Say what you will about Boba Fett, but he does protect his bounties. It's annoying sometimes to be sure, but so often the reward is worth more when they're alive rather than dead. And that's how Boba Fett found himself backed up against the wall with his quarry in binders cowering behind him as piranha ants were marching towards them from all sides.
"We're gonna die we're gonna die, oh hell, why didn't you just leave me alone!" the dark haired captive wailed.
Fett turned to look at him. Even though the Mandalorian helmet he wore completely covered his face, he still managed to convey an unimpressed annoyance. Deadlier things than piranha ants had tried to kill him and failed, even jedi had fallen prey to him. This particular quarry had managed to be a nuisance from the moment he woke up from his spiked drink on the way back to the Slave IV. Fett couldn't remember the last time a captive had whined and complained and begged and offered bribes more than this one. Although his clothing was plain, it was fine cloth, custom tailored, and it bespoke of great wealth. Of course he wouldn't shut it, the wealthy were so used to getting their way they didn't know what to do when they didn't. Unfortunately for this young man, Boba Fett was also used to getting his way and did. Every time. Although sometimes he had to help himself get his way.
"Please just shoot me now, it would be less painful than the death that awaits us here," the man wailed.
"As tempting as that sounds," the man had actually irritated Fett to the point that he was SPEAKING to his quarry, "you're worth far more alive than dead. A few mere piranha ants aren't much of a threat." Especially when you've faced down jedi, the sooner this is over and paid for the better, Fett thought.
"Aren't much of a threat!" the captive practically shrieked, "they're one of the deadliest animals alive!"
"You've never seen an angry rancor," Fett responded in the same well-modulated tone he always used although with a touch more annoyance than normal.
While they had been standing there, the ants had gotten closer and tightened up so the ground looked black 10 yards out in all directions. Fett raised his left arm and pointed it at the ground, his right hand hovering over a button on the gauntlet he wore.
"Stay behind me and when I start to run, follow," Fett said. The insufferable man opened his mouth, "Don't ask questions do it, or your death will not be on my hands."
He shut his mouth. Fett pushed the button and flames shot out incinerating the ants in front of them and spreading wildly to the other ants in the area. "Follow me," Fett said, voice louder to be heard over the flames but in that same even calm voice. His quarry stumbled clumsily after him shaking the whole time.
As soon as they got back to the Slave IV Fett locked his bounty in a cell and shut the sound proofed door, grateful to be alone again and for there to be silence. He was all too happy to drop off the spoiled rich brat to his employers who treated the brat more like a runaway son than a criminal that had skipped out. Quite frankly he didn't care and got off-world as fast as possible. Something about that man had managed to get under his skin and irritate him in a way bounties hadn't since he was a young inexperienced hunter. Boba Fett plotted a course for anywhere else than the system he was in and shot off into hyperspace, the familiar blue lines streaking past the view ports a comforting sight. He began going through available jobs, looking for ones that involved petty criminals who understood what it meant to be captured by a bounty hunter. Bounties with the option of alive or dead were at the top of the list.