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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Jan 20, 2020 12:51:16 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Jan 20, 2020 12:51:16 GMT -5
Things seemed to be turning around for Willam. The man did not trust that one bit.
For the last year he had been dogged by catastrophe, violence, and madness with every step he had taken, almost without end. The starship captain had felt as if something had been following him, placing vile curses onto his back so that no matter what he did or where he went he met with constant misfortune. Of course, he had been able to get out alive each and every time; there was never any doubt in his mind that he could.
If there was one thing that Willam Scathe was good at, it was surviving against the odds while those around him died in droves.
Not that he was going to let that fact lull him into a false sense of security. That would be relying on fate and destiny and all that utter pile of shit. Better to keep one's skills sharp, one's mind braced for disaster, and a drink close to one's hand.
To that end, and considering the shit-show that had kicked off over the skies of Nar Shaddaa, Willam had come to the conclusion that it might be best for his well-being to go to the one place that neither the Republic nor the Empire were allowed to scrap: Prazhi.
Although, he had thought bitterly to himself, considering my luck lately, the new war will start there and Prazhi will get decimated from orbit by both sides.
Regardless, he had made his way there without much hassle, with a bit of cargo in his hold to boot, so he could not complain too much. Upon arrival, he had signed off on the crates of meat (a delicacy, apparently, though when they had showed him the contents of the crates the smell had put him off from ever trying it), got his payment, then headed straight to the nearest, and the relatively cheapest, cantina.
The Bottoms Up cantina was not, perhaps, the classiest gentleman's clubs around, but the drinks were good, the dancers were appealing, and the music was, while not great, at least quiet enough not to grate on the nerves. Which was why Willam initially ignored the beep of his comms, enjoying as he was two twi'leks engaging in an interesting interactive dance slash yoga session on the stage that had even Odd watching enraptured. As the man and woman bent and twisted around each other, the notification noise refused to subside and, with great regret, the captain tore his eyes away and pulled out his datapad.
Interesting. The dock master actually found me a mechanic. Pretty quickly, too
Though the Lathspell was not damaged or under-performing in any major way, Willam had noticed a slight sluggishness to her while flying, as well as some small delay to some controls. Nothing that would impact her in any great fashion, but the little things had a habit of building up if you ignored them for long enough. Not surprising, really. She's had a lot of additions and improvements loaded into her over the last few weeks. Something in there is probably not sitting right. Himself and Odd could keep the old girl running smoothly enough, but the captain liked to have a proper gear-head give her the once over, now and then.
Apparently, this mechanic was looking for a ship and, when it was indicated that Willam was able to take passengers and needed someone of their skills, had set off to find him at the Bottoms Up. Might as well meet them halfway... how are they DOING that, legs shouldn't be able to bend that way, surely... NO. Mind on the task, not on the pretty, flexible, smiling... I better leave now before I change my mind...
"Save my seat, Odd," Willam asked. The plate-sized hoverdroid that was sitting on the table beeped an affirmative in a distinctly distracted manner, it's single large eye-lense still focussed entirely on the stage. Shaking his head, the captain pushed himself up, downed what remained of his drink, and made his way out the door.
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Jan 20, 2020 15:52:49 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Jan 20, 2020 15:52:49 GMT -5
The label next to the call button read Steren Creative Management. Yanna pressed the button, waited, and then pressed it again. Then she pressed it five times in rapid succession. With a huff, she stepped back from the doorway, peering up at the windows on the floors above. She didn't know what she was looking for. Did she expect to see Ronen standing there, waiting for her to appear? He wasn't. The door opened, two men in business suits stepping out onto the street. Yanna startled, then moved quickly to the door, managing to get herself into the frame before the door closed behind the men. She sighed, and walked to the directory on the wall that listed the tenants and their locations. Ronen's was on the tenth floor. She moved over to the lifts and made her selection. When she exited on the tenth floor, she was met by a strange scene. The lift opened onto a hall, with three entry areas. Left, right, and straight ahead. The left and right ways were normal enough, but ahead of her, the glass double doors were shattered, leaving only the golden frames to show they'd been there. Above, the Steren Creative Management sign was missing several letters. These were smashed and strewn on the floor amidst the shards of glass. Yanna just stared, frozen in place. After a few moments, the lift doors closed and it began to move. Confused, she looked around, mouth falling open. When the doors opened again, she was back down in the lobby and two Rodians stepped aside to let her out before they boarded. She did not move at first, and both Rodians hesitated, then stepped into the lift. Finally, Yanna realized what happened and flushed red, jumping out of the lift right before the doors closed. She stood in the lobby, staring back at the lift doors and watching the indicator above count upward as the lift took the Rodians to the fifteenth floor. She pressed the button to call it back down. This time, she stepped out of the lift when it reached the tenth floor. Glass crunched under her feet as she walked slowly into her brother's office space. "Ronen?" she called, stupidly, as she walked through a doorway near a reception desk. She passed an empty meeting room before arriving at his office door. It was also broken, and all the furniture within had been reduced to splinters. The only thing still partially intact was a picture on the wall near the door. The frame was cracked and the glass cover was gone, but the picture remained. It was their family, all four of them on one of terraces at the resort back on Teth. Yanna plucked the picture from the frame and carefully pocketed it. As she did, something fell from behind the picture to the ground.
One week later "Actually, yeah. I got a guy needs a mechanic. Hold on, let me find the name."As the dock master turned away, Yanna looked down at Zozo. The droid chirped enthusiastically and Yanna hopped a few times between feet. Finally! She'd almost gone mad in her search to get off planet. She couldn't understand how so many people lived like this all the time, never sure when their next meal was coming, or how they'd get to wherever they needed to go. But that didn't matter any more. All she had to do was get this ship captain to say yes and she'd be on her way. She just had to... convince them. A familiar knot began to form in Yanna's stomach at the thought of having to make a pitch to this captain. Her excited hopping ceased, replaced by hand wringing. Zozo noticed, whirring a soft encouragement that caused Yanna to place a hand on top of the droid in thanks. "Willam Scathe." the dock master said, stepping back over. "Went straight over to Bottoms Up, I think.""Bottoms Up?" Yanna asked. "Just down the street on the left there. Bit early on a weekday for it but, far be it from me to yuck another man's yum, haha! Am I right?" The dock master laughed, resting his hands on his hips. After a moment, he noticed Yanna hadn't joined it, but rather just stood there, eyes a little wide. "Anyway," he said, turning his attention to his datapad, "You go on. I'll let 'im know you're comin'.""Thank you." Yanna said, eyes turned down and away, ready to retreat. "Can I... um, can I leave my droid and-" "Yeah go on." the dock master cut in. "So long as that thing stays in the cage." he added, pointing toward Butt. "He will." Yanna replied quickly, then moved over to where the cage and her bag sat by the dock office wall. "I'll be right back." she whispered to Butt as she draped her thin blanket over the cage. Butt protested some, but settled quickly, and Yanna stepped out onto the street. She moved as quick as she could, dodging around others and glancing up from the ground only to check the signs she passed. She almost passed her destination, realizing it at the last second and whirling around. The sign's neon lettering cycled through, only lighting up the full name once each letter had lit up individually. Above the name, the moving animation of a... Oh. That kind of bottom. The epiphany occurred to her just as she turned, and her eyes were gawking at the clever, if lewd, display when she walked straight into a man exiting the club. Caught of guard, Yanna jumped back, a small bark of surprise escaping her. "Sorry. I'm sorry." she squeaked, rushing past him through the doorway to avoid further embarrassment. The door closed, blessedly fast, behind her and left her in a moment of almost pitch black before one of the oscillating purple lights of the interior swept by and illuminated the path forward that led around a corner. It took several moments before her eyes adjusted to the dark. In that time, the breathed, trying to force her heart to slow back down. When she finally felt like it wouldn't beat out of her chest, she stepped around the corner and froze once again. The club was bathed in pink and purple, where ever it wasn't in a deeper shadow at least. To the right, the bar occupied one wall. The bartender, lit from the glow through the various bottles behind her, wore a corset top that barely held in her... assets. She winked when she saw Yanna, waggling a finger to beckon her over. "Kill me now." Yanna muttered to herself, then tore her eyes away from the woman to find somewhere, anywhere else to go. She backed away, in the opposite direction until her legs bumped against something solid at knee height. "Hey there sugar." came a man's voice behind her. Yanna spun around to find she'd practically tumbled onto a low stage. There, sprawled and luxurious, a Twi'lek man winked up at her. "Mmm... she looks thirsty." Yanna lifted her gaze to see the Twi'lek woman straddling the man's chest. "I... umm, no. Ahem I... No thank... umm." Yanna stammered, to the apparent delight of the woman who started to move in Yanna's direction. With a shout of alarm, Yanna turned and fled, dashing back around the corner and out the door of the club where she all but collapsed onto the street.
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Jan 21, 2020 11:47:16 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Jan 21, 2020 11:47:16 GMT -5
On his way out, Willam bumped into another person about to engage in the services offered by the cantina. The captain had a brief impression of brown hair and a short frame as she squeaked from the impact.
"Terribly sorry!" Willam had just time to say before the woman dashed inside with a muttered apology of her own. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on towards the docks at a casual pace, knowing that it lay only a short distance from the Bottoms Up. He grew increasingly concerned, therefore, as he met not a single person on the way heading towards the cantina by the time he reached the docks proper. I must have missed them, somehow.
Clicking his tongue, Willam headed inside, swiftly found the dock master and attained a description; short human woman, brown hair and eyes, 'kinda antsy'. With a sigh, he turned back and retraced his steps.
Maybe they took a wrong tur-... no. No, it was that person I bumped into, wasn't it. Bugger.
The realisation made him lengthen his strides until he had reached the Bottoms Up in half the time it took to return to the docks, passing by somebody crouching near the entrance that he spared no more than a fleeting glance. No threat, just squatting.
The dark, welcoming interior worked against him as he peered around, but with a subtle click his cybernetic eye switched spectrums to night-vision. A quick sweep was all it took for Willam to come to the conclusion that the mechanic was not among the patrons, unless she had somehow changed genders and gained quite a few pounds... or else had decided to take up dancing as a side job at the last minute. This last thought made him smile at the ridiculousness of it, but he checked the stages anyway, just to be sure. None of the dancers matched the description, however.
Tutting to himself, Willam made his way back to his original seat, noting that Odd had not moved a single inch since he had departed.
"Having a good time, are you?" Willam quipped sarcastically. Odd did not even bother replying, but a voice from the stage drew his attention away.
"If the little guy is recording this for later, you could always ask nicely for him to share."
The captain laughed, turning to the twi'leks who were still gyrating. A thought occurred to him.
"I don't suppose either of you saw a woman come in here not long ago? Human, short, brown hair, jumpy?"
The man pouted and the woman made an exaggerated sad sigh. "And here we thought you only had eyes for us in here," she said, the twinkle in her eye making it clear she was playing. Willam laughed again.
"Oh, I don't think I've been able to tear my eyes away from the two of you since I got here," he stated smoothly. He turned his head slightly, sparing a glance at the woman serving drinks. "Except perhaps a few stolen looks for your lovely bartender."
His words caused the two dancers to laugh in turn.
"Someone has worked up an appetite," the man said.
"Though perhaps your eyes are a little big for your stomach," the woman finished with a flourish of her hips.
"Hmm. Now that sounds like a challenge I would simply love to take on," Willam responded, an upward quirk on his lips. "However, I have business to take care of first. So, have you seen her?"
Continuing their strange dance, the lithe pair smiled almost in tandem. "Saw her come, saw her go. A pity; she was rather cute," the woman claimed, while the man hummed in agreement.
Wait... the woman I bumped into leaving was a human with brown hair. Could be the same person as... ah, the one who was sitting outside.
"Thank you both. I'm afraid I must go and attend to... seriously, how do you bend like that?"
The twi'lek pair simply smiled and winked at him. Pausing to admire their flexibility for a moment, Willam sigh wistfully before calling out to his companion. "Come on, Odd. Let's find this mechanic." He had taken a step or two when he realised that the droid had not moved.
"Odd, don't be difficult. I know that you want the old girl taken care of as much as me, so now do come on." With a series of rather rude beeps and burrs, Odd reluctantly arose from it's seat on the table and hovered after the human.
After a second of consideration, Willam approached the bartender and asked if he could borrow two of the stools. She agreed after some exchanged flirtations and a few credits changed hands, and the captain strode back out of the cantina with a seat in each hand.
He found the woman still out front of the Bottoms Up. His gaze wandered her bearing, giving her a quick appraisal. They were right, she's not bad to look at, but that isn't really important. A little on the mousy side, but that doesn't mean that she won't know her craft. I doubt that I need her to hold her own in any firefights anytime soon, so timidity shouldn't become an issue... at least, I hope I won't need her to fire a blaster...
"I'm Willam Scathe, captain of the Lathspell. This is my companion, Odd," he announced, his voice warm, with Odd hovering over his shoulder. He looked down at her, the lenses of his cybernetic eye focussing on her whisperingly. "And you, I believe, are the mechanic I'm supposed to be meeting."
He gently placed the bar stools down, sitting down in one and pushing the other closer to the mechanic with his foot.
"Thankfully, the bartender was kind enough to loan me the use of these chairs, which are a damn sight more comfortable than parking ourselves on the ground, hmm? Please, take a seat."
The captain gestured to the stool with his right hand, the black and gold trimmed prosthetic whirring quietly as the motors moved to complete the motion, before he folded his hands onto his lap.
"This one looks a bit flaky to me," Odd burred in Binary.
"Don't be rude, Odd," Willam whistled back, the string of droidspeak coming out from his human larynx in a curiously flat but understandable manner. The captain returned his gaze to the mechanic and gave her an easy smile as he waited for her to join him.
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Jan 26, 2020 12:15:53 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Jan 26, 2020 12:15:53 GMT -5
There'll be other jobs. Other ships. Probably wouldn't want to work for someone that would go in there anyway. Big place. Lots of ports. There'll be other...
"I'm Willam Scathe, captain of the Lathspell. This is my companion, Odd." Yanna did not immediately look up. With the busy street, any number of people could be talking to each other. No reason to believe they were talking to her. Except... what had been the name of the ship the dock master had mentioned? "And you, I believe, are the mechanic I'm supposed to be meeting."
Yanna looked up, her eyes scanning the edges of the man out of habit. She stood, glancing around herself to be sure he wasn't actually talking to someone else. When the droid hovered into view, her attention came more firmly back to it and to the man. He placed two bar stools down, pushing one toward her and taking the other. At his invitation, she sat after hesitating only a moment. This was very weird. They were on the sidewalk, sitting on bar stools. People passed around them, one glancing at them with furrowed brows. Yanna averted her gaze from them immediately, willing herself not to worry about what they were thinking.
The droid whirred and Yanna all but winced at the criticism. But her eyes widened and connected directly with the man's when he responded... in droidspeak. Her mouth fell open slightly. It wasn't very good, by droid standards, but a human attempting it at all was rare enough. That off guard moment was enough for Yanna to look at the man long enough to notice the various cybernetics he sported. She stared at his cybernetic eye in particular, until she saw it adjust and refocus, obviously trained on her. That snapped her back to reality in a panicked heartbeat.
"I'm Yanna." she said, looking away at the wall, her fingers wringing in her lap. "I'm a mechanic. I... I can do engine repair and modification. Mostly hyperdrive but I am familiar with a number of sublight engine systes. I can also do total system analysis and optimization. I got my degrees at Nimban Universal Tech. Spacecraft Engineering, Hyperdrive Theory and Design, and Droid Design. I have certificates with KSE, Arakyd, Tripple L, BDY, CEC, RVC, and H...K...D"
Yanna stopped, realizing that she was rambling and flushed slightly. She'd given the exact same speech, word for word, to the dock master. But he'd cut her off before she could list her certifications. She glanced around again, eyes unable to land on anything for a moment before they stopped on the droid.
"I'm... I'm not a flake." she managed, then looked away again. "I need to go to Nar Shaddaa." she said, after a moment. "Whatever work I can do on the way, I will. It's.... all I can pay."
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Jan 28, 2020 9:49:30 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Jan 28, 2020 9:49:30 GMT -5
Willam observed the mechanic as she gathered herself up and sat down. It seemed that his initial impression was pretty much on the ball; the woman was looking almost anywhere other than at him and nervously wringing her hands. The captain allowed himself to enjoy the look on her face when he had responded to Odd in Binary, but quickly noted the look that she gave his prosthetics. Feels more at ease around machinery, that much seems pretty clear.
"Well, Yanna, that's an impressive sounding resume," Willam stated. In truth, he did not even know what half of those acronyms stood for; engineering companies, he assumed. "Don't worry about Odd. The little guy can be a little rough around the edges on occasion, but he just wants the best person on the job when it comes to fixing up our old girl."
The hovering droid gave a few nonsensical, high-pitched beeps at that, the Binary equivalent of spluttering in indignation.
Willam glanced at the street, seeing a few people giving them funny looks. He quirked an eyebrow at them before turning back to look at Yana.
"And pay them no mind, they won't bother you. Right now, they don't even have to exist; in this conversation, the only people are you and me."
"What."
"And Odd."
The captain rubbed at his neat, close cut beard with his flesh and blood hand as he considered Yanna. A lot of fancy sounding things there, but it won't mean anything if she was paid through her tutoring, rather than earned it. But I get the feeling that if she tried to lie about her qualifications, or how she got them, she would pass out from the pressure. Could just be a clever ruse... no, the anxiety is genuine, I'd bet my life on it... I better not be betting my life on it...
"Sounds to me that you're exactly what I needed," Willam continued, flashing her another smile. "You see, the Lathspell is an XS stock light freighter. Not exactly an uncommon ship, but she's had quite a few alterations done to her over the years, and a good few of them were done quite recently. After all of these new parts were installed, I've noticed that she's been a bit sluggish while I've been at her helm. Nothing major, nothing the average pilot would notice, but I like to make sure she's in tip-top condition. I figure the old girl could do with some expert optimisation to get her back to sailing smoothly."
Willam smoothed out a wrinkle on his brown long coat before going on.
"Nar Shaddaa, though? Not exactly the safest of places right now," he uttered uncertainly. The planet was not exactly in good shape, what with the Archeri Chorus liquefying most of the populace, and the Republic and Empire deciding to kick off a new war above it. Considering her apparent anxiety around clubs and people in general on a peaceful world, it seemed like a strange choice of destination.
Still, if a trip to Nar Shaddaa is all it will cost me for the services of a decent mechanic, who am I to dissuade her? Willam looked over his shoulder at Odd.
"Check the holonet for any requests to shift cargo or passengers to Nar Shaddaa from here or a planet on route, would you? See if we can pick up some work on the way," he asked.
"Legal or-"
"Of course legal, Odd. We're not in dire straights," Willam cut the droid off, mild reprove in his tone. The droid beeped in a non-committal fashion, then went quiet as it began scanning for suitable candidates. He returned his attention to Yanna.
"But, if Nar Shaddaa is where you want to go, I don't think that will be too far out of my way... if I can pick up some cargo. I'm confident that Odd will find us something to make it worth the trip, but we'll need a day to find and set something up, at least. Can you wait that long? Or are you needing to get off-world immediately?"
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Feb 2, 2020 11:47:31 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Feb 2, 2020 11:47:31 GMT -5
"...in this conversation, the only people are you and me."
Easier said than done. Yanna thought. People were always telling her "don't worry about it". As if the idea of not caring had just never occurred to her. As if it was something she could just turn off. Her parents had tried to "help" her with that sort of advice countless times. Even Ronen, who arguably understood her better than anyone, couldn't seem to grasp the idea that such advice simply didn't work.
"You see, the Lathspell is an XS stock light freighter. Not exactly an uncommon ship, but she's had quite a few alterations done to her over the years, and a good few of them were done quite recently."
"XS stock light freighter, CEC, dual sublight engines, class one hyperdrive. Highly modifiable. majority of system failures due to operator error..." Yanna mumbled to herself as Willam explained. The XS ships were notorious for the wide variety of trouble that could arise when their captains began to tinker. One of her favorite skills tests while in school was troubleshooting an XS that her professors would sabotage. It was something more like an annual competition among the students to find every malfunction, as well as for the professors to become more and more creative in their efforts.
Hearing a shift in the man's tone at mentioning Nar Shaddaa, Yanna glanced up again, her heart jumping at the thought that he'd say no. It was indeed a dangerous place. Though Yanna wanted to remind the man that the Archeri were defeated, and so it should really all be fine, right? Then again, Nar Shaddaa was a dangerous place when it wasn't being occupied by an invading extragalactic force. So maybe she didn't know what the hell she was talking about. She was about to concede and apologize for wasting the man's time when he turned to his droid to discuss looking for cargo or passengers. Yanna's heart jumped again, this time in hope.
"No. I can wait." she blurted as he asked. She hopped up from the stool then stopped, pursing her lips to make herself slow down. He agreed. No need to try to convince him further. Just gotta find a place to stay. No money. "I could..." she began, looking up at Willam and then looking away again. "I could start now. Diagnostics." she said to his feet, neck red with self conscious nerves.
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Feb 3, 2020 18:03:19 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Feb 3, 2020 18:03:19 GMT -5
Yanna was a remarkably easy person to read. She had not quite rolled her eyes at his suggestion; Willam had the feeling that even that moderate amount of brashness was currently beyond her. But the captain had thought that the concept of narrowing her focus to a single point might be something familiar to her. Of course, since narrowing her focus would involve narrowing it on another person, perhaps the problem lay there. She's not just anxious around crowds, then. Anxious around people, period.
The constant mumbling under her breath was somewhat off-putting, but she was clearly still taking in what he was saying, so it was something he could overlook. He took some umbrage with the 'operator error', though. While heavily modified, he had only ever had the Lathspell modded by established mechanics; his own mechanical work was limited to patch jobs that could not wait until they made port, and he would never risk her welbeing over something like foolish pride.
He was distracted from his thoughts as Yanna all but lept from her seat in eagerness at the confirmation. Alright, she is quite cute. Her face fell a little as a thought crossed her mind, and she asked if she could start immediately. Willam raised an eyebrow.
Buying passage with her skills already told me she had little to no money. Obviously she has nowhere to stay on top of that. Clearly not running from something if she can wait a day, but she is definitely running towards something... or someone.
"Let me bring the stools back in, and I'll take you to my ship now, then," Willam confirmed, leaning across her to grab the one she had been using. "I'll be right back. Odd, keep her company, would you?"
"No. Busy," the droid chirped, clearly still shifting through holonet data.
"Ever the gentleman," Willam uttered sarcastically. Flashing an apologetic smile at their new charge, the captain ducked back into the Bottoms Up. Beyond a few exchanged lines of flirtation with the bartender, he did not linger for more than a minute before he returned.
"Follow me!" Willam requested, setting off at a good pace with Odd hovering sedately behind them. The possibility that the mechanic might attempt to steal his ship did cross his mind briefly but the captain was confident in his ability to read people, and Yanna did not strike him as being dishonest with her intentions. Willam cleared his throat.
"I leave the heavy lifting to the professionals, I should mention," Willam stated smoothly. "I don't go assaulting my ship with a hydrospanner willy-nilly, unless I know I won't make it to a port otherwise. Though I probably won't be using the last mechanic I hired again, since they clearly couldn't handle the job."
His refined accent echoed slightly as they entered the docks, and he nodded at the dock master as they passed. The man returned the gesture, and did the same for Yanna. They moved through the small amount of people within with relative ease until they reached the hanger in which the Lathspell rested.
"My pride and joy," Willam introduced, his arm making a sweeping gesture. In all honesty, she was not much to look at; a pretty unassuming exterior that most would not look twice at, but that was the point, after all. It was what was inside her that made her truly special. As Willam walked towards the ship, he swayed a little as the vision in his right eye flashed through the ship's security. No attempted break-ins, nobody even coming close to her. Open sesame, then!
The ramp hissed as it lowered, the edge of it kissing the ground just as Willam reached it. He approached the door and turned to face Yanna.
"Welcome aboard the Lathspell!" he said warmly, opening the hatch and standing aside to let the mechanic in first.
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Feb 5, 2020 17:36:58 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Feb 5, 2020 17:36:58 GMT -5
He paused. Oh, how she hated pauses. Her hands came together again, fingers wringing in anticipation until he finally spoke again. Relieved, she nodded her head, then jerked back a step away as he reached for the stool she'd just left. Her mouth had opened in an O of surprise, but the yelp was stifled in her throat and she snapped her jaw closed with an audible click of her teeth. The red of her neck spread to her cheeks and the tips of her ears and Yanna turned suddenly to face away, eyes bugging wide in sheer mortification. She could feel the sting of tears threatening to spill over and it took all her will to keep them at bay.
It's done. It's over. It's done. It's done.
Hearing the door to the club open and then close behind her, Yanna glanced over her shoulder. The droid seemed to be actively ignoring her and Yanna was perfectly content with that. Preferred it, even. And so she spent the few moments until Captain Scathe's return focusing on her breathing and willing her heartbeat back into something more like a normal rhythm. When he did, Yanna fell into pace behind the droid as it hovered behind him. Captain Scathe spoke as they walked, but ahead of her as he was, she could not hear him clearly. She debated mentioning this to him, but found the thought of interrupting him much worse and so decided to just let it go.
As they entered the dock proper, Zozo's head swiveled and she let out a string of beeps in greeting. Yanna stepped toward the droid, but hesitated as she saw that Captain Scathe was still walking. She opened her mouth to stop him, but nothing came out but a small, frantic whine. He kept walking, while Yanna stood paces away from her droid and Butt's cage by the wall. Finally, as Captain Scathe was about to walk out of sight, she turned and rushed to the droid. Picking up her back and the cage, she turned and hurried back in the direction Captain Scathe had gone.
"Welcome aboard the Lathspell!" Captain Scathe said, just as Yanna came skittering up with her things.
She came to an abrupt halt, causing Butt to rattle in his cage and let out an indignant squawk. This startled Yanna, causing her to drop the cage and Butt to squawk again. "Oh!" she exclaimed, dropping to a knee and removing the blanket from over the cage, revealing the fwit who was now openly growling in consternation. "Oh, I'm sorry, Butt! Are you alright? Shh, shh. It's ok. I'll let you out soon, I promise. Just..." she glanced up to where Captain Scathe stood by the ship's door, "...one second."
Yanna replaced the blanket over the cage. It rattled and shook as Butt hopped and growled. But Yanna turned away, wincing each time Butt made the cage clang. She took hesitant steps toward the ship, eyes again darting about before finally settling on a spot near the man's feet. "C... Captain Scathe. I, um... he's fully trained and I promise he won't be a bother I just have nowhere else to keep him and he'll stay in his cage on the ship but if I can just let him out for now out here I promise he won't touch anything."
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Feb 7, 2020 12:19:06 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Feb 7, 2020 12:19:06 GMT -5
The smile on Willam's face faded when he turned and realised that his new passenger was not immediately behind him. His head swivelled around and quickly found her again jogging towards the ramp, just as she dropped a cage she had picked up from somewhere. The captain raised an eyebrow as the creature within yipped and growled, sighing as Yanna stuttered through her explanation.
If she had to pick up her luggage on the way, then why didn't she just tell me to wait?
Hmm. Probably because she couldn't. Her... issues are more pronounced than I originally thought.
"I don't normally allow animals onto my ship," Willam said, his eye turning onto the vibrating cage behind Yanna's feet. "However... since it won't be a particularly long trip and you say that he's broken in, I suppose I can make an exception for you. Provided that you keep a close eye on him and are sure to clean up any messes he might make."
He never really enjoyed being in close quarters with animals, but he was getting such a good deal already that it was a small thing to cave on... unless, of course, she turned out to be a lousy mechanic. His gaze fell on the astromech droid following along after Yanna, and Willam shook his head with a laugh.
"A word of advice, Yanna, if you'd permit me. When looking to book passage somewhere, try leading with the fact you aren't travelling alone. That lack of information might cause some people some consternation. Thankfully, I've got enough room for all of you, just... keep in mind that in the future, you might not be so lucky. Okay?"
Despite his better judgement, Willam found himself beginning to like the woman. She reminded him of some of the younger folk he had to watch over, back when he was... back in a different time.
"Well, come on in, then. Let me show you where everything is," Willam continued, striding into the ship. Perhaps she'll feel better following rather than being out in front, with my eyes on her.
The interior of the ship was tidy, with no clutter hanging around in the corridors. Some habits died hard. Willam lead Yanna into the ship and began pointing out the essentials.
"Down that way is the main hold. Medical bay is right through that door. This here is the engine room," he announced, gesturing with his mechanical arm with a quiet whir of motors as he moved. "Keep in mind that not all the Lathspell's modifications will be... above board, so to speak. Out in lawless space, you need every edge that you have nice and sharp in order to keep yourself from meeting some terrible fate. I'm sure that you'll understand!"
The captain stood to the side of the engine room doorway, allowing Yanna the opportunity to look within.
"The latest big change was the installation of a little device call a Buckler Drive. Nifty little thing; it's a cloaking device that also provides a significant boost to our shielding in a pinch. It ties into the engines, which is why I'm thinking the guy that installed it didn't do their job properly. But, I'll leave that for you to decide."
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Feb 16, 2020 17:18:14 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Feb 16, 2020 17:18:14 GMT -5
Yanna saw the change in Captain Scathe almost immediately. The shift in his posture caused her to glance up, seeing the change from a happy grin to a question, to something else. She did not see the full shift as she'd diverted her gaze once again, inwardly chastising herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Should have said something. She was ready to take her things and go, recognizing that she'd lost her chance with this ship. She couldn't stop the sniff that came as she held back tears. The effort causing her to miss his initial concession to allowing Butt on board.
"A word of advice, Yanna," Captain Scathe began, and winced. It was just barely visible, but she wasn't sure she could take a full verbal rebuke without breaking down entirely. If it got too bad, she decided, she would just run away. She didn't need to hear a lecture from this man. She was grown woman and she-
"Well, come on in, then. Let me show you where everything is."
Yanna blinked, looking up to see Captain Scathe turn to walk up into the ship. She looked back at Zozo and Butt's cage. The droid swiveled its head, beeping at her in encouragement. I will guard the Butt it said, scooting closer to the cage. Yanna nodded and gave her droid a weak smile before turning and shuffling up the ramp after Captain Scathe. She noted, with appreciation and just a small amount of surprise, that Captain Scathe kept a clean ship. She'd seen her fair share of cluttered and dirty vessels, but this was one of the better ones. Perhaps, then, his engine troubles wouldn't be so bad either. These models could be tricky with modifications. Likely not his fault at all.
Yanna had eyes only for the engine room once they came to it. All awkwardness and ineptitude from before fell away as she stepped past him into the space. It was like coming home again, and Captain Scathe's voice was white noise as she ran her eyes over the engines. She might have muttered an "uh-huh" at him, but otherwise she was a world away, so to speak. The words "buckler drive" did register in her mind, however, and she nodded. One of those, improperly installed, could do all sorts of damage to a ship's systems. They also often went unnoticed as the culprit.
"I'll figure it out." she said, moving over to one side and ducking her head down to scan the bottom of one of the engine panel casings. She flopped onto her back, then pushed herself under the casing, checking some wiring and tracking where it led. Putting her hands firmly on the outer part, she pushed herself back out, turned her body on the floor, and pushed hard to slide under the other side, repeating her inspection. After pulling herself back up, her eyes moved up to the ceiling, were a number of wires and piping tracked overhead. She walked underneath, Pointing with one finger and bumping into Captain Scathe as her path brought her out the door.
"Sorry." she mumbled as she continued, but the paneling on the ceiling for the rest of the ship concealed the piping. She spun on her heels, bumping into Captain Scathe again as she re-entered the engine room. "Sorry." she mumbled again, moving to the back of the room where she wedged herself between the duct work for a moment before emerging and turning back toward Willam.
"Cockpit." she said, though she wasn't looking at him as she moved right past him and his droid, back out into the corridor. But rather than go immediately to the cockpit, Yanna went back to the ramp, trotting down to her droid and the cage. She removed the blanket and opened the cage. But jumped out immediately, skittered around Yanna, then caught sight of a rat off in the corner of the landing bay and raced off to catch it. Yanna grabbed her tool bag and motioned with her head for Zozo to follow her.
Back on the ship, Yanna, motioned for Zozo to go back to the engine room, instructing the droid to wait for her there. "Get started on her diagnostics, ok? Want to make sure there's nothing else wrong." And with that, Yanna turned the opposite way from the droid, making her way to the cockpit.
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Feb 29, 2020 8:15:44 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Feb 29, 2020 8:15:44 GMT -5
Well, this is a first, Willam thought to himself. He had lost the attention of attractive people to politicians, nobles, crime lords and, in one bizarre incident, a nerf herder who smelled like a sack of rotten cheese. But he had never been ignored quite so quickly and utterly over an engine.
Still, it was nice to see the change that came over Yanna now that the business of engineering was set out clearly in front of her. It reinforced Willam's confidence that he had made the right choice in mechanic. Though her spacial awareness needs working on, he thought as she bumped into him for a second time.
"Just through there..." Willam began to reply to the word 'cockpit', but it seemed as if Yanna had been talking to herself as she wandered off. Odd beeped something rude as Willam shook his head, striding towards the cockpit. "We all have our quirks, Odd. You of all of us should know that."
Odd burred dismissively and floated off to continue job searching as Yanna returned inside and headed over to the front of the ship, nodding amicably to the astromech droid as it rolled past him towards the engine room. Willam made sure to scooch out of the way so that she did not bump into him again and watched bemusedly as she continued to ignore him in favour of the Lathspell, which was all well and good, but the way she seemed to almost break into tears (twice now, he believed) made him... concerned.
"Yanna?" he said gently. The woman did not seem to hear him, or was completely ignoring him in favour of her work. "Yanna!" Willam repeated, more sternly this time and with a slight parade ground snap in his words. He waited until he was sure he had her attention before continuing.
"Now, I have nothing against you having... eccentricities. Honestly, I find them to be rather charming on you, and I have more than a few myself, so I have no room to talk. But on Nar Shaddaa?" Willam paused as he considered his next words. "Well, there's no delicate way to put it, so I'll be indelicate. You will be eaten alive. People there can smell opportunities to take advantage of people fresh of the boat, as it were."
The captain moved over to the pilot's chair and slumped down in it, swinging it around so that he was facing the mechanic.
"Not that I'm trying to dissuade you; I need a mechanic, after all. I'm just saying that you'll need to be careful when you get there. The Smuggler's Moon has worse things in store than a few timid gentleman's clubs, trust me. It's crowded, loud, vulgar, and violent. Perfect place to lie low, because only the best bounty hunters and most persistent law men can sniff you out."
Willam gave Yanna another appraising look. Someone is in trouble. Don't think it's her; probably someone she knows. Family, most likely, considering her social inclinations.
"Whatever you're looking for, just be ready to have a hard time finding it. And count on trouble finding you well before then."
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Mar 7, 2020 12:11:09 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Mar 7, 2020 12:11:09 GMT -5
Yanna moved quickly through the main hold, but then stopped abruptly. She turned and stepped over to a counter. In a swift motion, she hopped up on top of it, hunching near the ceiling panels. Lifting one, Yanna stood straight with her head poked up into the ceiling. One hand fished in her tool belt for a light and then that was brought up as well. She poked around there for a moment, before dipping her head back below the panels. Her eyes scanned along the other ceiling panels, darting here and there as she thought. When she seemed to decide on something, She gripped the panel support and leaned herself out from the counter, reaching for another ceiling panel. But it was just out of reach. With a frustrated grumble, Yanna abandoned the effort, replacing the panel she'd moved and hoping back down.
Detour ended, she resumed her march toward the cockpit, pulling a datapad from one of the deep thigh pockets on her jumpsuit. She muttered numbers and figures to herself as she walked, not looking up to see where she was going. She could navigate an XS in her sleep. Bar any major aesthetic changes, she imagined this one would be no different. The cockpit was -Yanna paused in the entry, looking around- even better kept than the rest of the ship. The corners of her lips pulled in an impressed expression before her eyes returned to the readings that came to her datapad from Zozo's diagnostics.
"Yanna?"
"Busy." she mumbled as she turned to one of the terminals along the side of the cockpit. Fishing a cord from a pocket, she linked her datapad to the terminal, allowing the readouts to display on the larger screen. Zozo was honing in on something... a hiccup in the wiring, but the exact location of the problem was-
"Yanna!"
She jumped, shoulders rising around her neck and her whole body spinning to face whatever threat had pulled her from her work. But it was just Captain Scathe. Her eyes alighted on him for a moment, before darting around in search of some other context clue as to why he might have interrupted her. Finding none, her gaze connected to his again for just a moment as she replied "What?", and then looked away.
What followed was a somewhat confusing qualification that might have been meant to soften the apparently indelicate observation that Captain Scathe was on his way toward making. When he did arrive there, Yanna's jaw tightened and one hand clasped her opposite upper arm. Thoughts of the hastily constructed and poorly maintained holding centers on Nar Shaddaa flashed through her mind. Awareness of Captain Scathe's movement through the small space kept her from diving head first down into the black put of those memories. She pushed them back as he plopped into the pilot's chair and continued his assessment of her unfitness for such a planet.
"I've been there before." Yanna said, looking down at her datapad and then at the terminal screen. A red box suddenly flashed around a string of numbers and Yanna leaned down to study it closer. "Move." she said, suddenly as she set her tool belt down and pulled out a flux spanner.
"Move." she repeated, moving on hands and knees toward the underside of the main control panel.
Not waiting for him, she shouldered past his legs and removed the cover. Inside was a tangle of wiring and circuit boards that might have confused most, but to Yanna, it was like a symphony of engineering. She dove in. managing to fit her head, a shoulder and one arm fully inside the console's inner workings as she fished around.
"Grounding clamps." she said, reaching her free hand out and gesturing toward her tools. "I have to go. And I don't have anything to take. I'll be fine." the words came before she'd considered them, causing Yanna to snap her mouth shut. She swallowed, and took a deep breath. "Grounding clamps." she repeated.
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Mar 15, 2020 10:14:17 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Mar 15, 2020 10:14:17 GMT -5
Well, at least she has a bit of spine, Willam thought, as Yanna bluntly told him to move, then all but shoved his legs out of the way before he had a chance to stand. But I get the feeling it will crumble easily if she was confronted. She's acting like one of those little spiky animals that curl up and present their bristles. They try to look like they're too painful to deal with, but all you need is a heavy, blunt object...
Willam shook his head as he scooped up the tool belt, removing the grounding clamps and handing them over to her.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," the captain replied as he held out the item. "You have your droid friend. You have your skill set. You have your beauty. You also have your freedom... and your life. Trust me, Yanna. You have plenty of things to be taken."
The way he spoke was soft, but there was a terrible seriousness to his tone. Willam loved his freedom; to go where he pleased, to do what he pleased, with whomever he pleased. Such a way of life took money, however, and he had been forced to take some jobs he did not like to support that lifestyle. He had seen many things he wished he had not in the process, mostly the many poor souls who had tried to live their own lives their own way, only to not be fast enough or smart enough or wary enough to survive. Walk down the wrong alley in the Red Light Sector on Nar Shaddaa and you could see for yourself the most common fate of those who made the mistake of trusting the wrong person.
And there were plenty of wrong people around.
"If you like," the captain continued after the grounding clamps were taken. "I could give you a list of places where you should not to look for help. The types of places you're likely to run foul of the wrong sort. You'd be surprised at how many clean and quiet places are fronts for the worst kinds of people. It'd be no skin off my nose," he finished, subconsciously tapping the dashboard to ward off any ill-fortune.
He had quite enough non-skin bearing extremities, after all.
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Mar 23, 2020 14:39:25 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Mar 23, 2020 14:39:25 GMT -5
Yanna tried to tune Captain Scathe out as he continued to speak. She told him she had to go. That really should have been the end of it. But People were strange, and every single one had an opinion. It wasn't that Captain Scathe was wrong... he wasn't. It just didn't matter. She was going to Nar Shaddaa and that was the end of it. But his voice persisted, listing off all the things she still had that could indeed be taken. Hidden within the panel casing, Yanna bit her lip. She really didn't want to think of those darker possibilities. It had all nearly almost happened on Circumtore, after all. There was no reason why Nar Shaddaa would be any better.
It wasn't any better, she thought.
Shaking her head, Yanna focused her mind back on the task at hand. She had to isolate the signal that Zozo had found and bypass the faulty sequence. It would be just a temporary fix until she could get into the more internal systems. It would also allow her to monitor the sequence flow from this end while Zozo did so from the engines. They could zero in on the true culprit from there.
"Wire strippers." she said, holding her free hand out once again for Captain Scathe to assist. At least he'd known what the grounding clamps were. There was nothing more infuriating than a know-nothing ship captain.
When she felt the weight of the wire strippers placed into her hand, Yanna wiggled around until she was able to pull that arm up into the space as well. Now with fully half of her body wedged into the underside of the console, she set about her task in earnest. Captain Scathe was, thankfully, keeping quiet. He might have left. Yanna glance down, but could not see past her own body filling most of the opening. Didn't matter. Finding the correct bundle of wires, Yanna deftly stripped back the protective casing along several. Already grounded, she was able to handle them without fear of shock. Shifting, she dug one hand into a pocket, pulling out a small, cylindrical device. She snapped it open, then fit it around the exposed wires and then clamped it shut again. A small indicator light flashed red, blinked twice, and changed to green. Yanna did this two more times on other sets of wires until she was satisfied.
Then began the slow process of extracting herself from the console. She inched along the floor, having to keep her arms up so that her shoulders could fit through. At the last bit before she was able to sit up, she felt a sharp pain where the edge of the opening snagged at her arm. Such things, though, came with the job and she thought little of it. She quickly replaced the panel covering the opening and went back to the terminal where the saw that Zozo had confirmed they isolated the likely path of the glitch. Nodding to herself, Yanna disconnected her datapad from the terminal and slipped it back into the deep thigh pocket of her jump suit. She turned, walking quickly from the cockpit, but stopped suddenly just outside. She spun, stepped back into the cockpit and looked at Captain Scathe's feel.
"Yes, please." she said, painfully aware of how delayed her response to his offer was. "Uh... thank you." and she turned again, retreating back to the engine room.
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Mar 26, 2020 15:59:07 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Mar 26, 2020 15:59:07 GMT -5
Willam heaved a sigh as his words were met with nothing except another request for one of her tools. The man reached across and dug out the wire strippers and handed them down to Yanna. Well, I gave her a warning. Nothing much else for me to do here other than let her get on with the work and getting her from A to B... His thoughts were interrupted as a beep down the hall announced a new message had arrived. The image flickered in his cybernetic eye, connecting to the ship's secure network and accessing his mailbox.
The captain hummed in interest as he read the contents of the message. The bartender, Glaice, was about to finish her shift and was going to go for drinks with a few of her friends, extending the invitation to himself. I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I refused to escort them for some relaxing refreshments, now, would I? It'll be a half hour yet, might as well do some job searching myself while I wait...
Yanna stomped off as he closed the window and tabbed back into his vision, but returned just as abruptly to confirm that she wanted that list after all. Willam gave her a smile.
"I'll whip you across a list of places before we break Prazhi's orbit," he assured, pulling himself up out of the chair. "But, I must leave you to your work. I have my own to start if I want to turn a profit from this trip! I trust that you won't try your hand at joyriding while I'm away? That would certainly put a dampener on our budding relationship."
There was a laugh in his voice as he spoke, striding away to the ramp. He had just reached the hanger bay doors when Odd beeped a query at him through their private commlink.
"Going out to conduct some... business. Keep an eye on Yanna and make sure she can't fly off with my ship, would you?... No, I don't either, but you can never be sure with people..."
---
The time had passed fairly smoothly since they left Prazhi behind them, with a mechanic in tow and a cargo hold well enough filled to make the time worthwhile. They would be closing in on Nar Shaddaa shortly, but there had been more than enough time for the captain to do a little self-maintenance of his own. And so, Willam sat in the medbay, his eye narrowed in concentration as Odd held firmly onto the piece of metal with it's clamps.
"Easy does it," the man muttered to himself, slowly waving the sonic cleaning wand back and forth across the metal. After a moment, the little hoverdroid beeped, announcing that the last item had been properly cleaned and was ready for re-assembly. Willam nodded, leaning back in the chair and rolling his shoulders. His left arm stretched; his right arm was also stretched in a fashion, albeit across the surface of the workbench and in several hundred pieces. The empty socket where it fitted merely jerked in a half-remembered motion.
"Well, let's put me back together again," the tall man sighed. Odd burbled an affirmative and began slotting the more delicate parts into shape while Willam started clearing away the tools. A gentle tone over the intercom echoed throughout the ship, the simple noise announcing that they would be dropping out of hyperspace above the Smuggler's Moon within fifteen to twenty minutes.
With a sniff, Willam heaved himself up and pressed a button on the panel near the door.
"This is your captain speaking from the medbay," Willam said into the grill. His voice sounded from all the rooms of the vessel, barring his own. The act was completely unnecessary, but it amused him. "We will be arriving over Nar Shaddaa within twenty minutes, so you may want to start gathering your belongings in preparation for your egress. Please note that any items left aboard and unattended may be seized by the crew and sold at a tidy profit. Thank you!"
The chuckle died on his lips as a twinge of pain flashed through his arm. With a grunt, the captain moved to grab at the offending limb, only for his left hand to grasp nothing but thin air. Gazing down at the space where his arm should have been, he sighed again.
"Alright, I suppose I deserved that one," he grumbled to himself, before moving back to the medical workbench and continue reassembling his mechanical arm.
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
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Apr 4, 2020 14:43:25 GMT -5
Post by Meira on Apr 4, 2020 14:43:25 GMT -5
"Run it back and reverse the sequence" Yanna said into the comm link she'd made for communicating with Zozo.
The droid whirred an affirmative response from the engine room, where it was hardlinked into the main drive. Yanna herself was wedged into the almost impossibly small service crawlspace. She fit well enough, but there was a reason so many major shipyards employed smaller species as mechanics. On a ship, every inch counted. Pulling herself along the crawlspace, Yanna maneuvered to the next node and tapped into the wires there. For each anomaly, she tagged it with a small pulse meter. The faint signal it transmitted into the wire allowed Zozo to flag the connection and run a script until finding the error. While the droid handled those, Yanna tagged more wires. By the time she was done with the cluster, the first were reformatted and she could go back and begin to remove the tags in the same order they were placed. It was a smooth and efficient process, so long as there were no interruptions.
"This is your captain speaking from the medbay..."
The speaker emitting the broadcast of Captain Scathe's voice was right beside her head. The sudden sound gave Yanna a start and she lost her place in the bundle of wires. With a grumble, she began to walk back through her steps, largely ignoring the Captain's words. Of course they were arriving soon. The flight time was clear and would not change mid jump. Quickly, she found her place again and resumed her pattern. Within a few moments, the node was complete. With a triumphant whistle, Zozo announced the full diagnostics were in and the repairs were a complete success.
"Good work, Zo. Go back to the bunk and check on Butt. I'll be there in a few minutes."
Yanna stowed her tools and pulled herself further along the crawlspace until she reached the correct panel, if her memory served her right... which it always did. With a solid tap, the panel dropped, swinging down from its hinged side to dangle into the med bay. Yanna's head and shoulders followed, the woman handing upside down into the room and turning her head until she saw the Captain and his droid.
"Captain Scathe," she said, "repairs are complete. Please follow the maneuver routine we discussed after you drop from hyperspace." she then pulled herself back up into the crawlspace, replaced the panel, and moved back down the path to where she'd been bunking during the trip.
Yanna entered the bunk room the same way she'd peeked into the medbay. But this time, she came in legs first and dropped to the floor with a soft thump. The room, large enough for maybe four crew members was a cavernous space for her alone. But it was nice to have, even if just for the short trip. Butt, on the other hand, had not enjoyed the space as much. This was mostly because he'd been denied permission to roam it. Yanna had promised to keep him contained, and she'd kept her word. It hurt to see the frustration build up in the fwit, but Yanna gave him extra treats and he was generally consolable if she sat with him for some time. With all of her belongings packed and ready for disembarking, she did just that. On the floor beside Butt's cage, Yanna pet the creature through the bars and cooed at him with a soft voice. Butt protested for a few minutes, but eventually settled down.
"We're almost there." Yanna said. "And then we'll find Ronen. You remember Ronen?"
Butt looked up at her with the uncomprehending eyes of a nonsentient creature. Yanna smiled back at him. Zozo whirred, noting that it remembered Yanna's brother and Yanna nodded. "That's right." she said. "No more begging and bartering. We'll have our own place with our own bed again."
Not long later, the tell-tale shudder of the ship dropping from hyperspace was felt. Yanna exchanged a look with Zozo and stood. Butt began to protest again, growling and hopping in his cage. Yanna lowered the blanket over it, whispering he'd be out soon, and then stepped from the bunkroom into the corridor with Zozo.
"Go on." she said, gesturing to the engine room. "Wait there. I'll go to the cockpit."
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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Apr 18, 2020 10:03:11 GMT -5
Post by Blue on Apr 18, 2020 10:03:11 GMT -5
Willam had just finished slotting the forearm component into the elbow socket when the small form of the mechanic swung down from the ceiling like some sort of monkey. Her sudden appearance made the captain jerk in surprise, and he hissed as the resulting motion cause a metal prong to jab into the side of his hand.
"Excellent, good work. I'll see you up in the- oh okay, bye then," Willam said, trailing off as Yanna vanished back up into the crawlspace above. Shaking his head, the man continued to put himself back together while Odd whistled a less than flattering opinion. It did not take him too long; over a decade of self-maintenance made one quite efficient. The captain was making his way to the cockpit less than five minutes after Yanna had dropped by the medbay.
Slipping into the pilot's seat with a relaxed sigh, Willam began the process of preparing for the drop out of hyperspace. By the time he heard Yanna enter, they were ready to go.
"Time to see your hard work in action," he announced. A moment later, the ship smoothly transitioned into realspace. They had dropped a bit further out than they usually would; Nar Shaddaa and a few of the other planets were close, but they were a distance enough so that nobody would be startled by a vessel taking what might look like evasive manoeuvres. After all, it would have been a real shame if they were blown out of the sky right after he had just got the old girl fixed up.
He started going through the motions that Yanna had asked him to perform, warming up the engines with a few passes through space. So far so good. Decent response time from the engines, that clunkiness I felt is pretty much absent. With that out of the way, Willam began to speed up, enjoying the sound of the thrumming that sent tiny vibrations through the ship that he associated with sudden acceleration. All the while, he kept an eye on the readouts in front of him, just in case something catastrophic happened. It did not.
"All good so far," the captain murmured. In all honesty, it was better than good; Willam could not recall the Lathspell ever having responding to his touch so sharply, so smoothly. Not only were the hiccups from the Buckler Drive installation gone, the ship was handling better than before!
"Turning on the Buckler Drive... now," Willam continued, flipping a switch. A gentle hum pulsed through the interior and the lights dimmed, indicating the lowered power output to non-essential outlets in order to facilitate the stealth drive's function. He maintained the same speeds, even picking it up a little more. Still, everything felt great.
After a few minutes, an indicator on the dashboard began flashing, telling the captain that the overshield was fully charged.
"Activating overshield," he announced, punching a button. A higher-pitched beep and a flicker from the cockpit's viewport confirmed that the shield had turned on properly. And still no engine issues, no power drain problems, not a single kink in the handling!
"Everything looks green... now let's give the old girl a proper test drive," Willam said, a roguish smile on his face as his grip tightened on the controls. There was a sudden burst of acceleration as the Lathspell picked up speed at an almost monstrous rate, tumbling through the void like a bird through clouds.
The captain spun, sharply turned, dipped and dived, dancing elegantly through the stars as if avoiding countless dangers the eye could not see, all the while the smile turning into a wild grin. He pushed the engines to their limits, keeping close attention on tolerances and power outputs. Even pulling off the most daredevil moves for this long, it's all still barely touching the edge of the green!
They happened upon a large cluster of rocks, space debris from some titanic collision of a meteorite or some such, and Willam's grin grew wider. He dived into it, dodging the smattering of obstacles with practised ease, laughing in pure joy from the sensation.
Now this... This was living! This was freedom!
Satisfied that the engineer had done what she had claimed she could, Willam eased back on the ride and brought them to a more respectable speed, directing them towards Yanna's desired destination.
"You did everything you said you would, so it's time I followed through with my end of the deal," Willam stated, that joyful smile still wide on his features. He sighed in satisfaction as the planet began to get closer through the viewport, from a small speck to a steadily growing sphere.
"Make sure to double check that list of places and names I gave you before you head out. Can't have you walking into the wrong places right off the bat," he continued. "I'll be in dock for about a week or so, probably a bit less, so if you run into any trouble and need something pointed out, Odd will be sticking around on the Lathspell, and he can contact me."
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
Administrator
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May 15, 2020 15:17:45 GMT -5
Post by Meira on May 15, 2020 15:17:45 GMT -5
Entering the cockpit, Yanna did not spare the time for useless words. There was still work to be done and Captain Scathe knew she'd be coming in to do the final checks. So she quickly produced her datapad from the large pocket on the leg of her coveralls and plugged in to the ship's main computer as she'd done at the beginning of her diagnostics. Zozo, in the engine room, was also wired in and ready to analyze the data as Captain Scathe moved through the discussed maneuvers. It was, for all intents and purposes, a simple stress test for the system, to ensure that the buckler drive no longer caused unnecessary drain.
The first passes showed promising feedback. Captain Scathe activated the buckler drive, and then the overshield. All remained within acceptable ranges. Yanna was fairly certain they'd managed to improve system sensitivity. But, she was unfamiliar with how the ship had been performing prior to the addition of the buckler drive, so that would have to be a question answered by Captain Scathe's subjective opinion alone. Not ideal, but he was the client. While his standards might not meet her own, she need only meet his for the debt to be considered paid. Still, she would try to remember to ask. The ship was certainly performing better than stock models right off the-
"AGH!" she yelped as the ship suddenly began to move through a wild set of maneuvers that were most certainly not on the agreed upon test list. While she ship had decent internal stabilization systems, loops and barrel rolls at these speeds were simply too much to compensate. Yanna flailed as she was pitched about the cockpit. She reached, grabbing at anything that came into reach and finally catching the backrest of the copilot chair. She clung to the seat for dear life, wincing as she watched her datapad tumble. about the cockpit. With eyes closed tight, she waited it out until the ship slowed and steadied.
Blinking her eyes open, she glanced around. She could see the wide grin on Captain Scathe's face. Yanna's neck reddened as embarrassment crept into her mind. Was that on purpose? Did he think it was funny to scare her like that? Was it in retaliation for startling him in the medbay? Yanna tried not to dwell on these thoughts as she quickly got herself back to her feet and looked around for her datapad. Thankfully, it was not broken. She stowed it quickly in her pocket and gave Captain Scathe a quiet "uh-huh." as she hurried back to the bunk room.
Zozo was already back in the room when she arrived, attempting to calm Butt with the most soothing tones it was capable of producing. Yanna, thankful that she'd taken the time to anchor Butt's cage rushed over and tossed back the blanket. She had promised Captain Scathe that Butt would stay in his cage for the length of the journey, but the fwit was so distraught that Yanna couldn't bear to not hold him. She opened the cage and Butt jumped out immediately, launching into her arms. He alternated between aggravated growling and relieved purring for several moments before he began to settle once again. Yanna muttered quiet apologies to him as she paced the room, rocking him like an infant.
"Alright. Alright." she said after a few minutes. "Let's get ready. Back in... I know, I know. Last time."
Butt protested, but he had little choice in the matter as Yanna placed him back in his cage. She removed the anchor, then turned to her small set of belongings. She slung her bag over a shoulder, allowing the weight of his to rest against her back. The tool belt was secured to Zozo. Yanna then lifted Butt's cage and the three made their way to the main boarding ramp room and waited for the ship to land. As they waited, Yanna did review the list of places Captain Scathe recommended she avoid. It was a long list, and it had her wondering just how she'd be able to look for Ronen if she couldn't go anywhere.
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last online Nov 19, 2022 17:21:47 GMT -5
Knight
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May 16, 2020 4:11:52 GMT -5
Post by Blue on May 16, 2020 4:11:52 GMT -5
Nothing got the blood pumping quite like engaging in some daredevil manoeuvres. The adrenaline rush was incomparable to anything else, and Willam was about to address the mechanic on the thrill they had just experienced... only to see her squeak and scuttle away as fast as possible, now that the ship was settled back down.
Now, guilt was not something that plagued the captain all that often; it was not something that one could afford to entertain in a cut-throat galaxy like the one that he lived in. There were times you had to cheat, double-cross and backstab just to keep your head above the water. But Yanna was not a part of that galaxy... not yet, anyway. So, despite Willam's usual cavalier attitude towards other peoples' feelings and thoughts, that tiny gnawing sensation crept up and began to chew at him.
With a heavy sigh, he switched the autopilot back on and heaved himself out of his seat, tracking the small mechanic to the bunk she had picked out for herself. Another pang hit him when he saw her and Zozo whispering calming words (and beeps, respectively) to her pet fwit, no doubt frazzled by the turbulence Willam had inflicted upon them. In all honesty, he had almost completely forgotten about the small animal's existence on his ship; Yanna had been as good as her word to keep them in their cage during the journey. The captain cleared his throat to announce his presence in the doorway, not wanting to startle her. Again.
"I owe you an apology, Yanna," Willam began, clasping his hands behind his back. "I have spent so much time among the rough and tumble types, and flying solo, that it never occurred to me to ask if you were ready for such... extreme manoeuvres. I can get quite carried away in the thrill of flying sometimes, but it is no excuse. It was not only remiss of me as a captain but inconsiderate of me as a person. I should have waited for you to strap in and give your permission to proceed, and I should have ensured that all of your gear was safely strapped down, as well as Butt and Zozo. So... I am sorry. To you and your companions, both."
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Meira
She don't mess around
2,830 posts
583 likes
Half awake in our fake empire
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last online May 11, 2023 23:01:34 GMT -5
Administrator
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May 30, 2020 9:36:58 GMT -5
Post by Meira on May 30, 2020 9:36:58 GMT -5
The sound of Captain Scathe's boots in the ship's corridor alerted Yanna to his approach before his form appeared in the doorway. Her eyes glanced up at the sight of him, but quickly returned to the list on her datapad. There was a short pause, in which the only sound was Butt's grumbles and the tiny tap taps of his nails as he paced in his cage. Yanna was unsure of how to fill that silence, or if it needed to be filled at all. Under normal circumstances, she was content in silence, preferred it even. But normal circumstances often meant she was alone, or only in the company of Zozo and Butt, who were not themselves expert conversationalists. Yanna understood, however, that many found silence to be awkward and preferred to have it filled with idle conversation. She practically shivered at the term. Luckily for her, Captain Scathe took the initiative and began to speak.
As he spoke, Yanna's eyes unfocused from the list and wandered across the floor, not catching on anything in particular. Her mind moved through her own thoughts with his words, reflecting on the assumptions she'd made and the several ways in which they were wrong. This was not an uncommon thing for Yanna. She often misinterpreted the behaviors and words of others. She read into thing in the worst possible way, always assuming some fault, misstep, or faux pax on her own part. As often as not, she would be a contributing factor, but there were times when she was simply wrong. This appeared to be one of those times. Zozo whirred in an I told you so tone, but Yanna did not acknowledge the droid. Her neck was burning, no doubt a bright red, that she could feel creeping up to her ears. An open book. That's what Ronen always said. She could never keep her sentiment from showing plainly on her features. And a broken holorecord. He'd often add the second statement as well. She only ever seemed to express anxiety and embarrassment. He'd always expressed such things with a loving sentiment, she knew. But knowledge of how she was around people... only perpetuated the problem.
Stop. You're spiraling. Yanna commanded her mind back to the present. Captain Scathe had ceased speaking. He'd been... apologizing. A response was now required. Her eyes darted to Zozo, who remained stoic, then to Captain Scathe's boots.
"It's alright." she said, the words rushing out faster than might be considered normal. "No harm. Umm..." Yanna stood, rather suddnely, and stepped toward Captain Scathe, holding out the datapad to show she'd been looking at the list. "Thank you, again. For..." she paused. "It's a long list." She brought the databad back toward herself, hugging it to her chest. Once again her eyes darted around the room for something to focus on. A subtle shift in the thrum of the engines as the autopilot continued to maneuver the ship caught her ear and Yanna's head lifted suddenly.
"Oh!" she said, turning and meeting Captain Scathe's gaze for a fraction of a second before Her eyes dropped back to her datapad. "Sorry. Forgot." Without thinking, Yanna sat straight down. With nothing below her, this meant that the woman simply dropped to a cross-legged position on the floor as she typed away on her datapad. After a few moments, she was done. "There. Diagnostics report uploaded to the ship's logs for your review. Readings were all optimal."
There was another pause, in which Yanna remembered something else Captain Scathe had said in the cockpit before she'd retreated. He'd stay docked on Nar Shaddaa for up to a week, should she need assistance. She thought back to when she'd arrived on Prazhi. Jack had been kind in bringing her there, but she'd not stayed in touch with him. That made things difficult when she'd found that Ronen as no longer on Prazhi and she'd found herself destitute once again. Knowing that Captain Scathe would be near, even if only for a short while was a relief. She hardly knew the man, but he seemed to be honest enough. In truth, she expected her search to last longer than a week, especially if she would need to be as careful as Captain Scathe warned. She opened her mouth to thank him again, but remembered she already had. Yanna closed her mouth, brow furrowing as she realized she did not know what she should do in this situation.
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