Despite the fact that she had never before set foot on a world that possessed such urban development, the 7 year old girl couldn't help but feel a tad let down as she exited the ship that had brought her to the capital of the New Galactic Empire.
Oh sure the buildings were all grand structures that did their best to breach the upper atmosphere, but they all failed to live up to the expectations that had been building in her mind ever since she had been informed that she would be transported to Courscant (look up proper spelling) in order to begin her new life as a ward of the state.
Their were of course some notable exceptions.
While flying over what was now perhaps the most heavily defended piece of real-estate in the known galaxy, she had been impressed by the towering structures of what had until bare months ago, served as the command center for all Jedi activity in the galaxy. Of course her father's obsession with the Ordu Aspectu) and her mother's useless pacifist ideology had left he with a less than flattering view of the Jedi Order, but she had to admit that they had nice taste in architecture.
The Emperor apparently shared her views as well.
After the pacification of the Temple, Emperor Palpatine had decreed that in order to preserve the memory of the Jedi's treachery, the headquarters of their now extinct order would now become the primary residence of the man who had risked his life to maintain peace and security throughout the galaxy.
But unlike the former inhabitants of the Temple, who chose to rely on their connection to the Force instead of modern day technology to defend themselves, the Emperor had ensured that no expense was spared when planning the security of his new residence.
Planetary grade shielding, strategically located barracks that's contained dozens if not hundreds of highly trained body guards ready to move out at a moments notice, hundreds of carefully hidden turbo lasers ready to shoot down any ship should the shielding be breached. The former temple turned palace was widely considered to be the strongest protected location in the galaxy.
But while she admired the Emperor's recently upgraded residence, the 7 year old girl had to admit that the neighboring structure was far more impressive. Though little information had been gathered about the features of this still building tower, Aphra knew that once it was completed, it would be even more secure than that of the Emperor. And though the rest of the passengers where growing nervous as they steadily approached the tower's recently completed landing pad, the young girl could only feel a growing sense of excitement since she possessed a much more positive opinion of the tower's primary inhabitant than those who she had been forced to interact with since she was separated from her father.
Oh sure he tended to be portrayed by certain circles as nothing more than a violent brute who destroyed happily destroyed anyone who stood against the Empire, but in Aphra's opinion that was something to be praised, not tarnished. A society could not stand if it's leaders were unable to make the hard decisions needed to keep it from slipping into anarchy. And since the problems facing the stability of the Empire were violent in nature, Darth Vader was the perfect instrument to ensure that these threats would be removed.
She still sort of wondered why her boot licking coordinator/nanny had chosen to first introduce his charges to the poster boy of the Imperial war machine, but hey, anything was more exciting than attending mind numbing lectures about new Imperial regulations. So she figured she would over look the oddness of it.
Who knows, perhaps she would get a chance to wow the Emperor's black fist with her growing technical skills. Unlikely but a girl could dream.
…
Following the formation of the Empire, he thought he would never again here from his most sinister client.
Just because he hired himself off to the highest bidder didn't mean he was stupid.
All those missions he had performed, all those credits he had been given, they had all resulted in the weakening of the Jedi's influence in the galaxy, and to his mind only one man seemed to benefit the most from the weakness of those light saber wielding monks.
Of course he had held some doubts about whether or not he was correct in his suspicions, but after seeing who his next potential client was, he knew he had been right.
Adopting a tone of weary respect as he stared at the holo projection of the Sith Lord, the agent for hire couldn't help but voicing his confusion for this little chat.
"Greetings Lord Sidious. It's been some time since I've heard from you, but I suppose running a galaxy takes up most of your schedule. Still, I wonder why you would be calling me when you have untold resources at your finger tips".
Chuckling in amusement at the bounty hunter's astute observation, and congratulating himself once again for keeping him alive instead of discarding him after that holocron fiasco, the Emperor took a moment to enjoy the Duro's fear before delving into the matter at hand.
"Glad to see that the end of the war hasn't dulled your analytical skills Bane. And you are correct, normally I would just order one of my many underlings to carry out my whims, but I'm afraid that the mission I have in mind requires a greater deal of discretion than my forces are currently cable of".
Suspecting that the mission required there be no trace of a connection to the still consolidating government, and knowing the difficulty he would have to go through in order to guarantee that such a thing would not happen, the bounty hunter responded to the Sith Lord's observation in his usual manner.
"I'll need triple my usual rate, and an advance of 500,000 credits to make sure that I'm properly equipped for whatever it is you want me to do".
Waving aside the Duro's demand with a dismissive gesture of his hand, the Emperor voiced his agreement.
"Your price is of no consequence to me. And since I realize the difficulty of this assignment, I will also advance you an additional 1,000 000 credits to help you acquire all that you need to be successful, as well as pay you a further 2 million credits, on top of your usual fee, once the job has been completed".
His pupilless eyes widening in astonishment as he realized just how much money he could get from this one assignment, Bane couldn't help but allow a hint of wariness enter his tone as he enquired the exact nature of his mission.
"And what is it that you want me to do? Assassinate some high profile senator or rival that is causing you problems"?
Cackling at the Duro's question, the Sith Lord shook his head.
"Nothing as crude as that my friend. No, the scheme I had in mind is a slight variation of what I had you do the last time I contacted you".
Now knowing why the Sith Lord was being so generous with the credits, the hat wearing bounty hunter tried to claify the mission before he was interrupted by his smirking employer.
"You mean you want me to..".
"Yessss Cade Bane. That's precisely what I want you to do".
…
If there was one thing she prided herself on, it was the fact that unlike many of those in her chosen profession, she never had any qualms taking some of the more morally questionable assignments. The money was always better than the standard find and retrieve missions, and it helped to increase one's notoriety amongst the scum of the galaxy.
So when an emissary from one of the Hutt clan's contacted her about a time sensitive tag and bag assignment, she hadn't even blinked when she had been told who her targets where, she simply had listed her terms.
Half the payment up front with the rest to be paid once the job was finished.
There was however one thing that she found odd about this mission. Before she boarded her ship, she had been informed that she would not only have to kill her targets in a public setting, but that she would have to speak Hutteese for the duration of the job.
Judging that this was simply some petty dispute between rival slugs, Aura Sing had simply shrugged off her suspicion and had proceeded to travel to the planet where her targets lived.
Her first impression wasn't a good one. Though the climate was a vast improvement over Tatooine, the attitude of the locals made her sick. Everyone was more or less friendly to each other for no discernible reason, they acted like they had not a care in the world, and that the concerns of the Galaxy would never influence their daily lives.
Pushing down her disgust, and annoyed by the fact that she was forced to speak the language of the slugs instead of galactic basic, the white colored bounty hunter somehow managed to learn the location of her targets and contemplated the best way to take them out.
Her usual method was with a long range sniper rifle, but her employer had ordered her to perform the execution in a manner that would have the most public impact, which meant that she would have to get up close and personal before she pulled the trigger.
Seeing her targets walk through the market place without a care in the world, and feeling not even the slightest bit of hesitation as she saw the happy expression of their young child, the deadly female determined that now was the perfect time to carry out her mission.
Quickly maneuvering through the crowd, ensuring that she only spoke Huteese whenever she was forced to interact with the friendly locals, Aura placed herself behind the first of her targets and spoke the last words that the family of 3 would ever hear.
"Ephraim Bridger"?
Seeing the tanned skin human turn around, Aura quickly pulled out her concealed blaster and shot her target right through the heart before he could fully turn to face her.
It was a testament to her skill that after the first shot had been fired, she was already moving to take out her other two targets. And before Ephraim Bridger hit the ground, he had been joined by not only his wife, but also their young son.
Her job complete, and taking advantage of the crowd's temporary shock, the bounty hunter began to run away from the crime scene, easily out pacing anyone who tried to follow her.
But just as she managed to reach her ship, she began to realize that fate was starting to turn against her. For instead of finding a nearly empty space port, her ship was currently being inspected by at least 2 squads of the Empire's new Storm Troopers.
Luckily however, the white armored soldiers appeared to have not noticed her presence, which meant if she played it smart, she could either take them all out once she found a suitable place to practice her sniping talents, or she could lay low until she could find another ship to commandeer.
Unfortunately she was soon denied the chance to make her own decision, for just as she turned to leave, she felt a sudden burning sensation burst through her chest, causing her to collapse to the ground. Fighting through the pain, Aura managed to raise her head as she heard the approaching foot steps of the one responsible for her predicament.
"Ssssorry Aura. But a jobsss a job".
And the last thing that she saw before darkness took her was the sight of her former teammate leveling his rifle blaster at her head.
…
Taking a moment to spare the corpse a final look, Bossk couldn't help but wonder why his mysterious employer was going to all this effort, but in the end it didn't matter since this was possibly the easiest mission he ever had.
1,000 000 credits to not only frame the Hutt's for Aura's last mission, but also to inform the Imperial authorities where to find a deadly criminal. Not a bad day's work all things considered.
But he couldn't help but wonder what the Imps would do with the information he had been told to upload into Aura's ship. The Republic had never seemed to care about the crimes carried out by the Hutt clans, and he had no reason to believe that the Empire would be any different.
In the coming weeks he would be proven wrong.
…
And thats enough for now :P
Hopefullly you all enjoyed this. Especially the bit with a curtain hat wearing bounty hunter. I kid you not that Cad Bane was the only reason why I decided to keep watching the series when season 1 began to get a bit boring. Dude is a bad ass. Hopefully you all got a sense of what I'm setting up...but if not...thats ok cause it will be made apparent soon.
FINALLY got some more Aphraness in this story. Her own comic series is extremely entertaining, especially that last few issues with her relationship between her and the droids. Shame that their are not more fanfic stories devoted to her..but once can only hope. :)
And lets spare a moment for perhaps one of the worst parents in the Star Wars Universe. They have a young kid to look after, and they decided to launch anti government propaganda instead of teaching their son how to escape attention?...Can you say stupid? Ezra lived on the streets until the Ghost Crew took him in (more than 10 years later) and now he's become a committed terrorist. I've already displayed my general distaste for the Rebel series (apart from Thrawn/Vader/Tarkin's appearance).
But since I'm the type of guy who enjoys taking idealistic characters and having their actions and speeches twisted so their portrayed in a negative light/end up benefiting the Imperial Cause...thought I might as well make the Bridger's death mean something.
On that note...Luke's eventual fate is still up in the air...I mean yes I've already stated that Tatooine is going to be destroyed by orbital bombardment (idea taken from the fanfic story Destruction of Tatoonie) but theirs still time to abort this, or save Luke before its gets destroyed. Next Chapter will cover this a little bit in a conversation between the OC and Emperor.
Will start the new chapter as soon as I can :)
SO KEEP REVIEWING :P