The Remnants: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 1: The Bounty

It was a barren wasteland. The sun was bright, hot and harsh, having dried out the landscape for thausands of years. There was no sign of water or civilisation the bounty hunter observed, as he drove his landspeeder across the wasteland. Sweat dripped down from his forhead, and his mouth was dry from the days of travelling in the sun with limited amount of water. But it was worth it. This one job would guarantee an entire year of luxury he thought, as he emptied his last waterbottle. He squinted against the glaring sun, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the horizon, only partly protected from the sun with his wide brimmed hat. The intel had been clear: his target was hiding somewhere in this desolate region.  He couldn't afford any distractions. With a deep breath, he refocused, guiding the landspeeder toward a distant rocky outcrop. He needed a vantagepoint.

He parked his landspeeder at the foot of the rocky outcrop and began to climb, with his MK sniper rifle on his back. Years of training and experience had made climbs like this a breeze. Half a minute later and he had succesfully reached the top. The bounty had to be close. He had been combing through this region for days and this was the only place left he had yet to search. He laid down on his stomach, his rifle in hand. Looking through the scope, scanning the horizon, he took note of everything he could see. Minutes of him observing and scanning and he couldn't find anything. Was the intel wrong? No, the intel was good. He couldn't have interrogated and killed that man for nothing. He had seen the bounty recently in this area, they had to be here! He looked again, this time more frantically, examining every detail. Rocks, bushes, mountains, rocky crevices, an old man, dead trees, a well- wait what?!

He saw an old man walking out from from behind a rocky outcrop in the distance. Looked like he was carrying two big buckets over his shoulders, on a stick. He walked up to the well and began to lower one of the buckets into the well, drawing up what seemed to be water. The bounty hunter's heart raced. An old man in such a remote area could only mean one of two things: either he was a hermit, living in isolation, or he was living out here with the bounty. The latter seemed more likely. He looked closer at the man as he was filling up his buckets with water. Ex-military it seemed like. His skin looked to be a natural tan, although the sun had probably also had it's effect on him. His hair was grey and short, and had a full bushy beard that wasn't styled in any specific way. His arms were big and strong, but scarred, like years of battle taken a toll on them. He was wearing a black t-shirt underneath a red and white piece of chest armor, and a utility belt equipped with, what looked like, a DC-17. This was not any regular hermit living in the middle of nowhere. This was his last chance of finding the bounty. He had to move, now! 

He swung the rifle over his shoulder and quickly began to descend from the rocky outcrop. In just a few seconds, he managed the reach the bottom, jumped onto his speeder, and sped towards the well, kicking up a trail of dust in his wake. The bounty hunter looked into the distance, towards where he had seen the old man, and saw that he was heading away from the well with his two full buckets over his shoulder. As he got closer he began to slow down as to not get spotted and slowly began to see where the old man was headed. A single isolated building in the shadow of a big rockformation. This was it. After half an hour of trailing the old man, the building was getting close enough for the bounty hunter to hide his landspeeder and continue on foot. As he hid it behind a big rock, he peeked around it and saw the old man entering the building, and the door closing. It was time. He made sure he had everything. His two DL-44 blasters holstered on his sides, his rifle on his back, two thermal detontators and a pair of stun cuffs for the bounty. He took a deep breath and began moving towards the building, his hand hovering over his blasters. The building was very simplistic, probably intentionally to avoid drawing attention to it. It was just a square shaped building with a small porch, surrounded by small fields for growing crop, suggesting they had been living here alone for a while. Before he was able to reach the porch, the front door opened and the old man walked out. His hand, like the bounty hunter, was hovering over his blaster. The bounty hunter got a closer look at the old man's face. He recognized that face. A face he had seen countless times, throughout the galaxy. He was a clone trooper, now old and worn down.

"What do you want, bounty hunter?" the clone asked with a stern voice, his eyes piercing right through the bounty hunter. His stance was relaxed, but his hand remained steady above his blaster, ready to draw if necessary.

"The Empire is paying a great deal for anyone who can bring them any surviving Jedi, and i've got some exclusive intel that suggests they are hiding out here. Hand over the Jedi and no one needs to get hurt," the bounty hunter exclaimed as he returned the clone's stare.

The clone's hand began to twitch. "There are no Jedi here, it's just me." The world was quiet. Only the sound of the wind was prominent. Taking a slight step forward, the wooden boards underneath the clone's foot began to creak. The bounty hunter was unwavering and stood his ground.

The tension was thick, and both were ready at a moment's notice to fire. "Fang? What's going on?" A young boy appeared in the doorframe, behind the clone.

The clone's eyes widened as he placed a protective hand on the boy's chest, keeping him behind him. "Kid, get back in the house," the clone's voice getting louder and more authoritative. The bounty hunter shifted his focus from the clone to the boy and then back to the clone.

Smirking, the bounty hunter nodded in the boy's direction, his face smug and confident. "So that's the Jedi, huh? What is he, ten?" The clone did not take his eyes off the bounty hunter, slowly nudging the boy back towards the front door.

"Fang, what does he—" were the only words that the boy was able to say before the clone stopped him. "What did I say? GET INSIDE!"

Startled by the outburst, the boy quickly ran back inside the house. "Cute kid," the bounty hunter remarked in a short moment of sincerity. "But I'm afraid you've gotta hand him over." The bounty hunter began gripping his blaster, still keeping it in his holster.

Copying the bounty hunter's movement, the clone scowled. "You won't lay a finger on that boy. Leave now, or you'll regret it." Silence took over once again. Their eyes locked, sizing each other up. They both knew what was about to happen, though both had different endings in mind.

"Wrong choice, old timer." Both of them raised their blasters to fire, their fingers about to squeeze the trigger. Before the bounty hunter could fire, three blaster bolts pierced through him. His fingers failed to squeeze the triggers as all strength left his body. He looked down and saw three burning holes in his chest. He looked up again to see smoke escaping the barrel of the clone's blaster. The bounty hunter could feel his knees grow weak, and they gave out. He could feel nothing as he collapsed on the ground, his eyes growing weary and weak. The world around him grew blurry and undefined as his vision grew weaker and weaker. Lights were out and his last hunt had ended.

The clone's hands were shaking as he holstered his blaster. He slowly approached the body of the bounty hunter and crouched down, finding a comlink in his coat. He picked it up, examining it before throwing it on ground and smashing it with his heel. "Now that intel dies with you", he mumbled to himself and headed inside where the young boy was hiding under his desk. The boy looked up at him, his fearful face slowly transforming to one of relief. The clone sat down on his bed, waving for him to come sit beside him. "C'mere, kid." The boy came out from under the desk and slowly sat beside him on the bed. The clone pulled the boy's head into his chest, embracing him and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've got you."