Saga - OT (DDC 2017) Diary of an Angry Hothan (Han Solo, Pre-ESB, Canonish, Humor/Drama) UPDATED 3/24

Title: Diary of an Angry Hothan
Author: A Blind Prophet
Timeframe: Pre-ESB
Characters: Han Solo (it's a diary after all), Other's from this time period
Genre: Humor, Drama
Keywords: Han Solo, Character Exploration
Summary: A diary covering the time period after the Rebellion relocated to Hoth from the perspective of Han Solo. And all of the subsequent problems that exist with living on an iceball of a world.
Notes: Entry in the Dear Diary challenge
Disclaimer: This isn't my world, just playing in Disney/Lucasarts pond

*****

Day 1 on Hoth:

Some great victory the Deathstar turned out to be, we still had to get out of Yavin, and of course that wasn't managed before the Empire actually showed up. Can't believe how much of a mess that turned into, and it's all Chewie's fault that we were even still there. Shouldn't've let that furball talk me into staying. I'm going soft. Gotta stop it.Jabba isn't going to be understanding much longer.

Though it was nice to see Leia a few more times, when her Highness wasn't being all uppity. Why's she gotta look down on me so much? Not like I didn't help get her outta that confounded space station in the first place. Maybe I did it for the money, but still. That has to count for something, and it's not like I'm going to be worth much if I can't pay Jabba back. Not like she can be very thankful to a smear on the ground, which I'd be lucky to actually be. Can't hurt a smear.

At least this place shouldn't be found very easily. I've never even heard of it before they gave me the coordinates, no clue how they found out that there was oxygen here. Better question... why is there oxygen here? Not like there's any plants or anything. Are there microbes in the snow and ice that give off oxygen or something?

…

I really hope they get those rooms and beds and everything fixed up real soon. Especially since they aren't letting people sleep on ships for security reasons. Which is seriously paranoid.

Maybe I can't really blame them for that, given what just happened, but c'mon, the least they could do is let me sleep on the Falcon. Be a damn sight warmer than out here, even with all these space heaters.

And no oxygenating creepy crawlies possibly getting in my sleeping bag.

I should go talk to Rieekan, maybe I can convince him to make an exception for a couple of heroes.

 

Now, that's hoth!

You got Han's voice mighty fine here. He seems to be blaming everybody other than himself for, well, everything; asking for special treatment in all cases. Looks like he can't change that easily, his is a long road that is never complete, at least not in canon as we know it. But let's see how he handles the cold, if nothing else.

 

Ewok Poet it is indeed hoth... cold... inhospitable... full of oxygenating micro bugs!

thanks, i've always enjoyed han a lot, and i'm glad to know i haven't lost him since it's been like 8 years since i wrote anything with him in it. and yea... this was pretty much han at his worst in some ways, ESB han was always the most snarky and i'm better than you before vader got a hold of him. hope you'll stick around, and that you enjoy it. thanks for the read.

 

I liked it, too, especially his "voice", if that makes sense. I could almost hear Harrison saying it out loud. Nice start! Look forward to more!

 

Mistress_Renata it does indeed make sense. that's one of the biggest things with canon characters to me, especially ones that showed up in the movies. is the voice of the character right or not, could you hear the actor say it, that kind of thing. so that's a huge compliment for two people to think that. more shall be forthcoming shortly. thanks so much for reading.

 

Night 1 on Hoth:

No dice with Rieekan. Oh, he listened, he was sympathetic, and then he proceeded to point out exactly why they were being so careful. Apparently they suspect there's at least one traitor and they don't want anyone around communications equipment yet. Frankly, I'm a little surprised he told me. Must have something to do with Chewie. No self respecting Imp would have anything to do with a wookiee. Or maybe it's been something he's suspected before me and Chewie showed up. Either way if Rieekan trusts me with that kinda knowledge, then why's he keeping me and Chewie out in the cold?

That's another reason to get as far from this outfit as I possibly can. I'll try to give it a week or two, let them get things settled, and then blow this joint and never look back. Leia ain't worth this.

Speaking of her royal snobbiness, she heard I was wanting on my ship and told me I was being a selfish brat. Me! It ain't my fault that not everyone here happens to be a successful smuggler. With their own ship. And a price on their head. Needing to leave to keep that head intact.

Doesn't seem like any of them really grasp the seriousness of my situation, I told Jabba it would be quick and that I actually had the money. Well, both were true. But now it's becoming not so true. It's been about a year since then, and I should have been back on Tatooine by now. I'm going to try and explain the situation to Mon Mothma and the other leaders within the week, maybe they'll actually see reason this time.

I still can't believe the amount of time they wasted on Yavin even though everyone knew that the Empire knew exactly where their base was. I mean, it was obvious at that point. While I am glad that they took care of the tracker on the Falcon, they were still incredibly stupid to have a fething ceremony and party. I mean, that was days of wasted time right there. I could have been back to Tatooine and then back on Yavin before then, but no. No unauthorized comings or goings. Nothing not mission related.

I really hate bureaucracy sometimes. At this rate it's going to get me killed.

In other news, apparently Chewie found something wrong with the Falcon on the way here so we may have to stick around for a few days regardless. Hopefully he can get it fixed without needing new parts. Dunno if the Rebel's'll actually give me anything or not right now. I'll have to see if Rieekan will let us at least work on the ship or not. Dunno why the fuzzball didn't mention this to me before I talked to Rieekan, but he didn't think it was such a big deal.

It's a minor hiccup in the electronics, but with how big of a rat's nest that actually is due to all of the modifications and bypasses and “fixes” we've had to put in over the years... I don't even want to think about what might happen if we don't deal with that. I really need to go see Doc again, have him overhaul the whole ship again. Of course that means I have to make it out that way, and that's not exactly like a jaunt to Corellia. At least we've got the money for it since I doubt he'd do it for a favor.

This situation just keeps getting worse, and worse. Oh well, time to go sleep with the ice bugs.

 

@Blind Prophet: You are catching Han´s irony and his (dis)likes fairly well. I am extremely enjoying myself. Thanks for pointing the story out to me!

 

AzureAngel2 thankye, han's always been one of my favorite characters to write ever since back on 2006, so i'm glad other's think i still have the touch with him. and you're welcome. thanks for reading.

 

Day 2 on Hoth:

Ran into Luke last night.

Well, ran into isn't quite right. Found him huddled in a corner wrapped up in several blankets and a space heater within singeing distance of his eyebrows. And bangs. Don't think I ever realized how much I hate the smell of burning hair. Kid needs to pay more attention, but given that he's from a desert planet, I can't blame him for being cold.

Don't think you can actually end up in a more different situation than going from a planet with two suns to this frozen ball. Chewie and me ended up setting up camp there with him. It was a bit awkward, but I know we managed to keep him from getting sick. Kid needs to find a woman to help warm his bed for him. Never thought I'd think that and not have it mean sex, but in this case I'm not sure he'll stay healthy without the help if they don't hurry up with the rooms.

Not that I've actually had anything like that in...

Okay, not going there. Bria can go kick rocks.

Can't believe I'm back with the Rebellion again after what she pulled. After what she cost all my friends. The trust she cost me. And the favors.

Shows how bad the Empire really is, getting me back in this mess.

I need a drink.

 

This line is CLASSIC Han. I can even see the Harrison eye roll that would precede it.

And given his reputation as a cynical loner, his true, soft self is showing, worrying over Luke. I like the line about him finding a woman. I imagine on Hoth, a lot of the Rebels must've been thinking the same thing...need for a portable bed warmer. Especially the cold-blooded reptilian species.

 

Okay, not going there. Bria can go kick rocks.

The Bria affair! Oh, how I loved that novels. I ask myself if Disney lets her stay in the new movie about him.

 

Mistress_Renata yea, i'm sure that they very much all wanted one. but of course, that's not something that's ever really talked about anywhere that i'm aware of. i mean, there are some very practical things that are just never really mentioned in star wars, you know? that seems like one of them to me.

AzureAngel2 i always liked bria as well, i'm sad that she's no longer canon. i don't really see how that set of stories can really fit in to the new story, especially since the force unleashed kind of rewrote the creation of the rebellion itself. guess we'll see if they recycle her some how, but i'll be surprised. don't think that many people even know about her anymore.

HanSolo29 thanks, i'm glad that you think so. coming from like the definitive han solo in the RPF, that's a major compliment. and yea, i always liked doc and that whole set of stories really. i wonder if he could actually... fix the falcon at this point, given how much of a mess it seems to be. shame i don't think he's ever showing up anywhere again. unless i write it.

 

All caught up, ABP. I, too, enjoy the voice you have given Han. It seems right on target for a guy doing the right thing, even it goes against his previous code. I also enjoy the reasons you give for Han having stay on Hoth. I don't remember the mention of ice bugs, but hey, what's one more thing to get under Han's skin (hopefully not literally ). One last thing: nice call out to Luke's environmental shock.

Great Job!

 

brodiew thanks man, i appreciate the read and that you like the voice as well. the ice bugs were something i came up with, because... why not? no one's ever really explained how there's oxygen on the planet, so why not bugs that have gas that creates a breathable atmosphere? mainly it was to highlight the silliness of hoth as a planet in general. on the shock, yea. that's something that as i was actually thinking about it... and remembering people that have moved around a lot, and then anakin being so cold on the ship in TPM, it just seemed extremely obvious that he'd probably have a lot of trouble with it. i'm surprised that isn't a lot more of a problem in general, actually.

 

Day 3 on Hoth:

So I talked to Rieekan again, and he said we could actually start working on the ship now that they've gotten their jammers up and running. So there's that. Which also means I can get Luke out of this frozen hole at night at least. Kid still isn't handling this very well. Not that I blame him, doubt he's ever been in anything colder than his bed after the suns went down.

Sure, Tatooine get's pretty cold at night, but it ain't like anyone ever goes out in that cold unless you're in Mos Espa or something like that. I mean, given that he was a moisture farmer, I doubt the kid ever went out after sunset.

Dunno why I'm acting like this is my problem. Not like I've got any reason to really care about him. He was just a fare with that crazy old man.

I'm still curious where he went when Vader sliced him. I mean, it ain't like a lightsaber disintegrates you or anything. It just cuts. So where'd his body go? Probably more of that Force malarkey.

Though I do have to admit that Luke blocking all those shots when he couldn't see was a little impressive. I've seen him working on that a few other times, and he's getting better. Still gets hit a lot, but one out of four with blaster bolts isn't... bad I don't guess. Just better not try it in a fight.

In other news, I have a meeting with Mon Mothma and the rest scheduled for tomorrow, so hopefully I can get out of here. Dunno if they'll make me promise to come back or whatever, but fat chance of that happening. When I'm out of here, I'm going back to the Corporate Sector. I want out of this war. Don't care if Chewie likes it this time, we're leaving.

I also need to get out of Jabba's reach. It's way too long to stay in this part of the galaxy. If it weren't such a bad idea, I'd consider running through the unknown regions for a while. But that seems like a good way to get myself killed, and there's too many of those circling around me right now as it is.

 

Entry one... hee!!!!! And yes, Han should go talk to the general of awesome!

Night one on Hoth... Ack, problems with the Falon that turn out to be related to the gerryrigging that Lando later spends at least a page of Shadows of the Empire complaining about. (Continuity! Yay!)

Day two on Hoth... **HUGS** to Luke for being cold, and in agreement with Han on Bria. Go have that drink, Han, and take the cold farmkid with you!

Day Three on Hoth... yay for ship repairs and being able to give Luke some warmth!


(Yes, am enjoying this... )

 

DaenaBenjen42 so glad that you're enjoying this. more's coming in the nearish future.

entry one: always loved rieekan myself, wish he's shown up more.

night one: heh, gotta keep things continuity sound.

day two: lol. unfortunately liquor when you're cold can really cause problems, like causing you to be more prone to frostbite as it thins your blood out. it may warm you up, but it's at the cost of the heat leaching out of your core.

day three: definitely, luke needs outta that cold.

 

Night 4 on Hoth:

I am completely borked. Finally got my meeting with Mon Mothma and the rest of the boltbrained idiots, and it went about as well as I expected. They were all nice, and said that they understood, Rieekan even said that if I could just be patient they would see what they could do. Lot of sorries. And yet, they basically signed my death sentence. No way Jabba's going to be understanding about this.

Turns out they don't want anyone leaving for a while longer, and even then no one that's not on a mission is going anywhere. Something to do with not wanting the nav data to get out. I've got news for them, Hoth was already in my navcomputer, but not as a destination. Be willing to bet most smugglers have it already, simply because it's just one of those places that you have to have with the routes that we take.

There was also some bantha poodoo about the Falcon being too recognizable of a ship now. Recognizable to who? Everyone that ever saw me doing anything with the rebels was on the Deathstar. That means Vader might, might have some clue about a YV-1300 being involved. Got news for the rebels, there's a lot of those out there. Probably one of the most common ships flying simply because of what you can turn them into. Not that that minor little detail matters to them. I mean, haven't they ever heard of a fake transponder? Thought they were supposed to be good at this hiding stuff.

So leaving's a complete bust. At least I get to stay here out of the cold. For now. Wouldn't put it past them to make us leave the Falcon eventually. Something to do with security and not having people on ships, whenever it is that they get the rooms completely finished.

On the way out I did stumble across something I should probably mention to Rieekan tomorrow. I saw someone that looked on the nervous side fiddling with some of the main comms controls. Black hair and really pale skin, bit shorter'n me. I went over and looked, but didn't really notice anything obviously out of place. Just wish I could have got the guy's name. Don't want any one putting me and Chewie at risk.

Got back to the Falcon and found Chewie playing dejarik with Luke. Those two droids were watching, seemed to think that Luke was making a mistake. I dunno why Chewie wants to play with them around, they're both obnoxious. Kicked 'em out, can't stand listening to goldenrod talking. His voice is like scratching durasteel with a diamond. Luke said I should be more understanding, and I told him that's a good way to get treated like a fool. Kid's too idealistic for his own good.

Now I'm sitting here alone in my cabin, wishing I was handing Jabba his credits and then flying away from Tatooine forever. Why'd I ever agree to do business with him? I knew he was dangerous. Chewie shoulda smacked me upside the head for being so stupid.

Sounds like the others are turning in, figure I'll do the same. Who knows, maybe I won't be awake all night?

 

Hi there. It is weekend again and I finally have some time to react being tagged.

You catch Han´s mood and the facettes of his character still fairly well: the boasting smuggler, the tough under dog, the loyal friend, and so on...

And so your text is always truthful and 100% Han.

Especially when you talk about goldenrod.

 

Okay... I was mostly joking about taking Luke to drink anything. Sort of meant it in the "he's sitting in a corner shivering in front of a space heater, please someone hug him and get him around people" way...

And yes, I'm with Han on the 'recognizable to whom' thing... even Rey didn't know what ship it was and considered it a hunk of junk.

 

Well, I'm quite far behind on this one. There are downsides and upsides of stories with unpredictable update dates, I guess that one was a downside. Luckily, it's easy to catch up.

Day 2:
Now, that was funny. I love the naive!Luke and how he seems to be permanently clueless with everything that he didn't experience on Tatooine. I feel sorry for him - burning bangs, cold and all - but Han NEEDED something to make him feel a bit more optimistic or, well, less annoyed.

Should I be familiar with Bria?

Night 3:
Awww, Han is really like an old brother to Luke. And it wouldn't be the first time that he's saving his frozen little rear.

And then, out of all things, he wonders about how Obi-Wan "vanished". I always liked the idea of Han being "Force-attuned", understanding that there's something larger than life at works and eventually coming to believe it and if that's what's happening here, through realisations made during sleepless nights, I love it.

Day 4:
Is the thing about there being many freighters that look like the Millennium Falcon canon or not? The whole thing with its being too recognisable, yet Han claiming this creates a strange dissonance. At this point, I wonder if the Rebel leaders just plain want him to stay on Hoth. Perhaps they should say so, instead of coming up with some wild excuses?

Hmmm...now, that's intriguing. Trying to figure out if this is somebody who should be blatantly obvious or one of those "blink and you'll miss them" dudes.

Also, there's an apostrophe missing in this paragraph and a wrong letter used in the next one, thought I'd tell you.

Of course that Luke is putting up with Threepio. Idealistic. That's the word, aiit.

Well, too late for that.

 

(Reserved for responses)

 

Night 5 on Hoth:

So a lot of nothin' happened today. Other than some tech coming in and telling me and Chewie that we gotta put a slave system on the Falcon. I told 'em over my dead body. They have no clue how much of a mess that'd make of her systems. Well, more of a mess. I don't let anyone work on the Falcon but me and Chewie. And Doc when we're in that neck of the woods. Wonder if the old man's even still alive.

About an hour later in comes Dodonna, Madine, Rieekan and Cracken to try and talk me around, because if a “hero” won't do it, it'll cause all kinds of problems. I proceeded to explain to them why it's such a bad idea, and how easy it is to manipulate. Someone cracks that, all their ships that have that system are forfeit. They need to spend some more time around slicers. Blue Max'd have a field day with that kinda setup.

Wonder how those two are doing. Been a while since I got a holocard from them, hope Skynx didn't get them in trouble. Not that either of them ever needed much help on that end. I was so glad to be done with them at the time, but after dealing with goldenrod... totally make that trade in a heartbeat.

So turns out that I mighta saved the rebels from losing ships. Wouldn't that be a trip.

Just wish Chewie could figure out what's going on with the electronics. We keep trying to trace it, and it winds up going in some weird loop. Might oughta see if Artoo can give us a hand with that, at least I can ignore him if I want.

Also told Rieekan about that guy I saw the other day, and he said that fit the description of the man they were looking for, so at least I seem to be on the right track with that. Wonder what he was doing exactly, but Rieekan wouldn't tell me about any of his suspicions. Because of course not. I'm starting to wonder how they've survived as long as they have.