Bounty

one

The red light of the tracking fob blinks brightly against the icy plains of Maldo Kreis. Its steady beeping rings through the air, quickening as it nears its target.

Inside the small bar, planted in the middle of nowhere, quiet conversations carry as the doors slide open to welcome a new customer.

"What can I get for you, pretty lady?" The man behind the bar acknowledges the woman who had just entered.

Instead of answering she allows her eyes to scan the room as she holds the tracking fob in her left hand.

"I asked you a question." The intolerable man speaks again.

Calista sends an uninterested glare in his direction. After a moment of eye contact, the man goes back to his own business and the girl slowly makes her way to the table just to the right of the bar's entrance.

"This seat taken?" She asks seductively, earning the attention of the Kubazian man who stares up at her in response. "Didn't think so." She smiles as she sits across from him.

With a quick glance around the room, she flips her long, curly, blue hair behind her shoulder. "Here's how this is going to work." She turns back to the man, tracing her fingers across the back of his hand. "You're going to come with me, and I'm going to change your life—free of charge."

The man eagerly jumps out of his seat and heads for the door with Calista right behind him. He leads her over to his speeder and she smiles before knocking him out with one punch.

"Too easy." She chuckles to herself. She loads his unconscious body onto the back of the speeder before taking off in the direction of her 690 light freighter.

After restraining and loading the wanted man onto her ship, she fires up the thrusters and punches in the rendezvous coordinates she was given by her employer. She sits back and relaxes while they travel through lightspeed. Once she pulls out of lightspeed, she finds a star destroyer hovering a short distance away and sighs before heading towards it.

"Freighter six-nine-zero, what is your cargo?" A voice asks over the intercom.

Calista presses the button on her end to respond. "The wanted criminal, Ooblamon. Alive."

A brief silence takes control of the channel before she receives a response. "Do not stray from your current course."

She nods to herself and gently lands her ship in the main hangar of the destroyer. The freighter's ramp lowers and Calista pushes the Kubazian man off of the ship ahead of her.

"Thieving scum." A voice spits from under a silver storm trooper helmet. "Master Ren will deal with you himself."

Calista clears her throat as the trooper approaches. "If you'd be so kind as to cough up my reward, I'd be more than happy to hand this sleemo over."

The trooper turns her attention to the bounty hunter, taking in her faint red skin and dark blue hair. "A Zeltron." She stifles a laugh. "Who would've thought your species could serve a higher purpose than just lazy harlots?"

Calista clenches her jaw in anger as her skin turns a deeper shade of red.

"Vonreg." The silver trooper calls, causing a red-armored troop to step forward. "Give this beautiful specimen her reward."

The red troop nods and hands a camtono over to the girl. She unlocks the container and peeks inside to find the promised amount of credits. A curt nod is exchanged between the two before she boards her ship and takes to the stars once again, in search of her next job.

*

"Ren will be interrogating the thief personally. I expect you to be there, on guard, when he arrives." Captain Phasma addresses Major Vonreg.

"Yes, Captain." Vonreg states before turning and heading back to the detention block.

It's not long before Kylo Ren arrives, his impatience is almost as overpowering as his temper—which is never a good combination.

"Where is it?" He rages through his mask, terrifying the poor Kubazian. "You have something that I want. I will not hesitate in ripping it from that insolent mind of yours."

Kylo holds the thief in a force choke, lifting him out of his chair as he claws at his neck.

"Sir." Vonreg interrupts Kylo's torture session. "There's an incoming transmission from the planet Taris."

"Taris?" Kylo asks. He releases the Kubazian from his grip, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Yes, sir. The.. Creature, is claiming that it has obtained some sort of relic." Vonreg explains the vague message he received from Phasma.

Kylo Ren furrows his eyebrows. "I'll take it in my quarters." He states, storming out of the room with his cape flowing behind him.

Once the doors are sealed and the lights are dimmed, Kylo accepts the transmission.

"Ben Solo." The Acolyte speaks.

Kylo clenches his jaw at the use of his old name. He'd heard tales of the Sith cultists known as the Acolytes of the Beyond but he'd never imagined coming into contact with one.

"We have what you seek. The saber of your late grandfather is in our possession." She states. "And we are going to destroy it."

Kylo's eyes widen as anger surges through his body.

"It must be returned to him in death." She continues. "It is the only way to restore the power of the dark side."

He clenches his jaw. "Destroying the saber will do nothing but rid of one of the galaxy's most powerful weapons."

"It must be done." The Acolyte speaks before ending the transmission.

Kylo ignites his crossguard saber and destroys his quarters in a fit of anger. The door slides open to reveal a bewildered General Hux as Kylo pants heavily under his mask.

"I want every last bounty hunter contacted. This is of the utmost importance." Kylo states. "There will be a reward of 20,000,000 credits for whoever can retrieve the object and return it to me." He continues, causing Hux's eyes to widen. "Why are you still standing there? Go!" Kylo shouts.

Hux turns on his heels and heads to the bridge to send a message out to every known bounty hunter, pirate, and crime syndicate—informing them of the reward and time sensitivity of the mission. He also instructs each individual to report to their location for further briefing on the matter.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Hux asks after sending the message throughout the galaxy.

Kylo looks down at him. "Are you questioning me, General?"

"No! No, sir. I just.. Well, there must be a more efficient way to-"

"Have my methods not proved to be efficient in the past hundred raids we've carried out?" Kylo asks.

"N-No.. I mean yes! Yes, they have proven to be very efficient." Hux swallows his nerves.

Kylo looks down on him. "Inform me when the hunters are here. I want to speak with them personally regarding the subject of their mission."

"Yes, sir." Hux nods as Kylo storms away as dramatically as ever.

Luckily for the Master of the Knights of Ren, a certain Zeltron bounty hunter was still in the Western Reaches of the Outer Rim.

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Author's Note:

As you can probably tell, this story will be taking place during the rise of the First Order (around 30ABY).

I'm sooo excited to share Calista's story with you all!!!I've only gotten two chapters down so far so bear with me. Feel free to offer any guesses or suggestions in the comments, I'd love to hear them!

Also, the name Calista means "the most beautiful" which I thought was a fitting for our badass Zeltron bounty hunter.