Tales from the New Republic (28 page)

Fett sat in the hunter’s blind among a thick tangle of coilwood branches. He watched as the first wave of speeder bikes roared below him, buzzing along like bloodgnats. He felt the impact tremors as a pair of Imperial walkers lumbered by flanked by a half dozen of their comical AT-ST counterparts. He shook his head in amazement as squad after squad of stormtroopers marched into the underbrush. Their bright white armor was not exactly the best forest camouflage.

This massive show of force told the bounty hunter all he needed to know about his opponents…

Two detachments meant they certainly knew he was here. And they were nervous.

Behind the tinted faceplate of his battered helmet, Boba Fett actually smiled.

Xarran leaned over the tactical screen watching proudly as his forces deployed into the forest. He listened to the excited comm chatter as his men moved into position and began an expertly coordinated, utterly systematic search. There would be no escape. Not from the might of the Empire. The General snorted and crossed his arms over his barrel chest. “He’s as good as ours.”

As he spoke, all communications went dead.

Boba Fett double-checked the comm jamming unit. It was an advanced prototype and very powerful. Unfortunately, its duration was also extremely short: 58 minutes. And then it would explode.

He set his chronometer to countdown mode. Seconds began to vanish. He had just under an hour to eliminate two Imperial detachments.

The hunter turned and hefted his blaster rifle. Fett only foresaw one problem: what to do with the three minutes he would have to spare…

Perched on the edge of his seat in the walker’s cockpit, Lieutenant Byrga smacked his lips in nervous anticipation. The AT-AT drivers exchanged a quick glance, but wouldn’t dare to comment on the habit of a superior officer. Even if it was extremely irritating.

Byrga was staring so hard at the sensor readouts that his eyeballs were on the verge of jettisoning themselves free of his head. The Lieutenant didn’t like the fact that they had lost communications. Despite all efforts, they could not make contact with the rest of their detachment or the garrison base. That made Byrga anxious. His lips were smacking on overdrive.

“Don’t worry,” he said trying to reassure the rest of the command crew, who had learned to ignore his rantings and still do their jobs effectively. “We are the best the Empire has to offer. No one escapes us. We will find this fool who dares oppose the will of Palpatine and crush him in the iron grip of the—”

The magnetic grappler connected with the armored underbelly of the AT-AT and locked into place. The twenty-meter lanyard trailing behind it pulled taut and a small armored figure emerged from out of the dense underbrush. Fett calmly waited for the winch in his armored suit to elevate him up to the walker’s stomach.

The hunter used the time to power up his wrist lasers.

Byrga’s ramblings continued. The one good thing about that, at least for the rest of the command crew, was when his mouth was running there was a cessation of lip-smacking. “Make me proud, men. I want to be the one who finds this bounty hunter.”

The Lieutenant abruptly cocked his head to one side. “Did anyone else hear that?”

The drivers shook their heads.

Byrga turned toward the dark tunnel leading back into the walker’s passenger compartment. “That’s strange. We’re not carrying any troops.” He activated the blast door and peered inside. After a moment’s decision he placed one hand on his holstered blaster and slowly walked into the AT-AT’s neck. “I’ll be right back, men. Carry on without me for a moment.”

The drivers happily complied.

“I want all communications back on-line!” Frustrated, Xarran screamed into the internal comlink, “Immediately!”

Commander Tyrix sighed and gritted his teeth. “Uh, sir… the blackout is affecting the comm as well.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper. “The engineering teams can’t hear you.”

The General was at Tyrix’s console in three strides. Xarran’s face was so close the Commander could count the veins bulging in the man’s forehead.

Xarran spoke through gritted teeth, the words slow and precise. “Then get down there and tell them.”

“Yes, sir!” Tyrix said as he dove into the nearest turbolift.

The AT-AT drivers were so entranced by the wonderful silence in the cockpit they didn’t even notice the unusually long absence of their commanding officer. That was their first mistake. When the blast door finally slid open again they didn’t even bother to look up from their consoles. As it turned out, that oversight was their last.

Boba Fett lowered his smoking blaster rifle and took a moment to admire his new mode of transportation.

Lieutenant Grejj sat back in his command chair, fingertips steepled in front of his face. The walker’s command crew was doing a fine job considering the circumstances. He only hoped they could get communications back online as quickly as possible. Then they could eliminate the bounty hunter and resume normal duties. Grejj liked his routine. He did not like surprises.

“Sir! We’re picking something up on sensors.”

The Lieutenant leaned forward. “What is it?”

The driver shook his head. “Just another walker… must be Lieutenant Byrga.”

“Let’s go see if his hunting has been more successful.”

“He must have already seen us,” the driver said. “Here they come now.”

Grejj nodded, reaching for the cockpit release lever. “With any luck this will be over soon.”

As a matter of fact, it was.

The remains of Lieutenant Grejj’s AT-AT and a pair of AT-STs that had stumbled onto the fight were scattered along the ground. The two smaller walkers were so confused by the duel between their larger siblings that they had actually opened fire on Grejj.

Fett guided his AT-AT through the smoking debris as his sensors picked up a large grouping of stormtroopers nearby. The hunter checked his chronometer and noted that he was right on schedule.

“Communications have been restored, sir.”

“Finally! Patch me through directly to our forces.” Tyrix’s fingers flew over his console and he quickly signaled his success with a nod to the General.

Xarran reached for his comlink. “Xarran to Alpha and Delta Groups. All units are to report status immediately.”

There was silence.

Rivo gave his brother a meaningful glance, but Xarran ignored him and tried again. “I repeat, this is General Xarran ordering all units to account current status. Alpha Group… report.”

Nothing.

A bead of sweat trickled down the General’s forehead. He leaned closer to the mike. “Delta Group… report.”

Again, there was not a sound.

Xarran stared accusingly at Tyrix. “You must have been in error, Commander. The comm system is still down.”

“I regret to inform you, sir. It is functioning within normal parameters. Our forces should be responding.”

“Yet that is not the case.” Xarran’s voice had lost a bit of its hard edge. “Why?”

Rivo answered with a plaintive wail. “Because they’re all dead!”

Xarran spun around, viciously backhanding his brother across the face. “Will you shut up!”

The unexpected blow sent Rivo crumpling to the deck, where he cringed, holding up his hands in supplication. Xarran’s face softened with regret immediately. He helped Rivo up and said in a low whisper, “Forgive me, brother…”

“Wait a minute!” Tyrix nearly jumped from his console. “General, sensors are picking up one of our walkers at the outer perimeter.”

Xarran beamed. “Put it on the viewscreen.”

Tyrix complied and the image of a battle-scarred AT-AT filled the viewer.

“Returning in victory?” the Commander said.

“Let’s find out.” Xarran tried the comlink again. “Base to walker. Report.”

A gout of fire suddenly bloomed on the underbelly of the AT-AT followed by a loud explosion that sent a burst of static over the comlink. The walker lurched forward, like a mortally wounded behemoth, then fell. Its chin connected with the ground, and then the rest of its body followed suit, causing the soil to rumble. Then the metal monster disappeared in a haze of smoke and flame.

“What was that?” Tyrix blurted out.

“A message,” Rivo said softly.

The base control room was absolutely still. No one dared to move or speak. Everyone was staring silently at the terrible image that loomed on the viewer.

Everyone that is, except for Xarran. The General stood up and slowly walked into his office, boots clacking on the deck plates. His voice echoed through the room. “Someone turn off that blasted thing…”

Tyrix shut off the screen, but as the rest of the base crew hurriedly resumed their duties he continued to stare at the dark viewer for a few moments. His gaze flickered across the room, and came to rest on Rivo. After thirty years of military service, the Commander had seen more than his share of horrible things, but the look of terror in Rivo’s eyes sent a chill rippling down his spine.

Fett would have liked to have seen the General’s expression when the AT-AT exploded. He probably shouldn’t have wasted the thermal detonator, but the psychological effect on the man and his troops would be worth it.

Both sides had taken their feints and jabs—now it was time to move into the final round. Fett was almost sorry to see it come. The skirmishes before the main event always served as interesting diversions, especially since the outcome of his mission was never in doubt.

Boba Fett did not lose.

“What were you thinking, Rivo?” Xarran was seated in the plush replihide chair behind a desk that dwarfed most landspeeders.

Rivo sat across from him in a much smaller seat. His eyes had apparently found something interesting on the floor. “Money,” he mumbled after a moment. He finally made eye contact with his older brother. “What else is there? I was blinded by greed, Gaege. I never figured that Jabba would be able to track me as the source of his data leak.”

“You didn’t think that someone like Jabba the Hutt would have his own expert slicers? I always told you that your ego would be your undoing, didn’t I? You may be good, but there will always be someone better. And that’s true no matter if you’re a slicer, a soldier, or a bounty hunter.”

“The funny thing is, I didn’t even mean to slice into Jabba’s records. It was a complete accident. But once I found out what I had stumbled onto, I couldn’t resist.”

“You never could pass up a chance to make an easy credit,” Xarran sighed. “Especially if it didn’t involve honest work.”

“I didn’t come here for a lecture, brother. I came here for help.” He stared out the transparisteel window that overlooked the lush forests of Vryssa. “Although from the looks of it, maybe I came to the wrong place.”

The General’s face twitched slightly. “Perhaps you’d have better luck out there by yourself. Feel free to leave anytime.”

“Okay, so I messed up again. I apologize, Gaege… I know you’re doing your best. I just never thought I’d be on the run from Boba Fett.”

“You stole sensitive information from one of the most dangerous scumlords in the galaxy and then sold it to the highest bidder… how much did Jabba lose as a result of your actions?”

“Over one-hundred-fifty thousand credits. But I don’t think he really cares about the money. It’s just the principle of the thing. The Hutt wants to make an example of me. And what Jabba wants, Jabba gets.”

“Well, he isn’t going to get you, brother. I don’t care how many bounty hunters he sends.”

“Do you really think Fett can be stopped?”

“The man is good. Very good. But I see his strategy now, and I refuse to play his game any longer. No more troops will leave the base. If he wants you, he will have to come here. And mark my words, no one can penetrate the ‘death fence.’ It’s set for maximum voltage per my orders. The charge is so high the tiniest spark could fry a bantha in seconds.” Xarran gave a thin-lipped smile. “No one gets out. And no one gets in.”

Night had fallen on Vryssa.

Fett was crouched in the bushes, twenty meters away from the base’s outer perimeter. The ten-meter-high wall surrounding the complex seemed to be alive, crackling as it was with azure arcs of electricity. The surges danced over the surface like writhing snakes.

The spot he had picked was a good distance away from the nearest gatehouse, though stormtroopers constantly patrolled along the fortified catwalks set back from the fence. Observation towers were spaced about one hundred meters apart along the catwalk, and a combination of flood lights, detection sensors, and droids were used to maintain security. Fett’s current position put him roughly fifty meters from the two flanking towers. It was a good distance, but he didn’t think it would be enough to avoid detection.

Fett activated his internal comlink. It was time for a little distraction…

Slave I
roared over the treeline, screaming toward the garrison base at full speed. Its sophisticated sensor-jamming array was fully powered and the hull itself was magnetically polarized to scramble and confuse enemy scans. As it was, the base was taken by surprise.

On its first pass the ship delivered a frighteningly potent volley of concussion missiles, proton torpedoes, blaster bolts, and ion blasts. The attack was so fierce that the base’s powerful deflector shields fluctuated and the entire structure shuddered with the impact.

“See?” Xarran shouted from the command center. “The man has grown desperate! He knows there’s no way in so he resorts to a suicide run.” He focused his gaze on Rivo. “
Everyone
makes mistakes, sooner or later. And I will make sure this one is his last.”

Standing at one of the tactical stations, Tyrix turned to his commanding officer. “All turbolaser turrets are primed and ready, sir.”

Xarran squeezed his gloved hand into a tight fist. “Fire at will! Blow him out of the sky!”

As
Slave
I circled for another pass, six heavy twin laser turrets mounted around the building opened fire, followed by the thunderous roar of the three heavy twin turbolaser turrets from the upper level of the base. Unfortunately, the heavy weapons were slow to fire and even slower to track such a swift target.

Fett’s ship executed an amazing series of maneuvers that allowed it to continue its strafing run while dancing around the green swarm of angry laser bolts. Twisting, turning, and rolling,
Slave
I delivered a vicious counter-attack capped by a full spread of proton torpedoes that punched a gaping hole in the base’s deflectors. In return, Fett’s ship took some minor damage, but easily eluded any critical hits.

Slave I
executed a quick Segnor’s Loop and moved into position for another assault.