The shuttle took to the air before Han suddenly felt a lurch in the ship's engines and began to inspect what was going on. Chewie was giving out roars of distress.
"I know!" He began to flip switches and check the gauges, seeing the fuel gauge at full yet the ship was losing altitude. The old smuggler took the handles and guided his ship, taking off auto pilot, back towards the rainforest of Zakuul.
Azmigain was going to pay. They got the wrong fuel compatibility!
"Hang on! I see a soft spot!" Han began flipping switches and pressing buttons as several jets came out of the ships front, and an additional set of wings emerged. And the shuttle began to glide as the war hero spotted an open area in the rainforest. Right in a bog too.
He made sure he was buckled, and checked to see if the Wookie was too as they descended and glided down as Han braced for impact.
They skidded along the shallow water before smashing into mud and lights and klaxons going off and Han came to, feeling shaken up in his seat. He lifted up his head and saw the windshield was undamaged, but covered in mud. He unbuckled his seat, looking over and patting the wookie. Chewbacca barked lightly.
"You okay?" He asked, the Wookie gave off an affirmative grunt as Han nodded, going to the door and walking at an angle. He tapped some controls, the door sliding before stopping. The old smuggler then began to push his way out, sliding the door and stumbling into the swamp.
"I'm going to kill him." Han growled, seeing the shuttle lodged in the mud, taking on water. Chewie came out shortly after with his Bowcaster. "Get the emergency kit. This ship is shot." Han waded through the water, checking the thrusters and grimacing at the sight.
So much for that. They will have no choice but to commandeer a ship at the outpost.
Han looked around, taking stock on where they are. They were in a swamp, the ruined spires towering in the background and along with several hills, served as the only geographical landmarks of note. The closest thing that could serve as a high point to give them a better view of the area was a nearby plateau.
"We go over there, get a clue on where the outpost is, and go straight from there." Han pointed, and the Wookie walked beside him, weapon in hand and pack strung over his back. "Alright, let's get moving."
And over the next several hours was nothing but misery. Humidity, mosquitos, oversized spider-like creatures called Iknayids, wild Nexu-like creatures called Mawvorrs, and that was only to start. Thankfully, Chewie's Bowcaster packs a mean punch and Han still has his trigger finger.
They got to the foot of the plateau, the old man panting as he rested against a boulder. "Okay… let's take a break…"
The wookie roared in acknowledgement as Han slowly slid to his backside. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and leaned his head against the rock.
How did it come to this?
The job was going as well as it could, then a red blob decided that he wanted to break out of a perfectly good deal. That's what stings the most. Han didn't even swindle the man, he paid up front, like any good deal maker before him.
But how did he let himself get conned into bad fuel?
He hadn't fallen for a bad fuel switch in… ever actually.
… he was getting old, too old for this.
Chewie roared and Han felt his head nod in agreement. Who the hell was he kidding? He's been to old for this for a long time.
Chewie roared again, and hand rolled his eyes.
"I get it Chewie, I get it. We'll get go-"
He stopped himself when Chewie's roar took on a harsh edge. Han shot to his feet like he was twenty years younger and he saw Chewie taking off in the direction of the spires.
Then, he heard the trees start to break.
The bad feeling that he always seemed to get shot through him so fast he didn't even have time to say it. The Wookie used his bulk to crash through the underbrush and Han wasted no time following him. He slapped tree vines and leaves out of his way, running as fast as his old joints could carry him.
Then, he made the mistake of looking back.
A giant Swamp Slug. The creature was a mass of thick white muscle that slammed into a tree, snapping it in half like a twig. It's two glossy yellow eyes trained on Han, and they narrowed as its maw dripped with sizzling saliva. Twin tentacles shot out from it's back, latching onto anything and everything that it could. It tore plants from the ground, knocked trees aside in its single-minded pursuit of new food.
Chewie roared in defiance, no that was just a scream to get Han's attention.
Han turned his head around and for the first time in his life, he thanked the fact that he was blind the last time he was on the menu.
The thankfulness left him the second he realized that Chewie had stopped moving.
And that he was going too fast to stop.
He tried, but he wasn't the kid, and he didn't have help to pull him aside this time. He hit Chewie as hard as a spriting old man could. It only hurt him, Chewie probably didn't feel a thing. But the surprise and his position, unfortunately, outdid raw wookie muscle.
Chewie stumbled forward with Han at his back, and both of them felt gravity take over. Weightlessness and wind blocked out every other feeling as the two pilots fell down the small ravine that they, unfortunately, found themselves in front of.
Instinct forced itself to the surface, making Han spread his arms and legs out in the classic formation. It wouldn't have done him any good, he knew that. He didn't have a shield to take the fall, he didn't have a suit to fly him out.
What he did have, was a best friend.
A best friend who could still watch his back no matter what they got themselves into. Han felt Chewie grab his jacket with one hand, and reached for the edge with the other. The two of them jerked, their momentum suddenly slowed by the perfect combination of luck and skill as Chewie finds one good branch.
It snapped, and Chewie lost his grip on Han.
The next thing that Han knew, he was spitting out moss and dirt. But he was still breathing, so there was at least a silver lining. He dragged himself to his feet, whipping off his face and scanning the area for a mass of fur. Chewie, thankfully, was near enough that Han didn't need to worry. The wookie pushed himself off the ground, dusting off his fur as he gave Han a sideways look.
"Sorry," the old smuggler said.
The wookie took the apology, rubbing his arm as Han took stock of the area. The area was little more than a mossed over cave entrance. Looking up, it was at least, sixty feet up. Might not have killed them, but Han wouldn't have been running afterwards.
He heard a roar, and the Swamp Carigor went straight over the edge just as they did. Han jumped out of the way, feeling the ground shake as the beast hit the ground with a slam. Adrenaline kicked through his system yet again and he took off once more.
This time, he was in front.
And he started for the only available exit to this situation, the cave.
Every other time that he was forced to run away from something out of his pay grade, he was always met with an exit. Or, failing that, it would be too small for the slug to follow and they would have a chance to just shooting it full of blaster fire till it stopped moving.
Hopefully, he still had a bit of that old luck left.
Chewie roared his disapproval.
"Like you have a better plan!?" he screamed.
They ducked into the cave, letting the rock swallow them as the slug charged after them. Han ran down the smooth rock floors, following the path as he went deeper into the cave. Lucky enough, the ceiling above had a single winding curve, letting the edges of sunlight sneak through, illuminating the cave space enough to let Han see something that shouldn't be in a cave.
Gold.
It was mossed over, but no smuggler worth his salt didn't know the metal on sight. If it were any other day, Han would have been grinning from ear to ear. Now the only thing that he could get through the panic was a single question.
What was gold doing on an old planet like this?
He took another step on his road, and the end of the cave came into sight. A giant ornate black door towered over everything in the small cave. It was covered in gold, depicting three figures. On the bottom, a white warrior stood guard. His face was half human, half machine. On top, a greying old man in white robes that held out his hands, as if he was declaring the splendour of the two below him. The third figure was a man in black armour, his face obscured by the rotting of time and his hands crossed over his chest.
In front of the door, several small holes were drilled into the ground, and Han could swear that he saw wires in them. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something on the wall next to him.
A blinking red dot.
What happened next made Han question what was real, and what wasn't.
The walls of the cave split open, revealing hidden doors mined into the very stone. Dozens opened up, and then they stepped out.
Knights, or at least, that's the first word that popped into his head to describe them.
Their armour was a rusted gold, the once pristine metal stripped of its glory through the passage of time. Despite losing its grandeur, the gold shaped itself around them through a helmet, breastplate and skirt. The parts that weren't covered by the armour were surrounded by light grey and black leather. Around the waist was a belt with the design of three trapezoids coming together to make a single triangle.
One marched out of each hole, forcing a dozen in total. As one, they reached towards their back and clicked their wrists. Dome-shaped tower shields expanded from the armour on their forearms. They stomped, moving as one into a defensive position, making a wall of metal between the giant door and themselves. They reached behind and brandished heavy blaster rifles.
"Chewie down!"
The old man dove to the side, out of the slug's path and hopefully, under the range of fire. He felt something hit the ground near him, and then those gold knights opened fire.
On the slug.
Chunks of white meat exploded off the beast, drawing a roar of pain and rage. It's yellow eyes narrowed, and it charged with renewed vigour at the gold knights, mercifully forgetting about Han and Chewie.
The gold knights kept firing, right up until the moment that it rammed into them with the force of a crashing speeder. The metal of their shields dented and cracked, sending three of them flying and crashing against the stone walls.
None of them survived the impact.
Their arms split from their bodies, sending sparks of power cascading along the ground before abruptly stopping as the power was finally spent.
The other knights kept firing, utterly undeterred at the loss of their fallen comrades. The blaster fire seemed never-ending, pelting every part of the slug as the monster tried to defend itself. It's tentacles whipped out, striking and breaking another two knights.
One of the knights abandoned its blaster, jumping on the tentacle with a knife in hand. It slammed the blade through the flesh and with a single pull, tore the limb free from the body. The slug roared with nothing but pain and anguish.
The knight's victory was short-lived. The other tentacle shot out, batting the knight into the wall as the main body got close enough to chomp down on another knight, and smashing its head into another two that were close by.
The remaining three took up a firing position, their blasters aiming directly at its head. They pulled their triggers, and three bolts of red blaster fire slammed straight into the monster's head. It jerked back, and then it fell forward, breaking the ground beneath it as it finally stopped.
After it was done, Han felt himself take a deep breath.
And smile.
Guess he really did still have some of that old luck after all.
He turned to the three knights. They didn't seem to notice him, looking at the door with the utmost concern. They walked toward it and each of them stopped in front of a different hole that Han saw earlier.
"Position compromised." it droned.
"Initiating emergency revival." Another confirmed.
"Carbonite thawing sequence, initiated."
They knelt and tossing their weapons to the side, placing a single hand inside the holes. Han caught the sight of sparks on their wrists. Machines wired to light, illuminating the small cavern with sparking broken lights. Blue energy flowed from each of the knights towards the door. The second that it touched, Han heard something click open.
The knight in the centre snapped its head to attention. There was a spark of static, and then, someone else spoke through the knight.
"A man can have anything if he is willing to sacrifice.
With your birth, comes a solemn vow.
You will have nothing, your privilege is the dirt.
In the darkness, only ambition will guide you.
The oaths you swear, the promises you make,
They are yours, alone.
Your freedom, will be wars you wage.
Your birthright, the losses you suffer.
Your entitlement, the pain you endure.
And when darkness finds you, you will face it, alone."
With the last intonation, the knights slumped forward, their power spent. Han rose to his feet and in front of him, he saw the door begin to open, and bright blue light pour on through.