Into a Galaxy at War (Bounty Hunter Edition)

Spike walked through the crowd in Nem'ro the Hutt's palace. When he got to Nem'ro, a Houk said, "Look, master, small tiny man come to beg mighty Nem'ro's attention."

Nem'ro shook his head, and spoke in Huttese to Spike, which he still understood every word, "Forgive him, he lacks manners. You're the bounty hunter I've heard so much about. Cleaning the scum from my streets is a menial task to the person Mako says you are. But Mako says many things."

Spike shrugged, "Mako told me you're a powerful Hutt, is that a lie?"

Nem'ro chuckled, "A good liar sprinkles some truth with the fabrication."

Spike chuckled, "Fair enough, you know why I'm here, I want sponsorship into the Great Hunt. Now, considering you just met me, you may have some doubts. If that's the case, test me."

Nem'ro thought for a moment, "There is something you could do. You don't have a soft spot for brutish natives do you?"

Spike shook his head, "The only soft spots I have are for credits."

Nem'ro laughed, "Spoken like a true mercenary. In that case, I'll send you for this task. The natives of Hutta, the Evocii sold us their planet for mere trinkets. That was so long ago, that the new generations have forgotten who their rightful masters are. There is one Evocii who dares to call himself Huttsbane. Bring his head and lay it on my floor."

Spike felt sick to his stomach at the thought of cutting off somebody's head, but nodded, "Head on the floor, got it."

The Houk next to Nem'ro said, "Be careful tiny hunter, Huttsbane raided another palace, killed pile of captains, murdered a mighty Hutt!"

As Spike nodded, accepting the job, he headed out of the palace and out into the swamps of Hutta. It surprised him that the Evocii were stupid enough to sell their planet to the Hutts. Then again, if they didn't sell it, the Hutts would have just taken it by force.

Spike was noticed by an Evocii warrior who charged at him from a very long distance, only to fall immediately to a blaster bolt from his gun, "Not very smart to bring a vibrosword to a blaster fight." before taking what little credits the corpse had on it. "I can't believe I'm looting dead bodies..."

As Spike headed into Huttsbane's tent, Huttsbane scowled "Are you proud of yourself? Filthy murderer! Do you plan on slaughtering the women and children as well?"

Spike shook his head, "They don't have a bounty on them, only you do."

The elder in the tent said, "You don't need to kill Huttsbane. The Hutts slaughter us like criminals, but it is they who have taken what is not theirs."

Huttsbane nodded, "Yes, this planet was home for Evocii long before the Hutts-"

Spike interrupted, "Bought it from your ancestors. Your kind aren't very bright. You forget that your ancestors sold this planet to the Hutts for trinkets. Blame yourselves for your predicament. Now that that's out of the way, you die."

Huttsbane drew his sword saying, "Lies! All lies! Our ancestors would never do such a thing!"

Spike shot quick, knocking Huttsbane's sword out of his hand, "Believe what you like, it's not going to change anything."

The elder called, "Warriors! Rally to Huttsbane!" before two more Evocii warriors rushed in.

Spike turned a dial on his blaster, turning it to rapid fire. As he did, he spun on his feet, holding down the trigger, blasting all four of them at once, and easily killing them. He took out a vibroknife and cut off Huttsbane's head, while trying not to lose his lunch. Suddenly, he got a call on his holo-communicator, it was from Mako. He answered, "What's up Mako?"

Mako told him, "I did some digging, and the bastard was Tarro Blood. He barely survived elimination from the Great Hunt last time, so now he's paying off the other Mandalorians so they don't rally against him. One more thing, when I was coming back from... saying goodbye to Braden and Jory, I saw someone following me. He was wearing a bone mask, like a hooded death."

Spike nodded, "If he makes a move, let me know, I'll put him on my to kill list."

Mako chuckled, "I love how simple you are at times. Show that Hutt who's the best hunter in the galaxy." before hanging up.

As Spike returned to Nem'ro's Palace, he dropped Huttsbane's head on the floor in front of him. Nem'ro laughed heartily, "Tell me about your hunt, how was it?"

Spike told him, "I danced in savage blood."

Nem'ro chuckled, "Who is more savage, the savage, or the one who kills the savage?"

The Houk at his side said, "Oh, wait, I know this one."

Nem'ro rolled his eyes and said, "Shut up Carnus." Before turning back to Spike, "I see you're serious. Tell me, what do you know about the situation here on Hutta?"

"It looks like a turf war between you and another Hutt, that's all I really know."

Nem'ro nodded, "Such basic knowledge is acceptable. Fa'athra makes claims to things that are not his, disobeying the laws of the Cartel. Some people think Fa'athra is mightier than me. One of those people is my ex-accountant, Yalt."

Spike nodded, "I see where this is going. Let me guess, head on floor?"

Nem'ro smiled, "You know me so well, but his head is not for me. Bring it to his wife who works in the cantina. She convinced Yalt that betraying me was a good idea."

Spike shook his head, "Harassing people isn't my line of work."

Nem'ro rolled his eyes, "A mercenary does whatever the client asks, am I wrong?"

Spike sighed, "Yeah, fine, I'll do it, but I won't like it."

Carnus told him, "Speak to Juda when you want credits for dead savage."

Spike walked towards the cantina and stopped to talk to a Twi'lek, who said, "I've got something for you."

Spike chuckled, "My favorite words."

The Twi'lek giggled, "Not like that! You're a bad one. Here you go, credits for the head of Huttsbane. Good hunting out there."

And so Spike has completed Nem'ro's first task, killing a brazen native who rebels against the Hutts. Now he is assigned another mission to kill a traitor who chose another Hutt over Nem'ro, a big mistake, and Spike will be the one who makes sure he knows what happens to people who cross Nem'ro.