Jaster's Glory soared over the junkyards and smelters of Ord Mantell. In the cockpit of the old beater, bounty hunter Jango Fett gazed out at the permanent brown haze from burning fossil fuels. "Roz, what do you know about this Como Segara?"
The voice of Jango's Toydarian assistant came on the comm. system: "He's a no good manager of a smelter near the Ten Mile Plateau. This guy's supposedly separating the metals from the nearby scrap heaps, but unconfirmed reports say he's making weapons for local pirates."
"That's what I learned from that swimmer said on the balcony at the Lady Fate," said Jango with a hint of smugness.
"Did you say swimmer? I thought you were going to the Lady Fate to talk to a smuggler!"
"Well, I just hope he can swim, after our meeting out there…"
The Mandalorian vessel slowed and landed on a small cliff overlooking the smelter. Thick black smoke poured from the numerous smokestacks jutting from the squatty structure. "Good luck, Jango," said Rozatta as the bounty hunter walked away from the dashboard.
"I don't believe in luck, Roz," responded Jango, putting his Mandalorian battle helmet on. He climbed up to the storage area above the cockpit and retrieved his jetpack and two missiles, which he slipped inside the rocket launcher built into the modified pack. Then, he set out into the rocky terrain toward the smelter…
A few minutes later, Jango was crouched on a low ledge. If he crept to the very edge, he could clearly see two guards standing at the heavy metal grate, talking and smoking. Silently, he raised his right arm and with his left hand fired the Kamino saberdart launcher built into his wrist gauntlet. Two of the lethal projectiles shot down in quick succession, hit each guard in the neck, and dropped them instantly, the neurotoxin promptly shutting down their nervous system. After a few seconds, they would suffocate and die. Convenient, stealthy, and efficient: that was Jango's style.
Once at the base of the cliff, Jango dragged the bodies into a dark alcove and moved on to the gate. A massive padlock kept it shut. Rather than bother with searching the dead goons, he simply used his cutting torch to neatly sever the lock in two. He carefully drew the chains away and set them relatively noiselessly on the ground at his feet. Then, he pushed open the entrance. The hinges were rusted and screeched in protest, but he was through quickly enough.
The bounty hunter crouched down, looking for danger. It appeared as if he was alone amongst the small gray outbuildings. Still, he went very quietly, rolling between the structures on his way to the main factory.
The inside of the large building was sweltering. There were two ramps leading to walkways overlooking the main floor, which had broad troughs carrying molten metal from open grates in the left wall and then disappearing into similar openings on the right-hand wall. Standing between the troughs were Weequays and Klatooinians, making sure that there were no large pieces floating in the red-hot liquid. Jango also spotted some Ugnauts working the machinery that conveyed the mixture down to the refinery.
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Jango slunk up to the walkway on the right. He ducked behind a column as an Aqualish and a Rodian walked by, both carrying contraband DLX-6 disruptor rifles. They were so engaged in a conversation about the previous day's podrace on Malastare in which Ben Quadrinaros managed to outmaneuver Sebulba on the home stretch and glean first place that they didn't even notice Jango hiding as they passed a few feet away from him.
Jango decided he couldn't risk them seeing him once they reached the bottom of the ramp, so he took a few steps, came up behind them, and slammed their heads together. He proceeded to drag the dazed guards into a small room and injected them with a potent sleeping drug from a syringe in his utility belt.
With those two dealt with, Jango snuck out of the room. He continued down the walkway, peeping into each doorway before he passed it in case some one was in there. He only encountered one more person, a Gran who was looking over the operations below. He was holding an N'Gant-Zarvel 9118 Heavy Carbine, and Jango couldn't let him go free. He was too far away and facing the wrong direction for a successful sneak-up and beat-up, so Jango employed his penultimate saberdart. He had to make sure the last one was conserved until he needed it.
At the end of the long ledge, Fett found his quarry. There was a good-sized room with fluorescent lights in the ceiling there. Piles of thick chains lay strewn in massive heaps. One man stood at the back wall, looking at a series of monitors.
Jango drew his dual Westar-34 blaster pistols and said, "You could contain a Wampa in these chains."
The human whirled around. "Wh-who are you? What do you want with me?" He eyed the twin barrels of the Mandalorian armor-clad intruder warily. "I-I run a legit business here!"
"Oh, yeah? Tell that to the pirates I found with your weapons out in the wastelands yesterday!" Jango advanced, keeping his blasters trained on Como Segara's head.
"So, to whom do I owe the gratitude for granting me a worthy price on my head?" Segara asked, trying to stall.
"You don't have a price on your head," replied Jango flatly. "See-yees Ploku does, though, and I think you know where he is."
"W-what makes you say that?"
Jango answered by lifting one of the smaller, lighter chains with the barrel of one of his Westar-34's.
"I don't know where he—" Segara began, but Jango was on him in an instant. He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out to the walkway. Next he thrust the scum's head out over the ledge so he could see the boiling mass of molten metal flowing leisurely through the trough below.
"Where is he?" growled Jango.
"Y-you wouldn't do it! I-I'm not worth anything to you!"
"That's exactly why I will do it! Now STOP STALLING!" Jango slammed the man farther toward the edge.
"Okay! Okay!" he sniveled. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Ploku has a pit fight arena a little ways north! Take one of my freighters, the autopilot should bring you right to the facility!"
Suddenly, a group of guards gathered on the opposite ledge, and a few of the workers on the main floor got out their blaster pistols. "Let him go, bounty hunting scum!" yelled a human worker from across the gap.
"Wrong choice of words," said Jango, and he cast the screaming Segara outward. He fell, thrashing for something to grab onto, and splashed into the red-hot molten metal. His arm, glazed in orange steel, appeared once above the sloshing surface, and then he disappeared altogether.
By this time, though, Jango had found cover and was shooting expertly across at his assailants. Slowly, their numbers diminished, but there were still to many of them. Finally, Jango rolled away from the column and launched a missile from his jetpack. It sailed at the opposite walkway, scattering the panicked thugs. This gave the bounty hunter a chance to escape. He rushed down the ramp and reached the bottom just as the rocket exploded, sending out a lethal spray of red and blue sparks that engulfed a wide area and caused the walkway to come free, dropping several enemies into the troughs like their leader. Jango reached the exit and fled without looking back.
AN—Well that certainly was a big entrance for the notorious bounty hunter, wasn't it? Once again, I would like to thank you for reading and ask you to please submit your reviews!