The Bounty on Arvala-7 ====================== A side job tracking a spice smuggler through the deserts of Arvala-7 Date: February 5, 2026 The tracking fob led me to Arvala-7. Again. I'd rather face a mudhorn than another week in those canyons. The mark was a Devaronian spice smuggler named Xarath. Five thousand credits, dead or alive. Guild doesn't care which, but alive means more pay. I prefer that anyway. Less mess to clean up. I tracked him for three days through the northern canyonlands. The sandstorms this season are brutal. Had to seal the helmet twice to keep the grit out. My armor took a beating from the wind—scratches on the right shoulder plate that'll need buffing out. Found him holed up in an abandoned moisture farm. Old Jedi-era structure, half-buried in sand. Smart choice, except he left tracks in the dust. Rookie mistake. He tried to run. They always try to run. Disrupted his speeder with a whistling bird to the engine housing. He went down soft. No permanent damage. The Guild paid the full five thousand plus a hazard bonus for the storms. Spent the night in the <a href="/about/" class="wikilink" data-title="About the Hunter" data-description="Who I am, what I do, and why I keep these logs" data-date="2026-02-05">Razor Crest</a>, listening to sand scrape against the hull. Made me think about how quiet the covert used to be. The forge fires at night. The <a href="/the-armorers-wisdom/" class="wikilink" data-title="The Armorer&#39;s Wisdom" data-description="Lessons learned beneath the forge fires" data-date="2026-01-28">Armorer&#39;s</a> hammer. This is the way.