Survivor:
I wove through the crowded spaceport's bazaar, dodging humanoids, aliens, and various large reptilian beasts of burden. The sides of the packed dirt street were lined with merchants peddling their wares. A fat Toydarian sat on top of a six-legged mobile stall, with droid parts scatted around him. The short alien wallowed in the heat, his drooping snout bobbing with his every pant. Occasionally, he would flutter his leathery wings vainly trying to fend off the swampy air of Nal Hale'et as his stall marched through the crowd.
A Gotal with muddy brown fur walked up and down the crowded street, carrying a tray covered in old communicators. His conical horns rose above the throng and he shouted, "Get your communicators here. Best communicators on Nal Hale'et." I passed a green skinned Rodian selling fresh fruit straight out of a dinged metal crate. His snout ending in a forced smile as he waved purple and white Jogan fruit at the throng of pedestrians.
No one paid attention to me. My dirty brown rags and the collar of rusting scrap metal around my neck marked me as one of Tarelk's little girls. Tarelk, the Devourer, was the local Hutt crime boss who ran Nal Hale'et and the corpulent worm had a thing for young women like me, Human, Twi'lek or otherwise. When I had first been dragged before Tarelk, for stealing scraps of food, she had grumbled her pleasure at my wavy black hair, my lean athletic body, and my dark skin. I shivered to think about what would happen if I failed to buy my freedom before Tarelk decided I had graduate from one of her little girls to one of her women. The stories that escaped the Hutt's lair included torture, sadistic games, forced combat and always ended in a fresh meal for Tarelk the Devourer.
My growing desperation made me bolder and last week I began to use the mind tricks my mother had taught me as a little girl. I slipped under the stoop of one of a slummy mud house. I could see the Toydarian's mobile stall, currently parked next to the Rodian fruit merchant, and I focused my mind on the series of buttons next to the chubby merchant. The rest of the world seemed to fade out of focus. The pressing throng of humans and non-humans blurred together into a dirty smear. Fear swelled inside my chest, my desperation to escape Nal Hale'et flared. The six robotic legs sprung into action, quaking and rumbling. One joint squealing in complaint at the sudden burst of movement. Startled, the Toydarian rolled onto his back, his webbed feet flailing above him. The shambling stalled crashed into the crate of the fruit by the Rodian's feet, fruit and druid parts flying about. The fruit merchant hollered in protest, his satellite-like antenna swiveling towards the ruckus.
As the Rodian wagged a sucker tipped finger at the startled Toydarian, I slipped behind the pair and swiped two handfuls of parts off the ground. I darted away weaving through the crowd as swiftly as I could manage. After turning onto a side street, I peered behind me checking for pursuers. An ominous black robed figure stared intently at me; their face shrouded underneath a dark hood. I felt a wave of fear wash over me. Terrified I had been caught I sprinted away. Weaving through the twisting alley ways and crowded mud streets I put as much distance as I could between me and the bazaar.
After running for several blocks, my breath came in labored pants, from fear as much as exhaustion. Spotting a parked, bronze speeder, I dove behind it for cover. Peering over the dusty hood, I scanned the crowd to check if I was being followed. Not seeing the foreboding black clad figure anywhere, I sank to the ground to catch my breath.
A pair of horned, Red Nikto's eyed me as they passed by and not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I rose up and set off to Fi'xzets' parts store. Fi'xzets was an exiled Verpine with a thin insectile body and a dark green, almost black, carapace. Verpine were hermaphrodites and Fi'xzets preferred they/them pronouns. The rumormongers on Nal-Hale'et whispered they had committed some horrible crime. That is why they had their antennae cut down to nubs, cutting them off from the Verpine's natural radio wave communication system and exiled into Hutt space as punishment. However, I did not believe the rumors. Fi'xzets had been the only person on Nal-Hale'et who offered to help me escape my dangerous debt to Tarelk. I brought Fi'xzets scrap, spare parts, broken electronics, and they fixed them up to resell. We shared a symbiotic relationship with Fi'xzets offering me my only chance to escape this planet alive.
As I made my way to the main part of town the streets became paved, lined with stone walkways, the people better dressed, the houses bigger and made of better materials. Upon reaching Fi'xzets shop I entered through the front door, a chime made of salvaged junk announcing my entrance. The lean insectile face of Fi'xzets popped around a pile of salvage and they greeted me cheerily, "Aww how goes the hunt young one? Find anything good?" Their dark mandibles clicking as they spoke.
I sauntered through the cluttered shop, past half repaired droids and spaceship parts. "I had a good run today Fi'xzets." I laid my stolen parts on the desk. "Do you think these are worth a few credits?"
Fi'xzets picked up a part and yelled to their Ugnaught assistant, "Kawnii do you still need a converter for that silver protocol droid?"
Kawnii looked up from their current welding project as a shower of sparks rained down. Their dangling jowls quivered as he grunted, "No. I can fix it by re-routing the data streams."
"Then you would have to reduce the power output. Just use this and it will save you some time and spare me a headache from all your grumbling." Fi'xzets walked over to Kawnii and handed him the part.
Following a grunt of protest Kawnii put down his welder, picked up a long metal multi-tool, and shuffled over to the silver protocol droid and began fidgeting with wires. The protocol droid buzzed to life, stiffly swinging its arms, and swearing in Huttese. "E chu ta, wermo! Sleemo chai mani!"
"Ahh, stupid droid." Kawnii turned the droid off with a twist of his multi-tool.
"At least we know it can speak Huttese." Fi'xzets replied with forced cheerfulness. Turning back to me they said, "I can give you a dozen credits for all the parts."
A familiar swell of darkness overcame me. I spun around as the ominous, black-clad figure strode into the shop, the metal chime ringing. Closer, I could now make out a humanoid feminine figure beneath the swirling robes. "You will come with me." A commanding voice ordered me from beneath the hood.
I darted towards the back of the cluttered shop and busted out the back door. Desperately charging down a trash filled back alley, I barely registered the rancid smell. Stumbling over a pile of trash, I tumbled onto the main street. To my right I saw the woman in black reach out with her right hand. something tugged in my mind as she motioned. A nearby trash can slammed into my ribs, knocking me to the ground.
My cowled pursuer strode confidently towards me. I grabbed a rotting rannagourd from the trash and slung it at the hooded figure. With a casual wave of her gloved hand the rotten fruit changed course and splattered against a nearby wall. I fled to my left, desperate to escape. I barreled into the intersection, a speeder bike rushed past me, its rider yelling, "Watch where you are going, ya womp rat."
As I reached the far curb an invisible hand shoved me into a light-post. My head bounced off the steel and I feel spinning to the ground. The streets of Nal Hale'et spun around me. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I spat a glob of crimson blood onto stone walkway and crawled to my hands and knees. I thought about my mom, my dad, my home, and everything else I had lost.
A blurred shadowy figure approached me, "Thank you for running. I needed to stretch my legs." The cold voice pulled me back to reality. I rose to my knees and faced my pursuer. She pulled back the hood of her robe and reveled a heart shaped face and dark wavy hair held back by a black wrap. Her face would have been beautiful if not for the deathly glare in her honey colored eyes. "We've had our fun, now we are going to my spaceship."
I spat blood on her dusty boots. Raising her left hand, the woman in black slowly clenched her fingers. A heavy armored gauntlet with clawed fingers covered her left arm. An unnatural force crushed my airway. I clawed at my throat. As her hand rose higher, my feet lifted off the ground. With a dismissive gesture I flew backwards, crashing into a set of wooden shutters before collapsing to the ground. Splintered planks of wood tumbled to the ground around me; I picked one up and charged the woman in black.
I brought the busted plank of wood down in a wild swing. The woman in black twisted around my attack, grabbing my wrist while simultaneously tripping me. With her free hand she knocked the piece of wood from my hand and grabbed the necklace of scrap metal around my neck, twisting it around her armored left hand. Pulling my twisted necklace, she raised my face towards hers, looked me in the eye and demanded, "Give up."
With blood dripping from the side of my mouth, I whispered, "Never."
The woman in black smiled and said, "Perfect answer." Straightening, she pulled back her fist. Arcane electricity crackled down the length of her arm and she smashed her electrified fist into my face.
I felt the rusty scrap metal around my neck snap from the blow. I collapsed to the ground, electricity dancing before my eyes.