Star Wars Jedi Knight IV: Sith Empire

Chapter 9: Massacre

"No game of dejarik can be won without pawns, and this may prove to be a very long game."

―Darth Traya

Vestara woke up on the brig of the Errant Venture. She had been shivering in her sleep, and the smell of the rotting corpse assaulted her nose as soon as she inhaled. She tried to breathe through her mouth, but the smell was so bad she could taste it.

There were Force presences making their way closer to her cell. She probed at it. They were arrogant and hated being where they were. Probably guards here to pick her up. Vestara got up to a sitting position on the cold durasteel. She dared to take another putrid breath as she tried to get control of her body's temperature again.

She heard boots clanking on the deck as the guards walked up. Her cell door opened, and the guards strolled in.

Vestara feigned acting weak, and one of the guards yanked her up by the hand. The other jabbed a blaster in her back. "Let's go, move." He said as they escorted her out. She guessed they weren't talking much so they didn't have to inhale. A smirk crept across her face at the thought.

They escorted her back through the Mines and corralled her into a lift. A guard hit the button for the Blue Level. Vestara didn't know much about the Venture, but she wasn't so stupid as to go into an operation like this blind. She had done considerable research, or rather had someone else do research and had them present her with the highlights. She knew the Blue Level was where Booster Terrik's cabin was, and that gave her a shiver of excitement. 

When the lift doors opened on the Blue Level, Vestara was once more escorted down numerous corridors at a brisk pace. At last they came to an ordinary looking cabin door. At their presence it opened, and Vestara saw Booster Terrik behind a battered wood desk. A guard gave her a good push inside the t'bac smelling room, and they boxed the door behind her as it hissed shut. 

The croupier and the Rodian were present as well. Oh please, Vestara thought as she saw the croupier, half covered in bandages, laying on a hovergurney with life support equipment hooked up to him. The Rodian was simply hanging his head as he sat in a chair in front of Booster's desk.

"Ah, Savara, have a seat." Booster said. After a second of seeing that Vestara wasn't about to move, the guards took her forcibly and plopped her down in an empty chair right in front of Booster.

"We recovered your fingerprints from the blaster," Terrik continued, skimming information on a datapad. "And we looked them up in the Galactic Alliance public database. We found you have made quite the reputation for yourself. You used to be a part of the Jedi Order, a well respected organization. But for some reason you quit, and decided to become a pirate, serial killer, and bounty hunter for the Hutts." Booster laid the datapad down on his desk and looked her in the eye. "I don't know what possessed you to do the things you did, but from your age I can only guess you've had a tough break in life. After talking with my croupier and your Rodian friend here, I've decided that my man was in the wrong. I'm very sorry to both of you. It was disgraceful. So I've not only refunded both of your bets to your respective accounts, but I've also taken that amount that was cheated from you, and given you an on-ship credit for it. Spends like credits on anything you want here. Five thousand for you and three-fifty for him."

Vestara was shocked. She had not expected anything like this. At all. She had to consciously keep her heart rate up to keep her face from paling. She couldn't double-cross and kill Booster. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. But she was here. It needed to be done. How could she now, that Booster had shown her so much compassion?