come as you are, as you were

[carbonfrozen]

WHO: Han Solo and you!
WHERE: all over the place.
WHEN: during the event but before Apollo gets broken out.
WHAT: Han Solo goes on a smuggling run, rescues a few people and fights government mooks, and gives somebody a ride.
WARNINGS: blanket Star Wars warning, so canonical war themes. non-fantasy gun violence. smoking. other warnings to come up as needed!


I. RUN BOY RUN.

[A car pulls up to the curb—dirty and grimy, it’s clearly seen better days long, long ago, but now it just looks like it’s held together with spit, duct tape, and its owner’s sheer stubbornness. A man gets out of the car, and you wouldn’t be able to tell him apart from anyone else in this part of town, not in his raggedy clothes, certainly not with the brim of his hat pulled low. He looks around as if checking on his surroundings, but then everyone does that, these days. A habit of paranoia is a healthy thing to get into.

Then he knocks, slow and deliberate, on the hood of his car. One-two, one-two-three.

This is the man you’ve been waiting for, and this car has the supplies you need. Approach, and Han tips his hat up so his eyes can meet yours. He’s been pulling some all-nighters recently, the lines around his eyes carved deeper every day, but he musters a tired nod to you.]

It’s boxed up in the trunk. Careful, it’s not the only thing I’m delivering today.

[Sure enough, whatever you’re looking for is crammed in with other boxes, marked as OFFICE SUPPLIES. Why a car like this would be smuggling office supplies is moot, because those aren’t office supplies and you know it. Han rests against the hood of his car, fingers absently drumming against the metal surface.]

You need any help getting that inside?

II. MAKE SOME NOISE.

[Bang, bang, bang.

It’s the sound of gunfire that gets Han’s attention, and before he’s thought about it he’s yanked his own gun out of its holster, throwing himself against the wall and peeking around the corner to see—ah, kriff.

He’s known, abstractly, that there are new metas coming in. He’s on standby just in case, cruising along for any lost-looking souls just trying to find a place to stay, but he hadn’t thought he’d actually get into a gunfight for one. Now he is, and he lets out a quiet curse. Most of his abilities are pretty terrible, and the one useful ability he might have is—something he reserves as a last resort. All he’s got to go on here is a gun and the hope that he can pull the trigger faster than these fucks can.

There’s a lull in the gunfire. Han darts out of cover, shooting the mooks down, and slides in beside the meta. Perhaps that meta is you.]

You any good at running?

III. AN ALRIGHT SCENE.

[Night falls, and Han cruises along the streets in a different car, a yellow taxicab he’d stolen a couple days back—he’d ditched the last one a couple hours ago, and in a couple of days it’ll be like he never even stepped inside of it, and now he just needs a place to sleep. He’s been running mostly on coffee and fumes for the past few days, hyperaware of the events going on around him, and the power naps he’s been taking won’t tide him over forever.

But he spots someone on the curb looking for a ride, and, well, he does need the money. He pulls right on over and tips his hat low, doesn’t meet the person’s eyes—they could recognize him, after all, and Han doesn’t want to shoot someone in his car today.]

Need a ride home? [He nods towards the backseat.] Backseat’s freshly cleaned, I promise.

IV. WILDCARD.

[want a different scenario? here’s the option for you! or hmu at robbstark to hash something out.]

Comments

III

[faithfulson]

For all intents and purposes, Luke knows he should turn away. He's not ready for this conversation, not with Han, because he knows it's long overdue and he has nowhere else to be thanks to the incident with Hux. Of course, Han doesn't immediately recognize him, and Luke isn't surprised by this; even if he didn't have the hood of his cloak pulled down low over his face, his scruffy appearance made him look more like a self exiled Jedi than a bright-eyed farmboy.

Still, he steps forward at the offer, but doesn't get in just yet, instead tilting his head up enough for a weak, tired smile to be seen past his scraggily beard.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe, Han," he replied softly.

[carbonfrozen]

Han jerks his head up, staring in shock at Luke.

Then he gets out of the car, slams the door shut, and says, “Where’ve you been? What’re you doing out here—the hell, did someone see you?” He looks around fast, as if checking on what’s going on, who might be watching. Years of being on the run have made Han somewhat paranoid, and he grabs for Luke’s arm with a curse.

“Come on, get into the car before someone sees us,” he says.

II

[xth_gambler]

[How annoying. Luxord was truly having a very interesting experience since he had come into this world. First he had arrived and immediately been at gunpoint by quite rude people who didn't see fit to share their names. Then he had slipped out through a portal only to find that his face had already been shared by whatever passed as a police force here. Then he had tried to open a corridor back home and instead had stumbled out into this random alley with some rather rude people shooting at him. At lest, he decided, it wasn't anyone that looked like an authority figure this time. Instead it seemed more like someone who was just your usual unsavory element. Criminals, truly they possessed no class.

He had taken to ducking behind the corner of a building, sighing as he glared down at a hand. Clearly he could not trust his portals as much as he had desired to. How perplexing. But if they were on the fritz, they were on the fritz. Which left the true question of just how to get out of here and where he would go from this point.

And then, well, there was a gentleman at his side and frowns at the stranger who just shot at people shooting at him. How interesting.]

Once I would have believed I was a master when it came to the fine art of making a tactical retreat. But it seems that the abilities I once had which made such a thing simple are instead choosing to place me in awkward situations. Oh, and a compliment to you on your prowess with a gun, even if the weapon is a touch barbaric.

II. MAKE SOME NOISE.

[hailgiovanni]

[ Conservation of ammo had been a priority for Archer. He had yet to find a way to safely replenish his own and unlike his pokemon, just using a gun was unlikely to make anyone on the street mark him as particularly strange. He looked from the edge of his cover, internally cursing that he was in such a bad position to get a shot, and was just in time to notice two of his opponents go down.

When Han came to be beside him Archer got a wry smile on his face. ]

I know when to cut my losses, I assure you, and I will be no hindrance in escape.

III

[readytofly]

[ Anna hasn't been running on much sleep, either. It doesn't help that she's in-between places again, and without a car or a roof over her head, she's been roughing it the last few days. She got lost in the shuffle when they infiltrated the Porter. Now, her only priority is getting out of the City and back to the rebel base before anyone catches onto her.

When the car pulls over she leans in, pulling the hood of her jacket down so he can see her face better. ]

I could use it but I'm kinda skint at the moment.

I

[choosetruth]

Georgia looks at the box, then glances up at Han. She raises an eyebrow over her sunglasses.

“For future reference, can you bring actual office supplies too next time?”

It’s hard being a renegade journalist. Sometimes you need more toner and there’s just nowhere that will sell it to you without raising alarms.

[carbonfrozen]

Han just rolls his eyes.

"Should've said that before you told me you needed supplies," he says. "Sure, lemme just ask my contacts if one of them can spare a stapler, maybe one of those spikes you stick your receipts on."

Less sarcastically: "You hear they're cracking down harder since the new metas came in, right? You wouldn't believe the number of patrols I had to dodge on the way here."

[carbonfrozen]

Well. [Han looks away for a moment, apparently deep in thought, before he looks back at the girl.] Tell you what. I'll give you a ride, and all you gotta do for me is to say a few words when I text you to.

[Always good to have a backup escape plan, and Han's got a lot of those these days, unwilling to fall into the hands of the government here.]

Not now, of course, just—when I need you to. After that, you're all paid up.

[readytofly]

[ Anna raises her eyebrows. It seems like a pretty straightforward transaction and she does really need the ride, but it also kind of reeks of a deal with the Devil. ]

A few words? You gonna tell me what they're gonna be?

[choosetruth]

"Fuck no, do not bring me a receipt spike. I don't need my brother trying to figure out how hard he needs to propel one in order to pierce a zombie's skull."

She shakes her head.

"The good news is, they're having to thin their forces to do it. Not helpful for your operation, of course, but we can use it against them if we strategize right."

[faithfulson]

Luke let out an amused snort at that reaction, allowing himself to be half dragged into Han's beat up old car, settling himself in the backseat to make it look like he was just hitching a ride. He waited until Han was back in the car, absently arranging his cloak around him until the car door slammed closed.

"In order: around, I had to leave my dwelling, and no one strong minded did," he finally answered, letting out an amused chuckle.

[carbonfrozen]

Yeah? Tell me about it. [They ought to make a tactical retreat soon. Han's a big target for government goons, and he doesn't like his chances of getting out of here if they get backup in. And he knows for a fact that they will.]

And unless your abilities can drop 'em faster than I can with a few good shots, shut your damn mouth.

[He ducks out of cover for a moment, shooting down some of the more lightly-armored goons before ducking back behind cover.]

I got a plan, but I need you to do exactly as I say, no matter how weird it sounds. Got it?

[carbonfrozen]

Oh, good. Got anything fancy that can help us get outta here?

[Because Han can get them out of here, if he needs to, but doing so's going to be a bit risky, to say the least. And they'll have to get out soon, before the thugs call for backup from other metas. Han doesn't like his chances against other metas—his abilities get real useless real fast.]

[carbonfrozen]

Han pulls away from the curb fast, eyes darting towards the rear view mirror, his grip on the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles are turning white. If anyone sees him and Luke in the same place, they're just fucked, and so Han avoids the routes he knows are under heavy surveillance, drives as casually as if he doesn't feel like there's a ticking bomb in his trunk.

Honestly, he's had bombs in his trunk before, and he's never been this nervous.

"What around, why, and I sure hope none of them figure it out any time soon," he says. "What's going on? I don't see you around a lot, these days, did someone track you down to where you were staying?"

[carbonfrozen]

Yeah. [A beat.] Just—don't laugh, all right? A life could ride on you saying those words or not, no matter how kriffing ridiculous they sound.

[It's true, he does think it's ridiculous. But he can't help the way his power works. But he sucks in a breath, like he's steeling himself to say them, and pulls them out from between gritted teeth like it's taking all the strength in him to even say it:] "The Millennium Falcon's a piece of junk." That's what you need to say.

[carbonfrozen]

"Pretty damn hard, I'd think. You'd need to really wind up." Do not ask how Han knows this. Taptaptaptap, go his fingertips against the metal of the hood.

Hell no, it's not helpful for his operation. He's had too many close calls already, far more than he's comfortable with, and more than once has had to dump cargo in order to fly on by safely. He never likes doing that, keeps thinking he'll get something like Jabba back on his ass again, but he's one of very few smugglers to survive all this time without having gotten caught.

And in this world, getting caught generally means a fate much, much worse than death.

"They'd be pulling their forces away from the higher-security crap, yeah," he says, following her thread of logic. "You tell your brother that? Joey? The whole kriffing public on your blog?"

[xth_gambler]

[Ah, he is intrigued. A plan to get them both out? What a courteous stranger. But he definitely intends to listen. Luxord in the mean time produces what looks like playing cards in one hand and tosses them forward. They end up hanging in the air, and then growing in size. Somewhere down the alley these clearly spook the people with guns, and there is more shots. Which ping, harmlessly, off of the cards. Improbable? Yes. Actually happening? Also yes. The cards are slightly taller than a person, and providing a rather effective wall.]

By all means, share your plan. We have time. In fact, if you need time to explain it, I can alter the properties of time around us slightly.

[He's far too amused (as amused as he cable be) by this man and his suggestion that he has an idea to even bother using this chance to open a portal to elsewhere. Mostly because to go through it he would have to abandon cards or lower the defense for a time. Which he'd rather avoid.]

[readytofly]

[ She manages to not laugh. Anna's more curious and besides--maybe more importantly--there hasn't been a lot to laugh about lately. She's also still not totally sold on even doing this. ]

What is that? A code phrase that sets off your power or something?

[hailgiovanni]

It depends, will we be leaving on foot?

[ Archer's own tools would draw a bit of attention, too much for escape on foot just in case others came to look in on the situation, but perfect should they be able to escape by some quicker means. The path he had taken to get here had been too narrow for the vehicles of his opponents to manage so there was a chance that none of the reinforcements that might be near by would have a vehicle available to chase them should they be able to escape fast enough. ]

[choosetruth]

"Shaun." She raises an eyebrow over her sunglasses. "You mean you don't read my blog? I'm hurt."

Mostly, the insinuation that she'll publish anything frustrates her. She hates keeping secrets, but she knows how to protect her sources. If she didn't, the entire "kriffing" rebellion would be locked up, including Han. She's too good at her job to avoid sensitive information. That means she's had to learn discretion for the safety of everyone. It's an ongoing struggle to find the right balance. She knows there are some who wish she'd publish less, and some who think she should publish more. All she can do is try.