In seconds, the batch and yourself were bent in an attack position, you had quickly grabbed Omega and tucked her behind your leg. Hunter positioned himself slightly in front of you, protecting you and Omega from a long distance attack.

You took advantage of the silence and tried to make out who your assailants were. One appeared to be a woman, you did not recognize her, but her garb made it clear that she was a bounty hunter.

The other wore a large brimmed hat that covered most of his face. But the blue skin and garb gave his identity away. You knew this was the bounty hunter Cad Bane, you had fought him on many occasions during the Clone Wars. He was the rough cowboy type, but he had always had a soft spot for you.

You took a deep breath and gathered your strength, you guided Omega's shoulder so she was completely shielded by Hunter and Wrecker. You grabbed your lightsaber hilt and moved away from the others. Hunter looked at you desperately, but you only nodded to him and kept walking until you were a small distance closer to the bounty hunters.

"I am surprised to see you here of all people, Bane," you shouted to him from across the gap.

He nodded and tipped up his hat, "I was not sure you would have recognized me, little lady."

"I didn't expect you to be running with a partner, either," you noted, gesturing to the woman, "can't hunt on your own anymore?"

Bane chuckled, "by unhappy circumstances, I was not the only one hired for this particular mission, but we arrived here at the same time." Bane pointed to the woman, "allow me to introduce you to Fennec Shand, a newcomer to the bounty scene, but she is quite impressive."

You nodded, "a rare compliment from you, she must be impressive," you mused.

"I can assure you, I am," Shand replied, raising her gun.

You flicked your wrist and pulled out your saber, but did not ignite it yet. Bane chuckled and used his hand to lower Shand's gun, "now, now, let's not be hasty," he said, "this one is a friend of mine, we should negotiate first."

"You're friends with a jedi?" Shand asked, surprised.

"Bane and I have a unique friendship," you responded, "if you count chasing each other across the galaxy a friendship."

Shand shook her head, "you two can negotiate when I am done," she said raising her gun again, "I am only here for the girl."

"You have to go through me to get the girl," you said, meeting her tone.

"That can be arranged," she shouted, immediately firing bullets in your direction. You quickly ignited your saber and deflected everything that she fired at you, redirecting the energy back in her direction causing her jump behind a shipping crate.

You glanced at Bane and saw that he had sat back on a crate watching everything transpire. You turned your attention back to Shand, "give up yet?" you called.

She shouted in frustration and stood up from behind the crate, firing at you again but faster this time. You deflected everything again and waited for her next attack. After several more rounds of deflecting she had finally broken your defenses and a bullet grazed your arm.

You winced in pain, before redirecting a few more bullets. "(Y/N)!" Hunter shouted, taking a step in your direction.

You turned and held your hand up to stop him, making sure he knew he needed to protect Omega. Shand wasted no time firing more bullets, but you regathered your strength and blocked them all.

Suddenly, you heard a shout, and saw Omega's small figure running in between you and Shand. "Please stop!" she shouted.

"Omega, get back!" you called to her.

But Omega had turned to Shand, "please don't hurt my family, you can take me."

"No!" you yelled, closing the distance and grabbing Omega. Shand had jumped out from behind the crate, but stopped when she saw you wrap your arms around Omega.

Omega twisted in your arms and placed a hand on either side of your face, "it's ok," she whispered, "we all make sacrifices for the people we love."

You smiled at her and wrapped her in a hug. As you did this you brought her close your body and ignited your saber behind her, shielding her. "I will have to be dead before you take her," you said to Shand, who had inched closer.

Shand lifted her helmet off and set it down, then she placed her gun next to it on the crate and inched closer with her hand raised.

You looked at her suspiciously, but allowed her to come closer. She knelt next to you and Omega, "your spirit is rare, little one," Shand said, still holding her hands in the air.

Omega turned to look at her, but you kept your saber ignited in a defensive position. Shand smiled at her, "stay with your family, they will protect you."

"Thank you," Omega whispered to her.

Shand stood up and walked back over to her things, securing her gun on her belt and carrying her helmet. "The people that hired me will not stop until they find her," she warned you, "take her, but next time you might not be so lucky."

You nodded to her and watched her walk off, at this point the rest of the batch was at your side. You had no time to celebrate a victory before Bane chuckled behind you, "well that is a feat little lady," he said as you turned your attention to him, "I have never seen Shand abandon a bounty."

"And what about you?" Hunter said, "Do you abandon your bounties?"

You stood up next to Hunter, "Bane has never once failed a mission, I doubt he plans on starting now."

Bane tipped his hat, "you would be correct," he sighed, "but lucky for you my bounty is not the girl."

You looked at him in confusion, then it dawned on you, "you're here for me, aren't you?"

Bane nodded, "my supplier knows that you could only be tracked and caught by one man, and that is me."

You gripped your saber a little tighter, "after all we've been through, you would turn your back on me?"

Bane threw his hands in the air, "oh come on, little lady," he said in frustration, "you and me, we had an understanding, a mutual respect for one another. This job isn't personal."

"It seems a little personal," you retorted, "I let you go hundreds of times and this is the thanks I get?"

Bane took one look at the protective stance of the clones and sighed, "I can tell you are not going down without a fight."

You nodded. "Alright little lady," he said, tipping his hat, "but this is the last time for favors, we're square."

"Fair enough," you responded.

Bane took a few steps away from you, but you had not given up your protective stance just yet. "The empire is not going to stop until they find you," he said in warning, "and the girl."

You nodded in understanding, "thank you." Bane tipped his hat one last time and kept walking until he was out of sight.

You and the others relaxed, "that was close." Echo commented after you had all boarded the ship and were preparing for takeoff.

"Yea, general, how did you manage to escape 2 bounty hunters without more than a scratch?" Wrecker asked.

You pulled out some medical supplies and started wrapping your small wound on your arm. "I learned to negotiate from the best," you responded. Hunter took off his gear and grabbed a hold of the gauze you had and took over wrapping your arm.

You sighed, "truth is I had no idea what I was doing. Bane and I have a history, but I never expected him to leave without a fight."

"We could tell he cared for you," Echo added.

You huffed, "Bane has respect for me, don't confuse that with care." Hunter had finished wrapping your arm and you nodded to him in thanks.

Once the ship was in hyperspace, Tech joined you and the others in the common area. "I tried to make contact with Cid, but there was no reply."

"She is probably just out scaring children or something," Wrecker joked.

"She is not going to be happy that we did not get the data from the droid," Hunter added, a tone of fear in his voice.

"It is not her wrath I am worried about," you added, "it's the pike's."