Toys

Picking through the packages, Gar opened boxes to find what he was looking for. His new robes, lightsaber, and macrobinoculars were definitely coming with him. He packed a backpack and loaded his training helmet, droid tools, and rations. 

He left and changed into his new robes in his bedroom. The level 2 training lightsaber hung from his belt. His confidence soared.

A modest action such as changing his clothes made him feel like a new person. He was no longer an initiate, now he was a Padawan learner.

He enlarged the size of his vidscreen and hung it on the wall like a flatscreen T.V. H took a few minutes detaching a portable holocom that stored his newly acquired skills. He could use it to learn new skills and knowledge. If something happened to it in the field it wouldn't matter, but if the Star Wars System Vidscreen was destroyed, he didn't know what he would do.

"Alright, we can go," Gar walked deliberately and calmly. 

"New clothes?" Hill asked.

"A new training lightsaber as well. Coulson, do you want to ride with me or your agents?" 

"I'll ride with you, but there's someone we need to pick up along the way. Hill, you ride with the other agents," Coulson couldn't hide his anticipation.

"A boys' trip, is that what this is?" Hill's stoic features didn't betray her jealousy.

"You can ride in the Rancor on the way back, how's that?" Gar offered.

"That's very kind of you, but I doubt I'll have the opportunity," It was clear that Hill understood her team leader. He had a thing for technical tools, especially vehicles. 

"I'll make it up to you," Coulson soothed the young agent. 

Gar lost interest in the conversation and proceeded downstairs in the lift with the agents following him. When the lift opened, Gar's large personal garage greeted them. Right in the center of the garage was the Rancor.

"A '74 Mercury Cougar, is that your speeder? Isn't it just a car?" Coulson asked with disappointment. 

Gar laughed, "A spy like you should know that not everything is as it appears. R3, open battle mode." The small droid tweedled an acknowledgment. The car blossomed like a flower as the canopies transformed and the guns revealed their hiding place. Coulson walked up to the machine and peered inside.

In the middle seat sat Surj who turned his head to look at Coulson. He heard R3's tweedle, but could only see its transparent dome and singular large eye as it spun its head around. 

"Is this a car or a battleship?" Coulson asked.

"It was supposed to be a gift for my friend, but Boba Fett refused to let him take it. He said it was a piece of junk and didn't have any place on the ship," Gar could still feel the exasperation from those comments.

"A piece of junk? This is beautiful!" Coulson couldn't hold himself back. 

"Yeah, he's not wrong, it was my first attempt at creating a speeder. I cobbled it together out of spare parts, but there are a lot of internal flaws. I would give it to you, but you need an astromech to maximize its performance. Astromechs are hard to come by around here," Gar walked around to the driver's seat and climbed in. 

Coulson took up the port side gunner's seat, while Hill climbed into the starboard side. The garage door opened and the speeder rolled out. Coulson turned his head and watched as Gar flipped switches and turned knobs before taking the W-shaped steering yoke. The Rancor pulled out so smoothly that neither Hill nor Coulson felt the texture of the road. 

"Wow, the suspension on this thing is crazy," Hill commented. 

"It doesn't have suspension, not the kind you're used to. This thing is a speeder and speeders use either maglev or repulsor technology to glide. I didn't want to stand out so I left the tires. It only looks like this thing is riding on its tires. Someone could shoot out the tires and it wouldn't impede our travel."

"How fast can it go?" Coulson asked. 

"Near the speed of sound, but I've only driven it at a little over 400 mph," Gar said and some specs on the vehicle appeared before Coulson and Hill. 

"How can you control it going that fast? Isn't that like placing a jet engine on it?" Hill asked. 

"There are two ways to control it. The first is to be of a species that can drive it that fast, or have Jedi reflexes like I do. The second way is having an astromech, like R3," Gar explained.

"That's why you said we needed an astromech if we wanted to use its full features," Coulson added.

"Exactly," Gar responded. 

Gar pulled the car out and saw the SHIELD vehicle waiting for them, "I'll call them and have them follow us." Coulson began to call.

"Wait, let me show you something cool. There should be an earpiece on your left, put it in and then put your phone on the round space," Coulson followed Gar's orders, and when he placed the phone down small clamps arose and secured the phone. Then a screen in front of him changed to match the functions of his phone. 

Yelling to the back, Gar continued instructing him, "Find their number and call them." Hill watched Coulson and saw she could do the same, so she followed Coulson's actions. Both of them looked pleased. 

"Okay, they're going to follow us," Coulson said. 

"Type in the address or GPS coordinates and we'll pick up your colleague. There's another screen to your left with an input." Coulson looked around again and found the screen and input device. He entered the GPS coordinates for the fun of it. 

"Got it, we'll be there in about fifteen minutes. I'll drive at a regular speed. I don't want to lose your agents," Gar said from the front. 

As they drove to the destination, Hill and Coulson asked several questions about the car and the two droids. Gar finally wanted to ask, "Agent Coulson, I don't know if I should say anything, but when we passed the vehicle with your agents, I felt something strange."

"What did you feel?" Coulson was curious and Hill was alert.

"I felt the shadow of the dark side on one of your agents," Gar responded.

"What does that mean," Hill asked. 

"It means that one of your agents is in service of a dark force, something malevolent," Gar explained.

"We are spies and sometimes have to kill," Coulson offered.

"No, I sense you, Hill, and the other agent in the car. Although I can tell you've killed, you are still aligned with the light side of the Force. The other agent is a dark presence. He is a servant of darkness."

"Can you identify which is which?" Coulson asked. 

"I'll need to take a look at them. Although I can sense their presence, I can't tell you which it is without seeing them. The person has a lot of vitality, he's very strong. That's all I could sense," Gar said.

"That sounds like Rumlow, sir," Hill whispered to her boss.

"You don't need to whisper around Gar, Agent Hill. We'll try to identify the person when we get Clint. Gar, when we get out of the cars, shake the culprit's hand with your left hand," Coulson instructed.

"Sure."

The rest of the trip was awkward and lacked the charm of the first part of the trip.