Chapter 137
Dennis:
He sighed, a palpable relief in the sag of his shoulders as the ship’s one and only refrigerator booted up once again with a humming whine. “Honestly, man, I could fucking kiss you.”
Rugess laughed at his best friend, babbling as he began to re-seal the back panels.
“Should I be jealous?” Ventress chuckled from her place on the couch, leaning on the armrest, legs splayed out across its length.
“At the fact that we’re not stuck for the rest of this trip eating bone dry ration paste? Yes.” He said with a concerning emphasis.
The Rattataki woman winced. “Right,” She mumbled. “Nevermind, the jealous one should be you then, because I’m now thinking of marrying the one that’s useful with a hydrospanner.”
Dennis barked out a laugh. “I can’t even be mad.”
The Bith extricated himself from the back of the appliance, looking decidedly smug with himself even as Dennis helped pull him off the floor and dusted him off. The Bith held up a single finger, babbling some more.
“That’s not a fitting reward.” Dennis smirked. “If we stop dragging you into life or death situations, you’d die of boredom.”
Rugess shook his head with only semi-mock dismay, putting away his tools before he babbled something about getting cleaned up.
“Go on.” Dennis nodded. “Fresher’s yours. We’ll be arriving in the Sertar sector in…” He checked his watch. “Two more hours.”
Rugess nodded, waving over his shoulder before he walked out.
Dennis, just to put his own thoughts at ease, took a second to open the fridge, see that the fans were indeed spinning and the air was indeed cooling all the items within once again, before he shut the door quietly.
“Don’t go ruining his hard work now.” Ventress warned, eyes having long since trailed back down to her dataslate.
Dennis wandered over to the couch, leaning down to pluck her bare feet, one flesh, one metal, away from his seat and plopping himself down, rearranging her appendages to rest over his lap as he leaned back and spread his arms over the back of the couch.
The metal leg was cold and hard against his hip, digging just a bit into his thigh, but he didn’t complain. It reminded him of the cold steel of his blaster.
Heh, fitting.
He let one hand fall, racing a finger over her hip, then to the other knee. Flesh or metal, he didn’t let it make a difference.
Ventress scrolled her own finger over the dataslate. “Think we’ll get anything more than a headache in this place?”
He sighed and, as if brought on by her words, he could almost feel the beginnings of said headache pounding a phantom beat behind his forehead. “Its one of the only leads we have left.” He said by way of answer “At least that can act in time.”
She turned her head, looking at him. “That’s not your pride talking?”
He made himself consider, to stop and think on that question.
After so many years of working with each other, knowing each other, both in good and bad, Dennis could say that even if he didn’t like Alexandria, anything that got her, Hebert, Victoria and Satine all marching to the same level of urgency was scary enough that he’d put his pride firmly aside and cooperate fully.
He’d be worse than an asshole if that wasn’t the case. He’d be a fucking moron.
But even more than that, they needed to act both quickly and quietly.
Sending word back to Coruscant, waiting for the distant, far off Core world to send help and to do so without being detected…
It was a tall order.
And even if they did, it would just take too much time.
So…
“No.” He finally said, after a moment. “I… I think I would tap Lex in this instance. But if I do, I have the feeling the opportunity will slip right past us… or worse.”
She eyed him, then nodded. “Alright.” She said, then sighed, with a great, put upon gust of air. “I hate these fuckers.”
He smiled, hand reaching down to rub his thumb over the ball of her flesh and blood foot, eliciting a groan. “I’ll make it worth your while to put up with it?” He promised. “No murder. Unless… you know, they deserve it.” Was the immediate condition.
“I hate you.” She groaned, half in misery, half in pleasure as he continued to knead her one flesh and blood foot.
—
The Stalker slipped into the system much like its namesake, quiet and quick, barely a whisper. But Dennis wasn’t trying to hide, and so he knew they’d be spotted in relatively short order.
The Sertar sector was deep in the Outer Rim. Far enough from pretty much anything remotely ‘civilized’ that it… almost reminded him of the worst parts of Brockton Bay. The parts where you needed a whole platoon of cops and PRT troopers to even consider walking into.
Honestly, a fleet was probably the proper comparison for these parts.
It only had one single planet of any real interest.
That one single planet was a desert dustball called Florrum.
And that desert dustball only had one person worth talking about.
And that one person was-
Several ships jumped into view from sublight speeds, decelerating rapidly as they encircled the Stalker. A hodgepodge cavalcade of junks and scrap heaps.
The comm chimed and was immediately answered, not on purpose mind you, forcefully, the holocall equivalent of kicking down your door and shooting a pistol into your ceiling.
“DENNIS, MY BOY, HAHA! IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!”
Dennis forced himself to smile. “Hondo! How’s my favorite pirating, slaving scumbag?”
The Weequay pirate king smiled, his expression never changing from the genuine delight he’d greeted Dennis with as he adjusted his goggles over his eyes. “Light on cash, but luckily the biggest bounty in the Outer Rim just waltzed into my doorstep!”
The screen lit up with, oh… several hundred lock-on warnings and firing solutions settled in on his ship from… everywhere.
Rugess babbled out a bemoaning groan.
Dennis smiled at the weequay. “Well, you see, Hondo ol’buddy, you can collect that bounty which will last you about a week-”
“Jabba’s up to seventy million now, ya know?”
He winced. Shit. Maybe I should collect. “Okay, two weeks, but there’s a reason your pockets are light, and I can help get rid of it. Works out better for you long term.”
The Weequay’s mouth pursed, twisting this way and that way in thought, his head swaying.
Then, he smiled, all needle teeth and impish delight.
“Ehh, why not! We’ll hear your idea. I can always cash in on the bounty if I don’t like it.” He leaned over, as if looking over Dennis’ shoulder. “And where is pale and gorgeous today?”
Ventress slipped into the holo range behind him. He didn’t even need to look to see her flipping Hondo off.
The Weequay laughed uproariously.
—
They docked and disembarked on the Katooni. In spite of the stupid name, it was Hondo’s personal ship. Not that much larger than the Stalker, but large enough that it let Hondo play the host as they walked in, throwing his hands wide open with an even bigger smile as he caught sight of them. “Haha! My friends! I haven’t schemed to kill you in so long!”
In spite of himself, Dennis found himself smiling back a bit. Back in Brockton Bay, he figured Hondo would make for a pretty decent ‘joke villain’. Like Uber and Leet. At least on his good days.
Other days he could be a right cutthroat bastard.
When they drew close, Hondo threw his hands around Dennis in an enthusiastic hug, and Dennis let him.
Pulling away, both men had their blasters drawn and pressed to each other’s midsection.
Rifles charged up, a lightsaber hilt was in hand and Hondo laughed as Dennis made himself grin.
“AHHH!” The Weequay wagged his finger at the parahuman, and Dennis mimicked the sound and the movement before Hondo looked away, towards Rugess.
“Rug! You want to work for me yet? I pay better.”
Dennis pointed his blaster at some random Weequay’s head, making the guy jump with a startled squawk. He tried to bring his own rifle to bear but a quick tap rendered the weapon completely immovable. “Leave my buddy alone or I’ll kill your guy.”
Hondo shrugged. “Ehh, if Rug takes the offer, good trade.”
“What!” The other guy yelped, justifiably indignant.
Quickly and flightily moving on as was his way, Hondo turned and smiled at Ventress.
She lit up that lightsaber
Hondo held up his hands, palms up, blaster almost dangling from a finger. A blaster whose barrel was rather loosely pointed at Dennis’ face. “I will ever be the gentleman, my sweet!”
Ventress rolled her eyes, glaring at Dennis.
He didn’t say a word, but his expression promised to make it up to her later.
The groan she let out was entirely real as she extended her hand.
Hondo leaned down, taking her hand in his and giving ever the most perfect curtsy and delicate kiss to the back of her knuckles.
As he straightened, he did a flourish with his blaster-
And it went off.
The red bolt sailed past a few heads and Dennis heard someone in the back of the crowd cry out in pain.
“Now then,” And Hondo probably didn’t notice. “Lets talk business, lovely friends. And Dennis.”
In spite of himself, Dennis found himself blinking for a sec as his brain caught up. “Hey!”
Hondo turned, ignoring him and pointing very dramatically. “To the loft!”
—
They didn’t walk far.
Past one room, through a hallway, and into a tiny cubby hole that had, of course, a bar, some stool chairs, drinks and the galactic equivalent of a classic jukebox.
Dennis loved the room immediately.
Hondo treated them all with fairly good drinks, too. Dennis was served a smooth, Idlewil spiced, Ventress some Ilum Cognac, and Ruges some Juri juice brandy. If he had an eye for Hondo’s drink, he’d guess Namana liquor. Top shelf stuff.
The Pirate King gestured for them to sit, making small talk and laughing like they genuinely were old friends.
At least for now Dennis could probably just enjoy the drink. Hondo wouldn’t shoot them while they still had full glasses… probably. It’d just be a waste of good spirits… In both a literal and metaphoric sense, come to think of it.
A cavalcade of guards meandered around them, some taking drinks of their own but not all. Not even most. The room was smallish. One bartender, three men sitting at the bar, four by the far wall, two by the door, and about a dozen more likely waiting outside.
Ventress could probably tear through half of them and Dennis and Rugess could take cover behind this table after he froze it. Or maybe freeze Rugess and then the table. His friend hated firefights.
If he could make it to the door, he could seal it completely to cut off the dozen or so outside from coming in. Take ‘em piecemeal.
Somewhere in the chaos he could probably freeze Hondo too. He’d probably get a bit more talkative if he woke up after a few seconds to find his whole crew dead. And the fleet around them probably wouldn’t shoot at their captain’s ship… probably.
A decent option… except for the fact that he’d be making even more googly eyes at Ventress… and Dennis would have to actually shoot him…
“So then! Friends!” Hondo settled in his seat. “Tell me, why are you so sure I’m losing credits that you’d come here with your seventy million bounty? And what solution do you bring me to make me not send you to Jabba?”
“Well, first of all, it’s that you like us so much, Hondo.” Dennis cheekily offered.
“Seventy million credits make for a good head start at getting past the grieving process.” The Weequay smirked.
“Yeah, but other people like us too.” He reminded. “Nym’s raiders, Clan Varad, Clan Wren, the Shaker crew. They all come through these parts and do good business here. You might lose them all.”
Rugess babbled quickly. Dennis nodded.
“That’s right, Shaker’s captain and first mate would be pretty mad at you. You’ve seen what they can do.”
Hondo frowned, rubbing at his chin. “Hmmmm… Can always blame it on some other bounty hunters… isn’t that Bane fellow hunting you?”
Dennis tried not to wince; he wasn’t sure he succeeded.
Cad Bane was definitely one of, if not the most, dangerous bounty hunter he’d ever had the displeasure of crossing paths with.
Smart, professional, thought on his feet. He reminded Dennis of Oni Lee, if Lee wasn’t completely insane.
“Look.” He sighed, taking a swig of his drink. “We know what’s been causing trouble out here in the Rim these last two months. Big, tall, dark, red. Has a lightsaber and cuts people with it.”
Hondo’s smile turned into a mullish frown.
Maul had been busy these two months.
With lightning speed, the Sith had gathered a collective of crime syndicates and cutthroats under him. Killing bosses and subjugating their “forces”Black Sun, Exchange, Mando exiles, syndicates, wayward pirates… If you were a criminal and could hold a blaster, Maul was pretty much hiring whether you liked it or not. .
This, as far as Dennis could tell, did two things.
It gave him money, and it gave him muscle.
Things he was using to hit targets. Specifically, Sep leadership.
In just two months, he’d already hit several targets.
Po Nudo had been the first.
Then Lord and Lady Por’Ten.
Daragi Hoba.
And Jolluc Maujasi.
These were ‘small’ targets, as in none of the Separatists true oligarchy class, like the Techno Union heads, or Banking Clan or Trade Federation members. But he was escalating and he was escalating quickly.
When you act like a giant black hole sucking up resources and crime syndicates left and right to power through a one man crusade on a galactic level, it leaves a mark and ruffles feathers. As a consequence, most crime in some way shape or form had taken a hit around the Outer Rim, and he had no doubt more than one group had already tried to eliminate Maul, Hondo included.
Obviously they’d failed.
Dennis leaned forward. “We know what Maul is after.” He said. “And I have a feeling you know where he’ll be going next. We can help each other.”
Hondo’s dark eyes squinted at him. “I tell you where he is going, you tell him how to get what he wants and… what? He just leaves? And who is this mystery man you both want dead?”
“Not exactly a secret,” He hedged carefully. “Maul’s taking out Sep leadership. Seps enslave people on a much, much bigger scale than basically anyone but the Hutts and do so legally.” Not exactly a lie, unfortunately. “So if I give him the head of a Sep leader to take out, the guy actually pulling the major strings, he’ll go for it. And right there you get even more room to do your thing.” He promised. “Seps in disarray means more Outer Rim real estate for you and your boys.”
Hondo wasn’t exactly a step up from the likes of the Trade Federation or the Techno Union, but he was, at the very least, less organized and an individual. Smaller governments or planets had a chance of fighting him, whereas they would just be overwhelmed by the collective might of the CIS’s near endless resources.
He’d take the tradeoff, and maybe, one day, who knows? Hondo might actually turn a new leaf…
Or Dennis would shoot him.
Either or could come first.
Hondo rubbed at his chin, clearly thinking on the offer.
Dennis leaned forward, near the edge of his seat now. “Come on, Hondo, this makes sense.” Dennis promised, then shrugged. “Best case scenario, they off each other. Second best scenario, the guy he and I want dead wind up dead, and you have at least a few weeks of peace and quiet to catch your breath, rebuild, go back to business as usual, capitalize on Seps having their heads cut off. And when he tries to slink back here you collect his bounty and move on with your day.” He shrugged. “It's probably not seventy million, but it’ll be a good chunk of change. Consider it my down payment for the info.”
Hondo laughed. “My, you almost sound like a pirate, freedom fighter! My boy’s growing up!”
Dennis shrugged. “Maul ain’t exactly a saint.” Whether or not he’d actually sell Maul out at the end of this road depended entirely on how much of a flaming asshole he was. He didn’t know the guy from a hole in the wall but Sith tended to be raging assholes from everything he’d seen and read anyway. So, he doubted he’d lose sleep over it if Hondo took him out.
Hondo laughed, a muscle in his jaw working as he seemingly chewed on all of his thoughts for a long while.
Rugess broke the silence, holding up a finger and speaking up.
Hondo smiled. “You see, Rug!? This is why you should work for me! You’re the smartest one on his crew!” He slapped at his knee, standing up as he downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. “Why can’t you be convincing like Rugess, huh!?” He demanded.
Dennis glared at his best friend. “Really? I go through all that and you just convince him with… that?”
The Bith shrugged.
Hondo smashed his cup down onto the table, leaning over it as he held out his hand. “Alright! I’m convinced! Lets fly together again! For old times’ sake!”
Dennis, hesitantly, took his hand. “We’ve… never flown together at all?”
Hondo scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You are always so fussy with the details!”