Bounty Hunter Anon II

by Sunny Solaire

Snooping Around

"Captain Spitfire to Anonymous."

Ugh...

You sigh and switch on your comms. "Go ahead."

Spitfire continues. "Inform the Senator that we will be touching down in a few minutes."

"Alright." You switch her off and usher Sunset to follow you. The two of you had made your rounds together for the rest of the trip. Pinkie had spent her time upstairs. She said she wanted to be alone, so you obliged her.

As you both walk back to Octavia's stateroom, you feel the ship rumble slightly as it breaches Dantooine's atmosphere.

You turn the comms on again and contact Pinkie. "Pinkie, get down here."

"Okie dokie lokie!" She replies gleefully.

You shut them off again and come up on Octavia's stateroom. After a knock on the door, she opens it a minute later. "We'll be touching down in a few minutes, Senator."

She nods slightly. "Thank you both."

When she shuts the door again, you and Sunset both turn around and wait for Pinkie.

"We're not planning to keep Pinkie permanently, right?" Sunset asks.

"Oh hell no, are you kidding?" You scoff. "She's crazy. Once we get Discord, we're going to give her a fair share of his bounty then drop her right after."

Sunset chuckles. "Good. Just double checking."

Pinkie's a good girl, and an amazing fighter, but she's annoying as hell. You'd probably end up killing her if you kept her.

Honestly though, you're a bit disappointed. If she wasn't so obnoxious, she would be the perfect partner. Apart from Sunset, of course.

"I've been thinking something though, Anon." You look at Sunset and remain silent. "What if we consistently worked with the Republic for a bit?"

"What?" Where did that come from? You hate the Republic. She knows that. "Why the hell would we want to do that?"

"Think about this for a bit, okay? Hear me out." She begins. "Shining Armor said that they're low on soldiers right now, right?"

You nod. "Yeah."

She nods. "So that means that they have their hands full with trying to keep the whole galaxy under control. They're resorting to hiring mercenaries like us."

That's true. History has shown that the Republic doesn't like doing this.

She continues. "Moreover, they're so low on manpower that they are offering these mercenaries ridiculous amounts of money for finding certain people they don't like... Around the '500,000' area. You know?"

"They're desperate for help." You say, realizing where she's going with this.

She nods. "And they probably will be this desperate for years. Anon, do you realize how long we could milk this for?"

You could be millionaires in a matter of weeks. That is a very good idea.

"I love the way you think, Sunset." She giggles a bit and you hear the lift drop to your level. You don't want Pinkie to hear about this. "Let's talk more about this later. Just us."

"Sounds good." Sunset nods again.

The door opens and Pinkie comes out of the lift with a smile on her face as she waves at you both. "Hey there, Mandos!"

You groan quietly under your breath.

She's too happy, even for a Zeltron. You don't like it. Hopefully, she got to think about your discussion while she was upstairs. Maybe that's why she's so happy. She's realized that she's better off without the Jedi.

She stops walking and stands between you two. "We're in the atmosphere! Is Octavia ready?"

As she speaks, Octavia's door opens and she steps outside. "That's 'Senator Melody' to you, Pinkie, and yes, I am ready."

Pinkie turns to face her and smiles wide. "Okie dokie, senator! We are too!"

Octavia nods slightly and begins walking toward the exit ramp. "Walk with me, please."

The three of you walk behind Octavia as she leads you down the hallway through the ship.

You activate your comms and contact Spitfire. "Captain. The Senator is ready and we are making our way to the ramp. How soon until we touch down?"

"You will arrive in two minutes." She replies. "When you disembark, escort the Senator to where she needs to go."

"Will do." You shut off your comms and continue walking.

You feel the ship twist and turn slightly as it descends toward the surface. There are no windows here, so you can only guess how far you are. Finally, the ship stays still for a few seconds before you feel a thud. You have arrived.

When you reach the exit ramp, you press a button on the wall and it slowly begins to open.

Octavia speaks as the ramp lowers. "This compound should be well-guarded, but I'll need at least one of you to patrol around, just to be safe. Captain Spitfire insisted that you go first, Anonymous."

You don't say anything, but you grumble under your breath, just barely. You really hate Spitfire. Soarin' too.

You all descend down the ramp once it touches the ground.

"And where exactly will Captain Spitfire be?" You ask.

Octavia doesn't look at you. "She and her team have their own duties to attend to. Don't worry about her."

When you walk off the ramp, you look around at the compound. Unsurprisingly, there are a good number of people in Republic uniforms here. There are a few soldiers among them, but they mostly consist of engineers and maintenance workers. They all move back and forth in front of you, attending to whatever duties they are in the middle of.

You look up and see a large Brith flying high above in the clear blue sky. The sun is just behind it and shining brightly, but the planet feels very cool. Much cooler than Naboo. You can barely hear the sound of the wind whistling just outside the walls of the compound.

This is the first time you've ever been to Dantooine. Despite being surrounded by a small number of normal people doing normal things, it's unusually quiet here. Much more so than the hustle and bustle that you're used to.

You look back to Octavia and usher her forward. "Lead on, Senator."

She nods and walks toward the door on the far side of the compound. You walk beside her while Sunset and Pinkie follow behind you.

"I assume that it's going to take a while to gather the delegates together for our meeting, so I suggest you begin patrolling the compound now." She says.

You exhale through your nose before looking back at Pinkie and Sunset. "Alright."

Octavia looks at you all. "Hopefully, these meetings won't last too long. I understand that you have things that you need to do as well, so I will try as hard as I can do get through them quickly."

"What do you want us to do then, Senator?" Sunset asks.

Octavia looks over at her for a second. "I'll leave that up to you."

"Try asking around for any information on the ones responsible for the looting. Maybe we can help somehow." You tell her.

Maybe Discord is connected with the trouble here somehow.

Sunset nods. "Alright."

You reach a set of open double doors and Octavia stops to face you all. "Here we are. Anonymous, come with me."

You nod and turn to Sunset and Pinkie again. "Let me know what you find out."

"Will do." Sunset nods.

You turn around again and follow Octavia a bit more into the building, leaving Sunset and Pinkie behind.

---

You watch Anon walk away with Octavia for a moment before the doors begin to close and you turn around to look around the compound again.

Pinkie perks up behind you. "So where are we going first, Sunset?"

You cross your arms. "Let's ask around for details and do a little investigating. Anon hopes that Discord is involved with these guys giving Dantooine trouble. If he is, great. If not, well... maybe we can earn a few spare credits while we're here."

"Like helping people out?" She asks.

You shrug. "That. Maybe doing a few odd jobs here and there. Anything that can get a little extra money in our pockets."

You both turn around and begin to walk around the compound, looking for the way out of the landing pad area.

You continue. "If all else fails and we can't find anything, we might as well look for some entertainment. We could be here for a while."

"Maybe there's a place to play some Pazaak!" Pinkie says excitedly. "That's always a good way to get money!"

You laugh. "That's a good idea. I hear you're not too shabby at it."

Pinkie giggles at your joke and you both continue onward. You go through a doorway and navigate through the public hallways and corridors, passing soldiers, workers, and farmers all along the way. A few minutes later and you exit through another doorway and step onto an outdoor courtyard.

There are quite a few people out here. Most of them look like farmers. A few shops along the perimeter on either side of you. They mostly look like places to buy tools or droids. The largest store is to your right, and it looks a place to buy large farming equipment. Most of these buildings are one to two stories tall though. This is a very small town.

Pinkie taps your arm and points forward. "Let's try there."

At the opposite end of the courtyard is what looks like a recruiting station at first glance. The Republic emblem is holographically displayed above the door.

You both head toward there, pardoning yourselves as you weave through the small group of people. A minute later, you both head inside and meet a faded blue protocol droid standing behind a desk in the center of the room.

The droid notices you and bows slightly. "Greetings. Welcome to the Dantooine outpost. How may I be of assistance?"

You take off your helmet and walk up to the desk. "We're both on a security detail for Senator Octavia Melody of Naboo. She's here to meet with Dantooine's delegates, but she asked us to help out if we could."

The droid looks to you for a moment and pauses. "Forgive me, I do not understand. You wish to... help out?"

"You've been having trouble with looters and gangs lately, haven't you?" You ask.

The droid nods. "Ah, I see. Yes, we have. They have caused quite a bit of trouble for some time. After the Jedi came and recovered anything they could from the old Enclave's destruction, the locals decided to preserve the site out of respect. Everything beyond the main security homestead is off-limits to anyone without permission."

"People still managed to get in though..." You say.

"Unfortunately." The droid responds. "This one particular group of thugs has been the biggest problem as of late. Not only have they managed to get into a restricted section of land, but they have also been able to stand their ground. A few militia soldiers that were charged with keeping watch died by their hands."

Pinkie speaks up. "How come you guys didn't step in and help?"

The droid looks at her. "The Republic would like to help, but the local government insists that they can handle this situation on their own, despite the obvious evidence against them."

You look over at Pinkie before turning back to the droid. "What if someone convinced them to leave?"

The droid hesitates for a moment. "I am not sure that would be wise. They would be outgunned, and outnumbered ten to one."

Outnumbered? Maybe. Outgunned? Against a pair of Mandalorians? You need to know more.

You set your hands on the counter. "Who are these guys? What kind of gear do they have?"

"We are not sure." The droid replies. "We have not been permitted by the government to perform any actual reconnaissance. From what we have seen, however, they use customized swoop bikes to move around. This is why the militia has trouble with them. They go in fast and get themselves lost in the canyons surrounding the Enclave ruins. The militia follows them, but their vehicles can not match the speed of a swoop bike."

Hit and run tactics. You make a note of that in your head.

"Alright." You say. "What about weapons?"

"Standard blaster pistols and rifles. Nothing out of the ordinary, but their numbers prove to be a challenge for the militia." The droid replies.

That makes sense. If they wanted to be fast, they'd need to be lightly armed.

"What does this local militia consist of?" You ask.

"Volunteers." The droid says. "Most of them are farmers with little to no real military experience."

Well there's the problem. These guys can be just a small-time gang of opportunists, but they're going up against people who barely know how to fight. Of course they're going to win.

You exhale softly. "Has the government ever issued any militia personnel to stand guard by the actual ruins themselves?"

"They have not." The droid says. "They are only watching the one area by the homestead on a consistent basis. They would get near the ruins when they did sweeps, however."

"Wait." You lean in closer. "They guard this one area only?"

The droid nods. "Correct."

"Is this the area where these looters are getting access to the ruins?" You ask.

"Yes." The droid nods again. "They ride in on their swoop bikes within sight of the headquarters."

"So, this is the only way to get to the ruins?" You ask.

"No." The droid shakes its head. "There are many ways to gain access to the ruins. The local militia only covers this one, however."

Pinkie speaks up again. "It sounds like these guys rubbing it in the militia's faces."

You nod. It really does sound like that. These guys are taking advantage of a huge hole in the militia's security, and they're making sure the militia knows about it.

These people, as good-natured as they may seem, are outgunned and untrained, and they're going up against a gang of looters who aren't afraid to kill for what they want. It sounds like whoever is running this government is a stubborn, shortsighted scumbag. Maybe that's why Octavia is here. So she can talk this person into accepting some help. Everyone needs help at some point. You're not sure if this is meant to be bravery, but it's definitely stupidity.

You cross your arms and think for a moment before looking back at the droid. "Let's just say, hypothetically, that someone went in and took care of these looters. What would happen?"

The droid hesitates for a moment. "I am unsure what you mean by, 'what would happen?'."

"Politically, what would happen?" You clear up. "Would Dantooine's government outright disown the Republic's presence forever? Would they not care? Would they thank this individual?"

The droid doesn't respond right away. "Due to the current policies set by the government, the Republic cannot intervene with issues like this. If something were to happen, I can assure you that the Republic would not be involved."

"I see..." You hum.

Political games are so stupid, but unfortunately, that's how it is. If you want something done right, you need to do it yourself.

Technically, you're not with the Republic. Neither is Anon or Pinkie.

She looks over at you, cocking her head slightly. "Sunset?"

She must have seen the gears turning in your head. You're starting to get a few ideas.

You look over at her for a moment before looking back to the droid and straightening up. "Well, thank you for answering my questions, droid. I was just curious if there was anything I could do to help make things easier, but it sounds like it's all about politics now."

The droid bows slightly at you. "My pleasure. Have a good day."

"You too." You nod. "Come on, Pinkie."

You usher her to follow and you both step back outside onto the courtyard.

Once you're outside of the Republic's earshot, she turns to you. "Are you okay Sunset?"

You take a deep breath and look over at her, smirking. "Just peachy." You put your helmet back on. "Feel like getting into trouble?"

Author's Note:

A Brith flying over the fields of Dantooine.

The emblem for the Galactic Republic.

A common protocol droid.