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

Almost finished posting chapter 4; thanks everyone, for reading! Chapter 5 is almost halfway done; it's pretty big though. And I reached 40,000 words last night, so I'm feeling pretty happy!

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Mos Eisley had finally calmed down after a busy couple of days; with the Imperials at least pretending to scour the city for evidence of anyone bringing in the Golem from another planet. Of course, no transport had any evidence of any such action, as the Golem had come from Tatooine, and Jabba?s workshops. The lack of evidence did not matter particularly much, either, since the inspection had been entirely cursory: this was evident in that the Imperials had not discovered just what the Falcon was, or that she had a large amount of black market material in her belly. The freeze on transport was gone now, and the entire crew was on their way back towards the Falcon.

Hobbie was especially happy; he preferred space travel to being chased around by large battle droids. He did not exactly express this happiness in any physical way, but he was more talkative than usual, and more willing to put up with Wes.

?I?m almost disappointed,? Hobbie said as their speeder approached the docks, ?I figured we would have to escape in a hail of blasterfire.?

Han snorted, ?I prefer it when I come and go from a planet with complete and utter quiet. It rarely happens, though.?

Chewbacca roared something that sound like an imprecation, blaming Han for that. Hobbie was surprised how much he had been picking up from the Wookie in just the week they?d been in contact. It seemed that the language was exceptionally intuitive: if you listened to it enough, you?d just know what he was saying. It was also nice being able to understand something other than just basic.

Wes grinned, ?We haven?t made it back to the docks yet, I?m sure Solo will manage something.?

Han shook his head in disgust, ?Don?t jinx it, Wes; the last time I was here, the troops didn?t show up until everyone was onboard the Falcon: I?d prefer to at least be in a position where escaping is relatively easy.?

?If it came to that, I think Artoo could pilot the Falcon close enough for us to hop in, if we were cut off from the docks,? Luke opined from the back of the speeder.

Han let out a mock laugh, plainly disgusted by the idea, ?If that overgrown trashcan gets near my ships controls, I?m going to have him melted into a paperweight.?

?At least it wouldn?t be Threepio piloting,? Hobbie pointed out.

Wes joined in, ?Yeah, but it could be worse.?

Hobbie played along, ?Howso??

?Threepio could have spent the past few days teaching the Falcon?s computer proper etiquette and protocol. Now it might not let Solo take off unless he performs the right bow or curtsey.?

Wedge chuckled, ?Stop tormenting our captain, Wes. I don?t think you want him dropping you out an airlock.?

Wes shrugged, ?I figure if I?m going to infuriate him, I might as well do it now, where there?s oxygen, and no airlocks.?

Han spoke up, ?Don?t underestimate my patience. I?ll wait until we get up into space.?

Wes grinned and replied, ?I?m far too useful for you to just space. You need my winning personality and good looks to get by customs?,? but was cut off by Hobbie.

Hobbie had noticed something as they approached the docks: something wasn?t quite right. There was the usual traffic, but he felt like there was someone watching them. Hobbie had gone through enough evasion training back at the Academy and at the Rebel Alliance training schools to know when someone was tagging him.

?I think we?ve got a problem, Han,? Hobbie said quietly, ?I think someone has a bead on us, and they?re just waiting to fire. Everybody just act like your usual carefree selves and act like it?s actually possible that I said something funny.?

The other members of the speeder followed suit, as Han replied, ?You sure you?re not just paranoid??

?No, there?s someone out there? I think probably behind that alcove to our upper left, twenty meters forward. I?m thinking two people, trained, but not exact

 

First, from the previous post:

Wes finally joined in, ?I?m going to act like a mature adult and think things through once in a while!?

The entire group just stared in the direction of his voice. Despite being unable to see in the darkness, Han knew that Wes knew everyone was staring at him. Wes?s voice pierced the darkness again, ?Hey, it could happen!?

I love that! Everyone is so funny, but Wes cracks me up! Just like the Wraith books!

The latest post was just as great! ?I think we?ve got a problem, Han,? Hobbie said quietly, ?I think someone has a bead on us, and they?re just waiting to fire. Everybody just act like your usual carefree selves and act like it?s actually possible that I said something funny.? Hobbie was so funny! And I liked how you kept Han's old distain for droids in there.

Such a funny and entertaining story!! Great work, Coota!!

 

Wes groaned, ?Damn it, Hobbie, that was mine!?

LOL! Next chapter with Errant Venture? Cool.

 

The Errant Venture hasn't been purchased yet, as this is way before that Star Destroyer was ever rebuilt; but the next chapter does have Booster and Mirax.

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Chewbacca loped across the rooftops at full speed, firing his crossbow only twice as he ran, closing the distance with Bossk. Bossk was being more conservative; he fire repeatedly with his high powered blaster rifle, but was unable to hit the nimble Wookie. Most people might think that a two meter tall hulk of brown fur would be easy to hit, but if a Wookie is in an open area with some cover, they?re agility really shows up. If you meet one in the forest, and you?re intent on killing it, you might as well rip your own arms off.

The Wookie first mate of the Falcon had been looking forward to this for a long time: he and Bossk had a long history. They hated each other passionately, and had been trying to kill each other for years. Yet, try as they might, they never quite seemed to ever finish the job. As a Trandoshan, this had always infuriated Bossk: Wookies were the enemy of his species, and he wasn?t at all happy about being constantly shown up by the same Wookie, over and over again.

Chewbacca didn?t know quite how Bossk had found him, but he assumed that the Trandoshan had picked up the information off of Jabba. The good news was that Chewbacca knew there were no bounties on either Han or his own head. This meant that what Dengar and Bossk were doing was unauthorized, and if they didn?t succeed, bounty hunters in Jabba?s employee would most likely hound them. Unauthorized, unsuccessful attempts at murder just couldn?t be allowed in the criminal underworld: they would disrupt everything. The bad news was that the attempt had to be unsuccessful. Chewie had every intention of ensuring that that occurred.

A brown flurry of fur slammed into Bossk with full force, knocking him off his feet, and knocking blaster away from him. He retaliated with full force; Chewbacca felt a burst of pain as the Trandoshan?s claws dug into his back. The Wookie replied by grabbing Bossk by the arms, forcing them into a grapple.

?You will not win thissss time, Chewbacca,? Bossk hissed, his eyes burning with fury.

Chewbacca let out a roar, drew himself to his feet and brought Bossk with him. He then proceeded to lift the Trandoshan and throw him into the side of the building immediately adjacent to the one they were fighting on. Chewbacca felt the Trandoshan?s claws rip out of his skin as he threw him, but he ignored the pain. He was a Wookie warrior, and knew that he could best any Trandoshan in single combat. There was no gap between the buildings, so Bossk landed with a thud on the roof.

The Trandoshan brought himself back up, pulling a blaster pistol out of his holster. His long, reptilian arms failed him in this case, however: the Wookie was much more adept at un-slinging his crossbow and bringing it to bear. A non-explosive, anti-personnel quarrel shot out of the bow before Bossk could even raise his pistol, slamming into the reptilian aliens bicep and pinning him to the wall. The pistol dropped uselessly out of his hand in a spasm.

Bossk growled fiercely, ripping the quarrel out of the wall and his bicep. He was only half ready, however, when Chewbacca attempted to seize Bossk in his iron grip. Bossk met the attack with both arms out, attempting to grapple with the Wookie. Chewbacca didn?t allow it; he seized Bossk?s undamaged arm and pulled. The Wookie?s muscles stood out like steel cables under his fur as he pulled, and then relaxed as they met with no more resistance. Bossk was now one arm shy, left arm held in Chewbacca?s paws. Chewbacca roared again and flung the arm to his side.

A vibroblade appeared in Bossk?s right hand in a last ditch effort, but Chewbacca again had the momentum. The Wookie slammed his right paw down against Bossk?s wrist, forcing him to drop the weapon, and then picked the lizard with a mighty effort.

The crowd below, still fazed after the speeder had blown through their numbers, was even more surprised when a

 

Chewbacca is so fun.. No wonder he's one of my favorite characters Then again.. You have 5 or 6 of my favorite characters as the main characters anyway

Excellent post!

 

You still refer to Tatooine as Tantooine! Tsk!

 

Jade: You found me out! The way this came about was I looked at Star Wars and said to myself, "Who are my favorite characters of all time, and how could I bring them all together for a huge series of adventures?"

At first, it was just going to be Han, Chewie and Wedge. Then I realized, "Wait, I can't just abandone Luke; he's the lynchpin of the Saga. We're gonna need him, at least to counter any force users that show up."

Then I realized that Wedge needed some back up; I mean, here he was, stuck with all of the possible Heroes of Yavin(except Leia, of course), and the Falcon had plenty of room... so I brought in Hobbie and Wes, because I knew that they were around at the very beginning of the Rebellion, stationed out at Tierfon base with the Tierfon Yellow Aces. Then, in the second chapter, when Leia was leaving, I was tempted to let the droids go with her. Then I remembered just how important Artoo was to Luke: he couldn't just let Artoo go. And if Artoo came, then Threepio would also have to come. So Luke was a package deal

And then we suddenly had the beginnings of the Scoundrel Chronicles: Han, Chewie, Wedge, Wes, Hobbie, Luke and the droids. Strangely(or not so strangely, given many of my favorite books, which are usually noirs(books that aren't exactly sympathetic to women)), there are no women aboard. Women are external to this grouping, not internal. Though certain female scoundrels may show up and join up with the Smugglers Rebellion, as things go on. A few of our characters might even get hitched. Who knows?

We will, at the very least, be touring the galaxy and meeting all of Han Solo's old loves, and a few new ones

Spike: *cough* Heh... once you're used to something, even if you change it, you keep going back At the very least, you people are helping me out as far as fixing this into a final offering. Though I've noticed a lot of typos. I guess I need a beta reader

 

I know how that goes.. I have several favorites, and love to try and work them in somehow.. Wedge, Wes, and Hobbie, to me, are just a package deal.. They're 3 of my alltime favorites.. Then there's Han, Chewie and R2.. Then Vader, Soontir Fel, Piett and Maul..

 

Woohoo!!!!! Chewie beat Bosskk's Trandoshaan behind!!!!

 

Luckily, as character driven as this is, there is in fact a plot. It just isn't entirely apparent yet

Lucid: It was tempting to have him rip off Bossks arm and beat him with it, but I figured that was gratuitious.

 

I wouldnt have minded.

 

great post, i missed a couple, but thery were all great, loved how chewie ripped borsk's arm off, the way the took down the battle droid was great too, can't wait for the next post u are doing a great job

 

Cool! I'm glad Chewie got some action. It's not often you actually get to see Chewie display his "talents" while reading fanfiction.

inez

 

Chapter 5 begins; have to go through two parts before meeting Terrik, though.

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Chapter 5: The Boss?s Daughter and Other Challenges

Reveres had sent them to a drop point on a planet just a few parsecs from the Corellia system. The planet?s name was Viersa IV, a minor world without much value for anyone, due to the lack of resources and any kind of strategic value. It had mostly picked up overflow from Corellia, including some of the more undesirable elements of the society. That it made it a popular place for CorSec to troll for smugglers, assassins and other elements that they would have preferred in jail.

That was the main reason that Han hated coming through this territory, especially with any kind of illicit materials. He occasionally liked to see Corellia, remember the good old days of his youth, and preferred not to be barred from coming within a hundred parsec of it. That, of course, would only happen if he got away after getting caught in this part of space. If anyone on the side of the law figured out what he was hauling and were able to catch him, he would be spending the rest of his life in a Kessel or Sevarcos spice mine.

The Falcon came out of hyperspace a pretty fair distance away from the planet, giving Solo plenty of space for a long distance scan. The sensor package he had picked up in the Corporate Sector was still cutting edge, and went quite a ways towards keeping him on top of any kind of resistance. At the very least, it always gave him a choice about running or trying to bluff through an inspection.

?Picking up anything, Chewie?? Han asked, running the usual checks as he brought the ship into alignment with Viersa IV.

The Wookie growled in affirmation, ?<A cutter of some type? light Frigate class. Transponder gives it off as a CorSec ship.>

?What are we broadcasting?? Han asked, pondering.

?<Millennium Falcon; switched back after we left Tatooine.>?

?Alright, good. They know us too well around here for us to be flying under any other name. Well, I?m not cutting and running on this one? better tell everyone to get ready for their first inspection. It?ll be fun,? Han drawled sarcastically.

?<This had better not devolve into a firefight. I like the Corellia system.>?

?Hey, so do I: I grew up here,? Han replied, then opened up the com lines, waiting for the cutter to start hailing him.

He was rewarded a few moments later as a stern yet strangely calm voice came over the line. ?This is CorSec Cutter V901, Hal Horn commanding? any particular reason you?re in this system, Millennium Falcon??

?Just hauling some agri-goods from Tatooine. Nothing too important,? Han replied, making sure his voice didn?t sound either ingratiating or standoffish; he wanted to feel this man out first before making any determinations about his stance.

?At least that?s plausible. The last transport we ran into said they were hauling nerfs to Viersa IV,? the CorSec officer replied.

Han chuckled; having grown up on Corellia, he knew exactly where the main supply of nerf meat for the system came from: Viersa IV. The place needed more nerfs like a Wookie needed a fur coat. It just went to show how the galaxy separated the professionals from the wannabes; if you didn?t do your research in this business, you often ended up dead or incarcerated.

?Didn?t grow up on Corellia, I guess,? Han replied.

?Yeah, I suppose so; I just wish all smugglers were that considerate. We didn?t even have to run an inspection with them: just ionized ?em and towed ?em back to base.?

?That does save time,? Han admitted, praying that the same didn?t happen to him and his precious Falcon.

?Sorry to do this to you, as well, Captain, but I?m gonna have to have you power down your engines and heave to; we?re running inspections on everyone out here.?

?No problem, Officer Horn. I?ve been doing this long enough to be used to the occasional inspection,? Solo explained, shutting off the Falcon?s engines and maneuvering her to a dead stop.

?We?ll be in and out before you know it. Horn out,? t

 

Excellent post, Coota!! Poor Wedge...

 

Things are getting interesting...

Question: Does anybody know how Han got the red bloodstripes? In my understanding, yellow stripes are a 2nd level honor and Han got 'em for bravery, but red stripes are supposed to be a 1st level honor and so far, I haven't heard why Han wears them. Any suggestions?

inez

 

Wow, every time I turn around, there are many more posts to read, and they're all excellent. I really liked the way they overcame the Golem. I shouldn't have been surprised to see Hal Horn, either. Great job!

 

::hits self over head:: I meant the Pulsar Skate....

Hey..... when did Hal Horn die? Should he be alive now? Too bad he didn't get to meet Luke...

 

He died a few years after the Emperor died, or at the very least, post ANH, I believe. Bossk killed him, actually, while being particularly uncaring about his blaster fire while they both going after the same criminal.

 

The height of irony then, since you mentioned Bossk as encountering Horn there. Oh, a nice touch implicating Black Sun there.

 

Before I head off to class, two more parts for chapter 5! And tommorrow, we meet Booster!

As for the Corellian bloodstripes, all signs point to it having something to do with Chewie.

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Sure enough, there had been a tracer beacon, and ejecting it out the waste chute during planet fall had been a simple matter. Electronic equipment like that often blinked out during reentries, so Horn would most likely just ignore it as a technical short and not give the Falcon any more attention. After getting low enough to avoid any law enforcement sensors, Han had turned the Falcon on a direct course towards the drop point. It took only minutes to arrive and settle in a lightly forested area. Han reflected that they even had a few minutes to spare.

Once the Falcon was on the ground, Han had gone out with Wes, with Chewbacca staying on top of the Falcon, his crossbow covering the area. The other crewmembers had stayed onboard, arming the Falcon?s weaponry in case anything went wrong. Han just hoped the buyers would be punctual.

His hopes were answered a moment later when a man exited the forest, flanked by two guards armed with long barreled blaster rifles. They didn?t look like criminals or pirates, so Han guessed they were with a resistance group of some type.

?You bring the cargo?? the leader asked.

?Come see for yourself, but leave your friends behind for now,? Han replied.

The leader nodded and followed him onboard as Chewbacca reentered through the top hatch. Wes stayed outside to cover the remaining guards. The smuggling compartments had already been opened, and the weapon cases were clearly visible, but Han waited for Chewbacca to arrive before showing the buyer anything. Chewie dropped into the compartment and lifted out one of the cases, dropping it in front of Han and the buyer.

Han kicked open the case?s lid, revealing a dozen blasters of varying grades and types. ?I?m not sure what you ordered,? Han explained, ?But it should all be here. Some of the items are used, but nothing?s missing.?

?Good? we?ve been waiting for a shipment like this for weeks. We?re going to need more, though; our infrastructure dropped out from underneath us just a week ago.?

?We?re just doing a blind drop; we don?t know our employers. But we might be able to help you, anyhow. I think we used to work for the same organization as you did; we?re trying to set up a new infrastructure, and we could use some help.?

?You mean, others are staying behind?,? the leader began, then stopped, looking at Han suspiciously.

Han grinned slightly, ?Yeah, I wouldn?t trust me either. Look, just give me a blind point where I can meet with a contact of yours sometime. We might be able to arrange something, and eventually work into some kind of mutual trust. And I have a feeling it would be cheaper than whatever you?re paying for this.?

?I?ll think about it,? the leader replied, ?Mind if my people start hauling this stuff out??

?As long as they leave their weapons behind, sure,? Han replied.

The resistance leader exited the transport and called forward about a dozen other men and women, all clothed in similar camouflaged gear. It took them less than ten minutes to get all of the crates into the forest.

?So, what do you think? Willing to take me up on my offer?? Han asked.

?I?ve been burned by enough operations with infrastructures before this, friend. We?ll be fine on our own.?

Han grinned widely, ?You keep telling yourself that. And when your people need evac and you?re surrounded by stormtroopers, hope like hell I?ve found more people who are willing to take another blind leap, and hope they happen to be in the system.?

The man hesitated for a moment, and then turned, saying, ?I?m sure if you?re serious that I?ll hear from you again.?

Han grunted slightly and shrugged. It was to be expected; this was going to be a long, slow road. After all, he was depending entirely on the cynics and the opportunists of the galaxy. He couldn?t exactly expect them to just jump at the chance to get burned by some insane

 

Oh, not Black Sun as the "galaxy wide" organisation. Perhaps native resistance movement cells.

 

Another excellent post!