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Safe House, 434 Order and Loyalty Place
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Voras smoked Mercan herbs from his hookah pipe in a futile effort to calm his nerves. He was being protected on the top floor of a three story warehouse with little in the way of creature comforts.
Two heavily armed guards, a human and a Lasat, peered out the view screen while a third guard, a Wookiee, sat next to Voras. The guard was playing a hologame of Shronker with the young Hutt, but Voras was paying very little attention to the game and losing badly.
I should be rocketing out of the sector, maybe back home to Nar Shaddaa or to my uncle Jabba's place on Tatooine, Voras thought. I know better than my father. Sutha is crazy to keep me on Coruscant with Boba Fett still on the loose.
The human guard spoke into a comlink to do a security check with the four guards in hidden posts outside the warehouse. "Position four. Check in."
"Check." A guard on a circular perimeter patrol replied.
"Position three. Check in."
"Check." A sniper responded from across the airway.
"All positions, stay ready." The human guard ordered. "Position two. Check in."
"Check." The team's second sniper reported. He didn't see the figure that emerged from the shadows and strangled position four's guard in the alley next to his sniper nest.
Voras tossed away his control stick and took a drag from his hookah before snapping at the Wookiee. "Will you stop playing that kriffing hologame?"
The Wookiee worked for Sutha so he didn't have to listen to Voras. So he kept playing the game even without Voras.
"Position one. Check in." The human guard chief said.
"Check." Boba Fett replied into a dead guard's comlink.
Voras was truly growing frustrated. He raised a fist to the Wookiee and repeated. "Will you stop playing the kriffing hologame!"
The Wookiee looked to Voras with an expression that told the Hutt where he would prefer to stuff the hologame. It was the last look he ever gave as a blaster bolt entered his temple and blew out the other side of his head. Voras was splattered with hot blood and fur.
Another blaster shot rang out from outside and position three's sniper fell lifelessly from his perch.
The human bodyguard at the view screen turned towards Voras and waved frantically. "Get down! Get down!"
Voras was just starting to move when a bolt tore out the human guard's throat.
The zip of a blaster discharge outside told Voras that Boba Fett had dealt with the last guard sniper at position two.
The Lasat was bounding across the room. He grabbed Voras by the stubby arm, "Come on! Come on! Stay low! Stay low!"
As the Lasat pulled Voras down the stairs leading to the air speeder hanger on the level below, Boba Fett left his position and calmly strolled towards the building. He pulled a detonator from his utility belt and activated it.
Voras was tossed forward from the force of planted explosives on the floor beneath him as fiery blasts destroyed every air speeder in the building's hanger. Voras and the Lasat got to the bottom of the stairs and stared wide-eyed at the burning wreckage before them. Their only means of escape was now gone.
Fired unseen from the east side of the warehouse, two bolts tore into the Lasat's chest, killing Voras's last protector.
Voras's survival instincts kicked into overdrive as he frantically ran away from his unseen assailant. He slid between the rows of burning air speeders. He didn't flee fast enough as a large bolt tore a chunk out of his tail. Voras fell to his side. Pain from his injury sent him into a near panic as he fought for breath.
Voras turned back towards the smoking vehicles to see the horror he had been running from. The green and gray armored bounty hunter walked intently through the wreckage straight towards the wounded Hutt. There was no hesitation in the way Boba Fett approached Voras.
Voras put up a hand in a futile defense as Boba came to a halt above him. Voras attempted to plead, "It was just a kriffing . . ."
Boba Fett blasted Voras right between his eyes, killing him instantly. He didn't want to hear any of the Hutt's excuses or pleas. What good would they serve anyhow?
It was over. Boba Fett turned and left.
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Sutha's Office, Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant
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The comlink rang.
Sutha had been dreading this call. He pushed the connection button. He listened to Rako Hardeen's report from the safe house.
"Make the arrangements."
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The Galactic Hotel Lobby, Level 1313
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IG-88 peered up from his work to see Boba Fett approaching. The bounty hunter was carrying his luggage and appeared ready to check out of his stay.
Boba placed a room key on the desk and slid it towards the droid. "Thank you."
"Our pleasure, sir." IG-88 replied. The assassin droid placed a set of air speeder keys on the desk and slid them towards Boba Fett.
Boba hadn't used their valet service when he arrived and wondered what the keys were about.
"A parting gift. From the management." IG-88 explained. "Compensation for last night's unfortunate . . . incident."
Boba picked up the ignition keys and looked at them. He nodded to the droid in gratitude and turned and left the lobby.
Outside the Galactic, Boba Fett was faced with a shiny, new, black T-47 air speeder. One of the quickest civilian air speeders on the market. His father would have been envious. Jango Fett had always admired fast air speeders.
He handed his luggage to the available bell hop who placed Boba's bags in the vehicles cargo space. Boba tipped him one aurodium coin before climbing behind the T-47's controls. The engine purred when he started it. He smiled in admiration.
When he pulled away from the Galactic he headed towards the tunnels that would take him back towards the surface of the Galaxy's capital.
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Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant
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Boba Fett sat on the steps of the Galaxies Opera House, watching Coruscant Prime set over the city and silently contemplating his future in the Underworld.
Sutha wouldn't be happy with him for quite some time, if ever, but other syndicates and Hutt families would love to hire him again. Boba figured even Sutha's brother Jabba would be willing to throw him some work despite Boba killing his nephew. Hutts could hold a grudge, but they'd be the first to stab their own families in the back.
Of course, what would Sinta think? They had been happy living peacefully for two or three years, but these past few days chasing down Voras had felt like . . . home.
She was Mandalorian like him. She would understand, right? He needed more time to think about it.
Boba Fett didn't hear the footsteps approaching but he knew he wasn't alone anymore.
"How many times do I have to save your shebs?" Cad Bane asked.
"I appreciate it." Boba said.
"Of course." Cad looked him in the face. "You look terrible."
"No, I look retired." Boba was only lying to himself. He could tell Cad wasn't fooled.
"Retired? You really believe that?"
Boba nodded.
"You made a new life. You'll find your way back to it." Cad Bane tipped the edge of the broad brim of his trademark hat. As he turned away from Boba he said, "It's time to go home."
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Uscru Entertainment District, Coruscant
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Aurra Sing put down the macrobinoculars after watching the Duro walk away from Boba Fett.
Cad Bane was unmistakably a legend in the Underworld. Not as good as she was, of course, but one to be leery of crossing paths with. The old Duro had grown old since the Clone Wars. Maybe he's lost a step or two she figured.
His presence also explained Boba Fett's escape from the Church of First Frequency and how the bounty hunter had been alerted to her assassination attempt.
She picked up her comlink and dialed the number to Rako Hardeen.
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Level 1313
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Coruscant still smelled of pesky Jedi, even after these years, Cad Bane thought as he walked down the street towards the Galactic. Maybe, that was why he was eager to get back to Duro.
He was going back to the hotel to gather his own bags, then heading for the hidden docking bay where he had left his starship. With any luck he'd be back home on Duro within the next rotation.
It was good seeing Boba Fett again. He had nothing but respect for the kid's old man, but thinking he was retired was a laugh. Boba Fett had bounty hunting in his blood. You'd have to throw him in a Sarlacc pit to get him to quit.
Cad Bane hadn't lost a step either. He knew the exact second he picked up a tail. He didn't react to let them know he was on to them. Not that it would have mattered as several more armed henchmen appeared on the sidewalk ahead of him.
The Duro bounty hunter stopped in his tracks. He would allow them to make the first move and respond accordingly.
He was stopped in front of a row of apartment buildings. The door to the one next to him opened up to reveal Rako Hardeen. Hardeen motioned for him to follow him inside.
Cad Bane did just that. Not that he had much of a choice. Once inside, Rako's goons frisked him and relieved him of almost a dozen hidden weapons. Cad removed his coat and folded it over a nearby chair. There was a glass dish on a table before him and Cad was made to empty his pockets of his credits, comlink and even his chromo.
Cad turned around to face the two bodyguards behind him. "Let's get on with this, whatever the fark this is."
"Hello, Cad." Sutha said from the other room. Cad Bane spun his head around to face the Hutt.
After Rako and the two guards placed Cad Bane in a chair, they held him there while Sutha beat him. The beating lasted for ten minutes without a single word being spoken. Finally, Sutha stopped. He slid to a desk where Rako had placed a bowl of ice. He placed his hands in it to soothe his bruised knuckles.
Cad Bane was a mess. Sutha had destroyed his face and blood was covering his clothes. His large hat was crushed on the floor where the Hutt had slid over it after it had fallen from the Duro's head. Through broken teeth, Cad Bane said, "You pulled the contract."
"And while it was open you had every chance . . . every opportunity to kill Boba Fett!" Cad Bane started to pass out and fall over but one of the guards beside him pulled him upright again. "And if you had done your job, my son would still be alive!"
Sutha punched Cad so hard a stream of blood from Cad's mouth flew across the room and splattered the far wall.
As Cad Bane recovered from the powerful blow, Aurra Sing walked into the room with a beverage in her hand. She smiled at Cad Bane and handed the drink to Sutha.
"Thank you." Sutha said to her and swallowed the drink in a single gulp.
Cad Bane shrugged. "Aurra Sing. Why am I not surprised?"
"In for a coin, in for a credit." Aurra Sing gloated.
Cad spit out a bloody tooth in response. Sutha approached him again. This time Rako handed him a vibroblade which the Hutt pointed menacingly towards Cad.
"I always liked you, Cad." Sutha said. "The last of the old guard from the days of the Old Republic."
Sutha thrust the blade deep into Cad's thigh. The Duro couldn't help himself and shouted in pain. Sutha growled, "But unlike the others, you'll go out on my terms."
Sutha turned away to retrieve a blaster from Rako.
"No, no." Cad Bane struggled with the two men holding his arms and broke free. He looked up at Sutha's back. "No, my good, sir. I go out on my own."
Cad threw an elbow into the guard on his right then stood up and grabbed the guard to his left. He pulled the blaster pistol tucked into the guard's belt free and fired several bolts into the thug's chest. He turned back to his right and shot the other guard in the forehead from less than a meter distance.
Sutha tried to dive behind one of his men for cover but they were all too skinny to save him.
In the end it didn't matter. As Cad Bane turned away from the two dead guards, Aurra Sing had already dropped into a firing position and then blasted him twice, once in the sternum and the other in the left lung. Cad Bane was thrown backwards from the impact.
Sutha took Rako's blaster and slid over to the prone bounty hunter. He pointed the weapon down at Cad Bane's chest.
"See." Cad Bane smiled.
Sutha fired half the weapon's ammo into the Duro's chest. He looked down at the bloody mess below him and blasted him twice more in the head. So ended the legend of Cad Bane.
"Well played, old friend."
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Inside Boba Fett's T-47, Airway 405
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Boba Fett's comlink chimed. He kept his eyes on the airway as he reached into his pocket to retrieve it. Without looking at the caller code he answered it. "This is Boba."
"I appreciate you granting my son a swift death." Sutha told him. Boba Fett said nothing in response. Why was Sutha calling him? They were square. "I wouldn't know how to respond to that either."
Sutha waited several seconds before continuing. "Cad Bane betrayed me. And in so doing, he broke the cardinal rule. So, Boba, I had no choice."
Sutha ended the call. Boba looked down at his comlink. The caller code wasn't Sutha's. Instead, it came from an address back down on Level 1313, from somewhere near the Galactic Hotel.
Boba Fett turned the air speeder around and headed down into the lower levels.
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Apartment near the Galactic Hotel
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"We done, Sutha?" Rako Hardeen asked nervously, as Sutha handed him back his blaster.
Rako knew Boba Fett was still out there somewhere and wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. Thankfully, so did his boss, and the plan was for them to hide out in the Outer Rim until things cooled down here on Coruscant.
"We're done." Sutha said, calmly. The Hutt acted very chill for someone whose son had just been murdered, Rako thought. He wondered if Sutha's mind hadn't snapped a bit.
Rako activated his comlink and called Sutha's personal pilot. "Yeah. Fuel the starship. Plot for a jump to Tatooine."
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Apartment near Galactic Hotel, five minutes later
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Boba Fett landed the T-47 in the middle of the roadway. This part of the city was dead this time of night. He jumped out, weapon drawn, and ran into the building.
Aurra Sing watched Boba Fett go into the building from a parked landspeeder across the roadway. She was about to retrieve her own sniper rifle to deal with him when he emerged again but her comlink chimed. She answered it.
It was the voice of the Galactic Hotel's front desk droid. "Ms. Sing, I apologize for calling you at this hour."
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Boba moved slowly through the silent apartment. His weapon drawn and held at the ready.
In the dining room he found the body of Cad Bane. The Duro had been blasted many times at extreme close range. Boba had seen a lot of dead bodies in his line of work, there had been a lot of anger with this kill.
Cad Bane had been a friend of Boba's father and a personal mentor in the Bounty Hunter's Guild. And though their paths had crossed many times over the years, and not always on the same side of a contract, Boba and Cad had always respected each other. More than associates they had grown into colleagues and then as the strongest of friends.
Sutha would pay for this.
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Five blocks away, Valorum Fountain Park
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Aurra Sing walked down the steps towards the columns arranged around the park's central fountain.
She knew she had screwed up with the Bounty Hunter's Guild by committing business on Galactic grounds, so when they called to meet with her immediately, she decided Boba Fett could wait. She needed to smooth things over with the organization first.
She stopped in the center of the columns and waited. Four gunmen stepped from the darkness and surrounded her. She knew them all from the Galactic. She didn't wait long before Hondo Ohnaka emerged. He walked right up to her.
"Aurra." Hondo said in that old pirate accent of his. "Your membership to the Galactic has been, by thine own hand, revoked."
He turned away and walked towards the stairs. Behind him the four gunmen pulled their blasters and blasted her. She didn't have time to react to the suddenness of the attack. Four bolts tore through her heart and she fell dead in front of the fountain.
As Hondo reached the stairs he was met by Morelo Eval and two large Gamorreans. He handed Morelo an aurodium coin and continued on his way up the stairs.
At the top, when he was alone, Hondo pulled out his personal comlink and dialed a long memorized number. When it was answered, he said. "I know what you are thinking, Boba. We live by a code. Which is why I'm not the one telling you that a certain starship at a certain docking bay is being fueled for a certain Hutt."
Boba Fett disconnected the line. It was out of Hondo's hands now.
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Airway 15, on route to Docking Bay 96
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The rain was really pouring down now. Luckily this time of night, traffic was light.
Rako Hardeen, his boss Sutha, along with three Weequay guards, were in the lead air speeder on the way to his personal starship. Sutha would have to kiss Jabba's slimy tail, but his brother would protect him on Tatooine for a while. Another air speeder followed them. This one was filled with the last of Sutha's guards left alive here on Coruscant. Sutha would have a lot of rebuilding to do when they returned, Rako thought. I'll need a large raise after this whole Boba Fett poodoo.
"Have you got my hookah pipe?" Sutha asked for the third time.
"Yeah, I've got your hookah." Rako replied. He needed a vacation. Sutha was starting to annoy him.
There was suddenly the flash of drive lights coming from the rain behind the chase vehicle. A third air speeder was approaching quickly. Everyone in the lead vehicle turned to see who it was except Sutha, who couldn't be bothered.
"Who is that behind us?" The Weequay pilot asked.
"Echuta!" Sutha exclaimed. It could only be Boba Fett; the boogeyman.
"Yeah, wizard." Rako said. He told the pilot. "Let's go faster, c'mon. The starship is just down there. Let's go. Let's go!"
Behind them, Boba Fett's air speeder pulled alongside the chase vehicle. The bounty hunter slammed his ship into the security vehicle causing it to veer slightly off course. It couldn't have happened at a worse moment as they were approaching a large office building. The guard vehicle slammed into the cloud cutter at full speed. The resulting explosion lit up the night sky before vanishing in the rain.
Now Boba Fett's drive lamps filled their rear view screen.
"Poodoo." Rako looked back at their pursuer. "I knew he'd come."
Sutha just chuckled like he was a Force-stang, Kowokian monkey-lizard. The Hutt had lost his mind, Rako figured.
Boba Fett raced up along the pilot's side of the air speeder and matched their speed. The Mandalorian side swiped their vehicle, shattering view screens and causing everyone inside to brace themselves from the impact. The Mandalorian veered away and then slammed into them again.
"What is kriffing wrong with this guy?" Rako cried out. He turned to the Weequays. "Someone give me a blaster. Who's got a blaster?"
Sutha was still laughing.
Boba Fett pulled slightly ahead of them and then side swiped them again. This time impacting with the engine compartment at the front of their air speeder. Rako slammed his head against the interior wall of the vehicle. "Oh, stars! My kriffing head!"
"That was a good one." Sutha chuckled.
"Who's got a blaster?" Rako pleaded with the guards.
Boba Fett dropped back several meters and sheared off their rear stabilizer. The pilot hopelessly fought for control as their vehicle skittered to the right. They impacted a hover billboard along the side of the airway and lost the port side repulse lift. They were going down towards a large landing right next to their docking bay.
Boba Fett sped past the crippled air speeder on its death plunge.
Sutha's vehicle bounced several times before sliding to a stop. Rako couldn't believe they were all still alive.
"Go, kill him." Sutha yelled in Huttese. The three Weequays burst out of the vehicle, their weapons drawn on the approaching T-47. Sutha and Rako were left all alone in the crashed air speeder.
"Fierfek." Rako shouted in fear and frustration.
The first guard went out to the edge of the landing. He blasted away with his blaster rifle at Boba Fett's air speeder to no avail. The ship dipped down and hit the Weequay in the legs, causing him to roll over the top of Boba Fett's canopy. Boba had a blaster pistol drawn and blasted several rounds through his roof to kill the guard as he rolled past.
His forward view screen shattered, Boba Fett hit the firing mechanism to eject his canopy.
The second Weequay opened up with his blaster as Boba Fett flew past. The T-47 fish-tailed across the landing batting the Weequay with its wing. The guard fell to the ground and dropped his blaster. Boba Fett never gave him a chance to recover, instead aiming from the T-47's pilot seat he shot the downed guard in the head twice.
Rako yelled to his boss. "Sutha, the starship is right over there. We have to get over there."
Sutha did nothing more than calmly light a cigarra and watch the blaster fight going on outside the vehicle.
Boba Fett's T-47 was now facing away from Sutha's crashed air speeder. The last Weequay, the pilot, blasted away at the rear thrusters of Boba's vehicle. Boba shifted the air speeder into reverse and floored it. The rear of the T-47 plowed into the Weequay and the crashed air speeder, crushing him between the two vehicles.
Boba was going to turn on Sutha and Rako when automatic fire riddled his T-47 from the direction of the docking bay. A human, probably Sutha's starship captain, blasted at the T-47 from behind a pillar near the docking bay entrance. Boba Fett charged ahead to deal with the nuisance.
He hit the control stick hard to the left when he reached the pillar causing the air speeder to bank sharply around the structure. The T-47 was nearly standing on its left wing as it circled the pillar. The maneuver exposed the pilot to Boba Fett's aim. The T-47's engines screamed as Boba snapped off several bolts that clipped the starship pilot in the arm and chest. One final shot to the face put him down for good. He sped back towards the crashed air speeder and Sutha.
Rako desperately checked under his seat and amongst the various compartments inside the air speeder for a weapon. "I need a blaster."
Sutha quietly removed a holdout blaster from the compartment next to his seat and held it out, butt first, towards his majordomo. He muttered something in Huttese.
Rako took the offered weapon, "Basic please."
"Good luck." Sutha said.
"Hutt cheebiesucker." Rako called his boss. He kicked open his door, but it fell off its hinge causing Rako to fall forward and land on the pavement. He got up and scrambled away from the air speeder to put some distance between him and Boba Fett. "Fierfek!"
Boba Fett circled over the downed craft in an attempt to discern Sutha's condition. The Hutt was moving so he was alive as far as Boba could tell, but he wasn't bothering to exit the crash or seek shelter. What was his game, Boba wondered.
Boba had just decided to set down beside Sutha's air speeder when several bolts ricocheted off the edge of his cockpit. Boba ducked down from the surprise attack. When he popped back up he spotted Rako Hardeen running across the landing blasting wildly back at the T-47.
Boba carefully aimed his EE-3 and blasted the running Rako in the left calf. Sutha's majordomo fell forward dropping his weapon.
Boba Fett pushed his controls forward and stepped on the thrust footpad. Rako couldn't get out of the way as the air speeder roared down at him. The T-47 hit the man and flung him onto the air speeder's front shield. Rako was face to face with Boba Fett when the Mandalorian hit the air brakes bringing the T-47 to a sudden stop. Rako's forward momentum threw him to the ground to the right of Boba's grounded air speeder.
Boba was about to finish the man off when the T-47 was suddenly struck from the left side. Sutha had somehow activated the booster in his downed air speeder which was propelling it across the landing like a battering ram. Both air speeders rolled over Rako Hardeen, crushing him to death.
Boba looked at Sutha glaring at him from the pilot seat of the air speeder to his left and then right towards the edge of the landing. The drop over the side was over a hundred stories up. Malfunction lights and alarms rang out inside the T-47 as the wings crumpled off and the engine gave out. It would never fly again, Boba realized.
Boba Fett grabbed his EE-3 and blasted wildly at the Hutt mere meters away. The bucking and swerving of the T-47 as it crossed the landing caused his blots to go wide.
Boba Fett released his safety belt and scrambled out of his seat. The edge was rapidly approaching. Just as the T-47 smashed through the edge's safety rail he leapt free and landed next to Sutha's air speeder as it became entangled in the mangled railing. The T-47 fell away to the ground below. The distant explosion was swallowed by the rainstorm.
The downpour soaked Boba Fett as he gained his feet. His ribs still hurt from where Darts had stabbed him and the impact with the landing had aggravated the wound. He pulled his EE-3 out and ran around to the pilot position on the air speeder. He opened the door and pointed the blaster inside, but the vehicle was empty.
Then, through the rain, he saw him. Sutha was standing several meters away from Boba Fett. He glared at the Mandalorian. His whole bearing dared Boba Fett to attack him.
Lightning crackled across the Coruscant sky illuminating the landing.
Boba Fett lowered the EE-3 and approached the Hutt. It didn't matter that Sutha had half a ton of weight on him. Boba was going to beat the Hutt to death with his bare hands if he had to.
"No more blasters, Boba." Sutha said.
"No more bolts." Boba tossed the empty weapon to the ground.
The two opponents circled each other. Each looking for the slightest of advantages. Sutha moved easily along the soaked pavement, while Boba had to remove his helmet as rain covered the T-visor. Water quickly slicked his hair back as he let the helmet fall to the side.
They stopped moving and squared off. Sutha rose himself to his full three meter height and glared down at the clone. "Just you and me, Boba."
Boba nodded. "You and me."
Sutha shouted and feinted forward. Boba stepped back. Sutha threw a series of four left thrusts that drove Boba further backwards. He easily avoided each of the blows.
Sutha switched his tactic and threw a haymaker with his right followed by a swing from his left, then back and forth from right to left. Boba kept his defense up and blocked each of the onslaught of punches with his forearms. Sutha winced in pain from hitting Boba's armored gauntlets.
Boba Fett counter attacked by jabbing an elbow into the Hutt's enormous gut and then punching Sutha in the throat. The Hutt recoiled from the strikes. Boba couldn't tell if he was actually hurting Sutha or if the Hutt's massive fat was absorbing the blows.
Sutha pushed him backwards. Boba responded by punching Sutha directly in the nose, causing his eyes to water and temporarily blind the crime lord. He grabbed Sutha by the neck and shoved him against the wall. He didn't have the strength to choke a Hutt all by himself so he ignited his jetpack to give him the extra push.
Sutha stared down at him. "What happened, Boba? We were professionals. Civilized."
"Do I look civilized to you?" Boba Fett growled at the Hutt. He then punched Sutha as hard as he could, smashing his large left eye.
Sutha charged forward and forced space between the two of them. He put up one hand for a pause in their fight. It took a massive amount of energy to move a Hutt in anything resembling fast. Sutha struggled to catch his breath.
Boba Fett had his hands up at the ready position, watching to see what Sutha would do next. Sutha reached into one of the fat folds on his right side and withdrew a hidden switch-vibroblade. Boba glared at the Hutt, but that was life in the Underworld. You either fought dirty or you sunk into the muck.
Sutha swung at Boba who hopped backwards just out of the Hutt's range. Sutha swung again. This time Boba managed to grab a hold of the Hutt's wrist locking the weapon in a position it couldn't get to him. Sutha used his free hand to punch Boba in the face. It felt as if Ronto had stepped on his head.
Boba Fett realized his opponent had no idea how far he was willing to go. Instead of pushing the vibroblade away from him, Boba Fett suddenly pulled the weapon closer. Sutha's weight did the rest and drove the blade into Boba's previous stab wound. Sutha slid back in shock that Boba would do such a thing.
The bounty hunter grabbed the Hutt's blade arm and lifted straight up, breaking it at the elbow. Sutha released his grip on the vibroblade. Boba grunted in pain as he pulled the weapon free. He could feel the warm blood run down his leg.
He blocked a wide swing from Sutha's good arm and then drove the vibroblade deep into Sutha's neck. The sudden geyser of green blood proved that Boba had hit a large artery.
Sutha spun Boba around and punched him once more in the face. The force of the impact caused Boba to fall backwards. The loss of blood caused Sutha to fall a few meters from him. The two opponents could hardly move anymore let alone continue the fight.
Their green and red blood mixed with the rain to form a puddle between them. Lightning strikes increased in the sky above.
Boba tried to apply pressure to his wound to stem the flow of blood. Sutha wasn't bothering.
"Be seeing you, Boba." Sutha told him. The strength slowly ebbing from his voice.
"Yeah, be seeing you." Boba Fett replied. He got up and walked past Sutha. As he passed the Hutt he heard Sutha's raspy breath stop.
Boba Fett walked away into the storm.
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Veterinary Medical Quarantine and Disposal Unit, next to Docking Bay 96
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Boba Fett broke the glass of the clinic's front door with his elbow. He reached inside and grabbed the interior door handle to let himself inside.
He had been lucky to spot this place in the rain. He'd be even luckier if his blood loss let him walk out of it again.
He stumbled past cages filled with dozens of exotic looking animals in cages. The beasts screeched and howled at him as he left a trail of blood back to the facility's medical room.
He tore open several cabinets and drawers in a search for something that could help him. He got lucky again finding several vials of animal-grade Bacta. If it worked on their infections it would work on his, he figured and drank two of them quickly. He saw a glue-stat in the cabinet and grabbed it.
He gingerly took off his chest plate and raised his shirt. Dried blood was already causing it to stick to his skin. Once the stab wound was exposed he sprayed the glue-stat foam on his wound. Once exposed to carbon it dissolved, sealing the wound.
Boba took several minutes to clean and disinfect the wound. Several times he thought he was starting to black out, only to catch himself and rest for a few seconds.
Something in one of the cages caught his eye. He went around the exam table in the center of the room and stumbled towards what he had seen.
A small akk pup whimpered up at him. Boba looked at the label on the cage. Scheduled for disposal tomorrow.
Boba saw a leash hanging on the wall and grabbed it. He opened the cage and pulled the akk dog out. He put the leash of the animal's collar, rubbing its head to soothe it.
"It's alright. Let's go home."