[center][h2]Elias and the Fool[/h2][/center]

The trip back to the [i]Eclipse[/i] wasn’t fantastically long, though it felt that way with the weight of the weequay on his shoulder. While there was no doubt most of it was muscle, the guy could also stand to cut back on his drinking and eat less whatever that other smell was the bastard had just burped up. And being honest, the Mandalorian could confirm that he had eaten way too much of it, because it almost overpowered the alcohol’s stench. If he hadn’t needed the bastard to find out who had hired them to kidnap Loretta, he probably would have just dumped the guy on the street and walked away. As it stood, the hanger his ship was landed in in sight, the smuggler was probably going to jet him out of the airlock when he was done asking questions of him.

[hr]

Kromm Vierd groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, the effects of what he assumed was a stun blast finally starting to wear off. The last thing he could remember before waking up was that blasted Mandalorian hitting the rooftop he’d been standing on with a rocket and the Weequay had been to slow to move. First came the hard floor of the hovel, then came several decently sized pieces of roof, one of which had caught him in the head.

That lead to a rather disturbing question then came into his mind, one he couldn’t help but speak out loud. “Hey guys, if we won, why did you blast me with a stun blast?” The shifting of an armored form drew his now open eyes to a section of the wall to his left, where the Mandalorian who’d made snatching their target so hard stood against the wall. 

[color=OrangeRed]”I see you’re finally awake.”[/color] There was a pause while the armored figure walked around to the front of the merc. [color=OrangeRed]”Good.”[/color] The sound of a door opening behind the Weequay was nothing more than a prelude as, without any other warning, all the air in the room was being sucked out, suffocating him. Moments before he passed back into unconsciousness, the door slid shut and the pressure in the room equalized. Kromm wheezed for a couple of minutes before speaking.

“What,” he gasped after the word, swallowing the air before continuing, “the hell was that for?!” An armored fist met with his head in response, knocking a tooth loose.

[color=OrangeRed]”Who hired you to come after Loretta Graeff and how did you know where she’d be?”[/color] Kromm spit out a glob of blood before answering, sneering at the Mandalorian.

“Well wouldn’t you like to know? What’s wrong, Mando, didn’t get paid before we took her away?” His lip earned him nothing at first, and he thought maybe he’d stunned the armored man into silence. That was until the sound of the airlock doors being opened again caught his attention. “Shi-” And the air was gone, sucked out into the vacuum of space. Once more, just as he was about to pass out, the doors slid shut again and he was gasping.

[color=OrangeRed]”See, that’s the problem with you mercenary types, think because there’s more of you, you’re invincible. And yet, it only took a droid and myself to decimate the twenty of you that attacked us. Now, you can either tell me who hired you and who told you where to find us, or we play the low oxygen game all day.”[/color] Silence reigned as the Weequay mercenary considered his options. On the one hand, he could just keep his mouth shut, and repeatedly find out what it’s like to nearly be sucked out into space, but he’d not have to worry about his buddies coming to find him later and finish what this Mando started.

And then on the other, he wasn’t sure he actually liked being on the edge of death every time he shot off his mouth or refused to give the Mandalorian what he wanted. Plus, death by blaster bolt is much preferable to death by space in his book, even if the people shooting him were formerly his mates. Sighing, he looks the Mandalorian in his visor. “Alright, alright, I’ll talk if you don’t open the airlock again.”

The armored person didn’t reply, he simply waited for the mercenary to continue. “We were approached by another merc group, looked former Imperial. They wanted us to nab Loretta Graeff and that was all they said. The pay was good, so we didn’t ask too many questions.”

[color=OrangeRed]”And how did you know where to find her? Was that the Imperials too or a set up of your own?”[/color]

“It was the Imperials, some officer lookin’ woman. Said they’d fed info there were artifacts of particular interest to her at Grakkus’s arena. All we had to do was wait.” The Weequay watched the Mando as he paced side to side, wondering what he was thinking. That was everything that Kromm knew, mainly because as a lower ranking member of his group, he wasn’t included in the arranging of the finer details like drop points, final deliveries or anything important like that. If the Mando let him go, he might be able to reach one of the armored man’s blaster pistols, turn it on him before making a break for the escape.

But then again, it was well known that there was a reason larger mercenary groups than his own let slights go when the risk of dealing with an entire Mandalorian clan was at risk, their lifestyle of growing up warriors usually trumping much of the best military training in the galaxy. But the potential alternative wasn’t great either. “Is...is that all you need? Cause it’s all I got, I swear. I don’t rank high enough to know anything more.” There was the barest hint of fear in the mercenary’s voice, especially since the Mando had been silent for far too long, simply kept pacing. However, after a moment, he stopped in front of the mercenary and drew a pistol, shooting off the restraints. [color=OrangeRed]”That’s all I need for my employer. Thank you for the help, Kromm.”[/color] The Weequay’s sigh of relief died in his throat as he saw the position the Mandalorian’s other hand was in.

[color=OrangeRed]”Oh, and thanks for the supplemental income.”[/color] The doors came open again and Kromm Vierd rushed out them, screaming.

“YOU BASTARD!” The doors slid shut and Elias stepped up to the viewport, taking a picture of the now deceased Weequay mercenary before storing the camera. He’d need the money that bounty was going to bring in if Koren was as pissed as the smuggler was sure he’d be. As he left the cargo hold and headed for the cockpit, he wondered just how Koren would take the news once more, hoping that his own knowledge of who’d arranged the kidnapping would be enough to sway Koren away from total fury.