Prologue: Katunda, 3453 ATC
Planet Dantooine, Rielig Steppes, Brhoomihg City
Dantooine is nominally known as a backwater world, and Brhoomihg is about as bustling as it gets around here. Forgoing the sprawling farms and vast estates that pepper the rolling hills and swollen plains of the planet's exterior, Brhoomihg isn't so much a city as it is a large trading post. Surrounded by a ferrocrete wall some three meters high, it consists of a cluster of dome-topped buildings and large trading stalls. The largest of these buildings appears to be a cantina, and the sign along the door reads, in Basic Aurebesh, "The Chipper Kinrath".
It is a crisp mid-afternoon on the green steppes, and the mood is almost palpable. Those from out-of-town glance about quickly as if afraid somebody might materialize out of the crowd and rob them blind, and there are far more militia guarding the only two gates in and out than are entirely sensible. The guards are little more than farmers, clutching old, barely-serviceable rifles and standing with frightened looks on their faces. Few people speak, and when they do, it is in hushed tones.
The Chipper Kinrath is much the same as any cantina you might find the world over--a large, circular room occupied in the center with an ovoid bar, tended by a gruff human with a shaggy brown beard and thick arms. Along the sides of the main chamber lie shielded booths--some for games of Pazaak, some for Dejarik, and some simply for drinking and conversation. Above the bar, a continuous feed to the Holonet plays silently on mute. There are few patrons here this time of day.
Lnejee Stazi had been in town for a week so far. During that time not a single job had cropped up. He was keeping an eye on the Holonet for any local bounties or jobs a hired gun might find. The Chipper Kinrath was as good a place as any to look.
The mercenarie's last job had involved a passenger on a transport. The ship had made a short stop at Dantooine and it proved a good spot to depart. Lnejee was sure it was just a matter of time before something or someone interesting showed up.
"Bartender, lemee get a Starshine Surprise on ice," the Duros orders from his seat at the bar. "You guys ever have any music here?"
The shaggy bartender squints at the pale white Duros, scritching at his beard in curiosity. His dexterous fingers whip together a starshine surprise and set it on the bar.
"Five creds, spacer," he growls, not unkindly. "I have a live Bith band play in here when the joint fills up in the evenings, but until then, it's usually just me an' a few drunks. What brings you in here?"
A tall thin white furred wookie walks into the cantina. He wears no clothing save a holster that houses a lightsaber hilt and a pouch that makes mechanical noises as he walks. He pauses just inside the door, his head titled to the side. He walks over to the bar, takes a seat and says in Shriiwook: "Barkeep, an ale, please." If the bartender looks confused, he pulls from his pouch a small mechanical disk and presses one of ten small buttons. It chirps in a mechanical tone in Basic: "Please Serve the Bearer an Alcoholic Beverage."
As the cantina slowly begins to fill up, despite the hour, another patron enters. A tall Kel Dor with crimson skin stalks in, his posture sure and confident. He wears simple clothing and a dark, flowing cloak with the hood down. His eyes are covered with protective, metallic lenses and his mouth and nose are covered as well with a respiratory device. The only thing noticable is a silvery cylinder at attached on his left hip.
He scans the room thoroughly and spots a familiar silhouette. His long strides take him to the Wookiee with white fur.
"Don't you think it is a little early for drinking? Would your master approve?" chides Sho to the large, furred padawan.
The Wookie growls low. "My Master would shake his head and comment upon the needlessness of surrendering to alcohol's lure. There is no lure, there is only the Force. And I am thirsty. Learned anything about the thefts?"
The Wookie growls low. "My Master would shake his head and comment upon the needlessness of surrendering to alcohol's lure. There is no lure, there is only the Force. And I am thirsty. Learned anything about the thefts?"
Sho pats the Wookiee on the back in a show of comaraderie, "I have just recently arrived. I believe we are expecting another from our order, a human named Elek. I came here first as it was a likely source of information. I am not as familiar with the drinking customs of others. Is it customary for it to be so dark and sparsely populated?"
"Fell off the transport when it touched down. One of the passengers caught an overdose of vibroblade and it seemed contagious. Now this rock seems dead and I only have a handful of creds to get me by. Hear of any work around?" Lnejee explains and inquiries. He pulls back the hood of his cloak and sips at the potent drink.
Elek made his way into the cantina and looked around, there were a few people in already. He spotted a kel dor and wookie near the bar, the kel dor wore a lightsaber. Figuring that these were the two other he was to meet here Elek approached. "Sho Larn? Dycabaska? My name is Elek Ardross."
The Wookie growls low in Shriiwook. "Pull up a chair. Let us get acquainted with the local brew before we begin our investigation."
The Wookie growls low in Shriiwook. "Pull up a chair. Let us get acquainted with the local brew before we begin our investigation."
Elek looked at the Wookie trying to make out what he had said. "Sorry, but I am still learning Shriiwook."
Sho translates what Dycabaska said to Elek, "I second the Wookiee's welcome as well. I am Sho Larn. Pleased to make your aquaintance. Have you learned anything? Are we on our own or should we recruit some help as well?" offers the Kel Dor, eager to begin the quest for justice.
"We are not subtle. Some help would be useful. They may go where we cannot."
The bartender seems suddenly surprised by all the business he's getting. He cinches his belt a little tighter, adopts an expression of determination, and reaches under the bar for glasses and bottles.
Turning to the crowd suddenly at his bar, he begins serving drinks out one by one. "You won't find the Brhoomihg news on the Holonet, my friends," he says, shaking his head. "But all 'ya hafta do is look out on the street. Any slicer worth 'is salt can see what's goin' on. 'Ya think a Starshine Surprise costs five creds in a dump like this? Naw, man. Three at best. But there been a rash of thefts lately. Brhoomihg, Migoonda, Kybori, Sistaa...but this is the biggest place, so they concentrate on this place. And the weird thing is...they don't do the normal snatch'n grab that most mercs and bandits go for, y'know?"
He shakes his head, pouring out a random, cheap drink for the white Wookiee.
"Naw, they go for FOOD. Isn't that crazy? Enough food to feed an army. At first all they went for was the non-perishable stuff, so we figured we could get by 'till the lean season, but...well, now they're takin' anything they can get their hands on."
"Maybe you need a guard around here?" Lnejee continues his drink "Perhaps they would not be so brazen with the threat of a blaster burn."
Elek took a seat. "The raiders here have ben reported to be well armed, so we should pick up some assistance to be on the safe side." Elek looked around the bar. "Should be someone around here who looks like they can handle themselves."
"We are not subtle. Some help would be useful. They may go where we cannot."
"Well said, my friend. Well said indeed." quips Sho as he scans the breadth of the cantina's patrons.
"What of that one there?" he asks his fellow Jedi, pointing to the lanky Duros at the bar. "He seems equipped for a fight and I believe I overheard him speaking to the bartender that he was looking for work. Besides, he sticks out about as much as we do Dycabaska."
"I don't know much in the way of banditry, my scruffy military friend. I fought a little in the Outer Rim a few years back, but now my rifle is just for show. I doubt I could hit a pregnant Kath Hound from 10 ten paces these days." he barks a hard laugh.
Starving is out of the question--Dantooine is a large farming planet, and if there were a massive spaceport or planet blockade, it would be all over the Holonet. Sale seems also out of the question, since they're stealing so many perishable goods, unless they've found some way of preserving them. The most likely solution you can come to is that a large population of some kind needs food.
Amon's puzzling argument has peaked Lnejee's interest "Maybe they're feeding it to something big. Perhaps it is not a who they are feeding, but rather a what. The majority of galactic omnivores prefer fresh goods compared to frozen or freeze dried foodstuffs."
"Those two look promising," the wookie growls low and nudges Sho Larn toward the two soldier types speaking with the bartender. "Perhaps we could introduce ourselves? A mutually beneficial arrangement could be made."
Elek walks across the cantina to where the two men stood. "Good day gentlemen. My friends an I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind joining us for a few minutes."
"Let me save you the trouble," the bartender frowns. "The 'local governance' around here pretty much consists of Captain Va'naa. And she's not here right now. She basically takes it upon herself to keep an eye on things around here--enforce the law, take the census, run the militia--y'know, the little thinks that make Brhoomihg a town and not a trading post. Anyway, she went to Kybori to try to beg a few more guns since they attack us the hardest. She should be back in a day or two."
He leans his thick, anchor-like arms on the bar and strokes his beard.
"My name is Larron Hett. Folks round here just call me Hett. I have a few rooms to let in the back. Not much, but they're cheap and scrubbed clean. You're welcome to stay until Captain Va'naa comes back."
Hett grins, shaking his head.
"Son, bad sorts don't saunter into cantinas in the middle of the day and pay for their drinks. You're welcome to park your aft engines as long as 'ya want. I'll boot up the game tables if you want to pass the time."
He flicks a switch under the bar, and the Pazaak tables light up, while the Dejarik tables display their holograms.
"Word to the wise..." Hett points at a drunk lying in the corner at one of the Dejarik tables and snoring loudly. "That gent over there is my brother-in-law, Chavis Bron. Married to my baby sister. Richer than a Coruscant bureaucrat because every spacer who breezes in here thinks they can earn a few creds by beating him at a game of Dejarik. If you take him on, go easy, yeah? Once he gets a few drinks in him, he goads people. He's really good at gettin' under people's skin."
Sho introduces himself and his fellow Jedi to the two other patrons, Lnejee and Amon.
"So what brings you to this rock?" he asks, further inquiring if they are currently looking for work. "I have heard you speak of the recent thefts in the area. Are you merely interested or are you willing to help find out the true nature of the crimes?"
The Wookie nods at this, "Agreed. It would seem that we all have mutually altruistic tendencies. Here's to a future filled with success!" he raises his glass in a toast.
"I've heard that Jedi-pups are helpless without their Masters nearby. If you've got the credits, I'll try and keep you free of holes." The Duros finishes his drink and slaps down a few more creds for another. "Dangerous men acting in a dangerous manner could be up to anything. If it looks like an asteroid, spins like an asteroid, there's probably an exogorth inside it."
The Wookie laughs, not an altogether pleasant sound. "Pups, are we? Then you be would wise to fear the mother if the pups are as bad as we."
"I've heard that Jedi-pups are helpless without their Masters nearby. If you've got the credits, I'll try and keep you free of holes." The Duros finishes his drink and slaps down a few more creds for another. "Dangerous men acting in a dangerous manner could be up to anything. If it looks like an asteroid, spins like an asteroid, there's probably an exogorth inside it."
"So you can tell how experienced a Jedi is just by looking at them? Interesting." begins Sho coldly as he works on a calming exercise.
"There is no need to be insulting. We heard you were looking for work and thought we could work together towards a mutual goal, sharing resources and watching one another's backs. If you don't want to help, just say so. If you don't then we'll leave you to your vice."
Lnejee points towards Elek's head, and then to the wookie. "They both wear the braids of an Apprentice and yet they don't speak to you like you are their Master." He nods slowly. "I'll help you, the Jedi always pay their tabs."
"My ways are my own, though I learned heavily from the Kobok people of Koboth," says the Duros, "They are a very mercantile people."
Hett drums his fingers on the bar, looking a little warily between a few of them. "Wait a nano here...are you tellin' me that the Republic sent JEDI here to mop up the food thefts?"
He looks enormously relieved at that, and begins to come out from behind the bar.
"I've got to go tell everybody not to worry! Jedi are on the case! We'll be out out of this tube faster than a ball bearing greased up with a Hutt's slime!"
Lnejee thinks to himself about how that might actually affect the Jedi's mission.
"That may not be the best idea. If you told everyone Jedi are here to solve the problem it would warn the people who are causing this. They might strike at them before they have even had a chance to investigate. It would be logical to play this hand close to your chest."
"O-oh...really? Aw...okay..." Looking dejected, he slinks behind the bar again.
** spoiler omitted **
"O-oh...really? Aw...okay..." Looking dejected, he slinks behind the bar again.
"Hett, we just happened to be in the area and overheard about the recent activity. Since we were here, we may have some time to look into it but it's not a Republic accord or anything." begins Sho.
"What you could do to be extremely helpful would be to keep this information to yourself and pass along any useful information you hear back to us." offers Sho, hoping the bartender doesn't get too dejected.
Clearly a man of extremes, Hett brightens up immediately and nods. "Absolutely. You can count on me. If I hear anything in this joint, I'll shunt it your way."
"What of you Amon? You from here or just visiting?"
After the interaction with the barkeep, Sho decides that privacy would be better suited to further conversation. He points to a quiet, secluded booth in the back and directs everyone there. "I've been standing for a while and could use a break. Shall we move to a booth? offers Sho.
Lnejee pulls up a chair beside the booth, not quite comfortable sitting in a booth beside strangers. He sits down on it backwards, arms wrapped around the back. "Have you been made aware of a contact? Someone who was feeding the Order information?"
"I would imagine that waiting for this captain Va'naa is going to be our best contact, though it does require waiting for her return."
"It would not normally be something the Jedi would respond to, certainly. Except for the reports that it is food being stolen by a well armed and organized group. That does not sound like standard banditry."
Kol pushed through the door to the Chipper Kinrath almost violently. Striding to the bar he forcefully wrenched the coller of his shuttle copilot's uniform open.
Slapping a credchip down, he says to the bartender; "I need a a Depth Charge and I need it now. In fact, make it four of them."
After he slugs down the first one he noticed the barkeeps raised eyebrow.
"One of the passengers on our shuttle accidentally fell on his vibroblade five or six times. I spent all morning being interrogated. And sure as the Force, the company's gonna want a fall guy fer coverage; they're gonna find some way to blame ME for it."