Author: Emimar
Chapter 1: Hunters
Shiba entered the rather seedy, smoky bar. A myriad of aliens and humans milled about the cantina, intent on their own business. She took a quick look around the room, watching for her prey and keeping an eye open for potential trouble makers and old enemies. Spotting her target, Agar, Shiba walked over to him. She was dressed in a skimpy top and figure hugging trousers. She knew without looking that her partner Flik Sivrak would be somewhere in the bar, as he always was. Flik was her back up in case any thing went wrong, though she rarely needed him. "Is this seat taken?" Shiba asked Agar, leaning forward slightly as she sat, giving him a full view of her breasts. Agar was a typical Imperial Officer in middle age. He had a cap of grey hair and a clean shaven chin. He still retained his flat stomach through physical exercise. If it wasn’t for his occupation, he would be the type of man a woman would be happy to settle down with. "No, but I would prefer to be alone," What was he saying? He regarded her for a moment. It wasn’t every day a woman asked to join his company and certainly not one so beautiful and sensuous as her. "I mean you can join me if you like." "That’s more like it," Shiba said, appropriating his Corellian brandy. She downed the almost full glass in one long gulp. "That was refreshing. Order another one." Agar rose and went to the bar. She exchanged a quick glance with Sivrak. He had a glass of something in front of him and he’d hardly touched it. Then she switched her gaze back on to Agar, following his every movement like a cat stalking its unwary prey. A few moments later Agar was back with their drinks, two Corellian brandies. "I’m looking for some action. Interested?" Shiba took a sip of her brandy. She felt a little light headed and the brandy was making her feel more forward than usual, which is why she drank it. It helped take away the guilt of what she was about to do. "What sort of action?" "This kind." Shiba leaned forward seductively and kissed him fully on the mouth. To spite herself she felt a jolt of excitement as she reached underneath the table with her free hand and fondled his man hood. "This is just a taste of the action I’m talking about. Come with me and I’ll show you some more." A lustful smile crossed his face and he downed his brandy as she sat back in her chair. "Ok, you’re on. Do you want another drink first?" "No. Let’s get to it right now," Shiba kissed him again. "This is sounding better all the time."
***
From a dark corner of the seedy bar, Flik watched them go. He waited for a few minutes, checked his blaster, finished his drink and then followed. He knew exactly where they were going, but he still used his acute sense of smell to follow Shiba’s familiar scent in case they went somewhere else. It was a good partnership he had with Shiba and was looking forward to the long hyperspace journey with her. Flik was a Shistavanen wolfman and though he knew that Shiba usually had sex with the hard merchandise before killing them, he didn’t mind. She was a predator, just like him and she used all of her abilities to get her prey. Her habit of having sex with her prey before killing them had given her the name the Black Widow, after the species of spider that killed the male after mating. Her other name among the Bounty Hunters was the Raltian Tiger, which spoke of her fighting abilities. He didn’t know if he loved her exactly, but there was a connection between them. Shiba, he knew, had lost her husband to the scum they were hunting and wanted revenge. Though Agar had not been the one whom had murdered him exactly, the organisation and the type of person he was had. Shiba and he had joined forces. He was a hunter, through and through, but he valued their partnership in a way that other bounty hunters would not. They weren’t friends, exactly, though they were more intimate than casual acquaintances. Flik pushed the thoughts away. He needed no distractions. Shiba’s scent led him to the sordid hostel they were staying at. He looked down at the data pad and saw Shiba was as he’d predicted, engaged in sexual activity with their prey before killing him. They always ridged up a holo cam to send a feed to his data pad. He watched it as much out of curiosity as well as to keep tabs on her safety with him. There was something about watching her that aroused him. She had the grace and flexibility of a predator. Flik had seen enough and put the data pad back into his pocket before entering the hostel.
***
Shiba pushed him back, kissing him and feeling his body up and down as she so, unfastening his clothing and stripping him. He fell backwards, on to the bed and Shiba began to undress herself while he watched her, excitement coursing through his veins. His heart beat so fast that he thought he was going to have an heart attack. As she undressed herself, Shiba rubbed her hands over her breasts and other sexual hotspots, both to distract him and work herself up into an unstoppable frenzy. When she was completely naked, she knelt down on the bed and gently sucked on his manhood and testes. She straddled him and impaled herself on his turgid manhood. She moved in a rhythm, up and down his body, giving out exaggerated gasps of pleasure that she didn’t feel. It was too easy to fake it. Agar was so focused on the sexual pleasures of her straining against him and his ejaculation that he didn’t hear the footsteps of Flik until it was too late. He was dead, just as he climaxed, Flik’s vibroblade plunged deep into his heart. The wolfman turned off and collected the hidden holocam before speaking to her. "Must you always fuck them?" he asked her. "Not jealous, are you Flik?" Shiba retorted. She moved off the dead Agar and moved towards him seductively. Before he knew it, Flik was holding Shiba in his strong arms and she was kissing him the same way she’d kissed Agar only moments before. He was tempted, but he knew that they were in a vulnerable situation with the dead body of Agar, from both Imperial Forces and other Bounty Hunters until they were in the relative safety of hyperspace. It would do little for his reputation if he got killed while shagging his partner. "Later, Shiba," Flik growled. Shiba stroked the tall wolfman’s shaggy head and kissed him again before dressing. While Shiba dressed, Flik retrieved his vibroblade and beheaded Agar’s body. Yes, it was a good partnership with her. He had been sceptical at first, being partnered with a woman, but since having her along his successes had increased ten fold and she gave him something which most bounty hunter’s didn’t have, a lover. Well, they weren’t lovers exactly, but they were the closest thing to it. In this line of work, he had to take what little luxuries he could. Sure, being involved with her was probably more dangerous than anything else he’d done in his career has a Bounty Hunter. If you wanted to survive, you had no friends, no lovers, no family. They made one weak. Flik was prepared to kill her if she betrayed him as much as he was prepared to kill anyone else. Still, there was a part of him that didn’t want that situation to ever occur. It was one of the many hypocritical paradoxes in his life. He didn’t want to think about it. Flik bagged the severed head and waited for Shiba. She slung her bag over her shoulder and followed him out. Sure, they would be leaving without paying the rent for the room, but then that wasn’t unusual for them. He decided he would send the credits when they picked up the bounty to the hostel’s owner, that was, if he felt like paying. If he didn’t, well, he just didn’t. They were now headed towards the spaceport to get off Coruscant before the Imps found the body. Agar was an Imperial Officer. And they needed to get off before other hunters came for the bounty. Flik straddled the swoop that belonged to him outside the hostel and felt Shiba get on behind him. His back pressed up against her breasts and he felt her arms slip around his waist. Pressing down with his feet on the accelerator pads, they sped off into the Coruscant night.
***
Flik made the calculations for hyperspace. They were going to Nal Hutta to pick up the bounty on Agar. The Imp had got on the wrong side of the gangster by continuingly intercepting his smugglers. "Lobo," Flik addressed the ship’s AI. "Wake us up an hour before reversion to real space." The ship was one of the last ones his homeworld had produced before the Empire had taken over. It had special modifications that no other ship of its class had. The Shistavanens had been explorers before the Empire. Now that activity was controlled and even ship building had been outlawed in the Uvena System. The Forgotten Warrior had the most sophisticated computer systems up to date and Lobo was almost a sentient being in itself. "Acknowledged." Flik rose from the pilot’s seat and went into the back where Shiba was busy working. She emerged from the small galley with a couple of heated survival rations. He took one from her. "I’ve not poisoned it," Shiba told him when he sniffed at it before eating. "It’s not that I don’t trust you, Shiba," he replied, sitting down at the small table. "Come on, big boy. Let’s eat," Shiba sat down opposite him at the table. They ate in silence, each thinking their own private thoughts. After they had finished eating, Shiba kissed him. This time though, she let him take the lead. He was taller than her and had a much more powerful body, but that didn’t sway her. She liked his rough, hardcore lovemaking, if you could call it that. That didn’t mean she let him do all the work, however. She slipped her hands up his shirt and stroked his back. They ended up in the small cabin that they shared, naked. Flik used all of his strength to hold her down while he had sex with her, almost as if he was raping her, but she got as much pleasure from it as he did. When he had finished, he lay on top of her for a while, before rolling on to his back so she could return the favour. She touched him in all of his hotspots first, the ones she had found by exploring his body in earlier couplings. Finally, she slipped him inside her. He gave soft growls of pleasure throughout. "You really are somethin'," she heard him say. "I can see how you get them so helpless." His hands came up to hold her hips and he took control of the pace of their lovemaking. Shiba let out a small groan. This time she wasn’t faking it. "Cena mei neu," he murmured. I love you. "I like to keep in practice," Shiba said. "You know how it is." "I mean it, Shiba. I do love you. It’s taken time, but I do," he climaxed just at that moment and a wave of pleasure engulfed him. "You don’t," Shiba moved off him to lay beside him. "It’s just sex, nothing more." He had shocked her, that much he knew. He saw the pain in her eyes. After all the shit they had done together, it was no wonder she doubted his honesty. She didn’t want him to lie to her and she was carrying so much baggage that she didn’t want it even if it was true. "You still miss Chan, don’t you, Shiba?" Shiba nodded, her body began to shake with sobs at remembering the loss of her husband and how much she missed him still. He had been on Alderaan when it had happened, visiting his family and picking up and dropping off cargo for his small, one man shipping business. She had been pregnant with just a month to go with their second child, a son, whom she’d named after his father and they had a older daughter, Jeana. Jeana was four now, Chan two. She had left them with a friend on Corellia and joined the Bounty Hunter’s Guild shortly after Chan was born and had met Flik. Through her sobs, she told him of her worries and fears about what might happen to them when the Imps found out that they were responsible for the murder of Agar. "As soon as we’re done on Nar Shadda we’ll head straight for Corellia to get them." Though he thought that adults brought all the trouble they got into down on themselves, he didn’t feel the same way about kids. Kids were his soft spot if Shiba wasn’t. He reassured her that he would help her keep them safe. He drew her to him, wrapping his great arms around her slim, wry body. She buried her face in his fur and clung tightly to him, so tight that it hurt. In that moment they became closer to each other than they would ever do having sex. From that moment the seeds of love began to take root in their hearts and grow into vines that would wrap around them and bind them together forever. If they had known what was happening, perhaps they would have baked away, perhaps not. It would have been too late anyway for no matter how hard they tried to fight it, love had them well and truly in its grip. Shiba cried herself into exhaustion and fell asleep in his arms. Flik cradled her in his arms and wondered how he had got to this point in his life. He was supposed to be a ruthless bounty hunter, but he was in bed with a woman who really had no place bounty hunting. He thought about his brother, Lak. Maybe he would be able to help if he could find him. He laid her down gently next to him and put his head on his pillow. He took her into his warm embrace and buried her in the thick fur of his chest and abdomen protectively. He didn’t sleep. Instead he slowly got up after a while so as not to disturb her and dressed. He covered her up in the thick blanket on the bed to keep her warm. He studied her for a moment. She had long brown hair. He was taller than her by some thirty centimetres, at one point ninety metres tall. She looked so small, so vulnerable. At first glance she looked weak and delicate, but he knew she wasn’t. She was one of the strongest people he had ever met, if not physically then emotionally. He bent down and kissed her lightly on her cheek before leaving her alone to her dreams in the cabin.
***
Flik was in the cockpit when Shiba awoke. He turned when he heard her come in. She was wearing a black skin tight jump suit that showed off the curves of her body. It was low cut to reveal the top of her breasts. Her hair was tied back and when she sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, she started applying the finishing touches to her make up. She had already painted her nails and lips black to match the colour of her jump suit. She finished applying her make up, choosing a black eye shadow. Round her slim waist was a utility belt holstering her blaster and a vibroblade. He knew that a blaster was concealed in her left boot and a vibroblade in the right as back up in case she lost those strapped to her waist. In his mind he predicted that she would arm herself further with a Czerko vibro-knuckler on each hand. Flik, because of his bulkier frame could carry more weapons than she could. His utility belt carried a disrupter, a vibroblade and a normal blaster pistol. On his wrists he carried a pair of wrist rockets which consisted of a flame projector and a miniature rocket launcher. On both his hands he had a palm dart shooter that delivered a deadly nerve toxin into his victim’s blood stream. On his broad back he carried a vibro-sword, the weapon he was most skilled at using. Unfortunately he hardly ever had the chance to use it. For a Bounty Hunter, there was no such thing as being too heavily harmed. "Reversion to hyperspace in T minus ten minutes." "Acknowledged, Lobo," Flik said, he turned to Shiba. "You know, I meant what I said to you when we, you know." "I know. That’s the problem. I could handle it if you’d not felt that way. Can’t this wait, Flik?" Flik nodded. "I suppose." It might have just been the reaction to the killing, the adrenaline building up inside them both as they headed for their escape route, not knowing if they would meet Stormtroopers or other Bounty Hunters on their way back. It regularly happened between them when they were on a hunt on their own. Most of the time they didn’t talk about it, afraid of what the implications of it might be, afraid that it was just sex and afraid that the feelings were genuine as well. They tried to pretend it never happened but this time it was different. Flik’s attention was diverted away as the starlines turned back into stars as they came out of hyperspace in the Nal Hutta star-system. The planet hung in the space bellow them, a dark dirty ball of pollution and decay. "Where are we meeting Clagula anyway?" "Smuggler’s Moon," Flik replied. "You can stay with the ship if you want, keep it ready to pull out if we need to hurry. Nar Shadda is far from a safe haven." "Where in the galaxy is safe? I thought Alderaan was pretty safe until boom," she made an explosion gesture with her hands, her left coming to rest unconsciously on the wolfman’s knee. "What if you need backup?""These are all the backups I need," Flik answered, indicating his weapons. "Well, just be careful, okay? Don’t take any stupid risks" her hand squeezed the flesh around his knee and a jolt coursed through his veins at her touch, travelling up his leg and out into the rest of his body. A warm feeling grew inside him. "Shiba, I didn’t know you cared," he said, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling. Shiba, now conscious of where her hand was, quickly took it away. Boy, this was getting creepy now. "If I lost you, who would help me get my kids?" But there was more in her voice, something that suggested more. There was genuine concern in her voice and something else. Flik picked up on it. He wondered if she was aware of it as well. It wasn’t who would help her get my kids she was asking. It was, instead, who would be their father. Who would help protect and care for them and most of all, who would love them? Flik shook the thought away from his mind, not sure if he was ready for that kind of commitment again, with Shiba or anyone else. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted it. Chapter 2: Hunters Become the Hunted
Before leaving the ship, Shiba had given him a very passionate kiss on the mouth. The salty taste of her lips was still on his lips when he got to Clagula’s safe house. The severed head of Agar was carried In a small bag slung over his shoulder. Miraculously, no one bothered to try steal it from him to claim the bounty themselves. Whether that was because word had not gone out yet that Agar had been murdered, or they simply didn’t want to bother him, he didn’t know. Maybe no one wanted to be involved because they knew the Empire would be on their backs if they did, thinking that he/she would also be implicated in his murder if they tried to claim the reward. By the time the transaction was over, though, Flik knew that every bounty hunter on the moon and in the system for that matter would be gunning for him. That was why he had told Shiba to remain on board the Heritage. If anyone went after her, then she’d stand a better chance of escaping. That was the theory, anyway. If events played themselves out like that was another matter all together. Flik wasn’t one for clichés, but he knew from his time as a bounty hunter that you could prepare and plan all you want and go over it in your mind a thousand times, but it all means nothing and the plan usually goes to pieces once you get started. Usually, Flik just went with the flow, adapting to each new situation as it came along. That didn’t mean he didn’t prepare, he just didn’t plan so much so that it didn’t leave much room for adaptability. He stopped his mind from wondering when a pair of Gammorean guards appeared to escort him to Clagula’s throne room. "Greetings, your exaltedness," Flik said, upon being brought before Clagula. He didn’t really mean the words, but he’d learnt along time ago that the best way not to have a Hutt order your head blasted off is to flatter the slug a bit. In his mind, he was thinking It’s been too soon since we last met, slimo. A scantly clad slave girl was chained to Clagula’s dais. Flik couldn’t help but feel sorry for her having to put up with His Disgustingness. Around him, thugs and other bounty hunters watched with growing interest, mostly in hope that he would get his brains blasted out of his skull. Flik was planning on disappointing them big time. Flik thought to himself, Clagula is the personification of all things evil and rotting, save of course, the Emperor Palpatine himself and Darth Vader. he tried hard to keep the disdain and sarcasm he felt for the Hutt out of his voice. It was hard. He dropped his bag to the ground. "I have come to collect the bounty on the errant Imperial, Agar," Flik produced the severed head. "Seventy-thousand, like we negotiated."Clagula’s laugh reson ated through the room. "YOU ARE NAÏVE, BOUNTY HUNTER. TWENTY-THOUSAND. SEVENTY-THOUSAND WAS IF YOU BROUGHT HIM IN ALIVE." Flik growled before answering. "That is not what we discussed, Exulted One. It was seventy-thousand if he was brought in alive or dead. I’ll accept fifty-thousand, no less." The Hutt’s eyes blazed. "YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO NEGITATE. TWENTY-ONE-THOUSAND. THAT IS MY FINAL OFFER. TAKE IT OR NOTHING AT ALL." "Wanna bet, on that, slime ball? You obviously didn’t count on me having this," Flik discarded the head and produced an activated thermal detonator from his pocket. "There’s enough baradium in this thing to blow half this side of Nar Shadda." The head stared up at him with dead eyes that seemed to bore to the centre of his soul. It made Flik very uncomfortable. He’d rattled everyone, including the Hutt. "WOULD YOU ACCEPT FIFTY-FIVE-THOUSAND?" "That is acceptable," Flik agreed, deactivating the sphere. A visible sigh of relief rippled through the throne room. "YOU HAVE DONE WELL, BOUNTY HUNTER. STAY FOR A WHILE, ACCEPT THE DANCING GIRL AS A GIFT." "I must decline, Exulted One. I have other business to attend to. Maybe next time." Flik saw fear in the dancing girl’s eyes as he declined. He was tempted to take the Hutt on the offer, but he remembered Shiba and her kids. He couldn’t delay any longer than necessary. A pang of guilt settled on his mind as he looked at the dancing girl, knowing full well what her fate would be. He looked away. He knew from the interface he had implanted just below his left ear that connected him to Lobo that the money had gone through. Sub vocalising, he told Lobo to transfer it to one of his private accounts, one that the Imps didn’t know about before turning to walk away. When he got to the door, he activated the thermal detonator again and threw it into the crowd behind him. The mob drew back, all but the bounty hunter, Boba Fett. When the detonator didn’t go off, the Hutt realised he’d been duped. "KILL HIM!" Obviously, Flik thought as he began to run, the Hutt didn’t have the same sense taste in practical jokes that he did. The closest thing a Hutt ever had for a sense of humour was to encase an enemy in carbonite and use it as a prised decoration, as one might display a hunting trophy.
***
Shiba waited patiently for Flik in the cockpit of the Warrior. She was thinking about what Flik had said to her when they had been having sex. Cena mei neu, I love you. She knew enough of his native language to know what it meant. And thinking it warmed her soul. But she had felt so cheap at the same time, like she had cheated on Chan. It was silly really. How could it be cheating on him when he was dead? She’d never felt like it before, like with their prey. They had never provoked the same feelings of guilt that the last time with Flik had. Perhaps they had grown more attached to each other than they had realised, not only hunting partners but sexual ones as well. Out of all the men she’d had, she had only had sex with two on more than one occasion, the first being her husband and the second being Flik. The first time she and Flik had given into their sexual urges had been after a particularly bad hunt, they had lost the Hard Merchandise to another bounty hunter and had almost been killed in the process. Flik had been injured in the torso on that occasion and she was dressing the wound after they had entered hyperspace. One thing had led to another and they’d ended up sleeping together. Flik still had the scar, hidden under the thick fur of his chest. Since that time, they had regularly slept together after and between hunts, exploring each others’ bodies, getting to know each other physically in a way she and Chan never had. Where it turned to love instead of just raw physical attraction, Shiba didn’t know. The scary thing about it though, was that she felt the same as him. Before Chan had died, Shiba had been a medic and she had saved Flik’s life many times simply by knowing how to treat wounds. Her thoughts turned to her old life as a medic, how she had enjoyed healing and helping people. Now it seemed she had become the opposite of that. She knew that after all that had happened to her that she would never be able to go back to the way things were. Gone was her youthful idealism that had motivated her into becoming a doctor, replaced by the cold anger she felt to avenge the death of her husband and family. Part of her had died with Alderaan and she was just a shell of the person she once was. After that first time she and Flik had sex, they had come to an agreement. That Shiba would distract the Hard Merchandise by seducing them and he would do the killing. That was how they worked. Now though, she had ended up falling in love with him. Sex with him was better than it had been with Chan, dangerous, exciting, sensual and as he wasn’t human, there was also the element of the exotic in there. He could be rough with her sometimes, rough that it would hurt, sometimes gentle, sometimes somewhere in between. She reached under the control board to check if any of the medpak equipment needed replacing. Something inside her told her she should. During hyperspace jumps and in between hunts, Shiba checked to see if the medpak and other medical supplies were kept up to date. She found that Flik had remembered to top it up from the last time. Usually he forgot to do so and she had to remind him. Flik could be forgetful sometimes, remembering to replace drained power paks, wrist rockets and used palm darts, but forgetting the just as important medpak replacements. He would have died many times over if it had not been for her. Typical testosterone driven male, really. Somewhere down the line she had ended up caring more for him than she wanted. The comlink buzzed and she switched it on. "Is the ship ready, Shiba?" he asked. "I’ve got a whole bunch of bounty hunters on my tail." "Ready for when you get here, Flik. Do you need help?" "No. thanks for asking. I can handle it." Typical Flik. She switched the comlink off. "Lobo, where is Flik now and where’s he headed?" Lobo’s databank on Nar Shadda flickered to life on the screen before her. A red dot flashed, indicating Flik and where he was. She would go out and help him anyway. Usually when he said that he didn’t need help he meant the exact opposite but wouldn’t admit it to her simply because of his male stubbornness. Maybe he would thought she would think of him less as a man if he admitted to her that he needed help. "Lobo, keep the engines powered up and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Transfer the info you just gave me to my swoop. Keep tracking him. If anyone other than us gets within five metres of the ship, fire at them." "Acknowledged, Shiba." Shiba got out of the seat and on her way to the hold where the swoop was stored, Shiba picked up power paks and a light repeating blaster, which she swung over her shoulder. She sat on her swoop and the hatch opened to allow her to get out. Thirty seconds after she had shot out of the ship, the computer screen in front of her flickered to life. Lobo was sending her the information she required. Shiba hoped that when she got there that there would be something left of Flik other than a blood stain on the floor and severed pieces of arms and legs scattered about like a system after a battle between TIE Fighters and Rebel Y-Wings.
***
Once outside Clagula’s safe house, Flik spotted an unoccupied land speeder and ran towards it. As soon as he jumped in and started it up however, bounty hunters that had been waiting for him to reappear started pursuit. It seemed the Creed no longer meant anything to anyone anymore. That was just as well for Flik. He was tired with it anyway. If no one else took any notice of it, then why should he? A laser blast narrowly missed him by millimetres. He wished he had a swoop. They were more manoeuvrable and he could fire back at them. But part of being a bounty hunter was to make the best of what you had to work with. If he could just loose them, if only for a little while then he could warn Shiba to have the Heritage ready to fly. It would only be a matter of time before the hunters in Clagula’s safe house joined in the pursuit. Part of the plan he had formed in his mind was to get as many bounty hunters gunning for him was because he hoped they would get in each others’ way and in a free for all like this, more bounty hunters killed or maimed each other than the pursued, due to old rivalries and stray crossfire. He turned the land speeder around the corner of a building. SHIT! He thought. He had the droid Grom the Dissolver and IG88 after him. The hunters Denger, Warhog Goa, Zardra, Dyyz and Jodo Kast were also in pursuit, or was it Boba Fett. At these speeds he couldn’t be entirely sure. What was for certain, however, having all these bounty hunters after him could be as deadly as having Fett gunning for him. He’d only ever encountered Fett once or twice in his career and for some, once was enough to make them dead. Flik took the land speeder down into the bowls of Nar Shadda, though there wasn’t really much difference down here as the levels further up, except it was darker. Nar Shadda reminded him of the lower levels of Coruscant and though it lacked the glittering towers, the Jedi Temple and the Senate Hall of the Old Republic, it wasn’t nearly as shady. Nar Shadda knew that it was an haven for scum and villainy. Coruscant pretended it wasn’t when it harboured some to the most evil men in the history of the galaxy. At least Nar Shadda was honest about what it was. Maybe he could loose Denger, Warhog, Zardra and Dyyz down in the darkness. He knew it wouldn’t make much difference for IG88, Gorm or Kast/Fett where he went, but if he could even up the odds a little bit, make it less likely that he would get shot down by one of his other, less dangerous opponents then maybe he could get out of this mess alive. "You haven’t had it until you’re dead," was one of his father’s favourite sayings. Perhaps there was some truth in the old wolf’s words after all. He swerved to avoid a building and a laser blast came dangerously near him. In the darkness of Nar Shadda’s under belly, Flik ran the risk of crashing into a building or some other obstacle but thanks to the tapetum lucidum, the reflective layer of cells at that lay at the back of his eyes he could see much better in the dark that any human without the use of electronic devices ever could. He was a night predator. Millions of years ago, his ancestors had hunted their prey at night. Like many "primitive" carnivores they processed the reflective layer that was serving Flik well now. There was a down side to it though., for he could be found in the darkness if a light shone in his eyes, making them glow. The darkness though was his element. He used his keen, night vision to navigate through the underbelly of Nar Shadda. Ti took all of his concentration and keen senses to find his way through the darkness. As he had hoped, he had shaken off Denger, Warhog, Zardra and Dyyz but he still had Gorm, IG88 and Kast/Fett on his tail. Any of which would be a match for him in the best conditions. They had the advantage of enhanced senses, that in spite of his evolved hunter’s senses were much more accurate. Also he was out numbered. If it had been Stormtroopers after him, then no problem. But these were natural killers, especially the droids and were not afraid to fight dirty. And if it was Fett and not Kast who was after him, then it might as well be three druids that were on his tail. A shot caught his land speeder and he brought it to a halt as best he could and ducked behind a low wall. He called Shiba on the comlink. "Is the ship ready Shiba?" he asked. "I’ve got a whole bunch of bounty hunters on my tail." "Ready for when you get here, Flik," came her sexy, voluptuous voice. "Do you need help?" "No. Thanks for asking," Flik answered her. "I can handle it." He turned the comlink off. Shiba he thought. Just the sound of her voice made him get an erection. He forced himself to push any thought he had of her to the back of his mind. He needed all his concentration on the forthcoming fight. He loaded his MMA rocket system and drew his blaster, preparing himself for what might be his last battle. Chapter 3: Captured
Flik fired his wrist rocket when the first bounty hunter came into view, Fett, he had decided recognising his scent, before he could fire first. Fett jumped off the speeder bike he was on just before it hit. The rider less speeder bike exploded. Flik used the wall to shield himself from burning debris. He peered over the wall and found that Fett had recovered his composure and ducked his head behind the wall as Fett returned fire. The wall exploded in front of him, shrapnel cutting his torso and arms. Flik could feel the blood oozing chest and arms. His pecks felt as if they were on fire. If it hadn’t been for his thick fur covering his torso the injuries would have been far worse. Through his pain, he had the sense to snap off a couple of shots at Fett from his blaster. Both missed. Just as well really as they probably would have not done much damage any way cos of Fett’s characteristic Mandalorian armour. He dismissed any thought of using his disruptor as soon as the idea started to form in his mind. One, the shots were limited and drained a battery pac faster than a thirsty Tuskan Raider drunk a mug of water. Two, it took time for the weapon to cool down between shots. He had only one rocket left in his wrist rocket launcher and the palm darts were useless against droids and armour. He looked around for cover. The wall was no good to him anymore. He found none nearby. He was trapped. There was no time to run any where and the land speeder was smoking ruins, shot to pieces to prevent his escape by Gorm. IG88 had landed too and was heading towards him. There was only one thing for it. He realised his mistake in telling Shiba he could handle it on his own. Even if she did disregard his orders, she would be too late. He had only one option --- surrender. He turned his comlink on, so Shiba would know what had happened, if she’d not turned it off. He linked with Lobo instead. "Okay, Fett you win this time. I’ll come along quietly," he unbuckled his utility belt and let them drop to the ground in front of him, along with his blaster and wrist rockets. Fett adjusted his blaster to stun and Fett’s helmet was the last thing he saw before everything turned to darkness.
*** Shiba looked down at the computer monitor on her swoop. She frowned when she saw that Flik was heading back to Clagula’s safe house. "Lobo, do you know what’s going on here?" Lobo replayed the last transmission Flik had made over his comlink. "Okay Fett. You win this time. I’ll come along quietly." Then a stun blast sounded. The comlink switched itself off when Flik became unconscious. Then she had no time to think. Bounty Hunters were all around her. She fired at one in front of her, exploding his speeder bike. Quite unexpectedly, Zardra joined in, on her side. But that didn’t mean anything to her at the moment. Perhaps Zardra was just getting rid of the competition so she could take her in herself for the bounty. She fired the rocket launcher on her swoop to collapse a bridge on top of another hunter, killing him and sending innocent by standers to their deaths. Bile rose in her mouth at the guilt of killing by standers in the crossfire. She pushed it to the back of her mind. The only thing that was important to her now were her children and saving Flik. She couldn’t afford to feel remorse for inavertedly killing those who had no part in her affairs. A few less smugglers and other scum in the galaxy would make it a better place, she told herself, but deep down she didn’t really believe that. Many of those who turned to crime were displaced beings, thrust into that situation by the Empire, like she was. But there were still innocents, kids that could get killed, so she tried to keep damage to a minimum. That was, if the hunters on her would let her. Part of her wondered if the death of Nar Shadda’s kids really meant that much to her. When they grew up they would just be the next generation of thieves and murderers. Better if they were dealt with now, rather than letting them cause damage in the future. She swerved under bridges and around buildings in an erratic pattern, to shake off her pursuers. Some met their deaths by failing to avoid a building and slamming straight into it. Several times, Shiba nearly met that fate herself. Through out it all, Zardra stayed with her. Soon Zardra was the only hunter left. The others were either dead, lost or injured, or had just given up, looking for easier prey. Shiba landed the swoop in a bid to confront the other woman outside a cantina. She got off and waited. Zardra landed near by and got off her speeder bike. Shiba was on her in a moment, drop kicking her to the ground. Bystanders turned their attention to the catfight and patrons filed out of the cantina to witness the outcome of the fight taking place between the two female bounty hunters, the dark skinned, short haired Zardra and the light skinned, long haired Shiba, AKA the Black Widow. She heard a man, a smuggler, shout a salacious comment at her. She ignored it. Somewhere near by a street vender had the brainwave of getting spectators to the fight to bet on who would win. Zardra picked herself up off the ground and returned a punch which Shiba had anticipated and rolled out of the way from. Hours of training with Flik had honed her hand to hand combat skills. Being much stronger than her, Flik had forced her to crate inventing ways of subduing an opponent and that was what she fell back on now to end the fight quickly. Shiba kicked out at Zardra again and jumped on a nearby wall. When Zardra had got back to her feet, Shiba hooked her legs around her opponents neck, hanging up side down she slammed Zardra head first into the ground. Shouts of "I can show you a few moves, darlin," came from the crowd. "I doubt it boys," Shiba retorted as she stood up. "Now, you give that slimy piece of filth a message from me. If he harms even a follicle on Flik’s head, he’ll find his guts splattered all over Nar Shadda that’ll take a millennium to clean it up. That’s if anyone even bothers." Shouts of "Kill her," came from the crowd. Shiba had no intention of killing her. She’d seen enough bloodshed today. "You’ve got it all wrong. I’ve been hired to protect you and Flik," Zardra wiped the blood from her split lip. "Hired? By whom?" Shiba asked, unconvinced. "Flik’s brother." That got Shiba’s attention. "Lak? Is he here? Can you take me to him?" "Sure," Zardra said. Shiba helped her up and Zardra went over to her speeder bike. Shiba straddled her swoop and followed her.
***
Zardra brought her speeder bike to a stop outside an establishment called the Meltdown Café. Shiba brought her swoop to a stop beside her speeder and cat-like slipped off the swoop. She followed the other woman inside. The café was bustling this time of day and though there were a lot of aliens, there was only one wolfman inside and he had a Florn Lampoid coiled around him. They were kissing. He wasn’t aware of them until they had slipped into the chairs opposite him. On a closer inspection, Shiba realised she could have easily mistaken him for Flik, except that Flik was taller and older. "Sivrak," Shiba said. The Florn Lampoid disengaged from kissing him and looked over at her suspiciously. Sivrak stroked the Lampoid’s scales with one hand. "Yes?" he asked in a low growl, it wasn’t menacing, but not friendly either. "I’m Shiba Black, Flik’s partner," she extended a hand to him. He grasped it in his hand paw that wasn’t stroking the Lampoid. The way she said partner insinuated that it was more than a work partnership. The question came as a surprise to her. "How did you know?" "The way you reacted just now. The way you said partner. You humans forget that you communicate not only with your words." "He’s in trouble. Clagula the Hutt has got him. He could be dead already." "He isn’t. I would know," the Lampoid said, tightening her coils around the wolfman. The human was flirting with him and she wanted to remind him that he belonged to her and her alone. The wolfman’s warm, mammalian body heat kept her blood at a constant temperature. "This is Dice, my lover," Sivrak introduced the Lampoid. "I’ll help you save Flik. There is only one thing more important to a Shistavanen than the hunt and that is family." "I’ve heard Flik tell me something like that once," she replied. She thought of Chan and Jeana, her children. "Then I’ll help you get your pups." "You are a good tracker," Shiba told him. "All hunters have to be good trackers, otherwise how would they catch their prey?" Through this exchange Zardra had remained silent. "We have company," she said. Shiba looked in the direction of the door. Looking back at Sivrak she saw that Dice had uncoiled herself from around him and had slivered away. In his paws he held a blaster and in the other a sheathed vibroblade. Shiba swung the light repeating blaster around into firing position. Zardra pointed her blaster at them. "Don’t even think about it, Reb." Shiba would have laughed out load if she hadn’t been on the business end of a blaster. It looked like it was going to be one of those days. She lowered the rifle and moved closer to the hulking wolfman behind her as Jodo Kast and Puggles Trodd appeared. "Tell that slimy worm of a girlfriend of yours to show herself before I blast your head off, Reb," Zardra said. "I should have killed you when I had the chance, bitch" Shiba heard herself say. "Consider it a learning curve if you get out of this" the other woman retorted. From behind his counter, the Toydarian café owner flapped his wings angrily "Continue this outside." In answer, Jodo Kast aimed his blaster rifle at the counter and fired, melting it to slag. "Now I know why they call it the Meltdown Café," Shiba couldn’t resist a smirk. A low growl rumbled from the furry mountain of fang and claw behind her. He had spotted Dice slivering towards Zardra, her tail sting lashed out, catching the hunter in the small of her back. Zardra screamed out in pain and Sivrak knocked Kast to the floor with a heavy punch to his chest. Shiba kicked out at Trodd, catching him in the chin and knocking him unconscious. Dice recoiled herself around her wolfman lover’s trunk as he followed Shiba to the door. Once outside, Shiba blasted all the speeder bikes and swoops to smoking trash before climbing on to her swoop. Sivrak, with Dice still wrapped around him climbed on behind her and snaked his arms around her slim waist. She could feel his battle hardened muscles and Dice’s coils pressed against her back.
***
Sivrak directed her to a Rebel Safe house and brought it to a halt, just inside. She had promised the wolfman and his mate that she would not reveal the whereabouts of the base and it was one promise she meant to keep. The man in charge of the base was General Rieekan, a human male. She was assigned a room, which consisted of a bed, an alcove which contained a shower and a small was basin with a mirror. She crossed the room and studied herself in it. Her hair had started to come out of her ponytail and she was covered in dust and grime from her brief fight with the bitch Zardra. Her nail polish was chipped and her make up was smeared. Basically, she looked a mess. Locking the door to the room, Shiba took the opportunity to wash herself. She threw the light repeating blaster rifle down on her bed and unbuckled her gun belt. sitting down on the edge of her bed she took the vibroblade and blaster out of her boot holsters and took off her boots. Then she unzipped her leather jumpsuit and pealed it off like a second skin. She had a six pack on her stomach and her arms and legs bulged with muscle, the result of the workouts, both training and the "bed exercises" with Flik. Flik. She had to save him. She stepped into the shower and let the water run, washing away the aches and pains and the stiffness her body felt. Then she imagined that Flik was pressed against her back, caressing her body. She imagined the feel of his durasteel hard muscles, the muscles that resulted from all the working out they’d done together flex and strain against her back. She ignored the water as it got hotter, soaking her hair and wetting her skin. His paw-hands fondling her breasts slowly until the nipples stood out hard and erect and them slowly moving down her body and then into the folds of her private parts searching for and stimulating her clitoris. The hardness of his turgid penis as he penetrated her and the feel of it moving back and forth as he pumped his hips. The sensation of his wet fur brushing against her back as he pumped, slowly, sensuously, his claws brushing against her clitoris, lightly stoking it. Then the gentle love nips on the back of her neck and the roughness of his tongue licking her skin. Then the slow speeding up of his thrusts as he got ready to ejaculate his semen into her welcoming vagina. Then the orgasm coursing through her body at the end. Suddenly aware of the scalding water, Shiba turned it off and stepped out of the shower, feeling fresh and revitalised. She made a mental note to suggest this to him when she got him out of Clagula’s clutches, as a way of celebrating. She had no idea how long she had been in there for. She would have been surprised to find that it had been just over an hour. It would have to be when they were off Nar Shadda though. Maybe they would wait until she had her kids before doing it. Shiba was surprised that she had come to rely on the sex they had together. Maybe it was form of escapism, to cast away the fears and pain and hurt of the galaxy. She wondered if what they had found together was real. On one level it was physical, pure and simple. But she would be lying to herself if she told herself it wasn’t’ more, like the mystical Force that some believed existed. She wasn’t sure herself if the Force existed or not. Like the love she felt for Flik, it was there but it wasn’t, both existent and nonexistent at the same time. She dried herself as best she could before dressing and leaving her room for the mess hall. Before she left she had the hindsight to arm herself. The only person in the galaxy that she felt she could be truly naked was with Flik and if she carried no weapons that is how she felt. Flik. They spent every waking hour together in life and death situations. Was it only natural that they should come to feel this way about each other? She trusted him with her life, but how had she begun to trust him with something more, with something more precious than her life or even that of her children? That was her heart. She was not complete without him and every moment separated from him threatened to break her heart into a million different pieces like the shards of Alderaan. That had happened once before when Chan died and she left her children. Somehow those pieces had been made whole again. But there were only so many times a heart can break before it disappears all together forever. If it happened again, if she lost Flik, then her heart would be dust and as unfixable as Alderaan. Already her mind was working, looking for a way to stop that from happening. First, though, she needed nourishment and then rest.
Chapter 4: Lost Sanctuary
Flik woke with an headache. At first he wondered why he wasn’t in the cabin on board his ship with Shiba lying next t him. Then he remembered Fett and those blasted droids. He recalled the flight from Clagula’s safe house and knew where he had to be. Suddenly, his hunter’s instinct told him that he wasn’t alone. Pheromones told him that what ever it was was female. A female huh? Maybe somewhere in the cell was a holocam hoping to see some action. He wasn’t as gratuitous as Shiba when it came to sex and he wasn’t about to do it with anyone just for the amusement of others, especially if it happened to be a slime ball Hutt. "Who’s there?" he asked into the darkness. He knew it wasn’t Shiba, he knew her scent too well. No reply. "I promise I won’t hurt you." A small figure moved towards him. She was smaller than Shiba and covered in fur. She wore no clothes and it was obvious what had been happening to her. She was a Bothan, Flik recalled her species. He saw her shiver in the darkness. "Are you cold?" he asked her. "No," she replied thinking that he meant something more than he’d asked. Flik took off his jacket and gave it to her. It was far too big for her but she was happy to cover herself. "I’m not going to mate with you, if that’s what you think," he told her, trying to reassure her that he meant her on harm. "It’s what they want to see, but I won’t do anything to entertain them. I’m a prisoner here too." "Shara Kre’lar," she told him her name. "I’m with the Rebels." "Flik Sivrak," he introduced himself, smiling grimly "Let’s just say I played a prank on his Almighty Bloatedness and he wasn’t too happy about it. Hutts have no sense of humour, not unless they’re watching a sentient being torn apart by something. That, they think is funny." "The guards shoved me in here while you were unconscious. I thought you wouldn’t make it. You’d lost quite a bit of blood." There was fear in her voice, which didn’t surprise him. "I’m tougher than you think," Flik answered. "How long have you been here?" "If my reproductive cycle is anything to go by then about six months." "That’s along time. Why hasn’t anyone tried to get you out?" "The rest of my unit is dead. I guess the Rebels think I am too. We got caught up in some fighting and were captured. I was the only female among them, so I guess they kept me to provide entertainment as you call it." "Thought as much. That usually happens to females in places like this. I’ll get you out of here if I can." "The Hutt killed the Twi’lek dancer just after you left, fed her to his pet Nexu. If you can’t get me out of here I want you to kill me. Death would be preferable to another six months of this." From the way she said it, Flik knew she wasn’t joking. He didn’t want to kill someone in cold blood, not someone who didn’t deserve it anyway. But not killing her, letting her suffer when he could have done something to stop it would be inhumane. He had been through enough suffering himself to know it when he saw it. The galaxy could be a cruel place when it wanted, particularly those who worked for good and even worse for those who did evil things. "You have my word," he said, reluctantly. Silently he promised himself that if he couldn’t help her then he would continue her fight against the Empire himself. Both he and Shiba had a death mark on them now, so what difference would it make?
***
Shiba was woken up by Sivrak and Dice a few hours later. She felt his heavy hand on her shoulder and instantly awakened. From the tenseness of his muscles she knew something was up. "The Imps have found us. I expected as much when Zardra turned on us. I was trying to convince General Rieekan to evacuate before they got here," the wolfman explained to her, his voice a low growl, similar to that which Flik used on an ambush. Quickly but noiselessly Shiba slipped out of bed and began to dress. Sivrak showed no emotion as he watched her silently. She fastened her utility belt around her slender waist and holstered the blaster and vibroblade in her boots. She carried the light repeating blaster over her shoulder and followed the large wolfman and his mate, coiled about him out into the darkness of the corridor, like she had done many times with Flik on their hunts. Flik. How she missed his calm presence at her back. She glanced from time to time behind her for any sign of the enemy. The blaster she carried at her waist found itself in her hand. The lithe from trailed him like a shadow. Dice issued a warning. Shiba dropped to the floor with the big wolfman just as blaster fire streaked by over head. They crouched close together behind the cover of a repulsor tray. Shiba snapped off a couple of shots. One caught the nearest storm trooper in the chest. Sivrak got the one she missed but they both had to duck down as more stromtroopers entered the corridor. The expression on Sivrak’s face showed he was enjoying the fight. Shiba just wanted to get it over with so she could rescue Flik and get off this rock to her children. She heard Sivrak growl angrily. Shiba thought fuck it! And let loose with her light repeating blaster; taking down the stromtroopers in ten seconds. With smoking corpses strung around them, the wolfman, Lampoid and human female got to the hanger bay."I can see what my brother sees in you," Sivrak said to her as he climbed onto an Imperial Speeder bike. "What? That I’m a hunter like you? It’s not what you think, Sivrak. The Imps destroyed my family," Shiba said, climbing on to her swoop. Using the confusion of the fleeing Rebels and the burning structure that had been the Rebel headquarters as cover, the three hunters, wolfman, Lampoid and human took off to rescue the captured Flik. Behind them the Rebel headquarters burned and exploded. The only sanctuary left on Nar Shadda gone forever. It made Shiba yarn for the safe embrace of hyperspace, with the furry, warm Flik in her arms. Where nothing in the galaxy could harm her. She longed to just bury herself in his thick, warm fur and forget all of her fears and pain. She knew though deep, deep down that her feelings of joy and contentment with Flik would be only an illusion, a lie, until the day she had her children back with her and the Empire destroyed. Only then would she be able to lay Chan and her family to rest once and for all. Then she figured, she could watch her children grow up and make a better life for themselves than she had. No she thought. As long as she was with Flik and had her children with her she would be happy. She would fight the whole galaxy and more to make that happen. Just her, Flik and the kids. The Empire had took that away from her once already. She wasn’t going to let some slimy over grown worm destroy her new family before it had even started. No way. It’s time someone taught those slimy, glitt biting Hutts a lesson and she was just the person to do it. Fuck Vader, Shiba thought. Fuck Palpatine. Fuck Jabba, fuck Fett and fuck Prince Xizor and any other person that got in her way. Most of all, she thought. Fuck you, Clagula. She was totally pissed off now and it was as the saying goes, No Hutt or fucking Sith Lord can match the fury of a woman scorned. The "fucking" bit was something Shiba had added. Of course, it was that, or it was that time of the month for her again. If anything had happened to him, Shiba vowed to herself, if he had been harmed by the Hutt in anyway, she would kill Clagula herself and cut him into tiny pieces and scatter them around the galaxy so much that it would be impossible for someone to put them back together again. Just like Alderaan, she thought. That’s what I’ll do, she thought. If Flik has been hurt in anyway by Clagula, then I’ll make an Alderaan out of him. Sure, it would make staying alive that much more difficult for her. Of that there was no doubt. But without Flik her life would be meaning less. Without Flik, she’d rather be dead. Sure, she’d still have her children. But everyone needs a lover, to have that one place where nothing can harm you. Flik was her sanctuary, as precious as an habitat that housed rare and exotic creatures and plants. The sanctuary from all of life’s problems and dangers. From all of life’s pain and suffering. Where she could be weak and strong, alive and dead all at the same time. If she lost him, then she would be nothing more than a hollow shell, like that Fett, Vader and Palpatine and all the other monsters in the galaxy were. The monster that she would become if she lost Flik, her one and only sanctuary. Read Chapters Five Through Eight of 'Hunter's Conscience'
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