Chapter Text
"So... what do you reckon, TD?"
The droid on Soyan's back trilled wearily, cautious as if he sought not to wound her pride, but unable to be anything but blunt.
She chuckled and reached back to pat the unit's head affectionately, "no need to mince your words, buddy"
He wasn't wrong to be put off, after all. Left untouched for some years now with no one around to keep it, the dwelling before her was worn and tattered. The plaster of the outer walls had peeled away to reveal severe water staining, and the windows had been boarded up with cheap wooden planks that had suffered the same fate, rotting and disintegrating at the mercy of the weather. It was a surprise that it hadn't been torn down already. Soyan supposed that the powers that be didn't pay particular attention to the fringe settlements of Pantora.
TD-4, her companion droid — who was more companion than he was droid — gave a nudge at her shoulder. He knew she was stalling.
"I know, I know" she uttered, pulling a keycard from her belt as she made the final steps to approach the rusty front door.
Soyan slotted the card into the receiver of the control panel, but it gave her no reaction. That, she should have anticipated. The whole structure was practically falling apart with water damage and the door circuits had most likely shorted out a long time ago. A heavy sigh escaped her.
"Great. What now?" she asked rhetorically, but TD warbled in reply. "Pry it open? With what?"
The droid hopped down from her back and scampered over to point out a pipe that clung to the wall, cracked down the middle and dribbling something foul.
"I suppose it's not serving anyone as it is. Nice one, TD" she smiled at her small mechanical friend, who gave a set of proud beeps as she snapped it from its place far too easily. Not for the first time, she reflected on how glad she was to be wearing gloves.
Inside the house it was damp, and still. Eerily still — but in a manner that she recognised. It had felt somewhat similar even when people were inhabiting the space.
The broken pipe slipped from her hand, clattering to the ground as she stepped through the now open doorway. Her droid scurried ahead, scanning away to his non-existent heart's content. Soyan didn't hold back the twitch at the corner of her mouth. At least she could always trust that he would bring some levity to an otherwise dismal trip.
She had only come to Pantora because of a job, and a simple one at that. It was just a delivery, already seen to, but the simplicity had led her mind to wandering. Her childhood home was a stop she hadn't anticipated making, and it was shaping up to be a rather underwhelming one, too.
The house was small, just big enough for a couple and their child to live in without too much discomfort. Besides the heavy blanket of dust that now trapped all beneath it, the room was exactly as she recalled. The cushion on the sofa was still creased where her father would sit, two mugs remained on the draining board, having not yet made it back to the cupboard. It felt almost sacrilegious, to disturb such a scene; the final resting place of her childhood. She could never understand why her mother hadn’t just sold the place when she had the chance.
She expected some kind of reaction, for a sadness or at least something bittersweet to overtake her, but she couldn’t force herself. She was truly indifferent, for better or for worse.
A path of damp footprints left in her wake, Soyan spent only a few minutes traversing the house, looking for anything she may be able to sell. That was what had provoked the original thought to return here, after all. In her search she found a necklace that her mother used to wear, a platinum link chain stored away in the back of a draw, as well as a crystal fragment that she’d been gifted as a child. She blew the dust from it, wiping it on her sleeve in an attempt to renew its sheen. It was a pretty thing.
After gathering a stack of flimsiplast books into her backpack, she called for TD-4 to return to her. She left without looking back, not bothering to take the keycard from the control panel.
The sun had only just risen when Soyan finally made it back to Pinara. The grimy streets were empty, as expected, and the smell of freshly fallen rain clung to the pavement. Heavy clouds hung in the sky, promising to continue the downpour before long, and each step towards Almar's shop felt more stiff than the one before.
The architecture of Pinara had always struck her as far more plain, more boring than it’s neighbour Pantora — but under the grey sky it somehow seemed even more so. Soyan couldn't say she was happy to be back, she never was, but this place was the only feint idea of home that she had these days. Oh, how the mighty had fallen, she found herself thinking often. A simple joke to keep the bleakness of it all from swallowing her.
Waiting to be let in at the door of the shop, she pulled a pre-rolled cigarra from her pocket and balanced it between her lips. As the flame of her lighter flickered and singed the end of it, she felt a drop of water fall between her brows. She furrowed them and looked to the sky, finding that the heavens were just cracking open. She knocked at the door again and huffed when it went without reply a second time. TD-4 mimicked her irritated noise, equally displeased by the weather.
The alleyway afforded little coverage, and the rain began to soak through her clothes as it picked up. She shivered, the water sending a chill down her spine. Covering her cigarra with her hand, she took another drag. The only saving grace of this moment was that she had nothing else to attend to after. Save for that, it was one of the more miserable moments of late.
“Took you long enough” Soyan muttered when the door creaked open to reveal her employer on the other side, bone dry and a worried expression contorting his features.
Almar was a pleasant enough individual. Human, just-above-average height, ashy blond hair and dark eyes that seemed too kind for his line of work. He kept himself smart, a tidy navy suit carried on his shoulders at all times. That seemed like a ploy to station himself as more important than he was, but she hadn't commented on it.
“Come quickly” he ushered her inside, moving from the doorway to give her the space to pass into the shop. Soyan threw her cigarra to the floor and pressed it into the permacrete with her boot.
“What's got you all worked up?” she asked non-comittally as she stepped past him, noting the agitation he bore — removed enough from his usual demeanour for her to notice.
“Nothing, nothing” he insisted too quickly, ushering her towards his office once he'd taken a glance up and down the alley and locked the door. “Take a seat, I'll be with you in just a second. Just need to fetch the decoder”
A second-hand junk shop as a front for a smuggling business was really just asking to be caught, Soyan had always thought. The room was always in disarray too, far from abetting the illusion that the owner cared for it often. Spare parts were shoved into crates with no order, various useless scraps and worthless souvenirs were spread over the counters, and the floor was just as cluttered with larger items that wouldn’t fit elsewhere. Anyone who knew Almar knew he valued tidiness and stability, clear enough just by looking at his attire and always slicked-back hair, so it was almost comical that he thought he was doing a good job of hiding. His office was more indicative of that tidiness, however. It was colder, and somehow less welcoming than the piles of dirty junk.
TD-4 jumped down from Soyan’s shoulder and onto the desk when she leaned against it. She drummed her fingers against the durasteel furnishing to keep herself occupied as she waited, eyes wandering. She could never understand men like Almar, not truly. The type of man who hung a holo of his wife and kids above stacked crates of imperial-grade explosives, and next to a safe of credits sourced through barely legal means. People could reconcile anything in the name of credits, she supposed. She wasn’t any different in that regard. Rounding the desk, she plucked the framed holo from it’s place on the wall and took in the scene.
They were a good looking family. For the first time she wondered how Almar had ended up here; how the happy young man in this picture got involved with smugglers in the first place, at what point he started to toe the line of what he could get away with. It wasn't of any concern to her. He gave her gigs and she got on with it. The credits always found their way to her so she wasn't in any position to go questioning anything, really.
“Here we are”
Almar’s smile wavered as he watched her replace the holo. He cleared his throat and held up the keycard, nodding awkwardly over to the safe. Soyan couldn't stop the way her brow raised in question of his unusual behaviour. He didn't seem to notice, too distracted by fumbling with the decoding stick, or whatever else was troubling him.
He looked over his shoulder to the door, furtive as he could. This skittishness was completely unlike him, and Soyan couldn't imagine what he might have done to warrant such a reaction. His eyes kept drifting back to the door as he inserted the decoder into it's slot and turned the safe's lock. Sharing a confused sort of glance with his owner, TD-4 made a questioning whistle.
“You expecting someone?” Soyan relayed the sentiment, needing to expel some of her discomfort.
His head swivelled to give her a look that betrayed something between surprise and alarm, “what makes you say that?”
Soyan tilted her head, her wary expression making it known that she was becoming worried.
“Almar… what's going on?”
“Nothing, nothing” he asserted once more, his voice too deliberately breezy, “you know me, I just—”
His weak explanation was interrupted by the sound of the main door bursting open. The small droid beeped in alarm and jumped backwards, and both Soyan and Almar snapped their gazes towards the intrusion. Murmured voices overlapped, one called out for Almar by his surname. A cold feeling began creeping on Soyan's mind, a predator closing in, and a stroke of fear ran through her. There was only one thing that feeling could mean, and neither she nor Almar were equipped to deal with it. She spun back to the man and found his eyes wide, body frozen and still holding onto the safe's heavy door.
“What have you—?” she began, but her quiet words broke his spell and he covered her mouth with a hand.
“Stay here. Hide yourself and the droid. Make for the back door when it's safe” he spoke quickly, almost in a whisper.
Soyan could feel the tremble in his hands, as well as see it when he clenched them on his way to the door. She did as she was told, not in any position to argue, and collected up TD-4 into her arms before hiding herself under the desk. She pulled her blaster for good measure.
What had he got himself into now?
In her years of sporadically working for him, Soyan had never seen Almar be afraid once. He had landed himself in hot water more than a few times, but he’d handled it with grace and confidence. This time, it seemed he knew it wasn't something he could talk his way out of. She could only pray that he was underestimating himself for the first time in his life. The shop was not set up for a surreptitious escape, and making it to the back door without detection was a feat she didn’t imagine she’d pull off.
She tried her best to listen to what was happening in the next room. The somewhat pitchy tones of Almar’s voice were audible, but not enough for her to discern any words or meaning. The replies came in an even more indecipherable tone, but from the lack of other input she could tell that the conversation was between the two of them only.
The sound of a blaster shot rang from the walls. Soyan flinched at the sudden noise, screwing her eyes shut, and heard a heavy thud follow. She gripped her blaster tighter and rocked forwards onto one knee, letting TD-4 scramble to his usual home on her back. They’d be coming for the office next. If they found them, she’d have to be ready. It was no use curling up and shutting down now. Slow footsteps approached the door, the grip of fear around her mind growing stronger with each one. She tempered her breathing, and felt her companion fold in close to her neck.
The office door zipped opened with a high-pitched groan, and Soyan remained unnaturally still. If she expected them to rush in and start tearing the place apart, her assumption went unfulfilled. At least three people entered, she garnered from the shuffled steps. It was already evident that these weren’t the sort of people Almar had dealt with before, and she reckoned he hadn’t realised that when a bargain was struck. If he had, he may still be standing.
“The fool left his credits right where we could find them” one of them laughed, their voice modulated, wearing a helmet.
Another helmeted voice chuckled in reply, closer, walking around the desk, “he was practically asking for it”
The worn boots of two figures came to a stop in front of the safe. If they turned, they'd likely spot her. She couldn't be sure, but by the armoured pieces she could see from her position under the desk, they looked to be Mandalorian. She couldn't begin to imagine why Almar would have been making deals with them, of all people. He should have known better. She mourned him for only a second longer, until the two Mandalorians moved aside and a third figure stepped up to look at the credits. He was covered as far as Soyan could see, so she was unable to make out any identifying features in his clothing.
“Zatti may have been a fool” the third man spoke, unfiltered this time, careful and low, “but not so foolish as the two of you, to think he’d have no reason to access his safe”
Soyan’s heart skipped. They would be onto her before long. She contemplated whether she should wait for them to find her and surrender, or deal the first blow — she wasn’t getting out of this unscathed either way. Before she could come to a decision, her blaster was ripped from her grasp and thrown to the floor. Not by a person, but an invisible hand. That same invisible hand wrapped its fingers around her neck and dragged her to her feet to face its wielder.
In front of her stood a distinctly unimpressed Zabrak, black tattoos contorting under the scowl he donned, emphasising his distaste. He held out a hand, gloved fingers slowly closing towards a fist as the pressure to her throat increased. Two Mandalorians flanked him as she'd suspected, but she was far too busy clawing at her neck to feel justified in that deduction.
“An accomplice” the Zabrak snarled, looking her up and down for good measure.
TD-4 was swiped by one of his henchmen as he launched himself at her assailant. He managed a zap to the man’s hand to draw a grunt from him, before being dropped to the floor and held down with his boot.
Soyan tried to reach for her droid, or argue her case, but her throat was closing up and her words could not escape. She shook her head as much as was allowed by her invisible constraints, and she managed out a strangled ‘please’ before he finally released her. She collapsed to her knees, wheezing for breath, her own hand wrapped gently around her neck as if it would soothe the pain.
“In the chair” the leader spoke, kneeling down to take the droid for himself.
The small unit put up as a good of a fight as he could against him, legs flailing and screeching as she was grabbed under each arm and thrust into the chair.
“Leave h—” she tried to protest, but her throat was too hoarse to finish.
“Quiet!” one Mandalorian snapped.
Her wrists were gathered behind her back and wrenched upward so forcefully she couldn’t help but cry out. Her right arm, a cybernetic, twinged even more uncomfortably. The man’s other hand wrapped around the hair at the base of her neck and pulled, holding her head in place so she was forced to look up at her aggressor. The Zabrak seemed to be inspecting TD-4, holding him by the head and turning him over in his hands. The droid’s defiant cries were silenced when he found the switch to power him down.
“Now,” he began, placing her limp companion down on the desk and folding his arms behind his back, “tell me your name”
Soyan stared up at him defiantly, struggling against her captor’s grip and earning a yank to her hair in return. She grunted at the sharp pain, but refused to speak. The helmeted man to the Zabrak’s side laid a hand over his blaster in warning.
"Do not make this harder for yourself. If you tell me what I want to know then I may let you go free"
Soyan didn’t feel inclined to believe him.
“Spit it out, girl” the Mandalorian holding her jeered, gripping her hair tighter and making some spill from the ties that held it together. “Stop wasting our time”
The Zabrak held up a hand, his uncompromising stare indicating for the man to stop talking. He obeyed, to her surprise. She wouldn't have thought a Mandalorian to take orders from just anyone. Perhaps that was exactly the case here.
“Your name,” he reiterated his question, “if you please”
The false display of manners could have made her laugh, if she wasn’t still suffering under the pressure of a Mandalorian’s strength.
“It’s Soyan” she told him through gritted teeth, receiving a raised brow that indicated she wasn’t getting let off so easily. “Romori”
The Zabrak nodded slowly, “So, Miss Romori. Tell me… what is your role here?”
His voice was entirely more calm than his subjects, she realised. That was not a comfort. If anything, it was exceptionally disquieting.
“Nothing” she confessed, “I just did odds and ends. I’m only here to collect on a job”
He hummed, needing to be convinced, “what job?”
“Spice delivery”
“Where to?”
“Pantora, outskirts of Ro Station”
He tilted his head and looked at her down his nose, eyes thinning. There was something uniquely terrifying about that — being sized up by someone so quietly threatening. She didn’t think there was reason for him to believe she was lying, but she didn’t know how reasonable he could be. Not very, she imagined. She had control of her breathing by now, and kept it shallow as she could; kept herself still. The Zabrak then lifted his gaze to skim it across the room.
“What do you know about Zatti?” he asked at length.
Soyan decided to push her luck.
“Have him let go of me. I’ll tell you everything I know”
The Mandalorian at her back gave her hair another tug of warning, but his commander stopped him with a simple order.
“Release her”
The reply came immediately, and his grasp on her slipped. “Yes, my Lord”
Soyan took back her wrists, attempting to rub away the lingering pain as she turned to point a glare into the darkness of the man’s visor. Juvenile, perhaps, but the image of him seething beneath his helmet brought her great satisfaction. She flexed her cybernetic hand, thankful to find it was not giving her any unnatural pain. Her eyes returned to the Zabrak, a brow raised, and she placed a hand on the chair’s arm to lift herself. She wasn't going to show fear, and she wasn't going to grovel at his feet, no matter who he was.
“What do you want to know?” she asked.
“Who he conducted business with, how he conducted it. His reputation. His reach. All of it”
She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts.
“Well, he’s— he was… unreliable. To clients and employees alike, I think. But I suppose that much is obvious” she crossed her arms over her chest and rested back on the desk as if this situation was entirely normal. As if she often gave out the details of her recently deceased employers to their butchers. “I don't know the whole picture, but from what I've heard, it was the gambling that did it to him. Most of his business came off the back of that though — casino folk, you know?”
“I see. And his contacts…?”
“He's well connected in the Corporate sector. Cantonica, Lythos, Kail — those sorts of places. I’ve done a lot of deliveries along the Hydian Way”
He was quiet for a long moment, seemingly digesting the information. She could feel herself wanting to squirm, to fidget under the weight of his steady gaze. It was beyond uncomfortable, being pinned in place by this stranger's bloodshot eyes, knowing that he was capable of taking her life without even laying a finger on her. His golden stare seemed speak for him, warning her of that fact.
“Empty this” he finally said, turning to the man at his side as he gestured to the safe, “collect any datadisks, memory cores — any records of his that you can find. Notify the others, have them do the same”
Soyan’s fear spiked as he directed his gaze back to her. The Mandalorians started moving around him, following his instructions, but he remained still. His eyes narrowed a moment, assessing in a new way, then he turned heel and made for the exit. Her breath left her quickly, no longer held back. This day had turned out much worse than she’d anticipated.
To rub salt in the wound, it only dawned on her then that she was yet to receive payment for the job that had sent her back to her homeworld to begin with. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to hold herself back from doing exactly what she knew she was going to do. Abandoning her pride, and probably her senses, she stalked from the room in long strides.
“Hey, wait!”
The Zabrak, who had almost made it out of the shop’s door by the time she caught up with him, looked back at her, a brow raising. Either he was surprised she was coming after him, or warning her not to. Maybe both. To the right of him, Almar's lifeless body was sprawled unceremoniously across the floor, his eyes dimmed, turned cold. Soyan wouldn't let any grief bubble up too much, not in the presence of this man. She didn't know what he'd be able to sense in her, but she would prefer not to test those limits. Keeping her emotions in check was something she could do.
“Some of those credits belong to me”
He sneered, turning slowly to face her head on, “I suggest you leave before my patience wears thin.”
It sounded more like a challenge, than an opportunity for mercy. Blinded by her own desperation, Soyan didn't stop to ponder that.
“I can’t just— no! I need…” she argued, and a long breath escaped her when she realised how pathetic she sounded. “I need it”
His ears seemed to perk up at that, but she wasn't in the position to consider why. His eyes fell to the figures in the room behind her, emptying out what's was left of Almar's funds. He frowned thoughtfully, his lips a thin line, then looked back to her. The way he studied her, it felt like more than just and assessment of her appearance. It was as if he was beneath the skin; not looking at her, but through her. Like he saw something he recognised.
Soyan couldn’t be sure what he was searching for, or if he'd find it. She hoped that he wouldn't.
“How much was he offering?” he asked quietly.
“What?”
The Zabrak rolled his eyes, not bothering to conceal is irritation, “Zatti. What was he paying you for running the spice?”
“Oh, right. Um… something like fifteen-hundred credits” she told him. It was really closer to a thousand, but Almar wasn't able to dispute that anymore.
“That would not even cover the cost of fuel to Pantora and back” he replied, cocking his head, “and this is money you… need?”
Soyan ignored his question, crossing her arms defensively, “you can throw in the fuel cost too if you like”
The Zabrak scoffed, something that may have been akin to a laugh if he was any less sour. He clasped his hands behind his back and squinted at Soyan. She was sure he thought himself so far above her. The way he looked down at her so exaggeratedly told her as much. She hated it as much as she always had.
“What else are you capable of?”
Whatever she expected him to say, it wasn't that.
“I beg your pardon?”
His nose scrunched upward, displeased. “I will warn you again — do not test my patience. If you wish, I can send you on your merry way with no credits and nothing to show for your efforts. Or… you can tell me what skills you possess and I may have an offer that could benefit the both of us”
“Right” Soyan nodded quickly, “well… I’ve mostly done smuggling, and a couple bounty jobs here and there. I’m a fair flyer too, land speeders in particular, I suppose. Ship servicing and all that as well. I’m not a bad shot eith—”
“Lord Maul” a Mandalorian woman stepped through the broken door and interrupted, “I've got Vos waiting on a comm call back at the ship”
The Zabrak, who she could now identify by name, let out a deep breath. His eyes closed, a hand raising to rub his temples in irritation.
“I'll be there in just a moment” he muttered, then turned to give Soyan a stern look. “Stay put. I may have use for you yet”
Soyan wanted to laugh. She didn't suppose arguing with this man was going to get her very far, though. She heeded his command, however irked it made her, and leaned back against the nearest counter of assorted garbage to show that she wasn’t going anywhere. Maul, as she now knew to call him, followed the armoured woman out into the street. She watched him leave, and let her unease begin to recede with him.
Waiting was tiresome. Other armoured soldiers came and went, taking crates of credits and other detritus, until what had been Almar’s office was now reminiscent of the rest of the shop; a mess. She kept her gaze away from the body of her fallen employer. Seeing him once was enough. She couldn’t have ever said they were really friends, but they had been friendly. Granted, his rates were pretty poor, but he was kind to her. That was something to be cherished in this galaxy.
Having stood in the same spot for almost fifteen minutes now, Soyan was getting restless. Most of Maul’s men had retreated, one remaining that hovered by the door. She wasn’t stupid, she knew that was a measure he’d put in place to stop her leaving. Impatient and bored, she wandered back into the office and switched on her droid. TD-4 was still in a state of panic when he awoke, and she gave him the space to come to his senses.
“You can relax, TD. Everything’s fine” she chuckled after a moment, placing a hand on his head, “I think, at least”
He calmed, crouching with a sorrowful whistle that asked why they killed Almar.
Soyan sighed, “you know how he was, buddy”
Another question, but what did he do to anger the horned man?
“We may yet find out, if we’re lucky” she replied, “or unlucky… it’s hard to tell right now”
She sensed Maul’s return, rather than heard it, though he did not speak up even when he had come back.
“Have you decided whether I’m of use to you?”
Soyan swivelled to find him stood in the doorway, just watching her. His brows raised slightly, the tiniest uptick that gave the impression of vindication, rather than surprise. He hummed lowly, taking a step into the room, and TD-4 huddled in close to his owner.
“The task that Zatti failed to deliver on,” he began, drawing out his words like he was still considering it, “my offer is five thousand”
Soyan frowned, “you want me to do the job?”
“If you would prefer to go without credits I am more that happy to—”
“Okay, okay. Hold on, slow down” she interrupted, hands held up like a surrender, “what is the job?”
Maul pressed his lips together for a moment, “either you agree now or you leave”
Soyan huffed with irritation, deflating, “how am I supposed to know if I’m able if you don’t tell me?”
He sighed and leaned back on a filing cabinet, picking up a small decorative figurine from beside him. Almar had told her it was a gift from his children, from when they had taken a trip without him. Maul turned it over in his hands as if trying to decipher its significance.
“Something tells me you’re not in the position to decline”
Soyan’s teeth ground together. He was right, after all. The credits had been slow flowing for too long now.
“Why not just get someone else to do it? I’m sure you have…” she gestured at him, casting some aspersion she didn’t name, “people”
“This is a convenience” Maul replied, not denying her claim, “I need it quiet, with the way this has turned out. And… there is no motive quite like desperation”
Her scoff was drowned out by an offensive trill from her droid. “Maybe you’re right. Suppose I channelled that desperation towards just taking the credits from you anyways…?”
Maul’s head tilted, bored and unthreatened, “that would be unwise”
Soyan groaned quietly. She was out of fight.
“Fine, fine. I’ll take the gig” she conceded, “now, what is it?”
“I need someone retrieved from Karazak. Alive”
“That’s it?” she asked, her tone derisive, “this whole ordeal was over a simple bounty job?”
Maul’s posture straightened further, “I trust that it shouldn’t be any trouble, then”
“Well… no. Doesn’t sound like it” Soyan shrugged, “do you have a puck?”
He shook his head, placing down the figure, “I will provide the coordinates of his holdfast”
“Holdfast” she chuckled cynically, “I knew there was a catch”
“I trust that you will find a way”
Soyan sighed and pushed a hair back from her face, tucking it back into her bandana. This situation was shaping up to be a lot more than she bargained for. Though, the money was too good for her to back out now, even if she could.
“Friend or foe?”
“Foe”
She nodded once, “do they know that?”
“They should”
A puff of air left her, an unamused laugh. “I suppose that makes my job more fun, huh? Anything else I should know?”
Maul appeared to be sizing her up again, but this time it felt less threatening. Maybe because he now needed her for this job, maybe because she’d been openly combative and hadn’t yet ended up like Almar. Truthfully, it was the most someone had seen through her in some time, even if he would not yet name what he was suspicious of. If he did know, if he could see something in her that she didn’t want found, that was a chilling thought.
“I’m sure I don’t have to warn you of what lays in wait on Karazak”
Soyan wandered through the labyrinth that was the western bazaar, trying not to call attention to herself. The sun, high in the sky, beat down on her through the gaps in the thin scraps of patterned fabric that covered the stalls. Karazak was truly full of the nastiest sort of people. Black market traders and slavers haggled in broad daylight, deals being struck that were far from legal, let alone moral. The Empire had laws against that sort of thing, for all their misdeeds, but when it came to following through on enforcing those laws, they didn’t seem to put much effort in. The dissonance between what the Empire said and what they did was an ever-widening cavern, and it was the main reason that Soyan could not bare to treat with them.
There was a certain anonymity here that was afforded to Soyan by way of her race. The planet was only a few systems over from her own, and many of the faces she saw were not dissimilar from hers; varying shades of blue decorated by pale yellow markings. Perhaps that was what Maul had wanted. It was a convenience. He wanted it quiet. Those were the words he’d used. She would have thought it a smart play if she didn’t think it was so foolish of him, putting his trust in a complete stranger in such a way as he had. Maybe the threat she faced should she fail was enough for him to have some amount of faith in her.
That didn’t really phase her. She wasn’t going to fail.
She had landed her ship outside of the city, trying to dodge traceable identification and paying for docking fees. It was already hassle enough trying to scrape together credits for fuel. She’d left TD-4 charging too, not needing his input this time. She found that these sort of people could get jumpy around droids.
To her satisfaction, she had discovered that her target’s stronghold was situated on the outskirts of town, near enough to her ship that she could see more clearly how this would play out. She couldn’t anticipate how she was going to make it work exactly, but she’d got good enough at improvising by this point that she wasn’t letting worry overwhelm her. She had the basis of a plan, some things in place, but it was anyone’s guess if she was actually going to be let in or not.
Her target, a Chagrian named Dak Sonas, was the leader of a supposedly covert black market operation. One look on the right side of the holonet had blown a hole in that story. The company he headed was only a local one, but they still had reach. She also found out that Sonas was an avid gambler, and frequented casinos all throughout the outer rim more often than he attended to his own company. It had only occurred to Soyan when she’d made planetfall that he may be off-world, but his presence was apparently rare enough that it kicked up a fuss among the locals when he did return. She’d overheard more than five people discussing it.
It turned out, she found out in a short briefing from one of Maul’s people, that Almar was supposed to be making a deal with Sonas on their behalf, after having been caught boasting about their friendship at the sabacc table. Of course, this was an exaggeration. In any case, Almar had made a solid attempt at double crossing Maul, and had instead strengthened his own operation through cultivating a partnership with the Chagrian. Soyan couldn’t help but think that he should have known not to push this boundary, but it equally didn’t surprise her in the least.
Sonas’ palace, as she’d heard it referred to, was a large compound cut from sandstone, an exceptionally plain exterior that would mask its purpose if it wasn’t for the hired guns that stood at every entry point. She came upon it when exiting the bazaar. There was an obvious main entrance, where two guards stood and conversed beneath a wide archway that lead into a courtyard. Going at this head on seemed like the simplest approach, to Soyan. She’d only have to be convincing enough. Taking a slow breath, she steeled herself and lifted her posture, the picture of confidence and belonging.
“I seek an audience with Dak Sonas” she spoke evenly as she came to a stop in front of the guards at the main gate.
Both guards turned in tandem, one of them looking at her as if she’d grown a second head, and the other spluttered a laugh right in her face. It wasn’t an unexpected turnout.
The quiet one, Pantoran like herself, gave her a once over, and let his lips curl to a smirk at her expense, “you can’t just waltz over here and ask to speak with the boss just because you feel like it”
“I should be expected” she said breezily, “my employer sent a communication upon my departure from Pinara”
“And who might your employer be?” the other guard asked, a tall and rather bitter looking man.
“I’m not at liberty to say”
“Right” he scoffed, “of course you’re not”
“I’m not leaving until I speak with Sonas personally. He should have been notified of this”
“We’ve heard nothing of your—”
“Wait” his partner stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, “where did you say you’d come from?”
“Pinara” she replied, “my employer is otherwise engaged and sent me in their stead. This should all have come through an encrypted comm channel not too long ago”
The guard frowned and turned to the other, speaking at a lower volume “Olnon did say we'd had a new deal with someone in the sector”
The stubborn one scoffed, but didn’t argue.
“Okay… uh, just— wait here. I’ll go check this out”
Soyan stood still, trying not to fidget as the remaining guard eyed her with open distrust. She could only hope they’d accept the message she had sent from Almar’s office as enough, without needing to speak with Almar himself. That would certainly run this operation into the ground very quickly.
Before long, the guard returned and gestured for her to step forward, “alright, come on through”
The interior of the palace was more worthy of its title. It was minimal, but in an obvious and probably a tasteful way, though Soyan didn't know what really constituted having ‘taste’. Large cavernous rooms, sparsely decorated by pieces of art and sculpture that depicted things she was too impoverished to care about, probably fit the bill for these sort of people. The employees she passed wore garments that looked as if they cost more than her ship, so much that it was hard not to feel underdressed. Really, it was impressive that such a small operation had amassed such wealth. Soyan had ideas of her own about how that worked, but she'd leave the finding out to Maul when he invariably questioned the boss.
The guard who was escorting her stopped at a door, sparing her a brief glance before opening it up. Inside was a lounge of sorts, marginally more homely than what she’d already seen of the compound. Cushioned seats and rugs filled the space, but the sofas still appeared stiff, and the stark white colour made them seem even more uncomfortable. Three figures turned towards them, one of them a rather spectacularly dressed Chagrian.
“Boss,” her escort bowed his head slightly, “I am sorry to interrupt, but I have an emissary here from Pinara”
“Ah,” Sonas sat up and gave a smile that was almost warm, opening his arm to invite her to take a seat, “come in, my dear. Almar sent you, did he?”
Soyan nodded, feeling too welcome all of a sudden. She sat on the edge of the sofa opposite him, on the receiving end of a charming grin that spoke to how he'd got so far in such a short time.
“What news? How's the old gent?”
“He is well” Soyan lied easily, letting the informal environment release some of the tension from her shoulders, “he was sorry not to be able to make the trip over himself. He's tied up on Isolt at the moment, I’m afraid”
“No matter,” he waved his hand to dismiss the idea, “what is your name, dear?”
“Soyan”
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Soyan” he took her hand and shook it softly, “tell me what I can do for you.” She returned the pleasantries as he relaxed back into his seat again.
This was too easy. How could the head of a criminal organisation be so trusting? Perhaps there was an infallibility that he felt he was granted by his position, by the guards at his door. His openly friendly demeanour almost made her feel guilty.
“It's what I can do for you, actually” she began, and saw his brow tick upwards.
“Do tell”
“My employer wanted for me to convey that the danger has passed; he said you'd know what that meant” she tried not to hold her breath to see how he would react. Thankfully, he seemed entirely pleased by the news.
“I'm happy to hear it. But… that's not why you've come all this way… is it?”
Soyan's pulse jumped. He was watching her like he knew something, but a certain twinkle in his eye told her that was more or less his way of holding himself in conversation. Maybe that had contributed to his rise. It was unnerving in a particularly affable way.
“No, it's not” she smiled, feigning composure, “business has been good, and Almar wanted to offer a token, something to show his appreciation for this new agreement between you”
Sonas laughed heartily, “quite the sycophant, isn't he?”
Her lips twisted in return, trying not to agree, “he wishes to offer a crate of spice, free of charge and for your assessment”
“My assessment?”
“It is the very finest quality Sansanna from Ventooine, but he wanted to give you the chance to decide that for yourself, before further trade between you”
“I see” Sonas nodded, “well then. Where is this crate?”
“Back at my ship, I’m afraid. I did not have a way of transporting it, and would not risk losing it to…”
Sonas chuckled and sat forward again, “yes, I understand. The locale is far from arcadian. I shall have one of my guards bring a repulsorlift adapter to retrieve it”
“Almar made plain that only you should be able to test its quality” Soyan asserted, casually as she could, and saw the man next to the Chagrian sit upright.
“That hardly seems necessary” the man protested, eyes narrowed, “what are you trying to pull?”
Soyan recoiled as if the claim had offended her, “pull? Nothing! As I said, this is a shipment specifically for Sonas”
“She’s telling the truth,” the guard who had let her in piped up, “it was said in the message from his office on Pinara. Only Sonas may assess it before taking it onboard for either personal or commercial use”
“Relax, Olnon” Sonas chided his subject, “come, Soyan, my dear. Take me to your ship and we’ll get this seen to”
It was far too easy. Soyan had expected a little more push back, and she had definitely expected Sonas to be a lot more frightening. If she wasn’t getting paid a sum of credits that would keep her afloat a little while longer then she might have felt more inclined to back out of this. The one hydrospanner in the works was that Sonas brought his guard along with him to collect this ‘shipment’. It was typical, really. The two people who had made this so easy for her were standing to lose the most from it now.
She showed the pair of them to her ship, making pleasant enough conversation on the way. Mostly about Almar, which twisted her insides to speak so falsely about. When they arrived, she let them go ahead of her to open up a spare crate she kept, so setting her blaster to stun and shooting them both in the back had been simple enough. She took the guard first, the one of them with a blaster at his hip, and it took two shots to take Sonas down, his stature much larger. She dragged the guard by his feet and dumped him outside, and quickly gave up trying to move Sonas to a more comfortable position. She simply didn’t have the strength.
TD-4 gave a welcome as she entered the cockpit, asking her how the job went.
“Pretty damn well” she grinned in return, taking her seat in the pilot’s set, “all things considered”
The journey back to Pinara was quick enough, only a few star systems over from Karazak. She spent most of that time filling her droid in on the details of what had happened on the planet they’d left behind. When she set the ship down in a docking bay on the other side of the planet to Almar’s shop, co-ordinates she’d been given in her briefing, she detached him from his charging port, and he climbed to his regular spot on her back. Sonas was still out of it when a pair of Mandalorians strode up the ship’s gangplank.
“What did you do to him?” one asked, a tall woman with fair hair, when the Chagrian remained unresponsive and slumped on the floor.
“Just a couple stun blasts” Soyan replied, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked down at the sleeping man. The armoured woman crouched next to him, and knocked his temple with the butt of her blaster. Sonas began slowly twitching back to life, the three of them watching as he came back to his body. His eyes cracked open, and he heaved himself to a sitting position with a groan.
“Come on, Sonas. There’s a cell with your name on it” the standing Mandalorian spoke gruffly, holding out a pair of binders.
He took in the scene before him with a down turned mouth, looking around at his audience disdainfully. As his gaze landed on Soyan, he shook his head.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, should I?” he asked, but she remained quiet. TD-4 gave a taunting whistle in the absence of anything else.
“On your feet” the woman stood and motioned with her blaster for him to stand up, “quickly”
Sonas took his time even so, gradually raising until he dwarfed everyone else in the cramped space. He had to bend slightly just to fit comfortably. The Mandalorian with the binders moved forward to apprehend him, and he was surprisingly pliant. Soyan supposed he knew there was no sense in resisting at this point.
“Alright, alright. No need to be so rough” he protested softly as the man tugged at his wrists.
The Mandalorian woman gave Soyan a once over and gestured towards the ship’s entryway “this way”
The compound was nothing fancy, not that she was necessarily expecting much. It was a very bland facility, probably once used for storage or a more legal trading business, and it had certainly seen better days. It could also have benefited from a clean. The woman took Soyan and her captive down a long corridor, at the end of which was a staircase leading down into a basement room.
Upon entering the dimly lit space, she found none other than Maul sat at the head of a long table, in a chair that seemed like a throne only because of how he rested in it. He was saying something to a Pyke that sat to his right as she shuffled in, but his words ground to a halt as soon as he looked over and saw her, Dak Sonas standing behind her in binders. His head tilted, and the rest of the room turned to see who had stopped proceedings.
“Mr Sonas” Maul began, placing his palms to the table to lift himself, “I am pleased you could join us”
“Yes, well” Sonas rumbled, in a much more unfriendly tone than before, “this is quite the charming operative you have here”
Soyan looked back at the man, who for all his bitterness, seemed to be earnest in his assertion. She had the grace to look a little bit sorry. TD-4 offered a disgruntled beep on her behalf. He knew well enough the sort of thing that peeved her to voice her opinion when she couldn’t.
“Take him to the holding cell” Maul told his sentries, then directed his next words at Sonas himself, “I suggest that you use this time alone to consider your mistakes”
Sonas snorted, “certainly”
Maul’s gaze returned to Soyan as the Chagrian was escorted through a door off to the left. “We will reconvene at dawn” he said to the room, “Raic, please retrieve our mercenary’s payment and have it brought to her ship”
She stepped to the side as his subjects began filing out of the room, and Maul made his way around the table at a slower pace, coming to a stop in front of her as he nodded towards the door.
“Allow me to escort you back to your ship”
It somehow only occurred to Soyan then, that this act of politeness wasn’t exactly an act, and neither was it him being deliberately polite. It was just his way of going on. Every other criminal leader she’d had the misfortune of dealing with, was either entirely vexed by the galaxy’s inner workings, or exuberant in the face of it, revelling in excess. Sonas had been the latter. Maul was neither. He was calm. Cold. Calculated. That made him feel endlessly more dangerous.
He led her up the stairs, his steps slow as he fell in stride with her once in the corridor. He was quiet at first, looking out through the windows that lined the long hall. It was dusk, the sky streaked with orange and painting the bland planet in a more pleasant light. The warm glow didn’t make Maul seem any less menacing, however.
“I will admit, I was surprised to see you return so soon” he spoke softly, turning to glance at her out of the corner of his eye, “how did you cheat Sonas so swiftly?”
“I walked in through the front gate and took him back to my ship” Soyan shrugged lightly, being intentionally vague.
A pensive hum was Maul’s reply. “I am sure there is more to the story, though… I suppose it is negligible”
Soyan stayed silent, not entirely pleased that the work she’d put in, however little effort it had seemed, was being denigrated. They shortly came upon the door leading to the docking bay, and Maul let her exit first.
“Why do you do this work?” he suddenly asked.
She wasn’t expecting what felt like such a personal question, not from him. She also didn’t feel inclined to tell him, but even if she did, her answer was not fully formed in her own mind. Soyan turned, giving him a look that she hoped would convey she didn’t appreciate her private affairs being poked at.
“There is no reason” she stated, “it’s just what I’ve fallen into. Same as everyone else”
Maul nodded, stopping at the base of her ship’s gangplank and watching her closely, “of course. But you must know that we cannot fight our… nature, entirely”
There was intention behind his words, plain as day. He wasn’t trying to veil it. Soyan placed her hands on her hips, a frown creasing her brows.
“I don’t believe in things like that” she said firmly, taking a step up into her ship to look down upon him, “it is foolish to live your life trusting in ill-conceived notions such as fate”
Maul pressed his lips to a thin line, a grim scowl taking over his features. “Believe what you will” he said, clipped and distant, “you should be aware that I may require your services again”
She didn’t reply. She wouldn’t give any indication on how she felt about the idea. Letting the ship close up behind her and walking into the cockpit, she couldn’t help but muse on the idea of him knowing about her, about what she was capable of. If he knew that she was like him, what would that mean for her? It could only spell trouble, she just couldn’t see how yet.
Through the viewport she could see the outline of his figure, standing in the corrdor and watching her departure. It was beyond unnerving.
I don’t like him.
“No. Me neither, TD”