BB Chuck Vs. The Crime Lords

[MikDaTv]

The Johnny 5 touched down on the surface of Kuat. unlike it's heavily industrialized shipyards and space stations in orbit, the surface of the planet maintained much of it's lush green forested environment.

Hutch had 2 weeks before the beginning of the race he was supposed to win and he decided it would be best to spend such time as to get some upgrades done for the Johnny. Most people would go to the orbital shipyards to do such work but Hutch didn't have the time or the money for his ship to sit in some hanger for a week while waiting to get it's turn.

Thats why landing on the surface was so important. It allowed him to get in contact with some seedier people with underworld contacts that did things quicker then the corporate drones up in orbit. Not to mention some of the upgrades he wanted were a tad illegal.

His first contact was going to be Gabor the Hutt. A small time boss who runs a spice smuggling ring. Hutch had read about him in a police report on the way over to Kuat. He was never directly involved in any crime, but men who worked for his various companies had a habit of finding themselves in jail. Hutch was interested so he looked him up.

All the info he could find on the holonet told Hutch he was small time but always taking every opportunity he could. He wasn't the usual Hutt who surrounded himself with high priced mercenaries and bounty hunters. He operated out of a respectable Electronics store. While Hutch had no doubt that the store probably earned quite a bit, he was equally without doubt in knowing it was just a front. Gabor knew he was small time and didn't want to draw attention to himself with his very one palace of crime just yet.

For a few pieces of equipment though, Hutch was willing to help him lay the foundation for one.

[MikDaTv]

"Kee chai chai cun kuta?" Gabor the Hutt half said and half slobbered from his mouth.

The slime covered protocol droid that had once been a nice gold color raised it's head to translate. One of it's photoreceptors was out and it moved with a creaking sound that Hutch could have sworn made BB Chuck do the droid equivalent of a cringe. "The great and powerful Gabor wishes to know what you are doing here."

"Mighty Gabor. I've come to you for two things. To ask of you a favor, and to offer my services as a smuggler." Hutch said in a kneeling position before the large and disgusting figure of Gabor the Hutt.

"Whaaa!" Gabor exclaimed. The the Huttese rolled from his fat tongue in a long sentence. The droid's pained voice waited until the Hutt was finished before saying. "Gabor the most great has smugglers, why should he hire you?"

"Because mighty Gabor, i'm not from Kuat, i don't usually travel to Kuat. I don't operate in Kuat. To the other crime lords here i'm just another freelancer. I can move your stuff and they won't even think to look at me." Hutch shrugged. "And quite frankly, i'm a damn spot better at it then these local boys you got running things for you. I'll stay out of the news reports and i by extension, keep your fine electronics store here out of the eyes of the authorities."

Several guards standing in the back of the room growled and took a step forward, hands on their blasters. They didn't appreciate being told they were sub par, especially not in front of their boss. Gabor waved them back and a thin twisted smile came to his lips before he laughed loudly. He spoke loudly so everyone in the store could hear his booming voice. "The wise Gabor likes your attitude and recklessness with your own life. He will accept your offer of servitude."

Hutch stood up from his kneeling position. "No no, Gabor. I do work for you i get a favor. thats how this works." Hutch crossed his arms and stared the Hutt down.

The Hutt's eyes narrowed and he suddenly became very calm. his massive fat stopped jiggling and silence settled over the room. it was tense. Finally the crime boss broke the silence and spoke in Huttese very calmly and quietly. The droid's voice seemed very out of place for the situation. "Mighty Gabor says he would suggest that you remember your place and show some respect, but he realizes you won't be alive to head such a suggest."

The two guards standing behind Hutch smiled and started forward one more time. A flash of blue filled the room and a body hit the floor. Surprise showed on Gabor's face as it was not Hutch, but one of the guards who had fallen after being struck by a stun bolt. The other guard started to rush, pulling at the blaster pistol stuck in his belt. Hutch turned, blaster pistol drawn and fired another stun bolt into this would be assailant. His coat had a burning hole in the back of it from where he had fired through it when the blaster was still in it's under arm holster. Crossing his arms had only been a ruse to get his hand on his gun and aim it.

Gabor screamed and reached out to grab his protocol droid. The droid screeched in a grainy voice as the giant slug pulled him so that he was between Hitch and himself. The droid offered little protection considering it was only a small fraction of the size that Gabor was. Hutch pointed his blaster at Gabor and switched the weapon to kill. With his thumb he pointed back to the two guards. "BB, collect their weapons."

Gabor peaked out from behind the droid and shouted for more guards. Hutch let a blaster bolt sail over his head and took step forward. "Oh no Gabor. If another guard steps foot in here your face is the first thing i'm going to melt down with blaster bolts." Hutch twirled the pistol around his finger before bringing it back to rest pointed at Gabor. "Now i haven't killed anyone yet, i'd prefer to do this without bloodshed. I'm taking their guns, if you cooperate thats all you'll lose."

Gabor growled and let the droid go. His language was filled with expletives. The droid had to take a moment to find the best way to translate it as politely as possible. "Great Gabor agrees with your proposal. He has a job you can do right now in exchange for a favor."

Hutch lowered the blaster but didn't holster it. "I thank Gabor for his reconsideration of my offer. i will do his job for him. In the mean time, i want him to pull some strings with the local police to send a few of their mechanics down to my ship and work on her engines. Kuat policemen have been using modified civilian ships to overtake fleeing smugglers for years. I'd like a little of their expertise put into my ship."

Gabor began laughing again and reached into the bowl next to him, pulling a frog like creature from it and stuffing it in his mouth. The droid tilted it's head and looked away from Gabor's mouth as he ate. "The mighty Gabor agrees."

Hutch knelt again and holstered his blaster pistol. "A thank the great Gabor for his considerations in his business. I look forward to working for him."

[MikDaTv]

Hutch was at the wheel of a hover van traveling at unsafe velocities down a side street in Kuat City. Gabor hadn't wasted any time in giving Hutch a Job to do for his favor. In reality, Hutch was glad to be working, although the assignment wasn't to his liking.

Gabor had a truck full of explosives "acquired" from a mining ship that had dropped it's ore off in one of the refineries here on the planets surface. The explosives in the back of the van were enough to level a building and being forced to out maneuver the cops as well as the crew of the mining vessel they were stolen from was making Hutch very nervous that someone might start shooting. The only good part about it that Hutch could think of was that BB Chuck was in the back keeping the explosives steady as he drove.

Things were looking up though. He hadn't seen a cop for nearly 4 kilometers and the crew that was chasing him seemed to have been discourage from pursuit after the last road block he'd blasted through. One thing Hutch couldn't understand however was that Gabor didn't want the explosives delivered to his electronics store. There was a warehouse at the edge of the city that had a garage open that Hutch was meant to drop the hover van off in. Hutch didn't know if it was a sign that Gabor was expanding or if this was a job for a client of his. one thing was for sure though, whoever it was for, they were getting a lot of explosives.

[MikDaTv]

Chuck walked out of the warehouse with no one the wiser. He'd done a good job of staying under the radar of everyone. He'd learned long ago not to trust anyone, not even his employers. instead of doing as he was instructed and driving the hover van into the warehouse. he'd parked outside, left the repulsorlift running and had BB Chuck push the van so that it slid into the open garage on the warehouse.

That gave Hutch and BB Chuck a perfect vantage point to see who this delivery was for. With a pair of electrobinioculars Hutch watched as a man, armed with a blater carbine, approached the van which had bumped against the far wall of the garage before coming to a stop. He opened the door carefully and swept the front seat with his weapon, checking for people.

When he found no one he leaned into the van and switched off the engine. He never got back out of the Van though. It exploded in a huge black cloud. The charges in the back had detonated as soon as the engine had been switched off and the garage went up like it had been made of kindling wood and glue. The warehouse next to it suffered massive damage. A whole you could drive several trucks through had opened up in the side of the warehouse causing a collapse on that side. fire started to consume everything. Hutch had ducked down behind the wall he was at to escape shrapnel and body parts as they flew through the air.

His heart was racing. That bomb was meant for him and whoever was in the warehouse. in seconds it all clicked in place. Gabor had taken the opportunity to not only eliminate an enemy and his business, but also thought he'd eliminate a player who'd dare take a shot at him, and steal his ship. Hutch had been used, and while he expected something like that would happen, it still made him furious.

"That son of a slimy, low life, worm ridden rancor. I'm going to kill him. i'm going to stretch his hide over the bow of the Johhny 5 and take him up into space. that slug's days are numbered!" Hutch yelled and the now dwindling explosion.

"Sir" BB Chuck said tapping him on the shoulder. "might i suggest we get out of here? This blast will surely draw some attention that i believe we are trying to avoid."

Hutch brushed BB Chuck's hand of his shoulder and turned his head to look at him. Your right Bee. Listen, go as fast as you can to the starport district and see whats being done to the Johnny 5. Be careful and don't get caught. Just act like a regular old loading droid."

"Sir, may i once again remind you that i am just a regular old loading droid. Not a spy." BB Chuck protested.

"Chuck just Do IT! i don't have time for your complaints right now. Comlink me when you find something out. Did you do what i tell you before you pushed the van?"

The droid held out a hand holding one of the block charges that had been in the back of the van. "Yes i did sir."

"Good, take that with you. Good luck Bee." Hutch said. He patted the droid on the top of it's square head and jumped over the wall and ran towards the street. The loading droid slumped it's shoulders and began rolling towards the starport district. BB Chuck's treads speed up to their max speed getting the droid to almost 40 KPH. even still, it would take him at least 45 minutes to an hour to reach the requested destination.

Over in the street, Hutch pulled his pistol and ran out in front of a passing speeder. The driver slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting Hutch and when the speeder stopped he was greeted to the image of the smuggler pointed his blaster right at his face. Hutch was breathing hard and shaking from adrenalin. "I need your speeder! Get out!"

[MikDaTv]

Gabor the Hutt slobbered excessively as he watched his favorite slave girl do an erotic dance in front of him. Sarina had always been his favorite and was one of the few girls he took along with him on his private space yacht to entertain customers. Her curves were wonderful and she was such a good slave he doubted the thought of freedom had ever occurred to her.

He gobbled down another one of the froggish creatures in the bowl next to him and laughed loudly over the din of loud music he was entertaining his guests with. it was a celebration. He'd killed off an annoyance who thought he could bargain with a Hutt, had blown up an Exchange Warehouse, killing or at least severely injuring the regional director on the planet of Kuat, and he'd gained another ship which was having it's engines upgraded to be ready to fly off Kuat with a load of stolen goods in the morning. Overall it was a great night.

or at least it was until the speeder crashed through the front of the electronics store, blasted it's way through the store shelves and into the back storeroom where Gabor and his guests were partying. The speeder lodged itself into a large container filled with droid spare droid protocol droid brains, its engines still trying to push it forward but without enough force to dislodge the container.

In it's wake came blaster fire, a hail of blaster fire. Hutch, pistol in hand, had got the speeder up to speed and jumped out before it'd hit the store. Now he was walking along it's path of destruction, shooting up the store. Store shelves, display computers, deactivated droids, nothing escaped his path. by the time he finally reached the back room he'd gone through two power packs.

Guards attempted to stop him but Hutch blasted two of them in the chest, this time with the setting not on stun. They fell to the floor dead, smoke drifting up from their bodies. The two guards he'd stunned earlier witnessed it and decided not to get involved. they placed their guns on the ground and held their hands up. Hutch stunned them both again and they fell to the floor.

Party guests fled the store room like cockroaches after the lights were turned on. Men, Women, and transgender aliens were running every which way. Hutch let them go. When they went to their bosses and told them about what the mysterious smuggler had done after being double crossed, their bosses would think twice about double crossing him.

Finally as the room finished clearing out, it was Hutch, and Gabor. The slug couldn't slime his way off his rolling thrown fast enough and Hutch was on him. blaster pointed at his head. "Gabor. I may kill you tonight."

Speaking quickly, Gabor's huttese rolled from his tongue in gasps and wheezes as he tried fruitlessly to find an exit large enough to accommodate him that wasn't covered by the angry smuggler. "Mighty Gabor wishes to know what he can say that will ease your temper."

Hutch fired a shot at Gabor's tail. The bolt struck and burned through his outer skin causing the Hutt pain but it left him none the worse for wear. his thick layers of fat protected anything important. "I want to impound codes for my ship! You think you can just kill me and take my ship? no Gabor. i did my favor for you and now you owe me. You owe me a for the favor, and you owe me for the back stab."

Gabor raised his hands in surrender and yelled out in huttese. The protocol droid quickly translated. "The great and powerful Gabor exceeds to your claim and will have the codes sent to you."

Hutch fired another shot at Gabor's tail eliciting a howl from the Hutt and the smell of burning Hutt skin and fat started to fill the store room. Hutch put his free hand into his jacket and withdrew a caller. "see this Gabor? it's a caller, but it's not an ordinary caller." Hutch said. "You see, this caller ties into a satellite in orbit so you can issue commands to your droids anywhere on the planet. By the way, i purchased this handy device from one of your rival electronics stores. I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

He pressed the deactivate button on the caller and threw it against a wall. "Now, the restraining bolt that that caller was linked to, was not attached to a droid. It was attached to one of the charges in the van you had me drive, that's now securely placed against the main fuel tank, in the private hanger where your yacht is parked."

Gabor's eyes widened. If he could cry he'd start doing it now. Hutch fired his blaster again, this time sending a bolt wizzing over Gabor's head. "Now i can stop the bomb. i can have my droid remove the device and move it to safety but before that happens i'm going to get my impound codes... NOW!"

Gabor started talking and blubbering. The droid quickly rattled off some numbers and Hutch commited them to memory. He pulled out his comlink. "Bee? i might have the code, try 1134 R 6575 B E 312.

A few moments later and BB Chuck's synthesized voice came back over the comlink. "Yes sir, that worked. The grounding clamps have detached and the impound on the Johnny 5 has been lifted."

Hutch hung up the comlink and turned the blaster on the protocol droid, blasting it to pieces. Hutch then moved over to the speeder and opened the door. He withdrew a bottle with a rag hanging from it's open neck out of back seat and then shut the speeder off. On his way he decided to grab one of the spare droid brains figuring it could be useful some day.

When he was finished he walked back over to Gabor and holstered his blaster. "Gabor, you've fulfilled your first favor to me. Now the second favor is going to be a bit tricky. see, i like my droid, and i really don't want to send him in to get a bomb and carry it away to a safe distance. So my second favor is going to be for you to let your yacht get blown to pieces so that my droid can survive."

Hutch smiled and lit the rag on the bottle on fire with a lighter. He threw the Molotov cocktail against some wooden crates bearing off planet shipping marks and turned to walk out. the bottle crashed against the wooden crates and started a fire. The off planet shipments for his store were probably the most expensive and Hutch didn't want Gabor to think he would go easy on him now that they were finished.

"pleasure doing business with you Gabor. Your a great business man." Hutch said smiling. The thing of it was, this was far from over. Later, the police would be investigating the bombed warehouse. The man he stole the speeder from would report that his vehicle had been stolen practically right next to the blast and now that speeder would end up in an electronics store that had been blasted and burned to bits. The authorities would then have a connection between Gabor and the bombing. Gabor's record of keeping his nose clean was about to come to a halt and his attempts at breaking into the big time were severely slowed.

[MikDaTv]

Hutch walked into the spaceport where the Johnny 5 was docked. The ship was none the worse for wear and everything looked all right. in fact, he noticed a lot of the damaged exterior pieces that had been broken when he bought the ship had been replaced. Gabor had been planning to keep the ship in good condition, for that Hutch was thankful.

BB Chuck rolled down the boarding ramp and approached Hutch. "sir, i think you should know. Cargo Bay 3 is full. Over the night a shipment of cargo had been loaded on board."

Hutch raised an eyebrow. "what is it?"

BB Chuck raised his arms, bent at the elbows. a gesture Hutch had learned to equate to a shrug. "I don't know sir. I did not look in the crates, they were sealed."

Hutch shrugged. "Ok, i'll check it out. Do me a favor and give the exterior a once over. Make sure none of the access panels are loose or anything."

"Very well sir." The droid said, and rolled to inspect the ship.

Hutch went over to the shore tie and unplugged it from the ship. He dragged the massive plug over to the wall outlet where it was stowed and coiled up the cable neatly next to it. When he turned to walk back to the ship he noticed 3 men standing there. one was an older man in a black suit while the other two were wearing surplus imperial armor and carrying blaster rifles.

Hutch reached for his pistol but the body guards were faster and had their rifles pointed at him in a split second. Hutch froze and withdrew his hand putting them both up in surrender.

"Ahhh. Mr. Hutch is it?" The man in the suit asked. "He stepped away from his bodyguards and they lowered their weapons. He extended a hand to Hutch and smiled. "My name is Nick Pappagiorgio. I'm a businessman."

Hutch accepted the hand and shook it firmly. "Yeah, i'm Hutch. what can i do for you Mr. Pappagiorgio?"

The suit waved a hand at Hutch. "Please, call me Nick. I've come to talk to you about last night. You see, i'm with the Exchange. That warehouse you destroyed last night was an Exchange warehouse."

A bolt of fear went through Hutch. The Exchange wasn't known for it's forgiveness. They were probably here to kill him for his actions last night. Nick saw the worried look on his face and patted him on the shoulder, the smile never leaving his face. "No no, i'm not here for anything like that kid. The underboss that was running things from that warehouse is dead which sorta kinda put me in a position to take over his spot. In reality, i'm sorta in your debt. Then what you did to Gabor last night put him back 6 years and he was my chief competition, so i'm in your debt again."

Hutch smiled but still had a confused look on his face. Nick put an arm around his shoulder and pointed to the Johnny 5. "I like your ship kid. Heard you bought it on Mon Calamari. nice place that planet." He said. "it's got class. And i hear your going to be running in the Verpine Asteroid Race in a week."

Hutch frowned. "you hear a lot of things Nick. pardon my saying so, but whats your angle?"

Nick laughed a little. "Ah, right to the point. I remember when i was like that. all young and impatient. Well ok then. I own a small company on Taris thats aiding in the rebuilding effort there. Since the Sith bombardment and the planets location, getting it back to what it once was isn't an easy task and frankly, isn't as profitable as i had hoped. have you heard about what happened to Corellia?"

Hutch nodded and turned to face Nick. "yeah, got bombarded by the Empire. some sort of plague."

Nick's smile faded slightly. "yeah, shame too. Luckily a large portion of the population survived, both in the orbital shipyards and space stations and in the refugee fleet over Ilium that survived that nuke attack some time ago."

"Whats this got to do with anything Nick? i have a race to get to." Hutch said impatiently.

Nick patted him on both shoulders again and reached into his pocket and pulled out two cigarettes. He gave one to Hutch who promptly put it in his mouth and lit it with his lighter. Nick took an inhale of his and sighed. "Well, i want to get some capitol together for my little corporation to move to Corellia and start restoration efforts there. After a disaster like that there's plenty of room to move into. I'd like to sponsor your ship in the race."

Hutch shook his head. "No, i'm racing for Empress Kitana." Hutch actually thought it was a good idea and a chance to get him some more contacts but he wasn't about to cross his boss lady yet. she'd been good to him and he owed her enough respect to at least giver he two weeks notice before jumping ship.

"no no, Nothing like that. I want to sponsor you as a mechanic. See, you'll race for the Omega Group... er, sorry, The Empress. but during the race my corporation will run adds saying your ship is supplied parts and maintenance by my corporation." Nick's wide smile returned and he took a drag of his cigarette. "That way if you win, the Empress gets what she wants, we get to look really good to the Corellian restoration committee. Even if you lose but get in the top three places you'll be as good as a golden goose to us."

Hutch considered it for a moment. It was a good idea. "Ok, i'll consider it Nick. but i'd like to talk to my employer about it first."

Nick put his arm around Hutch again and gave him a squeeze before letting go and signaling his body guards over. "Thanks Hutch. I appreciate it. Look me up next time your in town and we can do lunch."

Hutch shook the mans hand and walked up the boarding ramp of the ship. BB Chuck was there to meet him. "I trust everything is ok sir? they weren't shooting you so i decided that was a good sign."

Hutch climbed over the back of the couch and slid into place behind the piloting controls. "yeah, everything is fine. Get ready for takeoff buddy we're getting ready to race."