As the group approached the castle, Finn couldn't help but look around at the entryway. It was a simple, gray brick path with grass on both sides. Up above were numerous multicolored flags with various symbols on them. Some of them looked tattered and dirty as if they'd been there for years. In the center of all the flags, placed above the wall where the entrance door was located was a large statue of a figure neither Finn nor Jaina could recognize. They could tell they were wearing some sort of goggles and had a glowing cape. His attention was then drawn towards an extremely large, red droid that slowly trudged past them.

"You think this... Maz will have a working communicator?" Jaina asked, her attention more focused on getting answers than sightseeing.

"Positive." Pru stated.

"One that'll reach all the way to Coruscant?" She asked.

"All you gotta know is that if those gangs have a bounty on your heads, First Order's not far behind. You guys want the fastest way back to Coruscant? Maz Kanata's our best bet." Quiggold said.

"She's run this watering hole for a thousand years." Pru said.

Both Jaina and Finn stopped in their tracks and looked at them in confusion and shock after hearing that. "A thousand years?! No way that's true!" Finn stated in disbelief.

"Welp, it's true." Pru answered. Jaina supposed it wasn't impossible for a certain species to live a really long time, especially after hearing the tales of Master Yoda from Luke. Still... if what they were saying was true, then this Maz Kanata had only been in charge of this place for a thousand years, which meant that she was probably alive long before she claimed ownership. Not even Jaina had heard of any life forms possessing such an incredible life span.

"Maz is a bit of an... acquired taste, so let us do the talking." Pru said.

"And whatever you do, don't stare." Quiggold warned.

"At what?" Finn and Jaina asked in unison.

"Any of it." Quiggold said with a grimace.

Jaina and Finn looked at each other with concern as the doors slid open, revealing a dimly lit cantina filled to the brim with different beings, human and nonhuman alike, the likes of which neither of them had ever seen. All of them were partaking in various festivities such as drinking, gambling, or simply enjoying a meal. Hesitantly walking inside, they got a better look at everything and heard music loudly playing from somewhere inside. A hunched, furry alien with pointy ears and sharp teeth quickly walked past them, approaching a droid that was passing out drinks.

They both knew they were immediately disobeying the "no staring" rule, but they really couldn't help themselves. Jaina's father always talked about places like this, said that they were places she should probably avoid, yet here she was now...

"Sidon Ithano!" A voice snapped them both out of their trance and suddenly, all eyes were on them, and they both felt extremely uncomfortable.

Sidon spoke up, which they assumed was him greeting the voice.

Their eyes fixed on a small figure that walked through the crowd towards them at a quick pace. She was small with orange, wrinkly skin. She wore blue clothes with a gray vest and had a bead necklace around her neck. Like the statue they saw outside, she wore goggles that were clear and didn't try to hide her unusually small eyes. This must've been Maz Kanata.

"Not too often I see you here." She greeted Sidon, who spoke to her again as he shrugged. "I assume you boys need something... desperately... let's get to it." She gestured them towards a nearby table, immediately walking towards it.

Hesitantly, the group followed them, but Finn and Jaina's attention was drawn towards a woman wearing black and white clothes cuddled up with an extremely large and bulky yellow alien with two horns coming out from its chin. Suddenly, the woman looked up at them and gave them a smirk and a wink as she started to do more than just cuddle with the bulky alien.

Too disgusted to look away, they kept staring until Quiggold snapped his fingers in front of them. "Hey! What'd I say about staring?!"

Apologizing, they both made their way towards the table, feeling sick to their stomachs from a sight that would be bleached in their minds forever.

As they walked away, however, what they failed to notice was that the woman was staring at BB-8. Looking up at the alien she was pleasuring, she caressed his cheek before standing up and walking away, which made the alien grunt in frustration.

Walking to the farthest corner of the cantina where she was sure no prying ears would be listening, she pulled out a comlink and made a call.

"Inform the First Order... I've found their missing droid."

***

Phasma approached Kylo on the bridge as he stared out of the viewport.

"Sir..." She said, causing him to turn towards her. "We have a location. An informant has discovered the droid on Takodana."

"A perfect location for these pirates to hide from the First Order." Kylo said. "If allowed to leave, we'll lose our one chance at retrieving the droid."

"Shall I lead a platoon to capture the droid?" Phasma asked, doing her best to hide the eagerness in her tone. At the moment, she cared more about disposing of Finn in an agonizing manner more than retrieving the droid.

"No. I will see to this personally." Kylo said. Phasma felt intense disappointment and slight irritation towards Kylo, but orders were orders and the thought of the dark warrior finding Finn and cutting him down admittedly put a smile on her face and satisfied her more than any painful execution she could possibly conceive. FN-2187 deserved a humiliating death that would make him rue the day he abandoned the order that brought him up in the first place.

"Understood, sir! I'll prepare the troops." Phasma said as she walked away with a confident stride.

Eventually, Kylo met with his Ravagers. The search for the droid on Jakku caused him to lose two out of the six he had. Snoke gave him these warriors as a gift. Well, that wasn't really true. In Kylo's opinion, he believed Snoke gave him these warriors out of pity. Kylo was constantly reminded of the fact that he was currently the weakest member of the Knights of Ren, and he believed Snoke gave him these warriors so that he would have little trouble fighting weaker Jedi on his own. That would all change after this mission. Yes, once Snoke heard about his success, then he would be allowed to battle another Knight for their position. He had to rip himself out of his fantasy before he became to lost in it.

"You will accompany me to our next destination. If you find the droid, retrieve it if possible. If the Jedi stand in your way, then dispose of them. Understood?"

The warriors kneeled before Kylo in response and nodded before standing back up again.

"Go then, and bring me that droid." Kylo ordered.

END OF CHAPTER 26