KAZ MAEKON
ROGUE KNIGHT
ILLGOTTEN GAINS
EPISODE ONE
Now he is once again broke and must return to the working world but before he does, he must face perhaps the greatest challange anyone can go through...
It has been five years since Kaz Maekon first moved to Neo-Realto on Van Koor. He has lived a life of moderate adventure and lackluster glory finding jobs as a mechanic, bounty hunter, pilot and once as a tour guide but he doesn't like to talk about that one...
He turned again.
Clutching his pillow, he crumpled up in a little ball.
"God, I have to pee." Kaz thought as he tried to sleep. He flipped over again and pressed his arms against his midsection hoping to stem the tide churning inside him. He glanced at the chrono-timer.
6:84.
He doesn't usually get up for another three hours and he was hoping to sleep in considering how late he was out last night. Neo- Realto may be a slime hole but it had some great nightclubs and cantinas.
Kaz closed his eyes and concentrated in an attempt to summon the Force to ease his bladder, but it was useless. The Force just wasn't with him until he had his first cup of stim-tea in the morning.
Stim-tea. Now he really had to pee. Defeated by his own body, Kaz pulled himself from his bed and quickly footed it to the bathroom.
A few minutes later Kaz lumbered slowly to his bed again. He was so tired it hurt. Crawling in between the blankets, he shut his eyes.
He turned.
He turned again.
"Slag."
* * *
The waitress who brought his tea was a sexy bothan whom Kaz had seen a few times before. She winked at him but he ignored it having also recalled a large, angry looking wookie who often accompanied her. Sipping his tea, Kaz switched on the HR. A tourist trap like Neo-Realto gets about a gazilion channels from all over the holonet but only four came in clearly on this particular set. Luckily, one was the local news.
If a person is attentive enough they can find jobs to be had all over the news. Should there be a twenty speeder pile up on the express lanes, someone out there needs a mechanic. Should a large company go out of business, someone needs a pilot to deliver all the leftover product off planet to new buyers. Should a criminal escape into the city, someone needs a bounty hunter. All jobs which Kaz had done in the past. Also, the daily job report they play hourly doesn't hurt either.
Kaz watched as a handsome humanoid popped on the screen in front of the NyeTek Medical Systems building in the Mava Plaza. He turned up the sound.
"The acquisition came at the worst time in this company's history. The bacta plants of Ryloth had brought this relatively small company to it's knees and who else was there to help them but Hillgottt & Ganes."
Hillgottt and Ganes were the two most notorious lawyers in the sector. They negotiated half the deals that built Neo-Realto, and they stuck around to negotiate the deals to pick it apart again too.
The reporter continued. "Hillgottt & Ganes have plans to sell off the products and use a large percentage of the profits to fund their new Realto-Resort and Retirement Center which they have graciously offered to the recently dismissed workers and their families. A charitable gesture indeed."
The notion to take over NyeTek and build it up enough to compete with Ryloth was a foreign one to them. They would simply dismantle it and sell off the scrap for ten times what they paid for it. All in all, a good plan and one that Kaz had fully intended to take part in.
Gulping down his stim-tea, Kaz tossed a coin on the counter and bolted out the door.
Kaz dashed through the lobby past the checkout counter.
"Mister Maekon! Mister Maekon!"
Kaz screeched to a halt. He scanned the lobby and saw Diggot, the night manager of the front desk, waving at him. Kaz sighed. He didn't like Diggot.
"What do you want?" Kaz asked.
"I have a message for you, Sir." Diggot said as he dug through the files on the counter. "Uh, maybe it's on one of the infopads." He reached for the rack of infopads against the wall, which, of course, came crashing down around him as it always does as soon as he touches it.
Kaz dismissed him with another sigh. "Look, I'll get it later, Diggot. I gotta get to work." Kaz exited the hotel before Diggot could climb his way out of the mess. Most likely the massage was another from Fen Imati, the spaceport administrator, with another demeaning or dangerous job for him to do to earn his keep at the hotel. A job which, of course, Kaz would do to keep his room rent free, despite the fact that he hated living at the spaceport hotel.
Finally outside, Kaz looked up at the gray murky sky and realized it was about to rain. He yelled for a taxi as large swoop pulled up. He hopped in the side car.
"Destination?" Asked the three eyed gran pilot.
"Mava Plaza. And I don't suppose you have rain shields on this thing, do you?" Thunder clapped and the rain poured down, splashing on Kaz's face. "No, I didn't think so."
They sped off.
* * *
Like most days after an acquisition, Hillgottt spent his time waiting and playing computer sabacc. And of course, like most days, he was winning. He clicked for the next card: Commander of Staves. That's good; he tossed into the interference field. Hillgottt was now up 38 million credits.
BUZZZ
The buzz indicated that the rules had suddenly changed which was perfectly legal and what was particularly dangerous about this particular version of sabacc. The current rules now made his cards worthless. He lost 52 million credits. Oddly enough, Hillgottt perked up at this turn of events. Not use to losing, he was intrigued.
BUZZZ
Nevermind. He was now up 46 million credits.
The doors opened and Hillgottt looked up from his screen. Walking in was a tall Shistavanen Wolfman. Unlike most wolfmen, this one was extremely well dressed and well groomed. His claws were filed down to a reasonable length. His hair was combed and curled in some places and he wore a power suit which, unlike the city of Neo-Realto, was completely up-to-date and fashionable.
"Good morning, Ganes." Hillgottt yawned.
"Hello Evat." he said without a hint of accent. "How are your winnings?"
"Up 46 mil."
BUZZZ
"Whoops. Nevermind. Down 72." Hillgottt shut down the system as Ganes sat down.
"Down? Not like you. Oh well, who's money did you lose this time?"
Hillgottt was a master slicer. It was one of the reasons he was so successful. That and sticking to his own personal lawyer's code, 'Always gamble, but never gamble with your own money.'
"Torgo the Hutt's." He said with pride.
Ganes was impressed. "Torgo. I'd hate to be there when he finds out. Who got the credits?"
Hillgottt closed his eyes and yawned again. "Muurgo Dev."
Ganes pulled out a comlink from his pocket and clicked it on. "Zeela, contact the offices of Muurgo Dev and inform him that the lawfirm of Hillgottt & Ganes is now available for any needs he may have."
"Right away, Mr. Ganes."
He clicked off the comlink and put it away. Turning to Hillgottt, he leaned back. "And what of our plans here? Is everything ready?" He asked.
Hillgottt stretched the boredom from his body. "Yes, all the equipment is ready to be shipped but they've been stalled at customs."
"Red tape again?" He asked, ready to open his pockets again for the customs agents.
"Surprisingly, no. There are just no pilots or ships available right now. It'll be a two day wait."
"These medical supplies are...badly needed on Mentor." Ganes huffed.
Hillgottt nodded, "Yes but they can wait and circumstances warrant that we not rush things."
Ganes slumped back in disappointment. His comlink beeped. He pulled it out and growled into it. "What?"
"A Mister Kaz Maekon to see you sir." Zeela said through the comlink.
Ganes frowned in confusion. He looked to Hillgottt. "Do we know a Kaz Maekon?"
Hillgottt shrugged. "Does he have an appointment?"
The two waited. There was a long pause.
"Yes, of course he has an appointment." Zeela said in a wavy confidence which Hillgottt and Ganes were unaccustomed to hearing from her.
Ganes sighed in defeat. "Send him..."
The two wide doors swung open. Kaz stepped inside.
"...in." Ganes swung his chair around to face Kaz. "Ah, Mr. Maekon, was it?"
Kaz walked inside and sat down at the far end of the table leaving a trail of rain water behind him. "Please, call me Kaz."
Ganes flashed him a false, fangy smile. "Right. Well, Kaz, what can we do for you?"
"It's what I can do for you. I'm hear to offer you my services."
With a noted lack of enthusiasm Ganes fingered the security button on the inside of his coat pocket while Hillgottt started a search of databases to find Kaz Maekon's credit accounts.
"I'm a pilot." Kaz said, leaning back.
Ganes' ears perked and Hillgottt sat up. They walked over to Kaz and shook his hand.
"Well, Mr. Maekon..." Hillgottt said with excitement.
"Kaz!" Ganes corrected him.
"Yes, Kaz. Good to have you aboard." Hillgottt and Ganes smiled.
"I'll assume you need a pilot?" Kaz asked.
"Oh yes. I assume you have the proper license to haul medical equipment?" Ganes purred.
"Of course." Kaz replied, and of course he was lying, but any license he didn't have he could get within the hour for the right price.
The two continued their near vigorous handshake with Kaz, both taking a hand. Kaz smiled. He immediately didn't like these two but he was grateful for the job so he kept smiling.
"And of course, you have a ship?" Hillgottt inquired as he shook Kaz's hand.
Kaz's smile faded.
* * *
"I'm sorry but that's all we have available."
Kaz looked out the window into the hanger bay. Sitting there was a Incom TKY light personal cruiser. A two seater with an expandable trunk. Kaz hated compacts. If there's anything worse than interstellar travel it's interstellar travel in a cramped seat. It wasn't even in good condition.
Kaz turned back around and leaned forward. He wanted to say something but there was nothing to say. He knew the man was telling the truth. There weren't any ships left. There were hardly ever any ships available on Van Koor. Kaz reached the assumption that the only reason people come here is to rent a ship to leave again. Kaz understood this. Although he's only been offplanet a handful of times, each time was a unique pleasure.
Having used up all of his legal options, Kaz sat in the hanger cantina trying to pick out the ship he was going to borrow. Kaz, of course, never stole. He didn't need to. A simple nudging of another's mind could get him a ship from one of the drunken spacers. He recalled something about manipulating others minds being the dark side but Kaz had heard an endless number of stories of Jedi messing with someone else's mind to get what they want. Hypocrites. True, Kaz's reasons to do it weren't quite as noble as saving the galaxy but, hey, these were medical supplies so he'd at least be saving some lives, right? Sure, it's a moral quandary, but on that Kaz can't afford to ponder right now. The watered down glass of cheap lum he was drinking was a good indication of that.
He stared out the window onto the landing pads. "Ah, there she is!" He thought as he spotted a fantastic ship for his purposes. A slightly used OverDyne Long Range Freighter souped up in all the right places. It was painted a dull jungle green but beggars can't be choosers, right?
Kaz briefly considered gulping down his drink and bolting out of the cantina, but he thought better of it. Not of leaving the cantina but of drinking the lum. Kaz had never tasted something so vile and rancid in at least three weeks. Instead he looked around the room trying to discern the owner of the beauty parked outside.
Three Ithorians, two scruffy Bothans, a Wookie and a droid with no arms where all that populated the dirty, poorly lit bar. Kaz was about to ask around about the ship when the droid, rather angry about being armless began shouting at the wookie as a chest panel opened up and a blaster shot the furry creature in the midsection. The wookie howled out, stood up, grabbed the droid and threw him on the bothans table. Bothans, being an annoyingly proud race, whipped out their blasters and started shooting. They weren't very good shots either because they completely missed the wookie, hitting one of the Ithorians in the leg.
At this point, Kaz realized his best recourse was to leave. Dropping to the floor, he crawled towards the exit only to be halted by a flying bothan crashing into him. Kaz hit the wall and instinctively rolled out of the way as the torso of the droid flew by him. Kaz looked up as crazed wookie picked up an ithorian and tossed it into the bar wall sending all manner of drink flooding the floor.
"Damn! That was probably the good stuff to!" Kaz mumbled as he fumbled for his lightsaber. He figured it was his turn with the wookie. Maybe a Jedi brandishing a lightsaber would put him in his place.
Kaz leaped up. Snap-hiss. His lightsaber flared on. "Hey!" He shouted. The wookie turned to see face Kaz and smacked the sword from his hand. Never having happened to him before, this took Kaz by surprise. In fact, he spent so much time being shocked that he barely had the time to see the saber fly across the room and land in the puddle of alcohol, igniting it. Kaz leaped out of the way as a wall of flame came toward him.
"That was not the plan!" Kaz thought as he sailed through the door followed by the others. Everything in the hanger must have been flammable because the fire didn't stop with the cantina. The aliens resumed their brawl as Kaz watched the fire crawl along the ceiling.
Reaching out with his mind, Kaz attempted to control the blaze. He slowed it's growth but it didn't recede. Kaz was usually pretty good with fire but his head was swimming and the fire was too big for him. Master Vico taught him that size didn't matter to the Force but many jedi had a difficult time grasping that concept. Kaz knew his best hope was to contain the fire until help arrived or it burned out so he concentrated. He maintained his focus even as the fight raged on behind him, but the heat was getting to intense.
Suddenly, the fire raced back into the cantina, growing smaller and smaller until it was little more than smoldering ash. Kaz's eyes widened. "Whoa, did I do that?"
"No. Of course you didn't do that, you drunken mook. I did that."
Kaz spun around. Standing in front of him was a cloaked man. Removing his hood he revealing a bald head, dark glasses and a tattooed chin.
It was Vin Wander.
End of Part One