Jedi Insurgency 152

Within the cabin of the Ghtroc 720, a group of pirates were already celebrating at yet another easy haul. YT-1300 freighters were relatively common ships used for smuggling, and with that fat $100 million bounty posted by the Empire, it practically gave entrepreneurs like them free reign to stop and frisk any ship that so much as resembled the one mentioned in the report. 

‘Rio’ Ohnaka drummed his fingers along his armrest as he played the conversation he had with that man from the YT-1300 freighter. 

Few men could keep up with his glib tongue, much less talk the talk. It made him suspicious. Especially how he had been recognized. 

“Good one boss! Had him fooled good. Ohkana, haha, and he bought it!” A pirate came by, and raised a drink in cheer. 

“Yep, Rio, as if boss would ever let someone else use his name!” Another subordinate chuckled. 

However, upon seeing their boss's deep-lined, unsmiling face, the festive atmosphere began to die down. 

“Ah, ah, what's this? Where are the smiles, we're going to be making a big haul, aren't we?” Hondo-not Rio-stood up, and slung his arms around the two men. 

“R-right boss.” 

“Mhm!” 

“Ai, my crew. Don't let the Captain's big thoughts trouble your little thoughts. Eat, drink, be merry! We never know what will happen during the boarding process, eh?” Hondo laughed, and took a swig out of a bottle before shoving it into a crewmember’s arms. 

As the men regained their cheer, and psyched themselves up for battle, Hondo glanced out the viewport. 

‘What if.’ The thought tickled his scalp. 

“Nah, no way a Jedi would ever come out to this armpit of the galaxy. There's a war going on…Sith to kill! Besides, Hondo is a famous name, they sing songs about me! Being recognized though, hmm.” Hondo muttered to himself with a frown. 

Rubbing his chin, he glanced at the standard-looking YT-1300, and pursed his lips. To a seasoned eye such as his, it looked freshly modified, its cleanliness stuck out like a sore thumb. Many smugglers liked to look as dirty and grungy as possible, but this craft took the opposite approach. Whoever smuggled with such a clean spaceship likely dealt in high end product. 

‘Yes, yes, this ship merely contains the good stuff. I wouldn't be so unlucky as to run into that Jedi.’ Hondo repeatedly nodded his head, and pulled on his collar as he recalled the footage he had seen. 

The Imperials were in a hurry to paint the Jedi as war criminals, and posted brutal footage of this masked man, this Revan. To the uninformed, this was excellent propaganda, but to a man like him who had traveled the world, this was like no Jedi he had ever seen! Invisibility, torturous lightning, and a seeming immunity to blaster bolts! This was no ordinary man! This was the stuff of nightmares! 

Feeling his throat go dry, Hondo took a stiff drink, then wiped his lips with the back of his hand. A second later, his ship docked with the YT-1300, and he knew it was time for action. 

Reaching for his holster, Hondo withdrew a pistol, twirled it lightning fast, then slammed it back in place. Ever since he had tussled with Kenobi years ago, he knew he couldn't keep up. Back then, he had cybernetic implants to improve his reflexes, now that he had a little more money to spend, he had altered most of his inner workings. According to the sims, he could keep up with a Jedi Knight. That was his confidence in this backstabbing profession. 

That, and his luck, of course! 

Strapping on his lucky goggles, and hat, then slapping on a personal shield for good measure, Hondo swaggered to the back of the line, and urged his men forward. 

“Whoever finds the stash first gets first choice of loot! Never let it be said that Captain Hondo is stingy!” 

“Yeah!” The men cheered, and raised their weapons. 

As soon as the docking procedure was completed, and the hiss of cabin pressures equalized, the members of the Ohnaka Gang rushed forward. 

Waiting a beat, and hearing no sounds of fighting, Hondo strode into a clean hallway bereft of any cluttered items, or even a spec of dirt. 

Men were hooting, and hollering as they began rummaging through cubbies, and cupboards. Hondo raised a brow when he saw a comfortable couch. Running an appreciative hand along the fabric, he mindlessly rubbed his fingers together. Aldaraani if he wasn't mistaken. Already, today's haul was looking good. 

“Boss, you had better come see this!” An excited Weequay ran up, from another room, and was panting with wide eyes. 

“Oh hoh, the stash must be quite good! Lead on.” Hondo gestured. 

Running away in a hurry, the crewmember was full of energy. 

Hondo clicked his tongue. Good help was hard to find these days. Stepping forward with composed, steady steps, he came to the entrance of a room, and all his men were crowding the entrance way, mouths agape. Pushing through the mess, his eyes went wide as a bright, metallic sheen reflected off his goggles. 

There, piled high, was a mountain of credits! 

He had never seen so much money in one place at once! Heart rate beginning to speed up, he narrowed his eyes, and looked over his shoulder. 

“Where is the Captain of this ship?! Has anyone checked the crew manifests?! Transporting this kind of money to Tatooine…it can't be for any simple reason!” Hondo spoke with urgency. 

Almost as one, each of his men snapped out of it, and adopted looks of both pure greed, and for a fleeting second, fear. Because who else but Jabba the Hutt would be expecting such a massive pile of creds?! If they wanted to steal this…then they'd have to do so fast! 

Right when someone was going to speak up, a grenade dropped in front of them, and a gas knocked everyone out. As Hondo struggled to reach for the communicator at his wrist, and call for backup, a hand materialized out of nowhere, and squeezed on him hard, preventing any movement. Before he passed out, he saw the hem of a robe, and his eyes went wide. Gasping for breath, he peered upward, and in the shadow of a hood, he saw that mask. It was the man from the video! It was:

Revan! 

~~~~~~~~

When Hondo came to, he found himself tightly bound to a chair. He could wiggle his fingers & toes, but his arms & legs were immovable, and all of his weapons-even his hidden knife-had been stripped. Across from him was a table, and that masked man. 

In the backdrop of this scene, were those thousands of credits piled high. 

“What have you done to my men?! My cousin will not take kindly to our capture!” Hondo bared his teeth, and threatened with as much sincerity as he could bluster. 

Revan, for his part, silently stirred a cup full of tea, its warm steam curled around his mask as the spoon clinked upon the porcelain. 

“If we are not freed, the starfighters outside will shoot! They would rather tear a hole in this ship, space the contents, and then retrieve it for themselves. To save ourselves, we must work together!” Hondo hurriedly spoke. 

His tone was bitter, as what he said was true. Although a rescue attempt would be made…probably, pirates typically didn't care about hostages. It was much safer to space any anomalous threats, then to face them head on. 

Revan briefly paused in his stirring to reach into his robe. Revealing a palm sized communicator, he clicked a button, which played a holo recording. 

A 3D model of Hondo flickered to life. It looked, sounded, and acted just like him! 

“Looks like a big haul today, men! I've got a chat with the Captain of the YT-1300 for the next hour, why don't you all go back to port, the drinks are on me!” The fake laughed, and tipped his hat, before seemingly cutting a call. 

Hondo almost had his jaw drop at the perfect mimicry, but instead his lips turned upward into a wide grin. 

“Now that was some fine tech work if ever I've seen it! No wonder the Empire is scared of you.” Hondo praised, trying to gauge this particularly violent Jedi's attitude. 

Obviously he wasn't dead…which meant the religious fanatic wanted something from him! There was leverage to be had, BUT, he had to uncover just how valuable his life was to play this game. 

“Hondo Ohnaka.” A modulated voice came from the mask. It was cold, and almost lifeless, but more so than anything, it was full of scrutiny. 

“At your service! I'd take off my hat in respect, but, you know.” Hondo looked down at his bound state, and shrugged. 

Revan waved his hand, and the rope constricting one of his arms unraveled, before tightening around the rest of his body. 

‘Ah, so he likes to be flattered, and he thinks he's making a power play! These Jedi! Hmm, I think this one has more darkness than Skywalker! I had best not mock him…too much!’ Hondo thought to himself with a smirk as he tipped his hat to the Jedi. 

The Jedi silently took a sip of his tea, leaving Hondo smiling wider, as he noticed another cup of tea in front of him. Reaching for the cup, he poured its contents on the floor, and then pulled a flask from his coat, and poured some spirits into the porcelain. Knowing how clean Revan liked keeping his ship, and showing this blatant act of disrespect, it was all to see how far this Jedi's bottomline was. 

Revan silently raised a hand, and sparks arced up his palm, and around his arm. 

Hondo's eyes went wide in disbelief, as he thought that the Jedi truly needed him, that even as depraved as the propaganda made him appear, it was, at the end of the day, propaganda! Even if he was darker than Skywalker, he was still a Jedi! 

Hondo had these panicked thoughts in a matter of seconds as that bright blue flash left the palm of Revan's hands, snaked its way across the table, aaand fizzled out an inch away from his eyes. 

“You are more audacious than I had anticipated, Rio.” Revan said, lowering his hand, and spoke in a humorous tone. 

“Haha, oh, you have heard of me, but hearing is not seeing! Seeing is believing!” Hondo mustered up some false bravado, sat up straight, saluted his cup meaningfully at the masked man, and drank it all in one gulp. 

“Indeed. The former Pirate King of Florrum has caught my interest once or twice. Your capture of Kenobi, and Dooku for example, hah, it is any wonder you haven't been bisected from your cranium to your arse.” Revan drily spoke about his murder as if it were as mundane as a weather forecast. 

“Luck is a skill all on its own, my friend! I imagine you too have come to bet on Hondo, yes?” Hondo widely smiled, barely concealing the brief amount of hate he felt in his heart after hearing the masked man's barbs. 

“Well said, well said. I couldn't agree more on both accounts.” Revan matched Hondo's jovial tone, and steepled his fingers. 

“So it is business, then! Hondo can see that you are a businessman.” He said, glancing at the pile of creds. “I am a businessman. Let's do business!” 

“Hmm, indeed. I need a pirate to disrupt Imperial shipping lanes, someone honorable, someone who won't run once they've been paid.” Revan placed a hand on his chin, and boredly tossed a credit around with the Force. 

“But of course! And you have come to the right man, for there are none in this line of work so honorable as Hondo Ohnaka!” Hondo agreed, willing to say anything that would get him out of this bind. 

“You’re right, Hondo, absolutely correct. I even intend to help you get started. How does 100 million creds sound?” Revan continued to speak in a monotone. 

Hondo's eyes unconsciously glanced towards the gleaming pile of cash, and he felt his heart race. “To start?” 

“Oh, you don't think 100 million is enough to bankroll the criminal Underworld's most notorious soon-to-be galactic Pirate King, do you?” Revan mocked. 

Hondo's eyes widened in shock, and surprise. 

“But of course! You must have biig aspirations Mr. Jedi. I am, of course, open to taking investments, but-” 

Revan held up a palm, silencing him. 

“I can make you rich beyond your wildest imagination. Just as notorious as myself. And, you can live long enough to enjoy it.” Revan waved his hand, and then a green mist coated Hondo's form. 

The middle-aged Weequay felt all his aches & pains disappear. Any rejection or post-surgery scars from the cybernetics instantly vanished. 

Hondo licked his lips, and stared into the Jedi's visor for an agonizingly long minute. 

“I-” Hondo began, only to be interrupted. 

“But before I hear your answer, listen to what I have to say. Should you decline my offer-as you are the only one to have witnessed my presence-I shall send your men on their merry way, unharmed. You, my friend, shall then remain as my prisoner. That is, of course, if you believe a Jedi.” Revan darkly chuckled. 

“And should I accept? You wish me to swear some sort of blood oath, or kiss the hem of your robe? Swear myself to your religion?” Hondo crossed his only free arm across his chest, and demanded, once again pushing the boundaries to see what could be gleaned by this mysterious Jedi. 

“Oh no, my friend. Nothing that crass. It is as simple as I had laid out. I genuinely think you have what it takes to be a great Pirate King. Furthermore, you do not take in slaves, nor do you traffic sentients. It is my aim to control the flow of contraband in the black market, to limit the most nefarious dealings. You, my dearest Weequayan gangster, would cripple Palpatine’s shipping, and receive the resources to be the man you always wanted to be.” Revan leaned across the table, and whispered in a voice that was almost impossible to refuse. 

“You talk a big game, but how can I trust you?” Hondo replied, barely able to keep his temptation from showing on his face, he deflected Revan's advances by gesturing to his bound self. 

“Ah, but we haven't even come to the prerequisites of this arrangement. I may be interested in you, Mr. Ohnaka, but do not mistake this interest for infatuation. Our meeting was due to chance. And chance, shall decide your fate.” 

“What are you implying?” Hondo asked, and began to feel sweat accumulate on his back as the tension in the room mounted. 

His greed warred with his self-preservation. The full weight of a hundred million credits was right there in reach! 

“Luck, as you put it, is one of your skills. It just so happens that I enjoy a good game of Pazak. Should you defeat me, you will walk away with a handshake, and 100 million credits, but, should you lose, death is a certainty. Are you willing to stake your life on your luck? Will you prove to me that you can best the devil?”

Hondo licked his lips, and eyed the sibilant demon as he withdrew a deck of cards, and began to shuffle them. 

“Are you feeling lucky? Well, are you, pirate?”