Star Wars: Skywalker's Revenge

Chapter Two: Brogar's Safe House

The Mynock jumped out of hyperspace and flew in toward Lok, a colorless and dull-looking planet. Cade and Jariah worked the ships' controls and soon they had lowered the ship down next to a cantina that their bounty was supposed to be located at.

"Let's move out," Cade said, grabbing his blaster and tucking it beneath his belt.

He lowered the ships' ramp and walked over to it. The Mynock was a beautiful ship, at least to him. It was a very large starship, designed for transport. When Cade had gotten his hands on it, both the interior and the exterior had been old, rusty and forgotten. He'd spent many hours polishing it up, though, and with the devoted help of Deliah it had become a completely new ship. The outside of the ship was smoother and cleaner, and the inside of the ship had been completely overhauled to fit the needs of Cade and his crew. Deliah had also modified it to include laser cannons, shields, and a brand new hyperdrive. Needless to say, it was now Cade's most prized possession, which had nothing to do with the fact that he had very few possessions to begin with.

Deliah Blue, his pink-skinned and blue-haired mechanic, smiled flirtatiously at him as he passed. "After you," she said.

Cade walked down the ramp and toward the cantina, knowing his crewmates weren't far behind. They were a team of which Cade had quickly become the leader. The never failed to follow Cade's lead, and so he had grown rather attached to them. As attached as he allowed himself to get to anything, that is. He approached the cantina, which was called Brogar's Safe House. Ironic, Cade thought. It's not going to be safe for long.

Cade looked over his shoulder, saw that his crewmates were at his side and ready, and pushed open the doors to the cantina. He was immediately met with the familiar deafening music that was played at pretty much every cantina that was worth the trip to. Cade had travelled to cantinas located on many planets before, and the music was always the same. He'd been to so many that pretty much everything looked the same, actually.

"So where's our guy?" asked Jariah.

Cade's eyes swept the cantina. "I don't know. But I know how to find out."

Cade walked up to the bar and slapped his hand down on it. No one came to his service, though, so he climbed up on top of the bar and looked out at the crowd of mixed species. "Hey! Listen up, everyone!"

It took a few seconds, but soon people stopped talking and the music screeched to a halt. All that was left was a few murmurs of confusion. Cade even noticed some angry-looking customers fingering their guns. He wasn't worried, though. He had Syn and Blue watching his back. If they tried anything they'd be dead before the trigger was pulled.

"I'm a bounty hunter," Cade announced to the cantina, "and I'm looking for someone."

Then two things happened at once. A hairless man with silver skin and pointed ears stood up from his table and made a run for it. Cade was about to follow him when he spotted a table flying at him. He resisted the urge to flick it away using the force, an urge he had gotten very used to suppressing, and instead let himself fall to the floor from off the bar. The table flew over his head, where he was standing seconds before, and crashed into the wall of the cantina. Then the silence broke and everything went crazy.

Cade watched as Deliah stuck her arm out and a small dart protruded from her bracelet. She shot it at their attacker, a Bothan man whose face resembled that of a wolfs. It hit him and he sunk to the floor. Deliah stepped toward him, but the man sat back up and used the force to push her back.

Ah, Cade thought. That explains the table. He's a Jedi.

Cade looked at Jariah and Deliah. "You guys take care of the Jedi. I'll get the bounty."

Jariah and Deliah both nodded and started toward the Jedi as Cade ducked back out of the cantina. He knew he could trust his crewmates with taking down a Jedi. Both had blasters, Deliah had her dart-gun-bracelet, and Jariah had some thud bugs, which were extremely effective at stunning and disabling a target. Besides, it wasn't the first time they'd taken on a Jedi. Cade hated fighting his own kind, but it wasn't as if he had a choice. People finding out he had a weak spot for Jedi was only one step away from them finding out he was a Jedi. And that couldn't happen.

Cade put the thought of the Jedi out of his mind and focused on the job at hand. Screeger, their bounty, had made a run for it and more than likely had exited out a back door. That meant he'd be headed for his ship. Cade doubted the gambler's ship could out-fly or out-gun his own, but he'd rather capture the man on the ground. It was cleaner that way.

Cade walked around the cantina, but hesitated before turning the corner. He heard footsteps. They were loud and rapid. Someone was in a hurry. He waited for whoever it was to walk a little closer to him, then spun around with his blaster raised. Sure enough, it was Screeger on the other end of it.

Screeger yelped and backed away with his hands up. "I'm... I'm not who you're looking for. I... I promise."

"I'm looking for a runaway pilot," Cade lied, with his blaster now pressed to Screeger's temple.

Screeger relaxed a little, or as much as possible with the gun still pressed to his head. "I'm no runaway pilot! I'm just a bond-skipper... name is Naxy Screeger."

Cade nodded to himself, feeling almost sorry for the man. "You must be a terrible gambler. That's the oldest trick in the book. You're coming with me, Screeger."

Realization dawned on the gambler's face as Cade nodded toward the cantina. Screeger walked back in, with Cade right behind him. Things had settled down a little, but the music wasn't back on. Cade spotted Jariah and Deliah talking to a short, brown-skinned Advozse male.

"Hey," Cade called. "Got the bond-skipper."

Deliah looked over and shot Screeger with a dart. Cade nodded to her and then walked over to them. He faced the Advozse. "What's the deal?"

"I'm Brogar," he said in a raspy voice. "I own this cantina. These people payed for my protection, and I can't let you leave with them."

Brogar beckoned forward several droid bouncers to enforce what he was saying. Cade looked between Brogar and the droids, then down at the Jedi.

"How about this," Cade said. "I report to the Sith that you have Jedi here under your protection."

Brogar scanned Cade's face to detect whether or not he was bluffing. He was, of course. He'd had dealings with the Sith before, but always through Rav. Cade would never dare directly confront a Sith himself, and blow his cover. Even dealing with Jedi, like he was now, was dangerous. If he encountered one strong enough they would surely detect that he was force sensitive.

Apparently Brogar didn't catch the bluff, though. That wasn't surprising. To be a good bounty hunter, you have to know how to lie.

"Okay," Brogar grunted. "Take the gambler and the Jedi, and never return."

"No!" said the Jedi. He reached forward from the ground and grabbed Cade's ankle. For a moment he froze, and Cade feared he'd detected his force abilities. But then his look of fear returned. "Please don't turn me in to the Sith!"

Cade blinked, not saying anything. He was still wondering whether or not the Jedi had detected something. Then Jariah walked over and stepped on the Jedi's wrist.

"You won't get any pity from Cade," said Jariah. "He's as tough as they get."

Deliah looked at Cade. "Well?"

"Yeah," Cade decided. He knew there was no way to help the Jedi now. "Grab them both. We'll take them back to Rav."