Standing in Shadow

1999 short story by Mark Newbold

Six years after Episode IV – A New Hope

Aurie Leandray slammed down the hood of the speeder and took a deep breath. He counted the crystals as they formed in front of his long snout, his sharp eyesight differentiating the myriad droplets as the dissipated before him. How long have I been here? He thought miserably to himself. And where the hell am I?

Leandray had been under the hood of his speeder for almost three hours, unsuccessfully fiddling with the engine, and the humid Ruuthorne night was fast approaching. Having heard tales of what creatures inhabited Ruuthornes nocturnal hours he was eager to complete his repairs and continue back to his waiting starship. But today was becoming one of those days. One of those days where everything flipped upside down and inside out. Where nothing was certain, not even the rising of the sun. And smack in the middle of it, as ever, was Aurie Leandray – nephew of the greatest Ba-marb bounty hunter ever. Aurie sighed. Uvic Leandray was known throughout the Mid-Rim. A legend. And his nephew was expected to follow in those big illustrious footsteps. Except it wasn’t turning out that way, not by a long shot. Certainly, Aurie showed promise. His early jobs proved that he had at least the tracking skills of Uvic. And the connections. It was amazing how many doors the name Leandray could open. But time passed, and Aurie’s career never blossomed. Perhaps it was the Galactic Civil War that had encroached on his operations in a way that never affected his uncle before the fall of the Republic over thirty years ago. Or maybe the massive amounts of other hunters who seemed to be operating these days, all scrabbling for the same jobs. Or perhaps…

Aurie shook his head slowly and popped the hood again. Something had to make this damn thing work. Speeders didn’t just stop working. So why was this one giving him a hard time? He exhaled and grabbed the wrench, leaning in for another root around. The fading light gave way to the sheen of the moons and within minutes Aurie was bathed in moonlight. It was a tranquil scene, the glint of the reflected light glistening off the distant mountains. But Aurie frowned – he knew he’d have to work fast before the denizens of the night began their feeding hours. He probed through a bundle of wires, tugging them aside to get a better look at the power plant. What was that? Aurie prodded at the small cylindrical tube attached to the power plant. He tapped it, and it rang out. What was it? Intrigued he prised it away from the metal housing and clamped it in the wrench, lifting it into the light. A power drain? In the engine? But why? What possible reason could there be for him to have his speeder sabotaged? No one knew that he was here on Ruuthorne, hunting down a female smuggler by the name of Canen Luone, or that he was out here on the Plain of Golen speeding to the far side of the mountains where he suspected Luone was hiding out. So who?

And more importantly, why?

Aurie twirled the power drain in his fingers…

“So, you found it.”

Aurie dropped the drain and went for his Blaster but paused when he saw the figure opposite him.

“Luone?” He gulped slowly.

Canen Luone stood before him, Blaster at the ready pointing at his chest. How she’d got the drop on him out here in this vast plain he didn’t know, but one thing he did know. He was in big trouble. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same.” She waved him away from the speeder with a swish of her hand. “So, finally decided to cash in my bounty?”

Aurie shrugged, his arms spread wide.

“What if I was? It won’t do either of us any good out here.”

Canen smiled in grim agreement. Echoes of howling creatures were growing louder and louder, ringing from the ridge of mountains three kilometres away. The humidity wrapped around them both like wet cloth.

“I see your point. So, what do you suggest Mister Leandray? A brief cessation of hostilities until we’re on safer ground? Or do you intend to subdue me here and claim your prize from the jaws of one of those creatures?” She lowered her Blaster slightly. “It’s your choice.”

Aurie shrugged again. Some choice.

“You’ve got the Blaster. I think I’ll let you make the command decisions.”

“Good.” She nodded toward the speeder. “You are as wise as your uncle. Get in.”

Aurie slid into the drivers seat and Canen slipped in behind him, her Blaster aimed at the nape of his neck. Gunning the engine the speeder responded first time and throbbed powerfully. Clearly the power drain hadn’t had enough time to totally deplete all the power – the dash showed that all systems were warmed and ready to go. Aurie glanced over his shoulder.

“Where to? We’ll have company soon unless we move.”

Canen squinted and made out the hulking shapes of approaching creatures lumbering towards them. She pointed towards the mountains that Aurie was originally headed for and without a word Aurie swung the speeder around and accelerated towards them, dodging and weaving around creatures, rocks and dips with the safe hands of an expert. At least I got one thing right today – she was in the mountains. Perhaps Uncle Uvic left some trace of his genius in my DNA…if that’s possible.

Aurie sharply swung the speeder to the left, avoiding a rising hulk lifting from the plains surface. Without a word Canen raised her Blaster and popped a warning shot at the black mass. It dropped to the floor, rolling to avoid the crimson blast and skittered away into the murky dark. Aurie sniffed and twitched his snout. The warm Blaster nozzle was nuzzling the back of his neck and he suddenly became very aware of how far from civilisation they really were. Out here on the edge of the Setnin Sector much happened without recourse – death and taxes weren’t certainties out here, only death. And Aurie, whilst never quite living up to his uncle’s template had seen plenty of death in his years.

The ridges of the mountains began to alter as their speed increased and the plains gave way to rockier areas and sloping gradients. Leandray leaned over to activate the lights, the darkness almost all-enveloping now. Luone pressed the Blaster into his neck and shook her head.

“Leave it Aurie. Those creatures aren’t the only predators on Ruuthorne.”

Aurie frowned and twitched his snout again. What does she mean? Sure, there are rumours of Imperial bases left here after the Battle of Ruuthorne, but that was three years ago. And we all know that there are pirate gangs operating around here, but no one knows exactly where. Unless this is a trap…? Leandray glanced over his shoulder to sneak a glance at Canen, but instead of her not noticing she was looking right back at him. She knows something. Dammit! Ancestors, why can’t things take a break for the better? Just this once.

“So, what’s the plan Canen?”

He decided to engage her in small talk whilst he figured out her intentions. But he knew that Luone was a smart smuggler – she’d outwitted him this far, but he also knew that while she would go along with a modicum of conversation she wouldn’t allow him to gain the upper hand. She smiled.

“Your ship is about three klicks to the north.”

“That’s right.” Aurie had nothing if not an excellent sense of direction.

“Well I want you to take us east for another six klicks.”

Leandray frowned and twitched again. Six klicks? What would be there, apart from her ship? Or my dreaded trap.

“What’s there?”

“You’ll soon see. Now drive.”

Canen eased back into the seat and retracted the Blaster nozzle from Leandrays neck. He relaxed a fraction but the knot of doubt twisted tighter in his gut.

Darkness totally shrouded the landscape and Aurie was flying on instinct alone. Pale reflections of rocks and boulders were outlined for him and using his skills and knowledge of speeders and difficult terrain’s he managed to avoid them. But why won’t she let me use the headlights? It would make this difficult and frustrating trip just that bit easier. A few brief minutes later the mountain range began to break up and soon they were surrounded by a tight valley, which they were barrelling down at almost 150 Kilometres per hour. Aurie hated it. It looked like a trap. It felt like a trap. It smelled like a trap. I should know – I’ve set enough of them. Canen leaned forward from her comfortable position and leaned over the seat, the Blaster sitting ominously beside her aimed at Aurie.

“Okay, I think it’s time I levelled with you.”

Aurie raised his eyebrows. Level with him already? Surely that would take all the fun of the gloat out of it for her? He nodded and slowed the speeder down a notch.

“You came directly from Croox where you had a lead on my whereabouts. You’ve been actively tracking me for about three weeks. Am I right?”

Aurie nodded calmly. She was absolutely right. Dammit!

“I’ve been here for a while. My ship was damaged in a tussle with another bounty hunter by the name of Tarr Ranth. I was lucky enough to evade him and struggle here to Ruuthorne. My ship was wrecked by the impact and I was in a bad way…until I was found.”

Aurie turned to her at this. Found?

“You were lucky to survive an encounter with Ranth, that’s for sure. But you were found? By who? Imperials?”

Canen laughed out loud, a throaty laugh, which echoed around the canyon walls and made Aurie tighten with nervousness. What’s so funny?

“Imperials out here? You certainly have a fine sense of humour for a Leandray. I was found by Tralat Durge.”

Aurie released the speed activator of the speeder and allowed it to bob to a halt. Canen didn’t flinch as the momentum ebbed and Aurie twisted in his seat to face her.

“Tralat Durge? The Pirate King?”

“The same. I would have been dead if it wasn’t for his intervention.”

“Perhaps it would have been better for you if you were.” Aurie shook his head. “Do you have any idea what kind of atrocities Durge has committed over the years?”

Canen nodded and stood up, stepping over from the rear into the front seat. Aurie watched with dumb fascination as she sat and turned to engage him again,

“I’ve heard stories, sure. But from what I’ve seen Durge is looking to go legit. He just needs the right opportunity.”

Leandray gagged at that.

“The right opportunity! Can you hear yourself? You’ve crashed on the most dangerous planet in the sector and your talking about opportunities?” He looked her up and down. “You must have taken a harder knock when you crashed than you thought.”

Canen frowned and brought the guns profile into the moonlight again.

“Don’t forget who’s in charge here.”

“I know who’s in charge. Durge is.”

Canen nodded and pointed towards a narrow crack in the canyon walls.

“That’s correct. Let’s go.”

Aurie turned back to the steering column and gunned the engine, turning towards the entrance. The narrow aperture opened into a wide avenue, leading through the red rocks deeper into the canyon. Aurie relaxed, resigned to his fate. Enough goes wrong by itself without me wishing up worse scenarios. Leandray turned to face Canen again.

“What about my ship? I don’t like the idea of leaving it out there if there are pirates scrambling about.”

Almost before he managed to get the final word out he was greeted by the sight of his starship the Avansis sitting patiently at the rear of a large cavern surrounded by various designs of ship and speeder. He smiled to himself. I should have expected that one. He parked the speeder next to an XP-38 that was rusting quietly in a corner and waited for Canen to exit the speeder. He paused as he followed her.

“By the way Luone. How did you manage to get the power drain into my speeder?”

She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

“It’s been there for years. Ever since we had that little encounter on Janos.”

Leandray smiled despite himself. Their `encounter’ on Janos six years ago had been a shoot-out in a small town and had very nearly got them both killed. They had done well to escape the attentions of the Janos Executioners who had mobilised themselves with haste and arrived on the scene. In fact, it was only due to Aurie having his trusty speeder with him that he managed to get back to the Avansis and escape. He smiled with realisation.

“You slipped the power drain in while you were hanging onto the hood?”

“That’s right. Remember you tried to pop the hood and throw me off? Well, I grabbed the radiator grill and sneaked it in then. Once we reached the landing platforms I rolled off and made it back to my ship.” She grinned. “As soon as I knew you were coming here I activated the signal. You landed, the power drain activated and your batteries began seeping.”

Aurie Leandray focused back to his present dilemma.

“So what will happen to me now? I guess you’d make some good credits cashing me in.”

“Actually no. Your bounty is hardly worth the effort to collect. You’re worth more alive.”

Leandray shrugged sadly. Even in defeat I’m a worthless prize. Canen continued.

“As you may have guessed this is one of Durges bases here on Ruuthorne. He has a few scattered across the planet and a few hidden in asteroids orbiting the planet.”

“Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you worried I’ll tell the New Republic about it?”

Canen smiled, and Aurie swallowed slowly.

“Tell who? You’re not going anywhere. Durge has your ship, and soon he’ll have your loyalty.”

“Oh? And what makes you think he’ll get my loyalty?”

“Because if he doesn’t he’ll have your hairy hide pinned to a corridor wall to remind folks how inadvisable it is to decline his offer of employment.”

Aurie nodded quickly. Incentive indeed. He paused for a second and glanced upwards. Canen couldn’t quite make out what he was doing, or what he was saying in a muted voice, but it appeared to be a private conversation with someone who was no longer there, so she let him be. When he’d finished she waited for him to catch up.

“Talking to the ancestors?”

Aurie looked at her in surprise.

“Yes, actually. I was praying for forgiveness to my uncle Uvic.”

“Forgiveness for what? Pardon me for saying but you’re not known for following through with things.”

Aurie smiled.

“I was praying that he’d forgive me for lacking the strength to resist the temptation of my continued existence. That I wouldn’t be joining him in the afterlife quite yet. And that even though all Leandrays are born to be bounty hunters, perhaps there is some latitude that allows one to become a pirate.”

Canen nodded and folded her arms.

“A wise prayer.” She eyed him closely. “Maybe there’s hope for the Leandray family after all.” She continued her walk towards the entry post as Aurie stared after her. He waited until she was out of earshot before he whispered to himself.

“A wise man once said that if a man has nothing to live for then he has nothing to die for. I’ve got to live, if only to find a good reason to die.” He twisted on the spot, taking in the full view of the cavern. “And maybe this hell-hole is a good place to start."

Standing in Shadow

1999 short story by Mark Newbold

Six years after Episode IV – A New Hope

Histories – This short story tells the tale of the bounty hunter Aurie Leandray and his attempts to break out of the shadow of his legendary Uncle Uvic Leandray, a bounty hunter who prospered during the later days of the Old Republic. Desperate to apprehend Canen Luone, Leandray winds up on the desolate world of Ruuthorne, location of the massive Rebel/Imperial battle in The Search Continues. Unbeknownst to him, the planet is the base of self-declared pirate king Tralat Durge.

Cast of Characters

Aurie Leandray

Canen Luone