again, not much was. To be fair, he had been in much worse situations. It was just that his ship was smashed to pieces. When he had been jerked out of hyperspace he had half expected to see an Imperial Interdictor Cruiser waiting for him. Instead, he found himself plummeting towards this planet. Which did not show on any of the maps. He just hoped that there was civilization on this piece of rock. Then he saw it. Smoke, coming from the west! There might be someone on this planet after all.

It was a small camp of about twenty people. It was mostly women and children, but he could see a few men here and there. What caught his eye though was a hunk of metal that was being dragged into the camp by two men. He needed a better look.

The people gasped as he strode into the camp. He did cut an imposing, if not terrifying, figure. The women and children cowered from him and the men carefully circled him with swords drawn as he walked up confidently to the large piece of metal. It was definitely a hyperdrive. A completely destroyed hyperdrive. As he was kneeling to look closer at it, a tall man walked up to him with his sword drawn but pointed at the ground. To his surprise, the man spoke Basic. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

He took one last glance at the hyperdrive and stood up. He was sure now. That hyperdrive was a 0.5. Very rare and only a few ships had them. He looked at the man. "Where did you find this?"

The man almost took a step back at the sound of his gravelly voice but was able to compose himself. "Over that ridge about two miles."

"Take me to it."

The man stared at him for a minute with a suspicious glare. "Who are you? Why should we?"

He cocked his head ever so slightly and said, in a menacing voice, "Because I said so."

The man took a step back this time and raised his sword. The other men came closer. The tall man spoke again. "We are going to do nothing until you identify yourself as a servant of Evil or not."

He smiled even though they could not see it. "It all depends on who pays better."

He flicked his wrist in the tall man's face. A spout of fire came out and engulfed the man as he staggered back with a yell. The flame-thrower arced to the right and caught two more swordsmen as a leg caught another in the stomach. He ducked as a sword went over him, and he threw the swordsman to the ground. Then, whipping out his blaster, he fired at point-blank range at another. The final two backed away as Boba Fett stood up.

Han Solo was here with his 0.5 hyperdrive. He would find the smuggler and a way off this planet. His father had taken on Jedi and survived. He had taken on the likes of Darth Vader and survived. He could take on a seemingly uncivilized planet and survive. He raised his blaster at the two remaining swordsmen. Solo had better watch his back. Nothing and nobody was going to save him.

"So…..this is the guy?"

Han Solo gave Fenheath a look that was part disbelief and part fed-up. "This old man, this tramp, is the person who wants us? Let me guess, he wants us to give him a hand-out?"

Fenheath shook his head. "No, he wouldn't need a hand-out. But he does want to talk with you."

Han looked at Chewbacca, "Well, let's get this over with." He added sarcastically as he made his way to the old man, "The suspense is killing me."

The old man was sitting on a log smoking a pipe. He was dressed in old grey clothes and had a pointed hat on his head. A tall staff lay to one side as he glanced up at the newcomers.

"Ah," he stood up slowly. "I see you found them Fenheath. Very good, very good indeed." The old man looked at Chewbacca obviously impressed.

"My name is Gandalf, Gandalf the Grey," he said, shaking his pipe clean of whatever it was he had been smoking. The morning air combined with the scent of the smoke made for a pleasant smell. "I don't believe we've met."

"Uh, no, I don't believe we have." Han tried his best to be diplomatic.

"It appears your vessel crashed and you are stranded here. I would propose…"

"What a minute," Han interjected. "How do you know about that? We crashed yesterday. Does the whole planet know we are here?"

Gandalf smiled. "Oh, no. I had a friend who was in the general vicinity. He told me he saw a few comet-looking objects fall from the sky."

"Yesterday," Han reiterated.

"You are in a new land. Those of us who live here know it well. Some extremely well."

Han shrugged. "Okay, but how about knowing they weren't just comets?"

"That is a different story altogether. There has been a prophecy among the Wise that recounts how a group of people, falling from the sky will bring destruction on Middle-Earth and potential salvation. The Lady Galadriel sees much, and our eyes are not blind. They say the newcomers will bring a terrible power with them. That particular part is mere rumor but it is always best to be safe than sorry."

"And you are part of the Wise?" Han asked, trying to hide the sarcasm.

Gandalf smiled. "Some say yes. Others say no. I'm merely accounted one because I'm a wizard."

"And we are the newcomers that will bring destruction?" Han sounded unconvinced. "I mean, it's nice to be mentioned in a prophecy and all but I don't think we have anything that will destroy worlds."

At this point, Leia spoke up. "You said there were comets, in the plural. What about the other ones?"

Gandalf smiled wryly. "This is where times comes in as you mentioned," he said motioning to Han. "It was just yesterday, and only one person saw them. He didn't have time."

There was a pause. Finally Han spoke up. "How did you know we were the ones from the 'comets'?"

Fenheath grinned. "Let's just say you don't exactly look like you're from Middle-Earth. Chewbacca definitely isn't."

The Wookie rumbled. Han rolled his eyes. "Okay, that was easy. But, now that you know we can destroy you all, what are you going to do with us?"

"We are going to investigate the other comets, "Gandalf replied. "You obviously don't intend to harm anyone."

"Thanks for the recommendation," Han replied. "We are probably the salvation or whatever it is you said."

Gandalf smiled as he hit his pipe against the log. "You never know. By the way, I never got your name."

"The name's Solo, Han Solo. This is Chewbacca, Threepio and Leia. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly can we trust you?"

Gandalf picked up his staff. "You already do, don't you?"

Han was silent for a minute. "Yeah, we kind of don't have any choice."

It's been a while. It's been busy starting college and all. Nevertheless, a small chapter will join the others. I would appreciate feedback as to the writing style. Things you like about it, things you don't. I also wouldn't mind speculation as to where the story is going. I'm still in the early stages, and everything is swirling in my head. Who knows, maybe I will incorporate speculations that I find intriguing. I can't promise anything though. It might be a while until the next chapter or it might be quite soon. Time and tide wait for no man.