Chapter 1: Red Eyes Eats Up Blue Balls

Luke Skywalker had settled down on Nar Shaddaa in his scout craft. Judging by the location spaceport where he landed and the position of the sun relative to it, he figured it should have been daytime. But the thick ochre sky above him devoid of any real clouds and blurring the roofs of the skyscrapers even as they very near him at this height, if this was sunlight, then the ever present blackness of space present to those living in space stations and crafts on long expeditions throughout the galaxy was cheery by comparison. Dagobah’s humid nights were more hospitable than this place.

There was something strangely nostalgic too. Growing up on Tattooine, even reared under the loving care of Owen and Beru, he was aware of the seedy elements of crime and danger, whether it was Jabba’s influence and the many criminals who gathered there on the regular, or the Tusken Raiders who spared no mercy even for children. But here, it was so much thicker.

He thought he understood the dark side. But after clashing blades with Vader and losing his hand and the blue sword he thought belonged to a much greater man, of still coming to terms with who he was as a Jedi and what path his destiny lay for him, he realized how sorely mistaken he actually was. Yet for all the doubts and misgivings that plagued his heart, it was nothing compared to the atmosphere of this world. The desert heat of Tattooine had prepared him for the hot climate of the Smugglers’ Moon, but he felt a great unease as soon as he landed. It was like something of the force but more than that, it was a bloated sickness. It pulled at the strings of his heart, and he felt the beginnings of that infection, far more insidious than the brute cruelty of the empire.

More than that, Luke felt the sickness all around him. He felt it in the air, and he felt so many feelings swallowing up his own. He felt it in the people too, though he could not see them. He didn’t need to, not with his senses in the force. He was fortunate to have trained with Yoda, for despite his frustration with the son of Skywalker, if he had not encountered the wizened Jedi Master, he would have likely been frozen in carbonite and kneeling before the Emperor now. Yet it was that same revelation about his father which had deepened his connection to the force far beyond any training. Like a child growing up, he could feel so many looking at him, studying him, could sense their thoughts going haywire even as he was not properly instructed on mind reading yet. Many were force sensitive and yet regardless of what how in tune with it they were, they were all conniving and greedy. Vader’s overwhelming presence in person and everything he stood for in his heart was welcome compared to this den of thieves and cutthroats.

As was one now. Just as Luke had begun to move away from his scout craft, three people approached him. Two Trandoshan tough guys, in every era of the galaxy their kind had the same kind of reputation as Gamorreans and these two were no exception, their very presence made you feel like you were getting punched in the face. Nothing like the Chiss woman in front, dressed in a little black dress that started at her breasts and gave him a good look at her fine legs, not to mention the silver stiletto shoes she was wearing. She had one of those trendy little handbags rich noblewomen liked to carry around slung over her shoulder, she looked like any peppy socialite you’d see at Coruscant’s most famous balls. The way she stood at the forefront, Luke knew she was the boss.

But he never thought he’d see a Chiss woman looking like that. He’d only learned of their kind after hearing the name Thrawn, had seen pictures of him on mission briefings. Typical Chiss features, but she was different compared to him, navy blue skin and even darker blue hair with bloodred eyes with small white pupils. Was easy on the eyes too, and her beauty only made the cruelty in her smile that much more evident. Luke wondered if she got this position through the typical cunning that her kind were known for or if she got that way through sleeping around and whoring herself out to the right people. Her long mane was pulled up into an elaborate set of buns, and together with her crimson eyes, in that little dress she looked like a frivolous little rich girl hanging out with the wrong crowd.

“Welcome pretty boy,” she said in sharply accented Basic, she definitely was putting on airs. She almost sounded like a gentle lady if not for the sharp malice cutting through it. “Putting that thing on my landing pad, it doesn’t come cheap. One thousand credits.”

“One thousand? But the standard imperial rate is one hundred.”

“Never seen your face before and around here, reputation is everything. Ten thousand credits pretty boy. Or you can become a dancer in my harem. There are plenty of men and women who’d like to play with your sweet little ass. You can make your ten thousand that way.” She licked her full dark lips suggestively at him and her red eyes gleamed with a giddy malice.

“You said it was one thousand.”

“I’m saying ten thousand now, aren’t I pretty boy?” She reached over to stroke Luke’s blonde curls.

Luke barely knew anything about the Chiss. That they were usually far colder than this. Or that they typically stuck to their own regions, and even then when venturing outward, tended to favor regimented lifestyles, people in the know were aware they could be as solitary and highfalutin as the Falleen. This one was far more frivolous, but there was a distinct air of arrogance in the way she carried herself, the kind that wasn’t used to taking no for an answer. He actually blushed and turned away.

That amused her. But he was a little too silent for her liking. She cupped his chin and then clutched it hard and made him look at her. “Ten thousand,” she said again, now with far more steel in her voice. “Or my boys here take you and have you stripped naked and sold on the black market to using that cute little ass to turn tricks for the Hutts. Some of them are really open minded.”

He slapped her hand away at that. The two Trandoshans straightened up. Her red eyes pierced him to the bone with her fury. “Maybe I’ll cut you up, find out if you’re as pretty on the inside as you are on the outside. You wouldn’t believe what kind of hooch they make here on Nar Shaddaa from body parts of people who don’t know how to live here. Stupid whores who think they’re too good to suck dick all of a sudden just because they think they’re morally superior to the crime lords, and smugglers who can’t pay their debts and beg for mercy as they disappear forgotten by everyone else, it’s all the same. You wouldn’t believe who goes for it either. I’ve partied with the richest daughters and sons of noble houses you can think of come down to slum it up while their parents aren’t looking. They’re all having a good time, drinking fresh blood and eating the meat off of bones, and they don’t know they’re eating people. A pretty boy like you, it’ll go for a killing. That way I’ll get my ten thousand credits.”

She said all of that as fiercely as possible but then she giggled like a little girl. Then she held her hands behind her back and batted her eyes at him while smiling cutely. She was a baddie alright.

Luke had dropped all pretense of decency. A bitch looking fine and sassy was still a bitch. As far as he was concerned, she was no different from the two Trandoshans behind her. That’d make her easy prey.

Not in physical combat either. He could take all three of them, with or without a weapon. A blaster, a lightsaber, hand to hand, it wouldn’t matter, these three would be dead in no time. But on a world like this one, he might attract the wrong kind of attention, for all he knew this woman was dealing with a big operation and her people were watching this whole thing go down from a skyscraper, several snipers already having him in their sights and ready to put a shot right into his skull. Looking into her mind wouldn’t be enough either, the line of command could go way bigger than anything she knew about, and he didn’t need to put up with anymore of her people. He’d deal with them a different way.

He waved that same hand before her face like it was a gentle and soothing wave. “You like this ship and want it to stay.”

She blinked hard like she was seeing sunlight for the first time, then her harsh disposition softened, she almost looked like a girl next door, if not for where she was. Even with that cold blue skin and those red eyes. She said, “I like this ship and I want it to stay.”

“And you’ll have it watched over, treating it like your baby until I get back.”

“And I’ll have it watched over, treating it like my baby until you get back.”

Luke snickered a bit. “And you’ll give it all kinds of sweet blasters and turbo thrusters.”

“And I’ll give it all kinds of sweet blasters and turbo thrusters.”

Feeling bold, he said, “One hundred thousand credits worth.”

The Chiss straightened up a bit. Luke was worried.

Then she repeated, “One hundred thousand credits worth.”

Luke had been watching the Trandoshans behind the Chiss woman. Stupid thugs even more weak minded than this mob princess, he was still worried. If either of them wised up even the slightest bit and said something, his spell would be ruined.

But they didn’t. Instead, they took their posts around the craft while their boss walked away, no doubt to follow Luke’s instructions to the letter. He hadn’t planned on taking things this far, but a little bit of fun didn’t hurt.

A slight smile curved at the end of his lips. Once he rescued Han, he couldn’t wait to show the smuggler his new ride. His craft was from Corellia just like the Millennium Falcon, like the smuggler himself, and he knew his old friend wouldn’t be able to look away. Leia would probably roll her eyes but deep down she’d be impressed. Right now, Luke was in blissful ignorance that the beautiful princess he pined for was actually his only sister.

For the slightest second, he felt something familiar. It was the distinct feeling of the dark side, not as intense as Vader, but he knew it was the dark side. He knew it because not only had he dealt with the infamous Dark Lord of the Sith, he had also learned to recognize that same darkness growing in him. And yet, it felt far away too, like it was watching him.

There was another feeling with it. It was strange though, not intense, just fuzzy, blurred. He didn’t know if it was the same person, even in his brief training with the force compared to the Jedi in the glory days of the Republic, he could tell this one’s use of the force was more refined. Then before he could even begin to turn his head in it’s direction, it was gone, skulking far away.

He didn’t have too long to think on it. The Chiss woman in front of him, there was nothing quite so subtle about her. With the way her hair was styled up, he could see her upper back and shoulders, and her dress was so tiny that he could see so much of her legs and her ass jiggling with every step she took. Despite the predicament he just got out of, he did like the way she looked. Even with her blue skin and red eyes, she reminded him a bit of Leia if Leia was a real bad girl.

That thought alone got him really hard in his pants. He was thinking of how her body looked under all the nice clothes she liked to wear before he realized he was really staring hard at the Chiss woman. She felt his gaze too and turned her head back halfway at him, looking at him from the side.

He stopped up, thinking she might have broken free. But instead she was smiling, her red eyes narrowed intently. Not looking at him fully, that teasing side glance, there was no doubt what she was getting at. Turning all the way around to face him, she put her hands under her breasts, pushing them up. The way she was acting, he never thought he’d associate something as strange as red eyes with someone as vapid as her. Then she let them down, her tits jiggling as she did it, and said, “Like what you see, pretty boy?”

“I’m just looking for the Sisters of Balance.”

“Them? It’s not gonna be easy.”

“Then what do you think I should do?”

“I can tell you where they are. The exact place.”

“I know their insignia. Their mark.”

“Take a look around pretty boy.”

He did. He had been looking at her ass for so long, thinking very un-Jedi like thoughts about Leia, when he saw it. The walls of the skyscrapers in this area were all covered in graffiti. Some of the designs were really simple, while others were really elaborate and could be in some fine art museum. Pictures of weird creatures along with what were definitely gang names. He couldn’t read all of them, some of the lettering was in Basic, but most of it wasn’t.

Luke got her meaning loud and clear. It would be nearly impossible to find their hideout in this mess of graffiti. As he looked closer, there were smaller icons in between all of the big ones. He might as well be out here all night trying to find them. And while this woman and her cohorts were easy enough to take care of, he knew there were others who were not so malleable. This little farm boy wasn’t new to the galaxy anymore, but here on this planet, he felt as fresh as when he went into space for the first time.