Chapitre 99: Blataant Reunion
I don't own star wars.
"You and I should do a job together." Killa said suddenly, she had been on our ship for a little more than a week now. And we had just finished a delivery job so I'm not entirely sure what she meant.
"We… just did?" I said confused as Nike glared at Killa.
"I mean…" she added, patiently, "That we should do a bounty."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not very confrontational." I noted calmly.
Killa sighed, she did that a lot when I told her I didn't want to fight. But she was extraordinarily patient, "Alright. Let me try this another way…" she placed a holo-disk on the table and a bounty poster appeared, showing an imperial officer. He had a smarmy look about his face, with a pencil-thin mustache and an upturned nose. But he had a very powerful frame, like a wrestler. "This is General Marsinous Grack. Recently appointed lieutenant governor of Blataant, a new imperial colony world. He has also, recently, pissed off Babayaga and she wants to have a 'chat' with him."
"…You want to kidnap an imperial general?"
"Lieutenant governor." She corrected calmly.
"You are a crazy bitch." Nike said simply, and as usual, Killa ignored her. They did this often.
"It's fine." She said, waving her hand dismissively, "The Imperial elite have an agreement with Babayaga. 'Anger her at your own risk'. If we take him to her it's fair game…"
"Okay so why do you need me?" I asked, "I mean we'll take you there, park, and wait until you're shot."
"It's simple." She said, pressing the disk, "I need a date." It was an open invite to a party at the estate. Sent all over the empire apparently, come meet the governor to celebrate the colony.
"He's got a bounty on his head and he's throwing an open invite? Is he stupid?"
"He's not throwing it. The governor is. But he has to attend, and anyone with a blaster will be strictly detained. But you and I don't need blasters." She added with a subtle compliment. "Plus I've already made arrangements with Rattletrap…"
I turned to Rattletrap as she looked away and twiddled his thumbs, trying as hard as possible not to meet my eyes. "…Why?" I asked.
"…She asked me really nicely…" he said ashamed, trying to hide deep into his hood.
"It will be FINE." She insisted with a little pride, "And you and I will split the prize down the middle." She turned to Nike and added with a knowing look, "And the sooner I get enough money for a new ship the sooner I leave. Right?" she added curiously. "Plus you can put the earnings to Torga's debt.
"Okay you little…" she hissed under her breath, "Exactly HOW MUCH is he worth?"
Then Killa showed us… that's a LOT of zeroes...
We approached the Governor's mansion on foot, the massive estate was almost ridiculously huge, for an Imperial colonial world. With grass and plants designed to appeal to the masses and nobles. An absurdly large amount of people wandered the gardens and the fields that made up the inner walls. Outside the walls was an expansive town full of loyal imperials and soldiers. Blataant was apparently a 'garden world' or something. Used for farming and growth…
Killa, while apparently eager to do the job, was less than thrilled about the dress code… I however was through the moon. She looked utterly beautiful in her flowing but easy to move in blue dress, but the heels were apparently something to be desired. To make sure she wasn't recognized she was wearing an elaborate headdress that hid her scars and accentuated her amazingly beautiful features. And despite her obvious muscle tone, she was curvaceous and fit, even as we approached the large manor she was pulling the attention from men who were obviously going home alone later judging from the looks on their date's faces.
Me? I got a very dashing monkey suit, a custom tux, black and flattering.
How were we able to get these things? Apparently with a needle, some cloth, and a few minutes on the holo-net Rattletrap can download anything for X-E. including a bootleg sewing program. X-E was more than happy to sew these things up for us on the flight here.
"…I feel ridiculous." Killa hissed angrily, gripping my arm as she tried to maintain her balance. "These… I hesitate to call them shoes, make me feel stupid!" she growled unhappily, "…No wonder Nike wears them…"
"…Can you please be nice?" I asked pleadingly, she glared at me but stood a little straighter, trying to maintain her composure only to stumble into a noble and his escort. A tall, extremely beautiful zeltron woman. "Sorry!" I said immediately to her, she only smiled as her young and obviously 'noble' imperial glared at me.
"Keep your…" he however gave Killa another glance over and cleared his throat, quickly correcting himself. "…Guest in line." He said firmly, as the Zeltron woman smiled kindly.
"Now now… she obviously tripped. Now why don't you show me a good time now and I'll give you a good one later." she said soothingly with a very breathy voice before eyeing me again and her very alluring purple eyes lifted to my clean and neat hair, (Nike helped me with that) "…Besides I love that color…" she said with a very playful smile, referring to my hair. "…Enjoy the party." She added politely, leading on the man she was obviously escorting.
"Zeltrons." Killa snarled, and I rolled my eyes and looked away as she tried to adjust her footing…
Then I saw someone in the crowd. Someone I recognized. And I just couldn't help myself as a stupid grin slapped on my face. Immediately I began to approach her, waving and trying to get her attention but her escort noticed me first. A tall, blonde man a little older than I was, he was fit and obviously some sort of trooper judging from the military dress uniform.
"Threat recognized!" he shouted, and he charged me.
"Cyrus what are you-!" she then saw me, "Roland?!"
'Cyrus' tackled me to the pavement, drawing a hold-out blaster pistol and pressing it to my forehead, somebody screamed. But a hand grabbed his arm and pulled the blaster away as he- PULLED THE TRIGGER?! Is he nuts!? The blaster bolt slammed into a translation droid as it sizzled and fell, it's chest smoking as the woman yanked away the blaster and bodily hurled Cyrus away sending him crashing into the bushes.
"Ma'am!" he began, struggling to remove himself from the greenery, "He is an unannounced threat and-…"
"Cyrus! Shut UP!" she shouted commandingly, and surprisingly a few nearby imperials, men and women who were obviously former or active military, immediately stood at attention before quickly realizing what happened and walking away sheepishly. The green-eyed, short red-haired, long-legged, and beautiful figure of my Aunt Kavilla Kane. She stood imposingly over him glaring harshly as he whimpered like a scolded puppy. "He's my nephew!" she hissed angrily in a low tone to him, rolling her eyes. "I swear you bodyguards get twitchier by the year!"
"Hello Aunt Kavilla…" I moaned on the ground as Killa quickly approached, Kavilla pulled me to my feet and immediately wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug that I eagerly returned.
"My favorite nephew!" she laughed happily, holding me at arm's length as she looked me up and down, "Look at you!" she grinned proudly at me, "I haven't seen you in years! You look just like your dad!" then eyeing curiously at Killa she added rather sheepishly, "…Just like your dad…" but she smiled again, "What are you doing here! I was told you were on Kashyyyk…"
I was unable to stop the nervous eye twitch that flashed across my face. NOBODY TOLD KAVILLA. "Oh… uh." Shit. "You see… some THINGS… happened and…"
It was a very long and awkward conversation that we discussed while continuing to head toward the mansion.
"So… putting the very loud and long conversation I'm going to have with my sister aside." She then eyed Killa, glaring at her. "Who is…" she stared at her face and groaned, "… your ridiculously pretty friend."
"I'm his partner." We stared at her together as she added calmly, "Business partners."
"Oh, good." Kavilla replied with a friendly, for her, smile.
"I'm Green-Eyed Killa the bounty hunter, and we're here for a bounty." She said casually, Cyrus tried to stand between Kavilla and her only for Kavilla to elbow him back into position.
"She's not here for me. Well at any rate I'll wish you luck."
"You will?" I asked surprised.
"Of course, I will." She said confidently, "And Killa, you realize that if anything happens to my nephew I'll send several star destroyers after you." She noted sickeningly sweet, it would've been funny if it wasn't completely true.
"Of course." Killa said firmly, "I have no intention of letting anything bad happen to Roland. But he can take care of himself, he's not a child."
"Actually now that I think about it Aunt Kavilla what are you doing here?" I asked curiously.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "…Well I was in the area and Tolara told me to come and mingle." He hissed with a scowl, "She knows I hate mingling, just because I invited a few single men to her party. So this is my punishment… Well." She grinned at me, "At least now I can lord you over her head for a while… So who are you after?"
"Admiral, Ma'am we should report-" Cyrus began but the ominous aura my Aunt sent his way silenced him on that idea indefinitely. "…Yes Ma'am…" he said meekly, not meeting her eyes.
"Grack." Killa said under her breath, "Babayaga has a large contract on him."
"Oh. Babayaga?" Kavilla said, eyes wide, "Oh then we're definitely not reporting it." She glared at Cyrus who nodded understandingly. "No intelligent official would earn a bounty from her. Cull the herd for me." She said, giving us her blessing. And grinning at me, "Do me proud Roly…"
"Kavilla…" I mumbled softly, embarrassed at the nickname, but smiled as she ruffled my hair and the music in the garden became a little louder as we entered the true location of the party. There were waiters, droids mostly, wandering through the party guests with horderves or whatever they're called, and a live band played slow music on stage as the party guests began to mingle and chat. The actual governor, a slender young man who wandered through the party shaking hands immediately noticed Kavilla and practically shoved his way toward her.
Barely older than I was with Raven black hair and a face you could trust. I could tell I wasn't going to like him. He smiled as he politely shook her hand as Killa and I watched. Cyrus' hand carefully placed over the bulge that was his hold-out blaster. Yes, weapons were not allowed. But small exceptions were taken, there were arm guards and private bodyguards for the higher-ranking guests like my Aunt. But it was a little politer to not have the weapons out in the open.
"Admiral Kavilla Kane! You honor me, and this planet with your presence." He praised politely, "I must admit I did not expect you to be here."
"Yes well. My ship the Deterrent was in the sector and my Sister the Moff insisted I come and inspect the colony personally. Tell me Governor…" she searched her memory for the name, "Turgalt, where is your lieutenant governor this evening? I assumed he would be present as well…"
"Oh Marsinous is around, he is currently in the mansion making sure everything is perfect." He said with a humored wave of his hands, "He'll arrive once the festivities really pick up."
Kavilla gave me and Killa a broad wink, before allowing Turgalt to escort her around, introducing her like a prized trophy with a painted smile on her face. Kavilla was always more of an Action woman, leading troops from the front like a proper soldier general. Whereas my other Aunt, Tolara, was the Devious one. Playing the deadly game of Imperial politics like a master. Surprisingly doing the opposite of their natures tended to make them a little frustrated.
"Marsinous is in the mansion." Killa said with a nod, "Kavilla helped us on that one. All we got to do is find him and knock him out."
"Then get him out of the mansion and more towards the rear of the estate." I said nodding, "I know the plan." Which while vague was better than nothing. Rattletrap currently parked the Dream behind the estate, with an 'experimental cloaking device' he had made… but considering it kept glitching in and out when we tested it I wasn't so confident on how long it would last.
"So…" she began slowly, "We need to be very subtle." She wrapped her arm around mine and casually moved through the party guests with me. Making our way to the dance floor.
"Wait…" I said, suddenly taking her other hand, "If we make a beeline for it people are going to notice.
"What are you…" I put her hand on my shoulders and placed mine at her waist. "No." she said firmly, but it was too late. We were dancing across the floor with the rest of the Imperial's enjoying themselves.
I grinned at her as she stared at me, a little annoyed, a little impressed. "Something Dad taught me… well I had to practice with Circe because she wanted to learn, and he was too tall for her at the time."
"Hmm." She replied a little uninterested but seemed humored enough as we made our way across the dance floor. We managed to get into the mansion, apparently, we were allowed to explore a few of the rooms on the ground level but the stairs to the next floor were heavily guarded by troopers.
"…Okay." I mumbled quietly, "…He's obviously on the next floor so how do we get up there?"
But apparently, that was solved for us… the zeltron woman from earlier suddenly exited a nearby room, someone else was inside, groaning in satisfaction as she tastefully wiped her lips with a finger. She didn't notice us, but her attention was drawn to the pair of trooper guards on the stairs, and without missing a beat strutted up the stairs towards them…
My head suddenly hurt… I shook it off as Killa gasped slightly. "S-shit…" she whimpered, suddenly holding her nose, "She's leaking pheromones like a broken reactor!"
"Excuse me gentleman but could you… help me with something?" she cooed softly as a finger gently brushed the closest trooper's chest.
"…How can we help you ma'am?" came a female voice from said armor which briefly took the Zeltron aback, but she smiled and rolled with it.
"I have this… itch… that I just can't reach…" she took the other trooper's hand and with extreme boldness slipped it under her dress, and he went ridged. "…Can you help me?"
"…Yes ma'am…" the trooper said with an eager nod as she grinned and walked past the both of them, leading them up the stairs.
"…That's too coincidental…" Killa said seriously, glaring at the stairs, "…Shit, she might be a hunter too…"
"What do we do?" I asked nervously, but she grabbed my hand and quickly lead me up the stairs. However the second we reached the second floor a trooper began to walk around the corner. "Damn." She hissed.
But I got… an idea.
I pinned her to the wall suddenly as she glared, and kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock as the trooper approached. "Hey! Come on!" he growled, "No one's supposed to be-" but I interrupted him, dragging him to the side.
"Come on man! Look at her! I've been working on this girl all night and I've already been interrupted!" I slipped him a small credit chip, desperately, "… It's not much but a few minutes huh? Help a guy out?"
The trooper wasn't too happy with the amount, but he slipped the chip into his pocket and turned away, "There are some empty rooms are that way." He said, "If you get caught, I wasn't here."
"Thanks man." I said with a smile, grabbing a still-stunned Killa and leading her down the hall.
"Okay that bought us a few minutes." I said, entering a nearby empty room as we heard grunting and moaning from another, obviously the Zeltron and her victims. "But if she is a hunter I don't expect those troopers to last long…" Killa gently touched her lips with her fingertips, looking thoughtful. "Killa?"
"What? Right." She said looking suddenly serious and a little red-faced. "Okay…" she began and pulled out a com. Rattletrap appeared with a grin as my own pocket buzzed.
"Hey Killa! We all ready?" he said as I looked at my display-com.
"PLEASE TELL ME YOU AREN'T AT THE PARTY ON BLATAANT." It said in bold I scratched my head but slipped it back into my pocket. I'll have to deal with that later.
"Yes Rattletrap, are you sure you can do it?"
"The colony might be new but the security's an old model." He grinned, "…I've already broken in… and WOO!" he said quickly pressing a record function and moving on, "…That Zeltron lady is really talented!"
"Rattletrap. Focus." Killa said as my com buzzed again, and I rolled my eyes, "Find Grack."
"Got it!" he grinned and began looking as I pulled out my com.
"STAY OUT OF THE GARDEN FOR THE NEXT THIRTY MINUTES AT LEAST!" it ordered and turned back off. The Garden? Unable to resist my curiosity I approached the window, I could see the garden from here…
My blood went cold… and I don't know why. There was a beautiful, but older blue-skinned twi'lek woman with a friendly face, chatting amicably with everyone with a beautiful smile on her lips. She wore the robes of a sith, so perhaps the com was warning me about her. Then I saw another man, also clearly a sith: youthful and smarmy he seemed to have a certain charisma and charm as he greeted the guests alongside the twi'lek woman. He had an unearthly red glow to his eyes and his hair seemed slicked back with naturally produced slime. But it was the third woman who caught my attention…
A beautiful sleek black-haired sith pureblood with slash scars on the sides of her lips; she wore a strange necklace that immediately drew my attention because it was so off. It had five, shiny black discs about the size of old coins arranged linearly on a chain. Two of them, the third and fourth from the left, glowed with an annoying light that I wondered why nobody else was noticing it.
…That chill wouldn't go away, and I stepped away from the window as Killa finished with Rattletrap. "Good work Rattletrap." She said with a proud nod.
"Can I take those pictures now?" he asked eagerly, but she gave him a polite smile and turned off the com.
"Alright we got him let's…" but she looked at me curiously. "…Are you alright?" she asked concerned.
I shook my head slowly, "…There are some sith at this party…" I said darkly, "…We're going to have to be extra careful."
She peeked out the window and frowned, "…You're right. But we should be fine as long as we're quiet and go out the back." She said, "…Your Aunt seems to know them." She noted as Kavilla, a little reluctantly shook the twi'lek woman's hand, the twi'lek seemed overjoyed, my aunt a little less so, but she remained polite and courteous. The sith pureblood however stared unblinkingly at my aunt's hair… it was kind of unnerving.
"Let's get our minds back on task." I said, taking her hand and pulling her away from the window in case they looked up. "Where is Grack?"
"He's in the office 'enjoying the fruits of his position'" she noted with a disgusted smirk, "Okay then let's go get him."
"Shouldn't we wait?" I asked.
"Rattletrap said that Zeltron's already worn out the girl trooper, if she is a hunter we need to take him now." And with that, we made our way toward the office of the governor. Killa's entrance was rather dramatic, kicking in the door suddenly…
Grack suddenly shrieked in pain as the human waitress between his legs suddenly bit down in shock, she immediately stood up and dashed from the room in shame. Grack rolled on the floor for a moment clutching his junk and shrieking creative expletives at us… but Killa, with a right hook that my aunt Kavilla would be proud of, silenced him quick. "There." She said, proudly binding his hands with his belt and pulling up it pants.
"Now how do we get him out of the building?" I asked scratching my head, "Someone is bound to notice us…" but then my attention was drawn to an open wine bottle on the table. Obviously to lubricate the girl into compliance." I took it and had an idea, splashing some of it on his lips and shirt. Before taking a nearby imperial officer cap and placing it on his head, pulled it down to hide as much of his face as possible. "…Okay that might work as long as we go out the back…" I said, unbinding him to Killa's surprise and swinging his arm around my shoulders, and lifting him up, taking the bottle. "Take his other arm." I said as she did, and we began to head for the door.
Anyone who managed to glance at us merely saw a man who had had too much being helped on by two friends. As long as nobody got close we were fine, we even managed to make our way out of the back of the mansion towards the rear of the estate and our ship…
There was however two problems and they occurred within seconds of each other after we exited the grounds… first: and most importantly, Grack woke up. Killa and I quickly restrained him, so that problem was sort of solved… the second came from blaster fire…
We dove for cover as the rapid fire of a trooper rifle peppered above our heads. The fact that it was a trooper rifle was the only reason why we were still alive. There was an audible sigh as the zeltron strutted after us, knowing full well we weren't armed. "…I have to admit. I thought I was the only one crazy enough to go after an imperial lieutenant governor." She said, priming the rifle as we head behind rocks. "But I'll tell you what Red… you and your pretty friend push him out from behind that rock and I'll let you walk away. I'm not being paid to kill you after all…"
Killa frowned, "We caught him the bounty's ours."
"I'm not here for the capture contract I'm here for the assassin contract…" she said, and Grack's eyes widened at the news. I looked at Killa who cursed under her breath as she checked a com.
"Fuck he has a kill contract on him." She cursed, "It must be recent…" she glared at Grack, clearly blaming him. "What did you do?" but Grack wasn't listening, he seemed to be weeping…
The zeltron woman sighed and began to walk towards us. "Well you obviously don't have weapons, or you would've shot me…" she then leveled the blaster at Grack, she was still fairly far away but close enough to not miss and shoot us if we tried anything. "You throw a lovely party." She said with a cruel smile… only to stop as a rather upbeat song began to play. She frowned. "One second I have to take this…" she noted, pulling a com from… somewhere on her person.
"Lacroix Lacine. You buy, they die, or I can make you 'sigh'." She said cheerfully, adding a rather sultry sigh at the end, "…Oh!" she suddenly looked surprise, "Well… I can't say it's not a pleasure I-… yes I heard that Blackjaw was killed, this is just so sudden." She stood still for a moment and smiled sweetly, "Well I am flattered! I'll take the job!" she then eyed Grack for a moment and shrugged, "Alright then, fair enough… I'll see you soon." Tossing the blaster far away she waved us off. "Okay. You can have him. I got a better offer, and I can't very well kill a man my new boss wants to talk to." She noted, then blowing us a kiss she grinned "See you around Red. I LOVE that color…"
She seemed to vanish back towards the party and I shook my head, "…What is it about my hair?" I mumbled.
"It's a nice color." Killa said rather admittedly, lifting Grack from the ground and flinching, "Ugh… did you wet yourself? You smell like piss."
I scratched my head, watching her curiously the last trace of 'Lacroix' blending into the crowd… then my blood went cold again. The blue-skinned twi'lek sith suddenly appeared from the crowd and as if she heard us from so far away turned towards me as Killa vanished into the forest towards our hidden ship…
Her eyes, glowing with a golden yellow light suddenly widened… and, unnervingly, she smiled. As if she was utterly thrilled to see me. In fact… now that I looked at her, even from this distance. She looked so familiar…
The com buzzed so hard in my pocket it seemed to be tearing a hole I quickly turned away from the sith and walked quickly into the woods, as I looked.
"FUCKING RUN!" it said, and I quickly sped up, grabbing Killa and dragging her and Grack along as we quickly reached the ship and a sense of dread ran down my spine.
"RATTLETRAP GET IT UP!" I shouted he blinked at me confused, "NOW!" I shouted desperately as the ramp closed behind us and he dashed to the cockpit.
"Getting it up!" he said, and even with the serious tone in my voice he couldn't help but laugh at the phrasing as the ship rose and flickered into view, quickly hyper-jumping to Nal Hutta.
End of Chapter
Bonus
I hummed melodiously to myself as I watched the old junker ship rise from the forest and speed away… it was as if he didn't want to stay and introduce himself! Oh well… another time.
"Malisis." Whisper said suddenly, trying his little tricks again with my mind as he grabbed my arm. "The Kane woman was asking questions about our progress. What should I tell her?"
"Well tell her the truth. It's coming along fine…" I said, humming still as Kaath-Tyi silently argued with the 'Voices'. She really needed to just loosen up. "Not everything has to be a 'manipulation' Whisper."
"And the Moff wanted to know about Grack." Whisper said… in a whisper. I inwardly giggled.
But I merely smiled at him, "Well… I'll deal with it accordingly." I told him with a chuckle, "If you want someone killed right…" I began, and checking my com I found the credits for the assassination contract returned with interest and an apology. "Kill them yourself." Then added annoyingly, "We should've learned that from Silent and Scream." Whisper scowled at the jab.
…Such fun names the 'Voices' had!
End
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone