So, SWTOR is going to be free-to-play soon. That means you may just see Kryvokk, Shalanna, Blacknova and the rest of the DOTOR crew online. I know I'm excited.

DISCLAIMER: I own most of the characters in this story. Any other names of characters or planets belong to Lucasarts and Bioware.

Chapter 2:

A large speeder, with a droid pilot, stood ready outside the cantina. Kryvokk and Trila boarded the speeder, which took off soon after.

"We will reach our destination in approximately twenty-one-point-five minutes," the droid pilot said.

"Great," Kryvokk snorted. "Tanik's gonna be long gone by then."

"Don't worry, he'll be there a while," Trila assured him. "I planted some rumors that a bounty was in the area. His M.O will prevent him from leaving until he has acquired his target, which he won't find for another two hours."

"That so?" Kryvokk said. "How do you Imperial types do this stuff, anyway?"

"We have quite a bit of influence, Kryvokk," Trila said, "even in places like this. So, while we're waiting, why don't we get to know each other?"

"You serious, lady?" Kryvokk scoffed. "I don't need to know my client, I just need to work for them."

"Perhaps," Trila said, "but I want to get to know you. How did you become a bounty hunter?"

"Doesn't Imperial Intelligence already know things like that?" Kryvokk countered.

"We don't know every last detail of a person's history," Trila replied. "That's where good old-fashioned conversation comes in. Now, tell me, what exactly motivated your decision to become a bounty hunter?"

"Kind of a long story," Kryvokk said. "See…my parents were dirt poor, stuck in the slums of Coruscant. They always told me I was their 'shining light', that I was what kept 'em going. Then, one day, when I was five, a Jedi came."

"I assume this was Jedi Master Ovan Zeeloss?" Trila asked. "You seemed to make that quite clear to his Padawan during your encounter with her on Metarrid's space station."

"I think that was his name," Kryvokk said. "Like I said, I was five. All I remembered was what he looked like."

"Fair enough," Trila nodded. "Please, continue."

"So…when Zeeloss showed up," Kryvokk began, "he told my parents that I was good with the Force or somethin' like that. He told my parents that I could be a Jedi. It sounded real good at first, but then he told them that they'd never be able to see me again. That's when the fighting started. Everyone was shouting, and I just ran to my bedroom. The Jedi left after a little while."

"Then, when did he return to kill your parents?" Trila asked.

"The next day," Kryvokk answered. "I was out getting groceries with a bodyguard droid my parents had spent their last credits on. When we got back, I found my parents…"

He stopped for a moment, as if recalling a painful memory.

"I found my parents dead on the floor," Kryvokk continued. "There were these big burning holes in their bodies…like a lightsaber had been shoved through them."

"That's absolutely horrible," Trila said, placing a compassionate hand on his shoulder. "You have my deepest condolences, Kryvokk."

"Whatever," he said, removing her hand from his shoulder.

"What happened next?" Trila asked, seemingly unfazed by Kryvokk's indifference to her concern.

"The Jedi came back," Kryvokk said. "He told me that, since I didn't have anything keeping me home anymore, that I should just go with him to be a Jedi. That was when I figured it out. He was the one who killed my parents. So, I sent the bodyguard droid after him and ran off. Wanted to kill him ever since."

"And what of all the other Jedi?" Trila asked.

"They're just practice for when I get to Zeeloss," Kryvokk smirked. "I make what your Imperial buddies might call an 'example' out of them. Plus it's fun to watch them squirm when they die."

"I see," Trila said, and although her tone was completely professional, she appeared somewhat unnerved by his sadistic tendencies. The rest of the trip was made in silence, and eventually, the speeder stopped.

"We have arrived at our destination," the pilot droid said.

Kryvokk wordlessly flipped several credits at the pilot and left, Trila following.

"Mennor Tanik should be close," Trila said.

A blaster bolt suddenly blazed by her head, scorching a section of her ponytail.

"Found him," Kryvokk announced.

An armored Zabrak with tan skin and pitch-black tattoos came into view, snarling angrily. He held a single blaster pistol in his hand, the tip of which was smoking. Kryvokk prepared his own blaster, while Trila removed a rifle from her back.

"You're Mennor Tanik?" Kryvokk asked. "I'm lookin' for your boss, Rusain Shum. Mind tellin' me where he is?"

"Screw you!" Tanik roared. "I'm gonna tear you apart!"

"You can try," Kryvokk said.

Tanik bellowed wildly as he fired at Kryvokk, but the young bounty hunter rolled on the ground and shot Tanik in the leg. Trila followed up with a precise shot to the chest, instantly killing the Zabrak. Kryvokk got up and looked at her inquisitively.

"Thought you said we needed him alive?" he said. "I'd have killed him straight away if you just said so."

"Killing bounty hunters isn't the objective," Trila said, kneeling down next to Tanik's corpse and lifting up one arm. "Besides, Tanik was a victim. I was only putting him out of his misery."

"What do you mean?" Kryvokk asked.

"Rusain Shum pumps his bounty hunters chock full of stimulants," Trila explained. "That was why Tanik was acting so aggressively. Killing him was the most merciful option."

"You sure he wasn't just ticked 'cause he couldn't find his bounty?" Kryvokk smirked.

"Not even you get that angry when a Mirialan kicks you in the family jewels," Trila countered.

Kryvokk's smirk disappeared in an instant at that image. He remembered how, on Metarrid's space station, a Mirialan smuggler had struck a literally low blow against him to save the life of his mortal enemy's apprentice. That Mirialan would not live if Kryvokk ever met him again.

"Ah, here we are," Trila said, fiddling with a device on Tanik's arm. "I now have the coordinates of Rusain Shum's hideout. It's close by, in a cantina he owns."

"So, we're movin' out?" Kryvokk asked.

"We are indeed," Trila said, pointing down the street. "The cantina is in that direction."

Kryvokk was about to go that way, when Trila stopped him.

"Remember," she said, "Rusain is most likely to have slaves in there."

"I know what to do with slaves," Kryvokk snapped, pushing himself past Trila.

Kryvokk headed off towards Rusain Shum's hideout, Trila following with a worried expression on her face.