Mos Eisley: The quartet was inside the LAV as it rested next to the Dockside Café as various starships lifted off and landed around them. Through the open doorway, Zoda entered carrying food and drinks on a cardboard serving tray.

"Coffee, oil, water, and bourbon," said Zoda handing Neva the water, Treadwell the oil, himself the coffee, and Kirby the bottle. He then set down the tray in the middle of the table that had doughnuts and other food items on it.

"Drink responsibly Kirby," said Neva Kee mockingly as Kirby picked up the bottle.

"Screw you!" was the puffball's response as he swallowed it whole. He then unwrapped his burger and began eating it thoughtfully as a 3-D holographic image popped up from the table showing the Dune Sea.

"So you do have a budget?" asked Kirby curious.

"We may…or may not have stolen this particular vehicle," Neva confessed.

"Ah," said Kirby knowingly. Several dots appeared where the sensor packages were.

"So what do the readings say?" asked Zoda sipping his coffee.

"Normal," responded the diplomat leaning back in his seat. "But that isn't necessarily a surprise given that things won't get hairy until they get hairy."

"So we're back at square one?" asked Kirby feeling a little deflated. Neva Kee shook his head.

"Nope, because thanks to the sensor packages I was able to get a map of the entire lava flow underneath the planet's surface," began the diplomat as red lines appeared headed downwards while the map expanded to show the entire planet and it's volcanoes and lava tubes.

"Based on this, I have been able to calculate that an explosive device placed here and here," said Neva reaching other with a digital pen and making the appropriate marks on the display. "Would cause all the volcanoes to erupt thereby throwing soot into the atmosphere and covering the planet in lava."

Kirby poked Zoda. "Hey, does that remind you of when I had that 400-alarm chili?"

"Unfortunately, yes," responded the Jedi shuddering at that thought. "Never mention it again."

"To conclude, I know where Kandor is hiding," finished the diplomat shutting down the hologram. That got the two warriors attention.

"Really, how?" asked Kirby surprised.

"Because one of them contacted Kandor during our little melee and Treadwell tracked the signal," answered Neva patting the droid on its neck.

"Don't you mean our little 'brawl'?" chuckled Kirby at an inside joke that no one else got but him.

"So let's go get him!" declared Zoda heading for the cockpit when Neva Kee blocked his path.

"We can't just go get him. If we do that, he'll activate his final plan and we'll be sunk," the diplomat pointed out. "We just have to wait this one out for now."

Zoda sighed and rested his head against the bulkhead. "So what do we do?"

Neva reached underneath the table and withdrew his seven-iron golf club.

"Get our minds off of this matter and on to other things," he responded, retrieving his golf bag and clubs.

"You guys still play that hokey game?" said Kirby disappointed. "For shame."

Neva got up close to the Warp Star Warrior.

"You are only more than welcome to go home," he insisted as Kirby looked away. He was about to respond when the whole LAV shook.

"Hi guys!" said Zobba waving from the entrance. "Guess who is back. …Oh wait, whoops nevermind, should've said that part first."

Kirby's jaw dropped at seeing the massive figure.

"Admiral, there be whales here!" he shouted in disbelief at the creature's girth. Zobba looked at the round one with interest before looking down at his own body and began laughing.

"Ha, ha, you must be Kirby!" he said enthusiastically reaching for and shaking his appendage. "I'm glad to be able to finally meet you, I'm Zobba."

Kirby nodded. "Oh right, the enthusiastic Hutt with the heart of gold. Blech!"

The Hutt turned his attention to the others. "So what's this I heard about Kandor going bonkers?"

Neva looked up surprised. "Does the Chancellor know? Is he going to bail us out?"

Zobba slowly shook his head. "He can't officially do anything because Tatooine isn't a member of the Republic. But, he did send me and he did intimate to me that he would be grateful if Tatooine continued to be the seediest place in the galaxy."

"Well that doesn't help us," said Zoda nonplussed.

"Oh and incidentally Yoda says that if you want to contact him in the next few days it won't be possible because he chose to have the Temple's comm. array serviced based on the Chancellor's conversation with me," the Hutt responded whistling innocently. Zoda's expression brightened considerably at that.

"Excellent," he said with a malicious smile and began rubbing his hands together. Neva Kee for his part had started up the LAV and was now piloting it out of the city.

"I don't get it," confessed Kirby.

"With them not listening, the Jedi Council is effectively giving Zoda a seal of approval to fix this problem by any means necessary," answered the diplomat from up front as the craft now moved across the Dune Sea once more.

"So where we off to?" asked Zobba curious.

"Golfing, what else?" responded Zoda drumming fingers on the table.

Later: Neva Kee and Zoda were sizing up their shots as Zobba lazily tanned himself next to the LAV. The two then blasted their shots off into the distance and then slid their clubs so they now leaned on them, staring off unto the horizon.

"We don't stand a chance do we?" asked Zoda. Kirby was working on some strange mechanical device with Treadwell.

"No we don't," Neva admitted. "But we'll have to figure out something. It's not like an answer is just going to present itself."

WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSHH

Sand blew everywhere and pelted the group as the wind picked up with the resulting roar. The quintet bolted back into the LAV. Looking out through the open entryway as custom Ubrikkan Minstrel-Class Star Yacht hovered overhead.

"Oh crap," Zoda was forced to admit. "What now?"

A tractor beam latched onto the vehicle and began pulling it upwards into the massive ship before it fired up its engines and vanished into the distance.

Unknown location: Kandor watched with interest at this development. He wasn't sure what Jabba wanted with the group now.

Star Jewel: Neva Kee, Zoda, Treadwell, Kirby, and Zobba were led into the dais chambers of Jabba the Hutt who sat there lazily fanning himself with the ever faithful Salacious Crumb at his side. Around the room was Jabba's seedy entourage of criminals, cowards, dancers, and bounty hunters. As soon the quintet entered, this group reared back in fear at seeing them, shackled though they were, and either backed up to the far walls or fled the room.

"Oh," said Jabba in Huttese at the new arrivals in that ever booming voice of his. "What have we here, the pathetic A-Team?"

"With five of us and none female?" declared Zoda amused in his pleather vest that hung over his robes. "We're The Warriors from Coney Island."

"So what do you want Cyrus?" asked Kirby, also in a vest with the words: 'The Warriors' scrawled on the back. He clearly had no idea who this 'Jabba' was nor his name so he just chose a name he knew.

"I demand that you fix this!" shouted Jabba as he pressed a button next to him and the 3-D model from earlier appear showing the volcanoes.

"Fix what?" asked Zobba innocently. Jabba glared daggers at his fellow Hutt before turning his attention to the diplomat who just stared back at him passively through his sunglasses.

"Diplomat Kee?" the Hutt nearly begged. The diplomat tilted his head up to look at the gangster.

"Who's diplomat Kee, I'm Cleon," he responded before briefly chuckling. "But in all seriousness, we'll fix it as soon as we're able to. I give you my word. We just cannot fix this at this particular point in time."

"And why not?" demanded the Hutt. Few ever contradicted him in his own court, but these nuisances being who they were and the situation being what it was, he ultimately had no choice but to tolerate their intolerance.

"Resources for one," admitted the diplomat. "We're only five individuals and while one can change the world, five only makes a conspiracy that is doomed to failure."

"Six," responded the Hutt curtly. The others looked at him confused. "You have me now and all of my resources."

The court erupted over that as the quintet stared at Jabba in shock.

"I uh-um-bwuh," began Neva Kee at a genuine loss for words as he considered this development. "Are you sure about this? Wouldn't you want the insurance money for your barge like earlier only now with your palace in the mix?"

The Hutt leaned forward. "I don't have a choice anymore. The palace and the barge, fine, but with Tatooine no chance. Not while I'm still around."

"Okay then," said Neva before turning to the others. "Group huddle."

The quintet grouped closed and were arguing about what to do as the Star Jewel passed over one of the volcanoes that dotted the landscape.

Elsewhere: Kandor watched on his computer screen the proximity of the vehicle with the mountain.

"Sorry Jabba, no choice," he said to the screen as he raised his drink and hit a button on his control panel.

Dune Sea: The volcano erupted, briefly spewing hot magma into air and directly into the underbelly of the Star Jewel as it rocked heavily. Then the burning craft soared by in a trail of fire and smoke before plowing into the sand. From the front, a hatch opened disgorging the occupants of the vessel.

"That's it!" declared Jabba as the others reluctantly nodded. "THIS MEANS WAR!!"

The volcano spewed fire in the background.

A/N: Short but it sets up the major points for the upcoming chapters. The end is near.