Star Wars Eye of Kaas: Miserable Woe, Part V

MISERABLE WOE, PART V

--Tatooine--

    Salvan Tai could hear fighting.

    The sounds were coming from a cantina up ahead. At first he assumed it was simply the average bar brawl taking place, until he heard the distinctive sound of a lightsaber. That, he knew, was not a factor in the average bar brawl. Jedi never got into those sort of things.

    Did they?

    For the longest time he simply stood there in the middle of the street, staring at the building up ahead. In his mind, the one thing -- the only thing he could focus on were the last words Trek had said to him.

    That pretty much tells me everything I need to know.

    Those words had, he would readily admit, wounded his pride. Because it was true: he did desire the thrill of being chased, of always being in danger. At first he had chalked it up to bad luck, but then he realized he could have easily -- very easily -- found a guise that would have allowed him to avoid all that trouble with Kadar, Dax Goldam, and the others.

    But he didn't. He kept on accepting jobs as a bounty hunter, which was guaranteed to make him cross paths with those individuals. Was he just stupid?

    ...Yes. Yes, that was it, wasn't it?

    He was stupid.

    Two hundred years of life had brought him to this conclusion, to this very point. He had been many things in the past: a general, a bounty hunter, a baron, a coward, a target, and, most importantly, an idiot. And right now, he was about to do a very "idiot" thing.

    Could it be considered suicide, what he was about to do? Perhaps. He knew he was going to die at least. But he also knew he was about to have fun. And that was what mattered, right?

    With a snort, the reek that had once been the Sakiyan Salvan Tai -- the beast that once been the Glorian general Merlok -- charged towards the cantina.

*  *  *

    Valrisa ducked as her Nagai opponent swung the hilt of his long-handle lightsaber, which had ceased operating thanks to her cortosis gauntlets. As the staff swung back over, she grabbed it and pulled it out of the Nagai's hands.

    Sneering, the white-skinned man lunged forward and tackled her to the floor. He stared to reach for the saberstaff, only for a metal hand to grab his wrist.

    "I have been ordered by my master to kill you," Omni said calmly. "Please do not resist while I proceed to--"

    With a snarl, the Nagai released a blast of Force energy, which sent the droid careening into a booth, knocking over a table. The Force-user then whirled back to face Valrisa... and found her standing readily with his saberstaff, red blade hissing.

    The Nagai frowned. "How--"

    "Cortosis effects don't last that long," Valrisa said. "Just long enough for me to get the upper hand."

    "No, I mean, how exactly do you intend on using that? You don't strike me as a Force user."

    "Then I guess you don't know me as well as you think you do."

    Gritting his teeth, the Nagai raised his hand, lightning crackling at the finger tips. Valrisa lifted her stolen weapon, prepared for any attack.

    What she wasn't prepared for, though, was a reek crashing into the cantina.

    She heard Typha cry out, although not exactly in fear, and she saw the Pantoran crawl back towards Vasim's booth. The Sluissi himself was absolutely petrified in fear, as was the Kedorzhan bartender huddling behind the counter.

    The Nagai and his companion, on the other hand, looked more bemused than anything.

    "I'm beginning to wonder if this is worth the effort," the former murmured.

    The other scowled at him. "Do you want to be the one to upset Lord Krayt?"

    "Not particularly. But you have to admit, this is making things incredibly tedious."

    "It matters not." The burly human doffed his cloak, exposing his large, tattooed arms. "This thing shouldn't be too much of a challenge."

    Then the reek did something completely unexpected: it laughed.

    Then it spoke.

    "Methinks the human doth underestimate too much."

    As the brute stepped back in shock, the reek began to change shape, assuming the form of a Mandallian Giant. The muscular reptilian then grinned down at its prey.

    "What's the matter? Have you never met a Shi'ido before?"

    The brutish human simply snared as he charged at the giant. Propelling himself with the Forrce, he leaped up and thew his fist into the Mandallian's face. The reptilian roared as it staggered back, giving the Nagai time to gather up a storm of lightning in his hands, unleashing it on the skin-changer.

    As the lightning coursed through the Shi'ido's body, Valrisa glanced over to see Typha standing there with her brand-new Sonn-Blas scope rifle, carefully aiming it at the giant's head.

    "Typha!" Valrisa rushed over to the Pantoran girl, which neither Sith paid heed to. "What do you think you're--"

    "Shut up, Val," Typha hissed. "You already messed up my shot once. I'm not letting you stop me from beating my record again."

    "He's not even a worrt. How can you call it beating your--"

    Without warning, the Shi'ido began to change shape, despite the pain he was still in. He started to shrink down, his body assuming the forms of various species as he did. One arm became a Rodian's while the other a Trandoshan's. His left leg became the tentacle of a Parwan while his right a Thisspiasian tail. Eventually, he managed to get a steady control over his shaping and it wasn't long before his body become that of....

    A worrt.

    Valrisa saw the smile on Typha's face before she even had time to register what had happened. By then, it was already over and done with.

    The plasma bolt zipped over the two Sith's shoulder and struck the worrt dead center in the face. It did not so much as utter a croak as it crumpled lifelessly to the floor.

    All eyes stared at the dead creature, unsure if what had just happened actually happened. Both Vasim and Taod Dront looked to be on the verge of passing out while Omni was on the defensive, alert and battle-ready.

    After a long bout of silence, the Nagai said, "Well, now that that unnecessary inconvenience is over...." He turned back to Valrisa, a dangerous smile on his face. "Where were we, again?"

    In the corner of her eyes, Valrisa saw Typha orientate her rifle again. Just as she was about to do or say something to stop her, Omni suddenly spoke.

    "Self-destruct sequence initialized."

    Vasim and Taod exclaimed in alarm. Both Sith took defensive stances. Valrisa simply grabbed Typha's arm and dragged her out of the cantina's demolished opening.

    The two had only made it ten feet or so when the whole place went up in flames.

*  *  *

    The spider-like BT-16 perimeter droid skittered through the once and former palace of Jabba Desilijic Tiure. It was rather remarkable that the castle had stood for so longer after the Hutt's death, appearing virtually identical to its appearance thirty-eight years ago. Granted, there had been some remodeling done to the palace after a krayt dragon had torn through it, but whoever had been behind that made no attempt whatsoever to do things differently.

    The BT-16 wished it could still see the palace. It still knew its way around it, of course -- it had lived here for well over seventy years -- but it still would not mind seeing its home one last time.

    Walking alongside the mechanical spider was Eve -- or EV-A4-V, rather. The MerenData-made laboratory assistant droid had been by its side for as long as it could remember. Sad as it was to admit, she was the closest it ever had to a wife, at least in terms of companionship and loyalty.

    The droid pair walked on in silence through the corridors of the palace until they reached the throne room. What they saw was exactly what they had feared to see.

    Nothing.

    Not a single living being remained in the chamber. Neither Galus Freetaa nor his harem were to be seen. Even some of the cushions that had been on his throne were missing.

    "It would appear we were too late to prevent things," Eve said, her voice not betraying any emotion, be it disappointment or otherwise. "This will take some time to fix."

   The BT-16 agreed in its usual manner of beeps and chirps. Galus Freetaa had been, while not particularly bright, the best "face" of the cabal they had found. Lazy and foolish as he was, he was certainly better than the power-hungry Larggven or the cowardly Chaskar.

    What made things even more difficult was that they didn't have anyone else in line to replace Freetaa. With Larggven and Chaskar, their respective successors had already been chosen when it was decided they were no longer fit to run the Desilijic Cabal.

    But for Galus, there had been no one. Even the brilliant mind that resided in the BT-16's brain jar could not have foreseen this deception.

    After a moment of silent contemplation, Eve then said, "Narg Kram did express interest in merging the Pyke Syndicate with the cabal. Perhaps--"

    The BT-16 voiced its disapproval of this idea.

    "I am aware that you have no love for the Pykes. But you cannot deny that he is a capable--"

    Again, the spider droid cut her off. Eve made a sound of exasperation.

    "Fine. Be that way. I guess we'll just sit back and watch everything we've built fall apart."

    There was another bout of silence. Then the BT-16 spoke again, prompting Eve to look at it in a surprised manner.

    "Are you sure? You have always expressed your distaste of them."

    The BT-16 responded and Eve tapped her chin in thought. "True, true. I suppose it only makes sense that the empire of a Hutt be ruled by Hutts."

    The spider droid chirped again and Eve nodded. "Yes, I will get right to it."

    With that, the spindly droid turned heel and left the chamber, leaving the BT-16 to its thoughts. While it was true it did not like the Hutt Cartel any more than it did the Pyke Syndicate, it trusted them far more than it did Narg Kram. They would know how to operate things far better than anyone.

    Besides, it would not be the first time Bib Fortuna had dealt with Hutts.

Star Wars Eye of Kaas: Miserable Woe, Part IV

MISERABLE WOE, PART IV

--Tatooine--

    It was well past midnight.

    The palace of the late Jabba the Hutt was asleep. The only illumination provided was from the three moons that shone in the night sky above, peeking through the small square opening in the ceiling.

    Galus Freetaa had long since fallen asleep, burried within his cotton-made throne. The rest of the chamber had been all but deserted; unlike Jabba before him, Galus never allowed anyone besides his harem and security to be within his vicinity while he slept, unless it was Nasoth sent to wake him.

    As such, no one was there to bear witness as one of the many slave girls that pampered Galus slowly rose from where she laid. After checking to make sure the Twi'lek and the rest of his female companions were still asleep, the Falleen woman dashed silently out of the throne room.

    Like a shadow in the night she moved through the palace, going completely unnoticed by the Gamorrean guards stationed throughout the building. She eventually reached a spiraling stairway and quickly descended it, ending up in a small, unlit chamber.

    Feeling around in the darkness, her hand soon feel over a panel and she pressed it. Before her a screen lit up and she entered the required code into the console. Within a moment, the holoprojector activated and the fuzzy blue image of a hooded figure appeared.

    "Xena," the garbled voice of her contact said. "I was beginning to worry you had forgotten our deal."

    "My apologies," the Falleen said. "I did not have the chance to contact you sooner. The totem is en route to Anchorhead."

    "Very good. It would appear our sources were wrong about the Bestine location. Thank you for your assistance."

    "Of course," Xena said. "So... about our deal."

    "Galus will be dealt with shortly."

    "Good. I look forward to it."

    With that, the communication ended and Xena blew out her breath. Finally, things were looking up for her. Soon, she would be freed from the shackles of this Xrggur-forsaken palace and be able to live her life once again.

    She turned around to leave the chamber... only to be grabbed from behind by a pair of mechanical arms. She opened her mouth to cry out but a cold, metal hand fell over it, preventing her from uttering a sound.

    "Shush, child," a mechanical, vaguely feminine voice whispered into her ear. "You must be enlightened."

    Xena heard the buzz of a saw and then everything went black.

*  *  *

    It was well past midnight by the time the sandcrawler rolled into Anchorhead. The town was more or less asleep, with only a few establishments still open. Trek parked the sandcrawler in front of one of these places: a warehouse marked by the sign "Petro's Parts".

    "Well, I guess this is where we part ways," Trek said as he got out of his pilot seat. "It's been nice catching up with you, Merlok. Hopefully you can find your true calling in life."

    Salvan Tai did not reply and stood in place for a long moment. Just as Trek was about to head into the back of the sandcrawler, Salvan turned around and called out to the Jawa.

    "Where are the other Exiles? What are they doing?"

    Trek stopped and turned to look at him. "Why do you want to know?"

    "Curiosity," the Sakiyan said.

    Trek continued to stare at him before saying, "Well, Zerev and Xilus are both professors at the University of New Alderaan. Dah-lurga is a wrestler on Kooda, with Partem Durus as his coach, and I think I heard Janus is an announcer for swoop races on Corulag."

    "So... they're all living normal lives."

    "Yeah, I know. Shocking, isn't it? People living uneventful, unadventurous lives, without having to face danger every five minutes. Unfathomable."

    Salvan glared at the Jawa. "You think I like living life on the edge? You don't think I miss relaxing at my estate on Lianna?"

    Trek shrugged. "You tell me. When I found you, you had been abandoned by pirates. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know."

    Salvan opened his mouth to retort but the Jawa was already walking away. Seeing it futile to press the point further, the Sakiyan decided to simply take his leave and find out what sort of life awaited him outside.

*  *  *

    It was well past midnight. The clients had still yet to arrive.

    Valrisa's fingers tapped against the tabletop. Next to her, Typha had already fallen asleep, either out of boredom or drunkenness. Across from her, Vasim calmly twiddled his thumbs, sporadically glancing at the chronometer on the wall. At the bar, Taod Dront hummed to himself as he wiped down the bar's sparkling clean countertop for the nth time.

    It had been nearly three hours.

    Valrisa didn't know how much longer she could wait.

    Unable to bear the silence, she said to Vasim, "You told them where to meet us, yes?"

    The Sluissi nodded. "Junix's Joint in Anchorhead was what I told them. I even gave them directions."

    "Look, if they're not here within the next hour, then we're leaving."

    Vasim frowned. "You can't leave until the deal's done, Valrisa. Otherwise you don't get your pay."

    "I can always find payment somewhere else. The Hutts have recently put up a number of bounties."

    "It is not wise to upset Malvis--"

    He was cut off by the sudden appearance of two hooded beings. The pair entered the cantina and walked straight towards Vasim's booth, undeterred by the defensive stance Omni was assuming.

    Straightening, Vasim eyed the mysterious pair. "Are you Lahn Vos and Teka Yot?"

    Valrisa saw through the first hooded man's lie before he had even spoken: "Yes. Do you have the totem?"

    "What totem?" Vasim asked, feigning ignorance.

    The second figure, much larger than the first, growled as he pushed past his companion. "The Eye of Kaas. Do you have it?"

    "I don't recall ever stating--"

    The snap-hiss of a lightsaber activating silenced the Sluissi. He stared wide-eyed at the scarlet blade as it hovered before his neck.

    "Now, now, Lahn," the shorter man said. "There is no need for aggressive negotiations--"

    "Oh, it's much too late for that." Vasim reached into his vest and, without warning, Omni threw himself at the two figures. He threw a metal fist into the larger one's face, sending him reeling back and knocking the lightsaber loose in his hand. Delivering a swift kick to the brute's arm, Omni sent the weapon flying across the room.

    By this point, Valrisa and the recently woken Typha were already out of the booth, blasters drawn.

    "Let me handle the big one," Typha whispered.

    "I thought you liked them small," Valrisa replied.

    The blue girl shook her head. "Not when I'm looking for a challenge. Besides, the other one's still got his lightsaber."

    Valrisa glanced at the shorter being, who had since pulled back their hood to reveal the chalk-colored face of a Nagai. In his hand was indeed a lightsaber.

    "Right," she muttered. "Just my specialty."

*  *  *

    Nasoth Alarin stood in the entrance to the throne room, his lanky form silhouetted by the moonlight. In his line of sight was Galus Freetaa, blissfully asleep, as was his harem, which seemed to be missing a member.

    A shame, he thought.  He had come to grow fond of each and every one of Galus' court. They deserved far better than this. Thankfully, they would soon receive better.

    Nasoth quietly descended the stairs into the chamber. In his hand he carried an object often used by humans and near-humans, particularly females. It was widely known as "lipstick". As a member of a species without lips, Nasoth had no use for the device. But he did need it in order to accomplish this one task.

    Approaching Galus' throne, he carefully stepped over to one of the slave girls-- a human woman of Nubian descent. Leaning over her, he began to apply the lipstick to her face, causing her eyes to fly open.

    "Please, don't--"

    "I'm not going to hurt you," Nasoth assured her. "Trust me."

    He knew she didn't, but she made no further attempts at resistance as he finished applying the lipstick. Once he was done, he stepped away from her and inclined his head towards Galus.

    "Kiss him."

    She stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "What?"

    "Kiss him," he calmly repeated.

    The color flushing from her face, the woman reluctantly moved over to Galus' sleeping form and pressed her lips against his. This act stirred the Twi'lek awake and he laughed as he pulled away.

    "Why, Meri! All you had to do was...."

    He trailed off upon noticing Nasoth standing there. His hairless brows furrowing, Galus said, "Is there, uh, something you need, Nas?"

    "Oh no," the Givin replied. "I'm just waiting for you to die."

    Galus' eyes went wide and, as if on cue, the Twi'lek began to choke. In a matter of seconds, he was on the floor of the chamber, gurgling as froth formed in his mouth. Meri and the other slave girls all watched on in horror while Nasoth simply walked over to a hookah device attached to the throne.

    "You reap what you sow," the Givin muttered as he pulled a switch hidden within the hookah pipe.

    The floor which Galus squirmed upon suddenly vanished and the Twi'lek dropped into the pit of darkness below.

    All was silent as Nasoth sealed the trap door. He then looked at the slave girls, who were all frozen in shock, and spread his arms.

    "The deal has been fulfilled. You are all free."

    With that, and without waiting for any sort of response, the Givin left the chamber. Just as they were no longer bound to Galus, neither was he.

    Experiencing it first hand, he had to admit, freedom did indeed feel good.