Imperial Navy for saving Chewbacca, then a Wookiee slave, from abuse at the hands of a superior officer. He reluctantly partners with Chewbacca to become a smuggler who transports spice for the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. One of the central conflicts of the story is the Battle of Nar Shaddaa, which is fought between the Galactic Empire and an alliance of smugglers and mercenaries. In the wake of a revolt on Rampa II by one of the groups that would go on to form the Rebel Alliance, Emperor Palpatine instructs each sector's Moffs to stop the smuggling of contraband weapons which supply the rebels. In response, the previously ineffectual Moff who governed Hutt Space, Sarn Shild, proclaims that he will restore law and order to Hutt Space. This announcement is met with dismay by the Hutts, and clan leader Jabba the Hutt plans to bribe Shild into sparing the Hutt homeworld, Nal Hutta. Towards this end, the Hutts pay Han, by now a smuggler and erstwhile Imperial officer, to travel to Imperial Center (Coruscant) and bestow gifts upon Shild. However, Shild informs Han that he intends to launch an orbital bombardment campaign against Nal Hutta's moon, Nar Shaddaa, the home of millions of smugglers and their families. Shild also intends to blockade Nal Hutta until the Hutts agrees to military occupation and the presence of customs inspectors. He will not accept bribes as in the past, since he's more afraid of Palpatine than the Hutts if the crackdown is not done. Shild then instructs Admiral Greelanx, the commander of his sectorial fleet, to mobilise his fleet and progress to Nar Shaddaa. However, on the following day, Greelanx receives an anonymous message from Exocomm instructing him to deliberately lose the battle. As Shild's sectorial fleet assemble near Teth, Han returns to Hutt Space. The Hutts then instruct him to again attempt to bribe the Imperials, this time targeting Greelanx. He infiltrates Greelanx's flagship, Imperial Destiny, at Teth, giving him a platinum ring set with a Bothan glitterstone. In exchange for the ring and a number of valuable gemstones, Greelanx sells his battle plan to the Hutts. In the meantime, Han, along with fellow former Imperial Mako Spince, recruits the denizens of Nar Shaddaa into a loose fighting unit. Their forces are bolstered when a small pirate fleet hired by the Hutts to protect them, led by Captain Renthal, agrees to