Chapter 8

/

"HA! The Jedi wish to speak with Grakkus?" the muscled Hutt exclaimed in a booming laugh as the holographic image of Mace Windu watches the Hutt. "What is it that is so important to the Jedi that they wish to speak with Grakkus?"

"You recently came into the possession of a Jedi Artifact. We want it back." the Jedi Master replies, his face a cold, impassive glare as he eyes the Hutt.

"Aah, you speak of the holocron Grakkus's Bounty Hunter took from your Jedi's cold, dead, hands?" Grakkus laughs again as he fingers his necklace of lightsabers, fondling the newest addition to his growing collection. "Grakkus thinks the Jedi should try again, maybe this time Grakkus's Bounty Hunter can bring Grakkus your skull? It would make a fine addition to Grakkus's collection! HA!"

"Jedi Knight Keelyvine Reus is perfectly healthy, thank you for asking, though she is a bid upset about her lightsabers. Next time double check your Bounty Hunters work before paying them for a job well done." Windu replies with a sarcastic tone, though his face stayed calm.

"WHAT?" Grakkus roars as his fists slam into the nearest victim, an old battle droid that found itself as a crumpled heap thrown into a wall. "That Jedi is still alive?!"

"I admit that she was a little banged up, the medical droids said she had a concussion, some splash burns across her face and a nasty bruise across her chest, but otherwise she was very much alive when her ship returned to the temple."

With a mighty roar, Grakkus grabs a second battle droid and heaves it at the holoprojector, leaving a heaping pile of scrap in its stead.

Turning to one of his organic henchmen, he orders them over in a growl.

"Find him… Find Atin Kryze and kill him… This embarrassment must not go unpunished." Grakkus growls before turning away, his mechanical legs taking him from his room.

Suddenly, he pauses as turns back to the henchman with a smile plastered all over his face.

"On second thought… Grakkus is in need of a new champion. A Mandalorian would draw a fine crowd..."

With that, Grakkus gestures for the Henchman to follow him as he lays out his plan

/

"Yes, I am perfectly aware of how hot this place is, Tarkazza. I asked you if you wanted to stay on the ship or not, something Ashla took me up on I might add, and you said you wanted to come with." I told the complaining Wookie as R3, Tarkazza, and I headedfrom the hanger to Watto's Shop. "This is entirely your own doing."

Huffing at my general direction, Tarkazza keeps dusting himself every few feet as we walk through the sandy streets of Mos Espa.

Tattooine wasn't necessarily my favorite planet, but it did hold a few gems that kept bringing me back. For example, Watto and his shop. It may be a bit rough around the edges, but it was a semi steady source of income, and thanks to the droids I bought Watto, he doesn't have to spend money on slaves, just the general upkeep of the droids in question.

Another example was the Tattooine Chapter of the Bounty Hunters Guild in Mos Eisley. something I'll be visiting after I finish with Watto. It's been a while since I've done any official work with them, but if Ashla and Kaz were going to go on missions with me, then they needed to start off with a decent mission.

Their first missions shouldn't be to take out a Jedi.

Stepping into the now expanded shop, I glance around the shop for Watto for a moment before stepping up to the counter and the modified 3PO droid manning it.

"Droid, I need to speak with your master." I say as I glance around, the scanners in my helmet picking up various weapons in the shop as I look around.

"Of course, Sir. He will be with you shortly." the dusty grey colored droid answers before it seems to float out from behind the counter to reveal a two triangular treads allowing it to traverse the sand better.

Glad those upgrades actually went through.

After a few minute wait where Tarkazza impatiently shuffles through the shelves and the junk, Watto finally buzzes in.

"What?! What is it?! I was busy!" he shouts as he buzzes in before he notices us. "Aah! Kryze! How are you?"

"Just fine, Watto." I reply before tossing him a small bag of the local currency. "The Crystals?"

"Bah, I still don't know why they are so important..." Watto grumbles as he counts the money. "Your contact is at the Podracer Cantina. You know where it is. You're looking for a Rodian by the name of Reezo."

Saying that, he buzzes back to wherever it is he came from and left us to our own devices.

"I don't like him." Tarkazza growls as we exit the store and head towards the Cantina.

"He isn't my favorite person either, but he has contacts and information. For now, he's useful." I reply.

"And when he isn't useful?" He asks.

"I mean, it's not like I'm gonna kill him. He may be greedy and a major asshole, but he doesn't deserve death. I'll probably give him full ownership of his store again and just leave. It's not like this place is giving me much in the way of Credits."

"Then why bother? Couldn't you find these crystals some other way?"

"I mean, I could, but at the time, Watto was the only person I could trust not to screw me over." I answer before pausing. "Let me rephrase, he would screw me over, but I trust his greed to get me what I want. As long as he was getting his money, he would get me what I wanted."

"You used his greed against him." he stated, R3 whistling in agreement.

"I did, and it's done the job pretty well so far." I reply as we get closer to the cantina. "Come on, let's go see this mysterious Reezo."

/

Alrighty there… Umm… bit of a filler, but basically, Watto found someone who knows something about the Ghostfire crystals, Grakkus is pissed, less because of Atin lying but more about the fact he was embarrassed by the jedi. So next chap is Atin getting his hands on some Ghostfire crystals followed by a pissed off Grakkus. So I hope you enjoy!