Raging Rancor. Notorious on Dundas for attracting the scum
of society, rowdy bar fights, and playing loud, deafening music. It was the type of place you wouldn't want
to walk in to unarmed, unless you had a death wish. The building itself was made out of some type of concrete, with
no identifiable markings on it save for the sign hanging above the doorway. All the shutters on the windows were sealed
tight, and those that were without shutters had been boarded up from the
inside. No one could see inside or the
other way around, which was the way many of its customers wanted it.
"You ready for this?" Zekk asked Jaina beside him.
Jaina forced a Solo grin onto her
face. "I'm ready for anything,"
"That's good," Zekk said as they
reached the door, "because here is where anything can happen." He opened the door and slipped inside, with
Jaina right behind him.
Jaina
found her senses being attacked by a dozen different things at once the moment
she walked inside. The musty smell of
too many alien species crammed in the same place for too long filled the air,
while thick clouds of smoke settling around them made it nearly impossible to
breathe if you were not used to being in this kind of atmosphere. A twenty year-old jukebox sat in the corner
of the room blaring some racket that Jaina assumed was supposed to be music,
though to her ears it sounded more like noise.
A few customers turned in their booths
to regard the newcomers, but most were too interested in their drinks and
gambling games to pay any real attention to them.
Her father had told her many stories
while she had been growing up about the less respectable beings of society that
hung out in dives like this. Jaina
recalled the one piece of advice Han Solo had given her and her brothers a
couple of years back if they ever found themselves in this type of environment:
don't make eye contact with anyone unless you're looking to get yourself
killed. She did not doubt her
father had learned this from his own first-hand experiences during his
smuggling days.
She watched how calm and comfortable
Zekk appeared to be with his current surroundings. Obviously, his childhood of living in the lower levels of
Courscant along with his time spent as a bounty hunter were what made him so at
ease. He was used to being in these
types of places. Jaina herself tried to
emulate the confidence that was radiating off of Zekk.
She had not mentioned her 'dream' to
him. If she did, he would probably just
worry about her still not being able to trust him, even though she did. Besides, it was not like she had never had a
nightmare before. It would be a waste
of both of their time's to dredge up the past just because of some meaningless dream. And Jaina was convinced it was just that.
Catching her eye, Zekk pointed with
his chin towards the bar, indicating they should start their search there.
Pushing their way through the swirling
clouds of smoke and noisy customers, the two finally managed to reach the bar
that was currently being worked by a furry bothan. Zekk ordered himself a drink and one for his 'partner'. When the bothan returned a moment later with
their drinks, Zekk leaned forward and said in a low voice, yet loud enough to be
heard over the commotion in the bar, "we're looking for some information,"
The bothan bartender snorted, causing
the fur around his face to ripple. "Isn't everyone? Well, I suppose
you've come to the right place. That
is, if you can afford to pay,"
"We can pay," Jaina assured him,
though she knew her and Zekk had limited funds on them and were not carrying
anything of real value to bargain with.
We'll
cross that bridge when we get to it, she thought
silently.
"That's good, because that man over
there," began the bartender, pointing to a human on the left side of the room
sitting alone in a corner booth, "should be able to help you,"
Zekk nodded his thanks, and moved away
from the bar. When they were no more
than halfway to the secluded booth, Zekk whispered in Jaina's ear, "keep your
guard up,"
Jaina nodded, keeping her expression
neutral. If it was a trap, they didn't
want to tip off their ambushers that they knew it was a trap too soon.
Zekk forced a calm look onto his face,
while Jaina tensed beside him, silently praying that they would not be forced
to draw their lightsabers and blow their cover.
Feeling, rather than seeing the
imminent danger, Zekk's instincts told him to drop to the ground, and he did,
tackling Jaina with him. And not a
moment too soon either, as a blaster bolt sizzled by where he had just been
standing less than a split second before. Rolling off of Jaina, Zekk pulled
himself to his feet with a snarl. He
had already been shot at more times in the past week then during his entire
time as a bounty hunter. Enough was
enough. While Jaina hauled herself to
her feet, Zekk stood facing the group that had ambushed them, pointing his
blaster at each one of them in turn, ready to fire on any overly anxious shooter.
"We don't want any trouble," Zekk said
to them.
"And there won't be, if you just hand
over your weapons and come with us," said the man with the close cut blonde
hair.
"Fat chance of that happening," Jaina
muttered.
Zekk turned to her then, giving her a
look she knew all too well before turning back to face their attackers.
"All right," Zekk said, slowly moving
his hand with the blaster in it towards the floor in a surrendering gesture,
"have it – your way!" Before his weapon
touched the ground, he whipped out his lightsaber and shoved the
surprised attackers backward, trying to buy himself some time to come up with a
plan that did not involve killing everyone that tried to stop him and Jaina
from escaping.
By now, the customers that had any common
sense left had rushed out of there before the real battle got started, while
the rest had hid under their tables in hopes of avoiding becoming the victim of
any stray shots.
"Got any bright ideas?" Said Jaina.
"I'm fresh out," he replied grimly.
"Well, then," Jaina began in a
determined voice, "I guess we're going to have to get out of here the old
fashioned way." Igniting her brilliant
violet blade, she charged forward.
Jaina had gone no more then two steps
when an invisible hand reached out and snatched her, stopping her dead in her
tracks. She was lifted off her feet and
hurled across the room, crashing into a wooden table that splintered apart with
the impact. Unable to maintain her hold
on her lightsaber, it flew through the air, landing with a dull metallic thud
on the hard floor.
Dazed
from the collision with the table, she just laid there trying to keep herself
from slipping into unconsciousness. She
could hear repeated blaster fire and Zekk shouting something at her, but at the
moment she could not spare the energy to listen to what he was saying.
Ticked off at herself for
underestimating the enemy, she muttered a curse under her breath, realizing she
could have gotten herself killed for acting so hastily. Those guys could use the force, well, at
least some of them could, which was going to make getting out of there alive a
whole lot more interesting.
Confident that she could stand up now,
Jaina staggered to her feet, only to find Zekk surrounded by six men, all
holding deadly looking blaster rifles at him. Three more were heading in her direction. Searching the ground for a weapon, Jaina noticed her lightsaber
laying no more than fifteen feet away from her. Reaching out her mind, she called the weapon to her –
"I wouldn't do that if I were you,"
cautioned the guy with the blonde hair who had fired at them initially. "I could blast it into a million pieces
before you even turn it on." Not giving
her a chance to think about it, the man used the force to yank her towards
him. She struggled against his hold,
but was still too stunned to make any real attempt to break out of it. She was shoved beside Zekk, who was
clenching his fists and glowering at those holding him at blaster point. Together, he and Jaina could have easily snatched
their attackers weapons away from them, but with the added factor of some of
them possessing rather strong control in the force, it would not be as simple a
thing to accomplish.
A repetitive beeping sound was coming
from Jaina's wrist, but she was in no position to answer it. Neither was Zekk when his own wrist comm
went off. The men with their blasters
trained on them tightened their grip, not willing to take any chances of their
prisoners getting off a quick distress message.
Zekk wished he could create some kind
of diversion long enough to get out a quick call for help to whoever was
comming them. He knew Jaina was
thinking the same thing.
The entire time this was going on,
Zekk watched the blonde man conversing in a hushed tone with someone beside
him. He perked his ears, hoping to
catch what they were talking about. What he did hear sent a shiver down his spine.
"It looks like you're a pretty sought
after piece of merchandise here on Dundas, Zekk," the blonde man said. He appeared to be the leader of the bunch.
"I'm flattered," Zekk replied, his
voice laced with sarcasm.
"You should be. The man who's looking for you is paying a
hefty sum to whoever captures you alive,"
"Then maybe you could enlighten me as
to who wants me so badly,"
The leader of the group smiled coldly
at him. "All in good time,"
A dark haired teen wearing a grimy cap
whispered something in the ear of the blonde leader, who nodded in silent
agreement.
"You're right, Shjon, nothing was said
about a reward for the girl's capture," he indicated with his hand to the man
on his left, "get rid of her."
Zekk felt his heart constrict in his
chest. Mind whirling, he shouted, "no,
wait!"
But it was too late. The blue arc of a stun beam enveloped him,
knocking him into oblivion before he could catch a glimpse of Jaina's own fate.