Part Thirteen: The Bar Fight
Back on Genosis, sitting in the Jolly Ollie Cantina, Gerald Windu, Stinky Kenobi and Master Phoebe continued to wait on the arrival of Big Gino, one of the Trade Federation's top business representatives and a notorious gangster.
He arrived just after midnight with an escort of about eight really big thugs, all armed with lazer blasters.
"There he is," Stinky whispered to his companions, nodding over at the doorway.
The Jedi Knights watched as Big Gino, who was actually a very short fellow, marched self importantly to the large table at the back corner of the cantina. Four of the thugssat with him, the others stood as bodyguards.
"Let's go and say hi, shall we," Gerald suggested. Phoebe and Stinky nodded together
They stood up and walked over to the large table. As they approached, one of the large thugs looked down at the three Jedi Knights, a hard look on his face.
"What do you three pipsqueaks want?" He asked, harshly.
"We're here to speak to Big Gino," Gerald said.
Big Gino looked up at Gerald, a small calculating smile on his face. "It's alright, Lefty. Let him through."
The thug moved reluctantly out of Gerald's way to let him pass, but as Stinky and Phoebe tried to pass, both him and the other thug moved back into position.
"The boss didn't say nuthin' abouse you'se two." He told them evenly, the look suggesting an egear desire to question that.
They looked at Gerald, who simply nodded at them. Stinky and Phoebe shrugged and backed away a few spaces.
"Well, well, well," Big Gino said, "What's a Jedi Knight doing on a remote dustball like this?"
Gerald sat down in front of him. "I'm here to see a leading representative of the Trade Federation."
Gino sat back, smiling smuggly. "Well, you found one, pal."
"I need some information from you about some pretty creppy characters." Gerald said simply.
Gino shrugged, "Most of our clients are almost always shady characters. But hey, that business. A man's got to do something to earn a living in this galaxy."
Gerald frowned slightly at the gangster. "Does that also include the attepted kidnapping of a Galactic Senator?"
Big Gino's face didn't change expressions, "Possibly."
Gerald was somewhat unnerved by Big Gino's casual answer to these questions. Something wasen't right here...
He sat forward and faces Gino seriously. "Okay, cards on the table Gino. We know that the Sith have employed you and that your Trade Federation Viceroy is under their influence."
Gino sat back, "Such accusations! I think I've had enough of this conversation! Righty! Lefty! Escort our friends here to the front door, and you don't have to be too gentle about it!"
Gerald stood up, disgusted. "That's okay, we're leaving anyway."
He turned to leave, but then senses a disturbance in The Force...He activated his green lightsaber and turns in time to deflect the lazer blast from the lazer pistol Big Gino aimed at him under the table intended for the back of his head.
The other thugs raised their mean-looking lazers at the same time Phoebe and Stinky activated their own lightsabers.
Gerald summersaulted over the two thugs behind him before they could grab him and lands between his two friends. The thugs fire at them, but the blasts are deflected back by the Jedi Knights, taking out three of the thugs.
Suddenly the doors exploded and dozens of Trade federation Battle Droids march in.
"Kill them!" Big Gino commands.
"Roger, roger!" The lead droid answered.
Seeing the odds against them multiply, Stinky said softly, "This really bites!"
Quickly, our Jedi heroes leaped over the bar and ducked behind it.
All throughout the bar, all hell broke loose.
All around them, panic sets in as tables and chairs are turned over as all of the patrons began their own barfight. The aliens brought out their own blasters, clubs, knives, and even a few swords! Even though they were not a part of the main fight going on, their behavior made the situation more complicated for the battle droids who had to shove them out of the way, before they could attack the Jedi.
A chair flew over the bar and hit the mirror behind it, shattering the drinks and glass down on our heroes.
Mariea, the waitress from before sat there behind the bar, holding onto what looked like a baseball bat.
"Is there another way out of this place?" Gerald asked her.
"Of course, the back door...(Stinky and Phoebe looked hopeful)...but they have it blocked off too."
"Figures," Phoebe said fowning.
"Well, I recon we gotta fight our way out," Stinky told them, peering back over the bar to see the battle droids gaining their way through the bar fighters, knocking some aside and shooting several.
Gerald looks over too and notices the low hanging ceiling lights. "I have an idea!"
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY! DESTROY THEM!" Big Gino commanded.
The droids managed to get their way through the crowds to the bar and began to shoot it up. The bar was made of thick stone and metalic parts, but it wouldn't last too long under concentrated firepower.
The three Jedi Knights stood up, their lightsabers atthe ready.
The droids fired, but the blasts were reflected at the ceiling lights which all exploded, plunging the room into total darkness.
It would take the battle droids a few seconds to switch their visual sensors to night vision, and a few more for the emergency lighting to kick in, but in those few seconds, three lightsaber blurs, two green and one blue,cut down half of them and useing The Force, smashed the others into the wall.
Big Gino, appauled and afraid, ran out of the bar with three of his remaining henchmen. The other two tried to stop[ the Jedi with their lazers, only to be cut down by Gerald and Stinky.
They ran out after Gino, who was climbing into his speeder limo as it took off.
Gerald ran at the limo as it took off, made a leap and grabbed hold of the rear bumper as it sped away down the street at breakneck speed.
Oh man, maybe this wasen't such a good idea, Gerald thought as he held on for his life, one hand still holding his activated lightsaber.
The back window of the limo rolled down and one of Gino's thugs held out a rather nasty looking lazer pistol. He fired at Gerald who deflected the shots away.
Gerald propped his feet up on the bumper and using The Force kicked up onto the top of the limo and grabbed the antenae before the good could shift to fire again. He slashed the villian's arm off with a single swipe, sending both the arm and the pistol flying away in the wind.
Unfortunately, the limo also had a sun roof and another goon popped up, holding a longer pistol.
Gerald turned and deflected the blasts from the new threat, but one of the blasts hit his lightsaber hilt and knocked it from his hand off the limo. He looked up at the evil smile of the goon who carefully aimed his blast to kill. Gerald looked behind him and suddenly hit the roof of the ceiling hugging it.
Looking up at the confused goon, he said, "Youi might wanna turn around, man!"
"Huh?" The lumox asked dully, then he turned in time to see the low bridge sign over the small tunned the limo was passing through. All that was left of the goon was a big splatter on the sign he hit with a sickening thud.
I don't care what planet you're from, that's gotta hurt, Gerald thought.
By then, the other remaining goon stood up inside the sunroof and fired at Gerald, who rolled till he fell over the side and grabbed the door handle with both hands. The driver tried to run Gerald into the wall, but Gerald swung back up on the roof in time to kick the other goon in the mouth and knock him back into the limo.
Suddenly, another speeder came up from behind the limo. It was Phoebe and Stinky. Stinky, in the passenger's seat, tossed Gerald his lightsaber, which he caught a few blocks back using the Force.
Using it, Gerald cut off the limo's left booster, causing it to spin out of control.
gerald jumped off onto the other speeder before the speeder limo crashed hard into the end of a street corner and the side of another building, landing upside down and completely totaled.
Looking over, Gerald asked, "Hey, what took you guys so long, anyway?"
Phoebe smiled at him and said, "Find my licence, I could not."
"Very funny," Gerald said, smiling slightly and raising an eyebrow in amused annoyance.
They pulled over to check for survivors. Through The Force, they could sense that Big Gino was still alive, having suffered only superficial wounds. There were no other survivors.
Gino was pulled out and sat agaist the wall, the three Jedi standing over him.
"Okay Gino, you better start talking!" Gerald said, "Where are The Sith?"
"I-I don't know!" He told them. "they come to us! Through a contact..."
"What contact?" Stinky asked.
"P-Patty! Patty The Hutt!" He told them.
The Jedi exchanged glances. They knew who the infamous Patty The Hutt was, a notorious gangster boss, bully, and slave dealer. It figured that the Sithwould associate with her.
"So Gino, where do we find her?" Gerald said, standing over the bloodied and bruised criminal.
Big Gino suddenly found some backbone. "I ain't saying nothin! I know my rights!"
Phoebe, playing the good Jedi, spoke up. "Right, he is, Master Gerald. Take him to the authorities, we must."
Gino smiled smuggly.
She looked down at him, and added, "When the Dark Lords of the Sith come here, happy to pay his bail, they will be."
All of Big Gino's bravado and smuggness failed him instantly. "No! Y-you wouldn't! You can't! I'll be finished! Darth Curly will kill me!"
Gerald suddenly went ashen, as did the others upon hearing the name of the Sith Lord.
"Did you say...Darth Curly?!" Gerald asked stricken.
Gino nodded.
Before he turned to the dark side and was kicked out of the Jedi order, Curly had been a gifted Jedi Padawan, and Master Gerald's student.
So now he was a Sith Lord.
"Complicates matters, this does," Phoebe said quietly.
Gerald and Stinky nodded, but they both had jobs to do. They turned back on Big Gino.
"Look, you're already facing alot of prison time, man. Tell us where Patty The Hutt is and we'll let you go. Who knows, maybe you'll even get away before the Sith find out?"
Big Gino looked at them, calculating his odds. Then he sighed. "Okay, you'se guys win! Patty The Hutt is on Ta..."
Suddenly, Big Gino began to choke violently, he was finished a moment later with the sharp sound of a broken neck, all of the throat bones crushed almost into powder.
At the same instant, all three of the Jedi felt a cold, dark feeling in the Force...The Dark Side.
Then a low, cold voice that they were all too familiar with spoke up from the nearby shadows.
"It's so hard to find good lackies these days," came the voice of Darth Curly, who emerged from the nearby alley, cloaked in his black robes, holding a long-handled, mean-looking lightsaber hilt, a malevolent grin plastered on his face.
The Jedi Masters all turned to face their former Padawan.
To Be Continued...
Back on Genosis, sitting in the Jolly Ollie Cantina, Gerald Windu, Stinky Kenobi and Master Phoebe continued to wait on the arrival of Big Gino, one of the Trade Federation's top business representatives and a notorious gangster.
He arrived just after midnight with an escort of about eight really big thugs, all armed with lazer blasters.
"There he is," Stinky whispered to his companions, nodding over at the doorway.
The Jedi Knights watched as Big Gino, who was actually a very short fellow, marched self importantly to the large table at the back corner of the cantina. Four of the thugssat with him, the others stood as bodyguards.
"Let's go and say hi, shall we," Gerald suggested. Phoebe and Stinky nodded together
They stood up and walked over to the large table. As they approached, one of the large thugs looked down at the three Jedi Knights, a hard look on his face.
"What do you three pipsqueaks want?" He asked, harshly.
"We're here to speak to Big Gino," Gerald said.
Big Gino looked up at Gerald, a small calculating smile on his face. "It's alright, Lefty. Let him through."
The thug moved reluctantly out of Gerald's way to let him pass, but as Stinky and Phoebe tried to pass, both him and the other thug moved back into position.
"The boss didn't say nuthin' abouse you'se two." He told them evenly, the look suggesting an egear desire to question that.
They looked at Gerald, who simply nodded at them. Stinky and Phoebe shrugged and backed away a few spaces.
"Well, well, well," Big Gino said, "What's a Jedi Knight doing on a remote dustball like this?"
Gerald sat down in front of him. "I'm here to see a leading representative of the Trade Federation."
Gino sat back, smiling smuggly. "Well, you found one, pal."
"I need some information from you about some pretty creppy characters." Gerald said simply.
Gino shrugged, "Most of our clients are almost always shady characters. But hey, that business. A man's got to do something to earn a living in this galaxy."
Gerald frowned slightly at the gangster. "Does that also include the attepted kidnapping of a Galactic Senator?"
Big Gino's face didn't change expressions, "Possibly."
Gerald was somewhat unnerved by Big Gino's casual answer to these questions. Something wasen't right here...
He sat forward and faces Gino seriously. "Okay, cards on the table Gino. We know that the Sith have employed you and that your Trade Federation Viceroy is under their influence."
Gino sat back, "Such accusations! I think I've had enough of this conversation! Righty! Lefty! Escort our friends here to the front door, and you don't have to be too gentle about it!"
Gerald stood up, disgusted. "That's okay, we're leaving anyway."
He turned to leave, but then senses a disturbance in The Force...He activated his green lightsaber and turns in time to deflect the lazer blast from the lazer pistol Big Gino aimed at him under the table intended for the back of his head.
The other thugs raised their mean-looking lazers at the same time Phoebe and Stinky activated their own lightsabers.
Gerald summersaulted over the two thugs behind him before they could grab him and lands between his two friends. The thugs fire at them, but the blasts are deflected back by the Jedi Knights, taking out three of the thugs.
Suddenly the doors exploded and dozens of Trade federation Battle Droids march in.
"Kill them!" Big Gino commands.
"Roger, roger!" The lead droid answered.
Seeing the odds against them multiply, Stinky said softly, "This really bites!"
Quickly, our Jedi heroes leaped over the bar and ducked behind it.
All throughout the bar, all hell broke loose.
All around them, panic sets in as tables and chairs are turned over as all of the patrons began their own barfight. The aliens brought out their own blasters, clubs, knives, and even a few swords! Even though they were not a part of the main fight going on, their behavior made the situation more complicated for the battle droids who had to shove them out of the way, before they could attack the Jedi.
A chair flew over the bar and hit the mirror behind it, shattering the drinks and glass down on our heroes.
Mariea, the waitress from before sat there behind the bar, holding onto what looked like a baseball bat.
"Is there another way out of this place?" Gerald asked her.
"Of course, the back door...(Stinky and Phoebe looked hopeful)...but they have it blocked off too."
"Figures," Phoebe said fowning.
"Well, I recon we gotta fight our way out," Stinky told them, peering back over the bar to see the battle droids gaining their way through the bar fighters, knocking some aside and shooting several.
Gerald looks over too and notices the low hanging ceiling lights. "I have an idea!"
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY! DESTROY THEM!" Big Gino commanded.
The droids managed to get their way through the crowds to the bar and began to shoot it up. The bar was made of thick stone and metalic parts, but it wouldn't last too long under concentrated firepower.
The three Jedi Knights stood up, their lightsabers atthe ready.
The droids fired, but the blasts were reflected at the ceiling lights which all exploded, plunging the room into total darkness.
It would take the battle droids a few seconds to switch their visual sensors to night vision, and a few more for the emergency lighting to kick in, but in those few seconds, three lightsaber blurs, two green and one blue,cut down half of them and useing The Force, smashed the others into the wall.
Big Gino, appauled and afraid, ran out of the bar with three of his remaining henchmen. The other two tried to stop[ the Jedi with their lazers, only to be cut down by Gerald and Stinky.
They ran out after Gino, who was climbing into his speeder limo as it took off.
Gerald ran at the limo as it took off, made a leap and grabbed hold of the rear bumper as it sped away down the street at breakneck speed.
Oh man, maybe this wasen't such a good idea, Gerald thought as he held on for his life, one hand still holding his activated lightsaber.
The back window of the limo rolled down and one of Gino's thugs held out a rather nasty looking lazer pistol. He fired at Gerald who deflected the shots away.
Gerald propped his feet up on the bumper and using The Force kicked up onto the top of the limo and grabbed the antenae before the good could shift to fire again. He slashed the villian's arm off with a single swipe, sending both the arm and the pistol flying away in the wind.
Unfortunately, the limo also had a sun roof and another goon popped up, holding a longer pistol.
Gerald turned and deflected the blasts from the new threat, but one of the blasts hit his lightsaber hilt and knocked it from his hand off the limo. He looked up at the evil smile of the goon who carefully aimed his blast to kill. Gerald looked behind him and suddenly hit the roof of the ceiling hugging it.
Looking up at the confused goon, he said, "Youi might wanna turn around, man!"
"Huh?" The lumox asked dully, then he turned in time to see the low bridge sign over the small tunned the limo was passing through. All that was left of the goon was a big splatter on the sign he hit with a sickening thud.
I don't care what planet you're from, that's gotta hurt, Gerald thought.
By then, the other remaining goon stood up inside the sunroof and fired at Gerald, who rolled till he fell over the side and grabbed the door handle with both hands. The driver tried to run Gerald into the wall, but Gerald swung back up on the roof in time to kick the other goon in the mouth and knock him back into the limo.
Suddenly, another speeder came up from behind the limo. It was Phoebe and Stinky. Stinky, in the passenger's seat, tossed Gerald his lightsaber, which he caught a few blocks back using the Force.
Using it, Gerald cut off the limo's left booster, causing it to spin out of control.
gerald jumped off onto the other speeder before the speeder limo crashed hard into the end of a street corner and the side of another building, landing upside down and completely totaled.
Looking over, Gerald asked, "Hey, what took you guys so long, anyway?"
Phoebe smiled at him and said, "Find my licence, I could not."
"Very funny," Gerald said, smiling slightly and raising an eyebrow in amused annoyance.
They pulled over to check for survivors. Through The Force, they could sense that Big Gino was still alive, having suffered only superficial wounds. There were no other survivors.
Gino was pulled out and sat agaist the wall, the three Jedi standing over him.
"Okay Gino, you better start talking!" Gerald said, "Where are The Sith?"
"I-I don't know!" He told them. "they come to us! Through a contact..."
"What contact?" Stinky asked.
"P-Patty! Patty The Hutt!" He told them.
The Jedi exchanged glances. They knew who the infamous Patty The Hutt was, a notorious gangster boss, bully, and slave dealer. It figured that the Sithwould associate with her.
"So Gino, where do we find her?" Gerald said, standing over the bloodied and bruised criminal.
Big Gino suddenly found some backbone. "I ain't saying nothin! I know my rights!"
Phoebe, playing the good Jedi, spoke up. "Right, he is, Master Gerald. Take him to the authorities, we must."
Gino smiled smuggly.
She looked down at him, and added, "When the Dark Lords of the Sith come here, happy to pay his bail, they will be."
All of Big Gino's bravado and smuggness failed him instantly. "No! Y-you wouldn't! You can't! I'll be finished! Darth Curly will kill me!"
Gerald suddenly went ashen, as did the others upon hearing the name of the Sith Lord.
"Did you say...Darth Curly?!" Gerald asked stricken.
Gino nodded.
Before he turned to the dark side and was kicked out of the Jedi order, Curly had been a gifted Jedi Padawan, and Master Gerald's student.
So now he was a Sith Lord.
"Complicates matters, this does," Phoebe said quietly.
Gerald and Stinky nodded, but they both had jobs to do. They turned back on Big Gino.
"Look, you're already facing alot of prison time, man. Tell us where Patty The Hutt is and we'll let you go. Who knows, maybe you'll even get away before the Sith find out?"
Big Gino looked at them, calculating his odds. Then he sighed. "Okay, you'se guys win! Patty The Hutt is on Ta..."
Suddenly, Big Gino began to choke violently, he was finished a moment later with the sharp sound of a broken neck, all of the throat bones crushed almost into powder.
At the same instant, all three of the Jedi felt a cold, dark feeling in the Force...The Dark Side.
Then a low, cold voice that they were all too familiar with spoke up from the nearby shadows.
"It's so hard to find good lackies these days," came the voice of Darth Curly, who emerged from the nearby alley, cloaked in his black robes, holding a long-handled, mean-looking lightsaber hilt, a malevolent grin plastered on his face.
The Jedi Masters all turned to face their former Padawan.
To Be Continued...