Star Wars: Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika was a comic book series, comprising five issues, released between the years of 2000 and 2001.
The story follows a chaotic quest to obtain the legendary Yavin Vassilika for three Hutt rivals, each vying to assemble the most skilled company of mercenaries.
The pursuit featured Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Bossk, Dengar, IG-88B, Zuckuss, Greedo, and even the enigmatic Boba Fett. Ultimately, the Vassilika was located beyond the outer rim and seized by Jozzel Moffet, an assistant to one of the Hutts, acting on behalf of the Rebel Alliance (and Bria Tharen, Han's former love). As it turned out, the Vassilika contained a key to an ancient Massassi temple, which would serve as a strategic outpost for the Alliance.
When a trio of Hutts engage in a competition, wagering on who can amass the most triumphant team of operatives to secure a highly prized and mythical artifact, the most cunning outlaws in the Star Wars Galaxy are enlisted to carry out the perilous task.
Comprising the galaxy's most notorious rogues, including Boba Fett, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Dengar, and IG-88, three teams embark on a mission to be the first to discover the mysterious Yavin Vassilika. However, staying alive and ahead of the competition proves more challenging than any of these tough characters could have anticipated. Moreover, with the unexpected addition of a fourth clandestine investor and their alluring and manipulative agent, the rivalry intensifies to an extreme degree, exceeding the heat of Tatooine's twin suns!
Taking place before the monumental events of A New Hope, this exhilarating adventure is packed with exceptional action and humorous moments that will captivate Star Wars enthusiasts of all generations.
On Tatooine, Embra and Malta, two Hutts, pay a visit to Jabba the Hutt. Their discussion revolves around the strengths and weaknesses of their respective business approaches. Jabba favors manipulation, Embra champions honesty, and Malta relies on brute force. Their respective servants, Bib Fortuna, Farquil, and Jozzel Moffet, engage in conversations about their masters. Jozzel harbors a strong desire to break free from Malta's employment and pursue her own ambitions. She proposes a wager to the Hutts. Garindan has acquired information about a man named Illyan Webble, who has supposedly uncovered the whereabouts of the Yavin Vassilika, a statue crafted from a single, enormous corusca gem. The artifact is invaluable, and the madman may possess the key to locating it. She suggests that each Hutt send a team of three individuals to retrieve the object, with the winner claiming the valuable artifact and thereby demonstrating the superiority of their business strategy. The Hutts agree to the proposition.
Not long after, in Mos Eisley on Tatooine, Holgurn, who is in Jabba's service, establishes contact with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who have recently arrived on Tatooine. Holgurn informs Han that the item Jabba wants him to help recover was pilfered from Jabba's library. Jabba is willing to pay 50,000 credits (10,000 upfront and 40,000 upon delivery) for the item's retrieval, which (according to the Hutts' rules) must be delivered to the Hutt on Nar Shaddaa. Han is cautious, considering the number of enemies he has recently made on the moon, but he ultimately agrees. Han becomes Jabba's first operative. On Nar Shaddaa, Bib Fortuna rescues Lando Calrissian from being killed by Rooty, a Cragmoloid gambler. Bib covers Lando's debt to the gambler and offers Lando the task of finding the Yavin Vassilika for Jabba. Lando accepts the offer to participate in the search for 100,000 credits. Jabba's team now includes Han and Lando, who, incidentally, are at odds with each other.
In the Jundland Wastes on Tatooine, Malta enlists the services of IG-88, Bossk, and Dengar. Each of them is promised 50,000 credits for their participation, and Malta pledges to match the bounty on any of the other competitors. Outside, Jozzel approaches the hunters and presents them with an alternative deal. They are to proceed as Malta wishes, but instead of handing over the Vassilika to Malta, they are to give it to Jozzel in exchange for 300,000 credits. Jozzel will then provide them with a fake, which they can present to Malta to collect their fees. The hunters are eager to participate in the double-cross.
Elsewhere, Embra summons Zuckuss, 4-LOM, and a tracker named Sardu Sallowe. They express concern that Jabba has only contacted two members for his team, but they depart from Embra, assured that they will soon discover the identity of the other member of Jabba's team. In the bustling streets of Nar Shaddaa, Holgurn mentions to Greedo that Han Solo, who has just arrived with Chewie, is taking on a job for Jabba, despite being effectively blacklisted. Greedo believes that he is the ideal candidate for the job. Back on Tatooine, Jabba welcomes the third expected member of his team, Boba Fett.
On Kalkovak, Han and Chewie discover that Webble can be found in the Quarren sector of Crevasse City. Simultaneously, Malta's team arrives, quickly obtaining the same information. Jozzel also makes an appearance, closely followed by Greedo. It appears that Jozzel is working for an employer known as the Collector to retrieve the Vassilika. Lando has also arrived and narrowly avoids being spotted by Boba Fett. In the Quarren Sector, Han and Chewbacca encounter Greedo, who is tailing them. Subsequently, the three of them run into Bossk, IG-88, and Dengar. Han and Chewie had just learned that Webble had departed for Mon Calamari, but now the others are aware of it as well, including the Embra team, who had one of Sardu's Jawas spying on them all. In a market, Lando is propositioned by Jozzel Moffet. She hopes to persuade him to switch alliances and join her side. In another location, Dengar, Bossk, and IG-88 are pursuing Han, Chewie, and Greedo, engaging in a firefight, when they encounter Boba Fett, who is caught in the crossfire. As Han, Chewie, and Greedo make their escape, they stumble upon Jozzel and Lando (who is not pleased to see Han). They are all forced to flee together aboard the Millennium Falcon, with the Malta team in hot pursuit in the Hound's Tooth, and with Boba Fett relentlessly pursuing both.
The Falcon group arrives on Mon Calamari, shortly after Zuckuss' group. Jozzel reiterates her offer of riches and a forgery for Jabba to Han, which irritates Lando. Han, Lando, and company discover that Webble stole a skiff and headed towards a location where "lesser beings" supposedly lose their minds. They pursue Webble in a skiff anyway, closely followed by Zuckuss' team. Their skiff is disabled by a charge planted on it, and they are abandoned by Zuckuss' group. Next, they venture underwater, where everyone hears disembodied voices. They discover Webble's body and hear his spirit revealing the location of the Vassilika. Upon returning to the surface, they find that Dengar, Bossk, and IG-88 have seized control of their skiff. However, when Fett appears and creates a distraction, Chewie rigs the skiff to explode, and the "good guys" escape in the trio's skiff. As they escape, Fett fires a blast from his engines at the trio before departing. As Fett leaves, the trio begins to hear the voices as well.
In space, Jozzel strategizes the sides in the race for Han and the others, even as Zuckuss, 4-LOM, and Sardu reach the target planet before them. As Han's team lands, Zuckuss' team encounters a tribe of beings that appear to be descendants of Barundi. When 4-LOM attempts to seize the Vassilika from them, they retaliate, forcing a retreat. Shortly thereafter, Han's team, pursued by jungle creatures, enters the village. When Jozzel tries to take the Vassilika, the villagers attack and capture everyone except Jozzel. Near the ships, Zuckuss, Sardu, 4-LOM, and Sardu's Jawas are attacked by Boba Fett. It seems that Fett is not interested in the Vassilika; he wants Han. Elsewhere, Jozzel contacts the Collector to inform him that she will soon have the Vassilika, but she is discovered by Dengar, Bossk, and IG-88, who are prepared to kill her for her betrayal. However, she offers them an even higher payment if they continue to assist her in obtaining the Vassilika. Back in the village, 4-LOM and the captured members of Han's team are about to be beaten to death by "flowers". They are rescued when their makeshift cell/hut is cut into by someone they hope is Jozzel. However, it turns out that their "savior" is Boba Fett.
But Fett is indeed their savior because he has abandoned his Besadii contract and sided with Jabba's, which was to protect Han. So, Han, Chewie, Greedo, Lando, and Boba Fett set off to retrieve the Vassilika, while Dengar, Jozzel, Bossk, and IG-88 find themselves attacked by jungle creatures and forced into the village, where both the creatures and the villagers seek to kill them. Above, Zuckuss and Sardu prepare to create a diversion, but the situation with Jozzel and the others eliminates the need for it. Han goes for the Vassilika, but one of Sardu's Jawas reaches it first. Jozzel trips the Jawa and takes the Vassilika, but a blast from Boba Fett sends her and Han staggering. When the smoke clears, IG-88, Bossk, and Dengar are in a standoff with Fett, while the Jawas carry off 4-LOM, Lando tends to Han, and Sardu and Zuckuss make their way to join them. But where is Jozzel?
Jozzel has stolen the Millennium Falcon and the Vassilika and taken off to rendezvous with "The Collector" on Yavin IV. It turns out that the Collector is actually a Rebel Alliance commander, Jan Dodonna. Jozzel meets the Collector, a female Rebel, and two other Rebels, turning over the Vassilika for the fake one she can give to her master. Han and the others arrive, though, and stop the transaction, just as Han recognizes the female Rebel, Bria Tharen. Dengar tries to take the Vassilika, but Zuckuss has placed a bounty for Dengar and Bossk, which turns IG-88 against them. As IG-88 hunts them down, Zuckuss takes the fake Vassilika, then loses it, and then watches as a Jawa steals it. Meanwhile, Lando, Chewie, Han, and Fett race after Bria, looking to settle their score over the spice raid. They corner the Rebels only to discover that they never wanted the Vassilika itself, but a key inside. The Collector breaks it, revealing the key to the largest Massassi Temple on the moon, which the Rebels need as a base of operations.
Elsewhere, Greedo stops the Jawa, but then has the fake Vassilika stolen by Jozzel, who is then shot by Farquil Ban'n, who had been tracking her. She gets away with the fake Vassilika, paying Zuckuss and Sardu for their efforts on Embra's behalf. Deeper in the jungle, the Rebels help Han, Chewie, and Lando catch Dengar and Bossk, allowing them to, presumably, try to collect the bounty placed on them, as means of repayment for the Vassilika and the spice job. But, as everyone is well aware, this doesn't even begin to settle things between Han and Bria. A short time later, Farquil has a stash of credits from selling the fake Vassilika and is lounging on a beach when Fett finds her and takes the money to Jabba. In the end, Jabba has won the day, in a manner of speaking.