A quick, introductory note. I started these when I was suffering from a severe case of writer's block. There's a bunch of them, covering a wide range of subjects. I don't expect to post them in any order, so who knows what I'll pick on any given day. I certainly don't. Enjoy the randomness!

Hiding in Plain Light

"An hour longer isn't going to make any difference to Jabba; we'll just hold here."

The Millennium Falcon hung in a tight orbit around Yavin, like a sand flea around a dirty bantha. Han finessed the controls, throttling power back so inertia held the ship in place. He powered up the sensor plot and tuned the ship's comm to the Rebel frequency.

"I'm curious, that's all." Han's eyes flicked away from the plot as he answered Chewie's question, but returned to the screen almost immediately. "You telling me you aren't a little curious? You've got your headset on, too," he pointed out to his co-pilot.

Chewbacca's answer was long and expressive.

"I know you wanted to stay, but we gotta pay Jabba."

The Wookiee snarled unpleasantly

"Fine, I gotta pay Jabba." Han spared another look away from the sensors. "You and Jabba are just great," he said with a pardonable amount of sarcasm, turning his eyes back. "No problems at all between you."

Han pressed his own headset tight against his ear as Chewie's answering laugh filled the cockpit. Then he froze and listened intently for two heartbeats, before closing his eyes in relief. His breath escaped with a whoosh.

"Yeah, that was close," Han agreed with his co-pilot's nervous snarl, "but the kid pulled out of it, and Red Two is good. He's Corellian."

Chewie barked in disbelief.

"Hey! Not all humans sound alike! Anyway, I can just tell, alright? Look at the way he flies," Han indicated a blue blip on the sensor plot. "Besides, his name's Corellian—Wedge Antilles." His lips compressed to a hard, thin line as one after another, the blue dots of Rebel ships disappeared off the plot, overrun by Imperial red.

A distressed Wookiee moan filled the cockpit.

"Keep it down, will ya?" Han scolded. A red mark marred his cheek from the pressure of his holding the earpiece against his head. "Gold Squadron's gonna make their run."

The two smugglers listened with obvious dismay as Gold leader made his run at the trench, with no success, then crashed onto the surface of the Death Star.

"I told them this was a stupid plan," Han said unnecessarily. More blue blips disappeared from the sensor screen. Beads of sweat dotted Han's upper lip; his breathing was quick and shallow.

"Chewie, plot us a quick course to the fight, keeping Yavin to our stern."

Chewie pulled his own headset away from his face as he warbled a quick question.

"Yeah, I know I said it wasn't our fight," Han reached over and punched at the controls arming the forward guns. "Do it anyway."

The Wookiee's long fingers nimbly entered the information into the controls. He grunted readiness.

"Good." Han stared at the sensor plot as if that could somehow change the outcome of the battle. His eyes hardened as he heard Red leader die. "That just leaves Luke, Red Two, and Red Three." He pointed at the three red dots pursuing Luke's and the other two blue blips. "And these three Imps," he added. "Chewie, punch it!"

Han saw the three blue dots reduced to one as the Falcon raced out of the angry yellow glare of Yavin's sun. His eyes were laser sharp, and his hand was steady, as he sighted on the three TIE fighters chasing Luke's x-wing through the trench. Han's finger squeezed the trigger and then there were only two TIE's. One of the Imperial pilots lost control of his ship, bouncing off the remaining TIE and sending it careening wildly into deep space before his own ship disintegrated against the wall of the trench.

"You're all clear kid! Now blow this thing and let's go home."

Seconds later, Luke's proton torpedoes dropped into the exhaust vent.

"Great shot, kid! That was one-in-a-million!" Han's smile was as bright as Yavin's sun.

The Millennium Falcon sped toward the jungle moon, accompanied by two battered x-wings and a lone y-wing.

A loud Wookiee interrogatory filled the cockpit.

"Yeah, we're going back to the Rebel base." Han was still grinning.

Chewie barked out another question.

"Yeah, I know we gotta pay Jabba, but there's bound to be a helluva party after this." He turned to look at the Wookiee, his smile becoming sly. "Besides, I want to see what her Worship's gonna do when we show up."