After inviting inhabitants of Zhotta 3 to help form a new government, Han and Chewie visit an outlaw world in a backwater sector of the galaxy, where Han bests local gamblers. An old man wagers a crystal and a holo-map of the Seoul 5 System against the Falcon , but Han says Seoul 5 was destroyed in a cosmic war years ago. The man says he was a scout in the Empire's Exploratory Division before the war, when a meteor knocked his ship off-course. Landing at the edge of a ruined city on an uncharted world, he recognized Seoulian architecture, having served on a Seoulian outpost. He found a chamber of crystals and kept one, intending to return for the others, but the war began; he now needs the Falcon to make the haul. Han doubts him, so he proves the crystal's worth by mentally tossing Chewie. Han beats his hand, a Full System, but he accuses Han of cheating. Other patrons, having lost money to him, open fire, but he and Chewie escape with the crystal and map. Leaving an IOU for docking fees, they follow the map to an uncharted world. With Chewie guarding the ship, Han scouts the area, unaware he's been spotted by a landing force led by Captain Drezzel. A crewman reports his presence to Drezzel, who summons Squad Three and Adjutant Ssssk!, a felinoid telepath. Two troopers, hearing Ssssk!'s page, mock the "overgrown scruff-ball," but he hears them and mentally assaults them as punishment. Han finds a city not ruined like others, and a statue of Onrai, the legendary the goddess of Notron, the cradle-world of all humans in the galaxy. Knowing other worlds make the same claim, and interested only in treasure, he seeks a secret door to the chamber. Suddenly, he is mentally attacked by Ssssk!, who nears with Drezzel and guards. As they fire, he drops the map and touches a statue symbol, opening a trap-door. Descending in an anti-gravity chute, he finds a chamber filled with Imperial machines; obviously, they've already been here. His crystal whines as he nears other crystals set in an alien machine, and he hides as troops arrive. Finding Dr. Xathan and Fem Nu-Ar, archeologists whom the Empire used to find the crystals, then arrested, he helps them escape. His crystal whines, and Xathan recognizes it as the key crystal. More troops arrive, with Drezzel and Ssssk!. As the scientists flee, Ssssk! assaults Han, who uses the crystal to deflect the assault back at him, then places it in the alien machine. As the room fills with blinding light, he joins the scientists and returns to the surface. The machine and city explode, destroying three TIEs pursuing the Falcon . As they leave Seoul 5, Xathan mourns archeology's loss but is glad the Empire failed, and Nu-Ar kisses Han in gratitude.

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