Lion's Roar

The 2nd Imperial operative had bled out and not survived for any further interrogation attempts.  Maligaant had immediately notified Triumvirate security forces and stuck around guarding the scene until they had arrived.  Of course this also meant answering questions as to what he was doing here in the first place.  He explained about the cryptic message and Jarvis' mysterious entry and exit, fleeing out the back door, the security officers seemed satisfied for the moment and allowed him to leave.

Maligaant had exited the bar and began making his way back to the scrap yards, aware 

almost instantly that he was being followed.  He moved through the crowds quickly but not so fast as to lose the stalker, only quickly enough as to make his job a bit harder.  He didn't want this to seem too easy. Remembering a trick he'd fallen for back on Togoria, when following a certain Gamorrean, he moved into an alleyway next to another tavern and waited.  It wasn't a long wait as his stalker came hurrying around the corner and into the alleyway running smack into the Togorian's massive frame.

"Gotcha!" Maligaant snarled, slamming the man's body into the alleyway wallk, using his forearm, and holding him there.  As  he had suspected it was Jarvis.  Maligaant lowered his head down to the much smaller human's so as to look directly into his eyes, "Jarvis, my friend, you have some explaining to do!" 

"Mal! Buddy!" Jarvis started.  Maligaant's eyes narrowed as he leaned in closer. "Okay, okay. I can tell you're upset but trust me I don't have a clue as to why those guys were after me!" Jarvis said as he brought his hand up to run it through his hair, eyes widening.  Maligaant knew he was lying but didn't see the point in pressing it.  

"I know. I know I'm not supposed to be here but I thought I'd save you the trouble of bringing Bucket of Bolts to me.  I heard you got my ship out of salvage, Buddy! I can't thank you enough! I'll pay you back every credit, I promise!" Jarvis said as he reached out and slapped Maligaant in the chest. 

"Jarvis, I didn't get your ship back for you..." Maligaant started.

"What do you mean? My contact in the scrapyards says you got it taken off the scrap list. He said they've been working on repairs and fixing it up and all of that with  your ident and credits?" Jarvis looked puzzled.

Maligaant sighed as he explained to Jarvis the conditions under which he'd been allowed to take possession of Bucket of Bolts. Jarvis just looked at him expressionless as he said, "Well yeah but hey you could sell it to a friend o mine and i'm sure he'd be willing to keep it listed in his wrecking yard ... yeah that could work ..." Jarvis rattled off as he watched Maligaant shake his head. 

"No Jarvis.  I gave my word. And you know me, you know my word is my bond." 

Jarvis just starred at him for a moment as the expression on his face went from puzzled to bewildered to anger. "You freaking backstabbing cat! You're stealing her from me!" Maligaant's eyes widened a bit taken aback as Jarvis continued, "You won't get away with this! I'm warning you, Mal!" And that was it. Maligaant had heard enough. This fool had violated Triumvirate laws and, though banned from TC space, had come back dragging with him Imperial trouble makers and was now effectively spitting in Mal's face. He grabbed Jarvis and through him against the wall, his right paw engulfing the man's head as he extended a claw across Jarvis' throat. Jarvis shrieked and closed his eyes as the Togorian leaned down, again brining his head down to the smaller man's level and right up to his ear, snarling "Cool down Jar! You don't wanna lose your head."  

It had been a few days since Maligaant had placed Jarvis on a freighter out of TC space.  Maybe he should have handed him over to TC security but for some reason he still felt bad for the man.  He'd honestly wanted to return Bucket of Bolts to him but that just wasn't possible.  He'd given his word to Mannix and that was

that.  Instead Maligaant had made arrangements with a particular freighter captain on his way to Trade Federation space.  The captain had agreed to drop Jarvis off on one of the Federation's worlds or stations.

Maligaant sat back in his seat as Toby's voice crackled over the intercom, "Here we go!" and the Lion, Bucket of Bolt's new name,  lifted off it's pad leaving Pesmenben III's scrapyards.  The ship had been completely overhauled at a considerable cost to his savings.  

And there it was again, that feeling he'd had for the last few days. It sat at the back of his skull eating at him, nagging his thoughts and keeping him from being at ease. The look he'd seen in Jarvis' eyes,  though he'd done everything he could to help that fool he was certain their paths would cross again.  Maligaant closed his eyes allowing the familiar roar of the Lion's engines fill his ears and bring his mind some comfort.