Private Junkyard Dogs

[Yula Perl]

T E R M I N U S
// Outdoor Junk Market​

"Huh." Pink hands turned the pronged cylinder over, a discerning gaze squinting over the rusted device. "I'll give you 200."

The Ithorian salesman, who'd been watching her like a hawk from behind his table of wares, balked at the offer. "Two-hundred?" He sounded out, shaking his head to the side with vigor. "This is a genuine imperial part, stripped from a First Order cruiser! Worth at least 500. At least!"

Galactic powers rose and fell, but the Junk Market on Terminus thrived as it always had. Maybe moreso since the First Order had relinquished their influence. A sprawling mass of endless stalls and dry energy, you could find anything from stolen ship parts to smuggled arms, to cheap eats. All legal on paper, and there were darker vices if you knew where to look.

The Zeltron snorted. "From which era? Before I was born?" She scraped at some of the rust experimentally, and it chipped off underneath her nail. "Hmm. 250." She held it up to the clouded sky, looking for a logo or a stamp that would confirm the sensor baffler's authenticity. She'd forgotten how curt and to the point people were in the Outer Rim.

"Careful with that!" The vendor hissed, clambering up onto the table to try and nab the Zeltron's wrist. "Uh-huh." Yula stepped to the side, still trying to make out the faint impressions on the device's casing. "I'll give you 240."

"Wh-what?"

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

"Ah chit really?" Hilal slung her bag over her shoulder as the Ithorian merchant said that the amount of Beskar she requested was beyond what she was willing to pay. "In the Holonet you said-"

<I'm sorry young one.> The Ithorian shrugged wiping the one of the slabs of metal with a cloth. The way he cleaned it made Hilal shudder, Beskar was the metal that was forged by her people. It had high tolerance to all forms of damage even Lightsaber strikes, it's what made Mandalorians at one time unbeatable in combat. Now there wasn't that much left in the Galaxy now and days and the Ithorian treat the alloy as if it was some empty shot glass was quite frankly disrepctful. <The price went up while you were traveling.>

"Bullchit!" Hilal slammed her fists onto the table, pieces of metal began to fly up in the air a bit. "You're trying to rip me off! The ad said "

<Easy there,> The Ithorian merchant said his hand slowly reaching to the bottom of his desk. <I suggest you check it again, the ad said 3,000 for the first hours I put the offer. It's not my fault you can't read.>

"Oh I can read the ad CLEARLY stated 3,000 credits!" Hilal shouted slapping her Holopad displaying the ad. "BEFORE you hacked it to change the wording! I thought it was a glitch at first but it turned out you were infiltrating the site and trying to up the price."

The Ithorian rolled his eyes. "You are a liar!" Hilal shouted. "So, either pay me the agreed price or I'm gonna expose your little grubby ass all over the Holonet!"

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

A commotion was brewing a few stalls over—that alone was enough to draw Yula's attention from the authenticity of the imperial sensor baffler. The scrapper selling it seemed relieved when she finally relinquished the park back unto his table, and he cradled the device protectively.

Yula wandered a few paces down the road, following the sound of a young woman yelling until she stumbled upon its source. An angry woman arguing with an Ithorian vendor over the price of…something. She didn't quite catch what, but this particular seller was known for his shady practices, particularly for placing shadow bids on his own wares to drive up the pricing.

Whistling to herself, she passively inspected a tray of buttons allegedly stripped from an imperial officer's uniform.

"Three-thousand sounds fair to me." She commented without knowing what exactly it was they were arguing over. She followed the woman's gaze to a small metallic ingot. What sort of material was she purchasing that cost that much? It wasn't phrik, too dark. Was it possible that…this far in the Outer Rim? It wasn't impossible, certainly not for a trade world.

Her eyes fixed on the Ithorian, noting the hand that had drifted beneath the counter.

"Is it really worth the trouble?" Tilting her head to the prospective seller, she held out her hand. "Let me see that ad."

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

A Zeltron woman approached Hilal and the Ithoral Merchant who had his fingers wrapped around his blaster pistol from under the table. Hilal had to resist every fiber of her body not jump up on the table and strangle all four of their throats. She knew it wasn't possible due to her stature but boy she already can imagine herself doing it.

"Beskar is priceless to my people," Hilal said when the woman said the price was fair. "He's using that to his advantage by upping the price without me noticing!"

<Why would I do that?!> The Ithoral merchant said. <You should've read the fine print on the Holonet! It was a limited time offer!>

"Which was conveniently changed when I told you that I was a Mandalorian!" Hilal shouted shoving the Holopad onto the Zeltron woman's chest. "Read it!" She shouted at the woman. "I've archived everything from Holo mail exchanges, calls and, an anomaly in the advertisement as soon as I said that I was a Mandalorian!"

The Ithroian said nothing. <I said my piece!> He said. <You got nothing on me!>

"Then why are you afraid!?" Hilal shouted. "You just can't handle the fact that I got you good! Thought I was some little girl that you can trick! Well guess what?! I'm no little girl: I'm Hilal of Clan Vizla and I WILL become the greatest Bounty Hunter in the known Galaxy!"

She clenched her fists. "And I WON'T be ripped by some slimy, fucking Hammerhead!" She spat.

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

By the time Yula had intervened, the exchange had only gotten more heated. The angry woman—now self-identified as Hilal the Mandalorian of Clan Vizla—unceremoniously shoved the datapad at Yula while continuing to go off on the Ithorian.

The Zeltron scrolled and swiped, bringing up the ad before delving into the lines of code behind it. Hilal was popping off, and Yula took a few steps to the side as the girl looked primed to leap over the table and thrash the merchant. A blaster fight in close quarters like this wouldn't be good—at least there was plenty of cover, but she liked this market and having her face plastered on one of those "do not admit" holoboards was not ideal.

"Here—see?" Pacing back to the booth, she flipped the datapad over so that both Hilal and the Ithorian could view the screen. "Next time you alter the ad, try covering your tracks. The edits you've made still exist in the code; they're just not visible in the ad." She clicked her tongue, tossing the device back to the Mando. "Sloppy."

Beskar was important to Mandalorians, something about a right of passage—Yula's own grandfather had been a buckethead, but she wasn't intimately familiar with their rituals. Plenty of them out on the fringes where she used to run arms, though.

"I can't believe you're discriminating against her just because she's…what is it, a girl? A Mandalorian?" Suddenly her holophone was in hand, raised to capture the merchant in a live feed. "Go on, clarify it for us!"

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit
Hilal gave a small sigh of relief, she thought that the Zeltron was going to take the Merchant's side. A cynical side of Hilal assumed that the woman would see her nothing more than a whining brat who needed to be disciplined by her parents. Good to see that the woman gave Hilal a chance to hear her out. Her smile grew bigger as the woman added to what she said saying that the original code still existed despite multiple alterations.

"That's right!" Hilal chimed in with a smug smile on her face. "You know the old saying: What happens on the Holonet stays with you forever. You can never truly remove information. It stays on the server, it's just that regular people can't see your stuff anymore but with some slicing you can recover the original information!"

The Ithoral merchant remained silent as the woman interrogated him. Though it was hard to tell an Inthoral's expressions, Hilal could see he was getting a little hot from all this verbal abuse. <Business is business,> he growled in his native tongue. <She wanted the metal; I saw that she was a Mandalorian and raised the price according to the demand. Still I don't appreciate you calling me a racial slur.>

"And I don't appreciate you trying to fuck me!" Hilal shrieked. "Give me the Beskar now!"

The merchant fidgeted for a few seconds before pulling out his pistol ready to fire on Hilal. The young woman stumbled back attempting to grab her weapon from her bag. "Chit! CHIT!" She yelled before stumbling back and falling on her rump. This is not how this day was supposed to go.....

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula halted at the metallic glint of the blaster pistol. Her body stilled, muscles tightening just enough to react if things went further south. A few gasps reverberated around them as folks scrambled to give them space. Some vendors, close in proximity, reached for their own concealed weapons in case they had to defend their wares; one booth even activated a small energy shield.

"Hey, there's no need for that."

With both hands out in front of her, she raised her palms to the Ithorian, hoping to catch his attention but not his fire. Smoothing out her voice, Yula's tone was non-confrontational and suddenly on the defensive. As she half-stepped in front of the Mandalorian girl, she wondered just what the fresh hell she was even doing.

You're getting too involved, like Dagon.

The Ithorian's hammerhead jerked towards her, along with the aim of his blaster. He squinted, scrutinizing the Zeltron for a moment before gesturing towards the girl on the ground.

<"Tell your friend to get lost.">

"Are you sure?" A bold note seeped into her words. She held the merchant's eyes for longer than was typical, staring into them almost hypnotically. "You can't afford to lose this sale."

<"I…can't afford to lose this sale.">

"You'll put your blaster away."

Grunting, the Ithorian returned his weapon to its place beneath the table. His movements were hollow but obedient, as if he'd been spellbound.

"Three-thousand credits will be enough for the beskar."

<"Three-thousand is enough.">

Yula glanced down at the Mandalorian and offered her a hand. On her lips, a cheeky, almost smug smile started to form.

She couldn't believe that had worked.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit
Hilal never felt more humiliated in her life, she: a Mandalorian was reduced to panicked mess by a simple Ithorian merchant! How could she not see this coming?! Beskar was priceless so of course the merchant was going to drive up the price just because she was a Mandalorian. Of course, the moment she lashes out, the Ithorian was going to pull his weapon and try to kill her. However instead fighting back and triumphing like a real Mandalorian, Hilal stumbled and fell on her ass scrambling to get her weapon. She was a Mandalorian! A warrior! But at that moment Hilal was everything that people called her: A little girl.

Hilal saw the woman interfere on her behalf, she saved her again. Hilal still gripped her pistol and took the woman's hand as she witnessed the Ithoral's behavior change. Raising an eyebrow, Hilal was surprised, relieved even that the Ithoral was obedient towards the Zeltron. Maybe she was using her Pheromones to influence him?

"I- well," Hilal blushed furiously at making a fool of herself. "Thank you, I didn't act like a Mandalorian should. He should've been dead but instead I acted like an idiot and nearly got killed."

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula smiled wearily at the girl, who was apologetic and flushing. For her part, the Zeltron was just impressed that the situation managed to deescalate.

"Dead, huh?" She let out a short, low whistle while helping the Mando kid up. Yula wasn't extensively familiar with Mandalorian code—she knew that they treated weapons and war as a religion, and that their armor was like a second skin. Was this girl in street clothes really one of the infamous bucketheads?

"You got a name, Mando girl?" Yula leaned her hips against the table, inspecting some of the fool's aurodium trinkets for sale. She daren't touch any of the items—there'd been enough trouble today. "I'm Yula." She supplied, watching the transaction of beskar for credits take place. Her surname was omitted on purpose; the family name had a smattering of active bounties, and at this end of the galaxy it was hard to tell whether Perl would earn you a favor or a jail cell.

The hostile energy had begun to disperse, and business carried on around them as usual. Yula noted that some of the shopkeepers nearby still threw them wary glances, not entirely convinced that the two women would keep to themselves.

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

Hilal had to admit, she admired the Zeltron lady, she was shaking mess while she was calm and collected. "That won't happen again I'm not weak. I'm a Mandalorian: Born and bred," Hilal thought while she stared at her Blaster Pistol and angrily placed it bag in her bag. She definitely didn't display it in front of an aging Ithroian and had to depend on a total stranger to help her. How humiliating, but Hilal was grateful for Yula's help.

"Nice to meet ya Yula!" Hilal said smiling as she saw her Holopad make the successful transaction. "My name is Hilal of Clan Viszla and I'm really to see this abundance of Beskar. This should be enough to start building the foundation of my Armor."

Beskar was hard to come by these days, even her fellow Mandalorians were hoarding them the same way a Jedi would with their Holocrons. There was no way a Mandalorian would let a street rat like Hilal touch it. Although she was from Clan Vizsla, the name means nothing when you're so low in the clan that you might as well be a regular person. But this time things will change, once she successfully builds her armor, Hilal can prove herself to be a worthy Mandalorian and by an extension Bounty Hunter. They may not like the personal touches she plans on giving it, but they'll see that she's more than some orphan who stumbled on some Beskar.

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula blinked.

"Vizsla? As in…"

Right. Mandalorian. They were crawling with Vizslas.

"No sweat," Yula combed a hand through her own hair, wondering where to go from here. She didn't want to just walk away—this girl seemed friendly enough, and she was curious to probe the mind of a Mandalorian. Yula’s grandfather had been a War Marshal, but he hardly ever spoke of it—just stories from his time smuggling and galavanting across the galaxy.

"Tell you what, you can pay me back for my heroic deeds."

Yula gestured to the sizzling oil and billowing steam emanating from a stall closer to the edge of the row. Meat and vegetables on a skewer—not the highest quality, but cheap and tasty thanks to a marinade of high calorie sauces.

"Do you really have to get the beskar on your own? Figured your folks would have a stockpile, rare as it is. Or is it some sort of right of passage thing?"

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

"We do have Beskar," Hilal said sheepishly collecting the Beskar and placing it in her bag. "But it's in limited supply to the point where my people horde what Beskar they have. They're not going to give up the precious to some girl who roams the streets."

Hilal finished off that statement with a tone of bitterness in her voice. "So, I have to scrounge some stuff on my own to build my armor."

It was quite frankly embarrassing to sound so weak in front of Yula why would a stranger care about her? No one else did when she was wandering the streets trying to sell Droids so it was best to not to drown in self-pity. It wasn't the Mandalorian way. "Enough with the sob story," Hilal huffed. "It's already bad enough that I looked weak. Mandalorians are supposed to display strength!"

She placed her hands on her hips. "So, what do you need me to do Yula?" Hilal asked forcing a smile. "I'm great with tech and I can modify or create any weapons, armor, or device that you need."

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

"Tech, huh?" Yula rubbed at the back of her neck. "I think I'm good there. How's about—" Her stomach grumbled, signaling what she desired the most at this moment.

"—we grab a bite, your treat." They'd come to a stop at the food stall manned by a gruff-looking Trandoshan. Behind him, a reptilian female turned skewers of meat and vegetables over an open flame. "Haven't had anything but caf since this morning."

Without much more preamble, she ordered two—no, three kebabs before drifting to the side of the booth, away from the Trandoshan's unamused gaze. Lunch hour would hit soon, and he had no tolerance for loitering.

She glanced over to Hilal again—the young, plucky baby Mando. "You're a ways from home, aren't you." Her head rested against the stall's outer wall, still maintaining eye contact. "First time on Terminus?"

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

Hilal internally sighed rifling through her bag to take out her credit card. "I only got 250 credits left," she said. "Barely enough to get me a ticket back to Kesti."

Again, with the fucking pity party. Why the fuck is Hilal wallowing in it?! Yula like many people in this Galaxy doesn't give a chit about her problems. Besides she owed her for helping her with that Ithorian merchant. "Very well it's on me," Hilal sighed. "I don't like owing debts anyway, I'll find a way out of here."

Hilal will figure things out, this situation was merely an annoyance a result of some slimeball merchant trying to one up her. She was pissed that she nearly fell for the act though until Yula bailed her out. The young woman sat next Yula while she ordered three Kababs totaling 200 credits. "That's almost all I got," Hilal thought miserably. "I hope that Kebab meat is made out of Courscanti Steak."

She sat there silently staring at one of the slabs of Beskar while Yula ate her food. The important thing was that she got the rest of the Beskar and all she needed to do was to melt it down and create the second half of her armor. The thought of the outer layer finally being done bought joy to Hilal all that running around and nearly getting killed made building the armor worth it. "Huh?" Hilal was snapped out of her thoughts when Yula asked if this was her first time in Terminus.

"Yeah," Hilal said. "I don't have much money on me, the shop I run on Kesti barely makes a profit so I make sure not to travel a lot."

She sighed. "But I need to complete my armor," she said. "It's the mark of the Mandalorian the same way the Lightsaber is to a Jedi. I'm tired of just being ignored and underestimated because I'm some pipsqueak who gets pushed around. I'm a Mandalorian damn it and I want to be best Bounty Hunter in the galaxy."

Hilal then looked at Yula blushing furiously, she definitely needs to stop blabbing out her ambitions. "So what about you Yula?" She smiled sheepishly. "Do you travel a lot?"

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

"Price of tibana's going up." Yula muttered through a mouthful of kebab steak.

"It's the mark of the Mandalorian the same way the Lightsaber is to a Jedi."

She'd polished off one skewer in short order, but it was that wistful sentence that kept her from tearing into her second one. Her heart stuttered, thudding once. Then twice.

You're not a Jedi and you never were.

Then back to normal.

She grabbed the third kebab, shoving it in Hilal's direction to smother her own thoughts. "Want one?"

In short, she felt bad for the kid. She was young and wanted to prove herself, and Yula had siphoned off nearly the last of her credits for a free meal. Hilal was exactly the type of person Yula fought for on Denon, sabotaging Corpos and getting thrown into jail. Was she no better than them, stepping on the little guy.

Still, the Mando kid didn't seem to blame her. "Sometimes." She pierced a chunk of meat between two teeth, pulling it from the skewer. "Used to a lot more. I come to Terminus when I can for the market, but my home's on Denon for now." Chew, then swallow. "I run a garage there. Boost speeders, repair droids, sell some gadgets. Started out in the 'rim myself years back."

Yula's free hand rummaged around in her bag, idly searching for something.

"It's hard. Starting out, I mean. Got to build up a good customer base before any serious profit starts to come in."

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

Hilal's mind was focused on what she needed to do to get off Terminus and back home. She had plenty of tech in her bag such as power converters, motivator units that Hilal fixed while she was bored and there was that translator device that Hilal built and programmed that she wanted to test on Droids. Maybe she can sell it off as a state-of-the-art device to some desperate droid trader. If there was one thing that Hilal was NOT going to do was to sell the slabs of Beskar which obviously had the most value. "Out of the fucking question," Hilal thought. "I fought like hell to get this.... well Yula influenced the merchant while I sat on my ass like a moron."

It still stung being clumsy like that in the face of danger, it was events like that which made Hilal doubt herself whether or not she was a worthy Mandalorian. It was then that Hilal's train of thought was disrupted by Yula offering her Kebab. "Sure," Hilal said taking a quick bite while listening to Yula's answer.

"Interesting," Hilal said smiling while continuing to nibble on her Kebab. "I'm sure you've seen a lot during your travels." Hilal took another bite. "I can't wait to get started on my Bounty Hunting career," she said. "I've been sitting around just trying eek out a living creating and selling junk. Been trying to sell my stuff to businesses across the Galaxy but I've been dismissed as either a little girl or a Mandalorian savage."

She really liked the Mandalorian savage remark though. It sounded pretty badass.

"It's awesome to meet a fellow tech junkie as well!" Hilal said. "That's pretty much what I do but I got access to limited resources, had to haul ass and finally travel the Galaxy not only search for parts but to branch out."

She shook her head. "No luck so far," she sighed. "But I'm not going to roll over like a Rancor who had its belly rubbed. I'm going to succeed and I have the key!"

Hilal flashed Yula the slab of Beskar. "I'm almost done with my armor." She said. "It's going to be the most advanced Mandalorian armor in history!"

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula's lips twisted into a scowl at the term Mandalorian savage. It was at that point that she became acutely away of the grease on her lips, and so she sponged it away with her sleeve.

"You might have better luck selling at a place like this. It's competitive, but you can make a good chunk of credits if you're smart." She bit off the last of a charred piece of something leafy. "Lots of folk selling junk in the outer rim floods the market."

This kid has an incredible amount of pep for someone who had the odds so squarely stacked against her. Was just she naive, hopeful, or a mix of both?

Her hand finally settled on what she was looking for, a small holo-card that had drifted to the bottom of her bag.

"Why can't you be a bounty hunter right now? Mandalorian rules or something?"

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

"Part of it is because of tradition," Hilal stated taking a bite of Kebob. "When you think of Mandalorians, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Their armor. It is ingrained in Mandalorian culture and an expression of who they are."

Her hand curled into a fist. "I want to make my mark on Mandalorian history." Hilal said. "By constructing the best armor ever and besides....."

Hilal turned to Yula sighing. "Look at me," she said. "Look at how small I am, do you think some client is going to hire a scrawny kid from the streets who's barely making it? Of course not! I need to look intimidating something that'll make the clients give a chit about me! That fucking Inthoran Merchant would never back talk a Mandalorian like that. Me? On the other I get pushed around and have to saved like some Core World princess."

She spat on the ground out of bitterness, she was still fuming over that dishonor. Hilal will have to work her ass off to regain some sort of self-respect back. While she was thankful for Yula's help..... It shouldn't have come to that. If she had her armor completed, that Ithoal would've thought twice before messing with her.

"As tempting as it is," Hilal said giving Yula a sad smile. "I don't want to leave my home, leave my people behind....."

She definitely needed to expand though, Hilal was a guppy surrounded by Sharks when it came businesses. Maybe Yula had connections? "Do you know anyone that could provide some supply for my store?" Hilal asked hopefully. "I can pay them in full once I become an official Bounty Hunter."

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

Hilal had a point—it would be hard to be taken seriously as a bounty hunter as a scrawny kid. Few people meddled with Mandalorians, with their fierce armor came their reputation of being bounty hunting professionals.

When the talk turned to more business matters, Yula's eyebrows rose. "It depends on what you need. You selling parts? Or constructed tech like droids or vehicles?" Yula's own connections were scattered across the galaxy, and she strained to remember if she had any where the new Mandos had set up shop.

"I'll have to put out feelers, but no promises." Polished off the last of her kebab, she dropped the wooden skewer onto the tabletop. "I've gotta head out, kid. Before I go, take this."

Yula passed a thin metallic token to Hilal. "It's a transport credit." She explained. "Won't get you all the way to Kestri, but should be good as far as Tatooine."

Rising, the Zeltron adjusted her bag. "Don't…die out there, alright? You've got fire, but that temper might get you killed in these parts."

Hilal Vizsla

 

[Hilal Vizsla]

Current outfit

"Mostly parts for weapons, modifications for weapons, jet packs, fuel." Hillal said thinking of all the possible things that she needed to fill in her store. "It can be of any brand. I'm going to tinker with them to give it that extra kick it needs. I gotta find some way to attract customers."

The young woman smiled. "Just give me a piece of scrap metal and a hammer and I can build ya Blaster Rifle within the hour." Hilal laughed eating the last of her Kebob. She was grateful that Yula was helping her, sure she'll probably forget but honestly Hilal could take any good news she can get after that humiliating encounter with the merchant.

"Hey it's the thought that counts right?" Hilal said taking the transport chip. "Thanks," she said. "Travel is cheaper on Tatooine so I can use the last bit of credits to head back to Kestri. Thank you again Yula....."

Hilal got up as Yula told her that her temper would get her trouble. Ha! What Yula called a temper, Hilal called passion. She had a hunger to be the best Bounty Hunter in the galaxy. Once her armor is complete, she'll become a true Mandalorian. The Galaxy better watch out! "Hey Yula!" Hilal called slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I owe you one! Next time you see me, I'll be the one doing all of the heavy lifting like a Mandalorian should always do!"

She gave the Zeltron a smile and a wink before turning on her heel and setting off. She was almost done with the armor......

Yula Perl