Dash Rendar – small-time smuggler, big time mouth – gets tangled in a dangerous mission featuring Black Sun and fame! Can our inteprid hero (of sorts) survive when he is engaged in the Shadow Games? Join today’s Legendary Adventure as we find out!
“The approaching ship was stealth black, so light-sucking fuliginous that it registered on Dash’s wonky perception as a hole in space.”
Being a famous actor is hard work. Ideally, you would first be discovered by someone famous. Where else would you get your big break? So, perhaps, preceding that, you would need to know the “go-to” people of the galaxy, who can put you at the right party, or in front of the right faces, so that you can get your big break. Or, in the case of Javul Charn, you can rise to fame using the ill-gotten gains of the Black Sun Syndicate. Yeah, it already doesn’t seem very wise, does it?
Unfortunately, this is the situation that small-time smuggler Dash Rendar is pulled into. He is contacted by holostar Javul Charn, who is asking for his help as a bodyguard to defend her against a wave of attempts on her life. As she tells it, the Black Sun has been trying to kill her ever since she spurned a gratuitously violent lieutenant in the Syndicate. Since then, he has been out for revenge. This seems like a good break for Dash Rendar and his co-pilot Eaden Vrill, who are in desperate need for some credits.
You might be wondering why Charn would turn to a smuggler for protection. Wouldn’t you rather turn to the Empire, with its legions of stormtroopers, tanks, and planets to command? Well, you would be right, had the Empire not gotten so cozy with Black Sun lately. Remember, the Republic itself was not above working with criminal cartels. The Republic made a treaty with the Hutts to travel through Hutt Space, opening up a relationship between the two which pushes the boundaries of acceptable and moral teamwork. When the Empire first rose on Coruscant, the Empire worked closely with the Black Sun Syndicate to find wayward Jedi and rogue rebel units. Because of their long-standing relationship, the Imperials don’t do a lot to stop Black Sun when they are acting on Black Sun business.
Oh, and you may have never heard of Dash Rendar before. He’s not a terribly big deal. But do you know who is a big deal? The captain of the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo himself! That’s right: ever since he began working with Jabba the Hutt, not to mention his escapades fighting against the Corporate Sector, insectoid cults, and with the Rebellion, Han Solo has been a fairly hot commodity. And Dash Rendar hates it: in his mind, Han has done nothing to gain the critical acclaim that he has now! (Unfortunately for Dash, he and Han will be forced to work together again…and not too long from the events of this story, either!)
Toward the end of the novel, the life-or-death chase to save Javul Charn turns into another encounter with the Empire, one which Han and Dash survive to stand another day. No major damage is done to the Empire, and the truth about Javul Charn is revealed (turns out she isn’t the innocent, blushing bride-to-be that she claimed!) But the next time Han battles the Empire, he’ll be playing to kill… and he, two Jedi, two droids, and a certain princess will be engaged in the most important event in the galaxy.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!
Dark Times Era: Republic Commando – Order 66 | Kenobi | Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader | Coruscant Nights I – Jedi Twilight | Coruscant Nights II – Street of Shadows | Coruscant Nights III – Patterns of the Force | The Last Jedi | Han Solo Trilogy #1 – The Paradise Snare | Han Solo Trilogy #2 – The Hutt Gambit | The Force Unleashed | Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu | Lando Calrissian and the Flamewinds of Oseon | Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka | Death Star| Han Solo at Stars’ End | Han Solo’s Revenge | Han Solo and the Lost Legacy| Han Solo – Rebel Dawn