Here's the start of my latest story, hope you enjoy it:
Slippery fingers gripped desperately to hold onto the rusting metal ladder rung. Finger nails dug hard dislodging the flakes of rust. Rain splattered on the ladder as Ellen Pointer tried to claw her way up. She had to get away, certain death lay below. “Climb damn it!†she cursed at herself.
The beast below salivated anxiously hoping that its constant battering to the bottom of ladder would dislodge Ellen’s hold and it could tear into her flesh. “Not happening on my watch buddy!†Ellen shouted in defiance.
A tan coloured boot got some traction and Ellen boosted herself upward to the next rung. Her wet hand outstretched to grab the next deteriorating rung only a gloved hand reached out to meet hers.
Ellen tore her gaze away from her next move to look up at the owner of the hand, “Boba Fett?†she said with a squeak and almost lost her hold.
“The one and only,†Fett answered as rain drops pooled and ran down the indentations of his T-shaped visor.
Ellen suddenly wondered if she was better off facing the beast below. “Why are you here?â€Â
Elusive as ever Fett merely said, “Take my hand.â€Â
A snarl from below made Ellen’s decision easy. She reached up and took Fett’s gloved hand. He surprised her by pulling her up the last few rungs with relative ease. It seemed he was stronger than he appeared.
The sound of ominous booing filled the air. Ellen had almost forgotten that she was in a private arena.
“We need to move, now!†Fett instructed with just the right amount of force.
Ellen got her legs moving, walking seemed so foreign after scaling an extremely high ladder. Ellen took deep breaths letting her lungs fill as she ignored the increasing rain. Her eyes trained on Fett who led the way, to where she had no idea. But now was not the time to question.
Fett rounded a corner and Ellen followed only to smack straight into the metal jetpack. Fett had stopped for some reason and he had his blaster trained on something. Ellen peered over his shoulder to see Bossk. “Crap,†Ellen muttered.
Fett said nothing but Ellen was certain from his faint body language that he agreed with her. However his interpretation was probably along different lines.
“Fett,†Bossk hissed with distinct venom in his voice.
“Bossk,†Fett replied and Ellen could swear she heard the fainted trace of amused sarcasm in his tone.
IG-88 emerged from somewhere to the side of Bossk. Fett tilted his helmet to study the new threat. “I see you are keeping company that is also lacking brains,†Fett commented scathingly to Bossk.
“My neural processor is sufficient,†IG-88 informed Fett as he lifted his weapon.
Fett answered with his blaster and neatly scored a shot to IG-88’s left leg. Bossk immediately charged towards Fett blaster firing wildly.
Fett was cool finesse as he calculated a shot carefully which scoured Bossk’s scaly ankle. The Trandoshan continued to run but not nearly as nimbly. Fett then turned to counter IG-88 who managed to score a hit to Fett’s battered chest-plate. Fett stepped back from the impact and quickly returned the shot to IG-88’s photo receptor.
Bossk launched himself at Fett however the armoured bounty hunter was prepared for the move and shifted the butt of hit blaster rifle so it smacked the Trandoshan squarely in the face.
Ellen could see the blood pooling between Bossk’s sharp teeth. The Trandoshan stood, fury burning deeply in his eyes. “I’m going to rip out your spleen and shove it down your throat!†Bossk threatened.
Fett swung his blaster rifle so the butt slammed into Bossk’s mid-section. The Fett brought a sharp elbow into the Transdoshan’s scaly head. Fett twisted the blaster around in his hands and hit Bossk with a stun blast. Bossk fell to the ground landing on Fett’s right foot, his taloned hand snagging on Fett’s knee protector. Fett kicked him off sharply as if Bossk’s very touch offended him.
“Stun? Why only stun?†Ellen asked with confusion.
Fett looked at her for a moment then reached for her shirt sleeve as he moved forward again.
“What’s going on?†Ellen asked, “Last time I checked there was no bounty on my head.â€Â
“You’re worth something,†Fett commented cryptically as he hauled her aboard Slave I. He shoved her into a holding cell and disappeared into the cockpit.
Ellen stood rubbing her arms with her hands. She was dripping wet and she was starting to shiver. She moved to sit in the corner of the cell and pulled her legs close to her body in an attempt to warm up. Her teeth chattered violently as Slave I launched into the sky.