Troy Denning - Star Wars:Crucible

Written by Troy Denning
Read by Marc Thompson
Format: MP3
Unabridged

The stunning follow-up to Fate of the Jedi! Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia have spent a lifetime fighting wars, bringing the Jedi back from extinction, raising families, and saving the galaxy more times than they can count. They've earned the right to rest on their laurels and let the younger generation shoulder the burden--but fate has another adventure in store for our heroes, a quest only they can tackle and hope to

The novel opens up aboard Brink Station in a cantina called the Red Ronto where Han and Leia Organa Solo are waiting for Lando Calrissian. Lando had called Han and Leia down here because he wanted to discuss with them as to how best they could solve the pirate problem plaguing the Chiloon Rift where he had established his latest asteroid refinery. Instead, they are met by a mysterious young man named Captain Omad Kaeg of the Joyous Roamer, an asteroid-tugging ship in the Rift that is currently undergoing repairs from a recent pirate attack. Kaeg informs the Solos that Lando sent him and he offers himself as a guide inside the nebula. Han and Leia are suspicious, as they ask him several questions, one of which is why Lando didn't come or inform the Solos of it ahead of time himself. Kaeg tells them that he is just as in the dark as they are. Before they can come to any agreement, however, three members of the exotic species known as the Nargons walk into the cantina with two Mandalorians. Kaeg informs Han and Leia that the Nargons and Mandalorians were hired by Galactic Exploitation Technologies, or GET, a giant conglomerate looking to rob the business of the independent miners, like Kaeg, in the nebula, to act as security against the pirates. The Solos and Kaeg are met by the Mandalorians, Scarn and Jakal, and one of the Nargons, Qizak, and it turns out that Kaeg owes them a massive debt of one million credits from a sabacc tournament he participated in. Scarn informs Kaeg that he can easily settle the debt by signing away all of his shares in the mining cooperative he's involved in to Galactic Exploitation Technologies, something that Kaeg refuses to do. When Qizak threatens Kaeg to do so, Han and Leia determine that Kaeg had been deliberately set up by GET since the pirate attack that crippled the Joyous Roamer; Kaeg had been manipulated into participating in that sabacc tournament and Scarn had cheated since he has a prosthetic eye that could help him win just so that Kaeg would end up in this situation. In spite of Scarn's insistent protests to the contrary, he agrees to leave Kaeg alone and refund him the money he owed. However, Qizak calls Scarn out as a coward for not standing his ground, and it all eventually devolves to violence when Qizak kills Scarn and seriously wounds Jakal before attacking the Solos and Kaeg. During the brief fight, Leia cuts off both of Qizak's arms and seriously wounds him, and Han notes that the Nargon's insides are composed of machinery. He manages to steal one of Qizak's arms as he flees with Leia and Kaeg from the other two Nargons for later investigation as to what a Nargon is.