DISCLAIMER:I only own my OC's every other character is owned by Disney, Lucas and everyone else who has ever written anything for Star Wars. This is for entertainment only. My own and anyone who cares to read it.
CHAPTER ONE
Fifteen years after Order 66
"Fekking speeder!"
The occupant of the said speeder struggled with it as it coughed and sputtered it's way through the forest, at odds with the organic sounds that emanated all around it. He was fighting to keep it running and could feel the irregular vibrations of the engine as it attempted to continue. It was not winning against the cold and windy weather that it now found itself facing and the rider grumbled to himself for not completing the speeder repairs before he left the last town but the less time he spent in that town the better. He had recognised the looks they gave him.
Outsider!
The Empire had finally made its way to this insignificant outer rim planet and the Empire made people paranoid, so he had picked up the small amount of supplies they needed and left as soon as possible. He knew how and when to fight, he had done so all his life but he had to pick his battles more carefully now.
The town on the southern edge of the prairie was usually more welcoming but they were too far from it this time and these supplies had been needed urgently, otherwise their home, would probably have given up and that was the last thing they needed. He was surprised it had lasted this long; it was almost as old as he and his brothers.
They had picked this planet for a reason.
It was a forgotten planet.
Forgotten by the Republic, ignored by the Empire. Until now.
It had never previously had anything to offer the bureaucratic behemoth that now stood astride the Galaxy, purporting to offer peace and order; which was why he and his brothers were here but for some reason they were here now. The one thing it did have was extremes of weather and terrain, which could surprise even the best. He and his brothers preferred the desert, where they did their big game hunting, but now he was in the lusher forest region that rolled off the mountain range and edged onto the prairie, which in turn fed into the desert, where his brothers were now waiting and who he was struggling to get back to.
The weather had changed dramatically after he left the town, on a route he did not normally take; the temperature had dropped quickly and it was now cold, wet, with a drizzly rain that soaked everything on contact. He needed to get his old waterproof on, it wasn't used that often but this was one time it was needed. He slowed to a stop, nursing the speeder along, as he did so and then scanned the surrounding area with his old macrobinoculars, still working after all these years; this weather had been pushed down by the mountain region and would have disappeared by the time it reached the rough prairies and desert region, where he, and his companions hunted Joopa. He was just hoping that those two had not killed each other and trashed their home, before he got back there. He dragged the waterproof out of its storage case and pulled it on. It was old but it would have to suffice; it would keep him dry most of the time.
He started the speeder up again, it coughed and sputtered in disagreement and he pulled off again, nursing it gently, increasing the speed to bring it up to full power. He had just reached that point, when a small animal shot out across his path, his reactions kicked in and he cut the power, simultaneously swerving to one side of the track, at the end of that manoeuvre the speeder made its feelings abundantly clear and finally spluttered its last breath.
The engine steadfastly refused to start up again.
"Fek!" He exclaimed to no one in particular, as he switched on the light, on his helmet. The dusk was now turning to night and he reached for his handheld torchlight; popping the maintenance panel open, he shone it in.
"Yeah, thought so, burned out. Fek!" He confirmed his suspicions out loud and stood up to open up his comlink; it fizzed and screeched with static, he could only just obtain audio on it.
"Ner Vod, Of course it's me. Yes I know it's a bad reception but I've had to take a detour in the Forest region, near the Mountains."
He sighed at the reply that came into his earpiece, "Calm down, Ner Vod, the speeder needed some repairs, I put them off and now it's taken its revenge on me by dying."
He tried to keep his voice calm, as he knew by that voice, that his brother was getting increasingly paranoid; he had never been the same since the end of the War, when his General died. His brother held himself responsible for that.
"Is he back yet?" He hadn't wanted to leave them alone, when his more stable brother was off planet, both of them had been going through a bad patch.
Something had triggered it; he wasn't sure what this time.
"No?" He realised, he was speaking to an empty space.
A slightly different voice came on, "Can you keep an eye on him?" listening intently to the conversation on the other end, he replied. "Not literally Ner Vod, and not his eye." He sighed even deeper. "I'm near a farmhouse; I'll find out if I can borrow some tools and get the fekking thing repaired." The reception was getting poorer. "You're getting out of range Ner Vod, I'll com you again as soon as I have some news. SOP. K'oyacyi."
He closed his com link and using his helmet, scanned the surrounding area again, increasing the magnification by ten to zoom into the group of buildings, on the edge of the forest, just before the land thinned out to the prairie and desert.
"Mmmmm." He adjusted the binoculars to take in all of the buildings, "looks inhabited." As he studied the main building, he saw a single storey, wood and brick residential type building, very similar to the ones in the local town, in addition, it had lighting, which illuminated the perimeter. From what he could see, there were also several outbuildings.
"Maybe some work rooms." He observed, not seeing any of the inhabitants outside of the property.
"Need to move in carefully." He said to himself and with that comment, he picked up his comlink and adjusted his twin blasters and old helmet, then set off towards the buildings. After a couple of minutes of making good time over the treacherous terrain, he stopped and listened. His audio feed had picked something up, something anomalous. He was being followed and he didn't think it was humanoid but he was definitely being hunted, and he knew that feeling from long experience. He moved forward, slower, more careful, negotiating each step, activating his 360 degree display, as he went.
Fek! I'm getting too old for this." He muttered, with no-one but the forest to hear him. His reflexes, once, second to none, best of the best, had dulled slightly with age and lack of use, that and the unknown terrain was making him take his time, too much time, as he was hit from the side and thrown into the bush, his breath knocked from him, leaving him winded. His immediate reaction was to jump up and aim but his body no longer automatically answered the call that years of training had instilled in him in his youth. Time, was the reason that the animal had caught him amidships and bowled him over; it was not on his side and never had been. It completed a u-turn on itself and attacked again, knocking the wind out of him a second time. It's front claws scraped along the chest plate of his armour, that he continued to wear in an abbreviated form, then it sat back on its haunches to survey the expected damage.
After a few seconds, sensing a victory, it attacked again; it wasn't sentient but it learned, this time hooking its huge claws underneath the armour and ripping it from its wearer, who rose on his knees ready to face his attacker. Still winded, he was slower than normal and the beast was in its prime. It lunged again at the man, who reacted by twisting away but not fast enough and the huge claws scraped along his chest. He let out a roar of pain and it threw him to one side; landing on his back, he immediately pushed himself up, only to be met by the scything action of the beast's tail, which hit him across the face. Now he lay still and bleeding from his injuries.
Cocking its head from one side to the other and then lifting it into the air, the Beast sniffed eagerly and deeply, for blood, and found it, giving out a hissing mewl in triumph. Swishing its tail around again, it stepped over and above the prone body of its prey; it checked the surrounding area for potential interlopers on it's kill. Satisfied there were no other predators to interrupt, it proceeded to sniff around it's victim and then, in its wide mouth it grabbed an armoured arm and began to pull, starting to remove its prey to its nest, so that it could gorge at its leisure.