SLURP!
Sucking the last of the meat out of the shell in his hands, Valemerin suddenly felt a lot better. Why should he care about the Agellum Gang and Makeh Syndicate and Gripla and Jabba and that human and...
Huh. He was angry with a lot of people recently, no? Maybe it was because... Because... Maybe...
What was he thinking about again?
Probably nothing important. Valemerin reached with his hand to grab another one of the crustaceans, but the tray was empty. He grabbed it and threw it to the ground.
How dare they give him an empty tray!?
Valemerin ignored the side-eyed glances the other two criminal overlords in the room gave him at his sudden burst. He was hungry!
He was hungry and he wanted to eat more and he also wanted a drink because his was empty and he had a plan to save his Krayt Dragon Gang, all he had to do was kill his rivals and then he would eat again and...
Wait. Rivals! That's why he was angry!
Turning to the leaders of the Makeh Syndicate and Agellum Gang, Valemerin remembered. They were the ones stealing his business. They and the damn human.
Suddenly, he had an epiphany. The human only appeared after those two started causing problems for him.
One of them was the human!
Although, he didn't think humans had blue skin or four eyes. Hmm... A disguise! It had to be a disguise!
But which of them was the human. He would have to check both.
"What the fuck are you doing, Valemerin?"
"Hm?"
The Faleen blinked. Why did the not-human human look angry? And where had Valemerin found the machete he was now holding?
Oh, he knew! It had to be the human who put it in his hand! Sneaky human. But Valemerin was smarter. No one would trick him.
"Stay still, tiny blue human."
The eyes of the leader of the Agellum Gang widened when Valemerin raised his machete. Then she screamed when he brought it back down.
...
"Aaaahhhhh!"
Rumor blinked when he heard the screams from inside the room. What was going on in there?
The [ Deathstick ] he crushed and mixed into Valemerin's food was supposed to make him calm and lethargic, like that alien in the Graveyard. Not cause pain.
Although, the voice was more feminine than what he would expect from someone who looked like Valemerin, so maybe it wasn't him.
Which, again, begged the question: what was going on inside the VIP box?
His curiosity getting the better of him, he opened the door a crack, only to be greeted by a scene straight out a horror movie.
The floor of the room was covered in blood and body parts. There was a head near the door, expression twisted in terror, which Rumor recognized as belonging to the leader of the Makeh Syndicate.
And, to complete the picture, in the center of the VIP box was Valemerin, splattered with blood, a machete by his feet, clearly the crime weapon. There was a knife stuck to the hilt on his side, but he didn't seem to notice.
But what had Rumor's eyes bulging was what the enormous Mkraluka was doing: cradling the upper half of the Agellum Gang's leader body, and apologizing.
"Valemerin so sorry. So, so sorry. I thought you were the nasty human. But you are not the nasty human."
Then, to Rumor's horror, Valemerin chose that moment to look up and lock eyes with him. A huge smile appeared on his face as he let the body in his hands drop with a disgustingly wet splat.
"Nasty human! I finally found you!"
BANG!
Rumor slammed the door shut and backed away. Not that it made much of a difference, because the next second Valemerin kicked the whole thing down.
"Human!"
Now he looked angry, his emotions cycling faster than a washing machine. Rumor sprinted down the corridor, using [ Observe ] and one charge of his [ Magnifying Lense ] at the same time.
[ Valemerin ]
[ Titles: The Scourge ]
[ Species: Faleen ]
[ Strength: 34 (currently 17 due to Deathstick effect) ]
[ Dexterity: 22 (currently 11 due to Deathstick effect) ]
[ Vitality: 40 (currently 20 due to Deathstick effect) ]
[ Temperance: 28 (currently 3 due to Deathstick effect) ]
[ Spirit: 20 (currently 2 due to Deathstick effect) ]
[ Appeal: 18 (currently 9 due to Deathstick effect) ]
[ Skills: Blade Mastery lvl 5, Reckless Charge lvl 2, Leadership lvl 3, Intimidation lvl 3, Stone Skin lvl 4 ]
[ Special Skills: Strength of a Hundred ]
[ Description: The leader of the Krayt Dragon Gang, Valemerin is a big fish in a small pond. His unparalleled strength and close-quarters combat skills make him one of the most dangerous people in Mos Espa. ]
[ Observation: Target is currently suffering from the effects of item Deathstick (-90% spirit and temperance, -50% strength, dexterity, vitality, and appeal). ]
[ Warning: This enemy is far above tester's current level. Please think carefully before engaging. ]
Well, the warning was nice. Pity Rumor didn't have a fucking choice on the matter, with Valemerin barreling down the corridor after him.
The tester didn't even have the time to read what each of Valemerin's skills or title did, although he had a pretty good idea for the former.
Bottom line, he didn't want to get caught by the Faleen. Even with all his stats reduced, he still had three times Rumor's strength and four times his vitality.
It was only Valemerin's dexterity being currently so low that saved Rumor. By activating [ Grav-Leap Boost ], he barely managed to keep the distance between them.
He had to think of a plan, and fast. His skill wouldn't last forever, and although Valemerin was wounded - evidently the other gang leaders hadn't gone down quietly - he was still too powerful for Rumor to have any chance of surviving a direct clash against him.
Luckily for the tester, his plan came to him out of their own free will in the form of several members of the Hutt Cartel who were coming to investigate the horrific screams.
"Help! He's insane! He is saying he wants to kill His Eminence Jabba!"
The eyes of the cartel members widened in shock before taking on a hard glint. Rumor took the chance to slip past them, only turning around when he heard the sounds of weapons clashing and flesh being torn apart.
Valemerin may have let his machete back at the room, but he wasn't weaponless. Drugged out of his mind - and Rumor would admit that, in hindsight, that might not have been his brightest idea - the Faleen had ripped out the knife stuck on his side, and was using it to fight the cartel members.
Already, one of them was down from nearly having his head cut off, while another was thrown against the wall with a sickening crunch and didn't get back up.
But Valemerin wasn't getting out of it unscathed. Terrific wounds adorned his chest and arms, and blood was flowing freely, weakening the giant even more.
[ Side Mission The Wheel of Hate - Condition 2 completed. ]
A message flashed in front of Rumor as another guard went down with Valemerin's knife sticking out of his eye.
The second condition had been to have the Krayt Dragon Gang and the Hutt Cartel publicly fall out. Indeed, there was no recovering from this.
Now, he only needed to fulfill one more condition to complete the mission. Either force the Krayt Dragon Gang to disband, or kill Valemerin.
He knew which one he was leaning towards.
Seeing that there was only one Hutt Cartel member still alive out of the half a dozen who had come, Rumor took his [ E-206 Renegade Blaster Rifle ] out of his storage and took to a knee, steadying the weapon on his shoulder.
TZIIING!
A shot rang out, flying freely down the corridor, and nailing Valemerin on the forehead just as he crushed the skull of the last cartel member with his bare hands.
Valemerin swayed, but didn't fall. Rumor fired again.
TZIIING!
Now Valemerin was staggering down the corridor towards him. His heart was beating a mile a minute, but Rumor kept his hands steady.
TZIING!
This time Valemerin actually stumbled back, smoke rising from his chest.
TZIING!
The fourth shot brought the beast of a man down to one knee. But he didn't fall, not completely. His bloodshot eyes glared at Rumor with promises of pain.
"You... Human..."
TZIIING!
Valemerin's head snapped back as another laser collided with it. He swayed, and finally, like a great tree, fell to the ground with a thud.
[ You have killed Krayt Dragon Gang leader Valemerin 'The Scourge'. ]
[ Because others not belonging to your party were involved in the battle, rewards will be distributed according to contribution rate. Your contribution: 38%. ]
[ You have acquired: 36.000 wupiupis, Signet of The Scourge, World-specific 2-Stars Skill Scroll. ]
[ You have killed a target with a bounty on their head. Please head to the nearest location to collect your reward with proof of death. ]
[ Hidden achievement completed: Bounty Hunter. ]
[ Bounty Hunter (completed): Kill a target with a bounty equivalent to 5.000 dollars or more on their head. Bounty for achievement completion: 180.000 wupiupis/30.000 Republic credits/18.000 dollars. ]
[ Completion reward: 1-Star Random Skill Scroll. ]
[ Achievement Bounty Hunter can be further upgraded into: Career Bounty Hunter. ]
[ Career Bounty Hunter: Hunt 30 targets with bounties equivalent to 10.000 dollars or more on their heads. ]
[ Hidden achievement completed: Bring 'em Down! ]
[ Bring 'em Down! (completed): Destroy one of the three major criminal factions in Mos Espa - Makeh Syndicate, Krayt Dragon Gang, Agellum Gang. Faction destroyed for achievement completion: Krayt Dragon Gang. ]
[ Completion reward: Reputation with all local factions +3.000, Reputation in Tatooine + 1.000. ]
[ Achievement Bring 'em Down! can be further upgraded into: Righteous Crusade. ]
[ Righteous Crusade: Destroy all three major criminal factions in Mos Espa - Makeh Syndicate, Krayt Dragon Gang, Agellum Gang. ]
[ Observation: This achievement can no longer be completed as the leaders of Makeh Syndicate and Agellum Gang have been killed by someone not in your party. ]
[ Side Mission The Wheel of Hate - Condition 1 completed. ]
[ Side Mission The Wheel of Hate completed. ]
[ Calculating completion percentage... 72%. Rating: Exceptional. ]
[ Completion rewards: Reputation with all local factions +3.000, reputation in Tatooine +1.000, Fame in the current universe +1, 2-Stars Engraving, World-specific 2-Stars Skill Scroll, 2-Stars Item Selection Box. ]
[ Your reputation with the Hutt Cartel (Mos Espa) has grown to Respected (1.200/25.000). ]
[ Your reputation with the Hutt Cartel has grown to Reputable (980/10.000). ]
[ Your reputation in Tatooine has grown to Familiar (1.145/3.000). ]
[ Achievement completed: Outlaw ]
[ Outlaw (completed): Ingratiate yourself with the criminal faction of the Hutts. Reputation must be at least Well-known. Reputation level for completion: Reputable. ]
[ Completion reward: 1-Star Random Skill Scroll. ]
[ This achievement can't be upgraded further. ]
With that final message, the wall of text that had taken over Rumor's view faded away.
To say he was stunned would be an understatement. He had expected rewards. He had even thought he might get a hidden achievement.
But this much... Everything? He hadn't expected that. He would need time to go through and digest everything. Time he didn't have right now.
People were already starting to gather in the corridor, coming out of their private rooms to see what the commotion was about. It would be only a matter of time before more Hutt Cartel personnel arrived, and he didn't want to be here when they did, his reputation be damned.
Luckily, security was never a big concern in Tatooine. Slipping away from backstage to the main area of the Grand Arena was even easier than getting in.
The race was still ongoing, but Rumor already knew the result. He decided to make his way to the bookie with whom he had placed his bet. The moment Anakin won, he would collect his earnings and leave.
And then, he would leave Mos Espa and go to the Naboo ship.
Anyway, the only important event after the race was Qui-Gon Jinn's short duel with Darth Maul. And, tempted as he was to witness a clash between two important storyline characters like them, he didn't want to bite more than he could chew and end up losing his tongue.
No, he was done with this city, and, indeed, this whole planet. There was less than a week in the remaining time for his mission, just enough for the ship to arrive in Coruscant. At least they would be peaceful.
And once the incursion was done, home. Or, at least, the real world. What awaited him there, he had no idea.