//------------------------------//
// Just This Once 
// Story: Bounty Hunter Anon 
// by Sunny Solaire 
//------------------------------//

After leaving Rarity's office, you head down to the docking bay to look for Sunset. Neimoidian workers pass you by as they continue loading and unloading the shipments of goods and materials necessary for whatever Rarity needs them for.

After looking around for a little bit, you see Sunset talking with the Neimoidian supplies manager next to a few crates near one of the bay doors. She spots you as you make your way over to her, but continues talking.

"...Just this much will be good for us now. Get it on our ship in the rear cargo hold." The Neimoidian nods and walks away, and Sunset turns to you. "We should have more than enough medpacks to last us for a good long while. I also got us a good supply of water, food, and a few spare power cells. I even got us some spare parts for our cloaking device in case it goes down again."

"Terrific." You reply. "How long until we're ready to go?"

"They're about to load it onto the ship." She answers. "We should be ready soon."

"Good." You pause. "Uh, we need to talk."

She cocks her head slightly. "What's up?"

You sigh and cross your arms. "Rarity is coming with us to Tatooine."

Sunset's eyebrows shoot up. "What?"

You nod. "She wants to come with us this time. She says she wants to see what we do."

Sunset takes a frustrated breath and licks her lips. "Anon, that's a bad idea. She's going to slow us down, get in our way, and probably complain the whole time."

"I know." You nod again. "You're absolutely right. That's what I told her."

"Then why did you agree to bring her along?" She asks.

You shake your head. "She says she's been bored lately. I think she's going through a crisis or something. She says things have been too repetitive and she needs a change of pace for a little while. She's been a good asset to us, so I decided to let her tag along, just this once."

Sunset sighs again and shakes her head. "Fine. Whatever. If she wants a share of the reward though, she's getting it out of your half, not mine."

"That's fair." You agree.

She gives you another judging look for moment with her arms crossed before turning and leaving. "I'm going to get a drink and then head back to the ship." She doesn't stop to wait for a reply.

You stand there, thinking to yourself as Sunset leaves from your sight. She's right. Rarity will be a handful. You shouldn't have agreed to let her tag along. It kills you to see Sunset mad.

On one hand, you want to find Rarity and tell her this is a bad idea and that she should stay. That would make her feel bad though.

On the other hand, maybe it will be kind of nice if she tags along. It's just one hunt. What's the worst that could happen? Once you catch Aria, you and Sunset will both head off somewhere to relax and enjoy each other's company.

You grin to yourself at the thought. It will be fine. Like you said, it's just one hunt. You're going to head to Tatooine to get information from Diamond Tiara the Hutt about this Great and Powerful Trixie, then you'll go from there.

You turn around and head back into Rarity's building, proceeding through the hallways and corridors until you reach her landing pad and head back aboard your ship.

Inside, two Neimoidians are just finishing with loading the last of the supplies into the cargo hold and you begin taking an inventory of your contents. A few crates of medpacks, food, water, a new liquid filtration system, power cells for lights, life support systems, electronic equipment, spare parts for the cloaking system, ammunition, and a new set of tools. Sunset did a good job. She got a lot of stuff.

You hear some footsteps behind you and you turn to see Sunset boarding the ship. "Good job with the cargo." You say.

She walks past the cargo hold and barely glances inside at you as she proceeds toward the cockpit. "Thanks." She says. She's still mad.

You sigh and take a couple small crates of ammunition and head to the ship's armory to organize it. As you set it on the workbench, you hear Sunset call to you from the cockpit. "Anon, come here!" You make a brisk walk to the cockpit where Sunset is hovered over the control console. She turns to look at you. "Did you ask for a new sensor array system?"

A new sensor array?

"No." You say as you look at it.

"Ah! That was a little gift from me!" Rarity says behind you.

You both turn to see Rarity walking toward you both with a smile on her face. She's dressed in, what you can only describe as, "brand-new, beaten up clothes". She's wearing some light chest armor, combat boots, and she has some work goggles resting on her forehead. She looks like a wannabe smuggler.

You give her a quick look and motion toward the console. "This was you?"

She nods happily. "Well, as you know, I have clubs all over this planet. And I'm able to listen in on the chitchat that happens in nearly every one of those clubs. When something interesting comes up, I record and save it so it uploads to my personal databank. So, as a little gift, I had my boys connect this ship to that databank. Now, whatever I hear around the planet, you'll be able to hear as well!"

You and Sunset both look at each other, impressed. "Not a bad hookup."

"Yeah." She agrees. "Thanks, Rarity."

She smiles again hugs you both. "Anything for my two favorite bounty hunters in the galaxy!"

You grin and endure the affection. Sunset does too, but her grin is full of mostly contempt.

Rarity releases you and claps her hands together. "Now! We're off to Tatooine, yes?"

Sunset nods and goes back to the controls. "Yeah. We're ready to go now, if you are."

Rarity nods again. "I'm all set!" She says with a smile.

You usher her to take a seat and you sit in the co-pilot's seat. "Then let's punch it."

Sunset presses a few buttons and flips a few switches, and the ship's engines rumble to life. Rarity buckles her seatbelt and grips her hand rests in excitement. The ship wobbles some as it lifts off the ground, and turns around before Sunset flies the ship out of the city, and into the atmosphere.

Rarity looks out the window in wonder as the planet's details below get smaller and the vacuum of space comes into view. You bring up Tatooine on the navicomputer, and lock it in. Sunset hits the throttle and the ship blasts off into lightspeed a moment later.

You stand up and look back at Rarity. "How you doing?"

She's smiling wide and she looks at you. "That was so exciting! I've never been on a ship this small with a hyperdrive before!"

You smile at her. "That's the easy part. It just gets more difficult from here on out."

Her smile gets smaller, but it doesn't leave completely. "That's fine, darling. I'm ready."

"Fantastic." You reply. "Now come with me. I'll get you settled into your bunk."

She takes her seatbelt off and follows you back to the crew quarters, leaving Sunset alone in the cockpit. "So, 'captain'." She begins. "How often do you let Sunset fly your ship?"

You give her a chuckle. "I think the better question would be 'how often does Sunset let me fly my ship?'"

You enter the crew quarters and stop to look at her. "Really?" She asks.

"Yep." You nod. "I bought it, but it's pretty much hers. She knows this thing like the back of her hand."

"Interesting." She hums.

You grin and look at the bunk on your left. "Here's your bunk." You slap your hand on it. It's a bit old, worn, and not very comfortable, but it's comfortable enough to sleep on.

Rarity looks at it for a moment in silence. "Oh."

You cock an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

"Um, no. It's just..." She sits down on the bunk, giving it a little bounce to test it out. "It's just a little different than what I was expecting."

You shrug. "Yeah, the ship's not quite big enough to accommodate five-star sleeping arrangements, like what I imagine you're used to." You say, secretly glad that she's not thrilled about the bunk. Hopefully, it talks her out of wanting to come with you again.

She looks at it and rubs the light blanket. "Well, I suppose I should've known that..." She looks back at you and smiles again. "I'm sure it will be satisfactory though. Thank you very much, Anonymous."

"You're welcome." You nod. " We won't be to Tatooine for a few hours. Sunset and I are in the captain's quarters next to the main hold if you need us."

"I understand." She smiles. "Thank you again."

You smile and leave her, making your way back to the armory. You open the new crate filled with ammunition and begin organizing it for storage and for what you may need when you get to Tatooine.

---

After doing some looking around on the ship's computer, you discovered that Diamond Tiara's palace was near the spaceport of Mos Espa, on the edge of the Dune Sea. Not Anchorhead. Sunset had landed in one of the city's docking bays, and you got yourselves ready.

You've armed yourself with your missile jetpack, your blaster rifle, some thermal detonators, your flamethrower, and a couple blaster pistols, while Sunset had grabbed her twin vibroswords, her blaster rifle, and two blaster pistols. Rarity said she could handle a blaster pistol and a backup short vibrosword.

Once you finish, you don your helmet and the three of you step down the exit ramp and off the ship. The heat of the twin suns hit you as soon as you were out of the ship's shadow. All of the sudden, you remember that this planet was not one of your favorites to be on.

"Oh goodness." Rarity exclaims. "I forgot just how hot this planet was."

You look back at Rarity as she fans herself a few times. "We'll go as fast as we can." You reassure her.

You continue out of the docking bay and onto the streets with Sunset and Rarity. Even though it's a sparsely populated planet, Tatooine always has sights of all kinds wandering around. Not the scenery, as this place is just one big desert, but the aliens, droids, and speeders of all kinds that crowded the streets. Almost everyone you see has a weapon of some kind.

"Keep on your toes." You announce to your party. "This planet is extremely dangerous."

Rarity nods and pulls her goggles down over her eyes and you all continue through the sandy streets and navigate your way past the domed buildings and moisture evaporators in the city. Passing cantinas and bars, you hear the upbeat music from within them, along with a few laughs from their patrons.

"Sunset, where is the closest door out of the city?" You ask.

She brings up her wrist and presses a few buttons to bring up her map. "It shouldn't be too far ahead. I'll mark it for us." Within a few seconds, you see the blip on your HUD pointing to a location behind some buildings on your right.

"Okay. Lets make our way there. Quickly." You say.

The three of you proceed forward when a sharp voice on the opposite end of the street stops you all in your tracks. "Bounty hunter!"

You tense up as all three of you turn to face the source of the voice. Across the street, with an armored Sith trooper at both his right and left, stands a man dressed in long black robes and a hood covering his face. He's walking towards you.

"What are the Sith doing here?" Sunset quietly asks, setting a hand on her blaster.

"I don't know..." You stand and face him, ready to grab your weapon.

"Lord Sombra is displeased that you have meddled with his operations on Nar Shaddaa!" The Sith growls. "He desires that you be exterminated!"

Operations on Nar Shaddaa?

"What the hell are you talking about, Sith?" You demand.

He doesn't answer. Instead, he produces a metallic cylinder from his belt and holds it in front of him. He presses a button on it, and it makes a sharp cracking sound, followed by the signature low hum that always accompanied the red energy blade of a lightsaber...