//------------------------------// // Getting Back on Track // Story: Bounty Hunter Anon // by Sunny Solaire //------------------------------// Your ship's ramp lowers onto Rarity's private landing pad and you walk down after her. She smiles as she steps off the ship and takes a deep breath of the Cato Neimoidia air. "Ah, it's so good to be back home." You step off the ship and follow her toward the door to her building. Once you're both inside, you head to her office and she looks around with a smile before turning back to you. "Well Anonymous, thank you very much for the adventure, in spite of everything." "You're welcome." You reply with a nod. "Please hesitate to ask the next time you want to come along." Her smile dampens a little at that and she nods. "Again, I do apologize for everything that happened, and for everything I said." "I'm sorry too." You extend a hand forward and grin. She looks at it for a moment before smiling again and shaking it with her own. "We still good?" She nods. "Of course, darling." "Good." There's a bit of a pause between you two as you shake hands. Finally, you release hers and back up. "Well, I've gotta run. We've got to get Trixie before more Sith find us." "Right." She clears her throat. "I'll, um... I'll listen around and help you out, if I can." "Thanks, Rarity." You turn around and head down the hallway back to your ship. "And Anonymous?" You stop and turn around to see Rarity sticking her head out of her office and looking at you. "Please be careful." You pause for a moment before turning around again. "Don't worry, I will." You don't turn around again as you walk away from her office and head through the building towards the landing pad. Once you're back outside, you take a deep breath. You hate awkward situations like that. Glad it's finally over. Now things can go back to normal. Just you and Sunset, taking on the galaxy together. You grin at the thought and head up the ramp. Shutting it behind you, you press the intercom button on the wall panel to your right. "Sunset, we're good. Get us into orbit." "Sure thing." She replies. You head into the main hold as the ship's engines whir to life. Now that the immediate crisis has been averted, you need to think to yourself for a moment. Trixie needs to be found as quickly as possible. Only question is where should you start looking for her? Naboo, perhaps, but Trixie doesn't sound like the patient kind of person. Her insistence on using a title like 'Great and Powerful' shows evidence of a massively inflated ego. If you were her, smuggling spices for a profit, you'd want to go somewhere else as quickly as possible for the best deal. You walk over to the computer terminal and pull up everything you have on Trixie. You need to see the information, rather than just think about it. A few minutes later, Sunset comes walking out of the cockpit. "We're in orbit. Should we go to Naboo?" You shake your head. "No, I don't think that would be the most efficient move." "How come?" She comes over and looks at the terminal beside you. "Well, I admit, I'm kind of be taking a shot in the dark here, but I wager that after Trixie picked up the chak-root, she would go off-planet and sell it to the highest bidder as quickly as she could. It fits her profile." You pull up her info and read it aloud. "She's described as self-absorbed, narcissistic, and has a complete lack of empathy for others. She's clever, but impulsive. She doesn't think things through to the end." Sunset thinks as you turn back to her. "She could also be trying to start up her own trade system." You shrug. "That's a likely possibility. You can't do that overnight though." Sunset nods and taps her chin. "You said she's impulsive and that she would want to start things up as quickly as possible..." She thinks for a moment. "If I were her, I'd probably be searching nearby systems for a good deal." You hum and think to yourself. Chak-root is highly taxed, and is usually processed into liquor and snuff for a select few bars in the galaxy. You turn to the galaxy map and look at nearby systems. "Well, it looks like the most likely systems of interest that are in relatively close proximity to Naboo are Tatooine, Malastare, and maybe Sullust. Tatooine and Malastare are both really big on podracing, among other things." Sunset nods. "Lots of people like to drink and do drugs while they're at the races too." You point to her and smirk. "Exactly." Sunset comes up to look at the map. "Trixie wouldn't go back to Tatooine this soon though. Not with Diamond Tiara looking for her. Sullust seems like a bit of a long shot too." You nod. "I agree." You look at the map once more before clapping your hands together and turning back to her. "Let's head to Malastare then. That's our best bet." "You got it." Sunset heads to the cockpit while you follow close behind her. The two of you sit down in your usual seats and Sunset steers the ship into position. You lock in the coordinates for Malastare and she hits the throttle, blasting the ship off into lightspeed. As you travel through space, Sunset turns to you. "So where should we start looking when we get there?" You think for a moment. "I say Pixelito. It's the capital city. We'll split up and hit some of the more prestigious clubs and cantinas around the racetrack. We'll ask around and get information on where they get their shipments for chak-root liquor. Let's also ask about snuff; see if anything good's going around." "Sounds good to me." She turns back to the control console and presses another button before standing up. "I'm going to get ready." "Alright." You nod. "I'll look up a few good places to start searching." She heads back into the ship, leaving you alone in the cockpit to contemplate to yourself about everything that has recently transpired. Adagio, the death sticks, the run-in with the Sith warrior, everything. It's weird, but you can't shake the feeling that something is very wrong about all of this. You take out Adagio's gem and look at it again. "What are you?" After everything that happened, this little gem is making you feel very uneasy. Rarity said it wasn't formed naturally. Which is strange, but not very surprising, seeing as how it made Adagio screech as loud as a Krayt Dragon. You haven't heard of regular rocks doing anything like that before. It's also very strange that the Sith were able to find you on Tatooine. Maybe this gem had something to do with it. Thoughts like that make you want to throw this thing out into space, but your curiosity makes you want to find out what this thing is first. Hopefully, the Sith are smart enough to figure out that you're just a simple man trying to make your way in the universe, and they'll leave you alone when they realize you're actually not trying to sabotage their plans at all, whatever they are. If they aren't that smart, then you're not above killing more Sith. They're scum. You place the gem back into your pouch and take a deep breath before standing up and heading back to the armory to grab your blaster pistols, some toxic darts, and a few mini rockets for your wrist. You also grab your new lightsaber and conceal it onto your belt. Subtlety is the key here, at least until you know exactly where Trixie is. You walk over to the other side of the armory and grab your standard jetpack without the missile. After putting it on, you exit the armory and head back up to the cockpit. The console beeps rapidly to let you know that you're coming up on Malastare. Taking a seat, you decrease the throttle and come out of lightspeed.