Chapter One

Five years later

Dengar made his way through the crowded streets of Coruscant's lower levels. He was looking for a very specific cantina known as the Grudge's Gateway. Used mostly by lowlifes, the cantina was probably one of the worst this side of the planet. Dengar, sneaking his way over to one of the less crowded alley ways, was trying to keep a low profile. All weapons were hidden, except for a small hand blaster at his side. The alley was unusually dark for such a bright and busy city, except for a dimly lit sign resting above the backdoor of a small highrise. Dengar made his way towards the door, being careful not to step on anything.. unidentifiable. Sure enough, above his head the letters vaguely made out the words 'Grudge' and 'Gateway.' With a cautious step, Dengar made his way inside the door. The dimly lit hallway was completey deserted, with not a single object or person in sight. Dengar could hear the sounds of rowdiness coming from somewhere inside the structure, and the stench of a multi-racial cantina nearly made him sick.
Dengar had been given the information that an old 'business partner' of his was wanting to meet him here. Apparently, his old 'business partner' had some urgent news that could possibly prove useful to the retired bounty hunter. Maybe it was an old contract beind restored, or news of some smalltime merchandise in the area. Whatever the information, Dengar would be sure to receive it.
Dengar made his way to the main room. The rowdiness proved to be more than what it sounded like. In every corner of the room there was some sort of fist fight going on. Nobody had pulled any guns yet, but give them time and Dengar was sure something nasty would happen. Ignoring the racket, he made his way to an empty booth in the far wall. Dengar, after ordering himself some well known ale, began to look around for his 'coworker'.
"Looking for something?" an raspy voice asked. Dengar looked up, only to find himself face to face with the ugliest Trandoshan he had ever seen.
"None of your business." Replied Dengar, ignoring the lear the lizard was giving him.
"Oh I think it might be. Seems you were supposed to be out of the trade months ago. Isn't that right, Dengar?"
Dengar lifted his blaster level with the table-top, just high enough for the bounty hunter to see. "As I said before, it's none of your business Bossk."
With a snarl, Bossk turned to leave. "Just remember, if you get in my way I'll crush your bones." Laughing quietly and to himself, Dengar went back to searching.
"Well, he was friendly wasn't he?" a voice suddenly broke his concentration. Startled, Dengar looked up to see a tall scraggly human with short black hair and a long beard.
"Yeah. Who are you?" Dengar asked, not bothering to put his gun away.
"Perhaps you don't remember me. I used to give you small amounts of information on the location of some of your merchandise. Friends call me Snit."
The ugly man sat down, and as Dengar took a small portion of time to remember the name, the man broke in again. "I have a hunt for you, if you're interested."
"I stopped the business months ago Snit. Why did you really bring me here?"
"I heard you were in debt, and I thought I might help out."
Dengar snorted. "In debt? Where did you get that?"
"I have my resources. But back to business. There's a man named Tien Ronde, he's a former Captain of the rebels. Seems he made the mistake of sleeping with one of a certain gangster's dancing girls."
"Jabba."
"Correct. Now he's got a fairly large bounty on his head. Is 75,000 credits enough for you?"
"Wait a minute. How tough is this guy, and why isn't he with the rebels anymore?" Suspicion crept into Dengar's eyes.
Something didn't seem right about this former rebel. Kicked out? Since when do they kick out captain's?
"Well, after failing to keep pirates away from a rebel freighter, he was found smuggling out some of the Alliance's precious resources."
"Right, and considering they needed that stuff back then I guess they rather lose an ally than lose the whole war."
"Exactly. Now he's hiding in some remote asteroid field with a bunch of miners. Seems he doesn't want to be found."
"Who else is working this job?"
"Not sure. It's private, if that's what you mean." The ugly man grinned.
"We'll see. If I decide to take the job, you'll know." Dengar got up, holstered his blaster and made his way to the exit, leaving the ugly man alone.

"Manaroo, are you here?" Dengar made his way into his apartment, searching for his new wife, Manaroo. "I've got some good news and some bad news."
"Oh?" Manaroo appeared in the kitchen doorway, stunning Dengar with her new white dress. It contrasted wonderfully with her saphire skin.
"What's the occassion?" Dengar smirked, grabbing hold of Manaroo's waist and kissing her on the forehead.
"Well, I have some wonderful news. I went to the doctor today to ask about those abdominal pains I was having. And guess what!" wow, she was excited.
"What's that?" a bit of dread in Dengar's voice.
"I'm pregnant!" she clapped her hands and embraced Dengar in a huge hug. "Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, just one problem." He didn't seem that enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. "We're out of money. How are we going to afford a baby?"
"Oh that's no problem. You can just take that job Snit was talking to you about." She grinned.
Dengar backed up for a moment. "How do you know about that?"
"Well..."
A little more forceful this time. "Manaroo how did you find out? You weren't talking to that guy were you? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
"Calm down Dengy-poo! I was disguised as a slop in that stupid cantina. I followed you in there, sat down behind you, and listened to the whole thing. Despite how much I hate the idea of you hunting again, I don't think there's a choice."
She grabbed his hand and led him to the couch where they sat down. She grinned.
"Although, it would be very exciting!" her eyes were wide with anticipation. "No. You aren't going, not if you're carrying my child. I want you to stay here and hide. Don't answer the door, don't even answer the holocom."
"But.."
"No buts, this is serious. If you want me to take the job then you have to stay hidden. If some of the other hunters find I'm back in the business, they're going to want to stop me anyway possible. That includs abducting you!"
Manaroo could cleary see that she was to stay where she was and not make a sound. "I'll be as quiet as a mouse." She bit out.
"Good." A sigh of relief escaped Dengar as he got up.
"I'm going to go gather all my old stuff, including my ship. I'll come back before I go, just to say goodbye."

-----


Ari Dane was found lying on the floor of her ships cockpit. Blood framed her pale skin and wide, bright green eyes. She grunted. With one slender arm after the other, she crawled into her chair and sat herself upright. Dizziness took over. Ari opened her eyes and glanced at her monitors. She was still above the dispicable Nar Shaddaa, ready to head back to Tattooine with her newly acquired prize. After the incident of Triz's death and the raiding of the Sleeping Sabre, Ari devoted herself into killing Tien Ronde. Becoming a bounty hunter seemed like a good career change. Piracy only got her friends killed, after all. It was time to do something with herself. Successful hunt after successful hunt, Ari was saving up her credits for a decent ship and the means to hunt down that evil man Tien Ronde.
"Oh God.." Ari stretched out her bruised muscels. Below her, in the ship's tiny cargo-hold, was a very rowdy piece of merchandise. He went by the name of Rodri Ranhat, but that's not important.
After keying in her new jump coordinates, Ari was on her way to that scumbag Tattooine, not that her last location was any better. Ari was used to these kinds of places. Afterall, when you're born into piracy, there's not a whole lot of luxury in your life. A sudden red flashing caught Ari's eye. Somebody had left her a messege during her hunt. Ari hit the play button and the recorded voice of an old friend filled the cockpit.
"Ari, this is Trinuz. I don't know if you remember who I am, but I was Triz's father, and second in command of the Red Fang I have some information I think you might want. I ran into an old associate of mine, and it turns out that man that killed my son has a bounty on his head. As far as I know it's a private job, but I can hook you up with the right people, and perhaps we can get you the opportunity you've been searching for. In regards, Trinez." The recording ended, and left the entire ship in complete silence.
"Tien Ronde." Ari bit out, a sly grin crossing her delicate features. "You're all mine."