Chapter 7
The brown creature was standing next to a power droid, when it suddenly started to spark, and the creature noticed it was going to short out. The creature took out a fusioncutter and started to make some repairs, whilst another similar-looking creature holds onto it to keep it upright.
Little did they know that an indigenous Tusken Raider was quietly stalking towards them. If they turned around, they would've noticed that this was no ordinary Tusken. It had plates of metal over his body, with wires hanging down. He wore several metal bars on his belt, and as he skulked closer, the Tusken took one of the metal bars from his belt, and a bar of red plasma ignited from his fist.
The brown creature realized too late, as he was swiftly decapitated by the Tusken, and the other soon followed.
From his shining palace on Coruscant, Emperor Palpatine was standing in front of a hologram of his apprentice, wearing the traditional garbs of a Tusken Raider of his life-support armor.
"I sense that you have not succeeded in tracking down your objective. My...apprentice," he said with disgust.
On Tatooine, Starkiller looked at the blue hologram of his master on his hand.
"No, my Master," came a deep response from the vocoder in his mask.
Palpatine then repeated his orders: to find the crime lord Jabba the Hutt, whom he believes can provide him the location of a pair of droids, who were believed to contain the schematics of the Empire's newest battle station.
As the hologram winked out, Starkiller proceeded towards the dunes of the planet. Suddenly, he heard something coming through the comlink in his helmet, and on the other side was a Coruscanti male.
"My Lord, this is Captain Berrus. The Emperor has instructed me to...assist you as needed."
Despite the fact he was reluctant to allow a military commander to assist him, given their reputation for failures, he allowed Captain Berrus to do his duty. He already identified the brown creatures as trash scavengers known as Jawas, and they were gathered around a large, brown trapezium, which appeared to be a desert vehicle.
Starkiller has dealt with Jawas before, on Raxus Prime a few years prior, and so he knew the dangers they posed. As he dodged their welding tools and avoided their thermal detonators, he slaughtered every Jawa in the camp, even killing them with their own droids. Several of those droids then proceeded to attack, but to him, they were no different to the thousands of Stormtroopers he slaughtered for the past years.
Captain Berrus suggested the apprentice to move the vehicle, which he identified as a Sandcrawler, out of the way, since it was blocking the path to his destination. With a massive Force push, the Sandcrawler tumbled into the chasm below, and he proceeded to cross the bridge.
After several encounters with Jawas and Tusken Raiders alike, he made it to a B'omarr Monk Monastery, which he assumed to be the palace of the Hutt crime lord. On another area of the Palace, a Firespray-class starship streaked across the sky, and it landed in a hangar nearby.
The apprentice arrived at the front gate, destroyed every gatekeeper droid which popped out of the door, and the door rose, and he heard a booming sound coming from the throne room.
Intruder! You come here to steal from me? Guards, kill that fool!
With that command, he was swarmed by Gamorreans and Weequay guards, whom he defeated with ease. As he ventured into the palace, and he continued to kill his guards, the voice started to refer to his incredible talent, and was even pleased that he slaughtered his servant.
As he decapitated the last guard, a door opened, and the voice of Jabba the Hutt returned.
Intruder, come downstairs. I mean you no harm. We'll discuss business together.
Starkiller walked into Jabba's throne room, walking past Gamorreans, bounty hunters, pirates, and other kind of scum. Sitting on the rectangular pad was the revolting Hutt himself. Behind him was a protocol droid, whom the apprentice assumed was used for translation. What caught his eye was the bounty hunter standing next to Jabba. He wore the unmistakable armor of a Mandalorian Supercommando, and strung on his right shoulder were braided scalps, which gave him the idea of his reputation and how deadly he is.
"The mighty and benevolent Jabba would like to..."
Starkiller shorted the droid out before it could finish its sentence, and he was now standing in front of Jabba.
I admire your style, Sith scum! I could make a man of your talents very wealthy!
He ignored Jabba's flattery and told him what he wants: the two droids. He even offered compensation fee for any information Jabba provides.
There are many droids on Tatooine...far too many for even my spies to track.
At that moment, the protocol droid sprung back to life and spoke of one of his spies spotting an astromech and protocol droid in Mos Eisley.
Upon hearing the information, Jabba smacked the droid against the wall, and Starkiller was about to spring an attack, but a trapdoor underneath him opened and he fell into a pit.