[Fic] Take it or Leave it

[Diego Varen]

Star Wars - Take it or Leave it

Bounty hunter, Zor Krel was running as fast as he could. In a state of panic and desperation, he had abandoned his partner in crime, to the opposing forces that were the loyal soldiers of the Sith Empire.

 

As the middle-aged bounty hunter climbed over an old wooden barricade for what seemed like the hundredth time, he panted for breath. Ever since he had deserted his associate, he hadn’t even stopped for a quick break. Even with his very good escape from the Sith soliders, he had a feeling that they would be following him, not allowing a victim of their sick experimentations to slip away as easily as he did. He looked around, but he didn’t see anyone. His theory had obviously been wrong.

 

After checking to make sure that he hadn’t been followed and to make sure that he caught his breath back, Zor continued to leave the catacombs of the Sith base, this time at a slow jog.

 

As he continued his jog, however a sudden thought of guilt wracked in the back of his brain. Guilt was something that Zor had never felt or thought of before, so why was he thinking about it now? Was it the fact that he had left his collaborator to die? Or was it something else? Something that Zor had been trying to avoid for a while now.

 

“Should I or shouldn’t I?” Zor asked himself, as he slowed to a gentle walk, “Take it or leave it?”

 

At that point, Zor reached into his belt and pulled out the part that he had been after for some time. Despite its small size, the part that Zor had took before his escape was worth a lot of credits and in his opinion, it was very hard to come by something that small, which was worth a lot more than most people would care to believe, unless told by an expert.

 

“What should I do?” Zor continued to ask himself furiously, “Should I save her?”

 

But if he saved her, what would that mean for him? Would that mean death? Would he become a servant of the Sith? Would that cause his life to become a lifetime of pain and depression?

 

The thing was that Zor had never considered risking his own life for anyone else before. He had never felt remorse over losing a partner before, whether they were good or bad at what they did, or whether they were trustworthy or a traitor or whether they were useful or not.

 

“So say I decide to save her,” Zor began to consider, “If I die, at least I wouldn’t have to pay that Hutt slime ball and he’ll be regretting the day he sent me on a dangerous mission. But if I survive, no matter what condition I’m in, he’ll be sending some dangerous idiots of his after me.”

 

The thought of returning to save his favourite partner, companion and friend was starting to sound a lot better than it did before. Zor was aging and even a sly and ruthless bounty hunter like him, couldn’t get away with death for too long. Death was going to happen sooner or later, no matter whether he liked it or not.

 

So with those thoughts, Zor finally made his mind up, as he returned the small part back into his belt.

 

“I’m going to save you!” Zor loudly declared to himself, feeling unafraid of whatever was going to happen next, before he sighed and added, “Take it or leave it.”

 

---------------

 

Former Jedi Knight, Sera Tana waited impatiently for the fate that awaited her. Sith soliders were preparing a strange machine, which Sera suspected would probably play a part in her upcoming death.

 

In her mind, Sera was still cursing that Bantha poodoo that was her partner (or rather ex-partner) for betraying her. Fame, fortune and glory had taken over his egotistical ego, as he had left her to die alone, with nothing worthwhile to do as she did it. In a way, she didn’t fear death. With the life that she had been living recently, she couldn’t care less if she was going to be killed or not. Being a Jedi meant something, while being a bounty hunter just meant a mere existence, which wasn’t worth living in the first place.

 

---------------

 

Despite the fact that he could collapse and pass out at any minute, Zor was refusing to allow his unfit stature to give in and he hoped that he wasn’t too late to save the woman that he thought he loved, otherwise his plan would be in vain.

 

He was getting closer, ever so closer to the catacombs and the Sith squad that held his partner captive.

 

---------------

 

“Prepare this scum for the machine,” the leader of the Sith soldiers spat.

 

“Don’t keep me waiting,” Sera spat back, “If you’re going to kill me, just kill me and prove to me how scary you’re supposed to be.”

 

---------------

 

Peering from behind a wall, Zor watched as the Sith soldiers strengthened their grip on his partner, as if they thought she could escape like he did. Like a hero (as he liked to believe), Zor leapt from behind the wall and allowed the Sith soldiers to look at him. Zor wondered if under their helmets, their faces were contorted with shock, but he was pleased to notice that his partner’s certainly was.

 

“I’m back!” Zor announced, “And I’m here to save you, Kira, Sera or whatever you call yourself.”

 

Sera’s eyes rolled in embarrassment. Whether it was because of the silly attempt at threatening the enemy or not, Zor could tell that she still thought he was an idiot, because he was still trying to figure out her proper name, after she had told him the revelation of her true name (since Kira Natasare wasn’t her real name, or so he had been led to believe). He believed that Sera was her true name, but even he wasn’t so sure.

 

“Let go of my friend!” Zor demanded, as he raised his blaster pistol at the villains that stood in front of him.

 

“Why should we?” one of the soldiers asked.

 

“Well because she’s Sith material,” Zor told them, hoping his pathetic lies would work, “After all, she was a Jedi once, you know and if you use her for your sick experimentations, you’ll be killing off a potential servant of the Sith. With me, you’ll be killing off another lowlife and whatever my fate will be, it won’t matter to you at all.”

 

At this point, Zor could tell that the Sith were thinking about it. He had been expecting a long discussion over this, but the Sith soon made up their mind.

 

“Okay,” the Sith replied, “Release the girl and use him.”

 

Zor was still surprised at their quick decision, but he didn’t particularly care. As Sera approached him, Zor decided to entrust her with the task that he and Sera had originally gone on together.

 

“Take this part and find that stupid Hutt,” Zor told her, “Pay off my debt and once you’ve done that, feel free to keep my ship, take it or leave it. You deserve it, my friend.”

 

And that was the first time that Zor had ever considered anyone a friend.

 

“But, I lied to you,” Sera told him, “My intentions were a lie.”

 

“It doesn’t matter now,” Zor told her, “You’re worth so much more than what I ever could be. Now go, get out of here.”

 

“I can’t,” Sera whispered.

 

“Go now!” Zor shouted, as the Sith grabbed him.

 

Sera ran off close to tears, as Zor allowed himself to be dragged across to the nearby machine. With the part taken away from the machine, who knew what that would do to Zor.

 

So the Sith strapped Zor to the machine, allowing him no chance of escape this time around. Closing the machine, the Sith switched the machine. As Zor felt something running through his body, he had no regrets, no secret desires. He was going to live or die a happy man and as his entire body began to hurt more and more, Zor gave off a loud scream.

 

---------------

 

“Why Zor?” Sera asked, as the scream ceased, “What were your real intentions for saving me?”

 

But even that didn’t bother her, as she allowed her hand to clasp over the part. She still had work to do and in honour of her sometimes-unfaithful companion, she would pay off the debt that he had worked so hard to pay off.

 

“Thank you, Zor Krel,” Sera muttered to herself, as she left, “It was fun.”

 

And at that point, Sera remembered Zor’s favourite saying and she acknowledged it, in honour of his memory.

 

“Take it or leave it.”

 

The End

[The_Catto]

Sera Tana strikes back! It's been a while Diego! A while indeed!

I see you still have an edge for the writings of good Star Wars fiction.

I liked the title and how you incorporated that into the story.

 

Awesome work!

[Ztalker]

Hmm...an old guy sacrificing himself for the new generation...might be a good idea for the Legacy writers to do that in the future.

 

Your story is a whole lot more believable then a 69 year old Han Solo still flying around like a young smuggler

 

Anyways, excellent as always...

[Bee Hoon]

Hey there! Your writing is really improving by leaps and bounds:) For example, describing how he was panting for breath. A bit more detail into how he escaped would have been good, since I imagine that a former Jedi (I presume this is the Exile, since you've used Sera in previous fics?), what more a general would be able to handle herself reasonably well in a fight. The Sith's interest in her is also somewhat questionable, since I gauge this to be during her exile, when she was wandering around as a biiiig hole in the Force. But then again, that very well might be the source of their interest, yet rule out their ready acceptance of Zor in her stead.

 

In any case, I still feel that the Sith would not have let her off so easily (and they must be pretty silly to not have posted any guards!).

 

The ending was fitting... Perhaps he would not have disapproved of such homage:P

 

Overall, your writing is improving steadily, so keep it up! Good job on this story, but a bit more details plot-wise would have been nifty.

[igyman]

A very very big improvement when it comes to style. Bee Hoon already commented on the ups and downs story-wise so I'll only add that when it comes to descriptions even with the enormous improvement there were some things that you could have formulated better, things like "egotistical ego" and "waited patiently for the fate awaiting her".

Overall, I think the fic is pretty good, so keep it up.

[Diego Varen]

These new updates are good. The multiple-quote function is really useful and saves me a bit of time. Anyway, time to reply to comments.

 

Sera Tana strikes back! It's been a while Diego! A while indeed!

I see you still have an edge for the writings of good Star Wars fiction.

I liked the title and how you incorporated that into the story.

 

Awesome work!

 

Thanks Mr_BFA. Yes it's been a while and I've been off writing Star Wars for a while, but I've felt that this is a good comeback. And yes, usually I like my titles of my fan fics to mean something through the story. Not always, but usually.

 

Hmm...an old guy sacrificing himself for the new generation...might be a good idea for the Legacy writers to do that in the future.

 

Your story is a whole lot more believable then a 69 year old Han Solo still flying around like a young smuggler

 

Anyways, excellent as always...

 

Well I haven't read the Legacy series or many Star Wars novels for that matter, but I doubt I've done better than licensed writers who write for a living.

 

Thanks anyway.

 

Hey there! Your writing is really improving by leaps and bounds:) For example, describing how he was panting for breath. A bit more detail into how he escaped would have been good, since I imagine that a former Jedi (I presume this is the Exile, since you've used Sera in previous fics?), what more a general would be able to handle herself reasonably well in a fight. The Sith's interest in her is also somewhat questionable, since I gauge this to be during her exile, when she was wandering around as a biiiig hole in the Force. But then again, that very well might be the source of their interest, yet rule out their ready acceptance of Zor in her stead.

 

In any case, I still feel that the Sith would not have let her off so easily (and they must be pretty silly to not have posted any guards!).

 

The ending was fitting... Perhaps he would not have disapproved of such homage:P

 

Overall, your writing is improving steadily, so keep it up! Good job on this story, but a bit more details plot-wise would have been nifty.

 

As always, I'm always pleased and in a way, honoured to recieve an in-depth review from you, Bee Hoon. I'm glad I've improved in your opinion, as I too feel I have and I agree that I need to include more details, as this is something I usually have trouble with.

 

And to answer your question, Sera is the Jedi Exile, during her years after her exile and before the events of The Sith Lords.

 

A very very big improvement when it comes to style. Bee Hoon already commented on the ups and downs story-wise so I'll only add that when it comes to descriptions even with the enormous improvement there were some things that you could have formulated better, things like "egotistical ego" and "waited patiently for the fate awaiting her".

Overall, I think the fic is pretty good, so keep it up.

 

Thanks for the review, igyman, as always. Sometimes, I do try to sound a little too good with descriptions, but I'm glad you pointed this out.

[Tysyacha]

I voted for this fic because I loved the combination of comedy and drama! It was expertly done, and I liked how Zor found someone worth fighting and dying for.