Slave Ship

Slave Ship is the second novel in The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy. It was written by K. W. Jeter and published in October 1998 by Bantam Spectra.

Publisher's summary

He's both feared and admired, respected and despised. Boba Fett is the galaxy's most successful bounty hunter. Now he finds himself hunted in the oldest game of all: survival of the fittest.

The once powerful Bounty Hunter's Guild has been shattered into warring factions. Now the posting of an enormous bounty on a renegade Imperial stormtrooper is about to start a frenzy of murderous greed. Hoping to fuel rumors of his death, Boba Fett abandons his ship, Slave I, and sets out to claim the prize. Yet his every move leads him closer to a trap set by the cunning Prince Xizor. Fett will die before becoming Xizor's pawn in the Emperor's war against the Rebels. And he may have to. For in order to gain his freedom he must outwit a sentient weapon that feeds on Human spirits. Then he must escape a galaxy of deadly enemies who want to make the rumors of his death a reality.

Plot summary

In the present, Kuat of Kuat battles against treachery and opposition from the other ruling families of Kuat as they attempt to overthrow him and assume leadership of Kuat Drive Yards (KDY). In the meantime, he contemplates the future of KDY and the galaxy, wondering what Boba Fett, having escaped the sarlacc and the attempts on his life, will do next.

Meanwhile, Boba Fett plants a fake bomb on the Hound's Tooth, forcing Bossk to eject in an escape pod and strand himself on Tatooine. This enables Fett to maintain the rumors of his death by abandoning Slave I (for the time being) and using Bossk's ship after disabling its ID profile. As they travel toward a mysterious destination, Dengar relates to Neelah the events following the split in the Bounty Hunters' Guild.

After the death of Cradossk at the hands of his son Bossk, the Guild divided into two opposing factions: the True Guild (mainly comprising the Guild elders and their supporters) and the Guild Reform Committee (mostly the younger bounty hunters, dominated by Bossk).

In an audience before Emperor Palpatine, Prince Xizor answers accusations from Darth Vader and convinces the Emperor to allow him to continue his plot to cull the weaker bounty hunters, leaving the strong to be hired by the Empire. He atomizes the remaining Guild factions by placing an enormous bounty on the head of Trhin Voss'on't, a former Imperial stormtrooper wanted for the slaughter of his entire ship's company. Such a valuable bounty would use the most basic trait of the bounty hunters—greed—against them, and thus complete the destruction of the Guild.

Temporarily teaming up with Bossk and Zuckuss, Boba Fett captures Voss'on't, then turns on his partners (forcing them into an escape pod and jettisoning it) so that he may claim the bounty all for himself. His ship slightly damaged from a bomb Bossk tossed aboard at the last moment, Fett goes to deliver his captive to Kud'ar Mub'at, the arachnoid assembler and top middleman in the galactic criminal underworld.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the web, a treacherous alliance is formed. Prince Xizor is approached by Balancesheet, Mub'at's accountant, who has been gaining intelligence and concealing it from the Assembler. Intrigued by the now-independent subnode's offer, Xizor plots his next move.

Continuity

Chapter 2 contains an editorial mistake: Boba Fett mentions Bossk as the person who was hunting them. Some number of pages later, Boba Fett is surprised when Dengar knows it was Bossk.

In the book's description, the phrase "For in order to gain his freedom he must outwit a sentient weapon that feeds on Human spirits" describes a part of the book that does not exist. This may have been a planned section that was excised before publication, or it could refer to Xizor or the Assemblers.

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Organizations and titles Sentient species Vehicles and vessels Weapons and technology Miscellanea

Characters

Organisms

Droid models

Events

Locations

Organizations and titles

Sentient species

Vehicles and vessels

Weapons and technology

Miscellanea

Notes and references

  1. ↑ PenguinRandomHouse-Logo K. W. Jeter on Random House's official website (original site is defunct)
  2. ↑ The events take place during Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The Essential Reader's Companion lists the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy as between 0 and 4 ABY.
The Bounty Hunter Wars
The Mandalorian Armor
(audiobook) 		Slave Ship
(audiobook) 		Hard Merchandise
(audiobook)