A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett

"A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett" by J.D. Montgomery appeared in Tales from Jabba's Palace, which was published December 1995 by Bantam Spectra. It tells the story of how Boba Fett escaped the sarlacc.

Plot summary

Boba Fett awakens inside the Sarlacc. Via the Sarlacc, he makes telepathic contact with the first of its victims, Susejo. A series of flashbacks ensues, showing some of the sarlacc's other victims, including a pair of Corellians and a Jedi. Other flashbacks detail Boba Fett's delivery of the frozen Han Solo to Jabba.

Inside the Sarlacc, for some time Fett is immobilized and his armor is heavily damaged by the creature's digestive system. He learns that Susejo can exert some control over the Sarlacc. He goads Susejo, making the beast contract around his jetpack. The resulting explosion frees the bounty hunter from the Sarlacc's grasp. He then fires concussion grenades into the wall of the beast, blowing a hole in its interior. Boba Fett escapes the Sarlacc, which like him is badly injured but still alive.

A year later, Fett returns to the Sarlacc in the Slave II. Due to his prior contact with the it, he can reestablish the telepathic connection with Susejo. He decides not to destroy the Sarlacc yet, but promises to return.

Continuity

Artwork accompanying this story in The Essential Reader's Companion depicts Boba Fett as having lost his left leg within the Sarlacc.^[1] This was not mentioned in this story; however, post–4 ABY sections of "The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett" describe him using a prosthesis on his right leg, below his knee, not his left leg. The Bounty Hunter Wars and later Legends works do not reference this.

Fett's battle with IG-88 was later portrayed in the comic book Battle of the Bounty Hunters and Shadows of the Empire comic. Another version, where Fett destroys IG-88B on Cloud City, then C and D in a dogfight over Tatooine, was depicted in "Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88."

Taking into account all stories, this was the second time Fett has escaped the Sarlacc. The Marvel Comics story "Jawas of Doom!" in Star Wars #81 (1984) has Fett regurgitated by a dyspeptic Sarlacc. Despite a temporary bout of amnesia, he is relatively intact – armor and all. By tale's end, though, he once again fell into the same Sarlacc. This second round was much more debilitating, as this short story described the burns and broken bones Fett sustained within the beast's gullet. The story of The Bounty Hunter Wars (1998-1999) occurs in the year long gap found in this short story's finale.^[1]

J.D. Montgomery is actually a pseudonym that was used for this story by the author Daniel Keys Moran.^[1]