The Fett Dynasty II: Siege of Orri Prime

“Come on, COME ON!” Lando roared, beating his fist against the holograph and frantically flicking all the console switches. “Work, damn it, go!”

“Sir,” said Stitz quietly, his face twisted into a despaired grimace, “It’s no use. They’ve taken out the interstellar satellites as well.”

“So we can’t even get backup. We’re mute and blind.” He sat against the console, furiously rubbing his eyes. Think, Calrissian, think! He looked up, staring intensely at the far wall. “The only thing we have right now are the deflector shields. They’ll at least keep them at bay for a while.”

“Baron, can the Imps break through them?”

Lando shook his head. “Not likely. The main shield generator is two hundred meters under Heavens Brace in the Northern Hem.” He chuckled bitterly, in spite of the dire situation. “They’d have to pull some kind of technical magic out of their thrusters to get to it!”

……………….

Aboard the Imprimatur, that devastating “magic” was about to be performed…

The navigator turned toward Pellaeon. “Admiral, we are in Orri Prime’s perimeter.”

“Scan the shields. Captain, order Squadron Leaders to orbit designated land targets and stand by for attack order. Second TIE wave in bay, stand by.”

“Yes, sir.”

The navigator scanned the green graph signifying Orri Prime’s shield intensely, and pointed at the wider gaps within the graph. “Shield origin appears to be somewhere in the Northern Hem. Scanners showing weakest shielding here, at the equator.”

“That’s our mark. Transfer data to Tactical Station.” With hands clasped behind his back, Pellaeon strode across the bridge to the weapons console pit. The data the navigator had just transferred blared from their screens. Coming up he ehe edge of the pit behind one of the black-clad Imperial officers, he asked, “Are they ready?”

“Deflector Shield Seeker Drones are armed and ready, sir.”

The Admiral turned and glanced at his Captain, who returned his look with wary hope. The small destructor drones had proven themselves effective and volatile weapons: Now, it was time to engage in the first practical testing of the Maw Installation’s newest creation…

Pellaeon breathed deeply, and then commanded, “Target deflector shield break.” The red laser target danced across the electronic display of Orri Prime’s shield before settling and blinking onto the intended target…

“Fire.”

With a turn of a plasteel key, the new DSSDs were launched.

Four identical black, slick missiles erupted from the angled stern of the Imprimatur. Each five meters in length and only thirty centimeters wide, they shot through the blackness of space, angling in perfect unison toward the atmosphere and their intended gateway, the small breaks in Orri Prime’s deflector shields.

The gaps were far too small to safely allow a ship through them, and laser fire or proton torpedoes would merely bounce off the light-particle mesh of the shield, but the long, narrow DSSDs were designed to easily slide in between the graph’s gaps, and they did exactly that. Once they had slid through the shield’s gaps, the four missiles broke their formation and followed their individual paths north, south, east, and west, the friction of the atmosphere sizzling against their coned noses, their implanted homing chips scanning for the deflector shield’s electronic signature…

The northern bound missile picked up the electronic trail first, honing in and hailing its three companions to its location. Simultaneously, the three other missiles veered from their paths and sliced through the azure Orri Prime sky to join it as it headed toward the massive twin-spired rock formation the natives called Heavens Brace. The missiles sped toward each other, the planet’s surface blurring into a montage of green, grey, and blue beneath them as they seemed about to collide—

Only ten meters apart from each, the missiles’ nosecones suddenly pulled straight up into the sky, and together they performed an elegant vertical clover up, around, and then down into the valley between Heavens Brace’s peaks, where the deflector shield power dish was located.

Just meters from the ground, the nosecones broke away, revealing three blaster barrel-like devices which shot a thirty-centimeter wide laser directly into the earth, blasting holes at each corner of the dish platform, juide ide enough for their long, sleek bodies to fit…

As the four missiles slid into the blasted terrain as easily as fingers slid into rings, their laser systems continued to cut their paths deep underground, their powerful repulsor engines pushing them further and further into the earth until they had found the shield’s central power core.

From within each missile, a small nuclear generator began to resonate. The violent vibrations coming off each missile caused the bedrock around them to heat, crack and split. The noses of the missiles glowed deeper and more intensely with every passing second heirheir nuclear generators reached maximum density, and then blew—

The explosion of the core blew straight up through the main power conduit toward the surface, vomiting speeder-sized chunks of melted metal, searing bedrock, and white flames up out of the ground and into the sky. The sheer force of the blast actually caused the foundation of Heavens Brace to quake, and huge crags of rock began sliding off the side of the mountains, crashing into the land below…

………………..

“Direct hit, Admiral! Shields are DOWN!”

Cheers tore through the bridge of the Imprimatur as Pellaeon’s chest swelled with victory.

“Give order! Second wave TIES, now! Bring us ENG ENGAGE!!”

………………….

“No…” Stitz choked as he watched the graph of the deflector shield dissipate into nothingness on the one remaining working screen on the security console. “It’s not possible…NO! NO!” He slammed his fists into the console before tearing from his chair and racing out into the corridor, where Lando werveervently giving final instructions the squad commanders…

“Lando!” he cried, bracing himself in the door jamb, “They’ve taken out the shield!”

Lando spun toward Stitz as all the other commanders gasped and exclaimed in horror and shock. “What! No, no! That generator is two hundred meters underground—“

“Sir, they did it! See for yourself! It’s gone!” He took a ragged breath as he fought the tears beginning to well in his young eyes. “We’re wide open.”

For a brief moment Lando, Stitz, and the band of commanders stood in stunned and unnerved silence. Suddenly, Lando snapped himself out of his panicked trance and spun around. “Well, what are you waiting for?! Move out! MOVE!” He physically pushed several of them down the corridor. “Get to your ships! Man the cannon platforms! Let’s go!”

As soon as the commanders had raced out the front door, Lando turned and ran back into his office, Stitz following close behind him. One there, he grabbed the keys to the weapons cabinet out of his desk and opened the lock, grabbing a hand blaster and a rifle. “Ralan, get yourself geared up,” he ordered breathily, lobbing the rifle to him. He stopped for a brief second, running his sleeve across his eyes. “We’re on our own here, so we might as well give them the best fight we can.”

“Sir, I have an idea.”

Lando cocked his head over his shoulder. “What is it?”

Stitz swallowed hard, and then blurted, “I can fly just outside the planetary perimeter, and you can broadcast to Coruscant with your comlink through me. It would only be an audio message, but it’s better than nothing.”

Still pulling weapons, Lando hastily waved his hand. “No way, Stitz! You’ll be shot down in seconds—“

“Seconds are all we’ll need, sir. Just enough time to get the message out—“

“Ralan, I can’t ask you to do this—“

“Sir,” Stitz interjected firmly, “we don’t have a CHOICE!” Lando turned out of the cabinet, meeting Stitz’s eyes. “We need the Fleet, sir. Without them we’re all dead.”

Lando stood, panting breathlessly. Stitz was right—he had no choice but to send him out… “All right, go, GO!” As Stitz turned to race from the room, Lando grabbed the arm of his young assistant. With a look of utter despair mixed with his deepest respect, he whispered, “May the Force be with you, Ralan.”

Stitz in turn put his hand on his commander’s and somberly replied, “It’s been an honor and a privilege, Baron Calrissian.”

The two men embraced swiftly and robustly, then Lando pushed him away. “Go, now, get up there!”

Stitz ran down the granite corridor, crashing through the back entrance doors with his shoulder toward the headquarters’ landing dock. Yelling at and waving off the technicians in his way, he tore toward his personal Z-95 Headhunter and jumped onto the wing, not even bothering to use the ladder. He leapt into the pilot’s seat and, just as the hatch began to close, stole a quick, anguished glance at the swarms of TIE fighters already making their descent…

With a pull of the ignition and a yank of the throttle, the Headhunter was lifted off the bay floor and hurled into the atmosphere. Ralan Stitz looked over his shoulder and gave Southern Hem Security Headquarters one final look, knowing in his gut that he would not be returning.

………………….

“CZETHROS! SHEILDS ARE DOWN!”

Czethros leapt from his chair. “Jober, Ca’ckalo, get in the Snipers! Splitter, take the helm!”

As his armored henchman howled and ntednted to their appointed positions, Czethros grabbed the comlink at the side of this chair and addressed the rest of the mercenary crew throughout the ship. “This is it, boys! We’re goin’ in! NO MERCY!”

The onslaught of shrieks, howls, whistles, and roars tore through the ship and threatened to crack its very hull as Jober and Ca’ckalo slid through the airlocks into their one-man speeder-fighters, Splitter forced the throttle downward, and the Dama Fortuna ripped into Orri Prime’s atmosphere, shrieking toward the Governor’s Palace…

…………………….

The massive quakes of the deflector shield’s explosion convulsed through the terrain, all the way to the clearing where I’Lai still lay on her back, Kai resting on her chest…

I’Lai’s eyes flew open and, still holding Kai close to her breast, snapped herself up from her blanket and spun around just as at the majestic peaks of Heavens Brace crashed to the ground.

She gawked at the massive clouds of dust pluming into the air all around the peaks. All earlier feelinf anf anger and betrayal vanished, only to be replaced by confusion and shock…but before she could even begin to understand what had happened to the humungous rock formation, she looked up into the sky, past the plumes of Heavens Brace’s destruction…

She rose to her feet as she saw hundreds of tiny black dots soaring high above, breaking off into formations of twenty or so, going east, west, south, growing ever larger as the seconds passed. Dread began to knot in her stomach, and the Force shrieked all around her as she realized what the dots actually were…

She noticed three black shapes in particular, one larger than the other two, as they broke off from the rest and seemed to be racing in her direction, disappearing briefly behind cloud of dust and earth before appearing again, even closer and coming in fast. As the black shapes moved in, she could see the sun glint off their black metal hulls, and recognized the planes jutting off their sides as wing thrusters…

I’Lai was frozen where she stood, too terrified to move. Clutching Kai to her chest, one word formed on her lips, in her mind, and in her heart…

“Boba…”

……………………

“So den,” Watto snickered from his place at the center table of his shop, barely able to contain his mirth, “De Fellenetian waiter sao tho the Celegian, ‘I don’t serve dinner to cabbages—I serve cabbage wit dinner!” With that, Watto howled with laughter, beating his small fist into the tabletop. He glanced with watering eyes toward Boba Fett seated at the worktable. “Get it? ‘I don’t serve dinner to cabbages—“

“I get it, Watto,” Fett answered dully as he soldered the last connection in his jetpack.

“Den why ain’t ju laughing?” Fett’s only response was a lift of his ebon-eyed glare from his work to the Toydarian seated on the tabletop. He still wore the faded gray headwrap, but had taken off the opaque goggles for better sight of his intricate work. Watto huffed. “What, din’t ju tink dat was funny? Dat’s my best joke!”

Finishing the solder, Fett switched ofe roe rod and tilted the jetpack up “Don’t quit your day job.”

Watto scowled. “Ju should laugh more, Boba Fett. Ju too serious.” A little chime sounded from the shopitchitchen, and he jumped off the table and flapped toward the curtain, still grumbling under his breath. “Ju a young man, and ju so tense! Ju need to relax a little…”

As Watto still griped and banged around in the kitchen, Fett raised a hand to his eyes and rubbed. Must be bad light in here, he thought to himself, I’m starting to see things…but the rubbing didn’t alleviate the images forming in front of his eyes. Instead they grew stronger, clearer…ships…three of them…the first, definitely Corellian-class…the other two, Kuat Sniper-class one-man terrain fighters slicing through a cerulean sky, coming closer…

fear, confusion…smoke, dust…whirling around in his head…

what the hell…

someone in trouble…someone …I’Lai…Kai…

Boba…help…help…

“Ah, now DIS is good!” Watto pushed the kitchen curtain open with his arm as he flapped back into the shop, two steaming bowls clutched in each hand. “Rengalini stew!” Flying over to Fett, he set a bowl down. “Try it, it good! Better dan dose stupid amino packs and ration bars ju always eating!” He flew to his table, setting himself down and pulling a spoon from his shop apron, digging in. He had swallowed a couple bites before asking, “Wat ju tink? Good, jes?” When he received no answer, Watto glanced up at Fett, who hadn’t touched his bowl. “Wat da matter? Ju not hungry?”

Again, Fett said nothing, did nothing but sit deadly still, barely breathing, staring glassy-eyed straight ahead. Setting his bowl down, Watto pushed himself off the table and moved toward the entranced bounty hunter. “Fett, ju OK? Fett?” He waved his wiry hand in front of Fett’s eyes; hen’t n’t even blink. “Ello? Fett…?”

“Run,” Fett whispered hoarsely.

Watto knit his brow. “Ju say sumting?”

“Run!” he repeated, louder this time. Still staring straight ahead, his breathing quickened. “Save the baby! Get back to the palace!” Fett suddenly leapt to his feet, and banged his fist against the table as he shouted. “I’LAI, RUN!”

…………………..

I’Lai, RUN! RUN!

Boba’s voice screamed through I’Lai’s mind, snapping her out of her frozen terror. The two small, black Sniper crafts came careening toward her while the Dama Fortuna roared above her head on its way to her palace.

Panicked, she dove toward the soft baby sling on the blanket and frantically wrapped it around Kai and herself, bracing him to her body…

“Hey, Jober,” croaked Ca’ckalo the Aqualish through their com, “Down there, in that clearing. See her?”

In his pilot’s seat, Jober shot a glance through his viewport at the small figure of the woman on the blanket, hurriedly trying to gather her baby to her. “Yeah, I see her, So?”

Flicking his long tongue over his vertical lip sacs, Ca’ckalo flicked the casing lid off the stick of his turbolaser with his thumb. “How ‘bout a little target practice before we hit the palace, huh?” he cackled.

Jober’s lip curled up in an amused snarl. “Sure, why not—“ His snarl, however melted just the gust from their engines blew the woman’s large sunhat off her head, blowing her long, lustrous black hair about her face and shoulders. When the woman turned her frightened glance up over her shoulder, he instantly recognized her oval face and sparkling teal eyes— “Cack, you fuckin’ idiot, hold your fire! That’s her! That’s FETT’S WOMAN!”

Jober saw the woman jump to her feet and, clutching the baby close to her, start to run to the wooded glen that grew between the meadow and the palace. “Get in front of her!”

Ca’ckalo hit the thrusters and dipped his fighter’s nose down, sending the ship to swerve around and halt just meters from her, cutting her off from her path of escape.

I’Lai screamed and fell back onto the ground as the speeder craft loomed menacingly in front of her. With one arm secured firmly around Kai, she scrambled to her feet and spun around—only to see the second craft looming just above and behind her…

From his angle in the air, Jober could now see every detail of I’Lai’s beauty in face and body. Her crimson tunic had slipped slightly off her shoulder, giving the Bothan a tantalizing view of the top swell of her creamy breast. His blood began to heat, and a thin stream of saliva dripped from his bared fangs. “Come on, Pretty,” he growled low in his throat, his loins tensing as he held the beautiful human female in his glare, “Don’t you want to play…?”

With the Snipers cutting her off from behind and front, I’Lai manically sprinted sideways toward the thick woods surrounding the meadow—

Only to have Ca’ckalo race in front of her and set the woods on fire.

A blazing pillar of flame blasted from the craft into the ancient trees, igniting them instantly, evacuating the birds that nested in them screeching toward the sky. Again I’Lai screamed, crouching to the ground and covering Kai’s head with her hair. Veering the Sniper in a semi-circle, Ca’ckalo laughed viciously as he triggered the flamethrower again, setting the entire wood leading to the palace ablaze.

I’Lai staggered to her feet, backing away from the wall of fire just meters before her, fighting to breathe through the smoke and heat as the black-plated snipers circled lower and lower around her…

“Help,” she whimpered, her eyes huge and terrified as they darted back and forth between the surrounding crafts and the blazing woods. She jerked her head up to see the unmistakable wedge of a Star Destroyer high above, dropping TIE Interceptors and Bombers as well as shuttles out of its bay…

She fell to her knees in the grass, and huge tears fell from her eyes as she lowered her head over Kai’s. “Please…anyone…help us…please…”

…………………….

Leia squealed in delight and clutched Han’s arm as she watched Rogue Group perform the grand le tle to their outstanding airshow from the huge Senate balcony. High above the cheering hordes lining Coruscant’s airstreets, the twelve X-wings soared, danced, and looped through the air, white smoke pouring from their thrusters until they had completely written Han’s and Leia’s intertwined names in the sky.

“I take it you approve?” Han asked, donning his famous crooked smirk.

“It’s breathtaking!” Leia cried happily. “Oh Han! How did you—“

“Wasn’t my idea, sweetheart.” He cocked his head toward Luke. “You can thank your brother for that gift.”

Leia broke away from Han and rushed to throw her arms around Luke. “Luke, it’s beautiful!”

Luke shrugged and simpered. “Wedge was more than happy to comply. We wanted to give you something special today.”

“’Special’ doesn’t even describe it!” She turned back toward the sky. “I…I don’t even have words…”

Suddenly, Leia’s smile disintegrated. A feeling of absolute terror washed over her. The normally peach-hued Coruscant sky darkened into an azure blue before her eyes, and the names in the sky dissipated into massive plumes of dark gray dust and ash. The spires of Coruscant’s high-rises morphed into cobalt blue mountains, and the X-wings in the sky began to change…their wings becoming flat panels, their color changing from off-gray to charcoal black…and the cheers of the people becoming screams of terror as the TIE Interceptors swept through their townships, blasting their homes, mowing them down in the streets—

“NO!” she screamed, slapping her hands on the rail.

Han’s broad smile vanished as well at Leia’s outburst. “Sweetheart, Leia, what is it, what’s wrong?” Leia’s eyes were wide open, staring into nothingness, and she was trembling. Han looked up at Luke. “Luke, what the—“ he stopped, however, when he saw the very same expression on Luke’s face.

Suddenly Luke blinked, and furiously shook his head. Leia seemed to come out of the trance as well, looking up at Luke and meeting his eyes. “You…you saw it, didn’t you?” she breathed.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“Saw what?” Han demanded.

Leia spun toward Han and grabbed his shirtsleeve. “Han, we have to go! We’re going to need SpecForce, primarily the urban guerilla and wilderness force divisions! Admiral Ackbar, General Rieekan—“

“Leia, whoa, slow down!” Han grabbed her shoulder, turning her back. “What the hell—“

The entire party on the balcony stopped and turned when they heard a young male voice crying from the ballroom. “President Organa, Your Excellency! Please everyone, let me through! Please!”

The mass of guests parted to either side of the ballroom as a young Senatorial page stumbled through the crowd and up the balcony staircase. “Your Excellency, Sirs…” he stammered, trying to catch his breath, “We just received an audio message from Baron Lando Calrissian! Orri Prime is under Imperial attack!”

Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, Rieekan and Ackbar all immediately scrambled down the staircase and raced through the ballroom. As the others hurried into the corridor, Han stopped and turned to the party guests, holding up his hands. “Folks, seems this party’s being put on hold! But, uh…help yourselves to the buffet! It’s paid for!” With that, he rushed out the doors to join the others, leaving the hundreds of finely dressed guests murmuring and whispering amongst themselves.

They sped down the halls until they reached the Senate’s Central Com Center, where they could hear Lando’s voice blaring through the speakers—“Han, Leia, anyone, are you there? We are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack—“

Han was the first to reach the com, grabbing at the mic. “Lando, we’re here! What the hell is going on?”

“It’s the Imps, Han! We—agh!” An explosion of laser fire cut him off temporarily. “I’m on the cannon platform securing Security HQ! We’re wide open, Han—they’ve taken out our shields—“

“Lando, how could they get through the shields? The generator’s underground—“

“I don’t know, Han! They’ve taken out every com and survey satellite, and we couldn’t even detect it! I think they’re using some kind of new stealth technology we haven’t seen before—we couldn’t even see them enter the system! Wait, hold on— Mitti, aim for their undersides, the ion engines—“ He was cut off again by another blast.

“Lando! LANDO, you there?”

The sounds of falling dirt hitting the platform proceeded Lando’s answer. “Yeah, buddy, I’m still here! Han,” he added breathlessly, “The Imps aren’t working alone! They’ve got Black Sun backing them up!”

“Black Sun?” Leia gasped.

“Han, we need backup, and fast! How soon can you get here?”

Han looked up at Admiral Ackbar and General Rieekan, who were already on their own personal comlinks, alerting their forces. Ackbar turned to Han. “I can have the Republic Navy massed in less than an hour!”

“Same here with Ground and SpecForces,” Rieekan added. Han turned to Luke, who was already on comlink with Wedge Antilles.

He turned back to the mic, running a hand through his hair. “Lando, it’s gonna be about three hours! We have to put out the call, and formulate some kind of plan—“

“Han!” Lando screamed over the com amidst the shrieks of laser fire and the screams of his mean, “In three hours, there’ll be nothing LEFT! They’re killing us here! We’ve got to…” There was a chilling pause before Han and the rest heard Lando say, “Gods and hells…Fall back, Take COVER! INCOMING—“

The horrific blare of proton torpedoes detonating shrieked through the speakers as did the howls and screams of the troops.

“Lando?” Han shouted. Lando didn’t answer. “LANDO!! LANDO!!”

……………………

Dirt, sparks, and fired bits of metal rained down on Lando’s prone form. Struggling to lift his head, he used all the strength he could muster to look up at what remained of the blasted cannon platform. Reduced to nothing more than a smoldering heap of burning scrap, it appeared to be a strange red-hued color, until…He realized he was looking at it through a thin veil of his own blood that dripped from his head into his eyes.

He turned to his right; there lay the young Rodian gunner everyone called Aces on his back, arms splayed wide, and half his face blown off.

Taking a deep breath, he attempted to push himself up, only to scream in agony. He glanced down at his right arm. It was broken.

His body wracked as he coughed up smoke, dust, and specks of blood. Thrusting his good arm forward, Lando tried to drag himself along the ground, but found he couldn’t. He twisted his body around and looked down at his legs, which were pinned to the ground by the massive barrel of the smoldering ion cannon.

The shrieks of laser fire, the screams of the TIE Bomber engines above, and the anguished shrieks of his wounded and dying men all around him blended together in his ears in a cacophonic hum. A wave of nausea coursed through him as he dropped his head to the earth and, as his consciousness began to slip, Han’s voice still rang in his ears from the cnk lnk lying in the dirt a meter from his head…

“Lando! Lando! LANDO!!”

……………………

High above Orri prime’s surface, Stitz veered his Headhunter into a hard bank, trying to shake the five TIES descending on him, when he realized his commander on the surface was not answering Han Solo’s calls. He snatched the com up from the console, trying to reach Lando himself. “Sir! Baron, can you hear me? Baron?” He bowed his head. “Oh…no…”

When he looked up again, it was too late to scuttle from the three TIEs screaming toward him. Lieutenant Ralan Stitz closed his eyes and gripped the throttle hard just before his ship was ripped apart…

And the communications link to Coruscant fizzled into cold static.

……………………

They fought valiantly, the citizens of Orri Prime. They took on the enemy from the rooftops of their homes, firing their blasters from high in the trees, on the ground and from the streets. They fought bravely, selflessly, vehemently, with honor and courage and untiring loyalty to their world, their governor, their new way of life, their freedom.

They fought a losing battle.

Most of the cannon squads never even made it to the platforms mounted high atop the peaks and crags of Orri Prime’s mountains. Most of the shuttle lifts carrying the militia troops were mercilessly picked off by wave after wave of the TIE Interceptors now glutting the skies. Those who did make it to their posts had little to no time to proficiently man the cannons, as TIE Bombers released their loads of proton bombs directly on top of the platforms and the squads climbing them.

The few pilots available barely had the chance to engage the Empire in the air; TIE Interceptors took out most of the outdated Z-95s before they could even lift off their pads. Those who did actually make flight were quickly shot down by the far superior and better trained Imperial pilots.

With most of the planet’s heavy weaponry destroyed or damaged, the way was now cleared to drop the land assault units. One by one, The Imprimatur spit out a dozen AT-ST Scout Walkers that plummeted through the atmosphere, only to softly land with the aid of the repulsor lifts installed in their undersides. Once grounded, the massive walker units’ legs stood up, lifting the armor-plated cockpits off the ground and lumbering toward the townships’ perimeters.

The AT-STs were followed by the Imperial landing barges carrying hundreds of stormtroopers, who poured out from the barges like swarms of white-armored locusts, easily outnumbering the militia infantry. The air dense with a spectrum of laser blasts and thick with the scent of ozone, the stormtroopers rushed the ports’ and townships’ entrances, mowing down hordes of Orrians fighting to defend them. Those they didn’t cut down were easily and hurriedly rounded up in the streets and shield-bound…

Fifty kilometers away from the bloody and burnt battlefield that was the Atimbora Township, the Dama Fortuna made its own deadly descent upon I’Lai’s palace.

Hovering just ten meters above the palace’s inner courtyard, its thrusters blowing over the antique statues and singing the intricate trees and plants, the ships twin vertical ramps opened on either side. Czethros’s mercenaries lunged out of the hold, rappelling to the garden floor on thick cables. Trodeccu the Wookiee was first to land with a resonant THUD, hoisting the huge turbocannon up and blasting the three palace guards through the glass doors from which they had just hastily entered.

As soon as their booted feet had hit the cold stone slabs, Czethros’s black-armored faction scattered themselves across the courtyard, shattering every window and busting down every door. They swarmed through the white granite corridors, easily blasting the surprised guards rushing the corners. Shrieks and screams echoed all through the palace as the band of cutthroats smashed their way into every room, forcing any terrified staff they found to their knees at blaster-point, ripping doors open and over turning furniture as they searched for Czethros’s prize…

Trodeccu and a battle-scarred middle-aged Corellian named Hosh, after having blasted all the other doors and searched all the other apartments in the servants’ wing, came upon the last door. The Wookiee roared an order at Hosh, who raised his rifle and shot out the door panel. As the door slipped open Trodeccu lunged in, turbocannon ready, peering through the blaster smoke to see an old woman calmly closing the drawer of her bureau.

The woman turned away from the bureau toward the intruders, lightly tucking a stray strand of curly gray hair back into her upswept hairdo…and smiled.

“Welcome,” Nikoa murmured warmly. She cocked an eyebrow as she sniffed at the smoke. “You know, you could have just knocked…”

Still aboard the hovering Dama Fortuna, Czethros angrily hit the com. “WELL?!”

The voice that crackled back was that of Splitter’s, chattering his tense reply in Snivvian.

Czethros gritted his teeth. “What do you mean you can’t find her??? KEEP LOOKING!” He slammed his fist into the com console and roared, “WHERE IS SHE???”

……………………….

Running, running, sprinting across the clearing, clamping Kai against her body, I’Lai’s attempts to escape were agonizingly thwarted by the vicious Snipers. Cutting her off at every angle she turned, they pushed and batted her between them like bullying children until they had forced her to the far end of the meadow, away from any path to the palace.

Choking from the smoke of the burning woods, the fumes singing her eyes, I’Lai ducked behind a large boulder and crouched. Panting frantically, she pushed Kai’s sunhat up and stroked his face. “Are you all right, little one?” she asked in short, sharp sobs. She took a deep breath of relief when he stared up at her and gurgled softly. He wasn’t hurt and he didn’t even seem to be scared; he wasn’t even crying.

I’Lai continued to take calming breaths as she struggled to assess the calamitous situation. These weren’t Imperials, that was for certain; who they were, she couldn’t even guess. And they obviously didn’t want to kill her, or they would have easily done so by now. No, toying with her, trying to tire her, weaken her…

The engines of the Snipers roared behind her as she desperately scanned the woods in front of her, beside her…she looked up, over the treetops…and saw the peak of Grand Mountain Hall about a kilometer in the distance.

That was it! If she could get there, she could use one of the paths carved into the mountainside, and climb down one of the hundreds of old shafts dug out and get back to the palace through its many underground tunnels…

I’Lai’s terror ebbed, replaced by raw determination and the overwhelming instinct of a mother protecting her child. Holding Kai with one arm, she reached down with the other and picked up a hefty rock. She sprang to her feet as Jober’s Sniper pulled up and over her hiding place, hovering just meters in front of her. I’Lai locked glares with the sneering Bothan through the viewport, her eyes slit and her teeth clamped. Pulling the Force into her arm, aimed at the Sniper and hurled the rock with such strength, it actually sank a dent in the craft’s nosecone. She briefly enjoyed a small moment of satisfaction when she saw the Bothan inside actually duck.

“You want me?” she screamed, a darkly confident sneer pulling at her lip, “You’re going to have to CATCH ME!”

With that, I’Lai spun around and sprinted into the thick woods.

Jober’s malicious glee seeped away into heated impatience as he watched his prey race into the woods with her cub. “Spirited little minx, aren’t you? You are…interesting.” He picked up the com. “Ca’ckalo! She’s gone into the wood! Switch on the infrared!” He hit the throttle and pulled the nose up, launching the Sniper up over the treetops, with Ca’ckalo flying closely behind him.

The strip of forest dividing the palace meadow and the clearing at the bottom of Great Mountain Hall was thin, but unkempt. Overgrown with thickets and thorny vines, their barbs tore at I’Lai’s tunic and pants and scratched her face and arms. Nonetheless, she ran harder than she ever had in her life, throwing her hair over Kai’s head to protect him. She leapt over huge gnarled tree roots and bashed vines and branches aside, until she could see daylight break through from the woods end…

Above, Jober watched her running form glow on his infrared screen and thumbed the trigger of his flamethrower. “So, you wanna play rough, Pretty…” He ignited the flamethrower, the flames vomiting forth to blanket the tres abs above her.

But I’Lai was too fast. Just as burning branches and bark rained down from above, she hurdled one last root to c the the woods, springing into the overgrown meadow beyond. She stumbled a few steps forward before turning and glaring up at the hovering Snipers. Her eyes blazed with green fire, and her lips were pulled in an arrogant snarl. She shifted Kai more securely in his sling…and laughed. She actually laughed at them.

It was then Jober lost all patience. His canine-like eyes bulged from his head as his own lip curled into an angry snarl. This little bitch dares laugh at him, the Supreme Vigo’s second of dreaded Black Sun, Czethros’s heir apparent? Perhaps it was time to teach his soon-to-be human rut-pet a lesson in respect… Lowering his hovering Sniper craft from over the burning tree, he aimed his blaster mount—and fired a shot into the earth beside I’Lai, just a meter shy of her feet.

Dirt and grass exploded into the air and around the blaster impact. But I’Lai did not move; she didn’t even flinch. She stood her ground, her arms wrapped around her babe, her shoulders square, her eyes piercing through the craft’s viewshield to bore into Jober’s. Still holding his glare, she slowly took a step back. Then another. Then another, all the while wearing a challenging smirk, until she suddenly spun around and raced through the field to the mountain beyond.

Jober’s fist curled around the throttle as he growled, “I’m growing a little tired of this game, Pretty.” He hit the thrusters and the com. “Cack, get ahead of her! I’ll take the rear!” Ca’ckalo grunted in affirmation and hit the thrusters, peeling through the air after the running girl.

As she ran, I’Lai closed her eyes, calling to the Force. “Faster,” she whispered between furious pants, “Faster…” Suddenly, I’Lai’s legs blurred beneath her as she shot forward and ahead of the pursuing Snipers.

The Bothan blinked, unsure if he was seeing this right… “Cack, come on! Get her!” He flicked a switch on the console, releasing the durasteel mesh net from its housing…

Confused, The Aqualish sped forward in attempts to catch up to her, only to see her pull away once again and dart sideways toward another grove of trees. The two Snipers instantly followed, descending toward her, speeding ever closer…Until I’Lai suddenly veered again in a sharp right angle with superhuman speed.

Ca’ckalo slammed the repulsors and banked the craft hard. His Sniper fishtailing wildly, he fought to control the craft, yanking the throttle hard and to the right until the nosecone pointed to the the fleeing I’Lai. He hit the thrusters again and shot forward.

Jober, however, was not so lucky. He yanked the nose up, attempting to clear the oncoming wood, when the net dangling below him snared itself into the tangle of tree limbs jutting forth. The craft suddenly jerked, twisted around and plummeted into the thick wood, snapping the century-old trees in half and sending them crashing over his now-disabled Sniper.

Dazed and enraged, Jober popped the restraints and hit the cockpit control with his curled paw, climbing out of the Sniper and falling to the ground just seconds before the entire craft burst into flames. He scrambled away on all fours just as the fire ignited the trees around him, clearing the burning wood before it threatened to consume him as well.

The Bothan struggled to his feet, ripped his helmet off his thick-pelted head, and howled furiously into the sky.

I’Lai shot a glance over her shoulder, racing forward at her impossible speed, watching the remaining Sniper narrow the distance between them with every passing second, thrticrtical cliff side of Grand Mountain Hall looming ever closer …closer… CLOSER…

She snapped her head forward, tightened her grip around her baby, and screamed, “KAI! HANG ON!”

With that, she leapt forward, hitting the earth beneath her hard…and sprang twenty meters straight up into the air.

The cliff side filled Ca’ckalo’s entire viewport as he screamed and hit the repulsors—but there was no veering his craft this time. The Sniper crashed full-speed into the rocky wall and ignited into a splendid explosion of flame, metal, burning flesh and hair and flying chunks of stone.

Airborne, I’Lai twisted in the air and, just as she was about to hit the stone path atop the cliff, thrust her hand palm down, using the Force to buffer her fall. Still she landed hard, lurching forward onto her knees with a short cry of pain as the smoke from the crashed Sniper filtered from below.

“Kai,” she whimpered, panting furiously, sitting back on her legs and unwrapping the sling enough to get a good look at him, “are you all right?” She tugged the little sunhat back from his tiny face to see her son’s smiling face and hear him cackle with delight. She slumped back, incredulous. “You thought that was fun? My word, you are your father’s son, aren’t you?” She scrambled to her feet, holding him close to her body. “Come on, we have to get home…”

Around the other side of the mountain was the entrance to a passageway that would lead her down into the huge maw of the carved-out mountain. With each agonizing step, her exhausted legs trembled and buckled beneath her and her bootsoles slipped on the path’s loose gravel as she struggled hurriedly up the steep stone path. She grabbed at the rocky mountainside for support. Just a few more steps…come on…just a few more…

The rays of Orri Prime’s blue sun broke forth as I’Lai cleared the curve, the steep path leveling out. The path continued for another ten meters before it curved again, and just beyond that turn was the passage entrance…

Suddenly, apparently from nowhere, the roar of ship engines flooded her ears and a powerful blast of air blew over her. I’Lai stopped and stumbled, falling back onto the path and cradling Kai in her arms, her eyes huge with renewed terror…

The Dama Fortuna levitated from beyond the cliff side like a huge black insect. Hovering, the ship rotated slowly until its opened ramp was revealed. There, leaning forward from within the maw of the ship and holding the ramp strut for support, stood a tall, powerfully built green-haired man wearing a black leather flak suit, a silver bionic visor across his eyes, and a chillingly menacing smile.

As the ship edged closer, Czethros reached toward her with his free hand, and she heard him croon over the din of the engines…

“Get in the ship, Governor Pretty...”

……………………….

“Lando, come in,” Han continued to bellow into the mic. “Lando!”

“Sir, it’s no use,” the Sullustan communications officer interjected somberly. “The signal’s been lost.”

The New Republic elite stood silent and stunned. After for a few moments, Leia took a deep breath and grabbed the white veil off her head. “Lieutenant, bring up map of the Dia-Orri system.”

“Yes, Your Excellency,” replied the Sullustan officer seated at the console. He punched in the codes to the cartographic holo, which shot the vibrant hologram of the Dia-Orri system into the map pit. As the group moved toward it, Leia turned to Ackbar. “Admiral?”

“We’ll have to rendezvous just outside the system to keep from alerting the Imperial forces.” He raised a webbed hand toward the system’s outermost gas giant, Orri Omega. “I’d say one parsec behind this planet should suffice.”

“Admiral, General Rieekan, inform your forces to meet at the designated location. Luke,” she said, turning to her brother, “I am reinstating you temporarily as Rogue Group Leader.”

“Leia, Wedge is more than capable—“

“I know, Luke, but I need you up there,” she countered gently yet firmShe She touched his arm. “I need a Jedi pilot to lead them against those TIEs.”

Luke squeezed her hand. “You got it.”

She turned back to the group. “Gentlemen, to your ships. General Solo and I will meet with you in the Millennium Falcon—“

“Whoa, now wait just a minute!” Han declared, putting up his hands. He turned to Leia and raised an eyebrow. “Who says you’re coming?”

“Uh oh,” Luke grunted, running a hand through his hair.

Leia glared at her husband, folding her arms over her chest. “Excuse me?”

“Leia, we’re flying a combat mission here! You’re not flying with me.”

“And why not?” she retorted

“Well, need I remind you that you just happen to be pre—“

“Pregnant?” Leia snapped heatedly.

Han pursed his lips as the others in the room quickly glanced away, and took a slow breath. “Well, I WAS going to say President, but now that you mention it…yeah, THAT TOO!”

“President Organa, General Solo, this really isn’t—“ Rieekan started to say, until he was hastily cut off.

“And need I remind you, General Solo, that as Supreme Commander of the New Republic military, I happen to outrank you! So, as of this moment, I am ORDERING you to take me on your ship—“

“Yes, MY ship which, technically, is a private vessel and not under New Republic military jurisdiction! So as captain of MY ship, I firmly deny any and all access—“

“HAN! LEIA! STOP!” Luke snapped. The couple’s heads both snapped toward the young Jedi, who anxiously rubbed his forehead. “Suggestion? President Organa, why don’t you accompany Admiral Ackbar on the Defiance?”

“But Luke—“ Leia started firmly.

“Leia,” Luke interjected softly, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Han’s right. It’s far too risky for you to go with him. You’ll be safer on the Defiance. Agreed?”

Leia sighed hastily, dropping her eyes to the floor. “Agreed.”

“OK then,” Han announced. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

………………….

“WHAT JU MEAN, JOU’RE LEAVING??” Watto exclaimed as he watched Boba Fett race around the shop, gathering up all the pieces to his armor.

“That’s what I said,” Fett snapped quietly as he threw the complete armor down on the center table. Without any hint of modesty or shame, he immediately began peeling off the loose-fitting clothing he wore.

“But…but…” Watto shook his head in exasperated confusion, “I don’t get it! How ju know jour lady is in trouble?”

Stripped down to his skivvies, Fett stepped one leg at a time into the armorweave undersuit. “I just know.”

“Wat, ju have a secret comlink to her or sumting?”

Fett stopped fastening the front of the suit for a moment. “Or something,” he breathed, clenching his eyes and shaking his head before he resumed. He snapped his covered head toward Watto. “Help me get into this. NOW.”

Grimacing, Watto quickly flapped over and picked up the knee and thigh guards. He sank down toward the ground and began strapping them to the bounty hunter, who was already donning the armored dissipation vest. “Ju still haven’t tested de jet pack, ju know! Ju just finished it!”

“I’m aware of that.”

“It could blow up!” the Toydarian warned.

“I’ll take the chance. Bracers.”

Levitating, Watto grabbed Fett’s bracers and carefully clamped them around the Fett’s arms. Fett stood perfectly still, fighting to calm the rage tearing through his limbs. Brief, choppy images still flickered through his mind—I’Lai running, clutching Kai to her breast as she was mercilessly chased by two black-hulled Snipers… inexplicably, he not only saw, but felt her fortitude and ingenuity as she made her escape…but it was when he saw, through her eyes, the leather-clad, green-haired man did he instantly know who was behind this…

“Czethros,” he growled dangerously, his hand unconsciously curling into a tight fist.

Watto glanced up. “Ju say sumting?”

“Nothing worth repeating,” Fett rumbled. “Check your accounts tomorrow morning—you’ll find the remainder of your fee there.” With his bracers secured, he picked his helmet up with one hand while, with the other, tore the wrap off his face and head.

Panicked, Watto practically shrieked and covered his eyes with his hands. “No, no, no! I din’t see nuttin, I swear, Fett—“

“Don’t worry, Watto,” Fett muttered. “You’ll never see me again.”

Watto cautiously raised a glance through his fingers and looked into the infamous bounty hunter’s scarred, swarthy face. The two stood silent as they stared at each for a brief moment before Watto dropped his hands from his eyes, squared his thin shoulders, and smirked. “Go, Boba Fett. Save your lady and send those bastards to the dimensional hells.” He reached his hand out. “Goodbye…my friend.”

Fett clamped Watto’s hand in his own and whispered, “Goodbye, Watto,” before he slid the helmet on his head and strode out the door.

Watto levitated to the door and slid the slot open. He watched the armored bounty hunter stride with power and determination toward the Slave I and, as he saw Boba Fett disappear over the small crest of the asteroid’s horizon, he smiled a soft, proud smile.