The Mandalorian Armor

Boba Fett reigns as the galaxy's most formidable and sought-after bounty hunter. Even the most hardened criminals are filled with dread at the mere mention of his name. Now, he is confronted with the most perilous challenge of his notorious career - an all-encompassing conflict against his most dangerous adversaries.

As the Rebellion's strength grows, Prince Xizor presents Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader with an ingenious scheme: dismantle the Bounty Hunters Guild's influence by pitting its members against one another. Only the most resilient and merciless will endure, and they can be used against the Rebellion. This task falls to the fiercely independent Boba Fett, who eagerly seizes the opportunity to eliminate his rivals. However, Fett soon discovers that the game is rigged, as he becomes the target of deadly factions, criminal plots, and the malevolence at the Empire's core. Boba Fett has always emerged victorious. In this contest, anything less signifies death.

The narrative of The Mandalorian Armor primarily revolves around the survival struggles of bounty hunters Boba Fett and Dengar, who are rivals. The story unfolds through flashbacks experienced by Boba while in a comatose state and through Dengar's actions as he cares for him. The setting is shortly after the destruction of Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, with flashbacks to the time when the Bounty Hunters Guild was still active. A significant portion of the book employs a metaphor of confinement within a mechanical structure. This metaphor serves to illustrate the life of a bounty hunter as a situation where they are compelled to adhere to a specific set of recurring patterns, and any deviation from these patterns could lead to disaster.

The story commences during the events depicted in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. It opens with Dengar scouring the wreckage of Jabba's sail barge in the Dune Sea of Tatooine, searching for anything or anyone of value. Just as Dengar is about to concede defeat, presuming that the Jawas had already scavenged the wreckage, he notices two things: first, the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon appears to be deceased; and second, there is a survivor. The survivor turns out to be Boba Fett, who had blasted his way out of the Great Pit of Carkoon, resulting in the Sarlacc's demise. Boba's distinctive armor had sustained damage during his time in the pit, and he was on the verge of death. As Dengar relocated Fett to a cave for refuge, the narrative shifts back to events that transpired between Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back; specifically, to a period when Boba Fett was an independent bounty hunter and at odds with the Bounty Hunters Guild.

The story then follows Neelah in her quest to locate Dengar, during which she instead encounters Fett. After escaping from Jabba's Palace and wandering through the desert, she discovers two medical droids, SH∑1-B and 1e-XE, stationed outside a shelter. Through a combination of threats and physical violence, Neelah successfully gains access to his hiding place. She discloses that she was a dancer in Jabba's Palace, possesses noble lineage, and had not committed any acts of violence until recently. Upon entering the hiding space, she finds Fett severely burned but sustained by a "transparent membrane" enveloping his body, referred to as a sterile nutrient casing. She departs and compels the droids to conceal her presence from Dengar.

Kuat of Kuat, the hereditary CEO of the Empire's primary military supplier, is intrigued by the events that unfolded at Jabba's Palace and on his sail barge. Kuat of Kuat reviews footage from a holoprojector that was uploaded from the palace, and despite the available evidence, he remains unconvinced that Boba Fett is dead without further information.

In the first of several flashbacks to the period between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the Bounty Hunters Guild assigns bounty hunters Bossk and Zuckuss to a contract for an accountant wanted by the Hutts. While both were experienced bounty hunters, Bossk behaved as the leader. Zuckuss cautioned Bossk that his father's leadership of the Bounty Hunters Guild did not automatically qualify him as the leader of this mission.

The bounty hunters forcefully enter the accountant's hiding place, only to discover the room empty. Fett had already captured their target. Bossk and Zuckuss pursue Fett in a spaceship, warning him that he lacks the authority to work this bounty and that they had been assigned to it by the Bounty Hunters Guild. Fett retorts that he answers only to himself, a higher authority, and then jumps into hyperspace.

Fett enters his hold aboard Slave I and speaks to his "Merchandise" sitting in one of the cells. The accountant offers to pay Fett more than the bounty if he releases him. Fett clarifies that he is the highest-paid bounty hunter in the galaxy because he delivers his targets. The accountant mentions that he had heard of other bounty hunters accepting such offers. Fett responds that the guild's mismanagement and incompetence are to blame for such practices, and he will not participate in them.

Deep in space, Slave I approaches the lair of the Assembler, Kud'ar Mub'at, the arachnid intermediary who serves as the criminal world's escrow service. It is to the Assembler that Fett is to deliver his captive and collect his bounty.

The Assembler reveals that it has received a new, private contract for Fett. Private contracts are requested by clients who wish to maintain secrecy and offer Fett more money. Fett accepts the contract to infiltrate and dismantle the Bounty Hunters Guild from within.

Jumping forward to the present, Dengar captures a woman, Neelah, who had followed him and Fett to their hiding place. Neelah insists on seeing Fett, although she is uncertain of the reason. She explains that she was a dancer in Jabba's Palace but has no memories from before that time. She continues that when Boba Fett looked at her in the palace, she knew that she had some connection to him and needed to meet him. Dengar notices signs of an aristocratic upbringing in Neelah and symptoms of a memory wipe. He grants her request, attributing his compassion for Neelah to his recent encounter with a woman he cares for. He warns Neelah to be cautious around Fett, as Fett is ruthless and cannot be trusted, and he hardly trusts him to keep up his end of their new partnership.

In a flashback, Fett attends the feast held in his honor, welcoming him to the Bounty Hunters Guild. The guild elders finally admit Fett into their organization. Bossk distrusts Fett and calls his father a fool for doing so. Father and son exchange death threats, which is common among Trandoshans; as is feasting on the remains of your enemies, and killing and eating your siblings shortly after birth; and Bossk kills his own father. Bossk inquires about Fett's motives for joining the guild. Fett explains that changing times and pressures in the galaxy—including Black Sun—have forced him to reconsider his stance on the guild. Bossk reluctantly calms down with the help of the rest of the guild, and he agrees to treat Fett like a brother.

The Emperor meets with Darth Vader and Prince Xizor to discuss Xizor's new plan. It was Xizor who contacted the Assembler with the private contract for Fett to join the guild. Xizor reveals that his plan would eliminate the dead weight in the guild and leave only the best bounty hunters. The Empire will then be able to contract with those remaining bounty hunters to execute plans that require independence and cunning. He explains that the Empire, by design, has suppressed independence in their troopers and officers, but that they need independence to fight the Alliance to Restore the Republic where "free thinking is their strongest asset". Vader remains unconvinced and suspects that Xizor has ulterior motives.