Open Coruscant Fix a broken Ship

[Kar Darakis]

The 'Kaldren Lower Level Landing Pad and Maintenance station' was hardly that. It was simply a huge hangar somewhere at what felt like the butt end of Coruscant. The one large open space that made up the whole facility currently held something like fifty ships of mostly smaller classifications. There was clearly room for more. There were a few personal shuttles and apart from that mostly light freighters. Kar doubted that anything bigger than that would fit through the narrow flight paths of the undercity.
At this rather bare bones facility they offered minimal service but in exchange for that you didn't have to pay much in fees and that kept your stay on Coruscant rather affordable. What they did offer and that was pretty much the only service, was to refuel here. If Kar was concerned that was what counted really.
Thankfully there was also a speeder rental place close by so that you could get out of here if you didn't have one on your ship. Kar had actually made use of that. He had rented out a proper airspeeder. Not a modern thing, but in good shape and clean. He had done that to not show up in front of his mom's house with his suspiciously looking Skyblade and draw unwanted attention to him or his mothers house. Carbon Scoring on your Speeder did tend to attract attention from the local authorities. And that was the last thing he needed.

An old R unit was moving a fuel tanker around and was selling the cheap fuel to anyone who wanted or really needed it. It was probably not the kind of top grade fuel you wanted to fill your tank with and it was most probably a big ripoff but Kar didn't mind it too much. His 'Bantha' had flown on worse and he felt like she had an 'iron gut' when it came to fuel.

Kar currently had half of his body cramped deep into the guts of his ship and the other half hanging out of the small maintenance hatch. Next to him 'Arsi', his trusty R-6 was whistling and beeping away. The annoyed tone clearly audible in the droid.

“No Arsi, I can't see the problem yet. Can you grab me the scanner again!?”

He asked the female programmed droid. A few complaints and mentions of his incompetence later she got her wheels in motion and went to look for the scanner in the toolbox.

“Yea, thanks, Arsi, keep the encouragements coming! That's definitively going to make this go faster.”

He piped back at her and crawled backwards out of the tight space he had forced himself into. While Arsi was going through the toolbox he grabbed the water bottle that he had put on the ground close to where he was working and took a few big gulps. Looking around he could see countless pilots going about similar tasks. Everyone down here rather worked on their ship themselves than spend huge sums on a maintenance crew in some fancy upper level landing bay. Some were probably just cheap and others were maybe simply out of credits. Or like him didn't like to waste them on fancy looking surroundings and a surcharge for location. Especially not if you could probably fix the problem yourself. That was if you could find it.

Arsi whired back to him with the scanner in hand and he put down the water bottle.

“Thanks Arsi!”

He said and started to force himself back into the crammed confines of the maintenance hatch.

“Lets try and find whats wrong with that darn port side fuel injector.”

Arsi voiced her doubts in his ability to find or fix the issue but Kar chose not to respond. She didn't like if their ship wasn't working right and he could understand that feeling. Especially since cramming himself through the tight maintenance hatch was not enjoyable and after a few minutes he would usually have to get out and stretch his arms and shoulders.

 

[Pidge Batana]

Pidge placed her head in her hands and slid down the wall until she was seated on the filthy, oily duracreet floor. It was almost the end of her unofficial “shift” doing small repairs at the Kaldren Lower Level Landing Pad and Maintenance station. She had spent all day hanging around and the seedy “maintenance” station offering to do repair on ships, droids, whatever. Honestly, she was surprised most the ships flew at all. She glanced down and pulled a few credits out of her vest. Enough to buy food for papa and I, she thought.
The roar of a landing ship in need of repair sounded in Pidge’s ears. Trying to earn a few more credits wouldn’t hurt. There was no guarantee she could fix whatever was wrong because her specialty was in computers, but if there was one thing she had learned since Papa had been injured, she had to try.
Pidge stumbled over and knocked on a wall of the maintenance hatch the ship’s owner was in, atleast if the clanging and frustrated sighs emanating from it were anything to go by.
“Hey! Need any help?”

 

[Palakwiwaran]

Pala emerged from the main office of the Maintenance Station, her droid companion hanging from her shoulder like a house tooka. She'd just gotten out of what, frankly, seemed like unnecessarily hostile negotiations with the owners of this greasy establishment over the sale and purchase of some starship parts. The Harch had driven an especially hard bargain with every single piece she brought him and everything she'd tried to pick up. All told when the credits were exchanged and the goods were loaded she might have lost money on this deal. She made a mental note to never, ever come back to this establishment ever again. The electronic chirps of her scout droid companion brought her back to reality.

"Yeah, I know, I know. We'll just have to move this scrap fast and get to the next job." Another round of electronic beeps. "Thank you, PM for the vote of confidence."

But the droid was right, they were short on parts, credits, fuel, and options especially after the whole 'Mimban' fiasco. She was still picking mud and webbing out of her earcones. As she made her way down the hangar to her beater of a salvage ship, she spotted something that stood out to her, a scout ship with a man hanging out of an access hatch, accompanied by an astromech droid. He seemed to be the only one here working on his own ship, which meant he wasn't sung the hangar employees. Which means he might be in the market for some extra help and parts. Which meant Pala could maybe get some credits out of this situation.

She grinned, cracked her knuckles, winked at the droid on her shoulder, and made her way over to the man and his scout ship. She opened her mouth and asked 'Hey! Need any help?' and was rather surprised to find another Twi'lek had come from the opposite side of the ship and said the exact same thing at the same time.

"Jinx!" The opportunity was just too good to pass up.

 

[Pidge Batana]

The heavy scent of leaking fuel permeated the air. Pidge jumped, startled. It sounded as if she had spoken with two voices. Then another Twi’lek woman rounded the ship. Pidge couldn’t help but crack a smile at the newcomer.

“Well, hello! It seems like we both had the same idea. I’m Pidge, by the way! And who’s this? She smiled down at the droid. I wish L4D was with me. It seemed as if she and the other woman would have to split the job. Not ideal, but hey, maybe she had useful information or maybe... just maybe... she could be a friend- a connection. Pidge didn’t have many of those, but she had quickly found out that solitary work didn’t get you very far on Coruscant. She needed someone besides Papa, after all, it wasn’t like he could help her find work.

 

[Kar Darakis]

Arsi saw a woman come closer and knock at the hull of their ship and she went over to Kar to keep him safe and get his attention. She beeped and whistled and rolled over to the Twi'lek. She did a pirouette and flashed her lights. An arm came out of her main body and poked Kars foot. A small discharge was visible and then a lout bang could be heard from the inside of the ship.

Kar was still waist deep in the inside of his ship when Arsi shocked his foot. He was so surprised that his head shot up and he banged it on the ceiling. He pushed himself backwards and cursed at his droid.

“Damn it Arsi!”

He yelled and tried to free himself from the cramped confines he was still wedged into. He shuffled backwards and when he finally managed to get his head free he turned and sternly looked at Arsi.

“Now you come running to me the next time you break a wheel!”

He said and rubbed his head. He wasn't bleeding but he could tell he would develop quite a bump. He was distracted enough to not notice the two Twi'lek right away and when he did he was confused for a moment why there were two of them. There was an orange one and a blue one and he looked back and forth for a moment.

“Ehm, hey.”

He babbled and looked at both of them again. He remembered hearing someone ask if he needed help, just before Arsi shocked him. The issue he was working on he could really fix by himself but there was another thing he needed help with. It was just a small task really, but he didn't like to do it.

“I don't really need any help with this.”

He told them and pointed at the open hatch behind him. He looked at Arsi and back at the two Twi'leks. He threw his scanner into the tool crate behind Arsi and walked over to the ramp of the ship.

“There is one thing however.”

He said an walked into the ship. He grabbed a tarp and threw it over a box in the corner, making sure they didn't see it or what was on top of it. Or inside of it for that matter.

“The fuel tank needs cleaning. I had Arsi pump it empty earlier. Some residue built up in there and I don't need it to come of and clog the injectors.”

He walked over to the fuel tank and opened the access hatch. It smelled like fuel inside and the fumes had not dissipated fully yet. If they wanted to do this they would smell like fuel after and need a serious shower. They probably were rather lucky they didn't have hair in this case.

“I can't pay much but I think this would be fair as pay. Even split two ways.”

He typed out a number on his pad. They would have to split of course but it was still a fair amount. Arsi was remorsefully beeping at the ramp and rolling back and forth.

 

[Pidge Batana]

Pidge considered. The poor man, slightly disgruntled at her and the other Twi’lek’s appearance had offered her a job. Not a glamorous one, though. Fuel residue, especially from the low quality sludge they called fuel in these parts, was disgusting. It was oily and sticky and oozed, not to mention it got everywhere. It was also probably somewhat toxic and definitely a skin irritant. Good thing she had gloves.

“I’ll do it”, she said resignedly, “But you better pay well. I’m good for more than scrubbing fuel tanks. I can slice, and well too. I’m better at observing than people think.” Great suns, what was she thinking? This man had hired her for a simple job. Was she really so desperate as to advertise herself at every opportunity? She flushed, embarrassed. She was practically pleading for help and now everyone knew it. She looked at the man. “Thanks”

Unexpectedly, a tarp caught Pidge’s eye. The man had carelessly thrown it over something. She had thought nothing of it, but frankly, it was messy was to keep one’s ship, throwing things about, and a bit unnecessary. The tarp was not in the way. Perhaps he was trying to hide somethin. Perhaps not. Either way, this fuel tank scrubbing job was going to get more exciting.

 

[Palakwiwaran]

It seemed to Pala that the human wasn't entirely comfortable with them being here, as he was quick to hustle into his ship and cover...something with a tarp. The second Twi'lek, meanwhile seemed extremely interested in being here as she rattled off a list of abilities she could use to help the captain. In either case, the man offered to let Pala and the other Twi'lek scrub out his fuel tanks, something Pala had little to no interest in doing. She had enough grease stains in her clothes as it was.

"I have to tell you, that does not sound like fun at all. But I've just come into some parts from this station. I could take a look at your tanks and injectors to see if I can't make your next cleaning less messy." It couldn't hurt to offer.

 

[Kar Darakis]

Kar smiled and nodded at the blue Twi'lek. She seemed eager to make a few credits and even advertised her other skills. Since he was on his way to pick up the bounty on a certain individual that would require some slicing he made a mental note of her offer.
He walked over to a locker and pulled out an old EV suit that he usually donned for cleaning the fuel tank. It was one of those with the powered straps that were self adjusting. They could fit most humans and offered protection from the fuel residue that might still be in there. Of course he didn't have a seal-able helmet that would fit a Twi'lek, but he had a breathing mask that would protect her from the fumes. It was stored in the same locker as the EV suit.

“This should protect you from any residue still in the tank. We don't want to get that on your clothes, do we?”

he threw the Suit at the young woman and hoped she could catch well enough. He took the mask out of the locker as well and held it up for her to grab.

Afterwards he looked at the other Twi'lek. She was not willing to clean the tanks. However for that task one person was enough really. If the girl thought it beneath her to clean fuel tanks then he could have her take care of the port side fuel injector. Maybe she could find what was wrong with it.

“I can't offer any more than what I already told you, but if you manage to find the problem with the port side fuel injector I will pay you what I showed just now. If you manage to fix it on top of that then I guess I can pay you a 25% bonus.

He offered. Outside of the ship at the bottom of the ramp Arsi could be heard beeping and whistling, telling him to ask for help right away next time. He ignored his droid for now and waited for the decision from the two young Twi'lek girls.

 

[Pidge Batana]

Pidge caught the suit easily enough, but sighed as she put it on, straining slightly to get the mask over her lekku. Unfortunately, considering the majority of the population just about everywhere was human, there was not much accommodation for those who had any other feature. She could hear the droid scolding the captain for not asking for help sooner. She smiled to herself. At least the droid had some common sense. Most sentients didn‘t like attitude from droids, but she appreciated the personality. She secretly mused that it was likely people gave their droids memory wipes simply because they were jealous the droid was developing more personality than they were. Focus, Pidge. You aren’t being paid for standing around. The tarp was still there. She had to know what was under it. If only he would go help the other Twi’lek for a second. She only needed that long.

Rolling her eyes at the memory of the red Twi’lek’s response, she wondered why she had refused to clean the tank. Was she so far up on her high bantha? Reluctantly, Pidge started scrubbing.

 

[Palakwiwaran]

Ah, fixing a fuel injector, Pala was far more willing to get that done, even for a low price. A bad injector was usually a quick fix, either replacing a clogged injection nozzle, clearing a backed up line, or occasionally tinkering with the fuel pump. Either way, even without the diagnostic scanners on PM this would be a quick procedure.

"Your friend is right, next time you should ask for help first before getting in too deep." She moved past Kar into the ship and headed for the fuel tank. "Trust me."

Pala had recently gotten an object lesson in not leaving problems for too long, especially when those problems leave you stranded on Mimban fighting giant spiders with a gang of lunatics. Fun times, that. Back to the task at hand, Pala reached the fuel tank and decided to split the examination between herself and PM, him on the outside and her on the inside. The droid chirped in agreement and they went to work, with PM hopping through the fuel lines and cables surrounding the tank mechanism while Pala poked her head inside with the other Twi'lek to examine the nozzle from the other end.

 

[Kar Darakis]

Kar nodded at Pala and grabbed his pad.

“Alright, lets get to work then!”

He said and started working on a list of things he needed to get. He walked out of the hold and stepped towards Arsi. They needed to talk about restocking their supplies and she was usually very good at reminding him of things. He sat down on a crate he had moved out of the hold and talked to his droid. He had this job lined up and he was certain he needed to get a few more things organized beforehand. Thinking about the offer that the young Twi'lek had made he wondered if she would be useful. He rummaged through his pockets and found a piece of flimsiplast and a pen and wrote down his com frequency and holomail address. Maybe he would hand it to her later. He wasn't sure yet. She seemed young but her eagerness had caught his interest and he wondered if she was willing to try herself at the hunt. He could certainly use some support on this next job. While he had his armor fixed up he could use someone with more advanced slicing abilities than his non existing ones.

 

[Pidge Batana]

The moment the captain and the other Twi’lek left, Pidge pounced. This was her moment. If a anyone asked, she was looking for extra scrubbing detergent. Not that anyone would, of course, she was faster than a wamp rat. She drew off the tarp in one quick motion and yanked her gloves off with her teeth so she wouldn’t leave oily stains. Then, gently sliding the lid off the box, she peered inside. Listening to the fading voices of the ship owner and the rather pompous orange Twi’lek, she guessed she had a minute or two before anyone came back. Hopefully the R6 droid wouldn’t cause any issues.

At first it looked like nothing important- a few tools, a battery cell. However, under the layer of mundane ship keeping items, something glinted. Carefully, she drew out a helmet. It appeared to be in the style of a mandalorian, a sharp, T-shaped visor. Now she had hit the jackpot. Mandalorian armor was not easy to come by. Where could he have gotten it from? Pidge uncovered the rest of the armor hurriedly. A chest plate, back plate, boots, pauldrons. She had to log this. Sliding her data pad out of her vest from under the protective suit, she scanned the helmet and the chest plate. Later she planned to go back and log them, find identifying dings and scratches, and research this exciting discovery. But now she was running out of time. Pidge attempted to quietly load back in the armor and tools, slide the lid back on, and cover it with the tarp. Hopefully no one would notice her gloves still on the floor. She doubted she would have time to pick the up before someone returned.

 

[Palakwiwaran]

As Pala and PM settled in for their diagnostic, the blue Twi'lek blew by both of them on her way deeper into the ship, claiming she was looking for scrubbing detergent.

"...that girl is really passionate about cleaning." It didn't matter to Pala, she just wanted to get on with her part of the job and fix this fuel injector. PM was more suspicious of the woman's claims, however, and kept an audioreceptor out for when she returned.

From Pala's end of the equation, it seemed like the nozzle was a bit clogged with residue but there was nothing outwardly wrong with the structure of the device. On PM's end, however, his scans of the line showed that it was clogged almost the entire way up the injection line with residue and scum. Apparently the good captain had neglected to clear his lines, leaving the injector tubes less than functional in their current state. PM relayed this information to Pala just as the blue woman returned.

"Clogged lines, eh? We can try blowing them out first but if that doesn't work we might have to clean the line by hand. Or replace it. Can't imagine the captain is going to like that news..." Well, Pala couldn't help that, she would just have to find the human and relay the potentially bad news to him.