"Fire Fight"
By: Hartigan
Background story part 3
Location: Arcadia, somewhere in an alley

***

Li hadn't seen Malak for some time, and some discreet questions confirmed that he was somewhere else. Well, the only thing she could do was wait, as she didn't know where he was. But then one evening he was back in the cantina. As she had seen that there were few people on the streets, she decided that now would be a good time to do a takedown.

So she went outside and placed a call to Hart, so he could help her. He was trained by CorSec after all, and had knowledge with weapons and takedowns, or at least should have.

Hart received the call and he was luckily close by. In a hotel that was maybe a block away from the cantina. He quickly rushed down the steps with his pistols holstered, and flagged down a cab driver and told him to drive to the cantina as fast as he could.

As soon he as he arrived he leapt from the speeder and rushed over to Liki. "Thanks, Li," he told her, grabbing her into a quick hug. "Now where is the son of a bitch?"

"He's inside this cantina," Li said, a bit surprised by the hug, "in about half an hour he'll come out and go to the palace. He will have to pass through a deserted alley where we can wait for him."

Hart nodded and slowly followed her into the ally where he kept his eyes open. He was impatient, he wanted to kill the Dug.

Malak finally left the cantina, he seemed to be alert, his ears were twitching as he gazed around.

"There he is," Hart whispered to Li. "That's the bastard. I'm taking him now." He got his feet and started to walk out of the alley, hand on his pistol butt.

"No, wait," Li said, putting her hand on his pistol hand, "two minutes longer, and we have much better chances. Don't spoil it now."

Hart growled but he finally returned back to the alley, his eyes were angry looking as he softly said, "Do you know how long I have been waiting to kill him? I can finally see him and there he is, right in front of me."

As if satisfied that everything was clear Malak started to walk towards the alley.

"No," Li said, taking her own blaster and putting it on stun, "but if it's that long, two more minutes are not going to make a difference. But they could mean success or failure."

Hart nodded and relaxed, he drew his blaster and did not move from the spot.

Malak finally drew closer and he stopped when he saw Hart had his blaster out. His yellow eyes also fell on Li.

"You must be Malak," Hart growled.

The Dug snorted. "Depends on who's asking." Both of his feet were reaching for his Scatter pistols.

"Do you remember this man?" Hart showed a holo to the Dug and Malak nodded slowly. "Well I'm his brother you piece of shit and now it's time for you to die!"

Malak drew one of his pistols and moved backwards as he squeezed the firing stud. One of the bolts grazed Hart's side and the human winced in pain.

"Damn," Li cursed, before she fired at Malak. Her first shot missed, as the Dug was very fast and managed to dodge out of the way.

The Dug pressed himself against the wall and asked the human female, "Why the hell are you involved in this? Did I kill some relative of yours to?"

Hearing how lightly Malak said that made Hart lose it. He squeezed off a shot and a piece of ferrocrete blew off of a wall near the Dug's head.

"I just get payed for this," Li said, before shooting again, "in fact, I'm in the same branch as you are." The more he talks, the better it is, she thought as she shot again.

"I find that hard to believe," he said, taking another shot, this time aiming for her leg, "you're too pretty to be a bounty hunter. In fact once I kill your boyfriend I plan on hitting you with a stun and from there sell you as a slave or perhaps keep you for myself."

Hart pulled out his second pistol and kept on firing in rapid succession. He wasn't going to let Malak get away. No way in hell.

"You can put that where the sun doesn't shine," Li said, dodging his shots and shooting back as fast as the blaster would go.

Malak placed one Scatter pistol on the ground and reached for his belt. He removed a grenade and tossed it. Within a few seconds it exploded and smoke went everywhere.

When it finally cleared Hart glanced around noticed that Malak was gone. He cursed and glanced down at his side, he was bleeding a little.

"C'mon," the Corellian said. "Let's get the hell outta here. The bastard's gone."

"Crap," Li said, "now we can start over again, and he'll be on his guard. You should have waited a bit longer, and shot him without first telling him who you are. Didn't they learn you anything at CorSec?"

Hart tried to control his anger. He walked over to her, his face mere inches from hers as he said, "What would you do if you found the killer of your Family? I wanted him to know who I was so he'd know who was going to kill him. Don't you dare tell me that you wouldn't do the same."

"For me that's going to be difficult," Li said, "my parents died on Alderaan. The one responsible for that is Palpatine, and he's already dead. You could have stunned him, and then, when he's immobilised, told him who you where. That would have combined the two things nicely."

Hart looked sheepish. "You're right. I should've remained calm. But testosterone is a funny thing. Makes you do crazy things."

"I must admit I'm not familiar with that particular problem," Li said, "well, I have to go now. I'll see you around." This was going to be much more difficult then she had thought. Now Malak would be on his guard, and while she could use disguises, her small size made her noticeable. It could be done, but it would be more difficult. One thing was sure, next time she would meet him it was with the Dug bound and stunned.
Hart watched Li go. He curled his hand into a fist and slammed it into the wall with an audible and strong Corellian curse...