"so wait you know the Champion?" Ash folded her arms as Gacen messed with the holoterminal, they had escaped Nar Shaddaa and were laying low on the side of an asteroid with the power levels at minimum. Gacen said it should only take a few hours before the thugs give up which seemed unlikely but then again these thugs didn't seem the smartest. Ash would've found them almost instantly, still Gacen was familiar with these people so she should trust him

Gacen began to pick up some wires and sort through them "yeah she's an old colleague of mine, we worked together a lot back in the day" He was trying to wire the holoterminal to work on minimum power, they didn't need to he was just impatient. Ash had heard stories of the Champion of the Great Hunt, she sounded pretty proficient at what she did and Ash really respected that but she also was eccentric like Gacen which she was looking forward to less. Ash let her mind wonder as she imagined what bounty hunting would be like, she didn't think she'd get much joy out of it personally but it would at least keep her fit. She let the thoughts pass and as she looked back down she saw that Gacen had become tangled up in the wires and was frantically trying to wriggle out.

Ash took a long sigh before speaking up "do you need a hand down there" Gacen continued to struggle only getting more tightly stuck in the wires

"nope I'm good just need to find the right wire" as he begun pulling at the wires more and more started to spill out of the console

Ash raised an eyebrow at him "Gacen" he looked up seemingly defeated

"fine just get me out" Ash began to untangle the wires one by one making sure not to repeat any wires and soon enough Gacen was out of the wires and standing back up

Ash tilted her head at Gacen "why are you so eager to call her now?" Gacen looked away for a second before speaking up

"well ya know, find her and we may find Risha so I kinda wanna get on that" his awkward tone dropped suddenly as he grinned "and once we find Risha I'll kinda wanna get on that too" he raised his hand for a high five "what up" Ash gave him a stoney look a few seconds as he held his hand in the air ready for a high five. After about 30 seconds of awkward silence he put his hand down reluctantly muttering "It's times like this I miss Guss"

Ash sighed "yeah I know you wanna find her but we also can't find her with a broken ship, she's been missing for 5 years I doubt she's going anywhere soon" Ash knew she didn't quite understand Gacen's headspace, she'd never been in love but she was aware it made people act emotionally and Gacen was definitely in line with that.

Gacen nodded "yeah I guess you're right I mean we should be fine to turn everything back on now anyway" Gacen had been messing with it for a considerable amount of time so he may have a point

Ash nodded and turned to a nearby console to turn the ship's power systems back on "so what are we hoping to get from the Champion?" Ash was curious how much she knew considering the best bounty hunter couldn't find Risha

As the lights of the ship flickered on Gacen began typing on the holoterminal "well best case scenario she knows where Risha is and she was paid to keep it a secret, worst case she will give us like a possible location of a lead" he paused "or capture us herself to find out" wow well that wasn't any clearer

Ash walked back over "wow that's extremely broad and also worrying, should I be on my guard" Gacen smiled at her as he finished typing on the holo

"well Amy was always kinda unpredictable, she follows the money but once the money is secured who knows. Sooo I'd say watch out for her but don't be rude or anything" this person was sounding worse all the time.

Ash frowned at him "sounds like your sort of company" Gacen feigned looking offended as the holo flickered to life with the form of a young human female with brown hair and cybernetic implants

She looked confused as she spoke "Hello who is this how did you get this number" this was not what Ash was expecting she seemed timid and confused not warrior like at all.

"is this her" Ash folded her arms ignoring the humans question and turning to Gacen

Gacen chuckled turning to Ash "whaat no this is Mako her sidekick, It's weird she doesn't recognise me" that did seem odd she wasn't looking at them

Mako spoke up again seemingly more agitated "Who is this, I can't see your holo that's why I don't recognise you" Gacen's eyes widened looking at the pile of wires on the floor

Ash let out a heavy sigh "This is Captain Gacen Zandar and Ash'shen'tor former leader of Havoc Squad I hear Gacen is an old friend" at that Mako's guard seemed to drop "our holo doesn't work because Gacen is an impatient child" Mako nodded at them as Gacen screwed up his face at Ash

"well that does sound like him and I thought I recognised the voice, but you guys have been missing for like five years" her previous serious tone was gone replaced with a much more chipper voice

Gacen spoke up before Ash had a chance "it's a long story but we actually require something of you Mako" that was probably easier than explaining where they had been

Mako began tapping on a holopad "Ok I'll set you up to meet with Amy" Gacen was taken aback for a second

"wait how did you know I wanted that" Ash was caught of guard too it was admittedly not a hard guess but she sounded so sure of herself when she said it

Mako raised her eyebrow "why else would you call" she had a point there

Gacen nodded to himself "well maybe I just wanted to chat to you" in no universe had that sounded genuine

"I doubt it" Mako tapped her holopad further "Ok if you wanna meet with Amy she's currently on a job at… The Nebulous Resort" Ash began to mess with a holopad she had no idea what that was she'd have to look it up.

Gacen leant over and whispered to Ash "space hotel orbiting Ord Mantell I have always wanted to visit" Ash nodded that was definitely not where she expected it to be.

Gacen turned back to the holoterminal "we can be there if you pencil us in"

Mako nodded "alright but I can't guarantee she wont be in the middle of the job" Gacen pursed his lips as he responded

"sure that's good whatevs it's tots cool we'll be there and we can wait that's chill" his eyes widened and he quickly ended the call

Ash raised her eyebrow "what was that?" Gacen put his hands over his face and groaned

"ughh I dunno I just wanted to look like it wasn't such a big deal" Ash was confused it's importance didn't matter surely

"you could not have clearly made it look like a big deal right then" Gacen nodded from behind his hands

"I have a reputation to uphold" Ash let a long sigh and put a hand on his shoulder

"Gacen I hate to tell you this but it's been 5 years I think your reputation is long gone" Gacen reluctantly agreed and they started setting up the jump.

later…

As they parked the ship Gacen was ranting about the other ships and something about how his parking was so much better or something. To be honest Ash had tuned him out she was laser focussed on checking the perimeter, something felt off about this she couldn't tell what but she had a hunch that Durbillion wouldn't give up that easy. She imagined Amy would be unaware of it but indirectly involved, but there was also the possibility she would turn them in, or alternatively that they were spying on her. They exited the ship and were met with the resorts towering buildings, it was weird to have a hotel in space but she could understand the idea behind it. What was most surprising was that it was actually wider than longer, she guessed there was less restrictions when building in space and weight would definetly be one of them. Ash thought back to her first mission on Ord Mantell this was certainly a different perspective to the first she was surprised to see a hotel here of all places but it was clear it was a stay at the hotel type of hotel. She looked at the people around her they seemed to all follow a few categories, rich nobles with their families, businessmen seemingly here for meetings, young people on holiday and people like them smugglers or bounty hunters blowing their latest payout on something dumb. None of these people seemed like a threat but she was fully aware of inconsistencies in the patterns and would have to look out for them

"Ash ASH! are you even listening to me" Ash was suddenly broken out of her analysis by Gacen who was probably still rambling

"huh oh yeah sure that parking unbelievable" Ash didn't even try to make it convincing and got right back to her analysis

Gacen then proceeded to shake her lightly "no you ass, the bar is this way that's where we're meeting her" oh that was fair Gacen tugged her in the direction and they hurriedly headed to the bar

As Ash was dragged in she apologised "sorry I was analysing the perimeter" she did feel kinda bad she had a habit of going into those sorts of states, must be kinda annoying.

"yeah well let's at least get to the table before you go all paranoid on me" Ash nodded and began to look around the room for threats, she then spotted the table they were heading towards. At it sat a female Zabrak seemingly Iridonian with light pale skin and long grey hair heavily braided coming down to her shoulders. She was wearing some form of Mandalorian Armour with a cape behind it, the armour seemed very used but well kept and she had her feet up on the table leaning back nonchalantly. She seemed relaxed but also ready for a scrap with her hand at least somewhat close to her blaster, she held a grin on her face as she slowly sipped a beer, she was kinda attractive by normal standards. As they walked she waved them over and Gacen quickly upped his pace, Ash realised she had totally not looked around the room yet she had become distracted by the zabrak and began a scan.

Gacen spoke loudly as they arrived slipping into a chair "well well well did I spot a low tier bounty hunter in the midst of this high class establishment" Amy grinned at Ash as she sat down next to him

"man" she put her beer down on the table "you got old" certainly a simpler rebuttal, a few seconds of silence passed and Ash was worried Gacen had exaggerated his friendship with her. But after a few seconds they both began to wheezed with laughter "man seriously though I haven't seen you in years man how have you been and also" she turned to Ash "who is this new one" Ash looked around awkwardly as Amy tried to meet her gaze

"well I have been lowkey of the grid and this is Ash she's an old friend of mine, I'm surprised you never met to be honest" he paused for a second rubbing his chin "actually no I'm not she used to be a soldier" Amy's eyebrows raised

"ohhhh I see well pleasure to meet you Soldier Ash" Ash nodded awkwardly and began to try and focus on assessing the room. From what she could see the room was pretty empty but there was a few patrons sipping quietly. As she looked around he did spot a group of people seemingly quite drunk but given their level of inebriation they wouldn't be a threat.

Gacen had began to drink the beer seemingly already ordered "As much as I'd love to reminisce with you I'm afraid this isn't just a social call I've heard through the grape vine that a few years back you were tasked with finding my wife" Ash saw there was also a drink in front of her and Amy was looking a little confused she wasn't drinking it, ugh fine she took a little sip to keep up appearances.

Amy frowned for a second "aw I thought you just wanted to see me but yes I was told to find her but just so you know I was gonna hopefully get her to pay me more money I didn't really wanna ya know kidnap her" Amy sipped her drink with a strange look of apprehension in her eyes, Ash was under the impression that she didn't mind that sort of thing.

Gacen gave an awkward smile "always classy Amy" he looked unsurprised, so she was that kind of bounty hunter huh

Amy swirled her drink playfully "hey man as long as I get the money I was promised" Ash took another look around the room but still nothing, maybe Gacen was right maybe she was just being paranoid "but if you're asking me for a lead all I got is that she was last seen taking an unknown ship from one of your old underling gangs called the Horned Rancors or something stupid like that" she took a long swig of beer "that broad is damn good at covering her tracks, she didn't tell that gang leader anything but she would take a ship" Ash respected that amount of precautions maybe she'd get along with Risha.

Gacen had been listening intently but now spoke up "but there's like departure logs and stuff like that right?" Gacen's words were frantic and shaky Ash knew this would affect him but so far so good right they had a lead

Amy leaned back raising an eyebrow "yeah I checked that and all records were in some way redacted, believe me I checked every type of log that would relate and she thought of everything" Gacen seemed to grin a little bit Ash was definitely impressed with Risha's ability to go off the grid, Gacen seemed proud and also furious at the circumstance.

"of course she did that's just like her, well did you perhaps get anything else" Gacen seemed to be grasping at straws here

Amy let out a long sigh "no believe me it took me months to get that far I tried but nothing matched up and I was pretty tired of the bounty at that point" she paused for a second "also I didn't really wanna kidnap my friends wife so seemed like a good idea to put it on hold" she looked away for a second "I would advise go to the gangs hideout see if you find anything I missed"

Gacen nodded clearly disappointed but not crushed "alright thanks for trying Amy" she seemed genuine but something still felt very off. Ash felt a sharp head pain suddenly, was she having a migraine? NO this felt like… the room began to spin and shake

"Gacen I think some-" she tried to finished but her lips began to feel heavy, Gacen seemed to be holding his head too confused

Ash turned to Amy who had a solem look on her face "I'm sorry you guys, I hope you find her but ya know money is money and they offered it to me first" god damn it she knew it she shouldn't have trusted Amy. She went to grab her but fell short, Amy gave her an conflicted look before Ash's vision darkened and it all went black…