The massive door of Diamond Tiara's palace creaks ominously as it slowly slides upwards. Armed and fully clad in your armor, you and Sunset stand on either side of Trixie, who looks down to the ground in grim acceptance of her inevitable fate. Two Gamorrean guards escort you through the palace toward Diamond Tiara's throne room.
As you turn a corner, you're greeted by the same protocol droid from before. Silver Spoon.
"Welcome, bounty hunters. The illustrious Diamond Tiara has been expecting you. Please, follow me."
The droid turns and leads you down the large corridor of the palace for a few meters before making a left into a large room. Upbeat music plays from inside and you can see a thin layer of smoke coming from the entryway. As you enter, you see a variety of alien species applauding a Twi'lek singer in the center of the room who had apparently just finished a song. On a large throne in front of the Twi'lek, that is perfect for a Hutt, sits Diamond Tiara herself.
You tug on Trixie's arm and she reluctantly follows you and Sunset into the center of the room. "Greetings, oh Great and Powerful Diamond Tiara." Trixie turns and glares at you, obviously angry at you for addressing the Hutt with her title. You just push her forward and continue. "We've come to collect the bounty on this one."
Trixie looks up at the light purple Hutt as she begins chuckling heartily. "Chobaso, Konbouaheon. Ree jotke, tee poy Trixie gee nan banki danko. Jee hatkocanh faee wamma uba bu bie see donocha don keemon dokwacha phabeka che uen."
Unfortunately, you can't understand any Huttese when it's coming from an actual Hutt. You do recognize the word 'Konbouaheon' though. It means 'Mandalorian.'
The silver droid beside her speaks up to translate. "The generous Diamond Tiara bids you both welcome, Mandalorians. She will gladly pay you the sum of 5,000 credits for bringing Trixie back home."
The droid motions for two guards to come and retrieve Trixie, who is now desperately trying to bargain for her life. "Diamond Tiara, wait! Trixie was… I was going to pay you more! I-I had a deal that was worth a lot! It's why it looked like I vanished! I swear!” Two Gamorrean guards grab her and she begins squirming and fighting against them in vain as she’s dragged away. "Please, you have to believe me! I was still working for you!"
You just watch as she’s dragged toward a doorway on the other side of the room, kicking and squirming the whole time.
Diamond Tiara's booming voice echoes through her chamber. "Jee cha gee bai phaba kaa, Trixie. Uba doth bokeue bankop uba jot, um ateema uba doth ritke Bantha poodoo." She just laughs again, and you watch Trixie one last time before she disappears through the door, screaming the whole time.
You turn to Sunset and you both shrug at each other. Just another day in the life of a bounty hunter.
Diamond Tiara looks back at you. "Bo see mah lohba hatkocanh baumahka mee uyat, Konbouaheon. Um uba doth chobaso bai bidkana an panwa kae."
You take a small step forward and look at the droid. "The hospitable Diamond Tiara says that one of the palace guards will be here momentarily with your reward, Mandalorians. But you are both welcome to stay and enjoy yourselves for as long as you wish."
You look back at Sunset and whisper. "You want to hang out for a bit?"
Sunset looks around a little. "Not really. This place isn't my style."
You nod at her. "Okay, good. Same here. Plus, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can start our vacation." She huffs a small chuckle and you turn back to Diamond Tiara, pulling Adagio's gem from your belt pouch. "We appreciate your invitation, Diamond Tiara, but I'm afraid we'll have to decline. We have other matters to attend to. But, while I'm here, I was wondering if you'd be able to help me with something else."
You hold out the gem and one of her servants takes it from you. She gives it to Diamond Tiara who brings it up close to look at it.
"I got it from an... acquaintance of mine, and I'm curious about where it came from." You lie.
The Hutt looks at the gem in her massive digits for a moment before looking back at you. "Haku woy uba can'ta Jee gee bla kaa vehpobaee tah, Konbouaheon?"
The droid speaks up again. "The Powerful Diamond Tiara wonders why you'd think she'd know anything about this, Mandalorian."
Ugh. You're going to have to flatter this thing...
"Well, I just assumed that because of your great wisdom and..." You can't believe you're about to say this. "...beauty, you might've heard a few things about what's going on in the galaxy."
Behind you, Sunset stifles a laugh, which she covers up by coughing.
You think you see a smile appear on Diamond Tiara's face and she starts laughing again. "Jee bacaka tah murishani. Goo banpop gee wa setkenu apiua che woute dauag."
She licks her lips and begins to rub her enormous slug-like body with her other hand, like she's showing herself off to you. It's revolting. You are so happy that you can't understand Huttese. She's probably flirting with you.
She hands the gem back to her servant and she brings it back to you. "Kouwaueve, Jee cha bla kiuke vehpobaee heee dan see dheueonka. Jee gee neu hoohah ata wa kouciukoee tee-tocky. Jee gee babau da paupe dheueonka doth camiuoy cay Jeedai pionpoe."
You take the gem back and put it back in your pouch. Silver Spoon speaks again. "The wise Diamond Tiara regrettably does not know much about this kind of gem, I'm afraid. She has heard that certain kinds of gems are popular with the Jedi. Perhaps they might be able to answer your inquiry."
"Ugh..." You groan in disgust.
Jedi.
You don't care that much about the gem. The very thought of going to the Jedi for help is absolutely repugnant. Even more so than the thought of sleeping with this Hutt.
Diamond Tiara's servant walks away while another one of her Gamorrean guards comes up to you and hands you a case. Sunset comes up beside you as you open it to inspect the contents. There sits your hard-earned 5,000 credits.
"Payday." You whisper under your breath. You close the case and give another respectful bow to Diamond Tiara. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Diamond Tiara."
Diamond Tiara chuckles and rubs her massive body again. "Bu cuova doth tytung bidwata, Konbouaheon. Jee dotmay bai woy yanee maee. Uba doth vee chobaso wata."
Silver Spoon translates once again. "The divine Diamond Tiara says that the pleasure is hers, and she hopes to do business with you again, Mandalorian. You are always welcome here."
You simply nod again before leaving the same way you entered with Sunset. The both of you are silent as you make your way out of the palace and back outside under Tatooine's binary suns.
It is only then that Sunset starts laughing. "HA! Look at you, Anon! Hitting on the Hutts!”
You shudder in disgust. "Oh, that was disgusting. The things I do for this job..." You just grumble to yourself as you head to your ship, which is parked next to Diamond Tiara's palace.
Sunset laughs at you a bit more as you both enter. "Well, I can appreciate you doing whatever it takes to get what you need, but come on, Anon! Have a little self-respect!"
"Shut up." You take off your helmet and set it on the table in the main hold before looking at her with a smirk. "Do you want to go on vacation or not?"
She chuckles again as she takes her helmet off as well. "Oh come on, you know you love me."
You grin and roll your eyes at her before taking a seat. "Yeah, you're right I do." You groan as you think back on your encounter with Diamond Tiara. What was even grosser was the fact that it seemed like she was into you as well. "We are never doing business with Diamond Tiara again."
You hear Sunset chuckle as she walks over to you and places her hands on your shoulders to give them a little massage. "Well I sure hope you don't. Especially if I'm here with you. She might get jealous and do something."
You grin and look up at her. “Well, I can’t take that risk, now can I? You’re way too special to me.”
”Aww, shucks.” She smiles.
You chuckle and she sits down on your lap, still holding your shoulders and looking into your eyes. You place your hands on her waist, just above her buttocks and hold her close.
“You thought of a good place to go?” You ask.
She hums as she thinks to herself for a moment. ”How about Alderaan?”
There’s an option you hadn’t considered.
“Alderaan...” You repeat.
You’ve only been there once before. It’s a very beautiful planet.
You nod at her and smile. “Good idea, love. Let’s head to Cato Neimoidia to give Rarity her finder's fee and then we'll head out.”
She smirks at you. "By 'we', you mean 'just you and me', right? She's not tagging along this time?"
You laugh. She's going to hold this against you for a while, you can already tell. "I'm sure we've both learned our lesson. I know I have."
"Good." She smiles and leans in close. "You and I need some quality alone time together for once."
You chuckle and squeeze her butt once. "I couldn't agree more."
She smiles and gets off of your lap, running her hand across your back before she heads to the cockpit. You watch her leave before taking the case of credits you were paid with and dividing them evenly. 2,500 for you, 2,500 for Sunset. Once it's done, you stand up and head toward the armory as you feel the ship’s engines begin to rumble.
The ship takes off and you unload all your gear before heading back into the main hold to grab the old sword and amulet that you had left there. You bring them back into the armory and set them in a footlocker before you sit down at your workbench. You aren't sure what to do with them right now, but you'll figure it out after you get back from Alderaan.
You’re about to start tuning up your blaster when you hear Sunset’s voice on the wall intercom. ”Anon? Get up here. Now.”
You stare at the intercom and a sudden sense of suspicion comes over you. Something’s wrong. Sunset sounded anxious, almost nervous.
You quickly get up and make a brisk walk to the cockpit. “What’s wrong?”
She looks back at you quickly before looking forward again. ”We’ve got company.”
You look ahead into space and see a single Republic capital ship facing right towards you.