Chapter 9: Cantina

*Do-dah do-dah do-dah-do-do-dah do-dah do-dah dah do~!* I was startled when I heard the eerily familiar ‘Cantina Music’ playing, but there was no live band. Just a holographic projection of a popular band that was likely playing live in the city center. Immediately entering the building, there was a slightly deserted bar on the left and on the right were some sparsely occupied tables.

“Watch it!” An orange-skinned Twi’lek man shouted at Izsha as he carried a tray of food past her drooling face. Midnight also looked like he was about to pounce, but in the end, he was a bit more well-behaved than that.

“The food looks pretty good.” I looked at the holographic menu projected from the bar counter and saw a lot of random shit that seemed kinda fancy. Might be why the place wasn’t crowded though. In the outskirts of the city, so close to the slave quarters, very few people have the disposable income for ‘fancy food’. Of course, it could also be factors like the time of day or the quality of the actual food. It looks fine, but what about the taste?

“Master, how much Biomass can we afford?” Izsha asked a serious question. Even with a thousand Peggats, we’d probably go broke if either of us wanted to be ‘full’. And for her to Mutate, she was going to need a fuckton of Biomass.

“We’re just here for the taste and to enjoy ourselves a bit. Don’t worry about quantity. Focus on the quality.” I saw a cute dark-skinned near-human girl walking over in a simple white tunic. Yeah, they wore a lot of tunics on Tatooine. Hell, tunics were common across the Galaxy.

“Hi there! Wow, I’ve never seen your Species before!” The waitress smiled and looked between the ‘three’ of us and asked, “Table for three?”

“Two is fine.” I smiled at her and she giggled, leading us to a random table. It was all very familiar and yet so weird. The whole experience was… Odd. Something so mundane, but on Tatooine. Izsha and I ordered some random things, Bantha Steaks, Womp Rat Pie, Rancor Burgers, though they weren’t actually made of Rancor meat, that would be insanely expensive. I even managed to get a Coruscant Salad. It wasn’t actually from Coruscant by the way, it was just like a Caesar or Greek Salad back on Earth.

“Mao~!” Midnight wanted to taste a little of everything, but I had to be careful not to make him sick. It was so tempting to just turn him into a Zergling sometimes… But I refrained as usual.

“Would be cool to have fish, but I guess it’s not that common on Tatooine, huh?” As I casually mentioned that, a Mon Calamari woman at the table nearby started looking at me, “What’s up?”

“If you’re looking for seafood, you need to go to the city center.” She had a surprisingly similar voice to a human, “I was surprised too when I first saw it, but Mos Espa actually has an aquarium and several fish farms. They import from offworld as well, so there’s always plenty of seafood… If you can afford it.”

“It’d be cheaper to take a trip to Ooo-temiuk or Andooweel to have a meal than eat in those overpriced eateries!” The orange Twi’lek waited complained as he came over and brought the Mon Calamari girl her order of… Bantha Balls. Literally what it sounds like. They were massive, but that’s pretty normal for the size of the beasts.

“Would it really?” I honestly didn’t know.

“Of course not.” That cute near-human girl came over and refilled Midnight’s little bowl of Bantha milk, while petting his head and neck, “Aww, your friend is so adorable!”

“He’s more like a son.” I chuckled and looked at her slightly pointed ears. Aside from having pointed ears and golden eyes, like mine, she basically looked like a normal Human. A lot of humans were like that too though. The genes were so mixed with random ‘aliens’ that very few purebloods actually exist. Even Mandalorians weren’t strictly humans, but just a warrior culture that was primarily human.

“Master, you think a lot.” Izsha commented telepathically, before making some hissing and clicking noises with her mouth.

“Thank you! You’re very pretty as well!” The waitress giggled and asked, “Did you want some more Pallie Juice?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

She made some clicking noises and hovered up and down slightly, prompting the girl to refill the metal cup in the black pincer. Then she refilled mine as well without even asking.

“Thanks!” I smiled at the waitress and she giggled, prancing away to take care of some other customers.

“Master, that humanoid wishes to breed with you.” Izsha whispered into my mind, while pointing at the waitress that was bending over to talk to a table full of Jawas.

“I know, right?” I shrugged my shoulders and took a bite of my salad, “It’s amazing how people wanna breed with you when you’re tall, handsome and rich. She doesn’t even know how crazy I am yet.”

“Aren’t height, appearance and wealth easily changeable?” The Zerg Drone was confused, “Shouldn’t Essence be the most important?”

“Essence is the potential to change and evolve. Ours is way higher than most.” I took another bite of salad and felt something squirming around inside. I looked down at the writhing green serpent and asked, “Hey, is this creature normally part of a Coruscant Salad?”

When I pulled out the half-eaten snake with my fork, the waitress came over and shouted, “Oh no! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”

“It’s not a big deal.” I tossed the squirming snake body past Midnight, who tried to catch it, and into Izsha’s toothy maw.

“Maoou~!” The kitty complained, but the creature was extremely toxic even for a human, not to mention a cat.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to call a medical droid?” Even the Twi’lek dude came over to check on me.

“Don’t worry about it. Just a tanglevine snake.” From a planet called Tenoo, I’ve collected their genes before. Kinda weird for it to be in a salad, but hey, shit happens.

“Tasty Biomass.” Izsha made some clicking noises and ordered some Tanglevine Snake Soup, with living snakes.

A few minutes later, a black humanoid Droid came out with the soup and a second Coruscant Salad minus the snake, “We’re so terribly sorry about that mixup! Here, this is on the house!”

“Aww, thank you!” I smiled at the Droid that looked eerily similar to an old HK assassin model from way back in the Old Republic era. But then again, Droids weren’t really my thing. If HK-47 wasn’t so popular back in my last life, I wouldn’t have even thought of him. But I’m pretty sure he’s in a crashed starship somewhere on like Mustafar? Something like that. This Droid was probably just a similar looking model to the infamous HK series.

“You’re very welcome!” After he said that, the Droid turned around and went back towards the kitchen to keep cooking for other guests. It was all pretty normal. Half-expected him to suddenly try to murder me or something, but nope. Nothing happened.

*Paou-paou~!* There was some blaster fire outside, but nobody in the cantina seemed to give a damn.

“Hahaha~! Just some normal Mos Espa noises! You’ll get used to it.” The random fish-head girl said that, but she also didn’t try to go outside, even though she was already finished with her meal and paid her bill.

“So… Does anyone know where Watto’s Junkyard is located?” I was asking anyone really, but most of the guests ignored me.

“You a Bounty Hunter?” A tan-skinned Zabrak with a robotic left arm was the one that asked. He had what looked like a black flightsuit on and even had a blaster pistol on his hip.

“Does Watto have a bounty on his head?” I raised an eyebrow and the guy laughed.

“Not yet, unfortunately!” He sighed and shook his head, taking another sip of some glowing green beverage.

“Watto’s place is a few kilometers north of here if I remember correctly.” The Mon Calamari girl pulled out a holo emitter from her purse, which showed a map of the whole planet at first, then zoomed in on our general location. FInally she tapped on a spot and said, “About right here. Yeah, that’s it. Watto’s Junkyard.”

“Thanks! You’re awesome!” I smiled at the fish girl and she giggled in response… Well, I think I know why she hasn’t left yet.

“Is there any special reason you’re looking for Watto’s Junkyard?” She asked curiously, “I’ve been there before. He’s an obstinate wupiupi-pincher who will rip you off at any chance he gets.”

“And you aren’t?” A random humanoid that was completely covered up was the one who spoke, “Who was it who charged me a thousand Credits for a broken Astromech Droid?”

“You’re lucky I even take Republic Credits! Watto doesn’t.” She looked at the case of Peggats that I opened to pay the bill and smiled wryly on her fishy face, “I guess that’s not a problem for you though… What was your name again?”

“Amon. Amon Kal.” I introduced myself and then patted the Zerg Drone on her armored head with a ‘clack’, “This is my daughter, Izsha.” Then I pointed at the kitty, “That’s Midnight… My son?”

“I can see the resemblance!” The waitress giggled and took the money happily, especially when she saw the tip of an entire Peggat, “Wow! Handsome and generous! I’m Tris, just Tris!”

“Amona, of Amcala’s Mon Cala Cargo!” The fish-head girl also introduced herself and handed over a fancy plastic business card that actually projected a simple map of her business.

“Nice, so you’re not far from here?” I saw that it was only a few blocks away. Basically nothing in the grand scheme of this massive fucking city.

“Exactly! Once you see Watto’s prices, come by my place. Guarantee it’ll be much cheaper and much higher quality!”

“That’s not much of a sale’s pitch!” That covered up dude scoffed and suggested, “Why don’t you head over to Bopo’s and check out their prices instead? It’s only a few blocks northeast of her place.”

“Bopo’s trash is almost as bad as Watto’s garbage!” She retorted and then the two of them started arguing back and forth even more…

Anyway, I knew where Watto’s place was. No need to stick around and get to know anyone better. I didn’t wanna form any unnecessary attachments.

The more I get to know people, the more I’ll care about them and the harder it’ll be when the time comes…