The Wall, A Crimelord, A New Face
Chapter III | Episode IX | 7/7/2017
The three Savrips snarled viciously at the crew of the Sovereign, enraged at the death of their fellow Savrip.
Seeing this as the prime opportunity to field test his latest experiment, Rath loaded his gun with a magnetic cartridge and fired. Unfortunately the prototype still had some bugs to work out, as the force of the shot knocked the Chiss backwards into a sharp heap of junk metal. Meanwhile the magnetic goo flew wild, picking up every loose piece of metal along its path, but missing the targeted savrip completely.
Deciding to take a safer approach, Twil and Idozzi shot their blasters from a safe distance, killing off one of the three.
Zanroy, on the other hand, was consumed with the thought of battle, and eager to get into the fray. Without a second thought, he grabbed the corrupted lightsaber hanging from Twil’s belt, and leaped off the ground. As he flew through the air, he ignited the lightsaber with just enough time to slice off the head of the second Savrip while landing.
Enraged, the third Savrip rushed the closest one he could see, Rath. Completely caught off guard, Rath had no way of moving before the Savrip lunged at him. Jaws open wide, the Savrip dug through Rath’s armor with his teeth, piercing his flesh.
Rath let out a cry of intense pain as he forced the Savrip off of him, stumbling backwards. In a daze from the pain, he missed his second shot, the acidic goo landing on the ground nearby, creating a deadly crater of melted scrap.
“This is really not my day.” Rath thought to himself, infuriated with all that had happened, as he saw Twil and Idozzi taking care of the final Savrip for him.
With the threat finally eliminated, the crew had a moment to breath. While three held back, Zanroy went ahead to scout.
“Twil, med kit.” Rath demanded, putting pressure on the large bite marks.
Twil rushed over to the Chiss, handing him the medical supplies, and Rath quickly went to work, grateful for the technological advances this galaxy had made in medicine. In a matter of minutes, his wounds had completely healed.
It was at about that time that the three heard a very loud roar, much louder than the ones the earlier Savrips had made. Realizing Zanroy must be in trouble, the three rushed through the canyon, to where Zanroy had headed off to. As they rounded the corner, they saw a gigantic Savrip being dropkicked off of a very high pile of debris, by Zanroy.
Unsure what else might be up there, the three knew that they had to deal with the hulking behemoth before them. They took aim, but not enough damage was done to keep the thing down. As the huge Savrip got to his feet, he spotted Rath first. Furious and confused, the creature hurled the giant, bladed club he was wielding, directly at the Chiss. The bladed club tore through armor and flesh alike, lodging itself firmly into Rath’s chest, somehow missing any vital organ.
“Are you kriffing serious?!” Rath yelled out to no one in particular as pain coursed through his body. Beyond angry at this point, Rath tore the club from his flesh, ignoring the pain, he took aim once more, letting loose a powerful shot of magnetic goo. The grey substance flew through the air at tremendous speed, picking up hundreds of small, sharp pieces of shrapnel and debris. The shot landed directly onto the face of the giant Savrip, instantaneously entangling, blinding, and burning the creature. Less than a second later, the flying shrapnel hit, piercing the Savrip in hundreds of places, with enough force to knock the creature down. Rath let a cruel smile form under his helmet as he saw the destructive power his new creation was capable of, finally working as intended.
As the giant savrip squirmed on the ground, desperate to get back to his feet, Zanroy came crashing down, lightsaber held downwards, as he plunged the blade directly through the behemoth’s skull. Without taking even a second, Zanroy once again, jumped up the heap of scrap, and the three heard a loud blaster shot, accompanied by what sounded like another Savrip’s screams, cut short by a fleshy explosion.
With the second threat eliminated, Twil tended to Rath’s wounds, injecting him with multiple stimpacks. “Way to go buddy! The magnets worked!” Twil exclaimed, happily.
“Yes. They did.” Rath replied, deep in thought, massaging the now healed wounded areas of his chest. “Let’s get going.”
The four then made their way through the junk heap canyon with no resistance. If there had been any more Savrips, they were long gone now. Eventually the crew arrived to what they thought was the end of the canyon. However, they were met by a small ten foot tall wall of scrap.
Zanroy, using the Force, easily leapt to the top. “I can see Rusty reach from here.” He announced to the others.
The three then made their attempts to climb. Much like a certain bridge, years ago, this simple task proved much more problematic than it should have been. Both Rath and Idozzi attempted to climb the debris, but could not get solid footing, as the scrap just continually shifted and crumbled under their weight.
Having an idea, Rath used his adhesive cartridges to create small foot holds up the wall.
Using this, Twil was able to climb up, grabbing Zanroy’s outstretched hand to assist in him getting to the top.
Rath then made his second attempt, this time remembering the intelligent mechanical arms he had in his backpack. Using the second set of limbs, Rath easily flew up the wall, not needing any assistance, or to even use his actual limbs.
Attempting to use the same route Twil had, Idozzi attempted to climb, once again. And once again, she lost her footing, falling flat on the scrap covered ground.
It was around the third or fourth attempt that Twil had finally remembered something, “Oh yeah! I bought a bunch of rope after that bridge incident!” He exclaimed, producing one hundred feet of rope from his backpack. Zanroy, Rath, and Idozzi just stared at him, exasperated.
With the rope lowered, Idozzi was finally able to climb up the short wall without further incident.
Finally, the crew arrived at Rusty Reach. It was a looming fortress in the middle of the barren junkyard. As they approached, however, alarms started blaring, and a booming loudspeaker voice said, “Not another step! State your business!”
Twil spoke up, “Sure! Hey, we’re here to deliver a package, from Ilo Vandin.”
“Oh, right!” The voice replied.
The doors to the fortress then slowly opened, revealing a large Houk approaching, while kicking a slave, for what seemed like just because he could.
“Well, let’s see it.” The houk demanded.
“Yeah…” Twil replied, eyeing the poor slave woman on the ground, while handing over the package.
The Houk eagerly tore the package open, revealing it to contain some sort of spice.
Rath rolled his eyes at the sight of the Houk greedily gobbling the spice up. “All that effort, for a damn spice run.” He thought to himself annoyed at the thought of almost dying just to get some junkie his next fix.
“So, are we done here?” Twil asked, still eyeing the slave.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll tell Ilo you’re good.” The houk replied, licking specks of spice from his hands.
It was then that Rath noticed the subtle change in Twil’s demeanor. He could tell that he was either attempting something or going to attempt something with the slave woman. He then quietly remarked to him, “Don’t. We’ve got a job to do. We don’t have time for this. She’s a slave; there are millions in this galaxy. You can’t free them all.”
Twil then nodded with resignation, and the four left the fortress without incident, the doors closing behind them. As the four made their way back through the junkyard, they came across the two savrips from earlier. They had clearly won the battle against the two junkers and were feasting on the two humans’ remains. No one seemed to care. As long as those creatures were preoccupied, it meant that they wouldn’t be interested in them. Finally, they got back to the speeder, and headed back to the town of Worlport.
Once back into town, the crew headed for the noodle joint that their taxi driver had recommended earlier, “Wajick’s Woodles.”
As the exhausted crew arrived, Twil did his usual sweet talking to the Wookie proprietor, Wajick. It wasn’t long before Wajick had Twil in a giant Wookie hug, and the two were chatting like old friends.
While the others were devouring their much needed meal, Wajick pulled Twil aside to talk privately, “You know, Captain Twil, I really like you. And I’d like to set you up with someone I know, I think you two would really hit it off.” The Wookie then produced a small holo-image of a female Zeltron.
Twil’s eyes grew wide at the site and exclaimed, “Wajick! I haven’t seen another Zeltron in years! I would love to meet her!”
The Wookie let out a laugh, saying, “Sure thing, captain. I’ll send you the coordinates tonight.”
With their meals finished, the crew left the noodle shop, and got back into the speeder.
“If you’re going to go see Ilo, you’d best leave your weapons at the ship.” Rath reminded Twil.
“Oh that’s right, guess we’d better make a stop there.” Twil replied.
“Just as well, I won’t be going back to that creep. I’ve nothing to say to him, and I need rest.” Rath said, instinctively reaching for the recently healed over wounds on his shoulder.
The crew quickly dropped off their weapons and headed out, leaving Rath alone in the ship. It was then that he realized that he didn’t see Vex anywhere. He began to search the ship. Arriving in the hot tub room, he was greeted with a most disturbing scene. The light show was set to a soft mood, while slow music was playing, and there in the tub, was “Mr. Security,” half naked, and caressing Vex’s chassis, his limbs having been removed.
Beyond disturbed and well past the point of caring, Rath spoke up, “Okay, I have no idea what this is, but you need to leave. Now.”
The Trandoshan completely ignored him, as he continued to caress Vex.
“You asked for it.” Rath muttered under his voice. He then sent a private comm to R5 over his implant.
The droid rushed into the room, stuck his electrical pod into the hot tub water, and activated it, giving the Trandoshan quite the shock.
The Trandoshan jumped up and looked at Rath, “What are you trying to do, kill me?!”
“Twil’s agreement was that you could spend some time with the droid. You were not allowed on the ship. You were not given permission to do… whatever this is. Get out. Now.” Rath demanded again, well past his limit of patience.
The Trandoshan stuttered, trying to find words, before grabbing his clothes off the floor and running out of the ship.
Rath promptly locked the ship down tight the second the Trandoshan was clear of the boarding ramp. He then went to reassemble Vex. “Are you alright?” He asked the droid.
Vex responded slightly confused, “Why, I’ve never felt better, Master!”
Rath stared at Vex for a moment, “Yeah, okay, sure.”
Rath was exhausted, and had more important matters to attend to, such as mending and cleaning his armor, and washing off the rust, sweat, and blood that had been clinging to him most of the day. And after he drained, cleaned, and refilled the hot tub, he finally got in, enjoying an incredibly relaxing dip.
“Not the worst idea Twil ever had.” He mused to himself as the hot water soaked his tired body, “Ludicrous, but not bad…”
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew had arrived at the Jewel District once more. As they approached Ilo Vandin’s office, though, they could hear an argument from within.
“I’m just here to pick up a package!” A gruff voice yelled.
“Well, you aren’t getting it.” Ilo responded, “And when Kaltho asks, I’ll just tell him you stole it!”
Twil and company then entered, to see Ilo Vandin arguing with a burly Klatooinian who was being restrained by two armed guards.
“Ah, captain Twil!” Ilo greeted them, “Come in. I was just finishing up a bit of business.”
“Right.” Twil replied, “So, we delivered your package as requested.”
“Yes, I was informed.” Ilo replied, “Which means you can now leave.”
“Wait, what?” Twil asked.
“Our business is concluded Captain. You can now leave my home.” Ilo replied with a little more force behind his voice.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, we did what you asked; now you owe us information.”
“I owe you nothing, Captain.”
“Do you want me to spread the word that you’re not good for business, Ilo?” Twil threatened him.
“Oh, but I am good for business, Captain, you delivered it for me. Now leave my home. We’ve nothing more to discuss.”
Fed up, Twil decided to make use of his own newfound Force abilities. Using the Force, Twil penetrated the Herglic’s mind. He could tell that Ilo thought he was on a roll, he had already successfully weaseled his way out of the deal with the Klatooinian, and now he was trying to do it with them as well.
Twil wouldn’t give up nearly so easily, though. Using the Force, Twil altered Ilo’s mind, convincing him that he wanted to tell Twil the information Twil sought. Twil knew this trick wouldn’t last forever, so he acted quickly.
“Okay Ilo, let’s try this again. I delivered your package, now you tell me how to find the Queen.”
The Herglic’s expression changed momentarily, before responding, “You’re a tough one, Captain. Very well, let’s make another deal. You do one more small favor for me, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Fine, what is it?” Twil replied.
“I need this thing disposed of.” Ilo said, gesturing to the Klatooinian, “I was going to do it, but I don’t want to have to deal with the mess.”
“Done.” Twil said, “Once I’m done on this planet, I’ll space him.”
The Herglic laughed, “Excellent, Captain. Very well, to find the Queen is quite simple. Find her heart.”
Twil’s look of confusion was all the response he gave.
“The Queen has a lover, Michael Torval.” Ilo expanded, “If you find him, he will lead you to her. But I would act quickly; rumor has it that the Queen plans to have him assassinated tonight at the big fight held at the arena. All the movers and shakers of Ord Mantell will be there, and Torval will certainly be among them.”
“I see. Thank you, Ilo, you’re a good businessman.”
Ilo said his goodbyes, as he left the office, along with his guards.
The three then looked at the Klatooinian, “Zanroy, cuff him.”
Within the blink of an eye, Zanroy had his cuffs out, and restrained the Klatooinian before he could react.
“Now wait a second here.” The Klatooinian began to protest.
“Shut up.” Twil said forcefully, “You’re coming with us, and I don’t want to hear a word from you until we get back to the ship.”
The Klatooinian was silent in his response.
As the four exited the Jewel District, they hailed another taxi. This one was driven by a Nautolan. When the driver saw the four, however, he started to protest. “Okay, this seems like a bad joke, what’s with the guy in the cuffs? I’m not taking you people anywhere, I don’t want trouble.”
“It’s fine.” Twil insisted, “He wants them on.”
Getting the hint, the Klatooinian responded, “Yeah! They’re a… fashion statement.”
The Nautolan eyed the group suspiciously, “Fine, whatever. I don’t want any trouble, and I’m charging you extra.”
“Works for me. No questions.” Twil agreed.
As the four got into the cab, Twil got a message from Rath reminding him to pick up some music for R5. “Oh yeah, driver, before we head to the spaceport, I need to stop by a music store.”
“What?” The driver replied.
“Ah, ah, no questions.” Twil reminded him.
The driver shook his head, but proceeded to a nearby music store.
Twil exited the cab, and looked up at the shop, noticing the giant jizz instrument over the doors. As he entered he was greeted with the most bored looking Zabrak he had ever seen. “Hey there! I’m looking for a few good records. Some disco, and romance genres specifically.”
The zabrak looked up at Twil, and just gestured behind him, “We’re a music store, we got music, go look.”
A bit annoyed, Twil decided to not bother with the clerk, and found three records. As he brought them up to the clerk to purchase them, the Zabrak said, “Where’d you learn taste?” Genuinely surprised by Twil’s excellent selection.
“Are you kidding me?” Twil replied, “I’m a Zeltron. This is what we do.” Without another word, Twil paid for the music, and got back into the taxi.
As the driver approached the spaceport, he happily let the four leave, not wanting anything more to do with the bizarre clients, he drove off.
Twil and company then boarded the ship. Twil led the Klatooinian to the kitchen and said, “Take a seat, I’ll be back shortly.” Before he could let him respond, Twil was gone, off to find Rath.
The two exchanged information about what had happened. And Twil asked Rath to give Vex a thorough scan, ensuring the Trandoshan didn’t screw anything up. While Rath was doing that, Twil would interrogate their new “guest.”
As he re-entered the kitchen, he began by saying, “Okay, first of all, you’re going to answer some questions. You do or say anything I don’t like, you’ll be in a world of hurt.”
The Klatooinian scoffed, “Are you kidding me? You’re teeny tiny. You couldn’t hurt me if you tried.”
Using the Force, Twil began to pressure the Klatooinian’s mind, causing a great deal of distress.
“What the heck was that?!”
“I don’t need to be big, in order to hurt you. Got it?” Twil asked, menacingly.
The Klatooinian slumped into the chair, deciding not to argue further.
“Now, what were you doing with Ilo Vandin?”
“I was just there for a pick up job. But Ilo refused to give me the package.”
“What were you picking up?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who were you picking it up for?”
“For my boss, Kaltho the Hutt.”
This immediately sparked something in Twil’s mind. He remembered Kaltho. He was the Hutt on Cloud City that technically won the auction for the Jewel of Yavin. “You work for Kaltho?”
“Well, I’ve been a slave for Kaltho all my life.” The Klatooinian replied, “Usually he just has me rough people up. I’m good with a gun. He ain’t never sent me on a pick up job before.”
“I see.” Twil replied, “What’s your name?”
The Klatooinian grunted before responding, “Baruda. Baruda Ogrokk.”
“Okay, Baruda.” Twil began, “Here’s how I see it. We have a few options here. One, I could just keep my word to Ilo, and space you the second we leave atmo. Or, you could leave, and go back to being Kaltho’s dog. Or… you could come work for me. I recently lost a body guard and am in need of a replacement. And you claim your good with a gun.”
“Sure am. Ol’ Mama Bear and I have been through a lot.” Baruda said, eyeing the light repeating blaster that had been taken from him, sitting on the kitchen counter. “Can I have my gun back?”
“That depends on your decision.” Twil said.
Baruda let out a grunt, “Do you always talk this much?”
Just then the entire crew, whether in person or over comms, answered the question in a cacophony of “yes’s.”
“Hmm, freedom from Kaltho, huh?” Baruda mused, “Sure, you got yourself a deal, I’ll work for you.”
“Okay, but understand one thing. Everyone on this ship, even the droids, is here because they want to be. We’re a family. And I don’t take threats to my family very kindly. So you make sure that gun of yours is never pointed at anyone on this ship. Otherwise the pain you felt earlier will be just a fraction of what I will do to you, should you cross us.”
Finally free of his restraints, Baruda picked up the huge gun and said, “Ah don’t worry. I’ll make sure Mama Bear won’t bite any of your crew.”
Just then, Vex walked in, “Master, would you like me to take the creature to the hold?”
“No Vex.” Twil replied, “Baruda here is now a part of our crew. He’s not a creature; he’s a free sentient being, like the rest of us.”
Vex gave a look of confusion.
“That’s right.” Baruda replied proudly, “I’m a free sentient being.”
Twil gave Baruda a tour of the ship explaining the many perks the Sovereign had, introducing him to the crew. While doing so, Baruda made the mistake of calling R5 a “garbage can.”
R5 responded in turn by giving Baruda a nice strong jolt from his electrical prod.
Once the tour was finished, Twil left Baruda in his new quarters, and met up with Rath in the cockpit.
“Draven’s been gone for how long, and you already picked up a new stray pet?” Rath greeted Twil as he entered the cockpit.
“We need more firepower on our side.” Twil responded.
Rath let out a sigh, “You’re too trusting Twil. Luckily this latest acquisition seems to be less bright than a Kowakian Monkey Lizard. So I doubt he’ll prove to be any direct threat. Of course, when Kaltho finds out you stole his slave, well, that’ll be another story.”
Not wanting to get into an argument, Twil changed the subject, “Were you able to crack the data chip Ilo gave us?”
“Easily.” Rath replied, bored. He then played the recording.
There were two female voices, one was obviously the Queen. The two were discussing at length their plans to kill the Queen’s current lover, the second she was “done with him.”
“Well, there’s your proof.” Rath said drily. “We find this Michael Torval, show him this recording, and with a little Twil charm, he’s sure to spill everything he knows about the Queen.”
“Do you know anything about Torval?” Twil asked.
“Not much. He’s a high roller Sabacc player. If he’s going to watch the fights, he’ll most likely be in a VIP luxury box. How we get you in there, well, that’ll be a whole different story…”
