There are people you can mess with in the galaxy, and there are people you can’t. Boba Fett belongs in the second category. Every story about him has one thing in common—someone underestimates how serious he is about a deal. And if you ever wondered what happens when you don’t pay Boba Fett, this story gives a clear answer.
The Empire #28 comic tells a short but unforgettable story about Captain Aron Harcourt, a former Imperial officer who made that exact mistake.
The Deal That Should’ve Been Kept
I always find Harcourt’s story fascinating because he wasn’t just some random Imperial captain. He used to be one of the Empire’s best. He commanded the Star Destroyer Anya Karu, a massive ship that met its end thanks to Rebel saboteurs. During the chaos, Harcourt gave the order to abandon ship, and as he later recalled, “When I gave the order to abandon ship, there was no time to go back for her.”
He was talking about his wife, Janelle, who didn’t make it out alive.
Years later, Harcourt wasn’t the proud officer he once was. The Empire blamed him for the loss of the ship, stripped him of command, and sent him off to a lonely outpost. The man had nothing left except one thing he couldn’t stop thinking about—a recording of Janelle that was still inside the wreck of the Anya Karu.
And there was only one person in the galaxy who could get it back for him: Boba Fett.
The Mission On The Anya Karu
Fett’s job was simple on paper—retrieve the recording before the Empire’s cleanup crew destroyed the wreck. But inside the Anya Karu, things were far from simple.
Flying Slave I, Fett slipped through the TIE patrols guarding the crash site. He didn’t have much time; the Adjudicator was on its way to finish the job and blow up the remains. Once he boarded, the place was a graveyard—silent corridors filled with the bones of fallen stormtroopers.
When a mynock latched onto his armor, he blasted it off without hesitation. More came after him, and he gassed them all to clear a path. Not long after, a hunter droid, one of Harcourt’s old bodyguards, attacked him. Fett dismantled it piece by piece until the thing finally stopped moving.
He didn’t slow down. With his timer ticking down, he cracked open a secured compartment and found the golden holocube he’d been sent for. Just before the Anya Karu exploded behind him, he flew out through the wreckage.
The job was done.
The Treasure Of A Broken Man
When Fett returned to Harcourt’s outpost, the old captain looked almost nervous as he reached for the holocube. He activated it, and there she was—Janelle, smiling like nothing had ever happened.
“Hello, Aron. I miss you and I love you very much. I hope we can be together soon.”
The message was short, but it shattered him. Harcourt smiled through tears, lost in the memory. Then he turned to Boba Fett and said quietly, “When I gave the order to abandon ship, there was no time to go back for her. But I knew if anyone in the galaxy could bring her to me, it would be Boba Fett.”
It was one of those rare moments where everything stopped—just a man and his memory. But Boba Fett wasn’t there for sentiment. He wanted what was promised.
The Shortfall
Fett spoke first. His voice was calm, distorted through the helmet:
“Half up front, half upon completion. That was the deal.”
Harcourt froze for a moment, then gave a weak laugh.
“Ah. That. To be perfectly honest, I don’t have any more money.”
He tried to talk his way out of it.
“But, if you can overlook this shortfall, I can assure you of my discretion. Your reputation will never suffer.”
Still no movement from Fett. That silent, unblinking visor said everything. Harcourt sighed, turned the holocube back on, and whispered, “No?” After a beat, he answered himself. “No, I thought not.”
Harcourt looked at the hologram again, his voice barely holding together. “I loved her so very much.”
A red flash filled the room. One shot. Harcourt dropped, and the holocube slipped from his hand. Janelle’s image flickered beside him, repeating her message as Boba Fett walked away.
Boba Fett didn’t act out of rage or cruelty. He just finished the deal the way he always did—completely. In his line of work, a deal is a promise, not a suggestion. Harcourt broke it, and there was only one outcome.
The story doesn’t glorify Fett. It just shows how the galaxy works for people like him. If you hire a bounty hunter, you pay. If you don’t, you face the consequences.
Captain Aron Harcourt got what he wanted—to see his wife again. But Boba Fett got what he was owed, in his own way.
When Boba Fett says you owe him, you pay. Always.
