Madlands

3. Covertly Voluntary

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The stars had just started to fade when she heard the whining roar of a twin-engine ship. It sounded like it was circling. She crawled to a porthole and watched it land, wide-eyed at the sight of an old Razor Crest coming to rest only a hundred metres from the fortress.

Things only got more interesting when she saw who stepped out of it. At first she thought it was a trick of the twilight and her scope, the appearance of a full set of dark-silver armour. When he got close enough to the soft pool of light spilling down from the trawler's hold, it came fully into focus. It was Beskar and he was a Mandalorian.

He must have come from far away and would be new to the sector. It looked like he wanted quite a number of supplies, and had been wise enough to skip the extortion of Unor. He would need more than fuel, parts, and food to make it through the Madlands as a new arrival. He would need information.

If she was right, and if things went that way, and if the Jawas came knocking for her to deliver some intel, she figured that she might just reveal a couple of her cards and see how the hand plays out.

At least something interesting was happening.

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Jawas here claim that ongoing access to your information is for sale, and that you come with it.

He'd come up the ramp and now stood alongside her, joining in the watch for the first sliver of the sun, though it was still too early. It was decent of him to address her directly before assuming that the deal was sealed. A good first sign.

Her gaze still set on the horizon, she let a long beat of silence of hang in the air while she weighed some risks. Getting into the ship of an unknown and armoured man, from who knows where, who had come to the region for who knows what reason, versus spending one more second in the fortress of boredom. She decided that a bit of easy early digging could help tip the scales and ensure that she wasn't, in fact, the reason he'd come here to begin with. She turned to look at him directly.

That does depend.

He faced her as well.

On what?

What's your profession?

How is that your concern?

Good to know if I'm assisting with an honest task or if I'll be aiding and abetting. I'm sure you can appreciate.

I'm part of the Guild, but I'm not active right now. On an independent job. It's unaffiliated.

He was a bounty hunter, a seeker, a tracker. While the revelation make her heart flutter momentarily, she calmed herself with the simple fact that this was the last thing he would have admitted if he was here for her. Besides, even piecing together her real identity, let alone her whereabouts, was beyond the Ministry's skill and resources.

Where are you coming from?

What difference does that make?

She tightened her jaw and held her stare. She could wait.

He sighed.

The Expansion Region, near Mimban.

You own the Crest?

I do.

Why have you come to the Madlands, of all places?

It was the Mandalorian's turn to dismiss a question. The slight tilt of his helm was enough to let her know that he didn't believe this to be necessary information. She moved on.