[Boba Fett] - 6(23)

“I had no choice!” Mace’s voice was deep, unafraid. Without warning he leaped, springing past Boba as he drew his lightsaber. “Just as you’re giving me no choice now!”

The lightsaber glowed deep violet. Its hum filled the room, and Mace Windu swung - and struck! PAM!

Boba staggered back. The lightsaber had skimmed his armor. He recovered immediately, darting off. Mace followed, his robes billowing behind him.

PAM!

The lightsaber struck again!

But this time Boba was ready. Or so he thought. Mace’s violet blur sliced the flechette pistol cleanly out of his hand. Blinding indigo light flared as Mace Windu drew back, arm raised for another blow.

Before he could strike, Boba drew his dagger with his free hand and charged.

The dagger ripped through Mace’s robes. The Jedi twisted, avoiding the blade.

But Boba’s fist followed, smashing into the Jedi’s ribs.

“Ah - !”

Mace staggered to one side. Before he could dodge, Boba was on him!

BAM!

Boba lunged the dagger at Mace’s head - but the Jedi was too fast! He dropped and rolled, jumping to his feet. The lightsaber rose and fell -

And struck.

“Agh!” Boba cried out as the glowing blade smashed against his shoulder. Pain arced through him. Blood seeped from Grievous’s wound.

“Surrender!” commanded Mace Windu. “Surrender, and I promise you’ll receive fair treatment!”

“Surrender?” Boba hesitated, feigning doubt. Unseen he shoved the dagger into his belt, then reached for a cryo-ban grenade.

“You have my word,” Mace continued.

“And you have my hatred!” Boba screamed. He fired the grenade!

Mace leaped, seeming to fly above Boba’s head.

BRRAAANG!

Boba flung himself away from the freezing blast. Waves of numbing cold rushed past him as the cryo-blast absorbed heat. The cold could not penetrate Boba’s body armor.

But Mace Windu had no body armor. The Jedi stumbled, nearly falling as the frigid waves sapped him of energy. Boba picked up his flechette pistol. He towered above the fallen Jedi.

He fired.

FAM!

Blinding pain lanced Boba’s arm as Mace Windu’s Lightsaber struck.

“No!” Boba cried.

In agony, Boba fell. He rolled, trying to get to his feet.

FAM!

The lightsaber crashed against his head. Not even his helmet could absorb the blow. Boba shouted with pain and fury, striking blindly at the figure above him.

“I don’t want to kill you,” said Mace Windu grimly. “Surrender, or die.”

“Never.”

He swung his dagger. The Jedi’s weapon knocked the dagger blade aside.

“You leave me no choice!” Mace cried.

Boba stumbled to his feet. Blood streamed from his wounds. The dagger lay useless and out of reach. And his blasters were on Slave I.

But he still had the saberdart. He slid his hand toward his utility belt. His fingers slipped into the familiar configuration of his palm shooter. The poisonous dart was loaded into it.

He had only one shot.

I won’t miss this time.

He raised his hand. Mace Windu was just meters away. Boba stared at the Jedi, summoning all his strength. All his hatred.

His thumb pressed the trigger.

The dart sang from the palm shooter like an enraged hornet. It spun, glittering, through the air, straight for Mace Windu’s throat.

I got him! Boba’s mind sang in triumph.

Mace Windu flinched. His hand shot into the air. Between his fingers the saberdart shivered like a trapped insect.

“No!” groaned Boba.

Mace Windu flung the deadly dart into the shadows. He stepped toward Boba, his lightsaber poised to strike.

Boba Fett was cornered.

“This is my final offer of surrender,” said the Jedi Master.

“No,” said Boba in a low voice.

He would never surrender.

The Jedi took another step toward him. Boba thought of his friends back on Tatooine.

Good-bye, Ygabba. Good-bye, Gab’borah. I’ll miss you.

He thought of his father, fighting until the very last. Boba lifted his head and stared fearlessly at Mace Windu.

“There are worse things than death,” the bounty hunter said, raising his flechette pistol.

“There are,” the Jedi replied in his powerful voice. “You are brave indeed, stranger. I would have spared your life. But now you leave me no choice - “

His raised his arms. The glowing light blade tore through the air.

“STOP!”

A deafening shout of command filled the room. Heavy footsteps echoed as uniformed guards raced in. The Chancellor’s Red Guards surrounded Mace Windu and Boba.

More footsteps sounded. Another figure entered the room, clad in the luxurious robes denoting his high rank.

“Who dares disrupt this place?” he demanded. It was Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.