It's time to debark soon enough. Ord Mantell, like many Mid Rim planets, is an odd mix of industrial and pastoral. Factories cluster in large cities near the spaceports and transit centers to receive materials mined on-world, with the rest of the surface area given over to vast tracts of droid-worked farms in the arable regions or left untouched otherwise. Small villages are nonexistent outside the minimum necessary to support mining operations; you either live and work in a city or on an isolated farmstead, the only organics for a hundred kilometers. Provided you have local contacts, places like these are excellent waypoints for smugglers, and the used ship business is very brisk.

There are a few storefronts specializing in that within spitting distance of the spaceport they land at, so they have some choice in what to buy.

A bit fortunate, because Anakin has opinions about ships. (And a good sense of people - even without the Force, she can fairly reliably spot which sellers are trying to pull something on them.) She has fun haggling and gossiping and flirting with sellers, deftly avoiding giving anything concrete away about their own past or goals without actually offering offense or sounding like she's hiding more than most people here do. She picks up bits of miscellaneous gossip, too, a mixture of local and regional and farther out.

She's able to narrow down a seller and a ship fairly quickly.

And with Elesse handling the credits, they are soon the proud owners of an only-slightly-battered freighter with a respectable turn of speed, decent shielding, and a pair of guns.

"I'm not sure if I should count this as a birthday present," she says as they leave the shop.

"Dunno. It's not exactly a surprise... And I might not get to keep it."

"Enjoy it while you can, then. I'll think of something else."

"Now you've got me excited..."

Elesse allows a touch of her smugness to radiate.

She laughs, an answering warm glow in her chest.

Onward?

Onward to their new ship! They'll need to give it a quick once-over to make sure it doesn't have any hidden undisclosed problems. Or tracking bugs.

Anakin finds sweeping for trackers moderately entertaining, at least, and she's thorough and efficient about it and knowledgeable enough about ships to declare it problem-free.

Then there's nothing stopping them from taking off shortly. Which is a good thing, as they are still on somewhat of a timetable. The home planet of Yan Dooku, once and current Count, awaits.

Anakin keeps up her training on the way, quizzing Elesse some about the planet. She gets a bit quieter as they approach, more often a bit lost in thought.

Serreno is an old, old industrial center that has fallen in the wake of modern techniques and transportation infrastructure. Its easily accessible resources have been mined out, and it is no longer economically viable to keep the old factories running.

"Is everything all right?"

"I think so?" She shrugs. "Just - a bit uneasy, though I can't pin down why."

"Do you think it has more to do with our destination in particular or the situation in general?"

"Maybe everything in general?" Sigh. "Including our destination..."

"Best not to ignore your instincts. We should be cautious."

She nods. "Won't hurt, anyways..."

"Indeed not." They're granted clearance to land without too much trouble due to their ship's registration still being out of Ord Mantell. Which is slightly troubling, if even that Mid-Rim world is accounted close enough to an ally to permit their ships so easily.

Anakin nods, and tries to pay attention to her instincts, but - she doesn't have much to say, here. They've gone over the mission already...

"Do you want to take the west side or the east?"

"West," she says after a moment.

"All right." She taps her comm. "Check-ins on the hour, text only. Don't let anyone catch you taking notes."

She nods. "I'll be careful."

"Meet here in four hours if no events eventuate. May the Force be with you."