Doctor Aphra Annual 3

THE ARRANGEMENT – A DONE-IN-ONE TALE! MOS EISLEY: you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy -- and even from far away DOCTOR APHRA wears this place like a glove…Caught in her wake, struggling beast-hunters WINLOSS AND NOKK are about to cross paths with their most monstrous adversary yet…Oh blast, is that BLACK KRRSANTAN? And is there really an audience with JABBA THE HUTT up for grabs?

The story opens with Dr Aphra narrating the story of a young Trandoshan hunter named Nokk via a datapad. During the final test of her coming of age ceremony, Nokk was tasked with killing a baby Wookiee by the hunt leader Skikkesk. When she refused, Nokk was expelled and her brood were killed.

As the years passed, Nokk became a trapper but was hamstrung by her "ideals." Nokk later fell in love with a "burned-out" old human named Winloss who had a knack for causing "ripples of his own. While working as hunters, they spared the life of Dr Aphra despite her treachery, which Aphra freely admits.

In the present, Dr Aphra's recording is watched by Nokk, who is frequenting the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine with her husband Winloss. Dr Aphra talks about how the hunt leader Skikkesk still lives as one of the most wanted "psycho" villains in the Outer Rim Territories. Dr Aphra tells Nokk that she has access to several Imperial records and that she has found a name that Nokk is familiar with. Dr Aphra believes that this is her opportunity to pay back the hunters who spared her life. She tells Nokk that she knows where Skikkesk is hiding. In return for providing the information, Aphra tells Nokk and Wiloss that they have to deliver one "teensy" message.

Later, Winloss orders two more Ardees, claiming that his wife is grumpy. Winloss asks the bartender Shrem if he has seen Dr Aphra. The bartender says he has not seen the woman and insists that Chalmun trades on his cantina's reputation of not "screwing" anybody. Winloss tries to explain that they had made arrangements to meet Dr Aphra but the bartender is unsympathetic and tells him to look around the cantina.

In an attempt to curry the bartender's favor, Winloss shoots several criminals who were staging a fight in order to steal the cantina's cashbox. While Shrem is still unwilling to "Rat" Dr Aphra out, he takes an interest in Winloss's profession as a hunter and his pet reptile. The bartender tells Winloss that he overheard his wife Nokk's vid-message and warns Winloss that folks that go after Skikkesk do not survive. Winloss is undaunted and explains that Dr Aphra offered to help them find the Trandoshan hunt leader. When Shrem asked if she mentioned him, Winloss says no and questions the bartender's claim that he did not know her.

In truth, Dr Aphra had helped the bartender steal something from a clan of Jawa. Feigning ignorance about Aphra, the bartender tells Winloss that Skikkesk is wanted by everyone including the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. With Shrem unwilling to help, Winloss tells him about how he obtained a scurrier which he adopted as a pet. Claiming that Nokk is becoming upset, Winloss manages to bribe the bartender into reaching an arrangement.

Later, a hooded Krrsantan enters the cantina and is attacked by several patrons seeking to collect the bounty on him. However, the Wookiee bounty hunter turns the tables on his pursuers and expels them from the cantina. Black Krrsantan then tries to convince the bartender to sell him Winloss' scurrier but he refuses to budge, prompting the Wookiee to leave in frustration.

Later that night, Nokk and Winloss return to the cantina for their pet scurrier, having failed to find Dr Aphra or Skikkesk. Shrem offers to buy the scurrier for 100 credits. Winloss declines the offer, saying that money will not save his marriage. The bartender decides to help the bounty hunters, admitting to Winloss that he and Skikkesk have a history together. In the past, Shrem and Skikkesk had stolen something from Dr Aphra. Winloss agrees to divulge more information in return for obtaining the scurrier.

Several hours later, Shrem tries to contact Black Krrsantan, attempting to sell the scurrier to him. However, his transmission is picked up by Skikkesk, who is angry that the bartender betrayed his location to Nokk and Winloss. Shrem denies doing so, claiming that he had contacted Skikkesk to warn him. Nokk engages Skikkesk and his fellow Trandoshans in melee combat. With the battle turning against him, Skikkesk flees the building only to be stopped in his tracks.

Seeking to make money, Shrem decides to sell the scurrier to Jabba the Hutt for food. At Jabba's Palace, the bartender joins a queue only to encounter Black Krrsantan, who has regain Jabba's favor. Shrem is horrified to discover that Nokk and Winloss have defeated Skikkesk and captured him. Nokk also hands a datapad to Shrem. Via the datapad, Dr Aphra tells Shrem that he has been "had."

As Shrem approaches Jabba's throne, Skikkesk tries to warn the bartender to get out of here. However, Shrem is still determined to get rich by selling the scurrier. However, Dr Aphra tells Jabba via the datapad that Krrsantan and the hunters were working together to capture Skikkesk and had tricked the bartender into betraying the Trandoshan hunter for someone worthless. While cuddling a skreek, Dr Aphra explains that the creature is a spitscuttle, wich the Imperials consider a pest.

The spitscuttle spits in the face of Jabba, angering the Hutt crime lord who has Shrem and Skikkesk thrown alive to his pet rancor Pateesa. While Nokk relishes over their screams, Winloss tries to convince Black Krrsantan to resolve their differences and come to an arrangement. Meanwhile, Dr Aphra tells Shreme that he should have known that everything causes a ripple.

A panel of Doctor Aphra Annual 3 shows events that were first depicted in Doctor Aphra (2016) 30.

• UPC 759606087037; October 30, 2019; Marvel Comics; First printing

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