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Once again I found myself on a shuttle somewhere wondering why I was the one on the shuttle. I could swear we had whole groups devoted to this sort of thing, but when the military "asks", you do as you are told without questioning the logic or lack thereof. I was headed to Tattoine. Apparently the Rebels were attempting to influence a pod race and the Empire didn't wish to appear weak, so they were trying their hardest to prevent that from happening. I'm not sure why we didn't just post some AT-ATs by the finish line and prevent any Rebel racers from winning, but maybe that is just too much of a direct approach. Imperial intelligence had provided me with profiles of racers not known to be solidly under the control of Rebels, the Black Sun, or any of the other myriad criminal enterprises. I read through the most viable candidates and selected my primary target. It was a racer who wasn't a #1 finisher, but was consistently in the top racers and he was reliable. I didn't want a risk taker that would end up making a dangerous move that ended in disaster. His name was Romero. Well, it's name was Romero, I guess it was analogous to the male of the species. He had a spot he liked to hang out at on the edge of Mos Espa attached to a bar. A bar called Oasis that, through many dummy corporations, he part owned. I'd do my best to catch up with him there as he would most likely be more comfortable on his home turf. When I got to the bar I asked the bartender who I needed to talk to in order to see Romero. He asked what for and I told him a "business opportunity" and showed him my briefcase. He had a busboy lead me to a door at the back of the bar that opened out onto a patio area. As I approached the seating area I could see Romero's sycophant sidekick, a Gungan named Jug-Jug, get up and head towards me. He inquired what I was doing and said that I needed to talk to his boss about a mutually beneficial enterprise. I could see Romero nod at Jug-Jug as the Gungan looked over his shoulder. I approached Romero and introduced myself simply as Kodan. He silently stared as me, so I proceeded to tell him that I wished to help fund his pod racing endeavor and that further I had at my disposal a secured shop with all the tools he could need. "And?" was his only response. I knew he wanted to know of my sudden benevolence -- no one gives you a bunch of money and facilities to use for free. Providing him with an abridged version of the truth I let him know that the Empire wished to aid him while simultaneously decreasing the odds of some of his stronger competitors. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "I'm not one to turn down money, but my pod is in need of a new engine, one that I haven't been able to locate here on Tattoine. I've been running on one and a half engines the past 2 races, but it just won't fire up anymore." I asked him for details on the engine he needed and excused myself to make a call. Fortunately there was one on a freighter not too far away and it was being rerouted to Tattoine suddenly. "Well, then I suppose I better arrange to have the rest of my pod racer moved to your facility!" he said. I gave him the location of his new shop and told him I would see him there tomorrow. Upon his arrival he looked around before declaring it would do quite nicely. He seemed to be most interested in the new engine and even remarked that it wasn't "new" it was "new new" -- from the factory. I assured him that any technicians he needed or other parts or supplies would be acquired. All we needed was for him to win. He seemed to grin as he said "Hey, I bet on myself for a change!" Extra pics:
