Earthlings 2: The Dark Age

34

11 BBY, Lothal

"HEY! Stop that thief!"

Eli whirled around to the sight of an 8 year old boy in a raggedy orange jumpsuit running off with what seemed to be a bunch of tiny datacards, with a man seeming to be in his early 50s at his heels. Hastily stuffing whatever they were inside his pockets, the boy drew back an arm, releasing a ball of energy straight at the man's face.

"OW!" The man groaned, bringing a hand to his now disoriented eyes.

Tabitha snickered besides Eli. "Whoever that kid is, he has some nerve to mess with a bartender like Haman."

Paying for their meiloorun, Eli raised a brow. "What, does he beat people up?"

The Chiss shuddered. "Yeah, and it's not pretty when he has a Loth wolf on his side."

"A Loth wolf-?"

"You haven't seen her around? Of all the loth wolves we see around the safehouse..."

"To be fair, there's a lot of them."

Tabitha chuckled softly. "Depa's menacing, but really affectionate when you get to know her."

"That's cute," Eli remarked before pausing. "Wait... her name is Depa-?"

"Yeah, like Master Billaba. She also has a son, did you know that?" Tabitha tossed a meiloorun up and down. "That little furball went on some adventure with a squad of rogue clones. Don't know where he is now."

"Interesting." Eli went over to the bartender, Haman. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah..." Haman nodded before groaning. "That little loth rat stole my forged chain code supply! What am I supposed to say to my client now...? I swear, when I get my hands on him-"

"Whoa, whoa-" Eli held out a hand. "First off- you can't go around beating kids up. And second- you said chain codes-?"

"I was going to sell them to a client of mine," Haman explained, getting up. "These days, the Empire makes it harder to make chain codes illegitimately, but luckily, I have a bunch of old ones from way back when that blasted Imperial man first enforced them. Or had, that is- before that kid ran off with 'em."

Of course, Eli knew all about the chain code issue that had been happening over time; Roken had contacted slicer after slicer to find ways to replicate the chain codes, only to end up with faulty ones most of the time. The last time a shipment of actually convincing chain codes were shipped to the safehouse at Jabiim had to be at least 2 years ago.

"A-a- and it's not like I can just walk off without much to lose," Haman muttered angrily. "If I don't sell those chain codes, I'll end up losing my tavern!"

"You're renting it-?" Tabitha asked.

"No, but I still have to pay back the loan I took to get it in the first place!" He sighed, dejected. "That's if I'm lucky enough not to get it taken by the Empire... like it got taken on Coruscant."

"Damn..." Eli muttered under his breath.

"That kid's probably stealing it only to sell it again on the black market," Tabitha surmised. "After all, fake chain codes are high on demand these days... probably worth enough to pay off your loan, old man."

"I suppose you're right. But what is there to do when I can't afford to buy them back yet?" Haman huffed in defeat. "I'll just have to wait till I make enough money from alternative methods. That blasted kid..."

He walked off, leaving Eli and Tabitha at the marketplace amidst civilians and stormtroopers.

"That poor kid's parents were arrested last year for rebel activity," A Devaronian male piped up beside them. "He's been on his own since. Such a shame... I knew his old man too. He wouldn't have wanted this life for his son."