Marneg Grumb, Mandalorian

Yeah, kid, I'm Marneg Grumb.  What do you want?  Oh, you want to hear about me, huh?  Well, you cover the Lomin ale while I'm talking, you got it.

I'm from Pii III, originally, which is where I started hunting animals, so this was just the natural progression for me, I guess.  Had to get off-world, seeing as how there were hardly any other people there, and I was just strong and tough enough for a hunter to take me as an apprentice.  Turns out, I taught him a thing or two about tracking.  Who was he, you ask?  Well, who are you?  This story ain't about him, so just hold your questions.  Let's just leave it as he's a bastard and I left as soon as I could get a contract through the Guild.

Started with piddling contracts, back when all I had was my trusty DL-44, a Stohkli spray stick and a beat up old scattergun.  Well, and my ax and knife.  Can't forget my babies.  I was making just enough to squeak by until I got hired for a decent job On Nar Shaddaa.  Turns out, one Hutt wanted me to take out another, and he needed a nobody to do it.  Blessings in disguise, right?  Well, he gave me half up front, so I picked up a nice, solid DLT-20A and started looking for good lay-up positions around the target's compound.  Now, I know you've heard I like to stay in close, but that doesn't mean I can't snipe when I need to.  A good hunter is handy with just about any weapon he can get his hands on long enough to practice.  

Anyways, it was like his guys had never trained for counter-sniper ops, or done all that many drills.  He had a couple E-Webs set up, but I dropped their crews and put a few rounds in the guns, just to be safe.  Dropped the Gamorrians that were running around, a couple Trandoshans and a good number of Rodians.  Always plenty of those buggers around.  Well, it seemed like as good a time as any, so I launched a grapple over to an antennae on the main building on his compound and zip-lined over.  Only problem was another Trando popped up, saw me, and started rushing over.  Well, I dropped off a litter early and managed to land on him, but that mostly just pissed him off.  He was too close for anything else, so I pulled out my ax and my knife and closed with him as I thumbed the vibro-cells on.  That big scaly bastard busts out to rykk blades he must've taken off a Wookie and we go at it.  We wasn't as good as me, but he was strong, tough and mean, which really helped him out, I'm telling you.  I finally managed to get my knife past his defenses and into his throat.  For him, though, I had to make sure.  I dropped my ax into his skull, picked up those blades as a souvenir, and tucked the body away for my exfiltration.  I had plans for it, as you can see by this bit of reptile skin I'm wearing.

Well, I manage to get down to the big boss, and he's got himself surrounded by hired guns.  Remember that starting bonus I said I got, right?  Well, what kind of jackass would I have been if I hadn't bought at least one thermal detonator?  Also bought stun grenades, which is what I used right then.  Threw it and was in right after the bang, taking them down with my scattergun.  After he came to, it was just me and the Hutt in there.  Well, of course he tried to deal, but a job's a job.  Don't ever break a contract, especially if you've already spent some of the client's money.  And the client wanted the bastard's tongue, nasty as that was.  Said he was going to feed it to his pets.  Well, Hutts are pretty thick-skinned, but you can bring one down if you just aim well enough and supply the right volume of fire, which is a LOT.  Aced him, took his tongue, then I raided his treasure room.  Grabbed every gem, coin and credit chip I could fit in my bag.  Made it to the roof where I had tucked the Trando's body away and did a homing recall on my speeder.  Loaded everything up and headed to cash in.  That big bloated bastard was so surprised I made it back, he even gave me a bonus!  That almost doubled what I had snatched from the target's treasure room!  I was friggin' rich!  Even better, my name was out there.

Jobs started flooding in after that, but not before I bought myself a ship with my earnings:  A CEC YT-2000, which I had to have a little bit of custom work done to make it up to bringing bounties in.  Changed a couple of the passenger compartments to holding cells, amped up the weaponry a little, wired assassin droid brains to the turrets, and got the hyperdrive boosted to .8 past lightspeed.  Things were going great, up until one contract.

They wanted me to bag a Wookie.  

It was other Wookies that wanted me to do it, though!  Apparently their village champion had gone "claw mad" and he needed to be taken down, but they forbade me from using blasters.  Crazy, right?  Well, I had one of the rykk blades modified a bit.  Had the blade reforged out of pure cortosis and had them put in a vibro-cell.  It's a mean little blade!  Comes with me everywhere, now.  So I went into the jungle with nothing but my ax and my rykk blade.  Bad, bad time of it, too.  I had climbing gloves, and boots, but I can't quite move like a Wookie.  Took me almost 2 months to track that big bastard down, and when I say big, I mean big for a Wookie, even!  I told him who I was, and what I was there to do.  Well, he didn't try to talk, as one might expect.  He just charged, blood and fury in his eyes.  I had my blades out in a split second, vibro-cells thrumming, and it was a Hell of a fight.  He was too quick, for the longest time, for me to even come close to touching him, though I did get in a couple kicks and even a headbutt.  Those just made him mad.  He moved with a fury I hadn't seen before that day, and haven't seen since.  I understand how he was their champ.  Well, I managed to get some space between me and him and I decided it was time to start fighting really dirty.  I launched a dart at him from my wrist-gaunt, mild stunning toxin, but he got his arm up in the way.  He stared at it for a little, which I took as an opening.  I took his arm!  Chopped it just below the shoulder with my ax, my sweet, deadly baby.    I don't know how, but that got him even madder!  He tried rushing me with just the one arm, but I had a much easier time of it.  Only took a couple minutes of setting up, but I got him right in the mouth with the rykk blade.  Lucky, lucky shot.  I got his arm, skinned it, since having a Wookie pelt was kind of the thing at the time, and tucked that away, throwing the rest of that arm down to the predators.  I swear, hauling that body back to the village was such a pain!  I eventually got there, feeling half dead, and they gave me my bounty.  Then, as soon as I was paid, they insisted I leave their village, right then!  No time to rest, nothing!  Well, I beat feet over to the Imperial settlement, rested up for a solid week, then headed back to the rest of the galaxy, looking for more work  with a new Wookie scalp hanging from my spaulder.  

My next big fight wasn't even a job, it was someone who thought I was an Imp loyalist!  Can you imagine that?  I just told him to buzz off, but then I heard a noise I hadn't heard, personally, before.  It sounded like...oh, a snap and a hiss at the same time.  This guy was coming at me with a lightsaber, a pretty silver one.  Crazy, right?  Lucky I had my rykk blade.  Now, here's a tip, kid:  Pure Cortosis, like this thing's made out of, can shut off lightsabers.  It doesn't come in handy too much, but it's great when you need it.  I let him come on, and he tried coming up with a big, overhead slash.  Well, my rykk blade was in the way and shut his saber right off.  I have never seen a more surprised look on someone's face!  I manage a push-kick to his gut, but then I feel a push on me.  He threw me back against the wall, and it did not feel nice.  He snapped the 'saber back on, but watched the rykk blade.  I busted out my ax, too, but it was just Cortosis-weaved, so it would stop the saber, not shut it down.  I figured dueling wasn't the very best bet, but he wasn't giving me too many options.  Except for my wrist-gaunts.  I launch a high explosive rocket at his feet, causing him to jump up, and I get him with the Stohkli that I had broken down and put the guts on one of my wrist-gaunts.  Well, while he was out I belted the lightsaber, got some stuncuffs on him, and a neural suppressor.  Never know when you'll need it, but they're handy to have.  I mostly use it for keeping annoying bounties quiet, but it worked great for this, too.  Anyways, I dropped him off with some stormies, told them what he was and to not take the 'cuffs or the suppressor off.  Got a tidy sum for that and my best souvenir.  I like my souvenirs.

But, what you really are wondering is why I'm on Mandalore and not one of the other, unaligned hunters.  Well, I was approached by a bunch of big boys in Mando gear, along with a smaller, skinnier, older guy that just went by Kal.  They told me they had heard of me, said I was pretty good.  Now, I don't normally brag on myself, I just state facts and what I've done, but there is always a time for bluster.  I told them I was damn good and I wanted to know why they were blocking my light.  Kal came forward with one of his big boys, called him Ordo, and said this, "Look, you're getting this offer once.  You seem like you'd fit, and we're always looking for new blood, but how do you feel about Mandalorians?  Specifically, becoming one."  Well, who am I to refuse an offer like that?  Join the biggest, best hunting culture out there?  Damn right I want to!  I'm not some crazy like Dengar or a robot like 4-LOM, I need somewhere where I can go to ground if I need to.  Where better than Mandalore?

So now you know my story, kid.  Think it was worth the Lomin-ale?