Lightside Sith 038

After obtaining the tools necessary to break into Grakkus the Hutt's lair, Kaine now needed a man on the inside, so to speak. Or, at the very least, a means of entry that wasn't through the front door. 

Whilst it was very much in line with Sith philosophy to blow down the front door, consequences be damned, he, unfortunately, wasn't strong enough yet to embark on such a life threatening maneuver. In fact, he quite enjoyed life! 

Therefore, he had approached his companions, asking them if they knew an information broker who might have intel on Grakkus's base. In a stroke of luck, his newest furry companion happened to have just the spy in mind. 

Journeying towards the Refugee Sector, a ‘temporary’ shelter dating back to the Old Republic days, this squalid camp proved that there wasn't anything more permanent than a so-called temporary measure. All those in this district were depressed people who were either out of work, shooting up spice, mentally unstable, or simply out of their luck losing it all on this nightmare of scum & villainy known as Nar Shaddaa. 

And there were multiple Refugee Sectors across this planet. There had to be to accommodate the bottom rung of society that were consumed, then spat out on this moon of over a trillion residents. Fetid waste & mystery liquid leaked from pipes up above, and the skyline was nothing more than artificial advertisements, and passing hover cars. The air was foul, and the area was so packed with filthy, putrid smelling people, it made one sick. 

Along the way to find this Bothan, Kaine had broken up several robberies, two rapes, an attempted murder, and even one skirmish between a pair of families fighting over a smooshed loaf of bread. The sheer amount of tragedy was awe inspiring, and Kaine could sort of understand why the Jedi were barely active here. Any random good deed felt about as useful to society as pissing in the wind. 

…at the very least, it was good for his LP! He'd already netted about 100 points, and that was after a half hour's casual stroll! He could very well foresee Nar Shaddaa as being one of his primary grinding spots in the future. 

Following Krrsantan was pretty cool too, as one look at his ugly mug, and the sea of people thicker than a dozen Tokyo's stacked on top of one another parted like the Red Sea. For his part, Kaine chose to wear a mask with a filter on it, and kept all of his valuables in his inventory. 

Eventually finding their mark, they approached a fortified apartment complex sandwiched between a spice den, and an establishment advertising ‘genuine’ Corellian companionship. 

Arriving in front of a reinforced door, three cameras, two concealed blaster ports, and a thermal scanner were waiting for them. 

As Kaine stopped to ring a bell, Krrsantan rumbled beside him. Kaine glanced up at the enormous black-furred Wookiee raising an eyebrow. 

"No need to be concerned, my friend. The Force is with me.” Kaine grinned. 

Krrsantan made another low series of growls, as if to say ‘no, that isn't what I said at all!!!’ 

Kaine frowned, and tsked, shaking his head. 

"That seems unnecessarily dramatic."

Krrsantan clenched and unclenched his fists as if he were going to strangle the red-skinned menace, ultimately facing forward with a stiff upper lip. 

"Yes, yes I realize he cheated you. I am quite irate about this whole affair myself. However, this information is required to fulfill a commission from the Hutt leaders, who have made us an offer we cannot refuse.” Kaine sighed. 

Although he loved to stir up trouble, and valued this connection to the long lived slugs, that didn't mean he was a danger seeking madman. He got his thrills out of teasing impetuous senators, and prissy Chosen Ones, not infiltrating the gruesome lairs of some Hutt scum. Where were the Lightside points in some elimination mission? Tch. 

A longer growl followed, alongside a murderous gleam of the eye. 

Kaine's brows rose, and he shook his head in disbelief. 

"He cheated you twice?"

Krrsantan bared his teeth, not wanting to acknowledge this fact. 

"That does change things. The fact this Bothan still has arms is quite the miracle…” Kaine muttered, glancing at the big-ass cyborg Wookiee somewhat surprised. Just what kind of dirt or defenses, or intel did this guy have that even this vengeful beast wouldn't rip his head from his spine? 

Meanwhile, Krrsantan faced away from the boy Sith, unwilling to reveal his embarrassment. The fact that Renstar could now understand him had initially disturbed the Wookiee considerably. That red-skin had acquired Shyriiwook with an irritating speed that had him question reality. Krrsantan had once killed a Jedi before, so he knew how tricky they could be as opponents…but never in his several centuries of life had he imagined owing a Life Debt to a creature so vexxing! 

Worst of all, Krrsantan could no longer complain about Renstar directly in front of him without the welp noticing. Krrsantan had taken this as a personal attack, and was just waiting to jump forward, and save Renstar's frail form. The first thing he would do upon the resolution of this debt would be a Wookiee wrist burn, and then…

"Ahem, try not to kill him." Kaine coughed into his hand, saying something to get the ball moving after Krrsantan sort of just spaced out for a minute. 

The Wookiee growled, snapping to attention. 

"I said try~” Kaine wiggled his fingers, then turned towards the doorbell. “Now let's get us some-” 

Krrsantan punched the door, making it fly inward. The first security turret had enough time to deploy from the wall when the Wookiee jumped up, and ripped it out of the wall. Then without wasting any motions, he threw it through the second security turret, making it bend at an angle. 

Kaine nodded along, impressed. Those turrets were like 15ft off the ground. If he ever wanted to make an intergalactic basketball team, he knew who their power forward would be. A Space Jam 3, Star Wars Special would be pretty fun. Perhaps sometime during the war he could use sports as an excuse to farm more LP from the Chosen One? After all, the Olympics was initially meant to bring people together back on Earth, why not try something like that here? He knew Padmé would be game. 

Whilst Kaine was marveling at Krrsantan's awesome strength, the inside of the apartment was revealed. It was a pretty simple room resembling something like a bank teller's service area. 

A Bothan behind a desk with some blaster proof glass immediately reached for a button as the broken metal door finally fell to the floor. 

Danger. 

‘If that button is pressed, something bad will happen!’ 

Fortunately, Kaine was faster, and lifted two fingers. [Inflict Pain] invisibly made the man shudder, and his arm hung limply from the side as its nerves refused to fire. In the past, he shot out an orb-like attack for [Inflict Pain]. Now that he had upgraded to a Sith Lord (low), he could invisibly enact this ability, just like telekinesis, choke, or [Mind Trick]. 

Then, closing his eyes to focus, Kaine spent about 30 seconds to feel the connection to that button in the Force, then snapped the wiring leading to it, rendering its function inoperable. Afterwards, he released [Inflict Pain], returning motor control to the alien. 

"Good evening." Kaine moderately inclined his head, and said in a pleasant tone of voice. “We require your services, information broker.” 

The Bothan stared at him as if he were mad. This alien was middle-aged, with russet fur that had begun graying around the muzzle. One ear bore a jeweled ring, and his clothes were expensive enough to announce his wealth, but cheap enough that some up jumped spice-head wouldn't think he was full of creds. 

Despite Kaine's introduction, the Bothan's full attention gravitated towards the largest creature in the room. His ears flattened, and Kaine felt like this alien was one big'ol fist slamming into the ‘blaster proof’ glass away from pissing himself. 

Krrsantan growled, and the Bothan swallowed hard, stuttering in place. "Bbblack Ka-ka-krrsantan, w-what, bbbrings you here?” 

Krrsantan slammed both hands onto the window, making it shudder, yet it held in place. At the sight of this, the Bothan regained a modicum of superiority, and glanced disparagingly at the Wookiee. 

“You like it? I had the finest glass cutters steal-ahem-borrow this from the Jedi Artisan, Felanil Baaks, it has been tested to withstand turbolasers, much less-” 

The glass protective wall cracked down the middle, making the Bothan stop speaking with his jaw agape. 

"It appears this shiny decoration had not been tested against Wookiee fists, a pity.” Kaine remarked, clucking his tongue like a gossiping neighbor. 

Krrsantan leaned forward until his enormous face was less than a handspan from the Bothan's, eliciting a whimper. 

Kaine waved his hand, applying some telekinesis to the cracked glass, shattering it into thousands of tiny shards. He then leapt on top of a clean section of counter, sat himself down less than 5ft away from the broker, crossed his legs, and sighed when he saw a perfectly good bowl of noodles filled with glass shards. 

“You poor soul. Krrsantan, it appears we caught this poor man whilst he was enjoying lunch! That won't do…I'm afraid we'll have to come back another time.” Kaine dramatically sighed. 

The Bothan dared not reveal the hope that just sprang up in his heart, and in fact, played into Kaine's act! “Yes, yes, it was a delicious Duros noodle soup, and now it's all ruined, sigh.” 

“What a tragedy, well. With that out of the way.” Kaine clapped his hands, and a pile of credits magically spawned out of his inventory, and spilled onto the Bothan's lap. “Oops, where did that come from? I hope this can help cover for your lunch.” He said meaningfully, glancing at a nearby data terminal. 

“Do the distinguished guests have any requests? Bokko promises to deliver!” The Bothan-Bokko-thumped his chest, any hint of soureness having been repressed in the face of profits. 

"Grakkus the Hutt, I believe you've heard of him?” Kaine idly asked, toying with a cred. 

Bokko's ears went flat again. "No, I'm sorry, I'm not your man.” 

Krrsantan raised one fist, his gnarled claws ever so slowly, nerve wrackingly slowly inched their way towards the other furry alien's eyes. 

"WAIT!"

The Bothan looked at the credits.

Then at Krrsantan.

Then at the credits again.

His principles lasted approximately four seconds.

"You're insane." Bokko gasped. “I've heard about you, Renstar. You're the talk of the town, and many of my colleagues admire you. Many more bounty hunters have paid for your bio. But this..! To go after a Hutt on Nar Shaddaa is-” 

"Sanctioned by the family heads. Rest assured, little Bothan, if this deal goes through, not only will you have the credits before you, but will also have the opportunity to work long term with the Confederacy's newest rising star. Money is only the beginning. Prove your worth, showcase your talents, and you might even become a planetary governor one day. Others can promise you wealth, I on the other hand, can promise you power.” Kaine suggested in a somewhat hypnotic tone, the Force echoing alongside his voice with a subtle thrum like the whispers of a devil. 

Bokko repeatedly swallowed, eventually breaking out some teal colored alcohol, taking big sips. The somewhat rat-looking short furry alien eventually slammed the bottle down, and looked at Kaine with a mad look in his eyes. 

“Alright Renstar, I'll give you this opportunity, if it's as you say, and the Hutts don't hunt you down, then I'll become your whipping dog, and gather information for you from across the galaxy!” Bokko said, breathing heavily like an athlete that had run a marathon. 

“Bet.” Kaine smiled back, holding out his hand for a shake. 

And like that, the plan for the raid on Grakkus's lair had begun to take shape.