It was a crowded night at The Outlander Club, with bounty hunters aplenty on the prowl, but none had such an advantage over their prey as the notorious Jango Fett.
The Fett's reputation had grown over the past year of the war. He was a proud Mandalorian of many sons, though none knew how he procured them, and well known as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, rivaled only by Cad Bane. It was a title earned by a rapidly growing rogues gallery, and only strengthened by the chancellors apparent seething hatred for himself and his family.
Chancellor Palpatine was a bitter enemy to make, but the Fetts had many allies and friends to ensure their safety. They held the respect of the Mandalorian people, but for the pacifist Duchess Satine, as well as many bounty hunters in the guild. For they were an honorable bunch, and well trusted.
Tonight, the Fetts were on the prowl. The lower levels of Coruscant were lawless, which made it easier for them to do their work, though the chancellor did his worst, and they were free to hunt their bounty with tactics many considered to be mythical.
"This is Rex to Howzer," a hooded young man sitting at the bar spoke into his wrist comm, "Target just stepped out the back, you got eyes on 'im?" his fingers slipped beneath his hood out of habit, and her ran a hand through tufts of his bleached hair.
"Affirmative," Howzer answered, perching himself on the ledge of a neighboring building. He brushed back a wild strand of his neatly gelled hair, and peered through his infrared binoculars, at the shadowy figure slipping out the back,
"Buir!" he cried frantically into his comm, "He's headed for Tup's position!"
"I can take him!" an indignant voice cut through the frequency. Hardly any younger than the rest,
Tup found it difficult being the Rookie amongst his overprotective brothers, "Buir, tell them I can do it!"
"Udesir, ad'ika," a firm, reassuring voice carried over the radio. It was a voice the boys had come to know and love better than any in the world, the voice of their father, though many of them were more than half his age. He was the center of their universe, and his voice held the final say in any disagreement,
"I know you can do it Tup, you're my son. But you should never be ashamed to accept backup from your brothers," he reprimanded gently, "This is a dangerous man we're after, I'm sending Dogma in to help you out."
Tup sighed and hung his head, "N'eparava takisit, Buir," Tu sighed and hung his head.
"Never mind that Tup," Jango answered him, smiling to himself, "just do your best."
Tup straightened at this, "Yes sir!"
"Or we might just leave you for Ohnaka to babysit next time," quipped what was easily the snarkiest voice in the galaxy.
Jango turned to his son with a reprimand in his eyes. Across from him, a young man, who could only be distinguished from his father by his flawless, youthful face, elbowed his brother in the gut,
"Shut up Crosshair," he said.
"Kote!" Jango said sharply, "Apologize to your brother!"
"It's Cody," he murmured under his breath, but apologized to his brother all the same.
"You too Crosshair,"
Crosshair sighed, "N'eparava takisit, Tup."
Jango nodded, gracing his sons with a smile of approval, then to Cody he said, "It's time," and the two popped on their identical helmets and leapt onto the street.
Down the back alley behind the club, Dogma sidled up beside Tup,
"Wait till we tell Boba and Omega about this," Tup whispered excitedly.
"Focus Vod," Dogma whispered back, but found himself smiling at Tup's contagious enthusiasm. He was excited, but it was his first mission too and he was determined to do everything right.
A shadowy figure appeared at the end of the alley, it's keen eyes gleamed and darted about in the darkness. Intuitively, the two Fett brothers drew their dark cloaks closer around themselves and crouched deeper into shadows.
Tup shuddered as the beady eyes swept over their shadowy corner and fixed on their position with a fearful gleam.
"He's seen us!" Dogma whispered frantically, "He's seen us, what do we do?"
"Shh, it's alright ad'ika," Jango hushed them reassuringly, "Tup," he called his name firmly.
"Yes sir," the terrified boy whispered back.
"Show him your face,"
Dogma's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he didn't stop Tup from climbing to his feet and stepping forward with his hood pulled back.
The Rodian hissed and recoiled,
"Jango Fett," he snarled, and clutched something closer to his chest, which Tup's eyes were mistakenly drawn.
"Watch out!" Dogma cried, as the target clutched at a hidden blaster.
Tup saw too late and braced for the blast when a flash of light darted from the sky with a distinctive Pew! And sent the blaster smoking to the ground.
The gleaming eyes widened and met Tup's, as both had the same idea. At the same time, they lunged for the smoking blaster, and landed in a tangle on the ground.
"Vod!" Dogma darted forward to help, but his brother was inexperienced, and the fierce Rodian quickly gained the upper hand, trapping the boy in a headlock with the burning blaster pressed to his temple.
"You know," he addressed Dogma, whose face was still hidden by his hood, "Your partner here isn't all he's cracked up to be."
Tup let his head droop and tried to hide the hot tears gathering in his eyes.
"He's more of a man than you'll ever be," Dogma hissed fiercely, and his hands balled into fists.
"Twice the man, to be precise," a helmeted figure appeared to their left, his armor distinctly marked him as the infamous Fett.
The Rodian's eyes flew frantically between his hostage and the suit of armor, "You can't trick me!" he cried, though the blaster shook in his grip.
"Perhaps three times the man," quipped a second figure to their right. He strolled up, his helmet beneath his arm.
"You are…" panickedly the target twisted Tup around by the shoulders and grabbed hold of his face by the chin, a sloppy move. Tup, eager to prove himself, took the chance to thrust himself forward and bite down with force on the scaled hand.
There was an anguished cry and as he stumbled backward, clutching his claws, Tup rolled backward onto his feet, knocking loose a vial which came rolling out of the Rodian's cloak behind him.
It took a moment for everyone to notice it, and when they had the Rodian threw himself down on it, belly first and drew his blaster, He aimed it at the first Jango- no second- no third! Cody smirked; he was right where they wanted him.
"No!" the Rodian snarled, tossing the gun beside him. From his cloak he procured a smooth round cylinder with a key protruding from its top.
"Tup! Dogma! Clear out!" Jango shouted to the two youngest, but the Rodian started when they made a move to leave. There was no place to run.
Rex stumbled into view behind Cody, he was still panting, and his hood had flown off in his rush to reach them, revealing his pale-as-a-ghost face.
"Crosshair," he whispered, still catching his breath, "Crosshair he has a grenade- can't you—"
"Unless you want to be blown to pieces, I suggest you be patient."
Though the words carried their usual cynicism, Rex could hear that they'd been spoken through teeth gritted in concentration, and he knew it was cause for worry.
The Rodian scooped up the vial with one hand and held onto the pi with the other. Slowly, he tucked the vial in his robe, and pushed himself to his feet.
"You sold it once, Fett," he sneered as he scurried away, "It's my turn."
"No," Jango Fett gasped, barely audible over the static of the comms. But Crosshair heard his father, more desperate and helpless than he'd ever sounded. Crosshair didn't understand what made this mark so important, but whoever he was, no one should hold the power, to reduce his father to begging. Least of all this Coruscanti lowlife. So, he gritted his teeth and kept both eyes open.
Pew
A clean shot through the head brought the Rodian to his knees, dead before he'd known he was in danger. Rex slid to his knees and caught the limp clawed arms before they could drop the treacherous weapon, and Dogma followed him, diffusing it with ease.
The Fett's had won again.
Cody retrieved the vial and obediently placed it in his father's hand. Jango stared at it before letting it clatter to his feet and shattering it beneath his heel.
"Kote," he tossed his helmet aside, and with tears of joy in his eyes, embraced his son, "Kote, Ad'ika!" and Cody returned the embrace without correcting him.
Jango squeezed his son tightly and swallowed the lump in his throat, and finally pulled away when he thought he could talk without crying.
"Tup, Dogma," he sniffed, and the two fairly jumped into his outstretched arms, along with Rex, who knew his turn was coming, but had not the patience to wait.
Crosshair hopped down from his perch with practiced ease only to be bowled over once he landed, by a frantic, panting Howzer, who fairly ripped Tup and Dogma from their father's arms, and wrapped them in a suffocating embrace,
"Your okay!" he sobbed happily,
Rex laughed and helped Crosshair to his feet. And as Crosshair brushed himself off, he met the grateful, loving eyes of his father with a bashful shrug.
"What was in it?" he asked, gesturing to the crushed glass and eager to take the attention off himself.
Jango shook his head and smiled, "It doesn't matter now," he said, "Just know that I am never going to let anything happen to you or your brothers.
Crosshair cracked a small smile.
It was the promise of an honorable bounty hunter, and that of a father to his son. And for the rest of his life, it was one Jango Fett was never known to break.