I awoke early the next morning. I dressed quickly so I could spend as much time as possible perusing the ship at the impound. It didn’t seem right, taking a ship that was technically owned by someone else, but I got the feeling that the ships I had to choose from wouldn’t be used anymore unless they were sold off to someone else.
My usual guides/ guards showed me to the impound. It was a far distance away, but the trip went fast in this ‘Air Taxi’ we used. When I arrived at the impound, there was already a worker waiting for me. He showed me a list of ships, and then proceeded to point them out to me. A couple Cloakshape Fighters here, a Z-95 Headhunter there, and a variety of other small ships were mine for the taking. As I looked over the list, I was disappointed to see no YT-series ships. Then I saw I was wrong. There was a single YT-2400 on the list. The same ship Dash Rendar piloted. This was what I wanted to find, so I patiently waited until we got to it. I looked it over. Appeared to be in good shape. The ship was decent sized, and had adequate weapons systems for my tastes. I asked the worker if he knew anything about the previous owner. That’s when it got ugly. Smuggling, more specifically, gun running, and it was his tenth offense. He was at the Spice Mines of Kessel. I thought to myself, he’s dead already. This ship was perfect.
I asked the worker, “Can I get a look inside?”
“Sure, no problem.” Was the response I got. He then started checking pockets, and found the key he wanted. He opened up the ship and I walked in. I was suddenly hit by something. It knocked me to the floor. The worker was in like a flash. He pulled out a small weapon and fired a whitish-blue shot in the direction of the attacker. When I got up, I saw a droid on the floor. I had had something thrown at me by a droid.
The worker turned to me, saying, “I’m sorry, I forgot about that. When the ship was brought here, we had a similar incident. I thought the droid had been removed or shutdown. We can have it removed for you si…”
I interrupted him, “Not necessary. Show me how to reactivate the droid and let me handle it. Yesterday I was speaking with the Emperor. No droid is going to get the best of me.”
“Yes sir. Let me know if you need anything, I’ll be waiting outside.”
I reactivated the droid. It appeared to be a LE series Repair droid. I had read about them in one of my books. They were designed to be a cross between astromech druids and protocol droids. I helped it off the floor and into a chair in the cockpit.
“State your designation.” I said to it.
“El-ee-bee-zero-bee-three. Sir, where is my master? I’ve been waiting here for a long time.” The droid asked.
I told him I didn’t know for sure, but that chances were high he would not be coming back. I couldn’t tell what the droid was thinking.
“But your welcome to stay on board with me. I’m new to this part of the galaxy, and I’ll need someone to help me with everything from piloting to customs officials.”
I went on to explain where I was from and about what had happened to me in the last week. I hoped the droid would decide to stay and help me out. It turned out to be much easier than that. There was no decision involved. EL-B0B3, as I probably should have expected, looked upon itself as something to be owned, rather than a being with any kind of thinking being. It was almost a “finders-keepers” mentality. At that moment, I did not feeling like arguing.
At that, I left the ship, closed it up, and told the impound worker that the ship was sufficient. The stormtroopers, still following me around, worked out the details with the worker, telling him where it was to be moved and related information.
With that, we left the yard, and proceeded to the Senate building. It was gigantic, and mushroom-shaped, just like in The Phantom Menace. As we found our way to a door inside, we were stopped by Senate security.
“I’m sorry, but the Senate is closed to visitors. They are holding a very important meeting right now and can’t be disturbed.” One of the guards told us.
I tried to explain that I was there at the personal invitation of the Emperor, but it didn’t seem to help. I was told that during these debates, even the Emperor was not allowed in the building. I was somewhat disgusted at this, but figured that it was ok. I didn’t want to get myself into any kind of trouble.
“Alright. If you will not allow me to enter, would you at least answer some questions for me? I’m new to this part of the galaxy.”
The guards didn’t see that as a problem, and were able to answer my questions. I was able to confirm that Garm bel Iblis was still the Corellian Senator, Mon Mothma represented Chandrila, and that Leia was the newly elected Senator from Alderaan. This was very important information for me, while trivial for most others.
With that, I decided I best get myself off Imperial City, and start exploring. I packed my things, confirmed with the Emperor that the diplomats would be arriving at Earth in 2 Imperial months, boarded my ship, and left.