For Love or Credits
Chapter Six

By Chrysta Fett

 

Solita tried to keep Fett in sight as she followed him across the landing pad. He was going at a respectable pace; just fast enough to keep her on her toes. He disappeared into a hanger when Solita lost track of him. Going into a jog, she followed him through the door, far enough behind not to be seen by him. The sliding doors closed behind her and she came to a stop inside the hanger. Her mouth hung open in awe. “Wow.” Ships upon ships uncountable were inside the hanger. Sluissi repairmen dotted the place, each working on a ship. Droids moved, floating, and wheeled back and forth across the hanger. The biggest ship in the place was hanging by means of a gargantuan repair crane with several Sluissi working different places. Tearing her gaze away from the awesome sight, she scanned the hanger for sight of Fett. After a few seconds of searching, she caught sight of the top of his helmet moving through the ships and she headed after him.

 

She followed him out of the hanger and into a back alley of the city linked to the hanger. A few minutes later, he came to a stop at an entrance to a bar, looked inside, and then went in. She went back into a jog to get up to the door. As she drew about level with the door, something came flying out of it, almost smacking into her. She turned and looked down. A semi-conscious Rodian was sprawled on the ground, his eyes crossed and lump growing on his forehead. Raising her delicate eye brows, Solita moved to the door and looked in through the small window in the door. Boba Fett was standing in the middle of the room, holding up a portable holo-projector with Oren Eos’in’s face in it. The door blocked out the sound so she couldn’t hear what was going on. The occupants of the bar were cowering away from him. A broken glass and its contents were on the ground at Fett’s feet. “You take trouble everywhere you go, don’t you, Fett?” she asked herself. An Ishi Tib stood up and spoke. Probably something about Eos’in. A human at the table behind it spoke as well. Fett shut off the holo-projector and clipped it to his belt. He stepped forward and took the Ishi Tib by the front of his shirt. The alien blanched and nodded furiously. Fett pushed him backwards and walked towards the door. Solita turned tail and darted behind a dumpster just as the door opened and Fett came out. Her breathing slightly faster than normal, Solita watched him until she was sure he couldn’t see her then she came out and hurried into the bar.

 

The bar keep, a human glanced up at her as he watched a service droid clean up the glass and drink. “Can I help you?” he asked tersely.

 

“Who was that?” she asked playing the innocent bystander.

 

“Who was that?! Where have you been? That was Boba Fett. Why?”

 

“He seems to be trouble,” she replied.

 

“Not unless you mess with him. That Rodian outside found that out the hard way. I’ve seen him in here before with a Sluissi repairman. He seems a little uh, a little angry today,” the human said, walking back to the counter with the droid and Solita following. She took a seat at the counter and the droid hovered into the back room.

 

“What was he doing here?” she asked. The bar keep leaned against the bar with a sigh.

 

“Looking for some Bothan. That Ishi Tib over there told him where to find him,” he replied pointing at the alien.

 

“Thank you.” She got up and walked over to the Ishi Tib. He was sitting down beside his partner, the human who backed him, taking a long drought of his drink. “Excuse me. Where did you send Boba Fett?” she asked him. The Ishi Tib looked at her, mildly surprised.

 

“Why? Are you gonna try to follow him?” Solita narrowed her eyes angrily.

 

“I’ve had a rough day. You’ll tell me where you sent him!” The Ishi Tib cringed.

 

“Ok. Ok. Don’t kill me. There’s an abandoned ship yard not too far from here that he and his gang are hiding out.”

 

“Thank you.” She turned and left the bar and ran down the alley, looking for a ship yard. Soon she reached a junction. One path went to the right and one to the left. “Darnit! Why didn’t I just keep following him?”

 

“I’d like to know why you were following me in the first place,” a voice said behind her. She jumped and spun around. Fett was standing behind her, his arms crossed over his chest.

 

“You knew?!”

 

“Of course. My helmet is capable of peripheral vision.”

 

“So...”

 

“I could see you the whole time. I should have just left tied to that chair,” he replied walking past her down the right alley way.

 

“That wouldn’t have been fair!” she cried following after him. He spun around and they came face to helmet.

 

“How so!”

 

“You would have all the fun taking out that Bothan!”

 

“That’s not a reason.”

 

“Yes it is!”

 

“No. It’s not.”

 

“Yes it is!”

 

“No, it’s not!” he snapped. “Look, I’m not going to stand here and fight with you. You’ll stay here and make sure no one else is following me!” Fett said poking her in the shoulder. This female was getting on his nerves, which were already fried from the day already.

 

“It’s a little too late for that, Fett,” another voice said from behind Solita. Fett moved Solita to the side so he could see the speaker. It was the Bothan spy, Oren Eos’in. About 18 of his gang were to his sides and behind him. “I wouldn’t pull any stunts if I were you,” Oren said noticing Boba move his hands to his blasters. “There’s three snipers with their guns trained on your head right now.” Boba scanned the alley way and found the three and a fourth in various places on the roofs of the buildings around them. The fourth, he noticed was the Ishi Tib from the bar. His rifle was trained on his neck where there was a gap between his helmet and armor.

 

“I’ve got to admit, that makes things difficult...” Boba began.

 

“Haha! Scared, Fett? Shaking in your boots?”

 

“Difficult to tell if any of your cronies make it out of this alley alive.” The bounty hunter moved like lighting, dropping into a low crouch as all four of the sniper rifles went off at the same time. Solita ducked to the ground, her hands over her head. She looked around from the ground to find Fett gone from her side. Where had he gone? There was a shriek of terror as the Ishi Tib hurtled down from the roof. Fett was in his element, now the lethal hunter that she’d heard of. The rumors were true then. Swallowing hard, she realized that he had probably been playing with her when she had him on the Slave 1. She was sure glad she wasn’t a thug in Eos’in’s gang.

 

Three staccato rifle shots from where the Ishi Tib used to be, each striking the three remaining snipers between the eyes. Fett leaped down from the roof, his blasters drawn. He landed in front of Oren, flipped over him and into the midst of the 18. The close quarters of the alley made for a not so perfect battle scene. By the time a thug would fire, it would streak past Fett and strike one of his fellow thugs. Fett darted in and out of them, firing every once in a while. He barely had to shoot at all. He moved so fast through them, half were dead when he reached the back of the group. He whipped a small thermal from his belt, activated it, and tossed into the middle of the remaining thugs.

 

The blast didn’t reach Oren and was small enough to not affect Fett in anyway. The Bothan was standing numbly in the same spot he’d been in, his eyes wide in amazement. He hadn’t expected Boba Fett to be this good. He’d heard stories but hadn’t believed them. Now that the truth was clear, Oren Eos’in was afraid. More afraid than he’d ever been in his life. He looked around frantically for some way the escape until his eyes fell on the female that was with Fett before they came. Fett walked through the smoke of the blast past the charred carnage towards the spot where Oren had been. The smoke cleared and he raised one blaster. However, what he had expected wasn’t there. Oren was still there, yes but, there was a twist. He had Solita in front of him, with a viroblade to her throat and using her for a shield.

 

Xizor watched Sluissi Van rotate slowly in the viewport. “Incoming transmission, my lord,” the pilot of the ship said.

 

“Play it.” A hooded and cloaked figure appeared on the holo-projector. It bowed.

 

“I have news of Oren Eos’in.”

 

“Speak,” Xizor ordered.

 

“My spies inform me that the Bothan has Fett after him at this very moment,” the figure replied. An evil smiled made its way to Xizor’s face.

 

“Good. Very good. Thank you, apprentice.” The apprentice bowed and the holo faded away.

 

“Is all well, my lord?” the pilot asked. Xizor steepled his fingers.

 

“Yes. Things are going according to plan.”