His ship had crashed. His ship. A ship he was flying.
This, thought Anakin, did not compute. His ships did not crash- that one time had been Obi-Wan's fault, anyway- and particularly not here.
Not in this place that looked so much like Tatooine that, to be honest, he'd almost prefer to leave it to the Separatists.
They hadn't told him it looked like this. Of course, the Council always left out helpful little details like that.
The young man kicked the sand in front of him, and it flew up in a haze of stinging, evil particles.
Sith, I hate sand.
-
The town he'd crashed outside of was bustling. A distinct aura of lawlessness permeated it, and Anakin growled. How in the world did Tatooine get a twin planet on the other side of the galaxy? He could swear this was Mos Eisley.
Sith, I hate Mos Eisley.
There were no signs of obvious Separatist presence, which was a relief. Obviously the droid armies hadn't reached this point yet. The reports were probably sent in by some panicked local leader who saw threats in every shadow of a freighter.
The Jedi sighed. Wherever the new threat was, he wasn't going to be able to get to it without his ship. And as at least half of the components in the sublight engines had fried beyond repair- how had that happened? His ships didn't crash- he would need to purchase parts.
Is this a test, Force? I really don't want a test right now.
As informing a mystical energy field that he was incredibly ticked off at it did not seem to be having any effects, the newly-made Knight was forced to enter the nearest parts shop.
Thank everything, the strange across-the-galaxy Twin-tooine apparently contained no clone of the shop he'd been enslaved in, at least not here. This store, apparently run by the fat purple Twi'lek behind the counter, appeared to be mostly in worse condition than Anakin's crashed fighter, but it did feature disorganized heaps of parts that promised deals and haggling.
Or mind tricks. Anakin racked his brain. Did cheating store owners lead to the Dark Side? It seemed doubtful. But it probably would lead to an "I-know-you're-not-my-Padawan-any-more-but-I'm-still-ashamed-of/worried-about-you" discussion with Obi-Wan, so it probably wasn't worth it.
-
The Jedi rapidly spotted the few small parts that would hold his engines together for long enough to return to the temple. And probably face the Council for Abandoning His Mission, but he'd cross that bridge when he got there.
"Name?" inquired the Twi'lek boredly.
"Name?"
"We're holding a ship raffle," grumbled the cashier, as if the very idea of ship raffles was completely Anakin's fault. He pointed lethargically towards a crumbling poster featuring two dancing girls, a Hutt, and a ship. "We need your name."
Hmm, thought the Jedi. He'd never seen that particular class of ship before- was it something patched together? An illegal model? How fast was it?
It's just a raffle, he decided. I probably won't win, and if I do I'll find a way around the whole "no possessions" deal.
Stupid Jedi code.
"Name?" grunted the Twi'lek again.
"Please keep it quiet, but- Anakin Skywalker," whispered the Jedi.
He expected some hero-worship, perhaps minor adulation. A "Hey! Why don't we just give you the ship then, Jedi sir, as you saved my cousin's girlfriend's brother's life!"
Or the guy could be a Separatist. Mildly problematic, but he could always just steal the parts in the middle of the battle and claim that he'd found them in the shop's ruins.
What Anakin did not expect from the middle-aged Twi'lek was raucous laughter. "Oh, sure, sonny. And I'm Jabba the Hutt. S'rusly, if you've gotta use a fake name, don't try some traitor-hero from the Clone Wars. I mean, sonny, how stupid do you think I-"
This was really too much to deal with, even for a one-of-a-kind ship. Anakin drew and ignited his lightsaber, waving it in the being's alarmed purple face.
"I'm Skywalker," he repeated, the point of his lightsaber almost in the unfortunate cashier's nose.
This, of course, was perhaps not a good thing to say and do with several Imperial Troopers directly behind him.