Bounty Hunter Anon II

by Sunny Solaire

History Lesson

You sigh as you watch Anon head down the hallway. You can certainly understand where he was coming from when he reacted to Soarin' the way he did, but doing it on the job was extremely unprofessional. He should know better. Hopefully, Senator Melody doesn't dock this job's pay as a result.

You and Pinkie look back at her as she looks back and forth between you and Spitfire. "I do not want any more trouble from either of you. You don't have to like each other, but you do have to get along. No snide remarks, no violence, nothing."

Spitfire nods again. "Yes, my lady."

You nod as well. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Octavia takes a deep breath and puts her hands behind her back as she walks down the hallway after Anon.

Once she's gone, you and Spitfire glare at each other. The tension in the room is almost tangible.

After a moment of silence, you decide to break it first. "Well... Where do you want us?"

She shifts her eyes between you and Pinkie and sighs. "Follow me..."

She leads you both down the same short hallway that Anon went down. Doors are on either side, and Spitfire points to both of them. "I'm just giving you a short layout of the ship. These rooms here are crew staterooms. There are more on the upper level." She continues walking to the end of the hallway and points at two more doors up ahead on either side. "These doors lead to the cargo hold, as well as access to the escape pod." She points to a single closed door at the end of the hallway. "This is the meeting room. The lift to the upper levels and the salon pod are on the other side."

Anon's in there right now too.

Spitfire turns around to face you both. "I'll be in contact with you during transit. You two patrol the ship. Either together or alone, it's up to you. Investigate anything suspicious, and fix any problems before they become problems, should they arise. Above all, protect the senator."

"Got it." You and Pinkie both nod.

"Good. Both of you wait here for her." Spitfire turns her back and walks away without saying another word.

You and Pinkie take position by the cargo bay doors and wait for Anon and Octavia.

---

After a minute or two, the door opens and Octavia comes inside.

You stand up straight and she looks at you sternly. "Hello, Anonymous."

"Senator." You give a simple nod in response.

She takes a deep breath through the nose. "If you could, please remove your helmet. I wish to speak with you face-to-face." She's speaking calmly, but her firmness never leaves her for a moment as she does.

You hesitate for a moment, but oblige her and take off your helmet.

You set it down on the table and she begins to slowly pace back and forth. "Captain Shining Armor's report on you insists that you are a professional and quite seasoned in this field. I believe him, but I also know that everyone makes mistakes. You understand that the behavior you displayed out there was out of line, correct?"

"Yes ma'am." You reply.

She nods at you as she continues to pace back and forth. "Then I trust you will make sure it does not happen again with anyone else on this mission?"

You nod. "I can guarantee you that it won't happen again, ma'am."

"Excellent. No need to continue this topic then." She stops pacing and faces you with her arms behind her back. "Now, I feel I should brief you a little on our mission to Dantooine. Your companions should be just outside. Bring them in here, please."

You look to the door and head toward it. It opens automatically as you approach, and you see Pinkie and Sunset both waiting out there for you.

They both look at you and Sunset stands up straight. "How'd it go?"

"It's fine." You reply. "She wants to see us all though."

Sunset and Pinkie exchange a glance before walking inside the meeting room with you. Sunset takes off her helmet as she enters.

Octavia faces a large wall monitor that's been turned on displaying Spitfire's face, along with the planet Dantooine. "...Yes, Captain. I'm situated and ready for departure. When my meeting with Anonymous and his team is concluded, I'll leave him in contact with you."

Spitfire nods on the screen. "Of course, my lady."

Oh, great...

Spitfire's image snaps off and Octavia turns around to face Pinkie and Sunset. She gives them a small smile as they enter. The first one you've seen her make. "Welcome. Please sit down, all of you."

All three of you exchange glances before sitting down at the large table to face her. You never paid much attention to Republic politics, but you do remember seeing her for a moment once before and liking her. She's a good politician. Being from Naboo, she's extremely peaceful, but she's oddly intimidating at the same time, which is unexpected.

You feel the ship rumble a little and the engines start to whir. You're taking off.

"Now that we're underway, I feel it's time you all know what exactly we're doing here." She turns to look at the image of the planet behind her. "Since it's planetary bombardment by Darth Malak, in an attempt to destroy all evidence of the Star Forge's existence, and the Jedi Order at the time, Dantooine has been in a relative state of disarray. We have since brought a bit more order to the planet, but the local populace is still having trouble with gangs and criminals attempting to scavenge or raid a few ancient places left behind in the ruins of the old Jedi Order."

Pinkie speaks up. "There are Jedi ruins there?"

Octavia looks at her. "The ruins of an old Jedi Enclave is there, yes."

"Oh... I didn't know that..." Pinkie looks down a little. She looks a bit troubled at hearing that.

Sunset turns to her. "Darth Revan was amnesiac and being retrained as a Jedi at the time. I'm sure that's partly why Malak did it."

You continue her thought. "He wanted to cover up existence of the Star Forge, but he was obviously too late. Revan already knew where it was by then."

Octavia hums. "You two know your history."

You and Sunset look back to her, who looks slightly impressed.

"The Republic, and by extension, Revan and Malak, were our enemies in the Mandalorian Wars." Sunset says. "Revan single-handedly killed Mandalore the Ultimate on Malachor V and his forces nearly destroyed our fleet."

"A new Mand'alor would've risen that same exact day if Revan hadn't denied us of his mask." You continue. "Enemy or not, our people can't help but look at Revan with a high sense of respect for being such a magnificent warrior."

You cant help but smile a little as you briefly recount Revan's history. You and Sunset both. Pinkie doesn't look any happier though. Octavia simply stayed silent while you spoke.

You decide to get on with the 'now' though. "...But, that's a story for another time. Let's not get anymore off-topic."

Octavia nods again. "I agree." She turns back to the monitor and the image of a small settlement appears next to an image of the Jedi Enclave in ruins. "As I said, these settlements have had trouble from gangs and other organizations wishing to scavenge the planet's ancient Jedi ruins and natural crystal caves. It's been getting more frequent and violent as of late, but the locals wish to solve this problem on their own, or with as little assistance from the Republic as possible. They're rather stubborn, so I'm going there to negotiate with the leadership in an attempt to get them to agree to having the Republic build a larger outpost there. We simply don't want to lose Dantooine."

You wonder...

"Have any pirates been seen around here? The Draconequui by any chance?" You ask.

Octavia shakes her head. "I don't know. I'm sure we can ask them for more details."

Sunset speaks up again. "How long will we be there?"

"Only a few days, at the longest." She replies.

You take a deep breath and lean back in your chair a bit. A few days with these Republic pricks. Lovely.

Octavia shuts off the monitor and clears her throat. "That's basically the extent of what you need to know. Your job mainly consists of making sure this ship is not compromised in any way during transit, and on the surface. The Republic has a small number of boots on the ground there and we're working with the local militia, so it shouldn't be too difficult when we arrive. In the meantime though, I'm sure you all have duties to perform, so unless you have any further questions, you're all dismissed."

"We don't" You reply. "Thank you, Senator."

You and Sunset stand up. Pinkie hesitates before standing as well.

What's her deal?

Octavia walks down the hallway and enters the lift before looking back at you. "I'll be in my stateroom on the upper level."

You nod as the lift closes, and you and Sunset grab your helmets and put them back on. Sunset walks toward the lift. "I'll go patrol the upper levels first. Let's all switch shifts every fifteen minutes or so."

"Good idea. Me and Pinkie will be down here." You look at her. "Sound good?"

Pinkie looks at you and nods, still not smiling. "Sure."

You turn around and exit the meeting room with Pinkie following behind you. When you hear the door close, you turn to Pinkie as you head down the hallway together. "So Pinkie. Let's talk for a bit..."

Author's Note:

Captain Spitfire.

Surface of Dantooine.

Darth Malak.