Afraid of the Dark

Crale Moreland was running as if his life depended on it. He was running as if his life depended on it because it did. There was a bounty on his head and an angry Hutt waiting for him to be delivered…dead or alive. Crale motored through one of the seedy lower levels of Nar Shaddaa with reckless abandon. Through the trash and open sewers, past the downtrodden inhabitants, and away from whoever or whatever was chasing him. He rounded a corner at full speed and caught a matte black armored forearm plate right in the throat. Crale smacked the ground hard and lay flat on his back, sleeping like an infant. The figure in the all-matte black Mandalorian armor grabbed the bounty's collar and began dragging him back to his ship.

Tesla Meckley was waiting for them when they reached the spaceport. The Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft Shadow I was primed and ready for departure. It was all-matte black of course. The Togruta female, dressed in an all-black latex bodysuit with thigh high boots, lowered the ramp. Lirik Marr reached Docking Bay 4 with a handful of fugitive. He looked up and finally realized it was raining. The drops of water pinged off his armor, bubbled, and dripped to his boots. Lirik dragged the limp body up the ramp and into the cage room. He opened a cell and dumped Crale's body inside. After checking to make sure the cell was properly locked (he always checked twice) Lirik walked through the ship and climbed up the cockpit ladder and joined Tesla at Shadow I's controls. Tesla ran her hand over her necklace. "Your late." Lirik glanced at his co-pilot and smiled inside his helmet. He started Shadow I's liftoff sequence.

Once they reached Tatooine Tesla took care of the dirty work after the dirty work. She escorted Moreland into Toosla the Hutt's palace. It wasn't much of a palace. It had been abandoned shortly after the death of Jabba the Hutt, which was just before the Battle of Endor. Toosla was hoping to move into Jabba's palace, but after her spies reported the infighting that was occuring between various parties over the abandoned domain she had decided on this dump instead. Toosla was nothing, if not lazy. She never welched on her bounties though, and both Tesla and Lirik appreciated that. Tesla handed Moreland over to Toosla's Gamorean guards. By the look on his face he had an idea what his fate would likely be. It's not often you cross a Hutt and live to tell about it. Tesla collected the reward, nodded at Toosla, and turned to head topside towards Lirik and Shadow I.

Lirik Marr never took part in the money transactions or any negotiations for that matter. Most of his clients had no idea who he was or what he looked like. His clients for the most part didn't care either because Lirik got the job done. Quietly, very quietly, he was becoming known as the most reliable bounty hunter this side of Boba Fett. Lirik stepped outside Shadow I, lifted his black boot onto a rock, and took his helmet off. He made sure he was out of Toosla's secuity camera's range. The warm breeze blew his long black hair and felt good on his bare skin. Lirik rubbed his hand on his beard and thought about his next move. "Where we headed?" Tesla said from behind him, a bag full of credits in hand. He put his helmet back on and stared at her through his infared display. "Mandalore".

Once Shadow I entered hyperspace Lirik had plenty of time to think and/or sleep. He didn't want to do either one. Whenever he was alone he thought of his dead friends, his brothers. Whenever he closed his eyes he drempt of blood. Lirik was human underneath all that armor however, and he needed rest. He checked on Tesla, who was dosing in the co-pilot's seat, then headed back to the spartan crew's quarters. Shadow I was modified to have an extra large Kuat drive engine and power generators so there wasn't much left for luxuries. Lirik slowly relieved himself of the black armor that covered his body. He had never weighed the armor before but he felt noticableably lighter on his feet after it had been removed. Lirik sat down on the bed and realized it had been two days since he last slept. He had spent one day scouting out Crale Moreland and the other day avoiding what he was about to do right now. As soon as Lirik's head hit the pillow the nightmares began.

The dream always begins in the mess hall, where he and his company are when the rebels first strike. It was 1 year B.B.Y. and it was the start of The Battle of Kamino. Over 25 years ago. 25 years is a long time. In Lirik's mind it seems like yesterday. Some of his batchmates didn't even have a chance to put their forks down before there was a gaping hole in their chests. The Alliance to Restore the Republic had infiltrated the Imperial cloning facility and had taken Darth Vader's forces by surprise. Lirik grabbed his helmet and started running to the back of the cafeteria. He started to put it on and noticed red ooze on his hand. Looking back, Lirik saw his best friend Deril dead on the deck, a hole where his left ear used to be. Tears began to stream down his face but there was no time to mourn the dead, and the dead were everywhere. Lirik and a few lucky others ran and jumped over the dead bodies and spilled into the hallway making their way to the armory. They grabbed whatever weapons they could get their hands on. Lirik grabbed a rifle and some grenades. The clones made their last stand in the cloning facility itself. It was a firefight like he had never seen, or probably ever will. Lirik and his mates were fighting for their lives and they wouldn't go down without taking more than a few rebels with them. His last memories of the Battle of Kamino were piecemeal. He remembers clone after clone falling around him, body parts on the ground. Blood. Blood everywhere, and the screams. Then there was a flash. An explosion. Everything went dark. It sounded like everything was happening inside a tunnel. Then nothing. Now an arm was dragging him across the Flight Deck. Lirik looked up and saw a Mandalorian in green and grey pulling him along. Boba Fett. He faded to black. He woke up in Slave I's Infirmary, tubes in his arm and up his nose. Lirik was alive but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be. The memories came flooding back to his mind, he screamed...