Ch. 3

'Don't worry Snips, this is just a simple infiltration mission; all you have to do is get onto the slaver ship, and stall long enough until the Separatist fleet arrives. Then just contact us, and we'll take care of the rest. I'm sure you can do that, no problem, I did train you for this after all.'

The Relentless; the next morning

When the former Slave woke up, she could hear Talon talking to someone, and older woman, based on the speakers voice. The Togruta got out of bed, but she was still too weak to stand on her own, so she grabbed hold of a nearby desk and used that as support as she walked out of the bedroom. Once she was in the hallway, the Togruta began leaning on the wall, and slowly made her way to the bridge. After about five minutes of walking, she finally reached the bridge, and saw Talon leaning back on his chair, his feet resting on a blank part of his control console, and talking to someone on a screen, though the Togruta couldn't see the woman's face, she could hear her voice just fine.

"That girl sounds like she's had a hard life; I already feel sorry for the poor thing." The woman said in a raspy voice.

"Yeah, but I don't think she spent her entire life as slave; she seems to well educated." Talon explained, and the woman sighed.

"Well, she was lucky to have found herself in your care; I know no one could take better care of her than you, Talon." The woman said, and Talon chuckled.

"Thanks. So, Carlatta, am I given permission to land on Outland II?" Talon asked.

"You know better than to ask for permission to land on my station; of course you can. Talon!" Carlatta, who was red skinned Toydarian said, and Talon smiled. He was about to say something, when he heard the faint sound of breathing, and turned around to see the Togruta, looking at him and his communication screen, and it looked like she was about to fall to her knees, so Talon jumped up and immediately helped her to the seat next to his.

"Thank you, Talon." The Togruta said, and Talon smiled as he got back in his pilots seat. Talon then looked back at Carlatta, who was smiling at Talon, and then, the bounty hunter realized he hadn't introduced the Togruta to his oldest friend.

"Oh yeah! Carla, this is my new friend…uh…" Talon struggled, trying to think of something to call the Togruta. But he still hadn't learned her name.

"You can just call me…Snips." She answered, and Talon was confused by the name the Togruta decided to call herself, but shrugged and decided he would ask her later.

"Right…Snips. Snips…this is my oldest friend, Carlatta, or you can just call her Carla." Talon introduced, and the Toydarian gave Snips a warm smile, which she returned.

"It's nice to meet you dear." Carlatta said, and Snips nodded.

"Likewise, ma'am." Snips said politely, but Carlatta laughed.

"Please, call me Carla. I don't like being called ma'am; makes me feel old." Carlatta requested, and Snips chuckled and smiled.

"Okay." Snips said, and Talon and Carlatta continued their conversation, when something from Carlatta's side of the connection started beeping.

"Talon, I just received word of a bounty for a man wanted by the Correctional Authority that's here on my station; his name is Kyle Triton, and he's wanted for assault, murder, and for cheating casinos out of hundreds of thousands of credits. Reward is thirty-five thousand alive, fifteen thousand for dead. He's also causing some problems, including robbery and assault. If you'd be so kind enough to take care of him for me?" Carlatta asked, and Talon nodded.

"Okay Carla, I'll handle it, but when I get to the station, I want a speeder waiting at the docking bay to take Snips to your office. I'll send you some cash credits to get some proper clothing and some food; she hasn't eaten a proper meal in a couple months at least, so give her something light to eat, otherwise her body won't be able to handle it. I also don't want anyone giving her any bad looks, so I want this done quickly and quietly as possible" Talon said, and Carla nodded.

"I understand; I'll have a droid operated speeder pick her up and you can get started on your hunt when you arrive. How long are you from Outland II?" Carla asked, and Talon checked his galactic map.

"We're about ten minutes out. See you there." Talon said, and he ended the transmission. With his business with Carla finished, Talon turned around in his chair and looked at Snips, who was looking at him anxiously, and chuckled. "Carla is my oldest friend; she's helped me many times for almost a decade, from helping me locate bounties, to hiding me from the Correctional Authority when things got to hot." Talon explained, a smile forming on his lips.

"She's seems very nice. How'd you meet her?" Snips asked, and Talon leaned back in his chair.

"It was about nine years ago, give or take, I was on a hunt that had lasted me for a couple of weeks; I was after this guy that had cheated a company he was working for out of a multi-million credit contract, turns out he was corporate spy for another company that wanted that contract. I had him on the run. He thought he could lose me on Outland II, and it was working for the first couple of days, until he showed up a beast fight; he placed a big bet on a beast that was fighting the arena's champion, and to make sure he won he drugged the champion with a neurotoxin, making it weaker in the fight. Carla, the champions owner, knew something was wrong with her beast, so when the fight was over and my target won, she had him given an autopsy, and discovered the toxin, and traced it to the scumbag. Carla put a bounty on his head for dead, and since the company that hired me wanted him dead, I got even more determined to kill him when learned the payout had increased. After receiving the update about the extra bounty posted on this guy, I quickly found him, trying to sneak aboard a cargo speeder to get off the station; I wasn't going to let him. I pulled out my EE-3 carbine, lined up a shot in the crowd, waited for a clearing, and BWAAP! Clean shot into the back of the guys head, with absolutely no collateral damage, and no messy kill. I collected my reward from both the company, and the Carla; I went to Carla personally to get the reward in cash. When I arrived, I told her of my accomplishment, and although she saw it on the security recording in her office, she was surprised to see that it was fourteen year old that arrived to collect." Talon explained, and Snips was surprised to hear how old he was when this event happened.

"Wait; you were only fourteen years old when you killed this guy?" Snips asked, and Talon nodded.

"Yep; I had been bounty hunting for…about a year then, all I had was the clothes on my back, a simple, but effective, blaster pistol, and my newly purchased EE-3, which I was very proud of. Anyway, Carla asked what I was doing, being a bounty hunter at fourteen, and I explained to her why. After that, she decided to help me out and find out about bounties for me when she could, and I agreed to give her small finders fee when she finds their approximate location." Talon explained, and Snips just gave him an amazed look.

"Wow…but Talon, can I ask you something?" Snips asked, and Talon nodded. "What were you doing, being a bounty hunter that young?" Snips asked, causing Talon to chuckle and turn around in his chair.

"A story for another time." Talon said, and Snips rolled her eyes. "So, did you sleep well?" Talon asked, and Snips nodded.

"Yes, thank you. How long was I out?" Snips asked.

"Oh…about twelve or thirteen hours, more or less." Talon answered, and Snips' jaw dropped.

"Twelve or thirteen…and you had to ask if I slept well?" Snips asked, and the two laughed for a few seconds, when the bridge of the ship started beeping.

"We'll be exiting hyperspace in a few minutes. You stay here; I gotta get ready for my hunt." Talon said, and he got out of his chair and went to his bedroom to put on his armor and ready his assortment of weapons. It took him about five minutes, and by the time he returned, the ship was exiting hyperspace, and Outland II was in sight. "Outland II was built about a year after the Battle of Naboo; after the original was destroyed by a bounty hunter for some unknown reason. Back before it was destroyed, the original Outland was owned by Carla's sister, Rozatta, but she was killed when the station was destroyed. Carla received the rights to the station, and the money Roz had in her money account, which was enough to allow her to rebuild the station. She's been in control of it ever since." Talon explained, and although Snips knew it was Talon, she didn't recognize his voice because of helmet made his voice a bit deeper, but when she turned around, she was shocked when she saw Talon in his armor. From what she could tell, the armor was made out of reinforced durasteel, had an armories worth of weapons, a personal shield generator, a cloaking device, a rocket-mounted jetpack, and the helmet was an interesting design; it had two circular eye visors, though the right visor was twice as big as the left. Anyone that doesn't know who's under the helmet, would have every right to be scared if he was behind them.

"Wow…" Was all Snips had to say, and Talon smirked, though it was hidden by his helmet. Talon then got in his seat, and piloted the Relentless into the hanger bay he was directed to. The three wings on the ship folded as the ship lowered onto the landing platform, where a speeder was waiting for them outside. Talon lowered the ramp, and Snips got up, with Talon's help, and quickly got out of the ship and into the speeder.

"Carla will be waiting for you when you arrive, and she'll get cleaned up and something to eat, as well as some proper clothes. When that's all done, just wait for me to get done with my hunt, and I'll return as quickly as I can." Talon said, and he closed the speeder door, and the speeder took off, causing Talon to smile slightly, but it quickly disappeared as Triton's profile appeared on his helmet HUD. "Okay you miserable bastard, you won't be able to hide for long." Talon said to himself as he walked out of the hanger, and into the massive the station's populated area.

Carlatta's office; five minutes later

When Carla opened the door of the speeder, she was surprised to see the state Snips was in, wearing nothing but rags, her skin pale and covered with dirt and bruises, and she looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Carla then flew over to Snips, grabbed her arm, and helped her into the office where she ran things, which was filled with droids, control consoles and security holos. Carla got a chair from a nearby table and helped Snips sit down, while thinking what she should do to help Snips first.

"Okay dear, you just sit here while I fix you something to eat; I'll be back in a few minutes." Carla ordered, and Snips nodded while Carla hovered into another room, giving Snips some time to think over recent events.

'This is all so strange…I wake up, not remembering a thing; who I am, how I wound on a slavers ship, and go through two months of nearly starving to death, not getting any solid sleep, and the constant fear of being bought for some mans perverted pleasure. Next thing I know, I'm blindfolded and gagged, and forced onto a strange planet, where I hear men bickering about prices and who they want to buy, and I even hear other slaves being beaten, and I remember feeling one of the slaves blood splattering on me as her screaming stopped And finally, I hear a fight, men screaming a dying, and someone removing my gag, and starts carrying me, gently, to his ship, and he removes my blindfold and shows that he's a bounty hunter just a few years older than me, and is trying to help me. I don't know if I should consider myself lucky, or if I just have an insane life…probably both…though I don't really consider my amnesia lucky…' Snips thought to herself, when Carla flew back into the room, carrying a tray of fruit and juice. 'Though I do find being in Carla and Talon's care lucky.'

"Here you go dear. After you finish eating, I'll set up a shower for you in the refreshers so you can get cleaned up. And while you're doing that, I'll try and get some proper clothes for you. Hopefully I can find your right size." Carla said, and Snips smiled.

"Thank you for taking time to help me Carla." Snips said gratefully.

"It's my pleasure, dear. If you're a friend of Talon's you're a friend of mine." Carla said cheerfully, and Ahsoka began to eat.

A/N: Well, you now know another major character in this story, Carlatta the Toydarian. You may have noticed some references to the video game Star Wars Bounty Hunter. To be honest, I sorta got my inspiration for this story from that game, mainly character wise. Anyway, in the next chapter, you'll meet the next main character, one if the antagonists in this story. Also if any of you can think of anything for Snip's bounty hunter armor, I know this may seem like a spoiler, but I think we all knew she was heading down that path in the story anyway. I'll take all suggestions, and I'll also take regular clothes suggestions for her, though I already have an idea for that.