"Now that we're actually looking at her, she doesn't look like the bounty." One of the Trandoshans said.
"Any human can change their hair, Ryker." The other said.
"No, not the hair, Bouse." 'Ryker' said. "I mean her face, she looks older and she has a daughter and the bounty didn't say anything about a child."
"Maybe whoever is looking for her doesn't care about the child." 'Bouse' said.
"I don't know." Ryker disagreed. "I mean if anything I would care more about my possible child more than anything."
Aurora groaned and picked her head up, slowly opening her eyes. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but once they focused she saw she was on the floor of a cell. She looked through the bars and saw two Trandoshans looking at her.
Act dumb. "W-where am I?" Aurora rubbed her head and looked at the Trandoshans, she needed to convince them they had the wrong girl. Aurora eyes grew wide and she scooted back until her back hit the wall. "Who-who are you?!"
One of the Trandoshans walked to the front of the cell. "Well look who is awake now, our guest."
Aurora stood up and brushed herself off. She had to think of something. "Guest?!" She scoffed. "Don't you know who I am?"
The other Trandoshan hissed. "Enlighten us."
"I am the QUEEN of Alderaan and once my husband the SENATOR of Alderaan finds out you kidnapped me he will be furious and take action." Aurora lectured.
"The Queen?" The one closest to the cell questioned. "Bouse, what if she is the queen?"
"What if?" Aurora put a hand on her chest in disgust. "What if? I am Breha Organa!"
"She's bluffing, Ryker." Bouse said.
"She has a child though and we know The Queen of Alderaan does have a child." Ryker said.
"My daughter?" Aurora asked. "If you harmed a single hair on her head I will make sure you face an unholy wrath."
"The child remains unharmed." Another hissed. Aurora watched as another Trandoshan climbed down a ladder, he was much bigger than the other two. Once he looked at Aurora she saw a giant scar that went through his right eye, that eye staying closed. She had to look up at him.
"Boss!" Ryker bowed.
"Ghidorah!" Bouse said at the same time, also bowing.
"I hope they are not pestering you. Now what did you say your name was again? Breha?" Ghidorah asked.
"That is Queen Breha of Alderaan to you." Aurora firmly said.
Ghidorah laughed. "Is that so?"
"I am the queen."
"And what was the queen doing on a seedy planet like Ord Mantell."
"Sightseeing with my family." Aurora crossed her arms. "Now I would like to be taken back to my planet and to my family if you are so kind... Ghidorah is it?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, my queen."
"Why not."
"You look somewhat familiar on a bounty and well, let's just say we are going to see this bounty through. No way you are getting out of this Queen Breha." Ghidorah turned and started to walk away, his goons following him.
"Excuse you!" Aurora yelled to them. "Where do you think you are going?!" But it was no use, they didn't turn around or respond to her. Aurora sat down in the back of the cage contemplating her escape.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aurora was leaning her head back. She figured out part of an escape plan but she knew she had to see the new cell they were gonna move her too. She felt the ship land.
I will not go back alive. She thought.
The cell door opened and Aurora perked her head up, the two Trandoshan guards entered the cell and they walked to either side of her, forcing her to stand up. "Time to go queenie." Bouse said.
Aurora struggled against them. "No!" She kicked her legs in the air as they practically dragged her. "Let me go!"
"We will stun you again if you don't stop." Ryker added and the three of them made it to the door to their ship, which was opened. The Trandoshans dragged her down the stairs.
"Let me go!" Aurora still struggled against them.
"Greetings queen." Ghidorah walked up to them. "I assume your ride was well."
Aurora spit in the Trandoshans face. "Screw you."
Ghidorah laughed as he wiped the spit from his face. "So feisty, is this really the manners of a queen?" Ghidorah turned and started walking. Bouse and Ryker followed him, dragging Aurora along with them.
"My people won't be forgiving once they find out." Aurora said.
"You won't be on this planet for long, they won't find you." Ghidorah said. He pointed to some huts. "Bring Breha there, and make sure our queen is... comfortable."
"Let's go queenie." Bouse said and they pushed her along.
"I will not go!" Aurora still struggled but it was no use. The two of them were just stronger than her, but that didn't stop her from trying.
Ryker got the door opened to the hut and Aurora saw her new cell. It was metal and they pushed her in. "In ya go." Ryker said.
Aurora spun around quickly and managed to punch Ryker in the face and tried to run past them but Bouse grabbed her and shoved her back. "No!" She screamed.
"You bitch!" Ryker hissed and wiped blood from his nose. When Aurora regained her composure she faced them but Ryker in turn punched her hard in the face and she dropped to the ground. She looked at them in horror as she brought her hand up to her cheek.
Bouse laughed. "Enjoy your stay, queenie." The two of them left the hut, closing the door. The only sort of light was from a small window on the left wall.
Aurora stood up and brought her hand to her nose and saw a little bit of blood. "I won't be staying long." She brushed herself off and pulled out the hair pin that she kept underneath all her hair. She walked over to the cell door and reached her hands around and inserted the pin into the lock. After a few moments she heard a faint click and the door swung open. "Perfect." She whispered and walked to the door and leaned against it.
"-Ghidorah said he's talking to the human now, she'll be out of our hair soon." Bouse said.
"Good. The sooner she's gone the better." Ryker said. "That man better give us a lot of credits for her. She's a pain in my ass."
Pain in your ass. Aurora scoffed. She walked away from the door and over to the window. She looked up at it and reached up, jumping to it. Her hands gripped the bottom and she pulled herself up, pulling one leg through before pulling the other one. She dropped low to the ground and looked around. She was at the back of the hut, therefore no one saw her. She looked straight ahead and saw the forest.
"Nows my chance." She whispered. "Whatever you do, do not stop." She took off running into the woods and once she was a far enough distance she pulled her comm-link from her shirt and turned on her location. "Hello?! Hello, anyone there?!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't you think she's being a little too quiet right now?" Ryker turned to his brother.
"I'm just glad she's finally shut up." Bouse responded.
"I don't know, I think she's being suspiciously quiet." Ryker said.
"Ryker," Bouse hissed. "Relax and be happy that she's not screaming this whole time. She'll be out of here soon." The two of them watched Ghidorah walk towards them.
"Just waiting for anonymous to reach out now." Ghidorah said. "How is she?"
"Quiet." Bouse said.
"Quiet?" Ghidorah questioned. "Have you checked on her recently?"
"No." Ryker said. "Not since we threw her in there."
"You haven't checked on her?" Ghidorah exclaimed and pushed past them, opening the door. Ryker and Bouse followed behind him and the three of them saw an empty cage.
"How could she have escaped?!" Ryker asked. "We were guarding the only exit."
"You imbeciles!" Ghidorah scolded. "She is skinny enough to fit through the window. Get the others, we have to go after her!" The three of them ran out of the hut.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tech flicked some buttons on the Marauder, they were almost to Trandosha when Tech saw a light flashing on his dash. It was Aurora's location.
"Hello?! Hello, anyone there?!" Tech turned his attention to the comms when he heard a woman call out.
"Aurora? That you?" Tech asked.
"Tech!" Aurora huffed, Tech thought it sounded like she was running. "Please tell me you got my message."
"I did." He said. "We are almost to Trandosha."
"Good." She sounded winded.
"Did you escape?" Tech asked. "It sounds like you are running right now."
"I did!" Aurora said. "Did you really think some janky cell was going to keep me locked in?"
"Is that Aurora?" Wrecker called out, gaining the attention of the others on board.
"Aurora?!" Omega perked her head up.
"Aurora," Tech said. "Can you get somewhere safe until we arrive?"
"I'll try but I have no idea where I'm going. I'm running through the woods-" Aurora paused mid-sentence. A loud screaming echo could be heard on her comms.
"Aurora?" Echo asked, sitting down. Hunter standing behind his chair.
"I-I have to go!" She sounded panicked before clicking off her comms.
"Aurora?" Hunter called out, but he didn't get a response. "Tech?"
The Marauder came right out of Hyperspace right when he asked. "I have her location, we will be there shortly." Three ships appeared in front of the Marauder and started shooting at the ship. Tech was able to maneuver the ship to avoid being shot down.
"Wrecker, get to the gunner's mount!" Echo ordered.
"You got it!" Wrecker laughed.
"Tech, get us to the surface." Hunter ordered.
"What about the ships on top of us?" Tech asked.
"We have to get to Aurora before the Trandoshans recapture her." Hunter said. "Just avoid being shot down."
"Understood." Tech said.
"Omega strap in." Hunter said as Tech plunged towards Trandosha's surface. Hunter grabbed the back of Echo's chair as he watched the forest come into view. One of the ships shot one of the thrusters on the Marauder and the whole ship shook.
"Hunter..." Omega said as she gripped her seat.
"Wrecker, it would be most helpful if you could hit a ship?" Tech called out.
"I'm trying!" Wrecker called back. "But it's not my fault you are flying like a maniac!"
"Focus." Hunter said. "Tech get lower." He made his way to the door.
"What are you planning?" Echo said.
"We can't land, get close to her location and I'll grab Aurora. We can rendezvous once you shake the tails." Hunter said.
"Copy that." Tech said and flew closer to the ground. "This is as low as I can go. You best jump now. Her location is 2-clicks away."
"Okay." Hunter said, opening the door. Without thinking he jumped out of the Marauder. Tuck and rolled into the dirt. The door closed and flew back up towards the sky. Shaking himself off, Hunter looked around, taking in his surroundings. He started lightly jogging trying to pick up Aurora's trail.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hunter was kneeling when he heard a scream. He stood up and looked around. The forest echoed the scream but Hunter knew where the scream originated from. He started running.
"Let me go you mudscuffer!" Hunter heard Aurora scream before he actually saw her. He jumped over fallen trees and when he finally caught up to her he saw a Trandoshan kneeling on top of her. He had her arms pinned above her head but she wasn't giving up the fight easily.
"Aurora!" Hunter called and pulled out his blaster. The Trandoshan looked at him and Hunter shot him twice in the head. Aurora pushed the dead Trandoshan off of her and sat up as Hunter went running over to her and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?"
"Hunter!" She exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms, wrapping her hands around his waist. "You came for me." She sounded relieved.
The hug caught Hunter off guard, but while she was still hugging him, he pulled her to her feet and he hugged her back. One hand going to the back of her neck, the other resting on her lower back. "Of course we did, we don't leave our own behind."
"Thank you." She whispered into his shoulder.
"Did they hurt you?" Hunter pulled back and gently grabbed her chin. He started to examine her face, seeing the dried blood in her nose and a fresh wound on the side of her temple.
"I'll be alright." She pulled away from his hand. "This nerf-herder caught me off guard with a rock." She kicked the dead corpse.
"And your nose?" Hunter questioned.
Aurora chuckled. "He also punched me in the face earlier. Where are the others?"
"We encountered some unwanted friends while arriving, Tech dropped me off and they were going to shake them and then come pick us up." Hunter said.
"Lovely." Aurora sighed. "What do we do until then?"
The two of them were cut off. "Ryker no!" They turned and Aurora saw it was his brother Bouse. "You will die for this queenie."
"Queenie?" Hunter questioned.
"Long story!" Aurora pushed him. "But we should go!"
The two of them started running right as Bouse started blasting at them. They weaved in and out of the trees but the Trandoshan stayed hot on their trail.
"Here!" Hunter called and tossed Aurora his blaster, she caught it.
"Won't you need this?" She asked.
Hunter pulled out his vibro-blade. "We have to fight back."
"Right." Aurora turned and started firing back, making the Trandoshan duck for cover.
"I'm gonna go around and surprise him." Hunter said.
Aurora turned to look at him. "Understood, I'll keep him busy."
The Trandoshan peaked out from behind the tree and fired back. Hunter looked at Aurora and saw she was looking at him.
"Look out!" Hunter dove to her, pushing her out of the way. Right as the blaster fire made contact with something. Aurora heard a cry of pain.
Aurora looked back at Hunter and saw he was on the ground, clutching his lower abdomen. "Hunter!" She screamed and turned back to the Trandoshan he was running towards her and she quickly held the blaster up, blasting him once right between the eyes. He dropped dead to the ground.
Hunter groaned, pulling Aurora's attention back to him.
"Hunter!" She ran back to him, dropping to her knees. She moved his hands out of the way and began applying pressure to where he got shot. "Why would you do that?!"
"You-you aren't wearing any armor." He said, in pain.
"Any armor!" She scoffed. "Look where your armor got you." She looked around, she knew the other Trandoshans chasing her heard the blaster fire. "Hunter, we have to go. Can you move?" He nodded. "Okay, I'm going to pull you up now and I need you to keep pressure on your wound, understand?"
"Understood." He weakly said.
"Okay you need to stay with me." Aurora got to her feet and after a struggling moment she was able to get Hunter standing. "Give me your backpack." While Hunter leaned on a tree, Aurora took his bag off, throwing it around her shoulder. She picked his blaster off the ground and holstered it in his holster. She wrapped one of his arms around her neck and she grabbed his hand. Her other arm went around his waist and she pulled him off the tree. "You're doing great. Now let's keep moving."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun had set on Trandosha, the moon starting to peak over the trees and Aurora was practically pulling Hunter along. She swore it felt like he was starting to get heavier and he was pretty much dragging his feet.
"Hunter." She said, starting to get out of breath. "Hunter, I need you to pick up your feet." He didn't say anything but Aurora could hear shallow irregular breaths. "Hunter?" She looked up at him and right on cue he slipped from her grasp and she fell with him. "Hunter!" She quickly got off of him and went to look at his wound. She touched it and saw that it was still fresh with blood and she started applying pressure to it. "Oh! What do I do? What do I do?" She looked at Hunter and moved her hands to forcibly rip his helmet off and threw it aside, ignoring the blood on her hands she cupped the sides of his face, leaning over him. "Hunter? Hunter, can you hear me?"
No response.
Aurora's breathing started to pick up. "You can't die on me." She left one hand on his face but moved the other back to his wound to continue applying pressure. "Please Hunter." She begged. "Say something, anything. Yell at me, I don't care. Just say something!" She looked up at the stars before looking at him again. "Hunter, I will kill you if you die on me." She threatened.
Still nothing.
Tears started to form in her eyes and she leaned her head against his chest, he was still breathing but it was very small breaths. "Please Hunter." She whispered, looking at him. "Don't die on me." She leaned her forehead against his forehead, their noses lightly touching. "I-I need you Hunter, please. You can't die on me." She let her head rest there for a moment. "I don't know what to do." She picked her head up, looking around before she remembered his bag. She took it off and began looking through it. "Seriously? No medical supplies?" She pulled out some gauze and bandages but nothing of use. "Where is a Tech when you need one..." She paused. "Tech!"
She pulled her comm out and turned it on. "Tech! Tech please are you there!"
After a few minutes she got a response. "I am here."
"Where in the damn galaxy are you?!" She scolded.
"We took heavy damage from the ship and we had to stop on a nearby planet for repairs. Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Are you alone?" Aurora questioned.
"Omega why don't you go let Echo know I am talking with Aurora." She heard Tech say to Omega in the background.
"Okay!" She heard a muffled response.
"I am now." Tech stated.
Aurora tried her hardest to stay calm. "Tech, Hunter's been shot bad and he's not responding and I-I can't get the wound to stop bleeding and I don't know what to do..." She of course didn't stay calm and started rambling on.
"Aurora!" Tech cut her off. "I don't believe you."
"What?" Aurora questioned.
"I believe you do know what to do. You told me that you have quite the medical knowledge." Tech said. "You are just upset right now and are not thinking clearly."
"Tech, he got shot for me. I don't know why he did that. I-I-"
"Aurora calm down." Tech sternly said. "Take a deep breath." Aurora did as she was instructed and took a few deep breaths, she felt her heart rate slow down. "Now, a person got shot. What do you do?"
"Apply pressure to the wound and that is what I'm currently doing."
"Good, then what?"
"Give medical attention." Aurora said. "But all he has is gauze and bandages, nothing for closing the wound or getting it to stop bleeding."
"Okay so what can you do in the field if you can't get medical help right away."
Aurora looked at her surroundings. She saw twigs and dried leaves. "I could cauterize the wound!"
"Yes you can, now make a fire."
"I can't make a fire though. It'll lead the Trandoshans right to us."
"Okay, look for a nearby cave."
"I have no idea where we are right now. We are in the forest and it's nighttime."
"Okay I have your location, give me a moment."
"I don't have a moment Tech!"
"Do you see the moon?"
"The moon?" Aurora looked up and the moon was over the trees. "Yes, I see the moon."
"Good now the moon rises in the East, so from looking to the moon then to your left is North. About 4 clicks from you is a cave. You should be safe there until we arrive. I will make sure we expedite repairs on the ship."
"Thank you Tech."
"And Aurora. I will know where you two will be. It's best if you turn off your location now."
"Understood. See you soon."
Aurora clicked off her comms and turned off her location. She pocketed it and looked at Hunter. He was still breathing shallowly. "I'll get you help. I promise." She grabbed some of the gauze and applied it to his wound and wrapped the bandages around it. She stood up, slinging his bag over her shoulder and she put his helmet on his head again. She moved to his head and grabbed his arms. "Sorry for dragging you." She said and started dragging him North.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aurora found the cave Tech told her to find, she laid Hunter on the ground and had finally got a small fire going. She held his vibro-blade over the flame. The metal turned orange. She looked at Hunter, his helmet was off and she watched his breathing. She stood up and walked over to him, kneeling next to him. Aurora held his blade in her mouth and she pulled off the bandages. The bleeding had slowed but not much. She ripped the bottom of her shirt and rolled it up, sticking it into Hunter's mouth.
She took the blade out of her mouth. "I'm really sorry for this, Hunter." She angled the blade and slowly brought the blade to his skin. She heard the sound of sizzling skin.
Cauterizing his wound brought him right back to consciousness. "GRHH!" Hunter bit down on the cloth and grabbed Aurora's arm and held on tight.
Aurora kept the blade on his abdomen but winced when he grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"
"AGH!" His breathing picked up and his grip tightened on her arm.
"I'm almost done." She whispered. Hunter's grip loosened on her arm and he let his head fall back. "Hunter?" She looked at him. She finished and dropped the blade on the ground and she moved to his head, one of her hands went to the side of his face and she made him look at her. His mouth was slightly open. His breathing had steadied. "You're gonna be okay." She stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants. She moved to the small fire and stomped on it, putting it out. She walked to the edge of the cave and looked up at the stars. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and held herself. The moon sat in the middle of the night sky. She sighed.
Aurora turned back inside and sat down next to Hunter. Sitting on his right side, the opposite of his wound. She brought her legs up to her chest and watched the dying embers of the fire. She let out a yawn. "Stay awake." She scolded herself but she was exhausted. She looked at Hunter, it looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Her mind wandered.
I could just lie next to him. She thought.
Aurora shook her head. "Stop." She yawned again and she rubbed her face. "But I'm so tired." She looked at him again. No one would know. She sighed. "Just for a little bit." She scooted right next to him and turned to her side. She carefully laid down on the ground, her head resting on the side of his chest. She was watching him the whole time and he didn't move. She wedged her hand in between his armor and rested it over his heart. She laid there, he smelled like sandalwood and very faintly she could smell sweat. Her eyes started to get heavier. "Stay awake." She weakly said, right before she fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hunter tried to shift but something was on top of him. He smelled a dead fire and he slowly peeled his eyes open. To his left he saw the ashes from a fire and his vibro-blade sitting in the dirt. He looked at his wound and touched it. He winced.
"Ah..." He sucked in a breath. That's when he noticed the hand wedged in his armor. He turned his head and he saw the top of Aurora's head resting on his chest. She was sleeping peacefully. "Aurora?" He could barely whisper.
You look so at ease on this wretched planet. He thought. He slowly moved his free hand and shifted her head and he looked at her, but she readjusted herself, snuggling closer to him. He dropped his hand. I'm so tired. He rested his head back, slowly drifting back off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hunter groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes met another pair of dark blue eyes staring right back at him, full of worry.
"You're awake!" They exclaimed.
"A-Aurora?" His voice cracked from how dry his throat was. He struggled to sit up but Aurora helped him rest against the cave wall.
"The Marauder should be here soon." She sat next to him. "We just have to wait. Tech has our location."
"Alright." Hunter rested his head back. He couldn't sleep anymore but he was still exhausted. "Aurora?"
"Yes?" She looked at him.
"What did Omega want to talk to you about?"
Aurora chuckled. "Girl things. Classified."
"Classified?"
"Yea. She would be mad if I told you."
"I won't say anything. I just want to make sure she's not in any trouble."
"No she's not." Aurora smiled, enjoying that Hunter cares deeply for the girl. "She's growing up. She's starting to go through changes that you wouldn't understand and she has questions that someone of my caliber, a woman, should be answering."
Hunter nodded, understanding what she was hinting at. "If that's the case, then please don't leave us. Omega will need all the help she can get."
Aurora rested her head against his good shoulder. "I won't."
"Aurora? Hunter?" Omega chimed in over the comms. "We are landing. Prepare to be rescued."
"Perfect timing." Aurora stated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ghidorah, you have an incoming message." A Trandoshan hissed.
"Patch them through, then leave us." Ghidorah said. The Trandoshan did as he was told and left the hut, closing the door behind him.
"I take it you have information about my princess?" The man on the holo-table said, Ghidorah saw he was wearing a mask.
"I had your girl. I'm sure of it." Ghidorah hissed.
"Had?" The man skeptically said.
"She... she got away." Ghidorah said. "But she claimed she was the Queen of Alderaan but I think she was lying."
"Perhaps she was the queen." The man said. "My princess would never get caught by such vile creatures like you."
"You have a problem with Trandoshans?" Ghidorah hissed.
"I know scum like you."
"I want my credits, like the bounty said."
"No."
"No?!"
The man folded his arms. "You don't have anything on my princess. You kidnapped a queen and were going to claim it was my princess. You get nothing." The man clicked off the holo-table.
Ghidorah slammed his fist on the table. "I hate humans." He hissed.