Bounty Hunter Anon III

by Sunny Solaire

Under New Management

The Sonic Rainboom comes out of lightspeed over Concord Dawn. Sunset got here a few minutes before you did. She's waiting on the Kandosii for you.

The cruiser is directly ahead. Immediately, you get on the comms and contact them. Gilda should be seconds behind you, and will put everyone on alert. You need to inform them that Gilda is not to be harmed. Watched like a hawk perhaps, but not harmed.

The comms crack and the Mandalorian on the other end comes on. "We see you, Sonic Rainboom."

You answer him. "This is Anonymous. We are back from Khar Delba, and we have another ship following us. Gilda the Banished."

"Copy, Anonymous. I'll scramble fighters and move to intercept her."

"Negative, do not intercept her. I say again, do not intercept. She has vital information about the Sith."

On your scanner, you see the Griffon drop out of hyperspace behind you.

The Mandalorian on the comms pauses for a moment. "Mandalore's orders were that Gilda was to be eliminated on sight, Anonymous."

"About that," you begin. "Mandalore is gone. Before he died, he made me the next Mandalore. I'm here to make that announcement to the Clans."

A number of fighters come flying out of the Kandosii's hanger and head towards you.

"If that's true, then you will have testimony or proof of that."

"I have witnesses." You look around at the three girls by you and they nod at you. "Escort Gilda to the Kandosii. Do not engage her, unless she fires first. If she does, destroy her."

The Mandalorian pauses for a moment before continuing. "As you say... 'Mandalore'."

He cuts communications and you take a deep breath as the Mandalorian ships approach you to provide an escort.

"That went well!" Pinkie comments.

You look back at her for a moment before looking back out the viewport window as Rainbow approaches the cruiser.

"Coulda gone worse, I guess. They coulda just killed us." Applejack replies.

"Enough." You say. "I need you guys to focus. With Mandalore gone and Gilda coming right behind us, we look a bit sketchy right now. They're going to ask us what happened, and I'm going to tell every Mandalorian in the galaxy about it. You all will be my backup."

"Of course, Anon." Applejack says. "We got you."

Pinkie nods and smiles.

"Thank you."

You take another deep breath as the Sonic Rainboom approaches the Kandosii. The Mandalorian ships around you stay tight as they escort you and Gilda. After a few moments, they break away as you both land in the hangar. You can see your ship off to the side, as well as Sunset standing beneath it, looking at you. She, along with a good number of others, are all waiting for you to disembark.

Before the Sonic Rainboom touches down, you head to the exit ramp with Applejack and Pinkie. Rainbow follows you a moment later. The ramp lowers and you four walk into the hangar.

Mandalorians watch you from all sides. Some with uncertainty. You can see Lyra, Bon Bon, Tempest, and Thunderlane in the crowd. Off to the side, you see Rarity, Maud Pie, Coco, and Bulk Biceps look at you as well. From your ship, Sunset leaves Twilight, Fluttershy, and Big Mac behind as she approaches you.

You stop yourself from running to her and giving her a hug. You need to put on a strong face right now.

As she joins your side, you look at her for a moment before turning your attention to the Griffon. Gilda has landed behind you, and the ramp has lowered. When she begins to disembark with Limestone, you turn to everyone else in the hangar. "Mandalorians, you are not to engage Gilda or Limestone Pie unless either of them engage you first. If, and only if they do attack, all of you wipe them from existence."

A few Mandalorians slowly approach Gilda and Limestone with their weapons at the low-ready. Gilda and Limestone look around, alert and ready for anything. Unsurprising, seeing as how they're in the rancor pit right now.

Turning your attention back to the crowd, Bulk Biceps, Thunderlane, and Tempest all approach you, Sunset and your team from Khar Delba. "What happened out there?" Tempest asks. "Where is Mandalore?"

You take a deep breath. "He gave his life so we could escape, Tempest. If it wasn't for him, all four of us would be dead right now."

Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie all nod in unison.

You continue, addressing the crowd in the hangar more. "He knew he would not make it out of that alive, and he told me to carry on in his stead as the next Mandalore. He was killed by the Sith." You point to Limestone Pie behind you. "This one is a deserter. As many ties to the Sith Empire as she has, she does not fall under Darth Sombra's rule anymore. She has said that she will help us destroy her former master and end the Sith before they continue their path of galactic destruction and conquest... Should her affiliation change, then show her the same fury you would show the Dark Lord."

Limestone turns her red-yellow eyes on you as you glare at her in return. That was not a threat, it was a promise. She knows it, and you know it.

You turn your attention back to the crowd and continue. "The Republic is weak. They will not survive this without us, and they know it. Luckily, war is our way of life. If the Sith want war, I say we give it to them."

None of the Mandalorians in the hangar do or say anything for a while. It seems like none of them want to make a move or voice their support. Hopefully, you have their support. Otherwise, this war will not last long.

Finally, Tempest Shadow approaches you. She walks alone across the hangar until she is directly in front of you. She removes her helmet and looks at you with an angry, yet confident expression.

Finally, she grins softly and places her fist over her heart. "You have my support, Mandalore."

You return her smile and nod at her, thankfully.

She turns around to face the crowd. "I have known Anonymous and Sunset Shimmer for a long time. I've seen them in battle with my own eyes, and have watched them approach many hardships over the years. Mandalore was right. Anonymous is the best candidate for the job. With him leading us, the Sith don't stand a chance."

From the side, Bulk Biceps also approaches you, along with Thunderlane. Lyra, Bon Bon, and Coco also follow behind. One by one, they all pledge themselves to you in undying loyalty. Nearly every Mandalorian in the crowd places their fist over their hearts as they all recognize and accept you as Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorians. In unison, the Mandalorians softly beat their chests at a steady pace, making the hangar echo with a consistent drumming that sounds like a steady heartbeat.

If there ever was a perfect time in history to become Mandalore, it is now. The clans, all of them, are one. Your people are one. Sunset and Rainbow have joined in as well, both of them pledging their loyalty to you. Even Pinkie, Applejack, and your other non-Mandalorian friends have joined in to show their support.

Tempest's wicked grin widens as the drumming sound grows louder and more intense around you. A few people have begun to shout during the pauses between them, and eventually, everyone is doing the same. The hangar echoes loudly with the sounds of shouting and chanting, all in unison.

You smile as you look at your people. It's all you can do to not get emotional. You're going to win this fight against the Sith.

Bulk Biceps holds his weapon in the air. "FOR MANDALORE!"

Then, every single Mandalorian in the hangar, including yourself, echoes his call, raising your weapons in the air as well, before cheering loudly. They may be voicing their support for you, but you are voicing your support for them. All of them. You're going to do your damnedest to win this for them. They are the future.

You look to Sunset as she looks at you. She takes off her helmet and the both of you smile at each other. With her by your side, you can accomplish anything. Including this.

This is the moment of your life. This, right here, is the moment.

As much as you wish it would last longer, you have work to do.

"So, Mandalore," Tempest says, looking at you, "What are your orders?"

---

You open the door to the cargo hold and step inside. Soarin' looks at you with the same fear in his eyes that he looked at you with on Myrkr. It's only going to get worse.

Behind you, Anon comes walking in as well. As soon as Soarin' sees him, he backs away to the far corner of the cell, giving himself as much distance between him and Anon. He knows he's in trouble.

"No way..." Anon says. You can hear the smile on his face under his helmet. Then he starts laughing hard. He does so for a few seconds before managing to compose himself. "Flyboy! What in the hell are you doing attacking my friends?!"

Despite the content of his question, Anon sounds almost giddy as he asks it. He's like a loth-cat playing with its prey before killing it.

You approach the cell and open it. Soarin' starts to whimper as you grab him and get him up onto his relatively good leg. "I-I'm sorry! I... I was just-"

Anon shakes his head. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, I don't think for one second that you are sorry for what you did, buddy." He walks closer and stands right in front of him. "See, you dealt with her kicking your little ass back on that planet. While she obviously did an amazing job, now you get to deal with me..."

Soarin's eyes reduce to pinpricks as he stares up at Anon. Anon uses his robot hand to crack his good hand's knuckles, further emphasizing how much more powerful he is than the ex-Wonderbolt.

Anon continues. "Lucky for you, my new promotion has left me with very little time to deal with you in the way that I want, so I'll just leave you one for the road for now."

Immediately, Anon reels his fist back and lands a solid hit on Soarin's stomach. Soarin' yelps and his leg fails him. If you weren't there keeping him propped up, he would've collapsed to the ground. He whimpers and shakes in pain as Anon chuckles darkly.

You smirk under your helmet and practically drag Soarin' out of the cargo hold and hand him off to a pair of Mandalorians waiting for you outside. They bind his wrists together and remove him from your ship.

As you watch them leave, Anon sighs behind you. You turn to face him as he takes his helmet off, looking directly at you. "Well, at least I got some closure from Dantooine."

You giggle. "I'll say. You hated him from the moment you met him."

He smirks and pauses for a moment. "Are you doing okay?"

You take your helmet off as well and sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine."

His smile becomes more genuine as he takes a few steps towards you and wraps you in a warm hug. "I missed you, Sunset."

You return his hug, giving him a squeeze. "I missed you too, Anon."

You both stay there together, silently hugging. He reaches up and starts to gently stroke your hair, which feels nice. You're glad to be back in his arms again, but he's acting... weird. Not in a bad way, but something does seem off. It feels like he's got something on his mind.

"Are you doing okay?"

He chuckles. "Yeah, I am. Just... I've been thinking about stuff."

You release him and look into his eyes for a moment. "Like what?"

He pauses and looks to the side for a moment, still smiling somewhat. After a second, he looks back at you. "How about we take a little walk? Just the two of us?"

A walk? What is he getting at?

Your smile creeps wider as you decide to play along. "Okay... A walk."

He smiles again and takes your hand. The two of you exit the ship and step onto the hangar floor.

Mandalorians are working all over the place around you. Off to the side, Thunderlane is talking with Rainbow and it looks like he's showing her some things on how to improve her ship. Rainbow seems very interested in what he has to say. He's a damn good pilot, just like she is. Hopefully they can teach each other a thing or two.

On the other side of the hangar, Maud and Pinkie are with Tempest, among many other armed Mandalorians. They've surrounded Limestone and Gilda, as per Anon's orders, and it looks like the three sisters are talking with each other. Limestone looks angry and Maud appears as stoic as ever, but Pinkie looks worried. Cautiously optimistic maybe, but worried. You'd love to be a fly on the wall next to them right now. The last time Limestone was with them, she was fighting Maud and trying to kill all of you.

As you're walking, you feel a slight chilly sensation. Goosebumps seem to snake out all over your body and you feel almost hyper-aware of your surroundings. You can only guess that you're far enough away from Ray and the other ysalamiri now that you're no longer affected by their Force-dampening bubble.

Fluttershy and Twilight took them all into the cruiser with Coco and Rarity a bit before you all saw Soarin' just now. Coco said that Bulk Biceps had a few ideas for what they could do with the ysalamiri. Hopefully they're okay. You don't want anything happening to Ray.

You and Anon head into the cruiser, passing by Applejack and Big Mac. You all nod at each other, but say nothing. Anon leads you deeper into the Kandosii and away from all the attention.

"This way." He says with a smile.

You smile back at him and continue to follow. Where is he going?

---

A few minutes of walking later, you open a door and lead Sunset inside. You're in a hallway on the port side of the Kandosii. Off to the left are a series of windows that look out to the fleet over Concord Dawn. Ships and cruisers are flying around together in the distance. From here, it all looks so calm. Its peaceful feel is emphasized by the fact that you and Sunset are alone right now. This hallway isn't used often, so the lights are dimmed to conserve power. As a result, the light reflecting off the partly destroyed planet paints everything in a purple glow.

Sunset walks ahead of you and stares out the window at Concord Dawn. "Wow." She breathes. "It's beautiful here."

You watch her as she goes to the window. "Yeah..."

She really is.

You join her side and the two of you lean against the railing in front of the window together, staring out into space.

"I didn't know this was here." She says.

"It doesn't get used much, for some reason... Not that I'm complaining right now."

She giggles softly and holds your hand, which you squeeze. "Neither am I."

Neither of you say anything for a few moments as you continue looking out into space. You gently stroke her hand with your thumb as you hold it and she leans her head on your shoulder. Her hair cascades down onto your right arm a little. There's no conflict, no worries, not even any sound, except for the slight hum of the engines vibrating through the floor. It's perfect.

"So what's on your mind?" She asks. "Why bring me out here?"

You don't reply right away. You need the right words. You know what you want to say to her, what you want to ask, but you aren't sure exactly how.

"The future." You answer. "After this whole ordeal with the Sith is over, with me being Mandalore, I've been thinking about the future."

Your mind flashes back to that image of you and Sunset together in the jungle with your family. Before Chrysalis turned it into a macabre scene of death and pain, it was actually a beautiful sight, if you take it out of context. After a lot of time to contemplate it, you know now, more than ever, that it's what you want for yourself. For both of you.

You turn to look at her. "Life is going to be different for us, whether we like it or not. I don't know if I'll be able to go back to just being a bounty hunter, even if I'd like to. It will likely be difficult, and I don't want to do it alone... I want you to be there with me."

She looks at you and cocks her head slightly. "Anon, you'll always have me with you. We're a team."

"Yeah." You smile. "You've had my back and saved my ass more times than I can count. I sometimes still can't believe how incredibly lucky I was to cross paths with you all those years ago." You take her hands in yours and hold them together in front of you. "For this next chapter though, I don't think it will be enough as it is. I need us to be more than just a team. I need you in every way, Sunset."

She softly breathes aloud as she stares into your eyes. A slight tint of red appears on her cheeks after a moment. "Anon, what are you saying?"

You smile wide and give her hands a squeeze. "Marry me, Sunset."

She gasps sharply as you say the words. She releases your hands and covers her mouth. "W-What?!" She asks, her voice breaking.

"Marry me." You repeat. "As soon as this fiasco is over, as soon as we get back to normal, I want you to marry me, Sunset Shimmer." You get down on one knee in front of her, and her eyes start to water. "Will you?"

Her mouth is still covered, but she lowers them after a second and smiles wide. She sniffs once as she starts to cry and nods ecstatically. "Of course I will, Anon!"

You smile back at her before getting to your feet and embracing her tight, giving her a long, passionate kiss. She laughs softly as you kiss, almost like she can't believe this is happening. Honestly, neither can you. You'd be lying if you said you hadn't thought about this moment for a long time, but it was always under different circumstances. You never imagined you were about to go to war when you asked, but here you are.

It doesn't matter though. You asked her and she said yes. That's all you need. With her by your side, you'll be able to accomplish anything and everything.

You stop kissing and hold each other tight. You are so unbelievably happy right now, and you can tell she is too.

She sniffs once. "It's about time you asked!"

You laugh hard with her. "Sorry it took so long."

She gives you a squeeze. "I love you, Anonymous."

"I love you too, Sunset."

You both kiss each other again for a long moment. Everything is just so perfect right now. You can't get over how happy you are.

But...

As you're kissing, she suddenly stops. She opens her eyes and stops smiling. She just stares ahead at you, almost like she's in a trance.

"Sunset?"

You set your hands on her shoulders and she blinks a few times. She breathes through her mouth softly as she looks up at you. Her eyes are full of confusion and fear.

"Sunset, what's wrong?"

She gulps once and looks around for a quick moment before looking at you again. "We... We're in trouble..."

Right then, just outside the window, three Sith Star Destroyers come out of lightspeed. You both stare outside in surprise as they start firing at the Kandosii. Within a few seconds, the entire cruiser shakes and rattles wildly as the Sith's attacks make contact.

You and Sunset yell as you lose your footing. You hold her tight as she falls forward and brace yourselves. The sounds of destruction and explosions echo all around you. Then, a warning alarm starts blaring. The Sith continue their assault on the cruiser.

Your comms pop in your ear. It's Tempest. "Mandalore! The Sith are attacking!"

"I see them!" You reply. "Get to your cruiser! Bring your fleet to us and flank them! Destroy those ships!"

Another impact jolt and you struggle to keep your footing. The Sith aren't sending any boarding parties, they're full-on trying to destroy you. You need to defend yourselves.

"Bring the weapons online! Mandalorians, defend this cruiser!" You shout into your comms.

You deactivate your comms and look outside. They're not holding back one bit.

"Anon, we need to go!" Sunset shouts.

You nod and take her hand before running to the exit as fast as you can. Another violent jolt makes you lose your footing for a second, but you quickly recover and the both of you head back into the ship and make your way back to the hangar.

Author's Note: