Star Wars The Old Republic: The Jedi Crusader

CHAPTER 11 - ONDERON - SORROW

Mara fell flat on her bed, exhausted from her battle with the Jedi. Nico knocked on her open door as she exasperatedly sighed. "Yeah?" She answered. Nico slowly strolled through the open door and looked down on the exhausted Mara, who was lay prone on the bed, but had her head tilted in a comedic angle to look at Nico. Amused, Nico presented his query.

"Ship's running low on fuel. We should probably grab some before we go." He explained.

"Yeah. Do that. I'm gonna rest." She yawned.

"Yeah, you do that, I'll get the fuel." He shut the door behind him as he left to take the ship to a nearby fuel depot. He quickly found one and set the ship down in there, before lowering the ramp and finding the owner.

"So, what'll it be?" The owner asked. He was an young Togruta with a group of droids accompanying him.

"Just fuel, my friend." Nico stated as he looked at the droids. "How much for the astromech?" He asked.

"A thousand credits – and that'll cover the fuel too." The Togruta proposed.

"Deal. What's their name?"

"His name is R3-01."

"R3. Welcome aboard." Nico welcomed the droid as he gestured him to the ship. The droid obliged happily as he hummed his way over.

"R3 = FREE!" R3 chirped. 

"Say, how'd you have so many credits that you can just throw 'em around like that?"

"You're not planning to rob me, are you?" Nico joked.

The Togruta laughed. "Please, do I look like I can rob you."

"Ha, no. Besides, I'm not paying for it."

"Ah, I see. A 'gift', is it?"

"Nah. Got myself a generous benefactor. She's in a good line of work so she's got a healthy bank account."

"Oh-ho-ho." The Togruta smirked as he began to inject the fuel into the ship. "Is she a keeper then? Or are you gonna take the credits and jet? No judgment either way. Galaxy's a strange place these days."

"She's a keeper alright. Though, she could lighten up a bit sometimes, you know?"

"I hear you. Me? I'm done with the females for now. There's always something wrong and you fix it and there's another thing... whereas with me and my droids, we see a problem, we fix it, we get paid. It's much less... stressful." The Togruta finished filling up the ship as he withdrew the pump.

"Yeah, you got that right. Anyway, thanks for the fuel. And good luck with the business." Nico tipped his hat as he departed.

"And good luck with the girl!" The Togruta shouted after him. Nico turned and smirked at the young man, opening his wrists and tilting his head and as if to say, 'come on, really?', in an arrogant sort of manner. The Togruta laughed and waved him off.

If only he knew the woman in question.

Nico strolled back through the ship as a voice stopped him in his tracks. "What have you done now, you buffoon?" Grimm sounded seriously unimpressed. Nico turned to face the tome as he saw him floating above R3.

"Look, I think we could benefit from having a droid, and this lil' fella is perfect for the job." Nico reasoned.

"Hm. Well, I shall leave you to the mercy of our esteemed leader. Let's hope her verdict is merciful considering you're throwing her credits around like it's the last day in the galaxy." Grimm floated away, leaving Nico with food for thought as the ship's holo went off. Nico took it upon himself to answer as Telum joined him. Ni'a appeared on the holo as she gave them a courteous bow.