I walked to Juda’s desk and she gets up and greets me.
Juda said “You just get more and more impressive.”
“Good to see you again.”
Juda blushed when she heard that.
Juda replied “I was thinking the same thing. Here you go, credits for the accountant. Poor little Yalt with his bossy wife.” She hands me the container of credits “See you soon, bounty hunter.”
“Likewise beautiful.”
Juda blushed red and I smirked under my helmet and I left with HK-47. We began to walk towards the Cantina. When I arrived, I went past it towards the Beast Pits where I can get my target. I found the elevator and went down to “Level 2”. The elevator went down with me and we arrived to a hallway. We began to walk into the beast pits and I see it looked like a giant arena surrounded with caged beasts.
“This looks like one of those Griffin Arenas, but different.”
I walked towards the main cage and saw the alarm button. I pushed it and the alarm goes off. We see the Beastmaster coming over to see us. The beastmaster was a Minotaur, no surprise there.
“You call me just like Nem’ro said you would. So stupid. Now I kill you and Nem’ro give me big reward.” The Beastmaster said.
“Don’t count that reward just yet.”
Beastmaster replied “You think I not prepared? So stupid! Free the beasts!”
Me and HK-47 heard clanging from above and we looked. We see Nem’ro above with a crowd cheering in excitement.
Nem’ro laughed “{Ho ho.}”
I looked and see one of the cages open, letting three creatures walk out. We took aim and began to attack them. I fired an explosive dart at the big creature, making it explode and fired a missile to not just kill the other creatures but the big one as well. I heard two more doors opening. I began to fight a big creature while HK-47 was dealing with two hound-like creatures. I killed the big creature at the same time the hounds were killed by HK-47. Then two more doors opened. HK-47 was dealing with two small creatures while I fought “Fleshripper the Unkillable”. The creature looked like a hulk and I shot some blaster bolts at it and then used my flamethrower at us, burning it alive. The creature pounded the ground, pushing me back. I managed to stay on my feet and I continue to burn it alive then it died. I was enjoying the thrill of the fight and then the main gate opened, the beastmaster was holding his warhammer and a weird looking armor. He charged at me and I fired an explosive dart at him followed by a missile and then a rocket punch, killing him down. When I finished, I looked at Nem’ro but my expression was blocked by my helmet.
“Nem’ro! I’m coming up there so we can have a chat! And it’s not going to be a friendly one!” I shouted with rage and hate.
I see the platform closes and I began to run back to the elevator with HK-47.
I arrived in the master room to see Nem’ro waiting for me with his bodyguard. I walked up to him, pistols drawn and I aimed them at him. The guards looked at me and then they see red laser pointers at them, looking towards the entrance were my battalion of HK-50s.
“Start talking Nem’ro before I change my mind of killing you, you gutless overgrown slug.”
Nem’ro shouted, explaining why he did what he did “{Mighty hunter! You killed terrible beasts from Hutta Swamps and beyond, and the beastmaster, too! Deception was the only way I could eliminate my beastmaster without upsetting things here.}”
I understood what he was doing and I hate to admit it, but he was right. I lowered my pistols and the HK-50s did the same as well as HK-47. The guards lowered their weapons and went back to whatever they were doing.
“I played your game Nem’ro, now give me my sponsorship.”
Nem’ro said “{I did not expect you to survive the beast pits. Carnus said you would prevail but-}”
Carnus shouted with glee “I hear about little hunter kill spree in Rust Yards!”
Nem’ro replied “{Yes, I should have listened to you, my friend. Now, what’s done is done.}”
“No more excuses. I want into the Great Hunt, Nem’ro.”
Nem’ro explained “{A representative of the Great Hunt will be here shortly. When he arrives, you would merely have to hand him my sponsorship token to enter the Great Hunt. Unfortunately, I already gave the Great Hunt sponsorship token to somepony else.}” My eyes narrowed with rage and shock. Then I began to glow purple for some odd reason, my medallion was glowing. Nem’ro never noticed it though. “{The sponsorship is just a token, a small holo with my authorization given to its bearer. Somepony fierce and deadly on Hutta Swamps has the sponsorship token. If you want it so badly, find him and take it! Ha!}”
“I’ll be back to deal with you, Hutt.” I replied in a demonic tone.
Nem’ro and Carnus were shocked to hear my voice suddenly so demonic.
HK-47 said “Statement: Master must be really angry for your betrayal Nem’ro. Watch where you go Nem’ro, you might as well be a dead pony walking.”
Nem’ro said “{Yes, yes. If you succeed, I win. If you fail, I still win. Either way, the toughest pony on Hutta Swamp goes to the Great Hunt with my name! See Juda for compensation regarding that whole beastmaster business. Come back here, present the token to the representative, and you can go to your Great Hunt!}”
I began to walk away. Nem’ro looked at me walking away and noticed that my hoof prints burned the ground where I stepped. He felt a death-like aura around me, radiating with anger. It gave him the chills and he realized that he may have been dealing with someone who is never to be underestimated.
Meanwhile in Equestria…
Charming, Nyx, Rainbow, and Twilight were talking. They were chatting about how the search was going but it stopped when Charming’s medallion began to glow. After a few minutes, his eyes narrowed.
Twilight asked, worried “What’s wrong Charming?”
Charming said in clear fear “I sense Danny’s anger…he’s upset, very angry at somepony. He feels…betrayed. He is radiating with Unicron’s power, giving off a death-like presence of pure evil.”
“Wait! If you can detect Unicron, can you point where he is at?!” Nyx said.
Charming was getting the idea and went to the holomap. After a few seconds, he pointed to the far side at the planet, where Nal Hutta Swamps were located at. Twilight’s eyes narrowed.
Twilight shouted “Danny HAD to flee to Hutta Swamps, a place where Equestria Empire CAN’T go!”
Nyx asked “What do you mean?”
Twilight explained “If we went there, Nem’ro and Fa’athra would call the Hutt Family and we will be in serious trouble. We can’t risk a war with the Gangsters, the Horde would support the Hutt Gangsters. They are the most resourceful force on the planet.”
Charming suggested “How about we send a spy instead?”
Twilight asked “Who?”
Nyx suggested “How about Vanguard?”
I had cooled down my death-like aura and approached Juda’s desk. She greeted me as the usual.
Juda said, relieved “Nice to see you alive and well. That was really rotten what Nem’ro did to you.”
“Aw, you do care.” I teased. Juda blushed a lot now. I knew she had a crush on me, which was for certain. “You have a crush on me, don’t you?”
Juda was still blushing but nodded. I smiled and she got back to business.
Juda replied “I’ve got a very large payment here for you, but it doesn’t say what for. Apparently that’s between you and Nem’ro. Here you go; one large payment for mysterious reasons.”
She came around the desk and handed it to me. When I grabbed it, I used my other hoof and pull her in and we got close. She was blushing very red and I removed my helmet, she got a good look at my face and saw I was handsome. My neon green eyes what caught her wonders and we came into a kiss. When we separated, her breathing was hot.
Juda said, almost like a beg “I want to be with you.”
“I welcome you aboard any day.”
We heard a fake cough and I put my helmet on and looked at the source, seeing Mako leaning against the wall. I walked over to her and she kept a normal face.
Mako greeted “Hey hunter, we’ve been had! Nem’ro already sponsored somepony for the Great Hunt!”
“That’s old news, Mako.”
"Yeah? Bet you don’t know who it is, though. I know who got Nem’ro’s sponsorship token and how to find him. I’ll tell you everything, but I’ve got a price.” Mako replied
“Suddenly you expect me to pay for your info?”
Mako replied “Not like you think. Braden taught me how to fight, and you know I’m great with information. Take me with you, on this hunt and whatever comes after.”
“I think we’ll have a lot of fun.”
Mako continue “I’m good with a blaster, and Braden was like a father to me. It’s not fair that-wait, did you just say yes?" I nodded “Thank you. Braden was sweet, but he always treated me like a child. I’m not a child. So thank you. I want to be there when we find Braden’s killer. I want that more than anything. So let’s go find Nem’ro’s bounty hunter.”
“My trigger finger needs some exercise.”
HK-47 added “Agreement: I am itching to kill this bounty hunter Nem’ro praises to.”
Juda said “I’ll work for you but I won’t provide good services.”
“How about you return to my ship? Soundwave can pick you up.”
Juda nodded and I told her where to find my ship.
“Good. You’re about to get plenty of it.” Mako said before explaining “The hunter we’re after is named Rarsk. He’s an Argonian and serious bad news. Burned a whole village alive. Soundwave and I intercepted a transmission between the Argonian and, get this, the bone-faced freak who was following me. Remember me warning you about him?”
“Think those two are working together?”
Mako replied “No clue. We better prepare for anything, though. Rarsk is collecting on a bounty Fa’athra the Hutt, Nem’ro’s rival, is holding for him. An Equestrian Scientist or something. All we have to do is break into Fa’athra’s ridiculously well-guarded palace in the swamp, find the scientist ourselves, and set a trap for Rarsk.”
“And when Rarsk shows, we take his sponsorship token. Good plan Mako.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Turns out Fa’athra keeps interesting people on his payroll, and by “interesting”, I mean they have prices on their heads.” Mako said as she pulls out a hologram and shows the image of the Equestrian Scientist, which was a Unicorn. “If we want to seriously compete in the Great Hunt or even get away from this mudball, we need the extra credits from these bounties.” She turned it off “Come on, Fa’athra’s Palace is waiting…”
I nodded and we began to head over to Fa’athra’s palace.