Tales of the Mandalorians

[Dieter Schprokets]

New London Central Hospital

A red-headed lady stormed down the hallway and confronted Mandalore Dha Piruna and Consul Ranov'la Aran with arms crossed.

They would have rather faced Corsairs than Suzanne Bishop right now.

"What the hell was he doing in New Tokyo?", she demanded. "Don't you have other pilots for that? Why would you risk a Consul?"

Dha stammered a bit, then Ranov'la took the lead.

"Suzanne, he wasn't ordered to go, and he didn't ask permission, or even tell us. This was your husband being stubborn. It was a good paying job, so I guess he took it. And those Farmer's Alliance guys are usually pushovers."

She stopped fuming a bit, then nodded angrily. Her husband was going to get quite a blast once he recovered, that was a sure thing.

Dha asked, "How is he doing, Suzanne?"

She settled down a bit. "Not bad. He had lost a lot of blood. I guess he got to Deshima Station, then the Bounty Hunters smuggled him here on a AP Manufacturing shipment. The Strontium Dogs patched him up a bit more on Sheffield Station, then they took him the rest of the way."

Dha nodded. Those S/D boys were good blokes. Biting into the business, but good blokes, nonetheless.

"I gotta get my kids. Sorry I blew up at you boys. Looks like this is a case of classic Billy."

The Mandalorians just smiled, to convey their understanding. Suanne took her leave.

Dha and Ranov'la carried on to William Bishop's room, and found him sitting up in bed reading. When they entered, Billy gingerly lifted his shirt to show off a nasty gash on his left side near the bottom of his ribcage.

"Would you believe a farmer gave me that?", he chuckled, then winced.

Ranov'la sat, then raised his hands as if to say, "Well? Let's hear it."

Billy spoke with a rasp, from the tubing that was still in his nose. Tended to dry out ones nasal passages and throat.

"Heard an AFA was alone in New Tokyo, so I headed up for the bounty. When I got there, I lured him away from the planet, and engaged him above the trade lanes."

"Guy was pretty good. Call sign "Supernova". He messed up all my guns, save my Razor. But I kept pounding him with that, and eventually, he ran away. Don't suppose we can get paid for that, eh?"

Dha Piruna shook his head, then lectured Billy.

"No Mandalorian, not you, not me, not anyone, is to go into Kusari without backup. You quite likely could have died."

Dha continued. "I'm not going to punish you. Your wife is going to kill you anyway, when you get home. Just don't do it again."

Billy nodded, a bit meekly, but not much.

Ranov'la gave him a quick wink, then stood up. "Billy, we have to go. We are meeting a recalcatrint client. I'll come back later, and I'll smuggle in a beer or two." Billy smirked.

Dha and Ranov'la started to leave. "Wait." said Billy. "There's something else. It's important."

The two Mandalorians paused, and looked at Billy quizzically.

"Guys, sit back down. You may need to for this."

They took his advice.

Billy shifted up in his bed a bit more, wincing again as he did so, then began.

"When I was in Deshima station getting patched up by the Bounty Hunters Guild guys, one of the medics told me something I could barely believe." He had their attention.

"He said we might be interested in one of the Kusari Naval Forces pilots. New guy, green, but pretty good. Guess he was in that nasty scrap in Kyushu when the BAF sprung that Lord Brinkley."

Dha snorted. "Recruit a Kusari Naval Forces pilot? Madness!" Billy shook his head.

"No, no, that's not what he meant." Billy took a deep breath.

"The KNF pilot's name is John Miyagi." He paused again.

"Guys, he's John Cabot's son."

Dha Piruna and Ranov'la Aran turned white as the bedsheets.

Anyone who said this was an unexpected turn of events would be guilty of tremendous understatement.

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