The bounty hunters guild spread far and wide within the reaches of the galaxy. At almost every shady outpost on every planet, bounty hunters hid amongst the shadows waiting for their next prey. 

-Hosnian Prime, Hosnian System, Core Worlds-

Cantina music played in a dull tune, putting the shabby looking bar in a darker, dimmer mood than the regular bars in the dark alleyways of Hosnian Prime. Unlike the usual cantina business, no locals dared set foot in this particular setting. Was it the food? The smell? Or maybe the particular patrons that regular the fine establishment?

"Gamorrean Ale" a woman dropped several credits on the table, knocking on it twice to alert the half-asleep bartender. "R-right. On the way miss" He quickly busied himself as the woman glanced up to the holo screen. 

Though, it was not your regular show. 

"Listed for Bounty", it read in Galactic Basic, each minute or so the bounties changed from one bounty to another. The woman watched with a keen eye. She was a well-known huntress, pulled off several big-time jobs for some big-time people. Almost a perfect track record under her belt. Almost.

She was currently enjoying her wealth from her latest job but well, a girl's gotta make a living. The huntress searched the bounty list for the top highest bounty. A name appeared and the image of a green-skinned individual buzzed in the holo. 

The bartender placed the drink down beside the huntress. 

"30 000 credits". 

'Impressive'  thought the woman. Swiping up a puck, she scanned the details of her next hunt. The blue image of the holo illuminated her greedy smile. 30 000 could make her richer than she already was. Good money means good business. 

"Here you go" the bartender placed the ale in front of the huntress. Stuffing the puck in her pocket, she downed the ale in one go before leaving a stingy tip on the table. She left for her starfighter and plotted a course to the Bright Jewel System, L-7.

If she only lingered for a little while longer, she could have gotten who bounties at one go.

---

-Ord Mantell, Bright Jewel System, Mid Rim Territories-

Cid's parlour was always quiet towards the evening. Most of the patrons and guests left early, except for a Weequay and Ithorian who had to be chased out for private business matters the female trandoshan had to settle with a particular clone squad.

"Alright boys, you managed to make... quarter earnings this time." She handed Hunter a handful of credits. Hunter distastefully tossed it in his hands and Ryki peeked over his shoulder. 

"Cid, this doesn't even cover basic necessities." Ryki retaliated, Tech agreed. 

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe next time you'll learn to count all items present before leaving." Cid sneered "I asked for 5 containers of proximity mine tech and you delivered 3. I say what you got was fair pay. Now get outta here before I decide to make matters worse for you." 

---

'Alright. Alright just close your eyes and focus'

A sharp sound rang from Ryki's left. She quickly fired a countershot to eliminate the first stun blast.

'Click' 

Another stun was shot, this time from her right. Ryki swivelled on her heels and leaned her body hard left, just missing the shot by mere inches. The blindfold did her no justice on physical sight.

"You need to react faster than that Ry" Hunter told her before nodding at the rest of the Batchers. They circled in on her and began to shoot rapidly now. Loud buzzes of stun blasts whizzed through the air. Ryki tuned herself to the Force and tried to sense some of the blasts. 

"Wrecker look out!" Echo warned when Ryki dodged three stun blasts he shot from opposite the demolition expert. That gave away the two clones position. Ryki shot back immediately with Tech's borrowed blaster. 

"Go Ryki!" Omega cheered on from the Marauder's steps. The boys began to rapid-fire and Ryki was left to her senses to dodge or eliminate the oncoming stuns. The small practice run became much harder and she took a first hit. She was still able to stand since she wore some stun resistant armour Tech had crafted. Hunter advised her to focus in on the Force. She eliminated several more blasts before taking to more shots to her chest. 

Ryki grunted at the third shot, already becoming weary from the practice run. In her attempt to dodge stun blasts she didn't notice that she was backing into a tight corner between Tech and Wrecker and eventually backed directly into Wrecker. 

'Click'  Ryki sighed. Wrecker pulled the trigger and stunned the mirialan, who fell backwards on the dusty ground. 

"I think you did well Ryki" Omega pulled off the blindfold, making Ryki squint her eyes as the light began to pour in. Grunting, Ryki laid splayed on the ground. The boys gathered around her, wearing amused and teasing smirks. "I calculate your improvement to be a positive 25%" Tech read off his datapad. If she could sink further into the ground she would have, "Yay" she sarcastically cheered. Wrecker landed a hand and gently hoisted the woman off the ground. 

Tech punched some numbers in his datapad, humming in displeasure "However that would place the probability of sustaining damage during battle a greater 75% meaning your chances of survival have greatly diminished and technically you would probably be most likely to take direct shots every four out of five times." 

The others sighed, Ryki buried her head in her hands. Hunter subtlety nodded his head towards Ryki's predicament and Tech caught up "Oh, sorry. I mean, you did well. Though it was just a little improvement from over two weeks of training." 

Ryki pressed on the bridge of her nose, "Tech, I know your trying to help and that's really kind of you, but right now simple numbers and calculations are something my brain cannot handle." 

Echo patted her shoulder. "No worries. You weren't trained to use a blaster like us. It takes time and patience. Compared to when you started you've improved. That's the important thing." 

Ryki sighed tiredly and nodded before jokingly poking fun at her first practice run "At least I didn't accidentally stun myself this time around, right?" 

---

Night fell over Ord Mantell and the boys were passed out from all the hoo-ha adventure they had earlier. Ryki kept Omega company until the little blonde fell asleep then retired to her bunk. Sleep didn't come to her that night. 

She stared up into the dark ceiling, thinking about their situation back on Bracca. The Force was just a small part of her and one that she didn't use on a regular basis anymore. Back on Coruscant, she was forced to rely on the Force as Vendi's money-making machine. His clients didn't need to know Ryki's Force abilities, just that she could help them out with their dirty work. 

Even then, the Force was just a tool for her survival. She never used it any more than for work and it never acted up any more than reading predictions or sorts. But Bracca... what happened on Bracca was unexplainable. As far as she knew, Ryki always had to call onto the Force to use it but it never acted out on its own. These so-called visions she's been getting scared the living daylights out of her. Now Ryki knew that the Empire probably has mistaken her as a Jedi and set out a hunting posse for her damned green head.

"Great. There goes my freedom, again." Grumbling she tossed and turned in bed until finally giving up. Ord Mantell was particularly a peaceful place at night. More so because they were under Cid's thumb and therefore under her good graces and the transodhan is one of the big shots there. Ryki and the Bad Batches safety was supposed to be a guarantee as long as they remained in Cid's territory. 

Pulling on a cloak, Ryki quietly scrambled out of bed. The belly of the ship was empty, Omega, Hunter and Echo were sleeping in their cots. Wrecker fell asleep on the floor while tinkering with some explosives, something Ryki kept warning him not to tinker with explosives in a ship full of people. She passed the weapons storage and thought she needed to carry a blaster just in case but decided against it.

She cleared the area and tiptoed into the cockpit. A smile fell on her face when she saw Tech asleep in the pilot's chair. The thought passed her of how many similarities the boys shared, then again, they were brothers. She scanned the room and grinned when she saw that he had forgotten to close the ships door.

When the pale moon light and cool air hit her skin. She shivered slightly but welcomed it. A distraction from her thoughts. Ryki lingered in the hangar, not wandering far from the ship and sat on an empty crate. She thought that her loud thought could finally find some solace within the night sky but as always, danger always lurked in the moonlights shadows.

---

High about the platform wall, pale fingers uncurled revealing a holo puck and from it, a blue image of a mirialan hovered in the palm of a Palliduvan bounty hunter. Sing adjusted her snipper scope, zeroing in on the lone mirialan in a landing platform. Her black striped mark over her eyes crinkling with her evil smile. 

Skillfully, the bounty hunter scaled down the wall. Boots gently lowered to the ground not making a sound. The mirialan didn't notice her impending doom. The huntress pulled out a blaster poked the cold barrel into her bounties back.

"Miss Taala, is it?" 

---

"Miss Taala, is it?" 

Ryki shouted and jumped off the crate. Her body shook with fear when she realized she was held at gunpoint by a hunter. The bounty huntress cocked her head to the side, leaning on her side. Clamouring could be heard from within the ship. 

"Woke your friends up, I see," she smirked. Ryki closed her eyes and shook her head. The boys were always on edge, even in their sleep. Hunter, Echo, Tech and Wrecker burst out with blasters in their hands. Unfortunately, Omega trailed behind them. 

"Stay in the ship Omega!" Ryki's voice shook, her eyes fixed on the assailant. "This is a bounty hunter"

Omega was pushed behind the squad. "Drop your weapon," Hunter demanded. The huntress began to chuckle, "You're in no position to make that request I'm afraid." 

The boys tightened their grips on their blasters, Ryki began to slowly bow her head and raise her hands. The boys were partially in armour. How the hunter didn't peg them as rogue Republic forces, Ryki didn't know. That meant that Omega's identity was safe from this grey-skinned freak.

"You're outnumbered. Drop your weapon." Hunter repeated in a deeper voice.

"She's here for me" Ryki admitted. 

"Aren't you smart" The bounty puck turned on and Ryki's holo was projected. 

"Wanted: Ryki Taala (Alive), Age: 24, Species: Mirialan, Reward: 30 000 credits. I'll just take her pretty little face with me and I'll leave in peace, how 'bout that, hmm?" 

Tech caught seemed to catch on to the story. "Mor Vendi hired you" 

The huntress smiled "She has an international price on her head. 30 000 is good money for anyone these days." She whipped out another blaster and held it towards the clones as she approached Ryki. 

The boys ran forwards but stopped when the blaster was pressed into the side of Ryki's head. "I'm supposed to deliver her alive but nothing said against hurting her. Unless you want a scar on her skin, step forwards." 

Hunter's shoulders tensed. Aurra Sing wrapped her arm around Ryki's neck and pulled her backwards. When she noticed the boys hesitant movements Sing smirked. Aurra was smart. She knew she couldn't take on four armed people, so she aimed her blaster to the ground and began to rapid-fire. Ryki shut her ears from the defeating sound as the boys ran for cover. 

"She's kicking up dust!" Echo shouted. "Stun her!" Hunter ordered. 

The boys shot blindly through the dirt cloud. Tech scanned through the dust and pinpointed the hunter's position and fired a stun. Ryki shouted as Aurra pushed her to the ground. The Palliduvan fired a focused shot towards Tech and a loud bang could be heard. 

"Tech!" Wrecker shouted as he ran to protect his brother. Luckily, only Tech's scanner took the hit.

"Nothing personal. It's just good business."  Aurra pulled Ryki up by her hair. The mirialan tried to punch Aurra in the gut the bounty hunter was more experienced in hand to hand fighting and Ryki was an amateur. Aurra bashed the end of her blaster to Ryki's head and knocked her out and dragged her unconscious body to Aurra's starfighter. The dust cloud still kicked up, Hunter called for Echo to pursue Aurra Sing.

The dust cleared, Omega ran out to her brothers with worry written all over her face. "Tech! Wrecker, what happened? Where's Ryki?" 

"Get inside kid, and get a medpac" Wrecker told Omega as he assisted Tech to his feet. 

Meanwhile, Hunter and Echo chased Aurra to her starfighter. "Get the ship ready!" Hunter called through the comms. "On it!" Wrecker replied. Aurra's ship began to lift off but turned towards the Marauder's landing site. 

Laser fire was shot from Aurra's ship before flying out of Ord Mantell airspace. "Kriff" Echo cursed under his breath, both him and the Sargent watching explosions coming from their landing bay. 

---

Loud music spewing profanity blasted in the starfighter. Ryki was still unconscious, hands bound and mouth taped. Aurra commed her client. Mor Vendi's image flickered on and Aurra smiled coyly, "I've got your girl"