"The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars." - William Westmoreland
-Grand Moff Linkin-
-Imperial Space Station orbiting Nar Shadaa-
Linkin hated his job. He hated Hutts. Conveniently, that's where he was placed. He was given absolute authority over Nar Shadaa and the surrounding system, and that meant he had to deal with a lot of Hutts.
They were slimy, scheming, back biting, greedy, cold-blooded, and, if he might add a personal jab, fat. He had to have his office doors rebuilt just to fit their fat asses in.
Of course, being Governor had its perks. It meant he got to tell them what to do.
So as much as he hated dealing with Hutts and the corruption, it also gave him a special amount of satisfaction to make three sit in front of him and sweat. any other day that would have been the case, but this was special. Lord Vader himself was on his back, and he was not happy.
That meant he wasn't happy. "Here is where we stand Gentlemen..."
The three Hutts fidgeted nervously as he sat at his desk passively and stared at them from behind his clasped hands. "Six months ago, our radar picked up the Rogue Shadow entering orbit. Six months ago, Vader put out the bounty on one Juno Eclipse. Six months ago, you were supposed to be searching for her." He scanned his eyes over them slowly. "Now... would anyone care to explain the fruits of your... 'efforts'? Anyone? Anyone? No one? Okay, I'll put my hand up." He put his hand up. "A ship owned by some random goon of yours, with a wiped memory, AND NO ECLIPSE!" He slapped the desk.
The three jumped and one of them spilled wine on his chest. Their slaves hurried to wipe it up. Linkin eyed the slaves. Slavery was allowed in the Empire, but he had... personal preferences. Which only made him feel sicker towards the Hutts. Because while the Empire enslaved prisoners of war or criminals, the Hutts enslaved everyone without judgement, justice, or impartiality, if you could get into their grimy claws.
"Now. Tell me we have something more than that." He said patiently. As much as he wanted to yell at them and punish them, it would be fruitless. There was only so much he could do to them because as much as they knew he could hurt them, they knew his butt was on the line. The only reason they were making any efforts at all was because they knew that whoever he was replaced with would recognize their 'efforts' to get him replaced, or worse, dead. Or Linkin would make their lives hell when pushed too far.
One of the Hutts raised a hand and said in Huttese, "The Rogue Shadow black market transaction was backtracked to Nal Bar'sai's territory."
"Ding ding ding! We have something." He pointed to the Hutt and smiled, then turned his attention on Nal Bar'sai. "Anything you would like to add?"
Judging from the Hutt's silence and sweat, it was a resounding no, but Linkin let him have his silence. The Hutt would undoubtedly lie, scheme, or offer something to appease Vader, and in turn him.
Nal Bar'sai glanced nervously at his peers before grumbling. He said, "Nothing."
"Nothing." Linkin repeated. "Let me ask you, have you even searched?"
Again lengthy silence. "No."
"No... I see. Well, then here this is going to work." He leaned forward on his desk. "If you slugs cannot find me this one person, I will have to take matters into my own hands and search myself. And I won't be as nice about it as you. Now, would you care to explain why you haven't bothered keeping an eye out for her?"
"..."
"Well?" Clearly the Hutt was holding something back and nervous about something. The question was what? Was it embarassing? Like he spent all of his time in the company of his floozies drinking and smoking?
Nal Bar'sai whispered something to one of his Twi'lek slaves, and she walked around his desk. She leaned her barely covered body over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. With each word she said, Linkin gaped in shock, then smiled, and let his smile grow.
Once the message was received, she returned to her master.
-Starkiller-
-Nar Shadaa-
Starkiller awoke stiff and hurting all over. He didn't react to it outwardly, this was something he was used to from his training. What he had not expected was how deeply the exhaustion went from recovering from such a massive wound. He silently meditated from where he lay and pulsed gently with the Dark Side. Energy flooded his veins and the pain lessened.
He turned on the makeshift bed to see Juno laying behind him, up against the wall. They kept a small distance between each other last night and from what he could recall with his fuzzy memory, she had spent most of the night shaking and murmuring in despair.
Starkiller rose to his feet and looked down at her. Her eyes and mouth were puffy, her skin looked sick and dry, her body was feeble. He had seen it before, but now that the Force flowed through him and he was fully awake and free of drugs, he could see how deeply she had suffered. She was a healthy, smart-ass, bright woman. Now she looked like any other hobo they now lived among. And through the Force he felt her life energy was dwindling. It wasn't that she was dying, but the brightness of life in her was dimmed.
It made his chest hurt.
PROXY stood by his side, watching his expression. "It was bad, wasn't it..." Starkiller whispered. He didn't want to wake her.
"It was." PROXY replied.
Starkiller closed his eyes and thought on, again, why she would do it. But then he concluded, that, perhaps, the why didn't matter anymore. All that mattered now was that she had. It was a debt he would take a long time to repay, and a loyalty he respected.
He could put off starting his revenge a while.
The alien they shacked up with sat on the other side of the hole in the wall, and was clutching his green credits, and periodically licking one. The alien watched them passively.
Starkiller turned and walked out. "Let's go, PROXY. We have work to do."
"Coming, Master!" PROXY sounded more up-beat than he was yesterday. PROXY was happy to finally be of service again.
Starkiller and PROXY entered the streets of Nar Shadaa. Starkiller flexed his muscles while he walked. His body ached. He knew entropy had set in, but now getting out of it was proving a painful experience he didn't want to repeat.
"PROXY, list all sources of quick, local income that can be done in secret."
"Master, I am not an economic-bot. I am a fighting bot capable of long range communication and holographic imagery. In addition, I am not plugged into the local holonet for the sake of secrecy."
"I understand that, but since you and Juno have been having some work here for a while, you had to have heard of things. Just tell me a filtered list from my query, and prepare yourself to look into the holonet. There are some things we will need to know."
"Computing one moment... We can steal."
"I would rather not make a lot of enemies, and it's too small if we go for the lesser people. Not many have money amongst slaves and indentured servants and lesser gangs. Next."
"We can gamble."
Starkiller thought about that a moment. On one hand, gambling and winning would very quickly put them on the Hutt's radar, but if they take advantage of PROXY's ability to appear like a variety of people, they can pull it off, and over time it could work very well towards getting his plans started, and he could make sure Juno is healthy and comfortable again at the same time.
"Mark it as 'possible'. Next." Starkiller said.
'Damn my stamina... It's dropped down to nothing.' He chastised himself. He stopped at the corner of a street to catch his breathe.
"We can be gladiators."
Gladiators... He had heard gladiators were often slaves pitted against each other, and he would not take kindly to being a slave. There are gladiators who aren't slaves, but Starkiller wasn't sure how that worked. He wasn't up to being put on a long term contract. He could do it, but the income was unknown, it would obviously demand an alias of him, it would put him on the public spotlight to a degree, and he could be facing a lot of requirements to show up or give information to his employer... or something special entailed in a contract, and the last thing Starkiller wanted was to pop up on Vader's radar without it being on his terms.
"I don't know what is involved in that. Mark it as 'need more information'. Next."
"Bounty Hunter."
Now Bounty Hunting was a field that Starkiller was familiar with. He had never involved himself with it personally, but he knew of it. It could be freelance or contracting, and you hunted criminals, stole items of value to an employer, or did the opposite in acting as a bodyguard to a person or item. Or you could go after the 'good' side. You could choose whatever target you wanted. The money was lucrative in direct proportion to the danger and significance of the target, and secrecy in the job was to be expected through aliases, and respected. Starkiller knew that if he had turned his kills thus far in for bounties instead of doing it out of loyalty as gifts to Vader, he would be a very wealthy man. He didn't know how wealthy, but wealthy.
It also allowed a degree of freedom in choosing contracts. Whether it be for morality, considering the job too dangerous, or just not liking to work in groups.
Starkiller found himself smiling darkly. The prospect of being a bounty hunter was appealing. It was so much like what he already was that it was... actually exciting. To be able to choose his own targets. To hunt them down. The Dark Side in him enjoyed the hunt and bringing his prey in, but also the freedom that went along with it fueled his imagination. He had almost taken pity on Shaak Ti enough to bring her in alive rather than dead, and being able to make that choice was something he would like to continue to have.
All the while bringing people to justice...
Starkiller didn't claim to be a saint. He wasn't what he would call 'a good guy', but he had worked under Vader fully believing he was doing the right thing, while pleasing Vader. He brought Vader's enemies to justice.
And there were certainly a lot of scum here.
"That one sounds interesting."
-Juno Eclipse-
-Nar Shadaa-
Juno woke up to seeing the alien friend of theirs hovering over her looking at her face closely. "Uh... Good Morning?" She said groggily.
"Why you lost the shiny?" A shiver went down her spine at his voice, whether it was the unusual tone or how close his mouth was, she couldn't say.
"I haven't touched your shinnies."
"Shiny lost!" The alien poked her skin.
She explained, "I haven't eaten well... human bodies degrade over time. It's called malnutrition."
He stared blankly at her. He didn't seem to understand. "Can you get shiny again?"
Again, she shivered. "I... yes. If you can let me get go and go out, I can see what I can do... Where is Bendak and PROXY?"
The alien backed away, but the way he intently looked at her put her on edge. It was... different from how he usually looked at her. It was still like a kid with a crush, but... there was something behind his eyes she couldn't place. She didn't know his name either, nor what he did when he was gone for days at a time. He always returned with more 'shiny' credits though and added them to his little stockpile. Once he had some hardened white material on his clothes. Did he work in a factory or spend a lot of time in one?
The alien shrugged. "You friends go off. Talked about work."
'They must be seeing what they can do to get us out of this.' Juno thought. A part of her felt ashamed that she had allowed herself to degrade to the point that she no longer had any stamina or strength to do much, but she had been focused single-mindedly on ensuring Starkiller came out of his surgery well. She had done her part...
'Still, there is at least something I can do.' Juno struggled to stand. She may not be as strong as she used to be, and her brain felt like mush, but she could at least do something. She wasn't sure what, but she would figure it out. She reached for her pistol...
But there was no pistol. She stared blankly at the spot for a moment. 'Starkiller must have taken it...' She concluded. She left to find some way to earn enough to get dinner.
The alien watched her leave. He muttered, "She needs to be all nice and shiny again..."
-PROXY-
-A bar in Nar Shadaa-
PROXY believed it knew master Starkiller well. Starkiller was a predictable master. Starkiller was a master that lacked ulterior motives, schemes, lies, and large ambition. Starkiller was a servant, much like itself, with a simple ambition toward a single goal. Both of their existences were carved and based around concepts you could say in a sentence.
To kill Starkiller when he is at his strongest.
To serve Vader.
Yet, observing Starkiller left PROXY confused. Starkiller was a master that took on many of Vader's quirks, such as saying little, staring at things as a way of asking or demanding, and not 'cutting around the bush' as organics put it. Yet... the few things Starkiller said... it left PROXY wondering for the first time what Starkiller was thinking.
PROXY, ensure there are no Imperials in there.
PROXY, for future notice, we will not be taking any contracts from the Empire, no matter what job we take.
PROXY, go on the holonet through a proxy and download all information you can find on the creation and management of an army.
PROXY's lower programming dictated it should reconcile this unusual, and dangerous, progression of orders with Its master, and see what Starkiller had in mind, but its higher programming reminded it that it was a good loyal PROXY first.
The scariest thing was not just Starkiller's words, vague as they were, but his mood. Starkiller was, as stated, silent and thoughtful. It was traits picked up by his father figure. However, as of late Starkiller was brooding. The expression on his face, while hidden from the unobservant eyes of organics, spoke loudly to PROXY of pain, anger, and eventual satisfaction. Now, when you combine pain, anger, and eventual satisfaction as emotional status's and recall how Starkiller had been betrayed by their mutual master to the point of death, the conclusion is that Starkiller is dreaming of repaying said master in kind.
PROXY didn't care. Such thoughts were neither good nor ill for it. What bothered PROXY was how hidden Starkiller tried to keep his thoughts. PROXY could hardly put its programming and functions in order with such large empty variables.
It was obvious that Starkiller's programming had changed from 'Serve Vader' into something else, but PROXY was unsure what it had become.
PROXY did not prompt him nor express its curiosity. Starkiller would tell all in his own time. PROXY contented itself to walking just behind him.
All of this PROXY considered in the span of seconds it took to enter the bar. Starkiller hung back and scanned the crowd. PROXY already had. "There are no Imperials, master, but plenty of unsightly undesirables taking little notice of us."
"Cameras?"
"One."
"Let's avoid its notice then. Lead the way to a table."
PROXY examined the camera, judged its line of sight, mapped a route around it, and followed said route. Starkiller followed it to the table selected. They were in the middle of a crowd, and the atmosphere was red and misty. PROXY examined the mist and found it had a chemical base designed to produce endorphins in most organics and limit inhibitions. Starkiller was unaffected.
The mist was putting most of the occupants of the bar into a high. There was little they could say that would be noticed. PROXY informed Starkiller of its findings.
"Regardless... I would rather not blab out too much." Starkiller cautioned.
'Blab out too much' implied that there was something to 'blab'. An interesting choice of words, but PROXY stayed quiet.
"I've been thinking." Starkiller started. "The bounty hunter gig would go well with us, at least for a cover."
"Cover for what?" PROXY inquired.
Starkiller looked at it quietly, but did not respond to the question. A bot wheeled by, asked what they wanted, and Starkiller ordered water. "The water here is probably full of crap as well..." Starkiller muttered as it left. The water was the only thing here free.
"If by 'crap' you mean chemicals designed to produce endorphins and reduce inhibitions, In addition to a high metal content, floating organic matter, and kidney excrement, then yes." Starkiller stared at it. PROXY tried to appease his worry. "But you are unaffected by the chemicals."
"Thanks PROXY... That makes me feel so much better."
"You are welcome, master." PROXY observed that mater did not touch his drink. He was thirsty. So why-
"Can you find the local bounties for me?" Starkiller asked suddenly.
"I can pull them off the holonet if you desire for me to plug myself in."
"Do that."
PROXY checked its firewalls and entered the local holonet. Immediately it encountered thousands of attempts to be hacked, but its Imperial grade firewalls pushed back all intruders as it swam the holonet for information and turned off its holonet transceiver. It took a hundredth of a second in real time, but its programming required that social etiquette allow PROXY to stand idle for a minimum of five seconds while in the presence of organics to give them a sense of 'thinking'.
Organics had such inefficient requirements.
"Done." PROXY declared. "Bounties within a twenty-five mile radius vary from ten credits to five-hundred thousand credits."
"Filter out the ones that are from the Empire."
PROXY removed approximately five bounties. One of a local thief, two murderers, one trouble-maker, and one Jedi Padawan named Falon Grey. The Jedi one was released recently, but the client was the local Imperial Governor.
"Five removed. Bounties within a twenty-five mile radius now vary from fifty credits to ten thousand."
"Now filter out the ones that require us to meet with the client first, will take a long time, and cannot be done anonymously."
There was one bounty fitting in that. A target called the 'Doll Maker' was considered a serial killer. The Doll Maker had killed a bunch of Hutt slaves and locals over the years, all of which were female and generally with fair skin. The only difficulty was in finding the Doll Maker. The individual was unknown and taking the time to find the target would not satisfy the master.
"One removed. Bounties within a twenty-five mile radius now vary from fifty credits to seven thousand."
"Describe the seven thousand bounty." Starkiller ordered. His eyes kept drifting to the drink, but his... inhibitions kept him back despite how he licked his dry lips twice and his skin was dangerously dry.
PROXY changed form into a fat alien. "The bounty is a local man named Donny Lerux. Lerux is inciting rebellion among the locals to fight against the Hutts, but reality is much harsher. He was a slave for the Triad that helped 'cook the books'. When Lerux encountered certain documents describing the Triad's wealth, he tried to direct some of it into his own account. The attempt failed, and he is now on the run trying to incite the locals into covering his hide. He does so through a cult centered around himself, and those he gathers are mentally ill."
PROXY continued, "This group is centered around a warehouse three floors down and two blocks east from our current location. Weaponry is unknown, but an educated guess limits it to one low-grade pistol per three people, and one grenade among them all, with a potential defense force of up to fifteen people based on Lerux's charisma. The turn in point does require face-to-face contact for the delivery, but that is something I can do personally as no identification is required. The target is wanted dead or alive."
Starkiller nodded. As always, PROXY prided itself on a thorough, and well put summary of the targets. Starkiller grimaced, chucked the water back, and shuddered in disgust. He rose.
PROXY said, "Master. Is it wise to push yourself?"
"You think I can't take a bunch of idiots and a coward?"
"Walking there will put you in more strain then them. It is my prediction that you will collapse from exhaustion on the walk back if you have to carry him with you."
Starkiller chuckled. "If you are so worried, grab a cab then to pick me up. This won't take long. Just give me five minutes. I won't even have to hurt anyone." Starkiller patted PROXY's shoulder plate and walked out.
-Juno Eclipse-
-Nar Shadaa-
Juno ignored the smell and flies as she rummaged through the trash can. So far it had been a bunch of a combination of junk, and hardware she could repair that people had tossed. She wiped the grime from her face and examined a motherboard. It looked salvageable. If she could find the proper tools then she could make it work.
Footsteps behind her made her jump, but she couldn't move. The person was right behind her. Alien fingers wrapped around her arms with gentleness, yet strength that kept her from moving.
"Let's make you nice and shiny again..."
-Darth Vader-
-Executor-
"I trust you have found the target, Grand Moff." Vader stood on the competed bridge of the Executor. Next to him, Grand Moff Wilfhug Tarkin tapped his foot patiently.
As Moffs went, Linkin was high up on Vader's list. He was like an old war veteran, but he was also not the most competent. The only Moff Vader considered to be fully competent was Tarkin. He might even go so far as to say Tarkin was a friend. Tarkin was the only one besides Palpatine who knew Vader's identity, and they had agreed on a lot of views of law and order both before and after the rise of the Empire. If anything, Tarkin had helped influence Vader's views, and the Empire as a whole. Tarkin's position as Grand Moff was official.
Unofficially he was in equal standing to Vader himself in the Emperor's eyes.
"We found the ship. It was sold six months ago and I have back tracked it to a specific sector. I regret to report that the Rogue Shadow's pilot is still laying low."
"So. You haven't found the target." Vader deduced.
"Uh... No, my Lord." Linkin started to sweat.
Vader started to growl and extend a hand to choke the incompotent Moff from a system away, but just before he could, Tarkin laid a hand on his arm. Tarkin said to the screen, "If you will excuse us for a moment."
"Certainly."
Tarkin gently nudged Vader away, and Vader obliged. He removed his arm. "Lord Vader, I understand the need to deal with failure and deal out due punishment, but at the same time there is progress being made."
"It has been months since the Rogue Shadow arrived here. Months for my target to disappear."
"And it is Nar Shadaa." Tarkin reminded him. "If I may use an aging analogy, it is like looking for a straw in a stack of needles. Poke around too much and the local scum will poke back, making it all the harder. I would say accept that the traitor of yours is lost, but the fact that any trace has been found is more than I would expect."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Depends on how vested you are on this traitor of yours. Our regiment in the Nar system is limited... purely cosmetic. If you are invested, then give the regiment proper supplies to do what it needs to do. Otherwise I wouldn't expect anything to be reaped from it."
Vader looked down in thought. The size of their forces in the system was quite small. Perhaps it was time they had more men. Not too much more. He didn't need Palpatine thinking he was investing too much into a side mission. He was supposed to be focused on other things.
Vader returned to the view screen and said, "Grand Moff, I will be sending you some additional reinforcements to aid in your search. I am giving you another chance."
Linkin blink in surprise. Vader was not known for giving second chances. "Of course, Lord Vader. And may I request something in particular?"
"What?" Vader said in decreasing patience.
"A Spector. In my search for the Rogue Shadow, we have come across rumors of a Jedi. I am prepared to focus the bulk of my forces on this threat, but I am unsure which dilemma you would prefer me to focus on."
A Jedi. "Do you have a name?"
"Falon Grey. Padawan to former Jedi General Rahm Kota."
Vader considered it a moment. The General was dead, but if he passed on his small army to his apprentice, then this Padawan was a respectable threat. Not enough for Vader to get personally involved in, but worth investing into.
"A Sith Spector is on its way. Expect a full Star Destroyer to be in your command." Vader pointed to the screen. "Do not fail me, Grand Moff. I expect both the Jedi and my traitor."