A Target with Connections

There he was again, in the same fight with the same Zabrak as every night. The Zabrak's green saber collides with his red staff in rapid flashes of light. His horned opponent was fast, blindingly fast, and spiteful. He could feel the anger radiating off of the Zabrak like the engine of a TIE fighter. Bared and snarling, the Zabrak's sharpened teeth let out guttural snarls as he attempted to beat back the massive, black armored human he was engaged with. The human's helmeted head and small red visor regarded his opponent blankly, but Kodo knew how he felt back then. Kodo remembered the sweat running down his face, his hot breath stifling himself behind the layer of ultrachrome. Each inconvenience only served to fuel his own frustration and spite, making his strikes quicker, his form more erratic, and his every movement driven by the explicit desire to kill. As the two men fought, their flashes of light occasionally lit up a small child, hiding in the corner of the dark room.

As the duel between the two continued in relative silence, each participant wanting nothing more than the blood of the other, Kodo felt his arms grow weary as he deflected each of the Zabrak's blows; Djem So, the alien seemed to specialize in it. Each of his attacks sent reverberations down Kodo's frame, even the ones he deflected into glancing blows. It was obvious to him, he couldn't outmuscle the Zabrak, his determination was too much, he was certain the alien would fight him with bloody stumps if he had to. Trying to look past the swinging sabers and their own hammer blows, Kodo focused his spite and frustration into himself, letting it swirl and pool within him. In a quick exhale, Kodo released his emotion, letting it explode from him towards the Zabrak. The invisible wave of force slammed into the alien, sending him slamming into the far wall, leaving cracks in the plaster from the sheer force of the impact. Not a second later, Kodo had already crossed the room, slamming one end of his saberstaff into the midsection of the dazed Zabrak, quickly pushing the last breath from the alien's lungs.

Stepping over the fallen body of the Zabrak, Kodo towered over the small brown haired boy, the red visor from his helmet gently lighting the fear in the boy's face. Kodo stood, regarding the boy for a moment, his muscles tensing underneath his armor. His head swam as hesitation split his skull. Voices of his tutors, of his masters screamed as Kodo froze before the moment to strike.

"Do it, kill the boy."

"He's Sensitive, a menace, end this vermin."

"Do it Kodo! Kodo! Kodo!"

Kodo shot up from his makeshift bed, the small pillow he was using falling from the couch as Janus finally shook him awake.

"Get up and get your shit on Kodo. We're almost out of Hyperspace."

Kodo rubbed his eyes as he walked to the wall and groggily began to pull his gear out and strap it on, his E-11 still dangling from a sling tied to his armor. The ultrachrome still held some of its black tint, but the years of wear and repainting had left it looking more like a muted gray than anything else.

"I'm up, I'm up, you don't have to be such a dick about it."

"Sorry, I'm still nervous about this job. We're going really far just to go after a Spice trader."

"Bounty said he was connected, so I assume he skipped town as soon as things got too hot on Florrum."

"Yeah, but still...Kessel? That means he must have connections to the Pykes. You really think it's worth making an enemy of them?"

Finally finished gearing up, Kodo takes a seat next to Janus in the cockpit of the Puddle Jumper. As he reaches for the controls to take them out of Hyperspace, Janus slaps his hand away.

"I'll do it, haven't come all this way to just crash before we even land."

"Fine" Kodo leans back in his chair and shut his eyes again. "Then wake me up when we land."