Only after hearing Deathstroke's words did Aphra realize that even though she had awakened to the Force, she still had no room to bargain with him. Besides, he was her biggest backer.
So, as she ate, she explained why she had come.
Some time ago, she had found a few clues in ancient records after no end of trouble. Once she finally deciphered them, she concluded that a Je'daii burial hall stood on Hawthorne.
In short, it was a cemetery for the earliest Force Warriors.
That got her excited. She loved digging up other people's graves far more than surveying prehistoric life or charting space. Those jobs simply didn't pay.
She was a full member of the Imperial Archaeological Association, and technically, she should have reported her discovery so the association could conduct a careful, scientific excavation as a group.
But full members had to eat, too. Ship parts cost money. Fuel cost money. Crew needed wages. Food, drink, and women all cost money.
So Aphra's usual approach was simple: find an ancient tomb, go in first, and clear out anything valuable. She left behind the things with purely academic value, then reported the site to the association and handed it over to any archaeologists interested in studying it.
That way, she earned association credits toward promotion, covered her living expenses, and sometimes had enough money to show off in front of her ex-girlfriends.
Of course, like certain famous archaeologists in other universes, most ruins Aphra visited collapsed for one reason or another. Wherever she went, things fell down. Even if a structure had stood for tens of thousands of years before she arrived, the result was the same, as though its time had finally come.
Su Ming could almost see Laura and Derek giving Aphra a thumbs-up from afar.