~ the world is quiet here ~

Pushing that regret down, Noara turned her attention back to the tunic in her lap. She was working on mending the hole in her tunic from the blaster graze she received earlier. Jory had cleaned the wound and put a kolto patch over it but the damage to her clothing wasn’t as easily fixed. She had packed several pieces of clothing, enough to be able to interchange into a few outfits, but not enough to leave this top damaged. 

The door slid open and Mako walked in, hair still damp from the shower and wearing a set of dark purple pajamas. She stopped just inside the door and stared at Noara. 

“What?” Noara asked, unsure what had stopped the other woman in her tracks.

“I’m not sure what I expected of a Jedi, but I can’t decide which is more surprising. That you are sewing or the bright pink solocorn pajamas.”

Noara smiled and gestured at her two piece PJ set. It consisted of matching shorts and a tank top and was made from a soft vibrant pink material with a pattern of dancing solocrons in all the colors of the rainbow. “I would think this is the bigger surprise, people tend to think Jedis only wear brown.”

Mako laughed and went over to her bed, flopping down on the surface. “Can you blame us? You Jedi aren’t exactly known as paragons of fashion.”

“Again - space monks. Fashion isn’t usually high on the list of priorities.” Noara lifted the black tunic she was mending, “would I be a believable bounty hunter if this was pink?”

“You’d be a memorable one that’s for sure.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s the goal,” Noara said, returning to her stitching. “What’s surprising about me sewing?”

“I guess that just feels so… domestic to be doing it by hand. There are plenty of sewing assistant droids around that you could take it to.” Mako shrugged. “Thats what if anything tears that I want to keep.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been described as domestic before.” Noara laughed. “The Masters at the Enclave where I grew up always encouraged us to be as self-efficient as possible. Granted when they taught me this their intention was to make sure I could close a wound in a pinch.” She finished the last stitch and tied it off before looking up to see Mako staring at her again. 

“I’m trying to decide if that’s funny or morbid.”

Noara stood, putting the tunic aside and stowing her sewing supplies back in her pack. “I’d say it was realistic, unless I failed the Jedi Knight trials I was being raised for a life that would always include a fair bit of danger. Getting wounded and not having the luxuries of kolto patches and med droids is basically guaranteed.” She sat back down on the bed and shrugged, “guess that’s another odd thing to consider a luxury, isn’t it?”

“A bit and that still sounds a little morbid,” Mako said, pushing up from where she was lying to sit on the edge of her bed. ”What would have happened if you failed the trials?”

“Depends, you can try again if the Council allows it but eventually they will determine the Force has other plans for you. Then the Reassignment Council steps in, they determine if you fit best in the Agriculture, Medical, Education or Exploration Corps.” While there was no shame in failing and being reassigned, Noara had dreaded the idea of entering any of the corps. For her being a Knight was the only path she had wanted to walk.

“And if you don’t want to do any of those?”

“I’m not sure.” Noara frowned, trying to think if she had ever heard of a failed Knight refusing the Reassignment Council’s placement. “In theory I guess they could walk away and leave the order but that would mean giving up everything they have ever known. Not many would be willing to do that.”

“Did you ever want to be anything other than a Jedi?”

“Never thought about it to be honest.” Noara shook her head, “I might have thought about it if I had failed. Instead my trails never actually happened and I received what amounts to a field promotion when some aggressive cannibals attacked the Temple grounds on Tython.”

“I'm not sure if that is a story I want to hear.”

That was a sentiment Noara could understand, before the Jedi had gotten a measure of control of the Flesh Raider attacks it hadn’t been pretty. “What about you, have you always wanted to be a slicer or did you have other plans growing up?”

Mako pointed at her implants, “I don’t know where these came from. I’ve had them all my life and even now they outstrip anything on the market. By the time I was 8 I was able to crash the accounts of the orphanage I lived in - the owner was trying to sell me to the highest bidder. I ended up on the streets here in Nar Shaddaa running around with the local slicer gangs.”

“Oh my stars,” Noara breathed, both appalled at the idea of someone selling a child and impressed Mako was able to survive. 

“Luckily Braden found me a few years ago, bleeding out in an alley actually. Maybe if I knew how to sew like you I could have fixed it myself,” she said with a self depreciating laugh. “But no, I don’t know if it’s just the implants or if I have some kind of natural talent for it but I’ve always wanted to work with computers in some way.”

“Well I don’t know much about computers,” Noara said, a small smile on her face, “but I could teach you to sew if you want. Just in case.”

Both women looked at each other and laughed. A heavy knock hit the door, surprising them both before Braden’s voice came from the other side. “Knock off the giggling girls, we have an early shuttle and if you sleep in I’ll leave you behind!”

“Think he means that?”

“Probably not, but we might not want to test the theory. We should get some sleep,” Mako said, using her implants to turn off the light. The room was still lit up with neon lights outside for a moment before the window dimmed until it was almost opaque. “Good night Noara.”

“Good night Mako,” Noara replied, shifting on the bed to slip under the covers. Closing her eyes, she steadied her breathing and cleared her mind. Letting the anxious energy she had felt inside about what the next day would mean dissipate into the Force. Letting the calm presence of the Light wash over her the way her Masters had encouraged and helping her fall asleep despite the uncertainty to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was early the next morning when the crew of four made their way to the spaceport. It was only a short ride to Hutta, since it was the planet Nar Shadda orbited, but Braden wanted to arrange a meeting with Nem’ro as soon as possible. Noara didn’t mind the early hour, she was often up before the sun to get in a workout before starting her day, but Mako obviously did. The other woman had been downright grumpy and after grunting a morning greeting didn’t speak again until her second cup of caff. 

She’d even poured a third in an insulated coffee mug and sipped it during the taxi ride to the space port. Noara had enjoyed a cup of caff that morning herself, but three felt like a lot of caffeine. She watched Mako continue to slowly drink the large mug of caff as the taxi dropped them off at the space port and Braden led them to the shuttle he had reserved their passage on. Finally once they were in their seats for the three hour ride down to Hutta she couldn't help but ask, “we went to bed around the same time Mako, do you always need that much caff?”

Mako shook her head, “we laid down at the same time but I was up late digging through the holonet for any information that can help us out. I posted some anonymous rumors of you in the darknet, a few about the Jedi you got your sabers from, and then searched for any bounties that are around Nem’ro’s place. Braden thought you taking care of a few local bounties for the gangster would help him convince the Hutt to sponsor you.” 

“You did all that, from bed?” Noara was stunned, she was a light sleeper so she was fairly confident the other woman hadn’t left her bed during the night or turned a datapad on.

“I told you these are weirdly advanced,” Mako said, pointing at her cybernetic implants. “I like using a computer terminal or datapad but anything I need to do I can do with these.”

“That’s impressive.”

“And really bad for my sleep routine.I have to force myself to turn them off when I need sleep or it’s too tempting to surf the holonet.” Mako laughed, “when I was younger I accidentally pulled a lot of all nighters.”

“I don’t even know what I would do on the holonet all night but I have definitely accidently stayed up almost all night reading so I get how time can get away from you.”

Mako’s eyes lit up and for the first time that morning she set her caff down, wedging the travel mug between her knees to hold it in place and clapped her hands together. “Oh! I was going to ask you about those! I noticed your collection when I was hacked into your datapad.” Her smile was mischievous as she leaned forward a little and asked quietly, “aren’t those novels a little spicy for a Je-someone with your background?”

Immediately Noara could feel her cheeks warm with blush. “No-no I mean…” Noara sighed and leaned forward to answer quietly, “we aren’t actually monks, celibate and all that, but relationships are discouraged because of the emotional attachments. The Masters back home would lose their minds if they knew what the teenage initiates got up to behind their backs.”

“So maybe some of those sleepless nights were more hands on than reading?” Mako asked, amusement clear on her face. 

“What do yo-- no not me. Just the others. I didn’t… I haven’t…” Noara sighed again, “let’s just say my nights were spent reading and that was all.”

“But why not?”

Noara grimaced, “would you want to be with a guy you’ve shared a dorm room with your whole life? I know every gross, disgusting thing those boys did growing up and let’s just say I prefer my holonovel boyfriends to that.”

Mako made a disgusted noise, “fair point. Maybe we’ll meet some not disgusting man for you along the way.”

Noara hummed thoughtfully but that hadn’t occurred to her at all. She loved her romantic stories and had, at times, daydreamed about being in one of them. But it was a risk, one she had been taught to take seriously. 

But wasn’t this mission already full of risks? She was being sent to kill people, not specifically criminals, not to protect innocents or deliver justice to deserving individuals. Not for the reasons she had been taught to accept she would need to do so. No, she was going to be asked to kill people for petty reasons, for money, for a competition. 

What was an emotional attachment compared to murder for hire?

“Maybe,” she said finally. “There has to be at least a few non-disgusting guys out there right?”

“It’s a big galaxy but that still might be hard to find.” Mako said sagely, her face the picture of seriousness. It lasted all of a second before both women broke into giggles. 

Then the other part of what Mako said struck Noara. “Wait, why did you hack into my datapad?”

“Had to check your security settings. They were awful by the way, took no time at all to break in.” Mako said, still wiping her eyes from laughing. “Wanted to make sure if someone tried some cyber espionage on your stuff they wouldn’t find any proof of what you are.”

That made sense, Noara didn’t know much about cyber security so it hadn’t occurred to her. “I don’t use it for much more than reading and sending messages. Will it be safe to message my friend, she’s… from the same place as me.” Noara almost said Deena was a Jedi but was aware that any of the people around them could be listening. 

Meeting the twin sisters at the Republic Space station and traveling to Tython together had given them a lot of time to talk. Noara had not had much experience making new friends, the ones she had were the fellow Jedi initiates she had grown up with afterall, but they had hit it off. Enough so that before she left Tython Deena had found her, exchanged contact details with her and made Noara promise to keep in touch while on her “super secret” mission. 

Noara wasn’t sure how much she would be able to tell her fellow Jedi about her life while on this mission, but she did want to keep her promise. Deena had already written to her the night before, telling her about how strange it was being on an ecumenopolis after the quiet childhood she had experienced on Alderaan. It was refreshing to hear some of the same thoughts she had about Nar Shaddaa in the other woman’s letter. While it was good that Mako, Braden and Jory all knew the truth, she had a suspicion that living a secret life was going to be a strain on her. Communicating with Deena would be a balm in times of need, a connection to remind her where she came from.

“It should be,” Mako said, taking another sip of her caff, “but just in case let me see it when we get to Hutta and I will make sure.”

“Thanks Mako.” 

Noara appreciated both the peace of mind and that she wasn’t being asked to hand over her datapad now. While they were talking the shuttle had taken off and she was suddenly aware of the space around them. While it wasn’t as crowded as the shuttle to Nar Shaddaa had been, she thought it might be smaller. Needing a distraction she pulled out her datapad and opened the holonovel she was reading. 

It was the second book in a series about a crew of smugglers that got into trouble on every job but also somehow found love. She had read the first installment on the trip from Tython and was looking forward to seeing how the grumpy second in command was going to fall for the bubbly popstar they had been hired to discreetly escort to her tour dates. Settling into her seat, Noara started reading and let the story distract her from the small space. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jiguuna was both everything Braden and Mako had warned her it would be and not at the same time. They had warned her about the smell of industrial smog, the sickly taste of the air that definitely shouldn’t be inhaled more than necessary, the unsavory characters that would be hanging around every corner. They had even warned her about the blaster fire that could be heard from the nearby town, where apparently Nem’ro’s lackeys and another local Hutt’s were clashing. 

But it was also surrounded by life that was hanging on even in these adverse conditions, by nature that she had deeply missed. It was a swampy, stagnant nature but after Nar Shaddaa it was a sort of treat. Noara felt at home in a swamp, much of Naboo was swampy after all. They were just very different kinds of swamps.

So while Braden, Mako and even Jory grimaced at the air quality as they stopped just outside the entrance to the spaceport, Noara found herself smiling. 

Mako caught her smile and made a disgusted noise, “do you not smell that?”

“I do,” Noara said, “but look. Those trees are amazing.” 

“This is one of those weird space monk things, isn’t it?”

Noara frowned, “maybe? Don’t people everywhere like trees?”

Braden cleared his throat as Mako was about to reply. “As much as I hate to break up this gab fest, we have business to get to.”

“What’s up first Old Man?” Mako asked, nudging Noara’s shoulder and giving her a look that let her know the tree conversation was not over.

Wearing the exasperated expression Noara was becoming accustomed to on the older man’s face, he looked her way. “If I took you to a local armorer would you consider wearing anything most substantial?"

“I would not.”

“You’re going to be the death of me girl,” Braden sighed. “Mako, did you get the local maps uploaded on her datapad?”

“Of course.”

“Good, now listen up Noara.” Braden waved her closer and pitched his voice down so they would be less likely to be overheard. “Nem’ro isn’t going to sponsor you if you don’t first do something for him. The quickest way into his good graces will be ridding his town of the more troublesome figures. Mako, what did you find in town?”

Mako whipped out her datapad and tapped it a few times. “I took a look on the way here. Check this out... Vexx: Corellian, champion quick-draw artist, wanted for robbing fifteen Imperial military pay stations.”

“Of all places to get credits, why would a sane being rob an Imperial pay station?” Jory asked, shaking his head. 

Braden however grinned. “Perfect. This Vexx is either a madman or a glory hound--and he's obviously dangerous.”

“Says here Vexx has a safe house in the bad part of town, right in the heart of the madness. That'll be fun.” Mako said, gesturing toward the buildings ahead of them, where blaster fire could still be heard and occasionally seen from where they stood. “I’ll go ahead and mark it on the map of Jiguuna I put on your datapad Noara.”

“Nem'ro the Hutt's enemy took over part of this town. It’s unfortunate timing but it could work in our favor. It's dangerous poking around in there, but it's your best shot. This is the kind of targets the Great Hunt will give you, people who have upset the Empire or anyone with enough money to put out the job. You need to take him out.” He paused, “make sure you can do this. After this moment there is no going back Noara. No matter what else you are, you will be a Bounty Hunter.”

Noara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had meditated about this before leaving Tython. She had debated about how different it was than the work many Jedi Sentinels did. Many missions she had studied included defeating someone who brought harm to others, often at the Republic’s behest. Few in the records she found were willing to surrender to justice and had to be dispatched by the Jedi. Braden had told her the targets were likely to be the worst scum in the galaxy.

So was it really different?

Could she do it?

She had killed Flesh Raiders. 

She had helped Deena kill Callef in that cave. 

Noara opened her eyes.