Saga Facing Death with Honor - Death & Dying Challenge Vig - Boba Fett

The EU describes this account of Boba Fett?s stay in the Sarlacc:
Fett's armor and body were extremely battered by his ordeal in the Sarlacc. When he plunged into the beast, numerous fibrous suckers that attached themselves to his body kept him alive. This was part of the Sarlacc's horrible metabolic process; it would keep its prey alive for thousands of years, all the while slowly feeding off it. Fett almost lost his identity in the swirling dementia brought about by the Sarlacc's toxins. His resolve held, and he used his weapons to blast free of the beast.

The following is my own tale. I hope you don?t mind the EU contradiction:

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How long have I been down here? My visor display told me nothing useful. The light sensitivity was increased to the maximum and the infrared sensors became active the moment I fell into the darkness. There wasn?t much to see.

Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Damn stomach acids have some compound that renders the victims sleepy and dazed. I?m still in the Sarlacc. I must have been unconscious for the last few hours, since my last attempt to get out. Jabba told Solo that the digestion takes over a thousand years, and that may be true, not that it matters much: a human would die in a fraction of that due to thirst or starvation at the very least. The Sarlacc stomach is different that that of most species. Instead of a pool of acid at the bottom of the chamber it was an essentially dry cave. The digestive acid was a fine mist that was secreted from the walls and many tentacles that dangled from the ceiling. It provided a slow, uniform digestion for the creature. The organic material and its nutrients were fed to the body through microscopic pores on the floor of the stomach.

I?m the last one alive now, but that?s really my own doing. When Jabba?s minions fell down here with me they immediately began causing a disruption ? running around, grabbing at me, and stabbing at the stomach walls in an attempt to climb back out.

The incessant grabbing was enough to annoy me, but when they penetrated the stomach lining it resulted in an involuntary defense reaction ? spouts of a more concentrated stomach acid. It did little to deter the fools, as they would try to dodge the acid flows and continue to try to climb up. I did not care to have these thoughtless idiots making my escape more difficult, so I began to blast them.

During this purge of annoying insects, there was an explosion. Soon thereafter, pieces of debris fell into the stomach including an identification plate. It belonged to Jabba?s sail barge. 'I guess there won?t be a rescue attempt?, I thought, not that I really expected one from the dredge of society.

Once it became quiet, I decided to think it through. Obviously any action that tore into the stomach was not going to work. I decided that the best path was the most direct: the sphincter that sealed the stomach from the esophagus. I attempted to activate my jet pack, but it sputtered and died. ?Solo!? I roared in frustration, tearing the backpack off and flinging it as far as I could. ?That blind idiot!? I spent the next fifteen minutes or so calming down, for I knew that I would not find a solution while agitated. I couldn?t really blame Solo, anyway. That Mitrinomon Z-6 jet pack design was never very robust. I probably should not have worn it. It had its uses, but there were so many times when it failed me. When it failed my father. My father. I suppose he was the main reason that I wore it ? as a way to honor him. Unfortunately, I often disregarded the memory of the reek running over my father, and damaging the jet pack in the process.

No, I haven?t been disregarding that memory, but rather I have been suppressing it. The way Jango Fett died was unworthy of his memory, of his status as one of the most feared and respected bounty hunters of his day. And what has become of me? The malfunction that caused me to run headlong into the sail barge and fall into the Sarlacc was just as unworthy, was it not? The thought of it

 

Good story! (even though I am a Han fan, and thought the EU authors should have kept Fett dead!!!)

 

Thank you, oh GreatOne.

I personally don't have strong feelings one way or the other on this particular SW issue (unlike the 'Han shot first' one), but when I view ROTJ I imagine the belch noise by the Sarlacc to be a clue that Boba is a gonner, but then we don't really know, do we?

 

[color=006699]I liked that - I am not a big Boba Fett fan but I did enjoy your story - and I agree, the EU authors should have kept him dead.

Wedge :>o<:[/color]

 

Big-E - About Han shooting first, or second.... it never mattered to me, really. Even when I saw the movie for the first time in 1977, I never thought, "oh, Han Solo's a murderer because he shot first!" The fact was, Greedo was about to kill Han, so IMO, he was justified in defending himself. At that close range, if Greedo shot first, it was unlikely he'd have missed Han, and Han would have been dead! Not Good!!

I still like your Fett story! It was very well written.

 

Copy that, and thanks, Wedge.


I know what you mean, GreatOne, and I'd probably feel the same way, although I think it does have some impact on defining character to make that kind of alteration. Truth be known, I suppose the greatest reason I didn't care for it was that I spent 20 years with the original version burned into my memory.