The blue-green planet comes into view, and you scan the planet for the most densely populated places. Cross-referencing them with areas with high numbers of imported goods, and, after a few moments, the computer concentrates its search on the planet's capital city of Pixelito, which is where most of the planet's podraces are hosted.
After searching more thoroughly, the computer highlights a good-sized area of the city close to the main track, where the highest concentration of chak-root is consumed, be it drugs or otherwise. It's times like this that you're especially glad you have Sunset with you. Apart from obviously being your most trusted friend and partner, Pixelito is pretty large for walking around, and it would take a long time to track down a single person if it was just you.
You take the controls to the ship and make your way to the planet's surface as Sunset comes into the cockpit, fully armored, save for her helmet.
"Find anything good?" She asks as she sits down beside you.
You nod. "Yeah, there's a few good places near Pixelito's racetrack. I'll transmit the info to you when we land." Maneuvering the ship, you enter the atmosphere and make your way to the spaceport.
Pixelito was located on a rocky, empty part of the planet's surface, with little vegetation growing nearby. Malastare had various landscapes. Some parts of the planet were rocky and desolate wastelands, while others were lush, green forests teeming with life. You've only been here a couple of times. Tatooine has podracing too, but it only comes into season once every few months. The hype there is nothing compared to Malastare.
You fly over the city until you see the spaceport, then begin your descent. Spotting an open hangar on the ground, you position the ship over it and slowly descend until you land.
You kill the engines and stand up. "Showtime."
The two of you exit the cockpit and you turn to the computer in the main hold. You send the coordinates data to yourself and Sunset before grabbing your helmet and placing it on your head. She's already got her helmet on and is waiting for you by the ramp.
The both of you step outside and look around. The hangar is quiet, but nothing looks out of the ordinary. You can hear some of the hustle and bustle from the commoners just outside.
You head to the exit and are met by a Dug, who's holding a datapad and looking up at you. "Mandalorians, welcome. How long are you two planning to stay?"
"Not long." You reply. "A day or two, at the most."
He glances at your ship before turning to his datapad and pressing a button. "Very well. The landing fee will be 200 credits." You take out the amount and hand them to the Dug. He takes them and grins at you. "Big race coming up in about a week. Think about coming back. Races are always fun to watch."
You need more information, so you decide to go along with him. "That's the plan, but we wanted to scope out a place to get a good drink. Where's the best place to go in town?"
The Dug goes to his datapad once more and hums as he looks through the listing. "The bars by the track are always good. A few bars nearby are good too. A couple have got really good reviews recently, but they're a little further away from the track."
Sunset gives you a small nudge and steps toward the Dug. "Can I take a look at that?"
While she distracts him, you press a button on your gauntlet and bring up the scanner on your HUD. Identifying his datapad, you remotely hack into it and copy all the information he has stored. While it's downloading, you move next to Sunset and look at the datapad as well. A large chunk of red dots that indicate the location of bars surround the racetrack, while a few others are more dispersed as the distance from the track increases.
"Quite a few locations you have. I've never been to Malastare before, but my husband has been here a few times." She looks at you, so you roll with it.
You wrap your arm around her and give her a squeeze. "Nothing but the best for you, love. Tatooine's got some decent racing, but it's nothing compared to here."
She giggles and turns back to the Dug, giving him a respectful nod. "Thanks for your help. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch that race."
The Dug smirks and returns the nod. "Glad I could help. Enjoy your stay."
He walks off and turns a corner. Once he's out of sight, she looks at you. "You download everything?"
You nod. "Yeah. I'll send you the info."
"Okay." She replies.
You grin and set your hands on your hips. "So, you played the 'husband' card, huh? You trying to tell me something?"
"I dunno. Maybe." She says. You can hear the grin on her face beneath her helmet as she talks.
You chuckle and give her a little pat on the ass, which she returns with a giggle. "Let's go. We've got work to do."
You nod at her and the two of you head to the exit together. Once you're on the streets, you look around to see people, mostly Dugs, walking around and going about their business. Most of the buildings are either grey or bronze in color. A few of them even resemble Diamond Tiara's palace. There's more greenery and plant life inside the walls of the city than outside, and it really adds color to the otherwise bland atmosphere of the planet.
You turn to Sunset and send the datapad's info to her. "Okay, how about you head to a few of the bars around here? Check out the ones that have the good reviews first. I'll head to the ones by the racetrack."
She nods. "Sounds good. I'll let you know if I find anything."
Both of you part and go your separate ways. You head toward the large cluster of bars highlighted on your map and begin scanning for any information about chak-root beverages or recent shipments.
Hopefully, you'll be able to narrow your search a bit further. This is the most boring part of your job. There's rarely any action involved, it's just you going from place to place on a massive search for someone that usually takes a long time before it bears any fruit. It almost feels like detective work, rather than hunting. But then again, they both have similar aspects.
Every once in a while, you'll get a job where you just have to chase or fight someone. Those are your favorite jobs. They don't come along too often though, unfortunately. Best you can do is just tolerate the fact that this is another step you have to take in order to find your target. You've been tempted to start fights or cause trouble before, just so you can get your heart pumping. But that's a risk, it's always reckless, and it's just downright unprofessional, so you've ignored those temptations.
You sigh through your nose as you make your way closer to the racetrack, passing various Dugs on the streets as you do. After a while, you finally come upon one of the highlighted bars that are marked on your HUD. It's in a medium-sized building a few streets away from the racetrack. You can hear the podracers' engines revving from here.
You head inside and look around. The bar is nothing fancy, but you have to start somewhere. Patrons, mostly Dugs, are socializing or watching races on various screens along the walls. It isn't too crowded, so you easily make your way to the bar.
The Dug bartender comes up to you. "What can I get you, human?"
"Information." You set your hands on the bartop. "When was your last shipment of chak-root liquor delivered?"
He's taken back by your question somewhat. "A few days ago, I think. Why?"
You press him further. "Who and where did it come from?"
He scoffs and shakes his head a little. "Why does it matter? Do you want a drink or not?"
You lean in to intimidate him. "Just answer my question, Dug. I'm looking for someone."
He leans back and looks you up and down before growling and rolling his eyes. "I don't know, some nearby station somewhere. Hang on."
He walks off, leaving you behind and staring at him as he leaves. You walk around the bar and follow him so he doesn't leave your eyesight, but he goes into a back room, so you wait for him.
After a minute or so, he returns, looking a little angry. "We get our shipment from a brewing station orbiting Polith. They come twice a week. Now, I'm very busy, so unless you want to buy a drink, get out." The Dug just glares at you from behind the bar.
You simply nod at him and turn around. "I appreciate the information."
You exit the bar and look at your map. The Polith system isn't too far away from Malastare. It's possible Trixie is there, but you'll ask around a bit more, just to be safe. There's still a bunch of other places to look that are a bit closer to the racetrack.
You groan to yourself and head toward another bar. Today's going to be a long day.
---
"Straight from Naboo, huh?" You ask.
The human bartender nods again. "Yes, that's where the chak-root is brought to and brewed into our liquor. It's then delivered to us, along with a few other nearby systems, I'd wager."
You are Sunset Shimmer. Right now, you're talking with the bartender at one of the other places on your map that could be taking shipments from Trixie.
You press further. "When do you get your shipments?"
"Once a week." The bartender replies. "We should be getting our next one later today."
Later today. Trixie just might be making that delivery. It's nothing solid, so there's no real reason to let Anon know about it yet, but you make a note of it in your head.
You nod and place your helmet back on before turning around to leave. "You've been very helpful. Thank you."
You step outside and head toward an alleyway just across the street. It's a good idea to do some recon on this upcoming shipment, so you press a button on your gauntlet and activate one of the probe droids that you have aboard the ship. This is just one of the bars close to the spaceport, so your ship isn't far away.
When you reach the alleyway, you turn around and get a good view of the bar. After a few minutes, the small probe droid comes hovering out of the hanger bay doors and over to you. Once it reaches you, it stops and you open a panel on its side, revealing its computer so you can program it manually. You program the droid to watch the bar and scan for information on any cargo surrounding it. If anything comes up, it will alert you and give you a live feed through your HUD.
Your gauntlet had been damaged a while ago, and the programming software in it was now corrupted. You hadn't gotten around to repairing it yet, so you had to program the droid like this. All your gauntlet really could do now was activate the droid or recall it back to you.
Once you've finished programming the droid, you close the panel and it flies up a few feet. It twists 90 degrees before it latches itself to the wall and turns its camera toward the bar. You view the feed through your HUD, watching yourself as you wave your hand in front of the camera to make sure it's live.
Feeling content, you close the feed and head down the street toward the next closest bar. This is one of the bars that the Dug said was doing very well lately, so you're going to find out what's so special about it. It's a little way's away, so it takes a minute to get there, but once you do, you head inside the entrance and look around at the patrons of Dugs and other aliens inside.
This one is surprisingly crowded for a bar that has some distance from the racetrack. It must be a very fun place to hang out. You wade your way through the crowd of people, looking around for anything that seems out of the ordinary. Everything seems pretty normal though. Patrons are drinking and socializing, and the screens are flashing with various sporting events.
Then, you notice something disturbing. A few of the patrons are using death sticks.
Curious, you head over to the small group of people sitting down at a large table and spy on them. Most of them are human, but there is also a Rodian and a Twi'lek with them. They each have at least one death stick in their hands.
You turn around and head into a quiet corner of the bar. "Anon? Come in. I think I found something."
The static from the comms in your helmet is followed by Anon's voice. "What's up?"
"I'm in one of the bars with a good review." You say. "I haven't found anything solid on Trixie yet, but a few patrons here are passing around death sticks. Just like on Nar Shaddaa."
There's a silence on the other end of the comms for a moment. "Find out where they came from. If you can, get a sample so we can see if it matches the one we found before."
"I will." You reply, looking around. "How are things on your end?"
"Could be better." He sighs. "I haven't found anything too good. Best lead I have so far is a space station orbiting Polith. I'll keep looking though."
"Alright." You shut off your comms and look back to the group of people with the death sticks.
You eye the one in the middle, a human male who's holding a red death stick and laughing with his friends. He's pretty attractive, despite his obvious drug problem. You decide to use that to your advantage. Taking off your helmet, you grin and walk around the group so you're behind him.
You put on your best flirty face and lean in close. "Excuse me?" He turns around to face you. You smile and point at the drug in his hand. "I'm wondering, do you have any more of those on you?"
He looks at the death stick and grins at you. "I'm sure I can spare a few for you, gorgeous."
"Oh, aren't you sweet? Handsome, too." You place a hand on his shoulder and move your fingers in small circles, biting your lip as you talk to him.
He smiles wider and his friends begin to whoop and cheer as they watch you. He reaches into his shirt and pulls out a few more death sticks. "You know what gorgeous, I like you. I'm going to give you something special." He grabs an individual yellow one and hands it to you. "This one is a new kind of death stick. Extra spicy, makes you feel even better than the regular ones do."
That is exactly what you wanted to hear.
You feign awe and take the little tube in your hand. "Oooh, you've really got it all, don't you?"
He clicks his tongue at you and smiles. "I'd like to think so."
You force a laugh and playfully push his arm. "And you're funny too!"
He turns and smiles at you, chuckling a bit. "I never caught your name, gorgeous."
"Sunset." You reply. "Sunset Shimmer."
"Sunset Shimmer... That's a beautiful name for a beautiful Mandalorian girl like you." He grins wider and takes your hand in his, kissing the top of it. "I'm Flash. Flash Sentry."
You smile and bite your lip. "You're quite the gentleman, Flash." He releases your hand and you make circles on his shoulder again. "I think I'd like to see what else you have to offer a girl like me..."
You make eye contact with each other and he raises an eyebrow. "You name the time and place, sweetheart."
You look around the bar and notice a supply closet in the back. You turn back at him and grin as you motion toward it. "Meet me back in there... I'll show you just how good it is under this armor."
Without waiting for a response, you get up and walk over to the supply closet, brushing a finger along his back as you do. You swing your hips provocatively as you walk until you reach the supply closet and step inside. You close the door behind you and shut the lights off. You laugh to yourself. Boys are so easy to manipulate.
After a short minute or two, the door opens and Flash steps inside. "Sunset?"
"Lock the door." You command.
He grins and does as he's told. You hear the mechanical locking mechanism on the door. "So, heh, how do you want to-"
You turn on the lights, grab his collar and press him against the wall. His face twists from one of excitement to confusion and finally to fear as he sees your blaster pistol pressed against his forehead and your glowering face staring at his. "You scream, you die, hot stuff."