Hello, and thanks for reading.

This story chronicling the events immediately after Return of the Jedi, as well as some backstory into Mara Jade and Ezra Bridger/Thrawn serves as a prelude to a much larger story.

That story, Star Wars, Episode VII: The Rise of Thrawn, is my attempt to update Timothy Zahn's original Thrawn Trilogy with characters from Star Wars: Rebels, the Mandalorian, Legends, Jedi: Fallen Order, and, of course, the Original Trilogy.

I'm going to start posting Episode VII right away, and I will follow a similar "once per day" posting pattern for all 29 chapters as much as time and summer vacation allows.

I have completed Episode VIII as well, which I will post at a slower cadence so that I don't overshoot my writing pace on Episode IX.

I am currently 10k words into Episode IX, and I anticipate a fairly brisk writing pace that should see that story completed by the end of summer.

Here's an excerpt from Star Wars, Episode VII to whet your appetite.

Nevarro, 9 ABY

As the Falcon powered down, Han turned from the cockpit and stalked into the galley. He grabbed his Republic identification and credentials in case he needed to pull rank for persuasion. He holstered his blaster in the event that credentials proved insufficiently persuasive. He glanced at Chewie who was wrapping up his tinkering on his bowcaster and said, "You ready, pal?"

Chewie grunted a quiet string of queries as he adjusted the settings, to which Han said, "Well, it looks a little too quiet for a hub of the Bounty Hunter's guild, but I doubt anybody's going to want to stick around when an Imperial garrison shoots up the town."

Chewie set his tools down and hoisted the bowcaster, grumbling dispiritedly. Han replied, "Probably. Might be a few bounty hunters down the ranks looking for something useful. Bit different than scrolling data pads on Coruscant, though, right?" Han said, flashing a grin.

Chewie's tepid response killed Han's smile. He considered Chewie's commentary on his choice to sidestep orders on an Outer Rim planet and how that might sit with Leia, and he felt a knot in his stomach. Still, his boredom on Coruscant, coupled with the urgency of the moment, brushed the knot aside. "You worry too much," Han grunted, and he jabbed the control for the boarding ramp, allowing a rush of cold wind to blow dust into the Falcon's galley.

Chewie followed Han down the ramp onto the soft volcanic sand of the landing pad, and they gazed at the forlorn town beyond the gate. The town was cut into a volcanic steppe, with most of the buildings radiating out from the main street running the length of an excavated ravine. The wind picked up, blowing through Han's hair and Chewie's fur. Chewie rumbled again, and Han said, "I'm sure whoever runs the guild here runs the town. Last intel showed a guy named Karga, former Imperial, now local head of this sector's BHG."

Chewie growled a query, and Han said, "Not much difference between a former Imperial and an underworld thug these days. Keep your safety off."

Chewie grunted an affirmative, and they set off toward the town. Blackened scorch marks scarred the walls beyond the gate, and the wind howled through the gaps in the buildings, singing a foreboding song in multi-timbred voices. Han removed a device from his satchel and swept it across the buildings around the main street, taking video of the damage to present to his superiors upon his return home. Scattered wreckage from a speeder bike lay strewn about the dirt road before a shopfront, although it was mostly twisted bits of metal.

"Looks like the locals already scavenged everything," Han grumbled to Chewie.

He fought off the wave of irritation toward Madine for sending him to Nothoiin and wasting precious time in cataloguing what the Imperial presence actually consisted of. Chewie grunted back, and Han waved his free hand forward. They set off toward the main square where the worst of the fighting had taken place. The bodies had all been cleared but the destruction was still apparent across the square. Han reached the center of the square and leaned down to examine a partially melted metal casing.

"Call me crazy, Chewie, but does this look like an E-web power generator to you?" Han asked.

Chewie growled an affirmative, holding up the twisted remains of the actual blaster. Han swept the video recorder over the E-web and then swept it slowly across the square. He stopped sweeping and held the recorder on a burnt-out cantina. He stepped away from the E-web generator and toward the cantina. Chewie turned away from examining the ruined E-web blaster and followed. Han stopped just inside the doorway and wrinkled his nose at the stench from the burnt walls and, presumably, burnt bodies.

"Flame trooper," Han grunted. "Looks like somebody made a hell of a stand here."

Chewie knelt before an open grate, and Han had a flash of distant memory of Leia shouting Into the garbage chute, flyboy. The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, and he walked over to Chewie to peer into the opening. Chewie grunted a question, to which Han said, "Yeah, looks like it. Far as I can tell, they put up a fight until the flametrooper came. Don't ask me how they stopped the flames, though."

Chewie growled an observation, and Han looked at the far side of the room. Fire damage spread across the room from the door, but it appeared to stop halfway across the cantina. The shattered framework of the doorway suggested a large explosion, possibly from the flametrooper. Han's experience with that particular brand of Imperial soldier suggested that their flamethrowers did not just begin sucking up flame until the fuel unit exploded.

"Yeah, looks like it hit a solid wall," Han said thoughtfully. "But how? Whoever was over there should have been roasted," Han added, gesturing to the spot where the flames appeared to stop.

Han walked over to the ruins of the bar when a dull metallic glint caught his eye. He leaned down to the ground and brushed away ash, uncovering a scorched, circular medallion with the inscription of the Imperial insignia. Han held the medallion up to Chewie and said, "Whoever this belongs to isn't some local warlord."

Chewie growled an affirmation and started to walk forward. The bark of a blaster, thunderous in the silence of the town, made Han jump, and Chewie roared in pain as a burst of flame erupted from his right shoulder. Chewie collapsed to the ground as Han cried, "Chewie!"

A second blast flew through the blackened, collapsed front of the cantina, and Han dove undercover, crawling over to Chewie through the ash. Chewie bellowed in pain from the injury, and Han unclipped his blaster, turning toward the opening. Silence followed, and Han peered over an upturned table, hoping to catch a glance of their attacker. Another blast lanced through the window, slamming into the table. Han ducked down, bracing himself behind the table as a second blast blew away several fragments of the rim of the table where his face had just been. Han pulled himself back up and fired blindly, and a second barrage erupted shortly after.

"Chewie, gimme your bowcaster," Han shouted, and Chewie roared in pain as he unslung the weapon over his injured shoulder. Han took the weapon and opened fire over the top of the blasted table. The bowcaster's bolt soared across the square, slamming into a power generator. The generator erupted into flames before flaring out into a cloud of billowing black smoke.

"I think we got him," Han said grinning. He turned to Chewie and began to look to his wound. The wound looked painful, but not life-threatening, and Han said, "C'mon, we gotta get you to the Falcon."

As Han knelt down to help Chewie to his feet, a garbled, raspy voice behind him said, "Oota chuta, Solo?"

Han froze, instinctively raising both of his hands into the air.

"Moova de boonkee – leah um sloo," the creature purred in Huttese. Han turned, recognizing the features of a Kyuzo bounty hunter.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Han said, thinking fast. "Lower that blaster, and we can talk about it."

The Kyuzo laughed, then clicked a button on the device in his free hand. Han's face appeared, spinning slowly. Han squinted to read the credit amount, then said, "Chewie, maybe I need to get my eyes checked, but is Rotta's bounty only 150,000?"

"150,000 – dead, or alive," the Kyuzo said, switching to basic.

"Listen, the Republic can pay you more. Just go ahead and lower that blaster, and-" Han began. The Kyuzo interrupted him, stepping forward to point the blaster in his face.

"The legendary Han Solo. Shot dead on a backwater hellhole," the Kyuzo said, chuckling softly. "Good riddance, scum."

The Kyuzo's finger wrapped around the trigger, and as he made to pull the trigger, Han felt the cold muzzle of the blaster graze his nose. Han blinked as an image of Ben flashed before his eyes. A shadow passed across the room, and he wondered whether his last thought would be whether his mind was playing tricks on him. A sudden snap-hiss sound made the Kyuzo's eyes go wide, and Han looked down to see a blue light protruding from the Kyuzo's chest. His arm fell to his side and the blaster clattered out of his hands as the Kyuzo collapsed onto the ground into a heap. Behind the Kyuzo, holding an ignited blue lightsaber, stood a Jedi roughly Han's age, with long auburn hair graying at the temples.

"Did you really just walk into a building in a bounty hunter town without checking your six?" the Jedi asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Han asked, shaken, but still defensive.

"Name's Cal Kestis," the Jedi said, smirking. "Skywalker thought you might go and do something stupid."