Slave Ship Slave Ship is the second novel in The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy , written by K . W . Jeter and published in October 1998 by Bantam Spectra . Publisher ' s summary . " He ' s both feared and admired , respected and despised . Boba Fett is the galaxy ' s most successful bounty hunter . Now he finds himself hunted in the oldest game of all : survival of the fittest . " " The once powerful Bounty Hunter ' s Guild has been shattered into warring factions . Now the posting of an enormous bounty on a renegade Imperial stormtrooper is about to start a frenzy of murderous greed . Hoping to fuel rumors of his death , Boba Fett abandons his ship , " Slave I " , and sets out to claim the prize . Yet his every move leads him closer to a trap set by the cunning Prince Xizor . Fett will die before becoming Xizor ' s pawn in the Emperor ' s war against the Rebels . And he may have to . For in order to gain his freedom he must outwit a sentient weapon that feeds on Human spirits . Then he must escape a galaxy of deadly enemies who want to make the rumors of his death a reality . " Acknowledgements . " The author would like to thank Sue Rostoni for gaffe - wrangling , Michael Stackpole for hardware expertise , and Geri Jeter , Graduate Gemologist ( GIA ) , for gemstone reference . " Plot Summary . In the present , Kuat of Kuat battles against treachery and opposition from the other ruling families of Kuat as they attempt to overthrow him and assume leadership of KDY . In the meantime , he contemplates the future of KDY and the galaxy , wondering what Boba Fett , having escaped the Sarlacc and the attempts on his life , will do next . Meanwhile , Boba Fett plants a fake bomb on the Hound ' s Tooth , forcing Bossk to eject in an escape pod and strand himself on Tatooine . This enables Fett to maintain the rumors of his death by abandoning Slave I ( for the time being ) and using Bossk ' s ship after disabling its ID profile . As they travel toward a mysterious destination , Dengar relates to Neelah the events following the split in the Bounty Hunters ' Guild . After the death of Cradossk at the hands of his son Bossk , the Guild divided into two opposing factions : the True Guild ( mainly comprised of the Guild elders and their supporters ) and the Guild Reform Committee ( mostly the younger bounty hunters , dominated by Bossk ) . In an audience before Emperor Palpatine , Prince Xizor answers accusations from Darth Vader and convinces the Emperor to allow him to continue his plot to cull away the weaker bounty hunters , leaving the strong to be hired by the Empire . He atomizes the remaining Guild factions by placing an enormous bounty on the head of Trhin Voss ' on ' t , a former Imperial stormtrooper wanted for the slaughter of his entire ship ' s company . Such a valuable bounty would use the most basic trait of the bounty hunters - greed - against them , and thus complete the destruction of the Guild . Temporarily teaming up with Bossk and Zuckuss , Boba Fett succeeds in capturing Voss ' on ' t , then turns on his partners ( forcing them into an escape pod and jettisoning it ) so that he may claim the bounty all for himself . His ship slightly damaged from a bomb Bossk tossed aboard at the last moment , Fett goes to deliver his captive to Ku ' dar Mub ' at , the arachnoid assembler and top middleman in the galactic criminal underworld . Meanwhile , in the midst of the web , a treacherous alliance is formed . Prince Xizor is approached by Balancesheet , Mub ' at ' s accountant , who has been gaining intelligence and concealing it from the Assembler . Intrigued by the now - independent subnode ' s offer , Xizor plots his next move . . . Behind the scenes . In the book ' s description , the phrase " For in order to gain his freedom he must outwit a sentient weapon that feeds on Human spirits " describes a part of the book that does not exist . It is not known why this statement was made . It is possible it was a planned section , but was withdrawn before publication , but after the writing of the description , although it could also mean Xizor or the Assemblers . Cover gallery . This is a gallery of the different cover variations of " Slave Ship " .