146 Kala'uun

-1:08 PM, December 28th, 2055- 

-Kala'uun, Ryloth, Outer Rim- 

(Hehe, you fuckers probably thought I was gonna be gone for a year.) 

I reached up and wiped the sweat from my forehead. It was obnoxiously hot this time of year. 

With a flick, I removed some of the sweat from my hand. Then, I grabbed the ledge in front of me and peeked over. 

I was currently on a covert mission on Ryloth. I was hiding on the roof of a building. Below me was a bustling street. Across the street was a door that I had been watching for at least 2 hours. 

Although I had been here for a while, I wasn't bored. There was plenty to see in this beautiful, albeit rundown, city. I'd never been to the Middle East, but having been here for a month, I felt that I didn't have to. 

All the buildings were constructed with concrete that had a red hue to it. There weren't too many streetlights, but the days were long so that mattered not. 

Twi'leks and various other races filled the streets. They crowded around vendors, guided by their noses to the best food carts. 

There was plenty of color decorating the buildings too. The various awnings had stripes and patterns backed by bold and bright shades of blue, red, and green. 

Even just sitting here, I felt as if I was on an adventure. Every person had a story. I made a game of trying to figure them out. 

This was Kala'uun, a major city on Ryloth in the Outer Rim. It was one of three spaceports on the planet and was a major cultural center. 

I had been here for a month with ANV Alpha team. We were gathering intelligence on some troublemakers. Namely, Forest. To our dismay, they had begun collaborating with the Hutt clan. 

We had established shipping between our systems, Kessel and Scarif. This was to support their development bilaterally as Scarif had plenty of resources while Kessel now had the industrial base. We didn't want to install any industrial facilities on Scarif. Most of the resource gathering was done via the clearing of land for our resort that was rapidly being constructed. There were also plenty of foods that could be found on Scarif that had become a hot commodity in the budding cities on Kessel. 

Scarif and Kessel have plenty of systems between them. One of which was Kamino. The Kaminoans were more than happy to do business with us, so we developed a great friendship with them. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't all smooth sailing, which led me to being here. Our freighters were constantly intercepted and robbed over the past 6 months. It took us some effort, but we discovered that these "pirates" were based on Ryloth. With a bit more digging, we identified the Hutts and Forest Group as the culprits. 

Ryloth had effectively been taken over by Forest after they were backed by the Hutts. They used this partnership to begin a lucrative slave trade. 

Our only option was to liberate the system and stabilize the situation to protect ANV interests. Honestly, this was straight out of the US government's playbook. We were influencing geopolitics in foreign places to protect our interests. 

The doors I had been watching finally slid open. A human male and a Hutt exited the building. These were my targets. 

They were two mid-tier managers in their respective organizations. They controlled the sale and distribution of Twi'lek slaves. 

To my dismay, despite being fully aware of it in advance, there were a dozen bodyguards flanking them. 

I tapped my ear. "Yo, T. It's just like you said. They are heavily guarded." 

Tomas' voice came back through the comm channel. "Remember. Neutralize the guards and capture the VIPs. We need to interrogate them." 

I rolled my eyes. "Bahhh, I got it, I got it. Just stand by for EXFIL." 

I stood up and ran along the roof in the direction the targets were headed in. All the while, I ensured that I maintained a visual on them. 

With a few more long strides, I leapt off the roof. I held my hands out to the side as I soared through the air. 

I flipped before landing on the ground. I was now standing in the middle of the bodyguards. Then, I pulled my lightsaber to my outstretched hand before throwing it. 

I kept a grip on it through the force and sent it in a circle. After a bit more than a second, it was back in my hand. A dozen headless bodyguards quickly fell onto the street. 

I deactivated my lightsaber and put it back on my belt. The job was basically done. 

With a tap to my ear, I called for my EXFIL. "Alpha 1, where's my ride?" 

Tomas replied quickly. "Look up." 

I heard the sound of thrusters growing louder. Looking up, I saw what looked like an Osprey but with thrusters instead of propellers. It was coming to a stop above me. 

This was our newest piece of hardware. Our engineers teamed up with Kuat Drive Yards to design a low-altitude transport. I wasn't very fond of the design that the Republic would use during the Clone Wars so we came up with something much cooler. This beauty was called the Eagle. 

Speaking of KDY, we had been getting very cozy with them considering that we'd given them almost 50 billion credits worth of business. Aside from our ground armor and 3 CSGs, we have purchased hundreds of heavy freighters from them among other things. The ANV board has been considering buying a stake in the company. 

The Eagle rotated before landing in the middle of the street. The dozens of people that were in the way quickly moved to the side. The engines were very loud to the point that I could barely hear anything. 

The side doors and back ramp opened. Alpha team operators rushed out of the side doors and formed a perimeter. 

I gestured towards the ramp as I looked at the targets. "IN YOU GO!" 

The human male looked enraged. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA-" 

I pushed out my left palm. Using the force, I sent the guy flying into the transport. Then, I looked at the Hutt. "DO YOU NEED HELP AS WELL OR CAN YOU SLITHER UP THE RAMP ON YOUR OWN?" 

The Hutt said something, which I could only imagine to be a series of curses, in Huttese, and looked angry as he slithered up the ramp. 

Dante walked over and yelled at me. "WE'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE, GENERAL!" 

I nodded and turned away. I needed to get away from the noise. It was too damn loud. 

The Eagle took off as I was walking. I checked my watch and clicked my tongue upon seeing the time. "No wonder I'm so hungry. It's past my lunch time." 

I pulled my hood up and then disappeared down an alleyway. 

-1:45 PM- 

A female Twi'lek walked up to the table I was sitting at and began setting down a few plates. "Your food, Mr. Brenko." 

I glanced up from my tablet and smiled. "Thank you, Soma." 

It was honestly hard to believe how easy it was to gather intelligence by merely making friends with the locals. This restaurant had been one of my favorites. Maybe I should buy it... 

I placed my tablet to the side as the food was put down. The main dish was a bed of fluffy rice, sliced rotisserie lizard meat (alligator-like), and heavy drizzles of yogurt and hot sauces. My side dishes were bite-sized roasted vegetables stuffed with a creamed spinach like filling. 

Ryloth was truly a slice of the middle east. There were rocky deserts and mountains. The cuisine was eerily similar. There were even terrorist warlords. 

As I ate, I thought about what I was doing here. This wasn't just some humanitarian effort or even just sticking it in Forest's face. In its core, this was a fantastic business opportunity. Ryloth was directly between Scarif and Kessel. 

She had plenty of untapped resources such as doonium, ryll, and spice. Doonium was a valuable ore that was commonly used in starship construction. Ryll was like spice in that both were controlled substances that could be used for medical purposes. 

Also, with the popularity of Twi'leki slaves, they were tried and true laborers. We would, of course, pay them for their work. However, they had strong and durable bodies, and they weren't afraid to get their hands dirty. 

As a bonus, Ryloth's location would make for a great naval base to protect shipping between ANV's systems. Those, however, were all prospects. 

For now, I could only enjoy my food and wait for the fireworks that would come tomorrow.