Chapter 36

While moving about from clan to cult I studied under many masters but it was when I was learning under the B'omarr order did I get an unexpected message from the Black Sun.

Being part of the underworld for any amount of time would mean dealing with the Black Sun. There are small groups who nickel and dime then there's the protection racket of well-established weaklings and yet none of those are part of the Black Sun but they are subservient to it. You needed to be at the level of a mafia family before you could interact with the Black Sun.

I am part of the Black Sun but not officially. While I do take part in the darker side of the law and bribe my way forward, I'm just a businessman who makes the impossible come true. I clean credits and make them untraceable through legitimate work. I make the seedy side of drugs running into a profitable legitimate business but I'm not part of any family, mafia, or syndicate but I'm connected to them, hand in hand.

The Black Sun hadn't sent me any message before, Why would they? I take no cash from them and help them in their deals using my empire. They didn't make cash from me in a traditional way but I've purposely made myself valuable so that they wouldn't try to step on me.

They want a meeting. What answer can you give to an empire of the underworld that has been around for over two thousand years? I must admit that while I have done my best to make myself valuable to as many people as possible, I'm not confident against the Black Suns.

The Sith were easy to predict, the Jedi had their rules and the political galaxy loved their money but the Black Suns were unpredictable. They had started in the outer rim and over time made it across the Galaxy. The leader was always changing because of the nature of the black suns but nine Vigos were always intrusted with their territory and sectors.

The black suns were known for piracy, smuggling and the drug trade. They also did a bit of slavery and kidnapping but only when immensely profitable.

It wasn't the leader that contacted me but one of the Vigos, they wanted a face-to-face meeting in Hutt space on the planet Cyrkon. There was a notorious hub for pirates and smugglers. I think it would be better to go than offend the black suns but it didn't mean I had to go unprepared.

The meeting was something I didn't expect. Entering the atmosphere to Cyrkon I was messaged by a protocol droid and directed to a port. The character of the place was one of dirt and rust. The buildings looked rusted and were on the verge of falling apart but the inside was different. Wealthy fixtures, followed by rich-looking individuals dressed in fine suits and dresses. A crystal statue in the form of the Black Sun's insignia was the dominant fixture.

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I felt like this was a set-up. The people walking around seemed at ease but also had a set pattern to their walking. Most people had things to do and would go straight to their destination but everyone seemed to walk in wide and complex circles. One person doing this was suspicious but everyone doing it felt like a trap.

I pressed my panic button once to start my plan. I wasn't going to use it so soon but I didn't feel safe, and this was only the entrance to the building. I was rushed to the meeting place by a protocol droid into a grand ballroom. Instead of a meeting, it was more like a party and I was the guest of honor.

The oddities continued as the room went silent and the people in the room parted ways. There in all of his splendour stood one of the Vigos. Everything about him told me I should kill him immediately but I felt like that when meeting with the Hutts too, and they were my allies now. The way he held himself, the way he walked and especially the way he talked told me exactly the character of this Vigo.

"Brother, I've been waiting for you," said Vigo Rena Beenz

I pushed my panic button once more.

What followed was whispered hidden threats mixed with delightful promises of power. All I would have to do was join him and work just for him. This was no good as I washed the galaxies ill-gotten credits and to work for one Vigo of the black sun meant the rest of them would suffer. That wasn't good for me. It made me think that this Vigo didn't know the extent of my money laundering.

But the problem was this Vigo of the black suns wanted to take advantage of me at the cost of his other black sun brothers. He offered nothing in return and the deal would get me killed by the other black sun Vigos. If I joined him it would weaken me in every possible way and put a chain around my neck.

Rena Beenz was a newly appointed and hungry Vigo of the black sun. It wasn't enough to have his very own sector of the underworld he had to push it further. And so, when he found Bee and his empire and friendly nature with the Hutts his logical thought was to use his sector's power to bully me into an offer I couldn't refuse.

My reputation was excellent but it also hurt me. I was now a legitimate business owner and head of many stable mega-corporations. It had been many years ago that I had fought the Brotherhood of Darkness and shown that I had very few limits when it came to getting my revenge. but people had forgotten. The Hutts hadn't with their long life but the Vigos had.

Rena Beenz continued his ideas, he spouted off the potential of having me on his side but the whole room became stone-cold quiet when I asked "what he could do for me". The crowd turned to me completely quiet and the live music stopped. Everyone here was my enemy. It was a simple power move that I would laugh at if it wasn't for the other Vigos and the black sun as a whole.

I was trying to balance my actions with what may happen if I were to attack but that left my thoughts as the other guest pulled a fast one and started to arm themselves.

"I've heard that you are a clever man, if you don't join me as a friend then you are my enemy" explained Rena Beenz.

That was the final straw. I had to bow my head or lose it. Either one wasn't going to happen and so, I offered a third choice.