Part 1: Childhood anticsChapter 1
A young boy roamed the streets of Coruscant; alone. He seemed to look like a typical homeless child- He was thin, had dirty black hair that hadn't been washed in weeks, and ragged, shabby clothes that were way too small for him. As he walked, he looked around, surveying the area as if trying to find something small.
"There you are Nebbit!" He called out, as he ran towards a skip down a dark alley. The lid on the skip opened up, and another small boy emerged from it.
"Hey, howd'y'know I was in here Taka?" He asked, both amused and annoyed at his friend's almost psychic ability.
"Oh, I dunno, lucky I guess" Taka said, grinning. "And since I found you, you have to give me some of your food!!"
"Fine then" Nebbit sighed, "Come with me, I know a place down Zayder district that has tonnes of food, and the shopkeepers don't notice a thing!"
The two boys trotted off through the Coruscant slums, Nebbit in the lead, and Taka close behind him. They stopped outside a beat-up old shop, with a dingy neon sign on top which said something in an alien language neither of them knew.
"It's in here. C'mon, you can go first" Taka took a few steps inside. The shop was poorly lit, and extremely dirty.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Taka asked, with slight worry in his voice.
"Yeah, don't worry, this is it. Look, you go and distract the shopkeeper, and I'll get us some food"
Taka nodded his head in agreement, and made his way over to the front of the shop. A grubby, bored-looking Twi-lek stood at the counter; numerous diseases were visible on his face. Taka immediately got to work and started shouting at the top of his voice while running up and down the aisles. The Twi-lek shouted something angrily and began to chase after him, trying and failing to keep him under control. Taka continued his run, and also started knocking things off the shelves, further slowing down his pursuer. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Nebbit raiding the food section of the store. He gave a thumbs-up to Taka, the signal that all was done. And with that, Taka left the shop with his friend, leaving the Twi-lek standing at the door, cursing profoundly in his own language.
Taka and Nebbit stopped running and sat down behind an alley. Nebbit opened up his jacket, and various food packages dropped out. Taka picked one up. It was 3 years out of date, but he didn't care. He ripped open the packaging on the "Nerf Burger" and wolfed it down, and Nebbit did the same. Once they had finished eating, Nebbit casually wiped his mouth.
"Aaaahhh, that's the first meal I've had in a week!" He exclaimed and rubbed his stomach. "Anyway, we better get going, Davik wants to see us"
"Davik? Already? But it's only been like, three days since we last did a job for him!"
"Yeah, I know, but hey, at least he pays us!"
"Fine then; let's get going" Taka said grudgingly.
Chapter 2
They stopped outside a flight of stairs leading downwards towards a dirty black door. Nebbit knocked on the door, and an eye-hole opened, where a man asked,
"Password?"
"Behemoth" Nebbit answered
The door slid open, and let them in.
"This way" The man said, and ushered them into the lair. It was a horrible, dirty place, with grime and dirt everywhere. It was poorly lit, relying on dim neon lights to brighten the place up, and everywhere Taka looked, strange people, both human and non-human, were giving them evil looks.
Their 'guide' stopped next to a door, indistinguishable from any of the others save for a small plaque on the door which read 'Davik Kang'.
"Mr.Kang is expecting you" The guide said neutrally, and ushered them into the room.
Taka was taken aback originally when he entered Kang's office. Compared to the rest of the hideout, this place was a paradise (although that wasn't saying much; Taka thought). The floor had a real carpet, the walls were painted neutral beige, and some cheap furniture; such as a desk and a chair, was stationed in the corner. On one of the walls a single picture frame hung, with the image of a typical smiling family. The picture frame was smashed, and the picture ripped and vandalized.
Taka and Nebbit sat down in two seats next to the desk. A door to the side of them opened, and Kang walked in. At a glance, he was an intimidating man, tall, bald and with several stereotypical scars across his face. He was a complete stereotype of a "tough guy". Taka glanced down below his face, and could see two blaster pistols at his waist. And almost out of his line of vision, the tip of a vibroblade. Any normal person wouldn't have noticed these subtlety concealed weapons; but then again, Taka did have a knack of spotting these things. Kang sat down in the chair at the desk, and addressed the two boys.
"Nebbit! Taka! So good that you could join me today! I hope you've been well?"
"Yeah, yeah, just cut to the chase Davik" Nebbit answered mouthily. Kang flinched for a second, and then broke out into laughter.
"I forgot your urgency to get to the matter at hand Nebbit!" He said laughing. Then, as quickly as the laughter had started, it stopped, and Kang took a serious tone again.
"The matter at hand is a very serious one; and one that only someone of your… stature can accomplish"
"Yeah, well that still doesn't tell us what the hell we're doing" Nebbit interrupted
"Patience Nebbit" Kang said firmly and coldly, his tone of voice changing suddenly again.
"Your mission is a difficult one. One of my most trusted associates has been captured by a rival gang, and word has it that they're after me next. Unfortunately for them, they don't know where we're holed up. Unfortunately for us though, my associate is being tortured, and there's not that much time left till he cracks. I need you two to sneak into their stronghold and liberate my associate"
"What's in it for us?" Taka asked, speaking for the first time in the meeting.
"What's in it for you? Why my boy, do this for me and I'll make you rich! I'll move you out of the streets, and into my own personal spare home! You'll never need to steal food or sleep in the streets again!" Davik's proposition had evidently gotten to both of the boy's who were mesmerized by what they had just heard.
"Ok, we'll do it!" Taka said eagerly, as both of the boys raced out of the office.
"Good Luck Boys" Davik said as they left the office, as an evil smile crept across his face. "You're gonna love your reward…"
Chapter 3
The two boys walked through the seedy Coruscant slums, searching for the location of their mission.
"Oh, this is too hard, every building looks the same! Can't the builders make their buildings unique?" Taka moaned
"Shut Up!! You want to have your very own house with all the food you can eat?" Nebbit retorted sharply and coldly
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Well come on then stupid! We're nearly there!" Nebbit shouted again, angrily.
"Fine…"
Their destination loomed above them. It was huge, a skyscraper of sorts, but stretched so high into the sky some said that it left the planet's orbit. Obviously this was rubbish, but Taka still felt a little uneasy as he looked upwards and couldn't see the top of the construction.
"Let's go!" Nebbit said, and snuck over to the entrance. Taka followed him right behind, and they approached the entrance.
"There's gotta be some sort of mistake here…" Taka said to himself as they walked through the entrance. There was nothing there. No guards, no security cameras, not even a frickin' security caution. What was there instead was a lobby. A plain lobby, with no distinguishable features from anything else. There was a black leather couch in the middle of the room, some horrible white tiled walls, and a reception desk at the front. A pretty yellow Twi-Lek girl was waiting there. Nebbit walked over to her.
"Um…excuse me Ma'am, but can you please tell me where we are?" He said, turning on the charm to full.
"Certainly child" The Twi-Lek said, falling for Nebbit's charm Hook, Line and Sinker. "This is the central HQ of the Galaxiana Corporation, the lead supplier of fruit and vegetables throughout Coruscant.
"Really? Wow" Nebbit said in a cutesy 'amazed' voice.
"Hey, can we look around?" Taka said curiously
"Yes, of course" The receptionist said, "But one thing; please do not leave the first floor"
"Really!? Thank you Miss!" Taka said, feigning excitement, as he and Nebbit sped off out of view.
"So, are we really in the wrong place?" Taka asked when they were out of sight and earshot.
"Bullshit!" Nebbit replied "It's obviously a front, haven't you realized?" Down here it's all peaceful and cheery, but I'll bet you a million credits that upstairs there's guards and security!"
"Y'really think so?"
"Positive. Now, come on, we need to find a way inside"
The boys explored the first floor, under the watchful eye of the receptionist, and examined the elevator. Their ticket up.
"Please stay away from the elevator" The receptionist said sweetly.
"We've got to distract that receptionist!" Nebbit hissed in Taka's ear.
"Don't worry, I've got a plan" Taka whispered back to Nebbit. "First of all, get her attention"
"Got it" Nebbit said. He ran towards the receptionist, grinning, and tripped himself up on the floor. He brought on the fake tears, as the Twi'Lek ran towards him sympathetically. That was Taka's cue. He raced behind the receptionist's desk, searching for something, anything to incapacitate the meddling Twi'lek. He found it in the form of an old blaster pistol.
"Man, this is antique!" Taka thought to himself, but realized he didn't have time to worry about the model he had. Setting the blast to 'Stun', he took aim at the receptionist's head. She was getting up, he didn't have much time. Taka hesitated, his arm shaking. The Twi-Lek had stood up, he had run out of time. She was turning back for her desk. Taka swallowed. She looked at him. She screamed. Taka fired, hitting her in the forehead and downing her instantly. He dropped the weapon, trembling all over, terrified at whet he had just done.
"I…Is she ok?" Nebbit asked gingerly.
"I…think so" Taka replied, not entirely sure himself on the condition of the Twi-Lek.
Nebbit grabbed the downed receptionists body, and dragged it behind the desk.
"There's no time to waste, let's go."