“It’s just a feeling I have. Don’t ask me why, but I really think this may be the place.”

Dayasi folded his arms over his chest and his lekku twitched slightly. It wasn’t just a feeling anymore. He knew, without a doubt, that this bar was more important in finding the information he sought than any other place he and his three friends had already scouted. Whether they agreed or not, he was prepared to check the place out, alone if he had to. It would just make him feel better if he had people he trusted to watch his back.

James Stryker, Mayor of Agrilatia and a fellow smuggler, nodded. “I’ve never been one to question or doubt you, Dayasi, and I’ve always been a believer of acting on gut feelings. This looks as good a place as any to start looking for answers.”

“It looks like it’s a bit more than that, if you ask me,” Dexx Rowar piped in as he nodded towards the bar. “Check out the name of that place.”

Looking back towards the bar, the four men noticed the name over the door, written in nearly a dozen languages: The Scumm Bar.

Seamus Harper, Agrilatia’s resident engineer, snickered. “Fitting, if you ask me. How are we gonna do this anyway?”

Dayasi sighed, feeling pressured by being tagged as the leader of this undertaking. Originally, he had planned to drop Abatha off in Agrilatia so he could be sure she was safe. The younger twi’lek had probably been through more in the last couple of days than she had in her entire lifetime. Taking her back to Tatooine to recover Rajehm’s body was not an option. Dayasi hadn’t expected to run into Stryker while he was in Agrilatia but, when he did, he found himself telling his friend everything that had happened so far. The events surrounding Rajehm’s murder were almost too painful to remember but he forced his way through it, ending up with losing the clean-cut man in Restuss. James wasn’t one to sit back while his friend put himself in danger, so he had insisted on coming along and bringing Seamus and Dexx to help out as well.

They had boarded the Agrilat Express, an old Star Hauler bulk transport that was Stryker’s pride and joy, and discussed everything Dayasi knew up to this point as they traveled through hyperspace to their first stop on Tatooine. Upon landing within walking distance of Rajehm’s place, the four set about the task of preparing a proper burial for the old man. With a heavy heart, Dayasi and his friends buried ‘Uncle Raj’ in a simple grave next to his house. Dexx had placed a marker on the site but Dayasi promised himself he would return here when this was all over to pay his respects. It was the least he could do for someone like Uncle Raj. Once back aboard the Express, they continued on to Rori, pouring over the data Dayasi had on the clean-cut man. Every time Dayasi had come to information he had on the Scumm Bar though, his gut instincts would kick into overdrive. There was something about this bar that the twi’lek felt was important.

“I think maybe we should just walk on in, kind of like tourists,” Dayasi stated. “This place isn’t exactly a resort, but I know they get their share of tourism.”

Stryker nodded. “Sounds good. No better time like the present then,” he said and clapped Dexx on the shoulder. “Let’s go, big guy.”

Dexx checked his hammer, safely stowed away in its harness over his right shoulder. He adjusted his duster and smirked at Dayasi.

“I don’t think we’re going to need you to use that, Dexx. Keep it hidden if you can.”

“Don’t worry, Dayasi. I’ll keep her put up until she’s needed. Save your concern for whoever’s on the receiving end if I do have to use it.”

They casually walked across the street to the front door and the four of them swaggered into the Scumm Bar. The tavern appeared as if it had been open during the days of the Old Republic and wasn’t showing its age very well. The walls were dingy, yellow, and streaked with water stains while the floor was covered in a fine layer of dust crisscrossed with tracks from an unknown number of species. A scattering of downtrodden sentients occupied the tavern, most prominently three at a table near the center of the room; a scarred and tattooed zabrak, an aged rodian and a burly yet balding human. As four intrepid smugglers entered, the human rose from the table and scowled at them. It was apparent he didn’t like having his Sabacc game interrupted.

“Whadda ya want?” the human spat.

Dayasi cleared his throat and smiled broadly. “We’re just tourists from out of system looking for a drink, friend.” He made it a point to glance eagerly at the human’s table. “I also see you’re enjoying a game of sabacc. Might my friends and I join you?”

“We’re not doin’ no more business right now. Just watchin’ the place for the owner, an’ he ain’t here.” The human looked as if he were ready to tear the lekku from the twi’lek’s head. Pointing towards the door, the man was preparing to throw the four of them out when he was interrupted by Dexx.

“Uhh, wait a sec. I don’t like sabacc,” he protested to Dayasi, “I’m not that good at it.”

“Me either,” added Stryker. “I tend to lose more than I win.”

Dayasi turned to the two and swept his arms out in a welcoming gesture. “Come on, guys. I told you I’d show you a good time. What’s a few credits between corporate partners, eh?”

“I don’t know about you guys but I can hold my own pretty well,” Harper added with a grin. “I’m up for a little fun.”

Smiling, Dayasi turned back to the robust human. “What do you say, friend? Just a few friendly hands?”

Following the conversation closely, the man grinned, showing a mouth full of filthy teeth. A few hands, he estimated, and these tourists would leave with nothing but the clothes on their back when he and the boys were through with them.

“Why, of course you can join us. Please, pull up a chair. Can I get you gentlemen a drink?”

Dayasi smiled wider, baring his gleaming pointed teeth. “Corellian whiskey will be fine.”

The human introduced himself as Sagis Moloth, the rodian was named Feemi, and K’loris Haag the zabrak nodded nonchalantly to the four new players as they made themselves comfortable at the game table. As the hours passed, the few that were in the bar began to leave individually or in small groups, and most of them were drunk. Dayasi had made it a point to order numerous drinks for himself. When the bar was finally emptied, he began to drink even more, slurring his words as he slipped in and out of his native tongue. Many years ago, he had made it a point to teach James Stryker the finer points of the lekku body language. Subtle movements by his head tails could be read by someone who was proficient in this form of communication, while making the twi’lek seem ‘twitchy’ to those who didn’t understand it. Without words, he informed James of his hasty plan to get into other areas of the establishment without raising suspicion.

“Twenty three. I win this hand,” Feemi declared proudly.

“That’s four bad hands in a row now!” Dexx muttered as he threw his cards into the stasis field. “I’m almost out of money!”

K’loris, seated between Dexx and Stryker, grinned. “I’m sure I can loan you credits, if you have something for collateral.”

Dayasi laughed uncontrollably. “You lost ag’in? Mebee you should give ‘em your Shile’rr...uhh...ship?” The twi’lek slid down from his chair but was quickly caught by Harper.

“You don’t look so good, buddy.” Harper looked at Sagis as he stood Dayasi on shaky legs. “Do you have a ‘fresher here? I think he may be sick.”

The human eyed him suspiciously for a moment before waving Harper towards the back of the tavern.

“Down that hall on the right. But stay on the right!”

Seamus nodded his thanks and helped Dayasi towards the back of the bar, while the twi’lek attempted to whistle an old Ryloth folk tune. With a victorious “Woo-hoo!” Dayasi pumped his fist into the air and nearly fell face first into another table. As the two disappeared into the hallway, the zabrak shook his head in amusement and smiled at Dexx.

“So what do you say? If you have a good ship, I could front you a reasonable amount of credits.”

“I have a better idea. I can give my friend a few credits to play with and we can all start having a real good time.” Stryker proclaimed as he reached into his inner pocket. He pulled out several objects and threw them onto the table. They appeared to be small red grips tipped with a shining needle. The rodian twittered anxiously.

“Is that neutron pixie?” Sagis asked.

“I like you guys. You seem trustworthy enough.” James shrugged. “Thought I’d share what I have.”

Laughing, the human and the rodian each grabbed a syringe. K’loris turned down the offer, claiming it didn’t have a positive effect on his species’ nervous system.

“What about you, Dexx?” Stryker asked. “You’re welcome to it too.”

“No thanks. It interferes with my piloting.”

As the two administered the drugs on themselves, they relaxed visibly. Grinning, Sagis glanced back towards the hallway.

“You think your twi’lek friend will be all right? Maybe I should go check on ‘em.”

As he began to stand, he lost his balance and flopped back into his chair, weakly nodding his head. Feemi dropped the glass he was drinking from and fell forward, his head thumping onto the table. Dexx laughed loudly.

“Geez that stuff works fast!” he exclaimed. “I hope they didn’t overdose.”

“They’ll be fine. That’s just some real good pixie.”

K’loris laughed and poked a thumb towards the rodian. “He never could handle that stuff very well. You guys up for another hand or maybe another drink?”

“I don’t know,” Stryker answered. “You know, Dexx, this may take too long. May have to do something unexpected.”

Dexx cocked his head quizzically. As K’loris began to rise from the table, Stryker drew his carbine and shot the zabrak point blank. Taken by surprise, Dexx threw himself backwards but was still grazed by the hazy blue sting of a stun shot. The zabrak fell limply to the floor.

Stryker walked over to his friend and offered a helping hand.

“Sithspit, that stings!”

“I tried to warn you. How bad were you hit?”

“Just lost a little feeling in my arm. I’ll be okay in a minute.”

Dexx glanced at each of the thugs. “What did you give the other two?”

“I took the liberty of borrowing some sedatives from Talric’s medkit,” the smuggler shrugged. “Don’t think he’ll mind.”

“Nah, probably not,” Dexx agreed, still shaking the effects of the stun from his arm. As an afterthought, he began to gather stacks of credits from the table.

“You were right. You really do stink at this game.”

Dexx glared at him. “Shut up. Did you think I was kidding when I told Dayasi earlier?”

“Don’t know. I thought you were playing along to bait these guys.”

“I just never got the hang of that game.” Dexx began shoving credchips into the pockets of his duster. “Never had much luck with it. I’ll just leave it for you Corellians to play.”

James laughed. “Tell you the truth, I never was that good at it myself. Dayasi is the gaming wiz.”

“Speaking of Dayasi, maybe we should go check up on ‘em. See what they found.”

James nodded as he holstered his carbine. Dexx walked to the front of the bar and locked the door to deter any surprises. Satisfied, the two strolled to the back of the cantina and found Dayasi and Seamus standing in the hallway before a locked door.

“It’s magnetically sealed,” Seamus explained as they approached. “Dayasi sliced the panel and I think he’s almost done.”

The engineer had barely finished his explanation when the door silently slid open. The tiny room beyond appeared to be a lift of some sort. Drawing weapons as a precaution, the four men entered the lift and pressed the only button on the panel, taking it up to the second floor. Once the elevator stopped, the doors opened silently into a darkened room. Grinning, Dayasi walked in and switched on the glow panel.

The room was small, but very clean. It appeared to be an office of some kind with a tidy desk sitting near the center facing a gleaming steel wall etching. Dayasi motioned for his friends to search separate areas of the room, concentrating on anything that could possibly give them a clue as to the identity of the clean-cut man. Seamus seated himself at the desk and turned on the terminal. As the computer powered up, he began to scroll through the filing system.

“It looks like it’s encrypted, but it’s low level. This should be a piece of cake.”

“Nothing’s ever easy, Seamus. Just be careful,” Dayasi warned. “I don’t want a squad of stormtroopers gunning us down if you crack the wrong code.”

“Huh? This guy works for the Imps?”

“No, I didn’t say that. Just trying to make a point.”

“Maybe you should have said a flock of fambaas.” Dexx suggested.

“Or a gaggle of gungans.” James added.

“Would you guys stop! Let’s just keep looking.”

James and Dexx snorted at the twi’lek, but continued looking. After a few more minutes of fruitless searching through datafiles, Seamus pushed himself away from the terminal, shaking his head.

“I found references to DFA and coded messages for someone called Spectral-12 but they’ve all been downloaded to hardcopy. I can’t pull up enough residual data to really get anything.” He stabbed his index finger down onto one of the keys. “If anything is here, it’s not in the computer.”

“I think I found something,” interrupted Dexx. “I do believe this etching is a hidden door.”

The four of them examined the artwork closer and determined that the steel artwork did seem to recede into the wall enough to be a door.

“Gotta be a switch somewhere to open it,” Stryker mumbled. “Maybe by the desk?”

“If it is, we’ll have to find it ourselves,” Dayasi commented as he scanned the room. “Whatever he had on him to keep me from getting a biosig is doing the same thing to the room. I can’t get a reading on anything here.”

The four men spent the next while searching the room for a switch or button to open the door. Quickly becoming irritated, Dexx threw a holodisk from the office’s collection across the room and stomped towards the etching.

“Everybody back away,” he ordered as he began removing his hammer from its harness. As he powered up the weapon, a distinctive hum began to reverberate through the room. Dayasi, Stryker and Harper scurried quickly towards the lift door, behind Dexx. Setting himself, the swordsman heaved the powerhammer around and swung it in an arc that impacted with the steel door. A deafening clang drowned out the hum for a moment as the twi’lek and his two human friends, their ears tightly covered from the noise, watched the swordsman swing the weapon again and again, bowing the door inward at an awkward angle. With one final slam from the powerhammer, the supports tore away from the ferrocrete wall and the door fell inward with a crash. As the four peered into the small room beyond, Dayasi smiled at the swordsman.

“Not very subtle but effective.”

“WHAT?!?”

“I SAID NOT VERY SUBTLE ... oh forget it.”

“WHAT?!?”

“FORGET IT!”

As Dayasi entered the room, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief come over him, as if he’d accomplished a great task. Lining the wall were various weapons and equipment. Most of the equipment was so advanced, he had no idea what they were. On a table in the back was a box containing a number of datafiles. Smiling, the twi’lek grabbed the box of datafiles and began checking them all on the desk’s computer terminal.

“This is it,” Dayasi proclaimed proudly as he scanned over one of the datafiles, “this has got to be the file.”

“What’s it say?” Stryker asked.

“Not sure yet, but it appears to be his main file on Z’pydrr. That’s the spy I’ve been telling you about. Anyway, looks like he’s going to pick up some critical information from her at an appointed time and location. Tophi might want to see this. All of it is protected by a high-level encryption. I don’t want to risk Seamus working on it if there’s a chance of it being inadvertently destroyed. Sorry, Seamus.”

“No biggie. I’m better on ships than I am with computer files anyway. Not my forté.”

“Well I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get outta here,” suggested Dexx, still yelling over the ringing in his ears. “I’m really beginning to hate this place. Whatever DFA is, it gives me the creeps. I mean, if this guy’s codename is Spectral-12, it probably means there’s at least eleven more of these guys poking around out there.”

“And those guys on the main floor are bound to wake up soon,” added Seamus.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” agreed Dayasi, though he did have the urge to look around more. “Let’s get going while the going’s still good.”

The four of them quickly left the bar, searching the area outside to be sure they weren’t being watched. It was only when they finally reached the starport and the boarding ramp of the Agrilat Express that Dayasi felt he could relax. Too much was at stake here. He had friends counting on him and was determined not to let any of them down. Sooner or later, though, all of this would be over.

He was looking forward to a nice long vacation.