//------------------------------//
// Plans for the Future 
// Story: Bounty Hunter Anon III 
// by Sunny Solaire 
//------------------------------//

Sunset's eyes widen and she covers her mouth slightly. "Wh... What?"

You sigh and nod. "Mandalore is dead... He's gone."

"W-Why? How? What... What happened there?"

You sigh again and rub the back of your neck for a moment. "He saved us... He saved me. The Sith had us surrounded as we were trying to escape. I tried to stay behind to help, but he forced me to leave him behind. There was nothing I could do."

She sits there in stunned silence for a long time. You can imagine what she's thinking right now. Mandalore has been Mandalore for as long as you can remember. Ever since you were little. You always knew he was just a man under that armor, but he felt like a force of nature, more than anything. It has to be hitting her pretty hard.

After a few moments, you see the realization hit her on her face as she ponders the implications of him being gone.

She looks at you again. "Anonymous... What does this mean?"

You stare back at her, taking a deep breath and standing up straight. "I was trusted with the title of Mandalore. It belongs to me now. I will lead our people against the Sith."

Her eyes widen again. "You? You're Mandalore now?"

"I am."

She exhales and leans back into her seat, looking up at the ceiling. Once again, it hits you even more than it's probably hitting her, now that you've actually said it out loud to her. You are now Mandalore. You are the leader of all Mandalorians in the whole galaxy. That's the fantasy of every Mandalorian you've ever known, but now that it's actually really happening, it's a bit surreal.

"Sunset?"

She looks back at you and gulps once before leaning forward. "I-I'm okay, just... I'm just trying to come to terms with it..."

You chuckle once. "I know exactly what you mean."

"Who all knows about this?"

"Just you, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow." You pause before you deliver the really bad news. "And... Gilda and Limestone Pie know too."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "What?!"

You chuckle nervously again. "There was a... bit of an unexpected development with them. Gilda and Limestone aren't on our side, per se, but they do want to destroy the Sith. They helped us escape Khar Delba after we killed Chrysalis."

She sighs and digs her nails into her head through her hair. "Why, Anon? Why accept help from them? From her! Gilda! Your first day as Mandalore, and you take help from a traitor like her?! Of all people!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do, Sunset?!" You say. "They saved our asses, and showed us information on Sombra's hidden space station! That is gold right now!"

She sighs again and rubs her eyebrows together.

You don't want to have another argument with her, especially since this is the first real conversation you've had with each other since you argued with each other back on the Kandosii. You've missed her like crazy.

"We need information." You say calmly. "They would have the best information in the whole galaxy to us right now. Ex-Sith who have been to the space station in question and know how it works."

She doesn't say anything for a while. She makes a small groaning sound before sitting back up and looking off to the side. She's thinking, you can tell. She's mad, but hopefully, she can see your side. Siding with Gilda is a necessary evil right now.

She sighs again and looks up at you. "I assume, or at least hope you have a plan."

"The gist of one, yeah. Before anything though, I need to announce to the clans that Mandalore died an honorable warrior's death at the hands of the Sith, and I have been chosen to take his place."

She nods. "I was just going to suggest you do that. We need a leader."

"Yeah..."

A leader. That's your job now. Leader of all Mandalorians everywhere... You're still not used to saying that.

Seems like quite the busy job. You'd sure love to have some companionship...

Your mind flashes back to the vision that Chrysalis put into your mind. Before it flashed to that scene of horror, you saw a flash of your future family. You, Sunset, and a pair of children living together in the jungles of Mandalore. It actually looked quite nice. Ideal. The thing dreams are made of.

Maybe that vision was also a wake up call. When this is over, you with your new position would probably like to settle down with Sunset. You always figured that would be the case anyway.

Why not make it official?

You smile softly and look back at Sunset's beautiful face. "I missed you."

She smiles back at you. "I missed you too, Anon. Those jungles were hectic. I could've used your help."

You chuckle softly. "Next time... I promise, I'll do everything I can to make sure we aren't apart like this ever again."

In every way...

After a pause, you look at her again. "When we get back, I have a question I need to ask you."

"What is it?"

"When we get back." You say again with a smile. "In the meantime, tell me what happened with you guys on Myrkr. Did you find any of those lizards?"

She chuckles once and smiles. "Oh, do I have a story for you, Anon."

She spends the next few minutes going over everything that happened with her, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Big Mac on Myrkr. She talks about the HK assassin droids, the vornskr, and how she took down Soarin' out of the sky. It was amazing hearing her talk about how much he was crying. You would've loved to have seen his blubbering face when she kicked his ass.

You took a seat and listened intently to every word, your elbow on the console in front of you, your head in your hand, and a smile on your face. The whole time she spoke, you were thinking and planning. Not about the upcoming war with the Sith, but about what would happen after. With her.

She's been in your life for as long as you can remember, and has made it one hell of a ride. You can't get over how lucky you were to find her.

For the next few minutes, you just sit there and talk to each other. All the stress of the Sith, the responsibility of being Mandalore, the risks, everything seems to take a back seat as you just talk and laugh with each other.

For a few moments at least, everything is okay.