Chapter Eight: Like a Bantha
The armored Emir sits, overlooking his throne room, now occupied by a small court consisting of: his vizier Fennec, his pet U'Kag, Zeyma, and a few of the Bandit cyborgs who were scattered around the vicinity; a small group of humanoids were playing the card game sabacc and others with of more alien origin were enjoying a drink in the bar area. While it was nothing like the court of Jabba, occupied by a great variety of guests and thugs from across the Galaxy, this was certainly an improvement over the barrenness of his early days as Emir. At least most of the Palace was an improvement.
"Would be nice to have something in the pit," Boba says to Fennec, who is resting upon the throne.
"Isn't U'Kag a fine pet?" Fennec replies, questioning this line of thought.
Boba is silent.
"I bet Boba-" Zeyma begins to propose.
"Emir Fett," interjects Fennec with a correction.
"Sorry," Zeyma apologizes. "I bet Emir Fett wants yet another pet. I mean, Jabba had an entire menagerie."
Fennec raises an eyebrow in agreement, nodding her head as she does so.
"Ideas?" asks the assassin-turned-Grand Vizier.
"Well, Jahnara B'ram, the architect, may have some ideas," replied Zeyma. "She is a member of the Muhabi Order of Force-sensitives. She is very close to the natural world."
"She's a Jedi?" inquires Boba, breaking his brief moment of silence.
If a Jedi were coming to the Fett Palace, she would have a lot to answer for. The image of Jango's helmet rolling into the dust of the Petranaki Arena on Geonosis flashed in the mind of his son.
"No, she's a Muhabi," corrects Zeyma. "They are an order devoted to cultivating an understanding of the Force through love of all with which it flows. That's pretty much everything, according to them."
Boba let out a deep sigh. This architect isn't affiliated with the same order as that Jedi Master with the violet blade.
"She is taking a while," he notes.
"So is the Shavamo Pack and their Bandit contingent," Fennec adds. "We sent them on a scouting mission and they haven't shown up in days."
Just as Fennec finished her sentence, Wald the old Rodian approached the throne with a disk-shaped holoprojector device in his spindly fingers.
"Lord Fett, you may want to hear this," he told the Emir in Huttese.
Boba nods and Wald activates the projector , generating the image of a wolf-like Shistavanen in a dark jumpsuit, Don Shavamo. The Emir begins signing his questions.
"What have you found, Don?" Fennec translates.
"The Hutt Cartel has returned to this world," explains Shavamo. "They are basing in the old Palace of Gardulla the Elder."
Boba remembered hearing about that facility from his father Jango. Another desert palace on the edge of the Jundland Wastes, the armored Emir recalled the story of how his father had nearly killed the Hutt elder in the arena of the Palace during his quest to destroy the Bando Gora terrorist group. This is what allowed Jabba to gain complete dominance on Tatooine and it had also earned the Fetts favor with the late crime lord. Boba, returning his focus to the present, signed his doubts.
"The Emir thought they were left in ruins after a power struggle," Fennec translates, also raising an eyebrow.
"They were," elaborates Shavamo. "This seems to merely be a fundraising auction, run by the twins Ruzo and Zoru."
"Ziro's kids," snarled Boba under his breath.
He was well aware of the legacy of Ziro Desilijic Tiure, a flamboyant, fashionable crime lord from Coruscant and uncle of Jabba the Hutt. Even for a Hutt, Ziro was especially treacherous, though he eventually met his end under mysterious circumstances on the planet Teth. However, Boba recalled hearing from singer Sy Snootles that she was the one who killed Ziro, retrieving the Hutt Cartel's holodiary for delivery to Jabba. And she had told him exactly where it was. The Emir, though formulating an idea, signed another set of questions.
"What is the subject of this auction?" Fennec interprets the question.
"Uncertain," replies Don Shavamo. "They have sent invites to all factions in this planet's underworld, but us and your Fett Emirate, my lord."
"Those debauched skugholes," snarled Boba. "They will be dealt with."
With a bow, Shavamo ends the call, his image dissipating into light. Fennec turned to Boba.
"You can't just kill Hutts," she points out.
"I don't plan to," he replies.
Deep below the throne room of the Fett Palace, Boba, flanked by Fennec, Zeyma and the Gamorrean duo, marches into an abandoned lecture hall the size of his throne room. Compared to the rest of the Palace, this ancient part of the complex was barely damaged by the attack from Santo and the IG-100. All around crawl the large spider-droid bodies of the B'omarr monks that built the Palace as a monastery, now little more than disembodied brains floating in jars.
"These guys are freaky," Zeyma commented with a small shudder. "Why do we have to be down here?"
One of the cyborg monks scuttled over to her, as if judging the young Zeltron.
"Hey, I do admire the devotion," she sheepishly chuckled. "Keep it going."
The monk scurried away, seemingly satisfied with her compliment.
"The Hutt Cartel's holodiary is down here," whispered Boba, answering Zeyma's initial question. "You can wait for Jahnara B'ram if you wish."
Boba watched Zeyma nod before immediately running out of the lecture hall. He then proceeded to walk over past the spider-monks, some of whom paused as if to watch him. The armored Emir arrived in front of a discolored tab on the wall and punched it. With a creak, the tab slid open, revealing a datapad, ornately decorated with weaving patterns. Boba grabbed the datapad, containing every dirty little secret of the treacherous Hutt Council, before marching back to Fennec. He turns back to the spider-droid monks.
"Thank you for your time," he whispers.
He then marches back up the stairs, flanked by Fennec and the Gamorrean duo.
Emir Boba Fett and his Grand Vizier, Fennec Shand, march out of the Slave I with the Gamorreans Kriic and Athmot, somewhere on the edge of the Jundland Wastes. They approach a great sandstone Palace with a massive dome and several budding towers, reminiscent of a swamp bulb. Entering through two great gates, the small entourage ran into a wolf-like Shistavanen wearing a dark jumpsuit.
"Lord Fett," greets Don Shavamo. "I see you have received my message."
Boba nods.
"All in good time," replies Fennec. "The Emir wishes to know what the Hutts are planning."
"Fancy seeing you here Boba Fett!" calls an obnoxiously familiar voice. "Although I didn't see your invitation card."
Boba grumbles under his breath as a peach-skinned Twi-lek with ornate green robes, the majordomo of Mos Espa's Mayor Mok Shaiz, walks over to him and his entourage. He begins signing a message to Fennec.
"What the hell is going on here?!" snarls Fennec, translating Boba. "Firstly, the Mayor is gone! And now you are attending a party hosted by the Hutt Cartel! Tell the Emir what is happening or we will gut-"
"Don't worry Vizier Shand, heheheheh!" smoothly chuckled another voice, one also familiar to Boba. "I, Vram Krim, Viceroy of the Pyke Expansionary Corps, can explain."
The well-built Viceroy of the Pyke Expansionary Corps walked out, clad in his red robes and the broken mask over his undersized face. And, of course, he was carrying a small metal stick for spice usage purposes. Boba glared through his t-visor at the leader of the Pykes' operations on Tatooine.
"The Pyke Expansionary Corps, heheheh!" Krim began explaining, taking a whiff of his spice. "Has, with permission from Oba Diah, heheheheheh, allowed the Hutt Cartel to auction a rancor on Tatooine as a show of good faith."
A rancor? Boba's mind began to race.
"So with the aid of the Mayor of Mos Espa, the Pyke Expansionary Corps- heheheh" the Pyke leader explained, interrupted by hysterical giggling. "Prepared the old Palace of Gardulla the Elder for such an event. Everyone in this planet's underworld is invited."
However, by the time Krim finished his explanation, Boba Fett and his entourage were already long gone, headed into the arena where the auction was to take place.
As Boba made his way into the massive canyonside arena, he could tell that indeed the entire underworld of Tatooine was invited, aside from the Emirate and its allies.
The bosses of both Mos Espa and Mos Eisley's crime families were gathered with some delegations, Aqualish, Klatooinian, Trandoshan, Devaronian, and Huk. Each were taking copious amounts of Spice from legions of the Pyke Expansionary Corps and Nikto guards of the Hutt Cartel. There was even a tall, lanky Zygerrian in a colonizing military uniform, accompanied by what seemed to be partially unmasked Tusken Raiders, based on Boba's brief glimpse of U'Kaghho's true face. In fact, there was a towering Tusken shaman standing by the Zygerrian, probably the leader of the delegation, wearing bright red robes and a hairy animal's skull over his face wrappings.
"Welcome, welcome!" greeted in Huttese the voice of a masculine Hutt from a loudspeaker. "Thank you all for coming to this auction!"
Looking to a high dais, Boba caught sight of a slimy, purple-skinned Hutt with some bright yellow tattoos on his skin, accompanied by a bright maroon Hutt with similar tattoos all over her body. These were truly Ziro's kids. Drums then sounded, drawing Boba's attention to a floating platform hovering over to the center of the arena, flanked by a Weequay guard. Chained to the platform was a massive sleeping beast, with a light brown, leathery hide, dark colored back, and massive arms with vicious claws on their ends. A rancor, a fearsome beast similar to one once owned by the late Jabba, a creature named Pateesa, slain by Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker.
"Now people of Tatooine's underworld!" boomed the purple Hutt, Ruzo, in Huttese, "This great monster-"
"Her name is Muchi!" shouted a child's voice in Basic.
"Quiet you disgrace to the mighty Jabba!" scolded the maroon hutt, Zoru in Huttese. "You are a mere stableboy now, Rotta. Now prepare the beast for the auction!"
"Anyway, bids?!" shouted Ruzo, irritated. "For both the rancor and its… keeper."
"I propose 12,000 credits!" called the boss of the Klatooinians.
"I propose 16,000!" called out Taga Durand of the Devaronians.
"Pathetic," chuckled Vram Krim, rushing into the arena. "I propose 50,000!"
Immediately several of the crime families backed off.
"60,000!" shouted Zaiyuka of the Huk family, raising a cybernetic pincer.
"Urrrrr!" shouted the Tusken shaman, making several gestures Boba recognized from his time among the I'Ka.
"Daart Krayt of the Demon Tribe is willing to pay 100 Tusken slaves sourced from the Dune Sea and ten Krayt dragon's pearls!" translated the Zygerrian next to him. "In turn I will compensate the Pyke Syndicate and Huk family for backing down on this purchase."
"Sister," Ruzo whispered audibly in Huttese to Zoru, before shouting, "I think we have a winner!"
"Wait!" shouted Fennec.
All eyes turned to the master assassin-turned Grand Vizier of the Fett Emirate. Stepping aside, she reveals Boba Fett who marches toward the Rancor, who was sharing the platform with a small Hutt, Rotta. Stopping in front of the beast and its Huttlet keeper, he looks up to the Hutt twins. He then signs his message, forceful in his hand motions.
"He says," began the Zygerrian, who had apparently learned Tusken as well. "That he has a bid!"
"Too bad!" snarls Zoru in Huttese. "Bids are over! Propose on the next item!"
Boba glares silently.
"He proposes you surrender the Rancor and the Huttlet," Fennec explains in Huttese. "Free of charge."
The members of the audience gasp, while the Hutt twins make a disgusted growl. Zoru whispers into Ruzo's ear.
"You've offended my sister," he scolds in Huttese. "Why should we give in to any of your demands?"
Boba pulls out a datapad covered in ornate Hutt designs. The Hutts gasp.
"That holodiary contains the records of the Grand Hutt Council," reveals Fennec, still speaking in Huttese. "Right now it is rigged to transmit to the New Republic's capital on Chandrila. If you don't give in to Emir Fett's demands, he will have no choice but to leak its contents. Everyone will know what the Hutts have done."
Boba smirked under his helm, as the Hutt Twins growled with fury. However, they gave a hand signal to the Weequay guard who tossed the keys for the platform over to the armored Emir. Snatching the keys out of the air, he nodded in "gratitude" and walked off accompanied by Fennec. He had just acquired a rancor.
"I must thank you Emir Fett," expressed Rotta. "Life for Muchi and I has been… well rough."
Boba, fully armored, was standing over the Huttlet in the Rancor pit of the Fett Palace, beside the sleeping beast, curled on the floor. He nodded at Rotta before examining the Rancor. It was massive, even larger than Pateesa had been. At full height it would have been about six meters, three times the height of a short Wookiee.
"You call her Muchi," Boba noted with his voice.
"That's her name," explained Rotta. "She was a gift Jabba had sent for his cousins, Ruzo and Zoru. Bib Fortuna acquired her from Ord Mantell."
"Wasn't Jabba your father?" inquired Boba, sensing something more to Rotta and Muchi's situation.
The Huttlet sighed.
"I grew close to Muchi," admitted Rotta. "How could I not?"
Boba tilted his head, intrigued.
"She was adorable back then," conceded the young Hutt. "I didn't want her to go. It made Jabba furious. So he sent me to Ruzo and Zoru as an enslaved beastmaster."
Boba nodded before looking at Muchi. Even he had to admit, this creature was still kind of cute, similar to how his old Bantha Roz was.
"Will she wake up?" asked Boba.
"She's still scared," explained Rotta. "Since she was a calf, she has been subject to abuse by the Hutts. I was her only comfort."
Boba tilted his head, yet again.
"Rancors are emotionally complex creatures," Rotta explained. "They are often misunderstood by the wider Galaxy. Some even form societies of their own on Dathomir, with rich histories. In the wild, she might be a herd-mother by now."
Who would've thought, mused Boba.
"Grroaarrr!" yawned Muchi.
The female Rancor opens her eyes to see Boba, fully clad in armor. She growls ferociously at him.
"Take off your helmet," ordered Rotta. "It's scaring her."
Boba does so, revealing his visage, marred with vein-like acid scars.
"Grrorr?!" Muchi grumbles, as if she caught sight of an old friend. "Grrorrr!"
The rancor rises to her feet immediately and rushes at Boba. He is about to instinctively fight back, when Muchi collapses right in front of him and begins nuzzling his face. Shockingly, he doesn't recoil from her breath; evidently, Rotta had been taking good care of the rancor's oral needs.
"Wow," gasps Rotta, amazed. "She only does that with her friends."
"I don't think I count, yet," explained Boba, before being nudged playfully by Muchi.
"You obviously do," explained the young Hutt. "Her reaction to you is even like other rancors' reactions to the Witches of Dathomir who rode them through the forests, fens, and-"
"Like a bantha?" inquired Boba, his focus snapping to Rotta as his interest piqued.
"Uh- I suppose so," replied Rotta. "Since when did you ride banthas?"
"Long story," answered Boba, turning his gaze back to Muchi's eyes. "But I want to learn to ride her. Like a bantha!"
Emir Boba Fett of Tatooine, riding on his rancor, Muchi, across the desert sands, both ready to protect those in need. Such a glorious image was what ran through his mind, as he chuckled at Muchi, his next Roz. He attempted to climb onto Muchi's back, grinning as he did so. The rancor relaxed as she, allowed the armored Emir access to a vulnerable position-
"Boba!" shouted Zeyma's voice.
"Groaaaarrrr!" roared Muchi, jerking backward in surprise.
Boba tumbled off the rancor's back and into the sandy floor of the Pit. Groaning, he got up and looked at Zeyma.
"Were you about to ride that rancor?" she asked, as if ready to break down.
"What do you think?" Boba grumbled, almost pouting.
"Such a great piece for promoting your image!" cheered Zeyma, breaking into a beaming smile.
"I need practice!" protested Boba. "Well, Muchi and I both do."
"Right," affirmed Zeyma. "Anyway, Jahnara B'Ram is here!"
"Took her long enough," scoffed Boba, before gently scratching Muchi's cheek. "I'm bringing Muchi."
Meanwhile, in the former Palace of Gardulla the Elder, a lone, heavily modified Lambda-class Imperial shuttle makes its landing. A lone figure, wearing Mandalorian armor, emerges from the shuttle, entering the Palace, headed for the arena, where hours earlier Boba Fett had just claimed a Rancor that was the centerpiece of the Hutt Cartel's auction.
"How can we reclaim our earnings now?" questioned Ruzo to his sister in Huttese. "That Rancor attracted most of the attention from Tatooine's underworld."
"Don't worry brother," Zoru replied in Huttese. "I have hired a bounty hunter, known only as the Mandalorian to recover our asset."
The armored figure walks into the platform, where the Twins are discussing.
"See, here he is now," replied Zoru, turning towards the figure. "Welcome my gues- Wait! You're not Mando!"
The figure's armor was mostly black with a red chest plate and shoulderpads. His helmet was also that dark with red surrounding the t-visor. He wore a cape that covered his right side, while leaving room for a jetpack. On his back, he stored a two-pronged pulse rifle, or at least it appeared to be at first glance. In truth, it was merely a cycler rifle modified with two prongs to make it appear to be a pulse rifle.
"I get that a lot," was the figure's response, his voice having a confident, yet duplicitous edge to it. "The name's Kast, Jodo Kast. At your service!"
Ruzo grumbled before saying in Huttese, "You're that bounty hunter who pretended to be Boba Fett in order to earn a higher fee!"
"And I thought I never forgot," chuckled Jodo.
"You're pretending to be Mando now?" inquired Zoru, unamused.
Jodo shrugged.
"Whatever brings in the credits," he replied.
"Hmph," scoffed Ruzo. "How do we know you will get our bounty successfully?"
"Give me payment up front," answered the bounty hunter. "And I will give you my word. Just 10,000 credits and five crates of spice."
The Hutt twins gasp, incredulous.
"It will be your funeral," snarled Zoru in Huttese.
"You're the one who needs help," countered Jodo. "Kill me and you won't get it."
The Twins look at each other, whispering. They then turn back to Jodo. Their gaze of desperation is the only answer he needs. Under his helmet, the bounty hunter smirks, triumphantly.
It was sunset, as Boba walked regal and fully suited into the Palace's dull, dusty pavilion by the cliffside, flanked by Zeyma and Rotta who was leading Muchi along. At the edge of the pavilion was a tall figure, overlooking the horizon beyond. Flowing down her shoulders, like a brilliant river of red autumn leaves, was her thick, vaguely vegetation-esque hair. Her frame was reedy, covered in green, smooth skin, akin to a vibrant, young tree with millenia ahead in its life. She wore a simple deep red gown made of wool from bantha wool, woven into dark, floral patterns. The craftsmanship of the gown reminded Boba of the I'Ka Tribe's tents in its beauty.
"Hey Jahnara!" called Zeyma. "Glad you could make it to the Fett Palace! Boba is ready to meet you!"
Boba watched as Jahnara B'Ram turned to face the pair. Her face was mesmerizing, with a tall nose, with a gentle, flat curve and high, slightly rounded cheekbones. However, most striking was her iridescent golden-honey eyes, that radiated like rainbow amber.
"Hello there, Emir Fett," greeted Jahnara, her voice smooth like running sap. "Zeyma has told me a lot about your rise on Tatooine."
Boba stared silently. As elegant as this architect seemed, she had not yet earned his trust. He was not going to say a word.
"You don't trust me yet," noted Jahnara.
Obviously, Boba thought.
"You know I can read your thoughts," Jahnara pointed out.
Those Jedi powers, he scoffed in his head.
"I am not a Jedi, I am a Muhabi," gently corrected Jahnara. "I get that a lot. But we can't make much progress in building if you don't open up."
Boba relented, signing a message for Zeyma to dictate.
"Oh great, I'm bad at this," grumbled Zeyma before she turned to Jahnara for translation. "He says we can talk through me."
"Very well, Emir," chuckled the Vie'vantae architect. "Let's begin."
Jodo Kast's gloved hand clawed its way out of the sewers near the rancor pit, followed by the rest of his armored form. Dripping with sludge from the kitchen, he grumbled and cursed.
"Dank ferrik!" he complained. "The Hutts didn't pay me enough for this!"
"Errerrreeee," the squealing of two Gamorrean guards echoed from down the hall.
Jodo immediately leapt behind a large door, leading into a massive chamber, and listened carefully as the Gamorreans squealed.
"Boba wants us to move Wookiee," squealed one of the Gamorreans in their disgusting language that Jodo could barely understand.
"It Emir Fett Kriic," scolded the other. "I thought you get it by now."
"Sorry," apologized Kriic.
"Now let's get guy in there," grumbled the other one.
"Graaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!"
The gate to Jodo's chamber was slammed shut, as a towering Wookiee with fur of obsidian was locked in with him. Jodo shuddered as he recognized the former gladiator, who made his name in fights run by the Xonti Brothers and became notorious as a bounty hunter under the payroll of Jabba the Hutt.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Jodo began to scream. "Not Santo!"
"Graaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!" the madclaw Wookiee roared, recognizing the inferior bounty hunter.
"Santo, it's me, Boba Fett!" cried Jodo, desperate to deceive the Wookiee. "I was locked in here by mistake. I'll pay you a thousand credits to let me out!"
"Graaarrrg!" Santo growled, dismissively.
Jodo dropped the act and pulled out a blaster pistol.
"Don't mess with me, madclaw!" Jodo attempted to snarl. "Stealing this Rancor is my score! And Jodo Kast never forgets!"
Jodo charged forth towards the former gladiator. Within seconds, he found his blaster arm in the grip of the madclaw.
"Gaaarrrooooaaaaggggg!" Santo roared triumphantly, unsheathing his claws right into the flesh of the lesser bounty hunter's arm.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Jodo screamed in pain.
Back at the pavilion, Boba mounts behind Muchi's short, yet massive and stocky neck. Gripping onto her thick, leathery skin, the armored Emir attempts to maintain his grip as Zeyma tries to get Muchi to move with a piece of nerf steak. All the while, Jahnara, whose few concepts for designs Boba had rejected, watched wistfully next to Rotta.
"Groaarrrrrr!" Muchi roared, jerking upwards.
"Aaagggghhhh!" Boba screamed, as his grip failed and he was sent tumbling into the dust, like the last few times.
As he got up into a sitting position, Jahnara approached him.
"She is feeding off your lack of focus," explained Jahnara.
Boba signed his response to Zeyma.
"Boba is always focused," Zeyma translated. "And besides, Muchi already sees him as a friend, somehow."
Jahnara sighed.
"You certainly put on a show, Emir," explained Jahnara. "But a rancor can sense the innermost feelings of its rider. It's an ancient trait from their time with the Witches of Dathomir."
So what? was the message delivered by Boba's stare from behind his t-visor.
"Until you master yourself, you will have difficulty in riding Muchi," answered Jahnara, as if she had read Boba's mind.
As Boba sighed in disappointment, Jahnara sat next to him.
"I know what you're going through," explained Jahnara. "When I was very young, my village was attacked by a Jedi Master, who sought to bring me into their Order."
That caught Boba's attention.
"He was a tall man, with dark hair and an air of elegance to him," continued Jahnara. "And he killed everyone in the village, burned the place to the ground. I barely remember anything about my homeworld."
In Boba's memory flashed both Jango's severed helmet tumbling into the dusty arena floor and U'Kaghho's hand signing his last message before dropping limp onto his corpse.
"I was found by the Muhabi Order, they gave me a new home and a purpose," she concluded. "Cultivate an understanding of the Force through love of all life in the Galaxy."
Boba was silent for a moment. Then, he spoke.
"Imagine if the Muhabi were destroyed," directed Boba, solemnly.
"It almost happened under the Empire," replied Jahnara.
"Then you would understand what has happened to me," admitted Boba.
He took a deep inhale from beneath his helm. So long had his close friends been gone. Like ashes in the wind. There had to be some way to pay them tribute. There had to be. Boba's mind drifted back to the image of the waves that the I'Ka tribe kept on their basket weaves. To the image of the colorful designs of green, tan, and waves on their tents…
"I just might have an idea for a design, Jahnara," Boba declared, as he came to an epiphany.
Jahnara nodded. Boba would explain his vision in vivid detail, inspired by the design of Tusken artistry.
"And on the floor of this pavilion," Boba explained. "Pattern it with geometric shapes, reminiscent of the old waves of Tatooine's seas."
Jahnara blinked.
"You really are attached to this world," she noted.
"My father was disconnected from his tribe after Death Watch killed them," Boba explained. "And that was before they killed his fellow Mandos. This is my home now."
Filled with a rising feeling of lightness, Boba stood up and approached Muchi yet again. Muchi growled in a purring manner and lay down, allowing her rider access to her back. The armored Emir mounted the Rancor and as she stood up, he took a deep breath. As Muchi ran around the pavilion, climbing the pillars that supported the rooftop, Boba's soul ran and climbed with her. As she leapt from pillar to pillar, he too leapt, though he was only riding her back. As she landed triumphantly, he too landed.
"Groooooooaaaarrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhh!" Muchi roared, as Boba's soul did so too, leading him to stand triumphantly from the back of his rancor.
Boba and Muchi, rider and mount, had become one in spirit.
That night, as Boba, Zeyma, Jahnara, and Rotta lead Muchi back into the damp Palace dungeon and towards the Rancor Pit, the armored emir is grinning beneath his helmet. His posture was much looser and relaxed, as he chatted with Zeyma, who was gushing about how "magnificent" the final pose was.
"You know I am going to commission an action figure of that," Zeyma said, overflowing with excitement. "Oh! And a stuffed Muchi!"
Boba imagined the children of Tatooine playing with these toys and growing to love their stuffed rancors as he had grown to love Muchi, who had, for some reason, instantly loved him.
"Greeeuuuurrrr!" Santo's voice called in Shyriiwook.
Boba sighed in frustration. Using a finger to excuse himself, he marched over to the new prison that held the madclaw Wookiee.
"I was having my fun," snarled Boba. "What is it?"
"Greuerrererer," explained Santo.
"A bounty hunter hired by the Hutts broke in?!" exclaimed Boba. "And he wanted to steal my rancor!"
Santo nodded and made a few more explanatory grunts and growls.
"You killed him," interpreted Boba.
Santo nodded again before tossing out a beaten corpse, wearing Mandalorian armor that appeared to be from a former Shadow Collective Supercommando, based on its black and red coloration.
"Jodo Grun," muttered Boba, "That faker who tries to go by Kast."
"Greeeeeerrrrr!" answered Santo.
"You want your freedom, in exchange for his death," Boba tried to clarify. "And you know where he has a stash of looted beskar?"
Santo nodded.
"Why would I need beskar?" inquired Boba. "I have my armor."
"Grerererwareawewrarerwerg," Santo explained.
Boba couldn't believe the offer.
"It could be used to fix my staff," gasped Boba.
So this old friend was sorry. Boba looked Santo in the eye and gave a curt nod.
The next day, Boba, armored but unhelmed, was in the rancor pit with Muchi, cleaning her teeth using his gaderffii stick, repaired and reinforced with the beskar taken from Jodo Kast's ship. It was now heavier than it used to be, meaning that Boba would need to practice again, but he was glad to have it repaired.
"Grerararararaeag?!" called Santo.
Boba turned around and saw his new bounty hunter standing in the pit.
"You want to know what I will do with the rancor?" he asked.
Santo gave a slow nod.
"Well it's simple," Boba answered. "I want to ride her. Like a bantha."
"Go, stop," signed A'Kagri, as she moved her hands forward and back.
She sat on a speeder-bike, before the Tuskens allied with the settlement of Freetown. A'Garhha, a once great warrior, now crippled without her right arm, stood by the bike, helping to clarify the teenage Tusken's explanation. A'Kagri then began bouncing up and down in her seat.
"Like a Bantha!" she signed. "Yes."
The Freetown Tuskens looked at each other and murmured. Who was this Tusken child to bring the way of their sinful ancestors, the Kumumgah, back to the world?
Author's Note:
Hello everyone!
I am finally back with another installment of this reimagining!
This chapter was quite a joy for me to write, as I bring the inevitable introduction of Boba's rancor into BoBFR. What wasn't inevitable was my retconning of this rancor into Muchi, everyone's favorite little thing from The Bad Batch (though she's not so little anymore). I hope you all enjoyed seeing her return, alongside Rotta the Huttlet, now the beastmaster of the Fett Emirate, which is actually a subtle Star Wars: Aftermath reference (Google Borgo for more information). Additionally, as I promised, Boba's gaderffii stick had a future and is now repaired, reinforced with beskar alloy.
Additionally, Jahnara B'Ram, the Muhabi Sage, is a Vie'vantae, which is an original species created by my close friend and fellow writer LP Marcus. Please go check his work out, he writes amazing stuff, including the Illumination Trilogy and The Scorchers Chronicle. Both feature a prominent Vie'vantae character who is the best (and first known) member of this species in all of Star Wars. The Muhabi Order will also make an appearance in his third book in the Illumination Trilogy, so stay tuned for that.
Lastly, this time's review shout-out goes to Maniacalharp747, who predicted that "Agent 24810", a mysterious woman with a voice like that of a Jango Fett clone was Omega, the female clone from The Bad Batch. I will neither confirm or deny that prediction. Thanks for the review!
Anyway, am I forgetting something important? Oh well, never mind.
Thanks again for all the support, guys! This is the Way!
Best wishes,
-Benedict Sky
P.S I forgot the bantha in the room! Yes, I named this chapter after the meme, "Like a Bantha". I hope you all got a kick out of that!