Episode X Dark Hunter

A Hunter's Preparations

The Eyrie, as Videsse and Boba called it, was an abandoned hive of the bug-like Geonosians; a species that had been exterminated by the Empire almost fifty years earlier. The Eyrie's opening resided on the side of another narrower valley and was large enough for a moderately sized ship like the Falcon to enter. Its broad opening was unusual for the small-statured Geonosians, but Boba had done some explosive excavating to make room for the freighter after he had acquired the ship during the Second Galactic War. He had also installed a holographic emulator to create a rock wall mirage over the entrance, but over the last year, Videsse had stopped replacing its power cells. Thus, the gaping maw of the cave remained unhidden in the faint nocturnal light as Videsse's harvester climbed the incline.

With effort, the harvester crept into the shelter of the Eyrie and exhausted, it came to rest a few meters within the entrance. Dust entered with it and slowly disappeared into the floor like a falling bed sheet before Videsse emerged. The night was finally upon Geonosis, and the reflected light of its celestial rings did nothing to illuminate the cave. Videsse, however, knew her way around it well and walked in the darkness to the eastern wall, lit a display panel, and powered the dome lights.

With a flicker, pale blue lights bathed the Eyrie, a few shadowmoths fluttering away into the dark recesses. Like the eskrats, these shadowmoths were another species that had hitched a ride on Videsse's starship from somewhere else in the galaxy. The full atrium now visible, stretched half of a kilometer deep and wide and over a dozen meters high at places. In the center, a Corellian freighter slept with her companion, a Firespray starship; the Millenium Falcon and Slave-1.

Multiple chambers and passageways were carved into the rear and sidewalls of the vast red cavern, and Videsse limped her way to the first one a few meters beyond the light panel. There was a communication console and power control unit arranged against the wall of the recess, heavy wires running upward like vines into the rock ceiling.

Videsse mechanically turned the communication console on and punched in location codes. A static cloud appeared on the dorsal holographic display.

"Donal," Videsse spoke to the grainy fog. She re-entered location codes for Donal's shop on Nar Shaddaa. "Maybe the dish is down. Come on. Donal, are you there?"

There was no answer. She checked the power display and ran a ping test on the surface communication disk. Everything was working.

"Sod it!" Videsse slammed the display with her fist, fearing the worst for Donal. She immediately regretted hitting the display as she winced at the pain. She shook her hand and held it to her chest. Bitting her lip again, fire reemerged in her eyes. With a purposeful stride, the limp less obvious, she left the commlink chamber, passed a housing chamber, and approached a sealed durasteel door.

Videsse unlocked the door with a swipe of her palm on a mounted lock display next to the door and the steel barriers gasped as the seal was broken. It opened from the center horizontally and retracted into the ceiling and floor, leaving just enough lip that Videsse had to step over it. Lights lit automatically.

The room was filled with varying armors and helmets on one side, firearms opposite, and explosives detonators displayed on the far wall. In the middle was a steel chest. This was Videsse's armament. As I have said before, she had no wealth restrictions, and so neither did her weapon's arsenal. On the right wall rested ten carbine rifles, including the FF-89 carbine rifle, a successor of Boba Fett's favorite, though much lighter and more powerful. Next to the rifles were another dozen mid-range blasters common to most infantry units throughout the years, DC-17's and 15's; two-handed blasters that fired ionized plasma rounds. Newer, more predictable models also filled in the gaps, such as the sleek DC-27. Finally, there were six pairs of varying pistols, each small enough to be held in one hand, and each with a matching partner.