Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM

Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM is a short story written by M. Shayne Bell and featured in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, which was published in December 1996 by Bantam Spectra. It naturally concerns the backstory of the bounty hunters Zuckuss and 4-LOM.

Synopsis
The story begins immediately before the famous bounty hunter scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back with Zuckuss meditating. With his meditation he is able to intuit possible futures. The idea of futures and change is a central theme to the plot: the characters come across some survivors from the Battle of Hoth and the plot progresses from there. There is no real resolution, as the writer prefers to leave ambiguity, and the story is really the writer's own meditation of the consequences to actions.

Zuckuss and 4-LOM both undergo changes in the course of the story, and the changes reflect changes they've also had in the past. They act almost to counter each other. Our eternal window on life, like 4-LOM's vision, is a "brief glimpse only, and one of many possible futures", and as such the author is really trying to put across this idea of perception, and what effect perception has on us.

The idea of perception comes through side-by-side with the counter-epiphanies as a theme in the story. Perception changes.

Inconsistencies
In the film The Empire Strikes Back, Princess Leia Organa orders a male controller in the Echo Base command center to "give the evacuation code signal. And get to your transports!" However, in the story, the line reads differently: "Give the evacuation code, and get to the transport!" Additionally, Toryn Farr is the controller who orders the retreat to the troops still fighting during the story, which suggests the order was directed at her, and not at the male controller.

The final transport to leave the planet, the Bright Hope, is stationed inside a hangar of the base, and not assembled on the South Slope, as Organa explains while debriefing Rogue Squadron prior to the battle during the film.

It is unclear if F4-7 is a different medical droid than FX-7, as author M. Shayne Bell seems to inexplicably alternate between the two names when seemingly referring to one droid. It is possible that F4-7 is another name for FX-7, though this has not been established or repeated canonically in any other source.

Behind the scenes
Of Possible Futures is one of the sources that suggests the Rebel Alliance leaves the galaxy at the end of The Empire Strikes Back.

The story also introduces a man named Darklighter who escapes aboard the Bright Hope. It is unclear if this man belongs to the Darklighter family of Biggs Darklighter and Gavin Darklighter.

Characters

 * 2-1B
 * 4-LOM
 * Bindu
 * Bossk
 * C-3PO (never reffered to by type)
 * Crimmins
 * Darklighter
 * Dengar
 * F4-7
 * Samoc Farr
 * Toryn Farr
 * Boba Fett
 * FX-7 "Effex-Seven"
 * IG-88
 * IG-88B
 * Jabba's rancor
 * Nardix
 * Sala Natu
 * Leia Organa
 * Firmus Piett
 * Dom Pricina
 * R2-D2 (never reffered to by type)
 * Carlist Rieekan
 * Meghan Rivers
 * Rory
 * Seito
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Han Solo
 * Berec Tanaal
 * Jabba Desilijic Tiure
 * Darth Vader
 * Zuckuss

Creatures

 * Bantha
 * Rancor
 * Wampa

Droid models

 * Assassin droid
 * Hacker droid
 * Medical droid
 * 2-1B surgical droid
 * FX-7 medical assistant droid
 * Protocol droid
 * 3PO-series protocol droid
 * LOM-series protocol droid
 * R2-series astromech droid

Events

 * Battle of Hoth

Locations

 * Darlyn Boda
 * Darlyn Boda
 * Darlyn Boda jewel shop
 * Gand
 * Hoth system
 * Hoth
 * Echo Base
 * Hoth Asteroid Field
 * Jabba's Palace
 * Mechis III
 * Rebel rendezvous point

Organizations and titles

 * Bounty hunter
 * Bounty Hunters' Guild
 * Galactic Empire
 * Governor
 * Admiral
 * Snowtrooper
 * Galactic Republic
 * Jedi Knight
 * New Republic
 * Princess
 * Rebel Alliance
 * Alliance Special Forces
 * General
 * Commander
 * Chief Controller
 * Sith
 * Dark Lord of the Sith

Sentient species

 * Gand
 * Human
 * Corellian
 * Hutt
 * Trandoshan
 * Wookiee

Vehicles and vessels

 * All Terrain Armored Transport
 * Escape pod
 * G-1A transport
 * Mist Hunter
 * Acquisition cell one
 * GR-75 medium transport
 * Bright Hope
 * Freight deck two
 * Kleeque-class transport
 * Kuari Princess
 * Millennium Falcon
 * Star Destroyer
 * Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
 * Super Star Destroyer
 * Executor-class Star Dreadnought
 * Executor
 * T-47 airspeeder "Snowspeeder"
 * T-65 X-wing starfighter
 * TIE/ln starfighter

Weapons

 * Ammonia bomb
 * Blaster
 * Grenade
 * Knife
 * Thermal detonator

Technology

 * Chrono
 * Comlink
 * Comm system
 * Computer
 * Containment shield
 * Darth Vader's armor
 * Glowtube
 * Headset comlink
 * Intercom
 * Power cell
 * Power coupling
 * Synth-sapph

Miscellanea

 * Ankarres Sapphire
 * Award of Merit
 * Cloning
 * Corellian jiang
 * Diamond
 * Emerald
 * Garnet
 * Hyperspace
 * Imperial Most Wanted List
 * Jedi academy
 * Marble
 * May the Force be with you
 * The Force
 * Dark side of the Force
 * Viewport