บท 58: Blackjaw and Cub
I don't own star wars
I am the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy. And if you say, 'for the next five years' I'll pump you full of blaster fire. Like the last idiot dumb enough to tell me that, or the idiot who told me that Aiden Kane beat me, and I lost on a technicality or the idiot who told me I can't just kill people who piss me off in a bar… I can. I did. And I'm good at it…
I'm Blackjaw-fucking-Gryst. The greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy.
"What about Ozjin Knights?"
Baring my teeth at the offender I aimed my double-barrel blaster on him. But he was smart enough to leave the bar before I could expose his insides to the air. I sniffed indignantly and looking at my empty tankard I roared to the bar man, "Give me another!" after a quick refill, there was a new occupant.
I could tell he was one of these humans who have never worked a day in their life. A rich man, a fool who couldn't tell one end of a blaster from another. He didn't belong in a bar like this on Nar Shaddaa… He was flanked by two tough-looking soldier types. Troopers maybe, or well-supplied muscle… I could take them.
The rich man, in his greybeard twilight years, although you couldn't really tell with humans. He scanned the bar for a moment before settling on me. He approached quickly, with a sort of desperation you could only find in those out of their element. I wondered if he was about to offer me work. His hands slapped the table, his escorts right behind him. "Are you Blackjaw Gryst?"
I looked him up and down, I suppose it's been awhile since I've taken an actual job. Since my win and selling the ship to Torga I've been taking a break and telling my tales. "I am." I snarled at him, "You got a problem with me?"
"I want to hire you. I'm told you're an exceptional tracker…" he dropped a stack of credits. "I want you to find my daughter Samai. She's missing." He showed me a holo-picture of a younger human, "She has been for weeks."
I sniffed indignantly, memorizing her features. "Where did you lose her?"
"She and a few of her friends came here for a good time, to celebrate her graduating from the academy." I blinked at him, that was not a good sign. "She wandered into an entertainment district and now I can't locate her. And her friends are unreachable as well."
I took the picture, examining her features once more. She was young, pretty for a human; not my taste, however… I scowled again, letting my claws rub the holo-display. "…How many friends? What were their genders?"
"Three boys. Two other girls." He replied immediately, "I have a group photo…" he tapped the display to show a collection of young cadets in formation, "These are them." He circled five others, all human.
"And they're all missing?" I stared at him, "Do you know what district?"
"As a matter of fact, somewhere in district F, the lower slums." He said, and I grimaced. That was not a good place for young smoothskins like them. It used to be Tuuba's old territory and now a new class of scum wandered around it. It didn't change a thing.
"That's not a good district for them to be wandering…" I said, glaring at him. I needed him to understand what he was asking me will not make him feel better.
He returned my look, "Level with me…" he said, looking around the bar and taking me aside, trying to get as few ears listening in as possible. "…What are the chances you find my daughter?"
"High." I told him flatly, firmly, and with a great deal of confidence. He smiled at that, I decided to let him down easy. "…Its alive or intact that is the problem."
"…Is… is it that bad?" he asked hesitantly, unsure of if he wanted to know the answer.
"Have you ever heard of a place called the Iron Maiden?" I replied simply, placing my rifle in the magnetic holster on my back and continuing to examine the picture.
"No." he replied bluntly, "I am not a native to Nar Shaddaa…"
I stared at him, "…Then I won't regale you with the stories. I will find your daughter, and her friends I assure you of that." I said, pocketing the device, "…The question is however what I do when I do."
He seemed to pull himself up at that, "What do you mean?" he asked. I don't know whether he was delusional or hopeful. I decided to just give it to him straight.
"They were last seen in the lower slums of district F. Odds are they're enslaved, drugged up, or dead." He visibly shivered, but I pressed on. "…Would you like me to bring back the bodies? Kill the ones responsible? Or simply report."
He was silent, staring at me wide-eyed as if he couldn't believe what I was saying. But after a moment of long silence and his tension dissipating, he said very firmly. "…All of it. If my daughter and her friends are alive I want them back of course… but if, if the worst has happened…" his fists clenched, "…I want the ones responsible brought to justice… and whether that justice is the courts or your rifle, I do not care."
The Scorekeeper will. And that's all that mattered to me… I smiled at him. "…Consider it done. We'll discuss payment on my return. Where can I locate you?"
"My contact information is on that device." He replied, pointing to the holo-display, "Just locate it when you're done." I nodded and pocket the device, grinning as I left. And unnerving many who saw my face.
When you know where to look, who to talk to, and who to kill you can find anything on Nar Shaddaa… and district F was the sort of place you could find a lot. Flesh, black market goods, more flesh but on the taboo side… the lower you went the slimier it got. In more ways than one.
I needed to find me a rat… here we go.
I found the sketchiest-looking Ugnought in the lower levels, the kind of rat that nobody notices unless you're looking for them. I showed him the picture and asked if he seen the girl or her friends. He said he couldn't remember but I could help him with that... so I did.
"F-fuck!!" the ugnought squealed as I held him over the railing, "W-wait I-I remember now!" he shouted desperately, staring down into the abyss that was the depths of Nar-Shaddaa. "I saw one of the guys walk into Shadow Moon brothel!" he shouted, desperately trying to reach the railing in case I decided to drop him regardless. "H-he was looking for a good time!"
"Don't care…" I said, letting him feel my grip loosen, "The girl. Did you see her?" I said, holding the display of my target, "Samai, I'm looking for her."
"I-I didn't see any girls…" he said nervously, "Please I told you what I saw! Check the Shadow Moon! Maybe he's still there! People go into the Moon and don't come out for a week!" I pulled him back over the railing and tossed him into a nearby wall, tossing a small credit chip at him for his trouble and made my way toward the Shadow Moon.
You can find a strip club or flesh pit on Nar Shaddaa literally every other building. They all varied, and were run differently but flesh was flesh… girls dancing topless on stages with poles, girls fawning over stoned out or drugged-up patrons. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion… my nose detected a small cocktail of chemical dopamine in the air… keep the patrons happy, I imagine most of the girls had olfactory blockers to keep them cognitive.
I looked around… and grinned, checking the display and the target I made my way through. He was occupying himself with a couple of twi'leks and humans. So, I imagine he was less than pleased to find such a fine example of Trandoshan might pull him from his fun. "What the fuck man!" he feebly resisted, he was too drugged up to put up any sort of decent fight.
I held up the picture of Samai, "Where is she?" I asked, firmly, shaking him bodily in my fist as I got him focus. "Hey! Where is she!?"
"W-what? Samai? I don't know man…" he mumbled, I dropped him to his feet and slugged him. He went head over heels over the couch, making the girls shriek in fear and scatter as the rest of the bars attention was narrowed on us.
"I'll try again." I said simply, pulling my rifle and pressing it between his legs as he whimpered at the seriousness of my questioning. "Where is Samai?"
Apparently, they had separated because some among their number were smart. After calling the idiot a cab and sending him back home. I made my way upwards, closer to the 'normalcy' of the upper floors. Asking around up there wasn't as lucrative, so I decided to ask for directions…
"FUCK!!!" the weequay screamed as I stomped onto his back, gripping his arm as I applied adequate pressure. "The girl, her name is Samai…" I hissed, pulling my rifle and blasting his braver friend in the chest as he tried to draw his blaster. "Have you seen her?"
"SCREW YOU YOU LIZARD FUCK!" he roared defiantly. I broke his arm. His screams were funny…
"I'm in no mood right now." I growled, moving on and grabbing his leg, "Have you seen the girl?" I asked again, showing him the picture.
"Fucking damn it!!" he whimpered pitifully…
"Fine." I broke his leg and left him crying on the ground as I went to ask for more directions.
"Fucking shit! you're crazy!!" the twi'lek male whimpered as I held him over the railing. This was apparently more effective than breaking limbs. "I don't know anything!!"
"Then I'll try someone else…" I said, about to release him.
"W-wait! Wait…" he mumbled defeated feeling my grip loosen, "…I did see her… at least I saw her friend." He pointed desperately to another of the girls. "…There's a place… two levels down…" I frowned at that, gripping his ankle tightly. "It's the kind of place nobody talks about, but the right people know about… you put in a 'request', and they get it for you… I met with that one." …I didn't like the implication of that.
"Where exactly?" I asked coolly.
"There's a green door… usually has a matching Twi'lek guard out front. But you can only get in with a password."
"I'll make do…" then, smiling at him and said rather coldly. "Race you there…"
"Wait WHAT!?" I gave him a head start over the railing. And soon his screams echoed away into the noise of Nar Shaddaa. I guess he beat me. There was only one good thing about the lower levels. The lower you went the farther away the patrols were, and my options opened up significantly.
The smell was the worst part, cleaner droids came down this low maybe once a month and usually, they didn't return. A few of the refuse begged or pleaded for credits, but one look at them and you'd realize your charity would be in vain. Only the addicts populated the streets, and your kindness would be wasted. I found the green door guarded by a matching colored twi'lek, it was by far the cleanest of areas. I drew my rifle, and decided to knock…
Using the twi'lek's head I knocked hard and violently, painting the door red and grey with his blood and brain as the blaster fire erupted into the room. Thugs drew blasters for the last time in their lives as the drugged-up 'employees' lay blissfully unaware of the violence happening around them.
…Strangely I was reminded of Aiden Kane from the smell…
And now… now I cut loose. As I said, the lower levels were far away from patrols, and no patrols, meant full auto. No one cared about the victims in here, not even me, but nobody was going to give a shit about a bunch of dead scumbags… my score was going to rise significantly. And I started counting once my blaster peppered a weequay.
After the smoke cleared and the bodies dropped, I began checking those around me, what clients that were left lay still as I looked them over. Old men and perverts of the worse kind occupied the bar… honestly some sentients just couldn't keep it in their pants. I found one of the girls I was looking for… she was in one of the back rooms, arms tied to the posts of the bed and in the middle of 'entertaining' a twi'lek, when he rebuffed my warning I painted the wall with his insides and freed the girl, she was far too high to resist anything, so I left her in the room for now as I went searching for the others…
I found the two other boys… they were in less than favorable positioning, but they were alive… and their partners were now in no condition to do anything else… I found the second girl in awful condition, she had been tortured whipped, and sliced… but again still breathing. I patched her up as best as I could, but she was going to need kolto as soon as possible.
…I found Samai… She had numerous needle marks in her arm, and half a dozen red X patches slapped onto her body… it was a miracle she was still breathing, I'll give it that… she was apparently popular. I wrapped her body in a clean sheet. And thoroughly disposed of her current client… but I needed more now. I needed to find the one responsible. Because as far as I could tell she was as good as dead… it would take another miracle to get her back to normal…
I worked my way into the way back, into a darker seeder part of the building. I had politely asked one of the guards where his boss was. And I returned the favor by not blasting off his other kneecap. The boss, a blue skinned twi'lek male had a fondness for 'younger women'… I had a fondness for shooting pedophiles… we had a lot to talk about…
But as I made my way through the last of the guards, the ones paid enough or brave enough to stand and face me I kicked the final door open and… was promptly disappointed… Someone had beaten me to the punch… the boss I can only assume was lying in the bed, naked, and with several gaping holes in his body that bled profusely onto the already dirty sheets. And a thick strip of sheet that had been used to strangle him, his face an odd purple color that certainly wasn't natural for his skin.
I sniffed the air… someone was still in here… I quickly and slowly moved around the room, and then picked the obvious choice and looked under the bed. A pair of cold bright green eyes stared back at me before shimming out from under the bed and holding a large sliver of bloodied pointed wood at me.
She couldn't have been more than 7… a young emerald green twi'lek girl. Covered in blood and had a look in her eyes that belied her age. She had seen darkness, evil, and monsters… and she fucking killed it.
I briefly looked at the bed and the weapon in her hand and made the connection. I don't know how I felt about that. The little brat took my kill… she stood her ground with the bed between us, holding the piece of wood like a sword before her as she stood before me in threadbare bloodied rags… this was no ordinary brat… men three times her age armed with blasters didn't show this short of courage. That sort of instinct… there was no other word for it. Special. Watching her intently, I holstered my rifle.
…And I held out my hand to her palm up…
She stared at me for a moment, looking between my eyes and my hand. Then tried to stab my palm, the wood shattered on my scales, but I held it firm. I wasn't a threat. And she needed to know that… after a moment, staring at her destroyed weapon she turned back to me… and hesitantly took my hand.
My client was less than satisfied with the result… but he was grateful to have her back, and thrilled to know that the ones responsible were no longer breathing. I had been paid in full. And I had a bonus…
I watched the little brat on my ship devour my food as if she hadn't eaten a day in her life. She was an animal, she was primal… she was perfect… My ship, the Dragon's Eye wasn't mechanically superior to the Gathering's prize ship, but it had something the prize ship didn't have… years of score marks. Every point I've ever made to the scorekeeper was tallied on the walls of my ship. Painted on with a ritual mixture of paint and my blood…
Now there was a new tally on the wall. A bright green one just for her. I saw something in her… she had the spirit of a warrior, a survivor, a hunter. I'm not sentimental, or merciful… but this girl will be something amazing one day… and if I can get her there that's a tally all on its own…
All she needed now was a name… I'll keep calling her Brat for now… I'm sure something will come to me in time. Or she will think of a name for herself to tell me, but she will need one eventually to attach her eventual fame too… I had a gift for noticing such things.
She just devoured and entire bantha leg in under a minute… Killa, I'll call her Killa.
End of Chapter.
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