His brown hair blew back in the wind as his speeder bike raced across the desert. His eyes were protected from the twin suns by his Rogue glasses while the scarf covering his nose and mouth kept him from choking on the sand. The throttle was nearly maxed out, and his path was clear for kilometers along the vast, empty dunes.
PEW! A laser bolt zapped by his head, causing Veda to swerve reflexively. PEW! PEW! More shots. He held the handlebars with one hand while drawing his blaster with the other, then blindly sent two return shots at the bikes on his trail.
Pirates. They shouldn't be operating on Tatooine. This was Hutt territory, and Veda was confident enough that the cartel wasn't mad at him to the point of sending pirates after him. This crew was operating outside the rules. If they were caught, they'd be strung up as an example for all to see. But they had to be caught first. And right now, they were the ones doing the chasing.
A good question to ask at this point in the story is why the hell is Pal Veda on a speeder bike in the middle of the desert? It all started with a tip from an archeologist. An ancient artifact had been hidden away in a cave on Tatooine years ago by a young Jedi Knight. It was forgotten, until that Knight passed down the secret shortly before he died. With everything going on in the core since the invasion of Coruscant, there weren't Jedi to spare for silly missions to the outer rim. That's where Veda came in.
Now he found himself speeding toward his ship with four nasty Weequay coming in hot. The Rubicon was in sight, just over the next ridge. Almost… BOOM! The engine on his bike started smoking. He couldn't be sure if one of the pirates got off a lucky shot or if he'd run the speeder too hard, but either way, it was sputtering and slowing down. He slid the blaster back in its holster and pushed forward. Another fifty meters…
BOOM! That was definitely a shot. The bike flipped, throwing Veda through the air. He landed hard in the sand, but he quickly recovered and took off sprinting. He didn't make it far before the four bikes slid to a stop in between him and the YT-2400. Frick.
The pirates hopped off their vehicles with blasters raised. One was slightly larger and wore heavier armor, and he stepped to the front indicating he was leading this illegal band. He laughed and took a couple of shots at Veda's feet in jest. "Didn't quite make it did ya?" he said mockingly, getting a chuckle from his companions.
"Looks like I didn't," Veda responded with a grin. "I suppose you want this?" He removed the sling from his shoulder and dangled in front of him. "What do you say, I hand this over, and you let me go?"
"And why would we do that?" the big one asked. "I think we take that, shoot you in the head, and fly off in that nice Corellian freighter over there while the vultures eat your carcass." The other three cheered and jeered in unison.
Veda dropped the bag on the ground and held his hands up. "You haven't gotten me yet," he said, surprisingly optimistic for a man in this position. "Haven't you heard about my magic Force blaster?" He balled his right hand into a fist, then pointed his index finger forward and thumb in the air, forming the shape of a gun. He aimed his make believe gun at the head pirate, then spanned it across the others. "Last chance if you want to live."
The three henchmen looked confused, but the leader looked more amused than anything. "Now that's a new one," he chuckled. "But I think you've run out of tricks, Veda. This is the end of the road for you."
"Wait, wait, just watch!" Veda interjected. He pointed at the pirate on the far left and made a Pew! noise with his mouth. The Weequay dropped to the ground, a smoking hole in his chest.
"What the?!" The big one was now as confused as the rest of them. "Fire!" He ordered. But Veda mocked shots at the other two footsoldiers, and both went down just like their fallen comrade. He mocked a fourth shot at the leader, and a DING! rang out from a blaster bolt bouncing off his heavy armor.
The jig was up. The pirate turned around to see an old battle droid, Veda's trusty B1-D1 that guarded the Rubicon, standing at the bottom of the landing ramp. He fired several shots at the droid, one hitting a leg and knocking B1-D1 to the ground. He then turned his attention back to Veda, gun leveled at his chest from about ten meters away. "Sneaky," he said, now visibly frustrated, "but that's why I wear this armor. It's over, smuggler, and I will be taking that ship."
"Yeah, yeah, but how does that armor work against thermals?"
"What?"
Before the pirate realized what he was talking about, Veda drew his blaster and shot from the hip. The bolt connected with the grenade on the pirate's belt. BOOM! His body exploded into a million tiny pieces. The force of the blast knocked Veda back and over his busted speeder bike. He grunted as he pulled himself up, covered in sand and bits of Weequay. "You should have taken the deal," he managed, spitting a little blood and dust from his mouth.
The outlaw holstered his blaster, picked up the sling, and hobbled toward his ship. "B1, you okay over there?"
"Roger, Roger!" the droid called back.
Veda dragged his banged up metal amigo into the ship and let up the landing ramp. Time to get the hell out of here.
PEW! A laser bolt zapped by his head, causing Veda to swerve reflexively. PEW! PEW! More shots. He held the handlebars with one hand while drawing his blaster with the other, then blindly sent two return shots at the bikes on his trail.
Pirates. They shouldn't be operating on Tatooine. This was Hutt territory, and Veda was confident enough that the cartel wasn't mad at him to the point of sending pirates after him. This crew was operating outside the rules. If they were caught, they'd be strung up as an example for all to see. But they had to be caught first. And right now, they were the ones doing the chasing.
A good question to ask at this point in the story is why the hell is Pal Veda on a speeder bike in the middle of the desert? It all started with a tip from an archeologist. An ancient artifact had been hidden away in a cave on Tatooine years ago by a young Jedi Knight. It was forgotten, until that Knight passed down the secret shortly before he died. With everything going on in the core since the invasion of Coruscant, there weren't Jedi to spare for silly missions to the outer rim. That's where Veda came in.
Now he found himself speeding toward his ship with four nasty Weequay coming in hot. The Rubicon was in sight, just over the next ridge. Almost… BOOM! The engine on his bike started smoking. He couldn't be sure if one of the pirates got off a lucky shot or if he'd run the speeder too hard, but either way, it was sputtering and slowing down. He slid the blaster back in its holster and pushed forward. Another fifty meters…
BOOM! That was definitely a shot. The bike flipped, throwing Veda through the air. He landed hard in the sand, but he quickly recovered and took off sprinting. He didn't make it far before the four bikes slid to a stop in between him and the YT-2400. Frick.
The pirates hopped off their vehicles with blasters raised. One was slightly larger and wore heavier armor, and he stepped to the front indicating he was leading this illegal band. He laughed and took a couple of shots at Veda's feet in jest. "Didn't quite make it did ya?" he said mockingly, getting a chuckle from his companions.
"Looks like I didn't," Veda responded with a grin. "I suppose you want this?" He removed the sling from his shoulder and dangled in front of him. "What do you say, I hand this over, and you let me go?"
"And why would we do that?" the big one asked. "I think we take that, shoot you in the head, and fly off in that nice Corellian freighter over there while the vultures eat your carcass." The other three cheered and jeered in unison.
Veda dropped the bag on the ground and held his hands up. "You haven't gotten me yet," he said, surprisingly optimistic for a man in this position. "Haven't you heard about my magic Force blaster?" He balled his right hand into a fist, then pointed his index finger forward and thumb in the air, forming the shape of a gun. He aimed his make believe gun at the head pirate, then spanned it across the others. "Last chance if you want to live."
The three henchmen looked confused, but the leader looked more amused than anything. "Now that's a new one," he chuckled. "But I think you've run out of tricks, Veda. This is the end of the road for you."
"Wait, wait, just watch!" Veda interjected. He pointed at the pirate on the far left and made a Pew! noise with his mouth. The Weequay dropped to the ground, a smoking hole in his chest.
"What the?!" The big one was now as confused as the rest of them. "Fire!" He ordered. But Veda mocked shots at the other two footsoldiers, and both went down just like their fallen comrade. He mocked a fourth shot at the leader, and a DING! rang out from a blaster bolt bouncing off his heavy armor.
The jig was up. The pirate turned around to see an old battle droid, Veda's trusty B1-D1 that guarded the Rubicon, standing at the bottom of the landing ramp. He fired several shots at the droid, one hitting a leg and knocking B1-D1 to the ground. He then turned his attention back to Veda, gun leveled at his chest from about ten meters away. "Sneaky," he said, now visibly frustrated, "but that's why I wear this armor. It's over, smuggler, and I will be taking that ship."
"Yeah, yeah, but how does that armor work against thermals?"
"What?"
Before the pirate realized what he was talking about, Veda drew his blaster and shot from the hip. The bolt connected with the grenade on the pirate's belt. BOOM! His body exploded into a million tiny pieces. The force of the blast knocked Veda back and over his busted speeder bike. He grunted as he pulled himself up, covered in sand and bits of Weequay. "You should have taken the deal," he managed, spitting a little blood and dust from his mouth.
The outlaw holstered his blaster, picked up the sling, and hobbled toward his ship. "B1, you okay over there?"
"Roger, Roger!" the droid called back.
Veda dragged his banged up metal amigo into the ship and let up the landing ramp. Time to get the hell out of here.
