Mos Eisley, Tatooine. In the endless deserts, a small spaceport filled with aliens of all species is under imperial control.
"Alright, ready TK-8849?" TK-7633 asked.
"Yep, ready." 8849 said, stepping out of the barracks. "God it's hot out here."
"It always is." 7633 said, beginning on patrol. "Try making this with standard issue armor."
"I can only imagine. Without cooling fans you'd die in minutes." 8849 hoisted his backpack.
"Imagine one of those navy troopers down here, in their shiny white armor."
"Oh don't remind me. I used to serve on a destroyer, that was the best."
"I actually heard about that, you were on what ship?" 7633 asked, glancing across the dusty, sand covered street.
"Devastator, Lord Vader's. I never saw him personally, everyone always asks."
"Well, good on you. I'd sit on a desert planet like this in cold gear if it meant not having to report to him."
"Yeah? I've heard stories, but never experienced anything obviously. I think there might have been some job related deaths on the command deck, but that's it." 8849 said, kicking a bit of sand his boot got stuck on.
"Yeah, job related." 7633 scoffed. "Guy's a grim reaper, he kills a new officer every day."
"No way. He can't really do that, can he?"
"Maybe an exaggeration, but he's second to the emperor. Guy's a menace."
"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about him, then."
"Yeah, that's fair." 7633 said, tilting his head to look at an alien nearby. "Hey, see that big guy? Tusk head?"
"The Dowutin? Sure, what about him?"
"He's being suspicious."
"No way, he's just sitting there. Guy's old, you can't expect him to be running a kilometer." 8849 gestured. "Probably just getting some shade."
"I don't know. I don't like it, he might be doing something."
"Oh, sure, you're gonna walk up and tell him to move along? This guy?"
"Hell no, he'd snap me in half. Just pointing it out. We do have blasters though."
"Sure. You think you can shoot with a broken ribcage, be my guest. I'm sure they'll send somebody out to sweep up your carcass eventually, if the womp rats don't get it."
"...wow." 7633 turned. "You're dark, man."
"I'm rational. Whether the big guy is a cartel man or just a traveler, he's bigger than both of us combined. We'd need an ST to take him down."
"Guess so, dude's packing body mass like a gundark. Think they're related?"
"Nah, he's just big. Ears don't match."
"Yeah, that's fair."
"Oh, hey, speaking of this awful heat, where would you go on vacation?" 8499 asked.
"Vacation? The hell's that?"
"Man can dream. Go on, tell me."
"Somewhere nice and cool, lots of water. Thinking Naboo."
"That sounds amazing. Just the cool lakeside breeze, some sliced fruits, green grass..."
"Excuse me, I didn't realize you were a nobleman. Out here talking about fruit like you've ever tasted anything but MRE rations and beans." 7633 mocked.
"You say that, but back on my home planet, we had starblossom. It was good and tangy, plenty juicy."
"No way. Where was this?"
"Alderaan." 8849 said, fiddling with his pauldron.
"Oh." 7633 said. "Oh..."
"Yeah, try not to think about it."
"Damn. Sorry to hear that."
"Eh, it's fine. Apparently they were trying to take the empire down. Can't say I don't miss it."
"It was pretty cold there, wasn't it?"
"Cold? Sure, in the mountains. The woods were nice and cool though."
"Oh, right, speaking of cold, hear about that victory on Hoth?" 7633 asked, bumping into a man. "Hey, what are you doing?"
The man mumbled something in huttese, hands in the air.
"Let's see some identification, pal." 8849 ordered. "I. D. Your cards, yeah?"
"Make it snappy, we don't have all day." 7633 pushed him a little, before the man showed them identification. "This look good to you?"
"Yeah, seems right."
"Alright, move along." 7633 waved him off, and the man hurried away.
"So, right. Hoth. I heard about that, pretty crushing."
"Rebels were totally routed, made em look like a joke."
"I can't imagine how they must've felt on that ice ball. Snowtrooper armor has got to have plenty of insulation, right? Can't imagine rebels have much in the way of thermal protection."
"Probably not. We wouldn't last a minute on Hoth even with that gear." 7633 said.
"You think so?"
"I know so. It'd be like stepping out of a hot bath and into a freezer. Filled with needles."
"That would suck, man. I don't want to deal with that, but shivering is better than sweating."
"I'm practically kriffin' swimming in this armor, even with the cooling fans. At least it keeps the heat away."
"Yeah, who knows. I bet those ice crunchers have enough rebels to shoot to keep warm."
"I don't think it'll ever be enough." 7633 shook his head. "Woah, check that out."
"Yeah, I've been looking at her. I didn't think you'd notice."
"I'm not a fan of aliens, but I make an exception for some twi'leks."
"The Ryloth accent is really pretty." 8849 noted.
"What are you, a schoolboy?"
"Shut up."
"Young man in love, huh?"
"I'm gonna hit you."
"Sure thing." 7633 chuckled.
"Remember a few years back, that big hunt for droids?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"I was with TD-110's squad back then, did you ever serve with him?"
"I heard of him, saw him around."
"So we stop this landspeeder. Two droids in the back, looks a lot like them. Ask them for identification, standard procedure." 8849 explained, stretching his shoulders a bit. "This old guy says we don't need to see it, 110 just lets him go."
"He let him go?"
"Yeah. Kark you not, this guy just drives off."
"That doesn't make any sense." 7633 shook his head.
"Exactly. Few days later I start thinking about it, but before then it seemed totally natural. I think we dealt with a Jedi."
"Hang on." 7633 stopped, looking back at 8849. "No way."
"It was a mind trick, no doubt. All of us just fell for it right then and there." 8849 shrugged.
"You're messing with me. If it was true, you'd've been skinned alive."
"He's long gone by now, but you're absolutely right. 110 made me swear not to tell anybody, command would've had our asses after falling for that."
"What was it like? Did it feel like mind control?" 7633 shifted his weight to his other leg, surveying the intersection they'd come to.
"No, not at all. It felt like just another day on patrol, my mind didn't register for a second that anything was out of place. It was freaky, man."
"That's crazy."
"Weird stuff, I'm telling you. Totally caught me off guard when I realized it later."
"Captain'll make you into a damn poncho if she hears this."
"Yeah, I'd appreciate you not telling her."
"Well, I won't, but watch who you tell it to. 90s would rat you out in a heartbeat."
"Hate that guy."
"No kidding."