Private For A Few Credits More

[Ven A'ndi]

The planet was rather out of the way, in Wild Space. The climate was that of a dry heat, with a cool season determined by a slight tilt in the planetary axis. Most of the planet was a rocky desert, but there were some places closer to the poles that were more temperate, and greenery was allowed to somewhat flourish. Livestock farmers could make a decent living here, with the large stretches of untapped land, and naturally growing plants that nerfs and other large animals seemed to take a liking to.

Small towns dotted the surface, each with enough citizenry to provide the basic goods and services one might look for in a place to stop temporarily, or stop for much longer, setting up a quiet life. As such, these towns were subject to criminal and gang activity, since there was hardly any law in these parts to think of. Only small-time sheriffs and hired bounty hunters were able to keep the peace.

In one of these towns, displayed as ‘White Rocks’ with a cheap sign, a silver-clad Mandalorian started to walk through, their dusty and worn boots shifting the dry and sandy ground beneath them. No ship was in sight, nor any sort of speeder or swoop bike – there was no telling where he came from. Walking next to him was a Mirialan woman of smaller stature. Her upper body and waist was mostly concealed in a thickly-woven poncho that was a darker shade of green than the woman’s skin, with a blocky white pattern around the fringe.

The two approached a cantina, with two small metal doors that automatically swung open as they approached. It was a typical scene inside: music playing, people drunkenly enjoying themselves, and others merely leaning against the walls or sitting at tables. The Mandalorian looked at the bar or an extended second – his cue to the woman to wait there and keep watch.

A shorter human male had taken notice of the pair and stopped what he was doing. Recognizing that trouble might have just come in, he attempted to make a casual exit towards the door, past them. The Mandalorian put a hand on the man’s shoulder, preventing him from leaving. Turning his head to the man, Mando asked,

“I’m looking for Kavanar. Know him?”

The man slowly looked over to a section of the cantina just off from the main floor, raised a few steps up. There was a small table there, with four sentients seated around it. The man nodded in that direction. “There. He’s got his back to you.”

The Mandalorian let go of his shoulder, and the man smartly left the cantina. The Mando looked back to the woman and nodded – we’ve got our guy. Slowly, he made his way up the short set of steps to the upper floor, and stepped up to the table. An Anomid, a Roonan, and a Zabrak all looked up at him – Kavanar, whose back was still to him, was a Balosar, with short stubby antennae that just barely peeked up above styled brown hair.

The Anomid spoke Huttese, filtered through a breaking mask: “Care to join us, Mandalorian?”

Mando wordlessly stepped forward, and Kavanar turned in his seat to see the newcomer, who was now standing directly next to him. A deathstick hanged from his lips, puffing out a small amount of white smoke. “What’ll the bet be, Mando?”

The Mandalorian looked down at him. “Your life,” he said, casually.

There was a short pause as those at the table processed the situation, and the armored man’s motivations for being there. Wild eyes looked around the table, and there was a stillness before…

Movement. Kavanar reached for a blaster, but the Mandalorian grabbed the fabric of his shirt and pushed him back, tipping the chair over and sending the Balosar rolling down the few steps into the main cantina floor by the bar. The Mando then roughly slammed the Zabrak’s head into the table, careful not to stab himself with the man’s horned skull. The Anomid had skidded their chair back and drew a blaster, but the Mandalorian was faster, drawing his weapon and firing a fiery red blast at the pale-skinned sentient, their chest exploding in sparks and smoke.

The Roonan wisely did not move, only putting their hands up, their large bulbous eyes staring at the Mando in fear.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

The fringe of her poncho swayed as she walked alongside the beskar-clad Mandalorian. Beneath the rather voluminous drape of woven fabric, she could have been hiding many weapons. Only Liuna didn't need them, she was well equipped just being herself.

She turned a glance down, watching her boots kick up the parched dirt. This place, a dusty town called White Rocks was new to the Mirialan—as far as she knew. To her blank slate of a mind, most things were new.

Approaching the cantina, she followed the Mando's helmeted gaze towards the bar. And she shot him a look out of the corner of her eyes. Got it. Much went unspoken, for she'd learned that the Mando was a man of few words. Making her way to the bar, she took a seat at the high counter. With her back turned to the action, she watched in the reflection in the mirror that lined the back of the bar.

Her eyes followed the man as he ducked out of the cantina. And as her gaze shifted, she found the Mando giving her a nod. Liuna blinked her eyes purposefully, good—eyes open. Now, no one was allowed to enter.... or exit. Amused, she watched the Mandalorian go to work. And today, a game was in order.

Alert to movement, she finally turned to see Kavanar reach for a blaster. Not a good move, friend. But Liuna didn't move from her seat. The fight was over almost as soon as it had started up. Their target realized he'd lost, his eyes set wide in fear. Well, that was almost too easy. Then Liuna's attention snapped to the doorway.

A group of three men stepped in, their eyes set on the Mando.

She was out of her chair, kicking her right foot up to the back of the nearest man's head before he even saw it coming. Then, as the fellow in the middle went for his blaster, Liuna's cybernetic hand grabbed his, turned the blaster into the third man's torso, and she forced his finger to pull the trigger. Tugging the blaster straight out of his grasp, she cracked the butt of the gun against his head.

She canted her head at the three men on the ground. Then she gave a look to the Mando.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

She was certainly good in a fight – the Mandalorian would give her that. Having her around for this wasn’t a bad idea after all. The three men that had come in had no idea what had hit them, and it certainly gave Kavanar pause, as he hadn’t realized the Mandalorian had a partner. His blaster was roughly a meter away, laying on the floor, but he didn’t dare make a move for it.

Mando casually stepped down the short set of stairs, holding his blaster at waist-level, but still pointed at Kavanar’s torso. His booted feet clunked across the floor, and he was soon looming over their target. Bending down, he ripped a pendant with a rather large jewel set in it from the man’s vest and placed it in a pouch on his belt.

Movement behind him. Spinning around, Mando fired… and the Roonan slumped to the floor, dropping the blaster he had finally drawn in a bid to save his friend. The cantina settled into a stillness once more, and the Mandalorian turned back to Kavanar. He pulled out a bounty puck and activated it in his hand – a rotating image of Kavanar’s head floated above the small black cylindrical device.

“Dead or alive – it’s your choice,” the Mandalorian said.

Kavanar’s nose and upper lip twitched. He looked to his blaster, then to the green-skinned woman, and then back to the Mandalorian. A defeated sigh escaped his nose.

FOR A FEW CREDITS MORE

A short time later, it was dusk. The dry wind blew across the arid land, on a hill far from the town, but within sight of it. A small tent shifted in the breeze, barely visible in the dying light. Mando and Liuna slowly approached. The pair were about two thousand credits richer for bringing in Kavanar, but that wasn’t the main reward for his capture – the pendant Mando swiped would hopefully prove to be far more valuable.

Reaching for his belt, he took out the pendant and handed it to Liuna. She would need to be the one that makes the payment.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

With the darkness that came after the sun dipped beyond the cliffs, they had some well-deserved relief from the heat. The edges of her poncho fluttered in the warm breeze, and Liuna looked up to the Mando when they reached the little tent that sat perched on a hill. From up high, they could see down into the town, the buildings inky silhouettes with little dots of light here and there.

She accepted the pendant wordlessly and felt the weight of it in her palm for a moment.

Was this actually going to work?

The Mando, Ven, didn't strike her as the everyday sucker that might fall for strange and mystical cures. And so, she placed a measure of trust in him. The strange witch woman, however, was another story. Liuna had no idea just what sort of magic and mysticism was in store for her; but she imagined the hunched woman waving strange objects around her. And maybe there'd be some smoke or something, too. She supposed there was only one way to find out.

Finally parting the curtain, she stepped inside first.

“Oh, so you're back,” the woman said, and her dry lips curved, revealing the many gaps in her grin. Liuna simply nodded and held out the pendant, the payment. With greedy (and wrinkly) hands, the woman snatched it out of Liuna's hands and took a moment to inspect it. Then she nodded.

“Take a seat on the table, dear,” she said to Liuna while gesturing to a short wooden table near the back of the tent. There were crystals dangling from the ceiling, which was made entirely of woven fabric. Liuna stepped over and sat.

“You,” the witch called to the armored man. “Hold her down, she might struggle.”

Liuna blinked, and there was a hollowed-out gourd in front of her mouth. And it was filled with some kind of awful green liquid... that was giving off steam. Glancing to the corner of the tent, she could see the source—a cauldron. “Drink up!” the woman croaked.

The Mirialan's eyes flickered to the Mando for a moment. And then she drank...

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

There were many things in this galaxy that Ven couldn’t explain. The mystical Force and its use by Jedi, Sith, and others, were just a small portion of the strange things that defied logic and reason. While no curiosity gripped the Mandalorian in the way it did others, he had learned to not question things a long time ago.

This witch was a good example of that. He had no idea if she was a Jedi, or a Sith, or if she used the light side or the dark side. He didn’t particularly care – for all he knew, she was just some crazy old lady that sold trinkets and happened to be able to harness some sort of mystical power to do fantastical things. Her neutrality is what brought them here. Sith would only want to use her as a weapon, and Jedi… there were still some Jedi he didn’t trust. This was just easier.

At the order to hold down Liuna, the Mandalorian shifted his gaze from the witch, to Liuna, to the witch again. Seemingly reluctantly, he placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder. His vambrace was primed to shoot out a whipcord that would bind her together better than he ever could, do to her enhanced strength.

As Liuna drank the glowing green liquid, his grip on her shoulder tightened, unsure as to what would happen next.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

After putting her lips to the drinking gourd, Liuna sputtered, struggling to keep the putrid green liquid down. But the witch tipped the gourd and gave her a wide-eyed stare that said, 'keep drinking.'

And whatever the strange drink was, it kicked it pretty hard.

Liuna struggled against the Mando's hand on her shoulder as she bent forward and wretched.But then, she slumped forward against his palm. The witch's wrinkled hand helped lay her down on the bench. Liuna's eyes were closed, but they moved beneath the lids like they were deep in dreams. The woman put a hand to her own forehead and then the other on Liuna's—forging some kind of bond between them.

She felt like she was floating.

And as she looked around, the witch's tent was unchanged. But her feather-light form rose with each breath, higher and higher until she could feel the velvet cloth of the fabric ceiling. From there, she could see the top of the witch's gray head—the shiny beskar helmet from on high—and her body, limp on the bench.

There was a voice, too. But no matter how she strained, she couldn't hear the words being spoken.

“Lost memories,” her teeth barred in something like a smile. “They can be tricky, but let us see...” After a few moments of deep concentration, the witch opened her eyes and stared at the Mando.

“This isn't a simple case of amnesia, is it?” Her cloudy eyes narrowed. “It seems she suffered some kind of traumatic injury—but not an accident. It's very deliberate.” The old woman's brow beaded with sweat, and she pressed her hand against Liuna's forehead.

“I cannot see past the damage. It is as if... nothing is there.” Withdrawing her hand, she cast a troubled glance down at the Mirialan. “If she heals well, the memories will come in time,” she continued. “But, there is also a chance she may never remember.”

Liuna's lips moved silently, and her eyes twitched. The witch cast another glance at the beskar-clad man; her eyes no longer cloudy.

“Trouble on the horizon, Mando,” she said, a cryptic smile on her pale face. Then she parted the curtain and stepped out.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

The only struggle Liuna put up was when she had leaned forward, and the Mandalorian had obliged. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, she had seemed to slip into unconsciousness afterwards. She was laid to rest on the bench, as if she was in a state of distressed sleep. Ven stayed alert, though – he didn’t know if she would suddenly snap up and lash out.

The witch started to do… something that Ven could only imagine had to do with the Force or whatever power the woman wielded. Not for the first time, the normally grounded bounty hunter wondered if this was a good idea. Getting professional medical help wasn’t cheap, but maybe it would be worth the expense if this didn’t pan out.

At the mention of deliberate tampering with memories, the Mandalorian turned his head and said, “She was captured by a biotech company after a shuttle crash. They wiped her memory.”

The woman gave her final prognosis, and the Mandalorian cocked and dipped his head. It wasn’t exactly useful information, either she would get better, or she wouldn’t. Ven could have told her that… but he figured perhaps it was worth it to get some sort of opinion from someone who had experience with the mind, something that was usually very difficult to figure out. After all, it only cost a small pendant that looked worthless to him.

He looked up as the witch told him something else, something strange. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked rather bluntly, but she had already left the tent. He followed her to ask more questions, but as he ducked past the fabric of the tent flap, he found her gone. Of course.

A noise caught his attention. Looking out – to the horizon – he saw a small group of speeder bikes moving across the terrain. They weren’t going towards the town or coming for them, but were instead heading west, out towards the middle of nowhere, as far as he could tell. Silhouetted in the moonlight, Mando couldn’t make out any distinctive features or anything. Not perceiving it to be a threat, he ducked back into the tent.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

From her strange vantage point—outside of her body—she hovered at the top of the tent. She brought her knees to her chest, bobbing up and down gently in a nonexistent breeze.

“There's darkness in you, girl,” a voice hissed in the air around her.

Eyes wide, Liuna looked all around. It was the old witch's parched, crackling tone. Squinting, she could see the old woman's wrinkled palm against the forehead of her unconscious body, down below on the wooden bench. Again, the woman's whispers wrapped around her and echoed the word 'darkness.'

“You can't get back what they took—you can't take away what they gave you.”

“What do you mean?” Liuna tried to find her voice, but it didn't work. Her lips moved, but no sound. Then, before she could try to call out again, her breath caught. Her stomach dropped as she fell—and the last whisper trailed off...

Liuna head snapped back as she slammed back into her body. And she opened her eyes to find the tent empty, only the fabric walls rustling lightly. But the canvas parted to reveal the beskar-clad man, Ven. Her eyes were still strange and dilated, she squinted as she attempted to focus on him. Slowly, she sat up and let her head hang for a moment, still queasy for whatever it was she drank. And the words spoken in her 'dream' found her again, awake. The memory came with a heavy sense of dread, an extra weight to carry within.

Her mind was still blank as ever. And she knew it'd be like that forever. Still, she looked to Ven.

“It didn't work,” she whispered.

And though the words from her dream were on her tongue, she kept them locked up tight.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

The Mandalorian sighed as he saw her. She looked disappointed. Well, at least they gave it a shot. He stepped closer to her as she slowly recovered on the bench.

“Come on,” he said, “we’ll stay at the inn tonight, and head towards a proper medical center in the morning.” It would undoubtedly be more expensive, and nearly any med center that was reputable would probably want to see proper identification – something neither of them had.

Elsewhere, a lone gray building sat in an unassuming valley. Usually, a shield could be seen shimmering over the complex, but it had been strangely deactivated. Suddenly, a side of the building exploded, leaving a gaping hole that bellowed out smoke. The swoop gang exited, excited whooping and hollering filled the air. A man was in the center of the rabble – the man they had come to free. He was tall, olive-skinned, with a well-trimmed beard. White teeth blazed through the night as he grinned.

In short order, the gang all mounted their bikes again and took off for town – they were back in business.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

Liuna continued to stare up at the Mando as he stepped closer, her brow pinched together in the center. But she nodded and rose from her spot on the bench. She wobbled, but her cybernetic system kicked in to help steady herself. As they walked out into the cool night air, she breathed a sigh and looked out towards the horizon.

What would she do now?

Stealing a sideways glance, she knew that Ven would follow through on his promise to help her. And she was thankful, even if the efforts would be in vain. Her eyes flickered back and forth for a moment before finally darting away for good. She didn't have the heart to tell him what the witch said.

And maybe she wasn't ready to believe it, either.

Her boots kicked up dry dust on their way back to town. Their pockets were fuller now, they'd have comfortable beds to look forward to tonight. And decent food, if her appetite returned, that is. That green goo had left a rather sour note on her tongue, and her stomach certainly didn't thank her any. When they approached the rustic wooden buildings, all was quiet out on the streets. But there was still a rather lively crowd in the cantina—and there were lights on in the rooms above.

After the Mando had settled the rooms with the innkeeper, she held out a green-hued palm for her key.

“I think I'll just go up,” she said, avoiding his helmeted-gaze. “Kinda beat.”

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

Ven placed the key in her hand, and his helmeted head tracked her as she moved up the stairs and out of sight. He looked back to the innkeeper – he knew better than to ask questions. Wordlessly, the Mandalorian stepped up the stairs, up to the second floor. It was a dimly lit, gray hall, not due to poor maintenance, but for privacy.

As he entered his room, he closed the door and locked it. Retrieving his datapad, he began to look for medical facilities that were close by. All were expensive… they would need to take another job.

In the morning, the Mandalorian was once more putting on his armor, which at this point just felt like part of his body. As his vambrace locked into place, his datapad started beeping. The holoprojector displayed the face of a man with a trimmed beard, and a numerical value preceded by the credit symbol. It had alerted him to the bounty due to proximity. Last known location was… the planet they were on, what luck.

The Mandalorian knocked on Liuna’s door. They had some work to do.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

Once the door was closed and locked behind her, Liuna stepped into the closet-sized refresher and splashed her face with water. And she watched the droplets of water drip down her cheeks and off her chin, the reflection in the mirror almost a stranger now.

Her skin was paler, not the vibrant shade of green it normally was. She still felt a bit queasy, so she lowered herself down to the floor there in the tiny space. Here, she was alone with her thoughts.

Would someone at a medical facility be able to help?

The witch, with her otherworldly powers, had been unable to reach into the beyond to bring her memories back. And if Liuna believed the witch's words, there was little point in wishing for another outcome. Still, maybe the damage could be repaired. Maybe...

Liuna awoke to the sound of a knock.

Her body jolted up to sitting, and her head snapped in the direction of the door. A palm rose to rub the side of her head, it was splitting. Pushing up, she answered the door with a red-eyed look. The Mirialan might have had the worst hang-over of all time to an unknowing eye. She said nothing, but left the door open for the Mando to enter as she walked over to grab her poncho.

They didn't stay in any one place for long, and now that their objective had been completed, they'd be off to the next. Or would they? Lifting the woven fabric, she draped it over her shoulders and looked to Ven.

“Time to go?” she asked, arching a brow at him.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

Ven entered the room, his head swiveling around to get a good look. His gaze fell back to Liuna as she went to grab her poncho, like he was perhaps sizing her up, or making sure she was okay after the previous night’s events. Without saying anything, he stepped over to a small table and set the bounty puck on it. A hologram projected, showing a slowly rotating render of a man’s head, along with the credit amount.

“His name is Indio,” The Mandalorian spoke. “He ran a swoop gang here – caused a lot of trouble for the locals. Got caught a few months back, but it looks like his gang freed him last night.” Deactivating the puck, he put it in a pouch on his belt. “They could be in town now, and we just don’t know it yet.”

“The gang seems like it’s pretty sizeable – over two dozen at most. We might have to watch from a distance before we do anything.”

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

Her eyes went to the image etched out in blue light, a man named Indio. As the Mando deactivated the puck and put it back into its home on his belt, she gave a small nod. Turning to look at Ven, she arched a brow.

“Alright,” she lifted her chin slightly in thought. “We could hike up that ridge behind here.”

From the cliffs, they'd be able to see the town and scope out the scene. Though her instincts seemed to scream – just jump into it, she'd follow the Mando's lead. After all, he was the experienced bounty hunter here. She was just... well, she didn't even know her true part in all this. But she owed the beskar-clad man a debt, and he'd proven to be a good ally.

He was also the closest thing in the galaxy she had to a friend.

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

Ven slowly looked out the window before looking back to Liuna. “I don’t mean geographic distance,” he said.

Eventually, the two were walking down the stairs from the upper inn into the cantina area below. Even before he could see the cantina, he could hear it – despite it being rather early in the morning, there seemed to be a considerable ruckus. As the area came into view, he could see why – the swoop gang had come into town. He paused briefly on the stairs and looked to his partner.

A cadre of men and women of various species were at the bar, in the seating area, and leaning against the support beams, all in various states of drunkenness. Many were groping some of the local women and servers with no repercussions, while others were harassing the innkeeper and bartenders. In one corner was Indio, with a woman on each arm, feet propped up on a table.

Ven walked into a corner untouched by the swoop gang and sat down, knowing that Liuna would sit next to him. The servers and bartenders were so busy that they didn’t pay the new customers any mind, but the bounty hunters weren’t here for service.

Within a few minutes, a Zabrak stumbled up to their table. “Hey…” he started, “you guys aren’t hunters, right?”

“No,” Ven firmly answered right away.

“You looking for work?” he continued. “We’ve got a job coming up, and we could use the help.”

“How much?” Ven asked.

“Could be up to one hundred thousand… each.”

“We’ll take it,” Mando responded, looking to Liuna. Apparently, they wouldn’t have to watch from a distance at all.

Liuna

 

[Liuna]

The Mirialan quirked a brow, suddenly catching his drift.

A slight smile tugged at her cheek, and she nodded. The fringe of her poncho swayed gently as she walked down the stairs, the soft strands of yarn brushed against the back of her hands until she tucked them in beneath the woven textile.

As the Mando stopped, she did, too. She scanned the room; it'd been rowdy before, but this was another level completely. Liuna caught the look and gave a small smirk in response. The bar was overflowing, the counter top full of (mostly empty) drinks, and the feet of their target propped up on the wooden surface. Indio and his men looked like they were having fun; too much fun.

Liuna sauntered after Ven, following him to an empty corner and having a seat.

She folded her arms on top of the table, eyes flickering towards the bar every now and then. But her attention shifted sharply when a Zabrak approached. She canted her head when he mentioned a job, and she shifted a sidelong glance to Ven. Her brows went up slightly.

Well, wasn't that somethin'?

Ven A'ndi

 

[Ven A'ndi]

The Zabrak seemed pleased with Mando’s answer. He gave a toothy grin as he nodded excitedly – unbeknownst to the two bounty hunters, bringing them in on the job was his idea. “Great, great…” he said. “Meet us just south of town in a few hours. We’ll talk details there.” He almost left the table, but stopped, as though he just remembered something. “Oh, what’re y’alls names?”

“I’m Mando,” Ven answered, then nodded to Liuna, “She’s Green.”

“Yeah, okay, cool,” the Zabrak said in his hoarse voice. “See y’all in a bit.” And with that, the Zabrak walked back towards Indio’s corner of the bar.

Ven looked over to Liuna. “Got anything you’ll need to bring? We might not be coming back.” There were already a few things Ven knew he needed from his room. The situation got slightly more complicated by infiltrating the group. For one, they could gather intelligence without the fear of discovery. However, it took the stealth option away from them. If they had been lucky, they could have merely waited until sundown and followed the gang to wherever they slept.

This could work, though.

Liuna