Once the Jedi were gone, I turned to my fiancées and apologized for making them sit through that discussion. Assuring me that it was not a big deal, they were a bit curious as to how I acquired all that information. Asking me if I had done any exploration without them, I shook my head and stated that I had not.
"Exploring the stars is reserved for our group activities. There is no point in seeing what is out there if my family is not there to share in the experience with me.", I said, giving them a smile, "As for how I got that intelligence, I just followed the money trail in the data Luxion has been harvesting from the Galactic Republic. Since our encounter with Helios Alpha, Luxion has been intercepting and decrypting billions of encoded messages every day. It is safe to say I know many of secrets that could come in handy someday."
Suggesting we get back to our original plans, I asked them if they were ready to go. Nodding their heads in confirmation, we tossed our cups in the trash and headed toward the heart of the market. Telling everyone to let me know if they got overwhelmed again, I took point while Cleare watched our backs. Following the signs to closest clothing shop, we went inside so the women could try different outfits on. As we stepped through the door, a flock of salespeople rushed over to us with an array of outfits and accessories.
"Try this on, I am sure it will look great on you!", a female associate stated, presenting a dress to Olivia.
"You have a fabulous figure, why are you hiding it in those rag?!", a male associate remarked, handing Roxanne a pair of shorts and a tank top.
"Both of you look like refined women, how about something a bit more risqué to make your husband pounce on you?", another female associate said, presenting Lucoa and Mylene with a few silken dresses.
"The three of you would look beautiful in anything we have here. I personally recommend something like this for you three!", another male associate chimed in, pushing a rack of skinny jeans and t-shirts in front of Angelica, Clarice, and Deirdre.
Before my fiancées could get a word in, the female associates led them to the changing rooms so they could try everything on. Sensing that they were becoming frightened by the associate's pushiness, I loudly cleared my throats to remind the staff that I was standing right there. Turning to me, I shot all of them an irritated glare and told them to treat them with more respect.
"There is no problem with suggesting outfits for them, but do not put your hands on them without their permission. The next time someone does, the eight of us will walk out of here and take our business elsewhere.", I scolded them.
Swiftly stepping away from my fiancées, they bowed their heads and apologized. Stating they were just trying to make our shopping experiences easier; I asked the staff to just show them to the changing rooms and provide a few options for the women to try on. After they got a taste for what they liked, then the staff could recommend outfits that fit that style. Understanding what I wanted, the staff executed it without further issues.
---Three Hours Later---
Buying four or five outfits each from the first shop, we walked around the market for a few hours buying various other things like shoes, underwear, and beauty products. Once the women's shopping urges had been scratched, we headed to the Bounty Hunter Association to register ourselves and hopefully collect a bounty from our latest haul. Hailing a taxi to take us there, as it would take hours on foot, the driver took us into the business district where major corporations and organizations did their business. Unlike the craziness we had come from, this district was much more laid back and far less chaotic.
Dropping us off at the front door, we took a moment to survey the massive building. Reminiscent of skyscrapers from my past life, it felt soothing to be around something familiar to me.
"Wow!! Is the whole building made of glass?!", Olivia gasped.
"No, each of those glass panes are windows.", I informed her, "While we cannot see inside, everyone inside can see us just fine. We should probably head inside before they think we are weirdos."
"Hey, I have never let it bother me before. Being a weirdo is a lot of fun!", Lucoa giggled.
Laughing in agreement, the eight of us headed inside and had a look around. Discovering the place was nearly empty right now, only a handful of staff were behind the counter and no bounty hunters could be seen anywhere. Walking up to the Registration Counter, the receptionist turned to greet us with a big smile.
"Welcome to the Bounty Hunter Association. Are you here to register with us, or do you need assistance with something else?", she asked, giving us a warm smile.
"We would like to register ourselves with the association. I am the captain of our crew, and these lovely ladies are combat specialists. Currently they have no training on any ship subsystems.", I stated.
"Hehe, it is nice to see a husband and his wives teaming up together.", the receptionist remarked, noticing our rings, "You are a lucky guy!"
Thanking her, the receptionist quickly brought our registration paperwork up on eight individual tablets. Handing them over to us, she asked us to fill out the documents to the best of our ability then return them to her.
"Just to be sure, it is alright for us to use our native language, correct?", I asked, knowing the women could not write in any space language.
While each engagement ring was imbued with the translation enchantment, its effect only translated written and spoken words. Having never thought they would need to sign paperwork, I cursed myself for not considering that possibility.
"Not to worry, I already entered your photos and job titles into our systems. All your responses will be automatically translated by our computer systems.", she responded.
'Here is to hoping the Old Human language is still prevalent somewhere out there.', I thought, "Thank you for confirming."
Filling out the documents like she asked, we handed the tablets back to her so she could upload the data to her computer. Once that was complete, she motioned us toward the door off to the right side of the room. Telling us to head inside that room, other associates would guide us from there to our assigned testing pods. Thanking her before making our way over there, Angelica leaned in and asked what was about to happen.
"In order to accurately rank us in their association, they will need to thoroughly test us. For me, that means clearing objectives while piloting a spacecraft in a simulation. As for all of you, you will try your hand at facing monsters and people we may run into out in space. Just do your best, do not worry about failing; our ranks will improve over time as we complete bounties and quests.", I said, patting everyone on the back.
"So it is like the Adventurer's Guild back home.", Clarice remarked, with a nod.
"If that is the case, this test will be easy!", Deirdre boasted, with a proud smile.
"I doubt it will be easy, but I can appreciate the enthusiasm.", Lucoa giggled.
Following the receptionist's instructions, we stepped into the training room and were immediately greeted by several robots. Escorting us to our assigned testing pods, we wished each other good luck before entering the pods. Taking a seat in my mock cockpit, I made myself comfortable and waited for the simulation to begin.
---Thirty Minutes Later---
Completing our tests a short time later, the eight of us left the testing center and returned to the counter. Noticing a group of associates crowded around the receptionist's computer, they all were looking at her computer screen with blank expressions. Asking them if we had done something wrong, the receptionist violently shook her head and insisted nothing was wrong.
"We…we were just looking at your results. You are the first person to clear the simulation with a perfect score.", she said, looking at me with reverence, "Given your score, Upper Management has given the greenlight to make you Platinum Rank."
"Just to be clear, Platinum is the highest rank in our association. There are pilots that go their whole lives without ever achieving that rank.", one of her colleagues chimed in, "You are not some ace military pilot, are you?"
"No, I have never served as a military pilot.", I clarified, "So what about my fiancées? How did they score?"
"Lucoa and Roxanne are Gold Rank; Angelica, Clarice, and Deirdre are Silver Rank; and Mylene and Olivia are Copper Rank.", the receptionist stated, as she handed us our licenses, "You must be from a really distant part of the universe. The computer took a good ten minutes to translate your native language."
Thanking the receptionist for her assistance, as we accepted our licenses, I asked if she had a way to check for a bounty on some pirates we recently killed. Confirming that it was possible, she asked me for the ship's holotapes so she could verify their information. Pulling all the holotapes out of my storage, I was grateful I had the forethought to collect all the debris for study and repurposing. Learning that these tapes were how the organization confirmed the destruction of enemy vessels, I made a mental note to always collect them in the future.
"Oh my…this is more than I anticipated.", she remarked, as I set all of them on the counter, "Can all of you help me scan these in?"
Nodding their heads, her colleagues grabbed several holotapes and went back to their stations to scan them in. Taking only a few minutes to verify everything, she looked at me in shock.
"All of these vessels belonged to the group of pirates responsible for the destruction of the Space Port Polaris and the attack on the Helios Alpha. You would not happen to be the captain of the Star Battleship Yamato, would you?", she inquired.
"One in the same.", I chuckled, "I hope that is not an issue."
"No, of course not! I was just surprised to meet you in person.", she stated, with a beaming smile, "The group you eliminated was infamous in the sector, even before they took out Polaris. Last updated bounty for the fleet was 2.1 billion credits."
Surprised to hear they were worth that much; I had honestly expected a bounty of around a few hundred million at most. Accepting the reward without complaint, I looked at it as more funds to secure the materials I needed for my star base.
"It says here that you also engaged in combat against a group of Black Legion Space Marines…", she said, as her expression paled, "Is…is that correct?"
"Yes, here are their dog tags.", I replied, setting eight dog tags on the counter.
"Oh…my…god…", she gulped, as her face turn ghost white, "I…I need to get my manager…"
Fleeing from her station, her colleagues vacated the area as well and refused to look in our direction. Even though they were just dog tags, the fact that they belonged to fallen members of the Black Legion still invoked fear in their hearts. Waiting a few minutes to see if she would return with her manager, the receptionist returned with a large, muscular man that could have passed as Thor's brother. Pointing to the dog tags, the receptionist nervously hid behind him refusing to even look at them.
"So, you are the infamous captain everyone has been talking about.", he remarked, "I am the Head Manager of this branch location. As you might have guessed, my subordinates are rather skittish around anything to do with the turncoat space marines."
"Yes, I noticed.", I acknowledged, as he picked them up to inspect each of them.
Taking a moment to check each one, he verified that they were not forgeries. Pulling out a heavy steel cylinder, the Head Manager opened the container and dropped them inside. Sealing it back up, he told the receptionist to mark me down as having killed eight Black Legion marines. Nodding her head, as he walked into the back, she quickly took her seat again and let out a sigh.
"I…I apologize for my behavior. We heard many horror stories from those who have encountered the Fallen Legions and lived to tell the tale.", she said, fixing her shirt, "Currently the Imperium is paying six hundred thousand credits for each confirmed kill of a traitor space marine. That brings your total to 2,104,800,000 credits!"
'I might have to make a hobby of hunting traitor marines.', I thought, hiding a smirk behind a solid poker face, "Perfect, that works for me. I assume you can just add it to my card?"
"Of course.", she acknowledged, adding it to my account, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"One more thing, can you suggest a reputable raw ore and mineral dealer? I am looking to acquire some resources for a pet project of mine.", I stated.
"You should be able to find what you are looking for at the Merchant's Association, Davos' Trading Company, or the Manolli's Family Trading Company. There are several large corporations you could contact as well, but they will try to lock you into an exclusive contract and jack up their prices.", she warned me, "Unless you are looking for cutting edge tech, I recommend staying away from corporations."
Thanking her for the information, we bid her farewell and left the building.