Mercenary

"In some ways, a mercenary is like a pirate without a crew. In other ways, not so much. These soldiers of fortune sign contracts with their clients in hopes of amassing great wealth, a decision I can respect. But the mercenaries most in demand are the ones who do only what they are told and ask for nothing more than the credits they were promised. While a pirate takes great pride in their independence and ambition, a mercenary has no real code and will simply fight for whomever is willing to pay them the most."

―Hondo Ohnaka^[1]

MayfeldMugshot — Migs Mayfeld was a human mercenary during New Republic Era.

A mercenary was an individual who fought for other individuals or parties in return for payment such as credits.^[2] Mercenaries could look for work via the Undervine network.^[3] Many bounty hunters, like Cad Bane and Boba Fett, acted like mercenaries and were hired to do jobs other than tracking down bounties.^[4]^[5]^[6]

History[]

During the High Republic Era, the former Jedi Padawan Ty Yorrick became a mercenary (sometimes referred to as a saber-for-hire) and an independent monster hunter.^[7] The Silver Knights were a group of mercenaries led by Captain Li Yu.^[8]

The mercenary droid AD-W4 worked for the Confederacy of Independent Systems due to General Grievous hiring the droid to oversee the Separatists operations on the planet Hissrich during the Clone Wars.^[9]

Saponza with Strix — Saponza, a mercenary who had been part of the underworld for decades

During the Imperial Era, the Bad Batch—Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Echo, along with their young ward Omega—defected from the Empire and ended up becoming mercenaries, working directly for the Trandoshan underworld figure Cid in order to survive in the rapidly changing galaxy without the Republic.^[10] Former Jedi Knight Bode Akuna became a freelance gunslinger and spy for Lank Denvik.^[11] The operative Vel Sartha called the criminal Cassian Andor a mercenary when Luthen Rael brought him to worked for the Aldhani rebel infiltration team.^[12] At one point during the Imperial Era, Saponza found trouble getting mercenary work and suspected the issue was not just limited to him. He guessed that major syndicates like Crimson Dawn and Son-tuul Pride maintained private armies, leaving them no need to hire the likes of him.^[3]

Moroff was a Gigoran mercenary affiliated with Saw Gerrera's Partisans. He continued to fight with the Partisans all the way up to the Jedha insurgency.^[13] During that insurgency, a mercenary guarded the nomadic market.^[14] Leia Organa, disgusted at Han Solo seeming to only love money rather than wanting to help the Rebel Alliance, once described him as "quite a mercenary."^[15]

BaylanSkoll-Villains2024 — Baylan Skoll was a former-Jedi-turned-mercenary during the New Republic Era.

During the early New Republic era, Din Djarin worked as a mercenary for various organizations. The shock trooper Carasynthia Dune went into an "early retirement" when she realized that the work she was performing was not what she had enlisted for. As a result, she left the Republic and became a mercenary^[16]. Djarin's old friend Ranzar Malk formed a team composed of the ex-Imperial sharpshooter Migs Mayfeld, the Devaronian Burg, Twi'lek Xi'an, and the droid Q9-0, to rescue Xi'an's brother Qin from the Bothan-5, a New Republic Correctional Transport.^[17] Morgan Elsbeth had the hired gunfighter Lang working as a mercenary for her.^[18] She also hired former Jedi Knight Baylan Skoll and his apprentice, Shin Hati,^[19] a duo of mysterious^[20] mercenaries. Both came to free her from the New Republic's custody. She also had former Imperial Inquisitor Marrok working for her.^[19]

Kendoh Voss was a criminal of notoriety^[21] active in the First Order-Resistance War. She had turned to a life of crime to restore the fortunes of her Serennian family. As a criminal active as a mercenary, thief,^[22] and bounty hunter, she would come to lead a crew known as the Kendoh Gang.^[23]