Bounty Hunter Anon

by Sunny Solaire

That New Upgrade Smell

You groan as your eyes flutter open and the light from above blurs your vision. How many times has this happened recently? You slowly blink a few times in an attempt to get everything around you to come into focus. You hear steady beeping around you, along with occasional mechanical whirring and clicking.

A figure you don't recognize at first comes into view on your left and looks at you. It's talking, but you can't understand it.

After a few seconds, you groan and blink again, and the figure turns into Twilight. "Anon? Can you hear me?"

You take a deep breath and nod at her. "Yeah... I can hear you..." She smiles and turns around to look at something and you shut your eyes again. "How long was I out this time?"

"About two hours and forty-five minutes." She replies.

You reach up and rub your eyebrows together. It's weird, your fingers feel like cold metal for some reason...

Wait.

Your eyes shoot open again and you see your new appendage for the first time. "Woah..."

Your sleek robotic left hand seems to float in front of you as the fingers slowly move around, according to your command.

You slowly sit yourself up and turn it around to look at the back side. There are a few gaps in the joints between the protective plates that allow you to see parts of the mechanisms inside that allow it to move, and all the way through it in a few places. Your eyes drift further up and you see that your entire arm is just as sleek and robotic as your hand. You slowly turn your arm around and look at it from as many angles as you can.

Twilight turns to you. "Do you like it?"

You look up at a smiling Twilight for a moment before looking back at your new arm with a grin and a chuckle. "Oh yeah..."

It's a strange feeling. You are giving commands to your new left arm like you do with your right, but you really can't feel anything at all with it. You never thought that Redheart was lying when she told you that, but it's surreal to actually experience it. It's almost like your arm is completely numb from the shoulder down.

You bring both of your hands together and interlock your fingers. It feels smooth and cold against your flesh, and your nerves feel off-balance as only one hand experiences the sensation of touch. It will take some getting used to.

"I designed it myself." Twilight says. "Those plates that cover the circuitry are extremely durable. I figured that, in your line of work, you must see a lot of action, so I decided to help you out a bit. You'll be able to take and do some more damage with that arm."

"Well, that will certainly come in handy." You reply. "No pun intended."

She giggles a bit at that and walks over to you. "I noticed on Sunset's armor that she has some extra gadgets and technology on both of her gauntlets, so I took the liberty of adding a few slots on your forearm for some extra auxiliary equipment."

"Well, my flamethrower was on my left arm. My dartcaster too. It would be nice to have those back." You reply.

She thinks to herself for a moment. "Well, I'm not used to working on weapons. I wouldn't trust myself at first. I'm just a tech expert, but I could probably figure it out if I took a look at it."

You're open to her help, but you also want to get out of here as fast as you can. Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

"They were part of the same assembly that was hooked up to my suit. I have a couple spares aboard my ship." You say. "Do you think you could modify one if I brought it to you?"

She nods and hands you the grey shirt you were wearing before. "That sounds doable. I can take a look, sure."

She turns around and you put the shirt back on before swinging your legs off to the side of the table. The gyros and mechanics in your new arm whir and click softly as it does its job and pushes you up to a standing position. You take another look at it and grin as you turn it around a few times to look at it from all angles.

You chuckle a bit as you look at Twilight again. She's holding a small toolbox and a datapad, along with a few other pieces of equipment.

"What are you doing?" You ask.

"I'm going with you to your ship!" She replies with a smile. "I figure it will be less of a hassle for you."

You give a little shrug after a bit. It couldn't hurt, and she's offering. So why not? "Alright then. Let's go."

She shows her teeth as she smiles wider and you both head out of the room toward the hangar bay. She walks right beside you as you head through the medical bay and into the hall, her smile never fading.

"Do you know where Sunset is?" You ask.

"I think she headed back to your ship to get everything ready for your departure." She replies.

Which means that she grabbed your armor and helmet from her room.

You look down to your arm as you walk. In this light, it looks sleek and shiny. You can't help but smile as you watch it naturally swing back and forth with each step you take.

"You said you designed this?" You ask.

"Yep." She replies proudly. "How does it feel?"

"It feels good, I think." You say. "I can't really feel anything at all, but I've got no complaints with it so far."

She blushes a bit at your compliment.

You continue through the hallways until you reach the hangar and your ship comes into view. Your beautiful, beautiful ship. It feels like forever since you last saw it. You head up the ramp and look around at the interior. Everything looks like how you last left it, and you can't help but smile as you feel like you're coming back home.

"Sunset?" You call out.

You walk into the main hold and see Sunset come out of the cockpit. Her eyes go wide as she sees your new arm and she starts to smile a bit. "Wow, shiny."

You grin and lift it up to give her a better look. "Yeah, it's nice. Twilight did a good job."

Twilight gives another little giggle behind you and Sunset glances at her. "Uh, we're not taking her along with us, are we?"

"No. She's just here to make some custom adjustments to my arm." This isn't going to be another Rarity situation. You've learned your lesson. "How are we looking?"

"Everything looks good so far." Sunset replies. "I've got a few little things I want to look at real quick, but we're ready to go whenever you are."

She is just perfect in every way.

"Fantastic. This shouldn't take too long. This way, Twilight." You lead Twilight into the armory where you see your armor, helmet, and jetpack all laying on your workbench.

Well, most of it. The left gauntlet and shoulder pad is gone.

You grab it all and set it down on the ground beside the workbench. "Set your stuff here."

Twilight puts her toolbox down and exhales. It looks heavy. Maybe you should've offered to help her carry it.

She takes another deep breath and smiles as she looks through her toolbox. "Okay. Why don't you find your spare gauntlet and let's see what we can do."

You turn around to face one of the footlockers on the ground and open it up to see the various pieces of extra equipment you've stored, just in case. After rummaging through it for a few seconds, you produce an extra left gauntlet. It's unpainted, but it has the attachment for a flamethrower and a dartcaster already installed.

You bring it over to Twilight and she picks it up to inspect it for a moment. "Alright... Yeah, I can do this... Um, is it alright if I use some of the metal from this gauntlet as scrap?"

You shake your head. "If you can make it work, then by all means."

She grabs a device from her toolbox and uses it to take off the armor plating covering the internal hardware in your gauntlet. Once the covering is removed, she takes your arm and tampers with the internal circuitry just above your wrist. You just silently watch her as she does her work.

After exposing a few wires in your arm, she reaches into her toolbox and grabs a small welder and a pair of goggles. She puts them on and you look away, knowing that it will produce a bright light.

A few seconds pass when you see the light create a flickering shadow of you on the wall. You squint your eyes as it reflects off the wall and into your face a bit. You can only hear her work now. Every few minutes, another flash of light appears as she turns on the welder again, so you keep your eyes off of her.

Another few minutes pass, and you hear her set something down and exhale. "Alright, I think I've got it."

You look back to see your left arm fitted with a piece of your armor covering the flamethrower and dartcaster mechanism in your old gauntlet. It looks fairly close to your old gauntlet.

"I used some of the metal pieces to create a makeshift hardware attachment for you." She explains. "It will operate just like your old gauntlet and you can remove it whenever you want to just like this."

She takes the mechanism and slides it down your arm a bit before it just comes off. She slides it back on a moment later.

You're impressed. "Looks simple enough."

"It shouldn't get knocked off in combat or anything, but you'll be able to take it off with ease whenever you want." She says.

You reach over and slide the flamethrower attachment off before putting it back on. "Very nice. I like it."

"Thank you." She smiles. "I'm glad you do."

She smiles again and you slide the flamethrower off and on a few more times before leaving it off and placing it on the workbench. "Well Twilight, I appreciate you helping me out like this. You've taken a huge burden off of my shoulders."

"Oh, it's the least I could do!" She replies. "You helped save my life. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and Sunset."

"Well then, I guess I can count that as my good deed for this week." You say.

She giggles again and begins gathering up her stuff and putting it back in her toolbox. Once it's all full, she moves to pick it up, but you stop her and reach for the toolbox yourself. "Here, let me help with that."

You pick it up and head down the ramp to your ship and back into the hangar with Twilight walking beside you. There's a bit of an awkward silence between you for a moment before she speaks up. "So Anon, do you enjoy being a bounty hunter?"

You shrug. "Well, it's never boring, if that's what you're asking."

She gives another little giggle at that. "Well, I'm sure it's not. But do you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, it's a nice little setup." You say. "It pays well, we're doing a service to the public, and Sunset and I get to make our own hours."

She gives you a little hum as you head back into the hallways of the cruiser. She takes the lead and guides you back toward her office.

"How did you get started?" She asks.

You hate doing backstories, but she's been nice, so you'll humor her.

"Well, Sunset and I were both born on Mandalore and were trained to fight when we were children." You say. "We kept training as we kept growing. Then we fought in a few relatively minor conflicts with other 'groups', I guess you could say, which lasted a few years. Pretty soon, we were old enough to do our own thing. So we worked small jobs chasing people down, or doing whatever, as long as it paid well, until we scrounged up enough money to buy a ship. Now we're some of the best in the business."

Twilight hums as you finish. "It must've been tough growing up in an environment like that."

"This is the way." You reply. "It was tough, but that was the point. Our reputation as the greatest warriors in the galaxy means nothing if it isn't enforced. If we want to continue to be the best, we need to learn to fight as early as possible."

You arrive at Twilight's office and she opens the door for the both of you. "Confrontation and violence doesn't solve anything though, Anon. It just makes things worse."

"Confrontation alone doesn't solve anything, you're right." You reply. "Victory does. The violence, conflict, and collateral damage all stop when victory has been achieved."

You set her toolbox down and turn back to her. "Do you ever get tired of being a bounty hunter? The risks must be awfully high."

"Sometimes I do, I admit." You reply. "Too much of anything is bad, so I'll need a break every so often. I'd never get tired of this job altogether though. It's tough, but it's necessary, and I get to have a bit of fun as well."

You give her a shrug and she gives you a small smile in return. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it then, Anon. It seems a bit too violent for my tastes, but I'm happy for you all the same."

"Thanks." You just look at each other for a moment before you clear your throat. "Well Twilight, I appreciate your willingness to share your technological expertise with me."

You raise your new arm in front of you and she smiles again. "My pleasure. I hope we get to see you again."

You both say your goodbyes to each other before you head back toward your ship. Along the way, you bump into Applejack and Master Maud again.

Applejack whistles when she sees your arm. "Lookin' pretty snazzy, Anon."

You grin and look at your arm again. "Yeah, Twilight really knows her stuff."

"Where are you headed to next, Anonymous?" Maud asks.

You look at her for a moment. You know you shouldn't, but you hate it when she asks you anything. You're grateful for her help back on the cruiser, but you can't help but be suspicious. She is a Jedi, after all.

"Not sure." You reply. "We're probably going to head back out there and see if there's any work to do."

Money isn't going to make itself, and you'd like to see this arm of yours in action.

"I see." She replies.

You both silently stare at each other for a moment. She's probably using the Force right now, trying to snoop around in your head for something. She's had time to talk with her Jedi Council about this whole thing. Is she just as as suspicious of you as you are of her? She should know by now that you aren't with the Sith.

"So you guys are going to handle this business with the artifacts and death sticks?" You ask.

"We will be sure to keep tabs on everyone and everything involved with both. Any information is welcome at this point." She replies, emotionless as ever.

"Good. The less of that garbage there is in the galaxy, the better." You say.

She nods her head slightly, breaking eye contact for a moment as she does. "Thank you for your assistance, Anonymous."

"Thank you for yours as well." She gives you a slow bow and you just nod your head in return. "Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi."

You turn to Applejack and bid her goodbye as well. You and Maud exchange another glance before you turn around and head back to your ship.

Damn Jedi.

Maud was a huge help before, and you're so glad she was there. You'd all be dead if it weren't for her. At the end of the day though, she's still a Jedi. The Jedi cannot be trusted.

You take another deep breath and make your way to your ship. When you finally get there, you remember that you needed to do something.

You don't see Sunset anywhere in the main hold, so you head into the armory and close the door behind you. You turn on the communicator on the screen above your workbench and open up a private channel to Cato Neimoidia. You need to ask Rarity a question.

Author's Note:

Artificial limb designed by Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight (Twi'lek) Sparkle.

Jedi Master Maud Pie.

Comments

[Red nova]

Cool arm