Artificial light made the spaceport a luminous oasis in the hauntingly empty amber field. Achan could see this station was pretty standard fair. Several landing pads outfitted with refill apparatuses, a mediocre diner that overcharged for barely edible food, and the employees that were usually refugees from the war. Bane led him into the diner which was bustling with activity, in stark comparison to the quiet of the path the two men walked to get there. Sitting in the corner were two figures engaged in a heated discussion. A diminutive boy who resembled a clone and a Zabrak woman, a strange bun sitting atop her horned head. Demir recognized the woman immediately but kept a cool exterior as his partner had instructed him to.

Cad ignored the woman tending to the bar when she asked him if he wanted something to eat. She rolled her eyes as if she came across these types of character all the time. When Achan smiled kindly she seemed to be taken aback. Kindness was a rarity these days.

"Bane. Took you long enough to get here didn't it?"

The strange Iridonian accent drew Demir's attention.

The Duros extended his blue, calloused hand to meet Sugi's, "Not my fault. This one got drunk last night and slowed us down a lot."

The child set his bitter glare on Achan. Is this Boba Fett? He remembered fighting him in the Republic prison during the Hardeen affair.

"That doesn't matter now," Boba broke up the discussion between Sugi and Cad, "We need to plan this mission."

Achan set himself on the opposite side of the booth, facing the young Fett. Cad sat next to him. Sugi went to the bar to order a round of drinks.

"We saw the Halo out there," Bane opened the dialogue, "Is it ready to go?"

The son of Jango only nodded, obviously not yet comfortable with Demir. Sugi returned with three drinks, excluding Boba.

"My ship is prepped, Bane. But if we're going to infiltrate Cloud City where Bochi is, we'll have to ditch the Halo and get a new ship."

All three men had looks of confusion.

"I have," a smirk came to Sugi's face, "a history with this particular Hutt. If they see my ship anywhere near Bespin, he'll have it shot down."

Boba was the first to chime in with a solution, "What about the Slave I. It's docked with a friend of mine on Utapau."

"That sector is too far from Anaot," Demir leaned forward to shoot down Fett's idea, "We can steal something on Bavva. I'm familiar with the Kanti Province. There's hardly any law there so if we can find a good ship I bet we could take it no problem."

Bane and Sugi sat pensively as Boba scowled at Achan. The Zabrak looked out the viewport to look at the idle Halo.

"I know that region too, Mister Demir. Good thinking."

The four bounty hunters sat in the diner and ate their last meal before the mission together. Cad and Sugi engaged in familiar conversation as Demir and the young Fett sat in total silence. Both of them, Achan could sense, felt like outcasts amongst this motley crew. But, while the older man's loneliness was derived from how Bane seemed to ignore his prescence now, Boba's seemed to be deeper. Jango died about three years ago and since then this child had been circulating through the Republic penal system. He worked with Aurra Sing to kill Master Windu. What could ever drive a child into doing crime on a galactic scale? Achan would be lying if he said there was no conflict in his heart about bringing the child on such a dangerous mission, but Cad seemed to have the utmost of faith in his abilities and Demir trusted the Duros with all his heart.

Beyond the synthetic light of the spaceport, Saleucami was blanketed in shadowy night. Sugi said halfway through dinner they would have to depart at midnight in order to arrive on Bavva around sundown when all the drunkards in Kanti had already passed out. When the Zabrak woman exited the diner to ensure it had been fully refueled, one of Saleucami's drunkards slipped in. It was a human, with pale skin, and red tattoos all over. A medium sized blaster sat at his hip.

"Alcohol and blasters. What a wonderful mix." Achan couldn't help but joke.

The same woman who had greeted Bane and Demir greeted this new troublemaker while subtly moving all the valuables and breakables under the counter. When the drunkard grew noticeably angry, all three of the males stood up from the seat. Bane and Fett reached for their own blasters and Demir levelled his hand to instruct the couple sitting in the adjacent booth to stay seated.

"Are we gonna have a problem here, gentlemen?" the agitator asked.

The Duros and the clone child responded only with a scowl. Achan stepped in with a level head.

"Now now. No need to be uncivilized about this," even as he tried to mediate peace he also stood behind Bane in case he failed, "Why don't we all just calm ourselves and peacefully go our separate ways?"

For what felt like several minutes the four men stood in front of the counter just grimacing at each other. Achan wondered if he ought to call upon Kenobi's force powers to rip the blaster from this nuisance's hands. Before he had time to make a decision, the silence was broken and a brilliant red light burst forth. Boba had made the first strike, killing the drunkard before he got off the first shot. While Demir was taken aback by such a decisive move from Boba, Bane thought little of it and started out the door after throwing a few credits towards the counter as reparation.

Without another word between them, the three men boarded Halo.

"I heard quite a bit of commotion," Sugi said with a shockingly calm tone, "Good thing I left when I did, huh?"

Boba only grunted in response as he took the co-pilot's seat. As the ship rose from the platform, Achan finally got to be somewhat alone with Cad again. In the very back of the ship there were two seats situated side by side. The doors shut on both sides and they could feel the rumble of the jets rotating for space flight. A red light filled the cargo hold as Sugi piloted them through Saleucami's atmosphere. It was not a comfortable experience for the human as Halo shook violently as it ascended higher in the sky. Achan lowered his hands on the armrests and gripped them hard. Bane could see his knuckles straining so he lowered his own blue hand to meet Demir's tan one. The Duros delicately grabbed the other man's wrist, raising the hand from the support and instead interlocking their fingers. Achan's deep brown eyes rose to meet Bane, whose gaze had been set on the human all along. While the ship still shook violently, Achan tried to close the gap between them. At first, the other man pulled back from Demir, but then he gave into his instinct and met Achan's soft lips with his own. The kiss was deep and meaningful, but very short. Bane pulled away first muttering something inaudible, drowned out in the raucous sound of the ship.

When Cad let go of Achan's hand, he lowered the brim of his hat over his eyes and cross his arms before his chest. The other man assumed Bane had drifted off into sleep so he followed suit once the rumbling ceased. But, as he dozed off, he felt the calloused hand of Bane once again intertwine with his. Together, they fell asleep in the crimson light of Halo.