"You know I'm starting to feel more like Cid's errand boy." Echo grumbled as the group made their way back to the parlor. They dropped off weapons, it was a simple mission.
"It's easy credits, Echo." Hunter stated.
"And besides," Tech cut in. "With the recent events of Kamino and Aurora's urge to lay low. Simple missions like this fit the criteria."
"I wanna blow something up." Wrecker groaned.
The group descended the steps and into the parlor. It was almost empty, except for Cid's regulars, Ketch and Bolo.
"Where's Aurora?" Omega asked and the group looked over to the bar. It was currently unoccupied.
"No clue." Hunter said. "You and Wrecker stay here. We'll go talk to Cid."
The three of them started to walk to Cid's office when they heard Wrecker. "Come on kid! Let's go get some mix!"
"Okay!" Omega cheerfully responded.
The three of them paused at the closed door. They could hear two people talking on the other side.
"-you understand the plan? Take this man out. The contact assisting you should be here soon." Cid finished talking when the boys walked through the door. Aurora was leaning against her holo-table.
"Sounds good to me." Aurora agreed.
"What's going on?" Hunter asked.
"Nothing that concerns you." Cid pointed out. "Did you make the drop?"
"Yes we did." Echo said, crossing his arms.
"What's going on?" Hunter asked again.
Aurora looked to Cid, still staying silent. "A mission for Aurora, don't worry about it."
Hunter also folded his arms. "She's part of my squad. If she's going on a mission I need to know about it."
Cid looked at Aurora who shrugged. "She's going to take out a man."
"Take out a man?" Hunter questioned. "Is this a bad man?"
"Who knows?" Cid shrugged. "But the credits are paying too well to pass up."
"I don't think I approve of this." Hunter said.
"You're right." Cid told Aurora.
"What is she right about?" Tech asked.
"She didn't want to tell you boys." Cid said.
Hunter turned to Aurora. "You weren't going to tell me?"
Aurora removed herself from the holo-table. "Because you were going to freak out. Like you're doing now." She pointed out. "It's fine, I've killed for less. I'm going to some club. Take him out and I'll be back before anyone notices I'm gone."
"Who are you going with?" Tech questioned.
"I don't know, someone Cid knows." Aurora said.
"You don't know who you'll be working with?" Hunter questioned.
Aurora started walking towards the door. "Hunter, you're being dramatic. I'll be fine."
The three boys followed her out the door and back to the bar. Ketch and Bolo were gone at this point. "What kind of club is this?" Echo asked.
"It's best I don't say." Aurora vaguely said.
"Aurora, what kind of club is it?" Hunter asked again.
Aurora paused and turned to face them. "It's an exotic club. I'm posing as a dancer, it's fine. I've done this before."
"You've done this before?" Hunter crossed his arms again.
"Yes I'll be fine-" Aurora started when someone cut her off.
"By the maker I don't believe it! Aurora Ealis?!" The four of them heard an excited squeal of someone they didn't recognize. They boys all looked at each other as they all learned Aurora's last name finally. Hunter looked back at her and saw Aurora was all ridged and her face was pale.
Aurora slowly turned and they saw a green Twi-lek entering the bar. "Rhea..." she cautiously said.
"You're alive!" Rhea, the Twi-lek said. Hunter could pick up on the fakeness she was giving. She walked up to Aurora and gave her a hug which made Aurora stiffen even more. "You have no idea how much I missed you!"
"I bet..." Aurora warily said.
"We all thought you were dead!" Rhea exclaimed. "We all mourned. I mean I didn't want to believe you blew up in that building-"
"Why are you here Rhea?" Aurora cut her off.
"Because I'm here to bring someone to The Gentlemen's Club on Lafete." Rhea said.
"No." Aurora said in disbelief.
"No way!" Rhea smiled. "We're doing the mission together! It'll be like old time sake!" Rhea leaned in and whispered. "He misses you, you know?"
Aurora pushed her away. "Back off!" Rhea laughed and Hunter put his arm around her waist and pulled her back.
"Easy now Aurora." Hunter warned.
"Aw and who's this?" Rhea questioned.
"None of your business." Aurora retorted.
"Aw," Rhea put on her fake girl act some more. "Aren't we friends Aurora? You're not going to introduce me to your little boy toy."
Hunter could feel Aurora getting fired up and held her tighter. "Aurora..."
"Is your Lothal-kitten boyfriend here to protect you? How cute." Rhea smiled.
Aurora went to jump forward but Hunter pulled her back. "Watch it." Aurora warned.
Rhea leaned forward. "He's going to be so happy to know you're alive." She said but everyone picked up on her threatening undertone turned and started to walk towards the door.
"Aurora." Hunter tried to get her attention but her sights were set on the Twi-lek.
"You bitch!" She pushed Hunter away from her but what he didn't realize is that in the process she grabbed his vibro-blade and went towards Rhea. She grabbed one of her Lekku's and yanked her head down. In the process she lifted her knee up and connected with her head. Everyone heard the sound of a crack and Rhea cried out in pain.
"You hit me!" She screamed.
"I plan to do more than that." Aurora threatened. With a closed fist around Hunter's knife she punched her with the butt of the knife.
"I'll kill you!" Rhea said.
Rhea screamed and jumped onto top of Aurora and started to punch her. Hunter walked forward to stop them but Echo stopped Hunter.
"That's a fight you don't want to get involved in. This seems personal." Echo said. "You may get caught in the crossfire."
Aurora got her foot under Rhea and lifted her over her head, while screaming. She climbed on top of her and started to punch her in the face. She didn't see Rhea grab her dagger.
"Perhaps we should stop them." Tech stated. "They both have weapons now."
Rhea brought her dagger to Aurora's face and sliced down on the side of her eyebrow. Aurora cried out in pain, loosening her grip and Rhea took the opportunity to push her off her and Rhea pinned her to the ground.
"I'm going to make you suffer!" She wrapped her hands around Aurora's neck and started applying pressure.
"Aurora!" Hunter yelled and they started running towards the girls. Wrecker and Omega had just walked into the building and everyone paused when they heard one of the girls cry out in pain. Everyone looked at the two of them and no one was moving. After a moment of silence, Aurora pushed Rhea off her and they saw Hunter's vibro-blade in Rhea's abdomen. Rhea collapsed to the ground and Aurora climbed on top of her and pulled out the knife.
"I hate you!" Aurora screamed and plunged the knife into her gut again and repeated it over and over. Hunter ran over to Aurora. Cid walked out of her office at this point, hearing all the screaming.
"Aurora, stop!" Hunter forcibly pulled her off of Rhea's body. "She's dead, Aurora!" Aurora continued to swing the knife.
"Let me go!" Aurora screamed.
"Give me the knife." Hunter grabbed her wrist and twisted it, making Aurora drop the knife.
"What's going on out here?" Cid demanded.
Aurora turned her head and pushed Hunter off of her. "You!"
Cid saw the corpse on her floor. "What did you do?"
"You know what you did!" Aurora screamed. "You did this on purpose!"
"I didn't know you knew her!" Cid exclaimed. "How was I supposed to know?"
Aurora jabbed her chest. "You slimy lizard, you knew exactly. Don't play stupid. I know your tricks."
"You better watch yourself Rainbow. I know some powerful people." Cid threatened.
"NO!" Aurora screamed in her face. "You don't know anyone. I have powerful friends and I am not afraid to use them!"
"Are you threatening me?" Cid folded her arms.
"I am promising you." Aurora lowered her tone.
"Aurora?" Omega finally spoke up and Aurora looked back at everyone. They all saw the cut on her eyebrow profusely bleeding and blood coming from the corner of her mouth. She turned back to Cid.
"You better watch yourself, Ciddarian." Aurora said and turned around.
"Aurora-" Hunter started but she walked right by everyone and out the door.
The group turned back to Cid who shrugged her shoulders. "What are you staring at? Get rid of the body." Hunter turned back to the others.
"Someone should check on Aurora." Omega said.
"Yea, Hunter you go." Echo said. "We'll take care of this."
"Are you sure?" Hunter said.
"Yea, we'll be alright." Wrecker said. "Aurora got beat up pretty good."
"Hey bandana." Cid said and he turned his attention to her. "She's still going on that mission. You all better leave right after this is cleaned up."
Hunter turned away from Cid and walked out the door. He knelt on the ground and quickly found Aurora's footprints. They were heading to the Marauder and Hunter stood up and made his way to the ship.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hunter climbed up the steps of the Marauder and he saw Aurora standing next to Gonky. A med pack laid open on top of the droid and he watched as Aurora brought a shaking hand to her head. Hunter figured the shaking is either from the adrenaline, loss of blood, or her anxiety. He walked over to her.
"Here, let me." Hunter said, reaching for the gauze in her hand.
"I'm fine." She said.
He gently took the gauze and Aurora didn't fight back. "I'm sure you are." He carefully started to wipe the wound on her eyebrow. "She got you good."
"Pfft." Aurora rolled her eyes, turning her attention away from him. "This is nothing."
"Mhm." Hunter focused on her wound.
The two of them were quiet. Aurora felt tension in the air and the silence started to drive her crazy.
"Go on, say it." She said, breaking the silence.
"Say what?" He said, as he placed the gauze down and grabbed some bandages.
"You finally know my full name."
Hunter was quiet as he carefully placed the bandage on.
"Aurora Ealis..." He grabbed another gauze and started to wipe the dried blood off the side of her mouth. "It has a nice ring to it."
She turned her attention back to him. Hunter had a hand on the side of her neck, while the other hand cleaned the blood. "Well go on, tell me how you plan to find out all my deep dark secrets."
Hunter sighed. "We're not going to do that."
"Why not?"
Hunter had finished wiping her mouth but his hand lingered on her neck. "Because I want you to tell us when you are ready, and if you don't want to then we will respect your wishes."
"What about the article?"
"I didn't realize Tech had done that until after. I had spoken to him and said not to do it again."
Aurora looked at Hunter, she realized the position they were in and she backed up. "Thanks."
Hunter nodded. "You know Cid still wants you to go on this mission."
"Figures."
"We don't have to go if you don't want to do this."
"It's fine, like Cid said, easy credits."
"Is it easy credits?"
"Yea, seduce a man, kill him, and I get paid." She winked at him. "Like taking candy from a baby."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Marauder had touched down on Lafete. Aurora had come out from behind the curtain that separated Hunter's cot from the rest of the ship. She had her cloak on that hidden what she was wearing underneath. Hunter noticed her hair was in curls.
"You know it's not too late to turn around." Hunter commented yet again.
Aurora waved a dismissive hand. "It's fine, just relax. You'll be there in case anything goes wrong." She walked to the door as it opened. "Just remember to show up later than me so it doesn't look suspicious."
"Understood." Tech typed on his data pad.
"Good luck!" Omega waved.
Aurora left the ship and made the short walk to the club. She snuck in through the back and saw many different women all walking around in the back in various exotic clothing. Most very revealing.
"You're not one of my dancers." Someone stated. "Who are you?" Aurora turned around and saw an orange Twi-lek walking towards her, she had on yellow pasties and a matching thong. She wore heels which made her much taller than Aurora.
"I'm on a mission I can't disclose." Aurora stated.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"You won't throw me out?" Aurora asked, the Twi-lek nodded. "Aurora."
"Your stage name?"
"My actual name."
The Twi-lek nodded. "Call me Spice. What's your mission? Maybe I can help."
"I have to take someone out. He's a regular here."
"I see. What's his name?"
"Sargent Davis."
"Sargent Davis..."
"You know him?"
"I do." Spice stated. "He's one of my regulars."
"Oh... he is?"
"Yea." Spice shrugged. "Good thing I won't miss him, he's a bad tipper. I want to help."
"You want to help?"
"I do. He loves his private dances, and he usually buys two girls. He's here now in the front row by the main stage. He's the blonde one, get his attention, loves eye contact. He loves new girls, get his attention I'll join you." Spice paused. "But under one condition."
Aurora raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"
"I get to stab him first."
Aurora smiled. "I can work with that." The two of them shook hands.
"You better get going then."
Aurora nodded and took off her cloak. Underneath was a dark blue top that criss-crossed in the front, the top just covered her breast. She also wore a color matching skirt where her ass hung out. She had on fishnets that clipped to the skirt, and her shoes were platform heels that were see through. She ran a hand through her hair, loosening the curls.
"Wish me luck, Spice." Aurora winked.
She climbed up the steps to the stage. She peaked out the curtain and saw it was a busy crowd. She leaned back, taking a deep breath, and walked out onto the stage. The room was dark but the stage lights were bright. She could hear men cheering and screaming as she walked out. Other dancers were also out on the stage with her. She scanned the crowd and she saw Hunter, Tech, and Echo all spread out. She and Hunter made eye contact and she winked at him. She made it to the front of the stage and as Spice said, Sargent Davis sat in the front leaning forward, already enamored with Aurora. Aurora grabbed the pole and took another deep breath.
Hunter watched as Aurora swung a leg around the poke and started spinning, he saw she was staring at one patron in particular and he wondered if that was her target. He had his arms folded.
"Jealous much?" Someone asked, walking up next to him.
Hunter kept his head straight but knew Echo moved next to him. "I'm not jealous, I just don't like this mission."
"So you don't like the mission," Echo commented. "But why are you making that face?"
"What face?"
"The face someone makes when they are jealous."
"I am not jealous." Hunter stated.
"Right..." Echo nodded. "Is that why you haven't taken your eyes off her?"
Hunter finally looked at him. "What?"
"This whole time she's been dancing, you haven't once looked around the room or even at me. You can admit it Hunter, Aurora looks hot."
"Excuse you?"
"I'm not going to lie about it." He shrugged. "That color blue looks good on her with those fishnets, and it helps that she has the confidence to wear those."
"Watch it." Hunter furrowed his brow and looked back at Aurora, she was on her knees now, leaning towards the man he noticed earlier, all her attention was on the man. Definitely her target. He thought. "We shouldn't think about her like that. She's our teammate."
"Ehh, you're right. We shouldn't." Echo nudged him. "But you can."
"I'm not."
Echo laughed. "Don't lie to yourself man."
Hunter continued to watch Aurora, he was trying to not let his mind wander but it was wandering anyway. "I'm not lying." he lied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The man in front of Aurora laid some credits on the stage and winked at her. She grabbed the credits and tucked them in her top. The man stood up and started to walk towards the private rooms. Aurora stood up too and walked to the back stage, Spice was waiting for her.
"Did it work?" Spice asked.
"Hey, a client wants you in room 4." A bouncer called to Aurora and pointed. "And he requested a friend."
Aurora smiled at Spice. "I'd say so. Ready?"
"Of course. Lead the way."
The two girls walked to the room Sargent Davis was in. They walked in and the man was sitting on the couch, he was leaning back and smiling.
"Hello ladies." He said as the two of them walked over. "Here to keep me company?"
"We're all yours." Spice walked behind him and started to run her hands on her shoulders.
"Would you like to introduce me to your friend, Spice?" He asked.
"Come find out." Aurora lifted her leg and placed it in between his legs. Sargent Davis leaned forward and kissed her thigh.
"Oh I will." He said. Aurora smiled at him and pushed him back against the couch. "Rough are we? I like that."
"You have no idea." Aurora said. Spice pulled her dagger out. Aurora covered his mouth right as she plunged the knife into his chest. Sargent Davis tried to scream but Aurora kept her hand over his mouth. She moved to straddle him and keep him pinned down and Spice stabbed him three more times. His struggles getting weaker and weaker. "Do it Spice."
"You're the boss." Spice said and moved the knife to his throat and sliced it. He struggled for a few more moments before he finally went limp.
Aurora got off him and brushed her hands on her skirt. "Perfect, mission accomplished."
"What will you do now?" Spice said, the two of them walked out of the room.
"Go back to Ord Mantell and continue with bounty hunting." The two of them paused. "Will you be in any trouble?"
"Naw." Spice said. "I'll think of something."
Aurora nodded. "Hey Spice. I know what it's like to be doing this kind of work. If you want a way out of this let me know. I know some people who can help."
"I appreciate the offer, but I choose to be here." Spice paused, looking past Aurora.
"What is it?"
"Your offer, can I extend it to another?"
Aurora nodded. "Of course."
Spice pointed past Aurora and she turned. Aurora saw a Togruta sitting away from everyone, she looked miserable. She had purple skin and matching purple and white montrals and lekku's. Her face had white markings that covered most of her face, around her eyes and forehead. Aurora noted that the markings looked like a butterfly. Under her lip she had three dots going down a line.
"Her name is Akattaa." Spice said. "She's practically a baby. The owner picked her up recently, but she doesn't belong here."
"How old is she?"
"Barley of age, she doesn't gain much attention of the patrons, they only really like the youngness of her and I'm afraid what might happen to her if she can't pull her weight." Spice sighed. "She's a sweet innocent girl, this lifestyle isn't for her. She only talks to me. From what little I gathered she was taken and has been sold. I assume she wants to go home."
"I'll take care of her Spice." Aurora turned back to her and the two of them shook hands. "And take care of yourself, my offer still stands if you change your mind."
Spice laughed. "Now get out of my club before you draw unwanted attention here."
Aurora smiled, grabbing her cloak, and walked over to the Togruta. She knelt down in front of the girl and the girl scooted back.
"No, no." Aurora whispered. "It's okay, I'm a friend, Akattaa."
"Who-who are you?" She whispered back.
"My name is Aurora, I'm here to get you out of here."
Akattaa shook her head. "This is a trick."
Aurora put a hand on her knee. "I promise it's not a trick. Spice told me about you."
"Spice did?"
"Yes, she wants to get you out of here as well. I have a ship nearby. I can take you wherever you want to go."
"You can take me home?!"
"If that's what you want, yes." Aurora stood up and held her hand out. "But we have to leave now."
Akatta took her hand. "Okay, but there's always a bouncer at the back door. How will we get past him?"
Aurora wrapped the cloak around Akattaa and put the hood up. She reached into the pocket and pulled out her comm-link. "Leave that to me." Aurora grabbed her hand and the two of them sped-walked to the backdoor. Like Akatta said, the bouncer stood blocking the exit. Aurora turned to Akattaa. "When I push this button we have to run. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Good, don't let go of my hand until we are on the ship." Aurora pushed the button and a few seconds later someone from a far shot the bouncer and once the bouncer dropped to the ground Aurora started running and Akattaa was right behind her.
"Aurora, glad to see you out of there." Echo said over the comms.
"Glad to hear your voice." Aurora responded. "Listen get the Marauder up and running, I have a friend and we may need to leave A-S-A-P."
"A friend? Aurora who are you bringing with you-" Hunter responded next but Aurora turned off her comms.
"How you doing Akattaa?" Aurora said, the two girls still running. Aurora saw the Marauder powering up in the distance.
"I'm starting to get a little tired." Akattaa said, sounding winded.
"We're almost there."
"Aurora, there's men behind us!" Akattaa yelled.
Aurora turned her head and saw Hunter, Echo, and Tech closing in on them. "They're alright. They are my friends." Aurora and Akattaa climbed on the ship.
"Aurora, who's that?" Omega asked.
"Tech get us out of here." Hunter said as the boys climbed on board. He turned his attention to Aurora and Akattaa. "Who is this?"
"Hunter relax." Aurora said. She felt Akattaa let go of Aurora, she turned and watched the Togruta back up away from them, looking scared. "Akattaa, it's okay."
"I-I-" Akattaa stuttered. Hunter watched as she wrapped Aurora's cloak tighter around herself.
"Come let's go." Aurora said and started to lead her to the back.
"Where are you going?" Hunter asked.
"We are going to change, then I will be out to explain everything." Aurora said, not turning around.
"Hunter, I need a destination." Tech called out.
"Where are we going?" Hunter asked them.
"Shili." Akattaa responded.