Han heard the repeated pounding from a distance and tried to ignore it. He drifted back into the comfortable unconsciousness he was enjoying for the moment. But the relentless pounding would not go away, and however hard he tried, sooner or later he knew he would have to acknowledge it. The pounding was the pain in his head and it echoed throughout his entire skull. He suddenly gagged with the nausea resulting from whatever gas agent that had filled his ship. He began to realize from these physical symptoms that, much to his surprise, he was still very much alive. After several moments he slowly tried to open his eyes. The light was bright and overwhelming. His instinct was to shield them but he realized his arms were outstretched and locked in place.
"Cap'n! Cap'n! He's comin' to!" A voice yelled out next to Han. He raised his head slightly to see a blurred dark figure scurrying around him. Han tried to move but found not only his arms locked down but his legs as well.
"Wha- uhh," Han tried to speak but his throat was dry and nothing came out but raspy grunts.
"Water! Water for them both," commanded a voice from far off.
"Aye Sir," the nearby figure responded and cool water flooded into Han's mouth and splattered onto the floor.
"Chewie?" Han spoke out looking around. His vision was getting clearer.
The big wookie was sitting next to Han. His arms were in two thick iron clasps which did not fit over his large wrists, so they were further fastened by large chains and locks. His head was down with many thick chains and rusted locks around his neck. Chewie raised his head slightly towards Han, causing the chains to clink and move.
"Chewie," Han said mournfully. Han turned his attention to those around him and mustered as loud a voice as he could. "What do you people want?"
"Captain Solo!" Said the man who had spoken before from far across the room. Han tried to raise his head and focus but could not see him clearly. He was walking forward.
"How nice that you regained consciousness. We had our doubts. That much toxin has killed men before and we were worried- well some were worried," continued the man as he stepped closer with the thud of his boots echoing in the room, "I wasn't worried in the least. I knew you would pull through, just as you always have." The man came closer now and Han raised his head enough to see his face. He knew the man well.
"Antilles," Han said as he strained to lift his neck and face his former acquaintance.
The man was tall and wide, dressed in loose fitting and finely embroidered thick wraps of dark cloth. Wide leather belts held the wraps together across his waist and chest with large jewel encrusted gold buckles keeping them tight on the large man. He also had a unique hat made of some dark creatures skin that wrapped around his head and came to a point in the front just above his forehead. Long braided locks of dark hair fell from beneath his hat like dead snakes and were tied together behind his head
The man stepped away and Han was able to focus on the room behind him. It was the huge main deck of a luxury cruiser with beautifully crafted walls and ornately marbled floors, but they were cracked in half, the obvious result of a horrific crash which also left the room at a slight tilt The roof of the ship was completely sheered off in most places revealing the glorious site of the green gas giant above in its crescent phase, with floating planetoids drifting as far as Han could see. He wondered how the air was contained and then he remembered the shield they passed through to get into the base. He saw the edges of the shield beyond the roof and realized the vastness of it. Surrounding him on all sides of the room were creatures of differing types, but mostly men, pirates all. They were still arriving to watch the new curiosity, filling up the corners that were lit by some sort of gas fueled torches. The large man continued to speak to Han.
"It is such a pleasure to finally catch up to you again," Antilles said as he leaned towards Han and placed his red gloved hand very close to Han's face. "How long has it been, Captain Solo? Not long enough for you, eh?" he sneered as he poked and pushed along a small scare on the chin of Han, before grabbing his chin and pushing his head back. Han was able to push his chin up and keep his head in the same position.
"I remember that scar. Brings back memories."
"I see you have a new one," Han smiled a bit.
"Oh, you mean this?" Captain Antilles raised his right arm. His hand had been severed, and in its place was the large wide barrel of a gun. It was attached to his forearm. "This turned out to be a blessing, I lost this hand thanks to your beloved Hutts!"
"I have money," Han said coldly as he glanced over to Chewie who had his head down.
"Yes, we found some nicely arranged in your cabin," Antilles said as he waved his arm towards a pile boxes set aside. It was some of the reward Han had been given by the Princess just days before.
"I can get you more, if you let us go," Han said.
"Right, let you go. And you feel you are in a good position to bargain?"
"If you want the rest- twice that much, I can get it. Just let us go," Han continued.
"You mean maybe it's hidden somewhere on your ship? Perhaps in some secret sealed compartment?" Antilles smiled and looked around. There were some laughs as several more men were filling the large room now to watch the exchange between Han and the Captain.
"Mister Conjo?" said Captain Antilles over his shoulder to the rear of the room.
"Aye, Capn'" said the large creature who had found the Falcon adrift in space. He waddled into the room amid some sneers and hisses among the men gathered around. He looked back at them in disgust, but turned back and couldn't help but smile. He was the one who had claim to whatever bounty the good Captain would offer, and he was hoping it was large. Behind him was a long thin pirate with rolled up sleeves attached to a tattered and dirty shirt, revealing tattoos in some obscure language up and down his arms. He was struggling to pull a rusted metal cart loaded with the rest of the reward. One of the boxes was smashed open, with some gold coins sprinkled across the cart.
"Our good Mister Conjo here found this derelict ship and secured its capture, and its booty! He is to be commended for this by the Legion." There were more hisses and even some boos and general disgust among the crowd. Antilles stomped a boot. "Now, now! None of that! He has made up for his shortcomings, and as such, I decree and bestow upon him the return to the rank of Captain, which he will assume immediately as master of this ship, this, eh, Millie- uh, Millennium Falcon, right, that was it, wasn't it." Antilles smiled broadly at Han Solo as he spoke. "We will, of course, have to come up with a new Legion name- perhaps the Scurvy. I think that fits quite nicely." That drew some hearty laughter from some of the pirates. Antilles was waiting for a reaction from Han, but Han had not looked away from the cart of his reward money.
He felt a pit in his stomach that sank when he saw the smashed canister. He really didn't think they would find those compartments. He felt somehow he was going to bring that to Jabba, clear his debts, start fresh. Things were looking dark now. He quickly counted up the total bounty, just out of habit, and came up with an interesting tally.
"You're missing two crates, Antilles. Maybe your people aren't as trustworthy as you think." Han was now much more awake and alert and glaring at his captors.
Captain Antilles paused and looked at his men. He motioned to a few in the back of the room.
"Take another look over that cargo hold. Look for anything else!" he bellowed. Two young men with neatly shaved heads in bizarre designs nodded and quickly made their way out of the room.
"You are one to talk of trust, Solo!" Antilles continued now, talking loudly to the rest of the room. "This man was once a member of The Brotherhood, that was the predecessor to our Legion."
"The Legion?" Han raised his eyebrows.
"It's the Legion Antilles, scum!" yelled a short portly man from the side of the room. He approached Han and went to hit him across the side of his head. Chewbacca yelled fiercely and the small man flew back with just a glancing blow while tripping over his own feet. The rest of the men gathered in the room burst out in rambunctious laughter.
"Legion Antilles?" Han yelled out to the room in a surprisingly commanding voice and instantly they all went quiet. "Did he promise you treasure and bounty and then take all of it? Did he steal everything for himself yet?"
"Stealing! Let's talk of stealing!" the pirate captain boomed back and walked the room. "This man was a brother, yet somehow a ship loaded with trillium, worth more in one shipment than we've ever seen before or since- that ship gets destroyed, with him on board!" Antilles raised his hand up high. "A terrible loss for The Brotherhood. Then, strange enough, the Hutts start selling trillium to the highest bidder-" Antilles pounded his cannon of an arm into a nearby pillar, "-my trillium! And low and behold, we hear the sad tale of a smuggler running weapons for the Hutts who gets boarded by the Imps, smuggling guns across our territory. Now the Hutts put a huge bounty over the head of that most unlucky, poor soul." Antilles stomped his boots and waved his gun arm over Han's head, getting the most theatrics out of his story.
"And who is this wanted man? Why none other than the traitor you see before you. Someone who sold out The Brotherhood to save his own skin!" Antilles walked around and rubbed the top of Han's head furiously pushing it down. "Who's going to save that skin now, eh Solo?" Antilles laughed and the rest of the men followed suit. Han kept his head raised and looked out the large cracked and broken side windows towards the stars beyond, wishing perhaps there might be someone out there who would.