Viddu's Hounds

Agatha Prima - A green Mirialan female. Mirialan tradition includes facial tattoos denoting accomplishment and social status, but Agatha commited the crime of falsifying her facial tattoos. Her criminal sentence included a very brutal tattoo removal surgery which left her face disfigured.

Beefhead - An albino Wookiee who owes a life-debt to Zuckuss.

Dengar - An aging bounty hunter and pilot of the Lamelar. Nine years ago, he took part in the Imperial operation to hunt down Han Solo, along with Zuckuss and 4-LOM. They were beaten by Boba Fett.

Mogo - An alleged Mandalorian. The newest member of Viddu’s Hounds. Wears red and black armor.

Raptor - A bounty hunter who wears a motley assortment of armor.

Zuckuss - An aged Gand findsman and frequent partner of Dengar and 4-LOM.

Agatha Prima smirked at the stormtroopers and their accomplices as she leveled her grenade launcher at them. Raptor approached from behind her, seemingly in no hurry now that their prey was in hand.

“I gotta admit,” said Agatha, “I didn’t expect to nab a planetary governor along with this other trash. What’s in the briefcase, big man?”

Lando swallowed in a dry mouth, wondering if there was any chance of talking his way out of this one. He was interrupted when Agatha suddenly turned on Chewbacca.

“Toss that weapon, Wookiee,” she said, grimacing. “Don’t think I won’t blow you and the governor up. Everybody - toss ‘em!”

Regis heard the Wookiee’s heavy bowcaster hit the ground, then Lando’s pistol clattered alongside it. Sighing, he nodded to Sindo, and they dropped their rifles. He desperately hoped that Vasili would find a way to come out of hiding and drop at least one of their captors.

“Now, sir,” said Agatha, turning back to Lando. “Your briefcase?”

“Sorry, but I can’t comply,” said Lando. “Legally, you can’t search or even take this briefcase. If you choose to detain me, it’ll have to go through proper channels. Meaning, Mustafar law enforcement.”

Regis wondered if Lando was trying to distract the bounty hunter so that somebody could make a move. Glancing at Raptor, Regis doubted it would be possible to do anything, for the bounty hunter was staring directly at him.

Agatha raised her brow in mock admiration. “Well, now! Is that so, Governor?”

“It is,” said Lando. “If you touch this briefcase, I can have you locked up for illegal seizure of evidence.”

“Locked up? By whom?”

“Mustafarian law enforcement officials,” said Lando, meeting her gaze.

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know who that is, and as far as I can see, we’re the only ones here.”

“What do you mean to do with us?”

“Take off your helmet,” Raptor said suddenly. “Both of you.”

Regis and Sindo glanced at one another.

“Oh, right!” said Agatha. “They have comms in there, don’t they? Yeah, wouldn’t want them calling for backup. Take ‘em off!”

Regis and Sindo took their helmets off. Raptor studied them both intently, his blue eyes shifting behind his bone mask, looking from Regis to Sindo and back again.

“Now, as I was saying,” said Agatha. “Let’s see what’s in the briefcase… or I show you what’s in my grenade launcher.”

“Drop it, Agatha,” Raptor said suddenly. Stepping behind Agatha, he turned his rifle toward her.

“What?”

“Just… just do it.” Raptor spoke as if out of breath. “Do it!”

“Okay, babe, okay,” said Agatha, gently lowering her weapon to the ground. “Look, we can take them alive, if you want. Okay? What’s wrong, Raptor?”

Raptor took in slow, deep breaths.

“Raptor?” Agatha gave him a concerned look, and seemed torn between turning to her teammate, or turning her back on their captives. “Look, Raptor, that governor’s got a briefcase filled with credits. He’s abandoning his joke of an operation, and he’s using these jarheads as muscle to get him out. We could take his money, and-”

“You need to walk away from this one,” said Raptor. “Walk away. And tell the others to back off, too.”

“What? Raptor, I can’t do that! What’s gotten into you?!”

Raptor took one hand off his rifle, then slowly reached for his mask. He unhinged it from his helmet, then let it fall. He pushed his helmet back and let it clatter on the duracrete floor. As he placed both hands back on his rifle, Regis examined him. He had a strong, handsome face, with long blond hair streaked with sweat, and piercing blue eyes.

“Do you recognize me?” said Raptor.

Agatha turned to look over her shoulder, then smiled nervously. “No, Raptor, I’ve never seen your face. I have to admit, you’re handsome, but I already-”

“Not you,” said Raptor. “You, sir. Sergeant Regis, do you recognize me?”

Regis was about to say that he did not, but something about the hard set to the man’s jaw, the high brow, and his intense gaze, triggered Regis’s memory like a bolt of lightning striking his awareness. The bounty hunter even had an old stormtrooper breastplate attached to his motley collection of armor. Though he had changed over the years, Regis recognized his clean-cut, fanatical teammate from his days in Omicron Squadron.

“Is it you?” said Regis. “Birdy, is that really you?”

“No!” said Sindo. “Birdy… Birdy!”

Their old teammate said nothing, and did not seem enthused by their reunion. He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on his rifle.

“You know these people, Raptor?” said Agatha. “Is that it? What do you want to do? We can take ‘em alive, if you want, babe!”

“You heard me!” he snapped. “I said walk! You, and the others - just walk away! Don’t make me kill you!”

“Kill me?!” Agatha scoffed, then swallowed. Sweat ran down her green face, then she shook as if chilled by the hot wind tearing across the platform. “Would you really do that, Raptor?”

“Don’t test me.”

“Raptor, babe.” Agatha slowly turned. “You know we’ve got something together, right? We’re not like the others. Truth is, there’s nobody like us. And we’ve… well, we’re like a family now. You can’t just-”

There was a quick burst of movement, a flash of light - and the roar of a blaster rifle. Agatha stumbled back with a smoking crater in her chest. The pistol she had just drawn dropped clattering at her feet, then she fell backwards and smacked against the platform. Her left hand gestured as if explaining something, then she fell still.

“Birdy?” said Regis. “Are you…?”

A horrific cry sent Regis’s heart leaping, then a mountain of white fur raced onto the platform. Beefhead, the white Wookiee, shrieked in horror at the sight of Agatha’s body, then leveled his CR-1 blaster cannon at Birdy. Birdy raced behind a package carriage and, as the Wookiee fired, the plasma shotgun tore through bags and luggages, sending them flying. Birdy never slowed but kept running, firing from the hip as he ran for the cover of a hover car. Beefhead sidestepped and, seemingly unafraid of being shot, fired at Birdy, blowing up duracrete and eviscerating luggage with the overpowered weapon.

Regis and the others dove for their weapons. Regis grabbed his blaster rifle, but before he could shoot the albino Wookiee, he saw the small form of Zuckuss standing at an open elevator. The leader of Viddu’s Hounds did not seek cover, but leaned on his cane and turned his insectoid mask in Regis’s direction. Then he flung his hand outward, and a cluster of grenades flew through the air.

* * *

Standing atop the large, open window, Luke fought for balance as another gust of hot wind struck the black edifice of Vader’s Fortress. Leia seemed unmindful of the danger, but only smiled with unrestrained glee.

“I assure you, Luke… you haven’t seen my true power!”

As she spoke, Luke felt waves of Force power welling up in his sister. Like kindling suddenly catching on fire, her body glowed, casting her own shadow flickering around her feet like the turning spokes of a wheel. He peered at her, trying to determine if it was some sort of illusion, then she suddenly burst into rays of orange and gold. A halo of blinding light radiated around her, turning her face into a washed-out white mask with two black dots glaring at Luke

“Leia! What is this?” Luke shouted, holding a hand up to shield his eyes.

“It is the killing blow against the dark side of the Force,” said Leia, her voice oddly distorted, as if echoing from the bottom of a deep ravine. “It is perfect light!”

Before Luke could respond, the light doubled in intensity, then flared up to even greater brilliance. Luke’s hand, held up to shield the sight of his sister, looked luminescent and bright pink with dark bones visible throughout. He was forced to squeeze his eyes shut, then felt a wave of heat like a furnace door thrown open wide. He stepped backward, unable to think or to breathe as Leia’s laughter stabbed into his ears.

“The power of absolute conviction!” said Leia, stepping toward him. “Righteousness and joy made manifest!”

Luke could not understand her rambling, but only stumbled backward as hot beams of light seared his flesh. His tunic caught fire. He stumbled backward, then his stomach lurched as he felt himself falling through open sky. After a moment of panic drawn out in his mind, his back collided with a sloping steel roof and he rolled down the side. His fingers scratched hard, smooth obsidian as he tried to slow his descent.

Leia leaped onto the lower roof, laughing at the sight of her brother scrambling.

“This is why my students call me Lucitor Lumina,” she said, looking like a blinding inferno casually making her way toward him. “Now you see, Luke, why only I can be allowed to wield such power. The Jedi, the Sith, in the end they’re all the same. Just men fighting over power. And privilege!”

Luke brushed the flames out of his tunic, then his hair. He felt nauseous at the sight of his left hand covered in boils, the skin burned red and raw. The harsh winds of Mustafar felt suddenly cold by comparison. But the pain, the wind, and the dizzying height atop the fortress were nothing compared to the waves of confusion and impotent anger at the sight of his sister lording over him.

He moved to stand. “Leia!” he said, his voice raw. “Don’t make me fight you!”

Still she approached, her white robes whipping in the wind as if they were on fire. “This is not a fight, Luke,” she said, stretching out her hand.

He was struck by blinding light yet again, then stumbled back, sure that he was breathing in flames. He fell and rolled down the sloping roof, unable to slow his descent as Leia’s Force and heat pushed him downward. Still blind, he heard something like a scream in the back of his mind. Reaching out, he grasped the edge of the roof just as he rolled off. His body hung in open sky, legs dangling over burning fields of molten rock far below. He gripped the smooth, sloping roof, and tried to regain his control of the Force. He blinked eyes that felt dry and brittle, then looked up in time to see the brilliantly illuminated Empress looking down at him.

“It’s an execution!” she said.

* * *

Beefhead’s white fur shook under the absurd recoil of his blaster cannon, and the hover car behind which Birdy dove jerked and skidded backward as it was chewed up by the wide spread of plasma bolts. As the others leaned out of cover to provide help, they were caught off guard when Zuckuss’s grenades exploded in a blast of light. A synthetic cotton candy-colored cloud spread from the explosion.

Ducking back behind cover, Regis could hear his helmet rebreather working overtime. He was glad that he had gotten his helmet back on in time, but he had to fight the urge to pull it off again as his breathing felt constricted. Though the helmet had aged, the dark ocular shields had still blocked out most of the blinding light given off by the flash-bangs. Glancing at Sindo, she gave him a thumbs up; her stormtrooper helmet was also working. He turned to Lando and Chewbacca, who had ducked behind a luggage carriage, and felt his stomach turn when he saw them both lying unconscious.

“Two downed by gas!” Regis barked into his comm.

“Where’s Artoo?” said Sindo.

“Lost visual! Vas, if you’re out there-”

Regis fell silent as he caught movement, then turned and saw the red Mandalorian flying overhead. Mogo turned, drew his pistol, and took cover behind an overhead platform in one smooth motion. Seeing Sindo take aim at Beefhead, Regis shot in Mogo’s direction just to give her cover.

Realizing he could not stay out in the open, the albino Wookiee fired off a shot to force Sindo back behind cover, then took off running towards Birdy’s position. Birdy popped out from behind the blasted hover car just in time to see the giant racing toward him; both raised their guns only in time to smack them together as Beefhead crashed into him.

Beefhead despised disloyalty above all other vices, and so he deprioritized their initial prey as he dropped his blaster and gripped Birdy in a crushing bear hug. Hot breath poured from between the Wookiee’s fangs as he stared Birdy down. Beefhead had seen and smelled all manner of human weakness during his long career, and he expected to see shame written in Birdy’s exaggerated human features. Instead, Birdy pulled back, then smashed his forehead into Beefhead’s mouth. The Wookiee was taken aback, more from surprise than pain, but then Birdy head-butted him again, then again.

Years of resentment gave force to Birdy’s blows, and while it did not stifle the pain threatening to crack his skull, it at least gave the pain meaning. The fifth time he slammed his skull into Beefhead’s face, blood spurted from the Wookiee’s broken nose and spattered Birdy’s face. Beefhead staggered and released him, and as soon as Birdy’s feet touched the ground, he threw his fist into Beefhead’s side. Any human opponent would surely have been folded, but Beefhead quickly grasped Birdy and threw him aside, slamming him into the wasted hover car, sending broken glass flying. Though the Wookiee was dazed and winded, he lumbered over to Birdy, eager to finish off the traitor.

* * *

Hearing the maniacal grunting of a maddened Wookiee on the Lamelar’s comm, Dengar shouted, “What in blazes is going on down there?!”

Peering over his platform, then ducking back behind cover, Mogo said, “Beefhead’s turning Raptor into ground chuck, is what’s happening!”

“On my way!” Dengar responded. “I’ll put the fear of the Lamelar into those Imps before they make a run for it!”

“Negative!” Zuckuss chimed in. “I’ve already downed two of them. Mogo and I will handle the rest. Dengar, stay on that sniper, keep him in hiding. We’ll flush him out later!”

Dengar gritted his teeth and turned back toward the upper reaches of the platform towers. “Alright, then,” he muttered.

* * *

Birdy rose and staggered away, hoping to put the hover car between himself and the Wookiee - but Beefhead lashed out with a kick that sent the hover car skidding across the duracrete. With bestial haste the Wookiee raced toward him, throwing a clawed fist in a sweeping attack. Birdy was strong enough to block the attack with his forearm, and yet it still threw him off balance, pushing him into a sort of lurching sidestep. Beefhead continued his advance, wondering what the traitor would look like with Wookiee claws peeling him apart from forehead to crotch.

“Birdy!” Sindo shouted. “Catch!”

With a surprising surge of grace Birdy turned as he backpedaled and grasped something that Sindo had flung through the air. It was a long dagger, standard issue for Cheka. Beefhead hesitated, then broke the cord holding his ceremonial blade on his belt and slashed at Birdy. Birdy caught the blade against his own, then Beefhead grasped Birdy’s wrist, squeezing with terrifying strength fueled by rage.

Glancing at his dagger, Birdy realized it was a vibroblade. In fact, it was the same one that a vengeful Devaronian Cheka had threatened to use on Regis after giving him a savage beating. Sindo had kept it all this time. Birdy smacked the activation switch and it powered up with a high-pitched whine, then his blade grinded against Beefhead’s. The aged ceremonial knife shuddered, then broke in half. Birdy jerked the vibroblade across the Wookiee’s wrist as he pulled his hand free.

* * *

“I’ve got you, Beefhead,” Mogo muttered as he prepared to lean out of cover and shoot Birdy while the two opponents were separated. As he moved, a high-powered plasma bolt smacked against the platform, causing his heart to nearly jump out of his chest.

“That sniper!” he shouted. “Dengar, he’s out!”

“Where?!” said Dengar. “I don’t see him! I’m coming around.”

Mogo peered up at the towers. Forcing himself not to panic, he spotted a dark form lying prone against a blaster rifle. “I’ve got him!” Mogo shouted, then took off into the sky. He pushed his jetpack to maximum capacity, racing through the sky with fire streaming behind him.

* * *

“AaauuUuaaaugh!” Beefhead cried, grasping his forearm as dark crimson blood flowed across white fur.

“Betrayal?!” said Birdy. “No, Beef… we were always at war!”

Birdy ducked beneath claws raking at his face, then dove into his old teammate and pressed the shivering edge of the vibroblade deep into the flesh just below the ribs. White fur blew outward as waves of red burst forth. Beefhead pushed away, then fell against the ruined hover car. Birdy staggered and fell to his knees, his gaze fixed on the handle of the vibroblade shaking and seemingly drinking and spitting from a red fountain.

* * *

“Point him out and I’ll blast him!” said Dengar, banking the Lamelar hard and circling around the towers.

“You already lost him, old man!” said Mogo. “You let me worry about that sniper! It is the way!”

“It’s the what?” said Dengar, adjusting the comm as he turned the Lamelar. “I didn’t catch that.”

Mogo ignored Dengar, weaving as he raced toward the sniper. He took extra evasive maneuvers, flying beneath the platform so that he could come up practically behind the sniper. He rose over the platform with his blaster held level.

“Got you, Imp!” he shouted.

The worker’s coveralls lying propped against the sniper rifle did not seem alarmed at the Mandalorian’s ambush, but only shook in the wind.

“What is…” Mogo muttered, then caught movement as Vasili leaned out from another platform in his undergarments with a blaster pistol held level. Vasili took a deep breath, bracing the pistol against his knee in an awkward crouch. As Mogo turned and aimed, Vasili took the shot. The blaster beam hit - but only managed to smack into Mogo’s jetpack, sending sparks raining on the platform.

Mogo fired, but the shot went wild as his jetpack blasted from only one exhaust vent. “What!” Mogo shouted, flying in a sickening spin that sent his legs up over his head.

At that moment, Dengar came around the tower and turned the Lamelar. “I see that sniper!” Dengar shouted. “He’s in his damn underwear! Mogo, where are you at?”

Mogo crashed through the Lemalar’s windshield at high speed, showering the cabin with glass. Mogo slammed into the copilot’s seat with his jetpack still flaring, then one foot slapped Dengar across the jaw. The venerable bounty hunter went limp in his seat and fell against the control stick, pushing the Lamelar into a hard dive.

* * *

As Zuckuss descended in an elevator, leaning against the side with one hand clutching his chest, his eyes strayed through the tall windows giving a view of Mustafar’s capital. So it was that he saw the Lamelar’s flank hit against one of the platform towers. As if racing toward some unknowable goal the smoking ship raced toward the city. It disappeared behind several tall buildings, then a plume of smoke and bits of metal shot skyward. Zuckuss swallowed, blinked, then watched in agonized fascination as a secondary explosion tore through a building. What the Lamelar had set off, he did not know, but as the building shook and one side toppled into the streets below, he knew that it was an apt metaphor for his own life.

His entire team had been wiped out. The jewel of Viddu’s eye… all gone.

Zuckuss wondered what had happened to Raptor. Had the rogue planetary governor promised him double pay?

“They doubled his pay…” Zuckuss muttered.

He watched with sudden disinterest as several buildings shimmered in a haze of heat as flames spread unchecked.

“They put some credits in that boy’s hands,” Zuckuss said to himself. “Greased him up, they did. Clever humans.”

Zuckuss’s small fist hit the glass elevator with a solid thunk. His fist almost looked as if it had struck the city, and was belching flames as smoke rose from the ruined downtown area.

“Bribery! That has to be it!”