3 B.B.Y. – Nickel Seven (Roche Asteroid Belt)
***
“You won’t get away with this!”
Lyonel Merrillion and his companion Kroe’Draba’Gechi cornered the cowering Verpine as he frantically glanced to and fro for any sign of an exit.
“That’s our line,” Kroe said pointing his blaster straight at the insectoid’s chest. The spindly, green creature attempted to climb up the rocky cave wall behind him, to no avail.
Lyonel tried to calm their target down. “We hate to do this, Petryal…”
“No we don’t,” Kroe smiled, cutting his partner off and taking an aggressive step forward.
Lyonel glared at Kroe for a moment, who just shrugged with indifference, and Petryal nervously glanced between the two.
“Okay, yeah. I made some poor life choices. But I can change,” the Verpine pleaded, trying to take a slow step towards them.
“Back up there, pal,” Kroe said, tightening his grip on the trigger, “it’s a little too late to make any life changes now.”
Lyonel lowered his blaster and stood straight up, looking directly into the Verpine’s bulbous, compound eyes. “We do not know what fate awaits you when we bring you back, but I’ve heard the Verpine take these murder charges very seriously, so it will most likely not be pleasant.”
The Verpine stuck his arms out in defense, “I’m telling you guys, it was self defense. She was crazy and attacked me. I was the victim.”
Lyonel shook his head and raised his blaster again, “You may not have known this, but there were, in fact, multiple witnesses up on the rooftop above where the crime took place. They all testified that she was holding one of her children when you jumped her and stabbed her to death, leaving the child alone on the streets.”
Lyonel knew their next course of action rode entirely upon his response to this revelation. Of course, it was completely fabricated. One of the oldest cliches in the book if he were being honest. The only eye witness’s story was questionable at best. Fortunately, Verpine were not the most intelligent beings in the galaxy, and Lyonel knew it.
Petryal looked down at his feet and sighed, “well shoot. Wish I had known that sooner.”
He began making a loud clicking noise with his mandibles while starting to laugh, unhinged. “I was so close to getting away. So close to justifying that ungrateful witch’s death. I know I checked those surrounding rooftops, they would have had to sneak up there incredibly fast, unless…”
“Unless what? Unless I lied,” Lyonel grinned, revealing his large canine teeth. This was always the satisfying part. “Petryal, you are coming with us one way or another.”
“You womp rat, I’m not going to let you take me alive! I’m going to-“
Kroe pumped a blaster bolt straight into the Verpine’s stomach. “Fine with me.”
The Verpine fell on all fours, putting his segmented hand up to his stomach and looking down at the green blood oozing from his body. “You shot me?!”
Lyonel and Kroe’s third team member, Muroi Von, burst into the cave. “The ship’s ready to go.” He glanced down at the Verpine and then at his two companions, “aww man, I missed all the fun again.”
‘Kroe hoisted his large blaster up onto his shoulder and patted the Shistavanen on the head as he walked out of the rocky tunnel, “you’ll get em next time, boy.”
Lyonel reached down and picked up the Verpine, who was still very much alive but had passed out from the pain. Their internal organs were not arranged like most living creatures, as they were just enormous, sentient insects. So as long as they bandaged him up on the ship, he should still be alive when they deliver him to the murder victim’s husband.
As he and Muroi exited the cave, the wolfman turned to look at Lyonel questioningly. “Not that I care all too much, seeing as we’re being paid either way, but are you sure he’s actually the guilty party? I know there were definitely some discrepancies with the client and the charges before we left.”
Lyonel nodded his head, “he is. I got him to confess quite easily. He is not the smartest insect I have ever met.”
“How did you pull that of?” Muroi asked.
The white Togorian just smiled and shook his head, “I have my ways.”
Lyonel prided himself on his ability to stay a few steps ahead of his prey. That, combined with his overall muscular physique, culminated in what many assumed to be the ultimate predator.
Lyonel did not see it quite that way, as he knew he still had a few select weaknesses. But between his ingenuity and Kroe’s mercilessness, they were an unstoppable force.
They were definitely regarded as one of the greatest mercenary teams in the sector, and they had only become more popular since they had become mobile, thanks to the addition of Muroi Von’s ship.
As they boarded Muroi’s old Paleon-class light freighter, the Pride of the Underworld, Lyonel placed the Verpine’s body down onto his bed.
“I’ll get him bandaged up,” he told the others, “get us over to the asteroid Nickel One to meet with our client. If we wait too long, this one might really die.”
He saw a glimmer in Kroe’s eye, and knew that it would be a best case scenario for the Drabatan. What had happened in Kroe’s past had made him a remorseless gunman, but Lyonel knew he did have a soft side hidden down there somewhere. It just wasn’t present at this very moment, or most moments for that matter.
He also knew he was probably Kroe’s only friend. However, Kroe would never admit that. He tended to avoid any sort of deep or serious subjects, and instead kept to himself, unless they were talking about weapons or bounties of course.
Still, Muroi tried to get him to talk fairly often, which was why Lyonel assumed Kroe had such a disdain for the wolfman. In the short time the two had been working with Muroi Von, Lyonel had grown fairly fond of the man, even if he was always caught up in some sort of shady business deal. They all had their pasts, he supposed. And as long as they were able to use his ship, he was a welcomed member of the team.
He tightened the gauze he had wrapped tightly around the insectoid, who simply moaned in pain. Lyonel could not tell if he was truly unconscious, or just in too much pain to move. But either way, he would keep an eye on him until they reached their destination. He was sure someone like Petryal would not hesitate to jump them and take their ship if he was given the chance.
“You know, if we installed a Carbonite compressor on the Pride, we could just freeze the guys and you wouldn’t always have to keep an eye on them?” Kroe said, looking in at their injured prisoner.
Lyonel felt the ship rattle as Muroi steered them through the dense asteroid field. “It’s no problem. More often than not you just kill our quarry, so it wouldn’t be of much use anyway. This is just a special occasion.”
“Hey, I kill them so we don’t have to put in any extra time and effort into baby sitting them later on. There’s no fun in watching over someone who should be dead. It’s called justice.”
Lyonel shook his furry, maned head, “I think the enjoyment comes from seeing the clients get the justice they deserve. We have no stake in this, so they’re the ones who should oversee the target’s punishment. It’s only fair.”
The ship rocked again and Kroe just sighed, “we’re going to just have to agree to disagree. But if he starts to die before we get there, come grab me, and I will gladly put him out of his misery.”
“Actually, fellas, we’re already here,” Muroi said from behind Kroe.
“That was fast?” The Drabatan said in confusion, and Lyonel began to pick the Verpine up off the bed, “are you actually getting good at flying this rust bucket?”
“Yeah,” Muroi faintly laughed, “with an asteroid belt like this, everything’s always moving around. Luckily, Nickel One just happened to be passing by, so it only took us a few minutes to navigate to it. I contacted the client and he’s going to be waiting for us when we land.”
The Pride of the Underworld came to a complete stop, and it’s rear bay door lowered to the ground.
Another Verpine was standing there, waiting for them as they descended down onto the near desolate, rocky asteroid.
He began to make angry clicking noises and jumped up and down, “That’s him! That’s Petryal! You killed my wife you scumbag!”
Lyonel looked from the Verpine on his shoulder to their client, and even with his keen eye sight and intellect, he could barely distinguish between the two creatures.
“What do you want us to do with him?” Kroe asked, pointing a thumb back at Lyonel and Petryal.
Their Verpine client patted a small, empty, levitating ore crate hovering beside him. “Just place him in here. My children and I will find a way to dispose of him.”
Lyonel tossed the injured Verpine into the crate, and the client’s clicking noises became softer and calmer. “Thank you so much,” he said shaking each of their hands and handing Muroi a pile of credits. “We are so lucky to have hunters like you in the Roche system.”
“It is our pleasure,” Lyonel said and they waved to the insectoid as he walked off, pulling the crate behind him.
“What do you think they’re gonna do to him?” Muroi asked.
“Don’t Verpine have like hundreds of kids? They’ll probably just eat him,” Kroe said jokingly, although Lyonel knew that might be a very real possibility.
“Well, what should we do next?” he said as they all stood outside of the ship.
“I’m getting kind of tired looking at the same face on every single Verpine. The only way we’re even able to find the ones we’re looking for is because of those fabs,” Kroe said.
Muroi cleared his throat and spoke up, “Actually, I think I have us a new client.”
“Oh really?” Lyonel asked him curiously.
“This better not be like the last time with those Arcona and all that salt… I’m still digging it out of my pants,” Kroe said, shaking his head and gagging in disgust.
“No, no, my friend,” Muroi said tapping his Holopad, “this is a legitimate business venture. It’s from another old friend on Glee Anslem.”
“May I ask what kind of job?” Lyonel inquired, rubbing his white beard.
The Shistavanen smiled, “absolutely!”
“We’re going on a treasure hunt.”
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