Through the main viewport of the Millenium Falcon the planet of Tatooine slowly spun on its axis as the Corellian-constructed ship exited hyperspace. Han Solo looked at the desert planet as the Falcon's sublight engines pushed the craft towards it.
"Never thought I'd be back on this planet so soon," the smuggler/rebel remarked to Chewbacca.
You had to pay off that debt sometime, Chewbacca answered, and taking Obi-Wan and his students there to pick up some Jedi supplies was a perfect opportunity.
"You're right about that," Han replied, "hopefully Jabba hasn't already placed that huge bounty on my head."
Our heads, you mean, Chewbacca replied as he began to prepare the ship for atmospheric flight.
"Bounty? What bounty?" Luke Skywalker replied as he entered the cockpit of the vessel.
"A little while before we took you and Kenobi to what was left of Alderaan, me and Chewie were running spice for Jabba the Hutt," Han began his tale. "We had picked up some children from the slave world of Ylesia after the Rebellion had liberated it, and we were about to drop them off at a nice Corellian orphanage. It was on the way there that Jabba sent on a little errand to pick up a load of spice from Kessel; being a little strapped for credits, we took the spice run."
"With children aboard the vessel?" Luke questioned.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Han replied. "Them being aboard the ship certainly saved my hide when the Imperials caught us. We managed to jettison the cargo of spice into the asteroids near The Maw before the Imperials could catch us, but when we went to retrieve it, it was gone. I still swear that it was a setup," Han exclaimed.
"And now you have to pay Jabba the money that the spice would have cost?" Luke asked, putting the knowledge of the situation together with information gathered from an organized holodrama he had once seen.
"And a percentage," Han answered. "He's already sent a bounty hunter after me, a relatively inexperienced one, as a warning."
Chewbacca roared something that Luke couldn't translate. "Better go back and tell the others to get into their crash webbing," Han translated. "We're going to be entering the atmosphere within the next two minutes. Wait a second," Han said as Luke began to walk out of the cockpit. "So your Leia's brother," he remarked. "Do you think maybe her and me…"
"As her brother, I would strongly advise against it," Luke said before walking out.
"What do you know?" Han casually asked as he turned his attention back to the ship. "The guy's her brother and he's still in the way." Chewbacca laughed at his friend's misfortune as the Millennium Falcon began to enter the outer edges of Tatooine's atmosphere.
Luke Skywalker hadn't thought about Tatooine ever since he had first set foot aboard the Millennium Falcon, and now he was back on his home planet. The heat radiating off of the desert sand was absorbed by the boots that he wore, and the twin suns beat down upon him. Luke gazed at the outdoor merchants that frequented the areas near the docking bays as they peddled their wares to whoever was interested.
"I guess it's time we went our separate ways for a while," Han Solo said as he and Chewbacca entered one of the two rented landspeeders. "Me and Chewie are going to pay back Jabba what I owe him. If I haven't contacted you in an hour, you know what to do. Follow the transmitter we have planted in Chewie's bandoleer."
"Are you sure you don't want any backup?" Obi-Wan asked him. "Hutts do have a reputation, you know."
"We'll be fine," Han said. "You four watch yourselves, however. You've been getting a lot of attention from that blonde woman over there," Han warned the Jedi, motioning toward the potential threat with a subtle movement of his head. "Don't look now," he cautioned as Luke began to turn around. "Sure you don't need my help with that?"
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and searched the immediate area with the Force, and found the Dark Side within their pursuer. "We can handle this on our own, and on our own terms," he said.
"Whatever you say," Han Solo remarked as he drove off towards Jabba's palace.
I have a bad feeling about that, Chewbacca growled as the landspeeder exited Mos Eisley. You think that woman was with the Empire?
"I don't know, Chewie," Han honestly answered. "I think I remember seeing her around docking bay 94 before we left Tatooine, so it's possible. "Do you think we should turn back and give them a hand?" Han asked.
It's up to you, we're not halfway to Jabba's palace yet, Chewbacca replied, I would personally suggest going back.
"I think you're right," Han said as he quickly turned the landspeeder around, the noise of the crates of credits colliding filling the air. "Do you have any idea about where they are?"
Obi-Wan said something about the Dune Sea, and that it was several kilometers north of Anchorhead, and several south of Mos Espa.
"Anchorhead, huh? That's relatively near us, isn't it? Do you have your comlink?"
Got it, Chewbacca said as he removed a comlink from his bandoleer before handing it to Han.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is Han Solo. I repeat: this is Han Solo."
"We're kind of busy right now," Obi-Wan replied, the sound of blaster fire being caught by the other comlink.
"We're on our way," Han Solo quickly said. "Where are you?"
"Somewhere in Mos Eisley," Obi-Wan answered, "that woman must have called in the local garrison not long after you departed."
"So look for the blaster fire," Han said as the landspeeder reentered Mos Eisley.
"I can't believe it," Han Solo said as he and Chewbacca hid behind a crate near the battlefield. "Four Jedi and a group of smugglers against an Imperial platoon."
The scene in front of them was nearly pure chaos as Stormtroopers hid behind cover while trying their best to kill their opponents. The four Jedi were hunkered down near a grouping of durasteel crates, while the group of smugglers that had had enough of the Imperial presence on the planet were taking their shots at the Stormtroopers from behind doors and other building parts.
"Time to make ourselves known?" Han Solo asked as he checked his DL-44 blaster pistol.
Chewbacca aimed his bowcaster towards the nearest Stormtrooper before grunting an affirmative.
"Move out to a new location as soon as we fire," Han said before giving the order to fire. His first shot slammed into the spine of a Stormtrooper, sending the dying soldier into convulsions as he fell to the ground. Chewbacca fired his bowcaster less than a second later, the green-colored quarrel hitting an Imperial trooper of its own.
Attacked on two fronts, the Stormtroopers nearest to their two dead comrades turned to face the new assailants. Aiming towards the fleeing Han Solo and Chewbacca, the Stormtroopers opened fire, causing the red blaster fire to hit a nearby wall and send adobe flying through the air.
As the blaster fire began to concentrate on him, Han Solo ducked into a door for cover, relishing the protection that it offered from the enemy. He quickly risked a glance to search for Chewie, and found the Wookiee almost comically hiding behind an extremely small crate. Han aimed towards a Stormtrooper facing his area of the battlefield and squeezed the trigger, only for the shot to go wide.
"Captain Solo," Han heard Keyan say over the comlink over the din of blaster fire, "is that you past the platoon?"
Han pulled the comlink off of his belt as he ducked back into his cover, his blaster pistol ready to shoot whomever came near him. "Yeah, it's me and Chewie. I think we have a couple of smugglers headed our way to. Can you imagine this?"
"Check the friendly fire," Keyan replied. "I think that last shot you took almost hit Master Kenobi in the chest. You're lucky he was able to deflect it back into a Stormtrooper."
"Tell him I'm sorry about that," Han apologized as he took another shot at a Stormtrooper, leaving another white-armored body on the desert floor. Out of the 32 Stormtroopers that had begun the conflict with the four Jedi, only 20 of them had remained.
"I think you should do that yourself," Keyan replied as the Jedi-in-training telekinetically sent a box of discarded landspeeder parts into the head of a Stormtrooper, knocking the Imperial soldier unconscious.
Han looked from his cover, slightly blinking as the red streaks of blaster fire rushed towards the wall. Through the thinning ranks of the Imperial platoon he could see the Jedi defensive position; the blue-colored lightsaber blades of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker peeking out from the hiding place and deflecting the enemy fire, and the sustained blaster fire from Kyle Katarn and Keyan Farlander rushing towards the enemy lines. Soon, the Imperial ranks had fallen to 15, thanks to some well placed shots by Chewbacca and what appeared to be a Chadra-Fan mercenary. The one-meter tall rodent-like sentient aimed its gun towards another Stormtrooper, and easily took his or her target down.
Han squeezed off another shot at a Stormtrooper, only for a green bolt of energy to slam into the chest of the enemy as Han's shot hit home. Han looked up at Chewbacca before quickly returning to the safety of his cover, and saw the Wookiee equivalent of a grin plastered on his friend's face. We both hit him at the same time, Han thought. "What are the odds of that?" I bet that annoying protocol droid of Leia's knows, he added.
Five minutes later, it was all over. The combined forces of the Rebel Alliance/Jedi and a handful of local smugglers had killed or knocked out all but seven of the Imperial troops, who had promptly surrendered. Keyan and several of the less reputable combatants were busying themselves in securing the surrendering Stormtroopers, while the other members of the temporary alliance were standing on guard, looking for more Stormtroopers that were bound to arrive as well as the blonde-haired woman that had started it all.
"Where is she?" Han Solo asked as he surveyed the carnage.
"No idea," Luke said as he began to liberate the fallen Stormtroopers of their unused energy cells. "She vanished as soon as the firefight started."
"I have feeling we might see her again," Kyle added as he replaced the dead energy cell in his blaster pistol with a fresh one.
"We should get out of here," Obi-Wan quickly said as he walked towards the assembled group. "The Empire is going to be here any minute, and with many more troops."
"That's not a bad idea," Hand replied as he accepted a new energy cell from Keyan, who was busy passing them out. "Chewie, we need to get out of here!"
Jabba's palace rose out of the desert sands, the metal and stone structure contrasting against the blue of Tatooine's sky. "Let's get to business," Han Solo said as he stepped out of the landspeeder and began to walk up to the main entrance. Out of a hole in the door came a simple looking spherical droid. The external covering of the droid slid away, revealing an eye-like device in the middle.
What is your business here? the gatekeeper droid asked in Huttese.
"I'm Han Solo, and I'm here to repay Jabba that debt I owe him," Han replied to the droid in Basic.
The droid paused for a second, seemingly considering what the smuggler had to say as well as asking the security to permit entrance to the visitor. Another second later, the droid closed its "eye" and went back into its resting-place. With a rumble, the giant door began to slide upwards into the building, revealing the dark insides of the palace.
Han Solo and Chewbacca stepped into the entrance on the palace, and were quickly flanked by two Gamorrean guards. The two porcine guards, the two tusks that jutted out of their mouth bared in an effort to further intimidate the two guests, carried their vibroaxes near to their chest, blocking Han and Chewie's path.
This could either turn really good, or very, very bad, Han thought as the staredown continued. "Why don't you put those things down and let me conduct my business with Jabba?" he stated.
A search of the crates in your landspeeder is needed first, an almost courtly voice stated in Huttese from down the hall. From out of the shadows stepped a pale humanoid with two headtails ornately wrapped around his neck.
"What's the matter, Bib?" Han asked. "Jabba can't trust me anymore?"
With the activity that occurred a small while ago, he has reason to be suspect of anyone entering his abode. Not to mention the new friends you've been hanging around with, Jabba's Twi'lek majordomo, Bib Fortuna, replied.
"The Rebellion, you mean?" Han asked. "I really don't think that that's any of yours or Jabba's business."
Jabba would more than likely think differently, Bib Fortuna replied. I will notify his Excellency of your arrival, however, the Twi'lek said as he turned to walk towards the court room.
A band comprised of solely non-humans was playing a bluesy tune as Han Solo and Chewbacca were led into the room where Jabba was holding court. There were several other sentient beings in the room, an eclectic mixture of both aliens and humans that comprised of almost every region of the galaxy. Jabba, the head of the Desilijic Kajidic, lounged on top of a large repulsorsled, enjoying the music being played by the band as well as the sights of the many dancers/slaves that pranced around the floor. The group of guards that had initially stopped Han and Chewbacca now followed behind them, pushing a hovering cart that carried the crates. The music ended soon afterward, replaced by the continued conversation of the other beings in the room. Jabba's voice quickly quieted them down.
Han, my boy, Jabba spoke, his voice boomed throughout the chamber, sending the Huttese words echoing, it's good to see you again!
Only because I'm paying you thousands of credits, I bet, Han thought.
I'm glad to see that you have finally decided to repay me for that cargo that you lost, Jabba continued.
"What can I say, Jabba, I finally got around to it," Han joked, waiting for the inevitable order that would attempt to end his life.
The corpulent Hutt laughed at the joke one of his best smugglers had made. After several months. I was worried that I was going to have to pay Boba to bring you in, Jabba said as he pointed to the Mandalorian armor-clad bounty hunter that was standing against a wall.
"I got a little sidetracked, but it's all there, even the 20 penalty that you originally wanted me to pay," Han replied, causing a look of surprise to cross over the Hutt's face.
I assume that you mean your association with the Rebellion, when you mentioned being sidetracked, Jabba replied after he downed an amphibious creature from the bowl near his sled. I've heard that you've become quite the hero, even more so than after Nar Shaddaa, he said, referring to a four-year old battle that pitted a group of smugglers against the Empire. It was a battle that the smugglers had won; a battle that had made the Empire think twice about using force against the Hutts.
"Yeah, the Rebellion," Han answered. "Bunch of stuck-up rich kids trying to play revolutionary with daddy's money," he lied. "At least they pay good."
So I can see, Jabba said as he greedily eyed the crates filled with credits. I should make sure you are in debt to me more often.
I bet you would you bloated… Han continued to think as Jabba continued to eye his prize. "Well, if that's all you need, I'll be going," he said. "Let's go, Chewie."
"I can't believe that the fat slug actually let us go," Han Solo exclaimed as Jabba's palace disappeared in the distance. "For a second there, you know: when he brought Fett out, I thought we were dead meat. I wonder why he did keep us a live, and I doubt it's out of the goodness of his own heart."
Have you checked the landspeeder for any tracking devices? Chewbacca asked.
"Yeah, I did," Han replied as he pulled a small device from his pocket. "Found this near one of the repulsors. Don't know what to do with it, though. We obviously can't take it with us to Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut."
Give it to me, Chewbacca said as he held out his hand. I have an idea. Chewbacca accepted the small tracking device and began holding it in his hand. Getting a good grip on the object, he took aim at a large sand dune and let the tracking device fly. The Wookiee watched as the tracking device sailed through the air and land near the top of the dune.
"Nice work, Chewie," Han said. "Too bad we're not going to be around to see the looks on their faces when they come looking for four Jedi and us and find only an empty sand dune. It was a waste of good credits, though," Han lamented about the several thousands of credits that he had given to Jabba the Hutt. "If I had known what he was planning, I wouldn't have paid him at all."
You know the saying about hindsight, Chewie replied. You're trusting of people, it's a good trait to have.
"Not for a smuggler," Han Solo remarked.
Something tells your career as a smuggler is essentially over; at least it is for the Hutts.
"You think?" Han sarcastically replied. "I'm going to be lucky if I leave this planet with my head intact. Jabba's probably halfway to Mos Eisley to bribe some people into telling him where the Falcon's docked. By the time we get what Kenobi's come to this planet for, Jabba's going to have his toughest goons just waiting for us. Not to mention what the Empire is probably going to do…"
You worry too much, Chewbacca simply stated.
"Who said anything about being worried?" Han said. "Bunch of bounty hunters and Imperial scumbags gunning for us, the odds being firmly out of our favor, and the best chance for victory rests upon good luck and/or a lot of skill. Sounds like the good ol' days. This is going to be fun!"