Tatooine: 19 BBY
Jabba's Palace
Lesia Mirri

Snow and ash flew before her eyes. All around her was the sound of screams and blaster fire. She couldn't tell what was happening. Lesia gripped her lightsaber tightly and ran. A shot flew past her.

Lesia activated her cyan blade and deflected the next shot. More came. Still, she ran on. There was nowhere for her to go. The far end of the bridge was covered with droids. She skidded to a stop and stared over the edge of the bridge. She could make out nothing in the dark abyss. Lesia bit her lip nervously. To survive a fall like that, she'd have to slow herself using the Force. She'd never done that before, not even during her few training sessions with her master, Ki Adi Mundi.

Lesia risked a glance back. The clones were still inbound. Smoke flew from the muzzles of their blasters. Her gaze landed on one clone in particular, Cole. He had only arrived on Mygeeto a few weeks ago, but had quickly become her friend. Lesia no longer saw any sign of that friend in his cold blue eyes.

She took off running once more. Shots hissed as they struck patches of snow. Lesia screamed with pain as a blast caught her ankle. She went down hard, her lightsaber clattering out of her hand. She reached for the saber just as the clones reached her. Lesia tried to call out with the Force. Her gaze met Cole's. She found no sympathy there. He raised his blaster and...

Lesia jerked awake, gasping for breath. She tried to rub her forehead, then paused, realizing that her hands were shackled together. Subconsciously, her hand fell down towards her ankles, hidden inside of her boots. The scars that marred them were still fresh.

The events of the night before returned to her as her eyesight adjusted to her dimly lit surroundings. She scanned the walls of her cell, but found no sign of her satchel. Her blasters and all of her hidden weapons had already been removed from her as well.

The cell door hissed open a moment later. Two Gamorrean guards entered and grabbed her by the arm. They roughly escorted her out of the cell. Great, Lesia groaned to herself. Gamorreans mean Jabba the Hutt. She grimaced as snot dripped from one of the guard's noses onto her arm.

They ushered her into a large chamber. Jabba lounged on a raised dais. A Kowakian sat on his tail, cackling at absolutely nothing. Scattered throughout the room was a host of bounty hunters, smugglers, dancers, and many others. Jabba's gaze landed on Lesia.

"Sa this thief?" He asked. One of her guards grunted a reply. "Haku makes uba tinka uba can moocha tuta je?"

A protocol droid approached and began to translate. "The Mighty Jabba asks why you thought you could steal from him."

"Because he stole that spice first," Lesia replied.

Jabba let out a throaty laugh and stuffed a frog in his mouth. Lesia hid her disgust beneath a disinterested mask. "Tagwa jee did. Jee stole it tuta du pirate."

"Hondo Ohnaka?" Lesia asked, not bothering to let the droid translate first.

Jabba nodded. "He naga it bata, so jee-jee made du bargon."

Lesia raised an eyebrow. "What kind of bargain?"

"Wanga of ma whirlee was taken by du Zygerrian."

"One of his Excellency's favorite dancers was given to the Zygerrians a few months ago. She was...troublesome...and my master wanted her to learn some manners before she is returned to us," the droid said, now translating as Jabba spoke. From the look on Jabba's face, Lesia guessed this would be the droid's last time translating anything. 

Still, Jabba continued speaking and so did the droid. "The Mighty Jabba made a deal with Hondo Ohnaka. Hondo would supply him with a new dancer and Jabba would return the spice he'd taken."

Lesia gritted her teeth. Why that no good rotten lying sniveling backstabbing little pirate! I should've known he'd sell me out. She narrowed her eyes. No, there's more to it than that. Hondo is definitely selling me for the spice, but he's planning something. He always has some hidden plan within his master plans.

Jabba waved a dismissive hand. "Take cheekta neechu."

Two Twi'leks grabbed Lesia's arms and pulled her out of the room. They didn't return her to her cell. Instead, they led her into a dressing room of sorts. One of them grabbed an outfit and handed it to her. Lesia changed, not bothering to argue with the women.

The outfit was two pieces, a shirt and shorts. They were a burnt orange color, with a headpiece to match. Sheer purple fabric was attached to the shorts by a belt. Golden coins accented the outfit and tinkled together with her every movement. One of the Twi'leks replaced Lesia's boots with a pair of shoes. The other slid two purple bracelets onto her wrists. The same golden coins hung from the bracelets.

The Twi'lek bent over to slide another pair of bracelets around her ankles. Lesia stiffened as the woman's hands passed over her scars. The Twi'lek looked up at her. "They will fade in time."

"The damage won't," Lesia replied. "I don't think I'll be a very good dancer." Neither of the women replied.

Lesia glanced at herself in the mirror when they had finally finished. Surprisingly, she didn't hate the outfit. She'd never seen herself in something like it before. As a padawan, she had worn traditional Jedi robes. When she came to work with Hondo, she had switched into her normal sleeveless black flight suit.

"Come," one of the Twi'leks said. "Jabba wants you at the exchange."

Lesia nodded and followed them back out of the room. Inwardly, she was fuming, but on the outside, she looked perfectly calm. The vast chamber was empty when they passed through it once more. Lesia spied a portable dais outside of the palace entrance, where they seemed to be heading.

They arrived just as a ship was landing. The boarding ramp extended and Hondo stepped off, accompanied by Baja Haap and a few other pirates. Lesia bit her tongue to keep from speaking. Jabba waved a hand and four containers of spice were handed over to Hondo.

Hondo gave Jabba a flourished bow. "It was a pleasure doing business with you. I trust Lesia will serve you well, as she has me."

Lesia fed a dangerous look into her eyes and turned to Jabba. "Your Excellency," she cooed with a honeyed voice, "may I have a moment to say goodbye to someone who has done me such a great service?" Jabba didn't bother with a vocal reply. He simply waved his hand again. Lesia looped her arm through Hondo's and they walked a short distance away from the crowd.

As soon as they were on the other side of the palace, she socked him. Hondo grimaced and rubbed his jaw. "You have a much stronger punch than I expected."

"You sold me to Jabba the Hutt?" Lesia snapped. "For spice?"

"Oh, now don't be upset. You've made things much easier for us. The Pykes will get their spice, I've established a favorable relationship with Jabba, and you've repaid your debt to me."

"My debt to you?"

"The spice you dropped and the secret I've kept for you. Oh, I'll be taking your personal things with me, by the way. I'd hate for them to discover your treacherous past." Hondo held one of his coat flaps open. Lesia saw her lightsaber dangling from his belt.

"Why you load of bantha fodder!" She raised her fist to hit him again, but he caught the punch and forced her arm down.

"I told you I can't let the men notice who my favorites are. Don't worry. You'll be well suited for the work here, assuming your old injuries don't get in the way." Quick as a whip, Hondo hooked a foot around one of her ankles. Lesia grunted as she hit the sand, pain flaring within her ankle.

Hondo was already returning to his ship by the time she stood. "That is a lovely color on you, my dear! You must come and dance for me some time. This adventure has been most profitable!" He waved as he jumped onto his ship. Lesia bared her teeth in a snarl and slammed a fist into the side of the palace.

Tatooine: 19 BBY
Dune Sea
Nakoa Sen

"Do you finally know where you're going this time?" Oni asked as the Mythos landed.

"I think so. That old junk dealer said we'd find Jabba's Palace in the Dune Sea," Nakoa replied.

"Let's hope so. I'm tired of sand. I'll be cleaning it out of my helmet for weeks."

"You might need a new paint job too." Nakoa laughed and tapped on her shoulder plate. The paint was already chipped and scratched from the coarse desert sands.

"I hate sand." Oni pushed his hand away and left the ship. He followed after a moment.

The Dune Sea stretched around them as far as he could see. Nakoa flipped his rangefinder down and checked the area. A large building appeared on the scanner. "That's where we're headed." He pointed towards it. Oni joined him, switching on her own rangefinder.

"I don't think we should take the ship all the way over there. Jabba is a notorious gangster. His palace will be crawling with pirates and smugglers," Oni said.

Nakoa returned his rangefinder to its upright position and narrowed his eyes, thinking. "We'll take it as close as we can and one of us will stay behind. We can't both go in anyway or people will become overly curious."

"Fine. I'll go look for the smuggler and..."

"No, I'll find her," Nakoa interrupted.

Oni crossed her arms, clearly annoyed. "Why?"

"I've always been better at blending into crowds than you."

"All right. Let's get going."

He followed her back onto the Mythos and they took off once more. The palace appeared after only a few minutes of flying. Nakoa set the ship down on a ridge not far from the palace. He stood to leave.

"What's your plan?" Oni asked.

Nakoa paused for a moment. "I'm going to find out what she knows. If she knows where Baja is, she'll tell me or take us there herself. If she doesn't know, I'll ask her about Hondo."

"That's not really a plan."

Nakoa smirked and simply shrugged. "What can I say? I like to wing things."

"And that's why Ketei makes me accompany you."

"You volunteered," he reminded her.

"Get going. We don't want someone else to find Baja first."

Nakoa twisted on his heel and started down the boarding ramp. He activated his jetpack as soon as he was a short distance away from the ship. He landed at the palace shortly. There was no one in sight.

He banged his fist on the metal door. A small hatch opened, revealing a gatekeeper droid. Nakoa quickly translated its garbled language before replying.

"I'm a bounty hunter hired by Jabba," he lied. "I'm here for an assignment briefing." The droid spoke again. "No, Jabba isn't the one briefing me. Do you think he has time for that? I'm meeting someone here for the briefing."

The droid gave a reply and disappeared. A moment later, the metal door groaned as it lifted off the ground. Nakoa strode inside and heard it clang shut behind him.