"Enjoy the beer, it's on the house tonight." chortled the overweight bartender as he slid the man in brown robes a cold one. It was a fairly busy day today, several drinkers came in to relax and 'shoot the shit', as it were. The bartender swore he'd counted at least 5 bounty hunters so far, too...he'd figured out a long time ago how to spot one in a crowd.

"Thanks." said the man in the robes, lifting the mug to the bartender and taking a sip from it. He let out a sigh and looked down towards the counter-top, his mind on events that would be occurring farther out in space, events that he'd soon be forced through just for his shot at glory.

"Somethin' troublin' ya' kid?" asked the bartender as he cleaned out a mug with a towel, checking for any spots before setting it down on the counter and leaning forward, a hushed whisper taking over his voice as he continued his thought, "If it's girl problems then between you an' me kid, I hear there's a nice lookin' broad outside wantin' a good time..."

The man chuckled and shook his head, taking another sip. "No girl troubles, and please...my name is Dominic, but you can call me Dom if you wish."

"You've got it, Dom. So tell me then, if you're not havin' girl problems what the hell's on your mind?" the bartender asked, catching an alien to the side waving him down for a beer. He sighed and filled up the mug from before, sliding it across the bar to the alien who, upon catching it in it's tentacle-like hands, called out it's thanks to him in it's native language.

"There's some sort of a galaxy-wide race coming up soon that I've been entered into, last I heard it was going to pit 8 of the toughest racers around against each other." Dominic spoke carefully, taking a swig of his beer. "Called 'Chain Reaction' or something to that effect, lord knows..."

The bartender stood in thought for a moment, his fingers drumming along the countertop as he processed this information through his mind. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite pinpoint where he knew it from.

"Keep goin'" said the bartender insistently, as he slid the same alien from before yet another beer upon its loud request.

"Well whoever wins apparently gets a chance to go on to face last year's champion in a one-on-one race, where the winner is crowned this year's champion and receives a pretty hefty sum of money."

A light bulb went off in the bartender's head as his grin stretched a mile wide, "You're in THAT big-assed race? Hell, I was wonderin' why the name sounded so damn familiar, I was around for the first one but missed the second. Gotta say kid, you're in for a hell of a ride, that race ain't gonna be easy..."

"I know," Dominic spoke, shaking his head, "I know. The fact of the matter is that I'm in this because the wife of a man who stole something very dear to me long ago is apparently in this race. It's more or less about this opportunity to take on the champ and get a little payback at the same time. I figure if I out-race her it'll atleast send a message to him, you know?"

"Yeah, I get what you're sayin'. It'd be a golden opportunity for you to take a little back." the bartender nodded, before sighing in frustration as he slid a third beer over to the alien nearby, who was seemingly having the time of his life.

"I was dishonored by the woman's husband when we had our confrontation, the bastard did nothing but antagonize and mock me. It was as though all of my effort to get there was for nothing...you know? Pissed me off, but I couldn't let that go to my head."

The bartender chuckled, a look of respect on his face as he spoke in reply, "Gotta hand it to you...if it was as bad as you say it was then it must have been hell for you to not go back and try to whip his ass again. Hell, I'd let it go up and beyond my head if I were you."

"Yes, well...Jedi's mustn't lose their temper, only leads to a path of darkness." Dominic spoke, finishing his beer and watching as yet another was slid to the alien nearby's way, who by now was becoming loud and obnoxious towards those around him.

"A Jedi, huh? So you're one of those 'good guys', defenders of peace and justice? Damn, and for awhile I thought you were a bounty hunter, I'm usually right about those things too..."

"Yes, well...not all is as it seems. Now I must be on my way, plenty of preparation to be had. Be sure to watch the race, alright? I have a feeling that the light will shine through this time..." Dominic spoke as he stepped off the stool, stretching out his legs a little.

"Sure thing Dom, good luck." the bartender threw a thumbs up in his direction, and Dominic simply nodded his head in return before turning and making his way out of the bar. The bartender leaned his hand against the countertop, trying to remember just when this big race was scheduled for anyway...

"NIQ CLAR MAIN JU KAIVO!" shouted a drunken alien, who stumbled over in laughter and slapped his hand on the counter a few times. The bartender sighed in disgust, these aliens could never hold their beer properly...he knew he should have stopped after that third one.

"Enough with the mom jokes, jackass, let's get going. You've had enough." the bartender said with a frown, stepping up and over the counter to drag the alien out of the bar. All the while, the alien thrashed about and shouted, eliciting yet another sigh from Bradshaw.

"Good thing that Jedi left...this bastard would have probably tried to eat him."

"GWAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!"