Kadira rocked back in the pilot's seat, rubbing her face with one hand. Her helmet rested on the copilot chair, removed so she could scan the decoded datapad with her own eyes. Ran was currently checking on Tyron, who so far seemed to be healing well thanks to the Vanguard's bacta tanks. Kadira had set course for Mandalore, hoping to restock her ship's supplies on her home planet. Thorn had already been turned in for the bounty on his head, leaving Kadira considering using her share to purchase a jetpack. It would certainly make ground travel much faster.
"Interesting reading?" Ran's voice came from behind her, causing Kadira to swivel her chair around to face him. Sometimes she hated not having the 360 view her HUD offered.
"Not particularly. Most of it translates to gibberish. Imperial shorthand is my guess, probably personalized. But one name keeps popping up. A Zul Blok, along with what I think is shorthand for Onderon." She saw Ran's lifted brow and shrugged. "It's in a code similar to what us freelance scouts used. Made it easier to show the coordinates of a planet without having to write everything out. My guess is that this Zul is a contact of Dain's?"
But Ron was shaking his head. "Doubtful. My guess would be a target. You don't write down the name of a contact anywhere, even a private datapad. A target," he shrugged and leaned back against the door frame. "If you're not getting paid like a bounty hunter, what do you care if someone manages to take them out first?"
Kadira nodded slowly, seeing the logic in Ran's explanation. A low beeping came from a small console off to her left, catching her attention. Kadira lifted one eyebrow, spinning around to face it. Normally, her HUD would notify her as well, especially about an alert on this system.
"What's that mean?" Ran asked, coming to stand behind her.
"That means a bounty was just placed on my head," Kadira answered, letting out a low whistle as the screen came to life. Ran leaned over her shoulder, his own eyebrows going up as he saw the number of credits being offered.
"I could buy myself a new ship with that," he observed. "A small one, granted. But still."
Another beeping sounded and Kadira pulled up a second screen as Ran paced away.
"You think I'm worth a lot," Kadira said suddenly, causing Ran to turn back towards her. "You should see how much they're offering for you. Twice as much. I'm offended, really. All you did was get blown up and knocked out. I'm the one who did all the work."
"Who's posting the bounties?" Ran asked, ignoring her complaints and leaning over her shoulder again.
"Let's see… Oh surprise, surprise. The Galactic Empire. Look, we're wanted for treasonous activities, attempting to help a prisoner escape… Hey, did you know I'm apparently a Jedi sympathizer? I didn't even know there were any Jedi left to sympathize with. What?" she asked, seeing Ran's look.
"You're enjoying this," he accused.
Kadira leaned back in her seat, crossing her hands behind her head as she grinned. "'Course I am. I'm worth a karking starship, for crying out loud."
"You're a Mandalorian, Kadira. A large percentage of your kind are bounty hunters. You live on the same planet as them, attend the same events. Why in the world wouldn't they turn you in?"
"Because they're my vod," Kadira responded, suddenly serious. Her voice was almost angry at the suggestion. "My family. You don't sell out family, Ran. They won't turn me in, and the Imps aren't stupid enough to cash in on that bounty when I'm surrounded by other Mandos. They know we'd fight for each other, die if it came to it. That's part of who we are." She leaned back again, her voice becoming flippant once more. "Besides, the Imps would actually have to catch me. Do you seriously think they can even come close to touching the Vanguard? Not to mention the fact all they have is a description of my face."
"And your armor colors," Ran pointed out, earning an incredulous look.
" 'Green and gold armor'. Do you seriously think that's going to be any help? Duty and vengeance are pretty popular themes with Mandalorians. And they have even less on you. Dain never even set eyes on you, remember? So all I have to do is not take my helmet off in front of any Imperial patrols, and you just have to refrain from announcing yourself as 'Ran Scorlo – wanted fugitive'."
Ran gave her a sardonic look. "I think I can handle that," he said dryly.
Kadira tilted her head, studying him closely. "Speaking of which… I've been wondering why Dain was after us. She got herself tossed in prison, set up an escape with you, had someone else rescue her instead, tried to shoot me on multiple occasions, nearly had you killed… But all of it was planned. Well, most of it. I don't think I was supposed to survive the caves, but that's not the point. Why set all this up? It couldn't have been easy, or cheap."
Ran was silent for a moment, his face serious. "Let's just say the Empire and I aren't exactly on… speaking terms," he said finally.
"More like 'shoot on sight' terms," Kadira observed, her mouth pulling up into a smile. "I'm guessing this wasn't your first rescue. They had to know ahead of time you'd come to get her. And for them to know that, you'd have to have done quite a few of these."
Ran nodded. "They knew. My guess is they've been planning this for a long time. If you hadn't been there, their plan might have worked." Ran nodded towards the computer screen. "I'm guessing they're trying to make sure they get rid of the wild card."
Kadira leaned back slowly, pondering Ran's words. "You're not going to tell me why the Empire wants you dead, are you?" she asked finally, arching one brow at him.
Ran smiled, but it held no warmth. "No. No, I'm not."
Kadira tilted her head in acknowledgement before picking up the datapad once more. "Be mysterious then," she said, waving one hand at him dismissively.
"You should make sure to purchase a full tank of fuel on Mandalore," Ran said, causing Kadira to glance up curiously. His smile made her narrow her eyes suspiciously. "I hear the prices on Onderon are obscene."
Kadira studied him for a moment before a slow smile spread over her face. "Sure thing, alor."
Ran lifted one brow questioningly.
"It means 'boss'… But bounty or no, I still did all the work."
Ron chuckled and palmed the door to the cockpit closed behind him, leaving Kadira to study the datapad. He had his own research to catch up on. The last thing he wanted was to be blindsided by Alaida Dain again.
"Onderon will be different," he murmured to himself, glancing back at the cockpit. He could still see Kadira bent over the datapad, frowning in concentration. "I'm not losing another pilot."
A/N: And there's the end of the first story for you :D Thoughts? Questions? I love reviews (in case you didn't catch that before ;) I'll be working on the second story, so keep an eye out :)
