Bounty Hunter Anon II

by Sunny Solaire

The Enclave

Before the thugs get a chance to triangulate where the source of your jetpack's engines are coming from, you point your rifle at the nearest construction vehicle and fire a few bolts. They hit around the vehicle, giving away your position. The surprise was short lived, because the few thugs around the vehicle look up at you and start shouting at each other. A few of them begin to fire at you.

You weave left and right in the air and easily avoid their blaster fire. Once you're close enough, you aim your rifle at the driver and shoot him. Your blaster fire hits his body a few times, and he goes limp in his seat. You fly directly over the other thugs and rain down more blaster fire, hitting two of them in the process.

You quickly descend and fire at the nearest thug. He goes down just as you land, and you run directly toward the Duros thug to your right. He points his blaster at you and fires, but you zigzag along the ground as you approach. He misses every shot. You reach him and slam the butt of your rifle into his chest. The force of the impact is enough to knock him onto his back and you immediately fire a few rounds into his head.

The last thug is right next to the construction vehicle and in the process of running away and screaming. The captured Kath Hounds are barking and snarling furiously at the commotion.

"Oh no, you don't..." You growl.

A couple shots from your rifle and he goes down.

You turn back to the building and ascend into the air again, moving directly over it. The larger shipments of equipment and Kath Hounds are on the other side, directly ahead of you. The thugs surrounding these hounds are all shouting at you with their blasters raised. There are seven of them.

As they start to run toward you, you reach into a pouch on your belt and pull out a thermal detonator. You fly toward them and exchange blaster fire. Once you're directly above them, you drop the thermal detonator and twist around in the air. You fly backwards and continue firing your rifle, keeping their attention away from the grenade.

You quickly ascend away from them, keeping yourself turned towards them to look out for any stray blaster fire before the thermal detonator explodes a few seconds later at their feet. The sound of the blast echoes through the canyon and the thugs all fly off in different directions away from the explosion.

You fly back to the Enclave, keeping a lookout for any stragglers you may have missed. A couple more thugs are a good distance away from you. They're running toward a pair of parked speeder bikes located in the adjacent canyon. If you had another missile, you'd be able to cut them off right now, but you don't. You increase the power in your jetpack's thrusters and fly after them.

Hopefully, you can reach them before they get away. You need at least one of them alive if you want to find out who's behind this little setup.

As you speed through the air, you prepare a toxic dart into your dartcaster. With a little tweaking, you were able to find a way to connect your robotic arm up to your HUD and greatly increase the accuracy of your helmet's targeting system. It works wonders for your dartcaster.

You point your arm forward and lock on to one of the thugs before firing. The dart zips through the air and hits the thug in the back of the neck. He continues running for a few steps before he slows down and keels over onto his face.

Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.

The last thug slows for just a moment to glance at his fallen comrade before looking back to you. You're only meters away from him now and closing in fast. He's also a Duros, which is unsurprising.

He's almost to the speeder bike. You quickly alter your approach and swing in an arc around his left. Fire sprays from your gauntlet onto the grassy field directly in between the thug and the bike as you cut him off.

The Duros yells and immediately comes to a stop just before running into the flames. You double back in the air and slam directly into him, making him fly through the air a bit and land on his back. As you land, he looks over at you and grabs his blaster pistol. You quickly shoot the gun out of his hand before he has a chance to even point it at you.

He screams in pain and clutches his arm before looking at you in fear and trying to squirm away. You grab him by the throat and hold him down on the ground before pressing your rifle to his knee and pulling the trigger, shattering his kneecap.

He screams as loudly as he can with your hand around his throat and writhes in agony. "J-Just let me be! Please! I-I was only doing a job!"

He's speaking Durosian. Luckily, that's one of the few alien languages you can also speak.

You reply in his tongue. "Who do you work for?"

He gags and grunts a moment before speaking again. "Aahh... A c-couple of crime lords I think... N-no one ever told me anything... I just... overheard..."

He's just a grunt. Bantha fodder. You won't get anything useful from him.

"Who did you overhear?" You tighten your grip on his neck for a moment, making him gag.

"Ack! O-One of the bosses!" He squirms. "Th-They know everything! I swear!"

"Where can I find them?" You demand.

"I... I don't know..." He wheezes.

That's not the correct answer...

You press the barrel of your rifle to his other knee and he panics. "Wait! Wait! I-I really don't know! H-He went somewhere off-world yesterday! That's all I know! I swear!"

He's telling the truth. He doesn't know where his boss went. If he knew, he's so scared that he would have told you already. You need to find out more, but you don't have the time or the means to go off-world right now.

"There must be shipping information somewhere around here. Where is it?!" You growl.

He continues to squirm a bit beneath your grip. "In a s-strongbox... By the s-southern door..."

You don't loosen your grip on him, but you turn to look at the Enclave a good distance behind you. You'd like to believe what he's saying, but you want some insurance in case he's lying.

You're curious...

You face him again and your viewfinder slowly swings down in front of your visor.

He stares at you in fear and confusion. "Wh... What are-"

"Quiet." You cut him off.

You scan his face and your HUD browses through the galaxy's criminal database for any posted bounties until you find a match. His name is Hep Valik. He's wanted dead for 5,000 credits. 'This scum cheated me in a Pazaak game. Waste him.' The bounty was posted by an unidentified Gran on Tatooine.

Your viewfinder slides up again and you lift him up a bit, looking him square in the face. "I'm not the best at Pazaak myself anymore, but I don't appreciate cheaters, Hep. If you're telling me the truth about that strongbox, then maybe I'll forget I saw you here."

He stays silent, but stares back at you in terror. You clutch his neck tighter and stand him up straight. He gags and continues to try breaking free from your grip as you stand him on his good leg and release him. Before he falls back to the ground, you quickly point your right arm at the Duros and activate your whipcord launcher.

The fibercord almost instantly shoots out of your gauntlet and ensnares his entire body. He falls onto his side in a heap, yelling in pain when he lands.

"Now don't you go anywhere. I might still need you." You say.

The Duros doesn't respond, unsurprisingly.

You chuckle and pick up the pace a bit, breaking into a jog toward the Enclave Once you reach the pavement, you can't help but slow to a walk and take good look around. Everything is quiet here. Calm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__gLIyeQYDU

It is only now that you get your first real, good, up close look at the ruins of the old Jedi Enclave.

The building is rusted, cracked, and falling apart in a few places. The pavement you're on is also cracked and broken. Everything around you has been overrun with weeds and grass. There are impact craters absolutely everywhere. Just like what you saw in the canyons before. You can see that they are the cause of all the destruction to this building, and this whole area that it's surrounded by.

And yet, despite the building's poor condition, you can't help but stop and look around at everything with a small sense of wonder. This is where Darth Malak tried to wipe away evidence of the Star Forge's existence. This is where he tried to eliminate the Jedi that once populated these grounds.

This is the place where it all happened.

"He was here..." You breathe.

Revan. The Jedi turned Sith who slew Mandalore on Malachor V. The one who slew his former apprentice on the Star Forge in the Unknown Regions and saved the Republic later on. The one who set Mandalore the Preserver on the path to unite your people once again. One of the greatest warriors this galaxy has ever known. You're literally standing in a place where he once stood hundreds of years ago. It makes you shiver as you feel the goosebumps run over your body. You are not worthy of such a privilege.

As amazing as this is, you've got a job to do, Anon. Snap out of it.

You pick up the pace again and jog along the broken concrete. Once you reach the end of the pathway, you turn right. Sure enough, next to the half-open door is a large strongbox, next to a few other crates.

You walk toward the strongbox and inspect it closer. It's locked, but it doesn't look too hard to crack. You imagine that Pinkie Pie would be able to unlock it just by looking at it.

It takes a little effort, but you manage to bypass the electronic lock and open the case. Inside, among some other miscellaneous items, you find a datapad. You quickly skim through it for anything useful. A time and date for a pickup of goods sticks out to you, and you inspect it further. According to this, a cargo shuttle is supposed to arrive here today to pick up the Kath Hounds. There's nothing about a destination though. There's only an alias for a pair of buyers: 'The Twins'.

The name doesn't sound familiar to you. You'll need to ask Rarity if she knows anything.

You read the manifest further. About twenty minutes ago, the pickup was cancelled by whoever was using this datapad at the time. Twenty minutes ago, you were flying through the canyons on a speeder bike. Obviously, those guys on the speeders alerted these guys. They must have cancelled the pickup as a precaution.

You need to get all of this. There might be more info. You begin the download of everything on the datapad into your HUD.

It will take a while, so you close the strongbox and proceed to make your way back to your Duros paycheck. You take the datapad with you. A minute of walking later, you come back to find Hep Valik right where you left him. He sees you approach with the datapad and you swear you see a small glimmer of relief wash over his face.

You hold up the datapad and look at him. "Well, you were right. I found it right where you said." You say in Durosian.

"Oh good..." He breathes. "So... So now what?"

"What do you think?" You stand over him and point the barrel of your rifle at his face. He's outlived his usefulness.

The look of pure terror returns to his face. "Y-You said that you'd-"

"I lied..." You reply coldly.

"W-Wait! I wa-" The sound of your rifle blasting a hole in his head cuts him off. His squirming body suddenly goes limp and lifeless.

You resume speaking in Basic. "I just did you a kindness, Hep. That busted leg of yours would've been such a pain to deal with. You're welcome."

Some people are so ungrateful...

You sigh and holster your rifle. Bringing up your HUD again, you contact Rarity.

She answers almost immediately. "Hello Anonymous! Did you find what you were looking for on Dantooine?"

"More or less." You reply. "I found a whole operation that was making money off of selling captured Kath Hounds. They were set up at the old Jedi Enclave here."

"My goodness!" She exclaims. "Kath Hounds? There aren't many of those around anymore."

You nod. "I know. Whoever was in on this must have been making a fortune."

"They would have to be pretty powerful to keep something like that under wraps." Rarity muses.

"That's what I said to Sunset." You say. "We think it's a politician. I had her and Pinkie head back to Senator Melody, just in case we're right."

"Very wise, darling. That Senator from Naboo has a very good heart. It would be such a shame if something happened to her." She says.

It really would be a shame, you hate to admit. She may be a politician, but she's actually a good one.

"Well, I need help with two things." You continue. "First, I need you to contact the one who posted the bounty for a Duros named Hep Valik. He's wanted dead. Let him know I killed him."

"Can do." She says.

"And the second thing is, do you know anything about 'The Twins'?" You ask.

"Oh, I've heard quite a few things about them, darling." Rarity replies. "They're brothers. Infamous con artists turned crime lords whose real names are Flim and Flam, respectively. They've started an empire by trading, smuggling, and exchanging goods for prices much higher than their worth. I also heard, in case you're still interested, that they've recently started working with Death Sticks."

"Really now?" You hum.

How very interesting...

Your train of thought is interrupted when your HUD indicates that the info on the datapad has been completely downloaded. It looks like there was an unread video message on it.

"What's that?" Rarity asks.

"I found a datapad that had Flim and Flam's name on the shipping information." You reply. "I copied everything on it to see if I could find any information on who was helping to hide this whole operation."

You open the video message and see a face appear on your HUD. You recognize the face immediately.

"...alk to me, what is going on there?! Did you get the shipment?! Is the bomb in place?! Answer me! I want Senator Melody DEAD! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?! DEAD!" The message ends there.

"Well, well, well. Senator Hoity Toity. I never did like him." Rarity says.

That just confirms your fears. He kept the Senate in the dark for as long as he could, but the secret eventually broke. Now that Octavia is here, he's going to use a bomb to assassinate her and keep the rest of the Senate from discovering this operation of his.

Rarity continues. "Anonymous, you have to save her."

"I can't make it in time, Rarity, but Sunset will." You reply, the first pangs of fear coming over you. "I'll head back as fast as I can. I'm going to send you the information on this datapad. I need you to look for anything involving this bomb. A remote detonator, a timer, make, model, color, anything! You find any info, you let me know immediately!"

"I will! Hurry!" She replies.

You turn around and run toward one of the parked speeder bikes behind you. You contact Sunset as you mount it. "Sunset, where are you?!"

"We're almost out of the canyon." She replies.

"Double-time it to the compound!" You say. "We were right! Senator Hoity Toity was covering this up and now he's going to use a bomb to kill Senator Melody! Get there now, and keep her safe! I'll be there as soon as I can!"

"Damn it! Alright, hurry!" She shouts.

You deactivate your comms and rev the speeder bike's engine. You accelerate forward and head toward an opening in the canyons. Hopefully, you can navigate your way through here quickly. You have no time to get lost now.

---

As you shut off your comms, Pinkie makes another left and you finally come into view of the canyon's end.

You pat her shoulder a couple times. "Pinkie, you need to drive as fast as you can! Anon says that someone is going to use a bomb to assassinate the senator!"

She looks back at you with an expression of worry on her face for just a moment before facing forward again. "Okay, I'll hurry!"

You make another hard right and reach the open plains you were in before you entered the canyon maze. To your left is the militia HQ, just like you left it. A few of the armed guards notice you and assume a defensive stance, but you pay them no heed. Pinkie hits the throttle and practically flies toward the main compound, leaving the militia in the dust.

You frantically press a few buttons on your gauntlet and contact Spitfire. She'll be able to get the senator out of there.

After a few seconds, she finally answers. "This is Captain Spitfire. Sunset, where have you three been?" She sounds very angry.

"Spitfire! Where is the senator?!" You demand.

"She's here at the compound, where you should be now." Spitfire replies sternly. "You bounty hunters and mercenaries are all the same: arrogant, unhe-"

"Just shut up and listen to me!" You shout. "You need to get her out of there right now! There's a bomb! Someone is trying to kill her!"

"What?!" Spitfire exclaims.

Pinkie maneuvers over a hilltop and the compound comes into view a little way's away. You're almost there.

"A BOMB!" You repeat. "Get her out of there right now! We're almost there!"

"When is it going off?!" She asks.

"We don't know, but it could be at any time!" Just as you say that, you get another bad feeling in your gut. This one is much stronger than the other times you felt it before. It twists around inside you and you feel it expand out to the rest of your body. "Oooh... Oh my g..."

You take a deep breath and grip your chest. What is happening right now?

Pinkie gasps. "Oh no.."

She swerves and slows down a bit, turning around to look at you. She looks extremely worried, but her eyes widen a little as she notices you grabbing your chest.

"Can you feel that too?" She asks,

"Yeah..?" You reply.

She can feel this too? Whatever it is?

She looks back to the compound and presses a finger to her ear. "Spitfire, it's Pinkie! The bomb is going off now! RIGHT. NOW!"

How does she know that?

You pay attention to the sounds in your ear coming from Spitfire's side. She makes no acknowledgement that she heard Pinkie, but you hear the frantic sounds of footsteps and shouting. "Everyone get out! Senator!"

You barely hear Octavia's voice try to protest, but it's quickly covered by the sounds of other commotion. The compound is dead ahead. Pinkie guns the engine.

Spitfire continues barking commands. "Get to the exit! Soarin', do not let anyt-"

A massive fireball erupts from inside the compound's walls on the horizon and the explosion echoes loudly through the air.

Simultaneously, Spitfire's communications cut in your ear.

"No!" Pinkie hits the brakes and abruptly swerves to the right as you both watch the fireball rise into the air above the compound.

You've failed...

"We were too late..." You breathe.

The fireball dissipates after a moment and all that remains is a large plume of black smoke that continues higher into the air.

"Maybe not... Maybe she's still alive..." Pinkie looks back at you again and revs the engine. "We have to see for ourselves! We have to know if she's okay!"

She drives toward the nearest door on the compound's wall.

She's right. You have to confirm it yourself. Even if you think it's hopeless. You doubt Octavia survived.

You really hope you're wrong though...

Author's Note:

A Mandalorian using a flamethrower.

A Duros thug.

The ruins of the Jedi Enclave, where Revan was retrained centuries ago.

Failure.