Fair warning, I'm on vacation and probably won't be able to update much. Let's catch up with Maris, shall we?
The sky was on fire before they had reached Jabba's...Palace.
"About time your sailors caught up. Should be a fair fight." -Solo said, sarcastically.
It was impossible to see how many ships there were, but the explosions and tiny turbolaser bolts betrayed the size of the engagement.
"Keep moving, smuggler. We're almost to the castle." -she said, rolling her eyes.
Han pretended to be hurt. "And here I thought we'd developed a nice enough relationship. Didn't take you for a kinky one." -he said, raising his bound hands.
Maris snorted amusedly. Whatever judgement she might've passed on his character had been stemmed by his rather ingenious plan.
For them both to get what they wanted, Han his freedom and Maris her intel, they both had to see Jabba. The smuggler had proposed that she play the part of a bounty hunter, one who'd heard of the price on Han's head and had lucked out because of his supposedly sleazy ways. Maris had thought it a decent idea, so she'd clocked him across the table.
He did ask her to be convincing.
Solo immediately pulled his custom blaster, shooting right at her head. Maris had to admit, the man had amazing aim. He, too, had stuck to his own advice of a convincing performance. She worked hard and fast to avoid the scarlet bolts, and they took the fight across the establishment, all the way to the door, which she kicked him through.
She'd grabbed a pair of handcuffs from a cowardly looking constable, and slapped them on him, dragging him all the way to the limits of town, where they mounted the speeder and zoomed off.
He'd cursed her to Dantooine and back during the trip, which only made her enjoy her mission more.
They'd had to proceed on foot beyond a certain point, during which the New Republic fleet must've arrived.
The sandstone Palace was...well, impressive wasn't the word for it, but it was at least a notable feature of Tatooine's otherwise drab landscape. The enormous reinforced metal door before them was a bit ominous, but Maris was hardly intimidated. Even broken, the statues of the old Sith Lords on Dromund Kaas were far more unnerving, and she'd lost her fear for those years ago.
Solo was sullen, but Maris couldn't tell if it was from the beating or the task ahead. "Having second thoughts?" -she asked teasingly, banging on the door.
An eyeball-like metallic stalk protruded from the side, spewing Huttese at them.
"The great Jabba does not expect you! Begone, intruders!" -it said.
As a Clone Wars veteran, and even more so as a darksider, her urge to simply slash the robotic entity to glowing ribbons was powerful; but her training saw to it that she did not fall to that particular temptation. Instead, she grabbed the thing and forcibly pulled it to her face.
"Tell your boss I have a gift for him. And do hurry up; I am not a patient woman." -she spat, crushing the eye ever so slightly.
The strange droid immediately retracted, fearing destruction.
Solo whistled. "I'll admit it, I'm impressed. And possibly aroused." -he said, with a cheeky smile.
Maris raised an eyebrow. "I think the kinky one's you, Solo."
The door opened then, slowly, and they walked inside. The place smelled like a Toydarian brewery, and faint music and chatter could be heard, getting louder as they approached. Small, green creatures wielding fearsome-yet-obsolete metallic axes greeted them aggressively - Gamorreans, known as vicious, if not very intelligent warriors.
Maris growled them away, calling on the Dark Side to scare their simplistic minds. An extremely ugly male Twi'lek with pink skin, red eyes, and one Lekku poised as one would wear a scarf around his neck walked swiftly to meet them.
"I am Bib Fortuna, the great Jabba's majordomo. He is impressed with you, Zabrak, for your capture of this scum, and wishes to speak to you." -he said, bowing and waving his gnarled hands towards the abomination himself.
The room was large and poorly lit, but Maris could see enough. Everything from young, rich idiots overdosing on spice in a corner, to naked Twi'lek, Zeltron, and human dancers, shaking their arses to please the assembled scumbags, mercenaries, and the big...well, not man, but rather thing himself, Jabba the Hutt. The creature was disgusting just by itself, with drool and snot dripping from his orifices, but it was his leering look at the chained slave girl, a beautiful green Twi'lek clad only in painful-looking metallic undergarments, that nearly set Maris off.
"What a charmer." -muttered Han, with a spike of disgust and hatred coloring his thoughts.
The Hutt waved his flabby hand and a red protocol droid walked to his side. He spoke, then, his voice booming, slow, and deliberate.
"Zabrak, you bring me a cherished gift, and for that you have my thanks. I have heard tale of your recent...tussle in Mos Eisley, and I have become...intrigued. Tell me, who are you?"
The protocol droid made to speak, but Maris beat it to the punch. "I will speak for myself." -she said, in perfect Huttese - not that it made the language sound any prettier. Rogues were required to learn some of the languages more associated with the galactic underworld, given that they would very likely use them in their line of work.
"I am Maris Brood, and I come from Iridonia. I was in Coruscant last week and heard of this man's bounty. I thought little of it, but then I discovered the Mandalorian was after him, too." -she said, casually.
The music and dancing had gradually died down, but it stopped altogether at her last sentence. Some 'patrons' even left the place discreetly, savvy enough to know that the odd woman meant business, and not the pleasant kind.
Jabba hummed, though it sounded more like a snore. "Boba Fett is your true target, then?"
Maris narrowed her eyes slightly. "You could say that. I hear he's the best bounty hunter in centuries. I do so love a challenge."
The Hutt regarded her carefully then laughed, a slow, awful deep cackle that made a few more people cower. "I like you, Maris Brood. It's a shame your…'challenge' left my service earlier today. I would have enjoyed your fight."
Maris frowned, while Han paled. "How disappointing. I take it you will not share his location?"
Jabba laughed again. "Consider it your payment, Zabrak. The Mandalorian and his new employer left for Anchorhead, two hours past."
The Rogue had a bad feeling. Jabba was being too cooperative, which meant he was either lying, or expecting her not to do anything with the information.
"You're smart, Maris Brood. I can see that you have figured me out already. As I said, I like you. And I would very much like to keep you." -said Jabba, then he pressed a hidden button, and the floor broke and swallowed her, and her 'bounty', along with a couple of Gamorrean guards.
They had fallen to an arena of sorts, filled with sand, bones, and dried blood. Maris cursed herself a little for not seeing it coming; Ventress was going to kill her for falling for the Hutt's cheap trick.
Speaking of whom, his voice boomed above them. "I wish you luck, Maris Brood. If you survive, I look forward to your...company, by my side."
Maris liked racy outfits, sure, but that gold bikini wasn't precisely her style.
A section of the rock wall raised, and a fearsome roar brought her out of her murderous musings.
Of course. Damn Rancors.
The giant predator lumbered toward them, spreading its huge, clawed hands and opening its cruel maw. Solo's eyes widened for a second, before he held his bound hands to her. She nodded grimly, unlocking the bindings with a wave of her hands, and handing him his custom blaster.
"Well, if this is it, at least I'll go next to the hottest girl I know." -he said wryly.
Maris snorted. "You worry about dying. I have a mission to complete."
The Rogue pushed the two Gamorreans, who'd been slowly backing up, toward the beast with the Force. Han only raised an eyebrow as the Rancor grabbed one and ate it whole, the other hacking next-to-uselessly at the monster's relatively short legs. "That was...brutal." -he said.
"Plan now, moral high ground later. Shoot at its eyes, and keep out of range of its swings!" -she said, running around the beast.
"What're you gonna do!?" -he asked, lining a shot and waiting as the Rancor brought the other Gamorrean to its maw.
Maris smirked evilly. "Why, kill it, of course!"