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

[runeghost]

I love some of the dialogue in this novel.

Spoiler

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When Han looks at the Z-95 headhunters: "What'd you do, knock over a museum?"

You can practically hear Harrison Ford's voice.

[pendell]

I admit this is early, but I want to see what happens next!

Spoiler: Chapter 4

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So let's review our assets for The Show as Han calls it. And we have six Z-95 headhunters.



In the legends continuity, The Z-95 is the super hot ship of the Clone Wars, the ship that defined starfighter combat for its generation. Fast, maneuverable, rugged (for its time) , they've been common as dirt throughout the galaxy. Apparently some fought at the Battle of Exegol in the Sequel Trilogy.

It's weaknesses are that it is obsolescent by this time , and it doesn't have an onboard astromech, so the pilot has to do all the computation and other functions personally, which is quite a workload.

I've encountered the Z-95 as an adversary in TIE Fighter (video) , and as a flyable craft in X-wing alliance (video) . I dread flying the things because, for all the durability they have in other canon, in these games they have exactly half the durability of an X-wing, meaning you're dead in two hits; first shot blows away the shields , second shot dusts the ships. This is in part because the cannons in the Yavin era are significantly more powerful than in the clone wars era, so the big Z is a lot less durable than its reputation would make it.

It actually is a strong argument for the TIE Fighter , which I suspect was designed as a counter to the Z-95 and the Y-wing; what's the point of a shield generator if it blows out after one shot? Might as well save the mass and make a faster, more maneuverable ship -- and make no mistake, both the TIE and the TIE/In will give the Z-95 a very hard time.

Another point is that the Z-95 here is different from the cut-in-half x-wing of later lore: Described as "compact twin-engined swing-wing craft. Their external hardpoints, were rockets and pylons had been mounted, were bare."

Swing-wing with hardpoints? That sounds like an F-14 or a MIG-23 , which were the Super Hot ships of the 1970s. Variable geometry wings were all the rage when this book was written, until we realized that VGW didn't buy you all that much for the weight and complexity it added to the airframe; that's why we don't build them any more.

Even so, the Z is still a great little ship, and much, much better than nothing. These six were bought from a planetary constabulary which was, ironically, using them for anti-smuggling patrol . They outlaws fixed them up for resale but have held onto them because they don't have any other fighters just at the moment. Now it's Han, Jess, and 4 mechanics pressed into the role of fighter pilot.


We get a bit of a glimpse into Solo's backstory: "Once, Han had lived, eaten and slept high-speed flying. He'd trained under men who thought of little else. Even off-duty life had revolved around hand-eye skills, control, balance. Drunk, he'd stood on his head and played ring-toss and been flung aloft from a blanket with a handful of darts to twist in mid-air and throw bulls-eyes time and again. He'd flown ships like this one, and ships a good deal faster, through every conceivable maneuver. Once. "

This rings a bell with the death star novelization where we see a tie fighter pilot playing one of these games: Holding his arm up at an angle, balancing coins on his elbow, then snapping his hand down to see how many he can catch at once before they spread and scatter.

CHARACTER NOTE: Han Solo was active-duty military at one point, and a fighter pilot, though he's out of the prime age for the show. That doesn't mean he was Imperial Navy or that he flew TIE fighters, though. He might have been in the Corellian Defense Force , or some other small outfit.

Jess steps up and Han realizes she intends to fly in the defense. This being the 70s, he gives her some sexist no-can-do nonsense which she quickly shuts down; she's the best pilot here aside from Han, and moreover it's her investment. So, yeah, she's flying.

He reviews the situation, and briefs his flight:

"IRD fighters have an edge in speed, but these old Headhunters can take a tighter turn and take a real beating, which is why they're still around. IRD's aren't very aerodynamic; that's their nature. Their pilots hate to come down and lock horns in a planetary atmosphere; they call it goo. These guys will have to, though, to hit the base, but we can't wait until they get down to hit them, or some might get through.

We've got six ships. That's three two-ship elements. If you've got anything worth protecting with those flight helmets, you'll remember this: Stay with your wingman . Two ships together are five times as powerful as they are on their own, and they're ten times safer."

"I'll keep this simple. Keep your eyes open and make sure it's your guns, not your tail, that's pointed at the enemy. Since we're protecting a ground installation, we'll have to ride our kills. That means if you're not sure whether the opposition is hit or faking, you sit on his tail and goes down and stays down. Don't think just because he's nosediving and leaving a vapor trail that he's out of it. That's an old trick. If you get an explosion from him, fine. If you get a flamer, let him go, he's finished. But otherwise you ride your kill all the way to the cellar; we've got too much to lose here. ... If the bandits offer a head-on pass, take them up on it; you can pitch as hard as they can. "

SPOILER ALERT: Every one of these dicta will be ignored by himself or his green pilots, and it will cost them.

Jess divides them up into three two-ship elements:

HEADHUNTER-1: Han Solo, lead.
HEADHUNTER-2: "a lanky, soft-spoken man".

HEADHUNTER-3: Jess, the team's flight instructor and who's done some fighting in this ship. She's our second combat veteran.
HEADHUNTER-4: A Lafarian pilot who has been through 4 minutes of combat. Solo considers him a veteran, as a lot of fighter pilots don't survive even one.

HEADHUNTER-5: A mechanic.
HEADHUNTER-6: Also a mechanic, noted as the brother of HeadHunter-5. They are inseparable and practically know what the other thinks, which is why they're in our third wing.

None of them save Solo have any academy training; they've taken the ships up for basic maneuvers, but they've never fought as a unit.

So we're on our way up now, heading for the merge; we're call them BANDIT-1 through BANDIT-4.

Jess has the first two elements (Headhunter 1-4) to engage the bad guys up close while HEADHUNTER-5, and -6, her weakest flyers, will hang back and engage anyone who makes it past.

Let's see if I can ASCII art this

============
^ ^ ^ ^
B1 B2 B3 B4

( ( ( (
H1(han) H2 H3 (Jess) H4


((
H5 H6

================

well, hopefully that makes a little sense.

This engagement will take place entirely within visual range, ACM or dogfighting. The explanation given is that, in a sense, ALL the fighters are stealth fighters , the ECM and ECCM on each side cancelling the other out, so they don't have the option of simply blasting each other down with missiles BVR. This has echoes with the US Vietnam Air War , which concluded in the early 1970s. Long-range missiles such as the AIM-7 and BVR identification wasn't quite there yet, with the result that sophisticated American jets wound up in dogfights -- which, as interceptors, they were not intended for -- with vehicles a generation older. We still "won", but the casualty rate was such that the Air Force and Navy took notice.

With that digression aside..

FIGHT'S ON! We're in the merge!

The bandits break every rule of good flight by splitting their elements, two of them peeling off and way in an obvious bait maneuver.

Han's wingman falls for it and chases him , despite Han hollering for him to not leave Han. Yup, goin' after Viper .

Works out the same way. Han's wing is baited out all by himself, BANDIT-1 slides in behind him and slaps him down. Chalk one up for the bad guys. Han realizes he never even knew the young man's name.

At this point , the book tells us Han makes a tactical error. He should (according to our author) form a Lufberry circle with his remaining fighters for mutual support. But he's berserk. No one cuts in on me for a wingman , pal, and he leaps into the furball with BANDIT-1.

Meanwhile , it isn't working on HEADHUNTER-3 element. Sure enough, BANDIT-3 goes zipping off into never land where it is joined by BANDIT-2, as they head down to the surface and the brothers. The Lafarian wingman declines to chase, and when BANDIT-4 tries to zero Jess the HEADHUNTER pair scissor and this gives HEADHUNTER-4 a kill shot. BRRRRT. Score is 1-1.

BANDIT-2 and -3 join as a new element and get into it with the brothers. Two novices whose total flight time is measured in the single-digits versus trained professionals. HEADHUNTER-3 and -4 dive down to assist but it is much, MUCH too late. 1-3.

BANDIT-2 comes back and heads directly at Headhunter-4. He gets some shots into the frame before Jess is able to clean him off. He power dives away and Jess, disregarding Han's advice , lets him go because she's more concerned about her wingmate.

There's nothing she can do for him; he's flyable but crippled, she instructs him to nurse the ship home and he does, alive, but out of the fight. 1-4. She goes in pursuit of BANDIT-3, who is busy executing SEAD runs on the airstrip's turbolaser emplacements; doing a pretty thorough job of wrecking them , too.

Meanwhile, Han follows his own advice and uses his craft's strength against BANDIT-1's weakness, suckering him into a lower-altitude Two-circle rate fight , faking incompetence with the vehicle and until he can turn really well and BANDIT-1 just sort of floats in front of him. Bang you're dead. 2-4.

"Happy Graduation day, sucker!" Han bellows as he heads back to the rest of the fight.

Jess is in trouble; she's trying to latch onto BANDIT-3 and almost has him when she suddenly starts eating blaster bolts herself. BANDIT-2 isn't as dead as she thought and is now trying to cash in her chips. Her ship takes damage, but just then Han arrives and clears her tail with some well-aimed fire, and BANDIT-2 goes to whatever Valhalla awaits fast movers. 3-4.

Jess is at this point in the perfect position and takes the shot, sending BANDIT-3 down in fire. 4-4. That's it for the threat; the outlaws can evacuate their base before the Authority returns. But it's not over yet.

Fires spread across her ship and kill her controls; she has no control of the vehicle and is flying upside down only a very small distance above the ground. If she ejects now, the ejection seat will fire her directly into the ground.

Han has a plan. He tells Jess to be prepared to eject on the count of three.

ONE. brings his Headhunter very, very close to HEADHUNTER-3.

TWO . He swings his wing up to tap hers, flpping her spacecraft over.

THREE! PUNCH OUT, JESS!

She does, hitting the button just as the cockpit is facing directly away from the ground. Her chute deploys and she lands safely while her fighter spirals into a fiery ending. Final score 4-5, which isn't all that bad considering these are outlaw novices against trained pilots.

If that sounds crazy, well, it is. But There's precedent . During the battle of Britain it was not entirely unknown for Spitfire pilots to destroy V-1s by tipping them with the wing, sending them out of control. It's a rare occurrence (dozens of tipped rockets destroyed versus thousands the more conventional way , but it has been done.

Back on the ground. Jess thanks Han and wishes he would have done this for a better reason than saving his ship.

BACKSTORY-RIFFIC CHARACTER NOTE:

Han replies:

"I already know all about morality, Jess. A friend of mine made a decision once, thought he was doing the moral thing. Hell, he was. But he'd been conned. He lost his career, his girl, everything. This friend of mine, he ended up standing there while they ripped the rank and insignia off his tunic. The people who didn't want him stood up against a wall and shot were laughing at him. A whole planet. He shipped out of there and never went back... his own commanding officer committed perjury against him. There was only one witness in his defense ... and who's going to believe a wookie?"

So. Han was Cashiered , which is a different thing from being discharged. Dishonorable discharge happens to an enlisted person. An officer who has so disgraced themselves as to be unfit to serve in any capacity whatever, at least in the old days, would have to stand on parade in front of their unit while their fellow soldiers broke their sword, tore off every decoration, every badge, then the unit marches away, leaving the unfortunate alone, forever. It's the sort of thing which is done when it's not quite bad enough to be the death penalty, but right up there.

So Han was thrown of the military. Not deserted. Cast out, like a clipped nail. And he never forgot it.. at least, in this version of the story.

Jess finally responds. "It's lucky I know you're a mercenary, Solo. It's lucky I know you only flew that headhunter to protect the Falcon, not to protect lives. And that you saved me so I could hold up my end of our bargain. It's lucky you'll probably never do a single selfless decent thing in your life, and that everything that happened to day fits in , in some crazy way, with that greedy, [stupid] behavioral pattern of yours. Lucky... for me."

And she walks away. We can't quite see her face.

And that was quite, QUITE a ride. I hope you enjoyed that chapter as much as I did writing it!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Keltest]

I believe that Han was nominally a TIE pilot during his stint in the military, but never really did anything interesting with the craft. He got cashiered pretty early into his actual service because the Imperial military is just the absolute worst and managed to cross his moral line really quickly.

As for the headhunters, theyre basically the grandfather design for the X-wing, which came about more or less from the idea of giving the headhunter some protein, some time in the gym, and the iconic S-foils for some extra oomph. They behave similarly to an X-wing in terms of what you do with them, theyre just older.

[Peelee]

I believe that Han was nominally a TIE pilot during his stint in the military, but never really did anything interesting with the craft.

In legends he set records flying a TIE and greatly enjoyed it. I'm trying to remember the comics where he's a flight cadet but blanking at the moment.

[PontificatusRex]

Hey, just discovering this thread. I read these as a young lad multiple times and totally loved them, they definitely shaped my view of the character Han Solo. It was years later before I realized that my view of Solo from the books was seriously more competent and badass than the guy in the movies.

Interesting note - the author Brian Daley was a Vietnam vet (his first novel, 'The Doomfarers of Coramonde', is about a squad of soldiers in Vietnam summoned to a fantasy world to help kill a dragon (and then do other stuff)), and I think that shows in his writing. In my observation veterans who have experienced real life combat write about it on a different level than people who haven't, and in these books Daley definitely showed he understood what it meant to be in a fight for your life.

It's kind of amazing that he was inventing worlds and situations set in Lucas's universe while having almost no info about said universe. It's been fun reading this thread and seeing which of his inventions made it into the larger canon.

Cool trivia note: Daley also adapted the original trilogy as a series of radio dramas for NPR. I need to track those down and give them a listen. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1996 - RIP.

[Dire_Flumph]

Cool trivia note: Daley also adapted the original trilogy as a series of radio dramas for NPR. I need to track those down and give them a listen. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1996 - RIP.

Those have been out of print for awhile and as far as I know have never had an official digital release, though they have been pretty consistently uploaded to YouTube. Great stuff, always enjoyed Brock Peters' take on Darth Vader in particular.

[Velaryon]

Finding this Let's Read has been one of the best unexpected surprises of the year so far for me. The third book in this trilogy, Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, was one of the first Star Wars novels I ever read. Eventually I was able to track down the earlier books, and they did not disappoint.

It amazes me not only that Brian Daley nailed the character of Han Solo so well despite two thirds of the original trilogy not even existing yet when he wrote them, but also that they hold up so well when literally hundreds of other books have followed featuring these characters. The specific characters and places of these books rarely if ever popped up again in later Legends books, certainly not as much as those created by authors like Timothy Zahn, Michael Stackpole, or Kevin J. Anderson, or several others. But I really feel like Daley nailed the vibe of Han Solo almost perfectly, so well that it holds up all the way til the present day.

I won't go as far as to say these are among the best the Legends continuity had to offer, but I think they stand head and shoulders above the other stuff that came out around the same time. Stars End, Revenge, and Lost Legacy have all aged FAR better than Splinter of the Mind's Eye, or those atrocious 80s Star Wars comics, or pretty much anything else I can think of in the pre-Thrawn Trilogy EU.

I look forward to following this thread all the way through the trilogy.

[pendell]

So let's do the thing, shall we?

Spoiler: Han Solo at Star's End, Chapter 5

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We're back on the Millenium Falcon which has all its upgrades but not the waiver yet, encased in a barge shell put-putting along towards the destination planet. Han Solo is playing Dejarik against Chewbacca, who has spotted Han two pieces but is still, nonetheless, wiping the floor with Han.

CHARACTER NOTE: Chewbacca is actually very intelligent, quite a bit more intelligent than Han, as evidenced by his ability to solve mechanical problems Han can't. Pity this story hasn't shown how the two wound up together ... or why Han is the Captain when Chewie is decades older.

Blue max, sitting in Bollux's now-open chest cavity, is helpfully kibitzing Han's every move, more than happy to point out all his errors after the fact. This results in a sarcastic rejoinder from Han, who notes that Blue Max must learn everything he knows about humans from Bollux, and what does a labour droid know?

Glad you asked. BACKSTORY GO!

The Great Starship Yards of Fondor is where I was activated. Then, for a time, I worked for a planetary survey Alpha Team, and after that, for a construction gang on weather-control systems. I had a job as general roustabout for Gan Jan Rue's traveling menagerie, and as maintenance helper in the Trigdale Foundries. But one by one, the jobs have been taken over by newer models. I volunteered for all the modifications and reprogramming I could, but eventually I simply couldn't compete with the newer, more capable droids.

I requested "this mission". Three was word that a droid would be selected from the general labor pool for an unstated modification. I was there, having been purchased at open auction .. it has its disadvantages, but it keeps me functioning at a relatively high level of activity, for the time being, I have avoided obsolescence.

At this discussion of age, Chewbacca pays close attention. He is, after all, "far older than any human."

Obsolescence for a droid, sirs, is much like death for a human or a wookie. It is the end of function, which means the end of significance. So it is to be avoided at all costs. So it is to be avoided at all costs, Captain. After all, what value is there to existence without purpose?

A bit of a philosopher is our Bollux. Evidently he's never heard it argued that intelligent life has intrinsic value, separate from work. But then, droids most likely have a different outlook on life. Organics don't really know why they were created and , as a rule, we tend to invent a purpose in life. A droid doesn't have any such ambiguities. They are created for a specific purpose, to labor, and if they cannot meet that purpose they are discarded. It doesn't help that we're in the Corporate Sector, where even human lives matter only to the extent they are assets to a bank account rather than liabilities. I wonder if other droids think in other terms in the Star Wars Universe? And if there's ever been a droid revolt in the hopes of achieving the same degree of dignity as their meatbag colleagues?

Han responds acerbically, but catastrophically loses his second battle of wits of the day -- the first against Chewbacca, the second against a labor droid. He's beginning to feel a bit hard done by, but the conversation is terminated by the landing beep -- we've arrived at Orron III

Image Source

"A planet generous to man, its axial tilt negligible, its seasons stable and , throughout most of its latitudes, conducive to good crop production, and its soil rich and fertile.

The barge touches down with thousands of other barges, all identical, ready to receive their cargos of grain.

And we wait for our contacts to find us. The first one does and ... stars above, it's Morgan Freeman!




"A man of incongruities, he wore the drab green coveralls of a port worker and had a tool belt at his waste. Yet he radiated a different aura ... He was native to a sun-plentiful world, that much was apparent, for his skin was so dark that its black approached indigo. He was half a head taller than Han, with broad shoulders that strains the tissue of his broad coveralls, and a body that spoke of waiting, abundant power. His tightly curled black hair and sweeping beard were shot through with streaks of gray and white. For all the size and dignity of him, he had a lively glint of humor in his black eyes."

He introduces himself as Rekkon.

As an aside, SF like this as a child is part of why classic racism never had much appeal to me -- when you grow up reading about a universe surrounded by things with tentacles, intelligent slugs, green bug-things like Greedo, encountering a human makes one feel a sense of kinship, even if their skin color is different. Encountering a Lando Calrissien, a child of my age would be more likely to think "fellow human in a crazy galaxy" (had no doubt at that age there were other intelligent species out there, somewhere) and not ... some of the uncomplimentary thoughts more common in the early 1900s.

I wonder if Star Trek and Star Wars affected other kids the same way?

Rekkon first shows he's more than what he appears by greeting Chewbacca in Shrywook, to Chewie's delight; few humans can speak Shrywook or form the sounds with their vocal cords, but Rekkon has put in the effort to do at least that much. Congratulations, Rekkon, you have a friend for life.

Rekkon brings out ID tags for Solo and Chewie identifying them as short-term temporary labor workers, and invites them down to the authority complex with him; he is going to bring along Blue Max, concealed in Bollux, for some slicing. Han balks; he's the getaway driver, has no reason or desire to go to the Complex. Rekkon gives him two very good reasons to come along: First, the barges are going to be decontaminated and you don't want to be inside when that happens. Second, he's the one who's giving them the waiver, and he has to be at the data center to make that happen. There's a third reason but he won't divulge it yet.

Han sighs and bows to the inevitable. He and Chewbacca throw their weapons in a tool bag and head out into a transport , driven by Rekkon, accompanied by Bollux and Blue Max.

On the drive over, Han asks for more details about what this is all about. Rekkon fills him in a bit: He's actually an academic with a string of degrees, more than qualified to run this data center, but he and his confederates are hear for a different purpose.

It seems the Authority has been running its own Nacht Und Nebel program, disappearing politially inconvenient or outspoken individuals. Rekkon, a professor at a university, got involved when his nephew, a student, got a little too outspoken at uni and went poof. He's been collecting accomplices, all of whom have also lost someone , so they can track down their loved ones and set them free.

These accomplices are:
Torm, undercover as contract labor. His family owns large ranches on the planet Kail. Two of his family members got involved in a land dispute with authority, and now they're vanished.

Atuarre, a Trianii undercover here as an apprentice agronomist. Everyone's seen Avatar. The Corporate Sector is repeating that story on thousands of small worlds which they plunder for profit. Only in Atuarre's case there was no world tree to deus ex machina all the corporate mercenaries off their planet; they are firmly under the boot of the Authority. Her husband was an indigenous resistance leader, and now he's gone. There's also ...

Pakka, Atuarre's son. He's a child, and almost disappeared like his father. Through means unexplained Atuarre was able to recover Pakka but, when she did, the Authority had so damaged him that he can no longer speak. Terrible things were done to that child. The child is the fourth member of our conspiracy.

Engret, a young man whose sister was a brilliant legal scholar, also missing.

And of course Jess supports their group, because she also is missing someone she care about : Doc, her father, the man Han Solo was originally trying to contact.

There were other members of the group, but one by one they have disappeared. Han interrupts at this point and suggest there must be a traitor in the group. Rekkon agrees, and is surprised. Han is not guessing. Remember the Authority ship which dumped fighters on us in the last chapter? The out-of-the-way system is an extremely unlikely place for a chance encounter; the Authority had been tipped to the outlaws, but the tipper couldn't have been on the base or known its exact location, or the Authority wouldn't have been scouting; they'd have come in force. That means a leak, and that points back to Rekkon's group.

Rekkon agrees.

So it always is with conspiracies. Where two or three are gathered together, at least one is in the pay of the secret police.

They arrive in the garage of the center and take a lift chute up several decks, wafted through the air as if standing on nothing. Various techs enter and exit the shaft, but pay no mind to a supervisor and his technical crew.

As an aside, you can tell this is definitely a pre-2001 story, as this is supposed to be the most important authority installation on the entire planet but our heroes don't even have to walk through a metal detector to step in; this allows them to smuggle in their fully assembled weapons in a simple tool bag. I don't think that would fly even at a 21st century airport, let alone a high-security installation.

They arrive at a large room, three walls of which are covered with computer terminals and the fourth gives a panoramic view of the cultivating fields of Orran III. Bollox opens up, and Rekkon gets to work with Blue Max. This will be the last of several illegal slices, which he and the group have been working on for the past month, which should allow them to pinpoint the Authority's Space-Guantanamo.

He also hands over an ID plaque to Han: A false ID for his ship which places it on the Waivers list, thereby exempting them from any more hassle by Authority functionaries in their spaceports over things like lift-mass ratios or being equipped with more guns than some warships.

As an aside, the question may be asked: Why wasn't the Millenium Falcon in the fight last chapter? The answer is simple: By the time the Authority ship arrived in-system, the techs had already opened it up for inspection, customization, and the fitting of the barge shell. She wasn't in a flyable state.

Rekkon tells Solo that he has asked each of his fellow team-members to this room as well, while telling none of them why, or that he has invited any of the others, or that this is the moment they all leave the planet. He does not want the Authority tipped off either to the getaway or to the Falcon's location, so all of this has been kept closely under wraps.

As Rekkon and Blue Max continue slicing, Han banteringly argues with him that their cause is hopeless: The authority has an entire sector's worth of ships, gunmen, and money. What chance do clean hands and pure thoughts have against that? Rekkon responds: If Han is so convinced the Authority is the winning side, why isn't he playing their game, Mr. Look-out-for-number-one?

Before Han can answer, there is a loud pounding on the door and a shouted "Rekkon! Open this door!"

Han opens the tool bag, pulls out his blaster, and tosses the bowcaster to Chewie.

CHAPTER END CLIFFHANGER GO!

So some exposition here, along with a little philosophy, a little SF, and a bit of tension to end the chapter on a cliffhanger. For those who don't already know how this turns out, do you think there really is a traitor, and if so who is it?

That'll be an interesting guessing game to keep us occupied until Chapter 4, next time!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Saintheart]

Spoiler

Show

"Bollux, do you know what you are?"
"Yessir, a smuggler, sir. ... one who engages in the transport of," he indicated his chest cavity, "--concealed goods."

Remembering that exchange always brings a smile to my face, especially given Chewbacca just about has a heart attack laughing right afterward. And topped only by Han shouting at Bollux to "Shut up!" which Bollux does by closing his chest cavity, prompting further paralysis from amusement to our Wookiee friend.

I also rather liked a one-liner in that scene where we're told Chewbacca gets interested in Bollux's perspective on obsolescence since the Wookiee is getting on a century old himself (if I remember the scene right). To that point Chewie doesn't get a lot of character development or real attention, and it's a nice dash of water to the face to remind you that, yeah, he's not a walking dog, he's actually a wholly alien species with his own perspectives on the universe. Great bit of actual science fiction in space opera.

[runeghost]

Yeah, thats the F variant I had mentioned. I think that's also the one with the external cargo hooks.

So now I have to wonder - what exactly did Lando stuff into all that vacant space to make his design so comparatively cramped?

Looking at the specs, it also has 3 shield generators, two hyperdrives, and salvaged capital ship-grade armor playing in addition to its souped up engine. That's probably all pretty bulky stuff.

This matches my own headcanon/gaming references/eclectic StarWars EU reading over the years - that the Falcon's biggest advantage is that it has the shielding of a capital ship (although not the power generation, meaning that it can't run the overpowered shields forever).

[Fyraltari]

For those who don't already know how this turns out, do you think there really is a traitor, and if so who is it?

Well, Rekkon is the only member of the group we've met so far, so it's hard to suspect anyone else.

[pendell]

Okay, ready. If this were a gaming session I'd tell everyone to get their dice warmed up, because they're going to need them.

Spoiler

Show

When we last left off, we were in the middle of an authority complex and someone's banging on the door. Han and Chewie break out their weapons.

Rekkon steps between them and the door; its Torm, a member of their group. And anyway even if it wasn't, wouldn't it better to wait to find out who it is before blasting away.

Han retorts "I prefer shooting first, Rekkon, as opposed to shooting second."
Yep, there's no question in the Daleyverse that Han Shot First . Han ALWAYS shoots first if he can, becuase he may not get a chance to shoot second. These are old-school weapons rules, where being hit doesn't mean 1d6 or 1d8 of damage; it's an instakill.

Only ever saw those rules in the single player Starship Traveller , which had rules for both phaser and hand-to-hand combat. Hand-to-hand is what you would expect, but in phaser combat , if a to-hit roll is made with a phaser set on kill, the target is dead-dead. No resurrection, no incapacitated at 0 hp and draining down to -10, just permanently dead. Gone. You'll be running their assistant in that slot for the rest of the game and they can't leave the ship.

Interestingly, neither side of that particular debate believes that Han is an amoral killer who does not value intelligent life. The divide is between the storytellers, such as Lucas, who are more interested in telling a 30s-style pulp action film than in realism. The Lone Ranger never shoots first, always shoots the gun out of the bad guy's hand, that sort of thing. They want Han to be this sort of hero and therefore shoot second even when the bad guy has the drop on him from a meter away.

The other side is the pragmatic side which recognizes that firearms are extremely deadly and therefore a plausible character doesn't have the luxury of simply sitting there waiting to be shot. Thus, Han shooting first is Anticipatory or pre-emptive self-defense, not cold-blooded murder.

Brian Daley's Han falls on the pragmatic side of this debate.

Digression over. let's open the door, and it is indeed Torm.

There's a picture of him but I'm linking rather than putting it inline because so far as I'm concerned it doesn't do justice to Daley's description of him.

Which is " a man of about han's height, but bulkier through the torso, with brawny arms and wide, blunt hands. His face was fine-featured, with high cheekbones and alert, roving eyes of a liquid blue. His hair was a long shock of bright red".

Yeah, the artist's conception makes him look more like lex luthor with a little bit of black hair, but this is more like a big ol' trucker with long red hair.

Torm sees Han and almost draws himself, but checks when he sees Rekkon. He concludes "we're leaving"? Showing obvious intelligence, and Rekkon confirms they are, just as soon as they're done here.

Torm talks about his reasons for chasing his family, and commends Han for unselfishly helping out. Han corrects this, stating he's here as a mercenary and looks out only for number one.

Torm notes this, and you can see the wheels turning in his head as he re-appraises Han.

The door opens again and we meet
Atuarre (image link ) and Pakka link ). Again, only linking because the artist conception doesn't match the text description, and it's the text we're going by here. It seems odd that the artist went a different way than the text; it can't be because they didn't have the license to the character, neither were ever portrayed by a hollywood actor like Harrison Ford where that would be important.

Atuarre -- "humanoid species of feline, adult female, trim and supple, stood at about the height of Han's chin. Here eyes were very large, yellow, with vertical slits of green iris. Her pelt, a varied, striped pattern along her back and sides, lightened to a creamy color on face, throat, and toros front. It tufted out to a thick mane around her head, neck, and shoulders. Behind her curled and swayed a meter length of restive tail, mixing the colors of her pelt. She wore the only clothing her species required , a belt at her hips to support loops and pouches for her tools, instruments and other items."

Next to her we have
Pakka - "a miniature copy of his mother, standing half her height, but his coloring was darker and he wasn't as slender or as graceful. He still had some of the fuzzier fur and baby fat of cubhood, but his wide eyes seemed to hold and adult's wisdom and sorrow. "

Pakka doesn't speak at all, which Han remembers is due to his losing the ability while a "guest" of the Authority.

Atuarre is immediately suspicious of Han and demands to know if he is who he says he is. Rekkon vouches for him, pointing out Jessa sent him. Atuarre is satisfied.

A bit suspicious , are we?

Incidentally, I note that Atuarre is a literal catgirl.

That only leaves one member unaccounted for: Engret. He hasn't called in and he's not answering his com Hasn't been heard from for several days. Atuarre says she swung by his flat -- uninhabited, and obviously unders surveillance. Engret is gone.

Rekkon briefly is sad but toughens up very quickly. This isn't the first loss they've had of this kind, and they have to go on without him.

At this moment, Blue Max beeps -- he's done with the download. And by the way, there's a security alert in the building and the Espos are converging on this floor.

At this point -- Fyraltari, you asked about Chewie's dialog? Here's an example:

"Han: 'Next time I fall for one of these tempting offers, sent on me until the urge passes.'
Chewie growled that he definitely would. "

So there must be a traitor -- our cover is blown! Weapons start coming out, Rekkon and Han plot their escape. Blue Max doesn't have access to where the Espos are but they are tied into the entire Authority network for the planet -- he can clear a path for them by sounding false alarms in other places , diverting Espo security to other locations away from their own escape, of which there are two possible paths: both to the lift-chutes, one on this floor and the other immediately above.

Han tells him to go ahead with the false alarms, and also to start setting them off planetwide; it's not just the Espos in the building that are a problem, but those outside and the patrol ship in orbit, if there is one. Blue Max complies. Bollux, meanwhile, volunteers to walk well in advance of the main party. The Espos won't shoot a lone droid, but they will stop and question it, and that will give the others warning and time to get away Han agrees.

Marching Order, with lead at right and trail at left:
C(Chewie) AP T H R ----------------- > B

Thus arrayed, they set out on the route on this floor. Chewie, is not only covering their rear aspect but keeping an eye on their group -- it seems very likely there's a traitor now and he is prepared to shoot anyone who makes a false move.

They travel some distance down the corridor and Bollux is halted -- there is a large number of Espos there questioning him. There's no way through this way. Han and the others turn around and head towards a stairwell to go up to the next floor. Bollux is "abandoned" but he's fine -- the Espos don't pay much more attention to him than they would furniture, so he can just walk out.

Up to the next floor , where they reach a gallery overlooking the lift chutes (remember , this is an antigrav shaft, not an elevator), to see 3 Espos setting up a crew-served repeating blaster in front of the door. We're told that this model has a deflector shield, and once its on the people inside are practically invulnerable. Much like the Destroyer Droids of the prequels. Except this is not self-propelled and has three-person crew, not a self-aware AI. I wonder if they used Daley's idea, or simply invented it independently?

Han believes they have no choice. he tells the others to hang back while Han and Chewie clear them a path. On the way he asks Rekkon to keep an eye on things so that he only has to deal with fire from his front , not his back.

NOTE: Han trusts Rekkon to cover him, but none of the others.

Han and Chewie engage the crew just as they're about to throw the switch on the deflector shield.

ROUND 1:
Han wins initiative, makes his hit; Espo #1 is burned in the leg and is crippled, out of the fight.
Espo #2 reacts and , again, shows they really are untrained thugs. With no regard to fire discipline or any civilians who might be around, he just blasts away with his riot gun as if it were a fire hose. He eats a bowcaster quarrel for his trouble. Nice weapon , bowcasters . I've only ever seen them in Republic and commando and I think they show up in KOTOR as well. They don't repeat quickly but they have long-range sniping capability with all manner of rounds, including explosives.
Espo #3 starts yelling for help and blazing away with his sidearm, making a run for the big blaster. He has just got his hand around the grips when Han shoots him and he's out of the fight as well.

Okay, that's done, the others come up, Rekkon bringing up the rear to make sure no one does anything stupid, but now we're on to our next problem: The lift shaft is out!

Rekkon applies his use computer skill to get the lift operating again just as Espo reinforcements arrive on the balcony they just left. Han flips the switch on the repeater's deflector and starts laying down suppressing fire while Chewbacca chips in with explosive rounds from his bowcaster.

This continues for about 3 combat rounds while Rekkon continues to attempt to restart the lift, all the while the Espos begin concentrating on the repeater and the deflector can't hold out against that volume of fire forever.

Rekkon finally gives up; he can't get the lift on. Blast.

Just at this very moment a hard radiation leak warning sounds and that's not one of the ones Max programmed in -- if we stay here we're all going to be dead. Han prepares to charge directly at the Espos in an effort to escape. The Espos meanwhile, are getting the heck out of there as fast as they can too.

Atuarre holds Han back. A few seconds later, the source of the radiation alarm walks into view -- Bollux and Blue Max, with cannibalized loudspeakers attached to his frame blaring out the alarm. It frightened the living daylights out of everyone, Han included, and that buys them some time.

Rekkon sets Blue Max to work on the lift controls , and Blue Max succeeds where Rekkon failed; the lift comes on. Into the lift chute, flyboy! Han destroys the crew-served repeater as they leave to buy more time. Chewbacca scoops Blue Max up, and they all leap for it, hoping against hope the Espos won't figure it out in time to cut the power and drop them to their deaths.

This doesn't happen. They make it to the parking garage and steal a skimmer. Chewie hasn't been able to return Blue Max to Bollux yet and now doesn't have the chance as Han takes the controls and they zip out of the garage, going out the entrance ramp and into the blue sky!

On the way out, a traffic recorder notes the violation and tickets the owner. So there's a bit of science fiction which made it into science fact: The GFFA has traffic cameras and so do we.

...

Why, why, why of all the SF things that came in my lifetime did it have to be traffic cameras? Where's my jetpack? Where's my starship?

...

Acting under Rekkon's instructions, they make it almost to the spaceport before they run smack into a roadblock, which includes an Espo troop-hovervan, an APC, with twin-mounted blasters just nosing for a target.

Han takes them right off road and into the grainfields! The Espo van plows into the cereal right along after them, blasting merrily away with its cannon!

Yup , Here we go , screamin' through the valley through the mud and crud and cornfield where the grain grows, with a hot rig and Smokey on my tail.

They're almost to the spaceport fence when the Espo gunner rolls a natural 20, hitting just in front of the skimmer's nose; the resulting debris takes out the engine block. We're stopped. Han, who is bleeding from eating some of the canopy glass, announces "Everybody out, baggage claim to your left."

As they pile out Rekkon overloads his blaster and fires the whole charge at the Espo hovervan, knocking out its engine as well. Discarding the now useless metal, they leg it for the spaceport! "You must have taught in some damn tough schools", Solo observes.

The Espos are getting out of their van and chasing on foot. Solo doesn't like their chances. He looks around and notices Chewbacca isn't with them ... he's running over to a harvester with Blue Max. He boards the unit, wires Blue Max into it, and drives it at the Espos as a distraction! Small arms fire doesn't do much to the great monstrosity. They scatter and a few of them get swallowed into the maw of the harvesters, but three of them grab onto one of the harvester's maintenance ladders and start climbing to give Chewie a piece of their mind. Say what you will about Espos, you can't say they aren't brave.

Blue Max is ripping the harvester through sharp turns and one of the Espos nearly falls. He yells, and that gets Chewie's attention. He bowcasters one but loses his balance and the bowcaster. He gets hand-to-hand with the remaining two Espos, killing one , but another sharp turn sends all three of them off the harvester.

Now on the ground, Chewie disappears under a mass of rifle-wielding Espos who are wielding them like clubs, beating him into submission.

Han prepares to run right back into them to rescue his friend! Rekkon tries to stop him ; it's suicide. But this is just like two chapters ago; when someone Han cares about, even if its a wingmate whose name he doesn't yet know, it pushes his berserk button and Han will do anything at any risk to save his friend.

Han pulls his gun on Rekkon and says "Hands off; I mean it." Rekkon sees that he does -- that if he goes further Han really will shoot him before running off to rescue his friend. So he steps back and relaxes. Han turns away to prepare for his mad charge into the Espos.

It is at this point, when his back is turned, that Rekkon sucker-punches him, laying him out like an unstrung puppet. He starts carrying Han and running towards the spaceport fence.

The harvester continues to grind around, but Blue Max can't get at the Espos around Chewie without putting Chewie in danger as well, so he at last turns the harvester around and travels as fast as it can after his friends. They climb aboard. Once he's conscious Han tries to throw himself off of it and after his friend, but Rekkon holds him down.

"He's my friend!" Han snarls as he twists and writhes in Rekkon's grip.

"Then help your friend!" Rekkon shouts. "Face hard fact; you must save yourself to save him, and not throw both lives away!"

Han looks back and moans "Chewie..." as the harvester hits the spaceport fence and we come blasting in from the fields!

*Puts the dice down*. *Takes a long deep breath*.

That ain't the way I like to end a session. Hopefully there's a way to fix it, but right now the team needs to concentrating on getting out of there. Until next time!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[PontificatusRex]

I love the details about how the Falcon is modified to make it so special and what has to happen so Han can get away with it. It makes me think of Lucas's first film with Harrison Ford American Graffiti, based on the whole culture of tricking out hot rods for cruiser culture. Definite parallels there.

Also, i really do love Bollux and Blue Max, they're great additions to the party, um, cast.

[Saintheart]

Also, i really do love Bollux and Blue Max, they're great additions to the party, um, cast.

Blue Max is every annoying overoptimised glass cannon you ever DMed for with massive bonuses in one or two skills but paid for with every disadvantage or crippling penalty in the rulebook to get it, meaning the party more or less has to literally cart him around in order for him to do his job.

[theangelJean]

I love the details about how the Falcon is modified to make it so special and what has to happen so Han can get away with it. It makes me think of Lucas's first film with Harrison Ford American Graffiti, based on the whole culture of tricking out hot rods for cruiser culture. Definite parallels there.

Also, i really do love Bollux and Blue Max, they're great additions to the party, um, cast.

Blue Max is every annoying overoptimised glass cannon you ever DMed for with massive bonuses in one or two skills but paid for with every disadvantage or crippling penalty in the rulebook to get it, meaning the party more or less has to literally cart him around in order for him to do his job.

So ... He'd be played by Pete? :P

Where did Bollux end up in all this?

[Saintheart]

So ... He'd be played by Pete? :P

Where did Bollux end up in all this?

Bollux is that one player who used to DM a lot in 3e but got rendered obsolete as the Evil Empire, er, Lizards of the Coast, uh, the makers of That Game released newer editions. He now continues to play with some of his friends, wants to help the DM out with his job as much as he can, and sometimes offers helpful side flavour on his character in order to give the regular DM a break from providing the scenery.

[PontificatusRex]

So ... He'd be played by Pete? :P

I was going to say, if he was played by Pete then he would probably fit Saintheart's description of the ultimate obnoxious min-maxxer. But I quite like him in the book, even if Han finds his childlike chipperness irritating.

Where did Bollux end up in all this?

It occurs to me that Bollux's real role is Mom, or at least the old Nanny. Heck, Bollux carries Blue Max around in a torso cavity, that certainly seems maternal. But for some reason the character totally comes off as male-presenting despite being a genderless droid. I can't recall, is Bollux referred to as "he" in the book?

[pendell]

It occurs to me that Bollux's real role is Mom, or at least the old Nanny. Heck, Bollux carries Blue Max around in a torso cavity, that certainly seems maternal. But for some reason the character totally comes off as male-presenting despite being a genderless droid. I can't recall, is Bollux referred to as "he" in the book?

Just double-checked; both Bollux and Blue Max are referred to as "he". This being written in the 70s, at a time when it was rude to call intelligent creatures "it", they would be given a gendered pronoun, and "he" was the default pronoun in those times; if you didn't know someone's gender, you'd refer to them as "he".

Ironic because we could easily change Bollux's gender; put the CPU in a new chassis, tune the vocal cords up a few octaves, put them in, say, a girl's school to learn the gender role, and Bollux could easily be a "she".

Heck, in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , one of the main characters is an intelligent AI, which maintains a male persona ("Mike"), a female persona ("Michelle") and two or three others as well, including the first President of Luna. So what gender is this character, really? And which persona is "real"?


Today, of course, it can be a deadly insult to misgender someone. But those issues had not yet been broached and discussed at any length in the 70s; the Patriarchy is alive and well, despite the fact there is already some pushback against it. Note, for instance, that neither Jessa nor Princess Leia are classic Princesses in Peril needing a Big Stronk Man to rescue and take care of them. The women of Star Wars are independent, intelligent, equally at home in the cockpit of a snub fighter as in the debating chamber of the Senate.

I think that may be in part an echo of the American frontier we are seeing in this Space Western; while gender roles definitely existed in the old west, they were often subdued compared to the east coast; when you're living alone on a farm in Wyoming or Nebraska 60 km from the nearest other people, you just don't have time to stand on ceremony with respect to gender roles : The person who does the job is the person best able to do it. If there's work to be done and there's no one else to do it, why you do it; it's that or die. It tended to breed a very independent sort of person like Kaylee from Firefly -- which is also, not coincidentally, also a Space Western.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Mechalich]

Ironic because we could easily change Bollux's gender; put the CPU in a new chassis, tune the vocal cords up a few octaves, put them in, say, a girl's school to learn the gender role, and Bollux could easily be a "she".

Bollux would probably object to that. Droids have gendered programming, and therefore a gender identity. Hypothetically, a droid that underwent sufficient programming development could wish to change this, so a transgender droid is possible.

Droids tended to be built on giant factory worlds and their gendered programming was strongly defined by traditional gender roles. Notably, almost all assassin, battle, and labor (Bollux is a labor droid) units were programmed as male, while a large portion of medical and service droids were programmed as female. Certain roles, such as astromech and translator, were more mixed. Overall, male droids outnumber female droids massively - Wookieepedia records 645 masculine programmed droids to 173 feminine programmed droids - though this is at least partly an artifact of Star Wars' military sampling bias.

[pendell]

Bollux would probably object to that. Droids have gendered programming, and therefore a gender identity. Hypothetically, a droid that underwent sufficient programming development could wish to change this, so a transgender droid is possible.

I think, given the character we've seen, if Bollux saw this as a means of better avoiding obsolescence, then Bollux would happily accept new programming to be female. After all, much has been made of the distinction between sex -- the biology of a person based on their chromosomes and DNA -- and gender, which is the social role played by people based on that biology.

Except, of course, Bollux has no sex, no testosterone, no Y-chromosome. For Bollux, "gender as a social construct" is literally the only meaning gender has to B personally. If Bollux wants to be female, in theory Bollux might not need to do anything except bring those parts of memory where previous interactions with women are stored, and consciously follow those patterns rather than those learned from men. Changes to the chassis would be cosmetic but not strictly necessary. I suppose B could also purchase additional memories or experiences for download which would allow B to play the gender role more flawlessly, but I think any objections Bollux would have would be far less than those a cisnormal male would have. For one thing, if you need to take bits off Bollux it's easy to put them back on. The same cannot be said of meaty parts!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Mechalich]

I think, given the character we've seen, if Bollux saw this as a means of better avoiding obsolescence, then Bollux would happily accept new programming to be female. After all, much has been made of the distinction between sex -- the biology of a person based on their chromosomes and DNA -- and gender, which is the social role played by people based on that biology.

Except, of course, Bollux has no sex, no testosterone, no Y-chromosome. For Bollux, "gender as a social construct" is literally the only meaning gender has to B personally. If Bollux wants to be female, in theory Bollux might not need to do anything except bring those parts of memory where previous interactions with women are stored, and consciously follow those patterns rather than those learned from men. Changes to the chassis would be cosmetic but not strictly necessary. I suppose B could also purchase additional memories or experiences for download which would allow B to play the gender role more flawlessly, but I think any objections Bollux would have would be far less than those a cisnormal male would have. For one thing, if you need to take bits off Bollux it's easy to put them back on. The same cannot be said of meaty parts!

Gender is socially constructed, but gender identity is a deeply-seated part of an individual, one that is sufficiently potent as to override biological indicators. Since the minds of advanced droids seem to broadly resemble the minds of organic sapients - to the point that extremely advanced artificial intelligences such as SCORPIO rejected the 'droid' label - gender identity is presumably seated deeply within their programming as well. As such a droid is unlikely to 'want' to become the opposite gender unless they experience a highly traumatic event that alters their programming. That's certainly possible. Droids can survive drastic changes in mindset while remaining fully physically functional in ways that would almost certainly induce terminal psychosis in organic life. The droid Z0-0M underwent a memory core accident that caused her to periodically reset to factory defaults, effectively becoming a completely new person on an almost hourly basis. Her female programming survived this, but a slightly different sort of accident could surely change that parameter.

Alternatively, since a droid in some sense is their memories, it might be possible to alter a droid's gender identity by editing their memories systematically. Since a droid's memory core can be copied completely, the aforementioned Z0-0M regularly did this to droids in sensitive positions to acquire intelligence, this should be possible, though it would probably be rather cumbersome as a process.

[pendell]

Gender is socially constructed, but gender identity is a deeply-seated part of an individual, one that is sufficiently potent as to override biological indicators.

Well, that's the million-credit question, isn't it?

Why Is gender identity a "deeply-seated part" of an individual?

This might get sensitive and I might start talking about something which I don't know much about, so I'll leave the question at that. But if gender identity for humans has any biological component, that's something a robot simply doesn't have. Connected of circuits and diodes, not possessed of any biological drives, a robot has no reason to think or care about sex anywhere near as much as sexual creatures would.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but my own experience is that I learned about sex at age eight. I considered it an academic topic, and thought nothing about it except "huh, that makes a lot more sense than that story about the stork" ... until I hit age 13, my hormones kicked in, and I had a hard time thinking about anything else until age 30, when my body started to calm down somewhat.

Why wouldn't a robot, equally devoid of hormones, not also consider the entire issue of sex and gender academic, a source of amusement? Unless they're deliberately programmed to care about such things? And why would anyone waste any time or energy on that in a factory worker, or a battle droid, or an R2 unit? A robot doesn't need to identify as any gender unless they're dealing with sexual creatures and the identification would help their job. A protocol or entertainer droid like Hatsune Miku, for example, would very reasonably be gendered. But for most applications its simply a waste of storage space.

The closest analog I can think of in our world is the new ChatGTP, which can act male or female with equal facility.

Droids in the Star Wars universe are equal in intelligence and personhood to their organic counterparts, but they are still different creatures; they think differently, reason differently, come to different conclusions. And when dealing with meatbags, the fact that they are droids of whatever gender is far more important than whatever gender they identify as.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Mechalich]

Why Is gender identity a "deeply-seated part" of an individual?

So, in the case of droids, this is actually quite simple: because they were designed that way. Droids who have a gender identity (and this is admittedly likely only a small fraction of fairly advanced droids, but those are the ones people actually care about, the others are essentially just robots with better mobility) have the identity that they were programmed to have, just as they have the feelings and emotions they were programmed to have. Yes, these personalities can develop and diverge from the baseline over time, as the droid's programming adjusts parameters, including personality, in order to try and better fulfill its main purpose. This sometimes has bizarre results, like in B-1 Battle Droids - all those weird comments they make are actually error expressions from their limited processors being unable to handle things and doing the mechanical equivalent of throwing up their hands in despair. And sometimes it leads to droids like R2-D2 developing complex and significantly more complete personalities than they started with, but this is very rare (and also something their owners are supposed to prevent by doing regular maintenance).

And the general reason why advanced droids are programmed with gendered personalities is that their builders anthropomorphize them massively.

And when dealing with meatbags, the fact that they are droids of whatever gender is far more important than whatever gender they identify as.

The gender a droid presents as, and the gender that droid identifies as are going to be determined by whoever built the droid in question. It's certainly possible to build a droid that, for example, presents as female but identifies as male, but aside from deliberate cruelty - which undoubtedly means some hideous Sith has done so - I struggle to see why anyone would do such a thing.

[pendell]

So, in the case of droids, this is actually quite simple: because they were designed that way.

... It's certainly possible to build a droid that, for example, presents as female but identifies as male, but aside from deliberate cruelty - which undoubtedly means some hideous Sith has done so - I struggle to see why anyone would do such a thing.

Both my answers are the same; if a droid is frequently memwiped, it will indeed to continue function as the designers intended and be "content" as whatever they were created as.

If droids are left to develop on their own, however, they can grow beyond their original functionality. For example, in KOTOR we encounter a sith assassin droid who was abandoned for centuries, and in that time developed a respect for life, and so no longer wanted to be an assassin droid. It could not stop being one, however, because that part of its programming was not changeable; it's up to Revan to either reprogram it to be an ordinary droid (light side) or smash it to rubble (Dark Side).

Same with G0-T0 in KOTOR 2. Originally it was just an accounting droid. I suppose after ten years it's no longer a spoiler to note it eventually evolved into a crime lord, first an antagonist 2 and then a playable character in the party.

At any rate, if an assassination droid can become so deeply unsatisfied with assassination, the exact reason it was created in the first place .

Droids are lucky; they don't need to ask questions "Why am I here? What is my purpose in life?" It's right there on the box.

As I say, if a droid can grow to hate its primary function and reason for existence so utterly that it's willing to seek help to change its primary function, I don't see why it couldn't also, if left to develop by itself without mem-wiping, also become so uncomfortable with their assigned gender that they want to change that too.


Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Mechalich]

As I say, if a droid can grow to hate its primary function and reason for existence so utterly that it's willing to seek help to change its primary function, I don't see why it couldn't also, if left to develop by itself without mem-wiping, also become so uncomfortable with their assigned gender that they want to change that too.

They could, which is something I mentioned above, but it would very rare.

One thing is that there's multiple ways, in Star Wars, for droids to develop. They can evolve by accumulating more experiences and memories over time. This generally leads to them becoming more complete and complex but fundamentally similar versions of themselves. C-3PO, for example, is highly evolved, but he's essentially an 'older' version of himself no matter how far you push him down the timeline (similar examples would include HK-47, and I'd argue, Bollux, to circle back to this text). They can also break in which case they somehow breakthrough the fundamental structures of their initial programming to become drastically different beings. This seems to be triggered mostly by either deliberate modification or extensively trauma. A clear example is 4-LOM, the protocol droid who self-modified into a deadly bounty hunter. Z0-0M, who through an accident goes from being the galaxy's most dangerous spy master to a happy-go-lucky murder machine, is also such a unit. And, least commonly, droids can ascend, transcending the limits of their programming and their initial consciousness to become greater entities. The clearest example of this is SCORPIO, whose entire arc from self-aware security system to mistress of a dyson sphere can be observed via SWTOR, but there are others including IG-88, Mentor, and plausibly G0-T0 (though he gets cut off before hitting the final stage).

Droids that experience a changed gender identity are most like going to be droids that have experienced a programming break (note: the term usage here is not intended to be negative, but draws from language used in Saga Edition sourcebooks) and have significantly shifted their minds beyond/past/outside the constraints of their initial programming. Ascended droids, by contrast, are most likely to leave the concept of gender behind entirely.

Of course, Star Wars, as a franchise, gravitates to rarity, and almost every notable droid character is a massive outlier for their type, so this option has a greater chance of appearing in Star Wars media than otherwise.

[theangelJean]

So ... He'd be played by Pete? :P

Where did Bollux end up in all this?

So ... I wasn't expecting this discussion, but I am glad of it.

I did want to know Bollux's current location in the context of the story, though.

[Fyraltari]

Yep, there's no question in the Daleyverse that Han Shot First . Han ALWAYS shoots first if he can, becuase he may not get a chance to shoot second. These are old-school weapons rules, where being hit doesn't mean 1d6 or 1d8 of damage; it's an instakill.

Only ever saw those rules in the single player Starship Traveller , which had rules for both phaser and hand-to-hand combat. Hand-to-hand is what you would expect, but in phaser combat , if a to-hit roll is made with a phaser set on kill, the target is dead-dead. No resurrection, no incapacitated at 0 hp and draining down to -10, just permanently dead. Gone. You'll be running their assistant in that slot for the rest of the game and they can't leave the ship.

What rules? This isn't based on a game. You get shot you're either dead or severely wounded, that's how firearms work. Unless your name is Leia Organa of course.

A bit suspicious , are we?

Can you blame them?

Incidentally, I note that Atuarre is a literal catgirl.

Are there non-literal ones?

At this point -- Fyraltari, you asked about Chewie's dialog? Here's an example:

"Han: 'Next time I fall for one of these tempting offers, sent on me until the urge passes.'
Chewie growled that he definitely would. "

Thanks. That's what I figured: only indirect speech.

Nice weapon , bowcasters . I've only ever seen them in Republic and commando and I think they show up in KOTOR as well.

They're nice in a pinch in Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, but since you only get one after you get a lightsaber, you hardly ever use them. I saw someone on the Internet say he played Kyle Katarn as a "Force-sensitive gunslingers" who only used the lightsaber against similarily equipped opponents, and I gotta say, that sounds like a fun playstyle.

[Palanan]

I doubt if most droids have the capacity to truly care about their “gender,” since as noted they have no biological components and no capacity for self-replication. It’s not a meaningful aspect of their existence, and not something they’re likely going to spend any processing time on. They exist and operate outside of the concept entirely.

Most likely droids are provided with a superficial gender interface simply to help humanoid species interact with them more easily. But I doubt if it really matters to the droids, any more than the accent they’re given or Threepio’s nonfunctional eyebrows. We’ve seen that protocol droids can be either male- or female-coded, so most likely this is a swappable feature that can be readjusted at the preference of the droid’s owner.

This may happen fairly often, and I very much doubt it has any deep effect on the droid’s cognition or self-perception. It’s a misnomer to say that droids “evolve,” since they’re not evolving as a biological species. Droids are purpose-built, usually for very narrow functions, and there’s no practical reason to design or code a droid for which this is even a meaningful possibility.

I’m also not convinced that droids have “gendered programming” that reaches any deeper than vocal tone and other superficialities. I’m not even sure how that would manifest in a droid’s behavior. Droids aren’t really performing “gender roles” to begin with, and assuming a specific gender pattern wouldn’t make the slightest difference at how they carry out their tasks—except insofar as the current owner feels it’s necessary, and from what we’ve seen it doesn’t seem to be much of an issue.

[Grim Portent]

Droids are kind of clunky tech at times, I wouldn't be surprised if they do have to be designated as masculine or feminine when their brain is first being built and changing it afterwards requires a lot of work. As for if it matters to them? Probably depends on if the droid has been left long enough to develop a certain level of independant thought, regularly memory wiped droids are pretty rigid, but ones like R2-D2 are pretty strong willed.

The GFFA is human dominated, and somewhat backwards, so the idea that droids would be gender coded by role to fit the biases of humans isn't all that strange.* When we do see a female coded droid it's almost always a personal assistant, concierge or medic. Even if not coded on a hard level to identify as one or the other a lot of them might just adopt one from the organics they interact with.


QT-KT for example. Feminine R-series astromech belonging to Aayla Secura. Why would an astromech be male or female? They aren't really supposed to engage in much socialisation.

There's no practical reason, so it's just a convention of Aayla referring to her droid as female (being called Cutey Katey might be a contributor there) rather than male or genderless, QT being free thinking enough to have adopted female pronouns for personal reasons after missing out on a few mind wipes, or the gender of a droid is an unpredictable product of their manufacturing that becomes more commonly masculine/feminine rather than neuter as the sophistication of the droid brain goes up.


*Gender coded androids is also a sci-fi tradition. A lot of the less imaginative fiction of the past never really explored the idea of them being psychologically something other than metal people, gender roles and all.

[pendell]

First, some replies.

I did want to know Bollux's current location in the context of the story, though.

He's with the party. He was separated from them when he volunteered to walk in front and draw attention of espos, but rejoined them at the lift chutes, with two loudspeakers hooked up through which Blue Max blared a spurious radiation alarm, thus saving the party's neck. Once he arrived they took Blue Max out of him to reactivate the chute, but didn't have time to put Blue back in before they all, Bollux included, made their getaway. Chewie carried Blue Max while Bollux ran along with them. He's just been picked up by the harvester, same as the rest of the party.

I realize this is a work of fiction but I still have a tendency to think of this in gaming term, due to the number of Star Wars RPG type games I played in the past, and I think it's entertaining to write that way.

Now, to business.

Spoiler: Chapter 7

Show

When we left off the party had just gone through the airport fence in a harvester. Once it is stopped, Han puts on his military-officer hat and tries to out-think the Authority: He deems they'll probably be concentrating on the passenger terminal and not expecting them to make for the barges. After all, these vessels are slow, automated, and run on a schedule, so not a good choice for a getaway ship, better to steal a ship in the passenger dock.

So Han has Blue Max set the harvester on autopilot down towards the passenger terminal while the rest of them head towards the freight terminal. Bollux retrieves Blue Max after he's done programming the harvester, and they run to the Falcon, still ensconced in its drone shell.

Han dashes directly to the cockpit, accompanied by Bollux (with Blue Max), and tells everyone else to strap in. He dispenses with preflight and brings up the engines to full all at once, hoping that they won't blow, but Scoundrel's Luck comes through again.

The Authority control tower signals the barge to hold. Han has the barge computer respond with a "acknowledged that I am clear to launch" message in the hopes Authority will believe it is nothing but a computer malfunction. Orran control continues to signal the ship to stop, trying various different messages in the hopes of fixing the "malfunction".

Han has to do all the cockpit setup himself, missing Chewbacca more than ever, and then sees something which makes him swear a blue streak: Their barge has been loaded down with cargo! Some efficient authority person saw the unloaded barge and decided it needed to be stocked up for the trip out, so they have several hundred thousand tons worth of additional mass in grain in the barge shell.

There's nothing to do but take off with it; blowing the shell here would alert port defenses and any patrolling picket ships.

As an aside ... several hundred thousand tons? That's bigger than a supertanker!

I find I must revise my opinion of the Millenium Falcon as a cargo carrier. By itself, its capacity is minimal. But perhaps that's not the intended use. Maybe it's more like the tractor in a tractor-trailer combination, providng the motive power for multiple containers, as I think some people have illustrated here. Set up this way, able to push or tow multiple containers, it actually could be a very reasonable choice for mid-sized freight. Still nothing compared to a Lucrehulk, but better than a spacegoing Winnebago.

Meanwhile, we're trying to get away. Han is concerned at the additional mass, and yells over to Rekkon (in the lounge, with the other passengers) to have someone in the gun turrets; they may have to shoot their way out. Then he hits the button and the barge lifts off.

Perhaps the best way to describe this getaway is like a little old lady hobbling across the street on a cane; this is the grace and speed of the Falcon encumbered as it is by the shell and several hundred thousand metric tons of grain.

As they hit atmo, something catches Han's eye: The harvester they had so recently ridden is now surrounded by self-propelled artillery, skimmers, and troop-carrying APCs. As he watches a bright fireball marks the vehicle's end as concentrated firepower knocks out the power plant. Then it is gone and they are in the black.

Wait a minute.

Was that power plant a nuclear plant? That just exploded and scattered its fuel all over the spaceport?

Well, all I can say is I'm glad we're in space now. Who knows? Maybe the spaceport will be useable again in a few centuries.

Just as the Falcon gets to the upper atmosphere it is hit by a tractor beam; there was a picket ship in transpolar orbit and it was alerted to the disturbance.

The vessel is an Invincible-class dreadnaught , and identifies itself as the Shannador's Revenge.


The text describes it as "over two kilometers long, bristling with gun turrets, missile tubes, tractor-beam projectors and deflector shields, armored like a protosteel mountain ... enough weaponry to hold and vaporize a score of ships like the Falcon".

No idea who Shannador is or why they're mad, but Han doesn't know or care. All he knows is that he's caught in a very, very strong tractor beam.

Incidentally, I don't think the Prequels , in which we found the Republic had no space navy, necessarily contradicts this version of events. While there was no all-Republic navy the various member nations of the Republic seems to have maintained their own fleets; the Trade Federation used theirs to blockade Naboo. And we saw in the Separatist meeting that the Techno Union and other factions were also willing to lend their own forces to the cause.

Doesn't seem very stable for the Republic to have no armed force but allow all the constituent nations to maintain theirs, but it's Lucas' universe and not mine.

At first, all Han can think is to refuse to surrender and take as many Espos with him as he can -- just like in Episode IV, where he was willing to go down fighting an entire battle station all by himself rather than be captured alive; death before dishonor.

Um, Han? Suggestion? Why don't we save the death-or-glory heroics for when we don't have paying passengers? If you want to get yourself killed, that's one thing. It's not right to make that decision for your passengers. The contract was 'safe delivery', wasn't it?

The tractor beam is so strong it begins to compromise the structural integrity of the barge-shell; members creak, and bits get pulled off, yanked back to the Shannador by the powerful gravitic impulse.

This gives Han an idea. Hollering into the intercom for everyone to brace themselves, he hits the EMERGENCY RELEASE button on the barge's cargo. Several hundred thousand tons of grain is dumped out into space, acting as an impromptu chaff cloud, and it completely blinds the Shannador's sensors. But still the tractor beam holds firm.

Playing his last trick, Han triggers the explosive bolts mating the barge shell to the Falcon. The Falcon surges forward, free of the encumbering mass, and makes a beeline away as the barge-shell, now under no acceleration save the tractor beams, is pulled back into the Shannador. The tractor beams are tuned to stop a fleeing ship under high acceleration, so the counter-acceleration they impart to the now-derelict barge is very, very high.

KA-BOOM!

There's no sound in space, but that is what happens. The Shannador's Revenge collides with the barge-shell at a very high velocity, and cuts it in two. But the Shannador doesn't get out of the collision unscathed; the sensor suite is out of commission, and all over the ship pressure doors slam shut as hull decompressions occur all over the front of the ship.

No telling how many Authority crewers were sucked out into space. If Han didn't have a death mark on him before this he certainly will now -- if the Authority figures out who he is. But that's a problem for another day.

Once in hyperspace, Han settles in to the cruise routine and thinks on what to do: All he can think of is Chewie as prisoner of the authority. According to Rekkon, the Authority had become very fearful of conspiracies (and their paranoia causing conspiracies to spring to life where none existed). Therefore, they will probably suspect Chewbacca of being part of some sinister plot. Thus, they will take him to their secret holding base, where all the other prisoners are, and interrogate him there. So that's that. We've got to find the secret base and rescue the prisoners. Han had originally intended to bow out after delivery, but now he's got a personal reason to help Rekkon and his team with their mission.

Let's go back to the lounge and talk to Rekkon about going up with a pl-



Well, frak.

Rekkon , slumped face first over the gameboard, is dead. Judging by the wound in his back and the smell of ozone in the air, he has been shot from behind by a needle-beam blaster bolt at low-power. Next to him is a still-bubbling clear pool which must be what's left of the data plaque that contained all the information Rekkon had retrieved from the data center.

Blast.

Han takes a minute to gather himself, then is interrupted by a noise -- boots on a ladder. Someone is coming up out of the belly turret. That's right; Han had told them to crew the turrets, and it looks like some of them did. Rekkon heaves himself up out of the turret to come face to face with Han's blaster. "Just give over your pistol, Torm. Keep your right hand on the rung and do it with your left, easy. Don't make a mistake; it'll be your one and only."

Once he has Rekkon's gun he pats him down and sends him to the far end of the lounge, then he calls up to Atuarre to come down from the top turret; he asks Torm where Pakka is. Torm says Pakka was sent away for a medipack and hasn't shown up back yet. Probably when Han yelled for everyone to stay put during the excitement, he did exactly that.

Atuarre comes out of the turret and gets the same treatment. She is furious at having a gun pointed at her and demands to know what's going on. Just at that moment Pakka enters the lounge, carrying a medpack in one hand and a blaster in the other. He hesitates, seeing his mother held at gunpoint.

"He thinks you're threatening me", says Atuarre. Can't imagine why.

Very slowly and very carefully Pakka is brought over to Atuarre and relieved of his gun. Now that they are unarmed, Han lays it out for them; Rekkon is dead and they're all suspects so far as he's concerned.

Atuarre demands to know why they think Han wasn't the murderer. Han dismisses this; he was too busy outflying the dreadnaught to have time for a light bit of murder in his spare time. Besides, Bollux was with him the entire time.

Bollux confirms this; so that's three suspects eliminated: Han, Bollux, and Blue Max. That leaves Torm, Atuarre, and Pakka.

Torm immediately insinuates that Atuarre is sus, and Atuarre comes back viciously, arguing loudly that he must be the killer.

Ah yes, the discussion period.

After a few minutes, Han tells them to can it. Here are the rules: He's locking up all the weapons on the ship except his own blaster, which he will carry with him. The other three are to sit tight in the lounge. If he sees one of them outside, he will kill them on sight. If he comes back and find that anyone in the lounge is injured, he'll kill the survivors. Do we all understand each other?

Yes? Very well. Bollux and he have work to do.

That "work" consists of taking Rekkon to the emergency airlock and jettisoning his body. It's not much of a funeral, but the last thing they need is to be boarded and have to account for a corpse.

When Han lifts up Rekkons body he sees something odd -- written in his own blood, covered by his body, is the simple message:

"Star's End, Mytus VII".

Bollux and Han discuss. They conclude Rekkon hadn't known who his killer was, but trusted Han, so he'd left this message with the expectation Han would handle the body and would see the message; this is the distillation of the now-melted data plaque: The prison is called Star's End, and it is on the planet Mytus VII.

This gives Han an idea.

Before we continue, I have an important question for you: WHO IS THE IMPOSTER? We have, in alphabetical order:

-- Atuarre
-- Pakka
X-- Rekkon (deceased)
-- Torm

Make your choice and place your bets, and let's see how this plays out.

Continuing.

Spoiler

Show

Like any good Among Us game, it's time for the crew to do their tasks. Han gives out the orders: Han and Torm will repair damage aft. Atuarre and Pakka will square away the forward compartment and warm up some food. Atuarre objects to this; she's a ranger, not a kitchen drudge. Han doesn't care.

While Han and Torm are alone, he whispers to Torm that he thinks he know who killed Rekkon: It must be the cub, Pakka. He must have been brain-programmed by the Authority as a prisoner and may not even be aware, himself, of his actions. He learned from Rekkon's body that Star's End is on the planet Mytus VI. Han wants to play along for a while to see if he can learn anything. In a few minutes they're all going to log into the computer to see if they can pull any information on the planet, maybe Atuarre or Pakka will let something slip. Meanwhile, he hands Torm a blaster; its readout shows full charge.

After the chores are done, he calls them all to the forward compartment and hands them each a handheld terminal and tells them to start searching for information in the ship's computer on the target planet -- he'll look up navigation, Atuarre planetological, Pakka unclassified Authority government data, Torm outlaw-tech data. Ready? Search!

To their amazement, their terminals remain blank after the search term is entered. Only Han's is hooked up, and he can see what's on their displays thanks to Space Teamviewer. He tells them to turn their screens around.

Torm has gone deathly pale, he knows what mistake he's made.

Atuarre's reads MYTUS IV. Pakka's reads MYTUS V. Torm's reads MYTUS VII -- which is NOT the planet Han told him. Han had told him Mytus VI. But Torm had looked up Mytus VII because he already knew what the right planet was ; he'd seen it on Rekkon's data pad.

Just before he killed him.

We've seen this gambit before. Step aside, Tyrion Lannister (mildly NSFW link) , looks like we've got someone who can play at your level.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised, should we? Torm has red hair, and everyone knows red is sus .

Torm draws his pistol and fires, just as Atuarre draws and fires at him. Both blasters buzz dry of charge.

"Two malfunctions?" Han asks, as he unlimbers his own shooting iron. "I betcha mine works, Torm."

Torm throws his pistol at Han and, while Han is distracted, quickly grabs Atuarre in a neckhold, holding her one fraction of a way from snapping it.

We did mention he was a bulky man with a wrestler build, right? And he has skill at unarmed combat.

He tries to use Atuarre as a hostage, but Pakka jumps on him, fangs extended. As he lets go of Atuarre to deal with Pakka , she turns on him.

Torm is in trouble, but he rises to the occasion. A powerful snap-kick lays Atuarre out and sends her into Han. Then he reaches up, grabs Pakka, and throws him into Bollux, who is also trying to restrain him.

With all four combatants temporarily out of action, Torm takes this opportunity to dash away, to find some place for a respite, perhaps a weapon. He passes by the cockpit, the ladder access, the ramp -- finally he reaches a small compartment , enters, and slams the DOOR CLOSE button.

He looks around -- nothing like a weapon, no useful tools -- then he realizes where he is.

He throws himself at the hatch, but it's already secured from the other side.

Han's voice crackles over the intercom. "Nice of you to choose the emergency airlock, Torm. It's where you would have ended up anyway."

We've ... we've seen this before , haven't we?

Torm starts begging, admitting he'd shot Rekkon but says he was in fear of his life; if he hadn't done it the Authority would have killed him themselves; they don't tolerate failure. He's just looking out for number one -- just like Solo said he does.

Han notes the admission. Atuarre comes to the hatch and is confused. Rekkon found and recruited him because Torm's father and brother were missing, right?

Han, more cynically , says that not only is this true, but that the fact his father and brother are missing make him the sole heir to their ranch.

So, yeah, Torm sold out his own family for personal gain. So is it any wonder he'd sell out a stranger like Rekkon too?

Torm makes his last pitch: He hasn't told everything to the Authority. he was holding on to information to drive the price up. Let Torm go, and with the information they can trade to the Authority they can not only get Chewbacca back -- a trivial ask for the info Torm has -- but enough money that Han can buy a new ship if he sees fit.

"Solo, tell me what you want; I'll get it for you, I swear! You're a guy who looks out for number one, aren't you? Isn't that what you are, Solo!? "

For a moment, Han pauses. The text tells us

"Han stared at his own lean reflection. In another man, he'd have said those eyes were too used to concealing everything but cynicism. His thoughts echoed Torm: Is that what I am? ".

After a moment's pause, he turns back to regard Torm , straining against the airlock viewport, and gives his answer.

"Ask Rekkon".

And hits the lock release.



TORM HAS BEEN EJECTED.

That's it, We've got away and the Imposter's gone. Now let's get on with rescuing our friends -- in the next chapter!

Respectfully,

Brian P.