Part I

A figure runs through the darkness, his booted feet splattering in
the puddles, unconsciously kicking the debris and garbage in his path.

His pants for breath fill the air, his fear can be tasted in the
fetid air of the alleyways.

He runs passed a huddled figure who, groaning softly, disturbed
from his sleep, shifts his position and falls back to sleep.

The figure glances back over his shoulder, stumbling slightly as he
runs and though he sees nothing, he does not stop, for no matter
where he runs, he cannot get away. But there is always hope - the
slimmest of a chance that he actually can - it's what keeps him
running.

Suddenly there is a sound - a blaster shot rings out in the night
and the single bolt of energy flies through the air toward its target.

The figure stumbles again, falling to one knee and instantly he
cries out in pain as the blaster bolts grazes the skin of his left
arm. The shot had missed its intended target. A rare occurrence.

Though in pain, he stands to his feet and begins to run again,
rubbing his right shoulder against the dank ferracrete wall as he
rounds a corner - one of many he has taken, but to no avail.

The dark streets reveal no sign of places to hide or small enough
for the thin man to crawl into like an armored rat. There is no place
to hide, no place to run, no place to...then he remembers a place, a
place where he wold be as safe as a Sarlac in a sea of hot sand.

With renewed hope and strength, he picks up his run to an all-out
sprint to safety.

Just a few more blocks, duck into the abandoned building and he is
home free.

*******

"*A slick little thing he is. Too bad I have already heard his
thoughts, know where he is going. He will be easily captured. *"

Hidden dark eyes follow the thin man, watching like the predator
that she is. Soon, soon she will have him and the chase will end and
she will finally have her bounty.

*******

The figure turns left, down an adjoining passageway, then right and
then the entrance to his freedom is just within sight.

He can feel his lungs are on fire, as well as the muscles of his
legs - his heart racing in his chest, thudding in his ears, but he
pushes himself, safety almost in reach.

Another shot. But it hits the ground between his feet, yet he keeps
running.

He reaches the entrance, opens the door and charges in, slowing to
a brisk walk down the corridor to the main hall. He comes to a door
at the end of the corridor, enters in the access code, then the door
opens before him.

He stands there before the open door, finally letting himself catch
his breath, finally letting his guard down - finally he is safe, and
he enters the main hall, finding it perfectly empty...and safe.

A sound to his right catches his attention with a gasp of fear,
nerves still raw and on edge, his head whipping about to see what it
could be, but he finds nothing.

Then he turns his eyes forward and instantly he is frozen in his
tracks, eyes wide, and face pale as death, terror in his eyes.

She stands there before him like a dark spectre, her intense violet
eyes looking upon him without blinking, her arms at her sides, her
right-gloved hand holding to a custom made blaster pointed to the
floor. "Talon." He whispers.

Slowly, in terror, he begins to step backward, away from the woman
called Talon.

"Going somewhere?" A male voice breaks the silence, the voice
sounding as though it were electronic or passed through a vocal
synthesizer.

The man instantly stops in his tracks and shaking with terror he has
never known before, he slowly turns about and almost releases the
contents of his bladder, for standing behind him just inside the
hall, is a man dressed in green armor, gauntlets upon his forearms,
green cape upon his back and a helmut with a "T" shaped viewplate and
an antennae of some kind on the right side of the helmut.

"Boba Fett!" The man cries, falling to his knees in absolute terror
to find the greatest and most infamous bounty hunter before him.

"He's mine Fett!" Talon exclaims, holding a blaster in each hand,
now aimed at Boba Fett's helmut, right between where his eyes would
be and another upon her intended bounty.

"I have claim to him as well and I will be the one leaving with my
bounty." Boba Fett exclaims in no uncertain terms.

The dislike and distrust of one another fills even the massive
room, the tension between them growing ever more.

Boba Fett can see the fury in her eyes, the violet of them glowing
as if fire, making her all the more attractive...and deadlier - like
a pit viper. Not many women can look so enchantingly deadly.

She stares him down, sizing up the male bounty hunter attempting to
usurp her prey. It would not be the first time he attempted to take
her bounty, which he stole from her when she was hit by a stray bolt
from an Imperial stormtrooper, while attempting to recapture her
escaped prey. It had been the bumbling stormtroopers who had let her
bounty escape and run right into the clutches of her arch nemesis,
Boba Fett, to be presented to Darth Vader himself and receive the
payment that should have been hers had it not been for the stupid
stormtroopers.

But this time, this time Boba Fett will not take her prey again.

Suddenly she is tossed out of her reverie as her senses in the
Force alert her that they are not alone. The grip on her blasters
tighten, prepared for anything.

"I think not." A male voice speaks, echoing off the durasteel and
ferracrete walls of the hall.

Instantly both hunters stand en guarde, weapons held out before
them as they turn about, finding themselves surrounded on all sides
by beings of various ages and species - all male by what the Force
tells Talon, and all have weapons of various types aimed at the
hunters.

Quickly the man the two had been hunting scrambles to his feet and
races to join those who surround the bounty hunters like prey
themselves.

"*That little bastard! I could not read him! *" Talon thinks in
fury for not learning that her prey was leading her straight into the
lair of the criminal cartel, the Black Sun. She could not break
through one of the barriers in his thoughts when she tried to read
him as she hunted him down.

"Just great! The bounty led both of us straight into the hideout of
the Black Sun!" Talon exclaims aloud, instantly homing in on the
leader of the cadre of criminals and thugs, pointing both weapons
upon the young human male with short dark brown - almost black hair
and intense green eyes.

Boba Fett says nothing, but keeps his eyes wide-open for any
possible attack.

"Greetings Talon, Boba Fett. Welcome to one of many hideouts of the
Black Sun." The young green-eyed man greets us, stepping forward a
few steps to make himself known.

"Give me my bounty now and I will leave silently and everyone will
remain alive." Talon orders, pointing to the man she and Fett both
had been hunting.

"Now why would we give up one of our own to a bounty hunter who
will inturn give him to the Empire to be either killed or forced into
slave labor at one of the numerous Imperial prison colonies and
mines?"

The hunters remain silent, tension filling the room to choking
proportions. Something is about to happen and it is not going to be
good.

"You will not leave this place alive."

Suddenly a small metallic ball appears, bouncing across the floor
toward the two hunters.

"Flash grenade!" Talon cries aloud, hastily with the aid of the
Force, holsters her blasters, turns, and drops to her knees pulling
her cape about her. Boba Fett too drops to his knees and
unconsciously covers Talon's body with his own, as the grenade
explodes and a flash of intense blinding light fills the hall.

The instant the light dissipates, blaster shots sound as Boba Fett
and Talon leap to their feet, firing their weapons at anyone who
fires first.

Standing back to back, the bounty hunters fire bolt after bolt at
their enemy, returning fire whizzing passed their heads and bodies,
utilizing Talon's Force shield to protect them as they drop Black Sun
member after member.

Soon the room is filled with the acrid smell of burning flesh and
smoke, and before more can take the place of those they killed, Talon
and Boba Fett fire a single explosive dart at a nearby wall.
Immediately fire and debris fills the room.

Moments pass and the smoke gradually settles and standing there,
weapons at the ready, is Boba Fett and Talon.

"Let's get out of her before the stormtroopers decide to make their
untimely appearance." Talon exclaims, holstering her blasters as she
senses that the majority of the Black Sun have made their escape and
the approach of Imperial stormtroopers.

The only acknowledgement Boba Fett gives is a slight nod of his
head, and together, the two hunters make their own escape through the
new exit in the wall, out into the dark street and they disappear
into the darkness.

Part II

Along the way, the two hunters split up, heading in opposite
directions once they are far enough away, just incase they are being
tailed.

Talon weaves her way through the mazes of passageways, alleys and
streets, backtracking and again to confuse anyone who may be tracking
her.

She did not anticipate a run-in with the Black Sun, especially on
Corellia. The last time she got out of a scrape with the Black Sun
with just her ship and what was left of the clothes on her back. But
that was before she had custom clothes made that had super strong
threads woven in the fabric that would act as armor against a blaster
shot set at high. She barely escaped with her life then.

She has learned alot since then, as a bounty hunter and one who is
sensitive to the Force. But as one who is Force-sensitive, she has
learned to live in the darkness and in lies - since the Emperor began
to hunt and kill all Jedi the Empire came upon after the Clone Wars
and Palpatine established himself as Emperor, abolishing the Republic
as we knew it to create the Empire. If she were caught, she would
most likely die like so many others, just because they were Force-
sensitive despite not being Jedi.

She stops in her tracks, ducking into a local cantina and seats
herself in a corner seat were she could keep an eye on the entrance
and the rest of the room.

Her violet eyes scan slowly about the room, utilizing the Force to
tell her what she needs to know, if there is danger and anything that
could be of use if need be.

She senses no danger directed toward her, but the various beings
about the room are not exactly the kind of people that she would want
to mess with right now.

She notices the eyes of a Bothan male, in a black and golden yellow
flight suit, drift her direction, attention she wishes not to have.
With a slight flick of her right hand under the table, she directs a
whisp of the Force in his direction and suddenly, as if an invisible
hand touched it, the cup sitting upon the table before him tips over
and spills the dark drink all over his lap, instantly diverting the
Bothan's attention away from her. A gasp and a grumble of anger
drifts her direction as he rises to his feet and attempts to wipe the
liquid from his lap.

Suddenly, her senses tell her that danger nears, and within
moments, five beings, all male and quite large in size, enters the
cantina.

"* Oh great! Black Sun! They really don't like to give up. *" Talon
thinks as she takes a drink of the cup sitting before her, leaning
back in her seat, allowing the shadows of the corner to hide her from
their sight, watching as the group consisting of three humans and two
humanoid aliens make their way about the room, looking as if for a
table.

And then their eyes fall upon her and slowly they make their way
toward her seat, their hands slowly reaching for their blasters.

"* Lovely! Here we go again! *"

Talon leans forward as the five approach, holding her cup in her
right hand as she leans forward on the table upon her left arm. She
takes a slow drink, not taking her eyes from the five males as they
stop before her table.

"What can I do for ya boys? It seems to be just little 'ol me this
time." Talon retorts, taking another drink from her cup, slipping her
left arm under the table as she leans back in the seat behind her,
slipping the blaster upon her thigh from its holster with stealth.

"Please come with us Talon." One of the humans order, his hand
resting against the grip of his blaster hanging from his right hip.

"No, I don't think so. I think I'll just sit right here and finish
my drink and order me another. You guys what a drink?" Talon returns,
weaving her magic on them as she rests her blaster upon her thigh,
raising her cup up in question, buying time and not wanting to get
into another all-out fire fight, again.

"No. Get up and come with us or we will make you get up." Another
male orders, stepping forward toward me, slipping his blaster from
it's holster at its side, holding his weapon against his thigh.

"* As I said, they never give up. *" Talon thinks with a sigh as
she shakes her head and rolls her eyes at them inwardly.

Her eyes looking up upon the group of males, she raises the rip of
her cup to her lips, never breaking her eye contact upon them. She
takes a slow thorough drink and when the last trickle of liquid runs
down the back of her tongue, she moves to finally rise from her seat,
but suddenly the top of the table rips up from its bolted legs,
becoming a black synthwood shield.

Blaster fire instantly erupts, bolts of energy whizzing passed
Talon's head to hit the ferracrete wall behind her and slamming into
the surface of her makeshift shield. As she keeps the shield held in
place with the telekenetics of the Force, Talon takes both of her
blasters into her hands, her senses stretching out, her senses
heightening and becoming part of everything about her.

Talon remains crouched behind the tabletop, blaster bolts raining
down upon her and about her as she prepares for the perfect moment
when she will leap out from behind her makeshift shield and start
firing her blasters in attempt to escape Black Sun, yet again.

The moment comes, as clear as daylight, as perfect as day.

She stands to her feet, erecting her Force shield as she turns
about and raising her blasters before her, Talon fires bolt after
bolt, her blaster set to three pulse fire, hitting two immediately
and winging another in the shoulder.

Everything seems to happen in slow motion, her movements not really
her own as she steps up upon the seat beside her, firing her blasters
at her attackers, making her way toward the main entrance of the
cantina.

The instant she is out the door, all her senses return to normal
and hastily, three Black Sun appear at the door right behind her,
chasing her as she racing in an all-out sprint down the street,
blaster bolts whizzing passed her - one almost hitting her right
cheek as they fly passed her, her pursuers not far behind.

Again, she weaves through the streets, trying to loose the three
males behind me, firing their blasters at me. I follow my tracking
device upon my wristband, racing back to my ship sitting on pad 45-c
area 12. If I can get to my ship, I can get offworld before Black Sun
can get their grubby hands on me again.

~Continued in Part III~

Updated 4/10/02