Star Wars VII - Revised and Redacted

Chapter 08: Dangerous Cargo

Author's Note: I couldn't figure out why Han would be transporting rathtars. The tentacle monsters cause massacres, so the only reason to deliver them alive would be for their killing powers to be used. The buyer wants a massacre causing monster. Why would Han Solo, hero of the Alliance, be involved in such an endeavor? I don't think he would be, so I removed the rathtars completely and gave Han a different mission.

I noticed a slight plot hole when the two gangs came onboard. They'd tracked Han's cargo ship from another star system, but how could they have gotten to Han first? What happened to Kylo Ren's ship? The Star Destroyer had been above the planet, even landed stormtroopers and launched TIE fighters to attack the surface, but when the Falcon reached orbit, the Star Destroyer was gone. Strange.

Eliminating the gangs and monsters, and putting the First Order back in orbit where they should be, the new version, after their ship is scooped up by the larger vessel and they're boarded, goes like this...

Poe, Finn, and BB-8 waited in the dark while Rey dug into the ship's components in an attempt to unleash the poisonous gas. The wrench Rey had been using slipped off the valve she was trying to loosen, and it clanked loudly against a metal support strut. Everyone held their breath, hoping they hadn't been heard. Suddenly, the covering plate of the maintenance pit was lifted up, blinding the group with the abrupt increase in light.

A white-haired man in a loose vest over a white shirt stood at the edge of the pit, looking down at the huddled group, blaster in hand. Waiting behind him with a bowcaster was the tall and imposing form of a Wookiee. Covered in long hair the color of brown tree bark, the Wookiee looked ready to fire should anyone threaten the man he stood behind.

"Poe Dameron?" a man asked in apparent surprise. He holstered the blaster he had previously been pointing in their direction. "What in blazes are you doing on this ship? I'd heard you'd been captured."

"General Solo," Poe said. "It's good to see you again."

"I'm not a General anymore," Solo corrected. "Haven't been a General for years. Call me Han."

"Alright, Han," Poe accepted. He gestured toward Finn and Rey. "I was captured by the First Order. Finn helped me escape. Rey and a friend of hers put together this ship and offered us a ride."

"Where's the friend?" Han asked.

"He didn't make it," Poe answered.

"He's still alive," Rey insisted. "We need to go back for him."

"The First Order will still be in the area," Finn countered.

"Hold on," Han interrupted. "Does the First Order know you're on this ship?"

"We did have to shoot our way out," Poe admitted.

"Then they'll be looking for you," Han concluded. "We've got to get out of here. Come on, Chewie."

Han ran down the tail ramp and back into his own vessel with the Wookiee following behind him.

Poe waved to the others, encouraging them to follow. Finn heaved BB-8 up and out of the pit, clamoring out immediately afterwards. The three people and droid hurried to catch up with Han and Chewie, but the pair had managed to gain such a lead, they were forced to rely on BB-8's sensors in order to know which way to go in the maze of corridors and identical passages.

"Just in time," Han told them as they entered the bridge. "There's a transmission coming through."

"Rey, are you reading me?" the voice of Sentis said through the forward console.