STANDARD DISCLAIMER:
It should be noted that all recognizable characters in this story (i.e., Darth Vader, Kuat of Kuat, Durga the Hutt, etc…) are copyrighted and owned by someone in Lucas Inc. My use of these and any other copyrighted material are solely for the purpose of advancing this story's plot.
"It has been said that you cannot fight your destiny, but destiny is not something that needs fighting. For destiny is not the end, but the beginning. Destiny places one at the start of a path. It is up to the destined to determine its end." -High Matriarch Kalora
This was not his day.
As he stared at the bottom of his empty glass, he wondered why the Scorekeeper had punished him so. It wasn't as if he hadn't done his part. He worked as hard as any other bounty hunter. As a child he had excelled at social sports such as hunting and killing. Why, when barely twelve years old, he had killed his first Wookie. Surely the Scorekeeper had noticed such things.
He thought all this as his sluggish scaly hand reached for the pitcher again. This time it was slapped with the barrel of a pistol. Too drunk and depressed to get angry, he simply stared at the face of the person who slapped him. Who was she? Oh, yeah, Leda. Storsek slowly focused his blood red eyes on one of his two friends. She was pretty, for a Rodian. Her red hair fell down to her shoulders. Her antennae folded over her light green forehead. Her deep black eyes could drown a being. He began to smile at her, a little spittle forming at the corners of his snout. Maybe if he acted serious enough, she would… SMACK! Maybe not.
As he picked his head up from the bug-infested table, his only other friend sat down. Maybe he shouldn't call him friend, Storsek thought. After all, Sullustans were hideously ugly with those jowls hanging beneath their ears. But, Xieb did stick by him, even when like this. Storsek knew he shouldn't be behaving like this, drinking until he couldn't see straight, especially in a rat infested hole like this place. He was, after all, descended from the greatest warriors Dosha had ever known.
Not that anyone ever cared enough to listen to that. The only Trandoshan anyone ever wanted to hear about was Dossk, and that idiot had given the rest of them a bad reputation to begin with. Never able to finish a job, always second place to that blasted Fett, Dossk had been a disappointment to the entire race.
And Jabba had only given Storsek and his friends the most menial of tasks. Fetching overdue payments, scaring the locals into buying his protection, nothing worthy of Storsek's skills. It had been so long since he'd returned home for a rest. He longed for the taste of a fresh kill between his teeth. He was utterly bored on this barren dust ball. They had had no actual work in weeks. Xieb's face showed a bit of enthusiasm, though.
"You'll never believe the luck we have" he started. Then he looked at Storsek. "Can he actually hear me?" he asked Leda. Leda waved her hand in front of the Trandoshan's snout. He grew irritated and growled, "I can hear you just fine."
"Good, because I think we have a job waiting for us."
"Let me guess" Leda's voice dripped in sarcasm, "we're robbing the Imperial Treasury for Jabba."
"Not quite," Xieb's voice showed his exasperation. "There's a Rodian over there who says he knows of something. I say we go over and talk to him. Maybe we can persuade him to let us in on the secret."
"Yeah," Leda said, "and maybe the barkeep will start serving real drinks." As they approached the table, Xieb sat down in front of the pudgy Rodian while Leda and Storsek stood behind him trying to look fierce. "You seek information about a job, yes?" Xieb look like he had been slapped in the face. "How did you know that?"
"Doda has many ears in many places. Some ears tell Doda that you need money. Others tell Doda that Empire needs job done. Nice coincidence, no?"
"Yes, a very nice coincidence. Wouldn't it be an even nicer coincidence if you told me about this job of the Empire's?" Doda looked down at the empty table, "Sure would. But Doda can no remember much right now. Not eat in much time." Before Xieb could even reach for his pouch, Storsek stepped forward and put the tip of his rifle to the Rodian's head. "Now lissen here" the slurred words came out, "You're going to tell us about this job, or my claw starts twitching." Both Leda and Xieb moved as if to restrain their friend, but instead felt massive paws grab their shoulders and pull them back. Storsek looked at the giant Wookie with a smile. He would enjoy this. The click of a blaster pistol at his temple made Storsek turn around to see the smiling human. This was not his day.