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

another great post, can't wait to see how they deal with the battle droid, it should be interesting, kepp up the great work, can't wait for more

 

This is good to read during work too. I can start my day with a smile.

 

heheheheh...Fire! Fire! *blinks* sorry, who let Beavis in here?

Anyway, great post! Visions of Terminator and Robocop are now dancing in my head, along with the Battle of Hoth, of course.

inez

 

Excellent post!

 

Thanks, everyone! Chapter 4 starts tommorrow!

 

I couldn't help myself; I hate to bump threads when they've fallen behind. I feel like if I post a post after I've already posted, it needs to have new content... so here it is, the beginning of Chapter 4!

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Chapter 4: Leaving Mos Eisley

Luke was only slightly surprised by the large, overwhelmingly powerful droid lumbering down the streets of the old, crumbling town of Mos Espa. Somehow, whenever Han Solo was around, things like this didn?t seem nearly as surprising as usual. He was curious as to how exactly Solo kept surviving all the crises that seemed to follow him like needy children. Luke just hoped it had something to do with the smugglers skill or ingenuity, and not with luck, because he wasn?t supposed to believe in luck.

?Ok, Han, you?re the leader of this little venture. What do we do?? Luke asked.

?Well, I guess we scope it out. We sure as hell better take it down before the Imps get here.?

?How exactly do we scope it out, Solo?? asked Wes, ?We already tried shooting it, and that didn?t seem to do very much.?

Han sounded exasperated over the com, ?Shooting it once isn?t gonna tell us anything, Janson. We have to see how it moves, how it thinks and how it reacts. Then we counter it with whatever we?ve got on hand. I?m going out there; Chewie, cover me. Luke, you and Wedge lay down fire from your positions: we?re gonna see how this thing deals with multiple targets. If it focuses on one target, then moves from there, we might have something to work with.?

?You?re going out there?? Luke questioned, ?Are you insane??

Wedge?s voice came over the com now, ?Did you really need to ask that, Luke??

?I guess not.?

With that, Luke watched as Solo jumped out from his cover, firing his two heavy blasters at the monstrosity as he moved. The droid turned to target this new adversary, it?s heavy blaster cannon tracking him as he moved. As it did so, Chewbacca began firing a series of his explosive crossbow quarrels at the Golem?s gunarm, trying to disrupt its aim. Luke brought up his own rifle and started shooting aiming for the Golem?s exposed back. It seemed like his bolts didn?t even scratch the pain. Chewbacca?s weapon didn?t seem to have much effect either, not even distracting the droid from its target.

This was evident when the Golem opened up, a streak of rapid fire green bolts tracing across the rows of hovels behind Han, demolishing dozens as it attempted to gain a bead on the running smuggler. Luke was amazed as he saw whole habitations destroyed just to get to Solo. Collateral damage seemed to be almost impossible to avoid, whether they left the Golem to destroying the area and ran or whether they helped. But he knew that it was a Jedi?s duty to protect those weaker than him, and that the droid would kill far more if it wasn?t destroyed soon.

But the hovels weren?t the only things in danger: Solo was running out of places to dodge to, as the droid destroyed hiding place after hiding place. If something wasn?t done soon, they?re fearless leader was going to end up atomized. Luke decided it was time to act, not just think about it. ?What are you doing, Luke?? Wedge asked over the com as Luke ran.

Luke didn?t answer, leaving Wedge to figure that out for himself. It didn?t take long for the pilot to put two and two together.

?Ah, damn, Luke?s crazier than I thought. Wes, Hobbie, box the droid in, draw it over to that building.?

?Right, Wedge,? came Wes?s reply, completely serious this time.

Energy bolts began slamming into and around the droid, forcing it to turn around and reprioritize. The bolts didn?t seem to do very much damage, but they were enough to at least keep the droid on its toes. The Golem started strafing, firing as it moved away from the general direction of the blasts, right towards the building Luke was rapidly ascending.

Wes?s voice came over the com again, ?Well, good news and bad news, Wedge. The good news is that this seems to be working. The bad news is that droid just demolished most of the two buildings to either side of us, and it?s

 

Finally got cought up again. Geez, I can't even imagine how I missed four posts. They were good as always coota.

 

This is so funny!

 

another great post, Coota



inez

 

Thanks, everyone. I can't wait to get you all to chapter 5; I'm almost tempted to just post everything as quickly as possible, but then I wouldn't have anything more to post, and I'd have to write even faster

 

This post is a short one, so I'll probably add another later today.

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As the speeder skidded to a stop in front of Janson?s sniping point, Wedge contemplated whether it was too late to rejoin the Rebellion. He let the thought pass as he kept a lookout for the Imperial repulsorvans, speeders, APCs and hovertanks they had barely avoided on their way here. It seemed like a better idea to focus on his present situation, after all. Besides, he hadn?t had this much fun in years, risking his life or not. It had been simple to always do the one thing he was good at, flying, but now he was challenged by every new twist and turn thrown by Han?s unique style of doing things. Besides, if he left, the entire group would probably die a few minutes later from some half-baked plan: he assumed that Chewbacca had always been Han?s source of common sense, and since Janson and Hobbie couldn?t speak Wookie, he?d need some help keeping them under control.

Luke and Wedge jumped out of the speeder and ran for the entrance to the building, climbing the stairs of the decrepit old storehouse. ?I hope Janson?s still there; if he felt he had to disappear, we might not find him again for weeks, and we?d have to leave him on this rock,? Wedge opined as they ran.

?And that?s a bad thing, how??

?We need that gun, or else we?ll have to pay for it out of the run we?re making.?

?Wow, being around Han has affected you, Wedge; you?re already thinking about the bottom line! Han would be so proud if he could hear you now,? Luke teased.

?Can it, Skywalker,? Wedge replied as they reached the roof of the old storage facility.

Wes looked up from his position, relaxing against the case used to carry the gun. ?Glad to see you guys again; I figured you might have abandoned me after they started jamming communications around here.?

?We considered it,? Wedge admitted.

?I can almost feel the love here.? Wes grinned as they helped him pick up the metal case. Luke and Wedge strained their muscles carrying it, while it hardly seemed to even bother Janson. Wedge raised his eyebrows, wondering just how tough Janson was, despite his carefree exterior.

It only took a few minutes to haul the case down the steps, despite its weight, as the whole group moved with a sense of urgency. However, when they reached the bottom floor and loaded the case into the stolen speeder, Wes didn?t seem to be in any kind of real hurry. Instead, he just lounged against the side of the speeder; Wedge had a feeling that he was doing this on purpose to evoke a question out of someone. He decided he might as well be the victim.

?Any reason you don?t seem very worried about rushing to the spaceport, Wes?? Wedge asked, framing his question so that it was obvious he knew Wes was just waiting for a shill.

Janson grinned and threw him a wink, answering in a loud, informative voice, ?Well, you might be interested to know that they?ve got the spaceport sealed off. I got a pretty good view of it through the macrobinocs; Nothings going in or out.?

Han cursed, ?We can?t blast out of the same port twice in two weeks? they?d have us pegged as the same transport that helped out the Rebels for sure. I?d rather not be on every Imperial Most Wanted list in the galaxy.?

?Isn?t that eventually going to happen, anyways?? Luke asked, dropping into one of the speeder?s seats.

?Not if we?re good. The whole point to being a smuggler is anonymity. You can be a great pilot and still be an awful smuggler if every Imperial knows who you are: you aren?t going to make it through many customs check points if they can just look at your face in the Imperial Most Wanted roster.?

?Ok, so what do we do instead?? Wedge asked.

Han shrugged, seating himself on the hood of the speeder. ?Well, Reveres didn?t say there was any special urgency in getting the goods to the buyer: just said it needed to be done by the end of the month. Luke, you got any ideas? You used to live here. Any place we can hide for a few days while the Imperials make the pretense of investigating the Golem assaul

 

Another great post! I can't wait for the next one

 

inez

 

Coota, the last two posts were absolutely fabulous! Everyone is so funny and so well written!

Inspirations my specialty. Boy, did that bring back memories of the late Brian Daley's Han Solo Adventures! The Han and Chewie you are writing are very close to their characters in that trilogy .. and I love it!

This story is so funny and great! I can't wait for more!

RangerPrincess, Congrats, getting Mira_Terrik to review a fic is not easy. I may not post a lot of reviews, but I do read a lot of stories! You never know when I might feel like making an appearance!

 

Another good one coota.

 

I really enjoyed writing this one; I think it pretty much expresses a turning point for Luke, and places Han as a kind of new mentor.

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Han watched Luke, staring out into the darkness of the Tatooine night, the cloak he had purchased two weeks ago wrapped around him. All of the other smugglers were fast asleep, wrapped in what blankets they could find in Kenobi?s hovel, and curled up next to a space heater they had found. Han had tried to sleep, but he had too much to think about and plan, so he had gotten up to walk some of the adrenaline off.

He had found Luke, curled up outside of the hovel, just staring out into the cold desert night. Han hadn?t approached the young man, not wanting to disturb his contemplation. The kid had been through a lot, and needed to find a way to work through it. He just wondered if he had the strength to do so alone, as Luke seemed to insist upon. Han had thought that Luke might be able to do it, but he had been wrong about Leia as well: she had seemed so put together, so in charge of her surroundings. It seemed like the people just beginning to find their strength in their youth were the most likely to fall apart.

Han Solo had experienced that, back when he had been a young man, trying to make it on his own. He had ended up with a Wookie and a dishonorable discharge from Imperial service. He had made it through that period of his life, but not without help, not without accepting Chewie as his friend first. Han just hated to see Luke go through the same thing, knowing the answers lay right in front of him.

Something nudged at the back of his mind, to talk to the kid, to tell him that while everything might not work out, you had to live for the moment. For a second, Solo even felt a familiar presence, something that reminded him faintly of an old man who had been dead set on getting him killed on a damn fool idealistic crusade. Han grinned at that; it had turned out that the old man had been better at that than even he would ever know. After all, his actions, or the events he had set in motion, had been enough to get an old cynic like Han Solo to follow a path that might not hold as much profit, and far more danger, than his old one.

He shrugged, deciding he had nothing really to lose except the new friend he?d made over the course of some very interesting adventures, and stepped forward. ?We don?t often get to choose what happens in our lives; we can only make choices based on those events, and hope they were the right ones,? he spoke aloud, interrupting Luke from his reverie.

?Ben?? Luke asked, looking around in surprise.

?No, not Ben, kid. Just your old buddy, Han. You didn?t look so great, there.?

?Oh? I thought I felt him for a second?,? Luke trailed off, slumping against the wall again.

Han decided not to mention that he had felt the old man as well; Luke didn?t need any more reliance on superstition than he already had. Han admitted the kid had some amazing skills, but he refused to admit that any all-powerful Force controlled everything. It felt too much like predestination, and predestination had always seemed like a cop out to Han Solo. After all, what was the point of life if everything was already planned from the start?

?Luke, you need to get over this. You?re no good to us, or our little rebellion, in constant mourning.?

?It?s just that? my entire life, I was looking forward to something. I was looking forward to being a fighter pilot, a hero, and a famous soldier. Then I end up meeting Ben, and I?m looking forward to becoming a great Jedi and a warrior. Now, after everything that?s happened, I don?t know what to look forward to anymore.?

Han snorted, ?It ever occur to you to stop looking forward??

?What?? Luke asked.

?If your heads in the clouds all the time, how are you supposed to function in the real world??

?But if you don?t have anything to look forward to, what?s the point?? Luke asked.

?The point, kid, is living life day to day. If you?re constantly looking forward to something, sure, everything looks bad where you

 

Great post, Coota!

 

Not only the best of SW, but also a few quotes from other great movies.

fun stuff.

 

My dialogue could be so cliched that it's impossible for me to *not* do something like that, but could you enlighten me as to what other movies I used?

Some of the lines were specifically to reference Yoda's lines from ESB, but besides that, I don't *think* I was grabbing anything from anywhere else. Though it could have subconcious.

 

It's not my fault!

But really, it's not *that* cliched, is it?

Anyhow, back to writing.

 

Looks great so far, only have read the first page, but I'm upping this so I can find it latter

 

I'm really enjoying this story.

A couple of lines stuck out to me and reminded me of a couple of movies.
?Hey, it could happen!? Angels in the Outfield
"I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.? Casablanca
The part when they were shouting out to the galaxy reminded me of a scene in Network (I think that's the movie) where the guy is yelling out his window about being "As mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore."

I'll try not to make strange comments anymore.

 

Hey, wait, you're right, about the Casablanca line, anyway. That's one of my favorite movies, ever, and I tried to work that in there

And please keep up the strange comments: I love critique and criticism, even more than compliments(though those are good too: they seem to be forcing me to actually *complete* something for once. I've never gotten this far on anything before). I always love to know exactly what I'm doing right, or exactly what I'm doing wrong. Thanks for all the support so far, RebelMom, and everyone else!

 

Keep it up Coota. This is great.