The next few weeks were–relatively speaking, pretty calm for the most part. Or at least I haven't been placed in too many life threatening situations in general, which is always a plus.
Anyway, despite it being relatively quiet for myself, that doesn't mean I had been resting on my butt doing nothing. Oh no… I was working in a number of ways in order to get my operation shipshape.
For one thing, I was successfully able to purchase a number of fake identities from both Cid and Tech so that what happened on the hovertrain ideally never happened again, and to in general make myself appear more legitimate to any custom agents, local law enforcement, or Imperial personnel. Cid's connections allowed me to get multiple different galactic passports, captain's licenses, and ship operating licenses that I could hand over whenever I was going anywhere or transporting cargo, which would always be the legal kind when on my ship. Tech, meanwhile, put his smarts to use in giving me half a dozen different chain codes to use as I needed, after I bought several blank ones for him to program.
The latter actually reminded me of a point later in the Bad Batch series where the squad would sell a number of forged chain codes to a serious smuggling organization or something like that, so with enough preparation and the right buyers… something to think about later.
All of this–naturally–cost a decent amount, but I made sure to haggle down Cid since I was sure she was blatantly trying to squeeze me as much as she could. Tech, in comparison, was much more logical when it came to pricing.
On top of that, I had also hired the tech specialist of the team to upgrade the Sleipnir so that I could transmit different transponder codes and magnetic signatures. It wasn't true cloaking, I didn't have the money for anything like that, yet, but it was the next best thing. After all, sometimes the best stealth was showing people a mask over being invisible.
Still, I would have to look into proper stealth systems in the future, such as scramblers, bafflers, jammers, all the 'ers' really. And goodness knows that ship-sized cloaking tech can go into the millions of credits, I checked…
Anyway, all of that led into the fact that over the last couple of weeks I had been offering Cid more products to sell off to interested parties again, a wide variety of Clone Wars-era goods that could be easily explained as someone getting hands on stuff the Empire was literally throwing out or breaking down. After the stealth carbines, I decided to be a bit more lowkey by offering stuff like the more standard blasters from the DC-15 family, E-5s, military grade medpacs, older models of clone armor, grenades of various types, that kind of thing, with the occasional big or uncommon items to keep Cid interested and show that my 'guy' could still get their hands on a lot of things, like a STAP or a couple of Z-6s.
Nothing too crazy, but consistent. Which for smugglers, was pretty dang good.
And my SFO account would agree since, despite my many purchases, it was looking quite healthy at over 100k after solid low risk, but consistent work.
This was keeping in mind that I wasn't delivering the goods myself most of the time anymore, but rather usually the client came to Cid to pick it up or she had someone else drop if off somewhere else, either to the client directly, another middleman, or a drop site of their choice to pick it up later.
In fact, based on my chats with them, the Bad Batch tended to be her go-to for these kinds of things, which I didn't mind at all since it gave them work, which they really needed considering the still lop-sided deal Cid had them working under. I felt so bad about that last part that I usually supplied their stuff at such a high discount I usually barely broke even with them, but it was hard not to do that since I liked the group a whole lot and wanted to help however I could.
Besides, it was funny watching Wrecker eventually break down Hunter and convince him to buy a RPS-6 rocket launcher from me. The guy had surprisingly good puppy dog eyes despite his size and face, and literally broke down in happy tears when I handed it over to him.
Still, other than the occasional speciality item or personal request, the Bad Batch were pretty restrained and reasonable with their requests, it usually coming down to ammo resupplies and the like. I chalked that up to their military training and experience, focusing on the stuff they were used to over what they could get. Still, I hoped I could interest them in some more fun stuff down the line.
There were a few times where I delivered the goods myself, usually the neater stuff to associate my name to it more or the rare personal request from the Bounty Hunter's Guild, Bossk must have gotten my name around, traveling to several locations across the galaxy in usually out of the way places. And when I did, I made sure I was properly armed and backed up.
For the first, I bought a CR-2, only 600 credits, to go along with my pistol since despite its age and cheap price tag, it was basically an SMG with its rate of fire and ability to blast through armor.
As for the second, I finally bought myself some more combat-focused droids, but keeping in mind the era I was in I steered away from CIS battle droids despite a number of models that I would love to use. At this time, it would just bring too much attention and potential heat on me, so instead I picked something that was little-known and hid in plain sight. Something that only had a limited production run and at this point in history–were all nearly destroyed.
Man, it was pretty funny when that one time I was delivering a BARCto a client the man tried to renegotiate the agreed upon price and did not like it when I turned him down.
One week ago…
"Listen man, if you don't have the credits or you just don't want to pay the price you agreed to with Cid, just say so and we can both go on our separate ways," I said calmly as I started to push the speeder back towards my ship at the other end of the docking bay, only for the guy to grab and stop it, making me narrow my eyes at him beneath my helmet.
"I didn't come all the way out here just to leave with nothing, you hear me?" the pantoran man with silvery markings on his face and dressed up like a typical pirate, named Konor or something, growled at me while his two associates backed him up with their blasters out. "So either we come to a deal, or one of us ain't gonna leave this planet alive."
"Dude, it's just a speeder, it's really not worth-" I tried to descalate, only for the guy to pull out his pistol and point it at my face.
"Don't you dare try to tell me what's-AAAAHHH!" was his reply as one of my bodyguards, which he had likely foolishly written off as just a servant, quickly grabbed his wrist and proceeded to audibly break it, forcibly making him drop his pistol while my second bodyguard quickly stunned his two friends with his blaster box.
"I was gonna say, 'worth getting your wrist broken over', but too late now," I said flatly as Thing 1, my brand new BL-series Battle Legionnaire, held him firmly in place and brought him to his knees as he cried in pain. "Seriously man, you could have just bought something cheaper if you didn't have the money for it, or at least try to haggle Cid down beforehand."
"Shall I terminate him, Sir?" Thing 1 asked in a tone of voice that was way too soft and polite-sounding to come out of a battle droid.
It disturbingly reminded me of another model that also posed as a protocol droid.
"No, I think we made our point, and honestly I think Cid blacklisting this guy is will do more damage to him in the long run than anything we could do," I pointed out, as Thing 2–my second BL–was checking the downed criminals he stunned to make sure they weren't about to get back up and start shooting anyone.
I still wasn't comfortable with killing people if I could avoid it, especially in cold blood like this. It is one thing if done in a moment in defense of yourself or others, but not while you had them at your mercy. Smart? Maybe not, but I would rather try to be a good person wherever I could, even with people who didn't deserve it, if possible.
Granted, that meant if someone ever tried to go after me again or waste their second chance in some other way, I'd be more willing to use a more permanent solution. That was to say nothing of the evil bastards I knew were out in the galaxy who didn't deserve a second chance, but I'd cross that bridge when I came to it later.
"Anyway, we are gonna stun you, take all your credits and weapons, and leave you all here to sleep it out on the ground until you wake up again," I informed Konor as he continued to cry and curse at me. "Honestly, what I'm doing is pretty dang merciful compared to what other groups would do, so I would take this as a learning experience and try to be better in the future. Of course, those are just my thoughts, so take it or leave it."
"When I-" was as far as he got before Thing 1 stunned him and threw him onto the ground.
"Thanks guys," I told the two droids as I calmed my breathing a little about having a blaster pointed in my face, taking my hand away from my personal energy shieldthat was on my belt. "Strip them of their stuff and let's get out of here. Cid will have to find a new buyer for this thing."
"Yes, Sir!" The two droids nodded and did just that, making me sigh a little at the fact their military programming made it so that as their commanding officer they felt compelled to be formal with me.
Hopefully they will grow out of that.
The two BLs had cost 15k each, but they had more than proved their worth so far in being my backup and general security.
Most people didn't even bat an eye at them since they looked so much like normal protocol droids, and even had a number of features in common with most of them, but underneath their green plating was a droid made for war. They were incredibly strong, could move very fast and fluidly when they wanted to, were hardy, and even had inbuilt jammers and internal medpacs. They were also knowledgeable in how to use various weapons, equipment, and vehicles, even if they preferred their blaster boxes most of the time in the former case, while also having built-in retractable finger blades which could do some serious damage with their machine-powered strength. In general, they were great purchases that, unlike typical CIS battle droids, wouldn't get me stopped in the streets if they walked around doing errands for me.
Heck, since only a thousand units were ever produced, with the vast majority of them now destroyed, very few people would even realize what they were even after they showed off their capabilities. Likely just thinking they were heavily modified protocol droids.
I found it a little crazy how they introduced themselves as BL-1001 and BL-1002, showing that before I bought them they did not exist at all. It also helped make it easy to name them, Thing 1 and 2, since it felt very fitting given their origins.
It made me curious just how the heck my power worked. Did I have something like a tiny Infinite Engineor other shard of the long destroyed Star Forge in my head that is somehow connected to my brain or something? Based on Doc's scans, no, but then again the Star Forge did run off of the Force… So maybe something more metaphysical was happening?
Ugh, it made my brain hurt to think about it too much…
Either way, it was nice having backup now and convinced me never to go without it ever again. The only time I really did was when I left them to guard the ship every time we were on Ord Mantell.
Anyway, I couldn't be working all the time, so I had to find ways to fill in the down-time.
While in-between jobs I spent time at Cid's to hang out with Bad Batch and play games with Bolo and Ketch, but I also had to leave for several days at a time to keep up the illusion that I was meeting up with my 'supplier'. I had learned my lesson from Dantooine about being too fast and efficient with my deliveries, so I usually had Launchpad take us to uninhabited systems or somewhere in interstellar space where no one traveled and was out of the way of any major hyperspace lanes to wait until enough time had passed, buy the goods, and then make my way back to Ord Mantell to get to work. Of course, I didn't spend all the waiting time wastefully watching or reading stuff over HoloNet…
Oh no, while Cid was waiting, I was training.
Four days ago…
"Ack! Son of bit-ack!" I screamed out again as I tried to dodge the remote flying around and zapping me with low powered stun bolts as I tried to fire back at it. "Take that, y-fuck!"
I was still learning that talking was not a free action, which the remote was abusing relentlessly.
It zipped around to the other side and fired again at me, which I blocked with the small gungan personal energy shield, 500 credits, strapped to my arm. While the other shield version covered my full body when active, there was a limit about how many hits it could take before burning out and it also released less than a healthy amount of radiation and magnetic fields if turned on for too long. Therefore, I thought it best to have more than one version around as a form of protection, which is why I was using a more traditional shield design in one hand while using my pistol in the other.
All of this, combined with my newly purchased armor I was also training with, but kept on the ship for now since my normal outfit worked well enough most of the time, should mean that I would be pretty well protected most of th-"Ack! Timeout! Timeout!"
The remote finally gave me mercy and just floated in place as I breathed a little hard and rubbed the sore parts of my body from where the stun blasts it.
"How was that?" I asked Thing 2 from where he stood nearby, judging my training.
"Your accuracy has improved to roughly 23.2%, Sir," Thing 2 helpfully informed me, making me groan at the fact that I was a worse aim than Omega when she first started out. And this was still the lower level training in the remote!
Maybe I was a bit too optimistic about training myself to fight against multiple attackers at once and buying so many…
Well, my gun training was slow, but I was still making progress!
I at least knew the basics and could hit mostly straight against an non-moving target, but my best bet was still to do the best I could to avoid fights or do fighting retreats if avoiding them fails. That or leave it up to actual fighters like the Thing brothers, Bad Batch, or any other badass friends I make.
Point is, I had a long way to go before I could likely draw first on anyone
And at least while my combat training was slow going, my book learning was going great! This was because I had found a very good combo of tools to help teach myself nearly anything I wanted in a fraction of the time!
This was achieved with three vital tools; First, a clone learning helmet, 5k credits, which was specifically designed to make it easier for my brain to take in information easier thanks to its mental receptivity enhancers. Second, a TTS-15 Series Tutorial Droid, or rather I bought the specialized teaching modules that droid used and had Tech help me modify my datapad so I could install them and learn directly from it without needing the droid itself. Thanks to that and the learning helmet working together, I was able to learn a lot in a short amount of time about galactic history, material and theoretical sciences, languages, especially Basic and Aurebesh, finally, hyperspace mechanics, mathematics, programming/slicing, starship repair, basic exercises that I could do in the ship to get in decent shape, and tons more for a fraction of cost and time!
Fun fact, I learned that English was apparently High Galactic in this universe, which was basically its version of Latin since most people considered it something only the rich and snobby bothered to learn. With that in mind, my natural knowledge of it could potentially be useful if my clientele ever expanded to include nobility.
Of course, those two methods by themselves, even working together, would still make learning all this in a reasonable timeframe next to impossible… but that is where the synoptic teacher, 1k credits for helmet and 200 to 1k credits per information module, came in.
You see, with the helmet and right module, after a half hour nap you can literally have the knowledge of something downloaded into your mind, which can be a wide variety of subjects from medicine to mechanical knowledge to agriculture! The only problem is that retention and recall of information wouldn't be the best if you didn't have the base knowledge to make it stick and work for you, which is exactly what the learning helmet and specialization modules gave me. What would have been useless before without them, was now my secret weapon to become a genius!
MWAHAHAHAHA!
Okay, genius was stretching it, more like a jack-of-all-trades who was good at most everything, but not a true expert, especially not without time and experience using it. Goodness knows I wouldn't be beating Tech when it came to pure brainpower, for example, anytime soon. He was a true polymath.
Still, with this learning method I had access to so many things I didn't have before, including no longer needing the PUT to talk to people anymore! Man, it felt so weird to walk around with it not being in my ear all the time. I'd still keep and use it, it could hold and translate thousands of languages after all, along with its other functions, but it was no longer a requirement holding me back in case it ever broke at an inconvenient time or something.
I never thought this before coming to the SW universe, but it seems like money really can buy intelligence if you use it right.
So yeah… the last few weeks had been eventful in a number of ways, and I liked to think I spent the time wisely. I hoped I did at least, since based on the Bad Batch's latest mission, things were about to get rather serious very soon.
I just hoped I could contribute well enough to make a difference.
I was present when Cid informed and sent out the Bad Batch to retrieve a rare and valuable zardimallo stolen by a ring of thieves known as the Rhokai gang, which caught my attention since I knew that would be the start for a series of events that were most likely to occur soon. Therefore, I made sure my schedule was clear and told Cid my 'guy' didn't have anything to move yet, so she didn't bother me as I hung out at her place waiting for the Bad Batch to return.
I passed the time, as usual, playing games with Bolo and Ketch.
When they came back into the parlor, caged up zardimallo in hand, I was honestly glad to see them… and trying my hardest not to look in the direction of the hooded figure sitting in the far corner among the few other patrons that were in today that had come by earlier. Once more, I was glad I wore a helmet… then again, given who the man was, maybe he'd still notice given his experience.
Wrecker placed the cage on top of the bar and Cid gazed inside, a long stun stick in hand to control it if needed.
Ruby, as Omega apparently named her, growled at her.
"That is one strange looking lizard," Cid commented as she turned back towards the clones and Omega did what she could to calm said lizard. Sadly, Ruby was very upset at her current situation and was constantly rattling the cage and screaming.
"Must run in the family," I chuckled from where I was seated at the bar nearby, earning a glare from Cid.
"What's your client want it for?" Echo asked curiously.
"Maybe it's a pet. Maybe he wants to turn it into a stew. Don't know, don't care," Cid says in annoyance as she turns her back to them.
"So long as you get paid," Hunter said simply.
"Now you're catching on," Cid remarked as she turned back to them. "And guess what? That means you get paid too. Bring the lizard in the back."
With that, Cid headed for her office, with Echo placing his helmet on top of the cage and then picking it up to follow alongside Tech.
Hunter was about to follow along, but paused as he noticed the hooded figure in the corner as well. But before he could look more into it, Omega grabbed his attention.
"Hunter?" Omega asked him, prompting to turn in her and Wrecker's direction, whom she was gesturing towards to speak to Hunter.
"What are you two up to?" Hunter asked with cautious curiosity.
"The mission's over. Can we go?" Wrecker asked innocently.
"Again?" Hunter asked in mild exasperation.
"It's a tradition!" Wrecker said, before whispering, "It makes the kid happy."
Omega just gave him a look at that.
"Uh-huh, the kid," Hunter noted with obvious disbelief before sighing and turning towards Cid's office. "Don't take long."
"Yaha!" Wrecker cheered as he and Omega jumped in place before they both turned to me. "Nick! Come with us!"
"Are you guys just inviting me cause you know I'll pay for it again?" I asked with a smirk underneath my helmet.
"Maybe?" Omega answered with a bit too innocent of a smile.
"On the one hand, I feel like I'm being taken advantage of," I stated while lifting up a hand, before doing the same with the other. "On the other hand, how can I say no to those eyes? Omega, you should take notes. Wrecker has great technique."
"Ha! Always did!" Wrecker said before waving his arm at me. "Let's get going!"
With that, both he and Omega rushed out of the parlor, forcing me to run to catch up and try hard not to spare a glance towards the hooded figure as I left.
Thankfully, once we got out onto the actual street, they slowed down for me and we started moving at a sedate pace.
"You don't think Cid's client will really eat Ruby, do you?" Omega asked Wrecker and I, making the former look rather nervous looking.
"Errrr, 'course not! Who'd wanna eat something as ugly as that thing," Wrecker said, barely preventing himself from traumatizing Omega about the hard truths about the illegal animal trade.
"A lot of people spend tons of money on exotic animals to keep them as pets to show off to others, to display how rich and powerful they are," I added truthfully, if omitting the other parts of the trade. "The odds are good that Ruby will be well taken care of, so I wouldn't worry about it."
"That's good," Omega gave out a sigh of relief. "I hope that Ruby's new owner treats her nicely."
"Same here kid, same here," I said honestly.
We had some more small talk on our way to the duo's favorite food stall, mostly about Omega's training and how she is getting better and better at hitting the training remote and avoiding its hits in turn. Sure, it hurt a little inside to hear that compared to my own progress, but my happiness for her helped cover it up.
Wrecker, meanwhile, happily told me about how he was able to use his new rocket launcher to destroy a Rhokai snubfighter before it was able to take off after them. He was very descriptive, almost to the point I was afraid for a moment he was gonna start mentioning blood and guts, but a quick glance at Omega had him stop short of it.
Eventually we reached the Mantell Mix stand the two loved, and I admitted I had grown fond of it as well, and made an order for two cartons and one doggy bag.
"Best part of the mission," Wrecker said happily as he handed Omega her carton..
"Mm-hmm!" she agreed as she and Wrecker started eating their food.
"21 credits," the pantoran woman manning the stall stated, which I easily handed over, plus a tip for always being willing to do business with Wrecker. Most beings tended to give the large and heavily scarred clone a wide berth.
"Thanks, Nick!" Omega said happily as we started walking away from the food stall, looking down at my doggy bag as I carried it by my side. "I've been wondering…why don't you ever eat with us?"
"Oh, it's nothing against you guys," I assured her. "I just can't eat with my helmet on."
"Then why don't you take off your helmet?" Omega asked curiously. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen you without it on. Why?"
"I'm really shy, it's a serious condition," I joked.
"Maybe he eats all weird and gross?" Wrecker suggested with a full mouth as he stuffed more Mantell Mix inside, loudly chewing with his mouth open and getting pieces of the popcorn-like snack food absolutely everywhere. "I heard there are people like that."
"I'm serious!" Omega whined.
"Would you believe me if I said I was a part of a little known orthodox Mandalorian religious group who believes that one should never take off their helmets to be seen by another living being?" I asked curiously.
"No!" Omega shouted in annoyance, only to quickly follow it up with confusion. "Wait, is that really something that exists?
"Yes," I said simply.
"They sound weird," Wrecker commented.
"I mean it though, why don't you show us your face?" Omega asked in a slightly hurt tone of voice. "Aren't we friends?"
Ugh! Critical Hit! Right in the heart!
"We are friends, Omega, I promise," I assured the girl. "It's just… ever since I left my home, and after I ran into a bit of trouble my first time off-world, I've found it's safer for me and others if I don't show my face most of the time. I'm sure if your squadmates' faces weren't already known, they would do something similar."
"I guess that makes sense…" Omega admitted before straightening. "Do you promise to show us one day then? When you feel safe to do so?"
This little rascal, the Bad Batch really was a good influence on her.
"Heh, that seems like a fair promise," I answered her with an offered hand, which she quickly shook with a smile. "As a 'procurement specialist' of high standards, it would be a horrible blow to my pride if I ever back down from a promise."
"We'll hold you to that," Omega smiled.
"Yeah! Just me the word, kid, and I'll grab him, hold him down, and you can rip his head off!" Wrecker offered.
"I just want his helmet off, Wrecker!" Omega protested.
"Wouldn't that come off too though?" Wrecker asked in honest confusion.
"Hehehe, Wrecker, being your friend is kind of terrifying," I admitted and stepped back a little from the much bigger than me clone.
"Just the way I like it!" Wrecker declared with pride, making Omega sigh and me swear a bit under my helmet.
'Sad thing is, these are still the best people I could befriend right now,' I thought to myself.
Eventually the two of them finished their food, I stuffed mine in my backpack, and we made our way back to Cid's.
We walked down the steps, Wrecker, in front of us, when all of sudden he stopped in shock in the doorway before speaking up in an excited tone.
"Well look who it is! Hahaha!" Wrecker laughed before he rushed forward to the now unhooded figure sitting at the bar with the rest of the team. "Come here, Rex! Ahahaha!"
I then bore witness to Wrecker giving the other man a huge bear hug and lifting him out of his seat, much to the man's obvious discomfort, but also slight joy.
"Eh, good to see you too Wrecker," the man, now revealed to be a clone, said with a strained smile.
"I thought you didn't like the regs," Omega asked in confusion as the two of us stepped up to them all.
"This one, we like," Wrecker stated as he turned around and placed said 'reg' on the floor, who then gently pushed Wrecker away and turned to face us.
"So, BBs, are you gonna introduce us to the guy who Wrecker nearly crushed to death with pure brotherly love?" I asked.
"Omega, Nick, this is Rex," Hunter finally introduced to us as the man looked at us both, one of us with more piercing eyes than the other.
I looked into the haunted dark eyes of Rex, Captain of the famous 501st Legion of the Grand Army of the Republic. A war hero, a leader, friend to many Jedi he fought alongside over the years, one of the only clones to defy Order 66… and now the founder of the Clone Underground.
I had found my next hopeful customer, and a group I wanted to help fight against the Empire.
AN: After a bit of a break here is start of new arc, during timeskip Nick has been working to improve himself, and violence will happen. But it also opens up a brand new potential market! Just a matter of sealing deal.