Star Wars: Enemies of the Empire - Unexpected Allies

[Noir]

-The Golden Nebula-

The rhythmic beat of the music filled the air of the dimly lit club along with the sounds of the gambling machines, cheers from the gaming tables, clicking of glasses and utensils, and a dozen incomprehensible conversations in nearly half as many languages . But now the patrons had largely lost interest in the strangers at the table and even their dancer to a lesser degree and simply went about their meals, games and conversation.

The dancer smiles at Arcata and does a small spin which she drops out of onto her knees right in front of her.

"Well then you know she also values her safety, especially with.. new friends." the dancer says and undulates her hips forward while arching her back in an almost serpentine motion.

"For now, if you wish to speak with her, I will have to serve as a relay, if you will." she stated with a smile and rolled her head, causing her lekku (headtails) to swing through the air.

 

-Droids! Buy, Sell, Trade, Repair-

On the cavern floor the air a stench to it from all of the lubricants, fuels, hydraulic fluids, and melting or burning electrical components of all of the ships mixed and mingled into a noxious odor. Along the shops and crude pathways the smell was bearable, but would leave most with some minor nausea. Among the boneyards and junk piles the smell must be strong enough turn even a rancor's stomach. Some people seemed to endure the smell, either as a sign or toughness or because they did not have a breathmask. Most of the shopkeeps and locals didn't seem to care about the odor and the rest of the people wore breathmasks when on the ground floor (and some even in the upper levels).

Before leaving the skiff and speeder bike for servicing Tal grabbed the three breathmasks he had idly thought to bring along judging by what he could smell in the docking bay alone. He coughed and clipped the pack to his belt and then slipped the mask on his face with a deep inhale and sign of relief.

"Oh. Sorry." he said with a grin before offering the other breath masks to Roki and Glint if they wanted one.

Down the crude 'street' as ways, if you could call it that, was indeed a shop with a a holographic sign reading, "Doids! Buy, Sell, Trade, Repair". The shop itself was made out of some sort of cargo containers and inside it was full of droids, some active and some deactivated while droid parts filled shelves and hung from the ceiling. The scene would be rather macabre if they dismembers limbs and such were flesh and bone instead of plasticoat and dusasteel. One of the cargo container 'rooms' appeared to be devoted to the maintenance of droids, with an oil bath and the like, while the rest was a mixture of show room and a small used parts warehouse.

And old man, a human of over sixty years of age in technician's coveralls sat in a chair, hunched over some blocky droid as the trio enters with their droids. 

"Just a moment." he says as he finishes fusing some circuit and then looks up.

"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked as he looked at each of the men and the droids beyond them.

[z-Roki Fuja]

“We need to have our droids serviced,” Roki said, smiling amiably. “Just a basic checkup to make sure they’re running properly. What do you charge for that service?”

“100 each.” Tobal wiped his hands on a spare cloth as he spoke. “That’ll include oil baths and checking their programs.”

Roki managed not to wince. This was turning into an expensive day, particularly for a man who had never owned anything of value himself. He didn’t even know if this was the right amount for the service, so he couldn’t argue. Instead, he nodded and offered half up front. “How long?” he asked.

[Noir]

Tobal got up from his chair with a small groan of effort and walked over, looking the droids over more closely now.

"Hmmm.. a couple o' Serv-O-Droid Starship Repair droids..." he said as he looked over Frick and Frack, "and a.. Daruni-tech Medical/General Health Droid? I will not even ask you got your hands on one of these." he chuckled.

"That model of repair droid generally need more servicing with the exposure to hard vacuum and atmospheres. They made'em bare bones to save on cost and weight, figuring the typical spacer put more value on efficiency than cosmetics, so the joints and servos are not as protected as other models. As long as you keep them serviced, they should last.. well.. longer than your lifetime, that's for sure." he grinned.

"The medical droid has it much easier, but the precision servos need to be re-calibrated yearly to make sure they keep that fine manipulation for surgical applications. Nobody wants a surgical droid with a shaky hand." he cackles.

"But back to business. All told, it should take a little under an hour. A full hour tops." he finally answers.

[SalmonMax]

Arcata shrugged at that and glanced at Zaylee. "If that's how she wants to deal, I don't see why we can't work with that. Captain?"

[z-Roki Fuja]

Roki nodded in response to Tobal’s estimate. “Thank you. We’ll be back then,” he told the man and nodded to the droids. “Enjoy your baths.”

The three men drifted back onto the streets, and the former Stormtrooper glanced up and down the “street” at the shops. “What do you want to do for an hour?” he asked, adjusting his face mask in a futile attempt to fit it to his face better. “I think by the time we got back to the ship, we’d just have to turn around and walk back.”

[Noir]

"Glint. You wanted to look around for some spare parts for Zaylee, so that sounds like a way to pass the times. It looks like our options are checking the shops here, paying a fee to enter one of the private boneyards and pull the parts ourselves, or go out into the 'public' boneyards and pull parts ourselves." Tal said, thinking aloud.

"We didn't really bring tools to pull parts ourselves, and I know I saw some.. things... moving around in the boneyards, so I think we check the shops then. Probably just browse for now and remember what we find. No need to buy anything right now, but I do have credits to pay the rest of our bills for the services and in case we find something too good to pass up, such as 'like new' parts for the primary hyperdrive or something." he suggested.

"If you guys have anything in particular you are looking for, we can look for that too or instead." Tal added with a shrug.

[Zaylee Zanne]

Zaylee finished a purple Zeltronese berry with Gammill cream and looked askance at Arcata from the corner of her eye. She hadn't expected the icy Intelligence Officer capable of being so personable or smiling so naturally, or even able to feign it convincingly. It was very at odds with her previously interactions with Arcata.

"Perfectly reasonable precautions," the tiny captain returned, nodding agreement with Arcata and the Twi'lek dancer. She sipped at her berry wine and savoured her exotic assortment of berries for several moments, pretending to be interested in the dancers sensual gyrations, though they held little attraction to her. During a lull in her movements when the Dancer brought her face close to theirs, Zaylee leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between their lips.

"See if our new friend would be interested in acquiring a ship. A ship rare outside of the Galactic Empire."

[Noir]

The twi'lek listened and nodded. She danced for a few moments before she rose, grasped the pole with one hand and swung around it slowly.

With her training Arcata noticed that the dancer was keeping her head relatively still, though her lekku (headtails) were moving and twitching ever so slightly and when the dancer arose she could see that the twi'lek was surveying the room with a sweeping glance as she spun around the pole. Arcata was aware that the twi'leks had a form of sign language with their lekku, and had heard that some were skilled enough to hold a verbal conversation with one person while conversing with another twi'lek using their lekku at the same time. In this case Arcata's keen eye could see the dancer saying something using her lekku with her back to the room and then incorporating some movement that would allow her to scan the room for a response from the security-minded Aqui'el.

The dancer pulled her pelvis to the pole and then hopped up, wrapping her legs around it in an inverted, slow spin.

"Rare, hm? What kind or ship?" she asked as she planeted her hands on the table in a handstand and swung her legs back under her.

 

[Kel Uno]

"Imperial." Kel explained once the writhing dancer did another close-up crawl. "Customs cruiser." He gave her a sly little grin, to make it seem like it was more of a 'we're that good' rather than the fact that they were in the run from an Inquisitor and trying to shuffle it away quick. Never give out the bad secrets like that to a prospective buyer.

[Glint]

Glint nods to Roki.

"Yeah, may as well camp it out. Might as well get something done while we're waiting, rather than just bouncing back and forth. And it saves us all time in the long run."

He gives Tal a self deprecating smile.

"Yeah..... I'd rather not be the first to take the Bacta Tank for a ride, so to speak. And we probably won't be here long enough to properly scavenge stuff, even if we were that way inclined. It's time consuming, finding decent parts that way. I'm all for taking our list and scouring the Market for the bits."

He reaches into a belt pouch, withdrawing a dataslate.

"In addition, if we can find any of these pieces, do let me know. I need them for a project Kayda and I are working on."

He seperates the list out into two groupings, turning one block of text blue and the rest white.

"The blue pieces I was able to find second hand for about 400 creds all told, in the junk shop. I'd personally prefer fresh components, but I'm going to need some pieces to tinker with, and I'd rather not burn out fresh pieces as I figure out what the hell I'm doing. Just keep an eye out, see what prices we can get going for us."

He grimaces.

"Gonna need a way to make some creds again soon. This trip is likely gonna clean me out and my usual method is sort of off the table. Have to figure something out. Either way, not something to worry about right now. How do you guys want to do this? Split up and cover more ground, or stick together and do a relatively thorough search of a smaller area? Personal preference is for sticking together, but I've lived on my own for over a decade, so I won't lose any sleep over covering more ground."

 

 

[z-Roki Fuja]

The former Stormtrooper glanced over the area. “I’d rather not split either. This is a relatively safe space, but we are in a shadowport, and we are unfamiliar, both with the people here and the area itself.” He took another glance at Glint’s list before tucking it away.

A small shop caught his eye and he drifted toward it, eyeing the merchandise he could see through the door. “Also, I’m sure our captain is going to want a say in the parts themselves. She doesn’t seem the type to be interested in substandard maintenance.”

Roki stepped inside and started to peruse the available items, opting not to look at costs until he’d assessed the item. Some of the asking prices were uncomfortably high for a man who’d already spent hundreds of credits. One of the parts he spotted was on Glint’s list, but it had too many decimal points, in Roki’s opinion. He pointed it out to the other man anyway, before saying, “I’m not familiar with these parts. What are they for?”

[Glint]

Glint made note of the piece, marking it off on his list, noting the price and location, so he could come back if needs be. He's silent for a moment, as they keep rummaging through the piles around them. He steadily makes his way over so that they are side by side before beginning in an undertone.

"Historically speaking, there has always been a tool associated with my particular line of work. I had begun my own training with it before I was forced to leave. Given my situation, when the need to leave came to light, I decided that speed and anonymity was more valuable and ditched a lot of the effects of that trade. Kayda has one and has been loaning me hers over the last while, but it makes it extraordinarily awkward to practice with, as I'm sure you can imagine. Demonstration will only carry so far. As such, these pieces that I am looking for, will allow me to create the housing for another one. It's somewhere to start, at least, even if the most valuable part will not be found in any Junker. If it's all right, though, lets wait till we get back to the ship for if you have any more questions in that regard. I don't trust the port as far as I could throw Coruscant and you would be surprised how good the walls hearing is."

He flashes a quick grin before moving on to another pile, humming idly to himself.

[z-Roki Fuja]

Roki nodded in quiet assent, turning back to the displays of parts in front of him. After a second of silence, he said softly, “I think I do have some questions, about your line of work. When we’re in private.”

He wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, but he had to know what was happening to him. He couldn’t hide from these strange feelings and sensations, and right now, Glint and Kayda were his only sources of information.

[SalmonMax]

Arcata appeared ready for the question and produced her nigh-ubiquitous datapad.

"A former Imperial customs cruiser," she said. "It's not intended for use in front line battle, but it's a good deal faster and better at maneuvers than other ships of it's class. Straddles the line between corvette and cruiser, really... At any rate, it's undamaged and spaceworthy, all systems and data intact."

She had no idea what use the Rebellion would have for the cruiser itself, as wanted as it was...beyond perhaps repurposing and using for their own starship fleets. But the data in the cruiser could provide invaluable intelligence, and there would be the true value she suspected.

[Noir]

-The Golden Nebula-

Kayda let those more familiar with these kinds of underworld dealings and bargaining speak. As a youth at the Jedi Temple, and as a padawan, Kayda never had need for money and indeed barely needed it since. While hiding on Finnare she largely provided for herself. Material things and attachments were something the Jedi were not supposed to focus on, after all.

 As Arcata, Kel and Zaylee spoke with the dancer Kayda's gaze drifted off and her brow furrowed slightly, almost as if she was trying to remember some half-forgotten piece of information. She would shake her head, trying to dismiss it and pay attention, but inevitably the expression would return.

"How much are you asking?" the dancer asked as she squatted down and then slowly rose back up, dragging her hands along one of her long, shapely legs.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand." Zaylee replied confidently. Bargaining was nothing new to the freighter captain. She had been making deals on the price of cargo, fuel, repairs and charters almost since she could speak. She had never dealt with this quantity of credits before and put on her best poker face like she had done countless times before.

"Well, though it has value has a combat ship it is much easier, and cheaper, to buy other ships for that function. She knows that the value in that ship would be for more... clandestine purposes, and possibly the data. But she also knows that there is no way you.. acquired.. a ship like that without it's absence being notice. So the transponder will need serious work and that takes a slicer, who are not cheap. She would feel more comfortable at one hundred twenty thousand." the dancer relays.

"I can almost junk it for that." Zaylee countered, knowing full well it was a bit of an exaggeration, but would get her point across that she knew it was a low ball offer. "But I can come down a little. Say.. two thirty."

The twi'lek danced for a few moments, making sure her movements gave her chances to scan the room before she spoke again,

"You decided to come to her, so she feels that is worth something. One sixty." the dancer came back with.

It was an increase of forty thousand, but still well below what Zaylee felt she could get.

"Yes, we came to her first, so it should be worth more than that to her.. and her friends." Zaylee replied, feigning the slightest bit is irritation and impatience. "Two ten."

"It is worth something, but other ships are more... desirable. One eighty." the dancer came back with.

"If there is not at least a two in front, then you can thank her for us and we can go elsewhere." Zayle said, taking a gamble at a firm stance.

The dancer circled and gyrated for a few more moments, circling the pole and dropping down to crawl toward Zaylee with a sultry look in her eyes.

"Let her feel like she got a deal. One ninety-five." the dancer countered.

"One ninety and she provides transport for me to the Tarnoss system." Kayda said out of the blue, her unexpected entry into the negotiations brought her a look from each of her companions... surprise, irritation, or even a mixture of both, but everybody seemed to know better than to have it out in front of the dancer.

"Deal." the dancer said with a smile. 

"She will want somebody to take a look at the ship, of course. That is more credits that she has on hand, and she assumes you would like that in hard currency anyways. There is a small, private spaceport a few systems over. Nobody will see anything or ask any questions. It is about a two day trip, but that is a lot of credits to gather up, so it will take a few days. Say we meet there in five standard days?" the twi'lek suggested.

"Two things." Zaylee said as she relaxed in her seat. She knew that the sooner they could meet the less chance there would be of any tricks, but to meet soon, she would need to repair the primary hyperdrive on the Quasar Ray.

"First, some 'good faith' money. Ten percent or so. Let's say an even twenty thousand." Zaylee suggested.

"Five." the dancer countered.

"Ten." Zaylee replied.

"Deal. And what else?" the dancer asked.

"My crew and I are in need of some R&R. I am not sure how long that might take. So let's say a week from today and if my crew wraps things up early, then we'll head over sooner." Zaylee added, intending full well to make repairs and get there as soon as possible.

"She would like some good faith from you too. Even ten thousand credits in no small amount to hand over." the dancer said.

"I will stay here and travel to the port with her or her people. Once the transaction is done, I can be taken to my destination." Kayda offered.

"Deal" the twi'lek said as Kayda caught more irritated glances from her companions.

"If you will excuse me, I will need to relay the details and she will have the coordinates brought over to." she said with a smile.

The dancer arched her back, and placed her hands on the table, then slowly brought her legs up and over, placing them on the floor with the rest of her body following until she was standing next to the table. She began to walk away and looked over her shoulder at the table with a small and wink as she gave a small wave before disappearing into a back room.

"The Tarnoss system? Giving yourself over as good faith?" Zaylee asked once the dancer was gone.

"I am sorry, Captain, but I feel I have something I must do there.. alone. And I do not wish to endanger any of you more than I already have. The situation we all find ourselves in is due almost exclusively to me, therefore it is up to me to try and correct it. I do not sense any danger or deception from her, and I am of little use to the ship if you intend to make repairs, so this seemed like a simple solution. Please take 'my cut' if there was to be one, for yourself. I know it is no replacement for your ship, but it is the best I can do at this time. And please, tell Glint that we must walk our separate paths for now. Perhaps one day we shall meet again." Kayda calmly explained.

A twi'lek server walked up with a tray and sat a datapad and a small metal tube down on the table.

"Here's your bill... and your winnings. I guess you didn't realize you won." she said with a wink, turned and left.

The datapad stated that the bill was already taken care of, but on top of it was a small datachip (likely containing the coordinates of the private starport), while the tube contained credit coins (one hundred credit coins worth one hundred credits each).

Whenever the others finally rise to leave, Kayda looks up to them, possibly for the last time and says, 

"Until we meet again... May The Force be with you."

 

 

-Repair Row-

"Your line of work?" Tal asked, somewhat confused.

Then it dawned on him.

"Oh!. You mean a.. Ohhhhh. I get it." he said with an enthusiastic grin.

"Neat!" he added as they walked down the crude 'street' that they discovered the locals called 'Repair Row' due to all of the repair shops found along it.

The three men moved as a group, splitting up inside shops to look through the multitudes of spare parts. Sometimes they were cleaned and neatly displayed on shelves and hanging on walls, and other times dirty parts were piled into crates or covered tables in a big mess. They took notes on the parts they found, both for the ship and Glint's private project. It seemed, that as long as one was not too picky about condition, almost any part for any ship, vehicle, droid or device could be found in The Pit... if one spent the time to look. 

The breathmasks made breathing on the ground floor much more pleasant even if they were a little uncomfortable to wear at times. After a little under an hour the tree made their way back to pick up the speeder bike and skiff, which were now finished and fully serviced. Tal handed over the balance of the credits and gave the mechanic a small tip with a smile. With the speeder bike loaded onto the skiff they went to pick up the droids. 

As promised, Tubby and 'the boys' were finished as well, with the latter two both folded up.

"Oh thank you so very much, sirs. It has been some time since we all had our last oil bath." Tubby said to the three as Tal handed over the remaining balance to Tobal.

"Those are some nice droids. You go a good eye. If you're ever interested in selling'em, come on back here. I'll give ya a good price." Tobal said as he waved and walked back to his seat.

When they were all back on the skiff with the droids, Tal looked at the others and asked,

"So, you wanna check in with the others? It's been a little over an hour."

 

Spoiler

Both groups are on roughly the same time now, so you can communicate over the comlinks.

 

[z-Roki Fuja]

“No problem. Everyone needs some pampering,” Roki said absently to the droid. His mind was more on the purchases they didn’t make, some of which he’d put into notes for Zaylee. He was also having an attack of nerves as the moment for talking to Kayda and Glint approached. Did he really want to admit his suspicions? What would they do or say? He didn’t know, and that uncertainty more than any real fear about what they’d do was haunting him.

In answer to Tal’s question, Roki pulled out his communicator. “Captain, do you read? We’re done with our errands. What’s your status?”

 

[SalmonMax]

"Good luck, Kayda," Arcata said with a nod of her head. She didn't give the woman high odds for survival, which was a bit unfortunate as she rather liked her spirit...but at least she wouldn't be swinging that silly laser sword around where it would bring attention to them.

She looked at Zaylee then.

"All things considered, a good day's work I think."

[Zaylee Zanne]

"Very good day's work," Zaylee replied. She might have been annoyed when Kayda spoke up when they were concluding their deal, costing them some credits, but it was only a bit, and it was soon buried under barely concealed glee. Though she had started at two-hundred and fifty, she hadn't truly expected to end so close to two-hundred thousand. That was an excellent seed for repairs with leftover to decide what and where they'd go from here. "Very good."

The tiny captain stood up and finished her wine, then nodded at Kayda. "Had I known before, I probably won't have taken you aboard, Kay," Zaylee admitted. "But I've never wished you ill." She grinned ruefully and amended, "Well, not really really, so as to mean it. I'm gratefully for you acting as our token of good faith and I hope you find what you are looking for. Until we cross on the hyperlanes once again."

Her comm chirped as they were leaving the Golden Nebula and Zaylee answered it after finding a place where it wouldn't be so easy to be overheard. "I read you, Roki. We have a deal arranged and a meeting set for a week from now. That gives us at most, say five days, to get the hyperdrive working. We did get ten thousand as an advance to work with, plus whatever short term credit we can swing, or maybe use the skiff and skimmer as collateral. You learn if there are any issues with them or the droids?"

[z-Roki Fuja]

He didn’t like her mentioning his name over an open channel; it was too soon after escaping the Empire for him to be comfortable with that. Rather than call attention to it, he said, “All the mechanics and the droids are fine. We can use them as collateral, especially the droids if we wished to risk them. One of the shopkeepers expressed a great deal of interest in them.” He cast an apologetic glance at Tubby, but the bottom line was that they had value.

“Let’s talk about this back at the ship,” he suggested, hoping that Zaylee would be open to the idea.

 

[Noir]

-Quasar Ray, Docking Bay 22-

With their business and errands concluded for now, once again everybody found themselves gathered around the table in the common room while Tubby prepared the most nutritious, yet tasty snacks, the little droid could manage with the food stores that had been transferred over from the Customs Cruiser, though Kayda's absence was obvious.

"Well," Tal said as he stuffed a small bite into his mouth, chewing it for a moment before speaking out of the side of his mouth, "the bike and skiff are good models and all serviced. They are back in the cargo bay if we need 'em." he said before swallowing his bite of food.

"And like Roki said, the droids seems to be good models, especially Tubby. Here's data the droid-tech gave us." he said as he sat a datachip on the table.

"So how did things go with you guys and what's the plan now?" he asked before taking another bite.

[Zaylee Zanne]

Zaylee explained the deal they had made the Aqui'el's leggy intermediary while glancing over the data on the droids, munching on one of Tubby's stuffed rolls and nodding appreciably at what she was seeing. The Droids may have their quirks, but so far, dealing with them was worth it for their enhanced proficiency, especially with regards to the Ray.

"That plan now is to take the advance we got and get the hyperdrive working a nanosecond ago," Zaylee, her large teal eyes bright with delight at fixing her ship. It wasn't the Odyssey, but the Ray was an excellent ship and she would take satisfaction seeing it in full trim. "Doubt we'll find new parts for ten thousand credits, unless we find someone who doesn't know what he has - unlikely with new parts. Even adding what we can get for the skiff and speeder as collateral, we'll be short and I don't want use the Droids for that yet."

Zaylee tossed the datachip on the table and starting inputting something into her comm-unit. "But we should be able to find decent used components that will do, for a decent price. I'll swap them for new at a real spaceport after we make the deal and keep the others for back-ups. Having back-ups is always good. So, say, a day for the parts and best deal, then however long it takes me to install in this overhauled beauty. While I'm doing that, whoever isn't helping me can go about listening to the scuttlebutt around the Pitt - we might be able to take on a cargo after our deal before we head to a decent spaceport."

The danger of being sought by an Imperial Inquisitor or not, Zaylee was still a trader and the idea of losing credits instead of making some on any trip down the hyperlanes felt wrong to her. "Or, they can scavenge through the scrapyards and see what they can find that we can use for temporary repairs for the price of searching, until we get some new parts." She sent them a list and descriptions, visual and audio, of components she knew they could always use and nodded in satisfaction "Then... back-ups. Always back-ups. Anyone else have anything they want to add to the itinerary?"

[Glint]

Glint sat back in silence, letting the others discuss their options. Truth be told, he was irritated. The news that Kayda was leaving had come as something of an unpleasant surprise to him. Overall, he was feeling angry at her flipping on their agreement. He'd grown up in a layer of society where your word meant a lot. Going back on a deal like that is a quick way to ensure that no one deals with you in future, which may as well be a death sentence for a lot of folks.

At the same time, he felt bad for being angry over it. He knew that it was unlikely that she was doing it maliciously. And it was likely to be relatively important if she was just cutting and running like that. So he was conflicted on the whole thing. As such, he sat back as the others talked and let the thoughts chase each other through his head.

[Noir]

Tal chuckled and took a drink from his glass before he sat it down again.

"I really doubt there is a single new part to be found anywhere in this port, Captain." Tal joked and then took a gulp from his cup.

"At Glint's suggestion we already got a head start though by looking through some of the parts sellers while we waited on the droids, so we have found some parts already. If you wanna come back with us, we can bring Frink and Frack along too and really go over the parts focusing on those for the hyperdrive." Tal suggested

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

After snacking, gathering Frick and Frack (and some more breathmasks), a short short ride on the cargo skiff later the crude street nicknamed "Repair Row" came into view. The street, if you could call it that, contained almost all of the seeder/droid/weapon/armor/device repair shops as well as used parts vendors. The buildings varied in quality, with some being pieced together from the junk around them to others being constructed of neatly stacked cargo containers welded together. Among the shops were multitudes of spare parts. Sometimes they were cleaned and neatly displayed on shelves and hanging on walls, and other times dirty parts were piled into crates or covered tables in a big mess. 

Pulling the parts from the ships in the boneyards was also an option, and cheaper too, though it meant searching among the wrecks from what you needed, often going from public to private yards, and then pulling the parts with your own tools, not to mention dealing with the various life forms that have taken up residence in the boneyards forming a rather unique ecosystem. So though buying from the used parts vendors was more expensive, it was also faster and generally safer as they had already done the work of finding and pulling the parts.

Glint, Roki set about showing Zaylee the parts they had tagged before while Kel watched Frick and Frack quickly search for more parts and Tal bought a few components he had seen earlier. Zaylee, always in search of a bargain, and having resigned herself to buying from the vendors, still looked over parts to find the best parts and prices she could before she started to haggle with the vendors. In the end, after several hours of searching, pricing, haggling, and 9,200 credits later, everybody was once again on the cargo skiff with a couple of small crates of used hyperdrive parts. Zaylee had discovered that the junk dealers in The Pit were quite savvy hagglers, so for the price, the parts were better than Zaylee expected. They were used, of course, but with relatively little use or ware on them. She knew that new parts would easily run more than twice what she just spent so it was a good deal, all things considered.

Once back at the ship Zaylee gleefully walked back toward the hyperdrive to make repairs with Frick and Frack following behind and carrying the crates of parts. Cost aside, the diminutive captain was simply glad to be on the verge of getting the primary hyperdrive of her ship (and the fastest hyperdrive she had ever seen) back in working order again. The others set about their own tasks and hoped the repairs would not take too long.

 

Spoiler

Repairing the Primary Hyperdrive: 

• Zaylee, or whoever is repairing or leading the repairs, needs to make a Space Transports Repair (Mon Calamari Transports) roll to fix the hyperdrive.
• Zaylee can tell that the hyperdrive does not really look like it was damage in combat. Instead the damage is more consistent with it being "blown" by pushing or overtaxing it. As such, it is a somewhat easier repair that involves swapping out blown components mostly, thereby making it only a Difficult roll (instead of Very Difficult)
• Even with the slightly easier repair Zaylee estimates the repair will take 2-3 hours. (Lots of sensitive parts to remove, replace and calibrate).
• Each person/droid assisting gives a +1D bonus (so +2D if just Frick and Frack assist). There is a limit to how many people can assist though (4 in this case) largely due to space.
• You can also prepare which grants a +1D bonus as you take the time (30-60 mins) to get everything together, lay things out and plan out how you want to go about it. Essentially you are adding time for an extra +1D to your skill roll.

   So, for example, if you prepare and just Frick and Frack assist, whoever is making the roll (I assume Zaylee) will get a+3D bonus to their repair roll. Another +1D can be added for each additional person (up to 2 more).

 

 

[Zaylee Zanne]

They weren't able to find any new parts for the hyperdrive, but the components they did find looked more than adequate with little wear on them. She was glad Glint and Roki made note of needed components on their initial errands, it saved them notable time when they went to acquire what they need for the hyperdrive.

With excited anticipation, Zaylee went to the engine room with Frick and Frack in tow to begin working on the fast hyperdrive she'd ever had the pleasure to play with. She began by pulling all the blown components and matching them up with the parts they had procured earlier, to make sure nothing was missing. Then she started looking at any components that looked like they had too much wear for her liking and pulled those too.

With Kel on the bridge to keep an eye on the diagnostics and readings while she did the same in the hyperdrive chamber, Zaylee installed the replacement components one at a time with Frick and Frack's help, checking their viability at each step, so she would know where any issue was if one came up. Used to working alone, at first she found the droids' alternating babble distracting, but after a while, it turned into - almost - comfortable background noise, like the hum of a ship's engine.

Three and a half hours later, the small captain had taken off her coat and rolled up the cuffs of her shirt. Her copper and gold hair was darkened with sweat, strands plastered to her forehead, but there was a big grin of satisfaction on her face. The repairs had mostly been straightforward, once she understood how the hyperdrive had been modified and had rerouted several cables and wires which she believed would more efficient in preventing future blow-outs. The old parts she crated up and planned to drop off at the machine shop - some might be able to be broken down to their component parts and repurposed.

She tilted her head and keyed the comm-unit pinned to the shoulder of her vest. "'Kay, that looks to be it. Give the drive a go, Kel."

"Roger, Captain." With the hyperdrive in testing mode, Kel slid the lever slowly to full power.

Cables and components glowed in the deep, luminescent blues and greens typical of Mon Calamari engineering. Zaylee looked at the readings on the datapad connected to a port on the hyperdrive and nodded energetically at what she saw, then pumped a fist.

"Black Holes and White Stars! That is a beautiful thing to see!" Zaylee exclaimed, then made a general announcement over the Ray's internal comm system. "Okay, crew, the hyperdrive is a go and she's a thing of beauty. Let's say take a day to wrap up anything else and leave in the morning. With this baby, we'll have lots of time to pick up Mar and the Cruiser and make it to the rendezvous early, in case there is any funny business going on with our deal."

[Noir]

While Kaylee, Kel and the droids were working on the hyperdrive Tal found Glint and bought him to the small workshop on ship. He walked over to a workbench where a small, metal crate sat and motioned Glint over.

"Since we did some of the legwork beforehand, and there were plenty enough of us to look for parts, I went and made some purchases of my own." Tal said as she opened the lid on the crate to show Glint.

Inside the box was all of the lightsaber components that they had managed to find while looking for parts earlier. They were mostly in good shape and looked like they had just been recently cleaned.

"Consider them a gift, or an advance on your future good deeds." Tal said with the playful smile that usually graced his face.

"And if you can't do that, then consider it a loan with no terms and no due date, because let's face it, you are going to need all the help you can get." he added as he began to note a bit of shock or surprise on Glint's face.

"Look. The galaxy needs the Jedi again. And I know I will never be one... but if I can help with their return, even in such a small way as this, then I am honored to do so." Tal said with the grin gone from his face as he spoke with heartfelt sincerity.

[Glint]

Glint was at a loss for words. He had never been one for gifts. Usually, if someone was offering something, it had a price tag attached, in goods or favours. This was the way of things. To be given something, particularly something as important as this, with almost no strings attached? It was throwing him for a loop. But he had gotten to know Tal over the last while. And his idealist nature, rather than grating was endearing. Odds are that he wasn't trying to screw him over with this and that the offer was all above board. Realising that the silence is perhaps dragging on slightly too much, he does his best to compose himself before responding, left hand sitting on his blaster as an unconcious gesture of comfort.

"Gotta admit, Tal. I don't do gifts well. Make me extremely uncomfortable. Particularly stuff as important as this. So forgive me if I misstep. I've gotten to know you a bit over the last few weeks and I like you, so I'll accept your offer, with thanks. But I will pay you back for it. Cause it will help me sleep better at night. I recognise you're not doing it to put me in debt or anything, but old habits, eh?"

He offers Tal a smile and a clap on the shoulder.

"So it would be my honour to accept your gift,and thank you once again. It really will help with getting the rest of it going. Only piece I'm worried about finding now is a crystal for it. Only spot I know they grow is on Ilum. And going there would be like painting a bullseye on our collective backs..... well. More of one than there is already, by any rate. I'd be very surprised if the Empire weren't camping it just in case. Feel sorry for anyone they got down there.

"You reckon Kayda will be at this meeting we're going to be at? She'll probably have a slightly better idea of where else we can get some crystals."

[SalmonMax]

Meanwhile, Arcata slipped quietly off the ship and into the Pit.

Zaylee was just finishing up when she just as quietly returned, coming and going as she pleased like a cat might. After getting something to wash the taste of cheap booze out of her mouth, Arcata strolled down into engineering to watch the final stages of the hyperdrive test with indulgent amusement.

"When taking said day to wrap things up," she said, "Be alert. It turns out the Empire has not limited its pursuit of us to it's own security staff." Her mouth twists into a wry smile. "They've put bounties out. It hasn't been too terribly long, so with any luck any hunters are still fairly thinly spread...but it's something to be aware of."

"Any thoughts as to where you might be wanting to go once we've disposed of our former transport?"

She shrugged and walked to a display panel to inspect it intently.

"There's been talk of pirate activity in the sector that's stirred up an Imperial response. System patrols are up. Nothing for us to panic over...we'll have a new ship and a new transponder. So long as we're not boarded for a random inspection...and so long as we don't indulge in piracy, we should be fine."

[Noir]

"Uh, crystals?" Tal asked, a bit confused.

"I think she'll be there though, Or at least that's the impression I got from Zaylee." he said to Glint.

 

A few hours later...

With the hyperdrive repairs completed there is time for personal errands to be run and even a little relaxation to be had before turning in for the night on the Quasar Ray. A soft chiming, accompanied by the smell of Tubby preparing breakfast, stirs the crew from their slumber. One by one they get dressed and drift out of the cabins taking turns in the fresher and/or filter into the common room to find a seat at the table. The usual small talk accompanies breakfast as Tubby happily serves the crew.

With the meal consumed the crew sets about preparing for departure. Once ready and cleared Zaylee guides Quasar Ray out of the docking bay and up the central shaft of The Pit among the handful of ships that are either coming or going and set a course for Mar's hiding spot, hailing on the specified channel as she drew near. A minute later the cruiser rose out of the canyon and approached.

"Took you guys long enough." Mar said, though there was clear teasing in his voice.

The Cruiser docked with Quasar Ray and Mar came over and greeted everybody with a smile as he made his way to the common room.

"How about a bite to eat? I am not much of a cook myself." Mar said to Tubby who happily went about preparing a large snack / small meal for him.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked Zaylee as she took a seat and began to recount the meeting and deal while Mar quickly ate, nodding as he listened.

"One hundred and ninety thousand? Really? That's much better than I was expecting. Hmmm. They must have had something in mind for the ship." he commented.

Mar frowned behind his mustache at the mentioning of Kayda's leaving and gave a small shrug.

"I've seen Jedi do this kind of stuff before. Back in the Clone Wars they would drop entire missions and run off sometimes. They get premonitions or something calls to them or what have you. At least we'll get to see her at the swap so I can wish her well. I hope she finds whatever it is she's looking for."

"Looks like it's about a thirty-six hour trip." the old captain said as he looked over the data for the rendezvous, "With the primary hyperdrive repaired, the Quasar Ray can make it in twenty-seven. Damn that's fast." he thought aloud.

"If you don't mind, I'll plot both our courses to make sure you arrive just ahead of us. If we are getting there early then we should probably scan from orbit or make some low passes to scan. Once there I would suggest you going down first to make sure everything is on the level and then you can signal us in orbit. We can then come down, let them look at the cruiser and make the sale."

"Speaking of which, it's probably best if Arcata goes with you. She might pick up on something if there is some sort of set-up. No that that I am expecting one, mind you." Mar suggested before he took the last swig on his beverage and picked up the datachip to head off to the Navcomputer

 

 

Late afternoon the next day....

The Quasar Ray slipped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Micri System. It was a small system with only two planets orbiting a single sun. The first planet was small, yet managed to hold onto two moons while the second planet, the location for the swap, had no moons and appeared to be a dry, rocky desert.

 

   Micri II
   Type: Planet
   Temperature: Hot to Very Hot
   Atmosphere: Type 3 (breathable)
   Hydrosphere: Minimal/Arid
   Gravity: Standard
   Orbital Position: 2nd of 2
   Terrain: Rocky, Desert
   Length of day: 28.59 Standard hours
   Length of Year: 263 local days
   Sapient Species: Unknown
   Starport: Limited
   Population: Exact population unknown.
   Planet Function: Trading post
   Government: Unknown
   Tech Level: Space
   Major Exports: Unknown
   Major Imports: Unknown
   System: Mirci
   Star: Mirci

 

Scans of the area read clear and a few minutes later the Customs Cruiser slipped out of hyperspace to join the Quasar Ray. Together the ships headed to Micri II, passively scanning along the way with only an occasional, intermittent active scan. The flight in was  uneventful as the system seemed to have no discernible traffic. As the ships came into orbit scans of the planet revealed only a small quantity of life and only one settlement of any size actually putting out any sort of signals, a small outpost in some rocky hills at the edge of an open desert.

"This looks like the place." Mar signaled as both ships looked over the data.

They waited in orbit for many hours before finally the Quasar Ray headed to the surface. Zaylee deftly guided the ship, buzzing the canyons a little a she approached the outpost...

 

 

It was a small outpost of a few dozen buildings with a simple sensor & transmitter tower array and several prefabricated landing pads at the edge, each pad roughly 100x100 meters with the entire outpost and landing pads surrounded by a fence. A couple of beings leading some sort of large pack animal could be seen heading to and from the outpost while a handful of people could be seen walking from one building to another, moving or inspecting crates and cargo containers in small stacks around the landing pads or doing basic maintenance on an old Ghtroc freighter that sat on one of the landing pads.

Zaylee hailed the outpost and after a couple of minutes a response came back,

"Oh hey. We were told to expect you sometime this week, just didn't think you'd be here this soon. It might still be a few hours before the others arrive. Take any pad you like if you want to land, just avoid the sand. it's safe to walk on, but it does not take the weight of a ship focused onto just a few landing gear well. We found that out the hard way." the outpost 'tower' replied.

Zaylee selected a pad and set down the Quasar Ray as the tower chimed in again,

"Good news. Looks like they just arrived in-system. Will still be a hour or so before they get here though."

 

 

The time passed quickly for some and slow for others as they waited until finally another transport came into view and settled on the pad beside them. The ramp extended and Kayda along with a human male and two twi'leks walked down, each dressed like spacers with blasters on their hips. Zaylee lowers the ramp and walked out to meet them, accompanied by Arcata and Kel with Glint waiting at the top of the ramp, just out of sight.

"Ahh. Nice to meet you. I'm Brant and I will be buying a ship this evening." he joked with a relaxed demeanor, "though I see you and your ship, but not the ship we came to buy. Mind bringing it down from orbit?"

"Of course, right after I see the credits." Zaylee replied in a cheerful, yet no non-sense tone.

Yater grinned and nodded. 

"Smart and beautiful. I like that." he commented and waved two fingers over his shoulder.

A moment later a wookie pushing a small repulsor cart loaded with several large metal boxes came down the ramp. The wookie pushed the cart almost half way between the ships before opening the lids and showing the piles of credits in each, one at a time.

"Then again, we would not be here making this deal unless you were pretty sharp, so it is not unexpected." Brant added.

"Well, I've shown you mine. Time to show me yours." he said, his tone flirtatious with more than a hint of innuendo, causing Kayda to roll her eyes and groan.

"Call on down." Kel said into his comlink.

"Once it arrives, my guys will take a look at her and we can complete our transaction." he said as they waited.

A few minutes later the Customs Cruiser came into view and settled on a third pad with the Quasar Ray between it and the Rebel's ship. Brant nodded to the two twi'leks and began walking over to inspect the Cruiser under the watchful eye of Mar and Roki while Tal meandered out and over to Zaylee and the others, waving to Kayda. He looked around with a small smile on his face, apparently excited to be there while the deal is taking place.

"I would like to talk to you about a few things while we wait on the inspection. If you don't mind." Brant said as he walked over to the crates of credits and sat on one.

"I obviously have a good crew, you are pretty sharp and daring. The beauty is just the topper."

"Anyways.. If you could pull that off," he says nodding toward the stolen Cruiser, "then we could use people like you. All of you." he pointed out, looking around at each of the crew.

"Look, I get that you might be apprehensive or just unsure. But even if you do not want to join up formally, then we can still use people like you. We have things that need to get done from time to time and you can sleep at night knowing that you are at least helping make a difference.. make the galaxy a better place. And if that is not enough, well, we can pay too." he said, slapping the crate full of credits he is sitting on.

"At worst you can take some jobs for us, know you are helping and put some credits in your pocket at the same time. I mean, if you are afraid of being wanted fugitives, then I hate to tell you, but that nexu is out of the bag. You have an Imperial Inquisitor after you and she is playing for keeps." Brant comments as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Yeah, we looked into you. Strangers coming into the 'Nebula an dropping her name got her attention. You might at least a small bit of relief in that the bounties are for live capture. But some bounty hunters take that rather literally." he said as he reached into a pocket and pulls out a small flask.

"We talked with Kayda too. She's not the first fugitive Jedi we've seen. I know of another, a real reclusive type too. Sent word, but not sure if they'll show or not. I just thought that they Jedi might be able to talk or something." he said with a shrug while he unscrewed the cap from the flask.

"I know it is really the Jedi that the Inquisitor is after," he said with a nod to Kayda, "and that you and your crew just got caught up in it all. But the fact is that you are caught up in it now and that is unlikely to ever change. You can run to the other side of the galaxy and try to stay ahead of the Imperials and bounty hunters. There's nothing wrong with that either. But if you have to spend the right of your life looking over your shoulder, then it may as well be for a good reason." Brant suggested as he took a swig from the flask and offered it to Zaylee.

 

 

Arcata looked around as the ship was inspected and people talked, looking for signs of anything amiss and sizing up the rebels at the same time. From the pass overhead she could see that the tiny bit of foot traffic coming to the outpost from approaching from the north our south along the canyon, with the west being mostly a wall of rock and the east opening out to open desert. And that is why the lone figure, approaching from said desert caught her attention. The figure was over a mile out, but visible as the dark wrappings and shrouds contrasted against the desert sands.

 

 

Tal walked over the Quasar Ray and up the ramp to Glint with a small smile on his face.

"Everything seems fine. They are checking the ship out now, so that should take a few minutes. Kayda is out there if you want to talk to her." he said as he motioned over his shoulder and down the ramp with his thumb.

 

Spoiler

Just to clarify:

On the landing pads, from west to east, is the Cruiser, The Quasar Ray, the Rebel ship and the old Ghtroc freighter.

The two twilek's are on the Cruiser with Mar and Roki, giving it a once over.

The cart with the credits is in between the Quasar Ray and the Rebel ship.

Brant is sitting on the cart with Kayda to his right maybe 10' away and the wookie standing behind him. He is talking with Zaylee who is accompanied by Kel and Arcata (unless either wants to wander off).

Glint is at the top of the ramp of the Quasar Ray along with Tal, but he is free to move as well.

You rarely see anybody walking from one building to another at the outpost and nobody at the outpost seems to be paying any attention to any of you or the ships.

 

[SalmonMax]

Macrobinoculars, thought Arcata with a little self-directed scowl of irritation. Must remember macrobinoculars.

She was perched atop a little crag of rock, keeping vigil while listening absently to the flirtatious Rebel and the captain. The recruitment pitch was no surprise and consisted of no real information. And of course the information he had was sadly dated, and they already knew it.

But this figure in the desert was very wrong. For one, a mile in the wilderness, on foot? It implied someone lacking transport, or wishing not to use it. There were very few reasons not to want to use transportation in an environment like this...being stealthy was the only one that came readily to mind. And if they lacked transport, why not try to signal? Wave...run...shout...flash bright clothing or cloth.

"Speaking of looking over our shoulder," she said to Brant coolly, "do you happen to have a pair of macrobinoculars on you?"

[Noir]

Brant glanced up at Arcata's question as he waited for Zaylee to consider his words.

"Hm? Sure." he said as he looked over his shoulder at the wookie, "Gra?" he said.

The wookie nodded and withdrew a pair of macrobinoculars from his satchel and tossed them to Arcata who caught them easily. Lifting them to her eyes Arcata zoomed in on the lone figure wrapped and shrouded from the sun with parts of their garments fluttering in the small, hot breeze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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With a few manipulations of the controls Arcata used the macrobinoculars to estimate the height of the figure... 2.2 meters (7'3"). Whoever it was, they were tall and thin and did not seem to be in much of a hurry, though their stride was quite long which made their walking pace faster than it appeared.

 

[SalmonMax]

"It seems we have a visitor," she said, and handed the binoculars to Brant. "Take a look. That way, in the desert. About a mile out." She pointed in the direction of the figure.

"Familiar? Because if not, I think the time for flirting is done, and the time for preparing to depart has arrived. No cause for a rush...it will take them some time to arrive at that pace...but I see no reason to be here when they arrive."

[Noir]

Brant waved off the macrobinoculars and shook his head.

"This is a trading post, you know?" Brant said back to Arcata.

"It is the slow season, but they still get a few people a week. Locals come here to trade everything from hides to precious stones they find. The tower said that our three ships are the only ones their sensors have picked up for days, so unless it is an Imperial Walker tromping toward us, I would relax. And besides, my guys should be done soon anyways." he added

[Kel Uno]

"We thought we were well ahead of the Imperials when the Inquisitor first showed up." Kel countered, remembering the hasty escape. "And that one was too close. I don't see the point in taking the risk again. I hope you wrap up soon."

[Glint]

A gust of hot air made it's way up the ramp to where Glint was sitting, concealed in the shadows at the top of the ramp. His features curled in distaste at the heat. He could deal with weather a lot easier than most others who had spent most of their lives in a climate controlled environment, but that didn't mean he had a particularly fondness for it. Extreme heat in particular he disliked. If given the choice, he would rather work in a tundra than a desert. He withdrew further into the shadows, away from the dessicated breeze, listening to the conversation over the com-link that had been left open so everyone could hear the negotiations.

He perks up at the mention of Jedi. Now wasn't that interesting? His desire to remain at least temporarily ratcheted up a notch. Would probably be worth subjecting himself to the thrice cursed heat if he got to talk to another one. The offer to join the rebellion came as no real surprise. He had expected them to make at least a token effort in that regard, given they were already on the Empires shitlist. He, personally, was leaning that way by preference, but he'd have to see how the others felt about it before doing anything. Even if it came down to it, doing the odd job here and there wasn't an offensive idea either. He quite liked the idea of some creds in pocket as well.

He had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes for what he viewed as excessive paranoia from Arcata. He pushes himself into a standing position, stretching briefly before walking down the ramp and making his way over to the group, hair practically blinding under the blazing sun and tattoos standing in stark contrast to his pale complexion. Nodding to the Rebels and Kayda before addressing Arcata and Kel.

"Doubt it's party crashers. Been just over two days since we found out where we were going. Hardly doubt it's enough time for a report to get filed, processed, passed up the chain to someone who can issue orders and then orders dispatched to agents. Given that, unless they already had someone active on this backwater, which just beggars belief, honestly, our incoming friend is most likely not hostile. Especially given, as Brant has stated, they've gotten no traffic for the last few days that wasn't one of ours. Really, having the Inquisitor arrive after being actively pursued immediately beforehand isn't that surprising. Having them show up here? We would have to be the single unluckiest crew to ever sail the black. Finally, I think the rebellions got a lot more to be worried about Imperial agents than we do. So if they're not panicking, odds are we can relax a little."

Running a hand through his hair, he turns to Kayda.

"Mind if I have a couple of words? You're going your own way, so I just wanted to pick your brains on a couple of things before we parted ways. Particularly for some of the gear we talked about previously. I only know of one place some of it can be picked up, and Imps are probably camping it heavily. Was hoping you might know of a few more places."

He gestures off to one side so they can talk quietly among themselves, but still interject with the main group if needs be.

[Noir]

Kayda nodded to Glint and stepped aside with him to speak somewhat more privately as she thought about his question.

"Ilum has been the almost exclusive source for Kyber Crystals for the Jedi Order. It is sure to be watched now." Kayda concurred 

"I have heard of crystals being found other planets, and some other crystals working as well, but they are much more rare and difficult to come by, so much so that the Jedi do not even bother with them to speak of. I really do not know of any types personally. I had just constructed my lightsaber with a Kyber Crystal I had retrieved from Ilum when I became a padawan. So my knowledge is limited." she admitted.

"I have heard though, that before the discovery of Ilum and its Kyber Crystals, that the ancient Jedi used another form of crystal but I am not sure what they were or where they can be found. I do know to avoid Ligan crystals though. They are strong with the Dark Side of the Force and to be avoided." Kayda explained.

"I am sorry Glint, but I am afraid I... Opila?" she said, suddenly thinking out loud to herself.

"For some reason I seem to remember Opila. One of my fellow padawans collected another crystal while on a mission with his master and constructed a new lightsaber. And I seem to remember him saying it was Opila. It is hard to remember something like that from so many years ago. I am sorry I cannot be more help, Glint." she said as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

"And I am sorry I must go as well. But this is something I must do and I will not endanger anybody else. I trust though that if you pursue your training now, even alone, with the same tenacity that has kept you alive this long, then you shall do well. And if it is the will of the Force that we meet again, then I look forward to that day." Kayda said with a small smile.

[Glint]

"Hmm. Ok. Not as much as I hoped, but more than I expected, if I'm going to be honest. Kyber's unlikely cause Imps will have Ilum on lockdown. Opila is something to look into, but Ligan is something to avoid. Looks like I've got some research ahead of me. Speaking of. Don't suppose you have blueprints for a saber on your slate? I have a list of the parts, sure, and I can probably figure out roughly where everything goes, but I'd rather work from a schematic if I have the option."

He makes a note on his dataslate, squinting against the sun to make out the screen.

"Does the cut of crystal matter at all? Or how does fitting it work? I doubt I can just shove one into the chamber and have it work without maybe making it explode on me. Would prefer to avoid that, if it comes down to it. Rather fond of my hands being attached to the end of my arms, and prosthetics can be decent and all, but I'm not going to be able to afford anything that maintains the dexterity that I'm used to..... Sorry. Rambling."

He sighs before addressing the elephant in the room.

"As to you leaving, I can't honestly say I'm happy about it, but we all gotta do what we gotta do, so I'm not holding it against you. Just stay safe, yeah? I would like to see you at the other end of all of this. And, while it's probably something you gotta do yourself, else you would have talked to the rest of us about making a detour, if you get yourself into trouble or need some help, just give us a shout. I, at least, will do my best to lend a hand."

He offers a slight smile before moving on.

"Leave or stay, I do hope we can move into the shade soon. Regulating my body temperature is not something I've learned to do, and with my complexion, I'm liable to fry sooner rather than later."

[Noir]

Kayda nodded and motioned over the shadow cast by the Quasar Ray before walking over to it with Glint.

"The construction of your lightsaber is not simply building a tool. The lightsaber is an extension of the Jedi and is as much an exercise in meditation and opening yourself to the Force as it is a matter of engineering." she said as she reached into a belt pouch and withdrew two small items.

"This here has the technical schematics you will need to study. I am no engineer and have only constructed one lightsaber myself, so they are crude, but should be enough to get you started." Kayda said as she held up a datachip.

"And with this, I have done my best to record instructions for you. When you ave gathered what you need, have the weeks of time and solitude required, and go off to construct your lightsaber, then play this holo-recording when you are ready to begin. It should answer all of your questions and guide you through the process." she instructed as she handed Glint a small, holo-player that easily fit into the palm of his hand. 

"I am wary to record such things in a time as this, so keep them safe." Kayda explained, placing both items in Glint's palm and closed his fingers around them.

[Zaylee Zanne]

Zaylee rolled her expressive teal eyes in exasperation at Arcata's and Kel's paranoia at a single wandered approaching what was likely the only trading post on the small planet. Yes, they were being hunted by an Imperial Inquisitor, so perhaps some paranoia and suspicion was warranted. But if they were going to suspect every single being they saw, Arcata and Kel would end up crazier than a shaved wookie inside of a week.

Besides, while flattery was worth less than the words that made it, some casual flirting was fun... especially if it led to a good contract or commission. She glanced over at the twi'lek inspecting the exterior of the Cruiser, then eyed Brant with casual interest, a small grin tugging at her lips. Blond, with goatee and a bit of scruff, Brant didn't have the rigid professionalism of a soldier or corporate spacer. He was certainly handsome and charming enough and seemed to smile easily. She could think of worse ways to pass them time with some harmless flirting. Better ways too.

"They seem to know what they are about. I'm sure they'll be done soon," Zaylee told Kel before returning her attention to Brant, while surreptitiously wiping her forehead with the sleeve of her brown coat.

While nowhere near as inundated with foliage as the moon where they had found the Ray, the sun was bright and hot, the wind as searing as a plasma thruster. How humanity had ever survived the vagaries of natural climate was beyond her. She almost jumped when she noticed a bug with too many legs, too many claws, and too many eyes skittering by her foot, then stomped it flat with a crunch with the chunky heel of her boot.

"I appreciate the flattery, Brant, but I appreciate credits even more," she said, her tone both teasing and professional. Her grin was coy, but her eyes were sharp. "I can see maybe taking a contract from you again, from time to time, provided this goes well, of course."

"Of course," Brant agreed, and they shared a laugh.

"What would these jobs entail?" Zaylee asked. "I'm a trader at heart, so, I'm most comfortable hauling freight from one place to another. We'll have to talk about anything else. Along with terms, of course."

"Of course."

[Noir]

"You appreciate credits even more?" Brant asked and then shot a roguish grin, "A woman after my own heart."

Beant reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and handed Zaylee a datachip.

"There is always the Golden Nebula in The Pit if you need to get a hold of us or are looking for a job, but this is a list of a few places you can make contact as well." he explained as Zaylee took the chip.

"As far as work though, sometime we need to move a VIP or some cargo without attention. And if you can manage to steal that, then we might need to you occasionally sneak a peek at something or maybe a little sabotage, if you;re up to it. And if you ever hear anything of note, that's always good to share with us too." he said as the two twi'leks came walking over with Mar and Roki.

"Everything looks good." they informed Brant who nodded.

"Well, that's that then." he commented as he slapped the crate of credits he was sitting on.

"One hundred and eighty thousand credits." he reminded as he stood while the twi'leks walked back over to the Customs Cruiser.

"It's been a pleasure meetin' you all. I do hope we can do more business in the future." Brant offered with a small, two-finger salute from his temple before as nodded over to the wookie and Kayda.

"May The Force be with you all." Kayda said to Glint and the others before she turned walked over the Brant and the wookie.

"Oh, keep the cart. I wouldn't force a beautiful woman like you to break a sweat lugging heavy boxes in this sun." he said over his shoulder to Zaylee with a wink.

A few moments later they disappeared up the ramp into their ship and just a few more moments later the rebel ship and the Customs Cruiser lifted off and soared up into the blue sky.

"Oh man. I have never seen so many credits in my life!" Tal said enthusiastically as he sat down the lid to one of the boxes and picked up a handfull of credits, letting them fall back into the box.

"Well, a good chunk of that is going to go to getting this ship back in right order. What's left after that I suggest we take a portion out to set aside for a 'ship fund'. We are all riding on and making use of the ship for the time being, so it is only fair we all chip in for it. Then whatever might be left after that we can maybe split." Mar suggested to Tal and Zaylee as he picked up a credit and tossed it back in the box.

 

From Arcata's perch she kept an eye out while the others talked. The lone figure was still walking toward the outpost and approaching quickly with such a long stride, while another figure leaving it, guiding a pack animal... still loaded down with skins and other goods. 

"For a trading post, they do not seem to be doing much trading." Arcata thought aloud as she pointed out the loaded pack animal being left away. Something was not right here.

 

At the same time Kel glanced around, taking not of the Ghtroc freighter and the two people working on it once again. They had been working on the old freighter since before the Quasar Ray had arrived, occasionally glancing over, but keeping to themselves and their work. It was then that he noticed one of the men had been tightening a bolt... the same bold... for several minutes now.

"Uh Captain. I think we should go.. NOW." Kel warned.

 

A series of small explosions echoed up from the beneath the landing pad as Kel spoke. The structure buckled as it broke up and fell to the ground in pieces. The vibrations from the explosions caused Arcata to catch herself from falling off of her perch while the others were left with a momentary ringing in their ears. With the pad broken up the weight of the ship caused it to push through.the debris with the landing gear finding the sand and sinking into it.

 As the ringing in the ears faded, a door on one of the northernmost outpost building slid open and a rough-looking, human male and a Rodian came running out. They carried heavy blaster pistols, while the Rodian had a vibroknife drawn as well. They took up position behind crates, using them as makeshift barricade. At the same time the two men working on the Ghtroc freighter reached into the panels they had opened, withdrawing blaster carbines, each of them shouldering a carbine as they began to move closer.

"You are wanted fugitives by the Galactic Empire and are not going anywhere! Surrender or we will open fire!" the human near the Rodian to the south shouted.

 

I have started a combat there HERE. Please refer to it.

[Noir]

From her perch on high, Arcata was too distracted by the oncoming stranger to notice the trouble brewing at the landing platform. She was quick to react though, immediately dropping prone atop the crag and drawing her blaster pistol. She cursed under her breath to be so lightly armed against so many.

The human who had shouted, along with the rodian, were both visible from their shoulders up, each with an arm holding a heavy blaster pistol laying across the top of the crate, aimed at their quarry around the cart and crag of rock, but at least Arcata's elevated position gave her an angle over their cover to some extent. She took aim on the human and squeezed off a shot from her blaster which skimmed just over the top of the crate, but the glancing shot didn't seem to do much more than score a livid streak across the man's blast vest!

Above their head and across the tops of the building Arcata could see the lone figure still, even without the macrobinoculars. No longer walking, the being was running now, much after than seemed reasonable to Arcata, kicking up a trail of dust in it's wake. At that rate the being would be to the outpost in easily under a minute...

On the ground below Arcata, Glint's eyes flicked between the two approaching groups. He dove for the nearest source of cover, putting a large metal crate between him and two Blaster Pistol toting mercs. Coming out of his roll on a single knee, he smoothly drew his blaster pistol and sent a shot screaming towards the mouthy Human. It impacted with the crate, punching straight through to splash against the Humans torso, inflicting some minor damage, most of the force and heat having been bled off in piercing his cover. Even Glint seemed somewhat surprised at the shot, eyeing the still glowing hole with disbelief. He snapped out of it a millisecond later, forcibly focusing back on the fight and chiding himself for even that slight distraction.

Standing near the repulsorcart, Kel didn't have time to say 'I told you so'. He was more interested in crouching behind the cart and drawing his blaster. He wasn't a soldier, only an average shot at best, so the slicer had every intention of keeping his head down unless the attackers got in closer - much closer. But not too close. They might actually hit him, or Zaylee.

Mar drew his pistol and ducked by a crate with a grunt of exertion as he moved his older, heavier frame. He squeezed off a shot at the rodian which harmlessly glanced off the edge of the crate.

Zaylee, on the other hand, saw the raiders coming, her teal eyes wide. She looked down at her blaster on her hip, then looked at the blasters of the raiders, then looked toward her ship with the ramp sinking into the sand. She was barely more than an average shot, but she was a good pilot and a decent gunner, and her ships guns were bigger. They would make the bounty hunters reconsider their demands.

Zaylee went running through the debris of the landing pad like a nexu through thistle brush, jumping over and running around debris, short legs pumping, gasping with the effort and praying she didn't get shot... or crushed by the Ray sinking into the sand as she made for the  ramp. It was doubtful that the ship would fully sink into the sand, but the ramp was rapidly disappearing.

Tal took a queue from the others and slide behind the crate with Mar. He drew his weapon and fired at the two men close by, his blaster bolt flying clear over their head.

"What? I was customs, not army." he said defensively with a small grin, despite the situation.

"We gave you a chance surrender! Just remember, they want you alive, but there is a lot of leeway with that term!" the same man shouted as he and the rodian both snapped off shots that singed the rock in front of Arcata and missed the running Zaylee. They then both rose and ran to another crate 20 meters closer and slide behind large rock, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

To the east the two men with carbines continue to run toward the party, each of them covering a good 20 meters thus far. Each of them took a shot as they ran, scorching the rock just below Arcata and to her side with the other shot missing Zaylee by the narrowest of margins, singing a few stray hairs as she ducked under the Quasar Ray.

 

I have started a combat there HERE. Please refer to it.