Taking Command Book 1 (Kylux) (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Fifty Seven: Findings

Hux PoV

The next day, Ren and I descended into the bowels of Coruscant. We were armed and well prepared to encounter anything. Our goal was to find allies in our hunt for Skywalker. We entered into a suitably grungy looking establishment. It smelled like alcohol and blood. It was unpleasant but an obvious choice to find bounty hunters.

Kylo walked over to a table and sat down after ordering some fire whiskey. He was going to keep an eye on the door and the surroundings. I, on the other hand, was charged with the talking. I was charged with scouting out promising hunters. It was harder than it sounded in a massive metropolis like Coruscant. We needed the best in the galaxy, and there were plenty masquerading as such. Pity that the legendary hunter Boba Fett had disappeared. He was a legend and a Jedi hunter. All of the good hunters seemed to have peaked in my father's  era and before. Cad Bane, Bossk, Dengar, they were all gone or retired.

"So," I leaned on the bar as I sat down,"who's the big shot in these parts? Who has the best track record. I'm making a team, and I want the best shooters, fighters, pilots, and trackers I can get."

"What're you willing to pay?" The Nautolan manning the bar wiped off a glass and put it on a shelf behind him. "Do you want a drink? No information unless you buy something."

"I'll pay just about anything. And I'll have a Mon Cala style blend then." It was a unique drink I had tasted once tagging along with my father on a diplomatic mission to the planet of the  Mon Calamari peoples. It was delicious and to my delight, this bar had it.

"That'll be fifty credits," the bartender said, holding out a blue-grey hand.

I paid him in full and tipped him generously. The drink was delicious. "So tell me who are the best bounty hunters in the Coruscant underworld. Where do I find them?"

"Well, what kinda team do you want?" The bartender replied as he served other guests.

"I need three people who are good at finding people, two good pilots, two good fighters, and two snipers. Nine total, plus me and my partner." I counted off on my fingers. We would have to travel separately, as the Firestorm only could house six people.

"I can give you five off the top of my head. I know two snipers, a pilot, a fighter, and one tracker. Three of them are here now," he said,"give me your datapad and I'll put their information in for you."

I handed him my spare datapad, not trusting him with the one that housed all of my personal information. The bartender entered some things in as I waited. When he was done, he handed it back.

"I put in their information, like their species, their photos, their prices, and their skills."

"Thank you," I replied. This would keep Kylo and I busy. In my opinion, it was time to head back to the spent and mull over this new data. I handed the bartender some more credits. "For the trouble. You didn't see us."

I walked over to Ren who was sitting and watching the door with his feet on the table and two empty bottles of fire whiskey next to him.

"Time to go," I said, "I have information."

"Good. Let's go follow up," Kylo stood up and was only a little bit wobbly. He and I walked out the door of the cantina and into the dark twilight of the undercity.

"Let's get out of here," I said,"I hate it down here."

We hailed a taxi and on the way up to the surface, I looked for the names. I had never heard of any of these guys. Two Twi'leks , one human, one Togruta, and one Kiffar. It was a motley group of hunters, but it could work.

We did not need nine, like I had told the bartender. I had told him nine because I knew that he would probably give me half of what I needed. All I had needed was four.

"Alright, so all five were real. They're all top of the game hunters. We can have one sniper, but the pilot, fighter, and tracker are all good to go. We just have to meet them." I looked at the files on them. I hacked into the Coruscant police files and found sizable files on each of them.

"Our pilot is a Kiffar, owns a Firespray. Our snipers are a two person team. One is a Togruta, the other is a Twi'lek. They use the nice Verpine guns. The fighter is a human. She's the only female and apparently has a stolen lightsaber. The tracker is a Twi'lek who specializes in collecting debts." I skimmed through the reports.

"We should just keep the team. It will probably be easier that way. We still can not cram them all into the Firestorm, however." Kylo took the pad out of my hand. "They all look good. We should find them and tell each of them individually about the mission and have a big rendezvous at the apartment."

"Then, we can get briefings and stuff," I replied, grinning. "I like it. We will win this fight yet."

"You bet. Skywalker is ours." Kylo winked at me.

His confidence gave me hope. My findings gave me hope as well. We would overthrow Snoke. We had to. For the good of us, and for the good of the First Order, we had to win.