Planet of Mimban:

Beckett guides Solo and Chewbacca through the crowded hallways, catwalks and balconies of the pillar-city. Imperial propaganda everywhere.

"So" Solo says. "Crimson Dawn, huh? What kind of operation are you running?"

"Depends on the situation" Beckett explains. "And the situation changes depending on who pays the most."

"I see" Solo says. "So what are we flying?"

"An old VCX-100 light freighter" Beckett says. "But don't let that fool you, kid. She may be old, but she got it where it counts. And she packs a few surprises."

"A VCX?" Solo says, impressed and surprised. "My dad built those ships before the Clone Wars, before Star Destroyers were all the rage."

Beckett glances back at Solo. "So you're from Corellia? Hell, you might actually be a good pilot after all."

Solo shrugs his shoulders. "And a decent mechanic, if I may say so myself."

Beckett nods approvingly. "Well, you will put those skills to the test sooner than you think, kid. Things tend to get a bit… out of control at times."

Solo smiles and nod. "Figures. So… here in the Mid Rim, are we flying for Black Sun? Pyke Syndicate?"

Beckett grins and smokes his cigarette. "Let's just say things are changing."

"If not Black Sun or Pyke… The Hutt's? The Hutt's are making a move on the Mid Rim?"

Chewbacca growls at this information.

Beckett glances back at his two new crewmembers. "Don't complain, kid. The Hutt's are expanding and that means they are willing to pay good money for our services to undermine the competition. Ever since Pyke managed to kick the Hutt's out of Kessel, the Hutt's have been itching to get even. Stick with me and the two of you will be rich in no time."

Chewbacca says something that has Beckett glance back at the Wookie and then look at the patch on his sleeve.

"Don't worry, big guy" Beckett says. "I didn't fight at Kashyyyk."

Solo looks between the other two. "What's going on?"

"Chewbacca here noticed this is a Confederate army-coat. He asked me if I was at Kashyyyk. I fought on Toydaria, Eriadu, Fondor and Glee Anselm for the Separatists. But if you ask me, the Clone Wars are over, and I'm not inclined to bring any old feuds back to life."

Chewbacca growls and nods.

"Good" Beckett says. "Besides, these days neither the Confederacy or the Republic are still around. Let's just agree that if what we're doing upsets the Empire, it's worth doing."

They step through a doorway and out onto a landing-platform where the Crimson Dawn is waiting for them. Solo and Chewbacca take a moment to inspect the ship before following Beckett. They walk into the ships cargo-hold where two other crew-members are waiting; the human female named Val and the four-armed creature named Rio Durant.

"So who are these two?" Val asks.

"Chewbacca, Han" Beckett says, "this is my wife, Val. And this cheerful character is my pilot, Rio Durant. Han and Chewbacca will be joining us for a while. I think their skills might come in handy."

Rio Durant is a bit hesitant. "Skills, huh? And what skills might that be?"

Beckett pats Rio on the shoulder. "Useful skills, old buddy." He turns to Solo and Chewbacca. "Rio here will get you settled in, show you where you can get some sleep."

Rio grunts. "I thought I was supposed to get us out of here as soon as you got back?"

Beckett turns to Rio. "As soon as you've shown them their bunks, you can take Han here to the cockpit and get him acquainted with our ship. He's your new co-pilot."

"Co-pilot?!" Rio barks. "I don't need a stinking back-seat driver telling me what to do!"

"Hey!" Solo cuts in. "I don't stink."

"Knock it off" Beckett steps in and calms things down. "Just do it, Rio."

Rio mutters and is a bit annoyed. "Alright… come on, I'll show you around."

Solo and Chewbacca follows Rio onto the ship. Val steps up to Beckett.

"Two strays?" she says. "That's not like you, Tobias."

"We need a couple of extra guys for the next mission" Beckett says. "And besides, a Wookie war-veteran and a Corellian ex-military pilot could be useful further down the line. Sooner or later, the Hutt's are gonna cause too much trouble, and when that happens, we're gonna need all the muscle we can get."

"If you think Braga will cross us, why do we do business with him?"

"Because" Beckett smiles, "he pays good money."

In the cockpit, Rio sits down in the pilot's seat and points with one of his arms at the co-pilot's seat.

"That's your chair, kid" Rio says. "If aint too much trouble, you can help out starting us up and prep the navigational-computer."

Solo, a bit annoyed, does as he's told. Chewbacca finds a seat behind the two pilots and studies the computers by his station.

Solo, annoyed, shakes his head as he starts up the ship. "I'm already regretting this."

The Crimson Dawn takes off and leaves the pillar-city behind, heading for space.

Planet of Go'Ath:

A large refinery, massive in size. Cargo-ships lands, dropping off cargo and picking up cargo. Mercenaries are overlooking the operation, making sure no slave or droid gets out of line. The crew of the Crimson Dawn are disguised as mercenaries as they move through the huge facility. At one point, Val and Rio leave the others and head off in a separate direction. Soon after, Chewbacca does the same. It is obvious they are following a carefully detailed plan. Beckett and Solo comes around a corner and inspects a landing-pad where cargo-ships picks up large fuel-tanks.

"You ready to go?" Beckett asks.

"In two years, have I ever not been ready?" Solo asks, telling us the length of the time-jump in the story.

"Don't get cocky, kid. You know what to do?"

Solo nods. "Sure thing. Get in there, disable the beacon on the cargo, release the locking-clamps and get the hell out of there. Rio and Val comes in with a stolen carry-all, picks up the cargo and leaves before the Mining Guild has any idea of what's going on. Meanwhile, Chewie has disabled the tractor-beams and you will distract the control-tower."

Beckett nods. "And then you, me and Chewie link up by the shuttle and head back to the Dawn."

"Piece of cake" Solo says and grins. "These Guild-thugs wont know what hit 'em."

"Just remember" Beckett says, "it's coaxium in those fuel-tanks. Hyperspace-fuel. The amount of coaxium in one of those fuel-tanks is enough to blow up this entire refinery. So keep your damned blaster holstered."

Solo gives Beckett a wink. "Hey, it's me" and then Solo moves on, heading for the fuel-tanks that is their target.

Beckett sighs. "That's what worries me."

Solo walks up to a speeder and climbs into the drivers-seat and hotwires the vehicle and flies it to towards the fuel-tanks. He parks the speeder not far off and behind a corner. He then climbs the landing-platform until he reaches a catwalk and follows it until he comes across a power/control-terminal ( not unlike the one we see Obi-Wan disable in A New Hope on the Death Star ); Solo begins pull levers and turn dials and flip switches.

Meanwhile, Beckett walks through a corridor, acting like a mercenary-officer, and enters the refineries flight-control tower and control-room.

Solo pulls on one last lever and he hears mechanical noises echo from up above. He then hurries down the catwalk and finds a ladder and climbs up to the platform. Two huge fuel-tanks are waiting for pick-up. He hurries over to one of them, staying out of sight, and then climbs up the side of it along a ladder; halfway up, he finds a hatch that he forces open and begins to manipulate the computer-cards inside.

Beckett looks out a window and spots an incoming carry-all, a Y-45 class transport hauler. He then turns to the people operating the control-tower.

"Whatta hell is this?! I've never seen such a sad group of people trying to keep up the appearance of a professional operation! Do you even know the meaning of the word cooperation?! Or are you all just sitting here, rolling your thumbs and waiting for the day to end so you can run off and smoke spice and drink rum?!"

Solo spots the incoming Y-45 and hurries to try and hotwire the fuel-tanks beacon. On the transport, Rio is piloting the craft and Val climbs outside, goggles over her eyes, and gets ready to lower the magnetic hooking-clamps.

Beckett keeps up the distraction in the control-tower. "This has got to be the saddest gathering of incompetent, self-centered rejects I've ever come across! In all my years working for the Mining Guild, I have never seen a larger bunch of nerf-herders!"

An officer walks up to Beckett. "Just who the hell are you?! You cant just walk in here and start shouting!"

"Is that so?" Beckett says. "Name and rank. I'm going to report you to the employment-office."

"Gilgad Rossian" the officer says defiantly. "Flight-control Supervisor. And who the hell are you? Before I throw you out of my control-tower and have you arrested!"

"I am Toby Hackett" Beckett says. "Employment Officer of the Mining Guild, sent here by Head Administrator Chewbacca Solo. And if you think you can throw me out, I got news for you, buddy."

Gilgad Rossian turns to his crew. "Call security!"

Beckett shouts to the same crew. "Yeah, call security!"

Rio Durant moves the hauler in over the fuel-tank. Val looks down, ready to lower the hooking-clamps. Solo looks up, not ready, and hurries to rearrange the computer-cards.

Rio tries to look down and see what's going on. "Whatta hell is taking so long?! We gotta go, now!"

Val places a hand by her mouth as she shouts to be heard over the engines. "Han! Han! We need to leave, right now!"

Solo frowns. "Son of a…" and then rips out the cards, sparks flying. He looks up and gives Val the thumbs up. "We're ok! We're good to go!"

Solo climbs up to the top of the fuel-tank and Val lowers the hooking-clamps. Solo begins to fasten them and securing the magnetic hooking-clamps in place.

Beckett sees that the operation is underway from the control-tower. "We'll see about this. I'll report back to headquarters and then there will be hell to pay. Before the day is over, you will all be locked in chains and working down in the refinery, instead of sitting up here on your lazy asses."

That's when one of the control-tower operators spots what is going on over by the fuel-tank. "Sir! There's something going on over by cargo-pad eight!"

Gilgad Rossian moves over to the windows and spots the hauler hovering over the fuel-tanks. "That's not the right transport… That's not a Beef-One bulk freighter!"

Beckett turns to leave, butt is spotted by Gilgad Rossian.

"Hackett!" Gildad calls out. "Where the hell are you going?!"

Beckett tosses a glance over his shoulder. "I'm going to investigate that hauler."

As Beckett is about to leave the control-room, the doors open and a squad of guards block his path.

Over by the fuel-tank, Solo hooks up the hooking-clamps to the fuel-tank, gives Val the signal that it's ok and then hurries to climb down. Val uses her controls to lift the fuel-tank from the platform. Solo reaches the bottom of the ladder and jumps the last few feet as the fuel-tank is hoisted into the air.

Gilgad Rossian turns to the security-team. "Stop that hauler! And where the hell is Hackett?!"

Beckett hurries down the corridors and picks up his communicator. "We aint got much time. They spotted the hauler over by the fuel-tank. We need to get out of here now."

The hauler begins to move away while Val is still securing the fuel-tank to the hull of the hauler. Solo climbs down the platform and jumps into the stolen speeder and drives off. Beckett exits the control-tower at ground-level and spots four patrol-craft flying past overhead and heading after the hauler with the stolen fuel-tank. The hauler gains speed and Val hurries to climb back inside.

"Rio!" Val shouts as she is inside. "Get us the hell out of here!"

The four patrol-craft easily catches up with the hauler and opens fire with ion-cannons, something that upsets Rio Durante.

"Crazy bastards!" Rio growls. "Even ion-cannons can ignite the fuel!"

Beckett walks across the open ground between the control-tower and the other buildings when two speeders cuts him off and two squads with guards jump out. Surrounding Beckett, the guards have him secured, and he knows it. That's when Solo comes driving in with the speeder and crashes into the guards, by making a tight drift-move around Beckett, knocking the guards out of the way.

"Come on!" Solo calls out to Beckett.

Beckett hurries to climb in the speeder and as they drive off, guards fire after them and Beckett returns fire.

Solo glances at Beckett during the fire-fight. "I thought you told me to keep my blaster holstered?!"

"Shut up and drive!" Beckett growls.

Solo and Beckett are followed by four speeders loaded with guards, blaster-shots exchanged between the pursuers and the fleeing speeder. The chase continues throughout the refinery. Chewbacca sees the chase and aims, armed with an SX-21 Heavy Blasterrifle; he fires three shots from his elevated position and hits the same speeder, forcing it to crash violently. Beckett deals with a second speeder, killing its driver, the speeder veering off course and crashing into a building as a result. The third speeder is dealt with as Solo does some fancy driving, the driver of the third speeder not as good a driver and therefor crashes. The chase continues and Becketts gets wounded in the shoulder from an incoming blaster-shot. Chewie runs along the facility and jumps down to the ground, forcing Solo to avoid running him over; Chewie takes aim at the last following speeder just as Solo takes his own speeder through a tight turn to come to a full stop. Chewie fires his gun and as he hits, the last pursuing speeder explodes in a ball of flame. Chewie hurries over to Solo and Beckett and climbs into the speeder.

"Nice shot" Solo says and Chewie replies. By now, Solo understands him and laughs. "Yeah, right! Lucky shot, that's all."

Beckett is eager to get out of there. "Can we continue this at a later time?"

Solo grins. "Hang on."

The speeder drives off at full speed.

Meanwhile, the hauler is harassed by the four patrol-craft.

Val is watching data on her computer. "Each hit reduces our energy-reserve with ten percent! Four more hits and they'll bring us down and force us to land!" The ship shakes from an incoming blast. "Three more hits!"

Rio Durante shakes his head and growls. "To hell with this!" He reaches out and pulls down two levers.

The hauler drops the fuel-tank and as it crashes against the ground, it causes a tremendous explosion that engulfs the four patrol-craft, the hauler just narrowly escaping, but not without taking damage; so much so that it is forced to make an emergency landing.

"Great idea, Rio!" Val growls, holding on during the shaky landing. "Not only did we lose the fuel, but now we're gonna crash!"

"You're not helping!" Rio growls back. "Hold on!"

The hauler crashes into the ground and slides along the dirt. Rio and Val, bruised and bleeding from cuts, climb out of the wreckage. They look around, disorientated. That's when the Crimson Dawn flies down towards them and lands; Solo is the pilot and he activates the external speakers.

"Come on you two, this aint no time to be a lazy Bantha."

Rio snorts. "I'll show him who's a Bantha… And get out of my chair!"

Rio and Val get onboard. Val and Beckett hug and kiss and Val looks over Beckett's wounded shoulder. Solo pilots the Crimson Dawn and heads for the skies, blasting off at full speed.

Crimson Dawn, Hyperspace:

Beckett's wound is treated by Val in the crew-lounge, Chewbacca is there also. Solo and Rio enter the crew-lounge.

"You can forget about those Guild slugs" Rio says. "We've left them far behind."

"Good" Beckett says, his shoulder bandaged. "The coaxium?"

"Had to drop it" Rio says. "It took too long to get out of there. I stood no chance of shaking their patrols."

"Han had trouble with the beacon" Val says.

Solo turns defensive. "Hey! How's this my fault?"

"How?!" Rio growls. "It's pretty obvious isn't it? Hadn't you fumbled with the beacon, we would have hooked up the fuel to the hauler the moment we were in place. Instead, you left us exposed in the open. How do you think they caught on that something was wrong? It was because of you, kid! You screwed up!"

Chewbacca growls and snarls.

Rio waves it off. "Don't gimme that crap, you know I'm right. The plan worked like a charm, save for one part and that was the reason we got spotted; The kid taking too god damn long time to disable the beacon."

"Alright, that's enough, all of you" Beckett cuts in. "It was my plan as I recall. And I told Han to disable the beacon before we secured the fuel to the hauler. I think you all remember Han suggesting to secure the fuel first and then he wanted to disable the beacon on the way out? But I said no, because I didn't want a member of my crew climbing on the outside of a cargo-hauler and a damn fuel-tank while trying to escape Mining Guild patrols. So all of you, knock it off. It was my call to take care of the beacon first. I'm responsible for this mission going south."

"What are you going to tell Braga?" Val wonders.

Beckett sighs. "That their security was tighter than what he told us. Try and get him to direct his anger at his contact within the Guild, rather than us."

Solo shakes his head. "This was a huge mission for Braga. He wont be pleased that we're coming home empty handed."

Rio nods. "The kids right. It doesn't matter what we tell that fat old heap of stool. He's gonna roll all over us and squash us, no matter what we tell him."

Val glances at each and one of them. "Hutt's are greedy, more than anything. We need to offer him a deal. A profit. Make him forget this debacle and get him to focus on the next heist."

Beckett agrees. "Leave that to me."

Beckett and Val leave the crew-lounge, Val supporting Beckett as he is still in pain.

Solo gives Rio an evil eye. "Thanks for blaming it all on me."

"What?" Rio says. "It was your fault, wasn't it? Look kid, what's done is done. Just don't let it happen again."

"Or what?" Solo asks, defiant.

Rio gives Solo a murderous look. "Or this crew wont be earning any more cash, that's what, kid. I know you aint got much to live for and I know you don't really give a damn about anything other than being payed. But some of us aren't in this only for the money."

"Yeah, yeah" Solo says, knowing what Rio will tell him next. "You're saving up for your bar."

Rio nods. "That's right. My bar. I'm gonna find myself a spaceport at a warm place and open a bar and sell booze and spice to all the spacers in the galaxy. Have a nice and quiet life."

Solo is not impressed. "Rio… have you ever met anyone like us, in this business, that has ever lived long enough to go through with a plan like that?"

Rio sulks. "What's your point, kid?"

Solo shrugs his shoulders. "It's nothing but a dream, Rio. People like us, you and me, all we can do is exploit the injustices of the galaxy and hope to earn some money while doing it. We either push back or get pushed down in the mud. Living the dream, that's not who we are. We're pirates and smugglers. Cutthroats and privateers. There's only one way our lives will end… at the receiving end of a blaster."

Rio tries to ignore the truth. "That might be you, Solo. But not me… Not me."

XXX XXX

Solo is sitting on his own in the cockpit, feet on a console, watching the hyperspace-tunnel as the Crimson Dawn rushes through hyperspace. Beckett finds him and joins him, sitting down in the co-pilots seat.

"You alright, kid?" Beckett asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No problems."

"You were right, you know" Beckett says. "We should have secured the fuel before we disabled the beacon."

Solo shrugs his shoulders. "You wanted to make sure they couldn't follow us. Had I managed to shut down the beacon right away, the plan would have worked out just fine."

"Look, kid, I'm telling you that you saw a flaw in the plan and you called it out. You got an eye for this line of work. And, as long as you don't do anything foolish, you're gonna be alright. I think you got a future, kid."

"It took you two years to figure that out?" Solo asks with a smirk.

"I'll tell ya a secret" Beckett says, "that day on Mimban when I took you on; I only did it cos I needed some dead weight, someone I could ditch or push into harms way. A decoy, if you will. Someone expendable. And to be perfectly honest… that's why I've kept you on for the past two years."

"Me?" Solo says a bit astonished. "Replaceable? Really?"

Beckett grins and lights up a cigarette. "You should know by now to never trust anyone in this business. The people working for Black Sun, Pyke, the Hutt's, they're dirty bastards the lot of them. All of us. Loyalty doesn't exist in our line of work. Everyone, even friends, are potential enemies."

"So I've noticed" Solo says.

"You, however, are a bit of a special case. I'm talking about Chewie. A Wookie life-debt is exactly what it sounds like; a debt for life. Chewie will never let you down or betray you, never turn on you. That's the one advantage you have over all the rest of us. Someone you can completely trust."

Solo shrugs his shoulders. "I guess the old furball has his moments."

"Listen to an old space-dog, kid; trust no-one, fly at full throttle, and keep that Wookie close. Do that and you're gonna be alright." Beckett gets out of the chair and is about to leave the cockpit. "One last thing… If in doubt, always shoot first." With that, Beckett leaves.

Solo sighs and looks out at hyperspace and takes aim with his hand and fingers to mimic a pistol. "Always" he says and moves his hand like a pistol recoiling.

Luxury Cruiser, The Glorious Jewel:

The Crimson Dawn flies up to the huge and spectacular Mon Calamari vessel, the Glorious Jewel, and docks in a hangar-bay. As the crew leaves the ship, they are greeted by a dozen armed gangsters with a Hutt taking the lead; this is Durga.

"Beckett!" Durga says in Huttese. "Where is the fuel you promised my uncle? You're not telling me you have it all onboard that bucket of rust you call a ship?"

Beckett frowns. "I would have brought him twice the amount of fuel he wanted, had your intel on the refinery been up to date, Durga. Their security was much tighter than you told us. We had to ditch the cargo just to get out of there alive."

Durga frowns as well. "You took the mission, Beckett. You are responsible for bringing my uncle his fuel. You failed, not me. I would like to see you try and blame me for your incompetence. My uncle has little patience for pathetic has-beens."

Beckett is anything but happy. "Enough talk, Durga. Take us to Braga and we'll see what he thinks once I've explained it all to him in person."

Durga and his guards escort the crew of the Crimson Dawn further into the ship. They eventually enter a large room, filled with gangsters, corrupt officials and bureaucrats, smugglers and privateer-captains, but also a handful of Hutt's. Slave-girls are serving drinks and sitting in peoples laps, a live-band is playing music; one musician and one singer, both aliens, performing something very similar to Mongolian throat-singing ( Batzorig Vaanchig, because that just feels like what Hutts could listen to ). Durga escorts the crew of Crimson Dawn across the large room over to the other Hutt's.

The obvious overlord of the ship is a large, old, disgusting, obese Hutt by the name of Braga. "Beckett! There he is, my favorite thief! I trust the Mining Guild is properly in an uproar by now?"

"Not as much as you will be, uncle" Durga snorts. "Beckett had to dump the fuel. He came back empty handed."

All the Hutt's are obviously displeased by the news. Becket and his crew are now on their own in front of the Hutt's, surrounded by guards and spectators.

"What happened?" Braga asks.

"We ran into some trouble" Beckett says. "It happens, Braga. You of all people should know that after three centuries in this business."

"Trouble happens" Braga nods. "But it only happens more than once if you let it. If you let slackers get away with being slackers. Trouble only happens if you allow sloppiness to occur without ramifications. I needed that fuel, Beckett. I needed that fuel to keep my ships going. Without that fuel, how am I to contend with the Pyke Syndicate? How will I compete with Black Sun? How will I appear strong to other Hutt's without that fuel?!"

"I understand your predicament, Braga" Beckett says. "I truly do. I don't know what to say; the mission went smoothly, everything was looking fine… but then the kid couldn't manage to disable the tracking-beacon on the fuel-tank."

Chewbacca growls, furious at the sudden turn of events. Solo simply listens, not happy at all.

Beckett shrugs his shoulders as he continues. "He took forever, couldn't get it done, left our ship hanging out in the open all exposed. And left me on my own surrounded by Guild henchmen. Had the kid only disabled the beacon, like he promised he could do, I would have brought you the fuel, Braga. Hell, I would have brought you twice the amount of fuel you requested."

Braga waves Solo forward and two guards push him up front so ends up next to Beckett. Chewbacca protests but doesn't do anything else.

Braga eyes Solo. "You cost me my fuel, boy? Because of you, twelve of my starships are now without hyperfuel?"

Solo holds up his hands defensively. "I realize how this must look. Yes, I messed up with the beacon, this is true, so sure, you have every right in the universe to accuse me of slowing down your business. However…" Solo then slowly retrieves a data-disc from his jackets inner-pocket, "even if I might have slowed down your operation, it wasn't my fault the mission failed. If I could borrow your R3-unit?"

Everyone looks on with some confusion as Solo slowly moves on over to an R3 astromech-droid and inserts the data-disc and then slowly backs away. A couple of seconds later, the R3-unit activates a hologram in the middle of the room; the hologram depicts a recording of Beckett when he tells the others:

"It was my plan as I recall. And I told Han to disable the beacon before we secured the fuel to the hauler. I think you all remember Han suggesting to secure the fuel first and then he wanted to disable the beacon on the way out? But I said no, because I didn't want a member of my crew climbing on the outside of a cargo-hauler and a damn fuel-tank while trying to escape Mining Guild patrols. So all of you, knock it off. It was my call to take care of the beacon first. I'm responsible for this mission going south."

Solo turns to Braga. "So you see, had Beckett done the smart move and listened to me, you would have had your fuel by now. Unfortunately, Beckett didn't do the smart thing and now you're without fuel for your fleet of privateers. Like the man said himself; it was his fault the mission took a wrong turn."

Beckett shakes his head with a smile. "Nice move, kid."

"Beckett outsmarted by a pup" Braga says. "I never thought I'd see the day when one of Beckett's plans backfired. But here we are, the old hound was finally outfoxed. Not only did your plain fail, Beckett, you lost the fuel and you lied to me, tried to play me for a fool. That is something I can not forgive, and you and your crew must pay."

Rio Durant can't believe what he's hearing. "What? That's not fair! I did my part, god damn it! I hijacked the hauler and I picked up the fuel on schedule! I did what I was supposed to do, damn it!"

Solo cuts in. "He also decided to drop the fuel so he could get away. Didn't even try to save it."

Braga grunts and snaps his fingers. One of the guards draws his blaster and places a shot in Rio's gut. Rio falls over as he's hit and Val runs over to him and kneels next to Rio. They grab each other and Val is in tears as Rio struggles to stay alive. Rio slowly dies in her arms.

Val, in emotional ruin, turns to Solo. "Damn you, Han Solo! Damn you!"

Solo turns to Braga. "The only other guy I would trust on this crew, besides myself, is the wookie."

Braga sneers. "Any last words, Beckett?"

"Yeah" Beckett says. "Go to hell."

Beckett draws his two blaster-pistols and begins to fire all around; the first shot hits a shield that protects Braga, the other bolts kills and wounds guards and Hutt guests. Then, Beckett gets shot and he stops shooting, suffering a deadly wound. Beckett turns and finds Solo aiming his blaster at him, smoke from the barrel; Solo has fired the deadly shot. Beckett smiles at Solo.

"I'm proud of you, kid" Beckett says and then falls to the floor.

Val screams out the pain and agony of seeing her husband die and runs up to him and hugs his body, crying and screaming. Val then looks at Solo and pulls out her blaster, but before she can fire, she gets hit over the face by a Gamorrean wielding a pole-shafted weapon. Val is dragged to her feet, bleeding from her mouth, by two of Braga's guards.

Braga waves her away. "Throw Beckett's mate to the Gundark's; they haven't fed properly in days and are starving. She'll make a fine meal."

All the Hutt's begin to laugh as Val is dragged away, screaming with rage, frustration and desperation. The guards then push Solo and Chewbacca so they are standing in front of Braga.

"So what I am to do with you two?" Braga says. "The rest of Beckett's crew are dead. And you two are equally responsible for not bringing me my fuel. Why should I keep you alive?"

"Because, cousin" another Hutt cuts in, "the boy knew how to get you your fuel, and he knew that Beckett was going to double-cross him. The pup obviously has a natural talent for our business. And you have a ship that needs a crew. Let him fly for you; I'm certain he will prove a profitable resource."

Braga glances at the other Hutt and considers his options before turning his attention back at Solo. "It would appear that Jabba has taken a liking to you, boy. My cousin has always been soft towards proper rogues. What do you say, boy? Can you fly my ship and earn me a profit?"

"Oh, I can fly it alright" Solo says. "And I'll make you more money than you can imagine."

Braga laughs. "I can imagine quite a bit."

Solo grins triumphantly.

A bit later and Solo and Chewbacca are both in the hangar, walking up to the Crimson Dawn. They stop to inspect the ship.

"Well" Solo says. "It's ours. We have our own ship, Chewie." Chewbacca replies. "He was gonna sell us out. It was either him or us; what choice did I have? Don't think about it, Chewie. Right now, we need to show Braga that we can be trusted. We need a crew and we need to bring back a big haul, and we need to show Braga that we're the best in the business."

"Solo!" Solo and Chewbacca turn as Jabba comes sliding up towards them, a few guards in tow. "Don't be in such a hurry, Solo" Jabba says. "There will always be work if you're flying for the Hutt cartels. What you have to do is consider who is the best Hutt to work for. Braga is powerful, but he is growing weaker each year. Already, he has lost much influence over the spice-smuggling from Kessel. I want you to consider working for me; my operation smuggles spice from Tatooine, carbonite from Naboo and weapons from Geonosis. Very lucrative deals. Together, we could take over the Outer Rim."

"Tempting offer, Jabba" Solo says. "But for now, I think I'll just start with keeping Braga on my good side. He just gave me a ship. I don't think he'll be too pleased if the first thing I did was run away with it and join the competition."

Jabba chuckles. "Don't wait too long, Solo. Braga is a dying star, a leaking ship. Remain loyal to him for too long and you'll risk going down with him."

Solo shrugs his shoulders. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good luck, Solo. If you change your mind, you can find me on Tatooine."

Jabba leaves with his henchmen. Solo and Chewbacca are on their own again with the Crimson Dawn.

"Come on, Chewie" Solo says. "Let's go make some money."

They walk onboard the ship.

To be continued…