It took the whole night to really process everything. Literally, I spent the whole night in the cantina, sleeping on my arms in a corner booth, only being woken up occasionally by the barkeep to make sure I ordered something every once in a while to justify me doing so.
I'm not sure if the droid took pity on me, or just saw it as a couple extra credits. Either way, I was thankful for it since I was pretty sure this hamlet didn't have an inn or anything like that, or at least nothing that looked like one when I was wandering around earlier. Or maybe it did and I just couldn't tell before without the PUT, doesn't really matter in the end.
The point was I had a place to, albeit uncomfortably, rest while I figured out my next move.
The Clone Wars ended not too long ago, and with it the death of most of the Jedi Order and the rise to power of a secret Sith Lord after transforming the Galactic Republic, an institution that has stood strong for over 25,000 years, into his own Galactic Empire. An empire that, soon enough, would be responsible for a number of atrocities all over the galaxy to a countless amount of people, bringing tyranny, death, and destruction to everyone that didn't bow down to its power, all so one man could live out the dream of controlling everything while he pursued immortality. And the only ones who could potentially stop him, the Jedi, that weren't killed in the initial purge have gone to ground and are doing everything they can to avoid the Empire's eye just to survive.
That was only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to horrible things that were gonna be happening over the next twenty and so years too, to say nothing of the literal worlds that get destroyed, so I was well and truly stuck in the middle of this.
In theory, I could avoid all the nonsense of the galaxy and just hide out here on Dantooine if I wanted to, or some other far off and little interacted with corner of the universe. After all, everything works out–without me getting involved, and potentially getting myself killed or worse… right?
Sadly, I knew I was lying to myself and trying to give myself out of a very scary and dangerous situation.
If I just sat around and did nothing, especially given the ability I had to basically buy anything useful others could use, I would be nothing more than a spineless and selfish coward. I knew so many people were going to suffer and die without help, and I could be in a position to actually try and make things better than they could be. Who the hell knew what could be possible if I could potentially arm rebel groups with equipment they'd normally never be able to get their hands on, planets I could help by providing them things the Empire would steal from them, the lives that can be saved by just offering the right thing at the right time…
And, deep down, a more selfish part of myself didn't want to be forced to hide out in the middle of nowhere for years just for the chance of avoiding all the evil bullshit out there when there was a whole galaxy to explore and experience! Worlds, peoples, cultures, foods, media, places, things, and more to see and interact with! And I couldn't rightly do all that safely and with a clear conscience with the Empire running around and ruining everything with their causal evilness.
No, I wanted to get a spaceship and fly around doing awesome and amazing things, dammit! And I wasn't gonna let an old man with a scrotum with a face and his army of evil asskissers stand in the way of that!
"That's settled then," I said to myself as I finally walked out of the cantina, tipping the droid a bit for his service and along with some extra to pay for a round to that human and rodian pair that picked me up if they ever came into the bar later as thanks to them to them all, and into the morning light. "I need to find a job."
All my hopes and dreams meant nothing if I didn't have the credits to actually use the SFO to its full potential, which meant getting some decent starting capital. Thankfully, after grilling the barkeeper more about it, I knew there was still a thriving salvaging business up near Dantooine's capital where the battle the planet experienced a couple years ago took place not too far from where locals and off-worlders alike still dug old battle droids and war equipment out of the ground to turn into the local Republic Reclamation Center for credits.
Well… the Imperial Reclamation Center now, I suppose.
Either way, that sounded like a good start and much more straightforward than trying to find work as a farm or stablehand, the main career paths on this planet, with little to no skills that were relevant in this universe or my current situation.
It was still physical labor, which I was dreading, but sacrifices had to be made to succeed sometimes. Speaking of which…
I made sure I was a decent bit out of town for this next part, but not so far that kath hounds should be lurking nearby, as the barkeeper warned me about. It was cause of said hounds, and the distance between here and the planetary capital, that made any plans about walking there totally unfeasible and why buy passage someplace using a local airspeeder transport that came once a week when you had access to nearly every kind of SW vehicle you could ask for, for only a modest fee?
That and I really wanted to drive a speeder.
Sadly, my options were limited, especially since I wanted to save money, since your typical new speeder, even civilian models, were at least 2k credits and went up from there. Thankfully, SFO included a used vehicle option, where the product would be overall lesser quality but still functioning. Of course, it brought up the question if 'used' was truly being used accurately or not.
I chuckled at the thought of somewhere in the galaxy some sapient's old bike just disappeared, only to have a bunch of credits show up in their bank account or under their mattress or something like that. In the end, I decided it was best not to think about it too hard for now and focus on the present.
So, going over the various prices for used speeder bikes, I ended up ironically picking a model that a notable Sith assassin once used. I pressed the confirm purchase button on the SFO screen, and right before my eyes manifested a slightly beat up and worn looking FC-20 speeder bike.
"Wow, you really do look used," I couldn't help but comment at the bike–as I looked it over, making note of the slightly torn up synthetic leather seat, the scratches and minor dents along its circular frame, and even the off-color replaced left footrest. "But you are still awesome!"
After all, who wouldn't be excited by owning their own anti-gravity bike! I was still giddy about it as it floated there and, out of curiosity of how it might feel, put my hand through the empty space between it and the ground.
"Huh, I feel something, but it kind of feels like moving my hand through water? Weird," I said as I kept moving my hand around the repulsorlift before finally stopping. "Okay, now to actually drive you… it's just like riding a normal bike, just one that floats and has an engine, right?"
I mounted my new steed, not dipping a bit and only feeling a little floaty, and took the time to get a feel for its controls.
"Okay, everything works with the handles soooo, that's reverse, that's forward, I just turn it to turn, and that's the brake. Not much too it," I muttered to myself as I moved the speeder minutely in each direction to get a feel for it. "And an extra bonus that I don't need to really maintain my balance to keep it upright, so long as I don't, like, lean my whole body out of the thing. Oh, and no worries about road quality! Just need relatively flat ground and to not crash into anything."
Other speeder bikes could even fly a good distance above the ground if the user wanted them too, but the FC wasn't that kind of bike so it was irrelevant for now.
The only other downside the bike had compared to others was that it was on the slowed end for speeders, only reaching a max speed of 110 or so miles per hour in a few seconds and that it had limited range before needing a recharge, but both of those should be no big deal since he planned to reach the capital in a relatively timely manner.
"Okay, so according to the coordinates the barkeeper gave me," I said to myself as I pulled out the datapad I had bought earlier, "I just need to go down this road going northwest for most of the day and I should reach the capital around evening time, assuming I don't run into anything unexpected. Which, since I'm not Force sensitive, should mean that I'm most likely okay."
Seriously, if you were a space wizard in this setting in exchange for awesome powers it seemed like the universe itself just loved throwing you into random trouble all the time. Call it bad luck or the will of the Force, it just happened. Ideally that wouldn't happen to me nearly as much, unless I actively go looking for trouble or start hanging out with Jedi at some point.
"Okay, enough stalling, time to get going and see what this baby can do," I said as I put the datapad away in a side-bag that I bought and put on my helmet and goggles, since safety first when driving a very high speed vehicle.
I started off slow at first, gently accelerating the speeder until the gauge indicated that was going at least 25, and as I got more confident I increased the speed more and more, confident in the fact that was apparently a little traveled road this time of year for the most part and wide enough that I shouldn't be at risk of crashing into someone else any time soon. Eventually, I hit the speeder's topspeed and I was absolutely zooming across Dantooine in a surprisingly quiet vehicle with the wind blowing on my face, going faster than I ever had in any vehicle I have ever driven myself before.
I wasn't sure if it was the lack of bumps and contact against the ground, the quiet hum of the engine, the fact it was my first single person vehicle ride, the mostly consistent landscape moving around me, the fact I was on a high-tech motorcycle, or a dozen other things, but I very quickly become a weird combination of relaxed and very excited.
Here I was, someone from a world where doing what I was currently doing was nothing but a dream on another freaking planet, and it was so amazing in so many ways I didn't have the words to describe it.
So, for lack of anything better to say, I just shouted in joy.
"WOOOOOOOOOOO-ack!" My shout of joy was sadly interrupted by what felt like a bug flying into my mouth at high speeds, causing me to let go of the speeder's handles and grab my throat in shock as I started violently coughing.
Thank goodness this model had an auto-braking feature once you let go of the controls, so rather than crashing into anything or speeding off course I came to a gentle stop so I could cough my lungs out and clean my throat out with water.
I made sure to buy a scarf to put around my face before I continued my journey.
---
As predicted, it was about evening by the time I reached Dantooine's planetary capital of Garang, though calling it that was rather generous since it didn't seem to be much bigger than a town as I rode in.
It certainly had more activity on average compared to the hamlets and villages I passed on the way here, but it wasn't by much. At least it had a spaceport and an inn if nothing else.
Either way, I had finally arrived and so I could put my plan into action.
First, I stopped by the local inn, the 'Sleeping Thune', and booked a room for the night since I doubt I would be doing anything out of town until the morning. I was even able to park and recharge my speeder in front of the building, so that was convenient.
After that, I asked for directions to the Imperial Reclamation Center, which in hindsight was rather unnecessary since besides the warehouses near the spaceport it was the biggest building in town.
Walking up to it, it looked like your typical prefabricated base, boxy looking and totally made out of metal compared to the other local buildings, put there during the war years ago and now acted as the HQ for the planetary garrison, as small as it was, and collection point for any salvaged equipment picked up near the battlefield less than an half an hour away by speeder.
Of course, what really made me nervous was flags with the Imperial_crest on them on the building and the white armored troopers patrolling it alongside the occasional grey-suited officers.
These weren't Stormtroopers, but considering the quality dip of said group compared to the cloned mandalorians before me I almost might have preferred them if a fight broke out. Granted, if one did I was likely screwed either way, just that I would be dead slightly slower with the former than the latter.
Still though, I couldn't back down now so I took in a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, and walked forward to the front door with confidence.
After all, I currently had a distinct advantage most SW protags didn't have.
I was a total nobody that the Empire wouldn't even look twice at, and I hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible.
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AN: Despite being cheaper, first purchase that really makes you realize you are in a scifi while still being normal feeling enough to enjoy right away. Oh, and first interaction with Imperials coming up.