Beckett 1

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DEADLY! TOBIAS BECKETT imparted all his knowledge of surviving in cantinas infested with criminals and on underdeveloped planets to HAN SOLO. But what is the background of this lifelong outlaw, and what drives ENFYS NEST— one of the most ruthless and perilous figures in the galaxy — to relentlessly pursue his downfall? Discover the answers in this original story about a man who has outsmarted star system after star system, but at a price no amount of stolen goods can compensate for.

Tobias Beckett, Val, and Rio Durant constitute an outlaw band pursued by law enforcement. On Hovun IV, an ocean-dominated world, Rio engages in a sabacc game with local patrons in a cantina. Rio's poor play stems from confusing the game with Neerok initially. Suddenly, a cloaked Death Priest in black enters the cantina, instilling fear in the customers. Rio addresses the Black Priest as his master. He apologizes for pilfering his credits and wagering them. The Death Priest extends his hand, and Rio feigns being subjected to a Force choke.

This frightens the other patrons, including a Selkath, who then flee the cantina. Val joins in the act but secretly plants a tracker in the pocket of the Pantoran Dvorad's coat. After the customers have fled, the Death Priest removes his hood, revealing himself as Beckett. Beckett expresses his gratitude to Rio for his performance. When Rio questions why Beckett always assumes the role of the evil wizard, Beckett explains that he possesses more charisma and that Rio can employ his four arms to gather the loot.

Val confirms that their tracker is active and praises Beckett's "death wizard scam." Beckett has no reservations about exploiting "superstitions," but Val cautions that even superstitions can contain elements of truth. While they walk, Val informs Rio that Dvorad holds a monopoly on blank identification chips in the local system, a valuable asset given the Galactic Empire's increasing control over planetary trade. Dryden Vos has assigned them the task of acquiring the ID chips for Crimson Dawn. Rio feels relieved that Vos still has faith in them following their previous blunder.

Dvorad attempts to escape on a maritime repulsorlift at the pier, driven by a Tognath pilot. Beckett manages to leap onto the fleeing speeder and engages in combat with Dvorad. Meanwhile, Val and Rio search for another speeder. After a physical altercation, Beckett manages to force Dvorad toward the engine intake. With Dvorad's cloak caught in the machine, he orders the driver to shut down the engine. Val and Rio soon arrive on a tub. Despite his defeat in combat, Dvorad refuses to relinquish the chips. Shortly thereafter, Dvorad's ship emerges from the ocean, converging on the two speeders.

With the guns of his starship and his henchmen aimed at Beckett's gang, Dvorad demands to know who betrayed him before executing them. Val responds that they heard that Dvorad is a man who can help people get lost and claims they are seeking his services. While Val distracts Dvorad, Beckett bites his left wrist, causing blood to drip from his sleeve into the ocean below. His blood scent is detected by a giant tentacled monster, which seizes Dvorad's ship with its tentacles. While Val and Rio provide cover on their speeder, Beckett forces his way into Dvorad's ship, gunning down his crew. Dvorad is grabbed by a tentacle and thrown into the maw of the sea monster. Beckett finds Dvorad's trove of ID chips inside a chest in his personal quarters. While leaving the stricken ship, he exchanges fire with a Talpini henchman, killing him.

Beckett returns to the surface, rejoining Val and Rio who have been fighting off the tentacled monster. The tentacled monster breaches the cockpit of Dvorad's ship, taking out the pilot. While the monster drags Dvorad's stricken ship beneath the ocean, Beckett remarks that he hates this planet. Val replies that nobody found Dvorad's ship because they did not bother to look underwater. Beckett thinks that the late criminal's ship would have made a decent fortune. Val suggests negotiating with the new owner. When Val asks Beckett if they almost died for no reason so that he could get the package, Beckett replies that he almost died.

The criminals discuss their acquisition. When Rio suggests stealing some of the ID chips for themselves, Val replies that cheating Vos does not sound like a good path to freedom. Beckett reminds them that they need to pay their debts. When Val suggests that dying is another way of paying off their debts, Beckett responds that they need to look out for each other. He gets their starship computer D-1G to bring their starship Rampart, which picks them up.

Once aboard, Val says that she will return Vos' coded transmission. When Beckett asks if they are going to steal some of the ID chips, Rio reiterates Val's warning that stealing from Dryden is bad for one's health.

As they journey through space, Beckett and Val deliberate on stealing from Vos to settle their debts. Beckett seeks a way to escape Crimson Dawn's grasp, but Val argues that their debt is too substantial. Rio guides the gang to Munt Ontdal, a space station notorious as a criminal haven. The gang docks the Rampart at Pad Nineteen. Beckett descends the gangplank on a 74-Z speeder bike only to be ambushed by several Cloud-Riders. A firefight ensues, and Beckett manages to eliminate some of the Riders. He runs down one of the Cloud-Riders with the speeder bike only to be pistol whipped by Enfys Nest. She demands to know where the ID chips are. Beckett attempts to intimidate Nest by claiming that his friends are still manning the ship's big guns. However, the Cloud-Riders have captured both Rio and Val.

Beckett and Rio attempt to intimidate the Cloud-Riders by claiming that Vos is on his way. However, Val points out that Vos is not coming since Enfys managed to mask their communications and trick them into thinking that they got the mission from Dryden. Enfys agrees and tells Beckett that if he had died trying to recover the blank ID chips, then they would have eliminated some competition. She demands to know where the ID chips are hidden. A defiant Beckett responds that he hopes that she has brought a broom before detonating the Rampart.

The explosion scatters Beckett's gang and the Cloud-Riders. Beckett grabs a blaster and seeks revenge against Enfys Nest for forcing him to destroy his beloved ship. Howevar, Val responds that he will love the next starship they steal. With security arriving, Rio suggests they finish this fight but Val responds that they should live for another payday. When stormtroopers arrive, Beckett claims that a ship using dangerous black market fuel exploded and warns them it might be radioactive.

The stormtroopres let Beckett and his friends leave. While walking through a market, Beckett says that the good news is that the stormtroopers are not followign them. However, he fears that Dryden may shoot them for bothcing a job that he did not actually send them on. Rio replies that Dryden can shoot them for any reason. Without money or a starship, Val points out that they will need to resort to Beckett's "wizard scam."

Beckett buys a dark robe from a Sullustan child. When Beckett asks Rio about how his scheming voice is feeling, Rio grumbles about having to play the victim again. Beckett dones his hood and says let's get to work.

• UPC 759606090587; August 15 , 2018 ; Marvel Comics [1] 00111; Cover A; John Tyler Christopher 00121; Cover B; Lucasfilm Ltd. 00131; Cover C; Rachel Dodson, Terry Dodson