CCM: Difficult Clients

Chronicles of a Crazy Mandalorian:  Difficult Clients



Hyperspace journeys were always so boring.  The worst part about them was that they were inevitable.  No matter how much you wanted to avoid them, in the proffession of bounty hunting, or anything really, these trips were unavoidable.  At the cockpit of the YT-1210 freighter that had no name sat two Mandalorians, one in jet black armor with blue trims and the other in jet black with yellow.  They weren't saying anything to one another, mostly because there was nothing to say.  They simply watched the viewport while the coordinates came closer and closer to their destination.  Time seemed to slow just as they were about to exit hyperspace, as though the galaxy wanted the travelers to suffer a few seconds longer in the dismal, boring blur that was hyperspace transit.  Soon enough, real space was visible and the stars all around them became white dots against black walls and ceiling.  A planet rapidly came into view and the Mandalorian with the black and yellow pointed at it.
"That's the place we're going to?" asked Preliat Militis.  Preliat was a small Mandalorian.  Actually he was small period, at under two meters tall, though that didn't stop him when push came to shove and blade came to blaster.  His near shoulder length dark hair fell in front of his face, giving others the impression he was some kind of feral thing, when really he was just mentally unstable.
"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"  Replied Firin Eithenst, a Mandalorian of average height and a constant look of 'Mind your own business' about him that he couldn't shake, even with familiar company.
"It looks like the shebs end of the galaxy..." he muttered.  "And Vul and Tracin both agree."  Preliat crossed his arms and Firin glanced at his friend's blasters.  Like alwayd, Preliat had heard them say something and no one else had.
"Well they can shut their business ends up.  This is where the woman on the other side of the listing said to meet her."  Preliat kept mumbling but Firin paid him no mind.  Within moments they would be on the surface, learning what needed to be done and then they could leave.

As the ship broke atmosphere, the planet below them looked even more dismal than above it and Preliat kept saying that 'They' were telling him this wasn't a good place to be.  Preliat was never scared, but he said that 'They' didn't lie to him either.
"Prel'ika, 'They' aren't even down there, so how would 'They' know what's wrong with it?"  Firin asked, drumming his fingers impatiently.
"Okay."  Preliat responded, setting his helmet onto his head and sealing it.  "But don't say I didn't warn you when you start hearing them too.  'They'll' keep you up all night."  Firin rolled his eyes and followed the directions to the set of coordinates that lead him and Preliat to a cliff where other ships were waiting.  "Who the stang are they?"  Preliat asked, standing up to go shoot them when the ship landed.
"Just other hunters, ner vod.  Calm the hell down.  This client of ours must want a lot of manpower for this job."  But Firin doubted it.  More likely this client only intended to let one group have the prize and they would be able to fight over it after the job was done, depending on who survived.  The ship settled on to the tan rock and Preliat walked out, full kit.  His helmet was different than that of the usual Mandalorian get up and it was usually more intimidating because it was new.  In this case, it was just more respected.  He hadn't expected the other mercs to nod to him like he was some kind of war veteran.  Firin walked down the ramp beside him and looked at the group, all of whom were a little put off by the two of them.  Firin figured he'd been right.  A race to the finish and only the best Mando would win.  "So, what's the deal here?" he asked, standing next to the closest sentient, a Rodian who looked back out on the horizon.
"Not a clue."  he replied.  "No one has come to meet us except more and more bounty hunters.  I tell you, friend this whole thing better not be a set up or..."
"Or what?" asked a voice belonging to someone nobody saw approaching, except for Preliat who hadn't jumped like everyone else.  The voice was that of a woman's, long dark hair, pale skin and looked to be no taller than Preliat, which made Firin smirk since the two were standing right next to each other.  "Please, by all means finish what you were saying."
"No need since you've finally arrived."  he replied.
"Good.  Now then, I apologize for the delay, but I had to make sure I had at least a few competent bounty hunters to make it through the thinning."
"The what?"  Preliat asked, kicking a pebble off the cliff and turning back to her.  "What's a thinning?"
"It's my way of seeing who would be the best candidates for my job.  I can't risk being caught so I can't risk sending pathetic riff-raff."  Some of the bounty hunters didn't like her choice of words and one rested his hand on his blaster.  "Should you choose not to play my games then fine, no credits for you.  However, if you do then all I want you to do is walk down that way and I'll see you on the other side."  The woman pointed to a long trench and then walked off while everyone was distracted and, once again only Preliat saw her leave.
"That's one strange woman."  Said a human male.  The four or five others with him all nodded and everyone there looked around at one another, wondering what to do.

Preliat and Firin had wasted no time in moving into the trench while the others were still trying to make sense of the conversation.
"Prel'ika, how did you know she was there when no one else saw her?"  Firin asked, scanning the walls of the trench for movement.  They had no idea what indigenous creatures were on this world, since they'd never been there in the first place.
"I saw her."  Preliat replied, innocently.  "Everyone else was too busy staring at you and me, but then Tracin told me that lady was a strange one, and when I looked up to see where he was looking, there she was."  Firin couldn't help but laugh.  His insane friend's blaster had warned him of something no one else could've seen.  Firin's laughter was cut short by Preliat stopping at the edge of a corner that Firin couldn't see around.  When he caught up, the two of them were staring at the mouth of a cave that had a cool breeze blowing from it.  "Vul says he's probably going to sing his song in there.  I happen to agree with him."  Every time Vul and Tracin sang, Firin knew Preliat meant the sound his blasters made when he fired them.  He still found it strange that he would hear music out of that, though.
"What's the matter, my big strong Mandos?" asked the same human male from before.  "Afraid of the nasties in there?"  Firin whirled round and gave the man a head butt, also know as a keldabe kiss right on his mouth.
"Aw, true love."  Preliat said, raising Tracin and pointing it at the man's group.  "You, go away."
"Now now Preliat, let them go on into the pit of despair.  I just wanted to make sure this man never spoke to me like we were friends again."  The man looked up at Firin, his eyes filled with rage and blood streaming from his broken nose and busted lips.  He got up, refusing the Mandalorian's help and brushed himself off.
"Let's go, guys.  We'll see you two in the dark."
"See us in the dark?"  Preliat questioned as they walked away.  His innocent questioning seemed to make the man even angrier, but he merely stared in Preliat's direction until he disappeared into the cave with his goons.  The rest of the mercs passed the two Mandos by and disappeared as well, the Rodian from before giving them a friendly salute.  Firin gestured for Preliat to follow him and the two walked in side by side, weapons out and ready.

The cave was nothing but a series of twists and turns that lead to nowhere and everywhere at the same time.  Twice Preliat had tripped on loose rocks, but managed to do one of his ridiculous acrobatic spins and stand up as though he meant to do it.  Firin shook his head every time and moved on, ignoring his friend's whispered apologies to each rock he kicked that 'talked back to him.'  They continued for what seemed like hours before finally coming to a halt and dropping to a knee, Firin's powerful carbine and Preliat's twin blaster pistols held out and ready.  A piercing scream had run through the cave and, what sounded like muffled blaster discharges.  The two ran forward, in the direction of the scream, not for want of rescuing anybody, but to find out what may be in the cave with them.  The two hit a corner and Preliat whirled out, jumping about six feet in the air with his legs tucked in and then landed, crouched against the other wall.  He and Firin simultaneously looked down the tunnel and saw a large clearing a few meters away.  Both of them walked down, Preliat walking side ways to watch the back and front.  When they made it into the large opening, it looked like something big nasty and hungry had come through.  One of the ones from the first group, a green male Twi'lek was on the ground.  What was left of him, anyways.
"Ew..."  Preliat said and followed bloody foot prints.  "Damn chakaare trampled their dying vode to get away from whatever got him."
"Well, we'll have to be a little more curteous."  Firin said.  Hewalked around the corpse, making sure there was nothing of interest on it and then looked around the room.  There was no holes on the walls or the ceiling, so the only way it could have come was forward.  Preliat lead the way, blasters forward at a sprint.
"Vul says he saw something."  he said back to Firin.  Firin sighed but followed his friend on his hunch.  The blaster had been right before so why not now?  The two kept running until they found another body.  This one was well intact, save for a blaster wound to the head.  It wasn't from the earlier group, though.  Firin was about to examine it further when movement caught his eye to Preliat's left.  Before he had to warn his friend, the small Mandalorian jumped to the right, dodging the insect like creature's scythe.  Preliat whirled to face it and sent several shots into its face while Firin pummeled it from his direction.  The creature fell on the ground and died, but the sound attracted foot steps.  A group of mercs came in and looked at the two Mandalorians, the dead insect and then their dead comrade.  Rather than ask questions, they drew their blasters to kill the supposed murderers.  Sensing no time to try and explain, Preliat jumped up, twisting as he did so and kicked two of the mercs hard in the face.  They both went down and the other charged Firin with a vibroblade.  Firin caught the man by the arm and ejected his vibro-shiv into the man's abdomen and wrenched it upward.  The last man standing dropped his weapon and held his hands up in surrender, knowing he couldn't have taken the two Mandos on his own when together with three others he couldn't have.  Preliat and Firin picked up the weapons and said nothing more, leaving the man where he was until his two friends awoke to carry the dead one out.  If they had even that much honor.  They continued on, ignoring the screams they heard around them elsewhere.  They'd already killed their monster.  The rest of them could do it themselves.

There seemed to be no end to the darkness, and neither of them had planned on being stuck in a cave for longer than two days, but there they were.  They had made it to a dead end, crossing a bottomless chasm and fighting off a group of those stupid bugs, just to get there and now all they saw was a wall.  The wall was well crafted, but had no way of being opened, moved around and cast aside short of bringing the whole cave down on top of them.  Preliat and Firin were about to try another way when the first group, the group they had almost fought with finally made it.  They glared at the Mandalorians who bored no scars, scrapes or signs of fighting, where the three of them left were scraped, cut and bruised every which way.
"You... you're the ones who sent those things after us as a distraction, werentt you?"  the leader demanded.  "You lead them to us, you filthy bastards."
"If by lead them to you, you mean we didn't intercept them for you out of our own self preservation, then yes."  Firin said.  "Yes, we did do that."
"Enough games!"  the man yelled.  He raised his repeating blaster at the two Mandalorians, but as always Preliat had seen it coming.  He rushed the man and punched him in the chest, sending him stumbling back a few feet and just inches away from the chasm.  Preliat grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head and pointed Tracin at one of his partners with his free hand.
"You aren't a very nice man, are you?"  Preliat asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Go space yourself."  The man said and spat on Preliat's visor.
"Oh..." he replied and let go of the man.  A cry of terror rang through the cave as the man fell and fell and fell.
"You son of a-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence."  Firin said, his hand against a gauntlet, ready to hose the man with flame should the need arise.  The man took the hint and set his blaster down.  The other man did so as well.  "Now, why don't you two disappear?  Like right now, right now."  The two looked at him but didn't move.
"If we go back through, we're dead for sure."  One said.
"And if you stay, you're dead for sure...er."  Preliat replied.  "It's really up to you."  Anger swelled in both men and they split up and rushed the two Mandalorians.  The one rushing Firin was ash by the end of the night and Preliat simply shot the man attacking him.  The man clutched his side and tried to grab at his weapon, but Preliat kicked it into the chasm.  Before he had the chance to finish the man off, a rumbling sound was heard, dust and debris falling from the ceiling because of it.
"What the hell is that?" Firin exclaimed, turning towards the wall.  A seem had come open and the wall opened up just wide enough for about three men to walk through side by side.  Preliat holstered his blaster and followed Firin inside, leaving the man alone and wounded in the cave.  Perhaps that would teach him better than just dying, Firin thought.  The two looked around at the dimly lit halls of the tomb like place they were in.
"I've got a bad feeling about this."  Preliat said.  A sound caught their attention from the corner and both of them trained their weapons on the Rodian from earlier, who was sitting in a dark corner, trying to suture a wound closed.
"Ah, I knew you two would make it through." he said, wrapping a cloth around it.  "You Mandos sure know how to kill or be killed."  It wasn't meant to be an insult and the two knew it, so they went to help the injured Rodian.
"You must be pretty gettse to make it here alone."  Firin said.  "You got a name?"
"Hantar Jorac, of the Adebsu Clan." he said, holding a blood spattered hand out.
"Firin Eithenst and Preliat Militis, of our own clans."  Firin replied.  Preliat nodded and helped the Rodian up, with Firin.  Preliat looked at Vul and nodded and then turned just as the woman from before walked around it, dressed a little more like she was ready to fend off disgruntled mercenaries looking for payback, with four security droids tailing her.
"Ah, so these are my new hunters."  the woman said with a smile.  She looked at each of them, the Rodian with little interest, Firin with a nod of approval and then at Preliat as though she was trying to figure him out and not succeeding.  "Well then, first let me congratulate you and take you to the med center."
"Is there food there?"  Preliat asked, sheepishly.  "I could go for a slice of uj right about now."
"Not now, Prel'ika."  Firin said.  "Besides, Jorac is still hurt."
"I meant after we help him."
"There is plenty of medicine and food for you all."  the woman said.  "I need my warriors in tip top shape if I'm to expect the best out of you, right?"  The three of them looked at one another and shrugged.  Ity sounded rhetorical, but at the same time she looked like she was expecting an answer.  "Well then, come on."
"I hate difficult clients..."  Preliat muttered.  "What do we call you then, miss?  It won't be master, though, I'll tell you that much."  The woman laughed and turned her head to the small Mandalorian.
"Seren Epsilon."