The Bounty Hunters: Aurra Sing

With silent steps, she carefully plans, then unleashes her merciless attack. This is Aurra Sing, widely regarded as the most formidable bounty hunter the Republic has ever known. Aurra possesses an uncanny knack for being present at crucial moments, particularly in galactic hotspots teeming with chaos and lucrative, yet demanding, bounties! Dark Horse launches a brand-new anthology of standalone stories, each spotlighting the most despicable mercenaries from across the Star Wars timeline!

In the year 27 BBY, Aurra Sing journeyed to the Forest Moon of Endor to convene with an enigmatic priestess hailing from an Endor sect within the Order of the Ffib. To ascertain that this bounty hunting assignment wasn't a ruse orchestrated by the guild, Sing employed a dagger, pressing it against her employer's throat, drawing a small amount of blood to ensure compliance. Subsequently, she consented to listen to the mission's specifics: locate and eliminate Reess Kairn, a disgraced Twi'lek Jedi who had murdered his spouse, embraced piracy, and recently pillaged the Great Temple on Lorahns, the Ffib's home planet, resulting in the deaths of four priestly members. Beyond the substantial challenge posed by Kairn's Jedi abilities, the priestess elucidated that the primary obstacle was his employment of twin Shi'ido brothers as decoys. These shapeshifters were so convincing that Sing would need to eliminate all of them to definitively confirm Kairn's demise. The bounty hunter was provided with a datapad detailing three planets for her search. The priestess characterized these locations as representing three states of matter.

The initial planet was Hoth, symbolizing the liquid state (water). The target had sought refuge within a cave, guarded by a minimum of four trained wampas. Sing forcefully entered, causing a cave-in that crushed several wampas, mortally wounding the pirate with her blaster pistol, and then escaped with her quarry, evading the remaining wampa with the assistance of a jetpack. Soon after, a Dragon Slug entered the pursuit, having been roused by the cave-in. Sing narrowly avoided capture, deploying a thermal detonator to eliminate the slug and simultaneously collapse the cave's entrance. Shortly thereafter, the target perished and reverted to his Shi'ido form.

Sing then journeyed to Tatooine, representing the fire state (heat). She identified an ideal sniper position overlooking the streets of Mos Espa. While internally expressing her disdain for the location, she noticed a landspeeder with a potential Reess at the wheel and a young Wuher as the passenger. Taking aim with her rifle, she discharged a shot into her target's forehead, just above his right eye, causing the speeder to collide with a fruit stand. The bounty hunter arrived at the scene just as the man expired, revealing yet another Shi'ido. Engaging in a brief, nonchalant exchange with Wuher, who was cowering nearby, she informed him of life's harsh realities and advised him to adapt.

Bespin was the final planet listed on the datapad, representing the sky (gasses and clouds). Sing employed an Airhook Speeder to assault her final target as he instructed a squad of Thranta rider acrobats. This transpired to be a trap. Additional thranta riders emerged from the clouds, but these were armed warriors. Following a brief engagement, she sustained a direct blow to the head from a club but skillfully redirected the situation, landing on another Thranta and dislodging the rider. She directed the speeder to crash into her final target, who perished when the fuel cells detonated. Sing anticipated that this man would finally be Kairn, but was astonished to discover that he was also a Shi'ido. The twins were, in reality, triplets.

Sing deduced that the solution to this enigma lay in returning to Endor, which represented another state of matter: earth. There, she discovered Kairn in his dwelling, packing his possessions. He had been disguised as the priestess throughout. Sing silently stood in the doorway as Kairn reflected aloud on utilizing the disguise not only for concealment but also as a peculiar form of atonement. To honor his late wife, he had undergone reconstructive surgery to alter his appearance to resemble hers. To honor the four Ffib priests, he had committed himself to their doctrines. His intentions were to return to Lorahns and assimilate into the Order. However, before he could complete packing or detect Sing, she dramatically shot him.