An Assassin Droid's Memoir/Chapter 4

Chapter Four 468 BBY

Shortly after the death of one of my favorite employers, Baqurzo dec'Yunth, four hundred ninety-two years ago, I found that many places where I had been previously prosperous were suddenly hostile. With few options available to me, I made my first ever journey to an out of the way world called Erayyxa. (If you follow the news at all you may have heard of it when Sarqi Polpotta took over the planet and opposed the New Republic a few months ago.) Anyway, on my opening visit to the world, I found that a beloved warlord had been ruling most of the planet for about one hundred sixty-eight years. Everyone loved their leader but here is a story that proves even the most beloved individuals suffers from hatred:

The Preposterous Circumstance and I had landed in the spaceport of Yuuruxuu in a small docking bay owned by a longhorned Oxoorian meatbag named Yezziff. The Oxoorian proudly informed me that Bneldrnj, a who had ruled most of the planet for the last one hundred eighty-six years, had recently pushed the dangerous  raiders out of the mountain villages and into the Bezlē'çon Wastes. I decided to pay this warlord a visit and become acquainted with Erayyxa and learn if this Bneldnj meatbag would have any work for an unwaged assassin droid.

It turned out that the warlord lived in a palace only twenty blocks from Yezziff's and I wasted no time maneuvering my way through the winding streets to the stronghold. For its relative isolation, Erayyxa was always a diverse planet, full of sentient and non-sentient species from all over the galaxy. Only seven meters from where I landed, I deliberately stepped on a wild and, exiting the docking bay, I spotted a  merchant peddling her wares from packs on the back of her ten-legged. In a hilarious twist, I observed a growing on the walk nearby with a plaque that read, IN MEMORY OF MOGO-TOK OF. It was a little more unbearable when I noticed a feathered Mogo’yog sitting on a green bench reading holozine while her 4Mo-GO droid guarded her purse. Taking no comfort from the fact that had intended the Mo to stand for "mobile," I decided to hurry onward lest I squash one of the native mogobeetles or discover the cleanly  drinking tea with a filthy  mercenary at the  to my right happened to be the wanted criminal, Mog O'Gomogo.

Three blocks later, as I passed a trio of rodentile bartering with a lipless, beady-eyed Klorrean for a, I was pleased to receive an update from the Preposterous Circumstance that Mog O'Gomogo had been captured on  by , several months earlier. Apparently when I had wondered about the criminal, I had sent a data image to the Preposterous and she thought it was necessary to do a quick search. Now, I never particularly liked Durge and I always wished that when the Sith exterminated his they had eliminated his entire species so that he never would have been born but I was quite pleased that he captured O'Gomogo. I believed at the time that I would one day kill him and I thought the more successfully he was then the more powerful he would become and I would enjoy the challenge more. (Unfortunately, even though I nearly killed him four times, some Jedi eventually threw him into a star or something so I never got to finish the job.)

When I arrived at the palace, I found two porcine guards of the species standing in front of the gate in the classic fashion of stupid and bored organics. Their unpractical axes were grasped tightly in their fat hands and only one actually had a blaster, concealed in its boot where it would never be able to reach before most of the galaxy’s villainy would have filled it with holes. I was within four paces of the guards before they realized I was approaching them.

One of them stepped forward and asked my business in its disgusting, squealing tongue. I replied in a few snorts that I was paying a visit to Bneldrnj. The guards obviously had no idea what to do and they stood there with a pair of vacant expressions. Having seen such a setup before in many Hutt estates and criminal bases, I simply had to wait a few moments until some sort of majordomo arrived to great me.

Of all the species in the galaxy, it was a two-headed that came to do the honors, its long necks covered in unusual piercings that failed to harmonize with its yellowish skin and brownish-black spots.

It greeted me in Basic, through a mechanized translator, "What a pleasant surprise. In all my travels I have heard whispers of the Exactor, feared among beings of all walks of life and yet it is when I retire that I have the pleasure of meeting you. I trust you are here to ask my liege, the great Bneldrnj, for contracts and not to terminate him?"


 * "I have come to see what your master has to offer in the way of work."

With that response, I was escorted inside. I had no doubt that, were I really there to kill the warlord, there were enough defenses in the palace to stop even an assassin as powerful as me. We made our way through several winding halls and I counted forty-one different sentient species during our journey. The Yuvernian stopped in front of a large door made out of Endorian Cedars (which some argued even in those days were the galaxy’s strongest trees). Appropriately, a doorkeeper stood guard, his spindly limbs making his ceremonial spear seem all the more absurd. He clicked his spear on the duracrete floor and the doors slowly swung open. I half-expected to see Ewoks and s bearing platters of fruit as if I had entered some bizarre children's tale.

I did not see any Ewoks but what I encountered instead was a large, tusked Zexx on a massive throne and a court that looked like the center of a pre-space kingdom. Even though his court had one of the largest mixes of aliens I had ever seen in a small room, it seemed oddly archaic. Banners hung from the stone walls bearing the crest of Bneldrnj, sentients scurried about like pages, and a weighty was chained in a corner like some sort mythical of ogre. The throne room was sort of a hall, with pillars flanking the long enclosure that ended with steps leading up to the throne. Behind the seated Zexx was a stain glass window depicting the galaxy, infested with some kind of magical pixies.


 * "My sovereign," the Yuvernian bowed both necks low as we approached the throne. "I present to you the Exactor, a great assassin who has come seeking your endorsement to serve you for a time."


 * "I see," Bneldrnj shifted on his throne and peered down at us. "Will this one be able to stop the mad rampages of Sarqi Victeer?"


 * "Yes," the Yuvernian swung both heads in deference. "I have heard tales of the Exactor from the earliest days of my wandering among the stars. It is this droid who was single-handedly responsible for the fall of the Great Ones of Trulikoo, slew the Prince of Korriban, and rid the galaxy of Fhoi Bulth and his Council of Nine. This droid felled the notorious Leecien Krentee of the people—"


 * "Enough with the introductions, Thusic Jonace," Bneldrnj waved a hand in dismissal. "I gather this assassin is capable of the charge I would have for him. You are qualified?"

His scrutinizing look was obviously aimed at me, but I decided to answer stupidly to entertain myself, "Do you mean me, sir?"


 * "Of course I mean you," Bneldrnj pounded his fists on the arms of his throne.


 * "I am quite qualified. I have assassinated bandit leaders before. Why, just last month on the moon of Ittimorn, I eliminated seven bandit rulers for the Baron of the moon of Ittamis. And about a week before that, I eliminated nine bandit lords on Ittamis for the Baron of Ittimorn. They've quite an interesting relationship those bar—"


 * "Can you capture a target or just kill it?" Bneldrnj leaned forward as he interrupted me.


 * "I specialize in assassination, but I have captured many beings in my lifetime. On, for example, I recently captured a spy on behalf of an employer from the Ze'Gil Wind Group. And, shortly before I arrived here, I captured a Btryzetix on Jernimuld and a  on Wrydrock, so you can see I am accustomed to handling live contracts both large and small."


 * "Excellent," the warlord sat back in his throne. "You are to kill Victeer, then. Thusic!"


 * "Yes, my sovereign?"


 * “Fetch the data for our guest.”


 * "Let's discuss payment," I piped as the Yuvernian hurried to the wall terminal in the corner furthest from the throne.


 * "Are you familiar with ?" the warlord asked me as he reached into a pocket in the side of his princely robe.


 * "Yes," I replied simply as he removed his hand and opened it to reveal a corusca gem. It was small, ridiculously so in the warlord's large palm, but the value of such a stone was tremendous. With a quick appraisal, I estimated the stone to be worth 19,000 credits.


 * "My retainer acquired this jewel for sixteen parcels of fleeshar. It will be your payment upon completion of your job."

I stood silently and the meatbag ruler continued, “I have the documentation stating the world it came from and all of the previous owners. You may find it useful.”

The Yuvernian returned to Bneldrnj's side, a datapad in hand. The warlord explained that the information I would need was all there— the exact description of Sarqi Victeer, maps of all his known locations over the previous decade, how many men he was estimated to have in his service, and how well they were armed. There was no need for the explanation, as I required less than 0.03 seconds to read the contents on the device. If the description was accurate, then these meatbags I was about to slaughter were pathetic. The situation reminded me of the time I had hunted down the fool leader of a starving Pliper rebellion on Smolder.

After excusing myself, I exited the palace and headed to a small rental shop called Desimmon's. The owner was an overconfident and I easily persuaded him to loan me an Astral landspeeder for a handful of truguts. The chaotic nature of the traffic in Yuuruxuu resulted in my tip out of the city taking 4.543 standard hours. At one point as I was cutting through one of the slums, I had to forcibly open a gate that some meatbag had placed across the road. Once I was out of the city though, I was able to travel at about two hundred kilometers an hour. It took me less than half of Erayyxa's twenty-one hour day cycle to reach Ekloich Tower, a tiny village on the edge of Nothoiin territory.

At the time Ekloich was a logging town populated by mostly Humans and Nothoiin, although its chief was a cyborg and ex-warlord by the name of Skarl. I decided to meet with Skarl. I had heard rumors that a skinny armed reptilian criminal had fled toward my destination. Although the who wanted him dead was one of the employers who had suddenly turned hostile on me in the recent weeks, I knew no one on Erayyxa would know that so I decided that he would be my excuse for coming out here should Skarl be a Victeer sympathizer. (As it turned out, he was actually the Nothoiin's top advisor.)

The Boltrunian mansion was several hundred meters removed from the rest of the village and I drove a muddy path through the forest to reach it. A pond full of Togorian swimming lilacs dominated the manor's courtyard. pipeline vines covered most of the building itself which was three stories and had a clocktower protruding from the roof like one of the crooked obelisks of Toomberry. Down the high cliff beyond, I could see the treeless and craggy Bezlē'çon Wastes stretching out into what must seem to meatbags an endless oblivion.

A pair of Indexta-3 65G security droids stood by the single door while a collection of trihorned Bulookas waddled around armed with knives and blasters. There was a hedge failing to conceal an Ulman 324 deathfence around the entire perimeter except for the cobblestone path to the mansion which had a gatehouse manned by an with a nametag identifying him as Delenork. Like all of his barnacle-faced species, his mouth was too high above his eyes like one of the simikin skatfish of Urro.


 * "Greetings, my humble Ongree friend," I broadcasted in my most obnoxious protocol droid voice. "I am here to speak with Skarl."


 * "Weapons stay with me," Delenork drawled through a totally unnecessary translator cube as I already perfectly understood Ogreenen. As I turned in my visible weapons, he paged the manor. "A bounty hunter droid's here to see Mr. Skarl. Security alert four."


 * "Roger," if I had to guess, the accent on the other side belonged to a female . After a brief pause she continued, "Mr. Skarl will see the droid."


 * "You may enter," the Ongree announced grandly.

Two of the Bulookas fell in step behind me, their weapons trained on my armor as if they stood a chance were I to activate my battle protocols. Unaware that I understood Bulookish, one of the guards squawked and hooted to the other that he felt he could me in a fight. I managed to restrain myself from turning around and terminating the meatbag for his insolence and we arrived inside the manor entryway without a single corpse decorating the scenery.

Since there was an imported Sepori carpet from Brongrish covering the floor, I decided to drag my feet as we passed through and leave a trail of grease for the sake of the standard 0.8 meter tall orange and idle 123-CL sanitation droid quietly muttering death threats toward all organic life in droidspeak as it paced in its corner. Our journey took us to the right and then the left, each hallway garishly decorated with vases and portraits and occasional trophies. Our destination was a high-ceilinged study, its walls lined with shelves containing books and datacards. A large chandelier concealed more than eleven percent of the fresco painted on the ceiling and I was thankful there were no stained-glass windows. Skarl, lumpy-headed and thick-bodied as any Boltrunian, stood on his two robotic legs behind a large desk laden with computer consoles.

His two holographic eyes focused on me and he bared his teeth in a standard Durosoid grin, "How do you do, Exactor?"


 * "Ah, Skarl. It has been exactly five hundred forty-one years since our last encounter," I knew I would have to speak carefully to this meatbag to keep the up the pretense of friendship. After all, I had been victim of at least two memory wipes since that time. "I understand you were in charge of Styrriuak for a couple centuries."


 * "Yes, but the city outgrew me and younger beings have taken my place," he looked distant for a moment. "You're not here for my reminiscing, though. And I'm sure you have no interest in refreshing my memory about our adventures in the ."


 * "No, Skarl, I barely remember them myself. I'm here regarding Ssborro Sskoss."


 * "The Cha'a?"


 * "Yes."


 * "He was last seen headed for the Bezlē'çon Wastes. I think he will seek Victeer's protection."


 * "Victeer?" I decided I could risk feigned ignorance. The Boltrunian had seemed to be exhibiting signs of senility and I knew he would volunteer more information than a younger product of his species. He was quick to give me all of the information I needed and more. I learned how many troops the warlord had, his logistical situation, and his location.


 * "Exactor," Skarl added as I turned to leave. "There are seven bounty hunters after Sskoss, in one big group. Their leader is Alscarr the Wicked and Wrong. Most of the galaxy won’t miss that slimy if something happens but his  might not recognize its emancipation and will probably fight you. Anyway, I’m only concerned about one of them, a young boy. He’s a, no more than seventeen. His name is Wroth Montresso and I want you to send him home."

I made no promises as I left. My route involved backtracking to the village and I slowed my landspeeder to their established speedlimit of 45 km/h as I passed through. Because the road wound along the side of a cliff as I traveled down into the Wastes, I had to slow my pace again. Once I reached the relatively unbroken salt flats, the true beginning of the Bezlē'çon Wastes, I released the five long-range probes I had brought with me to seek out my prey. In order to avoid racing past my probes, I kept my speed at a steady 60 km/h.

It was nightfall when I received the signal that probe number two had initiated its self destruct sequence. Although it was fourteen kilometers out of my way, I decided to investigate and completed an eighty-four degree turn to the left. I drove until I was an mile from where my probe destroyed itself. Parking the speeder by an island of jagged rocks with a rocking stone cap, I decided to enhance power to my visual sensors and I scanned the area in front of me.

There was a large mesa about 1833 meters in front of me and a collection of meatbags had set up a camp at the base of it. I counted seven swoop bikes in their camp and I detected an equal number of organics, one standing and smoking a cigarette about four meters away from the nearest of its companions. Scanning revealed that I was looking at generic Human male, 1.804 meters tall and armed with a BR-7 blaster rifle. I could see the remains of my probe 225 meters closer to me.

Sixteen minutes later, the Human wandered a short distance from the camp to defecate. Since he was facing away from me for the experience I made my way across the open ground toward their camp. When I had nearly arrived, the Human completed his business and was pulling up his pants. He noticed me and I turned and fired a dart from my chest but it missed as a strong gust of wind suddenly formed and altered its trajectory. Deciding to do away with stealth, I blasted him with my rifle as he raised his own weapon in the air and squeezed off a three round burst. All three bolts missed me by a pathetic margin but the six meatbags in the camp were scrambling for the weapons.

A Rodian who fit the description of Alscarr the Wicked and Wrong and a Lizard Warrior who was doubtlessly Alscarr's slave were the fastest to ready themselves. I blasted Alscarr first and he managed to scream as he died. Another Rodian, a female armed with a rocket launcher and uselessly sporting a couple of vibroblades strapped to her back, was my next victim, dying of a clean headshot. A Twi'lek male who I suspected was Wroth Montresso and an with an unfortunate lip-beard were attempting to set up a heavy blaster cannon. I noticed a final lifeform fleeing and I realized it was Ssborro Sskoss, which meant that the incompetent group I was fighting had, if they started with seven, actually lost one of their number.

The Lizard Warrior, half as tall yet twice as long as the Cha'a, sprinted after Sskoss and easily overtook him. As the two reptiles fought each other to the ground, I dropped my blaster rifle and walked over to the two hunters who were still struggling with the heavy blaster cannon. Montresso reacted first, pulling his blaster pistol out of his holster and actually shooting me once but I grabbed him with the hand of my lower left arm and punched him in the face with enough force from my upper left arm that he fell flat on his back, stunned. At the same time, I activated the lightsabers I had had installed in my right arms after my hunt for the Prince of Korriban and I decapitated the Iphigini as he fumbled his own blaster.

I took note of the fact the Lizard Warrior had subdued the Cha'a and was now hastily binding his defeated enemy to the back of the nearest swoop. Making no attempt to stop them from escaping, although I did consider killing Sskoss for entertainment since he was wanted alive, I turned my attention to Montresso. He was forcing himself to get up and I helped him by grabbing the front of his shirt and using it to lift him into the air.


 * "Skarl says you need to go home now," I locked my visual sensors with the youth's eyes.


 * "What does that old borg know?" Montresso spat.


 * "Enough to know you’re no bounty hunter," I replied. "You went on a hunt with that fool Alscarr who, if I know his reputation, would have betrayed all of you except for his slave and his girl by the time you left these wastelands."


 * "You killed them all instead," he looked at me accusingly. "And Alscarr couldn't have betrayed us and won. Wuudon's a ."


 * "Do you mean that Human meatbag?" I asked as I dropped the Twi'lek on the ground. "Because that was no Mandalorian. Not even an assassin droid can sneak up on a Mandalorian, kid. Go home."

Pausing long enough to grab the heavy blaster cannon and the dead female Rodian's rocket launcher to add to my armory, I returned to my rented landspeeder. Probe number five had discovered the location of Sarqi Victeer and the four surviving probes planned to rendezvous with me outside of the Nothoiin territory. I commed Skarl and informed him that Montresso's companions were more or less dead and he was out of any immediate danger though I did not intend to follow up and see if the youth returned home. Skarl replied that he appreciated my effort and he would compensate me for my time with one thousand credits and if the boy did come home I would receive another thousand credits as a bonus. I chose not to waste any more time on the matter.

After I collected my probes, I left my vehicle parked in an abandoned, dilapidating machine shop that appeared to be the only structure for several kilometers. I left two active turrets in the shop to guard against any thieves or salvagers. The rest of my journey would be on foot and I marched purposefully toward Victeer’s territory, noting that the terrain was becoming rockier. The horizon was promising the coming sunrise when I finally encountered my first sentients. Three golden Nothoiin approached me, each pointing an ion rifle at me.


 * "We have heard you are coming," the tallest one revealed. "Skarl tell us you seek Ssborro Sskoss and yet you allow a slave of a murderer to escape with your prey. And you do not pursue. Instead you come to us. Why?"


 * "I have an appointment with your leader," I replied.


 * "We are not fools," the tall one's glare was full of some sort of meatbag suspicion. "Our eyes in Yuuruxuu tell us you are here on business for Bneldrnj."

I was moving as soon as I saw the one on the left tightening his trigger finger. Ion blasts raced by me as I dove forward, my blaster rifle discharging a round into the tall one’s face. I rolled right and noticed the one who had shot first was already compensating by shooting where I would be. My ability was more advanced however and I killed him and dispatched the other one before the next second had passed. Pushing myself off of the ground, I continued my journey.

After four standard hours I reached a dry riverbed and, detecting several meatbags in the nearby rocks, I tuned my optical sensors to three hundred sixty degree vision. All of my weapons were charged and I was ready for this next fight. Coming to a halt, I decided to address the sentients, "Greetings, meatbags. I have come on business. Bring me Sarqi Victeer and then return to your homes."

I received no response so I broadcasted my intent in. Silence was my reply a second time. Rather than try another language I armed a grenade and readied to toss it behind the one of the rocks hiding the sentients. Not wanting to risk killing my target, I had scanned my opposition for any non-Nothoiin sentients. There was one, a, and I decided to kill that one with my grenade.


 * "Wait," a voice in basic rang from behind another rock as I was about to arm it. A handsome Nothoiin rose from cover, his palms out and away from his side in a gesture of peace.


 * "I am Sarqi Victeer," he declared.


 * "No! I am Sarqi Victeer," a second, heavily scarred Nothoiin emerged from hiding. I knew this one was lying, as the first one obviously matched the description of my target. Wrestling with the desire to blast the impostor, I turned my attention to the real Victeer.


 * "Are you willing to come along peacefully?"


 * "If you will allow me a moment to day farewell to my men then yes," his willingness to cooperate disappointed me greatly. I agreed while the scarred Nothoiin sputtered an objection to Victeer's surrender.


 * "Maqrin," Victeer motioned to a muscular Nothoiin who had had an FRV-34 sniper rifle trained on my head since I first let the meatbags know of my intent.


 * "Yes sir?" Maqrin replied earnestly.


 * "You are in charge now. You know what to do." He met the eyes of each of his other warriors before hurriedly making a speech, "For many years, I have led you but now I pass my authority to Maqrin Civo. As my final act as your leader, I command you not to follow me. This droid is too powerful and will kill many of you before you could destroy him. No more lives will be lost on account of me. And if you somehow succeeded, our enemy would send more enemies against us, slowly wearing us down until we are weak enough for conquest. This is the most prudent course of action. Do you understand?"

After indications were given that his soldiers understood, the warlord willingly accompanied me back towards the landspeeder. He was silent for the duration of the walk and, despite the distance and the heat, we did not stop. I took a route that avoided the bodies of the three Nothoiin I had early killed. To this day I’m still not sure if I did it out of some sort of respect or if I just did not want to listen to the meatbag talk and I feared the bodies would become a conversation starter and I would have to deal with all sorts of accusations.

When we arrived at the shop, I discovered the corpse of a brown-robed who had been killed by one of my turrets for coming to close to my landspeeder. Victeer seemed a little sullen but he refrained from commenting. Still giving me the silent treatment, he chose to sit in the back seat and he said nothing as some sort of obsessive compulsion in my programming insisted that I place his wrists and ankles in binders. Our journey to Yuuruxuu was fairly uneventful; I did not bother to slow down for Ekloich Tower this time.

Upon our arrival at Bneldrnj's palace, Sarqi refused to leave the landspeeder until I reomoved all his binders. I could have easily dragged him out but I thought my Zexx employer would be annoyed if his prisoner could stand arrogantly and obnoxiously wave his arms while speaking. Four robotic, their evil eyes peering at us from beneath the ridiculous helmets covering their oblate spheroid heads, escorted us to the throne room. Festivities were taking place and a large banquet table had been set up with, extending left and right from the throne. Numerous beings feasted at the table— s, a colorfully scaled, a , a mantisoid even a blue  woman from the.


 * "My enemy stands before me!" the warlord boasted as Sarqi Victeer was shoved forward, nearly hitting a droid that was pouring wine for a semi-quilled, purple . Hoots and cheers erupted from the mouths of forty-one of the fory-eight sentient beings crammed into the room. After the din subsided, the Zexx warlord scrutinized his prisoner, "Now the question is, what should I do with you and your band of upstarts?"


 * "Please," Sarqi bowed respectfully low toward Bneldrnj, much to my disappointment. Worse, he started another one of his hurried, possibly rehearsed speeches, "I am your humble servant. Do as you will with me but my people are starving. We have not done nearly the damage to the mountain villages as your men have reported. We only wished to share in their prosperity but they rejected us. Are you not the same ruler who negotiated a compromise with my grandfather? We Nothoiin held our part of the bargain for as long as we could but we have grown and our land no longer supports us. Surly—"


 * "Sarqi Victeer," the Zexx leaned forward on his throne, bumping the table. "Your grandfather was a great warlord, the only one who could ever rival me. He had a temper that shook mountains. Your father was not as strong and imposing but he was a genius, one I dared not match in a game of whit. Your brother was tireless, finding new ways for your people to survive and defend against the once formidable bandits of the Bezlē'çon Wastes. But you— you are pathetic. I have allowed your people to dwell in their lands for nearly two centuries, dealing with their occasional uprisings swiftly and speedily, ensuring their submission again and again. Then you, a fool, became warlord of your people and you oppose me. I warned you to stay out of the mountain villages and you disobeyed me. For that you will die and your people must be scattered."

The Nothoiin fixing his eyes on Bneldrnj, answered with an intensity only a cornered meatbag could summon, "We will not die to scum like you easily."


 * "Take him away," the Zexx ordered.

I had just begun to move forward to receive my payment when, pulling free from his captors, Sarqi shouted, "Exactor, I will give you three tons of voaltanium to destroy Bneldrnj and save my people!"

Laughter poured from the meatbags scattered around the throne room and as Sarqi was dragged from the room Bneldrnj hastily assured me that no such large deposits of voaltanium existed on Erayyxa. He then proceeded to invite me to witness the execution of Sarqi Victeer the following day. I accepted the invitation knowing that, if I were to have a professional connection it would be best to flatter him in any way possible. Besides, I was seriously considering Sarqi's offer, assuming there was any legitimate claim to the voaltanium. I decided to pay a visit to a local informant by the name of Serron Loo.

Loo was located around a certain textiles warehouse next to a microchip factory in the Industrial Quarter. He usually was present in the early evening and he would meet his customers in the alleyway between the two buildings and had two or three bodyguards provided by the local Infotraders Association whenever he met with a potentially dangerous client such as me. I arrived without an appointment and marched straight into the alley.


 * "Ah, so this is the Exactor," Serron Loo’s voice came out of the shadows. A meatbag would not have been able to find him but I spotted him, his two Rodian bodyguards flanking him, and his dinosaurian sniper on a garage roof across the street behind me. “I confess that I expected you before you hunted down Sarqi Victeer. What could possibly bring you here now that you've no target?”


 * "I'm curious to know about possible voaltanium deposits on this world."


 * "It's not uncommon knowledge that a few small ones exist here and there."


 * "What about large, possibly untouched reserves?"


 * "One thousand uggats, first."


 * "Not for common knowledge."


 * “Untouched reserves are unknown reserves."


 * "You're not the only being who knows. Hunting meatbags with information is one of my specialties."


 * "Five hundred."


 * "One hundred."


 * "Six Hundred."


 * "I'll look elsewhere."


 * "Two-fifty," he relented as I began to walk away.


 * "One-fifty," I shot back. "Final offer."


 * "Two hundred is my final offer."

As I turned to leave again he hastily dropped, "One seventy-five. We can compromise."


 * "They're not unknown are they?"


 * "No but they're untouched because of who controls them."


 * "Where are they and how large?"


 * "Drop the uggats through that hole in the warehouse to your left."

After I complied he continued, “There are five major deposits of voaltanium on Erayyxa and they're all located in the Bezlē'çon Wastes within about fifty klicks of the Ezuux Sinkhole. It is rumored that they may be the largest deposits in the. Of course, lord Bneldrnj and the already own all mineral rights in the Erayyxa system. So you can’t harvest any legally without permission from lord Bneldrnj. Within a few years the Nothoiin raiders will be all wiped out and, with warlord Victeer, out of the way now they'll get it done a lot faster."

That explained why he was willing to sell the information to me for such a low price. No one in their right mind would have obstructed the Outer Rim Oreworks Company in those days, but it meant that Sarqi would definitely be able to pay what he offered if I accepted his offer. I thanked Loo for the information and decided not to blast him as I had no desire to cross the Infotraders Association for the time being. That was the extent of my caution, though.

The Outer Rim Oreworks Company had affronted me on one occasion, about twenty-two years earlier. A certain human meatbag by the name of Xey McPhlarny had hired me to hunt a murderer from  on behalf of the mining firm. I successfully completed the contract but was only paid half the price I was promised. After I filed a formal complaint, I was not only rebuffed but they protected McPhlarny from me. Naturally, I caught up with the human a few years later and threw him to the Gungan's bloodthirsty friends. But I still had not had my vengeance upon the company itself. I decided, therefore, that it would be in my best interest to ruin their investment on Erayyxa; I would accept Sarqi Victeer's offer after all.

I arrived on the Punishing Grounds, as I promised Bneldrnj, at precisely thirty-three minutes before the scheduled execution of Sarqi Victeer. There were already several hundred beings of various specious packed into the viewing stands of the small field, as if it were the Feudal Age of some backspace world. Approaching the Zexx warlord in his private viewing box, I paid him the respects he believed were due to him and then spent the next twenty-seven minutes listening to him blather on about how he would one day make Erayyxa a great world in the eyes of the Republic. I had forgotten that the pathetic little world was even part of the Galactic Republic, pouring taxes into its treasury and receiving nothing in return from the corrupt beings of the Core.

Finally, the Nothoiin was brought out in chains by three large and no doubt stupid guards. Having subtly left a remotely triggered thermal detonator inside the warlord’s viewing booth, I managed to slip unnoticed toward the front of the crowd. A lemon-skinned Folper was reading a list of pretend charges ranging from conspiracy and treason to genocide against Sarqi as the prisoner was forcefully kneeled to the chopping block. At the same time, a masked executioner was approaching with a large ax. Again, I was with the ridiculous feudal impression. As the last of the indictments was read, the executioner began to lift his ax for the kill.

My strongest rifle was in my hands and I fired a single round through the Herglic's head. He collapsed, dead, and I was already shooting the other guards around Sarqi. I also shot and killed the Folper. Meanwhile, I detonated several non-lethal concussion grenades inside the crowd in order to cause total panic. Were I praying droid, I would have offered one for a miracle to save the ones who were destined to be trampled in the chaos. As I was shooting, I ran to Sarqi and cut through his chains, freeing him. I realized several other Nothoiin were storming the Punishing Grounds, too, but they would not have been fast enough to save their leader had I not intervened.


 * "I accept your offer," I told Sarqi. He stared at me blankly, obviously exhausted from torture and confused after being rescued. "For three tons of voaltanium, I will kill Bneldrnj, warlord of Yuuruxuu and of Erayyxa, as well as help you save your people."

He nodded as understanding dawned on him and I set off the thermal detonator in my new target’s private booth. Most of the collateral had already fled a safe distance but the Zexx was also getting away. I saw him launched into the air as his booth exploded while he and his bodyguards ran. On occasion, I savor a stylish kill in the eyes of both employer and enemy so I casually sauntered toward my objective despite being in the middle of a battle between several outnumbered Nothoiin and a large number of guards and mercenaries. When I reached the mark, I grabbed my Merr-Sonn 55 blaster pistol and shot the three guards who were still in any condition to be any sort of threat. Bneldrnj, the great warlord and talented tactician was conscious enough to meet my optics with his eyes. One of his tusks was cracked and the other had been blown away, along with a quarter of his face. Still, he managed to move his mouth well enough that he might have been able to form words had I given him the chance. Instead, I neatly put a blaster bolt in his brain.

I noticed that several Écparzi were fighting alongside the Nothoiin and I realized this was probably because they had been likely oppressed by Bneldrnj since Zexx hated them because of their ancient, attempted invasion of. Because my contract included helping Sarqi save his people, I assisted both species in their fight against the now dead warlord’s forces. Ultimately, we escaped from the city and returned to the Nothoiin territory. There, I made arrangements to have the Hutt assist me in moving my payment off the planet. I was unsurprised that the Nothoiin controlled the five massive deposits of voaltanium. Skarl insisted in helping me, telling me that he knew all along that I would never betray an old friend and thanking me for rescuing the oppressed peoples of Erayyxa.

I returned to Yuuruxuu after a few days. There was still much fighting in the city and the armies of two beings, an gangster and a  mercenary, had taken a majority of the territory in the city but a  landowner seemed to have the most support of the people to become the next warlord of the city. I found that the Oxoorian who owned the hanger where I had docked the Preposterous Circumstance was very angry with me for killing his beloved leader and I decided it would be unwise to return to Erayyxa for a few years. With few options still available to me, I decided to fly to Moztooine and find work there