“Well now what?” Tei asked.

“We need a new ship that’s what. It’ll probably cost us about 20,000 credits for a new one. ” Garion said. He started pacing back and forth. “We’ve got 10,000 between us for the Entaya job, and I’ve got about 2,000 for myself. What about you?”

He shrugged. “Not much, I’d say no more than 1,000 because I bought that rifle.”

That reminded Garion they’d need new weapons, but their pistols would have to do for now. “So that’s 13,000 between us, which means that we need to make 7,000 credits.”

“We better get looking then, it looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Tei said.

The atmosphere of the Stilted House Bar was about the same as any other run of the mill bar, loud music and loud people, but it was places like this where Garion felt the most at home. The door swung open and the two men walked in. A few heads turned as they entered, but nobody said anything. However, one head stayed turned longer than the rest; a cloaked figure’s eyes followed the pair as they sat down at a computer a few tables away from his table, listing off available jobs.

“Let’s have a look,” Garion said, starting to scroll through the options.

They scrolled past one job after another, each one of them listing off another planet. They scrolled through about three pages of jobs until finally they found one. Garion’s eyes shifted across the screen looking at the pay, only to slump further into his chair.

“100?” He groaned. “Does nobody on this damn planet need anything done? At this rate we’ll never get the money for a new ship.”

The cloaked figure took off his hood, revealing an orc with slicked back black hair and amber eyes. “Hey, you two,” He said in a hushed tone.

Garion barely heard him over the music and chatter. He turned around to see the orc looking at them, gesturing to pull up a seat. He kept his hand near the pistol in his holster as they sat down next to him.

“You two said you were looking for a ship right?” The orc asked.

“Yeah, what of it?” Garion asked.

“Listen, I’ll cut right to the chase. I’ve got a job for you, and if you do it right I’ll reward you with credits, and I’ll take you to a place where you can get a good ship for cheap.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Garion was about to speak, clearly intrigued by his offer, but Tei beat him to it. “What’s the catch?” he asked.

The orc sighed. “The catch is that the job won’t be easy. Allow me to explain. I need to get off of this planet, I worked with an… organization that the Obsidian Coalition isn’t fond of, but before I can leave, I need you to recover some documents from the Coalition. I managed to track it down to their outpost on the east side of town. You got that?”

The two looked at each other. “How will you be paying us?” Garion asked.

“15,000 credits total, it’s almost everything I have, in addition, I'll take you to a good friend of mine, who can get you a good ship at a cheap price.”

“Can we talk this over?” Garion asked.

He nodded.

“Of course.”

They stepped back. “What do you think?” Garion whispered.

“Well we’d be against the law on this, and I’d rather not end up in jail,” Tei said.

“But do we really have much of a choice? This is the best deal we could ask for.”

“How do we know that he’s telling the truth? This could be a setup for all we know,” Tei said, quickly glancing at the orc.

“We don’t, it’s just a risk we’ll have to take,” Garion said.

Tei hesitated for a moment, he didn’t trust this, but he did trust Garion, and that’s all he needed. He nodded. “Alright, let’s do this.”

They walked back over to the orc. “Alright uh…” Garion realized they never got his name.

“Baskus. Baskus Lagra.” He told them.

“Alright Baskus, we’ll do it,” Garion said.

Baskus smiled, with a mix of gratitude and excitement on his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a memory chip. He placed it firmly in Garion’s hand. “Put the data on this chip, and then delete it from the system, it’s imperative that you delete it.”

He nodded. “Got it, anything else?”

Baskus shook his head. “No, just get it done, and get it done quick. I’ll be waiting for you at the abandoned warehouse near the south hangar.”

“Alright we’re back in business,” Garion said as they left the bar. “Let’s go scope this place out and come up with a plan.”

Tei nodded. “We’ll need to pick up some new rifles too. Just in case things go loud.”

As they made their way to the outpost, Garion’s mind raced with thoughts about how good of a deal this was, but it didn’t take long for them to turn into insecurities about how it was too good of a deal. He brushed the thoughts away, the money and the ship was all that mattered, he couldn’t let himself get distracted on the job.

It didn’t take them long to find the outpost. The Obsidian Coalition flag towering above it actually made it pretty easy to find.

“Jeez, they sure take security seriously,” Garion said.

Tei nodded. “No windows, no vents, no roof access, nothing,” he added.

Suddenly the doors to the outpost slid open and two soldiers walked out side by side, rifles in hand, and started walking down the street. Garion and Tei looked at each other and nodded, knowing they both had the same idea.