"The Bane of My Past"
Chapter the First
- 25 BBY -
It would end the same way it began.
Boba Fett, who had just turned seven standard years old, was beside himself with thrills, as he watched his father return to his seat at the side of the arena. A lock of dark hair curled over one of Boba's eyes and he tried tucking it away. A sweet honey flavor from the candy he has just consumed rested in his mouth.
"And how did that look from the sidelines, Boba?"
"It looks like you beat him into next week," Boba laughed. He looked up to see his father beaming, which deepened the scars around his mouth.
Most everyone else inside that old broken-down stadium, better known as the Panwa Arena, preferred to stay away from the wooden boards that circled around to form a seventy-foot wide arena. Not so much for safety measures, as a ray shield separated the competitors from the crowd, but so they could avoid perceiving the more gruesome details of what happened within. After all, seeing competitors with body parts torn off, chewed off, or blown off by whatever faced them in that arena was much more entertaining from a distance, and not so up close.
Boba thought otherwise. He considered himself different from the other boys his age. While everyone else preferred to back away, Boba wanted to get as close as he could to the action. He wanted to see every detail, every movement and decision and action made in that arena. He wanted to soak it all up like a dry sponge because what was done to their bodies was not what mattered, but what they should have done differently so they could walk out in one piece.
"Very good, Boba. Yes, I sure did. There's one more coming on next and then I'll do the same to him, and then we'll call it for a day. How does that sound?"
Boba nodded eagerly.
What better place to spend the weekend than the capitol of Tatooine's underground hub for bounty hunters, smugglers, and other mercenaries to meet their matches. In this multi-level underground facility, nearly five thousand seats housed a crowd who watched as said competitors entered a circular ring in the center, in which they battled either wild animals captured for sport, or each other. The latter was more often the case. It was a chance for anyone to put their strength and skills to the test. Unless you were someone like Jango Fett, in which case it was a chance to show off your strength and skills and as such put those who considered themselves your equals back in their place.
Which is how Jango had spent his morning in general, and what Boba had been entertaining himself to. Complete with a bag of honey-flavored candies and front-row seats to add to the spectacle. The arena floor was a mess. And Dad wasn't even finished yet.
The floor of the ring was given a clean sweep by a pair of droids; then the green light flashed. Meanwhile, Jango sat down next to his son to take a breather and prepare for his next duel by paying attention to the two competitors currently in the ring.
"Which one will you fight, Dad?"
"Whoever wins, of course," Jango replied before digging his hand into Boba's bag of candy.
Boba's attention was focused less on the two fighters, who stood on opposite sides of the ring in preparation, and more on the sound of the large crowd of spectators. Excited at the start of a new fight, they began cheering and shouting the name of who they supported. Boba mentally followed what his father had shown him earlier, and paid close attention to the highest rows of the stadium. In those places sat the folks who did not come for entertainment at all. Instead, they came to see firsthand what was available in the pool of such dirty work, and decide who was the most capable for whatever jobs they offered. Boba could not see them well, but he knew they were up there. Who knows...they could be politicians, bankers, merchants, or crime-lords as far as he knew.
"Look, Boba. See? The one in the hat tricked the other one into thinking he would attack head-on. He used that expectation to his advantage," said Jango, and he pointed into the ring where the fight was drawing to a close. Indeed, the one with the hat had outdone the other who was currently being pounded into the ground.
Boba did not know what an expectation was, but it sounded pretty important.
When the fight was over, Jango stood up and donned his helmet.
"Well, this is the last one. Wish me luck."
"Good luck, Dad. Knock him into next week." Boba grinned as he watched his father return to his original position in the ring before the fight began, thinking proudly to himself,
That's my dad. That's my dad.
Boba heard the names announced, and the crowd cheered when they heard Jango's. Boba puffed out his chest. He could not wait to see his father in action again. The two bounty hunters approached each other just as the safety ray shields went up and Boba watched to see what his father would do first to lick this guy. However he chose to do it, Boba knew it was going to be lots of fun to watch. Few things were more exciting and entertaining than watching your dad cream every opponent with a crowd of thousands cheering him on.
What was happening? Jango was on the ground. The figure in the hat was standing over him. Boba did not understand. The crowd chanted Jango's name as he rose to his feet and made a counterattack. Now Boba was on the edge of his seat, his knuckles white as he gripped the railing in front of him. Both men in the ring moved at lightning speed, each sending blows and parries as fast as the other.
Boba took note that the one in the hat was definitely non-Human, but at such an angle Boba could not tell what he was. He might be a Chiss, or possibly a Neimoidian or Duros as well. His hat was wide-brimmed and he wore a long duster, and was armed to the teeth.
Boba's stomach churned as he watched his father get knocked into the ground a second time. Both men were taking damage from the fight, which made the spectators all the more excited. In that moment, recalling it from years later, Boba would remember the sound of hundreds of bloodthirsty hands pounding the railings and chanting the name of who they supported. Needless to say, Fett drowned out the other by a long shot. And Boba remembered how hearing his father's name echoed by the crowd in that large place, stirred a deep burning emotion inside of him, and he found himself leaning against the railing and beginning to shout along with them.
"Get him, Dad, get him!"
But quite frankly when it came down to it, no matter whose name they were chanting, the crowd probably cared much more about how violent the fights were rather than who actually won.
Boba watched his father parry the next attack and send a crippling bow to the competitor, which seemed to weaken him considerably. Then Jango ignited his jetpack, to which the other ignited a set of thrusters on each boot, and the fight was taken to the roof of the ray shield. Boba could not see that high up; all he could do was listen to the verbal reactions of those who could, and wait.
When both landed back on the ground, it was Jango Fett at last who stood to his full height as the other lifted the hand signal for defeat. Pride swelled in Boba's lungs like fresh, sweet air. He punched the air and roared with ecstasy.
It was his father and no one else's who walked away completely undefeated in the ring that day. It was his father whose name they cheered for above any other. Young Boba never, ever wanted to forget what it felt in his heart to know these things and lock them away inside.
When Jango returned to collect Boba, they descended to the lower level below the stadium where competitors and spectators alike gathered to drink and mingle, for the most part, peacefully. Boba stayed close to his father, as he had always been instructed. Everyone down there, of course, recognized the identity of the bounty hunter and the little boy at his side. As Boba followed him, he noticed a few familiar faces toward the side. He tugged Jango's sleeve.
"Dad, are we going to say hello to them?"
"No, son. I have someone I want to cordially introduce myself to."
"Dad, what's cordially?"
Boba did not noticed the smile on his father's face as they proceeded towards the counter at the back of the large room.
"It would be exact opposite of what you saw in the ring today." As Jango spoke, he nodded in the direction of a figure leaning against the edge of the counter next to an empty seat, which Jango beckoned Boba to sit down in. Boba looked up at the figure, who wore a familiar looking hat.
"I always like to meet my opponents on more peaceful terms," Jango was saying to him, "especially when they can put up a fight as well as you can."
Boba was certain the bounty hunter was a Duros now. He had wide red eyes, blue complexion, and a deathstick in his mouth.
"Guess you haven't lost in a while," the Duros bounty hunter remarked. He noticed Boba sitting next to him and flicked his head in Boba's direction. "Who's the kid?"
"My son, Boba. My apologies, but I seem to have already forgotten your name."
"Cadomir Bane."
"Interesting. A few years ago I heard of a blue-skinned Duros named Cadomir Sotulet getting into some trouble with the local authorities on some Nal Hutta coastal city. Wore odd-looking hats and certainly got my work cut out for me. That wouldn't have been you, would it?"
Cadomir Bane, so-called, openly bristled.
"The hell is it to you?"
"I couldn't forget your face, even if it was some time ago," said Jango. "You should do a better job of covering up your tracks if you want employers to take you seriously...make a note of that. Still, you handled yourself well out there today, and I wanted to tell you that in person."
Bane didn't say anything, only shrugged as if in apathy of Jango's advice as well as his compliment, and took a long drag on the deathstick. Boba clenched his fists, glaring up at him.
"You don't know who you're talking to, do you?" Boba snapped. "That's Jango Fett. He's the best bounty hunter there ever is. Nobody even knows who you are, you're just a nobody."
"Why, sure, I know who he is," Bane replied, avoiding Boba's gaze and glaring right into Jango's as he spoke. "It doesn't make one difference to me, either. Being the best comes and goes...it might be your old man today, but there's no telling for tomorrow. Titles come and go, little guy."
"Hey, you—"
"That's enough, Boba. Let's leave."
Boba glared up at the bounty hunter as he hopped off his seat and stood beside his father. He heard Jango say a few more parting words before he turned around and began walking away. Boba, staying by his side, still clenched his fists.
"Who was that, Dad?"
Jango did not answer until they were far away enough from the crowd so that no one could hear them.
"I knew I'd seen him before. A few years ago I was working as a trainer for security guards on Nal Hutta. The last name has changed, but I'm almost positive it's the same guy. I don't remember being impressed with him back then, but he seems to be a more capable bounty hunter now."
"You should have put him in his place."
"Now would not have been the right time. He's just an amateur who has a lot to learn. That's all there is to it."
"Maybe I should be the one to put him in his place."
Jango laughed as he led his son out of the darkness of that dimly lit room and into the light of day outside.
"Maybe you will...someday."
Three years later
- 22 BBY -
Boba had never been told to avert his eyes from a battle. He had never been told to look away when there was about to be a violent or gruesome fate for a sentient. This is because his father believed it was important that one be accustomed to seeing the worst the galaxy had to offer at the earliest age possible. For in this way, no one could surprise or shock you and use the moment to their own advantage. Your experience trumped your sickness or fear or horror, and you learned to expect the worst which resulted in more preparedness for it. In a word, Jango had never been one to shield his son's eyes from these things with the intention of teaching Boba how to become used to it early on.
However, there are so many things one can get used to seeing.
As Boba knelt down in the stand, he listened to the chaos erupting all throughout the Geonosian Arena. Granted, that day had witnessed far more action than Boba anticipated. Where he thought he could get a firsthand glimpse at the Geonosian style of executing two Jedi and a Senator, instead the arena was now full of droids and Jedi killing each other. As Jango left to go down and fight, he instructed Boba to keep his head down so a stray blast may not harm him.
As if. Boba could not resist the temptation to see, so he peeked his head up not heeding his father's orders. He wanted to see the battle and all the Jedi involved in it. While the Viceroy were hiding in safety, Boba looked over the edge and down where his father was opening fire at one of the Jedi Masters.
Years later, Boba would wonder how things might have been different had he looked away in that very moment. The trouble was, he didn't look away.
Instead, he watched his father take several steps back, firing on the Jedi who advanced closer to him, and the Jedi's purple blade whipped through the air in a circular motion before sweeping down over his father's shoulders. Before Boba could even process what was happening in front of him, his father's helmet was lying several feet away from the decapitated body that collapsed on the ground.
No. His father couldn't...he couldn't be killed. Not at the hands of a Jedi. How could he? No. No, no...
Boba felt as if a heavy blow had been delivered to his stomach, and he ducked back down and covered his face. Despite the fact that his father had trained him for so long to become used to the sight of violence and death, Boba felt his blood run ice cold with shock and horror. He wanted to be sick, and found that his tongue was tied in knots. He saw the image flash in front of his eyes over and over again: the lightsaber slicing off his father's head and the Jedi looking down for a few moments with a look Boba just knew was a look of satisfaction.
No, Dad, no, you can't be dead. You can't be dead. You have to be with me. Please, Dad...no...
Shaken to the core, young Boba was all but helpless as the battle continued. When it was over and the arena was nothing but a pit littered with scrap piles of droids and Jedi bodies, Boba slowly got to his feet. Stumbling and barely able to stand, he managed to make his way down and find his father's helmet. When he saw the body for himself was when Boba realized without a doubt that what he had seen had not been conjured up from his imagination.
His father was dead. Boba was, for the first time in his life, completely alone.
Boba refused to shed a tear. He couldn't. It wasn't right to cry. Jango wouldn't have wanted him to. He buried the urge deep down so he would not humiliate himself the last time he was to be with his father. Through the panic, confusion, and extreme grief of that moment, Boba held his father's helmet to his forehead, choking on the tears so much so that he could hardly breathe.
Goodbye, Dad.
Author's Note:
Hey, y'all! I'm back with another story!
This one will not be a long chapter fic...in fact it is more of a setup for my upcoming fic which is the sequel to "Space Bound" and will be far more extensive. Long story short, one of the major elements in the sequel will be the history between Cad Bane and Boba Fett. For a long time my headcanon of them has been growing and expanding a lot, and it's been great fun, but I encountered a dilemma...I had too much backstory to just cover in one fic. Thus I am writing a whole new fic to explain my headcanon story of how these two bounty hunters have interacted.
As explained in the summary, this story will cover from pre-Attack of the Clones to post-Revenge of the Sith. There will be several overlaps with events from "The Clone Wars" as well as both movies, as you could tell from the opening chapter.
"Cadomir Sotulet" is a name I made up for Cad Bane's "birth" name...because after all who would be so cruel as to give their kid a name like that! Haha.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story! Stay tuned for more. Reviews are greatly appreciated :)
