It was a long trip to Tatooine from Alderaan. The Falcon made it in about 22 hours, but that was with a class .5 hyperdrive. This was going to be a lot slower in this ship, for now. I spent the time I had trying to figure out what exactly I was going to do when I got there. One of my priorities was to speak to an Alliance sympathizer that I wasn’t sure would be on the planet. He would be there in a few years and I was positive about that. Another was to get a sidearm. I didn’t want the Empire to know about it, so I didn’t try on Imperial City, and Alderaan had no weapons, so this was my first opportunity.
After the long trip, we landed at Mos Eisley. Port authority was no problem, so long as you paid them enough. As I landed the ship, I quickly asked about various locations in the city, and, again, provided I paid enough, I was given all the information I needed.
My first stop was a weapons store. Though finding the sympathizer was more important, if he wasn’t even in the system, it would do no good to waste my time looking for him. Another factor I had not originally considered is that it is far safer to walk around Mos Eisley WITH a weapon, than without.
“Hi, may I help you?”
I was greeted rather well by a male human, or maybe it was a Hutt that spoke Basic. His size did not help me make the determination.
“Yes, hello. I’m new to this area of space. I’ve spent much of my time on planets such as Alderaan. For this reason, I had no need for any weapons. Now, I find myself in what I have heard as being a “wretched hive of scum and villainy, ” so I figured if I want to live the day, I best get something to protect myself with.”
I continued by rattling off the list of what I was looking for.
“First off, I’d like something small, but with some punch to it. A DL-44 or something similar would probably work the best. Oh, and I will need some extra charge packs for it as well, if that is possible.”
The man (I could tell now by how he moved behind the counter) looked a little bit, and found the closest thing to I was looking for, a Merr-Sonn Flash 4, and it came with a holster, belt, and 2 battery packs.
“Shouldn’t this have a scope on it as well?” I asked.
“Opps, your right, it should. I don’t think I have any other blaster like what you want, so this will have to do.”
I said it was fine, and continued.
“Next, let’s see, oh, I remember, those heavy blaster pistols can run out of juice at just the wrong time, if you know what I mean. Have you got anything that would give me more shots per battery or per gas fill-up? Longer range would be helpful as well. In fact, why don’t I just say this flat out. If you’ve got any illegal Blastech E-11 blaster rifles, I’ll take one. Money is not an issue.”
The storeowner looked a little nervous as I made this last request. He proceeded to walk out from behind the counter and make sure no one had heard my request. He then headed towards the back of the place, unlocked a door, and entering. My guess was that he did have the rifle, and that I’d have to pay plenty for it. I was right. He returned with the weapon. No belt, no batteries, nothing. Guess that’s the price you have to pay for illegal goods.
“Excellent. The last item I had on my list at this point was just a simple vibro-blade. Something about this long.” I held up my fingers about 5-6 inches apart.
He had no trouble finding what I asked for.
Last, I simply asked for 3 blasters of any make or type. I was going to hold on to these for the U.S. government to study.
Piling everything up on the counter in front of me, he totaled it up. It was 500 credits for the Flash 4, 100 for the blade. But it was the E-11 that hit me hard. 1500 credits. I paid it all with cash. I strapped on the Flash 4 and attached the knife to my belt. I then removed a shirt, and wrapped the illegal rifle with it. All I needed to do was make it back to the ship.
I was lucky. No problems.
The next item to take care of was the sympathizer, and I knew exactly where to go to find him. Quite possibly the most dangerous place in the city, the Mos Eisley Cantina. I began to walk there. It was quite a bit farther than the weapons shop. It gave me a chance to see all the various species that might come to visit Earth now. Bith, Ishi Tib, Nikto, quite a few humans, and a few druids, as well as numerous others that I never recognized before.
I passed the speeder lot where Luke sold his X-34. I decided to stop for a moment and look around. I had the money to spend, why not take advantage of that. I couldn’t use a full size speeder. I had to get something I could fit up the ramp of the ship. I decided on a swoop. As I looked around, I saw a number of models, and two that I recognized. As I looked, it appeared as if I caught the attention of the lot owner. It slowly walked over, and began to give its sales pitch. Unfortunately for it, I did not understand a word he said. It sounded a little like Huttese, but the alien spoke fast enough I could not catch it all, that coupled with the fact that my knowledge of the language was about 20 words, and only if they were spoken individually.
I hoped it would notice my confusion before he sold me the vehicle.
Luckily, it did. I soon learned that he did not understand basic.
A good day goes bad.
This would require some ingenuity that the galaxy had not seen since Harpo Marx graced the silver screen. I reached into my pocket for the imperial currency. All coins, it would prove easy to sort through. Slowly, I worked out a total of 2500 credits, and showed them to the lot owner. Once again, I got lucky. Money, not love, was the universal language. As I held out my hand, it pointed to a 1000 credit coin, and then held up 1 finger. I thought for a second.
“It wants another 1000.” I thought to myself.
Since I thought my first offer was reasonable enough, considering what I paid for the weapons, I reached into my pocket for 2 1000 credit pieces. I placed them in my hand, while removing the extra 500. My offer stood at 3000 credits. The alien thought for a moment. It then reached for my other hand, where I had kept the extra 500, and placed one 100-credit coin into the hand with the 3000. It was willing to let me have it for 3100. A far cry from the 2500 I had initially offered, but all things considered, I figured this would be a fine deal. I responded by taking the aliens hand, and transferring the money from mine to its. I also shook my head up and down. I hoped this was a gesture that it understood. Luck had been on my side that entire day, and this was not when it left me. The alien understood, then left momentarily to get me whatever I would need for the swoop.
As I waited, I noticed a helmet hanging on a wall nearby where the alien had gone. Just as it returned, I took down the helmet, pointed to it, and showed the owner a 50-credit piece. He understood perfectly, but refused the money. I guessed it was throwing in the helmet, or maybe that was part of the pitch I never understood.
After everything had been worked out, I hopped on the swoop and left for the cantina. The trip when much faster than if I had remained on foot, but I still moved slow enough that I could look at the buildings and people as I went. I arrived at the cantina, but then thought about something.
“How in the world did Luke leave his speeder behind without anyone stealing it? Everyone, including the druids, left the speeder unattended at first.”
I began to get worried. I had just paid good money for this bike, and I didn’t want to have it stolen right away. So, I did the first thing that came to mind. I walked right over to a stormtrooper and asked what I should do.
“Excuse me. I am new to this planet, and I just purchased the swoop. I wanted to go into that