Jan's brow furrowed, "What? It can't be; that isn't possible! You killed
Boba Fett on Coruscant!"
Kyle nodded, "That is Slave 1 all right, and that is Boba Fett still under Jabba's employment."
Jan corrected him, "Spies learned that he wasn't working for Jabba after all, but instead was employed by the Empire to keep you away from the Arc Hammer. Not only that, but he was under direct employment of General Mohc. He bit the bolt on Coruscant! Boba Fett's dead."
Kyle flipped on the comlink, "Galleon, do you copy? We don't want to call for reinforcements."
"Is that Commander Katarn? I've heard so much about how you defeated both General Mohc and Boba Fett."
Kyle didn't answer at first. He thought over some thoughts and answered, "No, no. I didn't defeat either of them, but this is Commander Katarn. Who is this? Where have all of these rumors of me been fabricated?"
The voice answered coldly. His voice was different, as if muffled by a helmet, "No, Commander Katarn. It is you who is mistaken. I have just completed my scans of your ship, and have just noticed you have depleted your weapons supply. You are right about one thing, that being that you defeated Boba Fett on Coruscant. From this day forth, the battle will show me as victor and you and your ship will become stardust!"
Jan bit her lip, and then turned to Kyle, "All right, I'm seeing how the puzzle piece fits. Fett's out for personal revenge, not for Jabba's bounty."
Kyle flipped the switch off, "Well, he is right about our weapons supply being depleted. The whole turret was blown off!"
Jan nodded, "We have no chance of engaging him. We need to find Madine's fleet and get out of here!"
Kyle shook his head, "He'll track us. I've got an idea though, one that I had used many times while training in simulators. Here, convert all shields to our bow."
Jan did so, and the monitor of the shield display turned green on the nose of the ship. She looked back to Kyle, "Next?"
"Convert all of our weapons energy to the engines, and then find the Gromas system in our databank," Kyle said. Jan linked all of their remaining weapons supply to their engines, and then turned back to him. Kyle shrugged, "What?"
"Gromas? Why in the name of the force would you want to return to the Blood Moon, an Imperial infested sight of phrink mining?"
"Trust me, we'll be with the fleet soon," Kyle reassured her. He smiled, "Any way, I destroyed the phrink mines while putting the Darktrooper project out of commission."
"Checkmate, Commander Katarn," Fett's sinister voice came through their speakers.
Kyle was surprised at the term used for victory in one of the many holographic board games. He flipped the comlink on again, "Excuse me?"
" Not only am I a strategist at the art of collecting bounties, I'm also familiar with the holographic board game of Dejarik," Fett responded. After that there was a tense pause. He finally responded, "I do know of your coordinates to the Rebel Alliance fleet, but I assure you that you will never reach them. I could get some dough for selling them out."
Jan looked up to Kyle after she had switched the comlink off, "Gromas is set. Its now or never."
Kyle nodded to her, "Good, let's go."
Jan pushed the hyperspace controls to their default position and watched the lightspeed tunnel vanish into a starscape filled with drifting asteroids. Kyle licked his lips, "Are their any ships in the area?"
Jan peered down at her scopes; the monitor cast a dull hue of blue onto her face, "Yes there is. It is a bulk cruiser, but it is about to make the jump to."
The monitor went blank. Jan pushed her hair from he face, "hyperspace. It's just us and the rocks."
Kyle leaned over her and put the shields to both bow and aft. After doing so, he pointed out the cockpit with a finger, "Head for that asteroid, that big one there."
After Jan maneuvered the Moldy Crow through the asteroid field, she pulled in close to the space rock. After doing so, Kyle and Jan noticed a Fire Spray ship come onto their scopes and there was not a doubt in their mind that it was Slave 1. Kyle sat back in his seat, "OK. See that large crater there. We should be able to fly right through it, onto the other side and hyper to the fleet."
Jan smiled, "Nice move. That asteroids mass should block his sensors."
Kyle grinned, "Not only that, he will probably follow that bulk cruiser that left the system."
Jan nodded as she nose-dived into the crater. This would work for both of them, and they should be able to get to the fleet in less than an hour. Just as they had gone in a quarter of the asteroid, the Slave 1 disappeared from their scopes. Jan smiled, "He's gone."
Kyle caught her hands before she turned the Crow away, "No, our sensors can't penetrate the rock, his can't either. Let's stay on the safe side and keep our present course."
Jan nodded, "Right. Let's hope this works, because there is no way we'll be able to jump into hyperspace in the middle of an asteroid field. Kyle leaned forward as he saw the exit to the asteroid. He squeezed Jan's seat, mumbling words under his breath.
"Check!" Fett yelled at him through the comlink. Jan rolled to the left avoiding blaster fire upon exiting the asteroid. Kyle flipped on the comlink, "Your move!"
Fett responded before firing more blaster fire at the Crow, "Check."
This time Jan pulled up and avoided both a cluster of debris and the Slave 1's blaster fire. She was forced to squeeze through two rocks. Kyle gasped as he realized they had flown right into Fett's trap, "Check and mate, Katarn."
Several bolts of energy flew straight for their bow, which had only a shield rate of forty percent. Jan looked back to Kyle for orders. He had none to give, and he threw himself back into his seat to accept their defeat.
Kyle nodded, "That is Slave 1 all right, and that is Boba Fett still under Jabba's employment."
Jan corrected him, "Spies learned that he wasn't working for Jabba after all, but instead was employed by the Empire to keep you away from the Arc Hammer. Not only that, but he was under direct employment of General Mohc. He bit the bolt on Coruscant! Boba Fett's dead."
Kyle flipped on the comlink, "Galleon, do you copy? We don't want to call for reinforcements."
"Is that Commander Katarn? I've heard so much about how you defeated both General Mohc and Boba Fett."
Kyle didn't answer at first. He thought over some thoughts and answered, "No, no. I didn't defeat either of them, but this is Commander Katarn. Who is this? Where have all of these rumors of me been fabricated?"
The voice answered coldly. His voice was different, as if muffled by a helmet, "No, Commander Katarn. It is you who is mistaken. I have just completed my scans of your ship, and have just noticed you have depleted your weapons supply. You are right about one thing, that being that you defeated Boba Fett on Coruscant. From this day forth, the battle will show me as victor and you and your ship will become stardust!"
Jan bit her lip, and then turned to Kyle, "All right, I'm seeing how the puzzle piece fits. Fett's out for personal revenge, not for Jabba's bounty."
Kyle flipped the switch off, "Well, he is right about our weapons supply being depleted. The whole turret was blown off!"
Jan nodded, "We have no chance of engaging him. We need to find Madine's fleet and get out of here!"
Kyle shook his head, "He'll track us. I've got an idea though, one that I had used many times while training in simulators. Here, convert all shields to our bow."
Jan did so, and the monitor of the shield display turned green on the nose of the ship. She looked back to Kyle, "Next?"
"Convert all of our weapons energy to the engines, and then find the Gromas system in our databank," Kyle said. Jan linked all of their remaining weapons supply to their engines, and then turned back to him. Kyle shrugged, "What?"
"Gromas? Why in the name of the force would you want to return to the Blood Moon, an Imperial infested sight of phrink mining?"
"Trust me, we'll be with the fleet soon," Kyle reassured her. He smiled, "Any way, I destroyed the phrink mines while putting the Darktrooper project out of commission."
"Checkmate, Commander Katarn," Fett's sinister voice came through their speakers.
Kyle was surprised at the term used for victory in one of the many holographic board games. He flipped the comlink on again, "Excuse me?"
" Not only am I a strategist at the art of collecting bounties, I'm also familiar with the holographic board game of Dejarik," Fett responded. After that there was a tense pause. He finally responded, "I do know of your coordinates to the Rebel Alliance fleet, but I assure you that you will never reach them. I could get some dough for selling them out."
Jan looked up to Kyle after she had switched the comlink off, "Gromas is set. Its now or never."
Kyle nodded to her, "Good, let's go."
Jan pushed the hyperspace controls to their default position and watched the lightspeed tunnel vanish into a starscape filled with drifting asteroids. Kyle licked his lips, "Are their any ships in the area?"
Jan peered down at her scopes; the monitor cast a dull hue of blue onto her face, "Yes there is. It is a bulk cruiser, but it is about to make the jump to."
The monitor went blank. Jan pushed her hair from he face, "hyperspace. It's just us and the rocks."
Kyle leaned over her and put the shields to both bow and aft. After doing so, he pointed out the cockpit with a finger, "Head for that asteroid, that big one there."
After Jan maneuvered the Moldy Crow through the asteroid field, she pulled in close to the space rock. After doing so, Kyle and Jan noticed a Fire Spray ship come onto their scopes and there was not a doubt in their mind that it was Slave 1. Kyle sat back in his seat, "OK. See that large crater there. We should be able to fly right through it, onto the other side and hyper to the fleet."
Jan smiled, "Nice move. That asteroids mass should block his sensors."
Kyle grinned, "Not only that, he will probably follow that bulk cruiser that left the system."
Jan nodded as she nose-dived into the crater. This would work for both of them, and they should be able to get to the fleet in less than an hour. Just as they had gone in a quarter of the asteroid, the Slave 1 disappeared from their scopes. Jan smiled, "He's gone."
Kyle caught her hands before she turned the Crow away, "No, our sensors can't penetrate the rock, his can't either. Let's stay on the safe side and keep our present course."
Jan nodded, "Right. Let's hope this works, because there is no way we'll be able to jump into hyperspace in the middle of an asteroid field. Kyle leaned forward as he saw the exit to the asteroid. He squeezed Jan's seat, mumbling words under his breath.
"Check!" Fett yelled at him through the comlink. Jan rolled to the left avoiding blaster fire upon exiting the asteroid. Kyle flipped on the comlink, "Your move!"
Fett responded before firing more blaster fire at the Crow, "Check."
This time Jan pulled up and avoided both a cluster of debris and the Slave 1's blaster fire. She was forced to squeeze through two rocks. Kyle gasped as he realized they had flown right into Fett's trap, "Check and mate, Katarn."
Several bolts of energy flew straight for their bow, which had only a shield rate of forty percent. Jan looked back to Kyle for orders. He had none to give, and he threw himself back into his seat to accept their defeat.
