The Final Bounty--Dark Bounty Part 2

The Competition

The transport lift was just outside the landing bay and in good working order. Compared to the landing bay it was surprisingly well lit with an unwavering blue light. The doors opened on arriving up to the middle level; and to Terrah's chagrin, she was met with more dull flickering lights in the hallway.

"This place needs some electrical work," she said low to herself. She never was comfortable with silence. She thought about how Boba used to hate her constant chattering.

The hall split into two directions then turned to run parallel with each other toward the prow. Either way would lead to the command bridge. Having to make a decision, Terrah chose to try the right side. The drab corridor seemed musty and poorly cared for. She quietly walked past doors which led to maintenance rooms and engineer quarters. The metal grates beneath her were difficult to manage silently, as each shifted with every movement. They were not sealed, as underneath them, the plumbing, vent, and electrical vessels traversed the entirety of the ship.

Terrah turned to the left at the end of the hall and was now heading directly to the forward command bridge. However, she was stopped in her tracks. Halfway down the corridor, a blast door was sealed in front of her. That would not stop her ordinarily, but at the control panel to the right of the heavily armored door was a figure working diligently with the controls. Terrah stood perfectly still and silent, knowing that she was hidden with the cloaking device.

From the back, Terrah instantly recognized the figure had a Z-6 jetpack and that whoever it was, was clad in feminine Mandalorian armor, pristinely silver in its appearance. The figure stood just about ten centimeters shorter than Terrah, though that was hard to determine perfectly from twelve meters away. Terrah decided to carefully get a closer look. She pulled out her right disruptor pistol and carefully stepped forward, trying to step perfectly centered on the floor grates to avoid any errant sounds as they wobbled.

The figure worked, unphased as Terrah approached to within eight meters. Then Terrah saw it in the flickering lights—the red starburst on the figure's left shoulder armor, Terrah's red starburst. It was the symbol Terrah had used as her call sign before she had faked her death. It was also the symbol associated with her clones; she, having made a deal with the Kaminoans before the Second Galactic Civil War. She had been one of the Kaminoan's clone primes in exchange for a healthy credit payout, and one unaltered clone child for herself, Videsse. 

Videsse would be thirteen years old by now, butTerrah did not want to remember that clone.  Taking her on was a decision she had made and later regretted. To ease her conscience, Terrah told herself that, like herself and the rest of the Terrah clones in the galaxy, Videsse would find her own way. 

So here was a clone—probably just a leftover from the War—but Terrah could not argue away the height. All Kaminoan clones were commissioned at full maturity, and this one was shorter. Terrah was drawn closer and took another step. The grate shifted a minuscule degree.

The female figure raised her head from her work and cocked her head to augment her hearing. There was a brief moment where neither took a breath and neither moved. The figure then bent down on one knee and opened the ventral compartment to the panel, pulling out some wires and splicing them before the door lifted fitfully in spasms.

"A cloaking device, huh?" the figure commented out loud. It was the voice of a girl, not a woman.

Suddenly the girl disappeared in a burst of grey smoke. "Gabril's bounty is mine. You hear? You ain't getting it," the girl called out.

The grey cloud lit with fiery red blaster fire from within. The determined blasts were surprisingly accurate, as they whizzed past Terrah's invisible form. Terrah dove to the side for cover, but one blast had clipped her back armor. Although it did not injure her, it did short out her cloak. With pulsating scintillations, the invisibility quickly expired.

Terrah regrouped instantly and held her pistol ready to fire at the door as if her fingers would have been able to squeeze the trigger. The door was already closed, the girl having jumped through behind the veil of smoke and sealed it.

Terrah shook her head. "It's just a clone. It can't be her," she said to herself. "Just more competition for a bounty."