Prologue: Escape

MY story doesn't start with romance, luck, nor riches. That's not life for most of us in the galaxy. Here, you're always owing somebody something it seems, whether it's a Hutt or the government you're under. In the old days, it was the Empire and the Rebel Alliance fighting. Now, with the GFFA (or Galactic Federation of Free Alliances if you're lucky enough to be unfamiliar) striving for “peace” among the galaxy, the Imperial Remnant still wanting their slice of the pie, so-called “Jedi” and “Sith” battling for dominance…it feels like things may be worse than ever before. Tightening control again after two major recent wars, the first being the Yuzhan Vong War and the latter being the Swarm War, the GFFA reigns still, stomping out hope in all of those under its glossy stormtrooper-white boot until all that's left is a dream…and that dream isn't shared by everyone; most have resigned to a life of slavery in some form or another. And careful with talk of rebellion; you'll get taken quicker than the pot in a winning hand of Sabacc.

I learned a long time ago how to keep my head down.. Growing up on the streets of Ord Mantell, Coruscant, Alderaan, and others, I was part of a large crew who made their way from planet to planet scamming, swindling, and pickpocketing tourists, politicians, and the occasional street vendor. Having been taken off my home planet of Corellia before I could count, I'm not quite sure of my age, bloodline, or birth name for that matter. The man who took many Corellian children (myself included), Liam Hunt, didn't care enough to ask my parents for any of that. From that point on, I belonged to him; any credits I earned weren't mine, but were to be given up as part of being allowed to live another day. If you cheated Liam, if you tried to cut and run and got caught, you'd be beaten till you weren't able to stand. If you didn't heal quickly and get back to work, you'd be target practice, or worse, shoved out of the airlock mid-flight.

Time went on and I survived, making myself useful, but after seeing the latter happen to one of my Corellian friends I’d known since being brought onboard as children, I knew I had to make something happen, and soon. One day after scoring big off a married Alderaanian politician, who I'd followed and eventually blackmailed, using his infidelity against him, I ran, booking the closest offworld shuttle I could find, and never looking back… I promised myself that day, however, I’d figure out how to make it in this galaxy and come back to free my Corellian brothers and sisters from their lives of slavery..

Years later, I met with a group of misfits on Tatooine, a blisteringly-hot desert planet in Hutt Space. Two twin suns slowly orbited, and they were never out of sight for long enough. Life was hard as we worked for one of the worst Hutt Lords, doing odd jobs for him: bounties, shake-downs, you name it. Eventually there was a political power-move, and we were double-crossed by him. No surprise there; the Hutts are known for their ruthless character. In short, we had to book it off-planet, managing to steal a light freighter in our escape - an HWK-1000 to be exact (a rare Corellian model) - equipped with a Light-Ion Cannon, which we dubbed the Scarlet Estoc.

Shortly after, as we were scanning an Inter-Planetary Requests terminal for jobs nearby, something strange piqued our interest, standing out from the typical 10-15,000cr bounties: A mysterious “Mr. G” offering $500,000 credits in return with information on an old “abandoned" ‘droid factory on the planet Hypori, located in Sector S-16 of the Outer Rim, and just outside of Hutt Space. The client was looking for info specifically on what, if anything, was being produced there as well as the schematics. A bit skeptical, but hoping we'd hit our big break, we plotted course immediately for the planet and made the jump, stars streaking past…

Almost forgetting my golden Chance Dice, pocketed in the Smuggler’s Trenchcoat I'd thrown on before leaving Tatooine, I removed them and let them dangle proudly from one of the control switches in the Scarlet Estoc, remembering the countless stories I’d heard and read retelling the harrowing adventures of the great Han Solo, a fellow Corellian and smuggler-turned-hero after his help in the Battle of Yavin some forty-odd years earlier. After word got out that he always carried a pair of golden lucky Chance Dice with him, true or not, I knew I had to have some. Picked up from a local vendor on Tatooine (I paid for them, thank you), the gleaming golden dice were my favorite memento, reminding me that I didn't believe in luck, but rather destiny having control of the dice of my life..