The Scoundrel Chronicles- Birth of a Rebellion After ANH, AU; Han, Wedge, Wes, Luke, Hobbie, Chewie

9-05-03: Updated, finally. Took me forever; think I might be able to keep this up.

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The other day I was thinking, what would happen if I mixed my two favorite scoundrels, Han and Chewie, with my three favorite Rogues, Wedge, Wes and Hobbie, plus Luke thrown in for good measure? What if the Rebellion just up and left, leaving them behind? What I got was this, the beginnings of the Scoundrel chronicles. I'll probably post the first part of the second chapter tommorrow, and post in little bits by bits following that. So, read, enjoy!

And we actually get to understand what Chewbacca is saying in this, rather than the whole "Did Timmy fall down the well, Lassie?" thing.

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Star Wars: The Scoundrel Chronicles
Birth of a Rebellion


Chapter 1: The End of the Beginning

Luke Skywalker was the last of his squadron in the condition to complete the most important mission the Alliance had ever undertaken: the destruction of an ultimate Imperial weapon, the Death Star. If the Imperial ace behind him had anything to say about it, however, this mission would never be completed, and the Rebellion would be destroyed. It was almost too much to place on the shoulders of an eighteen year old boy who had only recently left a home filled with moisture vaporators and farming for a galaxy of lightsabers, war and death. For all that, Luke was strangely calm; he ignored the outside forces, even as the Imperial ace behind him fired salvo after salvo of energy, destroying his astromech unit.

Something greater than him made him believe that he did not have to worry about that ace. That something would happen to save him, and make it possible for him to complete his mission. Maybe it was the strange kind of intuition he had been developing, the Force that Obi-Wan Kenobi had told him about. Or perhaps it was the fact that Kenobi's voice was currently telling him to trust in his feelings, even though Kenobi had died almost a day before. Something also told him that mentioning that a dead man's voice was giving him combat advice to the Alliance Combat controllers was a bad idea. That was probably more along the lines of common sense.

Whatever it was, the sudden registration of an Imperial fighter exploding him seemed to confirm his feelings. A loud battle cry could be heard over his com unit as the Millennium Falcon, captained by smuggler and mercenary Han Solo, swooped towards the battle, it's quad laser cannons opening up on the crack Imperial formation behind Luke. One of those crack Imperials panicked, turning hard and sending the Imperial ace spinning out of the trench, deep into space.

Han's voice rang like a melody in Luke's ears, "You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!"

Han Solo had decided it was time to stand up for something. After a large amount of persuasion from his Wookie first mate, he had come back to pull Luke's butt out of danger, yet again. Saving that kid was becoming a habit, but he didn't mind: he liked Luke. He knew the kid would have been willing to help him out of a jam, so it was only fitting that he did the same thing.

Luke tightened his fingers around the proton torpedo triggers, cleared his mind, and fired. The proton torpedoes sailed towards the target, a two-meter wide exhaust port, and then they were inside. Luke had succeeded: the Death Star would be destroyed and the Rebel Alliance would have scored its first great victory.

As soon as he was sure the torpedoes had entered the port, Luke pulled up and into space, joining the few survivors of the Rebel assault as they fled from what would surely be a massive explosion. The only problem was that nothing happened.

"Luke, check your targeting computer, what just happened?" That was Wedge's voice, one of the few surviving pilots from the assault.

Wedge was desperate. He was one of the best fighter pilots the Rebellion had, but his skills hadn't been enough to keep him from taking heavy damage in the previous battle. He had been willing to give his life to protect Luke and allow the young pilot to

 

Wow, this is exciting! You certainly have a hand for battle scenes!

?What does ?oh no? mean? Please tell me that ?oh no? just means that your buns came loose, Princess.?


And I like the way we can understand Chewie!

 

Thanks, SM; I was trying to keep the humor of the original Star Wars, even while a kind of darker mood falls on the galaxy after the defeat of the Rebellion. I want this to be a fun story, but I want people to see that Han and his crew have their backs against the wall.

In the next chapter, Han realized that he basically has to go back to the type of smuggling he did back in the Corporate Sector, only this time for a cause. And he knows that he's gonna need to help to pull it off. I think that the reactions I wrote for his potential crew came off pretty well. As for Luke, he's trying to figure out what happens next after the world falls down around him.

 

Cool 'what if?' story!

However this bit didn't make sense to me:

Luke looked down at his computer system, and immediately realized the problem: the torpedoes had detonated just short of the reactor. They had most likely done large amounts of damage to the Death Star?s superlaser system, but they had accomplished the mission: destroying the Death Star.

Shouldn't that be hadn't because they didn't actually destroy the death star which was the mission.

Other than that I loved the battle sequences and its shaping up to be great. I'll keep an eye on this.

 

Thanks for spotting that: I sometimes miss typos like that, and they can make a big difference to the story

 

Good start.

 

Thanks; I'm looking forward to seeing where I go with this

 

Since I've got plenty to write, I might as well post the beginning of the second chapter now, to keep the story around on the first page

Many parts to follow. The story will switch viewpoints between parts, between Han, Luke, Wedge and probably Wes, Chewie and Hobbie. For now, though, I'm focusing on Han, Luke and Wedge.

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Chapter 2: Scoundrels Rising

?You?re just leaving?? Luke couldn?t believe what he was hearing. It was like some kind of nightmare. ?What about the Rebellion? What about fighting the Empire until the end??

Leia looked resigned as she sat on the bed beside him in her quarters. She had invited him to speak with her once they had reached Tierfon Base, one of the last Alliance outposts. Soon even it would be just a remnant as its personnel evacuated. No, not evacuated, corrected Luke in his mind; rather, it was as its personnel fled, fearing that they would never be able to defeat the Empire. The Rebellion was collapsing, ending before it could truly begin in earnest.

?We can?t fight the Empire with our current resources. It took us years to get the readouts for that battlestation. Now, they?ll change everything while it?s in drydock getting the superlaser repaired. We?ll never get another chance at those readouts. We?ve exhausted almost all our deep intelligence resources.?

?Then create some new ones! This is giving up! I rescued you, Ben died for you, to save the Rebellion, to continue the fight!?

?I?m sorry, Luke, but Mon Mothma and I agree on this. This was always the plan if we failed to secure that one major victory that we truly needed, or if the Empire discovered a weapon that would render our forces useless.?

Luke placed his hand on Leia?s, staring deep into her eyes. ?Fleeing to the Unknown Regions is letting them win. It would destroy everything you?ve fought so hard for. Establishing a New Republic there won?t mean anything. Eventually the Emperors hand will extend even there.?

?While we?re there, we?ll be building our forces, finding new allies. Then we?ll return, and begin the Rebellion again. Right now, if any worlds rose in open rebellion, they would just be destroyed. I don?t want to be responsible for that.?

Luke noticed that Leia looked older, far beyond her eighteen years. Her eyes were sullen, the fire in them almost extinguished. He could tell that she had been crying, but she was still too strong, too stubborn to let anyone through that façade. She was determined to hold up and continue her fight in the only way she saw possible. Luke knew then that it would be impossible to convince her otherwise. She was going into the Unknown regions with the rest of the Rebellion, and that was that.

?I?m staying behind,? Luke said finally.

Leia?s eyes widened, ?Luke, no? we need you: we need every pilot and soldier we can find to help us make our way to a safe planet. There will be hundreds of transports, Luke, and every one of them needs to be protected.?

?I?m sorry, but I can?t run away. I?m going to stay here, in this part of the galaxy. The Empire may control these areas, but this is my part of the galaxy. I?ll find a way to fight for her.?

?Luke, I don?t want you to die before we?re ready to fight again. If you come with us, you?ll be able to lead the way back.?

The young man shook his head, his eyes cloudy, his voice fighting with a rasp. ?Don?t you see, Leia? You?re not coming back. Once the Rebellion finds a good world to settle on, starts making allies, it?ll never want to leave the Unknown regions. Eventually all the leaders will decide that this is a better life anyway, that if the Empire ever comes to the Unknown regions, you can defeat it then. The Empire may never come, Leia, but I know that the Rebellion will never come back once it leaves.?

?I?m sorry you feel that way. I know it?s hard to believe, but we will be back, and we will defeat the Empire.?

?If I have anything to say about it, Leia,? Luke replied, standing up, ?There won?t be an Empire when you return. If you return.?

With that, Luke stalked out of

 

Hmm . . . I posted before and I can't see it now!

Poor Leia!

This is when Luke et al leave the Rebellion and start their own?

Great post!

 

Wow! This is a really interesting concept. I'm anxious to see what happens.

inez

 

Oh, melikes this fic. You capture the emotions just like the movies. Can't wait for more.

 

Thanks for your replies, everyone! Here's the next part, where Han does a little bit of recruiting.

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Han Solo knew things were bad, but his mood was on an upswing. Losing the transport had been painful, but he knew it was inevitable. You can?t save everyone, or win every time: he had learned that much when he had tried to do the right thing and rescue Chewbacca the Wookie from an angry Imperial commander. Right now, he was just happy to see some men who had shared some of the same experiences as he had and toss back a couple of brews before he got on the move again.

Han, Chewie and Wedge Antilles sat around a table with two other Alliance fighter pilots, Alliance fighter pilots Han had known of through Soontir Fel, an old academy instructor. Fel had occasionally kept up correspondence with his old pupils, alerting them to up and coming new pilots: he had mentioned the two men seated across from him repeatedly, in reference to both their skills and their antics. The last message Han had ever received from Fel had been about the defection of these pilots, and his exile from the good graces of the Empire. Surprisingly, it had not been bitter: for some reason, Fel had never been bitter about the Empire, no matter what punches they threw at him.

?I never thought I?d find you here, Janson. I mean, I heard about the Rand Eliptic theft, and about your intentions to defect. I figured you and Hobbie were going to just drop Biggs off at the nearest Rebellion, start a pirate operation, steal your weight in gold, and then live comfortably on a planet of beautiful women,? Han said, grinning widely.

?Actually, we tried that,? Wes answered.

?It didn?t pan out,? the other man, Hobbie, continued, ?We just weren?t cut out for pirating. Wes kept trying to get the young Imperial damsels we were stealing from to fall in love with him.?

?For some reason, they all just wanted to kill me. I don?t know why: we were exceptionally nice pirates. We never stole from orphans,? Wes asserted.

?On account of we were orphans once,? Hobbie qualified.

Wedge laughed, ?You weren?t orphans, Wes; I know for a fact that your mothers still alive, and she?s still angry that her only son became a Rebel. And I know that you ran straight for the Rebellion as soon as got away from your pursuit. Your hair hadn?t even grown back when you arrived at that outlier base I was stationed at.?

?Well, I?m like an orphan. You know, in the metaphoric sense. And while we may never have been pirates, we did get to indulge in our piratical urges once we joined up. Plus we got to say it was in the service of justice,? Wes explained.

?It?s too bad it?s collapsing,? Han broached the subject they had been dancing around, ?Though it did give me the chance to live out the most rapid promotion, yet shortest Generalship in the history of any military force. You guys got dealt a bad hand, but I hate to see the galaxy lose its best source for naiveté after just one bad hit.?

?Well, I guess if that?s what the leaders want, that?s what the leaders want. I?m not sure if I really want to go, though. I like it here,? Wes said, shaking his head sadly.

Wedge shook his head, ?I don?t think I can leave. I?ve still got scores to settle here, and good friends I don?t want to leave behind. I joined the Rebellion to protect them. Running away won?t do them any good.?

?Yeah, but how could we fight back?? Wes asked, ?We don?t own our own fighters, and even if we did, a couple snubs can?t do anything against the Empire. I bet they make sure there aren?t any more exhaust ports on any of their super weapons any more. Or holes of any kind. They?ll just be big solid spheres, and they?ll run them into things really hard??

?Wes.?

?And they?ll go really fast, breaking planets with their sheer mass, or causing tidal waves by moving close enough to the planet to influence the tides??

?Wes.?

?Yes, Wedge??

?Shutup.?

?Alright, alright. But you?ve gotta admit, that would be really cool.?

Han coughed slightly and spoke up, ?You know, there?s another way yo

 

I figured I'd bump this up as long as I'm sitting at my computer writing.

 

Wedge is such a prude in this story.

I like it. Definatly will keep watching for more.

 

Heh, I swear he just kind of came out that way. He always seemed to be the honest, upstanding type to me, which is why he was such an awful transport pilot before he joined the Rebellion. It's one of the many reasons I thought having him join up with a smuggler crew would be kind of interesting.

Wes and Hobbie, well, they're self-explanatory. I love those guys.

 

This is very entertaining. I'm getting caught up in Han's enthusiasm. I was a bit surprised at the mention of Booster Terrik, though, mostly because I always connect him with Corran Horn, and not with Wedge. But this should be interesting. The 'what if the Death Star weren't destroyed' is a great idea and everything that follows it sounds logical to me. I also like the way we can understand Chewbacca, too. Keep up the great work.

 

Coots! Are you ever a great addition to these boards! This is some yummy stuff!

A great start on a really original idea, and I am really looking forward to following this and see where this scenario and these characters take you!

I simply *adore* your version of Han: he was my fave as a kid and this is such a juicy interpretation of his unique character. And Chewie: what can I say but *thank you*! Giving him such a unique and erudite voice: well, it's about time, is all I can say. I'm glad my first encounter with a translation of Wookiee is a writer with such a solid grasp of dynamics between partners.

I enjoy your dialogue, and the well-realised combat descriptors, but I gotta say, the plot has me hooked. Can't wait to read more!

"We rob her blind"

Count me in to the Smuggler's Rebellion!


*Derisa*

 

Thanks: I really have to think Brian Daley(and the original movies) for any ability I have to characterize Han and Chewie. Brian Daley's Han Solo Trilogy is the one piece of Star Wars profic that I feel truly fits in with the feeling of the movies. I also liked how in several of his chapters when Han and Chewie are split up, he actually made Chewbacca the main character. I loved seeing Chewie succeed in his own right, and not just be Han's faithful pet. To me, Chewie is so much more than that.

So, in all the parts where Han is the viewpoint character, we'll be able to understand Chewie. And as the plot develops, and the other characters pick up on Shrii'wook, that will change to everyone being able to understand him at all times.

Thanks for the support, and I'm really glad you liked that line; I felt it was kind of the hinge of that entire section.

I'm especially liking being able to portray Han in his prime, when he's smooth talking and in control of the situation, or at least thinks he is

Anyways, I'm glad you're all liking this. I'll be posting more tommorrow; I'm dropping it piece by piece, so that I'll have plenty of room to maneuver in if lots of stuff comes up, but I'm halfway through the third chapter: "How to Make Friends and Influence Hutts" right now. The story is coming pretty rapidly; I have a feeling I'll stick with it.

 

Well..... this is interesting.....

Nice long posts, although that means you won't update as often....

Very humourous, lots of plot twists, etc.

Damn good read, keep at it!

 

this is a really interesting story, i love it, these are some of the funniest charectors in Star Wars, u need to get Tycho in this thing, well i love the story and can't wait for more

 

This is good. I'm looking forward to seeing what Jabba does when Han quits and whether or not the Chiss chase the Rebels out of the UR.

 

Thanks for all the replies! Here's the next part; it's a shorter one. They're basically broken up into different characters viewpoints.

Tycho, sadly, has yet to defect, and might not for a very long time, as there's no Rebellion to defect to. We might run into him later on though.

As for the Chiss, there's a chance they'll show up in later book; with this one, I want to focus mostly on Han and his smugglers. I wanted it to feel and read more like the Corporate Sector trilogy, where the Rebellion was never mentioned.

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Luke didn?t know where he was going, both literally and figuratively. He felt like he had been wandering the empty base for hours now, wondering what would happen next. He had no idea where to go to, or who to turn to. The one person who Luke had believed would be there for him had collapsed in on herself: it seemed like there wasn?t anywhere to turn anymore.

Perhaps irony is a part of the Force. Whether or not it is, Luke?s next turn through the halls found him standing face to face with Han Solo. Solo was leaning against the bulkhead wall of the Rebel base, his best grin spreading across his face. He looked like something had changed inside him, but unlike Leia, it had been something for the better.

?Han? you?re still here?? was all Luke could get out.

?Yeah, kid, I?m still here. Though the Rebels are almost all gone. The hangars looking pretty empty, and the bar only has three good bottles of booze left. The boys are appropriating them for the ship: we?re thinking of taking them out on the trip.?

?The trip?? Luke asked.

?Look, kid, I?m about to hit you with a choice. A choice you won?t want to make, but you have to make. It could very well determine the path of the galaxy, and while I know that sounds even hokier coming from me, it?s really all I can say.?

Luke just stared, wondering whether this apparition could really be Han. It sounded and looked like the smuggler, but its words were like some alien had inhabited Han?s body.

?You can go off with Leia and her rebels, turn tail and run for the Unknown regions. I hear that when the Mon Cal surrendered after they heard the Death Star had survived, one of them refused that surrender. He took four Mon Cal cruisers with him, a bunch of technology and jumped for an Alliance rendezvous point: with that kind of firepower, there?s a chance the Rebellion might actually cut a pretty good swath out of the unknown regions, even set up a kind of splinter new Republic.?

?I?m not willing to do that, Han. I?m not leaving this galaxy behind.?

?Yeah, that was my opinion. Next, you could go off on your own. I know the old man wanted you to go off on your own personal mystical quest to save the galaxy, but that?s a lonely road, Luke. You might still tread that one someday, but I think that right now, what you need are friends. Friends willing to walk along the road with you.?

?What?s the last choice?? Luke asked, wondering if it really was a choice.

?You come with me, Chewie, Wes, Hobbie and Wedge. We?re starting our own rebellion. It won?t be as flashy as this one, it won?t have any fancy cruisers or proclamations, or any ex-Senators, but it will have a kind of faith behind it. I might not be the one providing it, but the other boys are. We?re going to fan the flames of rebellion, make a few credits on the side, and stay away from any crimes against society. We?ll stick to crimes against the government.?

?You want me to join you and be a smuggler??

?Not a smuggler. The last rebels of the old rebellion, and the first rebels of a new one. If we have you with us, this becomes more than just smuggling. It becomes a stand against everything that?s evil. I plan on robbing the Empire blind, but if I restart a new rebellion while doing that, that?s even better.?

Luke considered this, his mind tossing with a thousand ideas. Obi-Wan had told him that he would have to make a choice, and tread his path. Luke had known instinctively that running away was the wrong path, and he had moved away from it the moment it was offer

 

great post, this is a really interesting story, i can't wait for more keep up the good work

 

this looks like a lot of fun.

 

Thanks; it's been a lot of fun to write so far. These characters are all great to write for.