Despite claiming to be less technologically advanced than the rest of the galaxy, the docking bay that the togorians had moved the Sleipnir too honestly didn't look out of place compared to others I had seen in the galaxy.
It most certainly didn't compare to the various ecumenopolises in the galaxy or other major worlds, despite not having seen any of them myself, but it more than worked for me, would work for most planets, and likely for their civilization as a whole for the most part. Heck, based on what the locals said themselves, they were quite close to developing their own native starships before the Empire took away their shipyard and equipment to do so, so it was just a matter of building back up to that and their general technical expertise.
Given their given preference for solar-based technology, they appeared very interested when I told them about various different models of solar sailer ships that existed in the galaxy and the possibility of me getting a few of them for the right price.
That would be for later though, since for now I was focused on getting my ship back up in flying order so I could leave the planet in the first place.
As the Magravess promised, I had a lovely chat with her economic adviser, Stalkher, about trading off most of my salvaged military gear, made sure to keep at least a little bit for myself, to her people in exchange for several crates of their traditionally made local swords which were sure to fetch a good price to the right buyers. I'd likely need Cid's help there since I haven't really dabbled with high class goods and such, though thinking about it made me imagine a certain potential future spymaster who could likely easily move such products and do who knows what else with it. Still though, on their own they were pretty freaking cool, and apparently on average could easily go for 8.5k credits each if not more!
The swords were not only beautiful, each one made by a different master from a certain clan or tribe based on their traditional styles so that no two were truly alike, but they were very functional too.
Some were just normal, if very finely made and sharp, blades, others were more like vibroblades in how they worked, others being crystalline in make that could conduct electricity and could be used to shock people, along with dozens of other designs. Blades that could be launched from their hilts as deadly projectiles, blades that could hold various poisons, large blades, small blades, double-bladed, split blades, and many more. In a way, it kinda made me think of lightsabers in how each one could follow a different kind of philosophy or fighting style.
In fact, based on the stories I was able to pry out of them, in the past when they were taking part in the Mandalorian Wars, togorian bladesmiths would make swords out of beskar, not unlike traditional beskad swords, which were used to fight Jedi. However, it's been many generations since any togorians had worked with beskar.
Either way, I had my pick of what to sell and what I personally wanted to maybe take up as my own. If I did, though, I would have to figure out how to properly train with a blade… maybe the Bad Batch could help me there? Their knives were basically small swords when you thought about it.
But yeah, while the trade wasn't the most profitable I could possibly make it work, I think it was worth it since it gave me a private space to fix up the ship and bought me good will for future trades that I hoped to do here to build up my rep with the togorians as a whole.
According to Stalkher, the males of her species wanted for very little, finding their independence and lack of dependency on offworld technology to be a source of pride, but they are not above making use various blasters and other weapons or armor. The females, in contrast, are more practical and believe that the galaxy has many things that can be of use to them. Many of them valued comlinks, datapads, small droids, and other small electronics and luxuries that were used in their day-to-day lives. Medical technology was also highly valued, and recently any technology that comes to space travel and ships would be most sought after, especially things they would understand best like the aforementioned solar sailers.
All things that SFO could easily provide, and I planned to take advantage of it after making a deal with her to bring back what I could the next time I came back in about a week or so between other jobs.
Of course, for the moment, I made use of it by buying a brand new Class 1 hyperdrive for 10k credits to replace the mostly burnt out one on my ship, which Lee and the pits were installing while I worked on the rest of the ship, such as replacing the damaged metal panels and such on the outer hull with new ones provided by the togorians for cheap. I took the time to buff out all the scratches and scraps she had earned from all the fancy flying on Bracca too, just to make the ship look less like she had been in a firefight in general.
Already the hard work was paying off, and while she didn't like brand new anymore, she was still the prettiest ship in the galaxy.
In fact, it made me wonder if I shouldn't look into painting her a bit… You know, something cool yet classy.
Beyond just fixing the outer hull and the damages there, I also fixed and rebooted the navicomputer, which 'helpfully' informed me that we were on Togoria now. Fixed and cleaned up the ion engines so they were working at 100% so that sublight speeds were back to normal rather than worry about limping along. Oh, and I got comms array back up and running, which let me check in with some folks that I had wanted to for awhile now.
"Bad Batch, this is Nick Claus calling, you there?" I asked as I tuned the comms array for the Marauder's specific signal frequency.
"Nick, is that really you?" Echo responded over the line. "Glad to hear you survived."
"Same here, I assume, unless I'm speaking with a space ghost," I chuckled before turning serious. "You guys okay, and did you find Omega yet? That flight off of Bracca was rough for all of us."
"Hunter got shot hard in the breastplate by that bounty hunter, but is healing up now, and we successfully recovered Omega," Echo reported, much to my sigh of relief to know that didn't turn out differently. "Or, more accurately, she broke herself free when a second bounty hunter, Fennec Shand, showed up and fought the one that took her, Cad Bane. She used the chance to escape, contact us, and link up with our ship in a flight pod."
"Wow, she is one tough and resourceful kid, especially if she escaped from Cad Bane of all people, based on what I heard about the guy," I admitted, honestly still impressed about the feat in general. "Looks like her training with you guys is paying off and then some."
"We haven't gone over how to escape being taken prisoner by enemy forces, so honestly it was mostly her," Echo chuckled. "We're back on Ord Mantell now resting up. What about you? Are you safe?"
"As safe as being pulled violently out of hyperspace and crashing on a planet can be. Thankfully the locals have a 'everyone gets one' law in place about that kind of thing, and in exchange for trading my salvaged stuff at a discount, they are helping fix up my ship," I explained. "I should have it up and running mostly at 100% in a day or so, so I will likely meet up with you guys back on Ord Mantell relatively soon."
"That's good to hear. I'm not sure we would have made it off the planet if you didn't do what you did, so glad to know you are alright," Echo stated seriously. "One last thing, that battle droid of yours that is shaped like a protocol droid? Tech fixed it up enough to speak and told us you told it to guard our ship?"
"Oh yeah, Thing 1! I left him behind to make sure none of the troopers tried to impound your ship or something, maybe provide backup in retaking it if needed. I'm guessing that that bounty Hunter that hurt Hunter and kidnapped Omega blasted him up if Tech had to fix him?"
"A great deal," Echo admitted. "Said that he tried to stop him after he killed the troopers guarding our ship, but apparently Bane was able to disable him with a number of precise shots."
"If the legends about the guy are true, I believe it. Still, thanks for fixing him up and will happily take him off your hands when we meet up. In the meantime, I hope he remains on his best behavior. Tell everyone that I hope they are doing alright and Omega that I'm glad she is safely back home."
"I will be sure to pass that along," Echo replied. "See you later."
"See ya," I signed off before speaking out loud. "Well, things didn't go as planned, but glad to hear nothing has gotten worse. Here is hoping my track record in changing canon for the better improves soon."
For now, with most of my salvaged goods unloaded and replaced with new high worth items, I spent the day fixing up the ship and by the start of the next it was nearly complete. I was even thinking about ways how I would go about upgrading here once I got to Ord Mantell later. So, of course, that was when I was surprised by something I was totally not expecting.
"You Nick Claws?" asked a voice behind me as I was wielding a piece of landing gear back into proper place, making me pause and turn around to look at them.
Before me stood a togorian female who looked to be on the younger side, lean but fit, and looked like a lioness with longer unkept and slightly dark than her fur hair that almost made it look like a mane. She was armored, but it was the very form fitting kind that hugged her body almost to an uncomfortable degree that was only prevented from doing so by armor portions of it covering her vital areas. There were also dozens of blades strapped all across her body; from her legs, to her sides, to her chest and back, to her shoulders, to her forearms, and possibly other places too given how much how it looked like she could cut a person just by standing too close to them; short blades, long blades, the works.
In short, she looked very dangerous and instantly made me nervous.
"That depends, are you here to kill him or something?" I asked. "Cause he has permission to be here."
"I'm not here to kill you, if that is what you are worried about," she stated, easily seeing through my deception. "More like ask you a question… nice ship by the way, I hardly ever see one up close."
"She is a beauty, no doubt about that," I said as I got her landing gear a pat. "She isn't the fastest, deadliest, most advanced, or anything like that, but she is mine and I have no plans on flying anything else if I can avoid it."
"Sounds like us and our mosgoths," she stated. "Sadly, I never was able to find a partner of my own, and given recent events, it may be some time before I can."
"Really, why is that?" I asked in confusion.
"It is actually why I have come here, honestly," she stated. "I am correct in what I hear about your crew being made up of droids beyond yourself?"
"Yeah, they help make up for areas I am lacking in until I can find people willing to sign up with me," I admitted.
"That should make this next part easier, then," she stated confidently. "I would humbly ask you to hire me on as a member of your crew, to serve as your sword for as long as we both deem it acceptable."
That was the last thing I expected, for many reasons, but right now I was honestly curious about the whole thing and needed to know the details.
"Wow, I'm flattered, but may I ask why?" I asked in clear confusion. "I might not have been here long and I don't know all the details of your peoples' culture, but I was led to believe that most togorians don't have an interest in going off world in general."
"Simple, I seek revenge," she growled.
Oh dear…
"May I ask about the who and why?" I asked a little nervously.
"Against the Empire," she stated simply. "For the crime of cowardly and dishonorable conduct when murdering many brave warriors, amongst which was my brother."
It's sad that what she said didn't surprise me very much when she actually told me. Goodness knows that while they haven't really hit their stride yet, the Empire is already taking a lot of actions that kill a lot of decent people who would inspire those same feelings in others all across the galaxy. And considering this was a former CIS world, they most likely felt it the soonest.
"I'm sorry for your loss," I said with sympathy.
"As am I, for my brother Torr was more than just my sibling, but a friend and battlebrother none could possibly match," she said in a softer tone. "And it was with great shame that we did not immediately rush into combat to avenge his and others' dishonorable deaths, for our enemies would have easily used the same methods they did against them to crush us. It was tactically the correct choice, for we did not have the means to properly fight back, especially when those Metal Men given to us proved of little use after they had all shut down, but it burns my spirit regardless."
"Yeah, I'm sure most remaining Confederate worlds felt the same when their own main means of defense was taken from them, making them easy targets to invade," I nodded. "If you don't mind me asking… how did he and your other warriors die?"
"They were defending our planet's only shipyard located some distance from the capital, the one thing many offworlders saw as our only value," she scoffed in disdain at the idea. "It was why the White Shells and their Jetii General came to our world in the first place–before they were cut down. So where the Republic failed, the Empire sought to make up for the loss… through the use of targeted orbital bombardment against the facility when we refused to surrender and prepared for invasion, slaughtering the garrison there, destroying most of it, and then stealing away the rest so that we could not rebuild it. There was nothing left to bury…"
Then I heard her growl in anger.
"For as dishonorable as the act was, at least I could understand it through the lens of war. However, what they did next was not just dishonorable and a humiliation against us, it was outright the actions of a coward," she stated with murder on her mind. "They threatened to bombard our capital, planning to wipe out all those within, even the cubs, along all the settlements on our world until there would be nothing left unless we bowed to their demands. Our cities were built to withstand such things from ages past, and no togorian would not be willing to lay down their lives to fight such enemies… but our 'wise' leaders decided to give up, despite the fact we should have fought such honorless curs and should not trust them to keep their word."
"I mean… to be fair it sounds like you guys were in a bad position where fighting would have resulted in–at best–an unequal exchange of civilian casualties, that wouldn't have been worth it," I pointed out. "'He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day' and all that."
"Yes, my mind understands that… but my heart cannot find it within itself to agree," she stated with clearly mixed feelings. "It would be one thing if we 'surrendered' in order to gather our strength and prepare to strike back, but it feels like the steps towards that goal are woefully lacking."
"The Empire is huge, being made up of the former Republic. So, any steps taken would have to be huge too, and likely be the work of years at best," I pointed out, which was very true given what I knew about canon and what it took for the Rebel Alliance to become a thing. "No one world, no matter how motivated, could possibly take on the Empire on its own."
"Another thing my mind recognizes, but my spirit refuses to let lie," she growled in annoyance, though something tells me it was mostly at herself. "I cannot stand here waiting for who knows how long for some vague far off day that I might avenge my brother's death and our humiliation. I must act and do something now, which is why I stand before you. You fought the Empire, did you not? It has been on the jaws of nearly all of the matriarchs lately."
Oh boy, I wonder how that story was being blown out of proportion.
"Technically, yes I did," I admitted. "Though it was more of a fighting retreat at best."
"Yet you still fought them," she pointed out. "And do you plan on fighting them still?"
"I mean… yes, just not directly if I can help it," I admitted. "I know a straight up fight would be hugely against me, so I'm trying to find ways to resist and fight in less direct ways."
"But you still plan to fight in your own way, which is more than the pirates and smugglers whom I approached before could say," she pointed out. "And, correct me if I am wrong, but are you likely to keep doing actions that led to your recent battle with the Empire that had you crashing here? Especially if you are arming more worlds than my own?"
"Well… yeah, that is most likely going to happen," I admitted. "Especially since I kind of make it a point to sell arms and armor to groups who are likely going to fight the Empire in one way or another, so that is likely gonna attract violent attention at times."
"Then that is more than enough for me," she said with sharp and determined eyes. "If your path will put you into conflict with the Empire, it is in my best interest to come with you and do what I can to keep you alive, so that I may strike down as many of those White Shelled cowards as I can."
"Assuming I hire you on," I pointed out.
"Of course, I would not try to forcibly impose myself on one who has already aided my people in their own way, and from your earlier words still plans to," she admitted. "Even if you deny me, I will still find some way to get off-world and start my own personal war against the Empire… though I will admit that I am lacking in knowledge and experience of the galaxy as a whole, so having someone by my side who knows of such things, such as yourself, and is already committed to fighting the Empire would be a great boon. And know that if you do take me on that you will find no finer blade to stand by your side as we bleed the Empire with a thousand cuts, assuming we cannot take its head right away."
I had to admit, the idea of having a strong warrior as a bodyguard at my side–and backing me up–was appealing, given my own lack of combat experience which I was still working on. And no matter how many droids I bought, most of them would likely not compete nearly as well as a born and raised togorian warrior.
Still though, as much as the idea appealed to me, I still knew little about her. Heck, now that I thought about it, I still didn't even know her name! However, everyone starts as strangers at first, and while I couldn't be totally open and trust her with everything right off the bat… nothing says we couldn't give things a try for a bit.
First off, I needed to correct something.
"Okay, first I just want to say that is a lot of weight you put on your shoulders…" I trailed off and gestured at her.
"I am known as Rowv," she bowed her head a little. "Forgive my lack of manners in not introducing myself earlier."
"No worries, I totally get it. Oh, and I'm Nick Claus, but you knew that already," I waved her off.
"As I was saying, that is a lot of pressure you are putting on yourself in general. Far be it from me to judge how you want to live your life, but what you are asking for is a pretty big ask, especially since we barely know each other… but at the same time I can understand not wanting to sit by and do nothing after something horrible was done to you and those you love, so how about this? We can give you being my crew member a trial run, do a few jobs together to see if we can click. After all, it might be that what I do doesn't fit with what you want to do. I promise to pay you for your time, and maybe even help set you up to go out on your own if we don't work out. All I ask is that, in the meantime, you respect and follow any orders I give while aboard my ship as your captain, though I will happily listen to any advice you have to offer, and that you respect any secrets or things I want to keep to myself. I promise to not dig into anything private of yours in turn. Does that sound fair?" I asked as I held out a hand.
Goodness knows I wasn't gonna be showing off the SFO to her until I was absolutely certain she could have my back, after all, to say nothing of anything else I knew about the galaxy in general that most people would kill for to learn… or to keep silent.
"Hmmm, that is indeed a fair arrangement," Rowv admitted as she took my hand and shook it, making me wince a bit at her strong grip–which I honestly do not think she was putting much effort into. "I hope to prove myself a worthy battlesister of yours, and you the same."
"Yeah, I also hope this is the start of a rather profitable partnership," I said back. "One where by working together we can both earn what we hope to get."
And with that, I had recruited my first temp, which would hopefully become more in time.
AN: And that Togorian arc is done with Nick finally, after nearly 30 chapters and now over 100k words, getting his first organic crew member! Hope that people find Rowv interesting, because I certainly hope to make her so. Anyway, another short break, and then we move on to the next arc and main plot.