DUSK

Chapter 2: Mos Espa

"I would not be surprised if you receive another delegation in the near future."

Boba Fett had just explained that after eleven years, the Pyke Syndicate, at its weakest it has ever been, had decided to return to Tatooine and harvest her spice. Though no repulsor trains were spotted, the talk was loud enough to reach the Daimyo. This was probably the stupidest decision the new Pyke Syndicate leaders had ever made. Reports of a mercenary stealing about a fleets worth of spice from right under the cartel's nose was damning evidence that they were disorganised. The reason they had decided to pull away from Tatooine, besides the fact that their leaders were killed, was because the losses were too big. The only reason why they would think about returning meant they were desperate. Did the spice run dry on Kessel? Whatever their reasoning was, they were ambitious for the fact that they had no allies on Tatooine to help them lay claim on her precious spice. Even though the Pyke Syndicate had the obvious disadvantage, it had been eleven years since Boba Fett had killed their former leaders and allies, and those eleven years hadn't been kind to the ex bounty hunter turned crime lord. In truth, defending Tatooine against the Pykes would be more difficult than it was last time. The Mods were too busy keeping peace in the streets of Mos Eisley, and they weren't skilled enough to take down another repulsor train if there was one to come. That's why Boba Fett had contacted the Knights of Ren in the first place.

    Little did the Daimyo know that the Pyke Syndicate had also contacted the Knights of Ren to see if they could help set up a secure footing on Tatooine. Ren was willing to entertain both sides for now, but this meeting would establish who was the winning side, and in his eyes, the winning side stood right in front of him. Ren looked at Boba Fett amusingly.

    "What is your plan exactly, Daimyo?" Ren asked.

    "We will need men on and off planet for this to work. I have received reports of the Pyke's ships orbiting Tatooine space, they are without doubt trying to make it onto the planet without being noticed. They've sent down some lower level smugglers who have all been caught, but none of them have talked. We-"

    "And where are these lower level smugglers now?" Ren interjected.

    "Dead." The Daimyo's demeanour was stern. He didn't like being interrupted. "We need men in Tatooine space to at least chase them off, but preferably take them down before they set up base on planet. In case the Pyke Syndicate has already established a base on planet to harvest spice, we will also need men here to hunt them down."

    "Once we hunt them down, either on or off planet, what would you like us to do with them, Daimyo?" Ren asked.

    "Kill them, of course."

    Perfect, Ren thought. The two leaders looked at each other for a minute or so. The energy in the room was really intense. Then they both relaxed. It was almost comical, Ben thought.

    On the subject of Ben, no one had acknowledged the obvious elephant in the room yet, the completely maskless man who didn't seem to really fit in. He might come off as self centred thinking this, but how had they not at least questioned why he was at this meeting? It was almost as if he had spoken it into thin air. Fennec Shand, who still stood behind the Daimyo, looked straight at Ben and whispered into Boba Fett's ear, turning his attention towards Ben as well.

"Solo, huh? Ren, I see you brought your own smuggler." It was now the Daimyo turned to seem amused.

"Ben over here? He's no smuggler, he's training to be one of us."

"And you trust him? I might've been on the other side of the war during the Empire but even I know never to trust a Solo."

"And you're right, Daimyo. You should never trust a Solo, but soon enough I won't be a Solo anymore, I'll be a Knight of Ren."