Stray
-I-
Just before the hundreds of rebelling Evocii opened fire and reduced Jason's group to blaster-bolt-riddled corpses, a single figured dropped through the upper branches of the trees like an arrow. With a graceful 'thud' this figure landed right next to Huttsbane in the blink of an eye. The overly loud snap-hiss of a lightsaber flaring to life drew everyone's attention and paralyzed the scene. The blood-red glow of the blade enhanced the ominous atmosphere of the dark, swampy mangrove.
"If I were you, I'd tell them to lower their weapons." The holder of the lightsaber intoned in a cool, even voice. Her green and black outfit was oddly appropriate for the scenary. Jason recognized her immediately, even if she wasn't in a slave-dancer's outfit. She was the exact same blonde he had helped out at the slave market the other day.
Lana Beniko, Lady of the Sith, and pragmatist. A companion character in the late-game story arcs, and one of the few Sith characters introduced who wasn't stab and choke-happy. Her appearance was so completely Jason's 'type' as well. Why she had appeared, he had no idea, but Jason was really glad that she had.
"Your fellow agent of the Empire wants to make a deal with our leadership, is this how the Empire negotiates?" Huttsbane said through clenched teeth, standing stalk still.
"I'm not here for the negotiations. I just hate owing people," Lana responded simply. "Now, seeing as you haven't ordered your people to stand down, do you want me to chop off your head now, or give you to the count of three?"
Huttsbane visibly gulped. "Weapons down."
"Wise choice," Lana said imperiously, sheathing her lightsaber with a flourish. She then turned her attention to Jason's encircled group and stared down Jason in particular. "We're even now."
"Thank you," Jason exhaled.
Lana tapped a computer on her wrist and a ship coasted in and hovered above them. "Huttsbane, I'll be watching. Allow them to meet your leadership and then leave. If you do, I at least, won't be the one to take your life. Are we clear?"
Far from panicked, Huttsbane tilted his head in consent. "Very. But their weapons stay here though."
"Fair enough," Lana agreed. The ramp to her ship unfolded and she leaped up. "Remember, I'll be watching."
Her ship then shimmered and disappeared from sight as a cloaking device activated.
Jason and the rest of his group breathed out sighs of relief.
A pale-faced Mako smiled weakly at Shiera'hol. "I'm not sure if I like our new friends or not."
"We knew that this had to do with Jedi business, and they always complicate things," Shiera'hol quipped, slowly holstering her blasters once more.
"And I thought our lives were complicated enough," Mako muttered.
Huttsbane jumped on a nearby vine and fast-roped down to the ground. He nodded to the other Evocii in the area. "Let them see the elders. We need allies, and if this is the Empire's will, it's better to appease them than make them our enemies."
Aristos uncurled from the back of the speeder and peeked out, looking somewhat disappointed. "Soooo, we're not going to go out in a blaze of glory?"
"You're complaining?" Theron remarked dryly.
"I'm going to die eventually. I'd rather it be in a blaze of glory than something stupid," the Imperial Agent exited the speeder in a dignified fashion and smoothed out his outfit.
"Like being backstabbed by a fellow agent of the Empire?" Ellaera said darkly. Jason could tell that her opinion of Cipher Five was very low.
"I don't hold grudges," Aristos shook his head. He gazed at the direction Mariarre had disappeared in. And in an almost inaudible voice, sighed. "Though…it seems like she does." He shook himself and continued. "And it wouldn't be so bad to die at her hand."
"You're definitely one of Darth Alachix's people," Jason said, giving the agent a skeptical look.
"I am indeed."
Huttsbane approached the group. "Leave your weapons and your vehicles here. We'll take you to see the elders."
"We're only here to talk," Shiera'hol nodded. She took out her blasters and tossed them into the speeder. Then took off a pair of knives and tossed them into the speeder as well. Following the knives were two more blasters tucked into the back part of her armor. And then another blaster strapped to her ankle. She detached the flame-thrower gauntlet, the knee-dart rocket launchers, and unhooked the shoulder-cannon apparatus. With every weapon she removed, the sight on Huttsbane's face grew more and more incredulous.
"Right, to talk," Huttsbane said faintly. He shook his head and looked at the next nearest person, who just so happened to be Ellaera. The Smuggler was in the process of adding her scattergun to a collection of two blasters and a vibrosword. The Evocii rebel then looked over to Aristos, who was neatly arranging a collection of throwing knives in an orderly row on the back of the speeder.
Jason felt more than a little awkward when the only weapons he had to remove were his very obvious bow and a blaster. "Yeah, to talk."
Huttsbane's gaze drifted skyward for a moment. Jason didn't know whether he was praying or searching for Lana's ship. "All of you will follow us. This swamp is mined so if you don't listen and stray too far, I won't be responsible for your deaths."
Having never actually walked through a swamp before, Jason was really grateful that his armor outfit came with knee-high boots. The squish-slushing sound combined with the smell of the various swamp gases and the muggy weather made for an oh so gag-worthy experience. Jason couldn't help but be envious of the breath-masks worn by their Evocii guards.
"This bounty better be worth it," a disgruntled Mako muttered amid the slushing sounds.
"This whole trip better be worth it," Ellaera added just as darkly. "This is definitely not the vacation Rumbles advertised."
"Now I'm curious," Jason tilted his head. "Just how did she get you, Corso, and the others to join us?"
"We needed a ride off of Tatooine. And she said that Sallyy was being her usual self by trying to have her cake and eat it too. Helping her out on this is our way of paying her for the ride."
"About Sallyy. Who's side is she on?"
"That's…complicated."
"A Republic privateer is complicated? Really now?" Aristos joined the conversation.
"It takes one to know one," Ellaera said sardonically. Speaking to Jason. "How'd you get saddled with two Imperial Agents?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out."
"I didn't shoot him when I had the chance, and he didn't space me when he had the chance," Aristos said cheerfully. "Friendships were built on far less."
"Right," Ellaera edged away from him a step. "And to answer your question, Jason, Sallyy is on the RPA's side. She's not one for the bureaucracy or the infighting, but she will strap a thermal detonator between your legs if you threaten its stability."
"That's oddly specific," Theron said with raised eyebrows.
"She's loyal to Rain-Eye because she provides stability and no one else in the organization is willing to step up if she's deposed. I told you before; the RPA is filled with freelancers and part-timers. Rain-Eye's leadership is the only thing the RPA knows, the only thing the Senate is familiar with. The Senate lets us be independent and we like being independent."
"So what you're saying is that Sallyy is supporting Rain-Eye because no one else wants to step up in her place," Theron summed up. Jason found it odd that Theron looked at him as he said it.
"It's not like no one else wants to step up, but as the RPA grew, it became dependant on Rain-Eye's leadership. She's the one with the Senate connections, the military connections, the connections to the different governments. Sure there are people like Rumbles and myself who'll grumble about the leadership when we're by ourselves, but we don't have a solution either."
"Has anyone challenged Rain-Eye for the leadership position?" Ever with the Imperial mind-set, Aristos asked. "Wait, never mind, you're Republic. Have you ever voted for your leader?"
"You were probably okay with the first question. It's not like the RPA is a democracy," Ellaera laughed dryly. "And as scattered as we are, the further away from Coruscant the missions take us, the less we care about the day-to-day running of the organization. For most, as long as the job pays well and doesn't interfere with our side-gigs, it doesn't matter who's in charge."
"We're here," their guide, Huttsbane, said gruffly, ending the conversation.
Jason looked around 'here'. The headquarters of the Evocii resistance looked like Yoda's hut on steroids. Covered in mud and branches and barely distinguishable from the surrounding swamplands, multiple, single-storey structures surrounded a vast mining pit. Armed Evocii were everywhere, but Jason also saw civilians and children going about their business.
"What's stopping the Hutts from just dropping off shocktroopers here?" Shiera'hol asked Huttsbane.
"They tried," Huttsbane smiled darkly. "Where do you think most of our weapons come from? The Jedi Master assisting us pulled their ships from the sky."
"You said Jedi Master," Jason made his way over to the front of the group. "Where did you get that lightsaber?"
Huttsbane held up Sola-Sec's lightsaber. "From a Jedi, of course. She wanted to try and find a peaceful solution to this, but the Master Jedi said that she was an agent of evil and had to be cleansed."
Jason almost halted where he was. "She's…still alive, right?"
"Jedi Master Sorgoth Stuben is trying to convince her to see the light," Huttsbane said with a single nod, allowing Jason to breath normally again.
But at the same time, his worry wasn't completely abated. If Sola-Sec was infected with the same Force-plague that was driving other Jedi mad, the only solution would be to hunt down the Sith in charge of said plague. But that was a worry for another time.
The group was led down a set of stairs and into an underground tunnel. There were many passages that branched out from this tunnel and even more that branched out from them. In fact, it was like an entire city existed under the surface mining town. Restaurants, storefronts, homes, and more, all of the corridors were filled with Evocii, who were staring at the newcomers with curiosity and suspicion. The group also couldn't help but look around in surprise, having never expected anything remotely like what they were seeing.
They had been told that the Evocii revolt was nothing more than a bunch of miners who had taken over the mine. Not that these 'miners' were protecting entire families, thousands and thousands of others who had been exploited by the Hutts. Giggling children ran freely through these tunnels, though they did stop to gawk at the new arrivals. Merchants hawking their wares pushed carts, tram cars carried Evocii to one destination or another. Everywhere one looked, one might think they were in a normal subterranean city.
As the group passed one of the openings of the main tunnel, one room in particular piqued their attention. A rhythmic gong-sound continued to chime at regular intervals. A large cluster of people surrounded the very wide entrance, yet the events happening inside were easily seen.
But upon seeing it, Jason's face contorted into a bemused look of disbelief. He wasn't the only one. A rather corpulent Hutt was strapped to a large platform sitting on a track, being jeered at by the large audience. The track itself was inside a capsule-like structure, completely sealed off from the rest of the room. The Hutt was in obvious discomfort as it squirmed on the platform. Suddenly, its backside emitted a very audible, very explosive 'phooooot'. The force of it sent the platform the Hutt was on rocketing down the track, where the platform slammed into the far-end of the capsule. A loud 'bong' sound sounded as the wall contracted for a moment before springing back and sending the platform flying back to its starting point. The Hutt was whiplashed and looked all kinds of ill. A few moments later, the Hutt farted again, and was once again sent flying into the spring-loaded wall on the other end of the capsule.
"What…?" Mako voiced everyone's feelings.
Huttsbane scowled at the Hutt. "That's the scum that was in charge of this mine before we overthrew him. There's no understating just how much blood is on his hands. Death is too easy for that scum. We keep that chamber filled with a vapor that induces flatulence and keep him on a high-fiber diet."
"Where…did you get that machine?" Jason rasped hoarsely as another 'booooong' sound echoed over the cheering of the crowd.
"It came to our spirit-leader in a moment of divine inspiration," Huttsbane said proudly. "He proclaimed that a flying, talking fish told him about the design and how it was the appropriate punishment for this cruel piece of filth."
"Divine…inspiration…" Jason didn't know what to say to that. Despite having never seen the actual device before, he knew exactly what it was called. It was supposed to be a figment of his dad's and uncles' imagination, something they subjected their stuffed animals to. His dad had told him about this story multiple times in an attempt to cheer him up. In short, it was a perpetual-motion, fart-powered device called the 'foot-bong'. Just when Jason thought he was adapting to the craziness of this universe, it threw something at him that knocked him off his game.
Phooooot…..Bong! The Hutt slammed against the padded wall once more and was once again repelled.
"We bring all the Hutt sympathizers here to show them what happens when they cross the Free Evocii Resistance. Let's keep going. We don't want to keep the leaders waiting."
"Okay."
They were led further and further down into the mining city before eventually reaching a set of towering doors.
"This is as far as I go," Huttsbane motioned. "Through those doors you will find out leaders. Spirit Leader Baratatta, is in charge. The head of our navy is Commander Baranji. The head of our army is General Grov. And then there's our liberator, Jedi Master Sorgoth Stuben. But you probably won't meet him. He leaves the day-to-day decisions to the rest of us. As for the arms-dealer Vexx, you will have to take it up with them."
"Thank you," Shiera'hol inclined her head.
"No, thank you," Huttsbane tapped a button, and the door slowly began to rise.
And a giant gate dropped down from the ceiling between Huttsbane and the group.
"Who saw that coming?" Aristos raised his hand. "Anyone?"
"I kind of did," Theron exhaled and looked very reluctant as he held up his hand.
"Thanks for the warning?" Jason said dryly.
"Don't look at me, I'm not a paranoid, crazy-person," Ellaera held out her hands defensively when Jason glanced at her. She smiled apologetically at Theron. "No offense."
"None taken."
"I thought we had a deal," Shiera'hol glared at Huttsbane.
"We Evocii won't let anyone dictate the terms of our freedom to us," Huttsbane said smugly. "Be it the Republic, Jedi, or Empire, we will die before serving under another's thumb again."
The large door in front of them continued to rise, and a voice began announcing over a sound-system. "Folks, we have a treat for all of you. A group of conspirators wished to take advantage of our situation and threaten us! They thought they had the upper hand, but little did they know that today would be their last! Now, they will face the beast we all know and love, the adjudicator of justice, Numothor'acks!"
Jason's head abruptly whipped around at the very familiar sounding name. Surely there wouldn't be another instance of crazy-stupid so soon after the foot-bong machine?
"What's a 'Numothor'acks'?" Shiera'hol glared at Huttsbane.
"Probably a dragon," Jason mumbled under his breath. As his health had declined, his brother had made a story about all his various conditions to make light of the situation. One particular story was Lord of the Rings in nature, with Jason traveling through the tunnels of fibrosis to fight off the evil dragon 'Pneumothorax'.
"You'll see…how'd you know he was a Krayt Dragon?" Huttsbane was taken aback.
"Lucky guess." Jason felt like face-palming.
The door rose all the way by then, allowing the group to see a giant arena just outside. The stadium was packed as well, the audience chanting and pounding the ground with their feet. Bones and other debris littered the arena ground, but there was nowhere to hide. Opposite of the group was another door that was slowly rising. When it reached its highest point, a very, very, very large Krayt Dragon stomped out and let out a billowing roar.
The crowd went wild.
"Say bye bye to another threat to the Free Evocii Resistance!" The announcer said coyly.
Jason glanced in the direction of the speaker and noted a 'VIP box' section in the stadium. In it were several people looking on in amusement. "Look, there's your childhood friend, one-night stand person."
Aristos tilted his head, using his hand to shield his eyes from the glow of the spotlights. In the VIP box, Cipher Five, also known as Mariarre, waved at them while popping a grape into her mouth. "Did I say I had a one-night stand with her? I must have gotten her confused with someone else. She's actually the gunner in our med-school class. Always had to overachieve and make the rest of us look bad. She's the reason I work so hard to this day."
"You attended med-school?" Ellaera arched an eyebrow.
"Dropped out after year-one. Just like I did with law school, spy school, and cooking school. I have didaskaleinophobia."
"What?" Shiera'hol turned her attention from the giant Krayt Dragon to Aristos.
"Please don't encourage him," Theron rubbed his forehead. "We have a giant monster that wants to eat us heading for us. Shouldn't that be the more immediate concern?"
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Aristos made his eyebrows dance as his eyes motioned in a way no one else understood.
No one else but Theron apparently.
"It's not like we have a choice." Theron agreed.
Theron undid his belt. Aristos did the same.
"Theron? Aristos?" Jason's eyebrows shot up.
"It's not what you think," Theron said defensively, taking off one boot as well. He whipped his belt and it stiffened into a straight line. He released a pin and soon his stiffened belt was in two pieces. He then slid out a panel on his boot and attached it to his belt.
"It's exactly what you think," Aristos didn't whip his belt, but instead pulled out something from it. He then did the same with the lining of his jacket sleeves.
"No, it isn't," Theron muttered, he finished procuring devices from various parts of his clothes and assembled what looked to be a pair of blaster pistols
"We're assembling weapons. What'd you think I was referring to?" Aristos said casually holding a sniper-rifle.
"Pff, secret agent types," Shiera'hol said disdainfully. She reached into her dented durasteel armor and immediately pulled out a hold-out weapon.
"Always gotta over-complicate things," Mako agreed, retrieving her own weapon from an ankle-holster.
"We are so lucky the dragon doesn't seem to be too hungry," Ellaera muttered as the massive creature the size of a small house continued to stalk them.
"You two don't have any blasters?" Theron noted.
"We left them back at the speeder," Ellaera showed a single vibroknife. "I thought we'd be dealing with regular guards, not…Numo-whats-his-face."
"We were supposed to hide weapons for peace-talk?" Jason said faintly.
The Krayt Dragon let out another roar and started to charge the group.
"Scatter!" Theron directed.
"Mako, we're going to do an up-and-over!" Shiera'hol yelled as they began running.
"Not that again! Why do you always leave me to face the danger while you fly about in safety!" Mako complained.
"Hey, of the two of us, who can carry the other to the med-center?" Shiera'hol bantered playfully.
Shiera'hol activated her jetpack and shot across the ground, snagging Mako's outstretched hand. The jumpjets on Shiera'hol's boots flared to add more propulsion. The Togruta bounty-hunter then lifted Mako off the ground. Once they reached the right height, she deposited the young slicer onto the back of the house-sized monster rampaging through the stadium.
In the meantime, Jason had the misfortune of looking like a very tasty treat to said house-sized monster. Numothor'acks was ignoring everyone else and was rumbling after Jason as if it was fixated on him. Theron, Aristos, and Shiera'hol were peppering the Krayt Dragon with shots, but they weren't doing any good. Its skin was just too thick and their weapons too weak.
"Jason! Give us a clear shot!"
"If I stand still, he'll eat me!" Jason yelled back, finding it royally unfair that the 'boss' was already enraged.
"Dive to your left!" Shiera'hol yelled, flying past.
Jason did as directed.
"Your other left!"
A large shadow loomed over him.
Jason promptly rolled to the side and avoided becoming a Jason-sized smear attached to one of the Krayt Dragon's feet.
"No, the other left!" Shiera'hol yelled, still flying about with her jetpack.
"How many 'lefts' do you think I have?!" Jason yelled out from beneath the creature. In a moment of insanity, he briefly wondered why all the creatures that wanted to kill him had to be super-sized monsters. He would be perfectly happy with a regular-sized monster, or better yet, no monster at all.
The Krayt Dragon, who had lost sight of Jason, swept its tail out. The sudden move caught Theron and Aristos off-guard and they were sent flying across the arena to the delight of the crowd. As the Krayt Dragon turned in a circle to look for its prey, Jason came face to face with another thing that made reality different from the game.
Before he had left his previous world, he had just been getting into the realm of anime; watching Sailor Moon and other throw-back shows. He had heard of Dragon Ball Z but hadn't had a chance to look at it. Now a version of that show was staring at him in the face.
The Krayt Dragon in question was undoubtedly male.
And smelled worse than the swamp they had traveled through to get to the Evocii base.
Shiera'hol's persistent blasting of the Krayt Dragon finally drew its aggro, and it roared as it stomped after her. Just like before, however, her hold-out weapon wasn't strong enough to pierce the spiky, leathery skin of the Krayt and only served to make it even angrier. Mako was likewise unable to penetrate the thick skin with her weapon and was just barely hanging on to the top of the creature.
Jason watched it all, still partially traumatized the up-close-and-personal view he had just experienced. He glanced towards Theron and Aristos and saw that both weren't getting up. Snapping himself from his daze, Jason hurried across the arena and was relieved to find them both alive. Ellaera performed a running slide to end up next to them.
"They're alive," Jason said as Ellaera grabbed Theron's blasters.
"We're not going to stay that way if we don't come up with a plan," Ellaera motioned for Jason to pick up the sniper rifle. Despite its full-auto abilities, its underpowered nature and explosive rounds, meant that Aristos hadn't managed to do any more damage than Shiera'hol and Mako. It was a weapon designed to make things go 'boom,' but it didn't have any armor-piercing capabilities.
Jason looked at the rifle in his hands, then at the Krayt Dragon, a half-smile, half-grimace on his face. "I have an idea."
It was then that the Togruta's jetpack chose the perfect moment to run out of fuel. As the Krayt Dragon leaped through the air, her jetpack sputtered out, and the Togruta fell from the sky, just narrowly avoiding the airborne dragon. The leap had the effect of sending Mako rolling off the creature's back. The teenaged slicer hit the ground hard, while the Bounty Hunter tumbled painfully on landing.
The Krayt Dragon landed with a ground-shaking thud, sending a cloud of dust and dirt flying into the air. It whirled about with a snort. Neither Mako nor Shiera'hol were in any shape to defend themselves at it started pawing on the ground in preparation for another charge.
And then a flurry of red blaster bolts splashed across the heavily armored head of the creature, drawing its attention. Ellaera was standing in the middle of the arena, both blasters raised, letting loose a continuous stream of ruby-red darts. The blaster-packs on both were depleted in a matter of seconds, but she had succeeded in her goal. Jason was standing next to Ellaera, but hadn't fired a single shot.
As the Krayt Dragon began charging at Ellaera, Jason started running towards it. At the same time, Ellaera started running away from it. Using the powers of the Aim datacron, Jason could see that the Krayt Dragon was locked onto the Smuggler. This was something he was really grateful for. If Numothor'acks decided that he was a tastier treat, he'd be in real trouble. Who had two thumbs and charged a rampaging Krayt Dragon anyway?
Jason slid to the ground and flipped over, shouldering the rifle. As the Krayt Dragon thundered over him, time slowed, and Jason squeezed the trigger, emptying the clip. A volley of rounds tipped with micro-explosives flew out and hit the targets he had been aiming at with datacron-assisted precision. Just as Jason had suspected, a certain region of the Krayt Dragon wasn't armored at all. Jason also discovered what happened when one fired explosive darts into said region.
Needless to say, Numothor'acks forgot about chasing Ellaera after suffering a volatile neutering, a circumcision that took way too much off, and a very invasive prostate exam, all within the span of a few dozen heartbeats. It kicked out with its hind legs and let out an agonized, wheezing roar, before swaying and toppling over from the pain. The ground shook with a rumbling thud as it landed. The massive creature was completely unconscious, and Jason couldn't blame it.
Utter silence filled the arena.
Jason continued to lie where he was, frozen in his shooting position, now more traumatized than ever and covered in a wide variety of Krayt Dragon fluids. It wasn't just blood.
One thought went through his mind.
As ideas went, he considered the one he just carried out to be very shitty indeed.
"Errr, ladies and gentlemen, I just got word from General Grov the Destroyer, that the Free Evocii Resistance might be interested in recruiting such talented fighters for the cause. If the fighters in the arena agree to this, they are being directed to throw down their weapons."
"Well," Ellaera stood over Jason, but grimaced and held her nose. "Looks like we might get that audience with their leaders after all. Thank you for your sacrifice."
"I'm definitely never doing this again." Jason sputtered, before promptly turning to his side and throwing up his last meal.
-II-
After having freshly showered—or more accurately, spending over an hour under piping hot water while vigorously scrubbing with scented soaps—Jason felt a tiny bit better. The memory of the smell, however, still churned his stomach. Despite having not eaten lunch yet, he was the furthest thing from hungry. Even when there was a yummy-looking buffet spread before him, he had yet to take a single bite of anything.
"Not going to eat?" Aristos asked, swiping a cup of some type of beverage from a tray held by a passing Evocii waiter.
"I'm not really hungry. I still can't get the smell out of my head."
"Definitely have a pair to do what you did," Aristos pointed to the connecting balcony that overlooked the arena.
"Yeeeah," Jason's expression remained slightly nauseated as he recalled the melon-sized pair that happened to explode its contents over him.
"I mean it. Most people wouldn't have the guts to charge a Krayt Dragon," Aristos waved a gravy-covered drumstick.
The consistency of the gravy, and its color reminded Jason about the fluids he had only recently been covered in, and he held his nose and waved Aristos off. "Please, stop talking."
In the time that had followed Numothor'acks' defeat, Jason's group had been treated more like guests than hostiles. They were all given new changes of clothing, time to rest, and even had the meal prepared for them. As they ate, a troupe of dancers twirled about gracefully in the center of the room to live music. The change of attitude was both startling and worrisome. The Evocii wanted something, that much was clear, and they'd rather butter up the group than threaten them.
As if on cue, the doors to the room opened, and a phalanx of heavily armed Evocii led by Huttsbane entered. Following them were a handful of individuals, including Cipher Five and Vexx. Two were soldier-types that, despite their relatively young appearance, appeared to be in leadership positions. The third was an older Evocii, his face worn and telling a story of a very harsh life. None of the new arrivals had Jedi robes.
"Please, have a seat," the very old Evocii motioned to the wooden chairs in the room. "We apologize for the earlier deception, but with the way things are now, we aren't sure who to trust."
"It's okay, we came out with all our limbs attached," Theron quipped wryly.
Jason and the others took their seats
The elderly Evocii swept his arms out. "My name is Baratatta. My title is Spirit Leader. It is my job to provide the souls of our people some relief from the brutality inflicted upon us by the Hutts. I understand that neither you nor us have the sort of time to waste on pleasantries, so I will get straight to the point. We know full well how precarious the situation is. If it wasn't for the fact that an orbital bombardment might set off the natural gas reserves in this mine, the Hutts would have already hit us from orbit. But we also know that their patience is limited. The longer we exist, the weaker they appear."
An Evocii with a black head-band decorated with teeth stepped forward. He was the opposite in demeanor to Baratatta, filled to the brim with emotions, he gave off the impression of someone you definitely didn't want to cross. He motioned to Cipher Five. "This agent of the Empire has already promised Imperial support if we sign an exclusive trade-agreement with them. Their ships will ensure we remain safe from orbital strikes." He gestured to Vexx. "And this arms-dealer has already promised a steady stream of weapons from the Exchange as long as we let the Exchange operate on this world. Both have shown themselves to be friends of the Evocii. You all, however, have not. This council has heard that you seek to turn the arms-dealer in for the bounty on his head. We cannot allow that unless what you have to offer us exceeds his offer. In addition, the Imperial representative has said that her people may increase the benefits they have to offer if we were to give her your bodies. Due to your performance in the arena, we are willing to listen to you this one time only. What do you have to offer us?"
Much to Jason's bewilderment, Theron, Aristos, Ellaera, and even Shiera'hol and Mako turned to look at him, nonverbally nominating him as the speaker for the group. It was in that moment when Jason was pretty sure that honesty would be the opposite of helpful. The whole 'we came here to kill your leaders and take back your heads to the Hutts' didn't seem like it would go over too well. But at the same time, the 'sure, we'll help you fight off a galaxy-spanning gangster organization' answer seemed just as foolhardy. Deliberating quickly, Jason tried to summon a 'tough guy' aura that he didn't naturally exude at all. Despite being physically fit, he had always been a bit on the slender side.
Falling back on a few memories from his past life, he did his best 'samurai' face while staring down the Evocii leadership. "It depends on what you want and what you consider valuable. I can tell you that we don't have guns or money, but what we do have are a particular set of skills. Skills that make us a nightmare for those who cross us. We aren't the boogeyman, we're the ones who kill the bogeymen. So go ahead, tell us what you want, make our day."
Silence followed Jason answer. The Evocii seemed thoroughly impressed, and Jason's group looked at him in a completely new light. At the same time, Jason struggled to keep his arms-folded-in-front-of-his-chest, tough-guy pose, feeling more than a little stupid. He didn't know which was worse, the fact that he pulled it off, or that everyone seemed to buy his act. Using 'references' in ridiculous situations was something he and his brother would sometimes do, and he had just fallen back into the habit. After all, you couldn't find a more ridiculous situation than the one he was in.
The militant Evocii leader glanced to the others with him, and they appeared to have a silent conversation. "Very well, we have a task for you. You'll use your 'particular set of skills' to kill a certain Hutt and bring his lieutenant, Lo'tar, to us, alive."
"Details?" Jason asked.
"The Hutt in question has been directly responsible for much of our suffering here on Nal Hutta. His lieutenant, Lo'tar, has deep ties to the Bounty Broker's Association and often uses their hunters to eliminate Evocii whom the Hutts deem troublesome. I myself have a substantial bounty due to Lo'tar's actions. Your mission is simple, go to this Hutt's palace, kill him, but bring Lo'tar to us making it look like he was the one who killed his boss."
"What's the name of this Hutt?" Shiera'hol said with narrowed eyes.
"He is known as the Unyielding, the Unquestioned Ruler of the Hutt Domain, the Supreme Power of Hutta, and the Paragon of the Hutt species."
"Wait," Mako's eyes grew round. "There's only one Hutt with those titles! You want us to go up against the Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel? That's suicide!"
Despite Mako's words, Jason felt a mixture of giddiness and misery. He also knew whom the Evocii was referring to. It was Karagga the Hutt, the main antagonist for the Operation-level mission Karagga's Palace. It was one of the very first Operations that came out with the game, requiring anywhere between eight to sixteen players to complete. Jason had a feeling that the difficulty-level of this mission, however, was above the Nightmare rank. He just didn't see how it was possible for a team of any size to take on the private army of the leader of the Hutt Cartel. But at the same time, it wasn't like they had a choice.
"We'll accept it," Jason said, surprising all of his team.
"We will?" Theron was taken aback.
"Of course we will," Aristos sighed, as if once more resigning himself to an early, violent death.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ellaera murmured in a low voice, leaning over towards Jason.
"No," Jason answered honestly, nearly making Ellaera fall out of her chair. Then, in a louder voice. "We'll accept, but we have a few conditions of our own."
"Oh?" Grov the Destroyer seemed amused by this.
"The reason my team is on Nal Hutta in the first place is because we need to deliver a batch of weapons to the Empire. We had a deal with Fa'athra. If we do this, our deal will most likely fall apart. In addition to giving us Vexx and not killing us, we need guns, lots of guns."
"That can be arranged. The Exchange despises the Unyielding as much as we do. He killed a lot of their people. I'm sure we can negotiate a reward for you."
"And the second condition is that you let the Jedi Sola-Sec go."
"That's a decision for Jedi Master Stuben to decide," Baratatta shook his head. "Once you return from you mission, you can discuss it with him."
"Our mission will have a better chance of succeeding if we have a Jedi on our team," Jason pointed out.
The Evocii leaders looked to one and other. "We'll talk it over. But she is far more valuable to us here."
"The rest of my team is waiting in Jiguuna. We'll need our weapons and gear back, and to meet up with them."
"We can allow that. Just remember, if you try and run, the Resistance will find you, track you down, and kill you," Grov growled out.
"We won't run. We've given our word," Jason returned.
The until-then-silent third leader of the Evocii, Baranji, chose that moment to speak. His demeanor was closer to Baratatta's than Grov's, but he had more steel in his voice. "There is a time limit on this. We need Karagga dead within three days. The power vacuum will throw the Hutt Cartel into chaos and buy us more time. Remember, we need Lo'tar alive."
"We'll need a day to prepare at least," Jason nodded. "And then we'll launch our mission."
Grov motioned to the guards."I'll have someone escort you back to your vehicle and return your gear. Until Karagga is dead, if you attempt to re-enter the swamp, we'll shoot on sight."
Theron arched an eyebrow. "Isn't this the start of a wonderful relationship."
"Can we have access to a holo-com to let the rest of our group know we're returning?" Jason asked.
"Over here," Baratatta gestured.
Jason followed his motion and saw a very antiquated-looking machine in the corner of the room. He paused in surprise. All the controls were analog, and the holo-projection device looked to have been salvaged from an astromech.
"It's not like we can afford to have the latest tech these days," Grov said sarcastically. "It still works. Use it or don't."
Jason had to actually rotate several dials and flip a couple of switches to 'dial' out. Fortunately he remembered the frequency for the Poison Pit Cantina. The low-definition holo-projector emitted a flickering light as the machine searched for a connection. But after several very awkward minutes, it didn't appear anyone was picking up.
Shiera'hol frowned at that. "It's not like the old man to not pick up. Especially at this time of day."
Jason flinched guiltily at that and worry twisted his stomach. He had been right, Tarro Blood had made his move. He could only hope that Rumblebee and the others had made a difference. One of the last things he needed was for Shiera'hol and Mako to go on the 'Tarro Blood must die because Mandos hold a grudge' story-arc.
"I think we should get back as soon as we can," Mako said, agreeing with the Togruta Bounty Hunter. She tapped the cybernetic implant on her head. "I'm scanning the local HoloNet but most of Jiguuna is being jammed. The parts that aren't have gone silent. Something definitely happened while we were gone. Something big."
Theron looked grim. "I have a bad feeling about this."
-III-
The Hutt guards who had let Jason and his team past the makeshift barricade were utterly flummoxed upon their return. Not that Jason or his team had time to amuse themselves with the guards. Their speeder and two speeder-bikes roared away from the swamp the moment they were let through. Despite their best efforts, they had been unable to convince the Evocii to let Sola-Sec go. Apparently, she was now the 'hostage' that would ensure Jason's team would hold up their end of the bargain. All that meant, however, was that Jason was now forced to complete the mission to secure her freedom, and meeting up with the others became even more important. However…
"I still can't raise them," Mako said worriedly.
"Keep trying," Shiera'hol's expression was dark as she pushed their speeder to its limits. "Wait, try Caitlin'snow'mai or Skadge. Maybe they know something."
Mako tabbed her comlink, but once again, there was no response. "Okay, now I'm really worried."
"Look! Over there," Aristos gestured towards Jiguuna.
Thick columns of smoke were rising from the general vicinity of the Poison Pit, and patrol-craft could be seen hovering in the air. A bright red glow reflected off the smoke clouds, indicating a massive blaze on the ground. Other craft zoomed through the night sky and into the hellish-looking scene, dropping water and fire-retardant with every pass.
"Well that's not good," Theron muttered, agog.
Jason likewise stared at the scene in disbelief. He had had the rest of his team stay back to stop Braden and Jory from being killed. Not to set what looked like a quarter of Jiguuna on fire. Worry for Rumblebee and the others spiked and he pulled out his holo-comm to try and call them.
"Don't bother, the Hutts are jamming all communications," Aristos motioned to his wrist-computer. "Unless you know the specific cipher, or had some way to boost the power to your comms, your call won't get through."
As the walls of Jiguuna came into view, the group joined a long line of speeders and other land-craft trying to get in. From the looks of it, however, no one was being permitted past the first checkpoint.
"I'll go see what happened." Shiera'hol activated her jetpack and flew out of the driver's seat.
The minutes ticked by, and the line of vehicles only continued to get longer. Jason continued to fidget anxiously, sincerely hoping that Rumblebee and the others got out safely. It took a great amount of willpower not to just slide into the driver's seat and gun the engines. But it was a good thing he was able to control himself.
One speeder towards the front got tired of waiting and tried to barge its way past the checkpoint. The roar of its engines was audible as it screeched through the air. The response from the city's defenses was just as obvious. A rocket streaked down from one of the city's defensive walls and promptly reduced the speeder to scrap. Jason abandoned his own ideas at the sight, but still hated the helpless feelings rising as he continued to stare at the distant blaze.
When Shiera'hol did return, her expression was one of fury.
"What's wrong?" Mako exclaimed in alarm.
"I am going to kill Tarro Blood the next time I see him," Shiera'hol ground out, stomping to the speeder and flinging the door open. "That hut'tuun dajun'la eyn jehavey'ir bal naast'la the Poison Pit. Ori'sol adate gar kyrayc!"
Jason had two thoughts in that moment. The first was, there goes his plan to keep Shiera'hol and Mako from locking onto Tarro Blood. The second was, 'what did she just say?' This was the first time he had heard a Star Wars language that didn't instantly auto-translate in his mind. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who didn't understand what Shiera'hol had ranted about.
"What?" Ellaera said blankly.
Mako summed up the situation since Shiera'hol was still seething. "Tarro Blood or his people blew up the Poison Pit and killed a lot of people in the process."
"What?" This time it was Theron who was surprised.
"From what the guards at the checkpoint heard, a Mandalorian assault force under Nem'ro detonated an incendiary bomb in the Poison Pit," Shiera'hol breathed out, her eyes flashing murderously. "It burned down the building, but then spread across the slums. With one of his gang-houses burned down, Fa'athra declared an open war against Nem'ro. The two gangs are actively shooting it out in the streets of Jiguuna. The city is closed to prevent both factions from calling in outside fighters."
"What about Braden and Jory?" Mako said anxiously.
Or Rumblebee, Lailou and the others, Jason thought silently.
"I don't know," Shiera'hol gritted her teeth and pounded the steering wheel.
"I don't mean to play the Hutt's advocate," Aristos spoke softly. "But how can you be sure that the Mandalorians that hit the Poison Pit were Tarro Blood's people?"
"What do you mean?" Shiera'hol whirled to look at the back seats of the speeder.
"Tarro Blood isn't the only Mandalorian working out of Nal Hutta. The Ice Shark's last word to us was that she was working with Nem'ro," Aristos pointed out.
"No, no way," Shiera'hol immediately rejected. "Mai is famous for not allowing collateral damage in her hunts. She never targets civilians."
"She's also famous for accepting any mission if the price is right," Aristos continued to argue. "She has a reputation among Imperial Intelligence. One time, Watcher One hired her to take out this high-value target in a village. He even paid her extra to ensure there was no witnesses. There wasn't a village left standing when she was finished."
The Togruta scowled. "There is no way she'd do that."
"Believe what you want. When you become a hunter of her status, your ability to remain neutral in higher-level political situations becomes harder. You can't take out VIP targets without stepping on some government's toes."
"I know a similar story," Theron said reluctantly. "Because of her Imperial ties, Republic Intelligence hired her to assassinate a moff. They wanted him dead so badly, they didn't care about the body-count. An entire apartment block on Dromund Kaas was leveled, and she charged us extra."
"Oh, that was her?" Aristos glanced at his Republic counterpart. "We always suspected it was disgruntled slaves."
"Shut up," Shiera'hol hissed out. "I'm already pissed off and I don't want the two of you adding to it. Caitlin'snow'mai did not do this. Braden is like a father to her and Jory an idiot kid brother. She'd never take any bounty on them. Would probably even hunt the hunters who tried."
"Jason, what do you think?" Ellaera asked from her speeder-bike.
Caught between the pragmatic, practical mindsets of Theron and Aristos, and the more emotional, very angry Mandalorian and her equally furious side-kick, Jason gulped almost comically. The advice 'let the Wookie win' might have been helpful, but he didn't think that Shiera'hol would appreciate being compared to a Wookie. Personally, he didn't believe Caitlin'snow'mai was responsible. But at the same time, the Chiss Bounty Hunter had been trying to teach him to be less trusting, and he wasn't sure if this was another test or not. "I think…it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is finding Rumblebee and the others. Is there any way we can get past the checkpoint and into the city?"
"It'll be hard," Shiera'hol eyed the entrance. "All entry into the city is being controlled by the same alliance of Hutts that run the city, minus Fa'athra and Nem'ro of course. None of the other Hutts want Fa'athra or Nem'ro to win outright so they'll only let hired guns in if one side starts to gain the upper hand. This particular entrance is controlled by Qiltakka the Hutt."
"What's he in to?" Theron questioned. "Slaves? Guns?"
"Adrenals and tech," Mako answered. "He processes the goods on Quesh and sells them from his territory here on Nal Hutta. But the important thing is that he's rivals to both Nem'ro and Fa'athra. He'll be perfectly happy if they blast each other because then he can swoop in and take bites out of both their territories."
Jason mentally connected the interpersonal relationships of the Hutts. "Is he related to Karagga? I mean, are they also rivals or anything like that?"
"Qiltakka is too small-time to be a rival. He's even smaller than Nem'ro and Fa'athra. Why? What does that have to do with getting in to Jiguuna?"
Jason looked at their speeder, then at Shiera'hol. "We're going to need guns. Lots of guns."
"Shooting our way in is suicide," the Bounty Hunter frowned.
Jason shook his head and unzipped his dufflebag to pull out the Ravager's-style mask. "We're not going to do that."
"Then why do we need lots of guns?"
"Just act casual. We only need to make it look like we're going to do that."
"What? Commit suicide?"
"Never mind," Jason muttered, feeling a bit deflated that no one in this universe was able to get any of his references. It sucked most of the fun out of it. He hoped his brother wasn't running into the same problem, with no one else appreciating his 'cleverness'. "Just follow my lead."
Mako muttered, disgruntled. "If we end up getting shot at again, I'm not going to be very happy."
"We survived the Evocii base."
"After nearly getting eaten!"
"But none of us did."
"I still have the bruises from that fall," Mako glared, but she hit a button on the speeder's dashboard and the trunk popped open.
Jason, Aristos, and Theron climbed out of their speeder, but then froze when they saw the contents of said trunk.
"What did you do, raid a Hutt armory?"
"Caitlin'snow'mai wanted to make sure that I always had the gear I needed for whatever hunt I'm on," Shiera'hol answered, nonchalantly hefting a rotary-cannon from its mount.
"Can I please keep this?" Aristos asked, picking up a Tac-HUD Heavy Sniper Rifle.
"I think Mai stole that one from a Chiss armory," Mako equipped a bowcaster from the trunk. "Sniping isn't our style, so go ahead."
"You're my new favorite person on Nal Hutta."
"Coming from a habitual liar, I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted," Mako replied dryly.
In the meantime, Ellaera picked up a top-of-the-line scattergun, and Theron, a pair of shiny heavy pistols. There wasn't a bow-and-arrow set for Jason, but there was a grenade launcher. It was also the only weapon left. As the group loaded up on ammo and other accessories, Jason remembered that they were in the middle of a traffic jam. He self-consciously looked around and saw that the people around them looked absolutely terrified of them. Some were even trying to maneuver their vehicle as far away from them as possible.
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," Jason called out to a nearby bus. Unfortunately, he happened to be gesturing with a grenade launcher in his hands, and the people all piled out of the bus in abject horror.
"Great going," Theron deadpanned.
"Shut up." Jason grumbled back.
"Okay, now what?" Shiera'hol raised a painted eyebrow.
"Now we convince the guards at the checkpoint to let us through." Jason said with more confidence than he felt. It's not that he didn't have a plan, he did. But it mostly relied on him acting like one of the many action-heroes he idolized as a kid. But pretending to be a tough guy worked with the Evocii, so maybe it'd work again. After all, it worked for Conrad Verner in Mass Effect….kind of. "Just…pretend we belong inside the city and have the authority to back us up."
"But we don't."
"The guards don't know that."
They walked through the lane of traffic. Various impatient drivers shrunk down in their seats upon noticing them. The minutes ticked by silently, and Jason made a mental note to invest in a jetpack, or at least a pair of rocket-boots, in the near future. Shiera'hol had traversed the distance twice over in the time it had taken them to get even half way to the checkpoint.
Eventually, they arrived at the heavily-guarded entryway. Gamoreans, Nikto, Weequay, Gran, and human enforcers all stood guard. The smoldering remains of the speeder that had tried to run the barricade, still glowing off to the side. A grim reminder that these guards meant business.
But Jason and the others just pushed past the line of pedestrians queued up around the post.
"Hold it," a Weequay guard held out a hand. "No civilians are allowed into the city. It's too dangerous."
Jason, his face concealed by his mask, folded his arms in front of his chest. "Take a good long look at us. Do we look like civilians to you?"
"Errrr….no?"
"That's right," Jason channeled his inner renegade. "We couldn't care less about the arguments of a pair of lesser Hutts. Karagga the Hutt has sent us in to conduct some business here. Now, we're going in. If we see Nem'ro or Fa'athra goons, we'll blast them. Anyone else gets in our way, we'll blast them too. Or does Qiltakka the Hutt want to explain to the Unquestioned Ruler of the Hutt Domain just why his people blocked us from entering Jiguuna? When that happens, who do you think Qiltakka will blame?"
The Weequay guard glanced to the others, and all reflected a sense of unease. They eyed the group of heavily-armed, stone-faced (or masked), individuals, with trepidation.
"Okay, it's your lives," the guard finally muttered, opening up the gate. The blaring alarms that indicated the rising of the thick metal and duracrete barrier caught everyone's attention.
"Wait you're stopping me but letting them through?!" A disgruntled civilian in the back called out.
Jason almost tripped over his own feet when he heard the guard reply. "You don't have a grenade launcher, lady. Get lost!"
There might not be anyone to appreciate his references in his universe, but apparently the Force liked to sneak them in en masse every now and then for effect. And unfortunately, he was the only one who'd be able to appreciate, or be driven crazy by, it.
The heavy gate closed behind them with a thud.
"I can't believe that worked," Mako sounded bemused.
"We actually didn't get shot," Aristos sounded disappointed.
"Please don't jinx it," Theron sounded distressed. The Republic spy had only just spoken when a blaster bolt pinged off the side of the building he was standing next to. "See!"
Jason and the others immediately sought cover. When he peered out next, Jason was treated to the sight he had first expected when he stepped foot on Nal Hutta. Small groups of thugs were shooting it out with each other in a scene straight out of the Wild West. Pings and plinks filled the air as said thugs proved their aim was no better than a stormtrooper's. Only, they didn't have a helmet to blame for it.
More wild shoots zipped around the area Jason and company were hiding. On the rare occasion, a thug would be hit and immediately dragged to cover by his comrade.
"This is painful to watch," Ellaera said blankly.
"We're in agreement," a voice sounded from the air next to her.
"What the….!" Jason and the others leapt in alarm, only to relax somewhat as a stealth-field flickered off to reveal Cipher Five.
"Five," Aristos deadpanned.
"Seven," Mariarre turned in mocking tone. "Are you going to put them out of their misery, or should I?"
"Have fun," Aristos said blankly.
"Don't mind if I do!"
Her almost insane, cheerful personality reminded Jason of Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. Cipher Five performed a cheerful salute and began skipping towards the gunfighter, ignoring the near-misses that zipped around her and the flowery explosions from erupting grenades. When a laser bolt did look like it was going to strike her, it passed completely through her, revealing that her image was a hologram.
And then a sniper rifle barked out in rapid fashion from the top floor of a nearby building. The sound was unique enough that all the thugs involved temporarily stopped shooting at each other. And then, one by one, they all began falling, as if they were puppets whose strings had been cut.
Theron and Ellaera immediately looked grim at this. Shiera'hol and Mako looked terrified. And Aristos looked bored.
"She's not that impressive," the blonde Agent pointed to a scattering of canisters on the ground where the shootout had been unfolding. "Poison gas."
"Then what was she shooting at?" Mako frowned.
"Wait for it," Aristos walked drolly to a nearby alleyway and climbed into one of the dumpsters. "Oh, you guys might want to get cover too. She isn't a former Fixer for nothing."
Suddenly the guard-towers in the immediate vicinity all erupted into bright balls of fire. Alarms rang out, and swarms of sentry-droids flew it. The droids were blasting at anyone and anything moving.
"*$# !"
Jason and the others dove for cover amid the oncoming swam.
"I'm really starting to really want to blast this Cipher Five of yours," Theron grumbled next to Aristos and Jason.
"That's my fiancé for you," Aristos was reclined on the garbage, head pillowed in his hands. "She's the only reason why I'm still alive."
Jason didn't even bother to respond. It wasn't that he didn't feel like calling Aristos out on his ever-changing narrative, but that he had discovered yet another wonderful new smell and was trying his best to hold his breath.
"Look on the bright side," Aristos said.
"We're trapped in a dumpster full of things I don't even want to look about to hide from a swarm of Hunter-Killer droids stimulated by a colleague of yours. Where's the bright side?"
"We got into Jiguuna," Aristos yawned. "And our fearless leader's plan to take on Karagga must be opposite of Five's boss's wishes."
"You mean Darth Vowrawn?" Jason asked.
Aristos gave Jason a sidelong glance with one eye. "You really think my sister-in-law was telling the truth about her master?"
Jason felt sheepish. The very lame excuse 'but she's a pretty girl, why would she lie' dying right along with, 'but I know her in another life'. He kept forgetting that just because Mariarre was an alt-toon for a friend of his, didn't mean that he knew anything about her in this universe. He mentally berated himself at the same time. I'd be the ultimate of suckiness if he got done-in by a 'toon' created by one of his friends.
"Anyways, you might as well get some rest," Aristos muttered. "We're going to be in here for a while."
Theron grimaced as his shift in weight produced a squelching sound from under his feet. "And here I thought this bin smelled bad on the outside."
Jason felt like throwing up as well, but he didn't think doing so would help the situation. Inside of a tauntaun this definitely wasn't.
-IV-
The good news was that the Grumpy Manzler was untouched despite the chaos erupting all over Jiguuna. The bad news was that neither Rumblebee nor the others were present. After taking yet another shower, Jason and the others sat around the holo-table in the central room of the ship.
"Is it just me or are there more droids than I remember?" Aristos asked, eyeing the three astromechs trying to be unobtrusive.
"Rate?" Jason shoot a questioning look to his ship's steward droid.
"In the chaos, I took the liberty of freeing some of my fellow droids from their bondage," the Rambo-looking droid said stuffily. "Surely you don't have any objections to my course of actions, captain."
"No, no objections." Jason looked over the astromechs, nonplussed. They gazed back at him, their domed heads twitching back and forth. "Can you introduce your friends?"
"I can," 2V-R8 tapped a black and red astromech whose head had a skull-decal painted on. Unlike the other two, which were standard three-legged T-series astromechs, this one looked like an evil version of R2-D2. "This is R-M80."
"Interesting paint job," Theron commented.
"Thank you, organic. I did it myself," 2V-R8 said proudly. He then motioned to the two pink T-series astromechs. "And these are T2-01 and T2-02."
"Nice to meet all of you," Jason said faintly. "Welcome to the crew."
The two pink droids warbled an upbeat tone, while the pirate-astromech emitted a more Chopper-like blurt. When they did so, Jason discovered that their droid-speak was yet another language he didn't understand. This caused him to frown. He was pretty sure he had understood the droids on Ord Mantel, Carrick Station, and on Coruscant. Maybe Nal Hutta droids spoke a different dialect? As he puzzled about this, he became aware that Ellaera was staring at him with raised eyebrows.
"What?"
"You've been on quite an adventure without me and Rumbles, haven't you?"
Jason sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess."
"It looks like the rest of your crew never made it back here," Shiera'hol steered the conversation back to its original goal. Both she and Mako had wanted to go to the Poison Pit right away, but the security and raging flames made doing so impossible. As such, both she and the petite slicer were understandably a bit touchy. "Is there another place they might have gone?"
"Cloake's ship," Ellaera volunteered. "He parked outside of Nal Hutta so if they got out, they'd be there. Rumblebee shared with me the specs to the Grumpy Manzler, and the transceivers on our ships should be strong enough to push through the Hutt jamming."
"Then let's give it a try," Mako reached for the controls.
"Here's the frequency," Ellaera provided a data-crystal that Mako slotted into the holo-comm unit.
After the tension and worry, Jason almost deflated when Rumblebee's image came up almost right away.
"You all made it back, great!"
"You okay, Rumblebee?" Ellaera immediately asked.
"We're all fine over here," Rumblebee stepped back for a moment and tilted the camera on her end so that it took in the rest of the team.
"What about Braden and Jory?" Shiera'hol immediately blurted out.
"We're here too, Shiera'hol," Braden replied with a gentle chuckle. The camera panned over to both the veteran hunter and the Nikto with him. "I'm just glad that you and Mako were able to make back alive."
"What happened?"
"Tarro Blood's followers happened. We were fortunate enough that your new friends had stayed behind. Otherwise Jory and I probably wouldn't be around anymore."
"Were you able to complete the mission Fa'athra gave us?" Rumblebee asked, stepping back into the range of the camera.
"Errrr…about that," Jason inwardly winced. "Things have gotten a little…complicated?"
"Oh?" Rumblebee placed one hand on her hips and arched her eyebrow, a smile playing on the corner of her mouth. "What is it this time? Did you promise the Evocii to free them or kill a Hutt for them or something?"
Jason gulped visibly.
"He did, didn't he?" Cloake groaned in the background.
"He probably did," Akaavi confirmed.
"He's Shiny, he definitely did," Lailou thirded enthusiastically.
"He's a good guy, so I agree," Corso's voice could be heard.
"He hasn't said one way or the other, so shush," Neosmugg chided the rest. "But he's smart enough not to agree to something so crazy like that. Otherwise he won't be able to ever show himself in Hutt Space, and he'd have a bounty so big, he wouldn't be able to show himself on any civilized planet."
Jason definitely knew he should see a doctor about the new tic that continued to occur on his forehead. A real one. Not Neosmugg, who was temporarily no longer his friend.
"Which Hutt?" Rumblebee sighed.
"Karagga," Jason admitted.
Absolutely silence followed.
"Ellaera."
"It's not my fault!" the blonde-haired smuggler protested . "Things only go crazy every time I team up with you!"
"It's definitely your fault." To Mariarre's great disappointment, no one even jumped or reacted when she decloaked on the couch next to Aristos. "Oh come on, have I lost my touch already?"
"Five, what are you doing here?" Aristos pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Carrying out my mission for my lord and master," Cipher Five returned brightly.
"Who would that be?"
"The Darth with a very impressive lung capacity."
"Baras?" Jason answered reflexively, his tic returning.
Mariarre's form fell apart, a hologram, and Jason nearly did leap when she appeared standing right next to him. "How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess." Jason doubted she served Baras, but could definitely see her making Baras lose his temper just for the fun of it.
Mariarre peered at him, her face getting uncomfortably close. The fact that he couldn't even feel her breath let him know she was still a hologram. A fact confirmed when her form shimmered once more and she reappeared at Theron's side. "Is he some top-secret Republic asset or something?"
"Go away please," Theron said in complete monotone.
"Five, what's your mission?" Aristos asked, standing up, walking to her side, and guiding her back down to the couch as if she were a child.
"That's classified."
"It's me."
"Oh, well, then it's to advance the Imperial agenda in Hutt space. You know, order, discipline, peace, prosperity, all that good stuff."
"And you're doing that here?"
"Well, you're about to try and assassinate the boss of the Hutt Cartel. I figured there'll be an opportunity to do that some time."
Jason just shook his head and smiled apologetically at Rumblebee. "Sorry about that."
"That's okay. Who's that?" Rumblebee looked like she was trying her best not to laugh.
Jason had an ever-suffering look on his face as he briefly wondered how he kept getting into these situations. With a rueful smirk, he shook his head. "A new addition to my crew I guess."
Rumblebee nodded sagely as if she understood completely. "In other words, just another stray."
-Chapter End-
a\n: Looking forward to seeing the twists Jason runs into for Karagga's Palace! Hope this chapter was as amusing for you all as it was for me.