Star Wars IX- The Rise of Skywalker

Chapter 6- Kijimi

Zorii Bliss's Tylander shuttle drifted through the dark, snowy landscape of Kijimi towards the thieves' quarters. It was dark as she came through the low-lying cloud, but it was always dark on this planet. Its remote location from the primary sun in this sector was such that daylight, when it happened, was barely perceptible. She felt tense in her craft. She would be meeting an old friend from her days with the Resistance if a friend was what you could call their relationship. She couldn't allow him and his ways to distract her; she had something of great importance to give him. The future of the Galaxy relied upon the object she carried with her, an object she'd acquired from Crimson Dawn. The snow-covered mountains came into view as she glided through the low-lying clouds. Zorii had decided that keeping the relic aboard the ship within a smuggler's hold was safer than bringing it with her; the thieves' quarters were no place to carry such a valuable object. The First Order's desire for such artefacts was well-known, and the price they offered was highly inducing, but not to Zorii Bliss. She knew too well the power of the object, what it might give the right wielder, and no reward was worth it. She may be a thief, smuggler and bounty hunter, but she liked this Galaxy. Zorii liked living in it, and she had no intention of allowing it all to become stardust, which was why she'd contacted the Resistance and specifically her old friend- General Leia Organa. She landed her craft to plumes of snowy drifts close, but not too close, to the thieves' quarters near a well-placed exit. Should things go awry, and they often did, a fast escape may well be necessary.

Zorii left the cockpit and collected her helmet quickly, giving herself a glance at one of the reflective panels. Zorii fit the part of an alluring yet deadly bounty hunter. Her purple skinsuit, which did nothing to hide her feminine curves, complete with a gold helmet, cuffs and utility belt, held two gold blaster rifles that Zorii had specially made for her unique purposes. She was an expert in most weapons she'd ever used, but a blaster was quite simply sometimes just more efficient in dealing with an adversary quickly. Those challengers who attempted to engage her based upon her slight womanly frame learnt the error of their ways all too quickly. Her natural feminine physicality could be extremely useful with certain weak males, so exploiting that weakness through her outfit seemed a natural advantage. She wondered to herself what her old friend would think of seeing her again. She shook her head. Focus Zorii. The helmet served two purposes; as a human, it helped to give a sense of mystery to her persona, but as a bounty hunter, anonymity was essential. She placed her helmet on and pressed the button that would release the hatch to her ship. As the hatch opened, gusts of wind with flakes of snow drifted inwards, and she braced herself as the chilly air cooled her skin. Within her helmet, she smiled. She loved this cold, desolate rock.

The thieves' quarters were carved into the rocky outpost, though there were human-made structures- an external wall and extensions to naturally occurring caves to make more substantial buildings. She headed towards an entrance within the wall, then turned to a set of steps. The steps led her to an underground bar carved into the rocky terrain, where she'd meet with the Resistance. She acquired a drink from the bartender, sat in a dark corner and waited, scanning the other thieves and bounty hunters with a hand casually on her blaster. One could never be too careful. Within the bar, Zorii saw humans, humanoids and creatures challenging to explain. A wretched den of lowlifes and villains from the lowest star systems drunk on spiced liquor, not one of which could be trusted. A green reptilian Rodain with lidless eyes sat with a serpent-like looking female Dathomirian, all yellow and red, a strange vertical squid-like creature with countless tentacles that swayed this way and that each with its own individual eyeball. Handy to be able to look in so many directions, Zorii mused to herself. A barely dressed Twi'lek danced provocatively for a table of reclining enormous hairless beasts with massive blunt teeth protruding from grim set mouths revelling in the base pleasures the nubile dancer invited. Twi'leks Zorii reflected that they were born beautiful and seemed sadly drawn to such life choices that made the most of their perfect formations- pleasure slaves, concubines and dancers. A band of bug-eyed Bith played the music that the Twi'lek danced to, another species apparently designed for particular vocations; Bith were known to be scientists or musicians. Zorii sipped her drink through a metal tube; she could not afford to remove her mask. However, she thought to herself, those who knew her would surely recognise the distinctive ensemble in which she was dressed.