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Nine-Four-El was a droid who served the cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance during the Imperial Era. The droid assisted Valance in acquiring bounties and monitored his progress in completing them. In 3 ABY, he accompanied the cyborg on his search for his former mentor, the Nautolan bounty hunter Nakano Lash.

Biography[]

Serving a cyborg[]

Nine-Four-El^[4] was a droid who became the companion to the cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance at some point following^[3] the cyborg's mission from his old friend Han Solo during the Imperial Era.^[5] In 3 ABY,^[6] Valance took on a bounty which required capturing members of a clan of Devaronians in Black Spire Outpost^[3] on the Outer Rim planet^[7] Batuu, Nine-Four-El warned him of a potential ambush by the clan. When the droid's warning was proven true and Valance was pinned down in the outpost, the cyborg remarked that the droid did not mention^[3] he^[2] was sending the cyborg to the ideal spot to be ambushed. During the mission, Nine-Four-El monitored his master's progress aboard the cyborg's cruiser, the Broken Wing.^[3]

When Valance began firing back at the Devaronians, Nine-Four-El reminded him that the targets were to be brought back alive, to which Valance replied the clan was not "cooperating." The droid again stated the terms of the bounty, but was interrupted and silenced when his master threatened to scrap the droid and said that it was a reliable source of credits. With only one Devaronian left standing, Valance decided to use his palm blaster after being disarmed and pursued the Devaronian, but Nine-Four-El revealed that the cyborg did not test the repairs made to the weapon, and once again attempted to state the bounty's terms before being interrupted again after Valance stated the target would still be breathing at the end of the chase.^[3]

When the Devaronian hijacked a landspeeder, Nine-Four-El stated that the target escaped, but Valance stated he would turn around and attempt to avenge his fallen clanmates. After Valance wrenched a pipe off of a moisture vaporator after his palm blaster failed to activate, the droid asked him if it was the cyborg's plan to use the clan as bait, to which his master replied the strategy was to use himself as bait, before hitting the Devaronian off the speeder with the pipe and knocking him unconscious. The droid revealed that the reward for capturing the sole surviving Devaronian would cover fuel and docking costs for the Broken Wing. Valance told the droid to search for bounties that did not "waste his time." Nine-Four-El did so, and stopped at a peculiar bounty and informed Valance after looking through a number of holopucks.^[3]

Search for Nakano Lash[]

After Valance learned about the resurgence of his former mentor, Nakano Lash, Nine-Four-El accompanied his master to the Safe House^[4] on the Outer Rim planet^[8] Eriadu to search for clues regarding Lash's last known location. At the Safe House, Nine-Four-El informed Valance that Lash's trail had gone cold while standing over a number of dead bodies scattered around the floor, and was told to continue searching. The droid identified the body of the Abednedo black market supplier Jhorstek, an old contact of Valance's. He noticed the cyborg drinking after asking him if he was certain the supplier was connected to Lash.^[4]

After continued searching, Nine-Four-El informed Valance that the cameras in the building were destroyed by blaster fire. When Valance smashed through a wall and pulled out a control panel, the droid reminded him of property regulations, before his master ordered him to engage his silent mode through a voice command while Valance inspected security footage to identify Jhorstek's killer. After the bounty hunter Boba Fett was identified as the killer, Nine-Four-El and Valance travelled to the graveyard planet of Galmerah, where Lash was last seen.^[4]

At Galmerah, the droid and Valance traversed the landscape until they stopped at the grave of Lash's parents. Nine-Four-El was then ordered to disengage his silent mode and translate the pheromones in the grave, which he identified as the Nautolan language Nautila. When Valance touched the pheromones, the droid noticed a change in their composition, and identified map coordinates in the pheromones. The two were then immediately confronted by the Trandoshan bounty hunter Bossk, who also sought to claim Lash's bounty. After a short argument between Valance and Bossk, a fight erupted between the two.^[4]

Characteristics[]

Nine-Four-El had silver plating and a single blue photoreceptor on the left side of his face. The droid had a facial recognition system that could identify dead bodies, and a silent mode which could be activated and deactivated through voice commands, in addition to translating Nautila.^[4] He operated strictly by the book, constantly reminding his master of the bounty's terms during his mission on Batuu,^[3] as well as property regulations while on Eriadu.^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

Nine-Four-El first appeared in the first issue of Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, a comic book series written by Ethan Sacks, illustrated by Paolo Villanelli, and published by Marvel Comics^[3] on March 11, 2020.^[9] He was first named in the second issue, which was also written by Sacks^[4] and published on March 25, 2020.^[10]

Appearances[]

• Bounty Hunters 1 (First appearance)
• Bounty Hunters 2 (First identified as Nine-Four-El)
• Bounty Hunters 3
• Bounty Hunters 4 (Indirectly mentioned only; in the opening crawl)

Notes and references[]