"Hey kid, you get the part?" The voice came from under the hull of the Iron Strider where a suit of Mandalorian combat armor was, with a body somewhere inside.
"Yeah, had to fight Watto to give me his last one," the boy replied, a little strip of hair that he had in a braid hung down over is his face, defying the short, shaggy haircut the boy had donned for almost all his life.
"Good. Ix and Gamma are out getting supplies," The body voiced itself once again. The suit of armor emerged, and retrieved the part from the boy's hands.
"They probably stopped at the bar. Where to next?" said the boy.
"Kubindi. Man, it's been forever since I've been to Kubindi. Gorga the Hutt has a job for us," said the body within the suit. "He always pays well."
"Hey, we got the supplies," another figure appeared. This one had the faint resemblance of a human in the build sense, but if not a silhouette, it appeared like an insect.
"Anywhere special this time?" yet another voice, this time, that of a droid. This droid was a Baktoid B1 Battle Droid model. Stolen from the Confederacy.
"Back to Kubindi. Meeting up with Gorga," the suit emerged from under the hull of the freighter.
"Kubindi? It's been forever since we went there last," the droid spoke.
"Hell yeah," the insect-human said, "wait, what the hell is Gorga doing on Kubindi?"
"Probably building yet another palace," replied the armor suit.
"Alright, well let's not waste any time. Let's go people."
The boy stands a bit and looks out of the landing pad shelter where the Iron Strider is docked.
"Come on, Zedd, we have work to do. We have to get going," the insect emerged from the door, calling out to the boy. Zedd catches himself again, and jumps onto the starship.
They pull out and make the jump to hyperspace. Zedd and the insect-human are sitting at a table playing a game of pazaak. Upon noticing that he's lost the game, Zedd cries out and swears.
"Damn it! I hate pazaak!" Zedd looks up and calls out. "Kairo! How far out is Kubindi from here?"
The suit of Mandalorian armor replies, "We're still about a day out, kid. Don't tell me you forgot how long hyperspace travel can be?"
Zedd answers, "No, I'm just tired of Ix beating me at this fucking game!"
A little squid-type creature hops up on the table. It spits a small fireball onto the cards, and sets them alight.
"No, Leviathan! No, you're burning the cards!" Ix exclaims as he tries to save his disappearing pazaak deck.
The droid laughs, "Sucks to be you, Ix."
"Shut up, Gamma!" Ix exclaimed.
Zedd smiles and leans back some. Later, they gather for dinner and enjoy a good laugh and a great meal. Leviathan perches himself on top of Zedd's scruffy hair and puffs a few bits of smoke and flame. Everything is good on the Iron Strider.
The next day, the crew awakes and prepares to dock on Kubindi. Gamma sends out the ship codes to the docking facility the crew uses. Ix prepares to transfer the power of the thrusters onto the landing rockets. Kairo brings the Iron Strider in to their old landing pad.
A male, Trandoshan, dressed in ragged pilot gear, steps forward toward the ship and smiles.
"Can't remember the last time I saw the Iron Strider on one of my landing pads," he spoke.
"Slizzk," Kairo says nothing else. He smiles warmly. He and the Trandoshan give each other a friendly hug, for they have not seen each other in years.
Ix and Gamma go in for a hug themselves, Slizzk doesn't fight it. They're his old friends too.
Slizzk steps back and says, "Man, it's probably been 5 years since you last touched Kubindi." He notices Zedd, standing on the left side of Gamma, smiling.
Slizzk takes a closer look. "Is- Is that Zedd? Little Zedd? My! It is you! Last time I saw you, you were an itty-bitty thing! You've grown so much!" Zedd laughs a little.
"Hey, Uncle Slizzk," Zedd says, with a giant smile on his face.
Slizzk backs up and takes a look at the crew. "So, guys. What brings you all the way out here to old Kubindi?"
"We have business with Gorga the Hutt. We got a message from him saying he had a high-paying job," Kairo explains. Slizzk isn't surprised.
"All the crime in the entire Kubindi system is managed by him. Wouldn't be surprised if he wanted you to track down some guy who crossed him," Slizzk stated. The crew of the Iron Strider nods. They aren't surprised either.
"You know where his base of operations is, Slizzk?" Kairo asked the Trandoshan ex-pilot.
"Yeah, just down the marketplace. Big palace, you can't miss it. Got several of his bounty hunters and assassins docked in my facility," Slizzk replied, happy he could help out his old friends. "I could walk with you there, if you like."
Kairo agreed, and the crew walked down the marketplace, with an abundance of sentients looking at them with interest. They approach the entrance of the palace, with two Gamorrean guards, axes in hands, ready to slice any intruders that dare enter Gorga's palace.
"I'll wait for you all out here. Gorga doesn't like anyone showing up in his new palace uninvited. Too many people want him dead." Slizzk tells the bounty hunter team.
They affirm and walk into the huge building where the Hutt, his friends and close family, and his slaves resided. They enter, catch glances from several assassins, bounty hunters, drug dealers and other vendors of illegal and stolen materials, surrounded by other galactic scum of the same sort. They notice one especially important-looking individual. Possibly a hunter or assassin, or a friend of Gorga's. He had three slaves sitting around him, swooning over him, blushing at a mere glance from him. The team had never seen him before.
They find themselves in front of Gorga, the nephew of the great Jabba the Hutt, chief of the Hutt Cartel. The Hutt faces them and smiles.
"Ah, my friends! I have been awaiting you!" the Hutt spoke.
Kairo replies, with a reigning indifference to how intimidating Gorga was, "Glad to hear that. Wouldn't want to show up at a Hutt's door uninvited.
Gorga laughs a little, and then replies, "My friends, I have a task I would like you to complete."
Still unimpressed, Kairo states his all-too-popular line: "If you have the credits."
Gorga chuckles again, "I always have the credits. Half now, half after you bring me this person. This man owes me 20,000 credits. You bring him back to me, 10,000 credits. Try not to kill him, dead men can't pay debts."
Kairo inquires, "Do you have a lead?" He is still as blank in expression as he has been for this entire conversation.
The Hutt replies promptly, he knows what he's doing. "Try Alderaan. He used to live there. I don't know his current residence, but you may get some valuable information from the locals. Now, your credits," He calls to the line of people behind him. "Shag! Koose je jah moulee-rah!" A slave, female, human or Zabrak, you couldn't tell and it really wasn't important, stepped forward with a case, opened it to reveal the 5,000 credits that the crew of the Iron Strider was promised. Ix stepped forward and took the case from the girl. She blushed. As slightly as she could blush and be noticed, but blushed. "5,000 credits. It's all there, Gorga said.
Kairo once again refuses to act like he gives a womprat's ass about Gorga. "We'll count. We'll come back when we have your man."
They walk back out before the Hutt can say anything in response. Once again, all eyes are on them as they exit. One very important set of pupils was upon them as well. The one, drowning in slaves and feeling a slight bit of interest, mixed with a slight bit of disgust.
Slizzk is waiting for them. "So guys, what'cha got?"
Ix answers, "an overly ecstatic Hutt with a guy indebted to him, wanting results."
Slizzk is nonchalant. "The only part about that, that's surprising, is the part where you said he was ecstatic."
Gamma confirms. "It was true. He was pretty happy to see us." He thinks. "It is quite unnatural for a Hutt or any crime lord, really, but as long as we get the credits, everything will be fine."
Slizzk nods, then they walk back to the docking facility. Zedd's disappointed that his uncle Slizzk wasn't able to speak more, but he had a lot of work that needed to be done, and so did Zedd. They load up onto the Iron Strider and head off for Alderaan.
Zedd awakes in his quarters, in the middle of the night. He's hungry. He gets up and walks out to the main hold. Gamma is doing something with the map in the center of the room.
"Gamma? What are you doing?" Zedd inquires, rubbing his eyes, still sleepy.
"Updating the map. For some stupid reason we didn't hear that the facility on Peragus got blasted to hell, years ago. I should be asking you what you're doing. You need rest. We hit Alderaan tomorrow." Gamma doesn't spare a glance at Zedd. He continues to operate on the map display.
"I know. I just got hungry." Zedd replies.
"Well shit," Gamma says. "I don't know why, you ate almost all the damn stew for dinner."
"I don't know either. It's weird."
"Well eat something and go back to bed."
Zedd goes to the cargo hold. They had a food storage compartment installed in the early days of the ship. He finds some bread leftover from that night's dinner, and sits on the mesh that's strung from the ceiling to the floor. He looks up, takes a bite. Thinks. About what, well, it really didn't matter that much. He just thought a lot. He wondered if he'd ever find a girl he actually loved, but he shook that thought away, when his priorities returned to him. When he became a crewman on the Iron Strider, he swore that he'd put all of his effort into his work, and ignore distractions such as romantic relationships. He finished his bread and decided he was too comfortable to move, so he just fell asleep on the mesh in the cargo hold.
In the morning, Zedd wakes. Heads to the cockpit to check up on the situation. Kairo is late waking up, but Ix will wake him up rudely and suddenly, when he is needed. They'll land and then pick up some food for breakfast. Then they'll start questioning the locals as to the whereabouts of Morl Rothek, the man who they are after.
They land, pay the dock adiministrator, have a meal, and then head to the cantina. That seems to be the most likely place to look for the scum that borrow money from the Hutt Cartel.
They enter, the band is playing, there are Twi'lek dancers scattered about the room. Zedd heads to the bartender.
"Bit young to be drinking aren't you, kid?" the bartender, a Bith, asks Zedd.
"I want to ask some questions," Zedd stated, completely ignoring the bartender's last query.
"Not particularly busy right now, so, sure. I'll answer your questions," the bartender replies.
"The name Rothek mean anything to you?" Zedd inquired.
"Uh, Morl. Morl Rothek. He comes here pretty regularly. Know his face, and that's about it, though. Sorry," the bartender said.
"Anyone here I could talk to who might know him personally?" Zedd asked.
"Um, Taara. The Twi'lek dancer over there. She's pretty popular but I've seen her dancing for Rothek more than I have any other lucky son of a schutta," the Bith drink-server answered.
"Okay, thank you," Zedd said as he left, heading to talk to Taara.
"Come back if you want anything else," the bartender said, warmly.
Zedd walks over to where Taara is dancing. She doesn't have anyone watching her up-close at the moment, but then again, there are hardly any patrons in the cantina.
"Excuse me," Zedd attempted to get the woman's attention. She ignores him. "Excuse me?" Zedd spoke a little louder.
"Go away. Little kids are annoying, and I'm paid to dance, not to talk to little kids," The dancer was quite mean. Zedd decided to try again.
"Ma'am, I want to ask you some questions about someone who comes here often, I heard you dance for him regularly."
"I told you to go away, pest. I don't dance for kids, I don't talk to kids, and I don't like to listen to kids." Taara is rude.
Zedd has always been a little short-tempered. He'd been working on it, and he was a hell of a lot more well-tempered than some kids he knew. But this was it for him. He pulled back his clothes to show his pistol, the dancer is surprised.
"Lady, call me a kid one more fucking time, I dare you! I just want you to answer some damn questions for me. Is that too much to ask?" Zedd was angry. He doesn't get angry often.
Taara is scared, she doesn't know what to say. "Um, of course, let's sit down."
Taara and Zedd sit down at a nearby table. She seems to have had a sudden change in character. She seems nicer now.
"What can I do for you?"
"Answer my questions."
"Okay, ask," says Taara, much more warmly than before. Zedd doesn't mind. It's better than the schutta she was acting like.
"Do you know Morl Rothek?" Zedd asked his first question.
"Yes, I know Morl. I dance for him. Quite a lot, actually." Taara answered.
"Does he still live on Alderaan?"
"No, no, he moved a while ago."
"Where?"
"I don't know, but he left his son behind, you could go ask him. He lives in Morl's old apartment, the IUG complex, down by the docks. It's apartment 34A."
"Thank you." Zedd said. Nothing else. He was still pretty agitated at Taara's original personality. He got up and went over to Ix, who had gotten stuck after the first person he spoke to.
"I got a lead. Rothek's son is still here." Zedd said, to Ix.
"You and I'll go. Let's let Kairo and Gamma follow their leads." Ix said. Zedd nodded and they departed the cantina.
They take a bus down to the IUG apartment complex, and enter the doors. They head up to the 34th floor, apartment A. They knock on the door.
The door opens, a child, no more than 10, behind it.
"W-Who are you?"
"We're looking for your father?"
"He's-He's not here..."
"Do you know where he is?"
"...I think... You should come inside..."
Zedd and Ix enter the apartment. No sign of Rothek anywhere.
Zedd sits down by the child.
"What's your name?"
"Denni."
"I'm Zedd, I'm wondering where your father is."
"He moved. He left me here."
"Where did he move to?"
"Um, he said, Onderon."
"Onderon?"
"Yeah. He said something about... Iziz."
"Huh. Thank you for your help, Denni."
"You're welcome."
Zedd gets up from his sitting position across from Denni.
"Oh, and if... you find my dad... can you ask him why he left me here alone?"
Zedd is surprised. He doesn't know what to say, he hesitates for a moment or two. "Uh, yes. Yes, yes I can."
Ix nods at Zedd, and they leave. Back to the cantina. They pick up Kairo and Gamma and set course on the Iron Strider for Onderon.
They land in the Iziz starport. Gamma and Ix have some repairs to do on the ship. Kairo and Zedd exit and go to question the census office.
The office employees ask their business.
"We're looking for a certain individual by the name of Morl Rothek. Is there any information about his current whereabouts?" Kairo inquired.
"Morl Rothek is dead."
"When?"
"4 years ago."
"Impossible," Zedd interjected. "He just abandoned his son on Alderaan. Left him there just recently."
"Our records show that Rothek has no children and has been on Onderon for 6 years."
"Well, your records are wrong. Thanks for nothing."
Kairo and Zedd leave the building. They go to the more scummy side of town, as its obvious now that Morl Rothek is trying to disappear. They talk to a few scavengers and find out that Rothek has made himself a big name as an employee as an employee of a local crime lord.
"Shit, This is going to be harder than we thought," Kairo stated. "Dealing with crime lords is a lot different than dealing with average scum. If we take this guy's best employee, he's not going to be happy."
"We'll just have to take Rothek without the guy knowing," Zedd suggested.
They go to the lair of Chincho, a Rodian crime lord who always dealt in the more dangerous criminal activities, and had several close ties with slaving rings. The guard at the door denies them entrance.
"How about you let us in or I'll fry your brains to a crisp," Kairo pushed.
"Very well. What is your business with Chincho?" the guard gave in.
"We have no business with Chincho. We would like to talk to one of his employees."
"Hm. Fine. Enter."
Neither Zedd nor Kairo says any more. They enter. Similar to Gorga's palace, only much less flashy. Once again all eyes are on them.
A few slaves scattered the room. They find one, serving drinks and approach.
"Excuse me," Zedd spoke up.
"I'm not a dancer. I'm a server. Please don't ask me to dance for you," the slave jumped to conclusions.
"Woah, calm down, honey. We just want to ask you some questions. Let's sit down."
"I- I suppose," the shy slave replied. The group sat down at a table.
"My name is Seth, this is my nephew. We're looking for a friend of ours, Morl Rothek. Is he in here?" Kairo asked the slave girl.
"He's in the reserved den over past the bar," the slave quietly responded.
"Thanks, gorgeous," Kairo said as he walked away toward the private party room that was reserved for Morl Rothek. They enter quietly and close the door behind them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? This room is reserved," said the man standing in the center. This was Morl Rothek.
Zedd and Kairo quickly drew their weapons, and pointed them at the men on either side of Rothek. There were also three Twi'lek dancers in the back.
"Woah, hey now. We're unarmed," Rothek said as he backed away slightly.
"We know, Morl Rothek," Kairo said, and the man was shocked. "Now," Kairo continued, now speaking to the other individuals in the room, "here's how this is going to work. We're taking this one. We're going out the window to your left. None of you try to stop us, and when we're gone, you say nothing of what you have seen. If you do, we will hunt you down, find you, and kill you, along with your entire families. That includes you three back there," the dancers looked at each other, terrified. "Clear?" Kairo finished. They all nodded.
Zedd puts his pistol away and ties Morl's hands behind his back. Zedd and Kairo climb out the window with their target.
"Kairo, this is Gamma. Ix and I have arrived and we have visual on your position," the radio went off with this message.
"Great. Stand by," Kairo replied.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appears. The bounty hunter from Gorga's palace was there on Onderon.
"Hello, assholes," the bounty hunter spoke.
"Fuck."
Kairo and Zedd both realized that this was where their mission got difficult.
"I could let you take the bounty, peacefully, and complete Gorga's task. Or, I could kill you both, take the bounty for myself, tell Gorga that you got yourselves killed before you even saw the target, and collect on 10,000 credits. I like the second one better," the bounty hunter strutted about.
Kairo keeps his unimpressed tone. "I like the third one, where you try, we kill you, take the bounty for ourselves, and collect on 10,000 credits."
"So it's on then." The words out of the scumbag criminal's mouth began the fight. Kairo rushed in and fought the bounty hunter, hand to hand. Zedd looks around, and spots a man sporting a vibroblade. He runs over, pulls the man to face him, and punches the man in the face. He then takes the vibroblade and engages the bounty hunter.
The hunter's alloy armor made it difficult to get a proper hit. But when Zedd's vibroblade left the hunter's stomach exposed, he took the chance and ended it there.
They have left the target unattended, and he has proceeded to flee. They pursue.
"Tracking target at 300 meters," Ix reported over radio.
"Tracking target at 200 meters," Gamma also reports.
"Zedd, flank his left side!" Kairo shouted out to the young man.
Zedd heads to the next street over. He catches up to the target. Kairo is losing Rothek in the crowd.
He's getting away!" Kairo shouted at the boy.
Zedd runs up a flight of stairs to the roof of a house.
"Not from me."
Zedd jumps from the roof and tackles Rothek to the ground. Ix and Gamma bring up the back. The target is secure. They load him up in the Iron Strider and take him back to Gorga.
"Take him back there! Get him out of my sight!" Gorga shouted to his guards. "Ah, thank you. The other half of your credits! Shag!"
The same slave as before came to take the rest of the credits to the team. Ix once again, takes the credits from her. She is blushing again. She has to pull herself away from Ix. Ix takes the credits and the team begins to leave.
"Wait! Please! Come, and work for me! I'm a great employer. I will pay you very well," Gorga asked.
"Sorry, Gorga. We don't affiliate with anyone. We work for whoever pays us the most," Kairo's other most famous line.
Gorga resigns, "Hm. Very well, I suppose that's reasonable. I will call you if I have something else for you, then!"
Kairo nods and the crew heads out of the palace. Slizzk is on a business trip so the crew can't visit him. They decide to go back to Alderaan, and pay a visit to Rothek's son. There are a few Alderaan officials standing by the door, with Denni speaking, quietly, to them.
Zedd walks up to the government workers, "What's going on here?"
One of the officials spoke up. "This boy's father abandoned him here, when he left for Onderon. We've decided to place the boy, in lieu of being able to find his parent, with a good friend of his father."
Zedd notices Taara, the dancer from before, standing near Denni. He looks at her with a mix of puzzlement and disgust.
Taara looks up, and smiles slightly, she seems much more sensitive now. "You caught me kid. They couldn't find Morl, so they're placing Denni with me. Sleazebag, leaving his kid like that. I've always liked Denni, he's a sweet kid. I won't mind him."
"Oh, now, you like kids? You're full of shit," Zedd is not impressed. He is still angry with her from before, but she seems legitimately changed.
"I'm sorry about how I treated you before. It was unwarranted. I heard about you and your team catching Morl. After leaving Denni, I believe he deserved what he got," Taara tries harder to get Zedd to believe she's changed.
"Yeah, yeah he did." Zedd is still unimpressed. Denni walks up to Taara, and Taara gives him a little hug.
"How you holding up, Denni?" she asked him.
"Pretty good, I guess," Denni turns to Zedd. "You're back, mister!"
"Yeah," Zedd replies, "Yeah, I am. You doing okay? Gonna be fine with Miss Taara here?"
"Aunt Taara is nice, I'll be fine living with her," Denni smiles brightly.
Zedd turns to Taara. "Maybe you aren't as much of a schutta as I made you out to be. Take care. And watch over this one," Zedd says as he turns and leaves. Taara smiles and puts her arm around Denni's shoulder and gives him a comforting pat.
The crew of the Iron Strider can relax once again. They go out for a nice dinner, in celebration of the 10,000 credits they just collected. They go back onto the ship, get out of their armor and take off their weapons. They sit down and relax, and wait for more work to come their way.
