Bad Blood

Chapter 10 - Take a Lesson from Achilles

Boba stared aggressively through his rangefinder. He was lying on a ledge on a glacier that loomed over the harbour of the island, tracking his target. It was a welcome distraction from all the thoughts swirling around his head, most of them about Astéri.

Nero Taskelli was standing on the dockside, talking animatedly to a large, hulking man that was looming next to him. The target hadn't noticed that he was being watched yet, but it was only a matter of time.

As Boba peered down, a warehouse door opened and a large gang of mercenaries and thugs marched out, forming a protective circle around Taskelli. There were far too many for Boba to take on alone, even though he was - well - Boba Fett.

Sighing, Boba sat up on his ledge. He would need all the help he could get if he wanted a shot at Taskelli. He knew who he needed to ask, he just wasn't sure if he wanted to.

Astéri was still sat on the bed, looking incredibly bored, when Boba strode in. Looking up, she squinted into the light spilling through the open door. "Something wrong?"

"Come with me," Boba said. "I need to show you something, and I need your opinion."

Astéri hopped off the bed, straightening the cuffs of her bodysuit. "My opinion? Seriously?"

Boba was already halfway out of the door, but he peered over his shoulder. "Yes."

"Ok... wow. It must be serious, then." Astéri said from behind him. "What do you need?"

The trek to the glacier wasn't far, but it was steep and slippy. Astéri had to scrabble for grip several times and would've fallen if Boba hadn't caught her. He himself had a hard time of it; his armour was heavy and wasn't easy to climb in. Boba would've used his jetpack to reach his vantage point, but he had to get Astéri up there and he wasn't sure that she would appreciate being scooped up and carried like a sack of flour.

After several minutes of slipping and cursing, the two Mandalorians reached the ledge. Gesturing for his friend to do the same, Boba crouched down out of sight and peeked over the edge.

"What do you see?"

From the corner of his eye, Boba could see that Astéri had gone into lookout mode. "I see the docks. Several entrance points and good places to hide, but mostly out in the open. What's the deal?"

Boba leaned over so that Astéri could see through his rangefinder, her shoulder warm as it pressed against his. Pointing out Nero Taskelli, he asked again. "What if I told you that he's my target? What then?"

"Ah." Astéri winced. "I see your problem. That must be at least forty mercenaries he has with him, maybe fifty. That's not going to be easy."

Boba weighed up his options, then turned to the girl next to him. "Hypothetically speaking, how many of those do you think you could take down?"

Astéri twisted on her stomach so that she was facing him and somehow managed to look him in the eyes, straight through his visor. "All of them."

Raising an eyebrow, Boba turned back to look at the docks below him. There really were a lot of mercenaries. Normally, this would be no problem, but he had specifically been requested to take his target alive, no disintegrations. It would be difficult to fight his way through the hordes and keep his bounty alive at the same time.

Sighing, Boba accepted the inevitable. He would need help.

"I want to make a deal." He almost regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He had a nasty feeling that the day was going to end badly for him.