The Bad Batch: Unlikely Ally, Unlikely Love

Chapter 2 : Now

Six Years Later
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Batuu: Black Spire Outpost
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Kira's eyes fluttered open as she heard a loud, whooping cheer. Someone won a bet at darts no doubt. Why be so rude when she was trying to nap? She should know better than that. Oga's Cantina was anything but quiet.

Kira pushed her drink away. Too much alcohol made her drowsy. Oga made her specialties lighter than average for Kira but sometimes it was still too much. Kira wasn't much of a drinker anyway; she didn't care for the way it fogged her mind. She liked to always be ready in case she had to fight. But once in a while, she did like a bit of Bespin Fizz or Jet Juice. The snack bits weren't bad to munch on either.

Oga was rather kind to her and she wasn't kind to many. Kira won her good side over right from the start. She helped...eliminate all the debts Oga owed. By all the favors she did for that alien, Kira had a long time ahead of good food and drinks whenever she wanted it. A promising future for someone like her.

Oga sort of ran Black Spire Outpost, or hired enough hands so she could. She was indeed someone you listened to or you disappeared. Kira knew people like her as that's pretty much who she grew up with. They were sort of using each other but she can proudly say she's the only one around that can call her Auntie Oga and not get shot. So maybe their relationship was a bit more than just business, or Kira liked to think so.

Kira got up from her booth, looking over at some patrons dancing in front of the beloved droid, DJ R3X. Technically a former pilot droid from the famed Star Tours, a planet sight-seeing tours that ran galaxy-wide, but it was reprogrammed to work here. It didn't seem to mind it either, as it danced to the music it mixed and broadcasted into the room. Not that it could think otherwise due to the programming.

The place had a nice atmosphere. The bartenders were friendly and flirty in the center ring bar, R3X took the north end, and the rest of the darker, circular establishment was full of booths and stand up tables. You could eat and drink heartily in here, as long as you paid up. No one was stupid enough to cry poor in here. Not at Oga's Cantina.

Kira passed most of the patrons and looked off towards a holographic projection coming from a datpad attached to the stone wall. Most bounty hunters, like herself, were able to find a face on the list that was worth a good hunt. So far the offerings have have running a bit dry. The Empire has "cracked down" on criminals, but Kira knew better. Probably hiring them behind closed doors to do their dirty work.

The bounty hunter life indeed called her. It sort of just happened. She started out with doing favors for Oga and word soon spread. She started to make a name for herself and started doing jobs for more and more people. Now she was known around here as a proper hunter, whether it was for bounties or shady jobs. Shadow didn't turn it down, as long as there was good pay. She was learning quickly what it meant to work and earn credits, since the Inquisitors always provided everything for her. Life was hard but she was thankfully good at adjusting and evolving to the times.

Shadow stood between a few other bounty hunters, looking at the rotating options on the holographic list. So many weren't even worth their time. Either too cheap or too much effort. At least her face never rotated through here. Not that anyone really knew what she looked like. She was good at concealing herself.

The Empire did touch down shortly after she arrived here. They didn't seem to be searching for her, more so like exploring their options about perhaps taking another planet over. And no Inquisitor never returned, or at least she never saw any. She wondered what happened to the Grand Inquisitor. He technically failed at keeping her there...hopefully he was dead. It was better off that way.