what_wings_dare | Who's scruffy-lookin??

[ In spite of his best bad intentions, in spite of how much he doesn't want to talk or even think about some parts of his past, Leia is, as usual, incredibly good at disarming him.

She shifts closer, and he relaxes a little. Only a little.

Well, he might as well get to it. ]

That's how long we're talking. Before the Rebellion was the Rebellion. Rumor is, Enfys Nest stole a massive shipment of coaxium.

[Relaxing, even slightly, is good, in Leia's opinion. She doesn't want Han to be defensive and on edge when sharing things about himself.]

Was that rumor not correct?

[She wants to let him tell his story at his own pace, but it's too difficult to not respond in some way after he begins.]

She's more of a raider than a thief, [ he says with a shrug. These are distinct flavors of criminal activity, the distinction matters. ] Far as most people know she got what she went after, this big shipment on Vandor-1.

[ he falters a little. Tries not to, because it only gets worse from here. ]

No one got it. Whole thing blew, [ he says, lifting a shoulder in a shrug, trying not to think so much about what that cost them. ] Kind of a mess. Except my crew was still on the hook for it.

[She nods, just accepting his insistence on the difference between thief and raider. He knows the details of that world more than she does.

Vandor-1 is a planet she's never been to personally, but she can guess pretty confidently where it is and who it was Enfys--and apparently Han--were trying to steal from. Not exactly the safest sounding operation. Her eyebrows raise at the image of all that coaxium exploding--because that can't have been something small, knowing just how volatile it can be.]

You mean you and Chewie? I'm glad you weren't hurt.

[Because if Han ever had a crew, Chewie is basically the only one she can imagine being part of it.]

[ he nods, slowly. that much, at least, lifts his spirits a little bit, thinking of Chewbacca-- one of few good things that came out of that part of his life. ]

Yeah... A crew we were with, [ he says. Evasive, but maybe they can gloss over that part. ] It was pretty soon after we met, we kinda fell in with it. Anyway, they were in pretty deep... so we couldn't just call it off. Except, you know. That much coaxium in one place...

[ he shrugs. Not a common opportunity, that. ]

[For now, they can gloss over it. If he's in the mood to continue later, she'll ask about it. If not, she'll hold onto it for later. She wants to hear where the rest of this main story leads first.]

Outside of imperial fuel depots, you won't find that much that easily.

[Something she's well aware of, with fuel procurement being vital for the life of the Alliance.]

Right. And I'm good, but... [ not that good. Not with less than a handful of people who barely know and shouldn't trust each other, especially. ]

So we got creative. There's plenty of raw coaxium.... [ well, not plenty, but you know. ] And there's a refinery on Savareen.

[ And transporting that much raw coaxium while under gunfire is borderline suicidal, but that bit goes without saying. ]

[She has an idea where this is going, and she doesn't like it at all. Sure, it's history at this point, but she reserves the right to be concerned anyway.]

Han.

[there are various levels of "what were you even thinking" and "did you realize how dangerous that is" in that one word.]

There's nothing near Savareen!

[Which is to say, just where are you getting raw coaxium from to bring it to Savareen.]

Exactly. Which is why we went to Kessel first.

[ it was crazy, yeah, but even now he's kind of proud of that part. Pulling it off. Thinking of it in the first place.

The next part, the record, she might be able to guess. He's not exactly quiet about the run, he just doesn't volunteer some of the details. ]

[Oh, this part she can definitely guess. She's heard about this far too many times over the years to not be able to guess. Unless Han just enjoys hanging out at Kessel, which she sort of doubts. It's not the greatest of places.]

And it took you only 12 parsecs to go from there to Savareen?

After stealing the coaxium, inciting a revolt, and freeing the Wookiees in the mines, [ he agrees, like it's no big deal. ]

[she knows Han better than to think he’s joking about any of this. As extreme as this one trip sounds, Leia is absolutely sure he’s telling the truth. But it’s still so much that she bites back a smile.]

You never mentioned freeing an entire mine of Wookiees in your stories about the Kessel Run before.

[that part is something she likes a lot more than the whole fastest runtime part.]

Yeah, well, [ he says, shrugging, a little more subdued. He's glad they did it, quietly ashamed that he needed as much convincing as he did. ]

There're probably still members of that syndicate who'd be interested in knowing it was us that did it.

[she nods, knowing he’s probably right on that. On the list of things to be wanted for by some criminal syndicate or another, freeing Wookiees is a pretty noble one.]

The coaxium was still stable after all that?

We made it, [ he agrees. Barely, in more ways than one. The rest of it... it gets ugly again, here. ] Got the whole load to the refinery.

On Savareen, Enfys Nest caught up to us again. Told us what she wanted the coaxium for.

[She's not surprised Enfys didn't give up on finding coaxium, if that's what she was after. She's always been determined, from what Leia knew of her. Which admittedly wasn't that much because she didn't know her well personally, but mission results told a good enough story of what she must be like.]

What was it for?

To keep it away from the syndicate, for one thing.

[ which is an obvious good goal. Even when he was all in on the heist, it wasn't because he trusted Vos' intentions. ]

But mostly she wanted the resources to fight back.

[ she wanted all this.

She wanted to build the Rebellion. ]

So you helped her.

[a statement, not a question, because she knows Han. No matter how much he wanted to pretend to be a tough space criminal that only cares about himself, that wasn’t who he really was.

Her expression softens a bit, proud that Han, even before she ever had the chance to know him, had been doing the right thing to help the galaxy.]

[ And that... gives him all sorts of feelings. It should be a moment to bask in, because she loves him and she's proud of him and he ought to be able to be proud of himself. Because in the end, he did a good thing, back then. He did it because it was right, which wasn't an easy choice, because it was a fortune in his hands.

But there's so much pain and loss, and the questions that will never be answered-- he can still hear Qi'ra tease him, after all these years. You're the good guy. ]

Someone in the syndicate betrayed the boss, Chewie and I managed to get out before the dust settled, and Enfys got her coaxium.

[Probably never in a million years would she have guessed all this was the true story of his Kessel Run. From helping the rebellion to the raw coaxium, none of it is what she would've thought. Which really, should be par for the course with Han by now, she realizes. Nothing about him is really what it seemed to be at first glance.

But with the bulk of the story seemingly explained, there are still a few questions she has here.]

What happened to the rest of the people working with you?

[ How can he even begin to answer that. Trying to explain everything that happened would mean... explaining everything. And that's too much, too much to talk through, too much to let himself feel.

He'd have to tell her about betraying Beckett, and he can't do that. He can't regret it, but it's the kind of old wound that scabs over and doesn't really heal. Better not to pick it open. ]

Most of the original crew didn't make it, [ he admits. Between the explosion and the mess with the Crimson Dawn he's already hinted at, maybe that's enough. Maybe not. ]

Just us. Well, and Lando.

[ and the Falcon. ]

[She nods, taking his unspoken hint that's not ready or not willing to discuss everything else there. She knows how that feels. Maybe one day she'll get to hear more about the rest, but for now, she leaves it alone.

But Lando, though.]

Lando made the Kessel Run with you?

[ Maybe someday. Maybe. There's a lot in his past he'd rather not revisit-- a lot he's not particularly proud of, a lot that's just still painful, the kind of thing he deals with by not dealing with it.

But now, he has to stop running, one way or another.

Thankfully she's not going to pry right now. ]

Technically, [ he says, and oh boy is it a technicality, ] it was on his ship at the time.

[Everything Han's told her just now is something she's grateful to have learned. It was good to know he's always been the sort of guy she quickly learned he was, and a bit more about what he was doing years ago.

But those have been heavier topics. This little technicality, this is something much lighter that maybe won't keep him dwelling on the less than pleasant parts of the past.]

Was the Falcon in the same state then as it is now?

[She loves the ship, really, she does. It's lighthearted poking fun at the reliable old hunk of junk.]

[ wow, rude ]

The trip was....kinda not a smooth one,

[ he admits. Okay, actually, maybe it's a wonder he and Lando came to be on such good terms. Even before the whole betrayal-to-Vader thing. Their friendship is an old and complicated one, that's all. ]

I tracked him down after and won the ship off him. Should have been mine already.

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