Preparing to steal an AT-hauler, Tobias Beckett, Val and Rio Durant cased Imperial operations on Mimban. Their scavenged Imperial gear kept them from attracting undue attention – until a young mudtrooper named Han Solo noticed Beckett’s captain’s uniform was marred by scorch marks and blood.

Han didn’t care that Beckett’s gang were ship thieves in scavenged uniforms – in fact, he offered them his services as a pilot. Unfortunately for Han, Beckett already had a pilot, and his gang didn’t trust outsiders. Beckett turned Han over to an Imperial officer as a deserter.

The gang stole their AT-hauler – but Beckett spotted Han running for his life, shackled to a Wookiee prisoner. Despite Val’s warnings not to get sentimental, Beckett offered Han and Chewbacca a ride off Mimban, and a role in the gang’s heist.

On Vandor, the gang went over the plan: Han, Chewie and Beckett would detach a cargo car containing coaxium from an Imperial conveyex, Rio would fly them and the car to safety using the AT-hauler, and Val would blow a bridge on the track, sending the conveyex into an abyss. After that, Beckett swore, he and Val would go back to Glee Anselm, where he’d learn to play the valachord.

Beckett’s careful planning went awry when Cloud-Riders led by Enfys Nest attacked on swoops, seeking to steal the coaxium for themselves. The cargo car wound up in a tug of war between the rival gangs, with Han pressed into service flying the AT-hauler.

At a critical moment Han opted to help Beckett and Chewie, letting the car slam into a mountain spire and explode. Beckett revealed that his gang had been stealing the coaxium for the feared crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. They now owed Dawn kingpin Dryden Vos a large quantity of coaxium.

Accompanied by Han and Chewbacca, Beckett sought an audience with Vos. When Vos said he needed a reason not to kill them, Han gave him one: the gang would steal coaxium from Kessel’s Pyke Syndicate. Vos agreed to the risky plan – but warned it was Beckett’s last chance. He also insisted that the gang take along Qi’ra, his lieutenant.

The gang hired Lando Calrissian, captain of the Millennium Falcon, to take them to Kessel. On the way to the spice planet, Beckett noted Han’s attraction to Qi’ra and warned the younger man not to trust her. He warned Han that the only way never to be disappointed was to assume everyone would betray him.