Cassus, perched atop the cliff, watched as the main group of bounty hunters circled together and talked. The other one – his kin, a fellow Mandalorian – stood a ways off, alone. Curious, very curious.

He also observed the group of aliens who were crowding around his property. That weapons crate belonged to the Mandalorians. No matter. He had just the thing for interlopers.

Cassus plucked from his belt's utility pouch a small remote detonator. He looked down, hovered his thumb over the red button, and pressed it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

As I was leaning against the boulder, I glanced over at the Ganks. They were going crazy over all the weapons inside the crate. One pulled out a bazooka and was shouting like a kid on his birthday. Another plucked out an automatic blaster cannon, and another –

I was knocked down to the ground, a huge explosion having erupted from the crate, lighting up the night for an instant before going quiet again. I shook my head and pulled myself up, checking for injuries or shrapnel. I was unharmed, though my armor took a few shrapnel pieces – now inoperable weapon shards – but was still in one piece. The Ganks however had all been fried or killed instantly, their bodies thrown everywhere around the quarry. The other hunters, off a distance, were knocked to the ground, but were recovering. I immediately took cover behind a boulder and crouched, still slightly disoriented.

"What the hell?!" I heard Terran yell. He and the others came rushing over to the now destroyed crate, stepping over bloody Gank corpses. Cautious, I stood up, blaster rifle equipped, and came out from behind the boulder, surveying the area around us.

Suuvarsh said something in Ubese, as they looked at the crate and all the dead Ganks. Munshaan grunted in agreement, and Irkchik shook his head. "It was a trap. Cassus knew we were coming and set charges!"

Terran turned to look at me, suspicious and angry. "Fett! I should have known you were an insider!"

He charged me, and I countered by sidestepping and bashing his face with my rifle's buttstock. As he lost balance, I gave him a good kick to the rear, sending him to the ground. I turned to the other bounty hunters, who all had their weapons pointed at me.

"I had nothing to do with this! Before this job I thought Cassus was dead!" I yelled. Gorman, still alive, had his blaster pointed at me too.

"Why did Rajja let you in then?!" He shouted. Clearly, the group still thought it was odd a newcomer was given special preference for such a big job. I didn't like revealing my sources, but it was the only way to get out of this alive now.

"The Hutt is friends with an information dealer, Zu'mar the Assembler. The Arachnid did me a favor."

Gorman's expression changed, and after a few moments he eased up on the blaster. The other hunters looked at him, but kept their weapons trained. Palscho looked from Gorman, then back at me. His double barreled rifle was pointed at my helmet.

"Gorman, what?!" Palscho shouted. Gorman sighed and put his weapon down.

"It's true. Rajja buys and sells information to Zu'mar. It's how he knew to hire all of you. It's why he allowed Fett to come with us at the last minute. He thought a Mandalorian on the team, going after Cassus, would help."

After a few tense moments, the other hunters begrudgingly lowered their weapons. Gorman continued. "I've seen Fett in action. If he was really working for Cassus, he wouldn't have killed his men the way he did. He helped us clear the quarry. He's for real, guys."

A light rain began falling from the night sky. Terran recovered and stood up, walking past me. He gave me a sour look and shook his head. "I don't like it!"

"Suck it up Haas. The Hutt's men are dead, our only lead is destroyed, and Cassus never showed his face. We need to regroup and come up with a new plan." Irkchik said.

"Let's just get back to the LZ. Rajja won't be happy to hear about this." Gorman said. They all turned to leave, and I with them. On the way out though, I stopped and turned back around. Something was off. I looked at the quarry, the blast site, and the Gank corpses strewn about everywhere. I looked up to the cliff face looming over everything. That explosion was perfectly timed. Could either have been a proxy charge, or remotely detonated. Which meant…

We're being watched

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Cassus had changed position since exploding the weapons crate. A few pieces of shrapnel had flown up, and landed beside him. Down below, he observed the group of hunters argue with the lone Mandalorian. Eventually they eased up and began to leave.

Cassus was trying to remember who the Mandalorian was. There had been so many brothers and sisters, so many dead before and after Malachor, now only a few hundred were left in the galaxy. Bloody shame. But who was this character?

He watched his stance, his gait, as he walked. He watched as the lone Mandalorian stopped and looked back. When Cassus realized who he was, he was just as shocked as his cousin was on the ground.

So a member of the Fett clan is hunting me. Curious, most curious.

It was time to leave.