Valajin's hunt for Huttsbane is successful, bringing him one step closer to securing Nem'ro's sponsorship. For his second bounty, however, he must break into a heavily-guarded factory complex to assassinate the Hutt's former accountant. An army of droids and hired thugs stand between him and the security system he must disable in order to reach his target…
As Valajin stepped out of the palace, he pulled out his holocommunicator and fired it up. The device beeped as it sought to establish a connection. After about half a minute, it succeeded, and the image of Mako appeared. "Wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon," she commented. "Something wrong?"
He grunted and replied, "Not yet." Things could always go downhill later. "But I need intel, and you're better than me at getting it. Know anything about the Rust Yards?"
Mako nodded. "Nem'ro's old factory, right? It used to be an ore refinery, then a droid recycling plant, then a chemical storage depot. Every time it changed hands, the new owners had a different use for it. Is that where your next target is?"
"Yep. So I need layouts, schematics, the complete package–especially anything about its security. There's a blast-proof door in there that I have to open."
She hummed, thinking it over. "Unless Fa'athra's that paranoid, the factory's database should still have a similar format to what it had when Nem'ro was in control…" She nodded. "I can start digging and see what I find. Let me know once you're there, and I'll send over what I've got."
"I appreciate that," he said, before ending the call.
Before he hopped onto another speeder and flew back out into the swamps, he stopped by a market stall containing an Ugnaught and a repair droid. The droid fixed the minor damage his armor had taken thus far, and he passed a handful of credits to the armorsmith for the job. While he was in the area, he purchased plenty of spare power packs for his blasters. Nem'ro had mentioned a small army, and he needed to conserve his rockets.
Once he was armed and ready, he flew to the Evocii work camp. Besides the west exit where he parked his speeder, the camp's walls also opened to the east. He noticed two humans by that exit, a man and woman in torn clothing. Maybe they could point him toward the Rust Yards. "Hey, you two."
The male, who was human and wearing a weary expression, widened his eyes at the approaching Rattataki. "Wait, please! I have no more protection credits to give–your friends already took everything!"
"I'm not here for your money," Valajin said. 'Unless you're paying me for something.'
The woman swiftly grabbed the man's arm to prevent his tirade. "Hold on a second, Donal. He's doesn't seem like one of Fa'athra's boys. Perhaps he can help us."
The hunter held up a hand. "Slow down; I'm not volunteering for anything, especially without details."
Donal nodded. "I figured as much, but Leah's right. Listen: a few months ago, my brother set up a farm out in the swamps near the Rust Yards. But Fa'athra started charging him 'protection' money to stay there. And when he couldn't pay up, he sent his goons to kill him and his family!" he said, getting more and more worked up as he spoke.
Valajin suppressed a shrug. He wasn't sure whether to call his brother lucky for finding a decent plot of land on this planet, or stupid for trying to make a home here. "That's why you don't trust Hutts."
Donal's face turned pink. "Trust? This wasn't about trust! It was extortion!" he nearly shouted.
"Donal…" Leah began.
To his credit, he heard her and took a deep breath. "And that's not even the worst part. After they killed him, those same goons set up on my brother's farm. They didn't even give him a proper burial, just left his body outside for the akk dogs to gnaw on."
"Stranger, please, we're not fighters," Leah said. "But someone needs to stand up to Fa'athra and his thugs. Would you be willing to help us?"
Valajin hummed. "If we were a bit more specific about what I get out of this, maybe."
Donal thought it over. "I don't have a lot of credits myself… but my brother kept a case of them in the rafters of his house in case of emergency–a lot of good it did him," he said. "The case has an electronic lock on it; get it and bring it here, and I can open it for you."
Which would require going through those thugs, just like Donal wanted. Clever. "Consider me hired. Just point me in the right direction."
Donal bowed his head. "Thank you for this. It might not bring my brother back, but maybe it'll show these gangsters that people on Hutta aren't as powerless as they think." Then he turned and pointed to the northeast. "It's a bit of a walk that way. Once you make it there, the Rust Yards should be in sight."
Valajin nodded his thanks and left, going in the direction Donal had given him.
It wasn't long before his trek led him to a river that looked somewhat clean, which he followed north. After about ten minutes of walking, he finally came upon what appeared to be a metal house of modest size next to it. The land around the house also looked a little nicer than the surrounding marsh. This had to be the farm.
Slowing down, Valajin crept closer to the house. On the other side, he could hear a handful of voices. As he skirted around the side, making sure not to step on any particularly muddy patches of ground, he pulled out his blasters and leaned against the wall. Slowly, he peeked around the corner and saw an open door that led inside. Next to it were three humans dressed similarly to the gangsters he had fought in Jiguuna.
Now that he was sure he had the right place, Valajin took a deep breath, exhaled… and then whipped around the corner, opening fire. Two of the gangsters fell before they even realized what had happened. The third one screamed in panic, so Valajin turned both pistols on him and shot him twice in the chest. As that one went down, Valajin could hear shouting coming from the door. He had doubted those three were the only ones, and the noise he made alerted the ones inside. Just what he wanted.
He ran to the door and arrived just as a larger human with a rifle stepped out. Before he could react, the hunter shot him point-blank in the stomach, then again in the head. Before that one could hit the ground, however, he grabbed them by the shoulder and turned their body around. As he ran inside, he grinned as the corpse absorbed the blaster fire from six other people who had reflexively opened fire as he entered. He continued to hold his meat shield up with one hand while he used the other to fire back at the gangsters.
His shots were precise, taking down two more. The remaining four gangsters, realizing their shots were being absorbed by their fallen comrade, ceased fire to find a better angle. Valajin used that brief pause to his advantage. He spotted a sturdy wooden table, tossed the corpse aside and dove behind it, upending it for cover. Blaster bolts splintered the wood almost immediately, but it provided enough protection for him to think of his next move. He peeked out from behind the table and fired at the nearest gangster, hitting him in the shoulder and causing him to drop his rifle. He followed up with another headshot, silencing the gangster for good.
The remaining gangsters spread out, attempting to flank him. As he leaned out to take a shot, one gangster got a lucky hit, grazing his arm. Valajin gritted his teeth against the pain and returned fire, hitting the shooter in the chest. With only two left, he took the offensive. He vaulted over the table and charged forward, firing both blasters as he moved. One gangster tried to retreat into another room, but Valajin was too quick. He shot him in the back, dropping him just as he reached the doorway.
The acrid smell of smoke and the sounds of blaster fire filled the room. The final gangster, desperate and cornered, tried to make a last stand. He fired wildly, but Valajin's aim was unwavering. He dodged the erratic shots, and with a burst from both pistols, put them down. Once the room was quiet, Valajin kept one blaster out and double-checked the other room. There wasn't anyone there; all of Fa'athra's goons had attacked him at once. Good.
With no one around to stop him, he set the table upright and climbed on top of it, looking around in the rafters. It took him only a few moments to spot the case that Donal had mentioned. It was smaller than his hand, and sure enough, locked with an electronic combination. At least it would be easy to transport. He stowed the case in his pocket, stepped back outside, and looked ahead.
From this side of the farm, he could see the Rust Yards in the distance. A set of high walls surrounded them, but there was a section of the western wall that was missing. Through it, he could see a series of derelict buildings that had smoke coming out of their roofs. Several of the previous owners had their own people design the buildings, resulting in different architectural styles for each. At ground level, close to the wall, was a small junkyard filled with piles of old machinery and several massive pipes that rose out of the ground before snaking back in. Footpaths wound through them, and even from this distance he could see a handful of droids patrolling them with blaster rifles. No people, however, which didn't surprise him too much. Why would the organic gangsters do the patrolling outside in the rancid air when they could have the droids could do it for them?
It took him less than five minutes to reach just outside the wall, and once he arrived, he ducked behind it for cover. He pulled out his holocommunicator and placed a call to Mako. This time, she picked up almost instantly. "I'm at the factory. What have you got?" he said.
Mako, who the holo showed was typing on something, answered "I found some schematics for the Rust Yards. Fun fact, Nem'ro still has them in his own database." Valajin's own datapad then beeped. "There, I just sent you the layout for once you're in there. The door your target's behind is on the second floor–once you get inside, there should be a set of stairs in the main room that'll take you straight there."
Valajin grunted in understanding. "Did those schematics also tell you anything about the security on that door?"
"Yep. What makes it blast-proof is the set of military-grade ray shields built into them, something Nem'ro himself had installed when he owned the place. Disable those, and that door won't be so 'blast-proof' anymore. Unfortunately, the system is isolated from the rest of the network, so I can't just disable it remotely and solve your problem for you."
That was disappointing, but not too surprising. "I didn't expect you to." Then he remembered his earlier idea and asked, "Do those shields have a power source I can access?"
Mako smiled. "As a matter of fact, yes. There's a main generator on the northern exterior of the building, as well as two backups on the west and east sides. Take out all three, and the shields should come down." Then her smile faltered. "But… there is a complication."
There always was. And that wasn't counting the fact that those generators were certainly being guarded. "Which is what?"
"According to Nem'ro's database, the security system has a failsafe function: if it detects that it's been offline for over fifteen minutes, the whole thing restarts using power from the factory itself. So once you take down the last generator, you'll have that long to get in, get things done, and get out."
Fifteen minutes to fight through Fa'athra's forces and reach Yalt. It would be a challenge… but he liked challenges. "Alright, I'll be quick. Thanks, Mako."
"Not a problem, big guy. See ya," Mako said, and ended the call.
Valajin took a moment to go through his datapad and inspect the floor plan for the interior of the main building. Once he had them memorized, he put the pad away and peeked around the edge of the break in the wall. No droid patrols were in sight at the moment, meaning this was his chance to get closer. He darted out from behind his cover towards the nearest pile of broken parts and ducked behind it.
He repeated this process a few times. Whenever he could hear a patrol getting closer–the droids' metal feet weren't exactly quiet–he waited until they passed. One patrolling droid nearly spotted him as it rounded a trash pile and came within five feet of him. Before the droid could shoot or sound an alarm, however, he lunged forward and grabbed the sides of its head. With a pull and a harsh twist, he ripped the head off and tossed it behind him, letting its sparking chassis crumble to the ground.
Once he made it to the western side of the factory, he found the generator fairly easily, especially since four of the security droids were standing in front of it in a semicircle. This close to the building, the hum of both it and the generator was enough that one would have to shout to speak.
He took a deep breath then darted from cover, his pistols spitting orange bolts. The first droid didn't have time to react, a precise shot taking it down with a shower of sparks. The remaining three droids turned, their blasters already letting out a volley of shots. He ducked and their initial blasts whizzed through the air where his head had been. He dropped to one knee and fired at the second droid, hitting it twice in the torso and disabling it. The final two droids tried to lock on to him, but he jumped to his feet and dashed to the side. He shot the third droid and hit one of its leg joints, causing it to stumble. A follow-up shot to the head sent it to the ground.
The last droid kept its distance and fired in controlled than let it get the chance to stay back and do that, Valajin charged in. Once he was close enough, he fired a precise shot that struck the droid's rifle, knocking it from its grasp. The droid attempted to retrieve its weapon, but Valajin was too quick. He shot the droid square in the chest, and it collapsed in a shower of sparks.
That was when Valajin released the breath he was holding. Blasters still smoking, he scanned the area for any other droids that might have been close enough to hear the shooting over the factory. Once he the area was secure, he holstered his blasters and began his work on the generator. One minute and a handful of ripped-out wires later, he had disabled it.
One down, two to go.
After stepping over the metal corpse of the latest security droid, Valajin removed the empty power pack from his blaster and replaced it with a fresh one. He then kneeled in front of the last generator on the eastern side of the factory. Before he disabled it and started the countdown, he reviewed his gear: his two pistols, his vibrodagger, and, if he really needed them, four more rockets. It seemed like luck was with him, for once, since there was a maintenance entrance to the factory on this side as well. He could enter through there instead of charging in the front door.
After prying a panel off the front of the generator, Valajin grabbed a handful of wires, took a deep breath… and then ripped them out. The clock had started.
Valajin moved swiftly, darting towards the side entrance and pulling the door open. Not surprisingly, one of Fa'athra's thugs was standing guard in the narrow hall on the other side. As he startled at seeing the door abruptly opened, he fumbled with his rifle. Before he could aim a shot, Valajin ran up to him. His knife flashed in an arc and the guard went down, clutching his throat instead. He let the guard fall, closed the exit, and kept moving.
The factory's lower level was dimly lit, filled with the hum of machinery. Ahead, a guard patrolled near a stack of metal beams. He took careful aim with his blaster and fired; the blast hitting the guard in the back and sending him crumpling to the ground. As he hoped, the sound of the machines was enough to muffle his shot. Another security droid walked into view, its sensors scanning the area. He shot its control panel with both pistols, and the droid came to a halt, circuits fried. He moved forward, encountering another guard near a row of control consoles. Valajin's knife flashed again, and the guard dropped without a sound.
He continued through the factory down another hallway, taking down another guard with a shot to the back of the head. A second droid spotted him and raised its blaster rifle, but Valajin was quicker. He fired twice, the first shot disabling its weapon and the second hitting its power core. The droid collapsed in a heap of metal. After a few minutes, he found the staircase that led to the second floor. It had four more thugs guarding it, with rifles and two with blaster pistols. There were stacks of crates on both the left and right sides of the room. Taking cover behind the ones on the right, Valajin fired a single rocket at the other pile.
The crates exploded in a shower of debris. The noise echoing through the space and, as intended, all four guards turned towards the commotion, moving away from the stairs. With the guards distracted, Valajin sprinted to the staircase. He moved quickly, taking two steps at a time. Halfway up, a guard appeared at the top of the stairs, just walking by on patrol. His eyes widened, and he raised his rifle. Valajin fired a shot from each pistol first, the guard's body jerking as he fell back. His body tumbled down the stairs, but Valajin jumped over them and kept going.
He spotted the security door near the stairs along a balcony overlooking the ground floor. The door itself was large, metal and had a series of inactive sensors around the edge. Probably motion sensors for the ray shields… if they were online. As it was, he raised his blasters and fired at the hinges. The metal began to glow and warp under the intense heat. With a final, powerful kick, the door flew open, the weakened metal giving way.
Valajin stepped through the doorway, his blasters at the ready. Inside of the room was a fairly normal office, complete with a computer terminal, a desk, and some chairs. The desk lay overturned, and he could just make out someone hiding behind it. Meanwhile, three more thugs were standing between the desk and him, pistols raised. Upon his entering, they immediately started shooting.
The hunter dived forward in a roll, letting the wave of blaster fire fly over him. Coming out of the roll on one knee, he launched a second rocket at one thug. The blast was enough to kill them immediately as well as injure their ally next to them. Valajin finished them with a shot to the gut, then stood and leaned back to avoid being shot by the remaining gangster. He then returned the favor with two shots to the chest, taking him down as well.
With the room clear, Valajin kept one blaster out and approached the desk. Cowering behind it was an older human man with thin limbs, white hair and a pair of cybernetic eyes. He was currently looking up at the Rattataki with naked terror. "Oh no. Oh no no no, no…" he muttered.
Valajin grunted. Of course, this guy was terrified that someone got to him. "Yalt, I presume?" he asked, to be sure.
"Y-Yes," Yalt said. "But please, I-I don't want to die! I didn't plan on betraying Nem'ro! Fa'athra just offered so many credits… But then Fa'athra didn't pay me, he just locked me up! Threatened to kill my wife if I didn't put my accounting skills to work for him. Please, if you spare me, I'll do anything!"
So he double-crossed his boss for money and got double-crossed in return. Valajin had no sympathy. "I need to deliver your head to your wife. It's nothing personal."
Yalt jumped to his feet, rearing back. "My… my what? That's insane!" he said. "Listen, I can just go, take my wife, leave Hutta! I'll even crash Fa'athra's accounts before I go! That'll make Nem'ro so happy he won't care what happens to me."
An interesting idea… but no. "If Nem'ro wanted me to ruin Fa'athra's business, he should have offered to pay me for it. And besides, he specifically told me to get your head."
Yalt started trembling. "P-Please–Aaah!" he said. Then he shouted as Valajin reached forward and picked him up by the front of his shirt. The last thing Yalt saw was the blunt end of Valajin's pistol striking him on the side of his head. Then he knew no more.
Only once Yalt was unconscious did Valajin shoot him in the heart, killing him almost instantly. Unlike Huttsbane, this guy hadn't tried to kill him. He didn't have to be cruel about it. And only after Yalt's heart had stopped did Valajin set him down and start removing the head. Five minutes later, he had refilled the bag he used for transporting Huttsbane. He then stood and ran back out the door.
Just in time, as that was when the fifteen minutes passed. The ray shields for the door went back on with a hum, leaving the office impenetrable once more. Not that he'd need to go in there again.
Sticking to the shadows, Valajin avoided the guards at the base of the stairs completely by jumping over the balcony. He timed his jump for when there were no patrols below for him to land in sight of. There was a loud thud as his boots impacted the metal floor, but the factory's refineries drowned it out.
As he made his way back towards the exit, Valajin let himself grin. That had required more planning than he was used to, but it had paid off. And once he turned this bounty in, he'd only have one more in order to get sponsored.
Once he made it out of the Rust Yards and back to the work camp, he stopped at the edge where Donal and Leah had been resting. Finding them still there, he made himself visible as he came closer. They both saw him and stood up, Donal waving him over.
"Did you do it? Did you clear them out, get the case?" When Valajin answered by holding up the safe, he grinned. "I hope you had to kill a lot of Fa'athra's thugs to get it."
Well, ten certainly wasn't a small number. "Oh, I did. And I enjoyed every minute," Valajin said, giving him an equally vicious smile.
"Good. If you don't mind…" Donal said, holding his hand out. Valajin handed him the case, and he typed in a string of numbers. "Let's see… one second… there we go." The end of it popped open with a hiss. Reaching inside, Donal pulled out an Imperial credit chip. "This belongs to you now. My brother's emergency funds will be on there."
Valajin had to keep his grin from growing too wide. He might not have a Republic one, but at least now he'll have an easy way to carry money within the Empire. And he could use the credits already on there to go on a spending spree if/when he was in that part of space. Excellent. "Pleasure doing business with you," he said, and left to catch a speeder.
After flying back to Jiguuna and Fa'athra's palace, he strolled inside with the cloth bag in one hand. In the cantina, he approached the bar and waved down the bartender. "Yalt's wife around here?"
The bartender turned and pointed at an alcove off to the right. "She's waiting in there," she said, before refocusing on her drinks.
Tossing her a small credit stick for her troubles, Valajin walked over to that alcove. Inside, he found an older human woman with gray hair in twin buns and wearing a white shirt with red pants. Seeing the large and armored alien coming her way, she said, "Hello. Can I help you?"
Valajin shrugged. "Yes, and no. I have a delivery for you." Then he placed the bag on the table and started untying it.
"For me? What do you–?" she said, before sucking in a gasp as her husband's head was revealed. "Yalt?! What… What have you done?!"
While the entire scene wasn't something he liked, it wasn't personal. "Sorry, lady. It had to be done."
"It…! But you…! Aaaaaah!" Then she began running for the exit, leaving the head behind. None of the guards or the other patrons–who had watched the noise–tried to stop her. In fact, once they glimpsed the head, most of the patrons looked the other way. Though one Gamorrean guard left toward Nem'ro's throne room.
'Glad that's over with,' Valajin thought.
He followed that guard down the hall to the waiting room. However, just as he stepped within eyesight of Juda's desk–which he noticed was empty, for once–he heard a voice behind him. "There you are, weakling."
As he turned around, he saw the female Rodian from before. Once she was within a few feet of him, she continued, "So you are the fraud. The one that useless Mako claims is a bounty hunter."
Valajin's expression immediately turned cold. "I'm no fraud; I am a bounty hunter," he said. And where did she get off calling Mako useless? "Now tell me who you are, and why I should care."
"I'm Nails, the real hunter here on Hutta," the Rodian said. "Tarro Blood wants you out of the Great Hunt, a hint that a smart person would take. You aren't very smart, it seems."
Okay, now he saw where this was going. The rules of the Hunt forbade Tarro from killing Valajin himself, so he got someone cocky and disposable to do it for him. "Before this conversation ends the way we know it will, you want to tell me where Tarro is?" He didn't figure they would, but it didn't hurt to ask.
Nails snorted. "In your dreams. I hear all about how Tarro butchered your pathetic team! Now you have no support, no one to save you. Tarro says that if I take you out, he'll make sure I get into the Great Hunt. Even if I let him win, just competing will be a big deal."
At that, Valajin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You're gonna enter the Hunt just to lose it? That's a terrible plan."
"Not if I want to both get some glory and live. Speaking of which, I think after I compete in the Great Hunt, I'll come back here and have a statue made of me stepping on your head." As she said that, her hand hovered over her blaster pistol.
Valajin exhaled through his nose. "Crazy, suicidal Rodians," he muttered, before also reaching for his blaster.
"That sponsorship is mine!" Nails said, and tried to outdraw him.
He had to hand it to Nails; she was fast on the draw. Just as fast as him, in fact. As they both raised their pistols and fired, they aimed for each other's weapons. As a result, both of them cried out in surprised pain as they shot their pistols out of each other's hands. However, while Nails immediately dove to the ground to grab hers, Valajin simply drew his other blaster. Before she could get up, he shot her in the middle of her back.
However, Nails didn't go down immediately. As she dropped onto her chest, she rolled over and fired a small dart up at him, catching him in the shoulder. A low hum filled the air while Valajin gritted his teeth, feeling his muscles lock up. An electro-dart.
Nails grabbed her pistol and used the few seconds the dart lasted to stagger to her feet. However, before she could fire at him, he jerked his gauntlet enough to fire a rocket at her feet. The explosion sent her flying backwards into the wall, momentarily dazed. Long enough for the dart to wear off, at least, at which point Valajin aimed and shot her in the face.
That was when the Weequay who guarded the hall entrance burst in, eyes wide and rifle held high. "I heard shooting! What's going–?!" Then he stopped as he saw Valajin, his drawn blasters and the fallen form of Nails. "Oh. I'll... get someone to clean this up."
Valajin smiled. "Thanks." He took another one of the credit chips he got from Morsel and handing it Weequay took it with a smile of his own, and Valajin walked over to the throne door to be let in.
This time, Nem'ro was already smiling as Valajin showed. "There he is, my vicious little hunter! My spies say Yalt's wife ran for the spaceport as if every akk dog on Hutta were chasing her. You truly are a prodigious warrior!"
"If that's true, then put me in the Great Hunt," Valajin said. "Give me that sponsorship and we can skip this testing nonsense."
Nem'ro chuckled. "Soon, soon, my impatient warrior. I still have one bounty for you to complete, after all. One that I need an outsider for."
He hummed. "So you don't want this person to know you sent me?"
"Precisely. My house has a traitor in it–my beastmaster, Ohnaf. He plots against me and thinks I do not know," the Hutt said. "Go down to the beast pits and trigger the alarm. When he comes, kill him."
There it was, his last bounty. And he wouldn't even have to sneak anywhere to get it. "I'll have a little 'chat' with him."
With his last task in hand, he turned and left the throne room. When he re-entered the waiting room, he saw that not only was Juda there now, but Nails's body was already gone. That they could handle it that quickly told volumes about how often someone died in this place.
Juda didn't appear ruffled by it. In fact, she was smiling when she saw Valajin again. "You just get more and more impressive, you know? I heard you stormed the Rust Yards and just took down Nails."
"All true," Valajin said. "It's easy to look that good, especially when I am that good.'
"I was thinking the same thing," she agreed, before holding out another payment voucher. "Here's the bounty for the accountant. Poor little Yalt and his bossy wife," she said, shaking her head. "See you soon, bounty hunter."
"Right back at ya."
Back in the cantina, another credit chip at the bartender let him know which route through the palace would take him to the beast pit. That route took him to an elevator, which gave barely a hum as it took him down a floor to the level below the palace. The elevator opened into a hall, and he tensed the moment it did.
There was a feeling in the air, a charge. His senses were shouting danger to him, even though there wasn't an enemy in sight. Slowly, cautiously, he walked down the hall as it curved to the left. No traps went off and no enemies suddenly appeared. Eventually, it opened into a new area, the sight of which made him realize why he was tense.
The hall opened directly into the beast pit. The uneven piles of sand, the bones scattered about, even the cages lining the edges of the arena... All of this reminded him of the fighting pits back home. And across the way, on the other side of the pit, was an alarm attached to the wall next to a closed gate.
He had a bad feeling about this.
Valajin drew both his pistols and stepped into the pit. Although some of the various beasts turned to look at him, all the cages remained closed. Still, he didn't let his guard down as he walked through the pit and hit the button on the alarm. A loud klaxon filled the air for almost a minute, at the end of which a large, muscled human man with long dark hair, a headband and tribal clothes approached him from the other side of the gate.
"So, you call me just like Nem'ro said you would. So stupid," Ohnaf declared. "Now I kill you, and Nem'ro will give me a glorious reward."
Valajin took a second to process that… and then suppressed a groan. "I think we're both being played here. Nem'ro sent me here to kill you."
Ohnaf chuckled. "You think you can fool me? Like I said, stupid."
That was when he heard the whirring of machinery above and behind him. Turning around, he saw the 'ceiling' part to reveal Nem'ro lounging on his throne and looking down at him. Several other patrons of the palace lined up around the edge, all of them cheering and eagerly watching.
Valajin's eyes narrowed. "Nem'ro…" he hissed, glaring up at the Hutt.
For his part, the Hutt only chuckled.
Then the hunter's blood went cold as, from behind him, he heard Ohnaf shout "Free the beasts!"
For the guest that reviewed last chapter, here's the answers to your questions:
1. Valajin will avoid bloodshed if a) the job doesn't require it, b) it's less work than fighting them and c) he doesn't dislike them. If any of those three are broken, like with Yalt, he's a violent enough to start shooting. However, this will not be a pure Dark-Side story, rest assured.
2. I'm playing him as a Mercenary. However, I reserve the right to give him a flamethrower if I want to.
3. He does have a last name: Marrax. I can't think of a situation where it'll come up in-story, except maybe in Act III.
4. Iron Condor does sound nice, but I'm unsure if I'll have him name his ship. The default one, Mantis, is pretty cool already.
5. Certain future events will involve Valajin getting a set of Mandalorian armor.
And 6. If he and Mako do have kids, it'll be far after the class story is over.