Chapter 2
The jump was a perilous one, over a huge precipice. The chasm was probably joined by a bridge, but it had long since gave out, leaving only the two end pieces, over which several Bando Gora grunts had already fallen to their doom, kicked off by the hunter. This was simple for a man like him, though. He took a few steps back, leapt off and activated the burn on his jetpack. He landed on the other side of the ruined bridge, and began to walk off, towards the figure he recognized.
"Looks like a dead end, Montross." Jango Fett called, drawing his twin Westar 34 blasters and aiming the left at the other man.
Montross spoke without turning to face the rival bounty hunter. "Been waiting for you, Jango." He said. "Thought you might not make it."
"Don't write me off until you watch me die, face to face." Jango retorted, his aim unwavering.
"You've come to the right place for a burial." Montross said, clenching his fist.
"You first." Jango sneered underneath his helmet.
Montross let out a deep sigh. "The hunt's nearly over." He said, turning round. "I can smell it. Vosa's here, waiting for one of us to put her out of her misery. It'll almost be a shame to kill her." His voice now grew more intense, as if he were some politician, announcing his candidacy for re-election, instead of the brutal bounty hunter her was. "Imagine, Jango. The power to send thousands of mindless assassins willingly to their deaths. To plunge the galaxy into anarchy."
"Not much money in anarchy." Jango retorted.
"The money means nothing." Montross cast his hand to the side. "The thrill of the hunt drives me, the moment my prey begs for mercy, the moment I take his life." He now clenched his fist, as if to squeeze the life out of any unfortunate wretch of a being that had wandered inadvertently into his vise-like grip. "You know this better than anyone. We're the same, you and I."
"Now you're just being mean." Jango leveled his left Westar and drew the priming lever back with his thumb.
"You're going to shoot me in cold blood?" Montross scoffed. "That's not very sporting. Not your style. Not the Mandalorian way."
Montross was now playing dirty. "You gave up our ways, remember?" Jango said bitterly through gritted teeth.
"For you," Montross took the blast helmet he was holding at his side and raised it. "I'll make an exception."
The helmet slipped on, identifying Montoss' Mandalorian side, two warriors now about to engage in their final battle.
"Just like old times, Fett." Montross said. "You and me, man to man, face to face. Only now, we do this to the death. May the best man win."
"I am the best." Jango said. "Always was."
"We'll see about that." Montross said and his jetpack ignited, sending him flying off towards a stone structure that represented a mass grave.
"This is it!" Montross said. "You don't know how long I've waited for this. Only one of us walks out of here."
The high-powered blaster shots came crashing down, Jango running and firing, the shots barely missing him. He scored a hit on Montross' shoulder.
"Nothing a stiff shot of Corellian brandy wouldn't fix!" Montross groaned as he landed, and fired again. "Come on, Jango! Pick out a grave! I'll carve a headstone for you!"
Jango now drew his Electroscope sniper rifle, and took a few shots at Montross. The shots bounced off his armor, and the rival hunter now came charging. Jango leapt out and flew backwards as Montross called again.
"Killer of killers, no longer your years." He snarled. "For your smoking bones, they will shed no tears."
The Electroscope cracked twice, and Jango rolled, one of the blaster bolts singing off his right gauntlet. A quick check proved that no severe damage had been done. Montross was now at the top of the stone structure, going off on another irrelevant tangent.
"Here lies Jango Fett, hunting a bounty with Tedney bits!" This was followed by a bout of maniacal laughter, as another salvo came from the rival hunter. Jango rolled behind a small pile of rubble, and pulled out a few pieces out of the secret compartment installed on his jetpack. He fitted the barrel and stock together and begun his quick work on the firing mechanism, when a blaster bolt sang off the rock beside him.
"Careful where you step," Montross shouted. "For rotting underneath is my old friend Jango Fett!"
Jango snapped the final installment onto his modified heavy blaster rifle. He sprung up out of cover and sidestepped, avoiding Montross' fire as his blue bolts streaked out. One caught Montross in the leg, in an unprotected section of the tibia, wrenching an angry scream from him. Montross landed sharply and fired his blaster, Jango flipping backwards with the help of his jetpack.
"I planted him raw." Montross growled as he ceased fire and threw a thermal detonator to flush Jango out. "He was quick on the trigger, but slow on the draw. You should have known better then to cross my path. Where are you! At the bottom of your boots, shaking like a leaf?"
Jango kicked it away, before it exploded, showering bits of stone and earth all over the place. Montross executed a quick jetpack thrust backwards and put several yards between him and Jango.
"You're pretty quick!" He called." Think you can outrun this?" He dropped into a kneeling position and fired the missile on the back of his jetpack. Jango came running, flipped over the missile, which exploded harmlessly on the stone, and emptied the heavy blaster rifle on Montross. He cast it aside once it was empty, cursing himself for not saving it for his confrontation with Vosa. He drew his twin Westars and ran sideways, fining madly.
"Gunned by a gunner," Montross called. "Now he lies way down under! The great Jango Fett. Trained to kill, learn to die! Hunting's a sport best left to the professionals. You should have stayed home!"
Jango took cover again and peeked out to fire occasionally, when Montross called out again.
"When you die, nobody cries!" He called, blasting a piece of Jango's cover out. Jango returned fire, only to hit ground where Montross once was. "I'm coming for you!"
"You're cut from the same cloth, Fett." Montross yelled. "Gutless and gun-shy!"
Jango now charged out, weaving and ducking to avoid Montross' shots. He saw Montross pause for a moment and load another missile into his jetpack. "Get ready, Fett!" He shouted, firing the missile. Jango dodged it by a split second, and fired again.
"Earning your rest on this moon of the dead, taking a blaster bolt to the head!" Montross shouted. Jango waited now, biding his time. Once Montross landed, Jango fired his own missile, which caught Montross in the blast and propelled him to the center of the mass grave.
Montross' helmet bounced away, as Jango came up, not even bothering to draw his Westars.
"No…" Montross groaned. "It's not supposed to end this way, not like this. I deserve… a better death!"
"Don't be a sore loser," Jango sneered, making Montross eat his own words.
"I'll see you in hell, Jango," Montross snarled, clenching his bloodstained right hand into a fist.
"Save a place in there for me." Jango retorted, turning his back as the Bando Gora slaves, awakened by their tumultuous battle came to claim what was left of Montross.
"NOOOOOO—…" Montross began to scream, but a call of pain, preceded by the crunch of teeth of flesh and bone sounded. "Jango! Come back! You can't leave me like this!..."
Jango stopped dead in his tracks. The ruthless, hardened hunter Montross, now was begging for mercy?
He was promptly proved wrong when Montross shouted a curse and continued. "That's not fair! What have you done to me! Fett, damn you! Finish Me!..,"
Jango just continued to walk away, leaving Montross to rot. He pushed any feelings of remorse or even pity he may have for Montross down into the soles of his boots and marched off.
This place was nothing less then spooky. The path he currently resided, that once served as a path for mourners to a hallowed burial ground, now served as a transport awaiting slave ships to deliver the new Bando Gora recruits, mind slaves under Vosa's control, to her hidden lair. Though he had not been on his present course for very long, the path was already littered with the bones of either those who had tried to escape, or those who had tried to capture or kill Komari Vosa.
Jango hurried along a canyon, doing his best to remain undetected. With nothing too much more that a hop, a skip and a jetpack thrust, he was at Vosa's huge wooden doors. Since knocking wouldn't get him too far, he forced the door and entered.
It was darker then the Corellian hells inside. Jango could hear faint rusting around him, which he dismissed as leaves.
Suddenly, the doors slammed shut behind him, and the torches on the walls flared to life, revealing that the room was filled to the brim with Bando Gora.
Jango's Westars were instantly out, firing as he flew backwards. However, when he landed, he was knocked on the back of the head, and his world went black.
…
Jango Fett awoke screaming. Partially from physical pain, which he could stand a great deal, but this was a different kind of torture. A kind that was of his mind, as if it was being used against him.
The kind of torture he would expect from one type of person he knew of.
A Jedi.
He hung there, suspended on the cross he was bound to, forced to inhale the Bando Gora mind toxins.
A new sound now came to the Mandalorian. A laugh. Sadistic, twisted, low, and feminine. Jango raised his head to see Komari Vosa, standing in the doorway. She made her way to the table which held his equipment.
"Ah," She marveled nostalgically as she picked up a piece. "The blast helmet of a Mandalore Warrior. Something I have not seen since I was a Jedi." She ran her slender fingers gently over the visor locks as she spoke. "My master cut down twenty, as I did myself." Vosa discarded the helmet and approached Jango. "Congratulations, bounty hunter. You found me."
Her hand raised, and Jango felt himself pushed back, violently. He now lay back on an angle, as Vosa straddled him.
"You are charming." She purred in a low, seductive voice as she ran a cold finger along the side of Jango's face. "Who hired you?"
Jango swallowed hard. He was not about to give up, not after the hell he had gone through to get this far.
"Oh." Vosa said. "The strong silent type. I like that. More of a challenge." Her hands now went for Jango's chest plates. "I once tried to resist. But the Bando Gora have ways of weakening your mind and breaking your will." She leaned in, ever closer to whisper in Jango's left ear. "Soon, you will be my slave, bounty hunter." As she finished, she gave Jango's earlobe an affectionate nibble.
NO! Jango fought even harder, but Vosa felt him weaken and buckle under the immense strain.
"Oh, I don't know," She chuckled. "Perhaps you won't last as long as I thought." Her tone now changed. "Care to join us?"
She turned and Jango looked up, to see a figure in a tight purple jumpsuit, and that darling little helmet, holding a blaster pistol.
"Zam…" The word barely escaped Jango's lips.
The two Bando Gora reacted, but a wave of Vosa's hand made them stand down. Zam cocked an eyebrow and blasted both of them. She leveled her blaster on Vosa, but then turned it to Jango. He closed his eyes, preparing for the worst, but Zam turned the pistol back to Vosa.
The dark Jedi took a stance and unhooked both of her blood red lightsabers from her belt and activated them, their deadly hum piercing the eerie silence. With an animal snarl, she leapt at Zam and deflected the incoming shots. One came back and hit Zam's left gauntlet.
Vosa moved in to finish the job, as Zam held her shaking blaster hand at the Jedi. Suddenly, her aim wavered and sent two shots in Jango's direction.
The bolts struck the binders that held his wrists, and he fell to the ground, his mind instantly clearing. Vosa turned 180 degrees, as Jango leapt for the table and his Westars. He took them both, twirling the left for a moment as he fired frantically. Vosa deflected the shots and flipped backwards down the hallway, laughing.
Jango set the blasters down, and went to Zam, who took his arm. She was shaking and was losing color. "Looks like she's all yours, Jango." She said softly. "We're even now."
"Save your strength." Jango said and gingerly lay her down. "Stay here."
He attached his jetpack to his back, replaced the pistols in their holsters, and with a set glare, he replaced the helmet on his head.
"Back in a minute," He said, and took off after Vosa. He did his best to ignore the fact that no one who had entered Vosa's citadel had ever left. At least, not with their minds intact. It was here that hoards of shadow mercenaries were brainwashed by the ever growing cult. Unless he could stop it here and now.
"Come on, bounty hunter." Vosa's voice filtered in. "Hunt me!"
"As you wish." Jango said in reply.
"Are you afraid?" Vosa taunted.
"You wish." Jango said, bitterly, as he caught sight of her. She flipped out of sight and Jango ran after her again.
"Are you here to catch me, or kill me?" Vosa said.
"That depends on whether you've been a good girl or not." Jango retorted.
"Hah!" Vosa said. "You only think you're winning! You have made it this far, because I wanted you to. I can feel your presence. You're getting closer..."
Jango continued on, encountering only minimal resistance from Bando Gora, which he cooked with his flame thrower and left them to burn as he reached a large stone door.
"I'm waiting," Vosa said. "Let's play."
"Let's." Jango said as he kicked the door open.
Vosa stood in the middle of a room, flanked by two sets of stairs that spiraled up to a door. She gave a low chuckle.
"My powers are far beyond any of your barbaric weapons." Vosa scoffed. "This is where your hunt comes to an end! Maybe you should turn back now, give up your hunt, before I come hunting for you!"
Jango drew his Westars and twirled both of them, bending his knees. "Come on, Vosa!" He called.
Vosa snarled and leapt at him. Jango flipped as well and they met in mid-air, with Jango's foot connecting with Vosa's stomach. She fell with a short yelp, and Jango hovered for a moment, firing his Westars. Vosa rolled as she hit the ground, deflecting the incoming shots. Jango landed as Vosa flipped up to the door.
"Claim your prize, bounty hunter!" She called and vanished through the door.
Jango flew up to it and pursued Vosa, who landed at the head of a large cathedral-like room, with a large stained-transparisteel window.
"The last of the Mandalorians," She said. Jango never heard the rest, for he fired, causing Vosa to deflect and charge towards him.
"You'll have to do better!" She said. "That won't work."
Jango flipped over her and landed, as Vosa turned with him. "Is that the best you can do?" She cried as she leapt on top of Jango' shoulders, bringing the sabers together in a scissor formation, the blades on Jango's neck.
Snip…
…
Jango Fett awoke in a cold sweat, bolt upright in his bed on Kamino. He put his hand over his chest to soothe his heart rate and up for the refresher. He filled the washbasin with cold water and splashed it over his face to shake off the bitter aftertaste of the hellish nightmare. Five years later, and it still plagued him. Blast it, it was in the past! He killed Vosa, not the other way round! His head was still firmly attached to his shoulders, but there were times when he wished Vosa had lopped his head off. There would have been a lot less trouble that way…
The buzzer at the door promptly rang, causing Jango's attention to waver. He slipped a light shirt over his bare chest and proceeded to the door, which complained with yet another buzz.
"You're not married, by any chance, are you?" He muttered before opening the door.
"About time, Fett." A disgruntled Zam Wessel snorted, an eyebrow raised and arms crossed.
Jango's mood was no better. "What is it, Zam?" He asked, irritated. He had enough on his mind to be bothered by the person he wanted to see the most. Or the least, whichever way you look at it.
"Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Zam retorted. "Anyway, I've got a job if you're interested."
"What kind of job?" Jango asked, bidding Zam inside.
"Some Coruscant senator wants a special bronzium medallion back. Apparently, one of his next of kin lost it in a Sabbacc game." Zam seemed less than impressed as she spoke, folding her arms.
"Where is it?" Jango asked.
"On Naboo." Zam replied. "In the hands of some guy named Panaka."
"So all I'll need to do is slip in and take it." Jango said. "Couldn't be easier."
"I don't think so," Zam said. "He's head of the Nubian Monarch Security branch."
"Then I'll do it quietly." Jango said, shortly.
"All right, Mr. Big Shot." Zam teased.
Jango did not see the humor in the sentence. "Zam," He said warningly.
"Yes?" She replied sweetly.
"Don't push it."
"OK, OK." Zam put her hands up in mock surrender. "You'll take it?"
"What's the reward?" Jango asked.
"Five thousand." Zam answered. "On delivery."
Jango turned away from the datapad to face Zam. "You'll be here?" It wasn't a question.
"Sure." Zam replied.
"Good." Jango said. "Take care of Boba for me. I'll leave in the afternoon."
A shuffle in the background caused both of them to turn, to see young Boba come out, rubbing his eyes.
"Good morning, Boba." Jango set the datapad down. "Sleep well?"
"Yup." Boba said. "Oh, hello Zam."
"Hey, big guy." Zam said, ruffling his hair. "You're getting big! Soon, you'll be able to pull the ears off a Gundark if you keep growing like this."
Jango left to get dressed, thinking about this new hunt. This was far too easy for him. But, he needed the cash. Easy credits, how could he lose? This was an easy assignment.
He had no idea how wrong he was, or how much this assignment would change his life.
Thanks for being so patient, all! I've been bogged down with homework like you wouldn't believe! Anyway, please review, and I shall update when I can. Ciao, and thanks!
