Worth Your Weight in Credits

Posted on Mon Mar 3rd, 2025 @ 6:47am by Rebel Braylon Kucera & Rebel Yal'mon'drol

966 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Prologue: An Empire Overnight
Location: Dantooine | Alleyway
Timeline: 18BBY

With the cantina closed for the night, Braylon had left to track down the blue skinned stranger from earlier. There were many species in the galaxy that had blue skinned though not all had starling red eyes to match, and there certainly were very few if any that typically resided on Dantooine. A world that was not very populated, the locals were quick to provide 'intel' for a few credits. They had pointed Braylon in the direction of the robe wearing figuring which had taken him down a maze of alleyways until he had found the figure walking at a steady pace.

"Wait," Bray had called out. He watched after having snagged the man's attention. "You just prolonged his suffering, you know" stated the blonde spice runner. "That bartender. That Wookie...Snoova. He's not as dumb as he looks. If he wanted your bartender friend, he would have been. That was just a message and a message from the Black Sun is never a friendly one."

"He isn't" Yal kept moving trying to get away from him "he's not my friend and why are you following me?"

The spice runner gestured to the man's side. "Because you have something that I want. Do you know how many credits I could get for that thing?"

"What thing" he ask, thinking he had kept his light saber pretty hidden and if the man knew about it he was going to have to get out of a tricky situation.

Bray scoffed. "I think you know exactly what I mean. You don't look like the type to have taken on a Jedi and won. What did you do? Pick it off a corpse? Buy it off some swindler?"

"Take your pick" Yal shrugged "I have to get back" he would try another tactic and see if that would work. He didn't want trouble but he wasn't giving up his lightsaber and was trying to keep his secret, just that a secret.

Braylon started to reach for his heavy blaster pistol. "You would be wise to hand it over the easy way. Give it to me and go back to your simple life. If not, you'll leave me with very little choice."

Yal cracked a smile and waved his hand "you really don't want to do this friend" he was hoping his force powers would work. There weren't many they didn't work on, but he was prepared to defend himself if they didn't.

Braylon didn't know what to think, but he wanted answers. Quickly pulling his blaster, Bray fired off a single shot in the man's direction. It was a careful shot, well placed to maim but not kill, but what would the man do?

He had to react and he had to react fast but almost instinctively he pulled his lightsaber and deflected the blast into the side of the building. "Now listen here I don't want any trouble." Yal said backing up the yellow light saber blade still glowing stretched out before the blue skinned young man.

"Put that away before you get us both killed" muttered Braylon, holstering his blaster. He looked at the man. "You know how to use that..." Braylon looked curiously.

"You tried to shoot me" Yal deactivated the lightsaber but kept it in his hand. "Were you not trying to take my weapon" he asked still not answering the attackers question.

Bray smirked. "It would fetch me several credits, but the bounty on your head? A jedi? You are worth your weight in credits, friend. This was never about your lightsaber. It was about you and now I know."

"I don't want to fight you. You should just go" Yal'mon'drol tried his Jedi mind tricks to get the kid to leave him once more.

Bray mocked the jedi with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "Stay out of my head," he spat. "A jedi's lightsaber is used to defend. You defended yourself from my blaster bolt, but you did not dare strike me down. I don't want to fight you either, jedi but your presence here puts this whole planet at risk."

"If you would have just left me alone I was doing fine" Yal turned started down the alleyway where he had a speeder parked.

"No, you weren't," Braylon quipped. "You have been comfortable here. Too comfortable, get on that speeder of yours and you'll be riding off to death."

Yal was confused he went from shooting at him to seeming to worry about him. "What do you care? How is it your... I have to go" he would have to gather his things and find a transport off the planet.

"Come with me. I have a ship, I can get us off of this rock" pleaded Braylon. "How long do you think you can last out here? Alone. They are hunting down your kind one by one. I've seen it."

"I'm well aware" Yal exclaimed. "You shoot at me and then you offer me a ride off planet and I don't even know your name, much less you."

"Braylon Kucera, I'm a spice runner for the Pykes. Yeah, at shot at you. I shoot at a lot of people these days and you know what? I've killed several because that's what it means to survive out here."

"I need to get my things" Val paused for a moment "and say good bye."

Braylon nodded. "Do what you need to. If you want to come with me, I'm leaving at the break of dawn. My freighter is just beyond that mountain ridge" he said pointing westward. "Be careful" he added.

It didn't take Yal long to get his belongings and say good bye and he found himself approaching the freighter. He swallowed hard as he shut down his speeder and grabbed his bag.

 

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