Chapter Six: Building Underground & The Second Bounty Run Begins:

And so, the week passed, with the same small routine that would happen every time she went into Hyperspace for an extended period of time. She approached Nevarro with a feeling somewhat like relief. Now, she could go get another bounty and get Qin's ugly frozen mug off her ship. If she saw his face again in all eternity, it would be too soon.

When Din landed on Nevarro, the injuries from the trigger-happy jerk on Naboo were healed and her irritation had simmered down. The carbonite slab that housed Qin was taken off the rack and pushed ahead of her, down the hatch. With the slab out of her ship, Din took the tow-remote that came with the carbonite processor and put it in her pocket. With it there, her hands were free and able to keep one hand on her blaster. She had scolded herself for almost the entire week about the fiasco on Naboo. 'I am usually vigilant everywhere. Just because I know Captain Ruvula and the Queen, doesn't mean that others will trust me and certainly doesn't mean I should let my guard down.' She thought as she approached the cantina to collect the bounty.

~ POV Change ~ {Greef Karga}

He got warning when the Ghost landed and was hauling the bounty into town on his own, in carbonite. It had baffled him for a moment, before, Karga realized that the paranoid Mando wouldn't even let someone on his ship to take a bounty if he didn't trust them. He sipped his shot of spotcka, grimacing. He didn't usually overindulge, but that first time the Mando had walked into the cantina had been a subject for the town gossips for the last couple of weeks, not really dying down yet.

'That bounty was also supposed to last him a month,' Greef was torn between irritation, amazement and amusement, 'I wonder if I send him on a small string of bounties, would Mando come back in a record time with carbonite slabs following him like bunch of babies following their mother?' He reclined back into the booth he sat at, and pulled out a list of wanted bounties that the Guild had been sent just in the last week.

It appeared in the last week, the news about the bounty business, especially with the Mandalorian, was getting around. He already had thirteen jobs that requested that the Mando do them personally. Maybe, if he gave that list to the Mando; there would be enough time to get more bounties in for more of the hunters. The hunters that were close enough to hear the alert were probably wondering the same thing he was about the speed though. And the carbonite. Most hunters didn't have that, they usually kept them in specialized prison cells and had the Guild unload the prisoners on repurposed slave ships to be off loaded wherever the bounties were wanted the most.

At that moment, in walks the Ghost trailing the slab. Greef almost felt a kind of amusement at the scene. It did kind of look funny. The Ghost didn't sit down, but kept standing. Karga honestly wondered for a moment what the man was waiting for. He gestured to the seat opposite, silently. That seemed to be what the Mando was waiting for. The Mando took the rifle from his back and sat down; rifle on the table under his hands. Greef noticed with some resignation that he still couldn't read the Mando's body language, but he bulled through the awkwardness – at least on his end – and said, "That was fast."

The Mando was silent as he took the hand off the rifle – closest to the trigger – and took out the pouch the held the bounty puck and tracking fob for the Twi'lek he had brought down. Placing it on the table in between them, the Mando waited, still silent. Greef nodded and placed the bounty's reward on the table, all nine thousand on the table. Ghost took six-thousand and pushed the other three thousand back towards Karga. He was puzzled and blurted out, "Not negotiating?" The Mando shrugged and sliding the reward out of sight. "What do you have?"

The voice was a raspy deep purr; without anger to make it sound like a dangerous predator was in mid-pounce to tear your throat out it actually sounded sexy. If Karga had been the kind of person attracted to the same sex, that voice would have been near enough to get his heart thumping for the other man. Greef gave himself a mental shake. He didn't need to be having a sexual attraction of any kind to one of his hunters. "I actually do," he replied and pulled out the thirteen jobs that had been specifically sent to the Mandalorian, "these are all been sent to the Guild specifically for you."

The Mando took each of the pucks out and looked at the information for each of the pictures. The glow of the pucks seemed to make blue flames appear on the visor. Karga blinked in startlement, the flames were gone in an instant. 'Must have been a trick of the light.' He thought to himself, as the Mando put all the bounty pucks back in their respective pouches. They too disappeared under the table.

Greef thought as the Mando got up and slipped the rifle back over his shoulder, 'Hopefully that will last the Mando a year or so.' "Good Hunting," he said as the Mando nodded in farewell as he walked towards the door and left.

"Not very talkative that one," the bartender drawled where he was cleaning one of the tankards. Karga snorted in agreement and finished the glass of spotcka he hadn't touched when the Mandalorian was there. Taking back the thirty-percent of the bounty that now belonged to the Guild, he could only hope that the Mando would continue to be as generous in the years to come.

~ POV Change ~ {Din Djarrin}

Walking out of the cantina, Din went into the bazaar. Using the entrance there to enter the sewers, it took her no time to find the old ferry droid on the lava river. She got in and as it beeped at her, it looked like it was barely functioning. "Downriver, to daylight," she said. As the droid obeyed, she started studying the craft.

It was an old craft with a very old anti-grav model that was about five decades out of date. The droid – she studied – looked just as old and was probably even older. That would be dealt with. It took a half an hour to get down to the entrance of the underground river. When she saw it, Din shook her head with amusement. It was lava flats. They were not stable enough to hold her ship so close to the river, but she could tell that they were safe enough to traverse – if you paid attention to where your feet were.

She wouldn't want to be caught out after dark though. While she did have night and infrared vision, the lava so close to the surface could make it impossible to really see a predator approaching on the ground. Also, night time predators would probably be equipped with some sort of natural blending of the terrain. So, if she could help it, she wouldn't be out here at night.

Din planted another tracker by the mouth of the underground river. She had an idea in mind to make things quicker and take out the need for the droid as well. Just because she used it, doesn't mean she trusted it and certainly didn't want to rely on it. Din got back on the barge and told the droid to taker her to the first underground tunnel they came to. The beeping seemed to be in confirmation and so the droid did as she commanded. It took another half an hour to get to the tunnel got within sight, she put a credit in the droid's "hand" once more. The droid collapsed in on itself and stayed at the entrance.

Din didn't stick around, she went back up the entrance at the bazaar and began walking around, looking for all the worlds like she was taking in the stalls and their various wares. She would make a stop at the bank and the clinic, with the bank first.

She made her way to the bank and went inside; straight to the console from two weeks prior. True to the time estimate, the entirety of the account was there in this bank. The Zabrak from before wasn't there. Instead, a Quarren was; who was busy fixing a droid that seemed to have malfunctioned. In any event, he would be busy. She turned to the console; keeping an ear out for anyone approaching. It took about an hour for her to split the account into three parts: one for investing in the clinic, one for savings for later and one for herself to withdraw overtime. She decided to withdraw about a quarter of that third now. It amounted to something like one-hundred thousand credits, after fees.

The amount was safety put away in the hidden sack on her back not five minutes later. She left in a little of sour mood, since the Quarren had said that a droid would have to get her money. Another interaction with a droid. She also pocketed the data chip for the first account's information. She would give it to Dr. Hadi and her sister/assistant Rekas, for use in investing in the clinic and in starting up the little bacta operation.

On the way to the clinic, she decided to do a little practice using her trump card. A kind of physical shield combined with an illusion. It would make her nigh invisible. Din started it as she went down a side alley so as not to draw attention to the fact, she was more special than being a rarity that was a Mandalorian.

The clinic was in sight and she was nearing the door, when it burst open. A bounty hunter in a cracked mask went hurtling through the air to land a few meters away. Dr. Hadi followed after with blaster in hand and a furious look on her face. "Come near this clinic again, you drunken piece of shit and I will set a bounty out on you!" The bounty hunter got to his feet, snarling in Huttese. While Din was contemplating getting involved, little Sona came to stand behind Dr Hadi. There were tears in her eyes and what looked like a hand-size mark starting to swell up on her face. Din saw red.

The bounty hunter was starting to go towards the clinic, when he was blindsided by a kick that sent him flying. Crashing into a trash receptacle, he turned to yell at the attacker only for him to near swallow his tongue. The Ghost Mandalorian was stalking towards him, rage seeming to be emitting from the Mando's body as he came nearer to the hunter. "You are a disgrace to the Guild," the voice seemed to draw all the warmth of the day from the air, leaving an icy wind to cut straight through his soul. "Get lost."

~ POV Change ~ {Dr. Hadi}

With that, the Mando turned and approached Dr Hadi who was looking on with surprised irritation. "I could have handled him, Mando. No need to butt in," she snapped at the Mando. "You shouldn't have to," was the only reply. "May I enter?" The doctor blinked and nodded as she holstered her blaster. Little Sona was pouting at the Mando with big sad eyes. As the trio came inside the clinic, Dr Hadi looked back at where the fool bounty hunter had landed.

She was amused to see no sign of the bounty hunter other than a puddle that everyone was avoiding. 'Well, there's one advantage to having a Mandalorian around,' she thought to herself, 'it scares off the drunkards and spice-eaters fast when he's around.' Dr. Hadi looked around to see that Mona and Rekas were both staring with surprised delight and little Sona was hugging the Mando around his thigh now. It was a cute sight, she admitted to herself, the big bad Mando being hugged by Sona as if he was a favorite uncle who had been away for too long – maybe even a beloved father. Hadi shook her head vigorously, trying to get the image of the Mando in such a light out of her head. 'Rekas's and Mona's infatuation with the man is already too much! I don't need to be adding to the list of women who want to rip the poor man's armor off.'

The Mandalorian was looking down at the little girl-leech on his leg and patted her head. Then he took both arms and lifted her, where the little girl was able to wrap her legs around his waist and hug him around the shoulders instead. It was – impossible as it seemed – even cuter picture than when little Sona was hugging his leg. The Mando sighed and nodded to the grown women in greetings.

'If he doesn't watch himself,' Hadi thought amused, 'He's going to end up with a wanna-be harem of women and a bounty on his head from jealous men-folk!' Rekas was offering the man a seat on the padded bench in the little corner, where they had a sitting area for when there were too many patients to care for at one time. The Mandalorian did sit down, little Sona letting go of him only to burrow into his side. An arm instinctively went around the girl, and all three women could see the protective – almost parental – instincts that the Mando had for the child. Hadi knew that the crush she had for the man might have just grown a little harder to deny, while she thought if Mona and Rekas got any more starry-eyed, someone would try to use them for navigating space. She shook her head and asked "How was the trip?"

The Mandalorian looked at her and said, "Eventful." The women frowned in concern and little Sona said, "Shiny-Head! You left without saying good-bye." Sona looked like she was going to cry. The Mando looked down at her and seemed to sigh. "I am not used to saying good-byes. My apologies, adiik," "What?" Mona said startled. The Mando seemed to realize what he said and seemed to be a little embarrassed, "It is nothing. Adiik, it means kid, children in a certain age range." Turning to little Sona, he seemed to go stern, "I don't mind you hugging me, but I do mind being called – of all things," here he seemed to twitch, "Shiny-Head. If you must call me something other than Mando or Mandalorian, you may call me Ghost or," he seemed to hesitate here; pausing as if a thought was going through his helmeted head that meant something very important. "Or," he continued slowly, "Or you may call me Ba'vodu, in private."

None of the others knew what the title meant, but the women could understand how much little Sona seemed to mean to the Mando. For him to let the young one call him something in – what they assumed – the language of the Mandalorians. They wondered what the term meant. Mona asked after the term and the Mandalorian's reply was one that near knocked them off their proverbial feet. "It means uncle or in this case, aunt."

The knowledge that had just been casually dropped by this Mandalorian – the femaleMandalorian – was enough to make all three women look at him – her – in total surprise. The newly-named Ghost just looked at them and tilted his – her – helmet in puzzlement. Hadi was the first to wrench her mind from the blanket of shock that had settled over it. "What did you mean by eventful?" She asked; settling down in a chair just to the side of the padded bench where the Ghost sat.

Rekas and Mona sat down in other chairs, faces still having the look of stunned shock on their faces. Ghost looked down at Sona again and began to tell his – her – tale. It was heavily edited – all three women could tell – and was probably so for the child nestled in the Ghost's side. It looked like Sona had fallen asleep again. 'It must be that voice of hers,' mused Hadi, 'when she isn't angry or uptight about something, it sounds like a soothing purr from a loth-cat. Even through that bucket.'

When Ghost finished her tale, she added, "Now about investing in the clinic and starting bacta-manufacturing," pulling out a data-chip, she put it on the table. Rekas hesitated and picked it up while Mona and Hadi continued to look at the Ghost. "That data-chip has the funds needed to start the set-up. And this," another data-chip, this one was much thicker than the first, "has a copy of the blue-prints to make a small manufacturing system that can fit in the part of the old sewers below this clinic and a list of parts that could be bought cheap elsewhere and sent here on one of the regular supply drops."

Ghost seemed to fight with herself and then stated, "I am going to make a little bolt-hole down in the sewers. Because you have a child and are now being invested in by me," she looked at the three other women, "I feel that I must tell you, just in case something goes wrong and you have to get off-planet and need somewhere to hide." That was enough to get them all to look sharply at the Mando and at each other. Hadi thought long and hard.

The galaxy was a big and dangerous place, Nevarro – with its hive of bounty hunters and frequent volcanic eruptions – wasn't any less dangerous. This Mandalorian – Ghost – was giving them a way out just in case things went badly and, in the meantime, giving them this wonderful opportunity of their lifetimes, which included protection provided by a legend. Hadi stood up and walked over to the Ghost. The Ghost looked at her, as Hadi sat down beside her – on the opposite side of Sona. Impulsively, she threw her arms around the Mandalorian and hugged her tightly.

Hadi felt the Ghost stiffen and said, "I know it is against your way to show your face or share your name, but what is the word for 'Friend' in your language? I would like to call you that, until you trust us enough with your name." The Ghost sat stiffly in her embrace, while Rekas and Mona stared at her, as if she had turned into a dancing Ewok. It felt like an eternity before the Ghost said, in a hoarse tone heard even through the voice modulator, "Burc'ya." Hadi smiled, "We'll call you that in private and Ghost for in the public view." The air seemed to brighten with a relief from tension and too many surprises. She released their Ghost and got up. "Now," she said, "What do you have going on now? After your first bounty."

Ghost said, "I will be going out for another bounty run. Thirteen jobs to do on this run. It might take at most two years. I will be resupplying while on planet, before heading for those jobs. Secretly, I will be making that bolt hole." Rekas and Mona had seemed to snap out of their shock induced silence. Rekas got up and said, "I'll start with getting some of the materials. No brow raisers, though," she quirked a smile, "Just some of the components for the tanks, maybe the tanks themselves. If I get some at certain places around town, I might be able to make a kind of bath from a repurposed tank to say that we are experimenting with some more primitive medical techniques," she trailed off as she got up and crossed over to the computer console for the clinic. Muttering to herself, she started puttering away with the thing.

Mona stayed seated and asked Ghost if there was anything, she could do to help with securing the to-be bacta tanks or even the bolt hole. She – Ghost that is – seemed to think a moment before giving her assent. With conditions. "It has only been two weeks," she said, "if you start feeling tired, please go rest."

Mona nodded and rose from her seat. Ghost tried to rise, but little Sona just whined and held onto her tighter. Ghost looked at Sona and shook her slightly. "Wake up, Sona," she said, "There is work to be done." Little Sona sat up and looked around for a moment until she realized that her new auntie hadn't left already and that she had been sleeping on her for some time. Hadi smiled, Sona was such a cuddler. If anyone of the clinic – that being Sona's mother, Rekas and herself – were not tending to patients and were sitting somewhere working on something; little Sona had to be nestled into their sides like some weird human-shaped loth-cat.

Young Sona, yawned hugely and hugged Ghost's leg. Releasing the Ghost, she said in a sleepy voice, "Promise you'll say good-bye?" The Ghost looked down at her and picked her up. Hugging the girl, she said, "I will be on planet for a while, but before I leave to go off-planet, I promise," her voice that raspy and – to Hadi's mortification – still sexy thing coming from her helmet, "I will say good-bye."

Sona was put down and the little girl went over to the cot she shared with her mother. Taking her stuffed bantha doll with her as she followed Mona and Ghost into the back. Hadi was glad now that she thought of it, that K8-MB1 was out running errands again. She didn't want to make Ghost uncomfortable.

[A Week Later]

The group at the clinic said their goodbyes for the last time, before Ghost left the planet for her jobs. There were a few tears and Sona was near inconsolable, until Ghost told her that she was depending on Sona to look out for her mother and aunts. One last hug, before the Mando walked out the back entrance that led down to the almost completed small-time bacta factory. As Sona went outside to play at Mona's urging, Hadi looked at both of them, "So, no more infatuation over Ghost?" At the two women's blushes and silence, Hadi said with an almost deadpan look on her face, "You two have to be kriffing kidding me."

~ POV Change ~ {Din Djarrin}

'Honestly,' she thought to herself as she climbed aboard her ship, 'I am going to miss that little group. But it will be good to go out on a Hunt, again.' The week that she had spent on Nevarro had been eventful. The small-time bacta factory was near ready for operation – it just needed a few more items needed that were on route to Nevarro, Greef Karga had been told exactly what the drunkard bounty hunter had done and said-hunter had near been expelled from the Guild – his punishment ending up being a lookout for Karga with a bump to the bottom of the list of hunters waiting on a puck, resupplying the Razor Crest and – what actually had taken up most of her time – getting the barge retrofitted with a robotic system to take people up and down the lava river a little quicker than the old droid could and that could only be accessed by five chits so far – held by her and the clinic's residents. The droid had been claimed by Rekas, saying she would like to see if she could reprogram the droid for helping with deliveries and updating it where she could. For her sake and all, Din hadn't made too many objections. Her only condition was that the damn thing not be around her when she was on planet.

Another bright spot about the trip to the clinic, was the knowledge that Mona was gaining healthy weight and did indeed – learn at lightspeed. Most of the bacta-manufacturing project was done by her and Rekas. All the residents were determined and strong, even little Sona, who followed her around in the sewers, instead of playing on the surface. She would help Din with the barge and practice saying Ba'vodu. Always carrying the bantha toy. It was very endearing and made Din feel a little jealous of Mona, to have such a sweet child.

Din shook her head in exasperation. She was getting soft, she needed to Hunt. As she broke atmosphere, Din put in the coordinates for the closest job. A little intimidation ploy it seemed. One gangster group trying to bluff another gang into giving some territory up. There weren't a lot of details on this one, but it was the closest.

Calculations complete, Hyperspace beckoned. Din didn't disappoint. Entering Hyperspace, the alarms coming on automatically to say when she was making the final approach in about one and a half hours, she climbed down the ladder to the lower deck. Taking off her helmet, she gnawed on a couple of ration bars while she took out all the new job pucks and for good measure, the data-pad that contained the list of Imperial locations that she had gotten from the New Republic.

Placing them on the table top all together, she began to sort them out. Most were regular bounties, a few bail jumpers. There five that were not regular at all, one being the first one she was heading for. Two were assassination contracts. One was for a Gangster that had gotten on the wrong side of a Hutt. The other was for a corrupt governor who had pissed someone off enough in the New Republic to offer such an amount of credits. The Hutt wanted proof of termination – probably the head – delivered to them on Tatooine. The New Republic associate that wanted the corrupt governor gone, only wanted the killing public, didn't care if it was revealed to be a Mando or not. The last two were protection details. One was for about five standard months while the Senator was residing at Canto Bight, about six standard months from now. The other detail for that same Senator's kids, respectively seven, ten, ten and fifteen; at the same time.

She grimaced; five months was quite a space of time. And basically, as a babysitter for a politician and their kids. She didn't know which prospect was worse: the politician or the kids. She would have to be quick with the others though. Quick, however, didn't mean careless or sloppy. Along the way, there were at least twelve different Imp sites she wanted gone that were either nearby some of the jobs or on route. Din checked the details of the bail-jumpers. Not an innocent one in the lot. All were smugglers working for the same gangster – a different one than the one that had pissed off a Hutt – with one wanted for attempted rape as well.

Din knew that with them skipping bail like that, they wouldn't be there with their boss. They would be somewhere else, hiding from the bounty hunters and continuing to work. And according to their tracking fobs, they were all together on a backwater planet in the Hoth system. Probably freezing their gonads off and wishing for a warmer setting. She would be happy to oblige that no-doubt wish of theirs. Carbonite wasn't much warmer, but you wouldn't die from freezing to death in it like you most certainly would in the Hoth system.

Looking over the information from the tracking fobs that were actually included with the protection details, she smiled a predator's smile. The information on each of them included enough to find more on the Holo-Net about schedules. Sketchy as it was out this far from the Core, Din could look up any pertinent information on public events. The big computer on the lower deck was able to access the Holo-Net, where the one in her personal quarters couldn't. She turned it on to look up the itinerary of the corrupt governor and the Senator. The politics that they got into, what circles they traveled, acknowledged rivals and enemies and even allies. It was for the most part there. Of course, that didn't include anything informal, or private. The stuff that said such things, she ignored. The gossip rags of the galaxy, trying to sell stories for credits. Not really worth her time.

The predator's smile returned to her face, bigger than the last one. She knew how to make this work and be back on Nevarro within a year and a half. Wouldn't that surprise the Guild and probably anyone else who noticed her record. If she could pull this off, even with those little detours to go burn some Imps, within the year she wanted to, her reputation would get even more legendary. It might even get big enough to echo out to the larger part of the galaxy to let other Mandalorians know, she existed. It would also send a clearer message to the remaining Imps: there was someone hunting them who was a hell of a galaxy better than the New Republic hunters could ever hope to be. And then she could meet the Jawas on Tatooine to make the modifications to the Razor Crest, when she went to deliver the head of the gangster to the Hutt as proof of termination!

The amount of credits for this run would add up – according to her quick estimation, about half a million credits. Not the biggest run she had ever had, but certainly not the smallest. Glancing up at the alarm, she donned her helmet once more. Putting the pucks and fobs away in their respective pouches, Din tucked the ones not associated with this first job into her hidden sack. Climbing back up the ladder into the cockpit, Din Djarrin smile – if seen – would make a Rancor back off.

It took about twenty minutes to land in the hangar that belonged to the gang that had hired her services. When she did, Din climbed down the ladder and made sure that she took her Amban rifle with her. The pouches at her belt were fully stocked and ready before she had even left Nevarro. She was still smiling when she walked down the ramp, walking towards the welcoming party. The first job was about to begin.