Boba Fett stood inside an ancient factory, watching the Imperials below him discuss plans to retake Mandalore. It disgusted him to hear their discussions about bringing in a fleet of Star Destroyers to smash the defenses, and, if need be, smash the planet. There were very few Imps, so he decided that now would be the time to make his prescence known.
Boba jumped off the ledge he was on, pulling out his two blasters and firing at the stormtroopers. The Imperial admirals turned, startled, and then started shouting orders to their troops. One of the admirals held a comlink in his hand, and as he pressed the button, Boba shot the comlink out of his hand, but it was too late.
Imperial stormtroopers started flooding into the room, nearly surrounding Boba. He started firing rapidly, trying to take out as many darktroopers as possible, but there were too many. But Boba had a backup plan of his own, and he pulled out a comlink to call his partner in Slave I....
* * *
Taggor Bren was getting extremely bored. He kept himself busy tinkering with Slave I, trying to figure out any way to boost its shield or make it go faster. He thought he'd made some progress so far, but he wasn't sure. Then the comlink beeped.
"Bren here," he said, wondering what Boba could want right now. Taggor was sure he could handle everything that might come up. Then again, there was that time on Corellia.....
"Taggor, where are you?!?" Boba's voice said. He sounded calm, yet he was definitely in trouble. Taggor could hear the sounds of blaster rifles firing in the background. Imp blasters.
"I'm on Slave I, Boba," Taggor said.
"Well, I need you! Get down here ASAP, or you won't have to worry about coming at all."
"Uh, sure. No problem. Be there in a minute." Tagor signed off as he placed the engine work panel. He pulled on his hunting gear, strapped on his knives and thermal detonators, and prepared to help Boba. As he left Slave I, he picked up his blaster rifle and flamerthrower and set them to full power.
As he exited Slave I's cargo hold, he turned back to the ship for a minute. "Engage security systems," he said to the ship.
"State name and security clearance code," the ship said, in its flat, monotone voice.
"Taggor Bren, oh-three-oh-niner."
"Security systems engaged," came the voice.
Taggor Bren sighed as he walked away from the ship. He had to do something about that voice......
* * *
Boba Fett was backed against a wall, firing his blasters on full power. The barrels had begun to glow red. He decided to try a different approach, pehaps a warmer greeting for his Imp guests.
A flamethrower should do a good job of that.
Boba turned his flamethrower on and started flaming the stormtroopers, simultaneously shooting with his blasters. The screams of flamed stormtroopers echoed across the room, along with the stench of burned flesh. He was starting to wonder what happened to Taggor when a nearby door exploded inward, taking out a few Imps in the blast.
"Quite the entrance," Boba said. "What took you so long?"
"Patience, patience," Taggor said, firing with his blaster rifles. He sniffed the air, then a disgusted look crossed his face. "You still have a taste for 'Stormtrooper Flambe?'"
"You know me - I just can't pass up a chance at fried Imp."
Taggor chuckled. The two bounty hunters kept firing with their blasters, but more and more stormtroopers kept coming to fill the slots of the dead ones.
"Get them!" The Imp admirals yelled.
"Hey, Boba," said Taggor.
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we should get out of here."
"Maybe you're right."
"Uh-huh. Got a plan?"
"Yeah. I get the ship prepped while you hold these guys off."
"What? Me?!?"
"Yeah, you! No time to argue." Boba turned and started running back toward Slave I.
"Great," Taggor mumbled. "Gotta' love 'im." He started backing up, then turned around and ran full speed toward the hangar where Slave I was. He tossed thermal detonators behind him whenever the Imps got too close, and was rewarded with the screams of exploding stormtroopers. He ran as fast as possible, and turned the corner to the hangar to see Boba Fett already in the ship.
Lasers were flying past him even faster now. He turned around and steadied himself on the hangar's floor. Taggor started shooting back at the Imps, but he still had to dodge many of their shots. He pulled out a couple of thermal detonators and tossed them into the middle of the stormtroopers, taking out a few dozen Imps.
Then the Imps started backing up.
"Alright! Hey, Boba, they're running away!" Taggor yelled.
Suddenly the hair on Taggor's head was singed by an overhead laser blast as explosions started rocking the hangar.
Taggor turned around and almost screamed as he saw the Imperial Star Destroyer descending in front of the hangar. It looked as if someone had put the atmospheric maneuvering vanes of a VSD on an ISD. The modified ISD was firing into the hangar, at Slave I. All of the turbolaser shots that hit were absorbed by the shields. Slave I was returning fire.
"Boba!" Taggor screamed. "Bobaaaaa!!!!"
He doubted Boba could hear him over the sound of Slave I's engines as the ship started to take off......
* * *
Boba Fett ran into the cockpit, ordering the computer to start the take-off sequence. The computer answered an affirmative, and started the engines. All the instruments thrummed to life, and Boba slid himself into the pilot's seat. He looked up as he started to ease Slave I, and what he saw nearly made him jump.
Nearly.
An Imperial Star Destroyer, modified for atmospheric flight capabilities, was lowering itself right in front of the hangar where Slave I was. Boba Fett raised the shields right before the Star Destroyer started firing.
The ship was immensely huge; a mile long and nearly half a kilometer tall. It bristled with enough firepower to reduce an entire city to molten slag and rubble, given an hour or two.
Boba prepped his own guns and started to fire. Then he remembered how powerful an ISD's shields were. He couldn't hurt it, but he could run from it. And maybe that was the best thing to do.....
He started to ease the engines up to move out of the hangar, and he faintly heard a voice from the hangar calling his name.
Taggor was still out there.
Boba eased the ship down toward the hangar floor and ordered the computer to open the hatch. He then had it toss a ladder out for Taggor to climb up. After a few seconds, he heard Taggor close the hatch, and then run into the cockpit.
"So, how's the situation?" Taggor asked.
"Judge for yourself. Slave I versus an ISD. Not recommended for those who wish to lead long lives." Boba started easing Slave I out of the hangar, where it was still being fired aat by the Star Destroyer. "We can't hurt it very well."
"On the contrary, Boba, see those spheres?" Taggor pointed to the shield generators above the ISD's bridge. "Arm a couple of proton torps and blow 'em up."
"Yeah, but how do we get past the shields? Oh, yeah, an ISD doesn't have shields protecting its shield generators."
"Exactly. And I've modified the torps. We knock out the shields, and take out Engineering. Simple as that."
"Where's Engineering?"
"Down around the middle."
"How do you know so much about Imperial Star Destroyers?"
"Don't ask."
"Okay. So, genius, how do we take it out?"
"With our proton torps, how else?"
"They can't hurt it. I know, I've tried."
"Well, I added armour to the front for added penetration, and a delayed fuse. It won't blow up 'til it's actually in the target. That's what I was doing while you were off playing hero."
"Okay, sounds like a plan," Boba said. "Let's get to work." He leaned over and prepped the firing procedures. Taggor aimed the targeter on the Star Destroyer's shield generators. When all the firing preparations wer complete, Boba said, "Fire both torps on my command."
Slave I lurched forward as Boba Fett hit the accelerator. The ship shot out of the hangar and Boba shouted, "Now!"
The two proton torps streaked away from Slave I, until they bacame mere blue pinpoints silhouetted against the white hull of the Star Destroyer. Slave I blasted into the Mandalorian sky, and Boba turned back to see the proton torps slam into the ISD's shield generators.
"Okay, Taggor, fire at the Engineering section," he said.
Taggor did the firing preparations and launched the torpedoes as Slave I turned back toward the Star Destroyer so Boba could see the effects of the torps. The torpedoes slammed into the ISD's hull at full power, and exploded two seconds later. The resulting blast tore a hole in the Star Destroyer, devastating the center of the ship. The great Imperial warship started pouring smoke and fire from its hull.
Boba and Taggor watched in awe as the Star Destroyer plunged down into a Mandalorian canyon. The ship struck the canyon walls, and huge rock formations in the canyon. Internal explosions ripped at the mighty battleship, and it plunged yet further down into the canyon. The Star Destroyer hit the canyon's bottom, and the ship was engulfed in a mile-high fireball. Taggor had noted that all the escape pods had been jettisoned.
"Well," Taggor said, "that takes care of that."
"Uh-huh," Boba siad.
"So, where to now?"
"Oh, I don't know. Pick out a planet at random from the computer."
"Hmm.... How's Korbin?"
"Great. Set course. We;re getting out of here. Too many bad memories...."
"No problem. Three.....two.....one..... We're outta' here!"
Slave I turned its back on Mandalore, and blasted into hyperspace......
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