Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

[pendell]

I recently got a nice thank you for the Silmarillion thread, and decided that I'd like to do another read through -- this time of the 1980 version of The Han Solo Adventures , written by Brian Daley in 1979-1980. This is one of the very earliest of the Legends continuity, long since made non-canon by the new movie Solo , but it's still a great space western romp, if you like that sort of thing, which I do.

So: This is a trilogy of three books, written in 1979 and 1980. For comparison, the Empire Strikes Back, Episode 5, was released in 1980. These stories, about several adventures Han and Chewie had before the events of episode 4, may have been written in part to make Han's character more sympathetic. The original Han, based partly on Francis Ford Coppola and James Dean was a bit of a loner and an antihero. A seemingly-amoral mercenary who cares only for his rewards and is more than willing to shoot first .

That's the Han Solo of 1974. But the plans for him in the 1980 movie.. well...

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Is it a spoiler for a movie that came out four decades ago? Anyway, Han is going to be the romantic lead and a good guy and tragically be frozen in carbonite as a cliffhanger.

As discussed, the character is going to be a romantic lead and do a lot of heroic things in the next few movies, and that means we need the audience to care about him when the inevitable dramatic scene happens. We want them sad at the conclusion of ESB , not cheering.

So this set of novels seem to go some ways towards laying that foundation for the character's redemptive arc.

Still, the fact these are prequels lay out some basic ground rules: We know Han and Chewie have to survive. We know they have to end the series with a ship and out of jail; but they also can't experience lasting success either. You can't have a desperate smuggler in a cantina on Tatooine, the backwater (backsand?) of the galaxy, if they became fantastically wealthy. No, so what we're going to have is a small time grifter, like Mal in firefly. Good enough to stay alive and keep his ship, not so good as to ever escape from that life. But with a heart of gold.

So with that intro out of the way, let's start the first chapter of the first story!

Han Solo at Star's End

Spoiler: Chapter 1

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We start off on the Planet Duroon , which is currently being pillaged by the Corporate Sector Authority . As we pan in , the Millenium Falcon has been detected by an authority patrol vessel in a no-go region and it is now in pursuit.

Han and Chewie orbit to the opposite side of the planet and re-enter, going down way low to level off only meters above the planetary surface. Using Terrain Following Radar to navigate at high speed this close to the ground.

This is one area where science fiction matches with science fact, as TFR was quite new in the 1970s, first seen on the F-111, and used in exactly the same fashion: For low-altitude high-speed penetration of a defended area.

Ironically, this is one area where science has bypassed science fiction, since with the advent of stealth low-flying altitude is no longer considered feasible . While it does help, flying that low is very dangerous. Invisibility at medium altitude is better.

Still , the Millenium Falcon is a hot ship but not a stealth ship. So Han gets to very low altitude to avoid the patrol.

Several minutes of flying and terror later, provoking the line of dialog: "that was a stupid place to put a mountain", Han arrives at his rendezvous point, a clearing in the jungle. Then he sets up shop and waits for his contact.

Han has this to say about his hiding place: " this whole part of Duroon's spotted with hot springs, thermal vents, heavy-metal magma seepages , and radiation anomalies. It'll take them a month to find me, and in an hour or three, I'll be gone like a cool breeze."

We also get a description of Han himself:

"A young man dressed in spaceman's high boots, dark uniform trousers with red piping, and civilian shirt and vest. Han had cast aside his uniform tunic, stripped of it's rank and insignia, years ago."

CANON NOTE: This version of Han is a former military officer, who has been cashiered from service. I assume this will be explained in due course.

We also get a note on his side arm: "A custom model blaster with rear-fitted macroscope, it's front sight blade filed off to facilitate the speed draw. His holster was worn low, tied down at the thigh, cut down so it exposed the weapon's trigger and trigger guard."

CANON NOTE: This Han Solo is a wild west speed-draw gunfighter. Why he needs a sniper scope on a pistol I have no idea , as it is as out of place as an oxygen mask on a fish, but I suppose that is one area where the toy manufacturers made it that way and that left the novelist with the unenviable job of shoehorning it in.

Han waits at the ramp, wishing for a drink. "There was a flask of ancient, vacuum-distilled jet juice under the cockpit console, but Han didn't feel like going for it; he had business to conduct."

CANON NOTE: This Han is a hard drinker. Maybe that's why we found him in a canteen in Episode IV? But it definitely goes with the whisky-swillin' gun-fightin' cowboy image.

He doesn't expect trouble, but he has the Falcon's belly turret on line, just in case.

Momentarily, his contacts show up. Biped, downy, globular torso, short arms and legs with more joints than a human's. Small head, large, unblinking eyes. Mouth and throat is a loose and parchy affair, smells like the jungle.

Now that they've met and not killed each other, the exchange occurs. The locals begin unloading their cargo: Guns. Lots and lots of guns.

It seems the Corporate Sector Authority is plundering this planet. These people are not the local inhabitants , but were imported by the Authority as workers; promised good jobs and a new life, they have instead been enslaved. So some few stole from the Authority and fled into the wild, where they gems from the mines (this is a mining planet) to purchase the weapons for an insurgency. Ploovo Two-For-One, a loan shark to whom Solo owns money, wangled this job for him. Solo flies in the guns, gets paid, pays Ploovo. Everybody wins except the Authority execs, who are already so obscenely rich the loss of this entire planet won't even dent their credit lines.

Han disavows any interest in them or their cause; he's just here to get his cash and be on his way. It's a job to him. Even so, that heart of gold shines through a bit as he sees them carrying their weapons and gives them a ten-minute course on firearms and elementary guerrilla tactics.

Just as he finishes the locals, who aren't fools, start testing their weapons to make sure they work. Fearing the shots will bring Authority intention, Han heads back to his ship to dodge the Authority patrol, which the locals tell him consists of only one ship: An armed Lighter , an orbit-to-ground cargo ferry which has been given blasters so it can act as local constabulary.

Raising shields and arming weapons, the Falcon takes off and is immediately slapped with a tractor beam. The Authority Captain had guessed roughly where the Falcon had to be, and was waiting in orbit for them. The Falcon boosts right at it, with the result the Authority ship hits it with a tractor beam and drops right on top of them, using the advantage of height to compensate for having the less speedy, maneuverable craft.

Fine. Han angles all his shields double-front, trains all cannons aft, and charges right at the Authority ship!

Time for a game of chicken, only with starships. Pretty soon the Authority vessel fills the bubble canopy.

The authority captain does the yummy versus pointy calculation and decides they're definitely not being paid enough for this, so they kill their tractor and dodge. At nearly the same microsecond, Han and Chewie make a desperate bank of their own.

The Falcon scorches by , missing the Authority ship by a meter, and hits it with the aft-pointed guns, scoring minor hits for superficial damage. It's still a moral victory as the Falcon makes it out of the gravity well and flashes into hyperspace. Mission complete.

Final thoughts:

Well, that was quite a ride. Also, it struck me just how much work Mr. Daley put into making his work relatively "hard" for space opera and internally consistent. We got a lot of characterization interspersed with the action of that last chapter, but subtly done so it's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Show, not tell, indeed.

And that's chapter 1. Join me for Chapter 2 for the harder part of the job: Gettin' paid.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Gnoman]

Spoiler: Chapter 1

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This is one area where science fiction matches with science fact, as TFR was quite new in the 1970s, first seen on the F-111, and used in exactly the same fashion: For low-altitude high-speed penetration of a defended area.

Ironically, this is one area where science has bypassed science fiction, since with the advent of stealth low-flying altitude is no longer considered feasible . While it does help, flying that low is very dangerous. Invisibility at medium altitude is better.

Still , the Millenium Falcon is a hot ship but not a stealth ship. So Han gets to very low altitude to avoid the patrol.

Spoiler

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Stealth doesn't make terrain following obsolete. Stealth aircraft have been shot down because the operators got careless, and stealth tech is fairly limited in spread. The war currently ongoing has seen many aircraft flying at or below treetop level in order to avoid air defensesand fighters.

Spoiler: Chapter 1

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CANON NOTE: This Han Solo is a wild west speed-draw gunfighter. Why he needs a sniper scope on a pistol I have no idea , as it is as out of place as an oxygen mask on a fish, but I suppose that is one area where the toy manufacturers made it that way and that left the novelist with the unenviable job of shoehorning it in.

.

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Can't blame this one on Kenner - the scope on Han's pistol is clearly visible in the cantina scene - there's a good silhouette shot as he stands up from the table. The propmakers created Han's DL-44 by sticking greeblies ona WWI-era Mauser C96, and the scope goes a long way toward breaking up that gun's very distinctive lines. It also makes some sense in practice - pistol scopes are a real thing, used as much for faster target acquisition (this is now done more with reflex sights, but that's a newer tech) than it is for magnification, though scopes do that as well. When we see Han shooting close-in, he doesn't use sights at all, preferring point shooting. When he does aim on film, it is usually at a range where both aspects of a scope would be useful.

[Fyraltari]

Well, this should be good. Unlike with your Silmarillion read-through, I haven't read this one, so I'm curious to see what shenanigans our favourite space smuggler gets into.

I'm not clear whether you've already read this once or if you're going in blind, though?

Han Solo at Star's End

Hmm, creative move on the part of the Mule to hire Solo to find the Second Foundation. Let's see if it works out for him.
Joking aside, I wonder if that was an intentional nod to one of Star Wars's many sources of inspiration.

Spoiler: Chapter 1

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Planet Duroon , which is currently being pillaged by the Corporate Sector Authority .

Hmm. Didn't expect this particular band of baddies to exist since the seventies.

Besides that, looks like this was more of an "action" chapter, than a "character" one. Is there any indication of how long before the movies this is set in? Hopefully we'll get some flashbacks to Han and Chewbacca's first meeting and his acquisition of the Falcon.

[hamishspence]

Besides that, looks like this was more of an "action" chapter, than a "character" one. Is there any indication of how long before the movies this is set in? Hopefully we'll get some flashbacks to Han and Chewbacca's first meeting and his acquisition of the Falcon.

As I recall, the novels themselves never say - but other Legendsverse material puts them as beginning around 2 years before ANH.

[Palanan]

I grew up on these and love them dearly.

Some of the best characters and aliens in the Star Wars galaxy, or so fond memory would have it.

Originally Posted by pendell
Join me for Chapter 2 for the harder part of the job: Gettin' paid.

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Wait ’til you get to the pet store.

Originally Posted by Fyraltari
Hmm. Didn't expect this particular band of baddies to exist since the seventies.

Not sure I understand you here. You weren’t expecting corporates to be portrayed as villains as early as the 70s, or after the 70s?

Worth noting that on an early draft of David Gerrold’s script for “The Trouble With Tribbles,” one of the producers wrote a note to the effect that in America, big business is never the villain. That was evidently an unwritten rule of television in the 60s, but clearly didn’t last long.

Originally Posted by Fyraltari
Hopefully we'll get some flashbacks to Han and Chewbacca's first meeting and his acquisition of the Falcon.

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No direct flashbacks to their first encounter, and nothing specific about picking up the Falcon—probably to leave these topics open for the movies to deal with.

As I recall, there’s an implication that Han and Chewie knew each other before Han was discharged, and this may have been meant to suggest that Han had helped Chewie and/or other Wookiees in some way that didn’t align with Imperial protocols. What this is, the books never say.

I personally feel that would have been a far more interesting angle for an origin movie, and would have added far more depth and nuance to young Han's character, but alas, not to be.

[pendell]

I'm not clear whether you've already read this once or if you're going in blind, though?

Not blind, but I haven't read these novels very often. I owned the last book as a first printing back in the 1980s and read it cover to cover because, before ESB, I was hungry for Star Wars and that was the available outlet at the time. Now that I am several decades older, I read the books with different eyes.

I had just pulled them out after a several years hiatus, took a look, and thought "Y'know? I bet this would make a good readthrough." So here we are.

Hmm, creative move on the part of the Mule to hire Solo to find the Second Foundation. Let's see if it works out for him.

Nothing ever works well when you hire Solo at this stage of his career :).

Hmm. Didn't expect this particular band of baddies to exist since the seventies.

It's right out of a spaghetti western, like Once Upon A Time in the West, 1968 . The first chapter is a scified-version of an old story in the American west -- desolate wasteland being exploited by a rich company (usually the local railroad) who brings in virtual serfs under false pretenses to work the mines or build the railroads or farm the land, living in Company Towns . The company takes everything worth having and pays the workers as little as they can help. Out in the territories before state governments were organized, there was precious little law and the companies were laws unto themselves.

Much like the Corporate Sector Authority in this story. The Empire , concentrated in the Core Worlds, is absorbed with its own affairs and couldn't care less about what happens here. Since the Empire is only three decades old, that probably held true for the Republic as well. Senators like Mon Mothma don't soil their robes touring mines out here in the back of beyond, so it attracts a very particular sort of greedy, unscrupulous profiteer common both in American history and in American western stories. It also drew the outlaws and smugglers who made a living outside the law as well.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Peelee]

I Not sure I understand you here. You weren’t expecting corporates to be portrayed as villains as early as the 70s, or after the 70s?

Pretty sure they're saying the didn't expect the Corporate Sector Authority, the specific group in Star Wars, to have been written into the SW universe that long ago. Staying power isn't exactly a hallmark of the Han Solo and Lando Calrissian adventures books.

Worth noting that on an early draft of David Gerrold’s script for “The Trouble With Tribbles,” one of the producers wrote a note to the effect that in America, big business is never the villain. That was evidently an unwritten rule of television in the 60s, but clearly didn’t last long.

Vestiges of it remain. Apple refuses to allow villains to have iPhones in movies, for example.

[Fyraltari]

Not sure I understand you here. You weren’t expecting corporates to be portrayed as villains as early as the 70s, or after the 70s?

I wasn't expecting Star Wars to have big corpos as villains as early as the seventies. I would have expected the eighties at the earliest, but then again, France's and the U.S.'s 70s weren't the exact same. Half of ours still being within the Trente Glorieuses, and all.

Worth noting that on an early draft of David Gerrold’s script for “The Trouble With Tribbles,” one of the producers wrote a note to the effect that in America, big business is never the villain. That was evidently an unwritten rule of television in the 60s, but clearly didn’t last long.

It's more subtle nowadays, American cinema does love its C.E.O. villains, but almost always portray it as lone bad actors rather than an institutional thing, in the way that megacorporations being regional Empire-backed despots suggests.

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I personally feel that would have been a far more interesting angle for an origin movie, and would have added far more depth and nuance to young Han's character, but alas, not to be.

I mean, that is roughly what happened, no?

Not blind, but I haven't read these novels very often. I owned the last book as a first printing back in the 1980s and read it cover to cover because, before ESB, I was hungry for Star Wars and that was the available outlet at the time. Now that I am several decades older, I read the books with different eyes.

I had just pulled them out after a several years hiatus, took a look, and thought "Y'know? I bet this would make a good readthrough." So here we are.

Ah okay, so you probably remember the major plot beats, but not the details. Got it.

Nothing ever works well when you hire Solo at this stage of his career :).

Spoiler: Spoiler for Isaac Asimov's Foundation serie, I guess

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Well, the Mule never found the Second Foundation, so that checks.

It's right out of a spaghetti western, like Once Upon A Time in the West, 1968 . The first chapter is a scified-version of an old story in the American west -- desolate wasteland being exploited by a rich company (usually the local railroad) who brings in virtual serfs under false pretenses to work the mines or build the railroads or farm the land, living in Company Towns . The company takes everything worth having and pays the workers as little as they can help. Out in the territories before state governments were organized, there was precious little law and the companies were laws unto themselves.

Right, I have overlooked the "Western in space" angle and was thinking about the corpos more like modern companies/cyberpunk all-encompassing megacorps and less like company-towns.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Fyraltari
I wasn't expecting Star Wars to have big corpos as villains as early as the seventies. I would have expected the eighties at the earliest….

Well, the first Han Solo novel came out in 1979, so reasonably 80s-adjacent.

As for the Corporate Sector Authority itself, I’ve always assumed that Brian Daley originated the CSA as a stand-in for the Empire, specifically to avoid stepping on any creative toes as the OT continued.

My sense is that Lucasfilm had some strict no-fly zones where authors were concerned, especially early on. As I recall, Lucasfilm hit the ceiling when Timothy Zahn wanted to include a plotline involving clones, since they were concerned about any potential infringement on their plans for the Clone Wars. And Karen Traviss was effectively locked out of continuing her Republic Commandos novels for related issues.

Originally Posted by Fyraltari
I mean, that is roughly what happened, no?

Not really, no.

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In the Brian Daley novels, Solo was a junior officer who was publicly humiliated and cashiered out of the service, with Chewbacca as the only individual willing to defend whatever it was he did.

In the recent Solo movie, he’s just a grunt who goes AWOL and escapes with Chewie in the process. His motives in the movie are self-preservation and greed (and twu wuv, maybe)—whereas in the novels it’s implied that he did something noble and self-sacrificing, and paid for it with his career and reputation.

At least, that’s what I recall across several decades, so we’ll see how accurate those memories are.

[gbaji]

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In the Brian Daley novels, Solo was a junior officer who was publicly humiliated and cashiered out of the service, with Chewbacca as the only individual willing to defend whatever it was he did.

In the recent Solo movie, he’s just a grunt who goes AWOL and escapes with Chewie in the process. His motives in the movie are self-preservation and greed (and twu wuv, maybe)—whereas in the novels it’s implied that he did something noble and self-sacrificing, and paid for it with his career and reputation.

At least, that’s what I recall across several decades, so we’ll see how accurate those memories are.

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The officer thing was significant, since IIRC he knows Imperial landing/docking protocols or somesuch, which helps him out (I think in this book actually). It was (again very very vague memories here) implied that part of what made him a good smuggler (well, better than average) was his experience in the Imperial Navy meant he knew how to avoid Imperial patrols and searches. He knew their practices and methodologies, and knew where the weaknesses were and how to exploit them.

I get why they went the direction they did in Solo, but it was a bit of a disappointment that they wrote that completely out of the character in canon. The original backstory much better explained his training as a pilot, at the very least, and perhaps why he prefers to "avoid Imperial entanglements".

He also apparently knows just enough about Imperial Detention facilities to break into one, but not so much how to get back out...

[Peelee]

A. C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy also expounded on Han's past, conveniently with gaps enough for the original Han Solo trilogy stories to fit in, and also going into his military service a little.

[Fyraltari]

I get why they went the direction they did in Solo, but it was a bit of a disappointment that they wrote that completely out of the character in canon. The original backstory much better explained his training as a pilot, at the very least, and perhaps why he prefers to "avoid Imperial entanglements".

Solo had a scene of Han as an Imperial pilot who disobeys orders and is consequently reassigned to the infantry on Minban. It was cut for time, but there's nothing stopping you from deciding that Solo's Han Solo was in the Imperial Navy.

[Peelee]

Solo had a scene of Han as an Imperial pilot who disobeys orders and is consequently reassigned to the infantry on Minban. It was cut for time, but there's nothing stopping you from deciding that Solo's Han Solo was in the Imperial Navy.

He's also shown as a TIE pilot in the comics.

[gbaji]

Solo had a scene of Han as an Imperial pilot who disobeys orders and is consequently reassigned to the infantry on Minban. It was cut for time, but there's nothing stopping you from deciding that Solo's Han Solo was in the Imperial Navy.

Was that in the deleted scenes (and I missed/forgot it)? Or cut as in "doens't actually appear in film anywhere, but it was mentioned by someone in an interview"? Cause that at least works and fits with the older backstory for him.

The film portrays it as though he's basically just tossed as cannon fodder into a meatgrinder battle with minimal training. Been a while since I watched the film though.

[Fyraltari]

Was that in the deleted scenes (and I missed/forgot it)?

Yes.

The film portrays it as though he's basically just tossed as cannon fodder into a meatgrinder battle with minimal training.

Also yes.

[pendell]

Spoiler: Foundation

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Well, the Mule never found the Second Foundation, so that checks.

Actually..

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He did. In Second Foundation. He confronted the First Speaker of the second foundation, who also had psychic powers. The Mule was distracted for a moment and promptly brainwashed; he returned to his capital a very different person and ruled for several years as a benevolent dictator before dying of a mutation; the dead hand of Hari Seldon's plan resumed its progress towards re-creating a second Galactic Empire -- until the events of Foundation's Edge resulted in the plan being altered too attempt something much more ambitious.

Anyway, let's move on to Chapter 2:

Spoiler: Part 1

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The Sunfighter Franchise -- for such is the identity the Millenium Falcon's transponder is now reporting it as -- sets down on the planet Etti IV , capital of the Corporate Sector.



Certainly a beautiful place.

Once on dirt, Han wastes no time in washing his ill-gotten income twice: He has been paid in gems by the miners of Duroon. Step 1 is to trade these gems for something less likely to raise comment; precious metals and rare crystals. Having put in the effort at the commodities market, he next goes down to the Authority and trades the consignment for an Authority Cash Voucher. Flush, he gets in contact with Ploovo Two-For-One, the loan shark, and suggest they meet at the Free Flight Dance Dome, a very posh and upscale restaurant in the port which features variable gravity. Artificial gravity is standard in the Star Wars universe; that's why Captain Needa and Admiral Piett stand on their bridges rather than floating around. This restaurant has taken this one step further; they have multiple artificial gravity generators on premises allowing them to create different micro-environments for their clientele; people who grew up in 1/6th gravity can relax in comfort while , two booths down, a family used to 2.5 gravities can finally sit at a meal without worrying about accidentally flying away. There is also a zero-gravity dance hall as well, so people can "fly" while dancing, tumbling, or any other athletic endeavor that takes their fancy. Hence the name: "Free Flight Dancing". Because you really can fly and dance here.

Y'know? That actually sounds like a lot of fun.

Ploovo Two-For-One accepts; he's a man who loves his comforts. And he has other reasons, which will be discussed at their proper time.

Before travelling to the restaurant, Han and Chewie stop in at Sabador's , by reputation the best exotic pet store, with the widest selection, in the spaceport.

On the way, we pass a patrol of Authority Security Police, or "Espos", for short, wearing brown uniforms and black helmets.
The flavor text for these people goes: "There were all kinds of cops in the galaxy, some good, some not. But the Authority's Security Police ... were among the worst. Their enforcements had nothing to do with justice, but only with the edicts of the Corporate Sector Authority. Han had never been able to figure out what turned a man into an unquestioning Espo bully-boy; he merely tried to ensure he didn't cross trails with any of them."

We are not disappointed. "Spidery night-gliders of Alterrn, iridescent-feathered song serpents... tiny, tubby, clownish marsupials.. cages and cases, tanks and environmental bubbles, teemed with ... eyes, ... tentacles, clicking chelse, and wobbling pseudopodia."

The shop is currently being staffed by the owner ... Sabador, a native of Rakrir. "Short segmented tubular body scuttled along on five pairs of limbs, two long eyestalks rotating constantly. " Seeing Han, he (?) raises himself up on his back two sets of limbs, until his eyestalks are level with Han.

Sabador quickly reaches a conclusion about this scruffy-looking duo, and tells them he's not in the market to buy a Wookie; wookies' are intelligent creatures, a pet store can't buy them.

As an aside, it appears the Corporate Sector isn't completely fallen to evil, as they still outlaw wookie slaves. Which is ironic, given the Empire definitely enslaves wookies on their home planet of Kasshyk. But it's illegal to buy or sell or trade them here. Lingering Republic influence maybe?

Chewbacca does NOT like hearing this. Han talks him down, but manages to wangle his anger into a discount from the proprieter; for they are here to buy. Not sell.

Exactly what they are buying we'll discuss further in the next part; the important clues are that 1) The proprieter considers them "revolting" 2) This particular specimen has been de-venomed but not de-scented 3) Has moreover been in rut since it was brought in, so it is very, very bad-tempered for a species already renowned as bad news.

Han takes it, on two conditions: He needs an opaque box to carry it in. And he needs it lightly sedated so he can handle it. He then uses the Angry Wookie Discount to get it at half the shopkeep's starting offer, who is all too happy to get them out of his business as soon as possible.

And so it is we find ourselves at the Free Flight; Han and Chewie step in, box in hand, stepping over to Ploovo Two-For-One's table.

Ploovo Two-For-One, "loan shark and former robber, smash-and-grab man, and bunco steerer out of the Cron Drift ", waits for our companions with three bodyguards at his table. He wants two things from this meeting. First, he wants his money. Second, he wants revenge on Han Solo, who has been stringing him along for far too long. He has decided to be clever about his revenge. He can't outright kill a man about to pay his debts, and he can't turn him over to the police; both unpardonable for a man in his position. But there's a third option, something about this very restaurant, which will give him his revenge without having to lift a finger.

Han arrives , sets down the box with Ploovo's payment. Just then, a group of Espos approach their table...

We've put quite a lot of Chekhov's guns on the wall in that section. I encourage the reader to take a few seconds to ponder over all the pieces of the puzzle and consider, for a few minutes, how this is all going to play out. Then read on, and we'll see if you're right or not.

Fasten your seat belts , partners, it's about to get bumpy

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MISSION TIME!
OBJECTIVE: ESCAPE THE FREE FLIGHT DANCE DOME

Ploovo spots the security police, takes the box, and suggests Solo vacate the premises at once. Solo stops him, saying they should all sit together, all-friendly like, and by the way the body guards have his permission to put their hands on the table, where he can see them. Now.

Ploovo signals acquiescence; caught between his bodyguards and Solo, any firefight is going to result in him getting perforated from every angle in seconds. So he's more than happy to be friends. We're all buddies, aren't we?

The patrol arrives at their table and calls Solo out under his assumed identity; his ship's been impounded!

Solo is shocked; his ships' inspections and approvals are all current (He should know, he forged them himself).

CHARACTER NOTE: Solo in this version has points in persuasion, starship operation , firearms, and at least one rank in slicing. He is only proficient in repair and mechanics -- that's what his partner specializes in. He's got a ton of charisma for those fast-talking cons, but I guess wisdom is his dump stat.

The espo sergeant shakes his head; the regulations have been updated. Just on surface inspection, the ship has 1) lift-to-mass ratio and armaments more in-line with a military ship 2) thruster customization for greater speed which removed a lot of the safety radiation shielding. 3) Irregular docking tackle. 4) Augmented defense shields 5) Heavy duty acceleration compensators and 6) Long-range detection gear. "That's some firecracker you've got there", the sarge concludes, noting she's out of spec and not on the Waivers list which would allow her to have any of it.

Han tries to brush it off and say he'll visit the portmaster later to square this all away, but the patrol isn't having it; their orders are to escort him directly to the portmaster right now. After which, the ship will be reverted back to its original factory specs by Authority techs.

Han realizes this is a death sentence; they got all this from a surface inspection. If authority mechanics start tearing the ship apart and finding the smuggling compartments, he'll be lucky just to be sent to prison. Just by docking at this port he's signed his own death warrant. And Ploovo Two-For-One knew this, but chose not to warn him. This way he gets to see Han Solo punished without having to take any blame or make any effort. It's Solo's fault for not checking things out before docking.

CHARACTER NOTE: Yep, definitely low wisdom score here.

Aside: What is even the stock YT-1300 good for except smuggling? Freighters in the Star Wars expanded universe are often just huge containers with an engine bolted on one end of the chain and a cockpit on the other, and they're small potatoes compared to the Guild Heighliners of the Dune Universe. The Millenium Falcon doesn't have that much more carrying capacity than a modern passenger aircraft; that implies a small cargo, therefore either very valuable or very perishable; a courier or a smuggler. Not a freighter, any more than you would try to deliver crates in a Honda Civic.

Trapped as he is, Solo hands over the box anyway, telling Ploovo it's his payment, with interest. The box is opened and suddenly THIS comes jumping out



A Dinko . Described in book as "temperament came close to psychopathy; One of the mysteries of the zoological world was how the little terrors tolerated each other long enough to reproduce; small enough to fit in a man's palm ... powerful rear legs moved constantly, and the twin pairs of grasping extremities on its chest pinched the air, longing for something upon which to fasten. It's long tongue flickered in and out between wicked, glittery fangs."

CANON NOTE: This isn't the last time we're going to see Dinkos in Legends; according to the wiki I just linked Palpatine used them to train Darth Maul; the trauma is partly what made him such a taciturn, expressionless being. It also explains the market for them; if they're good enough for the Emperor, surely they're good enough for all of the Empire's upper crust!

At any rate, the creature, which has an Authority Cash Voucher tied around its dorsal (Ploovo's payment) , leaps out of the box and energetically tries to eat Ploovo's nose!

Oh yes, the stink. I'm forgetting to mention the stink. The Dinko combines the worst attributes of the wolverine and the skunk, and it sprays everyone within three meters of the table with its scent glands. And this creature is in rut ... the effect is something like the world's biggest smoke bomb, if that bomb let out poo gas and had teeth and a vicious temper.

This effectively distracts everyone at the table, so Han and Chewie make a break for it! The bodyguards are confused; some trying to help their boss detach the dinko from his face, others trying to chase our daring duo. The espos, outing themselves as ill-trained bullies who shouldn't be issued a lollipop much less a firearm, rip out their guns and start blasting away.

Um.. excuse me? You're going to open fire on a fleeing man in the middle of a crowded restaurant? In the spaceport of the Authority Capital? Like as not you'll accidentally tag an Authority exec out on the town with a significant other, and then, if you're lucky, you can spend the rest of your employment on an asteroid somewhere.

Han and Chewie vault the bar, where the bartenders reach under the bar , pull out staves, to mix it up and keep their bar from being trashed. Han fights them off for one combat round, then he's past and Chewie takes up the fight. Drawing his own gun and throwing suppressive fire back at the espos (in a crowded restaurant; for pity's sake!) , he makes it over to the gravity control panel.

Use Computer Check: FAIL.

Han doesn't have any idea how to use the equipment and he's under fire, so he just starts ramming all the levers up to MAX.

Everyone in the bar, except those behind the bar in the service area, is immediately slammed to the floor under the weight of 3.5G, which is the maximum the generators can support. Happily, there weren't any dancers in the air at the time, so no one is killed or seriously injured. It's just the equivalent of being sat on by a very, very heavy person.

CHARACTER NOTE: Han is certainly the "Scoundrel" after which the feat Scoundrel's Luck is named. he certainly has that.

That only leaves the two bartenders to deal with, and Chewie has already solved that problem. Chewbacca comes over and look at the control panel, growls at Han for a klutz, and takes 20 over the panel. After a few minutes he has created a 1-g corridor through the restaurant to the entrance which carefully avoids both authority gunmen and underworld thugs. They step carefully down the path and outside , where they confront a party of revellers coming in for an evening of fun.

HAN [ in his most officious, bureaucratic tone]: "This establishment is closed and under quarantine. Fronk's Fever"

BLUFF CHECK : PASS.

The partyers believe him completely, and scatter to the four winds. They grab an Uber to return to the spaceport, while Han reassures Chewbacca they'll never hear from Ploovo again; humiliated he may be, and angry he may be, but he was paid back the full amount so there's no way his backers will spring for a bounty on the pair. If Ploovo Two-For-One is smart (and he is very smart), he'll cut his losses and never, ever cross paths with our smugglers again.

As they travel towards the spaceport , Han muses : "Life is getting tough for the independent businessman."

MISSION COMPLETE!

*Unbuckles seat belt*

Well.. that... that was quite a ride. Novel hasn't let up at all from the last chapter. We've learned a bit more about Han and about the Falcon, and survived another caper. But we still have to get off-planet. Etti IV is pretty but I think it's about to become a bad place for our health.

Actually, this feels a lot like a gaming session with an absolutely crazy rogue. I wonder if Brian Daley ever sat at a gaming table?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[runeghost]

Thanks for the thread - Andor's Pre-Mor Authority reminded me a lot of the Corporate Sector, which had them in the back of my mind.

I like this version of Han, and it remains my head-canon version of the character. To me, it fits him better than any changes made since (especially the Solo movie, which committed the cardinal sin of trying to fit too much the character's backstory into a single film, though Lando was excellent).

My no-prize attempt for the gunfighter's blaster (with scope) was that the gun was powerful enough and Han's hands steady enough (or maybe when braced) that with the scope, it could work as a sort of pocket-sniper rifle. I.e. keeping the scope let it be two guns in one: a very potent gunslinger's weapon, and something that could take very long-range shots with a little time to aim.

[Keltest]

A lot of blasters in Star Wars seem to have scopes or other attachments that are designed to work with things like a Mandalorian's helmet HUD. Its possible that Han's blaster is one such, and that he simply doesn't have the necessary hardware to work with that particular piece.

[Gnoman]

Actually..
Aside: What is even the stock YT-1300 good for except smuggling? Freighters in the Star Wars expanded universe are often just huge containers with an engine bolted on one end of the chain and a cockpit on the other, and they're small potatoes compared to the Guild Heighliners of the Dune Universe. The Millenium Falcon doesn't have that much more carrying capacity than a modern passenger aircraft; that implies a small cargo, therefore either very valuable or very perishable; a courier or a smuggler. Not a freighter, any more than you would try to deliver crates in a Honda Civic.

Official sources (both canons) put the cargo at 25-100 tons (with between 8 and 0 passenger cabins) depending on configuration. On Earth, that level of cargo is handled by aircraft - 100 tons is right in line with what a 747 can carry - so it is probably best to think of the YT-1300 in that category, especially since even the stock one is quite fast with a class 2 hyperdrive and good sublight acceleration. Larger bulk transports would have a Class 3 and be extremely sluggish in sublight. Perishables, high-value low-bulk cargoes, or anything with a time sensitive nature would be ideal. Also remember that a lot of worlds in the GFFA are extremely sparsely populated without a lot of interstellar trade. Diverting a massive bulk freighter to one of them very often would probably be a waste, so they're going to be served by smaller tramps.
-

My no-prize attempt for the gunfighter's blaster (with scope) was that the gun was powerful enough and Han's hands steady enough (or maybe when braced) that with the scope, it could work as a sort of pocket-sniper rifle. I.e. keeping the scope let it be two guns in one: a very potent gunslinger's weapon, and something that could take very long-range shots with a little time to aim.

Scopes on a pistol are pretty useful and common. They rob you of the sights, but as I mentioned Han doesn't use the sights at close range - any time we see him in a fight where he's not shooting well into ranges that scopes make sense, he's relying entirely on the quite real "I'm pointing with my arm at this guy, I'll hit him somewhere" technique.

[Peelee]

Also:

What is a Ford F-150 good for except smuggling? Freighters in out universe are enormous cargo container ships/heavy duty airplanes/18-wheeler tractor trailers.

YT-1300s are light freighters. The key word here is "light". It's the Star Wars pickup truck.

[LeSwordfish]

Wookiepedia suggests that the notch on the front of the milennium falcon is for pushing big cargo crates around. I'm not sure if Solo rendered that non-canon, with Lando having an...escape pod? Something? there.

That still doesn't look very much freight for interstellar distances to me (less than a couple of big lorries, for example) but following that train of thought takes us to "surely nothing is economically worth shipping from planet to planet" and that's silly talk for Star Wars.

[pendell]

Also:

What is a Ford F-150 good for except smuggling? Freighters in out universe are enormous cargo container ships/heavy duty airplanes/18-wheeler tractor trailers.

YT-1300s are light freighters. The key word here is "light". It's the Star Wars pickup truck.

What can you fit in an F-150 that will allow you to make a living as a commercial driver with that as your rig? It's not going to be eggs or petroleum or anything else; the profit isn't adequate for the volume. Even in our world, if your primary occupation is "F-150 freight driver", you're talking very small but very valuable cargoes. So , Yeah .

Of course, in the real world F-150s have legal use as recreational vehicles, carrying stuff around farms, driving in the third world and such. But they don't compete for legitimate commercial freight; that's not their design purpose.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Peelee]

What can you fit in an F-150 that will allow you to make a living as a commercial driver with that as your rig?

So I have a question. When you drive and see a F150 on the road, do you think, "ah, that person is a making their living as a commercial driver with that as their rig, which is clearly economically unviable, and thus this must be a smuggler!"?

YT1300 is a pickup, man. Yeah, Han uses it for smuggling because he doesn't use it for legitimate work. That doesn't mean there is literally no feasible explanation that it could ever be used for legitimate work. You're using circular reasoning here to try to make your point.

[Keltest]

What can you fit in an F-150 that will allow you to make a living as a commercial driver with that as your rig? It's not going to be eggs or petroleum or anything else; the profit isn't adequate for the volume. Even in our world, if your primary occupation is "F-150 freight driver", you're talking very small but very valuable cargoes. So , Yeah .

Of course, in the real world F-150s have legal use as recreational vehicles, carrying stuff around farms, driving in the third world and such. But they don't compete for legitimate commercial freight; that's not their design purpose.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Han Solo certainly seems to spend plenty of time out in the boonies, so having something that can go "off road" so to speak might be advantageous. Certainly the space equivalent of the 18 wheelers would need equivalent facilities to receive them, whereas the Falcon can just land anywhere with a stable enough flat surface.

[pendell]

Han Solo certainly seems to spend plenty of time out in the boonies, so having something that can go "off road" so to speak might be advantageous. Certainly the space equivalent of the 18 wheelers would need equivalent facilities to receive them, whereas the Falcon can just land anywhere with a stable enough flat surface.

Makes sense; it wouldn't be high value but there would be a use for it as a tramp freighter to primitive worlds; like a modern bush pilot delivering to the rural third world or Alaska. There are no roads and therefore no place for 18-wheelers; freight must be delivered by air. And since there is no developed airstrip there's no place for a 747 to land, so you're looking at a small aircraft or a piper cub. Possibly even seaplanes; it's a lot easier to find a lake or a river to land on in some parts of the world than a cleared airstrip.

So I guess the legitimate use for a YT-1300 would be the Tramp Trade . That is, small operators on small margins carrying ad hoc cargos where there is no established trade lane. Fill 'er up with whatever seems likely to bring a profit, sell it at the next port, then buy whatever looks like it can bring a profit at the next port. It's a very nomadic existence -- and by its definition it is marginal. Once a trade route becomes really profitable people will start improving it, adding spaceport facilities and then the Lucrehulks begin shipping in quantities the small trader can't compete with; so it's on to other low-margin planets and cargoes the big players don't see as worth their time.

So I have a question. When you drive and see a F150 on the road, do you think, "ah, that person is a making their living as a commercial driver with that as their rig, which is clearly economically unviable, and thus this must be a smuggler!"?

Normally when I see an F-150 I assume it is a pleasure vehicle; someone may be driving it for commute or other personal use. I'd be very surprised to see one configured to seriously haul freight as a commercial vehicle.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Peelee]

Normally when I see an F-150 I assume it is a pleasure vehicle; someone may be driving it for commute or other personal use. I'd be very surprised to see one configured to seriously haul freight as a commercial vehicle.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Great, so we've established that non-commercial use is a thing. That's progress.

Now, let's pretend that doesnt exist and a vehicle must have commercial use. Your apparent refusal to acknowledge the existence of the trades does not, in fact, mean that such professions and people don't actually exist. I promise you, they're there. Im fact, I literally just got back from picking up lunch. Barbecue from across the street, pulled pork sandwich with Mac and cheese. On the maybe a minute drive not counting the light, I saw at least 3 commercial pickup trucks with company livery on them. I'm not counting any of the trucks the firm I work for has in this, btw, that would be a little cheap.

Quick tip, service trucks are usually painted white. They'll be easy to spot if you look for em. They're everywhere. And used commercially.

[Keltest]

Great, so we've established that non-commercial use is a thing. That's progress.

Now, let's pretend that doesnt exist and a vehicle must have commercial use. Your apparent refusal to acknowledge the existence of the trades does not, in fact, mean that such professions and people don't actually exist. I promise you, they're there. Im fact, I literally just got back from picking up lunch. Barbecue from across the street, pulled pork sandwich with Mac and cheese. On the maybe a minute drive not counting the light, I saw at least 3 commercial pickup trucks with company livery on them. I'm not counting any of the trucks the firm I work for has in this, btw, that would be a little cheap.

Quick tip, service trucks are usually painted white. They'll be easy to spot if you look for em. They're everywhere. And used commercially.

Not that I disagree with the overall point, but commercial pickup trucks like the ones youre describing usually operate locally. We have better tools for hauling heavy equipment from Seattle to Phoenix, for example, and thats something that doesnt map well to interplanetary distances.

Pendell has already conceded the point on operating in less developed areas that dont have the infrastructure to support massive trade vehicles, so I dont think theres much point in pressing this specific train of thought when its already fairly weak at the seams.

[Wintermoot]

Great, so we've established that non-commercial use is a thing. That's progress.

Now, let's pretend that doesnt exist and a vehicle must have commercial use. Your apparent refusal to acknowledge the existence of the trades does not, in fact, mean that such professions and people don't actually exist. I promise you, they're there. Im fact, I literally just got back from picking up lunch. Barbecue from across the street, pulled pork sandwich with Mac and cheese. On the maybe a minute drive not counting the light, I saw at least 3 commercial pickup trucks with company livery on them. I'm not counting any of the trucks the firm I work for has in this, btw, that would be a little cheap.

Quick tip, service trucks are usually painted white. They'll be easy to spot if you look for em. They're everywhere. And used commercially.

Except Han Solo isn't a space plumber or a space contractor or a space handyman. His supposed cover story is he's a freight hauler. Someone who's entire shtick is moving cargo (freight) from point A to point B.

I don't think you're going to find many people who would say "the F-150 is a great option" for that.

Likewise the "light freighter" that the Falcon is built on, is a terrible choice for hauling freight full-stop. It's cargo space is minimal. How anyone ever thought "this is a good design for a light freighter" is ridiculous, which is the point being made.

The smallest terrestial vehicle you might want to compare his job to is an 18-wheeler, which is a small tractor hauling a cargo container three to four times it's length. That's what a space "light freighter" should theoretically compare to.

It's okay to admit that the falcon is a failure of a design for what it was intended for. It's still wicked cool.

[pendell]

Great, so we've established that non-commercial use is a thing. That's progress.

Now, let's pretend that doesnt exist and a vehicle must have commercial use. Your apparent refusal to acknowledge the existence of the trades does not, in fact, mean that such professions and people don't actually exist. I promise you, they're there. Im fact, I literally just got back from picking up lunch. Barbecue from across the street, pulled pork sandwich with Mac and cheese. On the maybe a minute drive not counting the light, I saw at least 3 commercial pickup trucks with company livery on them. I'm not counting any of the trucks the firm I work for has in this, btw, that would be a little cheap.

Quick tip, service trucks are usually painted white. They'll be easy to spot if you look for em. They're everywhere. And used commercially.

When I say "commercial" I specifically mean "commercial freight" -- hauling cargo from point A to point B and this is the primary means of making income. Also requires a commercial driver's license. You don't need a CDL for an F-150 even if its' owned by a business; you do for a Kenworth.

Sure, lots of companies own F-150s to move minor stuff and people around; service vehicles of all kinds just as you say. But those kinds of jobs are incidental to the real money the company is making; they aren't expecting to stay in business based on the profit-grade cargoes those F-150s can haul.

For Han, the Millenium Falcon is not an incidental to his business; he's not a mechanic or a doctor flying from world to world and using the ship just as transport. The Millenium Falcon IS his business; the only money he makes is the profit on his cargo. And since there's no way he can pay for ship fuel hauling fertilizer, that means he's going to be carrying small cargoes which need very high speed delivery.

I think Keltest has it right; the legitimate use for a YT-1300 is as a tramp ship carrying independent cargos on no fixed schedule. It's a living, but Han wants more money than he can get from flying legal cargo.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[ecarden]

I think Keltest has it right; the legitimate use for a YT-1300 is as a tramp ship carrying independent cargos on no fixed schedule. It's a living, but Han wants more money than he can get from flying legal cargo.

I tend to agree, though I think you could also use it as basically a bonded courier, carrying high value, small cargos/personnel. But there really ought to be better ships for that...