Chapter 10: A Favor for a Hutt

Nightshroud: Well this took a very long time. Many apologies to my faithful readers yet again. I have (and not to overuse this) a lot of college work, as well as another story I'm working on, so it's been hard juggling all this. However I have every intention of seeing this through to the end. Anyway, without further delay, the next chapter!

Jango glared up at the hideous elder Hutt as she let out a long, ugly laugh. Here he was: stripped of his helmet, stripped of his equipment, and stripped of his pride. And it was all because of her.

The galaxy was a harsh place to live in, and nothing more than the bounty hunter's world. If a knife in the back got you ahead, no one looked at you the worse for it. He was no fool: he'd learned that a long time ago. After all, he lived by the motto "Trust no one." And yet here he was, staring up at the hideous Hutt, at her mercy, all because he put trust in her. He could remember the conversation with Roz, saying how he wouldn't trust her. But he did. Somewhere, somehow, he'd put his trust in her. But why?

"Some partner you picked, bounty hunter! She sold you out to save her own neck. Haha Did you know she's a shape shifter? Brings new meaning to the phrase 'two-faced.'"

Gardulla let out another long, ugly cackle as Jango struggled against the Gamorrean guards holding both of his arms. Gardulla looked back down at him.

"I think I'll sell her. But you, you cost me a great deal. My krayt dragon is hungry. Throw this scum in!"

The Gamorreans on either side of him tossed him toward the krayt dragon. Most people would have become paralyzed with fear. Not him; he was Jango Fett, the best there is. While being led into the arena he'd noticed a small shaft at the bottom of the one wall. As soon as the Gamorreans let go of him, he sprinted in that direction, inadvertently bringing him closer to the krayt dragon then he would have liked.

Whatever credit people gave Gardulla, she wasn't particularly quick at thinking on her feet...so to speak. Jango had already reached the shaft when Gardulla screamed to the Gamorreans.

"After him! he's escaping!"

Jango held his right arm up and activated his laser gauntlet. Fortunately they hadn't noticed it incorporated into his wrist cuff. He had just finished cutting through it and rolled in when a Gamorrean's axe split into the wall where he was crouched a moment ago. He could hear them grunting and squealing to each other, but he knew that with their size they would never be able to make it through. He crawled through to the other end. The hot Tatooine sun blinded him for a moment...

...Which almost proved fatal. As he came out, he ended up next to a Gamorrean guard on the other side. He had just enough time to roll to the side as the piglike creature's axe thudded into the sand. It took him a split second to register that he was still in Gardulla's palace grounds. He saw an opening in the sand and jumped down, landing in a corridor.

"I have to get my equipment and get out of here."

He started down the hallway and turned the corner just in time to duck-roll as a Gamorrean's axe whizzed in an arc over his head. He came up behind it with a kick to its back, knocking it to the ground. Jango took off down the hall as it continued to squeal and kick to get up. He took another turn and found what he'd been searching for. Suddenly the door on the side of the room opened up and a group of thugs came in, blasters ready. Jango dived for his equipment and grabbed his Westars as a trail of laser blasts followed him.

He turned and shot off a quick volley, nailing a few of the thugs. The others scattered as Jango turned for another round. He ducked as a stream of automatic blaster fire swept the room. He ducked and fired off, nailing the Gran holding it right between the eyes. Before the others could run, he nailed them in the back of the head. Sighing, he found his jetpack and strapped it back on, then grabbed his helmet and placed it back over his head.

"Back in business."

Zam sighed as she stared out through the cage bars. She laid her head on her arms, which rested on her knees.

"Jango…what have I done?"

She had been so afraid of being left behind that she hadn't stopped to think of the consequences of her actions. She wondered what Gardulla had done with him, or if he was even still alive. She'd come for this whole ride for cold hard credits, and ultimately that's why she'd betrayed him. But now she realized that that didn't mean anything to her right now.

Jango came to a fork in the tunnel. It wasn't much of a decision: the one door was sealed shut. Jango took the right route and found himself in a starship dock. There were a lot of scattered crates around, probably for shipment from the Bando Gora. Jango suddenly tensed as he though he saw a shadow move. In a instant he flipped into the air and activated his jetpack, letting loose a stream of blaster bolts down on the shadowy figured that had creeped up on him, just barely visible by the glow of their red eyes. They gave unearthly, animal-like wails as they were shot down, and Jango panted as he stared down at the smouldering corpses, which vanished into shadow.

"What on earth were those things?"

He looked over and saw a switch and pulled it, hearing the rewarding sound of the previous door unlocking. As he headed toward it, he found it strange that he still hadn't quite lost that shaking yet.

Jango peered out the doorway, watching Gardulla's thugs move around the large room. There were walkways suspended in the air above, with some thugs keeping watch from the higher vantage point. At the end of the room was a blaster cannon, with the mercenary handling it twitching with the urge to use it.

Jango sighed. "This is going to be a nuisance."

An Aqualish dropped to the floor with a burning hole in the forehead. The other alien thugs turned to see a figure in silver armor with a smoking blaster in his hand.

"It's Fett!" a Rodian managed to yell out before he was blasted down. Jango ducked behind a crate as the blaster cannon fire scorched the floor where he was just standing. Jango shot into the air and let loose a volley of blaster shots at the guards on the upper ramps, quickly taking them down. Jango was suddenly thrown from the walkway as the blaster cannon burst through the metal. Jango activated his jetpack in midair and let off a well-aimed shot, nailing the Rodian controlling it between the eyes. Jango straightened himself up and hit the controls to the blast door. It slid open and Jango cautiously walked out. He found himself at the back of Gardulla's throne room. There was another doorway opposite the one he came out of, and Gardulla's throne at the far end, with balconies in the four corners of the room. Jango spied the hideous Hutt and strolled right up to her throne. Gardulla glowered at him.

"You've killed my guards…destroyed my palace. What more do you want from me, bounty hunter?"

Jango spied the medallion around her neck and snatched it.

"That's what you this is about? You came here to steal from me?" she asked in an outraged voice.

"You could just save me the trouble and tell me where Komari Vosa is right now," Jango said sharply. Gardulla's eyes widened and she began to laugh an ugly, throaty laugh.

"Vosa? Haha. Komari Vosa? You're mad! You have no idea what you're up against. I'll tell you nothing."

Just then a door on the side opened, and Gardulla's krayt dragon thundered into the room, howling loudly. It stomped up to the platform where Jango and Gardulla were, but could not reach them. Jango slowly walked around Gardulla, who attempted in vain to turn her engorged neck to follow him. He stopped behind her and whispered with dark enjoyment.

"There's one more thing, Gardulla. Jabba sends his regards."

Before Gardulla could realize what he meant, Jango threw himself up against her with all his might, knocking her from the platform and into the krayt dragon's waiting jaws. The krayt dragon swallowed Gardulla in one mouthful, then let out a horrible roar. Jango noted with growing annoyance that the krayt dragon had placed itself between the throne platform and the room opposite where he had entered that he needed to get to.

"As long as I'm up here though, I can kill it without much risk," he thought. That thought was cut short though. Jango leaped from the platform as a rocket crashed into the platform, throwing splintered wood in all directions. Jango dropped to the ground and pulled up in a roll. He quickly threw a glance at the smoke trail and saw that a thug with a rocket launcher had appeared on each of the four balconies. As if to accent that that was the least of his problems, the krayt dragon gave a roar and stomped the ground, almost throwing Jango to the floor. Jango gave a sigh, then rocketed into the air, letting loose a stream of laser blasts at the first thug. After dropping him, Jango twisted in midair and shot a missile from his jetpack, blasting apart the thug opposite the last one. The force of the missile release slammed Jango into the wall, causing him to gasp for air. Jango didn't give himself a minute to catch his breath, forcing himself up and shooting another round of laser blasts at the remaining two thugs. As they dropped to the ground dead, Jango dropped to the ground as the krayt dragon swung its tail at him. Jango skidded back as he shot off a series of blasts at the monstrosity. The blasts harmlessly hit the dragon's thick hide, causing it to roar and smash the ground. Jango was knocked to the ground by the shockwave, but it proved to be a lucky break. As he looked up he noticed that the krayt dragon's scales didn't extend under its neck.

"Bingo."

The krayt dragon brought its claw down on Jango, but he rolled to the side in time to avoid it. The shockwave tossed him into the air, but Jango managed to turn and let off a Kamino saberdart right in the deep of its neck. It gave a scream of agony, then feel to the ground with a thunderous crash. Jango staggered up and panted, casting one final look at the krayt dragon before walking back to the room in the back.

Jango nodded in satisfaction and turned on the comm. Link in his helmet.

"Roz, I found a computer in Gardulla's vault, but the data's encrypted. I need you to decode it. All my encryption gear was destroyed with my ship."

"You got it, sweetheart," Roz's voice came over the comm. "And Jango, I'm sorry to hear about your partner. I guess you can't trust anyone after all."

Jango felt a strange ache inside, but tried to brush it aside.

"I should have known better," he replied.

"I was hoping you two could get together," she said sadly, thinking back to the conversation she and Zam had secretly shared. Jango shut his eyes.

"Like I said, not in this lifetime, Roz."

Now he had only one thing left to do before he blasted out of this barren rock.

Jango strolled into the prison room, walking through toward the exit closest to his ship. Zam saw him and ran up to the bars.

"Jango!"

He didn't give her a glance but kept walking.

"I didn't have a choice, Jango," she pleaded. "You were going to leave me to die."

Jango stopped and clenched his fists, still not looking at her.

"Maybe," he said sharply. "I guess you'll never know."

Zam was surprised at the emotion behind his voice. She was shocked to think that he actually sounded hurt.

"Please, Jango, I'll make it up to you. Let me out."

Jango's head snapped in her direction, and beneath his helmet she could tell he was glaring daggers at her.

"You're lucky I don't kill you."

"Why don't you?" she countered, too bitter at this point to care what she was saying. His fierceness died down a bit, and he turned his head away.

"I gave you a chance, Zam, and you blew it," he said softly. He turned his head and looked at her. "You can stay in there and think about what you've done. I've got a bounty to catch."

He turned and walked out as Zam suddenly felt all hope die away.

"Jango, come back! Jango!" she called, but he continued, unwavering, until she found herself all alone. She slid back against the cell door to the ground, cradling her head in her arms.

"I love you."

Nightshroud: And so Jango flies solo once again. However things are about to take an even nastier turn for the worst. I'll make sure I get the next chapter up sooner. Review and let me know how you liked it! 8D

Next chapter: Moon of the Dead