PART IV
Trigalis
Face paced back and forth in the main hold of the Sungrass, the transport that the Wraiths had brought to Trigalis as part of their pirate ruse. While they were still on the planet, their ship was still a good distance from New Coronet, which was sure to be in disarray now that its ruler had been inexplicably disposed of. He had no idea how that matter was going to be resolved, if they even could resolve it. Trigalis was not under New Republic jurisdiction and it would be a hassle to place a new leader in charge; a hassle that was well beyond the Wraiths’ scope. What had originally been nothing more than a hunt for a mad scientist had turned into something much larger than just that. Something that Face had virtually no experience in handling.
I can’t wait for Cracken to give me an earful about this, he thought bitterly to himself. He stopped moving when he saw Elassar emerge from the ship’s medbay, where they had taken the unconscious Rattataki woman.
“Is she awake?” Face asked.
“Awake and angry,” the Devaronian medic replied. He gestured theatrically to the door. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Stepping into the medbay, Face saw the Rattataki woman—civilian fatigues thrown over her revealing dancing outfit—laying on a berth with her hands binded together in stun cuffs. Upon seeing Face, the pale-skinned woman bore her teeth at him in a malicious sneer.
“How long do you plan on keeping me around as your ‘trophy?’”
“Depends,” Face replied, dropping the growling vocalizations of General Kargin. “How much can you tell us about Doctor Evazan?”
The Rattataki blinked, perhaps taken aback by Face’s query as well as the fact that he sounded different now. “Why do you want to know?”
Face held back a smirk. That alone, at least, confirmed that she knew something about Evazan. “If you know anything about him, I’m sure you could think of a few reasons why.”
The Rattataki chewed on her lower lip, no doubt weighing her options in her mind. If she held any loyalty to Menas Neyrr, it was most likely moot now as she shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. “I’ve only seen him visit Neyrr in person a few times, usually to make repairs or modifications to his Decraniated servants. If they had any other contacts, I was not made privy to them.”
“And what exactly was your role for Neyrr? Part-time dancer, part-time bodyguard?”
“More or less, although the bodyguard aspect was always full-time. The dancing part of it was just a helpful ruse, to lure his visitors into a false sense of security.”
“It certainly accomplished that,” Face admitted. “Do you have any idea where Evazan could be now?”
The Rattataki thought for a moment. “The last time he visited, he told Neyrr that he would have to lay low for some time and would not be able to contact Neyrr for security reasons.”
“And how long ago was that?”
“A few weeks, maybe a month. And before you ask, no, he did not give any clues as to where he would be.”
Face swore to himself. “So we’re back to square one.”
“Now, now,” the Rattataki said in a patronizing tone. “Don’t give up hope yet. I have the passwords to Neyrr’s personal files, which include recordings of his conversations with Evazan. I can access them and get you information that could prove useful to you.”
Face raised an eyebrow. “I don’t suppose you could just give us the passwords? I mean, we’ve got a slicer.”
“Yes, but I have something to bargain for.” The Rattataki grinned wickedly as she held up her cuffed hands. “And I know that you’re not dumb enough to pass this opportunity.”
“And how do we know you won’t double-cross us?”
“Double-cross you to who? Neyrr’s dead and I’m out of a job. If I do this for you, maybe you—or whoever you work for—can get me a new one.”
I wouldn’t count on it, Face thought but decided to keep this comment to himself. Instead, he walked over to the Rattataki and released her hands from the cuffs. “All right. I guess you’re on our team, tentatively at least. Do you have a name for us to call you by?”
Rubbing her hands, the woman said, “Zaedra. Call me Zaedra.”
“Welcome to the Hawk-bats, Zaedra. I’m sure we’ll get along fine, so long as no one finds a knife in their back.”
Zaedra smiled coldly at him. “I can’t make promises that I won’t keep, General.”
* * *
“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”
Each iteration of the word was punctuated with a blaster bolt as they hit the tree trunk that Tezalt was taking his anger out on. There were enough scorch marks to make the bark look charred black rather than its original brown.
How could he have been so stupid? He was supposed to be the best, he was the best, and yet he had still messed up. He hadn’t even missed his target, because he never did, but it had been the wrong target and he should have known that.
Face had not yet called him in to reprimand him for his error, but he knew it was coming. The commander had gone back to Neyrr’s place with Kell, Dia, and the Rattataki they had captured to retrieve some information the Koorivar apparently had secured away. Naturally, they had left him behind with the others. No sense in giving him a chance to foul things up a second time.
A plasma bolt lanced from his rifle and went straight past the tree he had been aiming at. Releasing a howl of frustration, Tezalt threw the weapon down and dropped himself to the ground, pulling his knees against his chest.
“Should you really be treating equipment like that?”
The Duros glanced up to see his fellow Wraith Tyria Sarkin carefully approaching him, a concerned look on her face. He averted his gaze from hers, not in the mood for empty sympathetic looks.
“What do you want?” he muttered.
“Well, I was hearing blaster shots, so naturally I had to come out here to make sure you weren’t in trouble,” Tyria replied as she sat down next to him. “I take it things didn’t go well back in New Coronet?”
“You mean your boyfriend hasn’t told you?” Tezalt snapped. “He was there. He saw what happened. He saw what I did.”
Tyria frowned. “What did you do?”
“I fouled up, okay? I wasn’t thinking straight and I killed Neyrr when I wasn’t supposed to. That’s why the others had to go back; if I hadn’t messed up, we would’ve been off this swamp by now.”
“Don’t beat yourself up too much over it,” Tyria said. “We all make mistakes. For some of us, that’s how we got here in the first place.”
Tezalt shook his head. “That’s no excuse for making them in the first place. Especially in this line of work, when they can get you killed.”
“I know. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen plenty of my teammates die to understand how true that is. But you can’t let your mistakes bring you down. Do better, yes, but if you keep focusing on your failures, you won’t be able to see your strengths. And that might prevent you from succeeding.”
Tezalt groaned as he got up to his feet, walking over to his discarded rifle. “Thanks for the lecture, but I didn’t ask for it. Besides, I’m sure Captain Loran is going to give me an earful of the same when he gets back.”
Tyria sighed. “Look, I know what it’s like to feel responsible for doing something that you shouldn’t have done. I once let someone use me to do something that I knew wasn’t—”
“Don’t.” Tezalt whirled on her and pointed a finger at her, his red eyes alight with anger. “Don’t you dare.”
“Dare what?” Tyria replied, confusion in her eyes.
“Don’t even think about comparing our experiences. We are nothing alike, Antarian Ranger. You’ve been given chances and opportunities that I never did. I have suffered through things that you never have and never will.”
“Oh, yeah?” Tyria retorted, shooting back up to her feet, her green eyes now blazing as well. “What could you have gone through that could be worse than what I did? My home was destroyed by the Empire and my family—my people—were killed. What about you?”
Tezalt stared at her, his eyes still raw with emotion, but his mouth simply gaped open in silence, unable to conjure words.
Tyria blew her breath out and relaxed her stance somewhat. Now it was her turn to avert her gaze. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have….” She shook her head. “I’ll never have a chance at becoming a Jedi if I say things like that. That’s probably one of the reasons Skywalker rejected me in the first place.”
“You… you have the Force?” Tezalt croaked, his previous resentment fading somewhat.
Tyria snorted. “I have the bare minimum requirement of ‘having the Force,’ whatever that entails, to qualify for Jedi training. I approached Skywalker after Endor and he did his best to teach me, but I was… unteachable, I guess. Just didn’t have what it took.”
“But you still want to become a Jedi?”
“Of course I do. It’s always been my dream. I grew up with the Antarian Rangers, who were one of the last strongholds of pro-Jedi sentiment that hadn’t yet been wiped out by the Empire. I only signed up for the military when Jedi training was officially ruled out. Then I met an instructor who manipulated me to do dirty things and blackmailed me when I threatened to expose him. That’s how I ended up with Wraith Squadron: because I was at the bottom of everyone’s list.”
“You were a washout then,” Tezalt murmured. “Just like the others.”
“Except for you, apparently,” Tyria said dryly. “Kell tells me how you’re always bragging about being the best.”
“Clearly I’m not.”
Tyria shrugged. “That’s not for me to decide. But, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you sign up for Wraith Squadron? If you thought so highly of your skills, you could have signed up for Rogue Squadron, or Aggressor Wing, or… literally anyone else.”
“That’s the thing, Ranger.” Tezalt slung his rifle onto his back and began the trek back to the Sungrass. “I did.”
* * *
Din Djarin would have been lying to himself had he said that he had expected the first alias Ruudka provided him would come up with some results.
A quick trip to Obroa-skai and a curt conversation with the head of the planet’s census center had told him that Hamma Jooak had signed up for the Obroan Institute less than a year ago and was currently assigned to a project for Dr. Insmot Bowen. Said project was taking place in an asteroid belt deep in the Thand sector. There were no details as to what exactly the project entailed or whether it was still even underway. Still, it was a lead worth investigating and without hesitation Din had made the jump to the Kafrene system where the asteroid belt was said to be located.
Upon coming out of hyperspace, Din was greeted with a sight that he had not been expecting to see: an Imperial Star Destroyer within the orbit of the Kafrene asteroid belt. He wasn’t sure if the capital ship had spotted him and made sure to bring the Razor Crest to a decelerated speed as he approached the asteroid belt. Within minutes, his comm console lit up, indicating an incoming transmission, and he pressed a switch to accept it.
“Unidentified spacecraft, please identify yourselves and state your purpose.”
As Din transmitted a Guild clearance code, he had to wonder what an Imperial vessel was even doing out here in the first place. While he did not pay much attention, if any, to galactic affairs, he knew enough to know that the Empire had collapsed five years ago and that the New Republic had risen to take its place. And as far as he knew, the Republic did not utilize Star Destroyers, at least not in the sectors he had found them operating in. Still, the Thand sector was remote enough to have not yet fallen under the Republic’s control. And so long as the Imperials didn’t give him too much trouble, Din didn’t really care who was in control at this point.
“I’m destined for the Ring of Kafrene,” Din said over the comm. “I’ve got some business to take care of.”
“What kind of business?” asked the Imperial officer on the other end.
“I’m with the Bounty Hunters’ Guild. What business do you think?”
“No need to get snippy with me, son. What is the name of your guild house?”
Din frowned beneath his helmet. This conversation was lasting far longer than he would have liked. “I work with the house that operates on Nevarro. I’m sure you’ve got them in your database.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment and Din was expecting another passive-aggressive response. However, the Imperial surprised him again by saying, “Your clearance code checks out, bounty hunter. You may proceed to your destination.”
Baffled as he was by this entire exchange, Din decided not to let this chance go to waste and proceeded to pilot his ship into the asteroid belt and towards the trading post that lay at its heart. A man-made colony that connected two malformed planetoids, the Ring of Kafrene had a labyrinthine layout, making it ideal for criminals and outlaws to get lost in. It was also convenient for anyone involved in a secret project, which Evazan—or “Hamma Jooak”—evidently was.
After landing his ship in a deserted docking bay, distinguished by graffiti of stormtrooper helmets marking its walls, Din Djarin set out from the Razor Crest and dived straight into the crowded streets. The people that resided on Kafrene were not unlike those he had seen back in Port Town on Cloud City, although here there was a greater presence of bounty hunters and mercenaries. It made him wonder if he was the first bounty hunter to come here in search of Evazan and if someone had already beaten him to the punch, causing Evazan to relocate yet again.
The sound of a tiny ping prompted Din to bring out his tracking fob. The blinking red sensor told him that his quarry was close; if not Evazan, then someone else whose biometric signature had been registered with the fob. With someone who was wanted in as many systems as Evazan was, it was only natural that Evazan’s information was some of the first to be included in the tracking fobs when the Guild introduced them to its hunters recently. The fact that it had taken this long to find him regardless was not something Din was concerned with at the moment.
The beeping got louder as Din approached the door of some nondescript building just off the side of the street he was walking down. As he walked over to it, a hand gliding to his holstered blaster pistol, a large shape suddenly jumped out of the shadows and grabbed him by the arm. The tracking fob fell from Din’s hand as his assailant grabbed his other arm and pinned them behind his back before slamming him against a wall.
“No bounty for you today, Mando,” a raspy voice hissed into his helmet’s audio receptor. Through the limited peripheral vision that his visor granted him, Din was able to make out his attacker to be a Trandoshan. A forked tongue slithered out of the reptilian’s mouth as they spoke.
“I didn’t think Greef Karga had already given the puck to someone else,” Din grunted against the Trandoshan’s grip.
“Oh, no. I’m not here to collect the doctor’s bounty. Not anymore, at least. As it turns out, he’s made enough credits for himself to pay very handsomely for his own protection.”
“Do you think he’ll still pay you for confirming his location to me?”
“What makes you think you’re going to live long enough for that to matter?” the Trandoshan retorted.
Din responded by throwing his leg back and kicking the Trandoshan in the lizard’s armored codpiece. The force of the blow was enough for the reptilian to loosen his grip somewhat, allowing Din to slip his right arm free and use it to elbow the Trandoshan hard in the face. The other hunter cried out as he staggered back, massaging his broken snout, while Din spun around and drew his blaster, pointing it at his assailant. The Trandoshan lunged just as he squeezed off a shot and the lizard tackled him to the ground, knocking his blaster out of his hand and pinning him down. Scaly hands wrapped around the Mandalorian’s neck as the Trandoshan held him there, malicious intent gleaming in his eyes.
“You’ve bitten off more than you can chew, Mando,” the Trandoshan cackled at him. “Either that, or Karga wants you dead and out of the way. Do you have any idea what Evazan is doing here on Kafrene?”
“Not… really my… business,” Din managed to choke the words out as he wrestled to pull the Trandoshan’s hands off.
“It is, because it explains why you have to die. Just like the others did.” The Trandoshan leaned down and licked his tongue against the visor of the Mandalorian’s helmet. “I’m going to enjoy devouring your remains, Mando. It’s been too long since I’ve had a full meal.”
Din could feel his vision leaving him as it became more difficult to breathe. Just as he was about to slip away into darkness, he saw a figure dressed in white emerge from the shadows behind the Trandoshan. He heard them speak but couldn’t quite make out the words. Suddenly, the Trandoshan started to loosen his grip slightly, enough to keep Din from passing out but not so to allow him to fight back.
“You’re in luck, Mando,” the lizard hunter growled. “You might get a chance to see what the doctor is cooking after all.”
The figure in white made a gesture and a pair of stormtroopers walked out from behind them, approaching Din with their blasters raised.
“Hope to see you in your nightmares, Mando,” the Trandoshan hissed before getting up and releasing Din. Before the Mandalorian could make a move, one of the stormtroopers fired a stun bolt and Din was plunged into darkness.
No comments:
Post a Comment