“I don't believe it.”
The expression on Pak Surindam's face was priceless. Eyes wide, mouth agape. The color drained from his skin in shock. He stared at the sabacc deck in front of him, desperately looking for some explanation for why he lost. “You cheated!”
His opponent didn't even look at him, the wide brim of his hat covering his face. Eventually the automated Sabacc dealer droid spoke for him. “There was no cheating, sir. All players are monitored for--”
“Shut up!” Pak yelled at the droid. His jaw started to quiver in annoyance as he stared at his silent opponent. As his anger peaked, he quickly stood and slammed his hands onto the table, kicking his chair out behind him and knocking over a passing Chadra-fan in the process. “You tricked me. You hustled me!”
There was a low grumble from beneath the brim of his opponents hat. “Those are a lot of excuses...” he said in a surprisingly deep and rumbling voice. “But maybe you lost simply because you suck at this.” Bob lifted his head to finally look at Pak with a toothy smirk on his face. “Hand it over.”
Pak's face tightened with his lips restricting to an angry thin line. His eyes remained wide however. No longer in shock but in rage. Bob knew what was coming but remained perfectly still. Pak reached over the table in an attempt to grab the smug little annoyance but quickly regretted it as his head was slammed into the table with such force that he momentarily forgot where he was. Rouke, Bob's faithful companion, held Pak by the arm and head as the semi-conscious loudmouth groaned in pain with his face planted in the table.
“Oh my!” said the sabacc droid as several other onlookers either gasped or laughed. Pak was well known around these parts for being a loud, obnoxious thug. He was a gun runner, a slave trader and an altogether unlikeable guy. So seeing get his ass handed to him by a burly fella in a hood brought more than a few smiles to those who knew of him.
Bob only sighed as he pushed himself up from his seat and onto the table. The Kushiban casually strolled across Pak's back until he reached a datapad attached to his belt. Bob pulled it out and flipped through a couple of things until he found what he was looking for. “Ah” he said with a smile “There you are.” A few seconds later, he had all but completed the transaction on behalf of Pak. All he needed was his new friend's thumb print on the document. He strolled back along Pak and onto the table, stopping at the end of the arm Rouke was holding. “Sign please.” he said.
“Screw you!” Pak tried to yell with his face still shoved into the table. Bob saw Rouke roll his one good eye before pressing down on Pak's head. “OW! OW! OW! Alright!” Pak complained as his thumb popped up.
Bob pressed the pad against Pak's thumb and smiled at the completed transaction. He wanted to do this the legal way to minimize later complications. He held the pad up towards the sabacc droid and asked “Verify?”
“Yes sir” replied the droid in an annoyingly chipper voice “All bets are final and enforced by the casino.”
Bob let out a rare chuckle as he patted Pak on the head with his datapad. “Pleasure doing business with you Pak.” He jumped off the table, grabbed a drink as he went and said to his partner “Come on Rouke. Let's go see our new ship.”
Rouke finally released Pak with a grunt and followed after Bob.
Pak slumped to his feet, holding his arm as he yelled after the pair “I'll get you for this, Bob! You hear me? Watch your back little--” He was cut off as Bob finished his drink and tossed the glass over his shoulder, catching Pak in the forehead. Pak mumbled something incomprehensible as he swayed for a second before dropping to the ground.
Standing in the hanger on the outskirts of Lessu, Bob stared up at the ship he had just won. The Horizon was an impressive ship. Much better than Pak ever deserved. Bob may have felt bad for taking it if Pak wasn't such a deranged scumbag. But it would serve it's new owner well. Bob had been thinking about upgrading to a larger ship for some time now. The Trailblazer, Bob's starfighter, had served him well but there simply wasn't enough room on board for Bob, Rouke and whatever bounties they brought in. The Horizon definitely had enough space and would even allow them to haul the trailblazer along in the cargo hold. Though Bob would prefer to have the Horizon modified to allow the fighter easier entry and exit. It would do for now though.
Bob took a moment to stare up at his partner. Neither Bob nor Rouke were big on words. They mostly communicated in grunts. But Bob felt like actually speaking this time and informed his companion with a wide armed gesture “Well, Rookie...Welcome to your new home.”
It was easy enough to load the Trailblazer into the cargo hold before Bob and Rouke launched the Horizon. They didn't leave Ryloth however. Instead they simply relocated to another hanger on the other side of the city. Bob knew that Pak would likely attempt some kind of retribution so it didn't make much sense to stay where he could find them. But the Kushiban wanted to make sure the Horizon was shipshape before leaving the planet. Informing Rouke to take a look around, Bob himself dived under a floor panel to check out the inner workings of the ship.
