Dark Bounty--A STAR WARS STORY Part 1

Shots in the Dust

 The Blade-4 descended through the arid sky toward the tawny landscape of the desert planet. Geonosis was largely devoid of life, the Empire having sterilized the planet during the First Galactic Civil War. Boba lowered the ship into a deep valley between two titanic mountain ranges and followed the path for a few kilometers. As the valley curved a flat dirt landing pad appeared. He slowed to hover and descend onto a landing pad next to an HH-87 Starhopper, a small one-man starfighter he had confiscated from a Hutt clan years ago. Beyond the pad was a medium-sized shelter set flush against the steep valley wall and multiple moisture vaporators scattered around on any flat surface.

The ship's ramp lowered; and Boba, dressed in his full armor exited. He kicked up orange dust as his armored boots trod across the flat landing pad. Beyond the pad, large rock spurs jutted out of the side of the steep valley wall, and a path twisted its way up to the shelter. The valley was eerily silent except for the sudden gusts of wind that blew up intermittent clouds of dust around him. Boba looked to his left and right and lowered his hand to his side-arm disruptor pistol, his fingers stretching in pregnant anticipation.

Another gust of wind hid his view of the shelter in a nebulous cloud of sand. The slight and quiet sound of a charging blaster could be heard in front of him. Without a thought, Boba dove to the side as a red streak of a blaster shot streaked through the hazy atmosphere. He rolled behind a rock spur, his pistol grasped firmly in his right hand and his finger on the trigger. The air cleared as the wind abated. He rose to look over the edge of the boulder to see, but there was no one, the assailant having hidden behind one of the many rock projections after the dust cloud had passed.

Boba made his way cautiously from one rock to another, but no one fired. Another gust of wind came with its expected, dusty blanket. Again from within the cover, the sound of a blaster charging whined and a red blast lit the thick cloud. Boba ducked again, the blast missing its mark. However, this time Boba rose and fired a series of quick shots into the cloud and ran forward, twisting up the path as his right finger rolled out rapid pistol blasts. The cloud passed and the air cleared. As he neared the top of the path, Boba stopped behind a large rock spire, holstered his pistol, and held up his hands.

A one-and-a-half-meter tall figure stood fifteen paces behind Boba and held a blaster aimed at him. The assailant wore a wide-eyed silver helmet with toxin-filter and lean chest armor marked with a red starburst.

"Gotcha," a young girl's voice rang out.

"Really?" Boba questioned.

A small beep emitted from at the girl's feet. She looked down to see the split-second red light of a sonic charge at her feet just as it exploded. Her body fell limp to the ground, the helmet clanging on the boulder next to her as she fell.

Boba dusted off his gauntlets with a confident aura, and called to the shelter, "Peezee, get the girl inside!" He turned and walked the few meters left to the shelter, as a dark grey humanoid droid stepped out.

"She is getting better," PZ-85 stated with flatness.

"No," Boba replied. "Just get her in."

A/N:  When this was originally written in 2016, I was fortunate enough to be reading the classic, Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey.  So it is not surprising then, that when Boba Fett's foot hit the orange dust of Geonosis, I suddenly realized that this story was a western.  Now, the idea that such a thing could exist--a Star Wars space western--at the time was not heard of.  I have to point this out. (Again, you are welcome to check the time stamp on Fanfiction.net to confirm).  Since then, Solo and the Mandalorian have come out, and so Star Wars westerns are commonplace.  It was not so when I originally published this.