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The Galactic Republic of Coruscant has been dissolved, and the Empire has risen in its place. Supreme Chancellor Palpetine seized power during the Clone Wars, becoming the first Galactic Emperor. His rule has caused a great amount of distress for those civilizations who previously clung to democracy and equal rights. Palpetine’s strict rule has seen the marginalization of most non-human races, and some have even been taken by the Empire as slaves. The dissidents and non-conformists and general malcontents have been displaced. Ostracized by the empire, many have been forced from their worlds and left to the cruel fates of the galaxy. Many of these outcasts have fled to the outer rim: the worlds most distant from the galactic core, where the Empire’s influence is least felt, and now struggle to eke out a living on worlds both strange and beautiful, hostile and lucrative.

On these fringe worlds, petty galactic fiefdoms arise, and crime syndicates take what they will. The Hutt cartel, once an ancient and formidable power now reduced to a shadow of its former glory, is one of the prominent powers in these fringe systems. But as cruel as it may be to live under the gangsters’ oppression, there are still other worlds where law and civility are but a distant memory, and where protection of any kind would be better than living in perpetual fear of raiders and privateers.

Among those who resent the empire, a group of aliens and humans alike have banded together to form the Rebel Alliance. A thorn in the emperor’s side, this group of extremists seeks to liberate the galaxy from the Empire’s tyranny. But not everyone appreciates their methods as they have earned the label “extremists” for good reason.

To be a man among the distant stars, is to be one with the scum of the galaxy, constantly looking over your shoulder for the ‘big man’ and struggling to make ends meet. A ship brings opportunity for work. A gun will help you keep it. And so a crew will gain a reputation, and reputations do not go unnoticed. Reputations bring contracts, but also bring enemies. The crew of a ship becomes tight like family, constantly living on the edge. Risks are taken to keep food on the table, and fuel in the engines. The object of the game is to come out as the richest son-of-a-gun this side of the universe, and to live long enough to enjoy it. The name of the game... is smuggling.

Meet Gael Devarian, Captain of the Morningwalker. He and his crew have been all over the outer rim, from Sullust to Kessel and everywhere in between. His co-pilot, Chuba, a furry little creature, has been the longest running member of his current crew, and is, as the captain would say, “the best damned pilot this side of the galaxy.” With them are Kaede Hayate, an ex-Imperial intelligence officer, and Vaclav Ygar, a Togorian brute. Their team is tried and true, but a string of bad luck has forced them to work in less profitable sectors, and take jobs from some unsavoury sorts. Their ship, while it has saved their lives on countless occasions, is still little more than the junker it was when the captain bought it from a Rodian boatswain in a backwater scrapyard. Captain Devarian hopes that this is all about to change...

The crew has picked up a contract, sourced from a friend of a friend of someone’s brother who worked in the cartel. The job is just a cargo run, supposedly little more than a milk run, but the contact - known only as “Bluebird” - specifically wanted a crew who was not affiliated with the cartel and who had a clean record with imperial customs. Captain Devarian happened to have the closest ship with a crew that matched that record. Just now they are arriving at the spaceport on Nar-Shaddaa, with directions to meet the contact at Gorba’s Pleasure Palace, a somewhat more opulent casino in the city’s upper-middle district.