CHAPTER SIX
Leaving the diner, Boba Fett strode down the streets of Derapha, one of Phaeda's largest cities. As he got absorbed by a crowd of sundry aliens, he was eventually joined by a young, brown-haired woman in a similar disguise as his.
"Any luck?" he murmured to her.
"Kind of. It's not much, but it's something."
"Do you have a location? A lead?"
"Just look for the carbonite slab."
Fett grimaced as he and the woman whom he had recently discovered to be his granddaughter continued down the street. It had only been a month ago that he encountered Mirta Gev on Mandalore, claiming to be the daughter of his own child, Ailyn Vel. While Mirta had been raised to hate Fett by her mother, she lost that contempt after Ailyn was killed near the end of the Glorian War. Instead, she wished to meet and reconcile with her grandfather.
During their meeting, Fett learned that his wife, Sintas Vel, had been missing for over thirty years. In order to find out Sintas' whereabouts, the two of them took Mirta's Hear of Fire jewel-- a pendant Fett had given Sintas while they were together-- to a Kiffar Mandalorian named Gotab. Using his psychometric abilities, Gotab revealed to them that Sintas had last been on Phaeda, hunting a gangster named Hidu Rezodar.
With that lead, Fett and Mirta had gone to Phaeda in search of Sintas. The progress was going slow so far, and Fett knew that he was being pressed for time. The doctor he had went to on Kamino recently told him that the degradation which afflicted all of Jango Fett's clones was starting to take its toll on him.
If he couldn't find a cure, then he would be satisfied with seeing his wife one last time.
"Where would one find a carbonite slab?" Fett asked after a while.
"My informant tells me there are a few storage houses in the city," Mirta replied. "She could be in one of those. Of course, they're owned by the local government, so it would cost a fortune."
"It'll be worth it," Fett said. "Let's go."
* * *
Kadar stepped off his ship and into the city of Derapha. As one of Phaeda's largest cities-- second only to its capital Chinesti-- it was a place easy to get lost in. To Kadar, that seemed like the ideal place for Boba Fett to be, if hiding was his intention.
He moved straight into a crowd of humans, Duros, and Grans. No one paid him a second glance... save for the poncho-wearing man that bore the face of Jango Fett.
Target in range.
Boba Fett quickened his pace. So did Kadar. Neither of them heeded the angry shouts from the denizens they bumped into as they ran through the streets. Once Kadar had a clear range of Fett, he fired a stun bolt from his blaster. The blue pulse of energy hit Fett square in the back and he crumpled to the ground.
Moving over to the Mandalorian's prone form, Kadar turned Fett onto his back and pressed the barrel of his blaster against his forehead. To his surprise, Fett was smiling....
...And was not Boba Fett at all, if the Aurebesh letter on his temple was anything to go by.
"I would think most clone troopers were dead by now," Kadar muttered.
The man snorted. "I'm no clone. You'd be confusing me with my father. The likeness is uncanny, though, or so I've been told."
Kadar put away his blaster before grabbing the man by the collar. "Where is Boba Fett?"
"If I told you, I wouldn't be much of a Mando'a. Besides, he already knows that you're after him now." As he said this, the Fett decoy held up a comlink. Kadar easily snatched it from his hands.
"Fett, I've found your decoy," Kadar snarled into the comlink. "Tell me where you are. It'll make both our lives easier."
"Derapha Storage. Come and get me."
With that, the connection ended. Dropping the comlink, Kadar activated his jetpack and took to the sky.
* * *
"This is it," Mirta breathed, standing with her grandfather before a closed-up storage locker. "Rezodar's vault."
Boba Fett nodded. "Let's open it."
As she moved towards the locker, key card in hand, Mirta gave him a meaningful look. "Why did you tell that bounty hunter to come get you?"
Fett did not answer. As if on cue, a man clad in white Mandalorian armor landed right behind them, a blaster trained on Fett's back.
"Don't move."
Boba Fett turned to face the newcomer. "It's Kadar, isn't it?"
"You know me, then?"
Fett shrugged. "White isn't a common armor color among Mandalorians; not to mention you've made quite a name for yourself. Why are you here?"
"To kill you."
"And are you?"
"No." To Fett's mild surprise, Kadar holstered his blaster. "I'm here to warn you."
"About what?"
"There's a conspiracy at works. Not just against you, but I think to the other major powers of the galaxy."
"When did you find this out?"
"A week or so ago. I was working with some Alliance agents on Orinda and found some rogue Imperials plotting things. Then my brother came along, wanting me to kill you...."
"And you think they're connected?"
Kadar shrugged. "Doesn't feel like a coincidence to me."
Fett nodded while crossing his arms. "What would you have me do, then?"
"Shouldn't it be obvious? Be a real Mandalorian; fight for your clan and those who follow you."
Fett shook his head. "I was never a real Mandalorian; never felt like one, anyway. People only followed me for my reputation and heritage... though I can have a way with words."
Even with a helmet on, Kadar's cold gaze could be felt. "What, then? If Tral finds out you're still alive, he will send more assassins after you."
"I know," Fett said. "And I do intend to do something about it. But right now...."
He turned back to the storage locker, letting out a sigh.
"I have a wife to thaw out."
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