Chapter 9 – Getting Even
Location: Dulani, currently the second largest city on Malastare
Time: 2 Years Before the Battle of Yavin
A year and a half had now passed since Egon Tucker's rise to power, and as the kingpin of Malastare's black market, everything went his way. Wealth previously unimaginable, a growing army of goons, dozens of slaves, and a steady flow of drugs, weapons and stolen goods to keep the machine moving. It made Ash sick just thinking about it. There was nothing just about it. Art was gone now, there was only Egon.
It had taken this long for Ash to gain his old friend's trust back. For months following his attempt to leave the life of crime behind him, Ash found himself only a step or two above being a slave. Enduring beatings at the hand of Decimus, being given demeaning orders from Qotak, having to provide muscle for highly illegal and immoral black market dealings, and being carefully monitored at almost all times. In Egon's eyes, Ash had finally learned his lesson, and was able to be trusted again. It was all worth it to Ash, just so he could get back at him.
Ash stood in one of the many hangars at Dulani Spaceport, awaiting a shipment from one of Egon's clients, the Givin known as Elis Helrot. Now trusted enough to have his very own escort of Black Sun goons to command, Ash was in charge of overseeing the quality control required in this line of work. He'd gotten quite an eye for spotting the things that irked the eye of Egon, part of the reason he'd regained his trust in the first place.
"Ah," Ash said as he straightened his posture, "here he is, finally."
Indeed, Helrot's personal cargo ship was now entering the hangar next to Ash's personal vessel. Punctuality was something of a requirement with Egon, it was something Elis would need to get right moving forward, or face dire consequences. The Givin's ship barely had time to dock before the door hatch slid open, allowing Elis to hurry out towards Ash.
"You're late." Ash said, arms crossed in front of him.
"We had some trouble getting the-" Elis began to say.
"I really don't want to hear any excuses, just don't be late next time..." Ash interrupted, "Egon really doesn't like that, and that means that I really don't like that."
"Well, as you can see, we met the quota that Egon set for us! The best batch from Pavilion!" Elis said, hoping to make up for it.
Two of Helrot's own men exited the vehicle, guns ready as they ushered the slaves out. Among the slaves that Ash could see, there was a Shistavanen, an Advozse, three female Twi'leks, an Aleena, and two humans, one human and one female, who appeared to be related and both in their early twenties. Although disgusted by the very concept of slavery, Ash had grown to hide his distaste and conduct his business as professionally as possible.
"Nice work." Ash said.
"I trust that the shipment of BlasTec armaments will be available next week?" Helrot asked.
"Yes, because we're actually dependable..." Ash said, "ensure your tardiness does not become a routine. Otherwise we might need to have a group of Black Sun associates by your side to accompany you on your drop-offs."
"That won't be necessary!" Elis said with a nervous laugh.
"I really hope you're right." Ash said with a smile, "See you next week."
"You too, sir." Elis said as he turned back around and quickly headed back to his ship with his men.
The Black Sun goons that had accompanied Ash had just finished loading the slaves into the cargo bay, just in time. Ash headed into the ship and began plotting the course back to Egon's compound on the outskirts of the city. He'd finally gotten used to calling Art by his new name, Egon Tucker. It fit him, this persona the man had created, shaped by bloodlust and greed, it was nothing like the boy he'd grown up with.
After docking in Egon's personal hangar, another privilege granted to him quite recently, Ash handed the duty of unloading the slaves off to the thugs that resided in the compound. The Black Sun associates headed to their personal ships, the Vipers, finished with their part of the deal. Ash didn't dare to look any of the slaves in their eyes, he still had a job to do if he was going to set things right.
As was normal after pickups and drop-offs, Ash headed to the top floor of the compound to report to Egon. It had become a routine, which was good, just meant that Egon was less likely to suspect a betrayal at this point. Arriving at the boss's personal chambers, he knocked three times, standing patiently until the door slid open, allowing him entry.
Egon's office had been filled with gifts granted to him by Grollato and some of the local dealers they'd taken in under their wing. Many pieces of gorgeous Dug artwork, sculptures, paintings, and even some graffiti, decorated nearly every spot on the walls where Egon could fit them. The lavish life had been denied to them in their childhoods, it seemed Egon was now getting that chance as an adult, but only through ruling the drug market on Malastare with an iron fist. Sitting at his desk, he smiled as Ash entered.
"Hey Ash!" Egon greeted, "The delivery went well?"
"Sure did, I think those slaves will serve us well," Ash reported, "any news?"
"Actually yeah," Egon said as he read over one of his holopads, "The Hutts just got hit hard from some new guy. He went in all by himself and took out Mora the Hutt and all his guys. Left them in pieces, real fine job."
"Who is he?" Ash asked.
"Aside from being the Angel of Death, no clue..." Egon replied, "Some Kaleesh that nobody seems to recognize, but he's definitely no fan of the Hutts. I'm gonna try and see if he's got a price."
"Just be careful," Ash cautioned, "we don't know where this guy's loyalties lie, if he even has any."
"I'll figure it out, and if he can be bought, he will be mine." Egon declared, "Oh and I had Qotak design a new emblem for our operation. He's quite an artist."
Holding up a holopad and activating it, an intricate design flashed into view. It was a Hutt's head being strangled by a dianoga. Huffing in amusement, Ash already understood the reasoning behind it.
"That's supposed to be that dianoga we would always see back in Viktu, right?" Ash asked, "What did we call that thing anyway?"
"Crawdad, that was what we named it." Egon said with nostalgic reflection.
"Man that thing was always there," Ash remembered, "I wonder if its got kids wandering around the sewers now."
"It probably does," Egon thought, "those things seem to spread around like nothing else. The boys over at Black Sun still treating you right?"
"Yeah, they keep asking me if you're going to be one of their next Vigos." Ash said.
"Really?" Egon said with a look of surprise, "Huh. I don't think so. I've gotten this far on my own, Black Sun has been a great ally but I don't know that I'd want to ingrain myself in their legion that way."
"You have to admit that Vigo Egon has a nice ring to it." Ash said with a smile.
"That it does, Ashy Boy!" Egon said with a laugh. For the briefest of moments, it almost felt like old times.
"Hey, I'm... uh, I'm sorry for how things got between us. I never wanted any of it." Ash said quietly.
"Me neither. I don't know if we can ever really go back to how things used to be, but it's a start..." Egon admitted, "I had to make you see things straight, you know that, right?"
"I know." Ash agreed.
"You've stuck by my side through everything. You're the last person in my life I still have from before all of this." Egon said.
"This is my place," Ash stated, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"I appreciate that. Well hey, I'll let you go, I have to get in touch with Zimm here in a bit." Egon said.
"Alright, I'll be around." Ash replied.
"Okay!" Egon said.
Heading back out of Egon's chambers, the fake smile faded from Ash's face. For Egon's actions to have such little meaning to him, it was terrifying. To view the killing of Kai as nothing more than making Ash see things straight, it was disgusting. Manipulative, psychotic, megalomaniacal traitor. Ash knew, however, that he was finally on his old friend's good side, which was precisely where he needed to be for his plan to unfold.
He waited until after midnight. With all of their opposition on the planet already wiped out, the guards had nothing to worry about at this hour, and were all already fast asleep. They'd left any night time surveillance up to a few droids, but their presence was of no consequence to Ash. He knew every little nook and cranny of the compound like the back of his hand, and was silent as the night itself as he crept through it, heading to the lowest level, where the slaves were kept.
Opening the door to the slave pens as quietly as humanly possible, he activated a small flashlight to illuminate the path ahead, showing the confused faces of the slaves. Now restless and curious, they looked at Ash, seeing him as just another one of their conquerers. Finally able to show sympathy and mercy, he opened each of their cell doors and backed away, a finger to his lips indicating them to keep quiet.
"We don't have a lot of time," Ash whispered, "we need to go, now."
"What's going on?" a Twi'lek girl asked just as quietly.
"I'm getting you all out of here." Ash answered as he beckoned for them all to follow him.
In doing this, Ash knew that he was severing any chance of a future with his old friend, but in his eyes, Egon had done that when he murdered Kai and forced his best friend into servitude. Without even the slightest shred of regret, Ash led the slaves, about twenty of them, through the compound and towards the hangar. He was amazed by how quiet they were all capable of being, but desperation must have put their self control into overdrive.
Thankfully, as brutal and apathetic as he was, Egon deemed it overkill to plant the explosive chips into his slaves as many others had to prevent them from escaping. Even if he had, Ash would have done his absolute best to get around that, but in a way, he was somewhat grateful to his former friend for making this escape that much easier.
He'd never been so relieved to see the hull of his ship docked in the hangar. Activating the door from a distance, the slaves became visibly ecstatic as they boarded, most not looking back even once, save for one, the Twi'lek who had spoken up earlier. She stopped and looked back at Ash, who was not boarding alongside them.
"The Arcona among you had piloting experience," Ash said, "Tell him to prep the ship for takeoff. If I'm not back in six minutes, you go, no exceptions."
"Where are you going?" the Twi'lek asked.
"I have a score to settle before we go." Ash answered as he looked back at the entrance of the hangar.
"Make them hurt." the slave girl replied as she boarded the ship.
The first step in his plan now complete, Ash patted the dagger that was tucked into his waistband and left the hangar, sneaking back into the compound's nearly pitch black and deafeningly quiet halls. This next step was perhaps the most risky, but was absolutely necessary in his eyes. Heading into the largest of the storerooms, he gazed upon dozens of large crates, all filled to the top with the rawest form of spice. Sold as is, this was worth several hundred thousand credits, but in a refined form, was worth nearly a million.
Unlocking the clear capsules in his pockets, he tossed one into each of the crates, allowing the larval dung beetles, native to Kubindi, to begin rapidly maturing and eventually reproduce inside the spice, completely devaluing it to both manufacturer and users alike. A grin from ear to ear as the disgusting grubs slithered through the spice, Ash barely avoided chuckling to himself at the knowledge of the irreversible damage he'd done to Egon's spice empire.
The last stage of this plan, and by far the most difficult one, was now before him. Ash reached the living quarters of the compound. They need not all die, just enough of them to really hurt Egon where it counted. Dagger ready, Ash entered the living quarters, going for Decimus' room first. The muscled Aqualish lay on his back, asleep in his bed. Years of being pushed around, bullied, and later on even beaten by this Aqualish, it was finally time to get even. Ash quietly approached and stood over him, then stuck his blade into the Aqualish's throat. Awakened but unable to make a sound, the henchman glared up at Ash, who placed one hand over the dying alien's tusked mouth, looking down at him unapologetically as he plunged the blade further in, killing the henchman.
Ash proceeded to enter the shared living quarters of Qotak and his most trusted footsoldiers. Since the days of prison, Qotak had always preferred to sleep in the company of his bodyguards, a cautious creature, but it wouldn't save him tonight. Each asleep in their own bed and unaware of Ash's presence, he carefully snuck through the room and stood next to Qotak. In one swift motion, Ash covered the Korrivar's mouth and stabbed him in the temple at the same time. Qotak had barely any time to even assess the situation he was in before the life faded from his eyes.
Pulling the blood covered dagger out of Qotak's head, Ash moved on to the bodyguards' beds. The first one, a Falleen, died relatively quickly from the dagger that had been slammed into his chest. The other guard, a human male, had a bit more fight in him but ultimately succumbed to the dagger being forced through his neck. Strangely enough to Ash, he carried no guilt over taking the lives of defenseless people.
Satisfied with the carnage, yet not proud of it, Ash left the living quarters and stealthily back to the hangar. He only wished he would be around to see Egon wake up and see what his former friend had done. Tiptoeing through the dead quiet compound, which he never intended to return to, Ash finally reached the hangar once more. Boarding the ship, he ignored making eye contact with the slaves as he punched in the controls for the ship to take off. Speeding out of the hangar, and very shortly after the atmosphere of Malastare, Ash felt free for the first time in five years. The slaves cheered wildly behind him, which made the feeling of what he'd done feel slightly better.
"Are you okay?" the Advozse slave asked.
"No." Ash replied bluntly, "we're going to have three separate drop-offs for you people. Decide real quick, because we're going to reach the first one in about three hours. Naboo, Caamas Minor, and Ithor, those are your choices. You'll be safe on those worlds, there are good people on all of them, they'll take care of you or get you where you need to go."
Knowing full well he was never going to have another conversation with his old friend again, Ash spent the trips to these worlds sitting still, depressed and reflecting on everything that had happened over the last five years to bring him to this point, turning him into a murderer just like the people he despised. As the slaves disembarked on their respective worlds, they each expressed an undying gratitude to Ash, who was too numb and distant to say much in return. Even a kiss on the cheek from one of the Twi'leks wasn't enough to bring him back from this somber mood.
Ash knew what he'd done was wrong. He knew he was just like Kurka and Egon now. It was what that life entailed, a cycle of constantly hurting people and changing them into monsters. He could rationalize it as trying to do some good by saving those slaves, or getting revenge from the ultimate betrayal, or simply doing what it took to earn his own freedom, but he knew that was all Bantha shit. He never would have done any of that all those years ago. There was no going back, he'd carry his past with him everywhere he went from now on, even if it wasn't written on him.
With the ship still in hyperspace after the last slaves were dropped off, Ash slowly and lazily got up from his seat, looking around for something to do on this ship which he knew he would have to dispose of eventually if he didn't want to be caught by Egon. Ash nearly jumped out of his own skin when he saw that there was still one slave still on the ship, a Weequay, just sitting on the floor and meditating. This one had been a slave to Egon for quite some time, and he'd never said a word, not that Ash was aware of at least.
"You scared the absolute shit out of me!" Ash said loudly.
The Weequay didn't look up at Ash or even acknowledge that he had heard him. Tilting his head in confusion, Ash stepped closer to the slave.
"So... Kojak... that is your name, right? That's what the other slaves were calling you. Never heard you speak before, man, but now's the time. Everyone else has been dropped off. You never said where you wanted to go."
The Weequay sat still, this time his eyes shifted towards Ash, but still silent as ever. Ash grew impatient.
"So, what, are you gonna just sit there forever? You don't even know where you want to go?" Ash began to say, "You know, some people would kill to have the chance you do! Not everyone gets to have a pilot take them anywhere in the galaxy they want! Some of them have to sell drugs, save up every single credit they make, and watch their friends get murdered right in front of them! They make it where they are and feel bad about every decision they make because their friends died getting them here!"
Ash could begin to feel tears welling up in his eyes, he hated getting like this, letting his hard exterior crack for even a second. Now he seemed to have Kojak's full attention. Ash sat down next to the Weequay slave, his gaze not focused on anything in particular.
"I lost my two brothers..." Ash said, "I was supposed to be doing this with them, taking on the galaxy. I'm never going to have that chance with them. This should be a great thing, but it doesn't feel like it. That bastard Egon... We both went through the same thing. Bihan's death didn't turn me into a psychotic murderer. That bloodlust, that hatred and quest for power... it had to have always been there, just waiting for something to unleash it. I should have seen it earlier... I don't know why I'm ranting to you anyway. Just tell me where, Kojak, just point it out on the map and we'll go."
"Where do you want to go?" Kojak asked in a gravelly voice.
Strangely enough, in all the planning he had done over these years, Ash hadn't really given it much thought, certainly not enough thought to come up with a concrete plan. He hadn't been sure if Egon's influence had grown enough to allow him to track him down and kill him for what he'd done, and he wouldn't be allowed to live somewhere the Empire could find him and take him back to prison. There were so many potential worlds, though, so many people to meet and join up with.
"I don't know..." Ash admitted, "I... uh... I always thought Bespin was worth checking out." Ash thought out loud.
With a subtle nod, Kojak stood up, leading the way back to the ship's controls. At the helm of a vessel capable of taking them literally anywhere they wanted to go, it was useless without a destination, and Ash knew it. Sitting down in the two seats, now finally both in control of their own destinies, Ash was able to truly smile from the heart as he programmed the coordinates for Bespin into the navi-computer.
Thanks for reading! If you liked this story, it exists in the same canon as my other Star Wars stories. "Twice As Bright" shows Egon Tucker in his prime as a crime lord, "The Adept" touches more on the Kaleesh that was hinted at in Ash's conversation with Egon. This definitely isn't the last we've seen of Ash Ulrand and Art Regfeld, now known as Egon Tucker. I plan to make many more stories with these characters in the future!