Chapter Text
In all his life until recently, Greef has known less than a handful of Mandos.
Even before the Empire purged them, Mandos had been rare. Their civil war had ensured it. and after that… well….
It’s not the point, anyway. The point is: Moff Gideon – the “Scourge of Mandalore,” the being behind the boundless bounties on the green little bogwing, the reason Greef no longer has his cantina and Mando no longer has his tribe – is apparently actively hunted by Mandos – or at least three of them – and the aforementioned moff had a base here.
It’s even easy to spot his light cruiser looming just beyond Nevarro’s sky. And this time Greef can’t punish anybody, because everyone saw it.
So, naturally, the hunters came here. And, naturally, they sought the head honcho.
These are the sixth, seventh and eighth Mandos Greef has ever met since he got acquainted with Mando and the green little bogwing, Mando naturally counting as the first. And, may he say, he would prefer Boba Fett to them – the Boba Fett that he met recently, that is.
He would prefer Mando, actually, to be honest. But Mando has his brood to brood about, and he is already helping, anyway. Bless his few, ever-calculated words! They usually drove Greef spare. But, just now, they saved his life. He won’t curse that quirk ever again!
…Well, probably not. He will gripe about it, at least. But it’s good for camaraderie, right? Shows how close they are? And he will be able to show it someday, hopefully soon and in a proper event.
No evil Mandos will defeat him: the great Greef Karga, “former” head of the Nevarro branch of the bounty hunters guild, magistrate of the selfsame planet, and – more importantly – Mando’s friend.
To that effect, he needs to capitalise on the present moment, now that two of the three evil Mandos have departed on pursuit of a dead man.
One Axe Woves has been left behind and seems miffed about it.
He is not violent, too. Or at least not since Greef firstly met him.
So Greef does what he does best: blather on about anything and everything and pry here and there.
And the best thing is: This time he is honest about it.
Selectively honest, of course. But that’s the beauty of the thing, right?
He wants to know everything about Mandalorians. He wants to share what Mando has done and influenced even on Nevarro alone. And he is a good storyteller, if he says so himself.
The green little bogwing is mentioned only sparingly, but that’s because he knows Mando will gut him for endangering the cute thing again. But that’s all right, because the said cute thing calls him the next day, unprompted, and poor Axe Woves is of course there, monitoring him.
Greef jumps into lavishing all the love on the green little bogwing with alacrity, and apologises that they can’t meet yet because Greef doesn’t want to entangle him and his dad in this stupid thing.
And the green little bogwing replies with sad, soulful eyes and sad, soulful cooing.
And, behind Greef, Axe Woves’ breath hitches.
This also reminds Greef that Mando’s kids could be in great danger, though, so he redoubles his effort to neutralise at least this one evil Mando.
To this effect, he introduces poor Axe Woves to his irritating mithrol secretary and bids the latter to tell his warden what happens when Mando comes upon a being or a problem.
Also, he entreats Cara to talk to the said warden… who looks increasingly thoughtful and beleaguered and torn.
Also also, he gives Axe Woves his Greef Karga Special tour round the main settlement, partly to give credence and visual aid to his stories but also to make that warden of his terribly seen and easy for Mando to track down should the worst happen.
And, of course, alcohol and companionship are abundant in-between all those, sprinkled heavily with chitchats and reminiscences.
“You remember the lava river I showed you?” he says one night after a few cups from a shared bottle of… some expensive alcohol he can’t name and forgot the origin of. “We escaped that and IG-11 died for us and Moff Gideon still came at us in a TIE fighter. Like a damned mynoc, really. But Mando fought. Put thermal charges on the wings, and it came crashing down. Wish we checked if the moff’s dead or not, but we’re sure right then he’s dead. Remind me to show you the site tomorrow, a’right?”
“You know, for a loner and a miser with words, Mando sure got influence with him,” he contemplates aloud another night, as he stares into the depths of the yet-unopened bottle of spotchka he’s about to share with his warden. “This bottle, he got it for free from a village he saved for a pittance. Hooked the Marshal into it, too, so I heard. Ha! A bunch of backwater villagers against a bunch of bandits armed with some old walker, and the villagers won, if you can believe it. S’all Mando, Cara said. Mando championed the village and taught them to stand up for themselves, and they did, with some assistance. The Rim’d be great with him round.”
“Let’s try this!” he invites his warden after he’s opened the package one Cobb Vanthe sent from Tatooine, a few days later. It’s for Cara, really – from one New Republic marshal to another, from one Mando’s friend to another – but it’s rare booze! And he plans to utilise it for Mando’s sake, anyway! Surely she’ll let him and his current companion have some sips, at least? It’s great, paired with the story about the krayt dragon and the armour and the trek across the Dune Sea! It even has something about settlers and sand people working together, if Axe Woves is that type of bleeding heart!
Anyway, it’s not just Greef alone that shares stories. Admittedly, Woves’ stories about Mando are interesting, too, from the beskar thieves who would have drowned him and poor green little bogwing to the repayment by way of a raid on an Imp weapons transport.
The warden’s quiet admittance is just as interesting.
“Lady Kryze changed the agreement once the mission was on-going,” he says, and Greef tries with all his might not to perk up.
He discards the first five reactions he would have displayed, too.
`Interesting. Interesting indeed….`
Even after knowing about these evil Mandos, he still automatically tars them with the same brush as he would Mando, down to the quirks he has such as staunch principles and quiet competence. “Lady Kryze’s” ruthless manipulation and backstabbery, therefore, feels… jarring. Wrong. Unsettling.
She would have fit well in greef’s world, though.
In the end, all he says in reply, with all levity he can muster, is, “I was lucky then, that she let me go without tearing my neck open, after Mando gave her what she wanted.”
Woves’ face is pinched, now, but Greef has little sympathy for him. That man brought this on himself. Besides, all is fair in love and war, right?
Now Greef just has to choose the thing he will use as the figurative killing blow. Very, very, very carefully.
Only, before he can even list down his options, Woves speaks in the same would-be casual tone, “Want to visit Tatooine, then? See where it all happened?”
`Well, then….`
Greef gives himself a mental pat on the back, even as his mind immediately calculates the logistics, as well as the people he needs to contact and how.
Because Vanthe’s “love letter” that accompanied the Tatooinian booze hinted that Mando and family were on Tatooine and will still be there for the foreseeable future.
Who knows, this evil Mando might lose his evilness, under Mando’s judgy stare….
In any case, this means Greef is robbing “Lady Kryze” off one of her enforcers, for short or long.
Oh, how he relishes it.