Saga 'The Big Chill' - pre-ESB OC/Janson action fic (completed 8/17/03)

Title: The Big Chill
Author: Syntax
Timeframe: a few weeks pre-ESB
Characters: 9-LOM (original character), Wes Janson
Genre: Action-adventure, OT, original-character fic,
Rating: PG
Summary: 9-LOM and Wes Jansom must scramble to salvage a highly-volatile explosive on the icy plains of Hoth.
Notes: Basically a re-post of the fanfic in this thread, which was unceremoniously locked. For the record, I had NO idea that a movie existed with the title 'The Big Chill', and was directed by the same guy who directed 'The Empire Strikes Back', no less!

The Big Chill

The Corellian Corvette Interloper tumbled through the planet?s atmosphere, its bridge section exploded outward and still flaming. The Corvette went into a roll, the craft spinning end over end in an uncontrolled twirl that brought it towards an open area on the planet?s surface. Two Z-95 Headhunters were hot on the Interloper?s tail as it careened towards the planet?s surface, gaining speed as the hull began to heat up. The Corvette struck the ground with explosive force, debris flying high into the air as the hull snapped in half, scattering shards of metal and raining fire on the landscape. Not that the fires mattered much: the Interloper had just crash-landed on the icy plains of Hoth.

***

?Alright, we are 12 klicks out from Echo Base, heading west on a vector of 11.295,? 9-LOM spoke into the comm of the snowspeeder he piloted across the endless fields of snow. 9-LOM was a machine, about 1.8 meters tall. Modeled closely after many insectile races in the galaxy, 9-LOM was meant for protocol. However, that was not his current profession. ?You alright back there, Janson??

?As comfortable as I?ll ever be,? was the reply of Lt. Wes Janson, 9-LOM?s gunner for this recon mission.

?Recon 4, your target is the Corellian Corvette Interloper, or whatever is left of it,? came a voice over the speeder?s comm, ?Our scanners say it should be a little farther west of your position, and is mainly intact. You are to recover a device, which the Interloper was trying to transport to Alliance High Command before it was intercepted by pirate raiders and chased here. The device is a new type of explosive, stored in a liquid stasis container. When cooled, however, the solution begins to crystallize, and becomes highly unstable. When the substance is fully crystallized, it will go critical and explode. You must recover it before this happens. As you may have noticed, an extra heater has been retrofitted into your snowspeeder, to prevent the solution from crystallizing. Good luck, and watch for pirates. They may still be in the area. Echo Base out.?

?Well, you heard them,? Janson said. ?Let?s find that container.?

?I?ve got debris off the starboard bow,? 9-LOM said. ?That?s probably a good sign.?

The debris stretched on for another few hundred meters before the two of them came up on the smoking debris of the Interloper. The fires were dying down, and most of the snow had settled.

?I?ll set down next to the docking bay. It appears to be blown open.?

?Alright, then we?ll search the cargo holds. Try to make it fast, though. You heard what High Command said about what happens when that container gets cold. I don?t wanna be around when that happens.?

?I roger that.?

They set the snowspeeder down, and popped the cockpits. As they approached the Interloper, they noticed that the main docking door had been blown out, due to the impact of the collision. It lay about 30 meters away, in a snowdrift. 9-LOM and Janson climbed up into the hatch, and looked around. The bulkheads of the Corvette were a little crumpled, but the craft was otherwise intact, except for the destroyed bridge section. Janson unclipped a flashlight from his belt, and shined it around in the main hallway.

?Well, I sure wouldn?t have wanted to have been here when this thing hit,? he said as he swing

 

Brilliant job, Syntax! I'm sorry I'm so late in replying, but I totally forgot about your stories for a while there. This is very nice, the action was fantastic, and 9-LOM is just one lovable droid.

Makes me wish I could write action this well.

But I don't know though, I like 9-LOM better than Syntax.

Aunecah

 

Now here is a story that i really like. It doesnt need Jedi or matters of a galactic scale to make it exciting and fun. All it focuses on is the personal adventures of Wes Janson and a Protocol droid (probably with the best personality of any i've read before - finally, a protocol droid that i dont hate).

Well done, Syntax.

And the little throwbacks to canon characters are always a nice touch. Seeing the name Carlist Rieekan and such always adds a good feeling of depth and realism (in a star-wars kind of way).

A good short story i'll read more of your work from now on.

 

Hey, cool, TWO replies to this story and I didn't even notice!

But I don't know though, I like 9-LOM better than Syntax.

They're kinda the same entity, though.

(probably with the best personality of any i've read before - finally, a protocol droid that i dont hate).


Hehehe, glad you liked him. He's basically meant to be a "robotic James Bond", but a lot of his personality traits are echoes of my own personality.

And the little throwbacks to canon characters are always a nice touch. Seeing the name Carlist Rieekan and such always adds a good feeling of depth and realism (in a star-wars kind of way).

I'm a big fan of making my stories "fit" with existing canon, be it through cameos or references to other plot elements from existing sources (the story 'One For The Money' takes place around one of the levels in the "Rogue Squadron" videogame for Nintendo64 and PC, actually).

Thanks for the replies!