Broken Wings (OPEN)

[/-Amy-\-Foxie Lady-/]

Kiala was up and about after only two days in the infirmary. More than one of the staff raised an eyebrow at her speedy recovery. One ingenious fellow accused her of being a jetii. She decked him across the jaw for that. She didn’t trust force users, like any other Mando’ade. She had spent the first few days continuing her recovery, testing her healing body and found that she was nearly fully healed. It was one of the few good things about what she had undergone as a child. The only thing that concerned her was that they had likely take blood samples and would probably learn about her genetic alterations. Kiala hoped that no one else would be forced to go through what she had. She also hoped they didn’t try and keep her as a test subject, she would hate to have to kill Mando’ade, but she would never again be used as some sort of lab rat. She would not be a weapon for anyone ever again.

She was dressed not in her armor as many might expect, but instead in the clothing of a civilian, cargo pants, combat boots and a tank top. She wasn’t unarmed though, with a slug thrower on each hip and her beskad strapped across her back. She had finally mustered up the courage to go and see ‘The Sparrow’. It was not something she was looking forward too. Kiala loved her ship, and she knew that there were a couple mechanics back on Dantooine that would like want to kill her for the state her ship was in. As she entered the hanger, a cringe crossed Kiala’s face. She obviously had been hoping that the damage wasn’t extensive, apparently she had hoped wrong.

Sparrow looked like her name sake with a broken wing in Kiala’s eyes. Cracked windows, bent paneling. She was in bad shape. There were mechanics already looking her over. This caused Kiala to freeze in place for a moment. There had only ever been one person to work on that ship since she and Penny had stolen it. That would be Saerith. But now Mando’ade were moving about her, trying to figure out her inner workings. One man cursed, having never seen a ship like this before. From the insignia on his jump suite he was the head mechanic, and though he had years of experience, he wasn’t sure he could fix a ship like this.

Kiala approached him slowly, her eyes never leaving her wounded friend. The head mechanic, and older man turned to regard her. He liked what he saw there, fire. Then there was the fact she was showing obvious concern for the ship. Despite the extensive damage he could tell that Kiala had taken very good care of the ship. “Not sure what we can do for her. Without schematics it will take longer than we had estimated to fix her. We’ll have to learn how she is built inside and out.”

Without a word Kiala took a data pad off her belt and handed it to the mechanic. “That is a full, 100% set of schematics on her. She is one of a kind…at least she was when I got my hands on her. There might be more out there now.” Without any further comment Kiala entered the ship and started helping where she could. She was no expert mechanic, but she knew the ship better than anyone besides Saerith.

After several hours, she had to stop. Despite her enhanced regenerative abilities she still wasn’t 100%. She made her way to the mess hall and from there outside to eat her meal. Kiala had been out there for nearly an hour when she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned her crystalline blue eyes toward the direction the sound came from.

[Jazen]

In the days that followed the crash of Kia Starseeker's ship, Thel spent the majority of his time observing the woman. He still didn't like the woman's attitude; even though what she technically said was right, there were still ranks at the base. Since she didn't have one, that would have put her at the bottom of the ladder. Yet she still talked and acted like she didn't have to answer to anyone but herself. As much it annoyed Thel, he knew he had to realize that while there were ranks, most Mando's were equals. His previous role in his own military still festered within him and while he would never abandon that part of his being, he knew he had to rise above it.

After their last meeting, Thel had been called to the base commander's office to discuss his conduct during the minor interrogation. He was, of course, pleased that Thel took investigating her seriously. However, he disliked that he had not checked with him before to learn that the commander had indeed backed up her claims. As a result, he was not only assigned to watch over her, he was told he was to assist her in anyway she deemed fit. Thel had ignored the urge to vent his anger at this, so he instead turned his frustration into an urge to learn what he could about her from this.

So he'd quietly checked on the woman, making sure she was keeping her end of the bargain in staying in the infirmary until she was properly healed. When she was up and about in only two days time, Thel had questioned the doctor about her physical condition to make sure that she wasn't allowing her up before she was ready. To his surprise, her medical charts proved that she was indeed 100% healthy. Even Thel had to scratch his head at that; no human had ever healed as fast as that. Not from injuries as nasty as the one's she had. Unable to figure out how it was possible, Thel left it to the doctor to discover the reason behind her speedy recovery and went back to his duty.

He simply watched from afar as she spent the next few days checking her own physical condition, taking the time in between to observe the work on her ship. The mechanics, as good as they were, could only cut away the sure fire scrap parts, since they didn't know the actual design behind the ship. Without that, they could not fix the ship because they risked replacing something incorrectly. Thel had helped when he could, using his much greater strength to move items about or remove large pieces of scrap. Had Kiala paid any real attention during her visit to her ship, she would have noticed Thel in the back, helping to remove damaged engine couplings.

Thel's highly acute sense of smell didn't miss her though, so when she entered, he twitched his nostrils at the scent. He didn't look for the source for a while, caught up in the work he was assisting in. When he finally found a break to check, he caught sight of her as she was leaving. Strolling up to the head mechanic, Thel eyed the datapad he was mulling over. Upon giving it a quick look through, he handed it back to the man, Raytan if he remembered his name correctly, and moved to follow after Kiala. He had new questions to ask her; but more than that, he was simply doing what he should have done when he was assigned to assist her. Which was inform of her that. He didn't want to admit it before, which in his eyes, dereliction of his duty. He wandered about for a bit before finally being able to put aside his personal demons to do that duty.

On his way into the mess hall, one of the other men was chuckling to his friends. Thel walked by them without a second glance, but he caught a few of the words they said. Something about even a giant lizard wanting to get a piece of tail. While it wasn't hard to figure out who the lizard was, Thel did not understand what they meant by getting a piece of tail. No matter, he'd deal with that later. Sniffing her out in the semi-crowded mess hall, Thel made his way over to her, lowering his giant frame into the seat across from her.

"I must say, Ms Starseeker, your up and about much faster than one of your condition should be. If I hadn't seen the medical charts for myself, I'd think you were breaking your word.

I pass my condolences for the loss of your ship. While I do not truly understand the attachment one can get to a non-living creation, I have some understanding of how it would feel to lose it.

And before you ask why I'm here, I shall inform you of why. The base commander has ordered me to, in a way, be both your observer and your bodyguard. I'm to watch you to make sure you stay out of trouble and make sure trouble does not find you. Also.....he has assigned me to assist you in whatever manner you deem fit. I am, more or less, your lackey during your stay here. I hope, despite the prior encounter, that we can get along to make this work."