Bounty Hunter Anon III

by Sunny Solaire

The Briefing

You go over the plan in your head once again as you stare at the holotable. Right now, a small section of the Unknown Regions are being displayed. It's where Lord Sombra's space station is located.

You've spent the last two days coordinating with Twilight, Shining Armor, Chancellor Celestia, Grand Master Luna, Tempest, Bulk Biceps, Thunderlane, Gilda, and Limestone to come up with a plan to assault the station, and you think you've got a good one. Arrangements are being made to make it come to pass, but in the meantime, you need to inform the rest of your allies.

You're standing in the briefing room right now. It's a circular room with the holotable in the center. Behind you, a multitude of high-ranking Mandalorians are in the process of shuffling in and sitting down on the rows of benches surrounding you. They each hold a status of command to some degree. When you're about to begin, you will contact the Chancellor and she will listen in on your plan as well. With her, a congregation of Republic Command will also listen and ask questions, as needed.

You study the map further, taking another deep breath. This should work. This needs to work, or else the galaxy is doomed. You are confident in your people's skills, but with the Republic's help, this should be a cakewalk. There's no way the Republic will be able to stop them on their own, which means that you are the galaxy's last hope.

...No pressure though.

"Anon? Are you okay?"

You turn to see Twilight walk up to you with a concerned look.

You nod at her. "Yeah, I'm as fine as I can be, given the circumstances."

You press a few buttons on the console in front of you and she replies. "I know you're nervous, but we've got a great plan in place. It should work. Spike says our chances of success are-"

"Don't tell me the odds." You cut her off. "I don't want to hear it. If he says we've got a good chance, that's good enough for me. Even if the odds aren't good, we've still got to try. I won't let something like math discourage me."

She chuckles softly and pauses for a moment. "Have you heard from Sunset?"

"Not yet." You reply. "Master Maud told me she had woken up and that she had a good conversation with her, but when I went to check on her, she was asleep again. I didn't want to wake her. I'll let her get all the rest she needs."

"I'm glad she's okay. She really saved our lives back on Myrkr. I hate the thought of something happening to her."

You don't reply. You're trying to push Sunset out of your mind to focus on this meeting. Not that you aren't concerned about her, because you absolutely are, it's just that you've got this extremely pressing matter to attend to that requires your undivided attention. Sunset is in capable hands. The doctors and Maud Pie have assured you of that.

The growing murmur of people in the room makes you look around. Nearly everyone is here now. Tempest and Bulk Biceps are sitting and waiting patiently with Gilda and Limestone nearby. Thunderlane is speaking with Rainbow Dash, and they're both laughing with each other. Fluttershy, Coco Pommel and Rarity have entered the room and are making their way to some seats next to Maud, Pinkie, and the Apples.

You turn to Twilight. "Contact the Chancellor and let her know we're ready to begin." She nods and goes to the console while you turn around again and address the room. "I need your attention, everyone. Eyes up here. Let's get started."

The room quiets down and everyone turns to you. Behind you, Twilight steps away from the console and nods at you.

You face the console. "Chancellor? Can you see and hear me?"

"We can, Mandalore. Loud and clear." Celestia replies.

"Fantastic." You turn around to face the room full of Mandalorians again. "Darth Sombra is running scared. He dealt a bit of a blow to us a few days ago, and we may have a little black eye from it, but now it's time to light his ass up." You turn to the holotable for a moment. "Forgive my foul mouth, Chancellor."

The Mandalorians in the room give a little chuckle at that.

You continue. "For a long time, we were completely unaware of where the location of his hidden base was, but thanks to this valuable intel provided to us by our old friend Gilda, that time is no more."

As you say that, you notice Rarity's face shift into an expression of rage as she looks over at the ex-Mandalorian. Not that you're surprised.

"I understand that there is a bit of animosity in the room on that note, but these are desperate times." You say as you press another button on the console. The view on the holotable zooms in to show a large black hole cluster. "Here is where Lord Sombra is leading his forces: a small space station orbiting the largest black hole in this cluster, which is located in the Unknowns."

Everyone murmurs softly as they look at the image. Most of your friends already know this information.

"The station is positioned very close to the largest black hole, but not so close that it falls in. It is in a perfect orbit. That said, because it is so close, it also needs to move around this thing very quickly, or else it will fall inside and become infinitely crushed. That is exactly what we are going to exploit." You say. "Three teams of people are going to board this station. Two of them will go with a large number of explosives, fight their way to the engines keeping it from falling in, and blow them to hell. The remaining team, led by myself, will fight our way to the command center and kill Sombra."

Everyone in the room pays close attention as you speak. You turn to Tempest and step aside, nodding at her.

Tempest steps towards you and takes over the meeting. "The hardest part about this assault is the fact that we will be going in there with very few reinforcements. The only way large ships can approach the station unharmed is to fly through a small, predictable gap between the black holes. This gap happens only once about every week and a half, and the Sith use that opportunity to stock up on supplies. According to the navigational charts provided by Limestone Pie, the last time this opportunity happened was yesterday. The Sith are likely aware that these charts were stolen, so it can be assumed that they will expect us to retaliate during the next gap. We don't have that kind of time, so we are going to catch them off-balance and strike immediately."

There is a bit of murmuring as Tempest advances the hologram and zooms out a bit to show a Sith fleet lying in wait outside the cluster. You think you hear someone whisper the word "suicide" once.

Tempest continues. "When the gap is near, the Sith fleet congregates around the opening to protect the single Star Destroyer that will meet up with the station and unload supplies. When that Destroyer returns and the gap closes up again, the fleet spreads out and is much more vulnerable at that point. Republic and Mandalorian forces will simultaneously come out of hyperspace here and begin taking out the fleet while their forces are stretched thin."

The hologram shows images of a large number of Mandalorian and Republic ships appear around the Sith fleet.

"Once our forces engage the fleet, Mandalore and his teams will break off in smaller ships like starfighters, freighters, and blockade runners to move beyond the black holes and board the station. Those black holes are the station's primary means of defense. As soon as they are aboard, they will proceed with their mission while we knock out the rest of the fleet and set up a perimeter. When they return, we can all go home."

The holotable shows an image of Mandalorian ships moving past the black holes and onto the station. A second later, they leave and the station gets sucked into the largest black hole. The image fades away.

Tempest looks at you. "Mandalore, do you have everyone you need for your part of this?"

"I have everyone on my end. I don't have a lead pilot for either of the demolition flight teams yet though."

"Uh, hello?" Rainbow says from her seat. "Best pilot in the galaxy here, remember?"

You look over at her. "I thought of you first, but this will be very risky, Rainbow. You might not make it back. I didn't want to speak for you."

She scoffs. "Whatever! It's me! You'd be an idiot to not use me!"

You smile at her. She is undoubtedly your best pilot, so she's right. You would be an idiot to not use her.

"Well, Rainbow makes one lead." You say.

"If she's gonna go, then so will I, Mandalore." Thunderlane speaks up next to her. "She'll need a good wingman." He grins at her and gives her a wink, making her smile again and chuckle a little.

Alright, it looks like things are coming together.

"I'll take whatever is left then."

You gasp softly and turn to face the doorway. There, you see the most beautiful sight you've ever seen in your life: Sunset Shimmer.

She enters the room with a grin on her face that boasts confidence, but also genuine happiness. You drop all sense of decorum and make a brisk walk towards your fiancé. She heads to you as well and you embrace each other. Your eyes shut and you smile as you finally see that she's walking and healthy. It's been days since you spoke to each other last in the hangar. Even though you've visited her in the medbay as often as you could, it feels like a lifetime ago since you spoke.

After a few seconds of hugging, you release each other and look into her eyes. She smiles up at you with a little blush on her cheeks.

"You okay?" She asks softly.

You chuckle. "Thanks to you, yeah."

She smiles wider and giggles a little. "Good. Sorry to interrupt."

She takes a few steps backwards and takes a nearby seat next to Rarity. You turn around and head back to the holotable in the middle of the room.

You clear your throat. "So, like I was saying, Rainbow and Thunderlane will lead one of the two demolition teams to destroy the station's engines, then make their way to the ships to escape. I will lead the charge against the Dark Lord himself with Maud and Gilda." You face the holotable. "Grand Master Luna, are you still on board?"

The table flashes on again and the pantoran Jedi comes into view. "I am, Mandalore."

You nod at her. "You will also be with me. All of us will take the fight to Lord Sombra together." You look at the group again. "Sunset, I'm going to have you lead the second assault team. You and Rainbow make a list of people to accompany you."

"Got it." Sunset says.

You nod at her and return your focus to the rest of the group. "Navigating around these black holes and not being sucked into them will require our best pilots. Grand Master Luna is the best pilot in the Jedi Order, so she will be piloting one of two ships that will carry all of us to the space station, where we will hit Sombra with every special gadget and weapon we have at our disposal." You look at Fluttershy. "Have you managed to get what you need from the ysalamiri?"

She nods softly, shrinking into herself a little bit to avoid the attention. "Um, yes I have, Anon... Er, Mandalore..."

"Good." You reply.

You had Twilight and Fluttershy work with Bulk Biceps to create another type of slugthrower ammunition filled with ysalamiri DNA. When fired on someone with a connection to the Force, it should cut them off for a few hours. They'll be just like you in that sense. When you informed the Republic about it, a few higher ups in their military were angry about such a weapon being created. If they can cut a Sith off from the Force, they can also be used against the Jedi.

You don't blame them for being concerned about that. Mandalorians could use that against them in the future. You have given them your word that, as soon as this conflict with the Sith is over, you will get rid of this ammunition and destroy the plans for them, along with the cortosis as well. You want a good relationship with the Republic, and destroying a weapon like that should show them that your intentions for amicability are genuine.

Your friends all nod somewhat, understanding the situation.

A Mandalorian you don't know stands up in the back row. "What about the rest of us, Mandalore? What role will we play?"

"You and everyone else will fall under Commander Tempest. She will be in charge of the fleet while I deal with Sombra." You reply. "That said, I will leave the rest of the briefing in her capable charge."

You look at her and she nods before walking towards you. "Alright everyone, here is how we will coordinate our attack..."

While she speaks, you look at Sunset. She stares back at you and smiles. You know you need to be focused on the task at hand, but you can't help but be excited for what comes after. You're going to be together in every way.

Family is everything to a Mandalorian. You've thought of her as family for years, but now it will be official. She'll be yours, and you'll be hers forever. Things might be tough now, but you'll get through it. With her at your side, you can do anything. Pretty soon, your little family will grow larger.

You cannot wait for that day.

Author's Note:

My apologies for the tardiness. I've been working graveyards lately, so I've spent my free time either sleeping, working out, or playing Elden Ring. The sleep schedule has put a toll on my emotional and mental health lately too. I've missed the sun. Brighter days are ahead though. I got a better job that will allow me to sleep like a normal person again, so I'll feel more energized and motivated to work on writing again. I've missed it.
This story has been a project of mine for years, and while I have loved it, nothing would please me more than to finally finish it and move on to other things.

Happy Star Wars day, and may the Force be with you!

Comments

[OttotheBadger]

Awesome!