This time Han Solo could not sleep. He and Chewbacca had been moved from their torturous positions in the middle of the large hall to a small empty side cell. It seemed there was a discussion on what to do with Han and Chewie, and the pirates didn't want the two in the room at the time. The two were still in chains, linked together. They were sitting in the corner of the room when a series of loud clinks unlocked the main door. A woman with a tray squeezed past a large pirate who was guarding the door. She had blond hair that was tucked beneath a hood that covered most of her face. She had a severe limp which she managed slowly. She placed the small tray in front of Han and Chewie very carefully so as not to spill the small cups of water. Between the cups was a bowl of yellow mush.
"Compliments of the Captain," the woman spoke while looking down to the floor. She rose up to leave. Han grabbed her slender wrist.
"Wait-" Han said. The guard took a step into the room and Han let her wrist go.
"Can you just tell us what's going on out there?" Han continued, referring to the occasional raised voices and arguments he could hear.
"Captain Antilles is a good man, a righteous man. That is why you might be tried, and they are discussing this," the woman responded in a firm tone.
"Right- sure." Han pushed the tray back a bit.
"The Captain has given you food because he is a gracious leader. He said it will be your last meal, so you should think about eating it. Good day." The woman stood up and walked out with the guard slamming the door shut behind her.
"You believe that joker," Han said to Chewie. "You don't know him. Believe me, Chewie, he's a real prince. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a plan to sell me to Jabba himself, and pocket the bounty. That's the only reason we are still alive." Han stood up, still chained to Chewie. "I don't know how we are going to get out of this one, buddy," Han said softly.
Chewie grunted slightly as he was eating from the bowl of mush. After a few mouthfuls he turned to Han and let out a long inquisitive grunt.
"No- go ahead. I'm not hungry," Han said as he sat down again and kicked one foot out and rested his arm on his other knee. Chewie let out a gratifying grunt and instantly swallowed the remaining contents of the bowl.
The locks on the door clinked again and the door slid open. In came three large pirates.
"Up on your feet, dogs!" said the closest one. "It's judgment time. Let's go!" He motioned a long sword out to Han and Chewie. The two slowly got up and walked, dragging their thick chains along the floor. One of the rear guards tried to push Chewbacca along, but Chewie quickly turned and growled the man back a few steps.
They entered the hall again and the room was now completely full of pirates. The edges of the demolished open roof were lined with them. Cheers went up as Han and Chewie were escorted to the center of the room. Han noticed some pirates were even floating out beyond the broken roof above to get a better view, hanging beyond the gravity field by ropes and cables.
They were told to face forward. At the head of the room was a newly placed large wooden desk, ornately carved with thick engraved images of ancient starship battles. Behind it, with his large boots on the desk, was sitting Captain Antilles. He was surrounded by petite women wrapped in loose cloths who were bringing him food and drink. The thin pirate who had carted in Han's money sat next to Antilles with a large scroll and a small piece of charcoal. He was busily scratching down notes of the events. When Han saw this he mused to himself how much of a show this really was.
"Now then", Antilles stood up and bellowed out to the crowd. "Order! Order I say!" He paused to wait for the cheering to stop, which abruptly it did. "Here we have one Han Solo, and his first mate, the wookie Choo-Buh-kay" the Captain struggled to read a small ripped sheet from an old ship log of the Falcon.
"It's Chew-bac-ca." Han said slowly, emphasizing the pronunciation.
Antilles banged the desk with his gun arm. "The prisoners cannot speak!" Antilles yelled and motioned with his gun hand to one of the guards next to Han who promptly pounded the handle of his long sword into Han's side, causing him to double over.
"Just get on with it already, Antilles," Han said while letting out a slow groan.
"Quite right, very well then," the captain stood up and walked around to the front of the desk to stand next to Han and Chewie. "The two before us are charged with the most egregious crime any of us can commit, namely- stealing from his brothers!" Huge roars erupted from the unruly group. "And, this one here," Antilles pointed his large barreled gun arm right at Han's face. "He was a brother! Believe it or not- this miscreant was a pirate, and a good one. But somehow he managed to stray and betray us- to betray you, to our enemy- the Hutts!" Antilles yelled out the last word and the crowd erupted into a frenzy.
"Kill 'em!"
"Hang that scurvy scum from the highest yard arm!"
"Quarter him! Pull him to pieces!"
The captain stopped suddenly and looked over towards the man who made that last remark.
"Quarter him- Aye, we haven't seen that in ages!" Antilles beamed. "Now that is proper judgment!" The men in the crowd roared with approval.
Han looked around trying to see who came up with that wonderful suggestion with no luck. Then he turned toward Antilles. "You're quite the showman, Antilles. How about we move this along?"
Antilles grinned and continued to speak to the crowd. "Then let's have it. In keeping with our usual efforts towards accord and legality, we will have a vote. All those in favor- say aye!"
"Aye!" was the huge response among most of the hall.
"Those opposed?" Antilles responded.
"Wait-" one man yelled out.
"The ayes have it!" Antilles boomed out as he slammed his gun barrel arm down onto the huge wooden desk and sat down.
"The man has a right to speak to his ways!" A man walked up and stood by the side of the desk. It was the man with the flight cap and cigar Han had recognized on the way in. Other than Antilles, he was the only one he had seen here that was around during his short stint with The Brotherhood. He didn't know him all that well, in fact he couldn't even remember his name.
"Now Mister Grillo! You have no right!" the Captain yelled out emphatically, and was visibly upset. "Are you opposed?"
"No- I-" the tall man had his flight cap removed to reveal large tentacle tattoos encircling his head and ending at the rear in a giant squid. He grabbed the half smoked cigar out of his mouth and jabbed the back end into the air as he spoke to emphasize his points. "I knew this man. He was a pirate- a damn good pirate at that." The man looked at Han briefly and then the rest of the room. "I'm sure he had his reasons. Whatever they were, I for one would like to hear 'em!"
"Here, here!" A few yells went out in agreement from some in the crowd.
Antilles banged his gun arm down again. "There was a vote! A vote is final! That is that!" A chorus of cheers went up from the rest of the gathered brigands.
Grillo turned toward the crowd and with a grimace, threw his cigar towards the rear of the room. Then he shook his head and walked back to the side.
"Han Solo, and first mate- Chew-bah-kay, accomplice after the fact, I sentence both of you to be drawn amid ships and quartered and left for dead. Your remains are to be affixed to the side of a planetoid in the vacuum of space for display, lest anyone else have the same notions of betrayal to this Legion. This sentence is final, under law, and to be carried out forthwith!"
Antilles banged his gun arm down three times.
"This high court is adjourned!" Antilles said as he sat back down and plodded his boots back up onto the large desk. "Mister Crebbs!" Antilles yelled out.
The skinny pirate with the rolled up sleeves and long tattoos stepped forward.
"Aye Cap'n" he groaned behind some scraggy protruding teeth.
"Secure four volunteers from the gathered host to have the honor of pulling our dear guests to pieces." The captain motioned his gloved hand nonchalantly to the crowd.
Crebbs turned towards them with a slightly dumbfounded look as dozens of pirates stepped up to volunteer their own ship for the job. Han turned towards Chewie and tugged at his chains a bit. He was trying to think of a way out of this when he noticed there was a very short fat man dressed in colorful pieces of robes and layers of spectacles across the top of his head running down one of the side hallways. He burst into the hall and ran directly to the captain's desk.
"Capn', Capn'- sir, we've got a breach, sir." the man said half out of breath.
"Simmons, what are you blabbering on about?" Antilles retorted.
"There was a fight, on the far side. Our ships detected a vessel. When they engaged- it was some sort of huge droid- a monster of a thing with a huge red eye and long tentacles. They reported that it fought back and then self destructed- but not before it transmitted something."
"Probe droid. Transmitted what exactly?" Antilles' face turned to a scowl.
"Well, sir, they don't know. The pieces they intercepted, said somethin' bout 'need of assistance' or some such thing," the man said. Then he leaned towards Antilles and kept his voice very low, causing Antilles to wince at his fetid breath as it drifted over him. "And the data they pieced together, it looked a bit like, well a bit Imperial in nature, sir, if you get what I'm meanin', Capn?" His eyes shot around behind the bulging glass of his large glasses as he made sure there were no pirates within ear shot and continued, "Sir, it was well within scanning range of us- of us here, sir," the man raised his eyebrows and backed up a bit. "Like, here, sir!" he whispered breathlessly.
"What are you saying? That the Empire has a fix on this base!" the captain yelled out causing a quick stir among the crowd. "And what makes you think they would even care, even if they scanned us? What theories do those miscreants on watch have to say on that?" Antilles exclaimed and silence gripped the room.
The little man took a couple of steps back, nervously looked around the room, and simply shook his head back at the captain, Antilles stood up and paced for a moment, then turned and leaned with his gun arm on the large desk. He peered over at Han and Chewie. Han was looking at the floor, trying to conceal a slight smile that started to show in the corners of his mouth.
"Solo?" Antilles approached him. "What sort of trouble were you in out there?"
"More than you," Han responded.
"Hah!" the captain leaned back and ran the edge of his gun arm along the brim of his hat, pushed it up slightly and took a long look at Han. "You've got the luck of a two-headed gwanamonster, you know that?"
"You call this lucky?" Han answered holding up his chained hands.
"Get these two back inside, and lock 'em up good. We might need 'em for bait later." Antilles slammed his gun arm again and started to bark out orders.
"Get extra detail on our perimeter. I want the ships of the line spread out so thick that nobody can cross. No lousy Imps are gettin' near this base- ya hear me!" he yelled sternly to his men. Some began to run out of the room. "Dust off the siege plans and get 'em over here- and bring me a friggin' drink!"
"Sir, we have also lost contact- lost communications that is- with outpost Gabriel- sir, on the lower elliptical. I meant to tell you that earlier, sir," the thin pirate, Crebbs, came forward and stammered badly to get this bit of news to Antilles.
"Oh- is that all? So we are blind on the downward approach?" Antilles stepped towards the man. "The same route that they took in Solo, here? Do you like that coincidence? Eh? He shows up and the Empire starts probing about- and we just happen to lose an outpost!" Antilles grabbed the thin man and threw him back into a wall.
"Get one of your pod runts sleeping on watch and get over there to see whats going on!" He yelled to another pirate who seemed to be a decorated officer, who then reluctantly nodded and walked away.
"Solo!" Antilles yelled as Han was being led back to his cell. Han did not turn his head. "I want answers Solo! As soon as I am done here, I'm going to get 'em!"
"Is that before or after you pull me to pieces?" Han yelled out as he was still walking away from Antilles. The captain stared and shook his head as the guards continued to take Han and Chewie out of the room.