Dark Bounty--A STAR WARS STORY Part 1

Bounty Hunters

The ships slept with a ghostly nature in the uninhabited hangar, dead bodies strewn throughout. Boba and Videsse entered the silent ship storage from a side entrance behind a large Imperial shuttle. Boba held up his hand for Videsse to wait and edged his way along the starboard hull of the shuttle to the center aisle of the long hangar. The Millennium Falcon rested thirty meters to his right, its ramp extended.

There was not a sound.

Boba looked to the hatchway where he had escaped from IG-88 and saw the burned hole the droid had cut through the main blast door. He motioned for Videsse to come up. She did swiftly, a finger on the trigger of the pistol, and her other hand supporting her wrist.

Boba started, "I don't see him, and it looks like he may have left, but--"

"It's a trap. I know," Videsse interrupted.

Boba just stared at her with nothing left to say about that. "Yeah. So you hug the wall, and I'll walk the center aisle. Keep visual contact with each other in between the ships, and we'll make our way to the Falcon."

"Got it," Videsse said. Videsse started to walk back to the hangar wall, but Boba grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't rush off," Boba said sternly. "Do you get that?"

Videsse nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"Good, then let's do it."

Boba strode out into the center of the hangar, his rifle charged and ready. For a moment he stood there, studying the environment. Multiple ships were still missing, the last of the Keeper's men still patrolling for the Vigilance. Dead bodies lay in a semi-circle around the Falcon, undisturbed. The Falcon herself was dimly lit by the hazy, white, overhead lights, which were just strong enough to outcompete the blue Anthan Prime atmospheric glow that backlit the Falcon through the open hangar bay. However, there was no IG-88 to be seen and no evidence of his pending arrival.

Boba moved his glance to Videsse, who awaited him.  He nodded and they both began to walk toward the Falcon, their weapons ready and their attention guarded.

Videsse moved behind another ship, and they lost visual contact with each other until they were beyond it. Boba nodded to her again upon seeing her emerge and they moved beyond the next ship; one-by-one in the same fashion. Boba watched the tops of each and the alleys on the left side of him. No sign of the droid. They passed another alley and made visual contact; then another; then another.

Their steps were thoughtful and light as they passed a V-Wing fighter. Boba never lost focus, and his rifle was always ready. The V-Wing hull receded from his vision as he advanced. Videsse would be peeking around the aft any second.

The dark, motionless, and lanky silhouette of an Assassin droid materialized in the gap between the V-Wing and the neighboring ship. Its arms were down, but ready. For a split second it did not move as if only a statue, then its head rotated; and the bright red eye focused, not on Boba, but on Videsse. She had just stepped out from the rear of the ship. The droid raised its rifle to shoot, but Videsse had instinctively leapt back behind the ship.

Boba let loose a torrent of rifle fire, which the assassin droid deftly maneuvered as it darted back and forth. Its arms and legs reversed their joint and returned fire, blood-red blasts threaded the air as they returned to Boba. He lowered his rifle and sprinted down the aisle calling out, "Dess, get to the Falcon!"

IG-88 then leapt into the air with the aid of its dorsal exhaust vents and surged over the neighboring ship. He fired unemotionally down on the fleeing Boba Fett, and blaster shots licked Boba's heels.

Abrupt pistol fire then flashed past the descending droid, one chance shot glancing off his shoulder. Videsse, her focused gaze directed down the barrel of her pistol, shot with deadly determination from the ramp of the Falcon. She bit her lip and pulsated her finger rapidly on the trigger.

IG-88 landed, not fazed by the torn metal on his shoulder, raised his rifle to finish Videsse. She dodged into the Falcon, and Boba rolled out more shots on the droid as he ran to the ramp himself.

Boba's made it to the ramp and rushed up, but collapsed as a rifle shot cut through the upper thigh of his leg. He fell to the deck just inside of Falcon and grabbed his left thigh, but didn't cry out.

"Sh-shall I close the ramp, Master?" PZ-85 asked, who had returned to the Falcon obediently. He had a blaster hole in his chest but was able to function erratically. "The Assassin droid disabled me for a moment--"

"Shut up, Peezee!" Boba yelled but recanted almost instantly. "Just--Just get up front."

IG-88's fire stopped, but the droid drew near to the Falcon, ready to board and finish his objective.

Videsse seated herself in the pilot seat and readied her hand over the ignition. Videsse instinctively reached down to flip off the coded toggle security switch, but she withdrew her hand instead.

"Dess," Boba called out as he struggled to get upright again. He could see IG-88's long, mechanical legs approaching as he stepped under the stern of the Falcon and approached the ramp. His full body came into view, electrical sparks leaping from the torn metal of his shoulder. Boba stood, all of his weight on his right leg. The droid stepped up onto the ramp and aimed his rifle at Boba.

"Dess! Now!" Boba yelled out

Videsse punched the ignition and said, "Sorry, Peezee."

The Millennium Falcon leaped to life as the lights in the cockpit flashed and the engine's familiar whirr sounded. But only for a split second. Having not deactivated the toggle switch, the ion pulse generator kicked on with the ignition, sending an ionized surge through the ship, disabling anything electrical temporarily. The Falcon and PZ-85 died, but so did IG-88. The electrical surge could be seen passing through the assassin droid, its body quivering in a cataplectic fit before finally its weak joints locked in position.

The lifeless mechanical body stood still on the edge of the ramp, his rifle half-raised but unmoving and his red eye now black.

Boba limped down to the droid and reached down to his belt.

"I'd like to see you dodge this," he stated with veiled amusement. He wedged an anti-armor grenade under the droid's chest plate and pushed him violently off the ramp. Then Boba turned and entered the Falcon for cover.

IG-88's black metal frame fell limply to the floor, and his rifle slid away. Then, in an orange burst of flame, his dark shell erupted, spraying fragments in all directions. The Falcon shook at the detonation, but was unharmed.

Boba made his way to the cockpit, and Videsse switched to the co-pilot's seat. Boba collapsed into the pilot's seat and took off his helmet, letting out an emphatic exhale while leaning back. He looked over at the sleeping PZ-85.

"Ahh, we've got some work to do on Peezee when we get back, but at least we've got five quiet minutes before he wakes up. Then we'll start the Falcon up and get out of here," Boba said, putting his hands behind his head. "Hopefully, before the other ten men come back."