Chapter 4
"There. That should do it."
Cradossk slipped the uni-tool back into his pocket and slammed the panel shut. IG- 62 came back to life instantly, his alert programming switching to full power. "Where is the target?" It demanded, rising to its feet on repulsorlifts and stomping around to meet Craddosk face-to-face. Its purple monitor lights mounted on its face dimmed and brightened as it ran programs in its cylinder-like head.
"Cool down, you piece of scrap metal," said Cradossk, ever short-tempered, returning the command just as equally forcefully. Turning his back on his partner, he strolled out of the makeshift hideout sitting on floor-level, and headed for the Prison base yet again.
"Where is Djas Phur?" It demanded again, this time grabbing the impetuous Trandoshan by the arm.
Craddosk whirled in his tracks; his scaly face and razor teeth dangerously close to the robot's head. "Don't… ever… touch me," he warned through bared teeth.
IG- 62 tightened its grip. "Where is Djas Phur?"
Craddosk made an impersonation of a scowl and shook his arm free from the steely grip. "I don't know," he said finally. "Dead, hopefully. He disappeared when I saved you from complete obliteration."
IG- 62, despite being a robot, managed to look as if it had a dumb expression on its face. Craddosk betted it would have muttered in a confused tone "oh…" if it would have had the programming.
"Let's go." Craddosk barked. "And try not to get blown up."
The two bounty hunters Jango Fett and Zam Wesell came out of the elevator, guns in hand, and boldly strolled down the wide jail floor. Jango stooped as they came farther down the passage, pressing his pistols to his chest.
Zam stood behind him a moment and watched curiously before ducking low and following. "How many security systems are on this floor?" She asked suspiciously.
Jango cocked his head a moment, still crawling. "Ten, nine of which are merely digi-cameras."
"And the other?" She asked through grunts.
Jango answered quickly: "Heat sensors."
Suddenly, an alarm was tripped. "Heat sensor?" She repeated with a hint of irony. "Perfect."
Jango stood and whirled in place, coming around to meet at least two dozen human and alien guards, two of which were immediately airborne from the force of his guns. Pistols sending countless bolts aflame, he leaned closer to Zam, and shouted to her over the din of the incredible standoff.
"Someone else is here." He called out to her.
"Dumb nerf droppings!" She yelled back. "Dozens of heavily armed idiotic guards come to mind!"
Jango was unshaken by her sarcasm. "Not the guards. Another bounty hunter."
"How can you tell?" Zam barked accusingly.
"I'm picking up a heart measure of only ten heartbeats a minute. Unknown and near extinct species aren't employed in the tunnels of spice mines." Ten more guards left and Fett continued his explanation. "Cradossk has double hearts; his heart reading exceeds this one by five hundred times; IG- 62 has no heart."
Two more guards left, and one shot from Jango pierced them both at one time as they crossed to switch positions.
"Point made." Zam said admiringly. "But who is it?"
Roasting heat suddenly seared through the passageway, and the lights flickered off. Jango shrugged at Zam apologetically. "Grenadier droid," he explained.
Zam managed to keep her smirk hidden, looking away. Jango was robotic… but not inhuman.
Once again, Jango overshadowed her with his superhuman aim. Once he nailed three with one shot, Zam almost gave up in frustration. How was he so skilled? She did not know where his training derived from, suspecting it of the Mandalorian race but ultimately discarding that thought with common sense. After all, Mandalorians were a myth… or so she thought.
"Nice shooting…" She muttered sourly, holstering her blaster. He had unconsciously beaten her again, and she vowed casual justice.
He started walking again, but stopped mid-step. "He's advancing," Jango muttered under his breath to her.
Zam replied fearlessly. "Where?" She asked quietly.
Jango was silent, lifting his blaster close to his face. "The ceiling."
Their heads scanned above them carefully. "He's blending in. He skillfully cut the power lines during our little firefight."
"Meddling nerf herder…" she muttered. There were completely no lights activated at all now. She couldn't even see her own hands held out in front of her now.
"Jump!" barked Jango, leaping to the side.
"What the hell…" The young changeling puzzled in confusion for a moment, but only a moment, as balled fists slammed into her head.
Spots formed around her peripheral vision, and she swayed in and out of consciousness. Shaking her head, her vision cleared for a brief moment: enough time for her to see a large form leaping towards her…
And then she fell unconscious completely.
He saw the form smash his partner hard… hard enough to kill a person. Jango knew it had been Djas Phur; he had known since he had sensed the creepy alien crawling spider-like towards them on the ceiling, defying gravity easily.
I should have told her, he contemplated. It would have been easier.
But he knew he couldn't. He simply couldn't do that.
For Boba…
The bald headed creature had turned, and was coming after him. No, you don't, he thought. Not now.
The Mandalorian orphan didn't holster the guns; he didn't even drop them. With his temper flaring, Jango punched the opponent – hard, steady, and fierce – drawing red blood from the humanoid mouth.
Red blood, he thought sourly, but a green opponent, and another fist smashed the coward to the ground.
Phur didn't even stand a chance. He was down, bleeding, and practically begging for his life. Jango could take his opponent's life in a second; and he knew it. Like a small bug under his boot, he was certain.
I wouldn't do that, he thought practically. He was not a murderer, but a business dealer. He would spare the creature.
Jango brought the butt of his gun down on the back of the humanoid's head, knocking him senseless. He would spare the creature for certain: of life, but certainly not pain.
He now retracted the Westar-34's, and walked to his partner, stepping over the person he had just struck unconscious.
"Zam," he whispered. Bending down, he picked her up gingerly. The battle helmet had fallen off her head and stray hairs of orange color fell across her forehead. He brushed them away gently.
He felt no attraction to his partner, but he knew he didn't want her harmed. She was pretty, he now noticed; a small face and nose, orange bangs hanging on her face. He couldn't help but wonder what made her so angry at the world, what scar had been burned on her soul so deeply that made her thirst revenge on the galaxy.
And he knew, somewhere in his heart, that he cared for her.
Tears would have welled up in an ordinary man's eyes; but he was not an ordinary man. He scowled furiously at the motionless man on the floor, his organic eyes shadowing the fearsome image of the T-shaped visor in his battle helmet. He was tempted to kill Djas now, to end this man's string of murdering and violence, to end his destruction. Jango strode over to the man, the injured female Changeling still in his strong arms. He shifted her to one arm, and drew his blaster carefully. He pointed the pistol straight Djas' forehead, his finger tightening on the trigger tensely.
But he couldn't, even though he wanted to. He couldn't for a logical reason, which was fair enough.
No, he didn't kill him, but he did leave with a warning kick to the man's ribs, enough to bruise them sufficiently.
He shifted Zam back into his arms, and walked away.
More lights flashed as he walked down the room between the prisons, telling Jango he should walk quicker. His gloved hand tapped on the controls in front of him, and a tiny beeping was followed by the motorized door in front of him sliding opening quickly.
Hastily, he rushed into the shadows beyond the door, staying close to wall before laying Zam gently on the floor. Roughly, he shook her awake.
Zam sat up groggily, rubbing her aching forehead as she did so. "Jango... where are we?" She whispered to him.
"Manufacturing complex," he replied. "Can't you tell?"
Warily, Zam tilted her head to one side, listening closely. Far off she could hear the whir of machinery.
Jango walked down another dim hall, turning right where the hall came to a dead end. His arms swung stiffly at his sides as his brisk pace quickened. Within seconds Zam found herself sprinting to catch up with him.
What could possible be his hurry? thought Zam bitterly. After all, he took care of all of the guar—
Blaster fire whizzed over her head, and she reflexively picked up the speed. A large door routed her path; a door set on hinges and quite out of the ordinary. Her path and speed were too great to be stopped and she crashed painfully into the door, bruising her shoulder and upsetting her jaw.
Jango reflexes saved him some pain, and he smashed the door open with his armored shoulder, sending splinters bouncing off his reflective helmet.
Zam stumbled rather ungraciously into the machinery littered room, ducking and swerving around blaster fire in a much more gracious way. Jango took cover behind the wall next to the doorway, sticking his arm and blaster out to blow away two guards.
Seeing the room in complete ruins had caught Zam off guard. Broken distribution towers towards the back of the warehouse-like room overshadowed all other broken objects, literally casting eerie shadows.
Jango's forearm was clipped by blaster fire, sending remote sparks spraying into the air. Jango grunted in pain, and Zam whirled to find Jango clutching his forearm in pain. Zam mentally beat herself for leaving Jango to ward off the attackers. Sensibly, she grabbed a large piece of durasteel. Rushing over to Jango's side, she placed the durasteel sheet over the splintered fragments of the wooden door. Jango keenly realized her plan. Raising his wounded forearm weakly, he minutely activated his wrist-mounted flame-thrower, heat welding the sheet to the door frame. Instantly bumps rose on the sheet.
Jango rose to his feet quite quickly, and his flame-thrower clicked into it safeguard mode, and he drew the blasters from their holsters.
Nodding down a path between the debris, he took the lead.