"Wait, hold on! I don't understand!" Ezra shouted after Ventress, running to catch up to her.

"There's a surprise," she grumbled, but not loud enough for him to hear.

Once he was walking directly behind her again, he asked, "So...are you a rebel or not? Why do you have the Fulcrum symbol on your armor?"

Her beady eyes trained on him. "You like asking questions, don't you?"

"I just don't get it, and I'm trying to understand what's going on here. How do you know Master Skywalker?"

Ventress chortled, then did a double-take at the young Padawan. "Oh, it's Master Skywalker now?" She laughed to herself, turning forward again. "That's new. Here," she instructed, walking into a storage room. "Start running diagnostics on the generators."

"Woah..." he murmured, looking around the room. There were entire crates of power generators, just like the ones the rest of the Ghost crew were looking for. Among other things, Ezra wondered if he could manage to take a few off the bounty hunter's hands. "How did you get these?"

"Diagnostics," she insisted, avoiding the question and slapping a scanner into his arms. Ezra barely caught it and didn't look impressed with how he was being treated, but he complied and started running tests. Maybe if I work, she'll explain more, he reasoned silently.

Sure enough, Ventress began to talk as she knelt and began checking a different generator. "As for your first of many questions, I'm not a part of the Rebellion. I'm sure the leadership council would not approve of my...business practices if they knew about them. Senators and the like don't approve of bounty hunters or the black market."

That sounded about right to Ezra, but then how did she know so much? "Then, what are you?"

"As far as the Rebellion is concerned? I'm just one of Fulcrum's contacts," she told him, grinning a bit slyly. "Albeit an anonymous contact. Skywalker is familiar with what I'm up against, and he's willing to overlook most of it. He does draw the line in certain places, but he won't object to anything he doesn't know about." Ventress held up her left fist, the one with Fulcrum's callsign. "I use this when I need to deliver something to the Rebellion on his behalf."

"Why you?" Ezra asked, finishing checking one crate and moving to the next. "There are hundreds of bounty hunters out there, so why does he trust you?"

"Thousands," she corrected him. "Skywalker and I ran into each other often in the Clone Wars. We made our peace a long time ago."

For once, he didn't have a question. Instead, he stared off into space. "Everyone seems to remember him from the Clone Wars. How many people did he meet? What did he do that made him so popular?"

Ventress laughed, remembering more than a few of Skywalker's notable acts. "He won, kid. He fought in battles and survived them, and then went on fighting. It doesn't matter which side of the war you're on, you pay attention to people who can't seem to die. If that doesn't describe Skywalker, I don't know what does."

He didn't object to that. As someone who had seen a glimpse of how much he was capable of, Ezra knew that he was good at fighting. He wished he was that good, but that would probably come later, assuming he didn't die first.

"Speaking of," she mentioned, pointing her scanner at him, "what's with this 'Master' business?"

"It's what Jedi do," he explained, fiddling with the controls of his own scanner. "He has the rank of Knight, and I'm still a Padawan. It's a sign of respect."

"I know that," she assured him, "but did he ask for it?"

"What? No, Ka- my master just did it, and now I do too. He would never ask for something like that."

Ventress looked (mildly) impressed and said nothing, returning to her work. She finished another crate and moved on to the last one.

She wouldn't have said anything if Ezra hadn't asked again. "What?"

"It's good to hear he's not letting it go to his head," she said lowly, her face softening a bit. "It's more than I could have said for the Jedi Masters of the Order. At least he's trying to do better."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing to you," she pointed out, "and if Skywalker does a good job, it never will. By the sound of things, he's got the right idea. If he keeps it up, you'll never have to pay for the mistakes of your elders."

Ezra shook his head, "Okay, now I know you're talking crazy. Come on, Chop," he called to the droid, who tittered at the bounty hunter before rolling away behind the Padawan. The two rebels left, leaving Ventress behind.

Yet the fact that the kid didn't believe her only proved Ventress's point. He was old enough that he could have doubts about the credibility of Skywalker or his master, but it was clear he had a solid faith in both of them. It wasn't because Skywalker had demanded it or because of some rule (because Ventress knew perfectly well that all of the old rules were obsolete now). It was because Skywalker had earned the trust of the others.

It didn't surprise her that Skywalker had found more Jedi since the last time she had seen him. Skywalker had asked her to keep an eye out for Force-sensitive children, not to protect them but to make sure they weren't on the Empire's radar. She had suspected that he would one day want to bring Purge survivors together, but privately, she feared what that would mean. One of the things Ventress could appreciate about the Jedi Purge was the freedom the survivors had to live their lives the way they wanted to. They didn't have to regard the Jedi Council's word as law because the Council was gone.

Skywalker was better than that, though, apparently. Ventress didn't doubt that he was respected as the Jedi with the most authority, but he hadn't let the Jedi Order's corruption live on. Master Skywalker, indeed, she thought, a sense of rest coming over her. The future of the Jedi, whatever that future may be, was in the right hands. Ventress may not be a Jedi, but she knew that Younglings were better a Jedi than a prisoner of the Empire.

Putting away the diagnostic tools, she shut the door to the storage room and sensed around for the kid. It probably wasn't a good idea to leave him alone for too long. Who knew what kind of trouble he could get into. Teenagers had the infuriating habit of making a mess, even on worthless, broken ships like this. Apparently, he had gone back to the cockpit, so she walked in that direction.

Yet as she got closer, she heard too many voices in the next room. One of them was the kid, but another was a voice she knew wasn't supposed to be on board. In fact, it was supposed to still be on Lothal. Ventress's face curled into a snarl as she clenched her fist before striding into the cockpit, surprising the occupants. The kid looked stunned, so he probably hadn't done anything, but the other voice looked quite guilty and afraid. It was exactly who she thought it had been. Vizago. The droid made an 'uh-oh' noise and started cackling.

"I should have known you would try to pull off some stunt like this the moment you didn't turn over the ship yourself," she seethed, crossing her arms. "You should know better than to cross a bounty hunter, Vizago."

"I've crossed them before," he growled, pulling a blaster from his side and pointing it at Ventress. Bridger looked like he wanted to intervene, but he didn't seem to know what to do.

She ignored him and focused on the Devaronian. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you sabotaged the hyperdrive in the middle of the jump. Let me guess. You were hoping to retake the ship and kill me in the hopes you might get away with your life and your ship." Without moving, she summoned one of her hidden lightsabers to her hand and prepared to use it. Vizago wouldn't give up his ship without a fight.

He didn't seem to understand that he was doomed. "I will be leaving with both, although I'm willing to negotiate the terms for your fate. As I understand it, we've all landed ourselves in a complicated situation."

"I'll make it simple," she decided. With one hand, she pulled Vizago's blaster out of his grasp and into her own. The other activated her lightsaber and held the tip at his neck. "I'll kill you and get the bounty for your head on top of the value of your ship."

"Ohhh, that's a cool lightsaber," Ezra murmured with wide eyes. He hadn't seen a yellow one before.

Vizago was slightly less in awe. He was weaponless and at the mercy of this...well, he didn't think this bounty hunter was a Jedi, but she did have a lightsaber and superpowers. He wasn't alone in the room, however. He turned to Ezra. "You owe me, remember? I gave you information, and it saved your Jedi friend. I am calling in that favor...now!"

Of course, the kid would be in debt to Vizago. He did mention knowing him. It was probably the reason Bridger had come on board the Broken Horn in the first place. Ventress looked over at him. She didn't know how this would play out, but she did know that if she hurt the kid, Skywalker would probably lecture her about it later.

Still, Bridger didn't look overly excited about fighting Ventress. He thought furiously for a moment, then pointed back at the control panel to the ship. "I know you said not to get ideas, but I did help repair the ship before the Empire could shoot us down."

"What are you proposing, Bridger?"

"I'll make good on my word to Vizago by protecting him, and you pay me back for the repairs by letting him live."

Vizago didn't seem happy to be left out of the negotiations. "What about my ship?"

"Ah, ah, ah, don't get ahead of yourself," Bridger told him, shaking a finger in his direction. "The ship's not going to do you much good if you're dead, and I don't think repairing the hyperdrive is going to cover both requests."

Yeah, this kid had definitely met Skywalker at one point. Sarcasm was a key attribute of his associates. It was rare that she got to enjoy or benefit from it, though. "I'm afraid not," she confirmed, inching the lightsaber blade closer to Vizago. "But if your friend here is willing to take your offer, I think I can afford to spare his life."

"I am standing right here," he reminded her.

She ignored him. "You better make a decision quickly, Bridger. I'm not a patient person."

It seemed the Padawan was enjoying this just as much as she was. Grinning, he turned and spoke to the prisoner. "Vizago?"

It was evident he was not happy with the circumstances, but he also knew when he was beaten. "I accept the terms," he sighed, glaring at Ventress. "Now put down the laser sword."

Ezra nodded at her, and she complied, deactivating the blade. She didn't put it away, though, and she also opted to keep the blaster.

Vizago still really wanted the Broken Horn back, though. "What about my ship?"

"I think you mean my ship," corrected Ventress. "The credits will set me up nicely for quite some time. I hope you have a better plan for the next time a bounty hunter comes after you, though. You won't have this asset to bargain with when the time comes."

"I'd be careful about just letting him go," warned Ezra, still enjoying having the upper hand over the crime lord. "Better lock him in the brig for the rest of the jump, just in case."

Ventress grinned at the kid, quite amused. "I think you're quite right," she agreed, stepping out of the way of the door. "You know where to go."

Sulking, he glared at Ezra on his way out of the cockpit. He didn't like being the butt of their humor, and he really didn't like being outnumbered and overpowered. Bridger didn't seem to care that much, though, because he waved cheerfully as he left the room. The bounty hunter followed behind him, and the doors closed the kid and his droid into the cockpit with a hiss.

The hunter jabbed the barrel of Vizago's blaster into his back, pushing him along toward the brig. He walked along wordlessly, trying to think of something smart to say but not coming up with anything. He walked into the brig, and the hunter shoved him into the closest cell, locking the door so he couldn't get out.

"So you and the kid, huh?" he grumbled to his captor, leaning against the bars of his cage.

She didn't seem very amused. "Consider yourself lucky he's here," she warned him. "He's out of favors, so I wouldn't get any more bright ideas if I were you. I doubt he'll stick his neck out a second time."

Ventress walked away, but Vizago tried one last time to gain some leverage. "There's a bounty on that kid, too! What's stopping you from bringing him in?"

"A very powerful client," she answered coolly, "and I assure you, you wouldn't want to be on his bad side either. Believe me. I've been there."