Disclaimer: I do not own anything that George Lucas made up; in other
words, only Joad is mine, and the idea.
Sorry, so very, very sorry. I just got massive writers block and didn't feel like writing for the longest, most agonizing time! I'll make this one long!
There it was, Naboo. Slave I hovered over the atmosphere for only seconds before plunging down towards the planet. At the controls, Boba Fett was in deep concentration, looking at two screens and skillfully piloting his ship down all at once. One screen had the location of the Solos' vacation house, the other was of the detector device he had left up in space to detect oncoming ships and identify them. He was going to have to be very careful if he was going to pull this off. Bossk could very well be already down there, and even could be retrieving Joad at this second. But if Bossk did not have Joad yet, which was more of a possibility, Fett would have to get through the Solos, if that was indeed whom Joad was with.
Slave I landed half a mile from the Solos' house, which was under attack at the moment. Fett took care not to fly too close to the target so his presence would not be detected. Bossk was getting craftier, but he was still no match for Fett. Bossk was at the disadvantage here, but the Solos were a stubborn bunch and Fett might have problems getting to Joad even after Bossk was out of the picture.
Janda watched the ship speed into hyperspace. It was her fastest ship, and it had better get there soon, if the captain knew what was good for him. Her ship followed milliseconds later. She smiled evilly and popped a squirming creature into her mouth. She would get that Fett girl, no matter what got in her way.
Bossk waited for the dust to clear, readying his entrance. He crawled to the edge of the wall and peeked in. The front hall was a mess. Couches were overturned and tables lay five feet from where they used to be. He grinned.
"Alright Solos. I know you're in there, so might as well give up now. I've come for that girl you've got, and I'm gonna get her." Their reply was an all to close for comfort blaster shot.
From their safe room, Joad, Jania, and Jacen felt the explosion and heard the blaster shot. Joad had come to the decision that she could not stay here. The door was locked fast, so that was out of the question, but there was a window. A single window that was blaster proof and bolted to the wall. Jacen was nervous, fiddling idly with some of the Force gadgets in the room, but mostly watched his sister and Joad. Joad was inspecting the window. She was, after all, the cloned daughter of the galaxy's best bounty hunter.
The window was high up, as most of the safe room was under the ground. Joad and Jania heaved a bed over and placed a chest atop it so it a child would stand on the chest and reach the ceiling of the low room. Once up, Joad tested the bolts, tapped the glass, and made herself look knowledgeable. That was a big word, and she felt proud that she was using it, what ever it meant. Jania was interested in what Joad was doing, and helped her, though she didn't know what she was helping with. Joad finally decided what she was going to do. She went through all the Force gadgets and then, finding nothing to suit her needs, went over to the small workbench. It was a workbench that Han had put in, but it was equipped with child's play tools and a few low powered ones.
Joad sat down on the bench, surveying her materials, trying to ignore the commotion upstairs. She could tell that her dad was not here yet, because she could hear horrible and rude shouts, and those were not made by Han, Leia, or Chewie, and her daddy didn't do that. Before her lay all of the low powered tools that she had gathered from the bench, and Jania was behind her, saying over and over again 'will this work?' as she went through the Force toys. Jacen wandered over and explained some of the Force toys, as much as her could, adding 'this one's my favorite,' or 'this one's boring,' several times each. Finally, Joad took apart all of the low powered tools and began building something she hoped would work. (Kinda smart for a six year old huh?)
Boba could hear the blaster fire from his vantage point. He watched Bossk battling. Bossk was absolutly hopeless. He had set up a sniper rifle, but decided it would be better to let them all wear themselves out before he went down. The Solos were backing into the house and Bossk was gaining ground. Soon Bossk would be half way into the front hall, and then the sniper rifle would be useless from this point.
A message from Slave I grabbed his attention for a second, but that second was a bad second to be not watching Bossk. There was another ship coming out of subspace. The ship was ShodowHunt, one of Janda's ships. And then, the HuttMaster followed, Janda's personal ship. Unfortunately, that second Boba looked away from Bossk was the second Bossk saw him.
Bossk snarled when he saw Fett perched just a hundred yards away. Bossk felt proud that he had seen Fett. Fett had positioned himself just so that he could see Bossk, but Bossk would not have been able to see him except at a few angles. Fett was looking at his wrist now, and beside him sat a high- powered sniper rifle. Bossk didn't take to careful aim, which was lucky for Fett, because if Bossk had carefully aimed, Boba wouldn't have time to move. The shot hit the rock that Fett was perched on, sending rock shards in all directions. Fett was lost in sight, as was his sniper rifle. Leia took this opportunity to fire heavily at Bossk, forcing him to take cover.
"What was he firing at?" Leia wondered out loud. Chewie was keeping Bossk down while Han and Leia re-loaded.
"Well, lets hope they're here to help us." Han grunted in reply as he struggled with his blaster. It had started jamming.
"Let's hope so. Maybe Luke?"
"Luke? No, he's at his school probably. And if he was here, he wouldn't linger out of our sight."
"True."
Bossk was getting frustrated. Not only had he missed Fett, and he was hunkered down, but he was running out of power cells. The Solos' fire had quieted, but he had no doubt that they were waiting for him to move, to show some weakness. He looked over his shoulder and saw, for a quick instant, a T visor staring at him from the bushes, only twenty yards away. Then it was gone, and Bossk was left feeling very exposed and vulnerable.
Boba loaded his sniper rifle with a dart. Bossk may be a ruthless, blundering enemy, but Boba could not kill him. He couldn't kill Bossk because Bossk might know some vital information. Taking careful aim, knowing his time was slipping quickly away now that Janda had arrived, he pulled the trigger. Bossk was downed within seconds, dropping his blaster and laying still. Fett saw Han cautiously peek over the edge of his shelter, duck back down, and the Leia looked. Fett swung his rifle over his shoulder, making his hands empty. The best way to go about this was peacefully, for the moment.
Han peeked over the over turned sofa. "That wasn't our shot, that's for sure." He ducked back down. "I don't like this. A new, unseen guy running around, shooting at Bossk doesn't sound so good to me. Maybe another bounty hunter."
Leia looked over their shelter and ducked back under. "I saw the bushes move over there."
Chewie growled softly and took his turn peeking over. He let out a small, scared growl and ducked back under, instantly prepping his bow caster.
"Chewie.. Chewie!" Han hissed. "What is it?" Chewie made some growling noises, and shook his head around desperately. Han's eyes widened, and he began prepping his blaster as well.
"Han, what is it? Han?.. Han!"
"Speak his name and the Devil will come to you," Han muttered, referring to the time when he talked about Fett just coming into their house if he wanted to. (Confused? See Chapter 12.)
"Han, what are you talking about?"
"I told you Fett could come into our house when ever he felt like it." Han replied, motioning with his head to look. "But look very cautiously."
But Leia didn't need to look. They all froze when they heard the sound of boots on wood, walking steadily, and warily, towards them. The footsteps stopped, and something was kick away from them, skittering across the broken, wooden floor. Then, a raspy voice, filtered out of its normal state through a voice modifier.
"Solo, I want to make deal."
Han stiffened and looked at Leia and Chewie before answering, not moving from his spot. "What sort of deal Fett?"
"Your lives, for the girl."
"What girl?
"Don't play stupid with me Solo. Bossk would only be here for the small human girl, which you have with you, in this house. Where is she? I have come to," a split second of hesitation, "return her to her father. If you do not show her whereabouts, I will find them."
"Fett, you don't really leave someone much choice do you?
"No."
Leia cut in. "Why would someone send for a big, hotshot bounty hunter like you to get a kidnapped little girl? Why would Bossk care?"
Boba narrowed his eyes under his helmet. "There is a feud, and the kidnapper hired Bossk to get the child of a man so she could use that man without pay."
"The father figured it out pretty quick." Leia snapped suspiciously.
"His dealings where cut short."
"I still don't believe you."
"Then how about this for a compromise. If the girl comes to me willingly, will you let me take her?"
Leia looked at Han, eyebrows raised. Han looked at her, eyebrow cocked. Han replied. "All right Fett, you got yourself a deal. But I want to ensure my family's safety. You'll not fire a single shot at any family member?"
"Until I have my merchandise and have left, you have my word that I will not fire a shot unless it is in self defense."
"Your word?"
"Yes."
Han whispered to Leia: "Well, he is known for keeping his word, and we don't have much of a choice." Han stood up and looked at Fett's empty hands. "All right Fett, follow me." Han looked down at Chewie, and Chewie growled in dislike, but nodded. Leia stood up and glared at Fett.
Boba looked away from Leia, unscathed by her icy glare. Inside, he had calmed the butterflies in his stomach. Butterflies? How long had it been since he had had zarking butterflies? Forever it seemed. When he was still a little boy.
He had told mostly the truth to Leia's questions, though he couldn't see why she would care anyway. They surely didn't think that Joad would come to him willingly, but if she did, he may have to take her out of here by force.
Boba followed Han, watching the small screen bellow and to the left of his eyes that watch Chewie behind him. And people thought he just had quick reflexes. His reflexes where quicker than that of an ordinary humans', true, but he couldn't dodge blaster bolts.
After going down a flight of stairs, they came to a door. They were underground now, judging by the fact that Boba saw no windows and there was a dank smell in the air. They came to a door, and Han looked cautiously at Boba before hiding the panel in front of him and pushing some buttons, opening the door with a quiet hiss. Solo must be getting paranoid with his old age, having a safe room for his kids, Boba thought. But there was something wrong..
Leia gasped and ran into the empty room. A breeze from the open window fluttered her skirts.
"Where are they? Where are they!" she cried.
I'm soooo sorry folks. Lost motivation for a time there. Oops. Lucky for you I decided to re-read the Star Wars, Episode 2 book.. Well, part of it anyway. Anikan is such a jerk isn't he? And I read your reviews. Thanks!
Sorry, so very, very sorry. I just got massive writers block and didn't feel like writing for the longest, most agonizing time! I'll make this one long!
There it was, Naboo. Slave I hovered over the atmosphere for only seconds before plunging down towards the planet. At the controls, Boba Fett was in deep concentration, looking at two screens and skillfully piloting his ship down all at once. One screen had the location of the Solos' vacation house, the other was of the detector device he had left up in space to detect oncoming ships and identify them. He was going to have to be very careful if he was going to pull this off. Bossk could very well be already down there, and even could be retrieving Joad at this second. But if Bossk did not have Joad yet, which was more of a possibility, Fett would have to get through the Solos, if that was indeed whom Joad was with.
Slave I landed half a mile from the Solos' house, which was under attack at the moment. Fett took care not to fly too close to the target so his presence would not be detected. Bossk was getting craftier, but he was still no match for Fett. Bossk was at the disadvantage here, but the Solos were a stubborn bunch and Fett might have problems getting to Joad even after Bossk was out of the picture.
Janda watched the ship speed into hyperspace. It was her fastest ship, and it had better get there soon, if the captain knew what was good for him. Her ship followed milliseconds later. She smiled evilly and popped a squirming creature into her mouth. She would get that Fett girl, no matter what got in her way.
Bossk waited for the dust to clear, readying his entrance. He crawled to the edge of the wall and peeked in. The front hall was a mess. Couches were overturned and tables lay five feet from where they used to be. He grinned.
"Alright Solos. I know you're in there, so might as well give up now. I've come for that girl you've got, and I'm gonna get her." Their reply was an all to close for comfort blaster shot.
From their safe room, Joad, Jania, and Jacen felt the explosion and heard the blaster shot. Joad had come to the decision that she could not stay here. The door was locked fast, so that was out of the question, but there was a window. A single window that was blaster proof and bolted to the wall. Jacen was nervous, fiddling idly with some of the Force gadgets in the room, but mostly watched his sister and Joad. Joad was inspecting the window. She was, after all, the cloned daughter of the galaxy's best bounty hunter.
The window was high up, as most of the safe room was under the ground. Joad and Jania heaved a bed over and placed a chest atop it so it a child would stand on the chest and reach the ceiling of the low room. Once up, Joad tested the bolts, tapped the glass, and made herself look knowledgeable. That was a big word, and she felt proud that she was using it, what ever it meant. Jania was interested in what Joad was doing, and helped her, though she didn't know what she was helping with. Joad finally decided what she was going to do. She went through all the Force gadgets and then, finding nothing to suit her needs, went over to the small workbench. It was a workbench that Han had put in, but it was equipped with child's play tools and a few low powered ones.
Joad sat down on the bench, surveying her materials, trying to ignore the commotion upstairs. She could tell that her dad was not here yet, because she could hear horrible and rude shouts, and those were not made by Han, Leia, or Chewie, and her daddy didn't do that. Before her lay all of the low powered tools that she had gathered from the bench, and Jania was behind her, saying over and over again 'will this work?' as she went through the Force toys. Jacen wandered over and explained some of the Force toys, as much as her could, adding 'this one's my favorite,' or 'this one's boring,' several times each. Finally, Joad took apart all of the low powered tools and began building something she hoped would work. (Kinda smart for a six year old huh?)
Boba could hear the blaster fire from his vantage point. He watched Bossk battling. Bossk was absolutly hopeless. He had set up a sniper rifle, but decided it would be better to let them all wear themselves out before he went down. The Solos were backing into the house and Bossk was gaining ground. Soon Bossk would be half way into the front hall, and then the sniper rifle would be useless from this point.
A message from Slave I grabbed his attention for a second, but that second was a bad second to be not watching Bossk. There was another ship coming out of subspace. The ship was ShodowHunt, one of Janda's ships. And then, the HuttMaster followed, Janda's personal ship. Unfortunately, that second Boba looked away from Bossk was the second Bossk saw him.
Bossk snarled when he saw Fett perched just a hundred yards away. Bossk felt proud that he had seen Fett. Fett had positioned himself just so that he could see Bossk, but Bossk would not have been able to see him except at a few angles. Fett was looking at his wrist now, and beside him sat a high- powered sniper rifle. Bossk didn't take to careful aim, which was lucky for Fett, because if Bossk had carefully aimed, Boba wouldn't have time to move. The shot hit the rock that Fett was perched on, sending rock shards in all directions. Fett was lost in sight, as was his sniper rifle. Leia took this opportunity to fire heavily at Bossk, forcing him to take cover.
"What was he firing at?" Leia wondered out loud. Chewie was keeping Bossk down while Han and Leia re-loaded.
"Well, lets hope they're here to help us." Han grunted in reply as he struggled with his blaster. It had started jamming.
"Let's hope so. Maybe Luke?"
"Luke? No, he's at his school probably. And if he was here, he wouldn't linger out of our sight."
"True."
Bossk was getting frustrated. Not only had he missed Fett, and he was hunkered down, but he was running out of power cells. The Solos' fire had quieted, but he had no doubt that they were waiting for him to move, to show some weakness. He looked over his shoulder and saw, for a quick instant, a T visor staring at him from the bushes, only twenty yards away. Then it was gone, and Bossk was left feeling very exposed and vulnerable.
Boba loaded his sniper rifle with a dart. Bossk may be a ruthless, blundering enemy, but Boba could not kill him. He couldn't kill Bossk because Bossk might know some vital information. Taking careful aim, knowing his time was slipping quickly away now that Janda had arrived, he pulled the trigger. Bossk was downed within seconds, dropping his blaster and laying still. Fett saw Han cautiously peek over the edge of his shelter, duck back down, and the Leia looked. Fett swung his rifle over his shoulder, making his hands empty. The best way to go about this was peacefully, for the moment.
Han peeked over the over turned sofa. "That wasn't our shot, that's for sure." He ducked back down. "I don't like this. A new, unseen guy running around, shooting at Bossk doesn't sound so good to me. Maybe another bounty hunter."
Leia looked over their shelter and ducked back under. "I saw the bushes move over there."
Chewie growled softly and took his turn peeking over. He let out a small, scared growl and ducked back under, instantly prepping his bow caster.
"Chewie.. Chewie!" Han hissed. "What is it?" Chewie made some growling noises, and shook his head around desperately. Han's eyes widened, and he began prepping his blaster as well.
"Han, what is it? Han?.. Han!"
"Speak his name and the Devil will come to you," Han muttered, referring to the time when he talked about Fett just coming into their house if he wanted to. (Confused? See Chapter 12.)
"Han, what are you talking about?"
"I told you Fett could come into our house when ever he felt like it." Han replied, motioning with his head to look. "But look very cautiously."
But Leia didn't need to look. They all froze when they heard the sound of boots on wood, walking steadily, and warily, towards them. The footsteps stopped, and something was kick away from them, skittering across the broken, wooden floor. Then, a raspy voice, filtered out of its normal state through a voice modifier.
"Solo, I want to make deal."
Han stiffened and looked at Leia and Chewie before answering, not moving from his spot. "What sort of deal Fett?"
"Your lives, for the girl."
"What girl?
"Don't play stupid with me Solo. Bossk would only be here for the small human girl, which you have with you, in this house. Where is she? I have come to," a split second of hesitation, "return her to her father. If you do not show her whereabouts, I will find them."
"Fett, you don't really leave someone much choice do you?
"No."
Leia cut in. "Why would someone send for a big, hotshot bounty hunter like you to get a kidnapped little girl? Why would Bossk care?"
Boba narrowed his eyes under his helmet. "There is a feud, and the kidnapper hired Bossk to get the child of a man so she could use that man without pay."
"The father figured it out pretty quick." Leia snapped suspiciously.
"His dealings where cut short."
"I still don't believe you."
"Then how about this for a compromise. If the girl comes to me willingly, will you let me take her?"
Leia looked at Han, eyebrows raised. Han looked at her, eyebrow cocked. Han replied. "All right Fett, you got yourself a deal. But I want to ensure my family's safety. You'll not fire a single shot at any family member?"
"Until I have my merchandise and have left, you have my word that I will not fire a shot unless it is in self defense."
"Your word?"
"Yes."
Han whispered to Leia: "Well, he is known for keeping his word, and we don't have much of a choice." Han stood up and looked at Fett's empty hands. "All right Fett, follow me." Han looked down at Chewie, and Chewie growled in dislike, but nodded. Leia stood up and glared at Fett.
Boba looked away from Leia, unscathed by her icy glare. Inside, he had calmed the butterflies in his stomach. Butterflies? How long had it been since he had had zarking butterflies? Forever it seemed. When he was still a little boy.
He had told mostly the truth to Leia's questions, though he couldn't see why she would care anyway. They surely didn't think that Joad would come to him willingly, but if she did, he may have to take her out of here by force.
Boba followed Han, watching the small screen bellow and to the left of his eyes that watch Chewie behind him. And people thought he just had quick reflexes. His reflexes where quicker than that of an ordinary humans', true, but he couldn't dodge blaster bolts.
After going down a flight of stairs, they came to a door. They were underground now, judging by the fact that Boba saw no windows and there was a dank smell in the air. They came to a door, and Han looked cautiously at Boba before hiding the panel in front of him and pushing some buttons, opening the door with a quiet hiss. Solo must be getting paranoid with his old age, having a safe room for his kids, Boba thought. But there was something wrong..
Leia gasped and ran into the empty room. A breeze from the open window fluttered her skirts.
"Where are they? Where are they!" she cried.
I'm soooo sorry folks. Lost motivation for a time there. Oops. Lucky for you I decided to re-read the Star Wars, Episode 2 book.. Well, part of it anyway. Anikan is such a jerk isn't he? And I read your reviews. Thanks!