I made sure to put on my usual smuggler outfit before I headed for Cid's, having spent already plenty of time in my combat armor, and stashing the sonic rifle in the ship's armory alongside my DC-17 and other extra equipment since without the armor providing extra strength/magnetic clamps to help carry them around, it got unwieldy and heavy to carry them for a prolonged amount of time.
The DC-15 and CR-2 were already more than enough in most cases, after all, to say nothing of my other gear.
Anyway, once I stripped down, sonic showered myself, quickly ate an energy bar, and got into my usual outfit I headed out to meet up with the BB. And a relatively quick walk quickly found me there, and found the team hanging out in the parlor as I walked it from the alleyway.
Omega was quick to spot me and rushed over as I walked in, abandoning her game of dejarik with Hunter, even going so far as to hug me around the waist. Wow, I wasn't aware that she considered me that close of a friend yet, but then again, Omega was pretty quick to form bonds and connections with people who treated her well.
"Easy there, kid," I patted her on the back and gently pushed her back as I looked down at her concerned face. "I'm alright, really. Rowv got roughed up worse than me, so you should be saving your hug for her after Doc fixes her up. I'd love to see the look on her face once you do too."
"Sorry…" Omega said a little sheepishly, looking a little embarrassed about her actions as the rest of the Bad Batch came forward. "It's just… when Hunter told me how they had to leave you behind, I was worried. And I know you messaged us saying how you were alright, but its… it's good to see you are, is all."
"I totally get that, Omega, no worries," I patted her on the head, making her pout and push my hand away, making me laugh a little.
Which is of course when Wrecker came over, wrapped me in a bear hug, and lifted me off while crushing my ribs and organs only slightly before breaking. It went without saying that my breath quickly left my body and had yet another near-death experience in as many days.
"Haha! I told you guys he wouldn't get blown up!" Wrecker laughed before finally dropping me, allowing me to breathe once more, before turning to Tech. "Pay up!"
"There was never a bet," Tech pointed out. "I was merely saying his odds of successful escape and survival were on the lower-end of things, it was you who turned it into a game and others involved."
"Says you! I still say you owe me 50 credits!"
"Nice to know I was a source of entertainment while I was gone," I lightly groaned. "It was a bit of a tight spot, but we made it out as well as we could have, all things considered."
"About that," Echo spoke up. "You mentioned in your message how after you had to make an emergency landing on Raxus Prime and the Empire tracked you down, and that you faced some serious trouble. What kind, exactly?"
"That will require some explanation…" I grimaced. "Cause it's both bad, and very much not a pretty story when you are given the full context."
"Cid is currently talking business with the senator about his upcoming transport, so we have time for you to give us a full debrief," Hunter stated seriously. "Tell us everything you can about what happened on your side of the mission. We need all the intel we can get."
I was happy to oblige… even if I had to alter or withhold some details for obvious reasons, which I felt kind of bad about and hoped that there would come a time in the future where the secrecy would not be needed with them.
Anyway, I started off about how Rowv and I used the stash of explosives I brought with us on the mission, along with a story about a supply of 'detained' Separatist equipment that was on site to play merry hell on all the troopers there, giving the team the distraction they needed to rescue and escape with the senator while the Imperials were distracted. I then went on to mention how the fighter Rowv and I stole as our escape route was damaged and we couldn't jump out of the system, so we were forced to land on Raxus Prime to make repairs. Sadly, I overlooked the idea of anti-thief homing device on the fighter, and the Empire tracked us down pretty quickly with plenty of shuttles, troopers, fighters… and an inquisitor.
Explaining just what those were was met with dark and grim looks all around, after bullshitting about how I got the intel from the man himself before Rowv cut him down.
"So not all the Jedi are dead after all," Hunter stated with a less than positive look on his face at the news. "Instead, they are working for the Empire now…"
"It makes sense, logically speaking," Tech piped up. "We all know just how powerful and effective the Jedi were on the battlefield, so it stands to reason the Empire would want that kind of power under their control as well. Forcibly converting captive Jedi to their cause through torture, psychological manipulation, fear of death, and other similar tactics where possible would give them exactly that, creating very dangerous agents to act in all manner of missions, especially with the hunting down of any surviving Jedi. After all, who better to know how they think and predict their movements and actions?"
"Why did someone like that show up though?" Wrecker asked in confusion. "Nick is no Jedi."
Technically correct, but I also technically fall under their usual targets too, sadly.
"It is most likely they were already on Raxus, or at least somewhere nearby, for some other task," Tech pointed out. "And that they were simply called in to investigate our mission after the fact, and that Nick was unlucky enough to be the closest and easiest to track down."
"I guess we owe you one, then," Echo commented. "For taking the heat for us and all."
"Normally I would say I was happy to help… but I would very much not want to fight an inquisitor again if I can help it," I said with complete honesty. "We were lucky we were able to take that one down, keeping them off-balance and such, and even then it was a close thing."
And it was, before Kaz showed up, but I couldn't tell the BB that.
"I doubt they are just gonna forget about what you did," Hunter stated evenly, likely weighing the pros and cons about my actions possibly coming back to affect them as well. "Are you sure you covered your bases as best you could?"
"As well as we reasonably could, yeah," I nodded. "I kept my face covered, took out all the witnesses we could, made sure there were no recordings or anything like that to recover, learned from my mistake and took out the homing device from the new ship we stole before ditching it and taking a secondary ride back here, all I could think of. All they should find is dead bodies, wrecked vehicles, and, at most, that a cat-like alien was involved, since it wasn't like we could hide Rowv's species super well."
"Could have been better… but it's not bad," Hunter eventually commented. "Good work."
"It's more than I would have remembered to do!" Wrecker almost bragged. "I usually just blow everything up. You can't get nothing from that!"
"Not entirely accurate, but still an effective means to hide any intelligence an enemy might use against you," Tech nodded as he played with his datapad. "Given the information Nick gave us, the odds of actually running into an inquisitor is extremely low unless there is a Jedi involved, given their primary mission, or they are given special instructions to do some other task. Given their predicted small numbers, even compared to the Jedi Order at their lowest, we are unlikely to ever run into them."
"Maybe, but better to be safe than sorry," Echo commented. "I've fought alongside enough Jedi, and against their enemies, to know they are extremely dangerous. We should always be prepared to run into them, and how to fight them if needed."
"Well, I can sell more than a few tools that might help with that!" I pointed out, not one to leave a potential business deal unexplored. "As a history-buff, I also know that there are ways to effectively fight against Force users and the like using purely mundane tools and skills. Just a matter of throwing them off their game and fighting them in ways they can't defend against."
"Interesting proposal, and I agree we should plan around the eventuality, but we can talk about that more later," Hunter pointed out. "For now, with your return, we can call this mission a complete success. Thanks for your help, Nick, and I'm glad you and Rowv made it back alive."
"We are too, thanks," I nodded. "I'll just be happy to do much less exciting jobs for a while after this."
"You and me both," Hunter smirked.
"And with me on the missions too," Omega reminded him, earning a chuckle from Hunter.
"Of course, Omega, how could we forget?"
"She won't let us," Wrecker mock-whispered to me with a smirk, earning him a playful glare from Omega, which just made him laugh.
After that we just hung out in the parlor for a little bit, chatting, drinking, and playing a few of the games. I idly mentioned how I had picked up a new crewmember on our way back to Ord Mantell, but left the details vague besides the fact he was a skilled mechanic.
It was around this time that Cid, the senator, and his protocol droid had finally come out of his office, and in fact the latter two were apparently on their way out the door since the senator had not only paid Cid, but helped set up transport for him off-world.
"Be sure to be at these coordinates at this exact time, cause your ride ain't gonna be sticking around for long," Cid told the senator as he handed him a datacard. "They'll get you where you wanna go quickly and quietly without anyone finding out, so long as you aren't shouting about it."
"Yes, thank you once again for your services, Ms. Scaleback," the senator said respectfully towards her, making her smile in response.
"Always a pleasure doing business with you, senator, and I'll gladly do it again for the right price," she said while rubbing her claws together.
"Of course, a woman of your abilities will naturally be well-compensated should I have need of your services again," the senator stated before turning around and noticing me, perking up a great deal. "Ah! And this must be the Mr. Claus I've heard about, I must give you my thanks as well for taking on such a large risk in order to aid in my rescue."
I was taken aback slightly as the man stepped forward and shook my hand thankfully.
"Eh, no problem," I stated. "It was just a job in the end, but anything that ticks off the Empire is a bonus, right?"
"Still, given what I heard you went through, you have my utmost thanks," he said before sighing. "I only pray that our actions won't bring even greater harm on my people, and ensure their sacrifice is not in vain."
Given what I knew the Empire tended to do to large populations as collective punishment for actions taken against them, especially one made up of former CIS… I decided not to say anything, or even think about it too deeply.
"I have also been informed by your colleagues that you are a skilled supplier of goods who is looking for potential clients among my fellows," the senator perked up again. "Given the state of things, I cannot be sure how willing and able they would be to make use of your services, or even their general condition as the Empire squeezes down on former CIS territory, but as thanks for your actions I promise to spread your name around. My protocol droid will hand you my secret commline so we may stay in contact as needed."
Sweet! Just what I wanted! And wow, the BB talked me up while I was away? I know a certain commando squad that is gonna get a nice new toy at a discount.
"I appreciate it, senator, and I hope this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship."
"As do I. Sadly, I cannot speak more for our transport offworld is arriving soon, but I hope to see you all again one day. Until then, may the Force be with you."
After that, his protocol droid handed me his commline code and both of them hurried out of the bar to parts unknown… for now at least.
"Ah kriff, you made it back," Cid sighed as she walked up to me. "Damn, I had 20 going that you wouldn't."
"Ha!" Wrecker laughed while I just frowned behind my helmet.
"Your confidence in my ability to stay alive is overwhelming," I said sarcastically.
"Hey, what can I say, you seem to give off the 'please kill me' energy or something," Cid shrugged before looking around. "Where's your pet?"
"Rowv is back at my ship getting treated for a combat injury."
"Oh? Well, at least I can get some credits back then from Bolo and Ketch on that," Cid stated. "I should also be annoyed about you potentially poaching a client of mine, but I'll let it slide this time since I'm in such a good mood overall."
"Why's that? Found some new idiot to fletch?"
"Several, actually," Cid smiled before patting Omega on the head. "Turns out the kid here is a real dejarik-shark. While you were all away, I started a local tournament with a big pot for anyone who thought they could beat her. No one did."
"Which we won't be doing again," Hunter reminded her with a scowl.
"Yeah yeah, I know, low-profile and all that," Cid waved him off. "Point is, I made a tidy profit from it all, enough to cover the clones' expenses for a while."
"I just wanted to help out the team, even if I wasn't on the mission…" Omega blushed.
"And you did," Hunter assured her with a hand on her shoulder.
"And gave us another reason why it's a bad idea to leave her here alone with Cid," Echo muttered, much to Wrecker's giggles.
"Heck, your battledroids that came by to watch her pulled their weight too," Cid noted. "Had them running the bar and acting as bouncers to deal with any sore losers while I organized everything."
"And their cut?" I crossed my arms.
"For droids?" Cid asked in confusion, which just earned her a flat stare. "Fine, we'll talk about it later. Which brings up another reason for my good mood. I found a buyer for sc'raths of yours while you were away, and was willing to buy up the whole stock, even. Something about being a Core antique supplier or something. All I know is that they can apparently charge a ton of credits to a bunch of rich clients, which means they were happy to buy in bulk."
"How much are we talking here?" I asked curiously.
"I was able to push for 10k credits for each one, and since you gave me a crate of fifty of them, minus my 20% fee…" Cid let me finish the math.
"400k credits?" I almost choked.
"That is what the math adds up to, yes," Tech helpfully commented, not seeming to realize I was in shock as I had to take a seat at one of Cid's barstools while everyone else looked on with wide eyes at my good fortune.
"Good work, Nick," Cid patted me on the shoulder. "Keep bringing in hauls like that, and we'll both be making a lot of money. See me in my office once you come down from that high of yours."
As Cid walked away, I started running the numbers in my head. Before I worried about going under my 50k floor, but I had apparently just earned eight times that on a single transaction. Even when I accounted for the fact that I was gonna be giving roughly rough back Togorians in the form of various goods they wanted, that was still quite the profit. And that was not even getting into how much more I could potentially get if I could convince them to part with even more of their swords if I showed them the result!
Granted, quality-made swords were cheap or fast to make, they used most of them themselves, giving me just the 'decent' ones to sell, and I was unlikely to find another antique dealer to buy so many at once after this purchase, with there being a large influx of them into market, but still!
The galaxy was a huge place, there are plenty of rich assholes out there that would love a nice sword to hang up on the wall to brag to people about!
"Nick, uh, Nick?" Omega shook me before looking at the BB. "Is he okay?"
"Should I give him a smack to knock him out of it?" Wrecker suggested.
"We don't want to give him a concussion. Just give him a minute," Hunter smirked.
"Looks like being shot down is really paying off for him," Echo joked.
"And the odds of that were almost mathematically impossible," Tech noted. "I should know, given the number of times we've had to make crash landings."
I had enough money to buy lots of ships now, even more if they were used!
Of course, as with most things in this universe, this was no excuse to relax. This was just a cash injection, after all. There was still lots to do, and plenty of more deals to be made.