For those new, I work during the week in finance. My four busiest times of the year are December/March/June/September, with September being the busiest of the four. I try to write when I can. Been recouping this last week, but we are back!
Upload schedule will be as follows: Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday. No chapters Monday/Tuesday. Cheers!
*
"Keep your voice down.", I whispered while directing the hologram toward another direction. This time, it was pointed at the compound in the near distance. It had a main gate, which was heavily guarded by several sentries beneath dark and militaristic-styled armor. But every single suit had one thing in common. Ahsoka immediately frowned the moment she saw a sun-like symbol etched on the exterior of each suit.
"...That's the Black Sun!", Ahsoka uttered softly, shock remained in her eyes. "Okay, seriously. Did you receive a high-end bounty or something, Samus? What exactly happened in these couple of days after you departed Master's ship?", Ahsoka continued, still shocked at what she was observing.
"Let's just say I've been busy. I take it you don't like these guys.", I responded, feigning ignorance. I knew who the Black Sun was. During the Clone Wars, only a few crime syndicates were active. The Black Sun is one of them. These guys are more about smuggling arms and illegal weapons whereas the Hutts focus on person trafficking, often dealing with slavery. I'd say human trafficking here, but this is Star Wars, where a myriad number of aliens and different species exist. The Hutts dive into all kinds of them. Then you got the Pikes. They control the spice runs. Each syndicate plays different roles here, but they often tread upon each other's territory.
And this is one such scenario. The Black Sun here has a hidden base on Planet Toydaria, which is right next to the Hutt Space.
"How could we? The Black Sun has structure. They are much more uniform than other syndicates are. They mostly tend to their own business so we don't really get in their way, unless they start pushing certain buttons to the point where we would be forced to play our hand. You didn't seek out one of their territories, did you?", Ahsoka questioned.
"That isn't exactly how it went down. It is as you said, I accepted a certain bounty. I can't go into the details, because of client confidentiality and all of that. I recently arrived on one of your newly acquired bases in the mid rim. I have business here. Planet Toydaria.", I said, explaining where I was to Ahsoka.
"Planet Toydaria. You seriously went all the way out into the Mid Rim? In this short amount of time!?", Ahsoka exclaimed. Her frame shifted back to look at my way again. My purple-plated armor shimmered with the glistening moonlight that peered downward which created visible spots within the misty atmosphere.
"I have my ways. I can't spill every little secret of what I can do now, can I?", I answered, smiling inside my helmet.
"Fine, fine. You bounty hunters always have varying degrees of secrecy. We're already in a cooperative relationship, so I won't press it further. Seeing this many secured goods, it sounds like they've acquired some of the Republic weapons. I take it you're tipping us off.", Ahsoka said, taking a moment to sigh while her eyes grew serious. "And they might be smuggling them into the Outer Rim as we speak."
"Exactly. While they operate in other regions of the Inner and Mid Rims, they've already encroached on the outskirts of the Mid Rim, sprouting up here on Toydaria. I do not know if the Black Sun has already started clashing with the Hutts, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Hutts also have a base here. This planet plays a key role in smuggling goods across large amounts of trade routes. If this is left unattended, more and more bases might start sprawling out of the ground. Figured it'd be best to notify you.", I said, keeping it short.
Hearing this, Ahsoka nodded.
"Thank you for this information, Samus. I will relay this to the Council and see if they can approve a measure to divert some of our forces to clean up this mess. We've some stationed on the base we built, but it won't hurt adding an extra layer or two of security.", Ahsoka replied while nodding her head. "I do not know if this will happen immediately. You aren't planning to take this base all by yourself, are you, Samus?", Ahsoka continued to ask.
"Haha! I will tell you one more thing about my...particular skillset. You see Ahsoka, taking on clankers isn't what I do best at. It is infiltration and going behind enemy lines. Now that is where my true strength lies.", I said.
"Sure...", Ahsoka nodded at my words, still not believing me fully. It'll be up to her to decide whether or not to trust the skillset I possess. It is still new to me, since I took over Samus's body and all of that thanks to the transmigration, but I am able to recall these memories quite easily. Adapting to them will come with it, before it becomes muscle memory to call my own. Taking on this Black Sun base is a good first step to that. And a good example of how Samus excels at infiltration is nicely portrayed during Zero Mission, where she is stripped down to her Zero Suit and is forced to make way through a gigantic space pirate base nestled inside Chozo Ruins undetected to get her powers back.
This time around, I wasn't suddenly dropped into some place. I can get a nice scope of the base first, and determine the best possible entry. Moreso, I have my powerups to start with! I am not just left with a stun blaster this time.
Still, I saw determination appear in Ahsoka's eyes as she spoke to me.
"Either way, I will relay this information, as I have said earlier. Depending on the severity of it, you will be granted additional compensation. We will need your banking records if you are unable to claim payment in person.", Ahsoka said to me.
"Excellent. Once I have that information ready, I will provide it to you on a secured line. Until then, I hope you do well with whatever it is you're tackling next.", I said.
"It's a shame you can't join the Shadow Squadron. Master would have loved your assistance to take that gigantic ship down. But it is clear you are preoccupied at the moment, so I will not request your presence. Just be safe, alright?", Ahsoka responded, nodding her head at me again.
"No promises~", I said, half-jokingly. "But Ahsoka, one more thing before you go.", I suddenly called out to her. She raised her eyes after hearing that.
"Oh? And what would that be?", Ahsoka asked, gaining interest.
"Watch your back while you go on missions, alright? You've mentioned having trust issues in the past. Do not let someone slip under the rug.", I said, warning Ahsoka. I didn't explicitly point out a particular person, but Ahsoka turned quiet while hearing that.
"...Even Master?", Ahsoka paused, before deciding to ask me that. I remained calm.
"I will leave that up to you to figure out. For now, good luck taking that ship down.", I said, before abruptly ending the call with the holopad. The atmosphere turned still, making me go into my thoughts again.
I wasn't sure whether or not to spell it outright. I'm talking about the matter of Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader. Ahsoka is his Padawan, and plays a pivotal role in Anakin's life right now. On top of that, Ahsoka goes through major growths of her own from here on, and Anakin turning to the dark side also plays a major role in that. Ahsoka starts distrusting people because the people who she used to trust betrayed her. The Jedi Council, and it went as far as her prompting to leave the Council altogether, trying to find her own way in the galaxy. From there, she becomes much more independent, and her strength soars to new levels.
I am not sure if I should interrupt that process. Take all of that out, and what is Ahsoka left with? Adding to that, it hasn't been that long since we've first met. If I suddenly said that Anakin becomes a Sith, she likely wouldn't even believe me. With even a tiny bit of persuasion into this matter, Ahsoka could even start developing Force Visions of this. Is that weight I want to carry right now?
Right now, not a single chance. Perhaps once more of the Clone Wars plays out and her trust starts wavering with her fellow Jedi, I may start to reveal more things of a future that could happen. Currently, warning Ahsoka to watch her back should suffice.
I was alone again on one of the nearby rooftops of a random warehouse. The eerie mist continued to roll in, and some members of the Black Sun would come and go, hiding into the mist altogether.
[It sounds like that conversation went well. The Republic should be enough to clean this mess up once you go in and take out your target.] Adam's voice called out to me, revealing his cute tiny face on the corner of my visor.
"It should, anyway. Once their leader is taken out, chaos will ensue. They will try to find out who did it, but they'll be eating my space dust long before they figure it out~", I happily replied.
[Or so you say. But with what you said earlier, do you know of certain events that have yet to take place?] Adam asked me, managing to pick up on that.
"You could say that. I know of a possible future that could take place here. The place we've been taken to is a story called Star Wars. It has its own structure. Its own galaxy. It isn't the galaxy we once knew, Adam. Since both of us were brought here, its laws of causality very well might have already started to change. And what's worse, regardless of being a Jedi or Sith, these people are all classified as Force Users. They have a rather dangerous ability of tapping into the Force and see what are called Force Visions. It is possible that some of them have already started witnessing things.", I uttered, keeping my voice low.
[...] Adam tried to say, but didn't immediately answer. [This Force. I will need to look into it further. There is much we don't know, Samus.] Adam finally said to me after trying to figure out what I had said to him.
"And I have reached the same conclusion.", I replied. I do not know if I can even use the Force yet.
And while I have brought his name up already, in moments like these, I will refuse to do so here. Call it me being paranoid, but it is very possible that guy is already aware of my presence, regardless of whether or not I can use the Force.
I could only gulp down a filtered breath of air for now, and turned to the task at hand. I remained quiet, unseen. The Black Sun wasn't aware of my arrival inside their vicinity.