The Great Battle: “Part 1”

Fett looked downward, and saw nothing but pure acid below him. Above him was total darkness. Until now, he hadn't known that Sarlacci got to be this large on the inside. He was so far down that the light at the top of the pit was hidden in the shadows of the Sarlacc's tentacles. Tentacles whipped at him fiercely, and he was barely dodging each hit. One blow with the end of a Sarlaac's tentacle and he would be knocked out cold. There had to be a way out. There just had to be. He was hanging above the pit in the grip of one of the tentacles. Nothing was happening. His armour was slowly being burned through with acid, and he didn't have much time before it reached his skin. His chest plate was bubbling from the acid on the tentacle of the Sarlacc. He reached for his blaster. That was a mistake. He lost all of his chance of getting out because of that mistake. The Sarlaac whipped the blaster out of his hand as soon as it was in his hand. Pain shot through his body as he realized that his hand had been broken.

Wait... what was that? An object was falling down the pit. What was it? As it got closer, Fett noticed that it was a long cylinder, with tints of grey and black here and there.... a lightsaber! Fett reached for it with his other hand... but just barely missed it. It dangled like he did, from the tentacle that grabbed it. He needed to get it. It was two meters from his current position. It was directly beneath him. There had to be a way. He needed an idea.... reflection! He had forgotten about his pack light that was attached to his suit. He took out a mirror, and turned on the light. He moved the light reflection with movement of the mirror. This had to work. It just had to. Yes! When he reflected the light onto the bottom of the Sarlacc, he noticed the truth about how Sarlacci saw. There, laying in between a few protection layers of skin, to hide it from the lava, was one eye. It was large, it was ugly... and it was looking right at him. Quickly, Fett reflected the light into the Sarlacc's eye. The pit started to shake. It was working! The Sarlacc started to loosen its grip. Not too much, now... he thought. As soon as he was within reach of the lightsaber, he turned off his lights so that he wouldn't fall completely down into the darkness and the lava. The tentacle tightened its grip again. Fett hated that feeling. The feeling of your stomach, aching as though it was caving in. He grasped the lightsaber in one hand, and just before another tentacle knocked it out of his hand, he turned it on and sliced the tentacle. If only he could see the look on the eye of the Sarlacc now! As he was thinking, another man fell into the Sarlacc. He grasped his hand, and pulled him up from the tentacle awaiting him.

"I need a pocket knife, now..." Fett threatened the man, holding the lightsaber to his neck.

"O-Okay." The man mumbled. He pulled out a knife, and Fett took it. The man was confused. But Boba Fett wasn't dumb. He opened the lightsaber and cut the wires, then took out the crystal inside of it that created its energy. He rewired the crystal into a bomb. It would detonate when dropped into the bottom of the Sarlacc. He had learned how to create contact-bombs in his Bounty Hunter training system. He hoped this would work.

"Thank you for the knife," Fett said to the man, handing it back to him. The man took it... just as Fett dropped the detonator. As soon as the explosion started, the tentacle let him loose. He started to fall. Inches away from the explosion, Fett ejected a tank of Carbon Dioxide, killing the fire, and revealing no one but him. The Sarlacc tentacles dangled uselessly, and he grabbed one just before he touched the acid pit at the bottom. He didn't even want to look at the eye now. He started climbing, swinging from tentacle to tentacle. Wait... what was happening? The acid was starting to rise from the opposite air pressure when he blew down the carbon dioxide into the explosion. He had to climb faster. It was difficult. There was no doubting that. He climbed and climbed. He dodged "passerbyers" falling into the pit. After what felt like endless hours of arm aching climbing, he finally reached the top. He climbed onto the surface.

The sunlight increased the pain on his burns, and his armor was burned through almost all the way. He shut his eyes tightly, readjusting to the light. Apparently, his helmet eyevisioner had been burned through, because he could see properly. The brightness of the sun overwhelmed him, causing him to fall back in pain. It was too much, it was just too much...

Fett was recalling the events that occurred in the Sarlacc when he paused for a moment. Was it Skywalker who had dropped the lightsaber. No, it couldn't have been. He then recalled the light being red. It had to be an Imperial Dark Force saber. Remembering the man and the lightsaber in the Sarlacc (which were now both gone) he realised how lucky he had been. No, he told himself, there is no such thing as luck. It was skill and practise. I do not believe in luck.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the sun, he got up and looked around him. He was in the middle of nowhere. But, wait... what was that black speck in the distance... it looked like-

Boba Fett's thoughts were quickly cut off by a blaster fire, piercing his left shoulder. He made a hard attempt not to yell out, and reached for his blaster. It wasn't there. He was in trouble. Or wait... he quickly dashed behind a rock, as a blaster shot just missed his head. Suddenly, about 5 other black dots appeared on the horizon. Then Fett was in trouble. Rapid fire shots were dancing across the desert ground, and he was just barely dodging them. One hit his chest armour, but luckily, that part was still fully intact. It made no dent at all, and he recovered from his shock quickly. He picked up a rock, and broke it into two pieces, then three, then four, until there were only little bits left. He put them in a bag that was protected by his armour. Then he tied the bag, and put a wick and explosives in it with the rocks. He liked old technology, it came in useful. By using his mini-rockets as the dynamite, Fett lit the wick, and threw the bag as far as he could toward the enemies. It landed directly where they were, sending not only little bits of rock streaming through the air to create a dust cloud, it also sent the enemies flying backward. While they were temporarily knocked down by the small explosion, and blinded by the rocks in their eyes and the dust cloud, Fett took every second to his advantage. He ran as fast as he could, though his limping slowed him down, and he eventually reached the hill where the black specks on the horizon were. They were Jawas. They no doubt thought him to be Skywalker, or one of the Rebels. He had been waiting for this opportunity all his life. He pulled back the hood of the Jawa.

This act revealed nothing. Literally. Just 2 eyes, floating in air, like magical crystals. But somehow, the hoods of the Jawas stayed on all the time. How strange. He picked up one of the Jawa Blasters, and disposed of the Jawas. Then he journeyed to the one place he wanted to see... Jabba's Palace.

Five years later....

Boba Fett was sitting on his large, platinum throne. He was deep in thought. He had managed to get to Jabba's Palace five years ago. Then, he had statingly claimed it, by creating his own lightsaber and threatening to actually use it. After making a considerable amount of money, Fett was able to recreate the Palace, which he ever so willingly named "The Palace of the Great Boba Fett," and he made it buzzing with activity again. He ruled the palace, and made everyone within it so wealthy that the walls themselves were made of platinum, let alone his throne also. The decorations were golden and he had rooms full of credits, all of which he had "supposedly" earned, but it was rumoured that he had to get a few "willing" people to offer him their money. Heh, heh. Fett liked that rumour. Everyone in the palace seemed to respect him. It was a great feeling. He-

One of the guards was thrown against a wall, and the beam of a lightsaber showed behind the opposite wall. The person jumped out. It was Skywalker.

"I want him alive!" Fett screamed out to all the guards. They tried to overtake him, but they were easily disposed of by Luke's lightsaber. Many guards started firing blaster shots at Luke, who easily deflected them.

"Stop!" Boba Fett yelled over all the commotion. "So," he smiled very faintly, "This is the infamous Skywalker. Let me ask you one thing, Luke. Do you duel, me and your father used to all the time. Now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to duel you to your death. So, do you duel?" His question was answered by a full powered lightsaber, coming down on him hard. He did a back flip, and quickly powered up his lightsaber, clashing his with Luke's. As they stood, forcing their lightsabers together, they glared fiercely.... or, Luke did. Fett was smiling. He was smiling his evil smile, although you couldn't see it under his mask. He swung his lightsaber down at Luke's legs, but the attack was easily blocked. Then Fett took a swing for Luke's head, but Skywalker ducked, then retaliated with a quick jab at Fett's chest. Boba Fett was just able to dodge Luke's move, and then he gave him a square punch on the jaw. This distracted Luke for a moment. Fett took the opportunity. He swung down hard, and Luke's artificial hand fell off. Luke, clasping the spot where his hand used to be, picked up his lightsaber in his left hand. Fett was beating him. Luke wasn't good with his left hand. But that didn't matter. He kept on throwing Luke sideways glances, and now and then, a punch in the stomach. When Luke bent over to cradle his stomach, Fett elbowed his back, causing him to fall over. Then, Boba Fett pointed his lightsaber at Luke's neck.

"Surrender, or be killed," he said victoriously. "I need some information on the Rebellion. How ‘bout it, kid?"

"Never!" Luke replied, foolishly tossing his his lightsaber up and down in his hand. "I will never surrender to the Empire."

"Then you must die," Boba Fett replied, in a tall, proud voice. This was it. He had beaten Vader's little brat. Nothing was left. He had trained himself well enough. He slowly started to move the lightsaber toward Luke's throat, but Skywalker never spoke. The time had come. His life license had expired. Fett pressed the lightsaber more toward Luke's neck. Suddenly, the whole room flashed. Boba Fett looked around to see what the cause was. Luke took the opportunity and jumped up. He slashed merciless blows at Boba Fett, but he was no fool. Fett compensated for every strike with his lightsaber. The two lightsabers were locked. They were staring each other down. Looking into each others eyes. Seeing what was the true purpose of this. Looking deeper into each other's thoughts. Fett kicked Luke back with his right leg, sending him flying back about 7 meters. Luke recovered quickly, doing an aerobic back flip through the air. He landed directly behind Boba Fett. Just in time, Fett turned around to block Luke's blow. He let go of his lightsaber with one hand. He punched Luke square in the jaw. A small trickle of blood ran down Luke's chin. Thus began the final battle of Luke Skywalker. Luke cradled his chin childishly, backing away from Fett's attacks. But it was no use. The Jedi couldn't compensate. Boba Fett stabbed Luke in the chest, and he staggered back, a complete look of awe on his face.

"So," Luke coughed. "There is a new Sith." Luke tapped the com link on his wrist. "M-Mara," he coughed. A static reply came over the comm channel.

"Yes, what is it Luke?"

"M-Mara," he coughed "B-Boba Fett. He's- He's back.... Jabba's Palace...come. I now descend into the world - into the world of the living force," he coughed his words barely. Then, the great Jedi breathed his last breath. The scream of terror over the comm channel from Mara Jade could have sent a chill down even a Rancor's spine.

Sixteen miles away, Mara Jade (Wife of Luke Skywalker, and also a Jedi) travelled along the desert, tromping foot by foot, terror-truck. Why? Why did it have to happen to him? Of all the people. It just had to be the person closest to her in her entire life. She had lost one too many close friends. One too many relatives had died at the hand of the Empire. It was her turn for revenge. An everlasting vengeance that would never die until Boba Fett's name was no longer existent in all the universe. About 2 hours later, she came upon Jabba's palace, her raging face full of mixed emotions. She didn't like the feel of killing someone. But she had to. She was sad, yet she knew that she would see more of Luke. Visions of people that strong with the force came to all Jedi. Her quest was at its peak. She had reached the palace. No doubt ruled by Fett. What kind of a name was Boba Fett anyway? She hated the very thought of the name. She felt like if it was ever mentioned again, she would throw up.

Boba Fett watched outside his window, seeing Mara approached. It was a pity that she was his enemy. He liked her. A lot. He liked her slim, well built body. He liked her eyes, and her face. He liked her attitude (that was the peak of his interest.) But one other thing he liked: Her taste for revenge. It was probably all that mattered to her right now. Revenge. Sweet revenge. The Rebels weren't supposed to believe in revenge and hatred. They called it ‘the easy way out of things.' But Boba Fett himself rather preferred the thought of it. He was so deep in thought that he didn't see Mara enter the palace. Actually, you didn't have to see her to know that she was entering the palace. A few guards here and there flew against the walls. A couple of new corpses stunk up the room. A few laser blasts and some lightsaber hums. That was definitely her.

She entered, looking nothing but angry. Absolutely angry. Terrifyingly angry. She charged at Fett like a raging bull. Her face was deep red, nostrils flaming. But one thing touched Fett. She was crying. To every one else, this was natural. She had just lost her husband. But Fett knew that it was deeper than that. She was confused. She didn't know how to feel. Fett had once known that feeling. Except it had pained him more than her. He had lost his entire family. Wife, children, everything. They were all dead. That was when he resorted to the dark side of the force. It was the one thing that he thought he had left to do. It was easiest to choose anger and hatred. Fear and darkness. He knew that the Empire was his destiny.

Mara slashed at Fett, every blow barely missing his head. She couldn't stop herself. Every time she tried to control her anger, more came. She was being extremely forcive on Fett. He had to continue backing up every time he blocked a come-down from her lightsaber. They were nearing the Rancor pit. Fett smiled inside of his mask. Things could only get better from here on. Or so he thought. As he jumped for the button, Mara punched him back. She threw him onto the bars that covered the pit. Then she pushed the button.

Fett's stomach lurched. He knew what usually happened to men in the Rancor. But he still had his lightsaber. As he reached for it -- it wasn't there! The body of Mara Jade flew into the pit, holding 2 lightsabers. She slashed violently at Fett. He barely dodged every one of her attacks. He was backing up toward the Rancor gate. There was one problem... it was already open. The Rancor slowly closed its hand over Boba Fett's body. It felt like every single one of his bones were snapping, one by one. But he knew that he had a chance. This was the one time that he needed the dark force most. He stared intensely at his lightsaber, almost completely concealed in Mara's hand. He reached out his hand. Putting all his strength into reaching out his hand was hard. But it happened. Mara's grip on his lightsaber started to loosen. It flew into his hand. It was almost too late. But it wasn't too late altogether. The Rancor had just started to insert him into its mouth.

The Rancor roared terribly as Fett drove the lightsaber into its upper mouth. It dropped him. That hurt. It was a long fall. The Rancor recovered quickly. He forgot that the Rancor weren't easily hurt in their mouth. He looked at Mara. She had a look of fear on her face. Fett smiled. He had her respect. He was uncontrollably strong with the force. Then it was his turn to be scared. Mara closed her eyes and concentrated. She shot out her hand. Although she was 5 meters away, she wasn't stupid. She had concentrated her force energy so entirely on her arm that the power sent Fett flying backward. He hit his head on the button that activated the Rancor gate. It started to close down on him. Mara turned away. She didn't want to see this. Her actions gave Fett an opportunity. He dashed behind the gate, just as it closed on where he used to be. Mara looked over. But she wasn't fooled. She knew that he wasn't dead. Using her lightsaber, she cut an entrance through the gate and saw Fett. He was hardly breathing. He looked up and saw her. He slowly returned to his feet. He was shaking. Mara smiled. Now she had his respect.

She stretched out both her hands, and Boba Fett slowly lifted into the air. He was petrified now. She threw him to the left by merely swinging her arms in that direction. He staggered back up, but he was too late. She was already on him. She turned on her lightsaber, and just as she was about to drive it into Fett's chest, the Rancor swooped her up. But she did one thing wrong. She dropped her lightsaber. Boba Fett couldn't help feeling pity for her. She concentrated deeply. But she couldn't get out of her situation. Without thinking, Fett stabbed the Rancor in the thigh. It roared louder than ever, and it dropped Mara. Fett stopped for a moment to think over his actions. Why had he done that? Had the force willed it to be that way? Mara looked up at him, more confused than ever. He kicked her lightsaber away from her reach. He also turned off his own lightsaber, and threw it aside. Reaching out his hand, he felt deep pity for her. He was confused at his emotions. She grabbed his hand, and pulled herself up, looking him straight in the eyes.

Why? She thought, Why is he trying to help me? He came back to his senses, and started to realise what he had just done. He picked back up his lightsaber. What had willed him to do such foolish things. Then he knew. The duel had to end in the right way. It had to end in honorable combat, instead of being a coward and destroying the opponent while they lay on the ground, helpless. He had the best idea that he had ever had in a long time. He flipped through the air, landing directly behind Mara. He picked up his lightsaber and cut through one of the doors, revealing an exit. Mara pursued him, but he was faster. He ran as fast as his legs could go. He ran straight back to a store that had been closed for decades. Watto's Junkyard. He broke in to the door, and a startled band at the front stopped playing. Apparently, this place had been made into a pub. He walked up to the bartender.

"I'll pay you 30,000 credits if you'll let me have one of your holographic projectors," Boba Fett offered.

"50,000 and we've got a deal," replied the bartender, a smile on his face. But Fett wasn't happy. He only had 30,000 with him right now. He stuck his lightsaber to the bartender's throat.

"I don't have time for games. I'll pay you 100,000 later on, but right now I'm being followed, and my life is on the line. So I'll pay you 30,000 now, and 100,000 when I get the money, agreed?" he said, sweating heavily. He could already see Mara running over the sand-dune closest to the pub.

"A-alright," the bartender agreed, retreating from the lightsaber. "Alright, I'll give you one." The bartender reached into his counter, and pulled out an oddly shaped box.

"Thanks a million," Fett said, shaking the bartender's hand. He ran out the door.

"Hey!" the bartender shouted. "Hey! Where's my 30,000?" Fett smiled back at the foolishness of the bartender. Expecting money from a Bounty Hunter? That was beyond stupid. He ran behind a stone, where he turned on his blaster. He shot down the door. The bartender stood there, looking angry. Very angry. Then Fett disposed of the bartender with the flick of a switch on his blaster. Through the hole where the door used to be, Fett saw Mara barge into the pub. He scanned himself with the hologram maker, and grabbed a remote block from inside of it. He activated the hologram, which showed a surprisingly realistic picture of him. He ran and hid behind a different large stone. When Mara saw the hologram, she ran toward it. Fett turned on the controller in his hands, and started to move the hologram. He pressed the control stick to the left, and the hologram moved to the left. He loved this kind of technology. Mara chased the hologram. Fett activated the hologram's lightsaber. The holographic beam protruded from the weapon of the hologram. Fett made the hologram run behind the same rock as him. When Mara followed it, two lightsabers pointed at her. One real, and one fake.

"Considering your brain, this is a pretty good trick, Fett." She smiled. She looked almost full of laughter. "I know that you're the one on the left. You're the one holding the controller." Fett looked down in his hands. How could he have been so stupid?

He used his humility to his own advantage. He turned it into anger, flung himself toward Mara. He used all his power. He dropped the controller, and started battling her. Now it was a true battle. The two Jedi were fighting, dark against light. Good against evil. The moment lasted forever. Fett came down on Mara hard. He could feel the dark force flowing through him. The experience was unmistakable. He used every last ounce of anger and fear inside of himself. Mara compensated in such a way that only Jedi do. She closed her eyes. Without seeing Boba Fett, she still blocked all of his attacks perfectly. She used the living force as her eyes. Without any doubt in her mind, she matched Boba Fett to the same strength. The two lightsabers clashed together. Bobafett pressed his against Mara's lightsaber as hard as he could, as did Mara to his. A blinding light filled the scene. The two lightsabers both turned a magnificent undescribable white. They now both had their eyes closed. They concentrated hard, not seeing what was going on around them. The earth began to shake, yet they both kept their lightsabers together. They concentrated yet even harder. The sky rumbled with millions of lightning bolts at once. The sounds of thunder were ear-splitting. Hard rain came down. A whirl-wind ripped up the trees by their roots. But the Jedi remained on the ground. A great hail-storm started. The whole scene exploded into another clash of white.

Boba Fett found himself sitting in a dark cave, some light barely seeping in. Then he heard a voice. It was an evil, dark and deep-toned voice. The cave seemed to rumble from the impact of its intensity.

"You are the great dark master. You have confronted the great light master. She is never to perish, nor are you. There is only one way of death for either of you. You must confront each other once more. The great battle was taking place, but both the light side of the force, and I, the dark force, need to prepare you. This is the voice that only you can hear. The voice of I, the one and only dark force. If you wish to prepare well for the battle for paradise, come here." Bobafett was more scared than he had ever been. Turning the corner, he saw it. It was a great, deep, blood-red glowing skull, floating vaguely like a mist in the air. It had an evil smile. Then Boba Fett felt more in place than ever. He had been chosen as the dark lord. He was destined to be partners with the living force of the dark side. For the first time in a long time, he felt at home. But one last thing remained before his complete satisfaction. The battle for paradise wasn't over. He needed to confront and defeat Mara. And so, with his heart full of all the dark force, he smiled. He smiled a great, evil smile. But would it last? What would happen if he lost? He had no choice but to step into the world of the dark force, and discover his path of destiny.