(Regular chapters resume tomorrow. I had an amazing week. Happy to tell y'all about it if you're interested.)
Seila looked at me weird, seemingly confused. "You know that starships aren't cheap, right?"
I nodded. "I know I need some new clothes. Regardless, I'm sure you know all too well that gangsters like the Pykes don't walk around empty handed."
Seila chuckled. "I definitely can't deny that. Well, let me answer your question with another one. What are you trying to do with this ship?"
I raised my brow, now expecting her to be the nosy type. She was a bounty hunter after all. Those types usually didn't ask questions. "I just need a ship."
She shook her head. "I'm only asking so I can recommend a type of ship for you to buy. Also, certain shipyards specialize in specific varieties of ships and some even solely offer refurbished vessels."
I sighed, realizing my misunderstanding. Not everyone is out to get me. I guess I'm just a bit jumpy from the whole Pyke incident. "Ah, sorry. For the ship, I'd like it to have room for several people, some cargo space, and weapons."
She nodded. "You're fine, kid. I was anxious too after my first firefight. You get used to it. Anyways, I presume you also want it to have a hyperdrive, right?"
I blushed. I had forgotten something so simple. It'd take years to cross the galaxy without a hyperdrive. With one, it'd take a fraction of that. "Y-yes."
Seila laughed, taking a swing of her liquor. She set it down on the table with a clank. "Alright. Then you will want a light freighter. It's one of the more popular varieties of ship for private use. What's your budget? And don't worry. Any friend of Corsoll is a friend of mine. On top of that, there'd be no more drinks if not for you two!"
[Your reputation level with The Badgers has reached Friendly]
I blinked a few times, surprised at how easy it was to become friends with this bunch. I guess alcohol is the way to many people's hearts. It's no wonder that people try to pick up guys/girls via buying them drinks. "We would like to spend less than 50,000 credits. That way we have enough for fuel and any other things."
Seila nodded in approval. "Planning ahead, I like you, kid. A ship without fuel or munitions is most likely not going anywhere. Wait, have you ever flown before?"
I shrugged. "Can't be that hard."
Seila sighed. "I take my compliment back. Make sure you get an astromech to fly for you while you learn. It can handle takeoff and landing while you learn how to fly in open space. That's the best way to learn since there's nothing to crash into most of the time."
I laughed. "I see. Learning to pilot properly is probably a good idea."
She nodded. "Well, last up is where to buy the ship. Since you are just starting out, I'd get a refurbished ship. You'll spend less than buying it new and get something better than you would at that price. You can always upgrade to something else later."
I nodded, agreeing with her. Everyone has to start somewhere. "That sounds great, where is this place?"
She smiled, taking out her communicator. "It's in CoCo Town. I'll send you the coordinates. Oh! Tell the bastard my name. He might give you a referral discount."
I smiled and nodded, taking out my comm and tapping hers. A notification popped up stating that Seila was now a new contact. I then got another notification that stated that Seila has shared coordinates which were now marked on my map. "Thank you, Seila."
She shook her head, putting the comm away. "It's nothing. As I said, any friend of Corsoll is a friend of mine. If you two are ever looking for work, give me a call."
I nodded, taking that as my queue to leave. "Sounds good. See you around! You too Corsoll!"
Galen and I then left the pub. It was pitch black outside if I ignored the sparringly placed streetlights and occasional neon window sign.
I sighed, looking to both sides before looking at Galen. "Well, what now?"
Galen shrugged. "Not sure. It's kinda late, yeah? I doubt we'll be able to find more quests."
I shook my head. "That's not what I meant. I was asking if you wanted to keep working together or not."
Galen looked at me seriously for a fleeting moment. It didn't last long as he immediately broke into hysterical laughter. "Holy fuck, dude, you're funny."
I tilted my head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
He scoffed. "Do you realize how much action we have gotten compared to the average player? My friends are scraping by at the moment, barely having a thousand credits to their name. Why should we fix something that ain't broke?"
I sighed, realizing he was probably right. It was probably for the best that we kept our resources consolidated and bought a ship together. We'd probably be one of the first players to leave the planet. "I guess you're right. Well, regardless, what should we do now?"
Galen shrugged again. "I'm gonna return home. I probably have to take a shit. Meet back in 20 minutes?"
I nodded. The alert would probably pop up soon since it had been several hours since I last logged out. "Bet. I'll see you in a bit."
While I was logged out, I used the bathroom like last time. I had also realized that I didn't check the time when I last logged out. It was currently 4pm so I had an early dinner. Well, with my internal clock now being non-existent because of the game, it was more of an ambiguous meal. Unfortunately, this time I wasn't able to catch my dad while I was logged out.
Galen was waiting for me when I logged back in. When I looked at him, he appeared to be zoning, his eyes slightly glazed over.
I waved my hand in front of his face. "Galennnn."
Galen shook a bit, slightly startled. "Dude, I was watching something."
I tilted my head. "Who?"
Galen smirked. "This Twitch streamer called GoldenLuxxe."
My eyes shot open. "Uhhh, what?"
Galen laughed. "Yeah, GoldenLuxxe. I've been watching his YouTube videos since I was a kid." He noticed that I still wore a dazed expression so he tilted his head in confusion. "Is there something wrong?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "That's my dad."