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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga - PT Saga - OT Flying Solo - Solo drabbles and ficlets (Han, Lando, Qi'ra, Chewie) Spoilers for Solo!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by brodiew, May 29, 2018.

  1. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    A/N: I greatly enjoyed the film Solo and look forward to future installments. This thread is to house my drabbles and ficlets inspired by the film. There are SPOILERS for the film SOLO herein. You are warned!

    It's a SPOILER!

    These aren't the SPOILERS you're looking for!

    Funny, I don't recall ever owning a SPOILER!

    Aw, but I wanted to go to Toche Station and pick up some SPOILERS!

    I find your lack of SPOILERS disturbing!

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    .
    .
    .
    .


    Beckett

    Tobias Beckett was a clever man, and meticulous, but careful was not a word many used to describe him. He could teach you the game, show you the ropes, and even give you enough rope to...well...you know how it goes. He did tell you not to trust anyone. Didn't anyone include him? He was the the boss after all. He had survived in the game for a long time. But, back to careful. He could see plenty of moves ahead, adjust his plans to account for unexpected variables. He could even walk away with two cases of coaxium hyperfuel. But, he didn't count on your cleverness. Your resilience. Your adaptability. He certainly didn't count on you escaping Drayden's yacht alive. It turned out that the one with too much rope was him, as evidenced by the smoking hole in his chest.

    Han

    Han's separation from Qi'ra at the Imperial checkpoint on Corellia had had almost taken the fight right out him. As he hid himself in other being's clothes and tried to stay out of sight of searching stormtroopers, he fought the desperation of losing his love. He was nothing if not resilient and determined; a boy whom had survived on his wits and witticisms for years under the watchful eyes of Lady Proxima. Would this separation, this amputation, be the thing that derailed his dreams? No. A sudden resolve emboldened him and he stood and searched the way station for immediate exit opportunities. He his eyes landed on a recruiting station for the Imperial Navy. Better a goon than a goner, he thought. He would become the best pilot in the Empire and he would come back for her.

    Chewbacca

    I have been a prisoner of Empire for years. I have been driven with the lash and beaten with the club all in the name of progress. That progress being the furthering of the Emperor's domain. Mining spice here, breaking rocks there; even suffering the humiliation of performing for officers and their friends. I was never stupid enough to resist enough for them to kill me. I valued my life too much and didn't want to lose the opportunity for future escape. That was before Mimban. It was bad enough that the planet was a humid mud hole pockmarked from Imperial bombardments, but Chewbacca hand danced his last Vermi Dogo for the mudtroopers. He had raged out, knocked a few grunts around, and, unfortunately, a couple of officers. That had landed him in this hole, chained to a pylon, staring at human male who appears scared witless. He ended up being smarter than he looked.

    Qi'ra

    Once Beckett left with the coaxium, she knew Drayden would kill Han, or both of them. The betrayal had caused his scars to flush and his eyes to rage with red rimmed fury. The doors closed and the hells broke open. The melee was intense, with Qi'ra and her boss locked in a blade battle to the death. Han, try as he might, was unable to get a clear shot to end it any sooner. In the back of her mind, she knew this was another battle for freedom, another fight for the power to rule her own destiny. However, that destiny did not lie with Han, the way it once had. Like her boss had said, she had done things; thing not spoken of but things that no longer enabled childish dreams of love and adventure. However, there was still a small compartment in her soiled heart, where she kept her love for Han. Han Solo. She wanted him to live. She even wanted him to succeed. But it would not be with her. He would not understand her choice. He would not condone it. After everything he had seen and done, he still harbored foolish notions of their life together. Their love for each other. As the yacht flew over the ridge where she could see that Han had gotten the better of Beckett, she exhaled and blew him a kiss goodbye.

    Lando

    Lando Calrissian was not arrogant enough to realize when he had been bested. He has also not foolish enough see grace given him by a man, whom by all rights, could have drawn his blaster and ended his life if that had been his pleasure. The Millennium Falcon, as fine a ship as she was, was not worth his life.

    When the sabaac game had ended, and the party dismissed, and ownership had been exchanged, Lando broached the subject.

    “Why didn't you kill me, Han?” Lando asked, as he casually drew on a cig stick. “You had every right.”

    Han took a pull from the flask he had lifted from Beckett's body and smiled magnanimously. “Because I like you Lando. You're my friend. Even if you are a lying, cheating, thieving, and shamelessly rakish, son of a bitch.”

    Lando grinned, showing his full set of perfect pearly whites. “Compliments will get you everywhere, Buddy. But, truthfully, I am in your debt for not only not shooting me dead, but also for not exposing me.”

    “Don't worry about it, Lando,” Han continued. “We've both been dealt bad hands and, in light of certain obvious absences, I'm thankful you're here.”

    “I can drink to that,” Lando responded, genuinely, and touched his glass to Han's flask.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2018
  2. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Wonderful miniatures of pivotal moments and choices! =D= Han never lost that idealism and loyalty [face_love] @};-
     
  3. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Beckett: Yep, Beckett was clever all right, but a little too cocky. He confused Han's idealism with naivete and failed to take his own advice to heart: people are predictable, and that includes him. He didn't count on Han taking all his advice to heart and thinking ahead of him. In the end, Han surprised him by shooting first.

    Han: Han's an opportunist, all right. Years of living as a street rat taught him to take whatever chances were available to him and making them work. Interesting that you describe losing Q'ira as an "amputation", because Han doesn't just lose his love when he loses her, he loses his last link to that life--as bad as it was, it was what he knew-- and to Corellia. He truly became Han Solo . But I have no doubt that he would have gone back for her and torn the streets of Corellia apart too find her.

    Chewbacca: A nice portrait of Chewie here. For all his temper, Chewie knew the virtues of patience; he was willing to stay in servitude for the chance to find his family. But the Empire being the Empire, they weren't content to simply enslave him, they had to humiliate him, too, and that was too much for him. It's only in the mud and degradation of "the hole" that he finds someone who respects him who, literally and figurtively speaks his language.

    Q'ira: Poor Q'ira. Life has really dealt her a tough hand. She's moved up in the world, in a way, but in another she's just traded one form of slavery for another...and even when Dryden is dead she chooses an even worse master. Yes, she's done things, but she doesn't conceive the idea that Han could love her enough to forgive her, so she gives up on what she sees as his foolish dreams :(

    Lando: [face_laugh] Oh, Lando!
    And this, really, sums up Han and Lando's relationship perfectly! What more can I say? :D

    An enjoyable set of ficlets about these intriguing characters, old and new! =D=
     
  4. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    @brodiew: Thanks for liking the "Solo" movie like @DarthUncle and me, too.

    Next: thanks for being a brillian fan fic writer and taking us straight into everybody´s head like you did. @};-
     
  5. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Yes. 100%. I would like to say more, but I just saw Solo today, and the words don't want to word yet. Anyway, me likey.
     
  6. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: Nyota, thank you for being a constant presence on these boards and on my fics. [:D] Thank you also for you comments in he Scribble Pad about not fixing what isn't broken. ;) You know I like to shake it up from time to time. See below. :_|
    @Raissa Baiard: Wow, Raissa. Thanks you so much for such thoughtful reviews on each drabble. I am humbled.[face_blush] I loved reading all of your comments and I am glad to know my work was enjoyable for you. [face_love]
    @AzureAngel2: Thank you, AzureAngel2 for taking the time to say so. I'm glad you enjoyed the little peeks into their minds. :han::chewie::lando:
    @Cowgirl Jedi 1701: Hello Cowgirl! I hope you will come back and I would love to see some SOLO from you if its there. [face_whistling]

    A/N: Solo Spoilers! This is one way that I see the SOLO endgame playing out. It is brief and short on larger details, but I think the message is clear. Enjoy!

    Pulling the Trigger

    My blaster, the one Beckett gave me, quivers in my outstretched hand.

    I never thought it would come to this. I could not conceive that even three years of separation, three years in the hells for each of us could sever our connection so fully. Hadn't we loved in the pit of despair. Hadn't we stolen and beaten our way to the possibility of freedom? Had we not promised ourselves to each other against every challenge?

    I can feel the ooze of sweat in my palm and on my brow.

    What could she have done that she thinks I would not forgive. Drayden hammered...HAMMERED that she had done things. What had she done? Had killed men, even savagely? Had she become a flesh slave to Voss, but not just to him, but to whom ever he directed her? Was it both? Was it more? Had she come to like it more than she hated it? He could not believe it. But he could still forgive.

    My knees want to give way, to pull me to the floor.

    What happened when she was caught by the Imperials? Had Proxima's agents stepped forward to claim her? If that were true then, he knew what she had suffered. The Lady's scourge deadly, a whipping that left her victim on the verge of death. Her utter cruelty lay in the medical attention supplied to revive the pour soul. And that was just it. The beating was meant to eradicate the soul, to create a machine. But even machine's break down or outlive their usefulness. Or, in certain cases, machines become valuable enough to sell.

    It is my will alone that keeps me on my feet. If I falter, I am a dead man.

    She had been sold. Out of one festering hole into another, albeit much more finely furnished. But the cost of her new station...The loss of her freedom, such as it was. The loss of her will, to live as more than a puppet on a string. The loss of the ability to love and, most tragically, to be loved. I had not seen that she was dead when met, again, on Voss' yacht. I was too excited and she faked it so well. So well. Even with everything I had been through, I was still a lovesick Nexu pup in her presence. So much has happened since then.

    A loud crash pulls her attention to the door and her blaster with it. My opening is here. But, I freeze. There is rustling outside the door. My blaster is still pointed at her, buts hers is pointed at the sound. This time a thunderous collision with the door almost breaks it in. She fires. I do not. She is spooked. The machine is cornered. The door bursts open and Lando stands tall holding an E-15 blaster rifle.

    She fires at Lando.

    I fire on her.

    Lando is hit, but not mortally.

    Qi'ra staggers back a step and crumples into the corner apex of the small office. The same smoking hole rises from her chest as the one I had put into Beckett. I rush to her as I did for him. I hate tears. They are a fool's response. I had been a fool. I am a fool. But never again. Wetness fills my eyes despite my will.

    She is now propped in the corner, her legs splayed in front of her and her arms lifeless at her sides. Her beautiful eyes lock on me and for a moment, I think she is alive again.

    “He...won't stop,” she croaks, blood masking her lips. “You can't...run...forever.”

    Idiot! She died in Proxima's lair!

    “Let him come,” I say, my false bravado fooling no one.

    Her eyelids flutter and close for the final time.

    I fall to my knees. Lando is there, a firm hand on my shoulder.

    “Qi'ra, I...loved you.”

    I never thought it would come to this. That she would force my hand. That she would choose power, wealth, and complete and utter misery over me. That she would put me, the man who loves her, has never stopped loving her, in a position to put her down. Maybe that was her kriffed up intent all along. She wanted it to be me. You got your wish, Sister. Perhaps, I sound selfish. Good. Because that is how it will be from now on. I can't afford the luxury of caring for anyone but myself. Love is a liability. It is a mistake I will never make again.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
  7. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Excellently intense and definitely a turning point: plausible beginning for the not-gonna-fall /care for anyone attitude. [face_thinking]
     
    Findswoman , AzureAngel2 and brodiew like this.
  8. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Wow! This is fantastic! Such a vivid look into Han's mind at this crucial moment. You can really feel his inner turmoil as he struggles to understand how the Qi'ra he loved has become this empty shell of a person her faces now. It's painful that he realizes that while things never changed for him, and Qi'ra remained his hope and the thing that kept him going for the three years they were apart, but she's given up. She's become a machine and
    I think that really sums up what she and all the other children are to Proxima and what she later becomes to Voss (and Maul): merchandise to be used or discarded as they see fit. Voss may have treated her somewhat better than Proxima, but the same threat of punishment was there. And it's doubly painful when he contemplates everthing that that Qi'ra's gone through for these cruel masters.
    And it's so sad that Qi'ra can't see this, because knowing Han, even at this moment when they're facing each other with blasters drawn, if she asked for that forgiveness, he would have given it.

    But she's dead inside
    Another wow moment there, especially since the next thing he does is fire on her.:_| and only as she's dying does she look alive when she warns Han "he won't stop". And so Han calls himself a fool for caring and shuts down his emotions, or at least tells himself he does. He reminds me very much of Rick Blaine from Casablanca here (one of my favorite characters and favorite movies), who, like Han, tells everyone that he sticks his neck out for no one. Like Han, he puts on a good front of being cynical and selfish, but deep down they really care and that kind of goodness can never be completely extinguished. We know that Han will find his again when he has to help a certain farmboy and princess.

    This is such an intensely emotional look into Han's thoughts and feelings, and a completely believable situation for the continuation of Solo. Bravo! =D=
     
  9. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    You caught Han so well. His bravado. His hope. His cynicism. [face_love]
     
  10. ThisIsMe1138

    ThisIsMe1138 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 26, 2018
    Wow! I've been wanting to read some Solo fanfiction for a long time, and I love the short little things ;) The entire thing was amazing, but these were my two favorite lines and I though they captured Han the best... I would quote all the parts that made me go, "Yeah, that's perfect," but that would be the whole thing so... I've been thinking a lot about writing something like this about Han between Solo + IV... guess you beat me to it ;);)
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2018
  11. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Whew, how late am I to this party? [face_blush] But, after a crazy few weeks I finally saw Solo and sat down to read your drabbles. (I actually enjoyed the movie - I think I'll always prefer the Legends version, but it was a solid film and I appreciated its heart. I was satisfied in the end. :))

    Which brings me to . . .

    Your first batch, you did a great job getting into the character's heads. My favourite was probably Beckett's drabble. Just:

    So, so spot on. And I like how you carried the rope imagery on through the drabble. =D=

    After that, I really enjoyed your Chewie snippet. I especially liked the first person POV you started the drabble with. You really gave him a wonderful voice, and in some ways he really does mirror Han with his smartly playing the game to stay alive and then take what advantage he can. I'm glad they found each other. [face_love]


    Your continuation ficlet continued to pack quite the punch. I can really see this as a plausible 'what happens next.' It's true that Han would have forgiven anything, but Qi'ra has lived her life in such a way (out of necessity really) that people like Han don't exist for her. There was a nobility of its own in her cutting him loose, and for it to come full circle like this in the end was just heartbreaking. :(

    The last line was the ringer for me, though. Yes. Han, you keep telling yourself that. [face_mischief]1[face_love][face_whistling]


    Excellent work with these, my friend, as always! =D=
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
  12. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    What a wonderful group of character studies! You really did quite a fine job here of expanding on these characters and these moments. We get to be right there to experience Mr. T. Beckett’s fatal moment of miscalculation and being beaten at his own game; Han’s resolve in what looks like the loss of his love (the irony of course being that she eventually comes to him in a totally different place and way); Chewbacca describing in his own voice the indignities and servitude he suffered at the hands of the Empire; a glimpse into Qi’ra’s thoughts as she flies off on Dryden’s yacht to report to Maul (and that glimpse gave me a much better understanding of what the “done things” might mean than anything in the film did); and, finally, the beginning of a “beautiful friendship” of sorts between Han and Lando. These really added a lot to my experience and understanding of the film—kudos on y

    And “Pulling the Trigger”—wow, that was intense! :eek: Intense, but a completely believable denouement given all that happened at the end of Solo and all that must happen to Han in the future. And also a completely plausible as the genesis of the cold, hardboiled independence we associate with OT!Han, as we see in those wrenching last few sentences:

    Again, wow. This is now my post-Solo headcanon. Congratulats on some mighty fine work here, and thanks so much for sharing it with us! =D=