Bounty Hunter Anon III

by Sunny Solaire

Narrow it Down

You step off your ship onto the Kandosii's hangar bay with Sunset, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity.

After coming to a truce, it was decided that Celestia would return to Coruscant to inform the Senate, as well as the Republic about the Sith attack on Cerea. While she deals with the fallout, Mandalore, and by extension you, will focus on finding the Sith and taking down this virus. Grand Master Luna would also assist in tracking down the Sith in another part of the galaxy with Shining Armor, and a number of other Jedi. This act of theirs cannot go unpunished.

You spoke to Twilight for a bit as well. Her AI, Spike, was a bit frazzled after the Sith cyber attack, but he seemed fine. She, along with Fluttershy, Applejack, Big Mac, and Maud Pie would join you on the Kandosii later.

Your primary focus is to track down where the Sith are manufacturing this fear virus, and put a stop to it. That's where Twilight and Rarity would come into play. Twilight has the Republic's resources and an AI at her disposal, while Rarity has connections to the underworld. Finding the Sith shouldn't be too hard.

What will be hard however, is dealing with them once you've found them. You've got cortosis, which takes care of their lightsabers, but you still have the small matter of the Force to worry about.

You proceed toward the interior of the Kandosii. Mandalore's gunship lands close by.

You look over your shoulder. "Rainbow, take Rarity to the intelligence center. Get her situated and ready to search for the Sith."

Rainbow nods. "This way, Rarity."

"Lead the way, darling."

They proceed into the ship. Rarity looks worried. Unsurprising, given the circumstances. You doubt that being in the middle of a war with the Sith was on her list of things to do in her life.

While they walk away, you turn to Pinkie and Sunset.

Pinkie also looks a bit nervous. "What do you need me to do, Anon?"

You sigh. "Pinkie, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. We found the location of some cortosis on Discord's ship. Lots of it. Sunset and I picked it up a couple days ago. We're going to use it against the Sith and their lightsabers."

She nods a little. "That's a good idea, Anon."

"I know." You reply. "What I need help with is dealing with the Force. Sunset may be Force-sensitive, but she's untrained, so we can't rely on her to deal with it." You look at her. "No offense."

She shakes her head. "None taken. You're not wrong."

You look back at Pinkie. "You, however, are trained in the ways of the Force."

Pinkie shakes her head a little. "Not as good as Maud is, Anon. She could probably help with whatever you want to ask me."

"What I'm about to ask you, I can't ask the Jedi. We may be on the same side now, but that doesn't mean we trust each other." Pinkie looks between you and Sunset, a little confused. "To deal with the Sith, I need to know: is there anything that deters the Force? Weakens someone's connection to it? Something?"

Pinkie looks down for a moment, not answering. "Oh boy..."

You stay silent for a while, just staring at her.

After a few seconds, she speaks again. "There is... I can't remember the name of them, but there are these lizards in the Jedi Temple that sort of... block the Force somehow. They were kept in the detention center, to keep troublemakers like me from doing anything."

The Jedi Temple has a detention center?

Not important.

Pinkie continues. "It was a weird feeling being in the same room as them. I just felt... open. Exposed. It kinda felt like being naked, but not the fun kind of naked, you know what I mean?"

You roll your eyes. "Oh brother..."

While Pinkie laughs at her joke, Sunset turns to you. "Maybe Twilight will know."

"Maybe." You nod.

You aren't keen on asking the Republic a question like this. The Jedi Order is one of their most powerful assets. They'd probably be hesitant to relinquish that information to Mandalorians, of all people.

Pinkie still strains to think of whatever these lizard things are while Mandalore comes walking up to you with Coco, Tempest, and Thunderlane following him. Lyra and Bon Bon are already on their way into the Kandosii.

"I've received word from your friends in the Republic, Anonymous. They will be here soon." Mandalore says.

You nod. "Excellent."

He continues. "Once you find the location of where the Sith are making this virus, inform me immediately. I'm going with you to destroy it."

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Sunset reacts as well, though she doesn't say anything.

"You are?"

Mandalore nods. "It will be our first move in this war. I should be a part of it... Plus, I want to see you in action for myself."

You and Sunset look at each other for a moment before you turn back to him. "I'm honored, Mandalore. As soon as I know, you'll know."

"Good." He walks away with Tempest and Thunderlane, issuing them their own commands about searching for the Sith in other parts of the galaxy.

You take a small breath. Fighting alongside Mandalore himself. You've always wanted to see him in battle with your own eyes again. It will be a great privilege.

Your thoughts are cut short when you see a small Republic shuttle enter the hangar next to your ship and land. You, Sunset, Pinkie, and Coco watch as the ramp lowers and Applejack and Big Mac lead Fluttershy, Twilight, and Maud Pie onto the cruiser. Twilight and Fluttershy are holding a few supplies in their arms, while Maud helps. The Apples are both armed to the teeth.

The four of you quickly head over to meet them. Applejack nods at you while Twilight and Fluttershy look around the hangar in awe.

You greet them. "Welcome aboard the Kandosii, everyone."

Twilight smiles at you. "Thank you, Anon. Where are Rainbow Dash and Rarity?"

"We'll take you to them now. Follow us." You lead your group into the cruiser.

Sunset watches the Apples as they grip their weapons and look around, cautiously eyeing a few other Mandalorians as they pass.

"You know, you don't have anything to worry about here, Applejack. We're all friends now, right?" She says.

She breathes through her nose, not smiling. "S'cuse me if I don't exactly trust ya'll so soon. Mandalorians ain't much more than mercenaries, from where I'm standin'."

Big Mac nods. "Eeyup."

You groan. "Well, us 'mercenaries' happen to be the ones who are going to save your Republic asses. So, a little bit of trust in return shouldn't be too much to ask."

Twilight turns to look at her. "Applejack, please relax. They're not going to hurt us."

Applejack sighs and releases the grip on her blaster in its holster, but still doesn't drop her defensive stance. Big Mac does the same.

The rest of the walk is quiet and uneventful, other than you giving directions and explaining a few of the Kandosii's systems. A few minutes later, your group enters one of the intelligence areas. It's a relatively small room with computers and terminals all over, with a large table in the center.

Rarity is at one of the terminals now with Rainbow. They turn to face you as you all enter the room.

Sunset points to her. "Twilight, you and Rarity will be working together to track the Sith down. Make yourself at home."

Twilight nods and glances at her bracelet on her wrist. "Ready, Spike?"

A hologram of the little cartoon reptile appears and smiles at her. "Ready!"

She smiles at him and heads over to Rarity. Fluttershy and Coco follow her.

You turn to Maud, who is standing next to Pinkie. "Master Jedi, we could use your expertise with the Force to help track the Sith down as well, please. If you need to meditate or something, we'll keep the chatter to a minimum so you can focus. There isn't much in the way of privacy here, unfortunately."

She nods. "Thank you, Anonymous. I shall begin at once."

She walks over to a corner of the room and sits on the floor. You close the door to the hallway and head over to the table in the center with Pinkie.

Applejack takes a breath as she sets some of her gear on the table. "Now what?"

You take off your helmet and set it down on the table as well. Sunset shrugs. "I guess we just wait."

From the terminal, Rarity calls over. "We won't have to wait too long, darling. I'm already onto something."

You, Sunset and Applejack head over to her to look over her shoulder. "What have you got?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing concrete, just a lead I'm following." She points to a bit of info on a system in the southern part of the galaxy. "Twilight, do you think you can cross reference my information with yours?"

The twi'lek nods. "Yes, I think so." She pulls out a datapad and starts skimming through it. "I've got Spike looking through more systems as well."

Rarity smiles. "He's quite clever, your little assistant."

Spike appears on Twilight's bracelet and chuckles, rubbing the back of his artificial neck. "Aww, shucks, Rarity... I'm just doing my job."

Rarity smiles wider. "And you're doing a marvelous job at it, darling! We're very grateful to have you here!"

You swear you see a slight tint of red appear over the reptile's nose, like he's blushing.

Is that... a crush? But, he's not even alive. He's an artificial intelligence.

Who has knowledge of the entire Republic at his disposal...

"Spike."

He turns to look at you, giving a little glare when he sees you. "Anonymous. You're the Mandalorian that killed Senator Hoity Toity."

You grunt. "You must've forgot. The Republic and I are good now. Stopping the Sith is more important to both of us."

Spike shakes his head. "I didn't forget."

"Then wipe that scowl off your holographic face, machine."

He scoffs. "What will you do if I don't?"

Twilight, probably sensing the apparent tension, speaks up. "Spike, be nice. We are on the same side here."

Spike looks at Twilight and drops his nasty look.

Twilight, in turn, looks at you quite sternly. "Anon, I understand that this is important, but do not refer to him as a machine. He means a lot more to me than that. A lot more."

You pause for a moment and look back at Spike. He looks back at you.

"Fine."

"Fine."

After another pause, you speak again. "Spike, my friend here has a question." You look back at Pinkie.

Pinkie perks up. "Oh yeah!"

She smiles and skips over to you to look at Spike.

Before she opens her mouth, he speaks. "Pinkamena Diane Pie. Former Jedi Padawan. Guardian. Sister of Jedi Master Maud Pie, Jedi Knight Marble Pie, and former Jedi Padawan Limestone Pie. I hear you're good at pazaak."

Pinkie's eyes widen, along with her smile. "Ooooh, he's good, Twilight! I like him!"

Spike and Twilight both smile.

She moves around you, getting closer to Spike. "Yeah, I had a quick question! I forgot the name of these lizard things that the Jedi kept in the Temple's detention center. They sort of cut off the Force in this...invisible bubble. Do you know what they're called?"

Before Spike responds, Fluttershy turns to face you all. "Oh! Those are ysalamiri! They're the cutest little things ever!"

Pinkie snaps her fingers. "That's right! Ysalamiri! That's what they're called!"

You look at Fluttershy and nod, impressed. She immediately knew the answer to that question before even Spike did.

Spike smiles and looks at you, spotting your expression. "Fluttershy is an expert in fauna of all kinds from all over the galaxy. She's got a way to sort of talk to them and care for them too."

Fluttershy blushes a little at the compliment.

She's obviously not good at dealing with Rakghouls. Otherwise you'd still have both your arms, rather than just the one. You'll keep that comment to yourself though.

"Do you know where they are?" You ask her. "We need help against the Force when we fight the Sith."

She frowns. "Oh, um, I don't think you should try to get them... They live on these special trees called olbio trees, and when they feed or feel scared, they sink their teeth into the bark to draw nutrients. It might kill them if you try to take them off the bark. They won't let go, no matter what."

You grunt. That complicates things.

Sunset steps forward. "Do you think you could get them off the trees?"

She sinks into herself and rubs her hair between her hands. "Oh, um, I-I don't know..."

"You have an AI praising your zoology skills, Fluttershy. I think you're selling yourself short." You say.

She looks up at you for a moment before looking back to the floor, shuffling her feet. "I don't know... I-I wouldn't want them to get hurt."

Sunset speaks up. "We need their natural abilities to help stop the Sith, Fluttershy. You saw what happened to Cerea. If we can stop the Sith, then we can prevent that from happening anywhere else."

Fluttershy gulps and mumbles a little. Finally, she sighs. "...Okay..."

Excellent.

"Where are they?" You ask.

"They, um, they can be found on the planet Myrkr." She says. "That's where they're native to. I can go with you and help, but only if you promise that nothing bad happens to them."

Myrkr is not very far from Mandalorian Space at all. It's just a couple systems over.

Sunset nods. "I promise you that we will do everything we can to prevent that from happening, Fluttershy."

The Mirialan smiles, but says nothing else.

The terminal beside you beeps.

"I think we have something!" Rarity exclaims.

You and Sunset go back to Rarity to look at the terminal. An image of a dark, icy world appears on the screen.

"What are we looking at?" You ask.

"Cross-referencing Twilight's information with a few underworld leads I had, Spike was able to pinpoint a bit of activity here." Rarity says. "The planet Khar Delba."

Khar Delba.

"I've never heard of this world." You say.

Rarity shakes her head. "Nor have I, darling."

Spike appears on the terminal. "It's a Sith world. It was important to the ancient Sith Lord Naga Sadow."

"It is a Dark Side Nexus..." You all turn around to look at Maud, who is standing there behind you. "A place that is very strong with the Dark Side of the Force. That is where this virus is being manufactured."

"Then that's where we're going." You press a button on your gauntlet and open your comms. "Mandalore. We have the location of our virus."

Author's Note:

The Kandosii

Khar Delba

The ancient Sith Lord, Naga Sadow