"I'm going to get this bounty back to Karga. We can try for a few more bounties."

"Who's Karga again?"

"Greef Karga. The head of the Bounty Hunter's Guild on Nevarro."

"Ah, yes."

"And after that, maybe we can get some information on Grogu or where he is."

"Why do we need to know where he is?"

"I just need to."

Din scans the dead bounty's body with a 3-D scanner in his helmet to prove the bounty has been eliminated. The new tech makes it so you no longer have to truck around with a body in your ship to prove you've completed the job. I must say, I'm glad Seggor Ki won't be joining us on our ride back to the town.

I look down at my arms and examine the marks that remain. Bacta works quickly; they're just light marks left on the surface of my skin now. Same goes for Din's wound; the surrounding skin has healed significantly already. All that remains are a few light bruises which should go away by nightfall.

"I really fucked him up, huh?" I gloat. "I decided to go easy on him. Keep him intact for the bounty." I try my hardest to sound like it was an easy fight. In reality though, I could have easily lost. I'm lucky all I walked away with were a few light scars.

"You shouldn't have had to."

"We're a team now. Sometimes you gotta do some dirty work for your partner."

"Still not happy about it," Din mopes.

"I would've had him easy if I could carry my saber with me," I pause. "I don't think blasters are for me. I'm not very confident with it. I prefer melee, I think."

"We can find something else for you. You weren't bad with the blaster, though. More accurate than I would've expected."

I smile at him heartily. I wish I could see his smile.

"Come on," Din declares before turning to leave the tent. He hikes quickly up the hill toward the Starfighter, eager to get out of here.

*

"Come with me this time," Din asks. "It would be good for you to meet Karga."

"What should I expect?" I ask as I lift myself out of my seat in the ship. Din holds his hand out to help me climb out of the hatch above. He grunts as he lifts me.

"He'll probably ask you if you'd like some liquor. Some small talk, maybe," Din informs me. He pauses for a beat. "Just smile and be passive."

"He's not going to, like, frisk me for weapons or anything? No facial scans or anything like that?"

"You think he takes my weapons and scans my face?" Din asks sarcastically. I laugh at him.

"Okay, that might have been a dumb question," I chuckle. I follow Din as he hops off the wing of the ship and lands in that dark black sandy dirt just outside the city of Nevarro.

"We walk in, sit down, take the money and a new job, then leave. Simple and quick."

"That's what you said about this last bounty..."

"Well I'd hope we don't get ambushed while doing business with the head of the bounty ring."

"Good point. Which way?" I ask. Din points to the grand entrance to the town, slightly to our right. 

"Just follow me," he starts walking in that direction, but stops abruptly and turns around to face me again. "Oh, and don't tell him you're my... girlfriend or anything. In fact, don't say anything about our relationship."

I blink a few times to understand each of the words he just said. My cheeks blush slightly and I say, "So I am your girlfriend?"

I don't need to see his face to know he just rolled his eyes in the most dramatic way possible. He sighs and just starts walking toward the town.

"Hey, whoa. This is a big step," I tease him with a smile, "You have to be straight forward with me."

"Shut up," he chuckles. He grabs my hand and drags me toward the town. 

*

I follow closely behind Din as we walk through the dusty streets of this Nevarro city. There seems to be a lot of construction going on everywhere you look. Buildings are being put up on every corner. The city looks a lot nicer on the inside than it did out there.

Din leads me down a few streets and finally comes up upon a cantina on the side of a busy street. He slows down as he nears the door and leans down toward me.

"Just keep quiet. I'll do the talking."

I nod in agreeance and follow him through the door. Inside, a lengthy bar sits on the opposite wall from the entrance door. Small tables are strewn around the open area in front of the bar. To my right are some larger tables, all filled with patrons of different species. To my left are some booths, presumably made for more private encounters. Din walks directly to one of the booths to the left.

A darker skinned human looking male is sat at the farthest booth in the corner of the cantina. The booth is tended to my some larger-looking body guards, keeping a close eye on the goings-on around. I keep close on Din's heels.

He strolls up to the guards and puts his hand up, signifying something to them. They step aside, allowing him entry to the private booth. Din walks through, but the guards step in front of me before I can enter.

"She's with me," Din barks at the guards.

"She's not a part of the guild," one of the guards points out. Din turns and gets up close to his face in retaliation.

"I said she's with me," he growls. I've never seen him this aggressive before.

"Let her through," the man sitting in the booth calls over to his guards. "She's no threat. She's a guest!" 

The burly man steps aside, letting me through. Din lets his guard down and goads me into the inside of the booth, protected by him closing me in.

"I didn't know you were bringing a lady with you!" the man announces, "I didn't think Mando was one to have any friends!"

Din shifts in his seat uncomfortably, clearly tense about the man's comments.

"I'm Greef Karga," the man holds his hand out for me to shake it, "It's a pleasure to meet you...?"

"Koda," I tell him my name and shake his hand firmly.

"Ah, Koda! Please, have a drink!" Karga slides a large bottle of alcohol across the table to me.

I stop the bottle from sliding with my hand and push it gently back in his direction, "No thank you, I'm okay."

"Come on! You don't like to have any fun either? I know Mando always refuses my hospitality..."

"Where's my next puck?" Din chimes in to the conversation. He stares directly ahead at Karga across the table.

"Always so eager, you are, Mando. Relax! Can't we just enjoy each other's company before we get down to business?"

"We're on a schedule," Din tells Karga. He pulls out a memory chip and slides it across the table, "Here's proof that the last one was eliminated."

"Fine new technology, huh? It was a hassle transporting bodies all over the galaxy. Better to just take a full body scan of it to avoid the trouble. How are you liking the scanner, Mando?"

"My next puck, Karga," Din sounds firm. 

"Alright, alright... I have a few for you. Business is booming lately! I can only give you three pucks for now. There are a lot of hunters lately, all vying for payment. I have to distribute the pucks fairly." Karga slides three small black pucks across the table toward Din as well as a small sack of coins. Din scoops them up and shoves them in his pocket swiftly, wasting no time. 

"Pleasure doing business with you, Karga," Din announces before pushing himself up off the seat next to me.

"Leaving so soon? I haven't even had to chance to get to know your new employee!"

Employee?

Din grabs me by the arm and drags me out of the booth seat. 

"Pleasure meeting you, Karga," I squeeze out before Din puts himself between me and Karga and pushes me toward the door of the cantina. I trip over my own feet on the way out the door into the dusty sunshine.

"Aggressive," I comment on Din's demeanor. Aggressive with Karga, now with handling me.

He doesn't say anything, but just walks swiftly and with purpose. He speed-walks down the busy street through crowds of people, keeping a firm grip on my arm. He leads me through dozens of people to a small shop advertising seemingly hand-made clothes and various other things like bags, hats, and even weapons holsters. He hands me the entire bag of coins he procured from Karga.

"Get yourself a new outfit. Maybe a new bag, too. If you have enough. I'll be across the street." 

Before I can think or respond, Din is gone into the sea of people mulling around the shopping center. I look down at the sack of coins in my hands. Inside, there are several silver coins worth more than I'd ever made in a single night at the tavern back in the day. My eyes go slightly wide.

I shove the coins in my pocket safely and begin perusing the shelves inside the shop, looking for some new shorts and socks. I have plenty of shirts, but my shorts are looking a little raggedy these days. 

I try to work quickly, looking through the piles of clothes on each shelf. I pick out a longer pair of brown shorts. They look like they reach to about mid-thigh, which is where I like them. They also have plenty of pockets on each side. I can never have too many pockets. 

I continue looking through each pile of clothes but soon find myself looking at the weapons section of the shop. Near the back of the store there are dozens and dozens of weapon holsters, ammunition bags, weapon bags, you name it! My eyes go wide looking at each one.

My eyes settle on a black leather belt holster. It has several compartments on it for many different weapons. There's a blaster holster, a few small pockets for ammunition or small explosives, and a large melee weapon loop with a magnetic attachment. I pick it up off the shelf. 

The leather is brand new and shiny. The inside of it is soft to prevent any belt chafing. The belt itself has etchings along the edges for decoration. I walk over to the shop clerk with it.

"How much is this belt?"

"This belt for warrior only!" she says with an accent in broken common tongue.

"I am a warrior," I tell her.

"No, only for big scary man with many weapon! Warrior!"

My face scrunches into an angry expression. I pull a small knife out of my boot for proof.

"I said, how much is this belt?"

"Oh, no, no, no, put this away. Belt is twelve silver coins!" 

"And these shorts?"

"One silver coin!"

I drop thirteen silver coins on the counter and shove my knife back into my boot. I walk out with my new belongings. 

I cross the street full of people and try to find the food stand Din said he was going to. I'm pushed around left and right by people rushing to their destination with no care for other pedestrians walking around. 

I find Din stood with his back to me at a large food stand picking out several kinds of food from the vendor. He has a burlap bag draped over his shoulder making him look pretty funny- big scary man with cute fabric bag thrown sassily over his shoulder. He's a dichotomy, I swear.

I tap him on the shoulder. He flips around swiftly, ready to attack. I looks down and see his right hand resting on his holstered blaster, ready to draw it.

"I'm done," I tell him. I can see him take a dramatic breath before turning back around to the food vendor. He picks out a few more food items and tosses them in his sassy bag before turning and leading me out of the busy street. It doesn't take us long to get back to the entrance of town where the ship is parked.

We both take a deep breath, thankful to be out of the chaotic town center finally.

"So, what did you get?" he asks me.

I lift my new belt up and show him excitedly. "Look, there's a holster for everything on this!"

"You got a... belt?" he asks me, unimpressed.

My smile drops, "Yeah, it's super useful. Look, it's got a spot for everything I need. Blaster holster, explosives pocket, melee loop, and a magnetic attachment for my saber..." He just snickers at me. I look at him, confused. 

"I give you a sack of 20 silver coins and you get yourself combat belt?"

"I got shorts, too..."

"I thought girls liked shopping for clothes," he giggles at me.

"But this is useful for me instead. I have clothes," my tone drops.

"I wanted you to get yourself something nice with the bounty money. Since you're the one who eliminated the bounty and then saved my ass. I was trying to say thank you."

"But this is nice!" I exclaim at him.

"Just," he giggles at me some more, "Just get in the ship, Koda. Time for the next bounty."