Tattooine always held a dry heat that sapped the moisture right from the lips as soon as one's boot stepped out onto the sand. Reprieve was only granted in the small cantinas for those able to pay. Money was the driving force in the Galaxy after all, even as far as the Outer Rim. Those without it are slaves, and those with it in any amount could find a seat at the Chalmun's Cantina.
It was a slow day for the establishment as all manner of miscreants chose to take their patronage quietly in their own little booths. Even the few around the bar barely spared a glance to each other as they took their time in procrastination to lengthen the span before they would have to once again grace the dry heat and continue about their day.
Occupying a booth in the far corner was a woman practically lounging across the bench as she watched the band play a smooth tune. She was dressed simply in earthy tones, a faded grey shirt loose on her frame and partially tucked into her weathered and worn pants. Her gaze occasionally broke from the entertainment to glance over to the entrance when someone would come or go, though more with a casual air as she waited. She rose from her seat and sauntered over to the bar, ordering another drink before her current completely diminished.
The mellow days were rare in this place, and she looked content to enjoy it while it lasted as she gave a generous tip. With an exchange of nods between her and the bartender, she turned just in time to see the silhouette of a man, cloaked and ominous as he walked through the cantina with purpose in his gait. His hands pushed back the hood from casting its clever shadow revealing a human, his hair and beard peppering with grey in graceful aging that only wisened his appearance.
"Ben," she greeted as they walked to his booth together. "I would have ordered you one if you came just a bit earlier."
"Perhaps another time, Kir," he said, and sat across from her with a small smirk under the brush of his mustache. Kir huffed a small laugh as she resumed her lounging, raising her glass to her lips for a generous drink.
"A good day for Mos Eisley," Kir observed nodding out to the oddly calm cantina.
"We both know it's only a matter of time," Ben said. "How's business been?"
It was a seemingly innocent question to anyone outside themselves. They established a friendship through such a question over the years that now only made the exchange all the more natural in execution. Kir nodded her head thoughtfully, shrugging a little with one shoulder.
"It could be better," she answered. "Almost lost a shipment."
"Almost?" Ben prompted in amusement.
"Well," Kir began smugly, "you know how pirates can get. They take your stuff, try to kill you, think they can get away with it. They almost did. That's actually where I came across a few things you may find interesting. One, there's some bounty hunter bouncing around the galaxy with a vendetta against Jedi."
The words felt hollow in Ben's ears as he stared at Kir with a still expression of shock. "They're all dead," he reminded. "Sanctioned by the Empire."
Kir lofted a brow, tipping her head to the side just slightly as she peered at Ben keenly. "We both know there are places for the lot of them to hide," she said, and motioned out to the cantina. "Places left neutral and away from galactic politics."
Ben's demeanor turned cold and wary, and while he made no movement he kept his senses alert even around him. Kir picked up on the final shift and swung her legs off the bench to sit more forward, leaning over the table somewhat to lower her tone. They matched each other's severity in the moment.
"It's probably a good thing we don't know any," Kir continued casually. In the pause, Ben slowly nodded his head, his form relaxing with the gathering of trust. "This hunter is clever. Some he'll take alive and some he'll just outright kill. But he's good at what he does. I wouldn't want to cross paths with a guy like that."
Leaning back, Kir reached into her jacket pocket and produced a device, placing it on the table and pushing it across to him. "As for the second thing," she said. "The pirates had this on them. You'll want to take a look at it when you get home. Private stuff."
Hesitantly, Ben reached out for the device, hand hovering over it in contemplation before picking it up.
"It's clean," assured Kir. "I checked it before we left the ship in the dust."
There was a level of trust they had established over the years where Ben never questioned Kir's honesty. She was a smuggler with a complex to desire to do good for those in need. It always brought him back to places like Mos Eisley to divvy out what she could get away with.
Replacing the device on the table, Ben set a credit chip on the surface and slid it over to Kir who took it with a nod. "Thank you," he said, but Kir waved her hand dismissively.
"We kept our lives separate for how many years now?" she said. "I messed all that up trying to see if I found something to pawn. I get the feeling you'll be needing more than just information from me after you look at that. But I wouldn't thank me so soon."
Before Ben could say a word, the tone was halted by Kir's sudden shift in attention. While she had a wandering eye in conversation, she now looked over to the entrance where two figures walked into the cantina, pausing just at the stairs to scan over the patrons in search of someone. Ben didn't dare to turn around, only gauging the situation based on his friend's expression as she forced her gaze away to only look at the pair through her peripheral.
"Looks like we didn't get all the pirates," Kir murmured, and took in a deep breath before releasing it in a sigh, almost in resolution of the growing situation. The two men walked into the dingy cantina calmly, rifles slung at their sides under tattered cloaks. "So much for a peaceful day at the Mos Eisley cantina."
"It was only a matter of time," Ben joked cynically. "Don't get yourself killed."
"There are worse things," Kir quipped just as the pair of pirates approached the table. Their frames were adorned in mismatched armor likely pulled from their various plunders, helmets cleverly masking the entirety of their faces while distorting their voices when they spoke.
"Let's take a walk," the taller one said as he nodded over to the entrance. Kir sat back in hier seat coolly and huffed a haughty laugh for show.
"I'm guessing you're all upset about being bested by a nobody," she said. "So whoever is in charge now, have him meet me here. First round's on me."
The shorter of the two placed the barrel of his rifle to Kir's side in warning, the other following suit to aim at Ben. Ben didn't look at them, focused expression set on the barrel pointed at Kir as he kept the two pirates in his peripheral. He felt the rifle nudge his ribs to prompt them into compliance.
"I suppose we can meet," Ben said as he finally looked up at the pair. He slowly rose from his seat to meet at eye level with the tallest who kept his rifle aimed at his chest. In his peripheral he noted Kir's reluctance, though she eventually followed suit and complied.
"Lead the way," she prompted, motioning for at least one of them to take point. But the two pirates were a little smarter than she anticipated, and Ben shot her a pleading look.
Kir was not a passive individual, and was reluctant to turn herself in to the point of suspicion. In a swift motion, she grabbed at the rifle pointed towards her, pushing it away from her form just in time for the reactive fire to miss her entirely. The shot hit the taller pirate instead taking him off guard.
It was a split second decision, one in which Ben did not look keen on following through, but there was no longer the chance to remain passive. Seeing the opening, he kicked the taller pirate down as Kir brought the rifle of the other ramming into his helmet, twisting the weapon from his grasp and firing a shot through the pirate's neck.
Their violent escapade was nothing new to the patrons of the cantina as they lazily looked over Kir and Ben. Kir rammed the heel of her boot hard into the downed taller pirate, knocking him unconscious with the force. "No time for you to go home and view that message," she said, grabbing her drink and downing it swiftly.
"Kir, I cant get involved in this," Ben said as he held out the device to her. She looked down at it, but did not take it as she took a step towards him.
"You're already involved," she said lowly. "Just come with me to my ship and we'll watch it there"
"Your ship is likely guarded by more of them," Ben said as he motioned to the two on the ground. "They'll be expecting you there."
"Then I bring the fight to them." As she stepped over the unconscious pirate, Ben caught her arm, holding it not only to keep her presence but to garner her attention.
"We'll come back for your ship and your crew," he promised.
"You there!"
A voice called out to them angrily from across the cantina. Three men clad in the same mismatched armor now occupied the entrance and were closing the distance rapidly. Kir handed Ben the rifle she held and stopped down to take the other from the unconscious pirate. "This is never a good sign," she said.
As blaster fire shot past their heads in answer to their decision to arm themselves, Ben nudged Kir in the direction he ran. She fired off a shot that clacked against the chest piece of one of the pirates that absorbed most of the impact, and then rushed after to follow him towards a doorway leading to the back, through the kitchen and past confused employees as the pair raced to shake their pursuers.
"I thought you said this device is clean!" Ben said as they found their way out into the back alley.
"It is," she said as she ran alongside him. The heat even in the shade was already causing them to perspire. "Where are we going?"
"We've got to get them off our tail," he said. Blaster fire shot past them promoting the roads to clear away from the fight giving them a clear line to his speeder. Hopping into the driver's seat, Ben urged Kir to take the passenger seat. As soon as both feet were inside, he took off, racing through the crowds and gaining speed. Kir kept on the lookout for their pursuers while pulling out a comm from her pocket, pressing a button that lit up the device twice in succession. She stared at it, wind whipping her dark hair about her face as she waited for a response. It came soon after in a set of two blinks.
"My crew can handle their end," she said to Ben. " Maybe cause a distraction, too, to get them off our tail."
But it would not come soon enough. Two speeders were catching up to them fast, sand kicking up in their wake. Kir steadied her rifle on the back of the seat as she waited for them to fall in range of her fire. The scene rolled through the streets of Mos Eisley in streaks of sand colored buildings and red colored merchant stall canopies that opened to a dusty wash of blistering orange that cut through the dingy blue sky. Ben skillfully maneuvered down the large road, cutting through smaller paths until streaking through to the dunes that rolled into nothing for miles.
"We're not going to lose them out here!" Kir called to Ben over the whir of the speeder engine at screaming speeds.
"I have a plan!" Ben assured. "Just push them back!"
All their focus now was on losing their pursuers however necessary. Kir pulled back her hair away from her face and resumed her careful aim, measuring the closing distance with a skillful she and squeezing the trigger at just the right moment. Red streaked through the dust, pinging the head of one of the drivers that knocked the pirate back. The speeder spiraled into a sand dune, bodies flying from the impact.
"One down!" she said to Ben. He didn't look back or break his own focus from his course. The sand dunes were a tricky terrain even on a speeder, and the fact that they were still being pursued only meant they were just as comfortable as he driving through it. He had to keep in mind Kir's need for the ride to be as smooth as possible, and to not jerk the vehicle about without proper warning.
"Hard turn," he said as blaster fire pinged off the metal frame. Kir grabbed hold of what she could to brace for the pull as Ben skillfully whipped the speeder in a hard right, turning almost one hundred or so degrees to head for the cliffs. The move took the pirates off guard losing their momentum as they turned to continue the chase. Once back on course, firing resumed, and Kir shot back just as fervently.
The first two shots missed the driver, though one of them managed to hit one of the shooters in the process. As they nearer the cliff face, the terrain became more rough, jostling their aim to the point of finger crossing. Looking behind her at the path ahead, she saw what Ben was aiming for.
"Are you crazy?" she asked. "This isn't a pod race, Ben!"
Amusement escaped him in a huff of a laugh and accelerated his speed to the maximum his speeder could handle. There was perhaps a tinge of excitement that briefly graced his features that urged her properly into her seat. She looked over at Ben hoping he was confident but not stupid and held onto the seat as he made another sharp turn down a craggy and narrow crevasse.
They were certainly not traveling anywhere near the speeds of a pod racer, yet it all still felt too fast and life threatening. Kir liked to be in control of her cage and never once considered putting her life in someone else's hands. Technically, they were strangers even after all these years of business, but that's all it ever was. They never discussed their lives outside of what Ben paid to know, and he had only ever been interested in politics and the growing tension. She never thought to ask if he was good at speed racing.
Jutting rocks and cliff walls zoomed last until they entered the closed spaces of a cave, the speeder engine echoing as Ben maneuvered them through the obstacles without a hitch. Shots continued to zoom past them as the pirates desperately attempted to cut the chase short. Kir took in a calming breath, seeing Ben's skills and trusting his ability to drive them through the cave, and turned back around in her seat.
The barrel was placed back on the seat for stability, and she took aim at the pursuing speeder, firing off two shots. One hit another pirate who fell off the side, and the other the driver attempted to dodge. His overcompensation sent their speeder straight into a stalagmite exploding on impact just as they breached the lip of the cave back out into the sunlight.
Kir joyfully cheered at their victory, sitting back down in her seat with relief. "That's the last of them!" she said to him.
"At least for now," he said. "Let's see what's so important about what's on that device."