As we exited the ship into the encampment, we saw a small number of miners had left their homes to see what was going on. Peering through the windows of their homes were their families. They were scared, apprehensive, but not hostile. If not for the explosion, they were probably mad we had landed at such an ungodly hour. My helmet's chrono read 2319.
There was no dock officer for once, but a man did approach us as we entered the middle of the camp. He wasn't armed, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he had a blaster in his tunic. He was Human, as were most of the miners, some of whom were Near-Human while the rest were a small minority of aliens. He greeted us.
"I'm Chigg Yagner, can we help you boys with somethin?" The guy asked. Irkchik took charge.
"We're not here to hurt you sir. We're looking for information." Irkchik replied.
Chigg grinned. "Hell of a time to be looking for that." He said back, looking at his wrist-chrono.
Irkchik shook his head. "This won't take long. We're here about the mine. You work there right?"
The man tensed up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yah, what's this about? Did that explosion earlier come from there? That mine is our livelihood, gentlemen."
"We're looking for the mine owner. Cassus Fett." Irkchik said. I scanned about the village. More miners had come out of their homes. Either they were curious, or they were about to lose their minds because their work got blown sky high.
Mr. Yagner chortled and shook his head. "I think you're mistaken. We work for Mr. Donnigan Reldarry. I'm the mine foreman, I report directly to him."
Irkchik wasn't about to get into a battle of semantics with a tired old miner. "Right. We need to know where he's at. Where did he hire you from? Anything you can tell us would be helpful."
Mr. Yagner said nothing, and began eying the rest of us. He sized us up, taking note of our weapons. "Listen, I don't want any trouble gentlemen. Mr. Reldarry pays us well, I don't pry into-"
"We just need to know where he hired you from." Irkchik repeated.
"How about I ask some questions. What sort of trouble is Mr. Reldarry in? Why are you all here?"
I was beginning to lose my patience. I stepped forward. "His name is Cassus. He's a Mandalorian. He slaughtered millions during the war and now some people want him brought in."
Mr. Yagner blinked as he stared at the T-visor, then at the others. He sighed and shook his head. "He hired all of us out of Socorro."
Munshaan spoke up. "Don't lie to us! Socorro is barren, no one lives there!"
The mining foreman looked at our Stereb counterpart. "You wanted information and I'm telling you what I know."
"Keep talking." I said.
"We know he's a veteran, we thought he was Republic. Keeps to himself. Hired us to dig out that mine, didn't know what he was looking for. Flew us all off Socorro himself. He's got a small house by the mine."
"Anything else?" I asked.
"No, no…if you catch him, don't tell him I-"
"There won't be any conversation. I suggest you find a different mine to work at." I replied, and started for the freighter. The others followed behind me, leaving the miners and their camp behind.
/\/\/\/\/\/
We flew back to the LZ. Exiting the freighter, we walked over to the Hutt's ship. Inside, Suuvarsh and Gorman were still scanning the holonet. Gorman came out of the cockpit to talk to us, while the Ubese continued checking.
"Hope you all had better luck then we did." Gorman said as he got into the main hold. Terran plopped into a chair, I walked over to lean against a wall while Irkchik and Munshaan talked to him.
"He hired the miners out of Socorro. He's also got a place near the quarry." Irkchik said.
"Let's check it out." Gorman replied.
"Not worth it." I said.
Munshaan snapped his head around to look at me. "Why?!"
He's pissed I mused. "Unless you want to die like the Ganks did, I suggest we avoid it."
"Is that common Mandalorian S.O.P.? Just set charges to everything and blow up the next guy to find it?" Munshaan asked.
Well, he's not wrong
"Usually." I replied casually.
"Y'all are a spiteful bunch, aren't you? Guess I'd be too if my people got slaughtered, but hey what do I know?" Terran shot back, giving me a glare. I ignored him and carried on.
"They were hired on Socorro, it doesn't mean Cassus is there." Irkchik opined. He had a point. We were dead in the water. He was a man with backup plans for backup plans. Hidden cells across the galaxy that he could escape to. A ghost, he could disguise himself as anyone and slip through any blockade or security checkpoint with ease. He-
There was a shout from the cockpit. Suuvarsh either just took a slug directly to the heart, or won the Galactic Lottery. We rushed into the cockpit to see what was up. Sure enough, the Ubese was excited, pointing and yelling at the holonet screen in the cockpit. Palscho stood over him and looked at us.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Saying that he's on Socorro." Palscho replied, struggling to translate everything his Ubese counterpart was yelling about.
"That's it? The miners came from Socorro, that's all we know!" Terran exclaimed back. Palscho translated more.
"There are desert tribes on Socorro, and they've banded together recently. Locals don't know how or why…but Suuvarsh is sure Cassus is behind it."
Socorro, as far as I knew, was a desolate world, like Tatooine. Maybe some civilization, but why would Cassus be there? He needed to hire miners and mercenaries, that's all it was good for to him. There was no reason to stay there…Unless that was the real trick. No one would think a prominent Mandalorian commander would hide out on a pit of a world like Socorro, but no one thought like a Mandalorian either. Rough terrain, hazardous environments, multiple factors that would keep out unsuspecting Republic types, who preferred boring offices and cush tapcaf houses. Maybe the Ubese had a point.
While Munshaan, Palscho, and Terran were arguing over it, and Suuvarsh was exclaiming repeatedly He's on Socorro!, Irkchik noticed my silence. "Quiet, all of you! Fett, what do you think?"
I thought for a moment before responding. "It makes sense. Base your operations in the desert where no one would venture to."
Terran groaned. "Oh for crying out loud, are we going to listen to this?! He probably just wants to lure us out there so him and his cousin can kill us together!"
Irkchik took charge of the situation. "Enough! It's our only lead, and it's better than staying here and arguing. We're going to Socorro."
Terran and Munshaan looked at each other, then walked out. As they left I heard Munshaan mutter who died and put the Saurin in charge? Though this was the Hutt's ship, Gorman allowed Suuvarsh to pilot, as he slipped into the copilot's seat. Suuvarsh, still in the pilot's seat, began preflight checks.
Irkchik turned to me, with Palscho at his side. "I hope your instincts are right on this one Fett. I hate to waste time."
I said nothing. I turned, left, and headed to my Basilisk.