Dark and Light

Chapter 14

The sky above was beautiful, the sun was just beginning to set and it was shining on the water and tree leaves all around. Zheth had been to Naboo a few times as a child and had almost forgotten how clean the air smelled... how pleasant it was here. A shame that the sounds of people dying were ruining it, their shrill screams of panic and confusion being sharply cut off as blaster fire slammed into their bodies. She glanced away from the destruction down below the domed room she was currently standing on, the refreshing breeze blowing the cloak she wore and making it wrap around her torso slightly.

"Your brother hasn't shown up." She commented to the prisoner beside her. "A shame Skywalker won't see this in person."

"Zheth, you don't have to do this." Leia's chains clinked as she shifted. "I know you don't want to."

"You don't know what I want!" She snapped, the tearing feeling coming back as she fought between loyalties. "I have my mission and I will carry it out!"

"Like the good dog you are." A chill crept through her, raising the hairs on her arms, as her mentor's voice spoke up behind her. "Why don't you stay put so I can put you down nice and easy."

"B-Boba?" Predator turned to face her mentor, his helmet blackened where her blaster had shot him. "H-how?"

"Don't you remember me telling you? I'll train you to be one of the best, but you'll never be better than me." He raised his blaster. "I'm not here with the Resistance this time, I'm just returning you the favor of what you did to me... Then I'll get the reward on Organa's head."

"No... No... T-this- Y-you... No..." She felt her breathing shallow as she sank to the ground. "This isn't r-real. I- you aren't h-here."

He stepped closer... and closer. She could hear his boots hitting the roof as he walked; surely this had to be just another elaborate mind trick Skywalker was making to save his sister. Yes, that had to be it, she had killed Boba Fett... but... Skywalker didn't appear to be in this fight. None of the Resistance had even arrived yet!

"Zheth, the edge!" Organa gave a call of warning as Predator shuffled back only to find nothing was behind her to take her weight.

Predator lurched forward, desperate to shift her weight the other way, but was prevented from doing so when her mentor kicked her over the edge. The air whooshed by, the building a blur as she tried to grab something and stop her descent. All she had time to think about was how she really should have gotten a jetpack like Boba wore before a dull crunch and pain filled her senses. After a few minutes of staring straight up at the sky and not dying, Zheth finally decided the damage done to her wasn't going to kill her anytime soon and rolled off the body of a Storm Trooper... they might have cruddy armor and an even worse aim but they made fairly good cushions to land on despite the armor that had dug into her body.

She glanced up to see Boba Fett flying down to attack again while General Organa seemed to be making an escape. "Sorry Fett but my job comes before our little fight!"

Predator ran back inside with a slight limp in her step, she had to cut off Organa and kill her on the roof as soon as the Resistance showed up. Her old mentor wasn't going to get in her way either. A blaster shot crippled her leg as Boba Fett followed her inside and she gave a yelp of pain as she continued up the stairs... another shot in her torso sent her to the ground, looked like she had to kill him before she could get to Leia then. She shakily got back up and threw a knife at him, which her mentor easily flew above before shooting down on her again. Predator scrambled to the side of the blasts before shooting back with her own blaster, aiming for the jet pack rather than Boba Fett to take away his advantage. Sparks flew out of it and she took the opportunity to shoot him as he fell, this time hitting his leg to cripple him, before darting up the stairs once more.