Star Wars - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Star Wars The Force Unleashed: A Fragile Hope ❯ The Emperor's Dog ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The hangar was a wide open room, with a large opening for transports to come and go by Jabba’s beckoning. Four generators made up most of the floor, powering the lower areas of the palace. One transport was left available and that was the first thing Starkiller noticed upon entering the room. His lightsaber in hand, he proceeded toward it. Earlier, he had reported the whereabouts of the droids to Captain Barrus, but then refused to allow the imperial stormtroopers to claim his prize, telling Barrus that he was to do nothing while Starkiller captured the droids. He reluctantly agreed, but didn’t argue with the Emperor’s personal assassin.
Sensing something, Starkiller leapt back as a missile struck the ground where he had once stood. He turned his head, igniting his lightsaber as the green figure of Boba Fett flew into view, airborne with his jetpack. The bounty hunter looked to be a promising fight, but Starkiller couldn’t stick around for long.
“Quite a mess you made of the place,” he began, having seen the carnage the assassin had left in his wake, “Your head is worth a lot of credits, so I’ll be taking it back to Jabba now.”
With that, flames burst from Fett’s gauntlet, striking one of the generators beside Starkiller. He realized the danger and dodged to the side as it exploded. Casting force-lightning in mid-jump, the bounty hunter cried out, agony sweeping through his body like a wave. Then his jetpack suddenly blasted to life, sending him flying out of control and slamming him into one of the generators. He collapsed and grunted. Starkiller grinned, striking the generator with force-lightning. Its explosion blasted Fett off the ground and into the far wall. Sprinting through the Force, Starkiller grabbed the bounty hunter’s chest plate, but Fett was faster, punching the apprentice in the face, though the impact didn’t even daze him, only ending with Fett having a sore hand. The hunter groaned at the pain in his fist, but then shouted as Starkiller flung him away with the Force. Fett crashed to the ground hard, but dodged to the side weakly to avoid a lightsaber stab from above. Starkiller recovered from the attack and was able to force-push the bounty hunter when suddenly; Fett’s flamethrower roared to life and engulfed him in a fiery blaze. The apprentice cried out, jumping back and extinguishing the flames. The bounty hunter’s jetpack was now functional, lifting him up. Fett prepared to fire his blaster, but the enraged Starkiller gripped him and slammed him into the side of the transport. Boba Fett grunted and collapsed. Seeing an opportunity to strike him down, Starkiller ran toward him, red lightsaber shining with anticipation. Fett brandished a thermo-detonator and threw it at him, but with the use of the Force, Starkiller projected himself under the throw; the explosion behind him didn’t even leave a scratch. Out of options, Boba Fett suddenly bent over, almost in submission. The apprentice may have been fooled until the missile on the jetpack launched from its port, whistling toward him. Starkiller reacted with an instant, catching the missile with the Force and holding it. Boba Fett stood and blinked with shock.
“You have failed, bounty hunter.” Starkiller mocks, before turning the missile around and sending it back at its master. Fett cried out, stepping back, unable to dodge the attack. In a loud explosion, Boba Fett was no more. As the sizzling green helmet of the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy clanged against the hangar bay floor, it was suddenly blown aside by the engines of the last transport. Starkiller stood on its deck, guiding it away from the palace, leaving Jabba to pick up the pieces of his wounded reputation. Now, there was nothing standing between him and the droids he seeked.