Saga - PT REMEMBRANCES

By: Hopeful Writer
Star Wars The Original Trilogy
Characters: Han Solo, Chewbacca
Rated: G
Genre: Adventure

Summary: Han Solo needs to repair wiring on the MILLENNIUM FALCON, but finds something from his past.


Han Solo and his co-pilot/friend Chewbacca, their arms filled with boxes, made their way through the entrance hatch of the MILLENNIUM FALCON. One of the corners of the boxes Chewbaccas was carrying caught on a length of wiring at the wall and pulled it out; the wire snaking and looping on to the deck. Chewbacca gave a short growl and Han looked back. "Don't worry about it, Chewie, I'll tape it back. Take your boxes to the Supply Room, unbox and stow them where they belong. Han lowered his bulky boxes to the deck. Chewbacca gave an agreeing woof. "I'll find some lazer tape and secure that wiring before one of us trips over it and breaks a leg." Han told him.

Chewbacca shuffled off toward the Supply hold with his arm load and Han began rummaging through a 'junk' cubbyhole in the side of the ship. Wiggling his arm into the space, his elbow knocked some items out on the floor; a claw hammer, some forged steel nails and some insulating packing. "Where's that tape." He muttered to himself, feeling around...his fingers grasped a small cylinder. "There it is." With the last pull, he freed what he was looking for...and a small metal box fell, the lid poping open and five shiny objects rolled from it and on to the deck.

The unexpected noise caused Han to look down, spotting the five objects scattered around his feet.
A frown wrinkled his brow....then recognition dawned in his eyes.

He knelt down on one knee, reaching for one of the pieces. "My medals." He said to himself as he picked up one...a copper Crescent shape, the attached red and yellow ribbons faded with age.
"My Survival Medal." He smiled at the thought of how he'd earned that medal at the Military Academy...The memory began to run through his mind.....

"He gave a chuckle...if Luke thought Hoth was cold, he should have been on that ice planet with me.
Bet Luke never ate any ice hrabbiat. The desert was no better, sand everywhere, seeping into all my equipment, blowing so hard you couldn't see. Luke should have felt the heat on that tri-sun
piece of real estate....and the swamp, so dense and humid, it was like breathing water. But, I made it, two full solar days at each place.'

He placed the medal in the box and reached for the next one...A Bronze Star...for bravery..'
The orange and brown ribbon attached also faded by age. "If the Commander only knew how really scared I was...cleaning out those two enemy bunkers; sometimes, fool-hearty-ness can be mistaken for bravery. He gave a short laugh...he still was, even at this age now, pulling off some of those fool-hearty pranks. He dropped the dulled-by-time star into the box.

Picking up the third one, a platinum Shield for Marksmanship..its attached blue and silver ribbon almost the same shade of color now. 'Hope I've kept myself as quick now as I was back then.' He smiled, remembering the first time he'd fired a military grade blaster....he was knocked flat on his behind....and took a lot of good natured ribbing over that. He began to roll over in his mind the sharp-shooting exercise that won him the medal. Four targets place at North, South, East and West directions with him in the center and he had to fire into the dead center of each target, turning quickly in each direction for 3 revolutions...' Han smiled. ....he did it, not missing a target in 5 marked seconds flat! Just like the Kessel Run, he wondered if anyone had beaten that record in these past years at the Academy. After hefting the medal in his hand, he dropped it into the box.

His Silver Wings...he pick up the entwined wings, running a caloused thumb across the etched feathers....its silver and gold ribbon moisture marked. He nodded his head in remembrance...what acrobatic, defensive, offensive,evading and diversionary moves he'd made in that small, one-man
Midge Fighter. Another smile crossed his lips as he recalled the Commander had stuck him with the
pin as he placed the medal on his military jacket. The Silver Wings joined the others in the metal box.

The largest, most decorative medal remained....THE MARK OF EXCELLENCE...the purple ribbon, now faded by time into a deeper shade. it was half the size of the palm of his hand. Only three others had been honored with that medal in the Corellian Military Academy. 'I was so nervous that day...Just a kid of twenty three solar revolutions...all the Military brass at the ceremony; the recruits, the other soldiers...Han gave a smile..his father and mother sitting on the front row...he could see his father's pride beaming from his face...his mother shedding tears of happiness....even his older brother and younger brother and sister were there. "I'm going to be just like you." His younger brother declared at the after ceremony reception. He'd never shaken so many hands or received so many congratulatory slaps on the back. The Commander even made a special toast.

Then....just two short galactic weeks later....betrayal! Han shook his head at the memory..how could that have happened! it was a set up...he knew it when he handed the papers over to the two waiting officers and they handed him the currency...caught red-handed. They wouldn't give him a chance to explain...and he glimpsed sight of the Commander hiding, watching from behind a tree....just like a coward!

But.....Han shook his head to clear the memories...he'd think about that another time.

Those medals...now, they meant nothing...how could a 'traitor' be honored on his home world. He had prized those medals..proud of his accomplishments and service to his home planet. They now shined in mockery. Then the trial...He remembered the slumped in shame shoulders of his father.
His mother wouldn't even look at him. His brothers and sisters no where to be seen....and
Arianna...he'd lost her forever. He had to run...escape..helped by Chewbacca...and they'd been on the run ever since.

Would he ever be able to go back to Corell..to see his family...to straighten things out...He dumped the MEDAL OF EXCELLENCE into the box and shut the lid.

Chewbacca woofed rounding to the hatchway. He saw that Han hadn't yet secured the pulled wire.
"What are you doing?" The Wookiee had asked him.

"Just picking up the trash, Chewie, just picking up the trash."

 

What bittersweet memories for Han.

I enjoyed getting little glimpses into the story behind each medal, but I specifically liked the Survival Medal, how he was wondering how Luke would fair in those conditions. It shows their relationship even though Luke never appears in the story.

Lovely!

 

Thank you for your kind words about Remembrances.
I enjoy writing humor and drama about these SW characters in the original trilogy.
Lynda V.

 

Wonderful memories. Full of jumbled and tangled emotions. Signs of definite skill and accomplishment. Things worth keeping and remembering.

 

You know the Falcon better that I know my own apartment. I find this pretty fascinating. Then again, you know Han Solo better than most of us know our parents, siblings and significant others.

Just like in a couple of your other stories, there is a lot of extensive, cool fanon. I am curious about what "hrabbiat" is and what kind of a tri-sun world Han has been to. Curious, curious, curious.

The contrast between how Han diminishes Luke - or pretends to do so, to the point where he does that even when Luke is not around; and his actual fear that he is not who he used to be, that he is aging, is something we didn't see where we were supposed to see it - in Episode VII. Nice to see that part of aging explored in a story.

And now I just want to give Han a hug!

 

Loved the trip down Han’s memory lane.

Though it is too bad the bad came with the good.

Great job on this