Bottled Fury<\/strong>.\u201d Shae\u2019s the best but sometimes needs a little help to get the job done\u2026<\/div><\/div>\nBottled Fury<\/h2>\n
Mek-Sha was a cold rock in a hard place.<\/p>\n
Carved out of the stone skin of an asteroid, this frontier mining town would never be as refined and polished as the ore it exported. Home to fortune seekers, criminals, and anyone else looking to hide from their past, it was run by an uneasy collaboration of factions, each grasping for the throat of the other. Shae Vizla was right at home.<\/p>\n
Long before she was leader of the Mandalorians, Shae had been one of the greatest bounty hunters in the galaxy. She still preferred the thrill of the chase to keeping the peace between clans, planning tactics, and reviewing intelligence reports. She was hunting Heta Kol, a renegade Mandalorian who had recently ambushed her prized ship, the\u00a0Spirit of Vengeance II<\/i>. Heta vanished after the attack \u2013 but she had help, and help was easier to track down.<\/p>\n
On one side of the street, the buildings rose several stories into the artificial sky. On the other, the glint of shielding against the black void of space. Life on a knife\u2019s edge. Shae glanced around; no sign of a welcoming committee from Indigo. He must be hiding. Indigo led the mercenary group Dar\u2019manda, one of the ruling gangs that controlled the dusty streets of Mek-Sha. No armed reception meant no firefight \u2013 not yet anyway. Shae could be quiet when she needed to be; silent and quick as a predator in tall grass.<\/p>\n
Unlike many she hunted, Indigo would stay put. Everyone in this part of town worked for him, one way or another. This made learning his location tricky. There was an art to getting what you needed from people on the fringe of civilization; you push too hard, and you get nothing but blaster fire.<\/p>\n
The few people she saw on the street were studiously not looking at her. Regular people wanting to avoid notice, she thought. The more she walked however, the more she saw past the first impression. Shae caught the eye of a young woman pushing a dolly of boxes. It wasn\u2019t just fear \u2013 she expected fear. She was Mandalore the Avenger, leader of the most dangerous warriors ever known. Her days of being anonymous were long gone. No, she saw anger. Like a hissed argument and a splash of blood behind a closed door. Whatever was simmering here started long before she arrived.<\/p>\n
The squeak of the rotating sign caught her attention: \u201cTivoli\u2019s Cantina.\u201d She\u2019d start there.<\/p>\n
The double doors opened into a grimy, smoke-filled den lined with a mix of aimless drifters, local toughs, and weary patrons looking to wash away the day. As a bounty hunter, Shae knew how to walk among those who lived on scant credits and dread. Her hand twitched near the blaster that hung at her belt. Her old senses were waking back up and the world sharpened into focus.
\nHer stroll to the counter was slow and heavy as her gaze swept the large room. She marked two tables of patrons; full drinks, no cards and sitting on the edge of their seats, ready to move. The young bartender kept glancing just below his bar as he washed a glass, his hands not quite as steady as they should be. A stashed weapon was not far. Things were about to get noisy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll get a drink first, if you don\u2019t mind,\u201d she said, setting her helmet down on the counter.<\/p>\n
The bartender blinked a few times. \u201cWhat?\u201d he asked, his eyes shifting around the room. He started to sweat.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrab that bottle of Fury.\u201d She nodded to one just behind the bartender. The bartender slowly reached for the bottle. \u201cThat\u2019s it. Now stop messing with the glass and pour something into it.\u201d He set it on the counter within arm\u2019s reach. The drink was strong stuff, known for starting fights.<\/p>\n
She could hear chairs being dragged across the rust-streaked floor behind her and people clearing out. \u201cNow move back.\u201d The bartender stepped back. She leaned over and felt around under the bar until she found the weapon. Two-shot scattergun. With her other hand she grabbed the tall, red bottle by the neck.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndigo has nothing to say to you, Vizla,\u201d someone behind her said. \u201cYou best leave before there\u2019s trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without turning around, Shae poured herself a drink. She took a quick swig \u2013 Fury was harsh and terrible \u2013 before slipping her helmet back into place. She motioned for the bartender to duck down behind the bar. \u201cTrouble. Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shae spun and tossed the bottle into the middle of the room, blasting it with the scattergun. No aim required. A spray of hard liquor coated a wide area across the room. Shae silenced the cries of dismay with a jet of flame from her wrist as bright as the copper hair under her helmet. The flame retreated to the length of a welding torch, and she leveled it close to the dripping mess. The other noteworthy thing about Fury: it was\u00a0very<\/i>\u00a0flammable.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d she said. The patron lifted his hand away from his blaster. Everything was bathed in the small flickering orange light like the sunrise that never arrived here. Shae glanced at a table of miners with their hands up. \u201cOut.\u201d They didn\u2019t understand at first. \u201cOut. Now!\u201d she repeated.<\/p>\n
Why was she wasting her time with these idiots? To the other table of patrons in the wrong place at the wrong time: \u201cYou too, go.\u201d With some tipping of chairs and a few grateful mumbles, they bumped and stumbled out through the doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me where Indigo is, and\u00a0everyone<\/i>\u00a0gets to leave.\u201d A new jet of flame arched up and licked the hanging light above her. Sparks and puffs of smoke curled along its grimy surface.<\/p>\n
The room gritted its teeth.<\/p>\n
Eyes locked on Shae for several heartbeats.<\/p>\n
With a bang, two men in worn overalls pushed their way through the double doors, looking for a drink. The room pounced.<\/p>\n
Shae\u2019s blaster appeared in her hand as she shouted a warning. She shot two pistols, still in their holsters, and blasted a hand holding a jagged blade while most still groped for their weapons.<\/p>\n
The first move was hers, but now it was their turn. A barrage of blaster fire started pinging off her beskar armor, pushing her a half step back against the bar. Mandalorian steel had saved her life dozens of times, and today it bought her a moment to roll over the bar behind some cover. Give enough bogworms loaded weapons, and one of them might get lucky and hit something.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaar\u2019chaak!\u201d she swore.<\/p>\n
Weapon fire was turning bottles into bombs. Glass, alcohol, and metal shrapnel fireworks lit up the room. Flames were beginning to spread up the walls and over the counter. She needed more information, but this place was finished. It wasn\u2019t so long ago that making her point with destruction would have been her first choice. The young bartender squirmed in the chaos, curled in a ball, trying to protect his head. Another bottle exploded above him.<\/p>\n
Spying a sign to her left that read \u201cSTORAGE,\u201d she put an arm around the bartender and sparked her jetpack, throwing them both through the door. A risky move if it led to a dead end, but there was no choice. She collided with a stack of crates, protecting the bartender from the worst of it.<\/p>\n
The storeroom was dark, except for a rectangle of dim light peeking out from behind a shelf of cleaning equipment. A way out. She tossed the shelf aside with one hand, her grip on the bartender tightening in the other. She jumped, sparking her jetpack once more and bursting through the window, out into the cold air. Without looking back, she rocketed up into the sky with a screaming passenger in tow. Behind her, the room was engulfed in blaster fire and rage. Tivoli\u2019s Cantina had served its last drink.<\/p>\n
Shae circled back and cut her jetpack, landing three floors up a towering building. She hid behind a purple and red sign advertising a pawn shop. Her shoulder ached from where a blaster bolt singed her armor\u2019s undersuit.\u00a0Bogworms<\/i>. The ex-bartender took an unsteady step and threw up. She almost forgot she\u2019d grabbed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll get out of here,\u201d she said, rolling her shoulders. She stepped to the edge. \u201cStay here for now, keep your head down.\u201d People were gathering outside the cantina. The fire had grown, and smoke was pouring out of the windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait! You saved those folks – \u201c he stammered. \u201cAnd me. I didn\u2019t expect that.\u201d He wiped his hands on his pants. \u201cI couldn\u2019t draw on you like I was told. I mean, everybody\u2019s got a blaster tucked away\u2026 but I couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSmart.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took a few deep breaths. \u201cIndigo told us you were coming.\u201d His hands were shaking as he pushed his hair back. \u201cSaid to turn you in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHuttbreaker allows this?\u201d Shae couldn\u2019t imagine the unofficial queen of Mek-Sha wanted trouble with the Mandalorians. Huttbreaker generally stayed out of gang squabbles as long everyone kept it quiet. Less problems meant more credits all around.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re fighting. I don\u2019t know why. Huttbreaker took away some of Indigo\u2019s trade privileges. He\u2019s been bleeding us dry to make up the credits. Things are bad.\u201d He hesitated a few seconds before continuing. \u201cHe must have done something.\u201d Shae pictured the dead and wounded aboard her flagship. Indigo wasn\u2019t there, but his people were. Dar\u2019manda had spilled Mandalorian blood.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ex-bartender stood up, his hands gripping the welded steel support. \u201cYou here to take his place?\u201d<\/p>\n
The crowd outside the cantina was getting loud. Indigo\u2019s people had arrived and were pushing them back, yelling orders.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d She stepped up to the edge of the rooftop. \u201cRevenge,\u201d she said and dropped out of sight.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long for the streets to fill up with people as the fire spread. The crowd was getting ugly. Indigo\u2019s people encouraged obedience with a few well-placed rifle butts to the chest. It was a perfect cover for her.<\/p>\n
Shae opened a device at her wrist. She had taken it off a particularly sleazy target on Nar Shaddaa who was spying on the wrong people and won a chance to meet her. It tracked local comm signals. With the trouble at the cantina, she guessed Indigo would be getting all sorts of chatter. Filtering out the static, the remaining blinking orange dot gave her a likely destination for that chatter. She clicked the device shut. Time to move; no jetpacks this time. Silent and quick.<\/p>\n
She watched the streets as she slipped her way over the rooftops and around signs closer to the orange dot. Groups of Indigo\u2019s troops were on the move. They weren\u2019t gentle with the people they found. She heard shots and wasn\u2019t sure which group they were coming from. New fires lit up dark corners. Lone shouts grew, multiplied, and merged into the howl of a mob.<\/p>\n
The orange dot started to blink. She had a location. Just below was a heavy blast door under an unlit awning, pressed between bright, blinking ads. Indigo had picked a good hiding spot. There were a few windows too small to crawl through (or blast out of) and others shut with welded durasteel. No obvious way in except the front door. A fortress. She leaned back against the wall of her perch a few stories up and took her helmet off to wipe away the sweat. Fires a block over were close enough she felt the heat. Indigo wasn\u2019t coming out of hiding without some very tempting bait. The shouts and gunfire felt closer.<\/p>\n
She had an idea. A bad idea.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
The micro-missiles from her shoulder made a lot of noise upon impact but the door remained intact.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnock-knock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shae stood in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n
A heavy clank followed by the slow squeal of unoiled metal. The door slowly slid open.<\/p>\n
Indigo\u2019s armor had changed since she saw him last. Polished. A few more unnecessary embellishments. Credits looked good on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShae Vizla.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSharp as ever, Indigo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had nothing to do with that attack on the\u00a0Spirit of Vengeance<\/i>. Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWord is Huttbreaker doesn\u2019t agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was just looking for an excuse to come at me. We had a disagreement about how things should run here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indigo\u2019s people were filing out from behind him. Armed, armored, and waiting for the go ahead to cut Shae down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou love credits more than honor.\u201d Indigo bristled at Shae\u2019s words. \u201cBottom line is, Dar\u2019manda soldiers were paid to board my ship and attack my people. Explain that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve been out too long, maybe you didn\u2019t hear. Dar\u2019manda is big now. Crews have their own territories, different objectives.\u201d A few shouts and gunfire a block away turned the heads of his people. A haze was forming and the smell of burning oil and melting plastic was clear even through her filters.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a piece of it.\u201d She leveled her pistol at him. Several rifles were raised in response.<\/p>\n
Through the smoke, Shae counted five. She guessed another half dozen that she couldn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrop it.\u201d Indigo said, raising his rifle at her. If someone knew what they were doing, the chance of missing her at this range was remote. Shae raised her hands, one still clasped around her blaster. \u201cI said drop it, Shae, or this gets bloody.\u201d She dropped the blaster.<\/p>\n
Indigo knew what he was doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe moves, kill her.\u201d Indigo swaggered up to Shae. His shiny and expensive rifle casually looped over his shoulder once again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas this your plan?\u201d He chuckled. \u201cYou come here, ask some questions, and leave?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt worked before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve lost a step after all this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d This all would have been so different not too long ago. A barely controlled chaos that she walked away from when she got what she came for. Shae looked past Indigo to the line of his soldiers. Bad idea or not, she was committed. \u201cHumor me: who put Dar\u2019manda and Heta\u2019s group in the same room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want those to be your last words?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCall it a last request.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust so you know, Vizla, I\u2019ve scrambled the comms. I can put you down and deny everything. Why would I give you the name of my guy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you\u00a0do<\/i>\u00a0have a guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. He came to me first,\u201d he bragged. Indigo couldn\u2019t help himself. \u201cHeta Kol and her crazy cult were paying very well.\u201d He sighed. \u201cCouldn\u2019t do it. I\u2019ve got a good thing here. I didn\u2019t need to mess with the real Mandalorians.\u201d<\/p>\n
He knew<\/i>. Her lips curled back in rage. Not just the broker who signed up the mercenaries, he knew enough about the job to want to steer clear. The veneer of civilization disappeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou worm.\u201d The frost in her voice could have extinguished the fires for blocks.<\/p>\n
Though he had his rifle out, though his people had their weapons ready, it didn\u2019t matter. Twin palm blasters appeared in her hands and the two men on either side of Indigo sprouted blood and smoke with a bang. The shock didn\u2019t last a heartbeat as Shae kicked Indigo in the chest, sending him teetering backwards. She dove behind a parked speeder as a volley of return fire erupted.<\/p>\n
Indigo was coughing hard, pushing people in front of him as he staggered back.<\/p>\n
An orange streak and explosion knocked Indigo and his remaining people to the street. The shockwave shattered every window along the block. A moment of silence before groans and curses filled the air, they slowly began to regain their feet as dust swirled. Everyone heard the familiar click of rifles, slug-throwers, and blasters being readied through the painful ringing.<\/p>\n
\u201cFreeze!\u201d<\/p>\n
Shae was wrong. She had figured she saw five people and guessed maybe another half-dozen she couldn\u2019t see on the rooftops. The reality was five plus another twenty, maybe thirty. She guessed none of them were happy with Indigo. The guy who fired the explosive was awkwardly reloading. She put her hands up. Enthusiasm and nerves made for heavy trigger fingers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut your weapons down!\u201d It was the ex-bartender. \u201cIndigo\u2026? You\u2026 you tell \u2018em to put them down.\u201d His voice didn\u2019t crack. Good kid. Shae never caught his name.<\/p>\n
Indigo started to speak; somebody blasted a hole next to his feet. More cursing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou better do what he says,\u201d Shae said, her hands still up. \u201cSomeone might get lucky and hit you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indigo looked over the rows of people with loaded weapons aimed at him. Miners, technicians, merchants, buyers, and all manner of regular people. His anger ebbing into dangerous calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, okay, everybody relax.\u201d He nodded to his people. \u201cGuns down. We\u2019ll work this out.\u201d He set his shiny rifle down and his people carefully followed. \u201cHappy?\u201d<\/p>\n
The ex-bartender looked at Shae. She nodded. Maybe it wasn\u2019t such a bad idea to ask him if he had some pals who had a problem with Indigo.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, okay, we\u2019re happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning it pays to make friends, Indigo.\u201d Shae made a show of dusting herself off. \u201cNow, the only reason I didn\u2019t shoot you is because I need the name of that broker. Who got Heta her army?\u201d The two men she\u2019d shot bled and writhed on the street.<\/p>\n
Indigo looked at the guns pointed in his direction. The smoke had thickened, and the fires were closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cGauss. The broker\u2019s name is Gauss.\u201d He motioned to take a step closer, but Shae\u2019s palm pistols appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re never going to find him!\u201d he spat.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody hides from me for long.\u201d Shae picked up her dropped blaster and jammed it into its holster.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou put these people up to this, Shae. I promise you, someone will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shae picked up Indigo\u2019s expensive rifle, inspected it, and slung it over her shoulder.<\/p>\n
A dry, slithering voice was heard. \u201cYes, someone\u00a0will<\/i>\u00a0pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
A reptilian figure was silhouetted in the rising flames. Two cold, blue-green eyes took in the chaotic scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuttbreaker,\u201d Shae said. The final word in Mek-Sha had arrived to sort this out herself. Impressive.<\/p>\n
There was a ripple of unease among the rioters with weapons. Huttbreaker raised her hand. Immediate silence. She stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndigo, we will talk of Dar\u2019manda. We will talk of peace in my streets, of trouble you brought, and the cost you will bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indigo started to protest. Huttbreaker glared him still.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll leave you to it,\u201d Shae said, turning to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you, Mandalore the Avenger,\u201d Huttbreaker\u2019s eyes blazed. Shae stopped. \u201cI thank you for the leverage over this one \u2013\u201c She pointed to Indigo. \u201c\u2026but grace my streets with fire again, and he will have his revenge. Clear?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClear.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ex-bartender was at the edge of the crowd. She nodded, and he smiled in return. Shae started for her ship.<\/p>\n
Heta, I\u2019m coming for you.<\/i><\/p>\n
Silent and quick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new short story has been released for Star Wars: The Old Republic! This Short Story takes place after the Spirit of Vengeance flashpoint, and revolves around the characters Shae…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-lore-short-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swtorista.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}