Business Opportunities

"What are you two doin' back here?" the Weequay pirate snaps at Dia and Boba. "I told you to get lost."

Boba glares up at the Weequay. "I want to talk to your boss."

"Ha! That's hilarious, kid. The captain's busy. He doesn't have time for you." Sneering, the pirate leans down, their face inches from Boba's. "Now run along."

With surprising force, Boba's fist cracks into the pirate's face, sending them stumbling. They stare at Boba, astonished.

"Let me talk to your boss," he repeats.

Dia stands, poised, behind him, ready to run for backup or fight if needed.

Snarling, the pirate grabs a fistful of Boba's shirt and heaves him off the ground. "You're gonna – "

"What – " a new voice appears – "is going on here, huh?"

The pirate immediately drops Boba, who lands in the dirt, and turns to face the newcomer.

"Captain!" they exclaim. "These kids were trespassing. I told them to get lost, but they want to talk to you."

"That's alright, Dagu," the captain says, patting Dagu's shoulder. "I'll handle it."

"Right, Captain."

Dia hoists Boba to his feet and they both stare up at the captain.

The captain is also a Weequay, older than the first, with wrinkled skin and spikes along his jawline. Tinted goggles cover his eyes, but Dia can see a witty, intelligent glint in his expression. The captain tips his hat to the children.

"You wanted to speak to me?" he asks in a friendly tone.

"You're Hondo Ohnaka, right?" Boba tilts his chin up. "I'm Boba Fett." 

Surprise flashes across Hondo's face, followed by a grin. "Boba Fett, eh?" he murmurs. "Well, it must be my lucky day! The bounty on your head is already substantial." He snaps, and Dagu starts to reach for Boba.

"You're not turning him in." Dia steps forward, and Dagu pauses at Hondo's signal. "You're going to train him, and me."

Hondo chuckles, but doesn't shoot down the idea. "Oh?"

"We're young, but Boba already knows how to fight, and I'm learning to be a mechanic. We'll be way more useful to you as helpers than as bounties." Please be convinced, please be convinced!

"Hmm…" Hondo taps his chin, consideringly. "You would willingly work with pirates?"

Boba wrinkles his nose. "'Willingly' is a stretch. You're the best option we've got on this dust-rock, old man."

"Boba!" Dia hisses, elbowing his friend.

But Hondo laughs heartily. "I appreciate your honesty, my boy!" His expression sombers. "I heard about what happened to your father – and I was sorry to hear it."

Boba twitches, his expression darkening. "I'm getting revenge for him. So I need someone to continue my training."

Hondo nods. "I see."

"Captain," Dagu interjects, "you can't seriously be considering – "

"You're a local, aren't you?" Hondo ignores his subordinate, instead focusing on Dia. "You know your way around Tatooine?"

Dia nods. "Yes, sir."

Hondo sniffs and grins. "Well, I suppose we have room on the payroll for a couple of assistants! Uh, on reduced wages, that is."

"That's fine," Boba says. "We'll take what we can get."

"Wonderful, wonderful!" Hondo claps his hands together. "You'll start working right away, yes? I need two linear converters, a dozen microvalves, and a coupling motivator. I'll give you… hmm… five percent of our usual wages if you can find me all of those."

Boba raises an eyebrow. "Five percent is too low."

"If you do well, maybe I'll think about raising your wages," Hondo says, leaning down to Boba's height. "But only if those components are all in perfect condition."

"Fine." Boba turns on his heel and strides away. "Let's go, Dia."

"You have until noon!" Hondo calls after them cheerfully. "Good luck!"

________

On the crowded streets, everyone is talking about the war. Some people are panicking, near tears as they wonder where they'll go. Most, more blasé, discuss the politics over drinks.

"I think that went well," Dia says as he sidesteps a drunken crowd spilling out of a cantina.

Boba grunts. "You know where to find all the parts he wanted, right?"

"Of course. Here, on the right." Dia directs Boba to an open storefront. The shop owner is huddled over a tiny holoscreen, blaring the news of the war. "They're distracted, go grab a handful of microvalves. I'll get a converter."

As Boba slinks towards a bucket of small components, Dia hurries up to the low counter, close to the shop owner. On the counter in front of him sits a gleaming linear converter, nearly the size of his forearm. He glances up at the shop owner – they're still distracted, muttering darkly as their six eyes are nearly pressed against the holo screen.

Dia stands on his toes, leaning over the counter, and lets the front his poncho cover the linear converter. He peers at the holoscreen, feigning concern. Two of the shop owner's eyes slide over to look at Dia. They frown suspiciously.

"Sorry," Dia says slipping the linear converter into his inner pocket, concealed by his poncho. He worries at his lower lip, widening his eyes innocently. "It's just… are we going to be okay?"

The shop owner's expression softens. They sigh, and peel all their eyes away from the holoscreen. "We should be alright for now, kid." They come to stand behind the counter. "Did you need to buy anything?"

"My master needs a coupling motivator," Dia says, dropping down from his toes, the linear converter tucked safely in his pocket. "Do you have any? He said it had to be in perfect condition."

"Hmm…" The shop owner leans down to rummage around behind the counter. "Let me see…"

Dia glances to his right. Boba stands by the wall, hands in his pockets. He nods subtly at Dia, and retreats into the crowd, blending in and slipping away in seconds.

"Here we are. Just got this in." The shop owner sets down a coupling motivator on the counter. "Let's say thirty credits?"

"Senators worry that the Separatist-Republic War will spread to the Outer Rim – " the holoscreen announces.

Dia's eyes widen. The shop owner winces. "Actually, just take it."

"No, I couldn't, I – " Dia fumbles for his wallet.

"Take it," the shop owner repeats, eyes cast down. "Save up your pocket money. Maybe you can…" They trail off, shaking their head. "Just take it."

"… Thank you." Dia picks up the coupling motivator, tucking it under his arm, and hurries away.

________

Hondo whistles, impressed, when Dia and Boba return with all the components in under an hour.

"These are in excellent condition!" he admits happily, examining the linear converter. "You've certainly earned your wages." He fishes out a handful of credits from a pocket of his coat and drops them into Boba's outstretched hands.

Boba raises an eyebrow. "Eight credits?"

"That's five percent." Hondo sniffs. "If you wanted to earn some more credits, you could take a delivery to Anchorhead for me. All my men are busy."

"For sixteen credits," Boba says, crossing his arms, "sure, we'll do it."

"Sixteen?!" Hondo claps a hand to his chest, exaggerating shock. "My boy, I can hardly afford to keep my own men employed. How do you expect me to pay assistants so much?"

"Ten credits and start training me," Boba modifies.

"Hm, I suppose that's a better deal," Hondo concedes with a shrug. "If you deliver the goods without incident, I'll let you – " he points at Boba – "tag along on a business meeting, and you – " he points at Dia – "shadow our mechanic."

Dia looks at Boba, who narrows his eyes before agreeing. "What are we delivering?"

"Ah-ah-ah! No questions, just deliver the goods, okay?" Hondo beckons Dagu over. The other pirate hauls a camtono and sets it at Boba's feet. "The client is expecting this soon, so you'd better hurry." 

The camtono is heavy, but manageable. Dia and Boba carry it between them back to the eopies.

"You know the way to Anchorhead, right?" Boba asks.

"Yep. South of Mos Eisley. I know a guy we can rent a speeder bike from. It'll take us a good few hours, but we should be back here before sundown."

"Do you need to be back at the farm?" Boba asks. "Will you get in trouble?"

Aww, how sweet. Dia chuckles. "Nah, it's fine. Besides, without me, you'd be hopelessly lost out there. Devoured by a Sarlacc, most likely."

"I'd be fine without you," Boba argues. "I'm not helpless."

"Uh-huh, sure." Dia can't help but smile teasingly. "On second thought, maybe a womp rat would be enough to take you out."

"Shut up," Boba mutters, but Dia catches a tiny smirk. He preens internally, happy to have made the other boy smile.

"Come on, then," he says, as they reach the eopies. "Let's get this job over with."

________

They return to Hondo's shipyard covered in dirt and blood, with matching disgruntled expressions. Hondo, leaning back on his chair with his feet kicked up on a crate, notices them approaching and grins.

"You made it!" he exclaims, throwing his arms wide. "Erm, of course I knew you would – I had every faith in you two!"

"You shabuir," Boba growls, stalking up to Hondo. "You could've warned us your "clients" were your kriffing sworn enemies."

"And that the delivery was a bomb," Dia adds, hugging his ribs.

"That was training, my dears. Unexpected perils, impromptu fights – all part of being a pirate! Or, uh, bounty hunter, if you prefer," he amends as Boba glares at him. "It was a test, and you both passed with flying colours!"

"Then give us our credits," Dia snaps.

Hondo hands over a dozen credits from his bag. As Boba and Dia count them out and split them evenly, Hondo watches them pensively. They're covered in blood, but it's mostly other peoples', and their injuries are not severe. It's impressive, considering the other gang's ruthlessness. Boba wipes a streak of green blood off Dia's face with surprising gentleness. The pair seemed to make a good team. Dia's was obviously less experienced than Boba, but Dia had survived this test, too. Although that may have been because Boba protected him. Either way, both had tremendous potential.

"How would you two like to be my apprentices?" Hondo asks suddenly, surprising even himself.

Boba and Dia stare. "Like, officially?" Dia asks.

"Why not?" Yes, why not? "You help me, I help you. You've done well with these tests, and I could use some assistance. I'm here for a few more months, and I can teach you some valuable life skills." Hondo grins. "What do you say?"

Boba and Dia exchange a glance. Dia nods, and Boba gives in with a sigh. "Alright."

"Wonderful!" Hondo exclaims, clapping his hands together. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

________

As Dia and Boba leave the shipyard, Boba counts up his credits, his frown deepening. "Cheap pirate," he mutters.

"It's what we have to put up with," Dia says with a shrug. "I'm curious to see what Hondo considers an important life lesson," he adds jokingly.

"Hm. I want to see the ship again."

"Oh. Right. Follow me."

He leads Boba back to Peli's hangar, and punches in the code to the side entrance. The door slides open with a hiss to reveal Peli whacking a pit droid over the head with a spanner.

"I said the coolant coil, not the cooler valve!" she hollered. "Fix it now! The customer's gonna be here in half an hour!"

The pit droids scurry to root around in a half-assembled speeder bike, lying in the middle of the hangar. Peli turns around, suddenly noticing Boba and Dia.

"You're back! And covered in blood." She sticks her hands on her hips expectantly. "How'd it go?"

"We found someone to do a few jobs for," Dia reports. "We should have enough credits to start repairs in a few months."

"Good. I'm glad." Peli gestures to a closed section of the hangar. "I've put all your stuff away safely, don't worry."

"Thanks, Peli."

Peli waves him off. "It's nearly sundown. You should be heading back. I saw Purdulta in the market earlier – she might check in at the farm tonight."

"Oh. Thanks for letting me know." Dia looks over at Boba. "Are you fine coming back to the moisture farm? We should hurry."

"He'd better be," Peli interjects, gesturing with her spanner. "I ain't got a spare room, or any food to give him."

"Yeah, that's fine," Boba agrees easily. "We'll come back to town tomorrow."