“Look at me when I'm talking to you.”
The crumpled form of the shooter shifted. Two eyes looked up from the disheveled heap, catching the light of the flickering flames.
“Better,” said the duros. He tilted the knife in his hand towards the human. Eyes widened at the crimson stains down the blade. Outside people were now battling the flames. It was a risk coming over to Felchi tower - the sixth of ten that made up Xian’tin city - whilst it burned, but Kello wanted to see this for himself.
“As you and your friend didn't have the good grace to die it falls upon you both to inform me who paid you to come here and cause trouble,” Kello said. His voice was barely a whisper. He tilted the blade towards another human propped against a pillar. Her hair fell over her face such that it wasn't even clear if she was still alive. These rooms were more blast mark than paint and several other bodies littered the floor.
The firefight hadn't lasted long. The first shot had come within inches of Kello's head but after that his people had rallied and quickly dealt with the shooters. They'd used far more force than was necessary but he would get Galdo to smooth things over with the Governor in the morning.
“Now she already told me who paid for the hit. Just one more question for you. The trandoshan, nautolan and human. Are they with you?” Kello didn't threaten, he just asked the question whilst holding a knife as the building burned around them. That strange trio had been seen fleeing the building and when check their rooms had been set out for observation. He needed to know if they had just been spotting for this low rent bounty hunting team or if he had larger problems. Like a government agency watching them again.
“Time’s running out, you want to burn to death?” Now the threat then.
“No...I don't know who you're talking...about…”
Kello knew when people were lying. “Good.” He placed one hand on the human’s shoulder and brought the knife closer despite the mumbled protests. He placed the tip of the blade just beneath the sternum and slid the blade home. The bounty hunter gave one final shudder and sigh.
Kello stood up and wiped the blade clean on the bounty hunters jacket. He briefly considered the problem. The towers had formed organically with no sensible layout. Their operation was small here, designed to stay out of sight. Ten men wouldn't find the trio easily.
“Watch the bridges for those three. Tell me brother he needs to wake up the Governor and inform him we have dangerous criminals on the run. And not the ones paying his bills.”
The flames rose high above the squat prefabricated barracks. They'd knocked down a patch of anselmi buildings and then dropped the hideous thing off from a gunship. Xin kept himself pressed the the ground. Three silhouettes appeared against the flames and he raised his head.
“Xin!” One of the group hissed.
As the dark shapes approached the white swarm started to appeared from the barracks. He could hear them barking out orders in their modulated voices.
“Kellhom...Czellis?” Xin asked as he jumped up. He could see that their plan hadn't worked. The explosives should have collapsed half the building. Debris had been thrown in all directions and the flames raged, but the structure was still intact.
“Go, go!”
Xin stood and fled into the city. A red bolt lanced past the group. None of them was older than seventeen. Their clothing made them looked like they were part of the numerous homeless nautolans that now inhabited the occupied land and ocean cities.
“Czellis?” He repeated more urgently.
Syllen shook his head. “They shot her. We didn't see what happens to Kellhom.”
There was a gunship over them now. A bright beam cutting through the billowing smoke to sweep the streets.
“Scatter and go to ground! Meeting place Dorn in two days!”
The shouting, the low clouds uplit in a dull ochre, it reminded him of the time he'd run with a bunch of hot-headed young nautolans during the One Sith occupation. It hadn't lasted long. A few ineffectual bombings of sith buildings and he'd been caught with parts. Yulon's crew had busted him out in transit and he'd worked for them until another Sith Empire arrested him. Xin had been young and angry.
It had been the last time he'd attached himself to any particular cause. Organisations seemed to come and go at an ever increasing pace in this galaxy. Following any of them seemed to be folly. The refugee fleet became bigger by the day
As they ran down two guards ran back up. They wore passed vests in the same shade of crimson the towers were painted in and carried staffs. Xin thought this low technology culture was rather backwards. Likely why the two duros criminals had moved in to stay under the radar. The pair brushed past the group without a word.
He hoped there was a boat down there. If they got close enough to the waves he could jump. But the waters were choppy and cold and the chances of the other two making it to the next tower with the strength to climb the rocks seemed low.
