This chapter introduces a new main character of my own creation named Rydam Tevine. I really like this character and I hope you do too after you start to learn more about his past. Again I really appreciate reviews!

Rydam Tevine lit another death stick and walked farther down the alley. His contact had better be here. He was sick of all these games. Third supposed meeting this week. If only his smuggling career was enough to pay his bills, he wouldn't be here at all.

He reached the end of the alley where he was supposed to wait behind an old cantina. He was looking through the cantina's dirty back window when he felt something pull his leg.

"You give credit sir?" begged a dirty old woman at his feet, "You give credit?"

"Get away, you filthy beggar!" spat Rydam as he kicked her away. These streets are getting dirtier and dirtier by the day. What was happening to Nar Shaddaa? He crossed the alley to the other side where he waited for his contact. He waited for what seemed like an eternity. I'll give them ten more minutes, he thought. Hell, I should just leave now. I don't need this. But if it pays off... Just then, a hooded man approached him from behind.

"Tevine?" Rydam whispered. The figure nodded. "Alright then, well, out with it what do you need?"

"I need your... unique... skill set. I believe that you will be able to help my boss get rid of something... irritating." The man's voice was deep and commanding. He seemed very sure of himself. There was an accent that he couldn't quite place, but he knew wasn't from around here.

Rydam flicked the burnt end of his death stick and stepped on it. "What's the cargo?" he inquired.

The man laughed, "Not a smuggling run."

Rydam was confused. "What then?"

"Assassination."

He swallowed, "That's not really my line of work,"

"Are you sure about that, Mr. Tevine? Because I have plenty of reports that say otherwise."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Great job Rydam. Now what have you gotten into?

"I think you know perfectly well what I'm referring to, Mr. Tevine." He pulled out a datapad. "Sullust, Correllia, Bothawui. My, my, you do get around, don't you? Oh, here, this is interesting. This says that you blasted through an entire civilian village while attempting to attack an Imperial base on Kuat. Two hundred casualties, one hundred forty-three women and children. All led by one man named Adan Ledder, who was supposedly deceased one year ago in a terrible starfighter accident. Now tell me, Mr. Tevine, don't you think that's just terrible?"

"How did you find out?" Rydam whispered.

"Let's just say I have my resources. I'll bet the Empire would be very pleased to hear that you are still alive, hm?"

"Yeah, I bet."

"How about this: you hold up your end of the deal, and my boss makes sure the Empire doesn't get this information?"

Rydam knew there was no way out of this mess. Once you got the attention of someone important, they never left you alone. The only way out is to become someone else, so that's what he did. Not this time though.

Rydam sighed, "Who's the target?"

Rydam could sense the man's smirk beneath his hood. Something that he knew couldn't hold anything good.

Leia sat around the conference table wishing she could've been anywhere else. Mon Mothma was sitting directly across from her, Admiral Ackbar to Leia's direct left. Between them was Bothan senator Borsk Fey'lya. On Mon Mothma's left was General Rieekan and next to him was Han.

As soon as she had contacted Mon Mothma she had explained that she hadn't found anything out about the Hutt Space deal, but she intentionally left out the mysterious ship records. She had told Leia that was actually why she had contacted her. She didn't seem even the slightest upset that she hadn't found anything. It was almost like some kind of test. They were supposed to be equals, more or less. She didn't need this kind of "mentorship". She realized during her silent fuming that Mon Mothma was treating her like a replacement of her father. That she saw her as an inexperienced kid. Leia hadn't felt like a kid since she was twelve. She wasn't trying to be her father. She didn't want to be her father. She just wanted... hell, she didn't even know what she wanted anymore. She always seemed to be putting every possible thing she could in front of herself.

She glanced over at Han. He was leaning on one arm of his chair trying his best to look unprofessional. He had some kind natural repellant against people of authority. Something that had irritated her from the moment she first met him. She wondered if she could go back to earlier that day, if she would've done something different. Probably not, she thought, I'll probably never be able to.

"What do you think Leia?" Rieekan asked her.

It took her a second to realize that she hadn't been paying attention, realize that everyone was staring at her, and rack her brain for the parts of the conversation she had actually heard. "Well I agree that there are reasons why we decided not to talk to the Hutts about some kind of treaty. I'm not sure if the Empire hasn't come to the same conclusion or if they're just desperate, but I think that we need to make sure that no deal is made between them."

"I think we need to actually find out what's going on before we can make a decision," Fey'lya added. His accented Basic made it hard to differentiate tones in his voice, but his mane ruffled in a way that could be interpreted as annoyance.

Mon Mothma took control of the situation before Fey'lya could get into one of his trademark arguments contradicting everything that Leia said. "General Solo, I think you have more knowledge about the Hutts than the rest of us. What is your opinion?"

"Well, the Hutts don't really make deals, more like demands," he glanced over at Leia, "They won't make any kind of deal unless every part of it benefits them. So," he said looking back at Mon Mothma, "the Empire would have to be hopelessly desperate to even think about dealing with them. Which means that there's gotta be some kind of conflict going on between them, or they wouldn't have a reason to send Star Destroyers to a part of the galaxy that they've never had a reason to be in. There are, though, reasons to be there other than to meet with the Hutts. There's smugglers everywhere, especially on Nar Shaddaa. It's also a pretty out of the way place for some kind of internal meeting."

"They could just be trying to lead us on," Leia mentioned, staring at Han, "Maybe they don't mean anything at all, and we're getting all worked up over nothing."

"They've got to have some kind of motive," he shot back, "They would never waste lowering their minimal defenses for something that wasn't important."

"A successful ruse has to be believable, Han," she pointed out.

"I think you're just being paranoid, and there is actually some kind of purpose behind this-"

"I think you should-"

Rieekan cleared his throat, reminding them of their setting. Leia made a silent vow to finish their conversation later. "Well, I think we've all come to the agreement that this situation is worth investigating?" he asked. Everyone voiced their agreement. "Good, Dismissed."

Han stood up immediately and left without a second glance. Leia hurried after him, dodging everyone's attempted small talk. "Han!" she called.

He stopped and sarcastically asked, "Yes, Your Worship?"

Leia fought off a sense of Déjà vu as she demanded, "What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"You know what!"

"Look, Princess," he snapped, "I was talking about the issue with the Empire. I don't know what you got from that, but it didn't mean anything."

"Obviously it did, or you wouldn't be avoiding me right now,"

"Who said I was avoiding you? You need a serious reality check Princess."

"Stop that. You never call me that unless you're upset." He started to walk away again, but Leia placed a hand on his shoulder. "Han," she said, a nicer tone returning to her voice, "please. I'm sorry. I just- I guess I'm just scared."

He took her hand. "You don't have to be. I promise I will never hurt you." There was something in his eyes that Leia had never seen before. A kind of sincerity, almost determination. She couldn't help but believe him. "I love you, Princess," he whispered.

"I know," she whispered back, smiling at their private joke.

"You know what I think?" he asked her.

"Hm?"

"I think we just secured us a trip out to Hutt space."

"You can't be serious?" she asked pulling away, "Are you crazy?"

"I am serious, and yes," he said taking her hand back. "You know they're going to send somebody, and that somebody is going to be me. And I'm not leaving without you." She looked at him like he had just suggested they take a vacation into the heart of Imperial space. "Look, we'll convince Luke to come too. It'll give you time to work on all that Jedi stuff you're supposedly doing."

"Okay, I guess," she said with mock concern. He flashed his crooked smile at her again. As she walked with him, Leia thought that maybe, just maybe, she did know something that she wanted.