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  1. - Top - End - #121
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Originally Posted by 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….
    Can’t imagine why this should be the case. My lawnmower is clunky tech, but it doesn’t need a deep-seated sense of maleness to spin up and mow through grass and leaves. The machinery works as it’s designed to do, without involving any biological frame of reference.

    People may conflate aspects of a machine with their perceptions of masculinity, but that’s nothing inherent to the machine or its function. It’s also kind of embarrassing.

    (This was an actual song, if you haven’t heard it before.)

    Originally Posted by Grim Portent
    …so the idea that droids would be gender coded by role to fit the biases of humans isn't all that strange.
    Which doesn’t by itself require any deep biological analogue in the programming. Apart from vocal pitch and tone, there’s really not much there, so it’s just a question of modulating the synthetic voice. Different voices give humans the social illusions they need, but that’s barely a subroutine, and there’s no reason anything else in the droid’s processors would be affected.

    Originally Posted by Grim Portent
    …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.
    Again, there’s no reason to provide a mechanism to allow for this in the first place. There’s no reason to add this, and plenty of reasons to prevent this kind of random variability, so design and manufacturing should work to exclude the likelihood to improve product reliability. There’s no practical rationale to do otherwise.

  2. - Top - End - #122
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Grim Portent mentioned QT-KT, a female astrodroid.

    Did anything canon ever spell this out? Is there a factory that makes specifically female astrodroids? Was it an aftermarket customization? Did the owner just start referring to the droid as female and QT picked up the cue? Or was QT-KT originally a stock droid which was left unwiped and developed a female personality, which is why the owner picked her up?

    ETA: There's a touching story behind the real-world genesis of the series; the original was made as a gift for a young girl with terminal cancer and it was later ported to the animated series. I'm sure we think this is a great idea and a pure delight for the child. But it does leave the in-universe lore describing how the droid became female unanswered. I suppose this is a job for a nucanon author!

    ETA: The latest chapter is up . Don't want it to get lost in the rest of the conversation.

    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-18 at 09:54 PM.
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  3. - Top - End - #123
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    I'd completely forgotten about QT-KT. I really disliked that particular episode arc; it was essentially filler dropped into Season Five, so I've never watched it again.

    Can't find anything detailed about the connection between QT and Aayla, so no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if Aayla decided to call QT "her" and the droid just rolled with it. "Humor your Jedi pilot" is probably written into an astromech's OS.



    Edit: Yup, shows up in Force Awakens at 2:03:50 on Disney+, when everyone is lined up watching the Falcon fly off. Pink droid at the far right of the crowd.

    .
    Last edited by Palanan; 2023-01-18 at 10:04 PM.

  4. - Top - End - #124
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by Palanan View Post
    -snipped for length-
    You're assuming a lot of competence on the part of the people who make droids, if anything can be observed from Star Wars it's that droids are fairly routinely annoying, unfit for purpose and exhibit tendencies that contradict their intended function, unless they're one of the extremely expensive ones. Programming in Star Wars isn't good, especially when it comes to droids, and manufacturing flaws are common in the cheap ones.

    B1s the exemplars of this trend, but protocol droids, astromechs, pit droids, tactical droids (republic/imperial and CIS,) servant droids and so forth have all shown a lot of individuals who are to be blunt, really bad at their nominal job due to huge personality flaws that aren't intended parts of their programming.

    For example, CIS Tactical Droids are arrogant, overlook details and actively consider droids to be superior to organics. None of these are details the CIS would want in their droids, but they're in there anyway because they're bad at making droids despite being the best people in the Galaxy at making droids, and the tactical droid not being all that cheap.

    Or C-3PO, just everything about him. He's a coward, talks over people, is rude and prissy, and generally not good at being a translator despite perfectly capable of the actual job of translating, because he's incredibly undiplomatic most of the time.

    Also WAC-47, R2-DT, Chopper, Todo 360, EV-A4-D, and presumably a double digit number of droid characters from the EU. All of them have personalities that go beyond, and sometimes conflict with, their intended function.
    Sanity is nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

  5. - Top - End - #125
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Originally Posted by Grim Portent
    You're assuming a lot of competence on the part of the people who make droids….
    If droids were as bad as all that, they would’ve gone out as poor value and unreliable long ago. Most likely there are quadrillions of droids quietly performing their functions competently and unremarkably. A handful of oddball individuals doesn’t demonstrate that the implementation of droid labor on a galactic scale is hopelessly flawed.

    And I just don’t get all the Threepio hate. He’s a protocol droid who’s dragged everywhere except situations where protocol is valued. He’s out of his depth and out of his preferred work environment, but it’s never once occurred to me to hate him for it.

  6. - Top - End - #126
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by pendell View Post
    Continuing.

    Spoiler
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    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.
    This is a pretty good chapter, although parts of your summary confused me -

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    My vague recollection from reading this book long ago was that Han gave false information, a (nonfunctional) weapon, and the "hey, buddy, I think I know who the traitor is, it's [not you] and I need your help luring them out" spiel to all the suspects? But you only mention that with Torm, which makes it sound like he'd already guessed and was targeting him specifically.
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  7. - Top - End - #127
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by Grim Portent View Post
    You're assuming a lot of competence on the part of the people who make droids, if anything can be observed from Star Wars it's that droids are fairly routinely annoying, unfit for purpose and exhibit tendencies that contradict their intended function, unless they're one of the extremely expensive ones. Programming in Star Wars isn't good, especially when it comes to droids, and manufacturing flaws are common in the cheap ones.
    Droid technology is one of several Star Wars technologies that pre-dates the Republic. Both the Rakata and the Gree had droids. Given the Rakatan obsession with Force-based technologies, something droids explicitly are not, it seems probable that droids were invented by the Gree, stolen by the Rakata, and only later adapted by Humans and other species that developed into the Republic civilization. Being six-limbed cephalopods with an extremely non-Human mental architecture, Gree technology can only ever be imperfectly understood by Human-like minds. As such it is entirely possible that the fundamental basis of droid programming, like the fundamentals of hyperdrive, are only imperfectly understood by even the best minds of the Republic. That would explain a great deal of the variation and inconsistency found in droid programming, it's ultimately cargo-cultist in origin.
    Now publishing a webnovel travelogue.

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  8. - Top - End - #128
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    On another note:

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    Torm getting airlocked, or at least Daley's description of it, always creeped the hell out of me...

    "Outside the Falcon's protective shell of energy, the patterns of force that constituted Torm ceased to have coherent meaning."

    Evocative and chillingly cold. One of those moments I've never forgotten.

  9. - Top - End - #129
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by The_Snark View Post
    This is a pretty good chapter, although parts of your summary confused me -

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    My vague recollection from reading this book long ago was that Han gave false information, a (nonfunctional) weapon, and the "hey, buddy, I think I know who the traitor is, it's [not you] and I need your help luring them out" spiel to all the suspects? But you only mention that with Torm, which makes it sound like he'd already guessed and was targeting him specifically.
    Okay, I'll see if I can clear this up.

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    In the text , we only see Han give this spiel to Torm and hand him the blaster. I think Brian Daley is trying to confuse us, the audience, the same way Han is confusing the suspects in the story. Daley wants us to buy into Han's spiel the same way Torm did.

    Truthfully, when I first read this story I flat missed the bit where Han told Torm the wrong planet. I saw "Mytus" and went right past it, filling in the blanks. Even if I'd spotted it, I'd have thought it was a typo.

    Later, in the forward compartment, it all becomes clear from context. The fact that Atuarre also has a drained pistol is proof enough that Han told her a variant on the same spiel he had told Torm -- "you're the only one I can trust, here's a blaster, and here's (the wrong planet)". It's like a cold bucket of water on the head when I first read it to realize how Han had outwitted the others -- and the impact wouldn't have been nearly so great if I knew what was coming.

    I suppose I could have simply laid out the entire gambit in advance but I think , if I had done so, we'd have missed the artistry of the storytelling Daley was trying to craft -- to mislead his reader out-of-character just as Han misleads his passengers in-book to increase the impact of the Big Reveal. So I tried to preserve the storytelling device as best I could within the context of the summary.



    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-19 at 08:46 AM.
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  10. - Top - End - #130
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by pendell View Post
    Okay, I'll see if I can clear this up.

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    In the text , we only see Han give this spiel to Torm and hand him the blaster. I think Brian Daley is trying to confuse us, the audience, the same way Han is confusing the suspects in the story. Daley wants us to buy into Han's spiel the same way Torm did.

    Truthfully, when I first read this story I flat missed the bit where Han told Torm the wrong planet. I saw "Mytus" and went right past it, filling in the blanks. Even if I'd spotted it, I'd have thought it was a typo.

    Later, in the forward compartment, it all becomes clear from context. The fact that Atuarre also has a drained pistol is proof enough that Han told her a variant on the same spiel he had told Torm -- "you're the only one I can trust, here's a blaster, and here's (the wrong planet)". It's like a cold bucket of water on the head when I first read it to realize how Han had outwitted the others -- and the impact wouldn't have been nearly so great if I knew what was coming.

    I suppose I could have simply laid out the entire gambit in advance but I think , if I had done so, we'd have missed the artistry of the storytelling Daley was trying to craft -- to mislead his reader out-of-character just as Han misleads his passengers in-book to increase the impact of the Big Reveal. So I tried to preserve the storytelling device as best I could within the context of the summary.



    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
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    Ahhh, that makes sense. That's how you can tell I haven't read this book in many years, I remembered the basic facts of what happened but that storytelling device completely slipped my memory.
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  11. - Top - End - #131
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Originally Posted by Mechalich
    *snip*
    Just because two species prior to the Republic had droids, it doesn’t follow that one of those two must have been the one to first invent droids. Likely the concept has been around for millions of years, and independently developed by thousands of different species and civilizations.

    There’s also no reason to believe the current manufacturers of droids haven’t built their own models from the ground up. There’s no reason to believe anyone in the present-day galaxy doesn’t understand their own technology.

    Originally Posted by Saintheart
    On another note:

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    Torm getting airlocked, or at least Daley's description of it, always creeped the hell out of me...
    That turn of phrase stuck with me as well.

    It also highlights, in a way I don’t think we’ve seen since, just how dangerous hyperspace travel can be. In more recent Star Wars media it’s literally as safe and predictable as a bus commute; but here we have a glimpse of how deadly and alien it really is.

  12. - Top - End - #132
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    So here we go! Chapter 8!

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    The story opens with the Millenium Falcon riding an asteroid in the Mytus system. Their target is the seventh planet in the system, which is fairly far out, so Han travels to the far side of the system, still in interstellar space, finds a suitable asteroid and adjusts its orbit with tractors and engine on a cometary orbit which will give them a good view of the target. Riding ony of thousands of asteroids, they are beneath the notice of the Authority on Mytus VII. And this is what they see:


    The planet is an airless rock, as are all the other planets in this system. Even if someone escapes, they have nowhere to go. The entire system is also so remote no one is going to find it unless they're deliberately looking for it.

    The installation on the planet's surface is marked by temporary dormitories, hangars, guard barracks, hydroponics, dome sheds, and weapons sites. They are connected by tunnel-tubes, not permanent tunnels just yet. Smack in the center of the installation is a very tall tower, like a gleaming dagger, under which is an extremely powerful reactor, of the type used for capital ships or planetary fortresses. Remember Empire Strikes Back? Remember the deflector shield strong enough to deflect bombardment by
    all of Death Squadron? That's what we have here.

    That's one of two remarkable things about this planet. The second is that this is a no-go area, under highest Authority restriction, with warning that trespessers are subject to immediate destruction. Other than that, it appears to be a completely ordinary settlement. There are encrypted transmissions but the unencrypted stuff is entirely normal and uninteresting. Han suspects some of them are deliberately sent to further the appearance of normality.

    The stakeout is boring. They have run out of fresh food and subsisting on emergency rations. Pakka is amusing himself with the Falcon's remote. Remember the remote Luke was sparring with in Episode IV? It's aboard, although not for lightsaber practice. Blue Max controls it, while Pakka attempts to stalk and spring on it. They are having reasonably good time, and Bollux is proving to be a true gem;
    he has an astonishing number of stories and a previous owner has programmed him with a truly impressive array of jokes, which he delivers with a perfect deadpan delivery. It definitely helps, but days
    of observation is still boring and no mistake.

    Atuarre proposes contacting Jess, but Han doesn't agree; after an authority raid hit their base, the outlaws most likely found a hole and pulled it in after them; there is almost no chance they will be able to contact them in time to get any meaningful help.

    Atuarre discusses why she is so determined to rescue her husband; when the Authority took their world there was armed resistance, and amongst the techniques the Authority used to combat them was an
    interrogation technique called the Burning -- to set a blaster to low power, then use it to cook a person's flesh away , down to the bone, an inch at a time, while other people watch. The Burning usually gets answers, but Han considers anyone who would resort to such techniques as not worthy to breathe air.

    It upsets Han, and he's more than willing to consider a mad dash charge into the system , guns a-blazin', but it's a certain failure, sheer madness. About the only thing he can think of is to fly into Star's End backward so they think the Falcon is leaving.

    The Falcon's recorder bleeps; a plaintext holonet message addressed to the base.

    "
    To: Corporate Vice President Hirken
    From: Imperial Entertainer's Guild

    We beg the Viceprex' indulgence and forgiveness, but the troupe scheduled to stop at your location has been forced to cancel its itinerary due to a transportation mishap. This office will schedule a replacement immediately, when a troup with a droid of the requisite type becomes available. I am, distinguished Viceprex,

    your abject servant,
    Hokkor Long,
    Secretary in charge of scheduling,
    Imperial Entertainer's Guild
    "

    It's at this point a DM would look up from behind the shield at eager, expectant faces , and say: "Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

    But they are. Han has seen a "replacement" act or two from the Guild before, and they'll put together any washed-up lousy has-beens up to keep from losing a gig. As toward a droid of the appropriate type? Scheduling mix-up, of course. "They'll think we stink like bantha droppings, but they'll buy the lie".

    And that is why, a few timeparts later, a YT-1300 enters orbit around Star's End and declares itself to be the touring Vehicle of Madam Atuarre's Roving Performers. Clearance to land is granted.

    A tunnel tube snakes out to the now-docked Millenium Falcon and within it is a squad of Espos in combat armor with weapons.

    Stepping off to greet them is , first Madam Atuarre herself, the face of the troupe. She is a dancer and singer, "bedecked .. with bunches of multicolored streamers, Trianii attire for festival and joyful occasions. She'd applied the exotic perfumes and formal scents of her species from the tiny supply in her belt pouch." She wears a coppery, metallic cape.

    Next off is Pakka, the Acrobat, costumed as Atuarre but wearing a pre-adolescent male's scents.

    Fourth off is The Marksman, trick shooter extraordinaire, a tight-cut black body suit with epaulets, piping, shining braid, and a broad yellow sash, upon which Han's blaster is buckled. His boots are polished to a mirror finish, and the whole ensemble is offset by an electric blue cape.

    Finally, there is Bollux , "robotic raconteur, machine of mirth and merriment". Han has worked for a long time to knock out his dents and applied a five-coat paint job of red gloss, which is accentuated by the mask-and-sunburst icon of the Imperial Entertainer's Guild on side of his chest and silver pinstriping. He is no longer obsolescent; he is a classic.

    There's a moment of awkwardness as they see The Marksman (Han in an alias) and his blaster, which causes their own weapons to come up. Atuarre defuses the situation and bluffs the Espo major leading the reception committee , calling him "general", and following Han's suggestion: Imitate the aristocrats she's seen, fat, dumb and happy.

    BLUFF CHECK : SUCCESS!

    The major knows they were expecting entertainers so, even though they weren't notified of this group, replacement entertainers is definitely plausible. Han locks down the Falcon, and the major escorts them into the base.

    Incidentally, the costumes were made by scavenging han's Wardrobe, survival tents, and assorted spare parts for the props worked to serve in the ship's machine shop. The clothes and costumes were all done by Bollux, who it seems was a valet to a regimental commander durign the Clone War, and thus is more than able to both sew and tailor.

    Bollux, can you cook? Cause if I wasn't already married I'd definitely marry you, gender and species and vital status notwithstanding.

    Han notes the other spacecraft in the port; a single Assault Transport , as well as assorted unarmed cargo lighters and other small craft. No picket ships, which is helpful.

    There are two large airlocks on the tower, one at ground level and one on the summit. The tower itself has an exterior of molecularly bonded armour, all of a single piece. It is probably the strongest building in the entire Corporate Sector, and certainly the most expensive.

    They pass through the tube into a bank of elevators at the service core, which they ride to the summit.

    They enter a room with a clear, transparisteel dome. "A small glen, complete with miniature streamlet, flowers and vegetation from many worlds sculpted to the last bud and leaf. The sounds of bird and small animals, the hum of pollinating insects, confined to the roof garden by partition fields. The glen was cleverly lit by miniature sun-globes of various colors."


    It is within this place of splendor that we meet Mirkovig Hirken, Vice President of Security for the Corporate Sector Authority. The Head Espo.


    "A tall, handsome patriarch of a man. He wore superbly-cut uppermost-exec's attire -- cutaway coat, formal vest, pleated shirt, meticulously creased trousers set off by a jaunty white cravat. His smile was hearty and convincing, his hair white and full, his hands clean and soft, his nails manicured and laquered. Han instantly wanted to bop him on the skull and dump him down the elevator shaft."

    Amongst the most important things about him is the master control unit he wears on his belt, allowing total control over the entire base. A paranoid and untrusting man is our Viceprex Hirken.

    We also meet his wife, Neera Opatajji-Hirken


    "short, extremely fat, trying to hide it with expensive, well-tailored robes. Han thought she looked as if someone had draped a drogue parachute over an escape pod."

    Fat-shaming, really? Well, I guess that's the 70s for you.

    We also meet Uul-Rha-Shan, Hirken's bodyguard.

    "Reptile, bright green scales marked with diamond patterns of red and white, big, black emotionless eyes ... jaw hung open a bit, exposing fangs and a restless pink tongue. An assassin and gunman who would go anywhere and slay anyone for the right price". An exceptional and famous killer, he carries a disruptor.

    *Looks at the artist's perception*. Why, why, why can't the artist conception match the text?


    Practically the first question out of Hirken's mouth is about the droid ... is the droid fit for purpose?

    Not knowing exactly what he's asking about, Atuarre bluffs again, and succeeds. They travel down to the tower's amphitheater to stage their acts. On the way,
    Hirken drops the fact that he can't get enough of robot combat, and he has a champion combat droid , a Mark X executioner. Has our gladiator bought fought one before?

    Atuarre, smooth as ever, responds, "No, Viceprex, not the Mark X".

    This requires some fast thinking on everyone's part. Han volunteers that their droid is one of a kind, which they designed themselves: They call him Annihilator.

    Picking up on the cue, Bollux speaks: "Annihilator, at your service. To destroy is to serve, exalted sir."

    Gosh I love Bollux ... or Annihilator, as we must now call him.

    Atuarre says they have other acts as well - singing, dancing, trick-shooting - and Mrs. Hirken instantly begs that they see those acts first. She's bored with seeing the Mark X smash up machinery and wants something new. Han leaps at the cue ; actually, Annihilator could use a little fine-tuning before battling a Mark X. Can he take the combat control component for maintenance?

    Hirken agrees. Han steps up to Annihilator, and with some whispered instructions removes Blue Max, who has shut down his outside indicators, who will serve as a "control component". He follows a tech down to the service area, using this plan both to have a chance to look around Star's End by himself AND to postpone Annihilator's own match, which would certainly result in his destruction.

    He and the tech leave, while the others travel to the Amphitheater and the show begins.

    Pakka's act comes first; he is a competition-level acrobat and Neera is delighted with his show, as are many others in the audience. The Authority people are also delighted but they hide their own feelings when they see Viceprex Hirken's growing agitation.

    Hirken keys a code on his control unit: "Have the Mark X readied at once."


    So they're inside Star's End. How will they stage the jailbreak? How will they keep Bollux from being wrecked by a gladiator droid? And will Neera Hirken ever be able to catch a break?

    Find out next time!

    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-22 at 12:59 PM.
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  13. - Top - End - #133
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    This is such a great setup. Are you really an adventuring party if you can't pull off a convincing impression of a traveling circus? I'd say no.

    Poor Neera just wants to watch something other than Battlebots for once.
    Last edited by The_Snark; 2023-01-23 at 01:51 AM.
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    So, Chapter 9.

    Spoiler
    Show

    First, let's follow Han. On his trip, he see something odd: There really aren't that many people in this base, not what you'd expect from a prison. He also doesn't see a lot of armed guards, binders, or any of the other accoutrements of police detention. He and his escort tech enter a maintenance room, at which point Han rabbit punches him out, rips all the braid and junk off his uniform to make a convincing impersonation of a tech,
    then hangs the tech's own ID badge on his chest. He's shot if anyone takes a close look at it, but
    Han is confident that if he acts like he belongs no one will look that closely. it works. He and
    Blue Max find their way to the computer room, whose location they had acquired from the tech before
    clubbing him.

    Ain't it neat that in stories like this you can turn someone's lights off with so much precision and
    then have them wake up again a few hours later none the worse for wear? That doesn't work in real life like, at all.

    At any rate, they get to the computer room and hook max up. Han's plan at this point is to scout as carefully as possible; if no better opportunity presents itself, to exit the premises claiming Annihilator's component is irreparable, thereby getting him out of the need to fight a gladiator droid. Han feels bad about it, but he can't say why. He shouldn't worry about a droid being put up against another any more than he'd care about kids fighting with action figures, but for all that he does care about Bollux, and wants to save him if he can. A clear instance of his inner thoughts being in conflict with his surface intellect, and the heart winning, though he wouldn't put it in those terms.

    ATUARRE'S VIEWPOINT: Hirken, anxious to get to his robot fightin' time, cuts Pakka's performance off
    and orders Atuarre to start her routine; if the Marksman isn't back soon he may just have his act cut
    altogether. Atuarre dances well.

    Bardic performance go!

    Even Hirken, against his will, is enthralled by her exacting and difficult performance. Even so, how long can she keep it up?

    HAN'S VIEWPOINT:
    They analyze the tower and it's defenses -- in addition to the molecular bonded amour, it has
    an anti-concussion field to protect against artillery , four deflector shields on each wall, and a fifth deflector shield to protect the roof. There aren't a lot of living quarters, though, no obvious place to keep a large number of prisoners. There's still that huge power plant in the basement, however. In the upper levels of the tower there are a lot of power connections, a freight-size airlock, into an area marked as "medical equipment/hospital".

    A security feed reveals the solution to the puzzle: Row upon row of stasis booths. The prisoners in this facility are kept in permanent hibernation, coldsleep, awakened only for interrogation and then put immediately back to sleep. This allows the Authority to store them in a minimum of space, as well as dispense with the need for guards or food or many other things needed in a conventional prison.

    Blue Max finds a file marked TRANSIENT PERSONS and, sure enough, their missing people are on the list. He even finds Chewbacca in the list, though it takes some digging because he's not listed under his name; his file shows he never divulged it, or anything else, but did manage to kill three Authority officers while resisting arrest. He's scheduled for interrogation later today.

    Blue Max has no control over any aspect of the prison -- the primaries are all controlled through Hirken's belt unit. He can, however, access the secondaries which come online if the primary is disabled.

    Han has an idea. He has Blue Max configure the backups to start draining power from the roof deflector, but at the same time to compromise the warning systems so the system notices the power drain but not the diversion. Blue Max protests ; that will start an overload spiral which will destroy the reactor. Han disagrees; that will only happen if the primaries go offline.

    I've read and re-read this section in preparation for writing this readthrough, and I'm still not entirely sure what Han's plan is here.

    So far as I can tell, his plan is to 1) Gimmick the secondaries to destroy the tower. 2) Somehow get the primary unit off of Hirken's belt. 3) Using the threat of annihilation, hold Hirken hostage and use this threat to secure his friends and ticket off the planet.

    That seems awfully, awfully, awfully risky. So many things can go wrong. A sniper could kill Han before he presses the button. He might not be able to get the control. Hirken might have him shot down as soon as the Falcon takes off. Or Hirken might even let his pride get the better of him and permit the tower's destruction rather than admit failure.

    I guess the problem here is that we've once again pushed that "friend in danger" button which means that Han will do just about anything at any cost, without regard to the risks, to save someone he cares about. Han isn't thinking clearly, but this is the plan he goes with.

    ATUARRE'S VIEWPOINT: Hirken finally makes his intelligence check and stops Atuarre's performance. He says he's being stalled (true) and that they have no intention of having their robot fight (also true). He tells them he's going to have his money's worth from Annihilator, control component or no. As for them, they aren't getting paid, and he'll have their license revoked. They can either stay to watch the death match or they can go back to their ship now. Atuarre leaves in a huff.

    HAN'S VIEWPOINT: Blue Max alerts Han that Bollux is being put into the Arena against the Mark X. Han says there's nothing more they can do, but Blue Max refuses; he withdraws his data jack and flat refuses to do one more thing for Han until his friend is taken care of. He demands Solo take him down to Bollux, because Blue Max is certain he can save Bollux's life. Unsure what a box can do, Solo warns Blue Max that he's going to smash him to pieces right here and now if he doesn't get with the program.

    Blue Max sits there. Han reaches down to smash him. Blue Max says: "Go ahead then, Captain. Bollux would do whatever he would have to if I was in trouble."

    That touches Han's heart; Blue Max's love for Bollux is just like his own affection for Chewbacca, the same deep care and concern. He relents; he carries Blue Max as quickly as he can down to the arena.

    He meets Atuarre and her Espo escort on the way to the Falcon and explains quietly to Atuarre the plan; he gets a blaster, gets Hirken's tablet, uses it to bargain for the prisoners and release. But in the meantime they have to hurry -- Annihilator can't last long.
    UPDATE: I thought they all returned to the arena but this is not true; only Han continues to the Arena while Atuarre and her escort head back to the Falcon.


    Back in the arena, Annihilator encounters his nemesis: The Mark X



    "Half again as tall as Bollux and far broader ... two caterpillar tracks ... From the tracks and support housing rose a thick trunk, armored in gray alloy plate. The Executioner's many arms were folded close to it now, inactive, each one furnished with a different weapon."

    Speaking as a battlebots fan, it seems to me far too complex compared to real-world combat robots. As a rule, you want something solid and reliable that does one thing and one thing well; adding additional things to it just adds more complexity and detracts from the primary weapon. While it's not the current champion, in the real world something like this is death, the destroyer of worlds.

    For his part, Bollux prepares for the battle by omitting from his calculations the fact that his own destruction is a very high probability. Humans would call this ignoring certain death; Bollux calls it excluding counterproductive data; it's one reason he's still functional after more than a century.

    Fortunately, the Mark X is programmed to give its owner a show rather than simply trash Bollux in the first minute; that is not much of a mercy but it will at least allow him some margin to learn and, therefore, survive. He's also been given a pretty strong shield to defend himself, but no weapons.

    Let the bot battle begin!

    Phase 1: The Mark X charges Bollux in an attempt to crush him under the treads. Bollux evades. Just as the Mark X prepares another charge. Hirken cancels him out and orders him to attempt another mode. Hirken, you see, is a cruel man. He's not just interested in Annihilator's destruction; he wants to toy with him as a cat would with a mouse.

    Phase 2: Hirken selects flame mode. Mark X hits Bollux with a flamethrower. Bollux responds by crouching behind his shield, which absorbs the flame. The Mark X backs up and maneuvers for a better shot when Hirken stops him again.

    It is at this moment Han enters the room. Hirken mocks him, asks where his decorations are, then tells him he can take what's left of his droid back in a minute. Han holds out Blue Max to Bollux, and Blue Max sends Bollux a very high speed data transmission; specs on the Mark X picked from the computer banks, perhaps, and a plan of action.

    Phase 3: The Mark X brings out two arms with whirling blades. In response Bollux hurls his shield at the monster. As his shield is shredded he dives between the treads! Centered underneath the Mark 10, he holds on for dear function with one hand while with his other he rips into the relatively unshielded underbelly and tears out the cooling conduits.

    The Mark X begins to rapidly overheat, rolling in all directions but Bollux, holding on, is in the one safe spot in the entire arena. Hirken starts sending the cancel order but those controls were among the first to go. At the last, it somehow comes to the conclusion that its foe is directly in front of it.

    Bollux lets go and gets out of there just as the Mark X rams itself into the arena wall. Frustrated, it unleashes all its weapons at once. it is caught in the backwash and consumed.

    WINNER: ANNIHILATOR (KO).

    Hirken is frothing at the mouth over this. Um, why you mad, bro? You paid for a gladiator match and that's why you got. You couldn't ask for a tougher fought battle than this!

    But Hirken is like a little child who , pulling the wings off an insect, finds it is a bee and gets stung. He starts ranting and raving and accusing them of being part of a conspiracy against him. Those fools on the board will have to believe him now! EVERYONE is conspiring against him!

    This paranoia tells us that he's the brains behind the whole Stars End operation -- he is the one who sold the board on both the program and this facility. I have to wonder whether they gave him permission just so he would go out here far, far away from anyone and chase his imaginary conspiracies. The sad irony is that , in pursuing imaginary conspiracies, he's begun to make them real, as those kidnapped plot both against him and the Authority. As with Tarkin's Death Star, his course of action is self-defeating.

    He orders them all taken to interrogation except for the Marksman, who will die here and now. Han is taken into the arena and Ul Rha Shan enters it as well. Ul hands Han his blaster -- it has been drained of everything except a microcharge. Hirken , gloating, is behind transparisteel invulnerable to blaster fire. Thus trapped, Han determines to set off his rigged overload, taking them all with him.

    As they prepare to draw, Uul Rha Shan demands Han's name. Han gives it, while he moves to a very particular spot in the arena, which he had found when doing computer slicing with Blue Max.

    "I have heard your name, Solo. You are, at least, worthy of the killing".

    Han waits but at the last moment, just as Uul-Rha-Shan draws, he dodges aside.

    Uul-Rha-Shan's bolt hits a very specific spot on the wall.

    Shorting out the ancillery circuits connecting Hirken's master control unit with the tower.

    Hirken's primary is disabled. The secondaries take over. The overload spiral triggers.

    Everyone in the tower is slammed to the ground -- the concussion field responding to a threat. Han had forgot about that, but it shouldn't matter.

    He has less than a minute to think about it before the overload culminates and the reactor explodes.


    So, rocks fall everybody dies. Happy end.

    Wait ... there's two chapters left?

    How ... how do they get out of this one? Vision quest in the afterlife? Timey-Wimey shenanigans? Or maybe everyone's favorite standby, It Was All A Dream?



    That went well. Let's see how the author salvages the story in the following two chapters ... next time! See you then!


    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-26 at 12:24 PM.
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  15. - Top - End - #135
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Now THAT would be one hell of an episode of Battlebots!
    "That's a horrible idea! What time?"

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  16. - Top - End - #136
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Just chiming in to say that I'm really enjoying the read through. These books are extremely nostalgic for me, and I love getting to see them with a different set of eyes.

  17. - Top - End - #137
    Eldritch Horror in the Playground Moderator
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    I suspect the differences between a Battlebot and the gladiator Droid are exactly in the names. Wasted mass is crippling and showboating in BB can easily cause you to lose a match, but gladiators are entertainers as much as they are fighters, so a certain level of inefficiency is beneficial to the design intent.
    Last edited by The Glyphstone; 2023-01-26 at 04:36 PM.

  18. - Top - End - #138
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by The Glyphstone View Post
    I suspect the differences between a Battlebot and the gladiator Droid are exactly in the names. Wasted mass is crippling and showboating in BB can easily cause you to lose a match, but gladiators are entertainers as much as they are fighters, so a certain level of inefficiency is beneficial to the design intent.
    Battlebots need to be entertaining as well. The reason being is that there's only 32 seats at the table for the second round. Each 'bot fights 3 combats in the first round, which means there are a lot of bots with 2-1 and 1-2 records who are all in contention. The judges select based on a number of things, but among the most critical is if the robots make good TV or not. A 1-2 bot that is very entertaining can win a spot over a bot that is 2-1 but is utterly boring to watch, especially if the two victories were decisions in which the victor just barely won on points over the loser.

    You don't need to be entertaining if you can turn in a 3-0 record. And an 0-3 bot ain't going to the dance no matter how good a show it puts on. For the rest of the bots, they need a combination of skill AND show. The true winner is the person who can combine both these attributes into a single, elegant package. No more mass than necessary yet making a deep impression on the audience, either through beauty or through sheer intimidation, as Ray Billing's Tombstone did for years, though it is now outmatched. The intimidation factor is hard to keep up when your bot is in pieces all over the arena.

    So battlebots are gladiator bots in that sense, and being able to put on a show is every bit as important as it would be in the GFFA.

    For instance, the name Martin Mason. Tomandtish hates his guts because he's a showboat and puts on a pro wrestler persona for the cameras, but his team always -- always! -- gets selected to go on to the second round.

    Coincidence? I think not.

    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-26 at 05:04 PM.
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  19. - Top - End - #139
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    Question Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    To be fair, most droids are a lot more advanced than an rc fighting robot, and can practically use multiple weapon options, and there's probably no weight limit on this particular droid.

    If you're doing a minimal-rules droid vs droid pit fight then more designs are going to be capable of winning than in the heavily regulated modern day televised rc robot fighting shows. What we've seen of droid fights elsewhere in Star Wars they aren't exactly intended to be fair the way robot wars or battlebots is, I'd compare them to rat-baiting or dog-fights.

    That said, it's still not a good design. If you want to give a droid ten weapons, just give it ten arms or otherwise mount the weapons so they can all be used at once.


    On a meta level, it's the sort of design you'd see as a prop in an old sci-fi tv show or low budget movie. The sort made of cardboard boxes, some old broom handles, tinfoil and a handful of dry pasta. Like an overcomplicated take on a dalek style prop.
    Sanity is nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

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    Eldritch Horror in the Playground Moderator
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    And this bot apparently comes with a manual override switch, which somehow feels like it's taking all the fun out of the spectacle to begin with. But I guess this guy likes the thrill of doing it 'himself'.

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

    I also think it's likely this Mark X isn't used to fighting serious competition. The name Executioner implies an expected power imbalance - it sounds intimidating, but an executioner's job is to kill something that's already been made helpless. This is not a droid built to be used in any kind of a fair fight

    It's basically the droid equivalent of Jabba's rancor, but it also comes with a video game setting so that Hirken can get the immature fun a child gets from blowing through a video game on the lowest difficulty with all the cheat codes enabled. Someone playing like that is absolutely not interested in anything resembling a real challenge.
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    Neither Evershifting List of Perfectly Prepared Spells nor Grounds to Howl at the DM If I Ever Lose is actually a wizard class feature.

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

    Chapter 10

    So in the last chapter Han was apparently blown to smithereens. Let's see how this chapter fixes that.

    Spoiler
    Show

    We start with Atuarre's viewpoint. She's walking to the Falcon via a connecting tunnel-tube with her Espo escorts when the order comes in over the intercom to bring her back to the tower. She knows Han's plan requires her to be in the Falcon so she tries to talk the guards into letting her on for just a moment.

    PERSUADE CHECK: Fail.

    The guards won't have it, and draw their blaster. Atuarre is a Ranger among her people, however; with a little aid from Pakka she takes them by surprise and kills them both -- but not before one presses the alarm button.

    This turns out to be the least of her problems, however, as a sudden massive tremor throws her and Pakka around like dice in a cup. When they get up, they look back at the connecting junction.

    There's no tower.

    There's just a trail of light streaming off into the sky. Did Han trigger his trump card? Did it annihilate the tower completely?

    She looks up ... and up ... and up. Way, way up there, far up in the sky, she sees a little glint of molecularly bonded armor off the weak sun.

    ...

    Great Scott. Is the tower in orbit?

    She wastes no more time, boarding the Falcon. The rest of the base is too busy to worry about her -- remember this is an airless world and a big section of the base has just vanished. They're too busy sealing off airtubes and hunkering down to survival to worry about her. But not everyone is thinking about survival. As she preps for takeoff the Assault Transport undocks and boosts for the tower, now high in the sky.

    ETA: On second readthrough, in addition to the paragraph below, she also drives the junction station connecting the tubes to the Falcon and secures it in place with a tractor beam. She also manipulates the controls to disconnect the far end of the three tunnel tubes , but seals them so they are still pressurized.

    Realizing she can't have any more Authority reinforcements reaching the tower, she takes control of the Falcon guns from the cockpit, then makes several passes over the base, disabling the other six or so light craft docked there. Now the only ships in the entire system are the Falcon, the Authority armed transport, and the tower itself. The Falcon flies up towards the tower, carrying an Authority junction station and several tunnel tubes.

    HAN's viewpoint:

    The anti concussion field, which has acted as a form of seat belt for everyone in the building, finally lifts. The power's out everywhere. Most of the Authority people run for the elevator, but Han knows it will be out in these conditions; with the power plant out, more and more power will be diverted to life support. That's probably why the anti-concussion field died.

    He reaches Bollox, and helps him to stand. Blue Max fills him in: There was a lot of power in the power plant, but the deflectors and anti concussion field restrained the force of the blast. The top shield, however, had been compromised by the overload spiral and gave quickly. So all the force of the blast went that way - and with it, the tower itself. They are a on a suborbital trajectory remniscient of Alan Shepard's first Flight . This is a much smaller planet than earth so the flight will last longer, but the tower's flight is measured in minutes, maybe hours at the outside.

    Han, every bit the master of improvisation that he claimed, hits on a new plan: The reason they weren't smashed to jelly by the acceleration was the anticoncussion field. Therefore, the anticoncussion field should save them from the landing impact as well IF it has enough power. So the thing to do is find Doc -- Jessa's father, wizard mechanic -- and get him down to the engineering deck in order to juice the field right before they land, so the impact in this very tough tower will be survivable.

    He and Bollux (with Blue Max inside) head for the nearest stairwell. Unfortunately, the Authority people have just figured out the elevators aren't working and are heading there too. Han shoots the first Espo scouting in their direction with the remaining microcharge in his blaster; it is now dry. He now takes the Espo's riot gun, which is also an energy weapon, heads through the stairwell and use the riot guns beam to weld the door shut. The Authority will be able to cut through with their own hand weapons but that will take time. Han hustles down the stairwell with Bollux.

    Soon, they come to the prisoner level and it is a mess. There are a lot of prisoners dead or dying on the floor -- seems a significant number of these prisoners don't breathe oxygen, or only live in low gravity. The Authority will provide them with a micro environment when interrogating them but the sudden jailbreak has exposed them all to human-standard conditions. Quite a few of them have just flat died on the spot, horribly contorted.

    Y'know, I'm wondering about Han's idea here. We're going to succeed in rescuing people, but he's going to get a lot of people killed. The ideal of rescue ops is: All hostages alive, all bad guys dead. This isn't even close to that.

    If it were me, I'd rather go for the forged-orders-to-release-the-prisoners route rather than set off a disaster like this. But there's no choice now but to roll with it.

    The remaining prisoners on this deck are in a milling mob facing off with three armed espos, who are reluctant to shoot because they know the mob will be on top of them if they do.

    Then, the standoff breaks; one of the prisoners charges. He goes down in a bloody heap but that galvanizes the others. Han manages to shoot one and the prisoners settle the other. Han takes control of the chaos; looking at the prisoners he spots a police uniform; some honest local constable who ran afoul of the Authority. He puts the officer in charge and tells him to organize a defense, as the Authority will be coming down here soon as well and we'll all be back in stasis. The officer agrees.

    Han sets off to find Chewie and Doc. While this is happening, the gravity starts going wonky -- as the power drains, more and more of it is needed for life support, and the artificial gravity is suffering.

    Han finds Chewie amusing himself in a fight with three Espos, quickly settled. On down to the next deck where they are ambushed by prisoners already organized for defense. Fortunately, the prisoners call them to halt rather than simply shooting, and Han is relieved to meet their commander: Doc.

    Han fills in Doc on the issue, upon which Doc calls him an imbecile. Han explains his plan to revive the concussion field before impact, at which Doc stares at him open-mouthed. This is a DC 30 task and not something easily pulled off spur of the moment.

    Han responds: "Fine; let's just sit and wait to smash ourselves flat. Jess can always adopt a new father."

    Seeing the sense of this, Doc agrees to help; one way or another, at least there's an end to interrogation.

    Just at this moment, there's a burst of fire from up above; the Authority is assaulting down to the prisoner decks as well.

    Chewie finds a discarded pistol and tosses it to Han, it is damaged and useless, but the power pack is compatible with Han's own blaster. Han gives Chewie his riot gun, and uses the pistol power pack to recharge his own blaster, which is now at the 50% mark.

    They join the fight, notice that all the fire is on the right side with almost nothing in a lane on the left. Thinking fast, Han and Chewie reach a conclusion as to why this would be, wait to the count of three, then pour saturation fire down this lane as a heroic Espo is making his charge down it. Sure enough, the Espos were providing cover fire for just such a gambit, but it has failed. As the body comes to rest, Han notes it is the Espo major who first escorted them into Star's End. A brave man in a bad cause, Han stops for a second to honor his courage before resuming the fight, which is now stalemated.

    The battle in the corridor is a stalemate, as both sides possess more than enough firepower to saturate the chokepoint.

    Then, the shooting stops. Uul-Rha-Shan demands Parley.

    Han agrees, and Hirken hails down from the top of the corridor: He knows what Han has done, and they can see through the dome the tower is now at apogee. Maybe it's time to stop shooting and work together, or they'll all die?


    That... that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

    Han tells them to put down their weapons and come down one at a time, hands on head, and they've got a deal. Hirken rejects this. He asks for a bargain but makes no firm counteroffer. Han tells him "no way".

    The next time Uul-Rha-Shan shows his face, Han shoots at it. Uul-Rha-Shan comments: "Is that the way it is to be, Solo? Must I hunt you from level to level? Come , strike a bargain with us; we only desire to live."

    "No," replies Han, "it's just everyone ELSE you don't want to live". No deal.


    I'm not exactly sure why Han is being so stubborn; if they don't work together they're all dead!

    As far as I can figure it, I guess what Han is thinking is that he doesn't trust Hirken at all ; that Hirken will not keep any bargain made, and will kill them all once he's safe. In the best case, he'll put them all back in stasis, but there's no way Hirken will just let them leave Star's End free. Han -- and most of the remaining prisoners -- prefer to die now rather than go back to their stasis booths, from which they will be awakened only for torture.

    While they are at this impasse, there is the sound of more fighting below. Doc reports: The Espos have docked their assault transport at the lower level and have unloaded a strike force. They are wearing spacesuits and also have support weapons -- in particular, a heavy repeating blaster + deflector shield like the one that gave them trouble back on Orran III. With these weapons, they have driven the prisoners off of the engineering decks and are steadily advancing up the tower. Han and the other prisoners are caught between Hirken's group at the top, with which they were already at parity, and the new assault group from beneath. Han can hear the oscillation of the heavy blaster below.

    At this moment, Hirken hails down; he also has got word of this new development. The previous offer of cooperation is now rescinded, and Hirken demands their surrender, on pain of being left in the tower when the Authority people leave.

    Han makes his last play: They can't fight through the Espos below them. Their only chance is to rush the top of the tower and take Hirken hostage, which they can then use as a bargaining chip to force Espo cooperation to fix the concussion field; there's no way they can evacuate all the prisoners on the assault transport.

    Han looks up at the chokepoint, covered by Espo weapons, and prepares to charge. He orders the people around him: "Don't stop for anything. IF someone falls, someone else grabs his machinery, but nobody stops".


    It is at this point, with Han about to lead a desperation charge which is all but certain to result in his death, that the chapter closes.




    So our people are still alive but they are in desperate straits, and there's one more chapter left in this book! How Are they getting out of this alive?

    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-28 at 01:00 PM.
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  23. - Top - End - #143
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Here we are at Chapter 11 -- the last chapter of the first book

    Spoiler
    Show

    When we last left off, Han was about to make a suicidal charge right into an Authority crossfire and all
    but certain death. But just before he can get the word, he's slammed in the back of the head as a
    furball wraps itself around him. As he recovers, he sees it's Pakka.

    Pakka? Pakka!

    How did you get here?

    To get the answer to that we must look over our shoulder to see Atuarre standing nearby, ready to explain. We did mention there were two airlocks into this tower, one on the prison level and one at the ground floor? The Espos had docked at the ground floor because they didn't want a forced entry to
    let out all the air and kill their boss. Left with no other options, Atuarre has brought the
    Falcon into the prison air lock. And not just the Falcon -- as mentioned in the last chapter, she's also taken a junction station from the complex with three long tunnel tubes. These tube are pressurized and they can cram a LOT of people into the tubes and station, many times the Falcon's normal capacity.

    Okay, time for a new plan: A fighting withdrawal to the freight airlock, evacuating as many prisoners as possible into the tubes and the Falcon while an armed screen of prisoners fights a delaying action to buy them time to leave. Han is notified that Viceprex Hirken is calling for him; realizing
    the bad guys will realize something is up if he isn't there to answer, he returns to the front line and leads the defense. He and his team are able to hold Hirken's group to a stalemate, but the lower decks team is being slaughtered by the Espo strike force pushing up from the assault transport.

    While this is going on someone -- I suspect it was Chewie -- has an idea. They run one of the pressurized tunnel tubes down the tower to connect to the assault ship's emergency airlock. Once connected, a boarding party led by an angry wookie storms aboard. The transport is held only by a skeleton crew, as everyone else is fighting up the tower to relieve the Viceprex. The Assault Transport is swiftly taken. Chewie undocks it to prevent its recapture, then moves it out into space next to the Falcon. Prisoners swarm from the tube docked to the prison airlock up, through the tubes, into the Falcon, into the assault transport, into the junction station, and just waiting in the pressurized tubes. It is a very tight fit but no one's complaining.

    Han gets the word that all but a hundred prisoners have evacuated. He orders everyone who's not armed to get out now, while the remainder of his team moves back to their final fighting positions. Just then the heavy repeating blaster, shielded as we expected, pokes its ugly snout into the chamber. Han doesn't waste his shots on it; he simply falls back with his team to their final. Fortunately, the door is somewhat small so it is difficult for the Authority to move their support weapon in to deploy it effectively, so we have a few minutes. While retreating, Han notices Bollux stuffed into an alcove -- he wasn't able to keep up in the press of evacuees. Han helps him up but, just as they prepare to retreat, Bollux uses the last of his mobility to shove Han down.

    Then his head explodes as a blaster bolt, intended for Han, strikes him in the cranium.

    BOLLUX! NOOOOO!

    Han whips around and brings his blaster around in a speed draw. In the split second of the engagement as he brings up his weapon he realizes his target is Uul-Rha-Shan, who is already adjusting for a second shot.

    There is a flash of light.

    Then Uul-Rha-Shan flies up and backwards, his chest a smoking ruin. Debris falls from the ceiling where his own shot hit, just fractions of a second too slow to kill Han.

    Han is thunderstruck, heartbroken, cradling Bollux. He never really believed Bollux was just a droid, just a metallic appliance to be used and discarded. Around him the battle swirls as the Espo infantry, happily unsupported by the repeater, charge in, and are thrown back by a prisoner counterattack.

    A Trianni ranger brings Han to his senses; it's Atuarre's husband. Atuarre told him not to come back without Han, and if he hadn't come his son Pakka would have. So together they carry Bollux' shattered frame -- in which Blue Max is still lodged -- back to the airlock.

    The Espos seem oddly inactive while all this is happening.

    Finally, it is Han at the airlock -- he insists on being the last person out, as befits the leader. Just as he's about to close the tube, he hears a shout from down the corridor -- "Solo!"

    It's none other than Viceprex Hirken all by himself. He got word that the Assault Transport has left so he deliberately sent his own guards down that way, then came here by himself, begging to be taken along.

    So he's sacrificed his wife and all his subordinates to save his own skin? What a swell guy.

    Be that as it may, if I were in Han's shoes I'd have taken him. In addition to the pragmatic issue that he will be a valuable hostage both to guarantee escape and to ransom back to the Authority, I wouldn't abandon anyone to death by re-entry if it could be avoided, even a scum like Hirken. We can always kill him later.

    But that choice is taken out of Han's hands. Scarcely has Hirken finished pleading for mercy when he's burned down from behind. And here comes his wife, Neera, wielding an obviously just-fired blaster and backed up by the entire armed Espo contingent. Seeing the Heavy Mob heading his way, Han decides it's well past time to leave. He steps in and irises the tube closed, then detaches it and the entire ungainly contraption begins to carefully move. He has a momentary vision of Neera and the guards beating on the airlock hatch, but then the Tower has fallen away from them and they are swept from his sight. None living will ever see them again.

    It is very crowded in the tubes and the ships, and almost everyone who is able is busy organizing, attending to the wounded, flying the ships. Only Pakka, in the Falcon' cockpit, has the visibility and leisure to silently watch the tower dwindle to a speck, a spark , against the greater mass of the planet.

    Then there is a sudden, bright flare.

    Then there is darkness.


    ...

    With that, it's time to move on to denouement o'clock. We're at the outlaw tech's base and dropping off the various prisoners. Doc reunites with Jess.

    To our delight, we find that Bollux is "alive" after a fashion. In the microseconds between the blaster impact and the destruction of his brain, Blue Max, who was in connection with him at the time, pulled down his essential matrices and stored them inside his own frame. Now "Bollux" shares Blue Max's frame with Blue Max, as much alive as when he was running on separate circuits. He's lost a fair number of nonessential memories, but, as he puts it "I can always relearn camp sanitation procedures if I need to".

    Doc promises him a new and better body. Rekkon's nephew, a dark-skinned young man who looks much like his uncle , is offered a place among the outlaws. And at last Jessa looks up Han and asks what his plans are: Join them against the Authority? Or clear out.

    Han tells Jess HIS preferred revenge is to "Rob 'em blind." So he's not sticking around for a crusade. Which is just as well. In the Legends continuity the Corporate Sector Authority outlasted the Empire, outlasted the New Republic which followed it, and survived through the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. It experienced a slave revolt in 44 ABY but does not appear to have fallen because of it. Apparently a corporate oligarchy is inherently more stable than one-man dictatorship by a megalomaniacal Sith. Who knew?

    Jess has a consolation prize for him -- a new guidance system, an overhaul, various minor repairs, and some, ah, alone time with her.

    This was the written in the 70s after all, so a consequence-free hookup is just the ticket for a conquering hero in a male fantasy. This is why, I suspect, when Tarquin's female colleague bargained with him for the Snarl area at the end of Blood , Sweat, and Tears, a lot of readers quickly assumed Teh Sex was involved. It's very much a trope in adventure fiction, and not subverted enough, in my view.

    Chewbacca watches them walk off together and ponders to himself: He's going to enjoy some well-earned R&R himself, but after that, everyone in the galaxy had best hold onto their cash with both hands.


    FIN.



    All in all, this was a well-written adventure serial with good characterization and derring-do
    mixed in with some reasonably hard sf. There isn't a sign of a Jedi but I think it actually
    makes for a better story. Not for nothing are Mandalorian and Andor some of the best Star Wars
    media out there; it seems like there's only so many stories you can tell with Jedi that don't
    follow the pattern set by the original trilogy and by KOTOR. I wonder if there are any Jedi
    tales that push the envelope beyond "Person discovers unlimited power, is tempted by the dark side,
    lightsaber duels, phenomenal force abilities that push everyone else well into the background."

    Heck , when your protagonist is yanking Star Destroyers from orbit , well, what is there for anyone else to do? Everybody else is so overshadowed it turns into yet another superhero action movie.

    The only one I can think of offhand is Medstar, which had Jedi and others running a field hospital during the clone wars.
    Can't think of any others off-hand that strayed from the formula and did it well.

    I think the thing I appreciated most about this book is that the opposition are intelligent.
    Not just intelligent -- brave. The Espos react quickly and well to almost everything Han does,
    so that it really does feel like this was an earned victory, not just a brilliant protagonist running
    circles around some clueless helmeted henchpeople.

    That's it for Han Solo at Star's End. Next up is Han Solo's Revenge. And as we just learned, Han's idea of revenge is : "Rob 'em blind."

    I hope you've enjoyed it so far!

    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-01-31 at 07:36 PM.
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  24. - Top - End - #144
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    I actually read all three of these when they were first released. They're a lot of fun.

    It was good to see Han's attitude towards Bollux. Droids are in a strange place in the Star Wars verse. They are pretty obviously supposed to be seen as sentient AI's, with their own wants and needs, but they're treated as a slave race in a lot of ways. Look at Luke offering C3P0 and R2D2 to Jabba in Return. The droids are upset that he's doing it, but they never say anything to indicate he doesn't have the right to do it.
    "That's a horrible idea! What time?"

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  25. - Top - End - #145
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by tomandtish View Post
    I actually read all three of these when they were first released. They're a lot of fun.

    It was good to see Han's attitude towards Bollux. Droids are in a strange place in the Star Wars verse. They are pretty obviously supposed to be seen as sentient AI's, with their own wants and needs, but they're treated as a slave race in a lot of ways. Look at Luke offering C3P0 and R2D2 to Jabba in Return. The droids are upset that he's doing it, but they never say anything to indicate he doesn't have the right to do it.
    ... fitting them with restraining bolts (ANH) and having C-3PO's mind wiped in RoTS didn't already do that?

    That said, the droids' treatment and status was a significant element in Luke's plan when sending the droids to Jabba. His entire plan rested on getting himself captured without losing his lightsaber - which he couldn't do without R2, and C-3P0 had more skill ranks in Diplomacy as the party face.

    (That said, it does occur to me now exactly how much of a Rube Goldberg the plan was, since leaving aside that Luke had to accurately predict he, Chewie, and Han would be taken out of the Palace to be thrown into the Pit of Carkoon, it couldn't have succeeded unless R2 was providentially assigned as the drinks server on the Sail Barge.)

  26. - Top - End - #146
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by pendell View Post
    it seems like there's only so many stories you can tell with Jedi that don't
    follow the pattern set by the original trilogy and by KOTOR. I wonder if there are any Jedi
    tales that push the envelope beyond "Person discovers unlimited power, is tempted by the dark side,
    lightsaber duels, phenomenal force abilities that push everyone else well into the background."
    It's not nearly that limited. Force power isn't unlimited, and non-sensitives can and do defeat, murder, overshadow, and even outright embarrass Jedi. It is a level up though. Even weak force users are stronger than 'ordinary people' or even simple conscript soldiers. Force sensitivity is a ticket into the elite - best guess is the among most species sensitivity occurs at roughly a 1 in a 1,000,000 level, and Force users strong enough to become Jedi Knights only at 1 in 10,000,000 - and force users compete with other elites. Mando mows through ordinary opponents, especially once he upgrades his armor, at a rate little different from an average Jedi.

    Stories about the Jedi are stories about elite characters taking on problems of elite scale that operate at an elite level. Stories about the best Jedi, like the members of the Jedi Council or most Force-using video game protagonists, do indeed go up a level and involve BDHs (Galen Marek pulling a Star Destroyer out of orbit is still dumb, even in the context of the rest of that game).

    Smaller stories involving Jedi at various levels of power, do exist. The problem is, in terms of the EUs publication history, there was an extremely strong Big Three bias (Luke, Han, and Leia), who came with BDH baked in, and characters who were introduced to their orbit, most notably Mara Jade, had to be brought up to that level simply to keep pace. The various novels written in the Prequel Era, likewise, focused mostly on Jedi High Council members (the best dozen Jedi out of 10,000) or anomalies like Anakin. Smaller stories, very much including the Han Solo adventures, sold poorly and were difficult to get published.
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  27. - Top - End - #147
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Originally Posted by Mechalich
    Smaller stories, very much including the Han Solo adventures, sold poorly and were difficult to get published.
    I’d be interested in seeing more numbers and background on this.

    If there were troubles with selling these, they weren’t enough to prevent the Lando trilogy from being published, and they may have been due more to broader issues in the SF/F market. CJ Cherryh had trouble with some of her smaller experimental novels in roughly the same timeframe—little gems like Wave Without A Shore that were a bit more nuanced and thinky than the typical pulp SF. They were much better novels than most of what was being published, but they had difficulty competing with overstuffed epics.

    It’s also a little difficult to compare sales for the Han Solo books compared with the second flowering of the EU that brought Thrawn and Mara Jade. The Solo novels were clustered around 1979-1980, whereas the main pulse of EU novels began to expand in the mid-90s. That’s a fifteen-year difference in the markets, so that may well have had more of an effect on overall sales than what the characters could do inside those novels.

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

    Quote Originally Posted by Saintheart View Post
    (That said, it does occur to me now exactly how much of a Rube Goldberg the plan was, since leaving aside that Luke had to accurately predict he, Chewie, and Han would be taken out of the Palace to be thrown into the Pit of Carkoon, it couldn't have succeeded unless R2 was providentially assigned as the drinks server on the Sail Barge.)
    To quote Master Oogway, 'there are no accidents.'

    Alternate phrasing, 'something, something, Will of the Force.'

    Quote Originally Posted by Mechalich View Post
    Stories about the Jedi are stories about elite characters taking on problems of elite scale that operate at an elite level. Stories about the best Jedi, like the members of the Jedi Council or most Force-using video game protagonists, do indeed go up a level and involve BDHs (Galen Marek pulling a Star Destroyer out of orbit is still dumb, even in the context of the rest of that game).
    I think the whole pulling a ship out of orbit thing was a bit over the top as it was presented, but it could fit in with the broader themes of the Force in a better written narrative.

    There's a thread that runs through Star Wars that the Force can do almost anything if you have the ability to conceive of doing it. The main hurdle to Luke lifting his X-wing or Savage lifting obelisks is psychological, they don't think it's possible so it isn't. The idea that a Sith could be so arrogant that they fully believe they can pull a ship from orbit or a Jedi being so detached that they can conceive of the problem as no more significant than lifting a pebble isn't all that out there among the feats of Force Wielders in the EU.

    It's a rather flashy use of the Force, but stuff like the 'battle meditation across the whole imperial navy' thing attributed to Palpatine is probably more conceptually out there. Or Nihilus eating the life force of worlds.
    Sanity is nice to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

  29. - Top - End - #149
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    Quote Originally Posted by Grim Portent View Post
    I think the whole pulling a ship out of orbit thing was a bit over the top as it was presented, but it could fit in with the broader themes of the Force in a better written narrative.

    There's a thread that runs through Star Wars that the Force can do almost anything if you have the ability to conceive of doing it. The main hurdle to Luke lifting his X-wing or Savage lifting obelisks is psychological, they don't think it's possible so it isn't. The idea that a Sith could be so arrogant that they fully believe they can pull a ship from orbit or a Jedi being so detached that they can conceive of the problem as no more significant than lifting a pebble isn't all that out there among the feats of Force Wielders in the EU.

    It's a rather flashy use of the Force, but stuff like the 'battle meditation across the whole imperial navy' thing attributed to Palpatine is probably more conceptually out there. Or Nihilus eating the life force of worlds.
    My big issue with the ripping the Star Destroyer down is more of a time frame thing. Galen Marek did that during a combat sequence, while he was concurrently blasting TIE fighters out of the sky and stuff. Much of the really big-time Force powers that have been let loose across the EU over time have respected a sort of fast-effects/rituals divide in which all the truly huge effects involve setup time, prolonged effort and possibly special structures, sacrifices, or other prep. This has actually largely been applied to technological powers as well. Gigantic, oversized and cumbersome machinery can blow up planets and build endless armies, and all sorts of other things that aren't actually any better justified than many force powers, but they consistently require huge amounts of investment in time and money.

    Quote Originally Posted by Palanan
    It’s also a little difficult to compare sales for the Han Solo books compared with the second flowering of the EU that brought Thrawn and Mara Jade. The Solo novels were clustered around 1979-1980, whereas the main pulse of EU novels began to expand in the mid-90s. That’s a fifteen-year difference in the markets, so that may well have had more of an effect on overall sales than what the characters could do inside those novels.
    Even leaving the early books like the Han Solo adventures aside (I mentioned them because that's what this thread is nominally about), books not featuring movie lead characters have long fared poorly. Now, whether or not that's an accurate appraisal of the market or just what the publishers thought the fans wanted and influenced via marketing choices, it's definitely a thing that happened. For example, Bantam and Del Rey were pretty reliably able to get any book with Luke, Han, and Leia on the cover onto the NYT bestseller list - even late in the game as FotJ, when the gas tank was really empty - but books featuring other characters struggled to cross that threshold.

    There is evidence from the comics side of things that this was perhaps driven by publisher choice, as a number of comics runs staring comparatively obscure or even brand new characters managed to find success (and still do, high Dr. Aphra!), but it's difficult to say how viable a cross-market comparison is.
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  30. - Top - End - #150
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    Default Re: Let's Read: The Han Solo Adventures (1979)

    So we're ready to start the next book -- Han Solo's Revenge!

    Chapter 1.
    In which Han Solo tries honest work, with predictable results
    Spoiler
    Show

    We open on the planet Kamar


    Specifically, in the Kamar badlands, a desert region. "Little to see in any direction
    except sand, parched hills, miser-plants, barrel-scrub and sting-brush".


    Chewbacca is performing field quick repairs on the Falcon , with Han's help. Another ship touches down, piloted by Sonniad


    He's not bad-looking, is he? Described in-text as "a compact, gray-haired little man with a cocksure
    walk and a rakish tilt to his shapeless red bag of a hat." A "former smuggler and bootlegger",
    apparently living as an honest merchant these days. He's one of the lucky few who have been able to
    leave the underworld behind them.

    We also see Bollux, still with Blue Max aboard. Described as "designed in the image of man ..
    somewhat shorter than Han, barrel-chested and long-armed, slight stiffness that indicated
    a heavy-duty suspension system .. red photoreceptors for eyes and small vocoder grille set
    in his blank metallic face where a mouth should have been. His durable body was finished in
    a deep, gleaming green."

    We are told "the outlaw-techs had [provided him with a new body]. The droid had opted for a
    new body much like his old one, insisting that durability, versatility, and the
    capacity to do useful work had always been the means to his survival. He had even retained
    his slow speech pattern, having found that it gave him more time to think and made humans
    regard him as easygoing."

    Blue Max is here too. He's had a chassis upgrade also but I'm not going to bother describing it.
    He's a blue box. Easy image, right?

    Both 'bots have been manumitted and want to see the galaxy, so they've signed on as crew
    with the Millenium Falcon, exchanging work for passage.

    Wait, wait, wait. Robots can be manumitted ? Like, they own themselves? No memory wipes unless they want them?

    It's a great pity this little fact isn't mentioned elsewhere in the Star Wars universe.

    *Folds Arms Angrily*

    Or that R2D2 wasn't manumitted after some SIX DECADES of flippin' service. Interesting how
    the good guy Rebel Alliance hardly ever frees their droids. Wanna bet that around 200 ABY
    the only thing anyone remembers about the OT generation is "They were slaveholders, and
    therefore all evil people with no redeeming characteristics whatsoever"?

    But I digress.

    Back to the story! We've introduced our characters and now we're filled in on how the team
    wound up stuck here in the middle of the Kamari badlands when last we saw they were at an
    outlaw base after wiping out the Authority's space-Guantanamo.

    Pieced together from conversation, the last run was to the planet Rampa II in the outskirts of the Corporate Sector. Apparently they've got
    some silly customs rule forbidding the import of off-planet water and the on-planet stuff
    is polluted and awful. Anyone who can smuggle water into the planet gets rich, and the smell
    of money attracted Han and Chewbacca. So they show up in orbit around the planet with
    a false id, a general cargo as cover consisting of 12 'Lockfiller' holo-projectors, and
    a hidden cargo consisting of 500,000 liters of R'alla Mineral Water , installed in tanks.

    Problem is, the tanks leak. Han tells us next time he'll install the stupid things himself.
    Wait, he let someone else do it? And didn't inspect them? it's all on you , Han. Not thinking
    things through. That's why you're a two-bit chancer instead of a crime lord with dancing girls
    at your beck and call.

    So .. leaking tanks leave a vapor trail behind his ship. The local patrol notices, tries to grab him. He dumps the entire cargo and cuts into the traffic pattern. Successfully avoids the police and
    lands with his legal, cover cargo.

    And gets stiffed on that as well. It seems that the cargo consignment -- which, AGAIN, he DID NOT CHECK -- is incorrect. Instead of 12 lockfiller holo-projectors he's got 11 lockfillers and 1
    Brasso Mk II, which is a much older, cheaper, model. The buyer takes the 11 lockfillers but won't
    take the Brasso, and then refuses payment on the entire consignment because they've been shorted.

    What's Han going to do about it? He doesn't dare take them to court, because the minute he
    makes himself visible to law it'll bring out all kinds of ID questions. Underworld types don't
    really have the courts as an option, so Han takes off to Kamar and settles in the badlands. Their
    they begin doing repairs on the ship, which was pretty badly shot up during that little escapade.
    They have to replace a number of components with hydraulics, mechanical devices without electronics,
    because this is an incredibly primitive planet which still has nationalism and nuclear weapons.

    Nationalism? Nuclear weapons? Yeah, you're really in the sticks here, Han. Better get out of
    there fast before they replace your entertainment system with 8-track tapes.

    Next time, you could solve a lot of these problems by PAYING ATTENTION and practicing some DUE DILIGENCE, both in inspecting the tanks and in checking your cargo. It's all your fault.

    With the new components the Millenium Falcon handles like a garbage truck compared to its
    normal profile, although it's still one of the fastest ships in the galaxy.

    So .. why we're here. Han has decided to make the best of the holoprojector by showing movies
    to the locals in exchange for barter. He doesn't speak the language, doesn't have a protocol droid,
    and there's no universal translator in the GFFA. But he eventually finds the word for admission --
    q'mal. The locals bring in q-mal, and he shows them the movie in return. He only
    has one show which came with the projector -- Varn, Planet of Water. A travelogue. The locals --
    Kamarian badlanders,

    --

    have been coming in ever-larger numbers to see this holo-show with rapt fascination, which he shows over and over and over again. That's why he's called out to Sonniod -- he wants more shows and more variety. The locals are really hard up for entertainment -- if they get this much from a travelogue, imagine what they'll get from a REAL movie!

    And that's where Sonniod comes in. He's brought in a romance number called Love is Waiting. The intent is he'll trade this movie for the travelogue, then trade that back for more money than he paid
    for the Romance -- Love is Waiting is the oldest movie the dealer had, so Sonniad will make money off the trade.

    We look at the q'mal Han has collected in two piles.

    The larger pile is primarily bulk goods -- musical instruments, tunneling tools, cooking utensils, paints, portable awnings. Han intends to hold a fire sale for these on the last day in exchange for stuff from the smaller pile -- semi-precious gemstones, artwork, high-quality tools and implements.

    Somniod inspects the pile and says Han won't become a man of leisure anytime soon at this rate. Han agrees, but this isn't a career -- just enough to get a new stake and a new cargo. At which point, he'll sell the holo-projector to the locals so they can keep the show running.

    Hmmm ... this is very 70's-ish drive-in theater vibes. I can't find a link, but I can imagine someone in the South Pacific driving from island to island and setting up shop in an outdoor clearing with a screen and a projector, charging the locals barter in exchange for shows.

    Sonniod mentions that , if this isn't working for him, he's heard word of work back in the Corporate Sector. No details about what the work is or who for, but leave the word you're available and you'll be contacted. Han notes the information, but decides he's going to do this the honest way for once. This is sure money versus a job for unknown people who are probably really shady.

    The guests arrive and Solo starts the new show. Sonniod doesn't like that word Q'mal and goes to look it up. Meanwhile, the show runs for about five minutes before the audience starts getting very agitated, enraged even. What's going on?

    Just at this moment, Sonniod comes running back. "Q'mal" doesn't mean "admission". It means "offering". I'll put it in his words:

    "Don't you stop and analyze things, ever? You've been showing them holos of a
    world with more water than they ever dreamed existed, filled with cultures and life forms
    that they've never even fantasized about. You haven't set up a holotheater, you idiot; you've STARTED A RELIGION!"

    Well, fudge.

    So, Solo? You may not have known what the word meant but your buddy was able to find out quickly enough. This is the third time in this same chapter you've SCREWED YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT. PAYING. ATTENTION!!!

    Sheesh.

    Quick! Get the travelog feature back in the projector. But it's too late. The anger has devolved into a riot. Some of the locals are beating on the projector with sticks, while the rest are coming at Han with blood in their eye-equivalents.

    Realizing that just giving a refund won't pacify them, Han draws his blaster and fires at the ground to slow them down. Then he fires at the holo-projector and it goes berserk, generating random sounds and visuals and panicking the locals out of their minds.

    Han seizes on the distraction to run back to the ship with Sonniod. Chewie doesn't really know what's going on but he knows a mob when he sees one, so he uses the Falcon's guns to fire into the ground to keep the locals at bay. Neither he nor Han has any desire to kill their former customers even in this situation if it is at all avoidable. Han stops long enough to pick up as much as he can carry from the valuable pile of q'mal, then runs aboard and they are OUTTA THERE. Maybe they can come back in a century or two.

    Well, another disaster for Han. He asks Sonniod for the information on this Corporate Sector deal. Sonniod gives it, but warns him he really ought to find out more about it before actually taking the job. Han says no; he's so desperate he's not no choice but to take the job no matter what it is. He comments to Chewbacca, "we just aren't cut out for the honest life."

    Yeah, I'm sure this'll end well. NOT !!! PAYING!!! ATTENTION!!! A FOURTH TIME!!!

    Y'know, this is the least I've liked this character in a long time. Simply because he's so... so
    careless. I wish Chewbacca would do more to keep him in line. He's like a stupid adolescent
    stumbling from mistake to mistake and never learning because too cocky.

    Incidentally, in-universe the Cult of Varn survives this incident and eventually spreads off-planet as well. It even gets a following on Mon Calamari, of all places. Han gets a place in their mythology as Solohan the Deceiver . Serves him right. Ah, but at least his fame will outlive him.



    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    Last edited by pendell; 2023-02-03 at 06:13 PM.
    "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid."

    -Valery Legasov in Chernobyl

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