I pointed away at his three comrades I had taken down with stun agents. "I could let you die and talk to them instead." I said, gripping his arm now. He groaned in pain.

"Cassus…Mandalore would…"

"Cassus isn't the Mandalore. He's a man on the run with a bounty on his head. Nothing more." I shot back.

My subconscious decided to speak up. He's a man trying to revive the Mandalorians from scratch. You're his kin hunting him down for credits. What's your excuse?

"You…why would-"

"Where is he? Where's Cassus? Is he worth dying for?" I asked. Irkchik and Palscho had finished cuffing their last merc. While the Ithorian watched over the prisoners, Irkchik came over to join me. I shared a quick glance with him before looking back down.

"He.." The Shi'ido started to talk, before coughing up blood. For a moment I thought he was gone, then he continued. "Saved us…gave us a purpose."

Sounds like any of the denizens that were recruited into Mandalore's army as he was preparing to invade the Republic. Just a poor soul looking for meaning in this galaxy.

"You're not a Mandalorian and you never will be! You're a tool! He doesn't care about you, don't you see that?!" I shouted at him. I was losing my cool. Irkchik circled around and looked down at me with a nod. I shook my head and walked off. Good cop bad cop.

Irkchik knelt down and did his bit. "Don't mind him. It's been a long day." The Saurin said, trying to reassure him. The Shi'ido looked up at him, worried. He didn't say anything. Irkchik continued.

"You were bleeding badly but I think we can save you. My associate might be upset, but he doesn't want you to die. Any professional medics around the spaceport?"

As the Saurin was coddling our prisoner, the other mercs and I noticed the denizens slowly coming out of hiding to investigate. The diverse mix of alien and human smugglers, along with various service droids, came to take a look at the scene. Gorman, Suuvarsh, and the other two had created a perimeter, weapons visible. I put my rifle away and equipped my pistol, to keep watch over the other live prisoners. I overheard the rest of the conversation.

"I can help you out bud, but we need a little bit in return, do you-"

"Please…let's leave." The Shi'ido said. Irkchik and I shared a glance. I nodded. Irkchik helped him up, cradled the guy's other arm around his neck, and helped him walk. Terran and Munshaan took point, moving ahead to the docking bay. Gorman, Palscho and Suuvarsh held the rear, while I stuck with Irkchik and our prisoner in the middle. The crowd avoided us, and looked at us in disbelief and surprise at the scene we had created. The remaining live prisoners held fast on the ground as we left the scene.

"Let's hurry it up fellas." I said to Terran and Munshaan. Terran gave me an irritated glance but began moving faster anyway. The spaceport had gotten too hot to stay in any longer. No telling if more of Cassus' friends were enroute. We rounded a corner into the docking bay and made for the ship. Gorman and Suuvarsh turned and began walking backwards to cover our rear as we went up the loading ramp.

Terran and Munshaan made for the cockpit, while Irkchik set our prisoner down in the common room. Once Gorman closed up the loading ramp, Terran and Munshaan took the ship up out of the docking bay, and flew off back to our LZ in the desert. Enroute, Irkchik continued questioning our prisoner.

"Alright bud we're safe now. What can you tell us about Cassus?" Irkchik asked. As our Shi'ido prisoner scrambled for words, the rest of the team settled in. Gorman and Suuvarsh sat down opposite the Saurin and the prisoner. They were tired, but alert. Palscho came out of the refresher with a cup of water and handed it to the prisoner before sitting down. I leaned against the bulkhead, arms akimbo, staring down our fool of a prisoner.

"The…the tribes." He began mumbling. I rolled my eyes behind the visor. Suuvarsh had found something about the tribes on the holonet when we were on Omman Minor, but it was nothing much to go on.

"Drop him out the loading ramp. He's useless." I said. Irkchik and Palscho glanced at me, then back down to the guy. Guess they didn't appreciate my 'bad cop' anymore.

"Don't mind him. He's had a long day. What about these tribes, hmm?" Irkchik asked.

"The, the Asilyr work for Cassus!"

"Who are the Asilyr? Are they a tribe?" Irkchik asked.

"Yes, yes!"

I looked over at Gorman and Suuvarsh. Suuvarsh's features, of course, were hidden behind his envirosuit's helmet. Gorman however returned an apprehensive glance. I furrowed my brow behind the visor, wary of our prisoner's words. Was he feeding us disinformation to throw us off Cassus' trail?

Irkchik persisted. "I hope you're telling the truth bud. We've come a long way."

The Shi'ido drew in a long breath, then let it out. "This wasn't how I-" He let out a pained sigh, hissing in pain from his wound. With his good arm, he took a sip of water. "I don't get paid enough…"

I moved off the bulkhead and stepped forward. "Don't waste our time further. We need to find Cassus. Help us, and you'll be rewarded."

The others inside the main hold all turned to look at me in shock. Who was I to dictate terms? I was the "new guy." Gorman, as the Hutt's representative, spoke up. "Our employer can compensate you if you assist us." Gorman said, trying to ease the tension. Even if it was a lie, it worked.

"I won't last…long. Find a caravan. The Ibhaan'l know this world. They can find the Asilyr. They…"

Our Shi'ido prisoner drew his last breath, as his head sunk backwards and his body went limp. Irkchik simply stared at the dead body, now laying on the seat next to him. Palscho turned and looked at the table. Suuvarsh said nothing of course, while Gorman simply sighed. I shook my head and headed off into the cockpit to see what the holdup was. Looking inside, Terran and Munshaan were still flying us back to the LZ. They looked up at me as I entered.

"Step on it will ya, we got a dead body back here!"