Ch. 9 The Hunt for Boba Fett
Boba silently looked out the viewport as Slave I landed on the surface of Concord Dawn. This was originally his father's home planet, and Boba had nowhere else to go. He had wanted to go to Tatooine to meet Jabba the Hutt, as per the instructions his father had left for him, but Tatooine had been conquered by the Vong and Jabba had been ritually sacrificed to Yun-Yuuzhan, the Supreme God of the Yuuzhan Vong.
He stepped out of Slave I and heard someone tap against its hull. It wasn't him. He immediately spun around, whipping out a blaster. The tall lean humanoid leaning against Slave I looked like a human, except that he had blue skin and glowing red eyes. He had black-blue hair. Beside him stood a mustached man and a Twi'lek wielding a blue lightsaber.
"Who are you?" demanded Boba. The blue man smiled and replied, "I am Commander Thrawn of the Grand Army of the Republic," he gestured at the mustached man and continued, "This is Colonel Gilad Pellaeon," he gestured at the Twi'lek Jedi and said, ", this is Aayla Secura," he then gestured at the twelve ugly men behind him aiming their heavy-duty blasters at Boba. "And these are some local mercenaries I've hired right here on Concord Dawn," he finished.
Boba glared hatefully at Aayla Secura. He'd hated all Jedi, ever since Mace Windu had killed his father. Then he demanded, "How did you find me?!"
Thrawn smiled ruefully and replied, "It was quite easy, actually. You see, I've read the files about your, ahem, father Jango Fett and found out that he was from this planet. I knew you had barely been anywhere except Kamino from what Master Siri Tachi reported after speaking with Taun We, so I realized that your natural curiosity about your father's origins would bring you here."
Stang!, thought Boba. If I want to be a successful bounty hunter, I've got to stop being so predictable!
Thrawn continued, "Now, if you'll be so kind as to follow us back to my ship, we'll leave immediately for Coruscant. I've been ordered by the Chancellor to bring you straight to him. Then, Taun We will join us on Coruscant, and keep you under her custody until we've built a new cloning facility."
"And where might this new facility be?" asked Boba innocently. Thrawn smiled and replied, "Coruscant. That way, the new facilities will be much more heavily guarded."
Boba was not gonna let himself be shipped off to Coruscant, where he had little chance of escape. Suddenly, he had an idea.
Boba slipped his hand inside his pocket and pressed a small remote he had recently linked to Slave I's main computer. The ship's response was instantaneous. It immediately rose from the ground and began shooting at Thrawn and his companions. Slave I's computer had been programmed to recognize Boba, so it didn't shoot at him.
The Jedi Aayla Secura immediately blocked the bolts with her lightsaber and while his enemies were momentarily distracted, Boba leaped onto the ramp that lowered towards him from Slave I at the touch of another button on the remote. Blaster bolts flew past his head and he heard Thrawn screaming, "No! We need him alive!"
Boba looked down at Thrawn and sneered, "Fat chance!" He pressed the access panel inside Slave I and the ramp closed. Boba rushed to the cockpit and flew off.
Whew! That was a close one!, he thought as Slave I breached the atmosphere. He quickly prepared the ship to enter hyperspace.
***
"What will you do now, Commander? How will we catch him?" asked Pellaeon. Thrawn smiled slyly and said, "I've already got it covered. You see, when I was leaning against his ship a minute ago, I was actually placing a small homing beacon on its hull. Wherever he goes, we can follow."
Pellaeon was clearly surprised. As usual, Thrawn never ceased to amaze him.
***
"What news do you bring me, Commander?" asked Chancellor Palpatine over the secure comm frequency. Thrawn replied, "Boba Fett has evaded capture, but I've placed a homing beacon on his ship's hull. We've now been able to analyze his trajectory through hyperspace and we've figured out where he's headed next."
"And where would that be?" asked Palpatine.
"Kashyyyk," replied Thrawn. "I have commanded the captain of the assault ship Halleck to rendezvous with me at Kashyyyk. I highly doubt young Boba will be able to escape from a ship that size."