'ello, peoples of the earth!
So, I guess I am being relatively consistent this time around. This makes me very happy, and I hope it makes you guys happy, too! I appreciate all the reviews, follows, and favorites you have bestowed on this story - they make me so happy! I smile every time I get an alert from FF, so thanks for giving me lots of reasons to smile.
Anyway. Third chapter. Hope y'all enjoy!
The First Time You Saw the Stars
"Well, would you look at that? The kid's growing up to be a real captain, just like his old man."
"Let's just hope he doesn't decide to become a smuggler like his old man," Leia replied. However, she couldn't resist picking up the holocam. "Ben, smile!"
The birthday boy grinned widely at his mother, the pilot's cap threatening to fall right off his head. Han knew, even without looking, that little Ben's bright, dark eyes would not show up in the holo his mother had just taken.
Han picked up Ben and set the would-be pilot on his knee. "But that's not the real present," he said, pulling a small slip of paper from his vest pocket and handing it to Ben. "Ask your mama to read that for you."
Ben handed Leia the paper. When she cocked an eyebrow, he playfully sighed. "Please, Mama?"
"Since you used your nice manners," Leia replied, smiling gently at her son before looking down at the paper. "This entitles Ben Solo to one ride in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, courtesy of his father, the brilliant, wonderful – Han, I am not reading this." Leia dropped her hands in her lap and tilted her head, lips pressed together in irritation.
Han's grin was unapologetic. "You get the point, Ben," he said, putting Ben down on the ground and leaning forward to gauge his son's reaction.
Ben was ecstatic. "I can fly!" he proclaimed, throwing the cap up in the air. It landed with a thud on the back of Leia's chair. "Can I fly, Daddy? Can I fly the Falcon?"
Han was at a loss at how to respond to the boy, who stared up at him with excitement sparkling in his dark eyes. Eventually, he stuttered, "We'll see, Ben … we'll see."
Ben made up for Han's loss for words with babble about ships and flying and how he was going to be the greatest pilot the galaxy had ever seen. Leia looked on, amused at how much like his father Ben sounded. Han shook his head and got up from his chair to collect the wrapping paper that littered the floor.
That afternoon, an already graying middle-aged man and a hyperactive three-year-old approached the entrance to the hangar in which the Falcon was kept. Chewbacca met them there, much to Ben's simultaneous delight and displeasure. "I thought I was gonna be copilot," he pouted.
Chewbacca growled inquisitively. Han responded with a shake of his head and turned to his son. "What do you say we go inside, Ben?"
Ben pretended to ponder this for a moment. Then his face lit up with a bright grin. "Yeah!"
Han and Chewbacca let Ben run up the ramp into the Corellian freighter before they themselves boarded. "Tell me you didn't activate the controls yet, Chewie," Han whispered to Chewbacca. Luckily, the Wookiee growled back with a negative response, much to Han's relief. He did not want his son pressing buttons and messing with controls until he was there to monitor what Ben was doing.
When the two males reached the cockpit, Ben had already climbed into the captain's chair. "That's my seat!" Han protested, running to get Ben out of the chair. Chewbacca roared with laughter behind him.
Han was eventually able to drag Ben out of the chair with promises that he would get to sit there again once they were in hyperspace. However, the toddler was not happy when Han tried to strap him in. He protested quite loudly, much to Han's dismay.
At last, Han got Ben to settle down. "Just for a few minutes, Ben," he promised before sliding back into the captain's chair and pulling on the strap. "Look," Han said, turning around and showing the strap to Ben. "Daddy has to strap in, too."
Ben turned his head.
Han was insulted. "See if I ever let you in the Falcon again," he muttered.
With the engines powered up and systems ready to go, Han and Chewbacca steered the ship out of the hangar and into the sky. Ben stopped pouting and focused his attention on the view. "Look, Daddy!" he cried out. "Look!"
"I see it, Ben. Nice view, eh?"
"Yeah!"
Han had to grin at Ben's enthusiasm. He could imagine the wide-eyed look on his son's face as the bright blue sky faded to dark blue and then to black as the ship climbed out of the atmosphere. "Stars, Daddy," Ben said in wonder. "Look at 'em all!"
"I know. Now watch this." With a push on the lever on his right, the Falcon jumped into the blue tunnel of hyperspace, leaving the sky and stars of real space behind.
When Han turned around to see Ben, he was rewarded with his son looking a bit like a fish. His eyes were wide, and his mouth formed an "o" shape as he watched the stars fly past. Chewbacca had turned around as well, and Han heard the hearty growl leap right out of his copilot's throat as he unclipped Ben's strap. "Ben? You can get out of the seat now."
That broke the spell. "Yay!" Ben leapt out of the seat and slithered past his father into the captain's chair. Han shook his head, but he knew it was all right to let Ben sit there now – the ship had been set on autopilot, and Chewbacca was still with Ben at the controls. If nothing drastic happened, the ship would go on a loop around D'Qar until made to drop out of hyperspace.
Han tried to explain the functions of the different buttons on the control panel to Ben, but the boy was an abominable listener and refused to pay attention. He put his hands on the steering controls, laughing as he turned them, and turned them right and left. Han was insanely glad the ship was on autopilot, or he would've been bruised all shades of black and blue.
Suddenly, the Falcon banked hard to the left, and Han found himself thrown against the side of the cockpit. Chewbacca howled with surprise. Ben gasped and tried turning to the right.
Nothing worked.
Chewbacca's paws flew as he pressed buttons, making every attempt to bring the ship back under control. Han tried to stand and get Ben out of the pilot's seat, but the g-force was too strong. Han was flattened against the wall. "Chewie, turn the autopilot back on!"
The answering growl was not helpful. "What do you mean, it was never turned off?"
Ben screeched as the ship banked again, this time hard to the right. His hands grabbed onto the controls for dear life.
"Get us out of hyperspace, Chewie!" Han ordered. "Hurry!"
Chewbacca obeyed the order, and the Falcon fell out of the blue tunnel into real space. It was still flying on its side, but at least the g-force had lessened. Han lifted Ben out of the pilot's seat and put him back in the passenger seat. "I think that's enough flying for you," he said, sliding into the pilot's seat. It took him and Chewbacca a minute to right the ship.
"Am I in trouble, Daddy?"
Han took a breath. "No, but you know who will be if you tell your mother?" He turned to look at his son. "Me. So … let's keep this between us, okay?"
Ben nodded.
"And that goes for you, too, Chewie," Han said, glaring at the Wookiee. "Don't breathe a word of this to Leia."
The answer just frustrated Han more. "I don't care if she can't understand you; don't tell her!"
At last, Chewbacca agreed not to tell Leia.
"Good. Now let's go home."
So that's what they did.
Han and Chewbacca never found out what caused the mishap with the Falcon that day. If they had done a little research, they would've found that the model of that specific freighter had a feature which turned off the autopilot if enough pressure was applied to the steering controls for about thirty seconds. Alas, neither Han nor Chewbacca have the patience for research.
They were able, however, to accidentally dismantle the feature when they did some tinkering on the ship's autopilot. So such a mishap never happened again.
This one was partly inspired by the story of Aeroflot Flight 593. Interesting story, and quite an unusual scenario for an airplane crash - the captain actually let his kids in the cockpit. Now that wouldn't be such a bad thing, but not only did he let the kids in the cockpit, he also let them sit in the pilot's seat and play with the controls. One of them pushed the steering wheel too hard and disabled the autopilot, accidentally crashing the aircraft and killing 75 passengers and crew.
So. Kids plus cockpit controls equals BAD IDEA. Let's hope Han learned his lesson.
If you liked it, hated it, or wanted to light it up and watch it burn, review and let me know! See y'all next time, and may the Force be with you always!