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"Never tell me the odds!" ―Han Solo [src]

Han Solo, known only as Han until being given the surname Solo by an Imperial recruitment officer, and formerly known as Cadet 124-329 while serving as an Imperial cadet, was a human male smuggler. He became a leader in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and an instrumental figure in the defeat of the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. He hailed from Corellia and became a smuggler, even completing the Kessel Run in just twelve parsecs with his prized ship, the Millennium Falcon, and coming under the employ of Jabba the Hutt. He was the son-in-law of fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, husband of Princess Leia Organa, brother-in-law of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, father of Ben Solo, rivals and close friends with fellow smuggler Lando Calrissian, and best friends with the Wookiee Chewbacca, his trusted copilot who swore a life debt to the Corellian smuggler. Solo ran afoul of Jabba after ditching a shipment of spice to avoid trouble with the Empire, owing the Hutt a great deal of money as a result. His fortune seemed to have changed when he agreed to charter Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO to Alderaan, but he became caught up in the rebellion against the Empire and, after helping Leia Organa escape from the Death Star, briefly fought in the Battle of Yavin, which allowed Skywalker to destroy the superweapon. Solo fought with the Rebellion for a number of years afterward, taking part in numerous operations and battles against the Empire.

After the Battle of Hoth, Solo sought refuge with Organa—with whom he had fallen in love—Chewbacca, and C-3PO on Cloud City, which was operated by his old friend Lando Calrissian. There, they were captured by the Sith Lord Darth Vader as part of a trap to bait Skywalker to the city. Solo was frozen in carbonite and taken to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine by the bounty hunter Boba Fett, where he remained encased in carbonite for months until he was rescued by his friends. After returning to the Alliance Fleet, Solo was promoted to the rank of general and was given command of the Pathfinders, a special forces squad, for the Battle of Endor. Solo led the Pathfinders to Endor, where he, Organa, Chewbacca, and the special forces team, with the help of the native Ewoks, destroyed the shield generator protecting the second Death Star that was being constructed in orbit. Their actions allowed the Alliance Fleet to destroy the superweapon.

The Battle of Endor, which saw the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader, allowed the Rebellion to form the New Republic. In the early days after Endor, Solo continued to lead the Pathfinders against the Empire. He married Organa, and the two had a son, Ben Solo. The boy struggled with the dark side of the Force—like his mother, who was the daughter of Darth Vader and twin sister of Luke Skywalker, Ben was Force-sensitive—so Organa sent him to be trained as a Jedi by Skywalker. He was seduced to the dark side by Snoke, Supreme Leader of the First Order, resulting in the destruction of Skywalker's attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Having lost their son, Solo left and returned to smuggling, and even lost the Millennium Falcon to numerous thieves. He continued to smuggle until he was brought back into the fight by a scavenger named Rey and a defected First Order stormtrooper named Finn, who carried with them a droid, BB-8, that had part of a map to Skywalker's location. Solo, who retrieved the Falcon from Rey and Finn, returned to Organa, who led the Resistance against the First Order, and fought in the battle to destroy the First Order superweapon known as Starkiller Base. During the battle, Solo saw his son, who had taken the name Kylo Ren, and tried to convince him to return home. Instead, Ren stabbed his father with his lightsaber. Mortally wounded, Solo fell to his death in the bowels of the Starkiller weapon. However, Solo's memory remained alive and appeared in a Force vision a year later to convince Ren to abandon the dark side and defeat the resurrected Emperor Palpatine, after a duel on the remains of the second Death Star between Rey and Ren, being enough for Ben Solo to return and eventually sacrifice his own life to rescue Rey.

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Biography Edit

Early life Edit

"I came up running scams on the streets of Corellia." ―Han Solo, to Tobias Beckett [src]

Han was born on the planet Corellia during the waning years of the Galactic Republic[21] around 32 BBY.[3] Sometime after he became famous, it would be rumored by an Snivvian bounty hunter that Han was actually a descendant of the Prince-Admiral Jonashe Solo, a member of the ancient Corellian royalty.[22] During his formative years, his father worked in the Corellian Engineering Corporation shipyards, building vessels such as YT-1300 light freighters until he was laid off. Solo's father wished he could leave Corellia on such a ship, but was never able to afford to. According to Han, he was never close with his father.[10] At one point his father brought him to the freighter factory where he worked and pointed out to the young Han that the ships being built there were his contributions to the galaxy, but that they ultimately didn't matter. He advised him that he wasn't meant to build ships, but rather to fly them.[23] Eventually, his father abandoned him.[13] At some point he met the Ithorian Pjolan.[24]

Working for the White Worms Edit

"Next time somebody hits me, I hit them back!" ―Han threatens Rebolt [src]

Sometime after his father died,[21] Han became involved with the criminal gang White Worms, serving as a scrumrat. Here, Han met fellow scrumrat Qi'ra.[10]

When Han was about the age of eighteen, Han and Qi'ra were vying for the position of Head within the White Worms. During their respective assignments, Han and Qi'ra both failed to deliver as promised, leading them to be hunted down by factions such as the White Worms, the Kaldana Syndicate, as well as the Empire. Han had acquired a datacube with plans for a shield generator that was desired by all the factions. Han and Qi'ra had no choice but to partner up to find a resolution to their problems. Eventually, Qi'ra became Head thanks to Han's recommendation to Lady Proxima. As they later ate together, Han asked if he and Qi'ra were on their first date. Qi'ra denied it, but acknowledged the possibility that it could happen someday.[23]

Sometime later, Han and Qi'ra began a romantic relationship.[10] Acting under orders from Lady Proxima, Han set up a deal with some individuals to exchange coaxium for credits. Qi'ra suggested that Han shouldn't go alone, but both Proxima and Han disagreed with her. Upon meeting with the individuals, Han got into a fight with them due to having not abided by their stated terms and proceeded to escape with an[25] extremely valuable vial of coaxium, as well as a speeder. Han attempted to take Qi'ra with him, but both were captured by the White Worms, and brought before crime boss Lady Proxima. Han threw a rock through a window, allowing the sunlight to burn Proxima's skin.[10]

In the confusion, Han and Qi'ra escaped to the Imperial checkpoint, where they used the coaxium to bribe the officer on duty to let them through. Han was able to make it through, but at that moment Qi'ra was spotted and the officer closed the doors. As Qi'ra was pulled away, Han promised to come back to save her. Qi'ra was captured by the White Worms, and Han began to try to find a way to save her. As he looked around the center, he spotted an Imperial recruitment center.[10]

Serving under the Galactic Empire Edit

Becoming "Han Solo" Edit

"Good luck Han Solo. We'll have you flying in no time." ―Drawd Munbrin to Han, shortly after giving him the name Solo [src]

Immediately after losing Qi'ra, Han entered the area and tried to enlist in the Imperial Navy. When asked what his last name was, Han responded that he did not have a people and was alone. Due to this he was assigned the name "Solo" by recruitment officer Drawd Munbrin. His goal was to become a skilled pilot and eventually return to Corellia to find Qi'ra.[25]

Han Solo: Imperial cadet Edit

"TIE fighters. Now we're talking--" ―Han Solo when he arrives at the Carida Academy [src]

When Han enlisted, Drawd Munbrin assigned Han to the Imperial academy on the planet Carida. When Han arrived, droids stripped all his clothing off. Right after, different droids gave him his new Imperial cadet suit and also shaved him. Han entered a room filled with many other cadets. Here a female Imperial officer named Triosa Broog was speaking over them. Soon after, he tried to greet a cadet, who told Han to shut up. Han realized that when he said shut up, he used Han's cadet name, and you were only known as numbers at the Imperial Academy. Later Han was practicing on a battlefield as an army trooper and wondered how this was supposed to help him in pilot training. Broog overheard Han. Han then raised his hand, and Broog called him a Corellian worm. Broog asked what his name was. They had a short conversation about his name. Broog then suggested to the other cadets that they show Han how basic training is supposed to help flying by hiking up a mountain twice.[26]

Immediately after, the cadets started to beat Han up. During this, a cadet named 404-913 started to insult Han. Then a cadet named 803-308 told them to let him go. Han thanked her for the help and asked for the name of the cadet but refused to say. Right after, two cadets, Lyttan Dree and Tamu Dree, were talking about why they joined the Empire. They also asked Han why he had signed up. Han responded, to get off Corellia. Lyttan and Tamu said that he would never learn how to fly at the academy and that they might send him to a wretched place like Urthak or Mimban. Han was thinking about what they said and thought that he should do something deeply stupid. Han then snuck into a TIE fighter hanger and stole a fighter. Han eventually crashed the TIE, leading to stormtroopers surrounding Han at the crash site.[26]

After the crash Han was imprisoned. He eventually got out because of his great piloting skills. Fourteen days later, Nico, who was cadet 803-308, was one of the top of the leader board. Suddenly Han came upon Lyttan and Tamu, who were surprised about Nico topping the leader board. Lyttan and Tamu were surprised that Han survived the crash. The cadets had started a bet about Solo's fate, with one of the Dree brothers winning.[27]

Soon after, Han was bullied by 404-913,[27] named Beilert Valance.[12] He started a fight with Han. Eventually Han was beaten, and Valance went to hurt Lyttan and Tamu, but Han kicked Valance in the crotch before he could do so. Han then smashed Valance in his face with a food tray. Valance was about to punch Han in the face, but before he could, Imperial troopers arrived and asked what was going on. but they told a lie instead of what really happened. Han suggested that Valance and Han should start over. Han told Valance his name, but Valance refused to give his. He said to look on the leader board to find out. Han looked and saw that Valance was the top one on the board. Soon after, Han said he could not believe that the academy let Valance actually become the top one. Nico came up behind Han and said she wondered how long he would last. She was also surprised that Han survived the crash. Tamu then told Han that there was no way Han was moving to top of the leader board. Han disagreed.[27]

Later during flight school, Han asked the instructor if there would be flying at any point. It took time, but eventually Han entered the cockpit of a TIE fighter. He made it to third place on the leader board. During a another flight class, the teacher Yurib Nakan, told the class to work in pairs and destroy a cannon's shield. Han and Tamu were partners for this exercise. Tamu's fighter was damaged, and Han saved him. When the training was over, Lyttan thanked Han for saving his brother's life. Soon after, a cadet came to Lyttan and said that he broke off before he could get a shot. Yurib then said that everyone failed the training. Han's actions of saving a cadet could have given Han a chance to become the best pilot the Galactic Empire had ever seen, but Han's fellow cadets might kill Han before he could do so. Solo claimed they should have earned partial credit since the team worked together.[27]

Solo and the other cadets were ordered to make soup for the all the cadets. During the night, Solo snuck out of his bunk and cleaned the floors in the refresher, but logged Valance as having done all the assignments. As a result, the next morning, Solo and the other cadets were assigned to the Quasar Fire-class carrier cruiser 07200823 by Yurib. Their orders were to transport several TIE fighter pilots. During the voyage, Solo was able to modify the cruiser's speed to give him and the cadets a day off. Solo also revealed he had day passes and told them there was a Pantolomin cruiser nearby they could visit and gave them civilian clothes. Despite Nico's objections, Solo was able to convince them to leave the cruiser.[24]

Aboard the cruiser, Solo told his fellow cadets to have some fun. Solo played sabacc with Nico and attempted to learn her reasons for joining the Imperial Navy. Nico refused to tell him why and deduced how Solo pulled off the excursion. She also noticed him eyeing an Ithorian. Solo was soon left to himself and met up with Pjolan. Solo attempted to drink an Ithorian ale to no avail. Han also asked Pjolan about Qi'ra. Pjolan said nothing, indicating that Qi'ra was still alive, but told Solo that Lady Proxima had a 200-credit bounty on him, so he pulled a blaster on Han. He was saved by Nico, and the two of them went to get Lyttan and Tamu. Pjolan attempted to collect Solo's bounty, but Solo was able to inform Black Sun, the cruiser's owners, about Pjolan, and the cartel captured him. Solo and the other cadets were allowed to leave with their thanks. Solo and the others were able to return cruiser 07200823 to Carida's academy. Upon their return, they were reinstated to full flight status. Later the cadets were told by Yurib to come to the training room the next evening.[24]

After Solo completed his training he was stationed on the[12] planet[28] Qhulosk, where he became part of Carida Squadron and was sent to fight a battle for the Empire at Howlan. During the battle, Valance was shot down by native Qhuloskians, but the skirmish resulted in an Imperial victory. Yurib ordered the squadron to return to base. Solo refused and wanted to help Valance. Yurib responded that Valance was gone and told Solo to abort. Three enemy fighters came and fired at Carida Squadron, killing one of the TIEs. Eventually, the squadron defeated the fighters and fled back to base. When they arrived, Solo spoke to Yurib about why he could not save Valance. Yurib said that TIE bombers would wipe out the entire city soon and there was no time to rescue Valance. Solo became mad and set off to rescue Valance alone. Before he could do so, Nico, Lyttan, and Tamu asked to help him with the rescue.[12]

Per the plan, Yurib sent a bombing run to the city. One officer recognized that six people had left the base and six speeders were also missing. The officer revealed this to Yurib, but Yurib didn't respond. During the rescue, Solo, Nico, Tamu, and Lyttan were being shot at by Qhuloskians. The Imperial bombing run sent by Yurib almost killed them all but destroyed one of their speeders. When they reached Valance, Valance almost shot Solo. Valance then said to Solo that he couldn't believe that the Empire sent them to rescue him, but Solo said that they had chosen to rescue him. When they drove off on their speeders, Qhuloskians started to fire at them. Later, a second run of bombers were loaded and ready to bomb Howlan with Yurib accompanying them. Han, Valance, Nico, Tamu, and Lyttan were captured. Right before they were killed by the Qhuloskians, Ghulars opened fire on the aggressive aliens. The Ghulars were slaves to the Qhuloskians to mine for farium to make the Qhuloskians' ships stronger during battle. Afterwards, the Ghulars escaped the planet by taking escape pods from a crashed Qhuloskian warship. When they left, Nico began crying that her home planet in the Huru system was under mining control and her friend Weegee was a miner there. She became very angry and kicked one of their bikes. Han then realized that one escape pod was left and decided to fake Nico's death. When Nico left, Han, Valance, Tamu, and Lyttan then left for the base, being chased and fired at by Qhuloskian ships. They then were destroyed by Yurib in the lead TIE, and Howlan was completely bombed and destroyed.[28]

Later, Solo had to say goodbye to Valance, Tamu, and Lyttan at the base, and Solo was put into the brig.[28]

At some point his skills at flying at the Imperial academy at Carida became the only thing preventing his superiors from outright expelling him from the academy. Other recruits had tried to emulate his flying moves, but at least one recruit nearly died in a failed attempt. Broog vouched for Han to her commanding officer, Captain Nettic Whain, asking that he be given one more chance to fall into line. Finally, during an attack by raiders on Onyx Squadron, Han disobeyed orders once more in order to save the life of Cadet Lyttan Dree. Solo was able to take out three raiders before crashing into a hangar. Unfortunately, Solo's crash destroyed the hangar and dozens of astromechs. This action led to him being court-martialed and tried by Commodore Almudin.[25] Solo was expelled from the academy,[13] drafted into the 224th Imperial Armored Division as a Corporal,[3] and deployed to an active combat zone on Mimban.[10]

The Mimban campaign and saving Chewbacca Edit

"I saved him, at least that's what he says, the big fuzzy fool, but really, he saved me. I was on a bad path, and Chewie, he put me straight. Saved my shanks more than once too." ―Han Solo on how Chewbacca saved him [src]

During the Mimban campaign, Solo experienced the horrors of war firsthand. Mimban was a world highly sought after by the Imperial war machine due to its abundance of natural resources, leading the Empire to launch a full-scale invasion of the planet. The brutality of the battlefield shook the former cadet to his core, witnessing countless fellow soldiers senselessly die right before his eyes during the subjugation of a peaceful world. Solo's commanding officer, Major Staz, was killed by an explosion during a desperate push into fortified enemy territory, leading the demoralized Solo to retreat and encounter Tobias Beckett, Val, and Rio Durant, a gang of thieves who had disguised themselves as Imperial Army soldiers to pull a heist. Solo was initially beguiled, but soon discerned their true identities. He noticed Beckett and his crew had blaster burns in some parts of their uniforms. Solo threatened to expose them if they didn't take him with them, but Beckett instead reported Solo to his superiors for insubordination.[10]

Lieutenant Bolandin, decided to execute Solo by giving him to "the beast," the Wookiee Chewbacca, a prisoner of the Empire. Solo used his knowledge of Shyriiwook to convince Chewbacca to stage a fight with him, allowing them to escape imprisonment. They then managed to join a reluctant Beckett's crew.[10] Chewbacca, grateful for Solo's intervention, proclaimed a life debt to the outlaw. Chewbacca thereby became Solo's lifelong friend.[29]

Vandor and encounter with Crimson Dawn Edit

"Captain Lando Calrissian."

"Han Solo." ―Lando Calrissian and Han Solo introducing themselves to each other [src]

Han Solo and Chewbacca began their outlaw lives working as part of pirate Tobias Beckett's crew. The group were hired by Crimson Dawn to steal a train car of refined coaxium on Vandor. However, they failed due to the intervention of Enfys Nest and the Cloud-Riders, and Solo's decision to drop the cargo. Solo and Chewbacca promised Dryden Vos of Crimson Dawn an equivalent shipment that they would obtain unrefined by making the notorious Kessel Run. Vos sent Qi'ra, who had become his top lieutenant, with them.[10]

Meeting Lando Calrissian and the Kessel Run Edit

"I just did the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs." ―Han Solo, to a Savareen inhabitant [src]

Knowing they would need a fast ship to transport the coaxium before it degraded and exploded, Qi'ra introduced the pair to the self-proclaimed galactic entrepreneur and gambler Lando Calrissian. Solo played Calrissian in a game of "Corellian Spike" sabacc, with the stakes being Calrissian's YT-1300 light freighter, the Millennium Falcon. Solo lost the game due to Calrissian hiding cards up his sleeve. Regardless, Calrissian agreed to personally pilot the Falcon for the job in return for a cut of the profits.[10]

Solo, Chewbacca, Qi'ra, Calrissian, and Beckett stole the unrefined coaxium from Kessel during a slave riot instigated by Calrissian's navigational droid, L3-37. During the escape, Solo flew the Falcon, with Chewbacca as his copilot, for the first of many times. Because the crew stole the coaxium fuel as unrefined, it was necessary to make the escape from Kessel to the refinery on Savareen in record time, prompting Solo to plot a shorter and much more dangerous course through the maelstrom that surrounded Kessel and near a gravity well called the Maw, reducing the typical distance required from 20 to 12 parsecs.[10]

Savareen and choosing allegiances Edit

"You were wrong about one thing, I was paying attention. You told Chewie people are predictable. You're no exception." ―Han Solo to Tobias Beckett [src]

Upon reaching Savareen and refining the coaxium, the crew was confronted by Enfys Nest, who explained to them that the Cloud-Riders were not pirates but freedom fighters stirred to action by the atrocities committed by Crimson Dawn and the other crime syndicates. Solo devised a plan to give the coaxium to the Cloud-Riders and give Vos fake coaxium, but Vos was prepared for their betrayal because of information given to him by his double agent in the crew, Beckett.[10]

However, Solo had double-crossed Beckett and Vos: the containers he left with the Cloud-Riders were empty, and Nest dispatched the agents Vos sent to retrieve it. The coaxium Solo, Qi'ra, and Chewbacca brought to Vos was, in fact, genuine. Beckett managed to escape with the coaxium and Chewbacca as a hostage. Qi'ra betrayed and killed Vos, promising to follow Solo as he pursued Beckett. Solo found and killed Beckett, but could only watch as Qi'ra left him behind, leaving Savareen in Vos' yacht to meet Crimson Dawn leader Maul. Solo entrusted the coaxium to Nest, who intended to use it to form a rebellion against the Empire. She gave him a small portion of the coaxium "to find his way."[10] Solo also met with one of her riders, Benthic.[30]

Further adventures Edit

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" ―Solo to Chewbacca on Savareen [src]

Following their departure from Savareen, Chewie and Solo paired up on various jobs, including one where they were riding a 74-Z speeder bike under fire and another where Solo was tied up. Eventually they found their way to Numidian Prime.[31]

Captain of the Millennium Falcon Edit

"Han Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon." ―Han Solo [src]

Winning the Falcon Edit

"Fair and square, baby. Fair and square." ―Han Solo [src]

Solo and Chewbacca tracked down Calrissian on Numidian Prime. While greeting Lando with an overly exuberant facade, Solo swiped the spare cards Lando held up his sleeve. With Lando's magic charm in his possession, Solo confidently challenged him to a rematch of sabacc for the Falcon. Using the stolen cards to his advantage, Solo won the rematch and gained possession of the Millennium Falcon, much to Lando's chagrin.[10]

The Falcon instantly became Solo's most prized possession. With their newly acquired ship and confidence, Solo and Chewbacca began engaging in much more dangerous and risky criminal operations, eventually becoming smugglers.[21] Around the same time, Chewbacca hung Han's pair of chance cubes above the freighter's piloting console.[32] At some point during their travels the two met Dash Rendar.[22]

Chewie's day off Edit

"Tell you what. You need a break." ―Han Solo, to Chewbacca [src]

Solo piloted the Falcon through an asteroid field during a run to sell marked sabacc decks to the casino on Marquinn. He told Chewbacca to take the day off while he sold marked sabacc decks to the casino's owner Zefin Tuzo. During Chewbacca's day off, he countered a criminal named Vullen Candroon which wanted to kill Chewbacca. Chewbacca escaped Candroon but ran into Zefin Tuzo, who was working with Vullen. Later Chewbacca managed to escape Candroon and Tuzo. Meanwhile Han was talking to patrons in the casino. Chewbacca immediately ran into the casino to get Han because he was getting chased by Candroon and Tuzo. Later Han and Chewbacca managed to escape aboard the Millennium Falcon.[33]

Chased by Kallus Edit

"You've made quite a name for yourself." ―Alexsandr Kallus to Han Solo [src]

Imperial Security Bureau agent Alexsandr Kallus hired the bounty hunter IG-88 to assist in tracking down Solo, with the intention of bringing the smuggler to justice for defecting from the Empire and assisting Enfys Nest. Solo and Chewbacca fled the two, and escaped capture by flying the Falcon between two Imperial Star Destroyers.[34]

The Cordaxian Sea Edit

"Kill you...kill you both for this..." ―Frax to Han Solo [src]

Some time after escaping Kallus,[34] Solo and Chewbacca were transporting two tons of Cordaxian ore on the planet Odona, with the help of Frax, a Kajain'sa'Nikto. They were pursued by the Empire, and Frax, who was worried about being put in an Imperial prison, pulled a blaster on Han. Chewbacca did a barrel roll with the Millennium Falcon, knocking Frax off the ship into the Cordaxian Sea. Han and Chewbacca escaped the Empire and Odona, but they left Frax behind.[35]

Stenness Edit

"It was one of my stupid schemes. To get back at a crime lord who'd been double-crossing spice smugglers." ―Han Solo [src]

Eventually, Solo would make his way to Stenness, where he devised a plot to get revenge on a crime lord who operated a gambling den[36] and had continuously double-crossed spice smugglers.[37] In order for the escapade to look as legitimate as possible, Solo and his fellow scoundrels arranged a fraudulent marriage ceremony where Solo and the woman Sana Starros were illegitimately married. The robbery occurred, too, and Solo was given his share. However, Solo also took Starros's share and fled, leaving Starros in a dire situation.[37] As a result, Starros came to believe that the only thing Solo was good for was lying, likening him to a "scoundrel."[38]

Monsua Nebula Edit

"The Monsua Nebula. I knew it. A dog always returns to its favorite den, doesn't it?" ―Sana Starros on Han Solo returning to the Monsua Nebula [src]

Solo and Chewbacca crash-landed on an unnamed planet in the Monsua Nebula that was entirely covered in electrical super-storms and cyclones.[39] But beneath the storms lay a beautiful oasis. Solo and his copilot located a cave that they turned into a secret hiding place, storing Corellian wine and other things within. He and Chewbacca used the den several times over the years.[38]

Working for Jabba the Hutt Edit

Eventually, the pair came into the employment of the Outer Rim crime lord Jabba the Hutt, who was based on the desert planet Tatooine[40] and was the leader of the powerful Hutt Clan.[41] Solo and Chewbacca smuggled for Jabba for many years,[14] and Solo became Jabba's top smuggler. The smuggling duo also spent much time in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina looking for work.[21]

Bounty hunted Edit

Dropping Jabba's cargo Edit

Solo and Chewbacca were smuggling for Jabba when they were faced with an Imperial blockade. Faced with the choice of either surrendering to the Empire or dropping Jabba's cargo, they dropped the cargo, and escaped to the planet below.[42]

Solo and Chewbacca began repairing the Falcon, which was damaged in the escape, until they realized that the planet was inhabited by the crime lord Rekias Nodo. Posing as Jabba, he convinced Nodo to repair the ship, but he then found out that Nodo had dozens of prisoners, including Meecha Odon. Before he could act, the crime boss Lallani showed up looking for Jabba.[42]

The two crime bosses started a shootout, so Solo and Chewbacca used the chaos to escape, freeing the prisoners and stealing several barrels of rhydonium in the process. Solo intended to keep the rhydonium to pay for the cargo he dropped, but Chewbacca convinced him to give it to Meecha Odon and the other freed prisoners.[42]

Nodo's revenge Edit

While they were at the space port on Valtos, Solo was loading supplies onto the Millennium Falcon when he was captured by the bounty hunters 4-LOM and Zuckuss.[43] The duo informed Solo that Nodo had put a bounty on his head. Solo, however, was hired by Beris Ford's family to rescue him from the bounty hunters. Solo and Ford were freed by Chewbacca. After dumping Ford in a barrel with a homing beacon,[43] Solo and Chewbacca were pursued by the Mist Hunter. Solo and Chewbacca were forced to crash the Falcon on a planet in its ocean; the two bounty hunters followed them.[44]

The four scoundrels soon found that the planet was inhabited by a horde of droids that wanted to eradicate all life in the galaxy. The four escaped in the Falcon, but Han and Chewie tricked the bounty hunters into thinking that the Falcon lost power, and the two hunters fell for the trick, jumping back to the planet below. Han and Chewie then escaped the planet, leaving 4-LOM and Zuckuss behind.[45]

Captured by Alinka Aloo Edit

While on Coruscant after a smuggling job, Chewbacca and Solo were approached by Alinka Aloo, the daughter of Sim Aloo. Aloo wanted to hire them for a job, and requested that they go to her tower. A week later, they visited Aloo, and she told them that she had a tooka-sitting job for Chewbacca on the planet Ushruu, though Solo was to remain with her. They reluctantly accepted, and Solo remained with Aloo. But she took Solo prisoner, and told Chewbacca that he wouldn't be set free unless the job, which wasn't actually a tooka-sitting job, was completed. Chewbacca later returned from the failed job and broke Solo out of captivity with the help of Mayvlin Trillick and a bunch of Corellian hounds. They then escaped Coruscant and a squadron of TIE fighters, subsequently promising to fly Trillick back to her homeworld of Oktaro for free.[46]

Mission to Rendel Edit

"Rendel? No problem at all...for Han Solo!" ―Han Solo [src]

After the mission to Ushruu, Han Solo and Chewbacca took a mission to free planet Rendel from a curse. The job was to deliver a single statuette for a one million credits. Chewbacca was unhappy with the mission because he thought the planet was cursed. When they arrived on Rendel, they found the planet was smothered in thorns the size of Rancor teeth. Right when they walked out of the Millennium Falcon, the tracker said that they had to deliver the statuette in the middle of a giant thorn patch. During the delivery of the statuette in the thorn patch, Solo and Chewbacca ran into a Cranan star-hopper.

They found out that it was Karamu's and SV-3's ship after they found Karamu's droid Ess-Vee-Three. All of a sudden, Ess-Vee-Three said that the Bellan the Emerald Witch was waiting for him in the forest. Immediately Han told Chewie that there was no witch, vines must've gotten into his central processor, and there was nothing to be afraid of. Later Han went alone to deliver the statuette because Chewie was too frightened. It wasn't long before Solo realized he should have stayed with Chewie when a vine caught his leg. Solo was on the ground trying to get unstuck until he found Karamu stuck into vines. Solo tried to free him, but a pink flower sprayed Solo and made him look older. Solo was able to free Karamu, but they both got stuck later.[47]

Then Zalla, the sister of Bellan, the Queen of Rendel, came to Solo and Karamu and had a conversation with them about that when she cursed Rendel because she was jealous when her sister became Queen so she drove her sister off the planet, and her sister Bellan became known as the Emerald Witch. Soon after, Chewie came and saved Solo and Karamu. Solo then kicked the statuette at the Collector, and the plants and vines started to die. Zalla then fell to her knees and started to sadden and die. After Zalla's death, the planet was lifted from the curse, and Chewie, Solo, and Karamu escaped on the Millennium Falcon.[47]

The lost treasure of Rane Mahal Edit

"Captain Gwarm is searching for the treasure of Rane Mahal."

"The pirate queen? I thought she was just a legend..." ―Makkeer and Han Solo [src]

At some point, during a smuggling job for Jabba the Hutt, Solo and Chewbacca stopped at The Labyrinth on Kelada. There they ran into an Azumel named Makkeer, who was being chased by Gwarm. Eventually Solo fought for Makkeer by punching Gwarm in the face. Soon after, Lorana shot her blaster to warn Gwarm and his gang to leave. Solo asked Makkeer why Gwarm was after him. Makkeer said that Gwarm was searching for the lost treasure of Rane Mahal. Makkeer revealed that Mahal hid coordinates to the treasure in one of three jewel-encrusted droids. Two of the droids were booby trapped. The first droid was located in Starfarer Restaurant on Kelada working as a waiter. Solo, Chewie, and Makkeer went to the restaurant. Solo and Chewie drew the droid into a room. Solo called for Makkeer, but Makkeer was captured by Gwarm and his gang. When Makkeer got free, he spoke the password to the droid, which caused it to become a booby trap.[48]

Solo, Chewie, and Makkeer then went to Nubia, where the second droid was located. While on Nubia, they ran into R5-P8, a member of Gwarm's gang. They chased R5-P8 back to the gang's location and discovered that second droid was in the gang's possession. The droid ended up being a booby trap and exploded.[48]

Solo, Chewie, and Makkeer then went to the planet Ogem to find the final droid. The droid was in the hands of Gwellis Bagnoro. When they all arrived at Bagnoro's homestead, Gwarm was already there. Bagnoro's Barghest pet Izby attacked Gwarm, which allowed Solo, Chewie, and Makkeer to escape with the droid. The droid revealed the map to the lost treasure of Rane Mahal, which was located on Sakreen. As they headed to Sakreen, they were followed by Gwarm and his crew. Once they arrived at Sakreen, Solo spotted Rane Mahal's galleon, but Makkeer betrayed him and Chewie and broke the Millennium Falcon. Makkeer also revealed that he had been working for Gwarm the entire time. The Millennium Falcon then crashed onto the surface. Gwarm and his crew then entered the galleon and found where the treasure was located. Solo and Chewie shot at them, and Chewie threw Makkeer at Gwarm and his gang. Solo then opened the chest and out came Rane Mahal. She revealed that there was no treasure and that she had been waiting for a ship to come so she could leave Sakreen. Solo suggested to Mahal that she take Gwarm's saucer. Mahal told her crew to load Solo, Chewie, Makkeer, Gwarm, and his gang aboard Gwarm's saucer and sell them to the first slave trader they came across. Solo and Chewie escaped. Mahal and her crew left Sakreen with Makkeer, Gwarm, and his gang. Mahal also took the droid that contained the location of Rane Mahal's fake treasure. She found out that Solo had put an ion scrambler on the droid, which caused the saucer to overload. The saucer was left in space. Han and Chewie then blasted off aboard the Millennium Falcon.[48]

Galactic Civil War Edit

A fateful business venture Edit

"Seventeen-thousand! Those guys must really be desperate—this could really save my neck. Get back to the ship and get her ready." ―Han Solo, to Chewbacca, after meeting with Kenobi and Skywalker [src]

After dropping a cargo of spice they were smuggling for Jabba, Solo and Chewbacca had a 50,000-credit bounty placed on their heads. In trying to pay off Jabba, they traveled to Chalmun's Cantina on Tatooine, where they looked for work.[49] While Chewbacca left the table, Solo took the opportunity to flirt with a B-girl[50] named Jenny. She sat on Solo's lap and the two witnessed[51] a bar brawl between the exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the criminals Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan, who had physically assaulted Luke Skywalker, leading Kenobi to cut off Baba's arm with his lightsaber.[7] As Chewbacca joined them, Jenny realized that Solo didn't even remember her name, leading her to throw the remainder of Solo's drink in his face before storming off.[51] Afterwards, Kenobi and Skywalker made their way to Solo's booth, Kenobi having talked with Chewie before the brawl. They arrived and began negotiating. Solo assured Kenobi that the Millennium Falcon was the fastest ship around, because it had made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Kenobi informed Solo that the cargo was only himself, Skywalker, two droids, and no questions asked beyond an admission that they wanted to avoid Imperials entirely. Therefore, Solo set the price at 10,000 credits—higher than he normally would have. However, Kenobi raised Solo's bid to 17,000 credits: 2,000 in advance and 15,000 when they reached Alderaan. His interest piqued at such a sum offered when it was so needed, Solo quickly accepted the deal. The smuggler then told his temporary employer to meet him in Docking Bay 94 for departure as soon as he was ready, before warning Kenobi that some Imperial sandtroopers had entered the cantina and were looking for Evazan and Baba's attacker. Kenobi and Skywalker hastily fled, leaving Solo to express his elation to Chewbacca at having garnered such a high-paying job to pay off Jabba. Chewbacca left as well right after.[7]

As Solo got up to leave, he was confronted by one of Jabba's bounty hunters: the Rodian Greedo. Greedo demanded to be paid Jabba's debt, or he would take Solo's dead body back to Jabba as payment. Solo, then, in self defense, covertly pulled his DL-44 blaster pistol and shot Greedo from under the table a fraction of a second after Greedo fired his own weapon—though Solo hit his target and Greedo did not. Solo ignored the Murder tax[52] Jabba enforced on Tatooine, opting instead to simply toss Wuher, the cantina's bartender, some credit chips, before apologizing for leaving a mess and then heading to Docking Bay 94.[7]

Solo arrived in the docking and found Jabba himself, with several of his guards—including[7] Jabba's top bounty hunter Boba Fett—[21]looking for him near the Falcon. Jabba inquired whether Solo was going to pay him, and why he had "fried poor Greedo." Jabba was disappointed in having to put the bounty on Solo,[7] the crime lord's top smuggler.[21] Solo insisted he had had no choice but to dump the cargo, and informed the Hutt that he had secured a charter that would be able to compensate the Hutt's loss in full as soon as he completed it. Jabba was pleased and added that if Solo paid twenty percent interest all could be forgotten, but Solo talked him down to fifteen percent, and ironically stated that the Hutt was a "wonderful Human being," before boarding the Falcon.[7]

A short time later, Kenobi, Skywalker, and their two droids, the protocol droid C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2, boarded the Falcon after Skywalker remarked that the Falcon appeared to be a "piece of junk." Solo corrected him: The Millennium Falcon looked out of shape, but had been given "special modifications" that made it one of the fastest ships in the galaxy.[7] Just then, a squad of stormtroopers appeared in the docking bay and opened fire on Solo. Solo fired back while retreating on board and shouted for Chewbacca to take off. The Falcon blasted away from the Mos Eisley spaceport and clear of Tatooine. As the Falcon entered space, Solo realized that his passengers were even more wanted by the Empire than he thought as multiple Star Destroyers pursued his ship. Trying to dodge Imperial fire while addressing the boy's annoying backseat badgering about the necessity of proper navigation for travel through hyperspace, Solo inserted coordinates to the Alderaan system into the Falcon's navigation computer and made the jump to hyperspace, escaping their pursuers.[7]

While en route to Alderaan, Solo boasted of outrunning the "Imperial slugs," but was annoyed when no one would humor him, considering Luke was concerned with Kenobi who himself was troubled by a great disturbance in the Force resulting from what turned out to be the destruction of Alderaan. Chewbacca and R2-D2, often shortened to Artoo, were playing a game of Dejarik when Artoo outplayed the Wookiee, so Solo warned the droids not to upset him because Wookiee rage was not something C-3PO, often shortened to Threepio, a droid programmed in protocol, would want to experience. Skywalker, meanwhile, trained with a remote with his lightsaber, trying to deflect the sting bolts with the civilized weapon. Solo was skeptical of the Force—the energy field that connected all living things in the galaxy, and the Jedi, like Kenobi, were able to use to perform seemingly supernatural feats—because in all his travels he had never seen proof of its existence; to Solo, it was all "simple tricks and nonsense." Kenobi took Solo's skepticism as a challenge and put a helmet over Luke's face so he couldn't see. Skywalker tried to deflect the bolts again, and did, while unable to see. Solo was mildly impressed, but attributed Skywalker's ability to luck.[7]

Soon, the Falcon emerged from hyperspace in the Alderaan system. The Falcon came out at Alderaan's galactic coordinates, but into a meteor shower, with Alderaan nowhere in sight. Kenobi, using the Force, realized the asteroid field was Alderaan: The entire planet had been destroyed by the Empire. Solo couldn't believe the Empire had had enough firepower to do so, even with their entire fleet, but then an Imperial short-range TIE fighter appeared, seemingly confirming Kenobi's suspicions. Skywalker and Solo both worried that if the fighter identified them as the freighter that had blasted away from Tatooine, they would be damned. Therefore, Solo got in range to destroy it. Kenobi, however, argued against it before Solo realized that the fighter did have a base—what appeared to be a small moon in the distance. Kenobi quickly surmised that the body was not a moon, but an Imperial space station, the Death Star battle station equipped with a superlaser capable of destroying entire planets. Solo was shocked at the Death Star's 120-kilometer spherical diameter and prepared to turn the Falcon around and retreat. One of the station's tractor beams, however, began to pull the Falcon in. Solo prepared to fight his way out once they were taken aboard and shut the freighter down. Kenobi was able to talk Solo into listening to him, though: hide instead of fight. Therefore, they ejected the Falcon's five Model CEC Class-1 escape pods and hid themselves in the Falcon's smuggling compartments located under the floor.[7]

Rescuing the Princess of Alderaan Edit

"Wonderful girl! Either I'm gonna kill her, or I'm beginning to like her!" ―Solo to Skywalker, after Organa took the lead in their escape [src]

The freighter was pulled into Docking Bay 327 where it was boarded and quickly searched by stormtroopers on the orders of Darth Vader,[7] the Emperor's chief lieutenant and a Dark Lord of the Sith.[53] After the troopers left, Solo and the others emerged from the compartments and Kenobi devised a plan to disable the tractor beam from inside the station. As they worked out the plan's details, an Imperial scanning crew came aboard to more thoroughly search the ship. Solo shot them and then impersonated the crew, yelling out to a pair of stormtroopers outside for assistance. They came, Solo shot them, and he and Skywalker dressed themselves in their armor.[7]

Skywalker, now under the guise trooper TK-421, fooled an officer into opening the door to the hangar's control room. Chewbacca and Solo cut down the officer and his comrades, while Artoo plugged into a computer terminal to locate the tractor beam controls. Artoo found them and Kenobi departed to disable it after commanding the others to stay in the control room. Solo was fine with staying; he'd gotten much more than the he's signed on for in the cantina. Artoo, however, had learned that Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan and a leading member of the Rebel Alliance, was aboard the station, and was scheduled to be executed in Detention Block AA-23 very soon. Skywalker insisted that they go rescue her, and reasoned that if Kenobi had known she was present, he would have gone after her, too. Solo at first refused, but decided it was worth the risk when Skywalker and Chewbacca assured him there would be a huge reward from the Rebel Alliance if she was rescued. Skywalker quickly worked out a subterfuge to bluff their way into the prison using Chewbacca as a prisoner scheduled for a prisoner transfer.[7]

Soon thereafter, they set out to the fifth level of the Death Star with their "prisoner" in stuncuffs and left the droids behind. They arrived at the detention level and told the officer in charge, Shann Childsen, of the supposed transfer. He went to check the legitimacy of the fake stormtroopers' claim, while other troopers went to detain the Wookiee. Chewbacca, per the plan, attacked. Solo kept up the charade while firing on the guards and security cameras. Solo located the princess's cell in the prison computer and sent Skywalker to get her while he tried to convince a technician that nothing had gone wrong via a comm system, before giving up and shooting the panel when the tech saw through the ruse and sent stormtroopers to investigate.[7]

The troopers blockaded the only exit to the detention block and attacked. Solo and Chewbacca returned fire while they retreated to Skywalker's position. Skywalker had gotten the princess, who critiqued their plan to rescue her without thinking through an escape route. Solo quipped that she was welcome to return to her cell and be executed rather than rescued if she desired, while they took cover in the corridor and traded fire with the Imperials. Organa lost patience with the three men, took a blaster and shot open a chute and dove in after telling the others to follow. Solo remarked to Skywalker that he wasn't sure if he was very frustrated with Organa, or if he was beginning to like her, and shoved Chewbacca into the chute. Skywalker and Solo followed right after.[7]

They found themselves in a garbage compactor with the only exit locked. Solo sarcastically told Organa great work in getting them nowhere and tried to shoot the open the exit. The laser bounced wildly around the compactor, nearly hitting the rebels. Skywalker informed Solo that he had already tried it, that it was magnetically sealed. Organa commanded Solo to put his blaster away. Solo was unhappy at being ordered around, but did so. Just then, a low growl sounded; the four simultaneously realized they weren't alone. A moment later, a tentacle belonging to a dianoga grabbed Skywalker and pulled him under water. Solo and Organa frantically searched for him, and seconds later he reemerged. Solo grabbed Skywalker and tried to shoot the creature, but Skywalker was pulled under again. Solo had almost given up looking when the dianoga released him and vanished. Solo helped him up, before the walls of the compactor began to close in. Chewbacca the princess and Solo tried to brace them while Skywalker contacted the droids in order for Artoo to hack into the station's network and shut down the compactor. After a bit of a delay, Artoo succeeded. The three Humans and the Wookiee rejoiced, for their lives had been saved.[7]

They left the compactor and Skywalker and Solo took off the trooper armor. As they did so, Chewbacca heard strange noises coming from the compactor and ran away. Solo fired a laser blast into the compactor to prove that the Wookiee was acting with cowardice. Organa scolded him for making so much noise, and told him that he would have to take orders from her if they were going to survive the ordeal. Solo was appalled at Organa's demeanor, and informed "her worshipfulness" that he only took orders from himself. Leaving Organa to quip that it was amazing that the smuggler was still alive. Solo looked at Skywalker and muttered that no reward was worth putting up with the princess's attitude.[7]

As the group made their way back towards the docking bay, they ran into a group of stormtroopers. Solo yelled for Skywalker and Organa to go to the Falcon while he and his first mate charged the troopers. The troopers turned and ran from the screaming smuggler. Solo, however, ran into the troopers' reinforcements, and then he was being chased. He ran back into the hangar and through a blast door as it closed, stopping the troopers who had pursued him and Chewbacca. Solo caught up with Skywalker and Organa, who had also run into some trouble, and they prepared to board the Falcon, but several stormtroopers stood guard outside. The troopers, however, rushed to Darth Vader, who was locked in lightsaber combat with Kenobi. The group took advantage of the distraction Kenobi had created to rush aboard the freighter—except for Skywalker, who stopped. Kenobi saw that Skywalker and the others would be safe, so he let himself be cut down by the Dark Lord. Skywalker yelled in grief, alerting the troopers to their presence. The troopers opened fire, but Solo ran and started his ship, and once everyone was on board, blasted off and away from the battle station. Their troubles were not over, however: four Imperial TIE fighters were in pursuit.[7]

Chewbacca piloted the Falcon in order for Skywalker and Solo to man its turrets to fight off the attackers. A dogfight ensued, where Solo shot down one fighter and congratulated Skywalker when he shot one down, as well—and advised him to not "get cocky." Solo soon shot down the final Imperial fighter and sighed in relief as they entered hyperspace to travel to Yavin 4—the location of the Rebels' hidden base. While en route to the Yavin system, Organa grimly informed Solo that the Imperials had let them escape in order to track them to the hidden base, which explained the relative ease of their escape. Solo didn't believe it had been easy and demanded to know what information Artoo was carrying that made him so special. Organa told him: the technical readouts to the Death Star. Solo was shocked, and added that once he was rewarded, he was going to leave; he claimed he wasn't interested in the Rebels' revolution or the princess as a companion. Organa assured Solo that if all he loved was money, that's all he would receive, and stomped away. Skywalker took her place and asked the smuggler what he thought of the princess. Solo admitted she had spirit, and inquired to whether Skywalker could see Organa and Solo together. Skywalker quickly said "no," thereby admitting he had his own feeling for the princess—much to Solo's amusement.[7]

A change of conscience Edit

"I knew you'd come back—I just knew it!"

"Well, I couldn't let you get all the credit and take all the reward!"

"Hey, I knew there was more to you than money!" ―Skywalker, Solo and Organa celebrate the destruction of the Death Star [src]

The Falcon soon reached Yavin 4, where Solo and the others were welcomed; Alliance Alliance High Command had feared that Organa had died with her world. The plans within Artoo were analyzed and a weakness was discovered: a two-meter wide exhaust port that led to the station's main reactor. Solo and Chewbacca attended a briefing for the Rebel pilots, including Skywalker, who were going to attack the station when it inevitably arrived. General Jan Dodonna explained that a one-man starfighter could get close enough and fire proton torpedoes into the shaft that would cause a chain reaction that would destroy the station. Solo was skeptical, thinking it suicide to even attempt. Therefore, after he was given his reward of credits, he packed up to leave, but was confronted by Skywalker who insisted he stay and fight with the Rebellion. Solo, thinking selfishly of his debt with Jabba, refused, and asked Skywalker to come with him and Chewbacca. Skywalker was dismayed with Solo's selfishness and angrily walked away. Solo called after him an old Jedi saying: "May the Force be with you." Chewbacca was disappointed in Solo—he wanted to stay and fight.[7]

Solo and Chewbacca then left Yavin 4 aboard the Millennium Falcon. Soon, however, Chewbacca's nagging and Solo's conscience got the better of the smuggler, and he turned around and headed towards the Death Star, where the battle was raging—although he did so not for the Rebellion's cause, but to save his friend, Skywalker.[54] He arrived in his ship to find Skywalker in his T-65B X-wing starfighter being pursued by three TIE fighters, led by Darth Vader, in the station's meridian trench. Solo fired on the three Imperial fighters, destroying one, and causing another to panic and collide with Vader, who was sent spinning away from the battle station. Solo yelled in glee and told Skywalker to fire his torpedoes, since he was now clear to do so. Skywalker did, and it was a direct hit: The Death Star blew apart[7] and killed everyone on board.[55] Vader, however, escaped after regaining control of his fighter. Of the thirty Alliance ships that had participated in the battle, only three returned to the base with Solo in the Falcon. Solo rushed to Skywalker as he exited his fighter and congratulated him, while the princess embraced Solo for his bravery and proving there was more to him than money.[7]

A rushed[21] award ceremony was held later for the heroes of the battle, which included Solo. The three awardees, Solo, Skywalker and Chewbacca, walked the aisle past hundreds of Alliance personnel. They reached the stage, where Organa placed a medal around Solo's neck as he winked at her. Skywalker was given his medal and they bowed to the princess and turned as the crowd clapped for them.[7] Organa delivered her speech, next. She asked them all to not forget the lives lost on Alderaan and during the battle, including her[56] adopted parents,[57] Viceroy Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa. Dodonna followed up by informing the base's population their next course of action: evacuate Yavin 4. The ceremony was adjourned. Organa playfully told Solo that he and his first mate had better get work.[56]

Sometime following the battle of Yavin, Solo accepted a commission in the Alliance Military as a captain.[58]

Mission to Cyrkon Edit

"I'm not part of this! I'm not a part of your rebellion, I'm not a freedom fighter, and I don't work for you, Your Highness!"

"If you worked for me, I'd have fired you already."

"If I worked for you, lady, I'd have quit." ―Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa [src]

With the Falcon scheduled to leave shortly after the Battle of Yavin, it was already an hour late as it lay berthed in the Great Temple following the rebels' victory. Leia Organa, helping oversee the last stages of the evacuation, approached Han in an effort to get him to aid the Rebellion once more by rescuing Lieutenant Caluan Ematt of the elite rebel recon unit the Shrikes. Initially refusing, Han was eventually persuaded to come to the rebels' aid following pressure from his companion, Chewbacca. With an even larger bounty of 224,190 credits placed on his head,[29] Han decided against his better judgment to aid the princess, if only for feeling a pang of guilt for her and their doomed resistance movement. With the Falcon the fastest ship and only ship that could reach Ematt in time, Han and Chewie set course for the distant Outer Rim world of Cyrkon, where Ematt had been last heard from. Narrowly escaping the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Vehement by changing their ship's IFF transponder, the two landed in the city's capital, Motok, where they ran into a gang of bounty hunters determined to claim the reward Jabba had put on their heads. Feigning surrender and stalling, Han offered to hand over the money they had to pay off their debts to Jabba for their lives. The arrival of ISB Commander Alecia Beck and a quartet of stormtroopers interrupted the firefight, whereupon Han pretended to be the victim of a gang of rowdy rebels. With the bounty hunters now engaged fighting the stormtroopers, Han and Chewie ran off to meet with their old friend Delia Leighton of the starship Miss Fortune, a mobile bar that could pack up and leave whenever local authorities realized their operations and evasion of property taxes. While initially refusing to believe that Han was working with the Rebellion, Delia ultimately agreed to help Han by providing him with the location of Ematt in a low-rent hotel on the outskirts of town. Han and Chewie headed there in a recently purchased high-end speeder, for which Han intended to bill the Alliance. The gang of bounty hunters they had run into previously followed them after interrogating Delia and threatening to kill her longtime friend. Unbeknownst to Han, Chewbacca and Ematt, the bounty hunters, realizing their situation for fighting the Empire earlier, agreed to help the Imperials by hunting down Han Solo and the rebel he was supposed to meet, with Alecia Beck having previously ambushed Ematt's team members of Taanab. Not intending to have Ematt commit suicide as his team members did to protect the sensitive information in their heads, Beck ordered over forty stormtroopers to take up positions in and around the hangar where the Falcon was berthed as the bounty hunters chased Han back towards his ship.[32]

Arriving in the hanger to be surrounded by stormtroopers, Han and his compatriots believed they were done for. Nonetheless, in an effort to escape, Han pretended to rile Chewie by referring to him as his slave, provoking an angry retort. Starting a fight, the rebels quickly assaulted the nearby Imperials attempting to cuff them as Delia and her ship, Miss Fortune, opened fire on the hangar, with Delia seeking to make amends with Han for her forced betrayal. Firing at the two magnetic generators protecting the hangar from the toxic fumes of the planet outside, Han managed to escape with Chewie and Ematt along with Delia in her ship as they blasted off into the planet's atmosphere. Needing time for the navigation computer to plot their jump to lightspeed, Han and Chewie manned the cockpit while Ematt manned both turbolasers from the ship's cockpit. Fending off several TIE fighters, the Miss Fortune suddenly took a hit to its navicomputer. After a moment's reflection, Han decided to help her and her ship instead of running away as he would have normally done, distracting the Star Destroyer as it utilized its tractor beam in an attempt to capture the Falcon. Fixing their navicomputer, the Miss Fortune was able to jump to light speed but not before the Falcon was caught in the Vehement's lock. Han, horrified by the Empire's willingness to destroy its own fragile TIE fighters in the wake of their tractor beam to capture them, fell into a freefall towards the planet in an effort to escape the beam. Due to the planet's gravity interfering with the tractor beam, Commander Beck ordered the Star Destroyer to move closer to attain its target, but he was ultimately forced to pull out after realizing that utilizing the tractor beam so close to the capital city of Motok would destroy it, turning thousands of citizens against the Empire and resulting in mass media coverage of the atrocity. Backing off, the Falcon pulled up from its collision course with the city and jumped to the safety of hyperspace.[32]

Encountering Lady Proxima Edit

"You can't be talking about the Coaxium. It's been years, Proxima. And besides, it was those other guys who stole the—"

"Yes it's been all these years..." ―Han Solo and Lady Proxima [src]

Solo returned to Corellia for parts for the Millennium Falcon alongside Chewbacca. During this, Moloch, who was a member of the White Worms, captured Solo and Chewbacca and brought them to Proxima. When Moloch brought Solo and Chewbacca into Den of the White Worms, Proxima told him he would be punished because he owed her coaxium and gave her face scars from sunlight. Chewbacca gave Solo a thermal detonator, which he used to explode the window which brought in sunlight. The sunlight damaged Praxima's face again and blinded her right eye as Solo and Chewbacca made their escape.[59]

Secret mission and the Dragon Void Run Edit

Solo and Chewbacca left to earn credits to pay off Jabba. They took several smuggling jobs, but Solo was getting nervous and turning down jobs. He was approached by Katrull with an easy job but turned it down, stating the sector was under Imperial observation. After Katrull left, Solo noticed a female he had seen previously on another planet. Getting suspicious, he decided to leave only to be stopped by her partner at gunpoint. They escorted him back to the Falcon, where Chewbacca greeted them. The two agents revealed themselves to be part of the Rebel Alliance. They explained that Princess Leia had sent them to borrow the Millennium Falcon for a special mission. Solo refused to allow his ship to used without him and returned to the Rebel fleet to confront the princess.[60]

When he arrived, he angrily asked Organa about her decision to use his ship without his permission or participation. She took him aside and led him to a meeting with Airen Cracken . Organa explained they had undercover agents they had to recover and decided to use the Dragon Void Run as cover to rescue them. She revealed that the Rebel leadership was worried about leaks and wanted to use a ship that wasn't aligned with the Rebel Alliance. Solo agreed to the mission and accompanied Organa back to the docking bay. There, they feigned an argument so it wouldn't draw suspicion when theand her crew left the fleet.

Solo and Chewbacca arrived in the Gomar sector, checked in with the race officials and attended a party with the other racers. When the other participants realized he was a smuggler and not a professional racer, they first attempted to have him thrown out and then proceeded to ridicule him. Loo Re Anno intervened, and explained Solo had heart and the loyalty of his crew and this made him worthy. The racers then lined up and made the jump to hyperspace to travel to the first checkpoint in the race. When they arrived, Solo found his ship under attack along with the other racers.[60]

Solo attempted to outmaneuver the attacking mines , but was cut off by Delan Vook . Vook used theas a shield and fired on the attacking mines, hitting Solo's ship. Solo was angered by this and ran into Vook's ship, temporarily disabling it. As more of the mines attacked his ship, Solo noticed that they were ignoring the racers who had been knocked out. He correctly surmised that the mines were programmed to attack ships that were powered up, so he turned off his engines and coasted across the finish line unscathed. Loo Re Anno attached a cable to theand used it to tow her ship safely across the finish line as well. She thanked Solo for the assistance. After landing on the planet , Solo confronted Vook about firing on his ship. Loo Re Anno told Vook that it was against the rules to fire on or tamper with another racer's ship and that he could be disqualified if Solo wanted to file a complaint. Solo declined, but warned Vook to stay out of his way. As Solo walked away, he was stopped by a Dug smuggler who warned him that he was in danger. He was then stopped by several stormtroopers, who arrested him. Solo was rounded up with the other racers of the Dragon Void Run as observers of the race protested. Vook complained about the Imperial interference and was attacked by a stormtrooper. Solo came to his defense and was knocked to the ground. Before any more fighting could take place, an Imperial officer stopped it so that there wouldn't be any bad publicity.

Tomine told Solo he and the other racers were criminals. When the Imperial officer took offense at Loo Re Anno's witnesses, Solo stepped in to prevent the Imperials from harming them. The race officials convinced Tomine to let the race continue, and Solo ran back to his ship to start the next stage. Once on board, he found out that Chewbacca was injured while escorting the Rebel spy Bot back to the Falcon. They began the next stage of the race, and Bot explained his theory that one of the spies that Solo was tasked to pick up during the race was a murderer who was killing the other informants. Solo assured him that everything would be okay. The ship arrived at the next stage of the race, which was a grueling twelve-hour run through a shifting debris field. Solo considered purposely disqualifying himself, which would still allow him to visit all the planets in the race without the risk of the race. He changed his mind and decided to complete the stage despite the danger. At the very end, the Falcon clipped some debris which caused it to slow down and possibly be disqualified but was saved when Vook hooked a tow cable onto the ship and pulled it across the finish line. After landing, Solo left Chewbacca with the Falcon to go retrieve the second Rebel spy, but was followed by camera droids. One of Loo Re Anno's witnesses, who had attached itself to Solo, destroyed the camera droids so Solo could meet with the spy without being observed. Solo and the Rebel spy returned to the Falcon, only to discover the spy had a history with Chewbacca and wanted to settle an old debt.[62]

Once on the Falcon, Dorae drew her blaster and explained that Chewbacca had killed her "baby," a newly hatched rathtar which was trying to kill Solo. She had planned to sell the creature, and its death had caused her serious financial problems. Solo stepped in front of her blaster in an attempt to defuse the situation. Loo Re Anno and the Twi'lek racers Sotna Reat and Nowk Asil, who were alerted to the danger by one of Lee Re Anno's witnesses, boarded the Falcon to assist Solo. Solo told the racers he was handling the situation and didn't need their help. Asil confronted Solo and told him that the race shouldn't be used as cover for personal business. Lee Re Anno assured the Twi'lek that Solo wouldn't sully the race's reputation like that and then asked to speak to him privately. She described the history of the Dragon Void Run and how her grandmother had founded the race. She told Solo she saw something greater than just a simple pilot in him, but Solo replied that he was just a good pilot and being a special person just caused trouble. The racers left his ship, and Solo returned to the lounge where all his passengers were. Dorae questioned why Solo was working for the Rebel Alliance and told him she had joined after financial problems caused her to lose her bar. As the race was about to resume, Dorae told him that they were waiting for the last of the Rebel operatives, and once they were aboard he should abandon the race and return to the fleet. Solo decided to delay taking off to wait for the others. A speeder approached the Falcon, chased by stormtroopers, and Solo told Chewbacca to start the engines in order to make a quick getaway. As the last of the Rebel spies boarded the freighter, Solo quickly left the planet, chased by TIE fighters. Solo wondered why they weren't trying to destroy the ship, and Dorae explained they were trying to capture them. Solo jumped to hyperspace and escaped. When they were safe, Solo joined the rest of the passengers. U'Il explained that they were ambushed by the Empire because one of the Rebel spies in the group must be a traitor. She and Solo went into the cockpit and discussed their plan of action. U'Il wanted to return to the Rebel base, but Solo wanted to continue to the next leg of the race and try to determine who was giving information to the Empire. When they came out of hyperspace, he and the other racers were confronted by an Imperial fleet. U'Il suggested they flee, but Lee Re Anno convinced Solo and the other racers to continue the race.[63]

Solo took evasive action and asked the other racers if they had any weapons on their ships. When they replied that they were unarmed, Chewbacca fired on a TIE fighter with the Falcon's quad laser cannon. During the fight, Dorae entered the cockpit and informed Solo that Aran had been murdered. Before he could react, Lee Re Anno summoned an interdimensional creature to distract the Imperials so the race could proceed. As the Falcon entered the Dragon Void, Solo went to confront his passengers. Dorae criticized his decision to enter the Void, knowing that they could end up stranded and captured by the Empire. Solo deduced that Bot had killed Aran, and was attacked by the Duros with a hidden poison injector. He headbutted Bot, who was subdued by Chewbacca but not before Bot injected himself with the poison. Solo and Chewbacca returned to the cockpit to finish the race. He contacted Loo Re Anno and asked her about her plans for after the race. She explained to him that her life as a lone pilot was coming to an end, and she would either win the race or perish. The race continued, and the starships approached the gate that marked the end of the race. As they got closer, Solo managed to pilot the Falcon past Delan Vook's starship and the Starshot team. He drew even with Loo Re Anno's starship and passed her when her starship was hit by fire from the pursuing Imperials. When he got near the gate, he realized he was dooming the legendary pilot to death, and veered off at the last minute, which allowed Loo Re Anno to enter the gate first. His passengers were convinced they were going to be captured and killed by the Empire. U'Il suggested that Solo take her blaster and kill them all before the Empire could take them. The gate opened, and Loo Re Anno and the rest of her people emerged. She thanked Solo for allowing her to return to her people. She then reopened the gate, so the racers could return to the start of the race safely. Once clear of the Imperials, Solo returned to the Rebel base and delivered his passengers to Organa. She chided him on his rash behavior during the race. Solo reflected on the lesson he had learned from Loo Re Anno and decided to stay with the Rebels a while longer.[64]

Becoming one of the Empire's most wanted Edit

"You put your face in front of the Empire. You didn't have to do that."

"I thought we agreed it was the only way to pull off this crazy stunt of yours."

"But now the whole galaxy will know...that Han Solo is one of us."

"One of us? Now just hold on there, your excellency. I'm still just a smuggler with a price on his head. I'm not—"

"I do have one question for you though. Why? Why would you do that? What is it you really want, Han Solo?"

"Um...Maybe now's not the best time to..." ―Princess Leia confronts Solo about his true motives with the Rebellion [src]

With the Empire's Death Star destroyed, Alliance High Command chose to press their advantage at the Empire's disarray by launching campaigns across the galaxy, targeting key Imperial worlds and facilities.[52] And when the Alliance learned of the Empire's decision to call on the Hutt Clan to supply the Imperial war machine with resources, Solo decided to co-lead a mission with Princess Leia: intercept the envoy from Jabba at Weapons Factory Alpha on Cymoon 1, in the Corellian Industrial Cluster. Solo decided to stick with the Alliance in order to destroy the Empire's largest weapons factory and use his connections to the Hutt Clan to bluff their way into the factory, pretending to be the Hutt's envoy after Rebels ship-jacked the true envoy and stole their ship—which Solo, Organa, Skywalker, and Artoo traveled to Cymoon 1 in. Chewbacca and Threepio, likewise, piloted the Falcon to Cymoon 1, landing undetected in the extensive fields of refuse that surrounded the factory.[14]

Solo landed the transport at Weapons Factory Alpha without incident and the group emerged from the craft. Organa and Skywalker were disguised in Jabba's bodyguard armor, acting as Solo's bodyguards, so Solo introduced himself to the Imperial delegation: the Overseer of the facility, Aggadeen—whom Solo quickly gave the derogatory nickname "Aggie"—a group of stormtroopers and a LOM-series protocol droid. After the protocol droid confirmed Solo's connections to the Hutts, "Aggie" led the false envoy onto the factory floor after Solo and the others handed over their weapons to the stormtroopers. Solo played along, cocky and overconfident, claiming to Aggadeen that he was the being that had taught Jabba his shrewd business skills. "Aggie" was unimpressed and chided Solo for his ignorance, and revealed that there were, in truth, not going to be any negotiations: The Empire would state their demands and Solo would accept them on behalf of the Hutt Clan without argument.[14]

Upon arriving at the conference room where Solo was to meet the Empire's negotiator, Solo and Artoo began the attack; Artoo, Skywalker, and Organa took the stormtroopers down in hand-to-hand combat, while Solo held the Overseer at gunpoint and demanded to know the direction to the facility's main power core. Aggadeen was horrified, but relented and sent them in the correct direction. While racing towards the core reactor, Organa contacted Threepio to ensure the droid would activate the Falcon's autopilot in order to pick them up once they finished their task. Threepio assured them that he would, and that he would take care of Solo's ship.[14]

Solo, Organa, and Artoo then went to work rigging the core to explode. Skywalker, however, instead of standing guard as Solo had asked, fell into the Force and located several dozen slaves, which he freed. Solo grew worried at Skywalker's disappearance, but they finished slicing into the reactor nonetheless, programming it to self-destruct in ten minutes. Organa took time to thank Solo for defying his selfish nature to aid her and the Rebellion; however, she questioned just why Solo would act so, wishing to know his true motives. Solo's motives were to help his new friend, Skywalker, but he was saved from admitting that he was also interested in Organa romantically when Skywalker returned to the reactor room with the slaves. Solo figured "the more the merrier" and called Threepio to tell him to start the Falcon's autopilot and pick them up. Chewbacca interrupted, bringing news of the arrival of the Empire's negotiator: Darth Vader. Solo ordered the Wookiee to retreat from the Dark Lord, but Organa countered Solo, telling Chewbacca to open fire in order to rid the galaxy of Vader.[14]

Chewbacca consented, but was unable to defeat Vader and was forced to flee, falling out of contact with Solo's group. Solo called Threepio, inquiring where he and the Falcon were, regretting that the planned chain of events had gone awry. The protocol droid explained that he had not yet arrived because the freighter was being dismantled by native scavengers. Solo told him to solve the problem and took off with Organa, Skywalker, Artoo, and the slaves in search of a way out of the factory. Solo located a hangar full of massive All Terrain Armored Transport walkers and proceeded[14] to hijack one such behemoth.[65] Unbeknownst to the group, Skywalker had left the group in order to find and face Darth Vader, the man he believed had killed his Jedi father.[14]

Solo, Organa, Artoo, and several slaves boarded the walker, so Solo began their escape, barreling through the walls of the facility. Solo located Skywalker and Vader locked in lightsaber combat, so he brought the leg of the AT-AT into the confrontation, which forced the two combatants apart. The smuggler told Skywalker to follow him with the slaves, as he was going to clear a path out of the factory before it exploded. Organa saw Vader and ordered Solo to target him, while the slaves targeted the Imperial ground troops. As a consequence of the walker being just-made, the laser cannons were not yet operational, which kept Artoo and a pair of Jawas busy while they worked on enabling them while Solo and Organa argued.[65]

While the rebels continued in their escape, Solo brought the walker towards Vader, trying to crush him with the AT-AT's feet. However, Vader used the dark side of the Force to stop the walker. The dark power the Sith Lord wielded began to tear the behemoth apart. Solo was in disbelief at Vader's power—Solo was still not convinced that the power Skywalker and Vader wielded was real—and at Artoo's assurance that they were operational, opened fire on Vader with the walker's laser cannons, minorly injuring the Dark Lord and allowing Solo to pilot the walker outside the facility into the refuse fields. In the moment of calm, Solo tried to contact both Chewbacca and Threepio, but both failed to answer, leaving Solo to be very grateful when Skywalker assured him that he was heading towards the rendezvous.[65]

While continuing their journey towards the Falcon, Chewbacca roared over the comlink, relieving Solo that his friend was alive. Chewbacca then rescued Threepio from the tentacles of the scavengers and began to repair the damage they had done in order to pick up Solo and the others. However, Organa and Solo soon realized that the factory's reactor must have been defused, because it had been long past ten minutes and it hadn't exploded. Just after, Darth Vader set himself upon stopping the stolen walker, which he did by cutting down the walker's legs. Solo and Organa looked at each other in realization as Vader succeeded in his task: the walker crashed to the ground. Solo was injured in the crash and left battered and bloody. Organa and the slaves carried him from the wreckage while Skywalker covered them. The Jedi-to-be then returned to the factory mounted on a 74-Z speeder bike and destroyed the core reactor, decimating the entire facility. Chewbacca, with the Falcon repaired enough to fly, picked up the rebels, and they fled into hyperspace[66] to the safety of the Rebel fleet.[52]

Aboard one of the Rebel capital ships, Solo was treated for the injuries he sustained. He and Chewbacca then repaired the Falcon[52] best they could with the parts they were allowed by the Alliance deck crew.[39] Later, Solo advised Skywalker, who was leaving on a journey to return to Tatooine to continue his Jedi journey, to not leave because it was too dangerous. Skywalker left anyway, though, believing it something he needed to do.[52]

Return of the spouse and rescuing Skywalker Edit

"Enough of this, Sana. Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"Same old Han. You never wanna admit when you're caught. What's next, the whole 'I thought you were dead' excuse? Or are you really just gonna stand there and act like our marriage on Stenness never happened?"

"We both know what happened on Stenness and it certainly wasn't a—"

"Nar Shaddaa. I just talked to the Rebel fleet. Luke's in trouble." ―Solo, Starros, and Organa [src]

A short time later, after being denied access to the parts he needed to finish repairing the Millennium Falcon, Solo went and asked Organa what it would take for him to get the parts so he could leave the Alliance and settle his debt with Jabba before bounty hunters showed up to forcibly take him to Jabba. Organa chided him, explaining that the Rebellion couldn't afford to give away expensive items for free—Solo had to work for them. The princess informed the smuggler that she was going on a scouting mission to a possible location for a new Rebel base; Solo could act as her pilot on the mission and receive the parts he needed as payment. Solo agreed, though he was adamant that he would leave the Rebellion upon their return.[39]

Solo and Organa soon set off aboard a stolen Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, the Invictus, and intended to scout several locales, including the Ganath Cloud and the Moons of Ovise. They began their search in the Moddell sector. Before they could truly begin, however, a pair of Imperial TIE fighters unexpectedly approached the shuttle and demanded identification from the Invictus. Solo found it inexplicable that Imperials were as far out in the Outer Rim as they were, and prepared to put the shuttle through evasive maneuvers. The princess stopped him, however, and transferred their stolen clearance codes to the TIE fighter pilots. The pilots were about to clear the Invictus, but Solo became impatient and put the shuttle through evasive maneuvers, tipping the Imperials off that the Invictus was not what it claimed to be, so the Imperials opened fire. Organa was furious at Solo, but as it was too late to rectify the situation, let Solo take the shuttle to an unnamed planet in the nearby Monsua Nebula. The TIEs didn't follow Solo through the planet's electrical super-storms, though that saving grace didn't change the princess's mind; she told the smuggler that she hated him.[39]

On the surface of the planet, Solo was satisfied when Organa forgot their troubles, admitting that she found it incredible that beneath the planet's atmosphere of super-storms, a beautiful oasis laid. Solo led her to his secret hiding place and offered her a glass of Corellian wine in an attempt to seduce her. The princess rejected Solo's invitation: she threw the wine into his face, stormed out of the cave, and berated him for getting side-tracked on their mission—especially when they were in danger. Organa argued that if Solo hadn't lost his nerve and alerted the TIEs that they weren't who they claimed to be, they wouldn't have been in the predicament in the first place. Solo countered that nothing in the entire galaxy could make him lose his nerve. However, a ship—the Volt Cobra, Sana Starros' ship—appeared and fired a laser blast down at the pair. Solo recognized the Cobra, lost his nerve, and told Organa to run. Confounded, Solo and Organa watched as Starros emerged from her freighter and introduced herself to the princess, pointing a blaster at her and claiming to be Sana Solo, Han's wife. Solo could only put his hand on his face and mutter "oh no."[38]

Starros had placed probes in the atmosphere of the planet some time before[39] in an attempt to track Solo, and it had paid off. Starros had taken it upon herself to make Solo's life miserable until he paid her share from the robbery on Stenness years earlier.[37] Organa was shocked that Solo had never told her he was married, though Solo made it clear that he wasn't. Starros greeted Solo with a kiss, and then struck him across the face, which led Organa to decide that she wanted no part of their business. Solo called to the princess, pleading to her that Starros was not his wife. And when he did, Starros recognized the name of Princess Leia and decided to claim the bounty on Organa by turning her in to the Empire. Organa ignored them and went to return to the Invictus, but Starros, by voice-control, told the Cobra to destroy the shuttle, which it did, cutting of their escape. Solo was appalled at Starros' ruthlessness and was forced to let Starros frisk him; she took his DL-44 blaster pistol.[67]

Starros then contacted the Star Destroyer that had come to the planet after being alerted by the TIE that had originally pursued the Invictus, telling them that she intended to claim the bounty on Organa. Solo whispered to Organa that he could make it right, though he wouldn't take Starros on in a gunfight: she was a better shot than him. The princess, however, took over Solo's plan; she kicked him into Starros and pulled a blaster pistol from her boot. Much to Solo's dismay, Organa held Starros and him at gunpoint, though Starros pointed out the flaw in Organa's plan: TIE fighters were already descending from the sky.[67]

Several TIEs landed and their pilots emerged, ordering the trio to stand down. Organa opened fire on them. Solo pleaded with Starros to give him back his blaster, but she refused, only consenting when Solo lost his temper and admitted that he had joined the Rebel Alliance and was on the Empire's most wanted list. Solo and Starros raced aboard the Volt Cobra, and Organa did, too, after realizing that Starros had given up on selling her to the Empire. Solo tried to persuade Starros to let him pilot her ship, but both she and Organa commanded him to "shut up" as they fled into space.[68] Solo and Organa manned the Cobra's turbolasers, firing on the pursuing TIEs before Starros finally jumped to hyperspace.[69]

While in hyperspace, Starros mused Solo, amused that he had become a Rebel. Solo berated Starros for continuing to claim to be his wife, reminding her that their marriage was illegitimate and part of a robbery they had both been a part of. Organa then interrupted, bringing news from the Rebel fleet that Skywalker was in trouble on the Hutt world of Nar Shaddaa, the "smuggler's moon." Solo did not understand what his friend was doing there, but he would soon find out: Organa promised to pay Starros if she took them to Nar Shaddaa—and Starros accepted.[69] En route to Nar Shaddaa, Solo begged Organa to trust him rather than Starros, but Organa mostly ignored him and slammed a door in his face. Flustered, Solo decided to admit the truth—he explained the robbery on Stenness, where he had participated in a marriage ceremony with Starros that was faked. He went to apologize to her, but behind the door, Organa was gone. Solo slumped to the floor, wishing Chewbacca was with him.[36]

Shortly thereafter, the Cobra arrived on Nar Shaddaa at the coordinates of Chewbacca and Threepio, who had also answered Skywalker's distress call and come to his rescue. Chewbacca, however, had fallen afoul with the Corellian bounty hunter Dengar, who had subdued the Wookiee in an attempt to lure Solo there so he could claim Jabba's bounty on Solo.[69] Enraged, Solo shot the bounty hunter in the back and demanded he take his "damn hands off" his friend.[36] Solo ordered Dengar to step away from Chewbacca and he would be allowed to live, but Dengar refused; instead he activated a thermal detonator that he threatened to detonate. Chewbacca, who was not hurt badly, took advantage of Dengar when he was distracted and threw the bounty hunter from the roof of the skyscraper, where the grenade and Dengar exploded. With that settled, Solo made sure Chewbacca was all right. The group did not know where Skywalker was, but a flight of TIE fighters streaking through the sky tipped them off: follow trouble to find Skywalker.[37] Immediately after, Solo and the group—including Starros, who had come to ensure Solo did not try to lose her—arrived at the location of the Imperial attention: the Palace of Grakkus the Hutt, where Skywalker had been kidnapped[37] by Grakkus the Hutt,[68] an avid collector of all things Jedi. Grakkus had organized a gladiator fight between Skywalker and Kongo the Disembowler, a massive beast from the molten world of Mustafar.[69] As Solo led the group into the palace, the crowd that had come to watch the fight fled the arena because Kongo was on the loose. Solo and the others tried to fire on the monster, but an EMP blast triggered by Grakkus had disabled all electronics—including blasters. Confounded on how to proceed, the group was saved by Artoo, who located the group and threw Solo, Chewbacca, and Organa each lightsabers that belonged to Grakkus. Solo scoffed at using the weapon of Force-sensitives, but with his DL-44 unusable, he charged into the melee with his first mate and the princess, cutting down stormtroopers and TIE pilots.[37]

Solo soon located Skywalker and went to gather him so they could leave the smuggler's moon. Skywalker quipped that Solo looked good wielding the Jedi weapon, though Solo only wished he had his blaster at his side. Skywalker tried to persuade Solo to let him go back and claim more of Grakkus's Jedi artifacts, but Chewbacca hoisted the Jedi-in-training and carried him back to the Falcon while Solo made sure Organa and Starros also made it out.[37] Starros made her peace with Organa and Solo, so she set off on her own in the Cobra.[37] Skywalker, using "The Journals of Ben Kenobi" that he had claimed on Tatooine,[38] set out to the planet Vrogas Vas, where an ancient Jedi temple was said to remain. Solo, Chewbacca, and Organa, returned to the Rebel fleet, Solo having decided to stay with the Rebellion just a bit longer.[70]

War on Vrogas Vas Edit

"Drop the kid or I drop you!"

"Let me guess. Han Solo, the infamous smuggler!"

"Yeah...! You've...heard of me?!"

"Of course! As of about five minutes ago! I'm starting to understand why you've got so many bounties on your head! You're not very good at this kind of thing, are you? If you were, you would've shot first and given warnings later!" ―Solo and Dr. Aphra first meet [src]

Some time later, the Rebel fleet was notified that Darth Vader had been shot down on Vrogas Vas by Alliance forces. Organa informed Solo that she intended to go after Vader to kill him, though Solo thought it foolish; Vader was too powerful. Solo realized, however, that Vrogas Vas was where Skywalker had gone, so he decided to put priority on making sure Skywalker was all right—not wishing to face Vader as the princess wanted. Soon thereafter, Solo, Chewbacca, Threepio, and Organa traveled to Vrogas Vas aboard the Falcon with a complement of Rebel starfighters.[70]

The YT-1300 freighter soon arrived at the Rebel refueling base on Vrogas Vas, and he and the princess were briefed in the mission by an Alliance captain: Skywalker had brought Vader down by crashing his T-65 X-wing into Vader's TIE Advanced, the bravest thing the captain had ever seen. After receiving word that Skywalker's safety status was unknown, just that his fighter had crashed, Solo took it upon himself to rescue the "lucky, crazy kid." Solo expected Organa to do the same, but she put her focus on taking Vader down once and for all. Solo was shocked that the princess would do that, but he left her to lead an assault on Vader with the base's company.[71] Solo nonetheless left with Chewbacca in the Falcon and headed to the quadrant where Skywalker crashed, saddened at Organa's order of priories.[72]

Upon arriving at the coordinate's where Skywalker crashed, Solo and Chewbacca saw explosions in the distance, so they quietly landed the Falcon near the source of the commotion. Solo hiked atop a ridge with a sniper rifle, while Chewbacca headed around the ridge to intercept the mercenaries. Solo soon saw Skywalker, though he was unconscious and being carried by the assassin droid 0-0-0. 0-0-0 was accompanied by his counterpart, the BT-1 assassin droid BT-1, and their master, Doctor Aphra, who had been hired by Vader to kidnap Skywalker.[72]

Solo called out to Aphra and her droids, making it clear that he wanted to just save his friend.[72] Aphra, however, had researched Skywalker's associates[71] and recognized Solo, so she thought she could anticipate his next moves. Aphra retorted to him that he would have shot first if he was any good at rescuing his friends. Solo recognized Aphra as the notorious gun thief, and listened to her threats, waiting for Chewbacca to get in position. Once the Wookiee was in position, he ripped off 0-0-0's—known commonly as Triple-Zero—arms before the droid could harm Skywalker. Aphra charged and took cover at the bottom of the ridge below Solo, and they fired on one another while Chewbacca took on the assassin droids. Skywalker was awakened by Artoo in the ensuing chaos and forced to flee when BT-1—known commonly as Beetee—charged after them. With neither Solo nor Aphra able to gain the upper hand, they each resorted to shooting their own nests of wasp-worms above each other's heads, which dropped the stinging worms onto each other. Blinded and covered in worms, Solo tried to rip them off of himself, but ended up colliding head-on with Aphra. Skywalker, with Chewbacca and Artoo, came and revived the smuggler and thanked him for coming to his rescue again. Triple-Zero and Beetee, however, confronted the Rebels, intending to kill them, which Artoo denied them when he sprayed a liquid into Beetee's rocket launchers and chainguns, which caused the confused droid to launch his weaponry, blowing up the ridge around them.[72] Solo and the group fled the chaos back towards the Falcon, and Solo called Threepio to tell him to inform the princess that they had rescued Skywalker, no thanks to her.[73]

Once at the Falcon, Chewbacca explained that Triple-Zero had poisoned him with Mandalorian Xenetox. Artoo prepared to give him a medical shot that would reduce the effects of the Mandalorian Xenetox. Just then, a live message from Organa came over the Falcon's comm system, in which Organa ordered a squadron of Y-wing bombers to converge on her position and drop their payload on her because she had been captured by Vader, and in her death, Vader would also be killed. Solo quickly got his ship in the air and stubbornly told the princess over the comm that he was not going to let her sacrifice herself.[73]

However, before they could make any headway, an Auzituck anti-slaver gunship collided head-on with the Falcon, knocking both starships into the ground below. Solo and Skywalker recovered themselves, and were met with the imposing figure of the Wookiee Black Krrsantan,[73] a bounty hunter working for Jabba, second only to Boba Fett..[55] Solo pleaded with Krrsantan that it wasn't the time to collect Jabba's bounty on him. Unknown to Solo, however, Krrsantan was working alongside Doctor Aphra and had come to claim Skywalker to take to Aphra. Krrsantan blew a hole in the Falcon's cockpit using a detonator and pulled Skywalker out. Solo was at first glad he hadn't come on Jabba's behalf, but then he realized that him taking Skywalker was no better. A duel between Wookiees then broke out when Chewbacca came to Skywalker's defense. Solo told Skywalker to run and save Organa while Solo and Chewbacca took care of Krrsantan to insure they had a ship to escape Vrogas Vas in.[73]

Neither Wookiee gained the upper hand for some time, so Solo drew his DL-44 pistol to help his friend, but Krrsantan thwarted his attempt when he threw Chewbacca straight into the smuggler, knocking his blaster into the bounty hunter's grasp. Artoo emerged from the Falcon and informed Solo that he hadn't gotten a chance to give Chewbacca the shot to reverse the poison, so he sent a syringe flying into Chewbacca. Rejuvenated, Chewbacca quickly gained the upper hand against Krrsantan. Solo contacted Skywalker via comlink and asked whether he had located Organa yet, to which Skywalker replied with a warning, just as he was knocked unconscious by Imperial stormtroopers and captured. Before Solo could warn Artoo of Skywalker's capture, Krrsantan, who had overpowered Chewbacca using a dishonorable tactic, grabbed Solo around the neck and began choking him.[74] Threepio, of all beings, confronted Krrsantan, urging him to release Solo and cease hostilities. Krrsantan did, and punched the golden droid. However, Threepio had lost both his arms to Triple-Zero, and when Krrsantan struck him, loose wiring protruding from the droid shocked the Wookiee and knocked him out.[75]

Shortly thereafter, Solo and Artoo revived Threepio and informed him that he had, against all odds, "saved the day." Chewbacca also came to and pointed to an Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle that was flying towards space. Solo had a bad feeling that Skywalker was aboard, and was overcome with guilt at realizing that he had let his friend get captured. Remarkably, the shuttle's engines blew, and it crashed back to the ground. Solo and the others rushed towards the crash site and brought the Rebel pilot back to the Falcon while Solo mused that Skywalker must have had a guardian angel, but Skywalker assured him as per usual, that the Force was with him—though Solo, as per usual, didn't believe it. Upon returning to his ship, Solo noticed that Krrsantan was nowhere to be seen, and that the hole that the bounty hunter had blown into the Falcon's cockpit had curiously been patched up. In answer to Solo's wondering, Aphra appeared and informed the rebels that they were standing in a field of micro-mines, and she had her finger on the trigger to detonate the mines. With little choice, Solo dropped his blaster and listened to Aphra contact Vader via comlink that she had Skywalker, Solo, and the others at her mercy. The rebels were shocked that Aphra had actually thrown in with the Sith Lord and was working for him. Before Vader could arrive, however, Organa finally made it back, having escaped Vader herself due to the timely arrival[75] of one of Vader's rivals, the Mon Calamari General Karbin,[74] and struck Aphra across the jaw, thereby also saving the day. Solo was very pleased to have Organa back with them, and they carried Aphra's unconscious body aboard the Falcon and they together escaped Vader and Vrogas Vas.[75]

Smuggler, rebel, mentor, hostage Edit

"How else are we gonna replace the money we just lost?"

"Heh, don't worry, kid. I know just the thing. It's a big galaxy. And believe me, there's always something somewhere in need of smuggling." ―Skywalker and Solo [src]

Upon to returning to the Rebel Fleet with their new prisoner, Doctor Aphra, Solo and his friends went their separate ways; Organa, Artoo, and Threepio went to detain Aphra at an Alliance-controlled space station, Sunspot Prison, with the assistance of Sana Starros, whom Organa hired to transport them to the prison. On the other hand, Solo and Skywalker were dispatched to buy supplies for the rebellion in the meantime.[76]

The rebel duo traveled back to a spaceport of a planet, as Solo had decided to try and double the Rebellion's credits by cheating his way through a game of sabacc against a green-skinned Dowutin—and in doing so, he hoped to make enough credits to begin to pay restitution to Jabba. Part way through the game, due to the large amounts of credits Solo was betting in overconfidence, the Dowutin began to suspect Solo of cheating. The smuggler lied, insisting that he was not, and reassured Skywalker's misgivings in Solo possibly losing the Alliance's money. A very short time later, the Dowutin and his cronies discovered that Solo was, in fact, playing a dishonest game, so Solo fled with Skywalker just behind—not wanting to discover if the Dowutin really was going to cut off their fingers and tongues for their dishonesty. The rebel duo boarded the Falcon—which they had taken on their journey—and blasted away from the planet. Skywalker, angry with Solo's recklessness with credits that weren't theirs, voiced that they could get kicked out of the Rebellion for losing several thousand Rebel-owned credits. At Solo's retort that he needed to get the price off his head as soon as possible, Skywalker revealed that he, too, had an Imperial bounty of 60,000 credits on his head. Solo was distraught—Solo's bounty[76] was a mere 50,000 credits.[14] Solo intended to make back the rebels' credits and more the best way he knew how with Skywalker at his side: smuggling contraband.[76]

With his new first m