"To overestimate yourself and underestimate your opponents is to court defeat"
Tensions mount. Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi is now in Separatists hands. Wary of the threat Serra poses, Chancellor Palpatine has allowed the Republic to place a bounty on her head. The only condition: she is to be brought in alive.
Serra, confident from her defeat of Kenobi, travels to Zyggeria's slave market with her companion Lyrii. Her wishes are to buy a slave to tend the Gungan child she has recently won rights to before she is deployed to Felucia. Unknown to her, the bounty has convinced some that she is worth the effort to capture.
The image of Serra Winters threw palelight across the room, and illuminated the blue skin of the one looking at it. The image displayed on the holocomm was from Serra's transmission with Skywalker. Cad Bane sighed. The girl did not look like much of a threat, but he had known her mother. If Heather had trained her to be half as well as she had been, then Serra was quite a threat.
In the image, Serra was wearing a cloak, half-drawn over her shoulders. From what Bane could observe, the only weapons she had were her lightsaber and a blaster. That was good. Most Jedi would carry only a lightsaber, but he would hardly expect the daughter of Heather Winters to act like a Jedi.
Far more troubling was the fact that her blade was red. "A Sith," he sighed. It would make this mission more interesting.
His communicator chimed and he switched off the image of his next target to answer. Image of Aurra Sing and Bossk appeared.
"Bane," Aurra greeted him. "You said you had a target?"
Cad Bane didn't bother to sit straight, "Yes."
"Pressent," "How will we ssplit the bounty?" Bossk hissed.
"Money first, eh?" Bane gave a slight smirk. "We split it three ways, even."
"What about the target?" Aurra asked. "The last time we worked together was to free a Hutt. I hope you won't be planning something like that again."
"No," Bane promised her. "It's a Republic bounty this time."
"Republic?" Aurra apprised him. "They don't have very many bounties out."
"It's a capture mission," Bane went on, ignoring Aurra's comment. "We have to bring her to the Republic alive."
"Her," Aurra tilted her head curiously. "Who is she?"
"Winters," Bane said.
There was a moment's pause as both of his companions realized who he meant.
Aurra said, "The Jedi Hunter" at the same instant Bossk hissed, "Sith."
"Yes to both," Bane replied. "She's got the highest bounty on the charts right now."
Aurra shook her head and Bossk hissed his displeasure.
"You've got a problem," Bane challenged them.
"Hunting Republic targets is one thing," Bossk told him. "I can deal with Jedi. She is a Sith. I do not want to be hunted by the Sith."
"I've got to agree with Bossk," Aurra told Bane. "Besides, I've worked with Serra's mother in the past. I have no feud with her. You know, you've done a few jobs with Heather. If she had put more effort into hunting bounties instead of Jedi she would have been better than Jango."
"Well she didn't and with Jango gone, I'm the top bounty hunter. I can handle Heather's brat," Bane dismissed.
Aurra narrowed her eyes. Heather had been not only deadly but honorable, a rare combination. Rarer still was the fact that despite having honor, she was still successful. If you tried to blindside her, then you'd get your throat cut, but otherwise she would not betray you. She wouldn't cut out on a job and leave you dry, try and kill you so she could take your share of bounty, or just let you die so she could take your share of bounty. She protected those who were on a job with her.
Heather and Aurra had worked together quite a few times and between Aurra's rifle and Heather's Force abilities, they had made a remarkable team. Aurra had come to trust Heather, one of the only people she did. Less than a half a year ago, Heather had been killed by the Jedi and Aurra would not betray her by hunting her daughter.
Aurra did not say all of that and simply told Bane, "Then you handle her." She turned off the communicator on her end.
Her image vanished, and so Cad Bane was left speaking to only Bossk. Bane scowled. He never could depend on Aurra. "What about it, Bossk? Are you in?"
Bossk hissed as he thought. Heather's code and success had made her a legend to the other bounty hunters. He had never had the honor of working a job with her, but he was wary about attacking her daughter. Like her mother, Serra could use the Force and unlike Heather, Serra was a Sith. "I for one do not want to get my neck snapped when she waves her hand. Hunt her yourself." Then he to, shut off his communicator.
Bane stared at the communicator and then slammed a hand on the desk in a moment of frustration. Aurra and Bossk were not the first bounty hunters he'd contacted. All of the others had said the same. Either they were not willing to disrespect Heather by targeting her daughter or they were scared of Serra's title of Sith.
The name Winters had given Serra a badge of immunity from nearly all of the bounty hunters – a mother's last gift to her child. When you combined that with Serra's reputation she became untouchable. Serra had defeated Obi-Wan Kenobi and captured him alive without getting a scratch on herself. That was respectable. Bane understood Bossk's reasoning because of that, but Aurra?
"Fine," Bane growled, "if no one wants to help me then I'll capture the brat myself."
Serra is luckier then she realizes. If she wasn't Winters then she'd have a lot more to deal with then Bane although Bane on his own isn't easy to deal with. Dooku was right to be worried about the bounty on his apprentice's head before. Now the question is, in a confrontation who would win?