Star Wars: Darth Hassan

At night, the streets near the city center were drastically different from the slums. In the shadows of the slums, not only murderers hide, but also rapists and maniacs. While for bounty hunters, killing is just a way to earn money, for psychopaths, it's incomparable fun! They eagerly pour out their fantasies on their victims, torturing their bodies and souls. Such scum of society are even worse bio-trash than the rest on Tatooine, a planet where the law of the criminal world reigns supreme.

Here, you can forget about law enforcement. Even if they exist on this desert planet, all the "guardians of the law" are fed by the slimy hand of the Hutt. However, the big bosses don't like unnecessary noise or senseless bloodshed, so the upper wealthy districts are sometimes patrolled by retired killers. Formally, they guard the peace of the citizens, but in reality, they work for the same criminal authorities. Why would they want problems in a long-established profit scheme?

Extra noise certainly won't attract any attention from the law, but it might create a tiny stumbling block between local bigwigs, sparking a full-blown faction war. Despite the fact that the Hutt is the King of Tatooine, the fat slug can't keep an eye on his vast criminal empire alone, so there's a certain hierarchy in the criminal syndicate, where a couple of mercenaries are at the very bottom.

The guy and the girl stopped near a small desert house, which actually looked like a residential home, not a tiny shack where Olg and Rune were crammed. The windows of the hideout of Dooku's lackeys were covered with iron curtains, and the peace of the residents was guarded by a sturdy reinforced door. Security on the planet is a top priority, so none of the locals skimped on basic fortifications. Including a black exit, through which one could always make a quick escape.

"Are we just going to knock?"—Rafael made an important clarification.

"That's only part of the plan,"—the former best agent of Count Dooku, the terror of the Jedi, whose yellow lightsaber struck fear into knights and padawans, patiently answered her partner. "You knock, and I'll watch the black exit. We'll cut off their escape routes either way."

"Sounds logical,"—the partner nodded.

"And very dangerous." The girl quickly turned the corner of the house and headed to the back exit. Even if Vandalo were alone, he still posed a real threat to the bounty hunters. His skills were highly valued by Dooku's inner circle, whom the Chiss had helped deal with troubles more than once while she was learning the intricacies of the Force. And the fact that Sha'a was hiding in the house with him made their capture almost impossible. On Sha'a's side was the Force and the nightmare of all blaster weapons—the lightsaber. Just position the saber at the right angle, and you can literally deflect a blaster shot back at the shooter! Delicate and incredibly effective!

However, she had absolutely nothing to worry about, standing at the slammed metal door in the backyard. Maybe her trusted lightsaber wasn't hanging on her belt, but Sev'rance still knew hand-to-hand combat, which she was taught at the military academy. Besides, the Chiss was well acquainted with Dooku's style and lightsabers in general, so even without her own blade, she could at least hold her own against Donita, and at best, completely neutralize her. And if you remember that she's accompanied by Darth Hassan himself, masquerading as a good-natured and naive mercenary. He, at the very least, would neutralize the enemies, and at best, trap them in an icy prison with his mind-blowing freezing technique of the Force!

This trump card would allow him to defeat even Count Dooku, who had only mastered Force Lightning. Back then, this technique seemed to her the pinnacle of power! But now, looking at her new teacher, she understands that the Count couldn't even achieve a grain of the power available to Hassan, which means she will soon surpass the old geezer! Maybe Tann will personally thank his severed head with its ever-arrogant expression.

The screech of metal snapped her out of her thoughts—the reinforced door in front of her slid open. The light from the house, trying to help the fugitive escape, blinded her eyes, but alas, the lenses on her helmet easily suppressed the sharp contrast of light.

The mercenary in the armor familiar from yesterday's encounter froze in confusion for a split second, only to be sent flying back into the house by a powerful kick from his ex-girlfriend. The unexpected blow was enough not only to catch him off guard but also to knock him to the floor. The armor absorbed most of the damage, but his stomach still ached from the professional kick of a former military officer, enhanced by the Force. His hands reached for the blaster lying nearby, but any resistance was immediately suppressed by Cheesecake pointing her own blaster at him.

"Don't even think about it,"—she said in a slightly husky voice to better disguise her familiar voice.

"Move aside without getting up."

Vandalo pierced her with a sharp gaze through his helmet. His fingers were inches away from the weapon. If they had come to kill him, this girl would have already shot him between the eyes, but since she wasn't in a hurry to kill him, he... Suddenly reached for his blaster! The muscles in his arms tensed to make a lightning-fast move toward the target, but a red light flashed in his peripheral vision, accompanied by the all-too-familiar sound of "pew." The blaster shot hit the prisoner right between the legs, eloquently asking him not to do anything stupid.

Yes, for some reason, they needed him alive, though the condition of his limbs wouldn't affect his longevity. The moment was lost. For his next act of disobedience, they might very well shoot off either a leg or an arm, which Vandalo would still need. Meanwhile, Sev'rance was completely convinced that in the spacious house, where only the bathroom was partitioned off, there was no one else but her ex, along with the trash near the shabby kitchen set and on the dining table. It seemed the Chiss had arrived on the planet very recently.

"I said, move away from the blaster,"—the girl said more threateningly.

Vandalo silently obeyed. He crawled away from his blaster, which was then picked up by the woman who had attacked him.

Now he was staring down the barrels of two deadly blasters. She was clearly no amateur, and her reflexes were top-notch if she managed to shoot just a moment before he could act. Of course, Dooku wouldn't send amateurs after him. The old Sith Lord knew exactly what one of his most effective combat units was capable of.

As it turned out, Vandalo was pinned to the floor almost in the center of the house, so he would have had to take a significant number of steps to escape through the black exit. The worst part was that the door had slammed shut behind her again, so he would have to spend precious seconds opening it. Time was not on his side. Shooting with two hands is harder, but the rate of fire increases significantly, and given the distance between them, the girl could undoubtedly shoot him in the worst-case scenario.

She walked to the front door and opened it for her partner. The number of blasters in the house increased, though the number of barrels aimed at him didn't change. Someone of the male gender was also clad in armor, so Vandalo could only guess what kind of bounty hunters had come to visit him. Was he familiar with them or not, and most importantly, why did Dooku want him alive?

"Where's your girlfriend?"—the shooter asked in a rather young voice.

"What girlfriend?"—the Chiss reasonably asked, momentarily remembering his fellow countrywoman.

"Listen, you're not our target,"—the guy squatted in front of him. "If you cooperate, no one gets hurt. Just answer our questions, and we'll leave you alone. Where's Sha'a Donita? When will she return?"

A tense silence hung in the air. Vandalo frantically recalled the familiar name, but not to spill all the information on the table, but to understand what was going on. He had been working for Dooku for a long time, especially for the big shots of the Confederacy, so he was familiar with the name Sha'a Donita, but the Chiss had never crossed paths with her. In other words, she carried out other assignments for the Trade Federation. In the hierarchy, the Twi'lek girl was far above an ordinary mercenary, though in terms of trust, she was inferior to Sev'rance.

"Until now, I didn't know she was on Tatooine. You're mistaken, we're not together."

"How can you not be together,"—the bounty hunter chuckled. "You both work for Dooku, and how did you both end up on the same planet at the same time?"

"Coincidence,"—funny enough, that's exactly how it was for Vandalo. "I don't know why she's here, and I came here for a different reason."

"You're saying you have another mission?"

"You got it right,"—the prisoner nodded.

"I think you're hiding something,"—the interlocutor straightened up. "What do you think?"—he turned to his partner.

The girl wasn't in a hurry to answer. Vandalo was a principled mercenary who would rather die than compromise his own rules. Even if he were tortured, he wouldn't say a word. If he had already taken a job, he wouldn't back down. So now, he could either be covering for his partner or telling the truth. How to get to the bottom of this? First, you need to catch him in a lie by playing on what they already know. Only then can you figure out if he's lying or not.

"If you're not with her,"—Tann continued in a low tone, "then why are you here?"

"Confederacy business, it's none of your concern,"—of course, he wasn't in a hurry to be frank with strangers. Right now, he could bluff, saying that the CIS wouldn't leave them alone if he died, but such a lie was unlikely to work on experienced bounty hunters. If they managed to find him, they definitely shouldn't be underestimated.

"Confederacy business? Has the Outer System already joined the Separatists? I wonder what would happen if we handed you over to Jabba?"

Oh yes, Vandalo understood where she was going. As the interlocutor had said, the Outer System, especially the criminal groups, maintained absolute neutrality, not allowing CIS and Republic ships to travel without the risk of robbery or raids. The Hutt Crime Empire was another side that had to be reckoned with, or else the fat slugs would happily drink someone's blood, whether it was the real blood of clones or the machine oil of droids. At the beginning of the war, neither side wanted to provoke the Hutts.

"It's already settled with the Hutt. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong,"—the Chiss held his ground stoically. "You're looking for Sha'a, not me. I suggest you don't waste your time."

"Settled, you say?"—the shooter said mockingly. "I hate to disappoint you, but Sha'a failed her negotiations with the Hutt, which leads me to believe that you're a Confederacy spy whom Jabba would be happy to welcome with open arms. Didn't Dooku warn you?"

"Damn..."—he had just been caught by the balls. How could he have known that Donita had been in direct contact with the Hutt?!

"Listen, I really don't know where Sha'a Donita is. I have completely different business on Tatooine, unrelated to her,"—the man's voice was filled with impatience and fear.

"Then it's simple: either you tell us what your mission is, or I'll kill you. We lose nothing from your death,"—to illustrate, she fired again, moving the blaster slightly to the side.

The energy bolt instantly flew within a millimeter of his helmet, leaving black soot near the dining table. They needed Sha'a, as well as information. The more they knew about Dooku's plans, the better. Threatening him was pointless, so why did she threaten her ex? There's a war going on. On the political stage, every careless step can lead to irreversible consequences, up to and including defeat. The shipping routes in the Outer Rim are closed to both sides—to solve this problem, Donita came to Jabba. In the end, their negotiations failed, and she went into hiding... But for what?

The main question is, would Dooku risk his relationship with the Hutt to search for Hassan? In fact, Sha'a could stay here as long as she wanted, and Jabba wouldn't touch her as long as their interests didn't intersect. Would he send Vandalo to help in the search? No, the more people involved in the search, the more the Separatists would test the slug's patience. So, did Vandalo come to Tatooine not on Confederacy business? Had he defected to the Republic?

"I'm here for other reasons—that's all I can say,"—the Chiss sighed.

"And do these personal reasons of yours include hunting for... a Dark Lord of the Sith?"

"!"—the prisoner noticeably tensed.

"I'm sure Count Dooku understands the danger of this... Dark Lord better than we do, if he even exists, and I doubt that the leader of the Separatists and another Follower of... the Dark Side of the Force in one person,"—she deliberately paused, pretending to recall Jedi terms, "would provoke Jabba as well. That way, he'd earn two enemies on one planet."

Despite her professional skills, the girl was also endowed with a brilliant mind. She deftly steered the conversation to the topic of interest to lure the prey into a trap. She could have laid out all the facts from the start to pressure him, but then Vandalo would have had an easier time dodging answers. Instead, she made the opponent slip up, then rubbed his nose in the lie. The girl was clearly not one of those thugs who only know how to shoot and blow things up.

"Alright... Fine..."—Vandalo hung his head, accepting complete surrender. "Right now, I'm on my own. And yes, I'm looking for this Darth Hassan for personal reasons. Are you satisfied now? Convinced I'm not with Sha'a?"

"Oh crap!"—the girl's quiet partner exclaimed quite loudly.

Sev'rance had just opened her mouth to agree with her ex and announce his sentence, after which she would casually shoot him. There was no point in leaving such a dangerous and useless witness alive, who could send a message to Dooku's inner circle with a few flicks of his fingers. His death would ensure Sev'rance and Hassan a peaceful existence for some time. Of course, she was curious why Vandalo had come to Tatooine without Dooku's permission.

Such disobedience put his life in great danger.

"And where are we supposed to find this Sha'a Donita now?"—came the rhetorical question. "And are you sure this... Dark Lord of the Sith,"—he said in a teasing tone, essentially insulting himself, "is really on Tatooine? Damn it, what if she defected to him, and that's why we can't find her?"—Tann could swear Rafael was being sarcastic. "Oh, man, so we'll be up against two lightsaber-wielding maniacs? She almost scalped me with her yellow lightsaber! How are we supposed to handle two evil Jedi at once? They'll definitely..."

"What did you say?"—Vandalo interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Huh? What?"

"What did you just say?"

"Well, evil Jedi. I just didn't remember Sith right away,"—he shrugged. "That's what they're called, right?"—Raf whispered to Cheesecake. Of course, she wasn't going to answer him.

"No, earlier!"—in a burst of emotion, the Chiss wasn't afraid to sit on the floor, further provoking the blasters aimed at him.

"Oh, you mean the lightsabers? Come on, it's like you've never dealt with Jedi before,"—the mercenary continued to play the fool. "A lightsaber is this thing that..."

"What color did you say?"—the prisoner asked in a strange tone.

"Yellow."

"Yellow..."—Vandalo thought deeply. "Yellow..."—in an attempt to process the color in his head, he turned his head to the side, abstracting from other thoughts. "Yellow,"—now his voice sounded threatening, and he covered his helmet with his hand.

"Yellow..."

The Chiss hesitantly got to his feet, completely ignoring the blasters the girl had aimed at him. Her fingers were already ready to pull the trigger and shoot the mercenary, but she held back. Not because Sev'rance still had feelings for him, but because of the teacher's cunning plan, which he was executing right before her eyes. Hassan had hooked the fish—now all that was left was to reel in the catch.

Meanwhile, Vandalo walked over to the dining table, sat down on a chair, and poured himself a drink. Next to the alcohol landed the combat helmet he had pulled off his head. Before Tann sat the very same Vandalo she had spent so much time with, traversing the dark abyss of space. The blue-skinned mercenary took the mug and downed it in one go, then slammed it on the table.

"Sha'a,"—he hissed through his teeth with hatred, staring into the void. "So it was... You."

"Um..."—Rafael masterfully remained himself—he never understood anything. "So you know where she is?"

"No,"—the Chiss looked at the bounty hunters with determined red eyes, "but now I'll help you find her."