Chapter 16: Reward

"Hmm-hm-hmm~", I said, softly humming the theme of Green Brinstar. While Master Yoda and the couple of clones waited around outside, the Toydarian King, along with a couple guards, brought me inside his vacation palace to discuss my reward. This in turn, delayed our retrieval. And yes, that includes me. In the show, a replacement Consular-Class Cruiser would arrive shortly after everything settled, promptly returning to the Republic fleets.

Instead, King Katuunko brought me into his palace, and we began some negotiations. They weren't anything heavy or something, nor was I buying goods. What he offered me instead was information.

In particular, tracking fobs. King Katuunko rummaged around his inventory for a little while, before he slid a decent-sized leather pouch my way across the table.

"We Toydarians value honor, sincerity, and fairness, regardless of one's position. Bounty hunter or not, you offered assistance when Jedi Master Yoda was at a clear disadvantage. I welcome you with warm arms, Samus Aran. I hope this begins a partnership for the times to come.", King Katuunko said, officially greeting me while he slid that pouch across the table.

"And I can say the same for you, Your Majesty. Knowing your position, you probably have a pretty big list of enemies. So if you ever need some backup, you know who to call.", I replied, smiling beneath my helmet. I happily accepted this pouch.

"Hahaha! Well put. This is why I like you bounty hunters. I am sure the Republic will want some hands once they start setting their Republic base up in Toydaria. It isn't far from here, and it is the capital that I look after. But for now, what I present to you should suffice in the meantime.", King Katuunko said.

There was a reason I was happily humming that tune. I opened this pouch up, and saw several devices inside, all showing the same appearance. These are short-range sensors called locator beacons with one purpose. To track and locate criminals with posted bounties. You see, here in Star Wars, you don't have to blindly search around in an attempt to find a job.

There's this organization called the Guild, or formally the Bounty Hunters Guild. This organization would see the rise of the Republic, see it fall, then see the rise of the Empire, and also see the Empire fall. But few dared to mess with this Guild. It regulated bounty hunting, making it into an actual job, instead of on a whim. This is the very same Guild where you'd come across particularly dangerous individuals such as the Mandalorians. If I took these tracking fobs, I'd start competing with the likes of them. Not that I mind of course. This was right up my alley. How can I become a bounty hunter with no bounties to hunt? Haha!

I happily accepted the pouch.

But there was just one thing.

"You see, I'm not actually a part of the Guild yet.", I replied while grabbing the pouch of tracking fobs.

"Now there's a problem. Those fobs won't do you any good if you can't accept their commissions. You need a Guild license for that. I shall put in a good word for you, and draft a letter of recommendation. Drop by Planet Toydaria, and I shall welcome you with a toast. Toydaria is just a single sector away from this moon, and the closest Guild is on Nar Shaddaa in Hutt Space. All three places are in close proximity to each other.", King Katuunko said, shedding some more light on where exactly was in the galaxy.

Rugosa should be located in neutral space, but still within the Outer Rim. Planet Toydaria sits right on the border of the Mid Rim, but is still within its borders. Both planets are near the Hutt Space, so that really did mean I was close to the Hutts. You know, the very same Hutt that appeared in Return of the Jedi? I'm talking about THAT Jabba the Hutt. There's a very high chance that these tracking fobs were commissioned by Jabba himself.

After all, the Guild was heavily influenced by the Hutts. They held an iron grip over trading in large portions within the Outer Rim. The opening Clone Wars movie dove deeply into that when Jabba's son got kidnapped, so that likely meant this event passed already. The first episode, Ambush, happens shortly after the conclusion of this movie. Right now, King Katuunko should be on good terms with Jabba, seeing as he's receiving these. And you can't exactly get them without being a Guild member. King Katuunko may not be one but he probably has someone underneath him who is, and in return, he receives these tracking fobs. That's my guess, anyways.

Plus being the Toydarian King, I'm sure he has a boatload of credits to splurge on targets he wants eliminated. All for the sake of fairness. That's why he commissions them through the Guild, heh.

I nodded my head at King Katuunko's words.

"Thank you. That is much appreciated. It will help speed up the process.", I said, still accepting the fobs. Nar Shaddaa should be a moon inside Nal Hutta, I think. And that planet should be pretty close to Planet Toydaria. We're on Rugosa which is a neutral space shared between the two. Overall, I should be situated in the eastern region of the Outer Rim.

Further south from here should be Geonosis and Tatooine. Geonosis would be where the entirety of the Clone Wars begins, kicking it off with the death of Jango Fett. Killed in action by Mace Windu no less. From there, many, many clones would be created to fight back against the Separatists in what are called the Clone Wars, stretching on for three whole years. And then this all crumbles down with the execution of Order 66 by Darth Sidious.

A turbulent time awaits. That's without a doubt. I will definitely be busy, and these tracking fobs are a good start to amassing some personal wealth. And to my surprise, King Katuunko was a sincere and upright individual. Show him sincerity, and he'll respond in kind. That's how the Toydarians live.

"And within that pouch is a map of the galaxy and my personal places of interest. There are also certain areas marked where the Trade Federation frequently visits. I'd advise against meeting those guys. They've been up to no good as of late. This, including the bounties I sent your way, and the offer letter should be enough for your assistance. I feel it is even lacking, considering you helped protect my life with Jedi Master Yoda. Are you sure you don't need anything else?", King Katuunko asked me.

"Nah, this is more than enough. Plus, I don't want to take up too much of your time. If you do find someone personally trying to give you trouble, don't hesitate to call on me. My plate is open for hiring, if you require a personal bodyguard~", I happily replied. I might have said that half-jokingly, but I was equally serious. King Toydaria unfortunately meets his end under orders of Count Dooku. He was meant to be captured, but a rather nasty individual who goes by the name Savage Opress ends up killing him out of hatred. There is still some time before this happens, so if King Katuunko does reach out to hire me at that crucial point in his life, I'd try to make some room.

No promises, though. A lot can happen in a single year, especially if you're in the middle of a military campaign. Still, that thought alone caused the Toydarian King to smile.

"Of course, my friend!", King Katuunko said. "I wish we could do a toast over this, but sadly, it is not the time to do so. I left you my contact information once you're ready to receive that letter.", King Katuunko continued, proceeding to stand up from his chair.

This concluded the so-called trade talks, even though it was just me on the receiving end. I got a pretty nice reward.

When I first came into this galaxy, Adam initially hacked into what's called the HoloNet to download the map of our current sector. Just a couple places to create a temporary star chart of our own. Its defenses weren't exactly tight-nit compared to what you'd find, let's say Coruscant. This is the Outer Rim, and barriers like this aren't exactly strong. Not unless you have a warlord like the Hutts ruling a territory. If it's just a random no-named planet, yeah, good luck trying to prevent something like that.

We just wanted something extremely simple, so Adam went in and got out of the HoloNet as soon as he entered it. He equated it to releasing Level 1 locks back in Metroid Fusion. He left no traces behind. That was how we were able to come to Rugosa like this with somewhat of an initial plan. I then found a crash landing site, then the entire event spurred on from there.

This reached a pretty satisfactory conclusion too. I don't need Adam to do such a thing for now. I needed a map, and boy did King Katuunko deliver. I'll need to flesh out some tech to let this map spawn a full three-dimensional hologram that you'd see in a war room within the Republic where those Generals, like General Skywalker, give those debriefings.

Seeing King Katuunko stand up, I stood up too, and we shook hands again. These talks couldn't last all night, as we delayed the clones to do this. Both of us walked outside the palace, and I started to jingle the pouch in my hand, humming Green Brinstar again. It didn't take long for Thire to spot me, coming out with the Toydarian King.

"Looks like someone's in a good mood. I take it talks went well?", Thire said.

"A new connection formed, it seems. Preparations ready, they are, hmm?", Master Yoda also questioned.

"Yeah, everything's ready.", I responded, nodding my head.

"As are they for us. I shall head back with you to the Republic to discuss the terms, Jedi Master Yoda.", King Katuunko said.

Hearing that, I paused for a moment, before realizing what the Toydarian King.

They're not going to head all the way back to Coruscant, are they!?