The Final Bounty--Dark Bounty Part 2

Megalox-Beta

The titanic beige planet of Megalox Beta hung solitary in the black void of space. It was a planet used for one purpose, to house criminals. Megalox, a maximum-security prison, rested close to the equator and was protected by a grav-field dome. The immensity of the planet created such a gravitational pull, that any who walked outside of the grav-field would be crushed by their own weight; and therefore, a perfect deterrent for fleeing criminals.

However, today, one small ship escaped the gravity, a Firespray-31-class attack craft, Slave-1. It rose from the giant surface into the dark expanse, like a burning ember from a fire. A green Rodian piloted the ship as he laid hard into the accelerator to reach exit velocity. Slave-1 struggled to climb its way out of the gravitational field but it was a ship that knew how to overcome the impossible. Its engines roared and its frame shook. The Rodian began to sweat and tried to lean forward against the considerable gravity; even with the ship's gravity modifier, the force was overwhelming. He almost passed out from the G-force making it difficult to breathe.

Slowly, the gravity lessened, the shaking abated, the engines cooled, and the Rodian breathed. Slave-1 had escaped Megalox Beta, but its previous owner was still grounded.

The Rodian switched on the holonet. "Terrah?"

A minute passed before a response. "Cheedo, you out?"

"Yeah, everything's as cool as Camoor," Cheedo replied.

"Great, thanks for your help. Slave-1 is yours now; if you can manage to keep it," the woman replied.

Cheedo laughed, "Where's your confidence in me, Terrah?"

"Just make sure you strip it of Boba's mods, I don't want anyone recognizing it after you lose it, 'cause you will. You understand."

"Yeah, I got it. Nice doing business with you for once," Cheedo replied.

"Just get out of here and don't send another transmission."

Two passed out and crooked prisoners lay slumped over two, even more crooked, prison guards. Behind them a grotesque Hutt lay snoring, his mouth open and drool stringing from his mouth to his shoulder. Terrah stood before them, placing the stolen head of General Grievous into a sack and throwing it over her back. She wore silver chest armor with a red starburst painted on it. Her gleaming green eyes scanned the room for anything else she might swipe for profit, and she found something. She stepped over to the Hutt and leaned down. She pushed her jet black hair back from her olive-skinned face and bound it behind her in a ponytail. Her fingers then found a canvas pouch under the Hutt's arm. She reached in and pulled out a black pyramidal structure, a Holocron.

"Nice doing business with you, Grakkus," Terrah said. "I hope the Thanatizine gives you a glorious headache when you wake up." She smiled and placed the Holocron in her pack and left the room.

Terrah ran down a long gray corridor. This was a trap and she knew it. The Keeper, a rich collector on Anthan Prime had hired Terrah Otlell and Boba Fett to obtain Grievous' head this time. He had hired them many times over the previous twenty years but lately, he was becoming more suspicious of the two bounty hunters. They had refused to be hired solely by the Keeper, and he had taken offense to that. Then Cheedo had accidentally stumbled upon the Keeper's plan to eliminate Terrah and Boba on Megalox Beta. It was information that the Rhodian had used to make a deal for Slave-1.

The realization that Terrah suddenly had a bounty on her own head made her to question the choices she had made in life. Her daughter, a clone of herself, was six years old; and now, with the threat of death hanging over Terrah, she wondered if she had made a mistake. Certainly, she had been in danger before but she had never been hunted, and she knew when the Keeper wanted something, he was sure to get it. Terrah wanted to free herself from the trap—the trap of the Keeper, the trap of her daughter, and the trap of . . . she did not want to admit what she felt about Boba. She wanted to escape. She needed to escape. Terrah had cursed herself for being so short-sighted and now was her chance to rectify it and to start over. She thought how Boba was going to hate her when her droid PZ-85 shows up with her daughter, Videsse.