I staggered into the bathroom and headed for the sink. Turning on the faucet I stuck my head in the sink and let the shock of the cold water clear my head. Looking up I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Eyes bloodshot, jagged black scars covered my head. My face hardened with resolve.
That damn Bishop, took him long enough to make me Consul. I've worked for him, shed a lot of blood. Seen a lot of good men go down. Tonight is my night, Bishop's time is over. I dug out two blue stimulant pills and swallowed them. The alcohol fog vanished, my senses heightened. I walked back through the door into the Barrier Gate bar.
Mandalore Billy Bishop was sitting at the bar laughing with the bartender. A 12 inch titanium knife strapped across his chest. His bodyguard was passed out at a table across the bar. No help for him now.
His eyes met mine as he glanced at me in the mirror behind the bartender. His smile faded a fraction as he kept talking to the bartender.
I could feel my stomach tighten, a bitter taste in my mouth. It was now or never. Time to take out the boss.
In my right hand was an ion pistol set at full power. Bishop told me several times, you gotta kill someone, do it quick. Look like you couldn’t wait to do it. I could hear his voice as I looked at him in the mirror.
I made my move and raised the pistol, but it was slow, I hit the bartender in the face with an Ion pulse at full strength. His body was carried six feet in the air and slammed into the bar mirror. Glass shards flew through the air striking everyone. His head wasn’t blown clean off, but it was an awful mess.
Bishop came out of a roll from the floor throwing the knife, before I could bring the Ion around, his knife imbedded into my right shoulder severing the tendons to my arm. I fell to the floor as my pistol slid harmlessly away.
The bar echoed in silence, the way it usually does after a scene of carnage. The Mandalore stood up and strolled over and stood above me. Small cuts covered his face from the flying remains of the bar mirror.
"Well Briikase, nice try," he said. "Though I expected something a bit more creative from you."
"Yes Mandalore," I grunted through clinched teeth. The knife still buried in my shoulder.
He glanced toward the bar then looked down at me.
"Looks like we need another bar tender. Not much left of that one."
"Yes Mandalore," I mumbled.
"And Briikase, next time you want to be Mandalore, try a little harder," he said with a smile.
Raising his boot in the air, Mandalore Billy Bishop slammed it into my face. The room went dark.
