Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!

---Next Morning---

Teleporting back to our luxury suite the following morning, I found our hostess friends sprawled out on the bed sound asleep. Having left the room to them, as I preferred the comfort of my own bed, they graciously accepted the offer and took a much-deserved. Noticing that the message light next to the bed was blinking, I silently walked over to see who it was from. Reading the message transcripts, it appeared the illusions I used to keep people away had worked a bit too well. Receiving a few noise complaints from neighboring rooms, management had made several calls during the night requesting us to tone it down.

‘Damn, here I thought I put it at a respectable volume. I guess some xeno races are far more sensitive than I thought. Vikzel is going to have something to say about this, I guarantee it.’, I thought, with a smirk.

Silently leaving the room, I took the lift down to the gambling floor and found that the casino was already abuzz with activity. Making my way toward the front door, Vikzel came walking in with a worried expression.@@novelbin@@

“Lord Stark, good morning!”, Vikzel said, dabbing his face with a handkerchief. “I trust you enjoyed your evening last night?”

“Of course, they took excellent care of me last night. I got the messages from the staff this morning; my apologies for disturbing your other guests.”, I stated, rubbing the back of my head. “So what brings you here so early today?”

“Please do not worry about it; things like this happen from time to time. We are just happy you enjoyed yourself.”, Vikzel assured me, moving on to my question, “As for why I am here, the safety crew for the podrace has requested to meet with you. They want to inspect your vehicle to ensure it conforms to the track guidelines.”

“That makes sense; we can head out now if that works for you.”, I agreed.

“What about everyone else?”, Vikzel inquired, with an audible gulp. ‘Please do not tell me they expired from overexertion. Orchestrating body disposals is not how I wanted to start my morning off.’

“They are sound asleep in my bed. I seriously doubt they could sit up, let alone walk, in their current condition.”, I chuckled, taking a great deal of enjoyment spinning this yarn, “They should be up and about sometime this evening… hopefully.”

Nodding his head in acknowledgment, the Ishi Tib looked at me with a sense of newfound respect. Believing I had gone at it for eight hours straight without stopping, I did not need to read his mind to know what he was thinking. Heading out the door together, the two of us hailed a taxi and made our way out to the Mos Espa Grand Arena.

---Podracer Pits---

Dropping us off at the side entrance, Vikzel swiped his security badge to get us into the facility. Following him down a series of corridors, we ended up in the Pit, where crews of various racers were busily working on their employer’s repulsorcrafts. Taking me to the southern end cap, a crew of three Ugnaughts, a Duros, and a Toydarian were already there waiting for us.

“About time you two showed up! What the hell took you so long?”, the Toydarian snapped, crossing his arms in anger.

“Shut up, you fool!”, the Duros howled, smacking his colleague on the back of the head. “Are you trying to get us all killed?! You do not fuck with people from the Imperium of Man. They kill xenos just for breathing the same fucking air as them, and here you are provoking one of their highest-ranked representatives.”

“You should listen to your colleague, Toydarian. If you spoke that way to any other Primarch, you would be nothing more than a skid mark on the concrete right now.”, I warned him, as the air around them began to feel heavy. “Before you speak again, I suggest you reevaluate your words carefully.”

“I… I understand, Lord Stark.”, the Toydarian stuttered, seeing his life flash before his eyes. “Please forgive… my earlier rudeness…”

Nodding my head in satisfaction, I retrieved the Spacehog from my inventory so the men could have a look. About a foot or so longer than a single podracer engine, the spacebike had recently undergone retrofitting to accommodate my larger size. Having ridden her for less than an hour since I found her in a dungeon several years ago, I was looking forward to utilizing her more often in the future.

“Well, what do you think? Is she allowed to race?”, I asked, taking a rag out of my inventory to polish her chrome.

“Holy shit… This is one hell of a tricked-out speeder bike.”, one of the Ugnaughts gulped, carefully inspecting the chassis and engine. “What sort of engine is this, and what is its fuel source?”

“It is a custom-built, seventeen-liter engine with three extra-large turbos.”, I informed him. “She runs on a mixture of liquid hydrogen and helium.”

(AN: I am well aware Lobo says it takes unleaded gas.)

“Seventeen-liter… on a speeder bike this size…”, the Duros gulped, “What is her zero to sixty speed?”

“Instantaneous.”, I answered, as the Toydarian went to put his hands on her handlebars. “Whoa there, before you go touching, you should be aware she possesses a degree of sentience. Reckless touching her without permission is liable to get you severely hurt or killed.”

Laughing at my words, he firmly grabbed hold of her handlebars and dared her to do something about it. Readily accepting the challenge, the Spacehog fired up her engines and rocketed out of the bay at over two hundred miles per hour. Using the racetrack like sandpaper, she flipped upside down, slammed him into the sand, and set off down the road. Screaming his apology to her, as the sand ground away his body, the Spacehog revved her engine to drown out his words. When the Toydarian fell silent, she pulled back into the bay without any trace of him on her. 

“Well… I tried my best to warn him, but he did not listen.”, I remarked, looking at the safety team, “Am I going to need to pay a penalty for that?”

“No, he walked off on his own volition.”, the Duros said, looking at Vikzel and the Ugnaughts. “Right, gentlemen?”

“Absolutely!”, they agreed, nodding their heads in confirmation.

“I take you guys did not like him?”, I questioned.

“If given the option, I would choose getting teeth pulled without anesthesia over working with that bastard. With him out of the way, things will run a lot faster and smoother around here.”, one of the Ugnaughts replied, “Well, it is safe to say this speeder bike is easily capable of reaching the speed of the average podracer. You are good to race, Lord Stark!”

Thanking the men for their time, the four of them walked away in high spirits. Looking over at Vikzel for confirmation that his death was alright, he gave me the thumbs up with a hearty grin. Taking a moment to polish her handlebars to remove the fingerprints from the Toydarian, I stowed her back into my inventory and turned back to Vikzel.

“If you have time in your schedule today, I would like to have a look around the markets for arms, armor, and other technology.”, I asked.

“Of course, do you mind if we grab a bite to eat first? I did not have the chance to eat before leaving this morning.’, Vikzel stated.

“Sounds like a plan to me. Do you have someplace local in mind?”, I inquired, as we began walking back the way we came.

“While not as good as the casino, there is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the market that sells great food.”, Vikzel assured me.

“Well then, lead the way!”, I said, interested in what he considered good was.

Putting the arena behind us, we headed back into the city to eat and further explore the market.

---Black Market---

Following my guide into a seemingly abandoned warehouse, as we passed under a heavily worn tarp, several droids appeared with their laser rifles at the ready. Demanding identification from one or both of us, the Ishi Tib calmly showed them his ID and ordered them to allow us through. Scanning his badge, the droids stepped to the side and motioned for us to proceed without further delays. Leading me down several aisles of empty, dust-covered shelves, we stopped before an old shipping container, which he proceeded to knock on in a specific pattern.

“Welcome back, Lord Vikzel.”, a Gamorrean remarked, opening the door for him. “Wait, who is this fella?”

“This is Lord Stark of the Imperium of Man. He is Lord Tiure’s esteemed guest.”, Vikzel explained, with a reassuring nod.

“Very well, have a good day, my lord.”, the Gamorrean acknowledged.

Stepping onto a GravLift at the back of the container, we descended through the floor and into a gigantic, hand-chiseled cavern. Looking out over the cavern floor, thousands of various vendors had their offerings put out for potential customers to look over.

“Lord Tiure has to keep this part of his operation underground as the Galactic Republic cares more about technology and weapons than sentient lives.”, Vikzel explained, turning to me. “If I may, what sorts of items are you looking for specifically?”

“Ancient technology, weapons, and anything out of the ordinary or unusual.”, I answered. “I enjoy disassembling old technology, figuring out how it works, then reassembling it.”

“In that case, I know where we should go first. A recent addition to tenants here has something that checks all those boxes.”, Vikzel commented, as we reached the bottom, “This way please.”