STAR WARS: The Hoth Experience by Sean N. Koury
Taara Hentt entered the cockpit of the stock light freighter, the Death Gundark, and glanced over at her partner. He was in the process of setting the co-ordinates for their jump to lightspeed. She sat down beside him. "Almost set, Skrak?" Lawg Skrak, bounty hunter, swiveled in his chair to face her. "Yep," he said. "Just a couple more calculations, and we're out of here." He punched a few more buttons, and the stars in front of them turned into a mul- titude of streaking lines. "There we go," he said. "I'm never going back to that planet. Unless a bounty is hiding out there." Taara smiled. "I don't blame you. After that trouble with Krell, Ujennat 4 isn't exactly number one on my places to re-visit, either." Skrak laughed, then doubled over in pain. His laughing quickly degen- erated into a fit of wracking coughs. Taara grabbed him just as he was about to slide out of his seat. "Come on," she said, a look of concern on her face. "Let's get some bacta patches on those ribs." While on Ujennat 4, Krell Parenson had forced Skrak into a Deathmatch with a huge Barabel. Skrak had won the Match, but not without picking up a few cuts and bruises. "I think that's a good idea, sweetheart," the bounty hunter groaned, clutching his side. Taara helped Skrak back to the ship's tiny sickbay, and lay him down carefully on a bunk. Rummaging through a medpac, she quickly found the bacta patches. Skrak had managed to remove the chestplate to his armour, but was having trouble getting the tunic underneath off. Taara moved to help him. "I can do it myself!" Skrak snapped at her. Taara sat back, a hurt expression on her face. "Well, maybe a little help," Skrak said, immediately regretting his harsh tone. "Sorry. Guess I'm still not used to having a partner." "That's alright," Taara said, smiling. She pulled off the tunic, and started to apply the patches. "Now you just stay put. I don't want you moving until we reach Tatooine." "Yes, Mom." Taara pulled a chair over, and sat down beside Skrak. "Why're we going to Tatooine, anyway?" Skrak turned his head to look at her. By the Gods, she's beautiful, he thought to himself, then said aloud, "Jabba's got a job for me..uh..us. It came in just as we were blasting off." Taara groaned. Another job, and Skrak wasn't even going to give himself time to recuperate before tackling it. Sometimes he could be so thick head- ed. "What?" "Oh, nothing. It's just that..." She fell silent. Skrak propped himself up on one elbow, then yelped in alarm as Taara pushed him back down. "What is it?" he queried. Taara sighed. "It's just that..well...it's my birthday tomorrow and.. well, I thought maybe we could take the day off and have some fun." She looked away, embarassed. Skrak was dumbfounded. Her birthday. And she wanted to take the day off. To have FUN! "No," he said. There was that hurt expression again. Her icy blue eyes stared at him a second, then dropped to her lap. "Okay," she said. "It's not important, any- way." Taara got up to leave. "I'll be in the cockpit if you need me." Just as she was reaching the door, Skrak asked, "How, uh, how old will you be?" He was having trouble looking her in the eye, and it annoyed him. I'm one of the most ruthless bounty hunters in the galaxy, and this young woman terrifies me, he thought. The fact that Taara was Force-sensitive and could probably pick up on his feelings scared him even more. Taara sat back down beside him. "I'll be eighteen," she mumbled, looking at a spot somewhere over Skrak's head. "Well, I can't promise we'll do anything fun," Skrak said. "But, who knows, maybe after this job, we'll take a couple of days off and do some- thing." Taara grinned from ear to ear. Leaning over she gave Skrak a big kiss on the lips. Then, realizing what she was doing, Taara pulled back and muttered, "Thank you, Skrak. I mean it." She was blushing. Skrak wondered if he was blushing, too. His head certainly felt hot. "In the meantime, a present. What do you want?" he said. "Go on. Any- thing." Taara thought it over. "Well.. nah." she said. "You mean it? Any- thing?" "Yup." She smiled and leaned closer. "I've always wondered about this," she whispered, tapping Skrak's cybernetic left hand. "You're always so secretive about your past. Will you tell me how you lost your real hand?" Skrak stared up at the ceiling. That wasn't his favorite topic of dis- cussion. Not even close. He was about to refuse, when he happened to glance over at Taara. She looked so hopeful. Skrak swallowed. "Uh, yeah. Sure, why not," he said. "You'd better get comfortable, though. It's a long story." Taara nodded, and put her feet up on a crate of medical supplies. She looked at Skrak expectantly, waiting for him to begin. The bounty hunter cleared his throat. "It was about five months ago," he started, a distant look in his eyes, "and about a month before I hooked up with you. After that mess with Ecco Wyld, that got us into that trouble with Krell." He stopped. "But I'm not ready to talk about that just yet, so I'll skip ahead to the aftermath of that encounter. The Gundark had just crashed on the ice planet, Hoth..........."
Five months earlier
Skrak sat up. Where am I, he thought. Last thing I remember, I was about to blast that Rebel ship out of existence. The bounty hunter thought a little hard- er, then remembered a vortex opening in the space in front of him. A voice had filled his head. You are merely misguided, it had said. You shall live. Away with you. It all rushed back. The Kol'Mranna. Those seemimgly-omnipotent beings that had created those cubes that the Alliance and the Empire had been squabbling over. Lasso Antilles had gotten a hold of one and opened the rift, letting the Kol'Mranna out. Skrak remembered seeing the Star Destroyer, Darkhawk, explode. And then he was here. Wherever that was. Skrak struggled to his feet, and glanced out the cockpit window. All he could see was white. "Okay. I'm obviously on some snow planet, but which one?" he muttered to himself. "Better check the ship out." Leaning over a console, the bounty hunter ran a ship's diagnostic. A few minutes later, a light blinked, and he began to scroll through the list of everything that was wrong with the Death Gundark. The engine was dead. The hyperdrive power cells were all drained. Meaning, he couldn't even lift off, let alone leave whatever system he was in. "Great! Just fraggin great!" Skrak slammed his hand onto the screen. It cracked, and the bounty hunter chuckled. "Ah, well. Might as well take a look around." He made his way to the exit hatch. Once outside, Skrak scanned the terrain. Snow, snow and more snow. With a little ice thrown in for good measure. He began to scan for life- forms. Nothing. Waitaminute, he thought. What's that? A alarm flared inside his helmet, signifying a concentration of life-forms, about a mile north of him. A settlement! Skrak couldn't believe his good fortune. Maybe he could buy the power cells and other parts he needed from whoever ran the place. After all, he did have seven thousand credits with him. Krell Parenson wouldn't mind if he spent it, even though he'd failed to capture Ecco Wyld. Yeah right, Skrak thought. Aloud he said, "Oh, well. Who cares?" Heading back into the ship, Skrak grabbed his blaster and the credits. He was going to put on his jet-pack, but it had been badly damaged in the crash. "Looks like you're walking, Mr. Skrak," he muttered, leaving the ship. He set the ship's defences and started trudging towards the settle- ment. He'd been walking for only five minutes, when the alarm in his helmet blared again. Skrak heard a roar from behind, and something crashed into his back. The bounty hunter rolled with the blow, coming to his feet again almost immediately, firing his blaster. There was nothing there. Something smashed into the back of his head. Skrak staggered but kept his footing. Another ear-shattering roar. The creature lifted the bounty hunter into the air , and threw him. Skrak landed hard on his back, and lay there, fighting to push back the blackness. Looking up, Skrak saw a huge, hairy beast lumbering towards him. It had white fur, which explained why Skrak hadn't noticed it right away. He could barely make it out now, and it was standing three feet away from him. A Wampa Ice Creature. Well, he thought, struggling to his feet. At least I know where I am now. Hoth. Yahhoo! Skrak fired his blaster into the wampa's furry hide. It screamed in pain, and reached for the gun. The bounty hunter jumped out of it's way, pulling his vibro-knife at the same time. He slashed at the beast, leaving a long, bloody gash down it's right arm. The creature moved away from him, eyeing the knife warily. "Not used to your food fighting back, are ya?" Skrak laughed, the battle-lust pounding in his ears. "Well, this food bites back!" He lunged towards the wampa, firing his blaster. With a quickness that startled Skrak, the wampa grabbed him by the left hand and yanked. The bounty hunter felt flesh tear and bone crack. He heard his blaster fire, and looked down to see who was firing it. The blaster was gone. And so was his hand. Skrak screamed in outrage, and leaped at the wampa, flinging himself onto the creature's back. Somehow, he managed to drive the vibro-knife into the beast's skull, and roll out of it's way before he was crushed by it's massive falling body. The wampa let out a little whimper, and died. Stars swirled before Skrak's eyes, and he buried his left hand in the snow to numb the pain. Wait, he thought hysterically. I don't have a left hand anymore. He laughed weakly to himself. Gotta get up. Gotta... Skrak fell onto his back, laughing up at the sky. He figured the Kol'Mranna were probably laughing pretty hard right now, too. At him. "Laugh at this!" he yelled, and feebly started to make a snow-angel. The stars were fading now, and the darkness was spreading. As Skrak finally succumbed, he thought he could hear voices, yelling at him. "Over here!" "Wow, he took out a wampa all by himself...." Someone was shaking him. "Hey, pal. Can you hear me?" Skrak chuckled, and went to sleep.
An irritating beep awoke Skrak from his restless dreams. Turning his head to the left, he saw an astromech droid rolling out a door on the far side of the room. He started to sit up. "I wouldn't advise that, sir," said a metallic voice from behind him. Skrak, sitting up in spite of the advice, turned to face the owner of the voice. It turned out to be a 21-B medical droid. "Where am I?" the bounty hunter asked. "The owner of this establishment will be here to see you shortly," the droid said. "In the meantime, I would prefer that you lie back down, sir." The medical droid pushed Skrak back down onto the bed. As it turned to leave, the hunter grabbed at it with his left hand. "Wait a minute! I want--" Skrak stopped abruptly, staring at his hand. It was made of metal! "I see you've noticed our little improvement," came a male voice from the doorway. "I admit it's not pretty, but it was all we had handy." The tall man who entered the room stopped, and looked at Skrak. "Uh, sorry. Bad choice of words." Skrak said nothing. The man pulled up a chair and sat. "My men tell me you took out a wampa all by yourself." The bounty hunter nodded, and said, "Look, I'm grateful for the help, but are you planning on telling me who you are any- time today?" The man stared absently at the medical droid, then shifted his gaze back to Skrak. "You are Lawg Skrak, bounty hunter. True?" he asked. The bounty hunter nodded. "I am Kirba Thakis." Skrak looked up at Thakis. The name was familiar, but he couldn't quite remember where he'd heard it before. Doing a quick scan through his files on Known Bounties, Skrak came up empty. He could only access half his files. The wampa must have damaged his helmet when he hit it. The bounty hunter cursed silently to himself. Turning to Thakis, he said, "Name means nothing to me." If Thakis was relieved by this, he didn't show it. Instead he smiled. "Well, as I was saying. Sorry for the crudeness of your cybernetic replacement, but it was the only one we had." Thakis stood and got Skrak a drink. Skrak sipped it slowly, wondering where he'd heard the name Kirba Thakis before. "I have seven thousand credits on me. Take them as payment." Skrak paused, then said, "But I'll need some repairs on my ship as well." Thakis laughed. "Your ship has been repaired, and the credits removed. Normally I would never think of taking credits for giving help, but times have been tough recently. My men insisted on it." He sat down again. "But we gave you a little...bonus. Should come in useful in your line of work." Thakis stared into the blackness of Skrak's visor, waiting for a reply. Finally, the bounty hunter sighed. "What kind of...bonus?" he asked suspiciously. "Think the word 'Activate', and flex your left wrist." Skrak stared at Thakis, trying to figure the man's intentions. Sensing no hostile intent, Skrak did as instructed. He was amazed to see the barrel of a blaster sticking out of the palm of his hand. Pointing it at the wall, Skrak thought 'Fire'. A laser blast streaked across the room, spattering into the wall with a small explosion. Interesting, thought Skrak. "Thanks," he said. Thakis just smiled. "Tell me, Skrak," Thakis began. "Are you any relation to the Lawg Skrak that helped Ulic Qel-Droma after the Great Sith War? I've always been curious about that. Did you pattern yourself after him, or perhaps he's a distant relative?" Thakis stopped, looking expectantly at the bounty hunter. "Nope. Never heard of him." Thakis, Thakis. Where have I heard that name before? Thakis looked downtrodden. "Ah, well. Your ship is ready to go when- ever you are. Enjoy your stay on Hoth, Mr. Skrak. I expect you'll be leaving soon?" Skrak thought about it. "If you don't mind, I think I'll stay until morning. Maybe get a shower and meal?" He watched Thakis carefully, look- ing for any sign of uneasiness. There was none. "Of course. Stay as long as you like," Thakis said. "I'll send some- one to show you to the mess-hall. If you need anything else, just let me know." At Skrak's affirmative nod, Thakis turned and left the room. Ten minutes later, a short bald-headed man entered the room. Intro- ducing himself as Delic Batt, he led Skrak down the carved ice passageways to the mess-hall. The little man was obviously nervous in the bounty hunter's presence, and didn't say much. The mess-hall was empty, except for an Aqualish and a Devaronian, both of whom got up and left upon seeing Skrak enter. Skrak heard the Devaronian say, "Blasted bounty hunters," under his breath as he left the room. The hunter stared after them, then headed in the direction of the food counter. After Skrak had eaten, (without removing his helmet, much to Batt's disappointment) Batt led him to the quarters Thakis had set aside for him. Nodding in thanks, Skrak entered the room. Batt scurried off, glad to be away from his leader's terrifying guest. Skrak set to work repairing his helmet's computer.
After an hour of repairs, Skrak decided to take a short nap. Lying down on the bed in the corner of the room, he quickly drifted off. A knock at the door brought Skrak jumping to his feet. Grabbing his blaster, he made his way silently to the door. Keying it open, he flew at the person outside, grabbing him and throwing him into the room. Slamming his foot onto the newcomer's throat, Skrak shut the door and turned on the lights. Looking down at the person gagging under his foot, Skrak saw that it was a Rodian. The alien looked up at Skrak with fear in it's multi- faceted eyes. "Who are you and what do you want?" Skrak demanded, placing the barrel of his blaster between those same fear-filled eyes. "Make it quick. I'm really nasty first thing in the morning!" The Rodian tried to say something, then stopped. He gestured towards Skrak's foot. Skrak removed it and motioned for the Rodian to stand up. "No funny stuff," he said. The Rodian coughed, and began to talk. "I am Kweeodo," he began. "I bring information on my leader." Skrak waved his hand, signifying the Rodian to continue. Kweeodo moved over to the bed, and sat down on it. "But what is it worth to you, bounty hunter?" In a movement so fast Kweeodo almost missed it, Skrak had his blaster between the Rodian's eyes again. "Oh, how about I let you live?" he said, rubbing a vibroblade on his belt with his free hand. Kweeodo gulped. This wasn't going at all as he'd hoped it would. "OK, OK," the Rodian stammered. "Kirba Thakis is a Force-sensitive. One of the ones that escaped the Great Purge. He's worth a fortune." Kweeodo wrung his hands nervously. "I didn't want to try and take him out myself, and then you arrived. I figured we could share the reward." The Rodian glanced up at Skrak, hope in his eyes. "I don't work with partners," Skrak said, turning away. "Especially those that sell out their comrades." A Force-sensitive, thought Skrak. Vader would pay him a fortune if he could bring in a Force-sensitive. Skrak turned and faced the Rodian. "Are you still here? Leave now, and you can live." Skrak started scanning through his files again. Stang, he thought. I still can't access enough of them to confirm this scum's story. Oh, well. Preoccupied by his malfunctioning helmet-computer, Skrak didn't notice Kweeodo creeping up behind him. The Rodian slipped a wicked looking vibro- knife out of his belt, and raised it over his head. He prepared to plunge it into the bounty hunter's neck. Not even looking back at the Rodian, Skrak pointed his blaster and fired. Kweeodo fell to the floor without a sound. The Rodian no longer had a face. Kweeodo already forgotten, Skrak mumbled softly to himself. "I think it's time I had a chat with Mr. Kirba Thakis."
Meanwhile, Kirba Thakis was napping in his quarters. He was having the nightmare again; the same one he'd had every night since the Empire had killed his family. His father was yelling for him to run. A tall man in a black helmet and cape cut his father down. The other Jedi were already gone, either destroyed by Vader or his thousands of white-armoured minions. Thakis ran, tears filling his eyes. He wasn't watching where he was going, and he tripped on a branch. He rolled over, tasting something coppery. Blood, from his lip. A sound behind him. Thakis turned his head, and yelled in fear. Vader. Vader was coming. A wraspy breathing filled the air; the kind made by someone who had a machine doing their breathing for them, because they no longer could on their own. A snap-hiss of a lightsaber, and a red glow filled the clearing. Vader. But wait. It wasn't Vader. Thakis was confused. It was Darth Vader. In real life it had been, and in the dream world it was always Vader. Every night since that horrible day years ago, Vader had haunted his sleep. But as the figure moved closer to the trembling Thakis, he realized the shape of the helmet was all wrong. The figure raised the lightsaber, and it's light illuminated the face. Skrak. "I know your secret, Thakis," the bounty hunter exclaimed, bringing the saber down. Thakis awoke with a scream. His eyes darted furtively around the room, searching the shadows. He wiped at the sweat that was coating his brow. Skrak knows! he thought. Leaping out of bed, Thakis frantically got dressed. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out his father's lightsaber, and activated it. As he turned to face the door, it opened. In the doorway, stood Lawg Skrak. "Were you expecting me, Mr. Thakis?" he said, and Thakis knew he was smiling under his helmet. "Yes, I knew you would figure out who I was." This surprised Skrak. "If you knew who I was, then why did you help me?" The blaster-hand was pointing at Thakis, who knew he was a dead man. "Because it was the right thing to do," Thakis replied, raising the lightsaber into a defensive position. The bounty hunter didn't move. "Come on now. We both know you aren't a Jedi Knight. Your parents were, but you're not. You can't honestly believe you'll win." To answer Skrak's question, Thakis lunged at the bounty hunter, swinging the saber. Skrak just stepped aside, and tripped Thakis as he flew past. His momen- tum carried the would-be Jedi into a wall. Skrak chuckled. His chuckle turned into a choke. Pressure was building up in Skrak's throat, threatening to crush his wind-pipe. Fragging Force-users, he thought, heading towards Thakis. He kicked the man in the face, and instant- ly the pressure was gone. "So, your father did teach you a few tricks before Lord Vader killed him!" Skrak wheezed. "I'm impressed." He kneeled down beside Thakis, who glared at him with utter hatred in his eyes. "Do you Jedi-types always jump the gun like that?" Skrak wondered aloud. "If so, it's no wonder the Empire wiped you out. But I digress," Skrak said. "I didn't come here to kill you. I came to offer you a deal. You see, I really have no love for the Empire, but I'll work for anyone. You give me one-thousand credits more than the Empire's going-price on Force-sensitives, and I'll leave here. No one has to know you exist. If not....well, like I said, there's always the Empire." The bounty hunter sat down, waiting for an answer. Thakis stared up at him, hardly daring to believe his ears. "Are you serious?" he asked. Skrak nodded an affirmative and said, "Obviously you know of me, Thakis. Hasn't my reputation always been as the 'honorable bounty hunter'?" "What's the price?" Skrak said, "Forty thousand credits," Skrak stood up, then added, "If you were a full-fledged Jedi, it'd be a lot higher. But you're not." He sighed disappointedly. Thakis thought it over. Forty-one thousand credits. He could afford that. He and his men would have to do a lot more smuggling jobs in order to survive, but survive they would. "It's a deal," he said smiling. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Thakis," Skrak said, helping the man to his feet. "Now about those credits......" Thakis laughed.
Now
Lawg Skrak finished his story, and lay his head back on the pillow, looking over at Taara. She seemed lost in thought. "So, what did you do with the forty-one thousand credits?" she finally asked, taking her feet off the crates, and leaning forward. The bounty hunter sighed, looking slightly embarassed. "I... uh. I donated them to a chidren's orphanage on Botella Prime." Taara laughed, and said, "You did! No wonder you never told me that story before. Ya old softy." She wiped at a tear that was forming in her swollen left eye. Another souvenir of their stay at Krell's palace. "You gave it all to the orphanage? Even though you owed Krell Parenson seven thousand credits? " Taara chuckled as she checked the bacta patches on Skrak's ribs. "Yeah, well. I try to do at least one good deed a year," Skrak replied, looking uncomfortable under the onslaught of questions. Taara was silent for a while, changing the patches, and getting Skrak something to eat. Just when the bounty hunter dared to hope she had no more questions, Taara asked, "Why Botella Prime? It's pretty far from Hoth." "I was hired to capture a politician there, right before I met you," Skrak said, chewing on the bantha jerky she'd brought him. "I figured, one place is as good as the other." "So, what ever happened to Kirbas Thakis, anyway? I'd like to meet him sometime." Skrak was silent. He stared up at the ceiling. "What? What is it?" "The Empire got to him, two months ago. Vader and the Emperor killed him," Skrak said, unable to look at her. A shrill alarm sounded, signifying their approach to Tatooine. Saved by the bell, Skrak thought, as Taara stood up. "That's terrible," she said quietly. "I'll go take us out of hyperspace. Can you get up there on your own? I'm sure Jabba will want to speak with you before we land." Skrak nodded, and Taara left the sickbay. The bounty hunter got up slowly. The pain was mostly gone, but he'd probably need an hour or two in a bacta tank when they reached the surface. He was sure Jabba wouldn't mind. Skrak walked slowly to his small cabin in the rear of the Gundark. Entering, he made his way over to the small cabinet by his bed. Opening it, he pulled out a small, cylindrical object. Kirba Thakis's lightsaber. Skrak hung his head in shame. The majority of the story he'd told Taara was true, but he'd changed the ending. Thakis hadn't been able to pay the forty-one thousand credits, so Skrak had injected him with a powerful knock-out drug, and brought him to Darth Vader. Only later, did he realize the Kol'Mranna had sent him to Hoth as a test. One that he'd failed miserably. Oh, he'd given the credits to the orphanage, that was true enough. But not because he tried to do at least one good deed a year. Botella Prime was his homeworld, and he'd grown up in that orphanage. Sometimes he wondered if Taara hadn't been so attractive, would he have turned her over to the Empire, as well. His meeting with Thakis and the one with Taara were almost identical: Both were Force-sensitive, and both saved my life. The only difference was, he was attracted to Taara. Skrak forced himself to stop. No. He wouldn't have turned Taara over to the Empire. Attraction, or no attraction. "I did learn something that day," he said quietly, wondering if the Kol' Mranna were still watching him.
Taara sat up in the cockpit, preparing the Death Gundark to land in Mos Eisley. Jabba, who was talking to Skrak at the moment, had informed her that his palace docking-bay was full at the moment. His courier, an Arcona named Kodu Terrafin, had been instructed to pick the two of them up outside the Mos Eisley Spaceport. Taara told him to make the pick-up point Kayson's Weapons Shop. Skrak needed some new toys. At that, the Hutt had laughed, and Taara had put him though to Skrak. As she waited for her landing permits , Taara began the landing cycle, thinking back on the bounty hunter's story. Something didn't ring quite true about it. "Ah, well," she said aloud, "he'll tell you the truth when he's ready." Something in his life had made Skrak a hard, sometimes cruel person. And she figured it had something to do with the Empire. But at the same time, Taara knew he was , deep down, a good person. He just had some problems he had to work through first. Maybe he'd succeed, and maybe he wouldn't. But Taara vowed that she would stick by him, and help him battle all his inner demons. As the Spaceport Controller gave Taara clearance to land in Docking Bay 43, the door to the cockpit opened and Skrak walked in, dressed in full body armour. He took the controls, and Taara moved to the co-pilot's chair. As the Gundark entered Tatooine's atmosphere, Skrak turned to Taara and said, "Happy Birthday, sweetheart." He looked away. Taara just smiled, and prepared herself for landing.
THE END
If you have any questions or comments concerning my story, please e-mail Sean N. Koury at bobafett@voyageur.ca Want to know the story behind the Kol'Mranna? If so, e-mail me. It's a huge story and I need some motivation to tell it. If I get enough requests, I'll eventually end up posting it. The next adventure of Lawg Skrak has him competing with Boba Fett (and a few other familiar faces) to capture an Imperial officer who has defected to the Rebellion, and taken plans to a proto-type weapon with him. Fett fans, check it out, as I fill in a piece of Fett info that everyone's been dying to know. Just thought that one needed some advertising. Check out A.C. Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy. Hey! Vuffi Raa's in it. You know it's gotta be cool. Proud to be DFL