Bait and Switch

Mar chuckled. "I know. Remember that this is all an act? And if we do get into trouble you'll get your lightsaber back pretty quick." He clipped her lightsaber to his belt and started down the loading ramp and out onto the empty streets.

Mar had his hand on the blaster holstered to his side as he kept Serenity in front of him, playing the part of bounty hunter wasn't too hard of an act since he himself had been a bounty hunter of sorts, a jedi hunter, so the act was easy to slip into.

Mar and Serenity made their way down the street to one of the larger bounty hunter bars and stepped inside. Mar put his hand on Serenity's shoulder, partly to look like he was keeping her close and guarded, and partly to provide her with reassurance that nothing bad was going to happen.

"Just play along, remember? We have to find this Jedi." Mar whispered before looking to the crowd and boasting: "Barkeep! Best you got in the house! I caught myself a Jedi!"

All eyes fell on Mar and Serenity. Some laughed, others murmured as they looked to the young girl in the jedi robes, yet most were silenced when they saw Mar had a lightsaber on his belt. Assuaging any doubts that the girl he had in his keep was the genuine article.

"Well I'll be a rancor's breakfast!" The barkeep, a blue/green toydarian, said as he flew up to the top shelf behind the bar and got a large glass of expensive alcohol. "A jedi??? I heard they were coming back but didn't think they were multiplying!"

"Word is The Hutts will pay handsomely for any Jedi brought in." Mar said. "Though which will pay the most?"

The Toydarian chuckled. "Yardak the Hutt has some old ties to The Empire. He would pay the most."

"Any way I can get into contact with him?" Mar asked.

"I'm sure he'll come to you. With how you came in here with that Jedi. Word spreads quickly. What's your name? That can help him find you."

"Sheev..." Mar muttered behind his helmet. "I'll be waiting..."

The toydarian shrugged and served Mar the drink. "There, for the jedi hunter. A congratulations."

Mar nodded and accepted the drink in thanks, but didn't actually drink it. "Thanks."

The bar resumed it's usual cacophony of sounds as the excitement settled with only a few people continuing to look at Serenity and Mar.

"Now we wait..." Mar said under his breath to Serenity.

---
It didn't take long for word of the jedi hunter to reach Keran's ears. She marched into the bar, her pet fox perched on her shoulder as she glowered at the bounty hunter keeping the young padawan captive.

"Release the padawan, fiend!" Keran said, producing her lightsaber and igniting it, the cyan blue blade lit up the room.

"Two jedi in one day?" Mar muttered, pretending to be entertained. He was relieved, actually, Keran had eluded him as an Inquisitor for many years. Yet Serenity had proven to be the perfect bait. He couldn't resist trying to help the "helpless" padawn. Yet now Mar had come searching for him. Except this was a female Twi'lek standing before him. Peren had called Keran "him" and Mar knew from his previous hunt of Keran that he was a man.

Mar's eyes fell onto the fox perched on her shoulder. Of course, the perfect disguise. No one would've assumed a small creature to be a Jedi knight. It all made sense now, why it had been so hard to find Keran before, why no other bounty hunters had been able to find him.

He was a crafty... like a fox...

"Perhaps we should take this outside?" Mar suggested.

"Keran" nodded. "Gladly..."

"Be cautious, Mira" Keran whispered into the Twi'lek bodyguard's ear. "This one is strong in The Force... The dark side is strong with him..."

"Can I take him?" She asked.

"That remains to be seen. We may have to be smart about this..."

"Very well..." She looked to Mar. "Come then. Bring the padawan..."

Mar nodded and followed Mira and Keran out of the bar. A crowd was beginning to gather as the three stared one another down in the street.

"The Twi'lek is a red herring, the real Jedi is the fox on her shoulder." Mar whispered to Serenity as the exited the bar. "Pretend to break your binds, steal back your lightsaber and 'escape' with them. I will find you when they take you back to their hideout. Understand?"

Mira twirled her lightsaber, an impressive display, yet to a trained Inquisitor like Mar it was clear it was only for show, it was slow and unwieldy. A front to scare off would-be hunters. "Let's get this going. Yardak The Hutt will love it when I bring in two Jedi instead of one."

"It's you who is going fall this day, hunter..." Mira said.

Mar gestured to Serenity, the sign for her to jump into action.