Assault on Logaria

Fanfiction
Title:	Assault on Logaria
Author(s):	Judi L. Hendricks
Date(s):	1978
Length:
Genre(s):	het
Fandom(s):	Star Wars
Relationship(s):
External Links:
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Assault on Logaria was published in October 1978 in Pegasus #3. It is by Judi L. Hendricks.

Author's Comment: 1978

One or two notes on my contribution to this issue, Assault on Logaria. Of the people who've read it, 50% think it's better with the naughty bits (which aren't really very naughty at all) and the other 50% think the n.b.'s are totally unnecessary. At any rate, I left 'em in... If you object to exposed genitalia, skip pages 83 through 85. (To those of you who immediately flipped to those pages -- we know what's on your minds!) Also, I realize that AoL is a marysue story. I do not apologize for this; STAR WARS is probably the biggest marysue story in existence and nobody's groaning about that.

Series

It is part of the Cori Beckett Star Wars series.

• Assault on Logaria (in Pegasus #3)
• Stowaway (in ...Scum & Villainy and reprinted in Pegasus #6)
• A Marketable Commodity (in Pegasus #4 v.2)
• Satisfaction Guaranteed (in Pegasus #5)
• Ships in the Night (in Warped Space #46)

Gallery of Sample Pages

• 

  first page of the story as it was printed in Pegasus #3

• 

  art by Judi L. Hendricks from Pegasus #3

• 

  art by Judi L. Hendricks from Pegasus #3

• 

  art by Virginia Lee Smith from Pegasus #3

• 

  art by Virginia Lee Smith from Pegasus #3

• 

  art by Judi L. Henricks from Pegasus #3

• 

  art by Virginia Lee Smith from Pegasus #3

Reactions and Reviews

1978

The major piece of the zine is "Assault on Logaria", which the author unabashedly calls a Mary Sue story. It is. It is also a poorly plotted Mary Sue story, a fact which the general writing style -- easily readable, quite good on the whole -- unfortunately makes all too clear. Why, in the name of the Force, does the Empire find it necessary to hijack freighters? Surely, when one is the legitimate government — and let there be 'no mistake! The Empire, evil or not, is, at least for the nonce, the legitimate government --there are easier ways to build up a fleet than by engaging in shooting matches with Wookiees. Like by requisitioning the ships from the source! And somehow I just can't see Darth Vader leading such a juvenile effort -- from "master of evil" to head of a "hot car" ring in one easy lesson! With my disbelief in the entire plot premise so strong, I found it difficult to "get into" the story. As a result, it was difficult to overlook inconsistencies, poor characterization, etc. For example, can you imagine the Luke Skywalker who "used to bullseye womp-rats" and who helped blast a way into the detention cells and out of the Death Star becoming squeamish at the deaths — in close combat — of some Storm Troopers? Would a crack group of Storm Troopers, the creme de la creme of the Empire, in all seriousness be called Vader’s Raiders? Would they allow themselves to be slaughtered quite so easily? Moreover, Vader is not stupid. He was once a pupil of Obi-Man Kenobi. Would he really be caught by a repetition of so many of the plot elements from STAR WARS? I doubt it. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice3 shame on me. Vader learns from experience. He would not long survive as a renegade Jedi elsewise.

STAR WARS, obviously, does not have the same wealth of background material that TREK has. Hence, several people have started “series'1 of their own to fill in the background and flesh out the mythology. One such team consists of Jan Lindner, Paula Block, and Judi L. Hendricks. Unlike the team of Nowakowska/Kirkland, these ladies stay more with the major characters of STAR WARS and less with the development of the “history” of the battles we were privileged to witness.

[snipped]

“Assault on Logaria" by Judi L. Hendricks is the major work of the zine, and a beautiful piece of work it is. I don't want to spoil this story for anybody who hasn't read it, but suffice to say this could easily be the sequel George Lucas is looking for: it certainly has

the scope and concept of the original. In short, the rebels have infiltrated Vader's new Imperial base, but Vader has caught some of the spies. At the same time, stormtroopers have taken to stealing freight ers, one of which belongs to an “old friend" (female, of course!) of Han Solo, Cori Beckett. While this friend is asking Han for help, Luke and Leia are chartering the Millenium Falcon (again!). Since their goals are practically identical, and because the “prices" are right, Han agrees to attack the Imperial base. In her editorial, Hendricks says that 50% of the people she showed the story to “think it better with the naughty bits... and the other 50% think the naughty bits totally unnecessary.“ Well, I agree with the former, Judi, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Hendrick's 'Assault on Logaria' is the largest single story in this issue, a self-styled Mary Sue, and a very enjoyable story to boot, one that contains humor, horror, graphic violence, a little naughtiness (one sort of explicit sexual scene), excellent characterizations, and a strong action-adventure plot.

1979

"Logarla" was my favorite, a good adventure story. This is the key to the lengthier type fiction in SW. Another story of equal length in another zine put me to sleep because It forgot to have the characters do anything besides sit around explaining everything. And as for the Mary Sue syndrome, forget it! I'm sick of hearing about it!...I do hate the blatant Mary Sues, the perfect little misses who save the day without half trying, but your Logaria story ain't like that. She helps save the day, but at least she isn't absolutely wonderful. Yes, SW is Lucas' Mary Sue, but Luke isn't perfect—he has to grow up first. You shouldn't have picked out your love scene either. Why the love scene? I would have thought nothing of it if you hadn't pointed it out. The violence is much more emotional. That scene where your heroine blasts those troopers is kind of terrible. How about if you ask people whether you should leave that in or not. But I guess it is logical to the type of story we're telling. It isn't "Star Peace" after all. The best part, tho, isn't your Mary Sue. It's the end, where Vader confronts a Forceful Kenobi. Very awesome indeed.... Oh yes. One fault...Making Cori also be a Corellian pirate who also happens to have a Wookiee companion is too much like Han. But you should write another story about how they met in the first place and why she tried to kill him, etc. Then you could justify it somewhat . ((Editor's notes see "Stowaway", Scum and Villainy)) I always thought that Han and Chewie's relationship was unusual, that Wookiees and humans don't normally relate to one another. Just my own idea tho...

Now we get to the meat of the zine. Judi, Judi, Judi. You apologized in your editorial for it being a Mary Sue story. And you are right. You are also right about SW being a Mary Sue story. It's not perfect (who the hell am I to say) but it sure would have made a far better second book than Foster's infamous one. In my humble opinion, I think it is the best Mary Sue story I have read. Very well done. I hate to keep bringing up Foster's book, but characterization-wise (& every other-wise), "Assault" is superior. When Leia says, "No, there are plenty of people who can lead, but if I can get something done — if I can ..." (p.76) I was mentally shouting, "Yeah, Leia would say that." And I mentally shouted the same when Han says, "Anything, eh?" (p.66) in response to Cori's question of payment for his services. (All right—maybe I think he WOULD have gone for money first, but his payment made it more interesting.) And shame on your editorial. When you said anyone objecting to "naughty bits" skip such and such pages, naturally I flipped to them before reading further and skimmed. Upon flipping back I was appropriately embarrassed — you knew we'd do that! After reading those pages (in sequence with the rest of the story) I really don't see any thing that naughty about them — even a prude couldn't get TOO upset. And I'm with the 50% who thinks it's better with that part included.

Judi's story, "Assault on Logaria" was excellent. The only part I thought was a bit overdone was the three paragraphs on page 80. Especially the middle one, where Luke fought off the five remotes. But once you had him trigger them by switching on his light-sabre, I really couldn't figure how else you could have written it. Cori was great. She's the only woman in Star Wars created by a fan writer that I've liked. Besides, although I detest female Jedis, I like female pirates. Why do I like one and not the other? Perhaps because I see female Jedis as militant feminists (which I also detest), but female pirates are only fantasy and therefore fun. The "naughty bits", as you called them, weren't at all objectionable to me.' ... The reason why is the way you presented Cori. She and Han didn't have an affair/relationship immediately after meeting and there apparently weren't any other lovers in her life. Now, you may not have intended for such an interpretation about any former lovers, but you left her background vague enough and Cori herself shy enough about sex to allow me to do so. If you ever write a sequel, I hope you leave it that way. I love the way you handled the language barrier with Chewie. Like in the movie, we usually only knew what he said by the answers Han (and Cori) gave him. Only once do I recall a formal translation from See-Threepio. And Han's language problems with Artoo were funny. I'm glad you didn't ignore the droids. Ah, ha! Another complaint. On page 76, when Leia made the comment about deactivating Threepio, it seemed unnecessarily cruel to me. I once read an article in either Starlog or Future which implied that to own thinking and droids was slavery. Since then, I've thought of Threepio and Artoo as people. Of course, if you don't think that way, Leia's comment could be considered funny. All in all, the original characters were in character, your new character was believable, and it was a nifty action-adventure story.

No need to apologize for "Assault", Judi. I had heard it said that the story would make a good sequel, and I agree that you've done a good job with it. Certainly, the task of getting all the principals back together again—in a plot that is plausible—is not an easy one. Leia shouldn't be in the front lines, after all; he's much too important and valuable. But, political stories aren't usually as exciting physically as adventure ones. As for the Mary Sue aspects, forget it. As you say, SW is the biggest one of them all. The challenge as I see it is to write a story that works ... to create a character who, tho obviously someone you identify with, is a legitimate person in his/her own right and essential to the story. I think the really bad press MS stories received was due to their fabulousness in the unbelievable sense of the word. I think it's entirely possible that Han should have some old acquaintances who happen to be female. Han sounded very true to character in the story and Cori sounded appropriately Corellian. I guess the only thing I found a bit too close for coincidence was the pairing of another Corellian and Wookiee, but that's mostly because there was no explanation for the similarity. Do Corellians all have Wookiee Mates? Is it less common than that, but more common than just 'occasionally'? A sentence or two explaining that would have cleared up my Terran distrust of such parallels. ' Liked the addendum, too. Such little surprises are are always fun. I can't resist tho...the only imagery which really bothered me in the story was the Sacred Heart of Obi-wan Kenobi business at the end. Perhaps it's just too many years of Catholic education, but...

And now to the part I've been dying to LoC: "Assault on Logaria." I haven't enjoyed a story so much since Jackie's "Resurgence" — and that's a high compliment. AoL had all the proper ingredients: plenty of action, all the beloved established characters present and in character, new characters finely wrought and (lest we forget...) some delicious PG scenes that put my favorite Corellian freighter pilot in the proper place (i.e. making love). Plus great illos. Now I'll slow down and explain my praise in detail. The plot line worked well. I don't think Han would have relished taking on Logaria for Leia, but the extra nudge (or "inducement") given by Cori's predicament makes sense. The whole story was a bright spacey reprise of "Force 10 from Navarone." Thank you for treating Lucas' characters with respect. Thank you. for keeping Han as foxy, sarcastic, optimistic and hard-to-get-along-with-but-hard-to-resist. I'm prejudiced, of course, but if you'd have missed his character, I'd not have bothered reading AoL. Thanx for the continuation of Luke's discoveries about the Force. Some writers seem to forget he's "special". Leia worked out well. Loved the scene with Chewie soaking wet! Thank you, finally for keeping 3PO and R2D2 in the action. They're perfect and really add to the enjoyment (also Lucas thought their point of view and comic relief important). New characters were very interesting. I'm just sorry Chessaba didn't last more than a couple pages. That's a fine name for a Wookiee! Your first illo and Smith's "death scene" illo of him were great! Cori...after much deliberation I decided I really like her the best of any of the multitude of lady Corellian pilots that have cruised the fanzines lately ... If she's a Mary Sue (which I'm not sure is true), then she's the best. Cori is pleasantly constructed physically and emotionally. I like her because she's no Amazon, or gorgeous vision, or ugly duckling. She's an all-woman girl whose short stature, femininity and emotional bent make her a sympathetic type suited to the rest of the Lucas crew. Her past connections with Han are interesting ... She's smart too, but just dumb enough to pass out from a strong drink—loved that scene too. And in case you haven't guessed, I'm one of those lascivious types that read the "naughty scenes" first. Bravo! They might not be essential, but they sure were nice—perfect, in fact. Just the right combination for Solo of the suggestive, brash, aggressive pirate and the affectionate, ardent lover. Must've read that scene a zillion times. Leads me to speculate on what would happen after the assault when the ships reached Kinderaan. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, the whole zine was worth the trouble or credits just for "Logaria". The Forceis with you m'dear.

...I like Cori, and like the relationship that she has with Han. The love scene was tastefully written, and I actually subdued myself from reading it first - well, I read the cartoons firsthand then I read the love scene! I'm really not too good at writing LoCs. I'm not too critical of writing. As long as it amply portrays a character-in-character, I like it, and so far I have seen very little SW work that I have not enjoyed. It burns me when I read fans complain that "Why can't ST writers write good SW stories?" They usually are good, it's just that the readers agree spending so much time being critical that they forget to enjoy what they're reading! And as for AoL being a Mary Sue story—phooey!!! With Han Solo being the way he is, he had to have some females in his life before his involvement with the Alliance. And since I am one of those people who believes that Luke is going to 'get' Leia in the end, I enjoy reading stories that highlight some of Han's escapades with the fairer sex! AoL is a good story, in my opinion ranking with the like of the "Thousandworlds" series, of which I am an avid fan. I'd like to read more 'Cori" stories in the future!

"Assault on Logaria", I think, is very good. You definitely have a feel for action-adventure and how to put in background to make the story feel real. There are a few places where I wish a scene had been a little more developed, but what that means is that you have the potential for a much longer story, even a novel, in "Logaria". And I wouldn't worry too much about Cori being a Mary Sue. For one thing, as you said in your editorial, Luke Skywalker is certainly a "Mary Sue" (though have you noticed -that when a woman writes a heroic save-the-universe alter-ego, she's a Mary Sue, but if a man writes exactly the same kind of character— but male— he's a hero. The story is a heroic fantasy of sorts, and its perfectly acceptable) and therefore no one had better make nasty comments about SW Mary Sues. For another, Cori isn't really a Mary Sue ... she is legitimately competent (that is, her competence is backed up by a history to support it and a time before that when she wasn't competent) rather than magically able to do everything she puts her hands to, and everyone doesn't fall head-over-heels in love with her. She also doesn't save the day all by herself. I like her, she could use a few more weaknesses to be more believable—for instance, it might be nice to maintain the tension between her and Leia—but on the whole, she's a good character. And dammit, it's about time we got some good strong women into space opera as heroes, not heroes' sidekicks. The only thing that bothers me about AoL is some of the names, which sound too terrestrial and jar a little. Not so much first names—SW had terrestrial-sounding first names—but last names, particularly "Beckett" and "Roberts", are the problem.

Now onto the big guns— "Assault on Logaria." Short on philosophy, long on action, just the way a proper SW adventure should be. I have a few nit picking gripes with it, such as, where did Leia learn to speak French? Her use of "Dieu" as an expletive jars just a bit. And what qualifies her as a queen? Her father was only a viceroy, remember? If anything, the title 'princess' is an honorary one. All the other faults were on that order, nothing major, and nothing really worth mentioning. All in all, a very satisfying story. And your 'exposed genitalia' scene—hot stuff, kid! Keep it up! ...

I started "Attack on Logaria, and got not too far into it. I was so bored that I started skimming, skipping paragraphs, etc. In this case, the author ...simply cloned Han Solo (and Chewie to boot). Rather she created herself into the story in the image of a certain Corellian (vest & all, no less). Now I have been guilty of this myself ~ I used to do it when I was 13 and writing "Man from UNCLE" stories — but I just can't forget that when I'm reading this Logaria epic. That the author is right there in front of me, and she's not even very interesting! ... She can't even hold her liquor ... So far, the only thing which has held my attention about this story was the two-page illustration, which was done in shadow and showed Han and Cori at the table together. Cori looks in the drawing much better than she comes across in print—independent, head strong, mature, even a trifle mysterious. I'm seriously considering taking out that picture and framing it. It is GOOD. I'm sorry I can't say as much for the story. In all fairness, I have yet to finish it. I hope that I can. Oh yeah, the other thing that really bugged me about Logaria was that somehow I had the creepy feeling that I was seeing Star Wars over again. Cori and Chessabba (Han and Chewie) shooting it out with the Imperials, Vader ordering a search for a girl (Cori as opposed to Leia in the movie), Vader crushing someone with his bare gloved hands (one of his own instead of a Rebel Captain), a 'you must help me' scene around the bar table, and I can't remember what else. Well, Chewie in mourning over a dead relative instead of Luke. AUGGH! Rip-off City! And I thought old A.D. Foster was bad.

On to assaulting "Logaria"! The story itself is well-told. The characters are consistent and believable (both "old" and "new" ones). Descriptions are detailed enough to allow the reader to visualize the scenes. Illustrations were of medium to good quality; I particularly liked Han and Cori on pages 62-63. All of these niceties of style, however, had to win me back after the large and glaring PLOT FLAW at the beginning. The Empire would not steal ships! It doesn't have to. I'm going to make a large-size assumption at this point and say that you've never visited a Communist country. You have probably not been exposed to a truly authoritarian system, or you would know that the government does not need to ask its citizens for anything; it just takes. Commandeering by the military during emergencies/crises/war is allowed as a temporary measure in our own country, though there are strong restrictions Imposed by the Bill of Rights. Nevertheless, the authority of a government to do so is implied, and with the Empire, may be more than implied. Why should the Empire bother to steal the Nlghthawk, risking lives and damage to the property they are trying to obtain, when they can accomplish the same thing with a perfectly legal confiscation? ...The entire operation becomes all the more cold blooded. A wishy-washy Imperial clerk could've handed Cori a receipt while Imperial crewmen marched onto her ship. Should she resist, then force would be used. Chessaba would have been killed as a criminal trying to obstruct Imperial processes. It's obviously not as exciting as a pitched battle, but I'd believe it more. Cori could even bring the receipt along to Logaria in the hope of personally mailing it to Darth Vader's chest. The plot twist, of course, would have her leaving a "receipt" for the stolen Imperial cruiser. (Note: by the way, what about the owners of the other stolen ships? Will the Rebels return the the salvaged ones to them -- minus arms, of course -- or they going to compound the issue by commandeering them, too?) Except for that one problem, the story was great. I don't consider a bare breast to be exposed genitalia, but I'm also fairly liberal on the subject of sex. The "reward" scene was handled with taste.

Granted, technically you can call "Assault on Logaria" a Mary Sue, but I kept saying, "It's too good to call a Mary Sue" when I read it. Excellent story! I was raised on Andre Norton-Keith Laumer-Allistalr MacLean action-adventure and I like a story with lots of action. I hope you plan on writing more of the exploits of Cori Beckett! ... The illos are gorgeous, especially the 2-pager with Cori and Han. And how could you even think of leaving out the "naughty bits"?!? Isn't that one of the fringe benefits of writing Mary Sues? Your character gets to have a mite of um, or, fun with the hero of your choice! Your characterizations are excellent, really have the feel of Han, Luke, Leia which boils down no doubt, to "she considers them the same way I do," a real problem with fan fiction. We all have our own Kirk, Spock, Han, Leia, Hutch, Starsky ~ any fictional character and I think that's one of the reasons some stories strike us as so bad. The characterization is radically different from the person we see when we watch the show (or movie) or when we write about them ... Anyhow, all the English-major type of rhapsodysing aside, "Assault on Logaria" was one of the best stories I've read in ages, and I'm not limiting that to "fan" stories. Worth reading several times, as I have!

Yep, "Logaria" is a Marysue, and a maryoldsue was she. You were right. There were some illogical points about the plot, illogical at least if these clowns are in even an approximation to the real universe. For instance, wasn't Leia's message to Han awfully explicit for a secret communique that could have been intercepted by the evil Empire, etc.? I mean, if Artoo fell into the wrong hands, Han, Luke, and Leia are all mentioned by name or face and location, and would be in max shit. She actually says, "Our base on Kinderaan." If Darth-boy was in doubt before, he wouldn't be now. "We (think) Darth ... is alive... on Logaria... I have volunteered to go there in secret(!)... I am enroute to Tatooine." Right. Besides one doesn't generally tell the troops, especially the ones you haven't yet hired, anymore than they hafta know. It's just not the best strategy. If Leia isn't running this rebellion, then who is? If she's just a figurehead, how come she gives all these orders? ("We suspected you were the leader because you gave all the orders.") If Leia gives Luke carte blanche to hire Han, the Alliance obviously has some bucks—so howcum she faunces so hungrily for the armed freighters? Can't she buy some too? If the Alliance has 23 spies in Darth's camp, how many well-paid, trained, loyal espionage agents has she in the Rebellion? Lousy security is not a one-way street. If the Alliance agents all know Leia by sight, don't the stormtroopers and soon also? Shouldn't she have at least a hood on her cloak too? All Wookiees look alike, after all, but she is the one with her picture in the post office. The ending is purplely written, but recovers because it captures the elemental conflict between Darth and Obi-Wan, the irreconcilability between them. He would rather rule in Hell ~ and he will. It saves the story, and makes it not quite a mary sue after all.

"'Assault on Logaria' is the longest piece of fiction in the zine, and even has a complex enough plot to fill up the 50-odd pages with enough action to keep interest up. It starts with an attack by Imperial Storm-troopers on the ship of a Corellian named Cori. They kill her first mate and take off in her ship. She discovers that her ship, The Nighthawk, and others like it, had been taken to the Imperial garrison planet of Logaria under the orders of Darth Vader who plans to use them in a quick military build up of the area. Meanwhile, Luke is on a mission to find Han to ask him if he would undertake another mission for the rebel alliance. It seems several agents of the alliance had been captured and Leia must find out if they have revealed the position of the new rebel base. Oddly enough, all of this takes place on Logaria too, which is just a bit too coincidental, but not enough to strain the believability of the story. From there Judi conducts us on an espionage mission on Logaria which has the dual purpose of recovering Cori's ship and finding out what the Empire has discovered from the captured rebel spies. It ends delivering more than that however. Judi's characters are nicely portrayed and the plot is a very good for intrigue, which is often difficult to handle. There are a few plot inconsistencies however that could have been resolved. For example, I wasn't satisfied having Leia participating in an espionage mission on an Imperial planet when her kisser is likely plastered on posters on planets from here to Andromeda. I can't be too critical however. Getting every little thing right in a story of this size, with a plot this complex, can take countless rewrites.

1982

In "Assault on Logaria" (PEG #3) several years later, after losing her ship to the Imperials (her Wookiee partner being killed in the takeover) she works her way across the galaxy to demand Han's aid in retrieving the ship and avenging her partner. The fact that Han is already working for Leia and Luke does not impress her in the least, though she condescends to work out a way to take care of both jobs at once. She and Leia take a while to reach the stage of armed truce, but they eventually work well together and could possibly become friends. Cori and Han finally get around to a romantic entanglement, but while this is important in their relationship it does not dominate the story, Cori's existence, or their total relationship. Hendricks and Paula Block collaborated on "A Marketable Commodity."

... an action tale with a thoroughly unpleasant Dark Lord who crumples an incompetent stormtrooper... and is completely unable to copy with the resurrected Kenobi.