[Tatoo] Securing a Ride

[Flying Dutchman]

Terminus Base, 7:00 PM Local Time

There it was. An ancient YT-2400, owned by no one, ripe for the taking. But still in need of repairs. And there where two women who were keen to take it: Operative Xzig Barogus, and Mechanic Alisha Dawnstrider. Together, they would travel throughout the Galaxy, in search of other women, to join their little team simply known as "Tatoo Squad". But first they had to secure a ride.

The shipyard at Terminus Spaceport was crowded, as always. Merchants, Bounty Hunters and Smugglers alike walked along these streets. All focused on one thing: gaining as much credits as possible. But not all were occupied with that. Refugees, fled from the Sith tyranny, tried to make a living inside the spaceport, unable to go elsewhere.

But amidst this overcrowded area, there was a band of Rebels, known as the Civilian Resistance, who tried to help the refugees best they could. Just today, a couple of Duros knocked at the door, asking for refuge. Although it pained the guards to do so, they were forced to refuse. But they gave the family a small amount of food rations. At the time, things seemed pretty desperate for those who opposed the Empire. A small patrol had been searching very close to the compound, to the extent that the save-house was closed and the security system had been activated. But luckily, nothing had happened. The patrol did not find out the rebels, and all was resumed to normal.

It was at this time, that Xzig and Alisha made their way to the compound, who had been transported over from the Dawn with a small Rogue-class Starfighter, which was accidentally intended to make a survey of the Terminus spaceport, but lacked a crew. Xzig was happy to fill up the gap. And so they went to Terminus. " This is the pilot, Operative Xzig reporting in from the Dauntless. Alongside me is my co-pilot, Mechanic Alisha from the Rebel Dawn. Asking permission to dock."

" This is Terminus Base. We copy you Operative and Mechanic. You have been granted permission to dock." Answered the flight control officer after some time. As Xzig heard it , she send the small fighter to the docking bay. They just needed to make sure they did not leave this craft behind as well. Xzig was still worried about R7B1. She knew the droid would take care of her ship, but what about this one. Well, it was not personified to her or to Alisha, so probably someone in the Resistance would take it over.

As she docked, Xzig opened the canopy and got out. She waited for Alisha, who had been sitting in the back seat of the small fighter the whole time. She had been very quiet the whole trip. probably simply to excited to exclaim any comments on the situation.

 

[Frannykins87]

Alisha couldn't stop smiling all the way to the Terminus Base. She couldn't quite believe her luck. Of course, it wasn't easy to convince her superiors to let her go, but she gave the argument that she would obviously still work for the Rebellion, and would be much more of use where there were less mechanics. Not that that convinced them much, but they understood enough to let her go on her own team. If needed be obviously, Team Tatoo (she give a little giggle at the thought of her own team) would help out. Alisha's daydream was interrupted, and she saw that they arrived at their destination.

" This is Terminus Base. We copy you Operative and Mechanic. You have been granted permission to dock."

Alisha, who was sitting behind her newly found companion, raised up her head in excitement, and watched as Xzig opened up the small fighter and get out. She immediately opened her seat belt and almost jumped out, barely keeping her balance.

"Oopsies!" She giggled. But then, looking around at the spaceport, she got reminded a bit of home, so she hushed up, trying not to get too much attention to herself. With a soft "ehm", She straightened up and looked up at their objective at the back of the spaceport. Alisha could already see the ship definitely needed a lot of work.

"Hmm yea. That needs fixing alright. Can tell from here." Alisha says to Xzig. "Will need to take a closer look though. Shall we?"

She looks at her companion, with a big grin on her face. Her eyes were as bright as ever. Normally she would be very nervous around people like these. But she grew up in Tatooine, after all, and she was very able to blend in fast, if she wanted to.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

As Alisha stepped out, Xzig looked around the spaceport and quickly spotted the spaceship. And she saw it was quite damaged."Oopsies!" Said Alisha as she stepped out and she giggled. Xzig looked to her and smiled. Of course, this was a whole new experience for her. They had had a relatively smoothly time convincing her superiors. " I will bring her back. After I am done with the Sith. I promise." Was all that Xzig remarked at them.

At least the whole idea of a own squad or better said, team, was entirely in perspective of course. But Alisha had grown up upon the dune seas of Tatooine, as was Xzig herself. They had a mutual bond with the desert planet, their home. Xzig made a reminder in her head to first visit Alisha's family, after they had repaired this ship. The sight of Tatooine after so long would make them smile, for sure.

" Hi Xzig! Back so soon hey? Remind me again never to scare you off. Grun's still recovering." Said a man. All Xzig could do was smile. She remembered it. A tall Weequay, or at least Xzig thought it was sucha creature, had tried to scare her behind her back. Xzig did not find it funny, so she slapped him. He had flown up in the air for a second by the sudden punch, and after that fell against the wall. The memory of it made Xzig giggle. Well, at least he won't be bothering me again. She noticed the man was still smiling and staring her way. " Tanks Jeran. I will hold you to it." she said, completely emotionless. Jeran laughed, waved goodbye, and got on his way again.

"Hmm yea. That needs fixing alright. Can tell from here." Alisha remarked. Xzig nodded. Indeed, the ship was in bad shape. It was a miracle that it could fly by the looks of it. "Will need to take a closer look though. Shall we?" Alisha continued. Xzig spread her arm. " After you." She said. Upon a closer look, it was not as bad. yes, apparently there was some lose wiring, some missing durasteel plates, and a broken landing gear, but nothing deadly, or at least dangerous. But this was only the outside. The inside might be a whole other story. " After you again. You're the expert here." Xzig answered, and waited for Alisha to enter. Well, at least the thought of a own ship might excite her, Xzig thought.

 

[Frannykins87]

" After you again. You're the expert here."

Alisha smiles at Xzig and then turns her head towards the ship. She was almost uncontrollably excited. It was like she was walking on caffeine! She almost darted nearer to the ship and stopped. Then she spends a couple of minutes circling the outside of the ship, looking at the external damage, which didn't seem to bad. Just several minor repairs

"Well the plating, not a major issue though we will need durasteel, which seems to be slightly in short supply in.." She was about to say the rebellion, but stopped in time to think that that might not have been a good idea, even though technically we were close to the rebel base. You never know, a lesson she learned pretty quickly back on Tatooine. "Well anywhere..."
She takes a good look under the ship as well.

"Weapons seem all good. Might need calibrating but that's about it. " She continues, referring to the two laser cannon placed dorsally and ventrally on the ship. Alisha gave a small smirk. This seemed was one of those awesome ships that can be very easily customized. She counted 13 total weapon placements. The possibilities were almost endless! But for the moment, her focus was actually getting the ship to fly. As it is, two laser cannons were pretty good. Even better than they were in good shape!

"Broken landing gear. Again, won't be too much of an issue though as any standard ones would probably be able to fit. The wiring will take a bit of work, but not overly complicated..." Alisha says as she points out several pannels of lose wiring both on the side of the ship and underneath.

She pauses as she is in front of the steps that lead inside the ship and takes a big breath.

"Now, let's see inside..."

She walks in, assuming Xzig would follow her and takes a good look around.

They landing gear and entrance to ship is placed right behind the cockpit. As far as Alisha could tell, the cockpit was not super damaged, except it had lots of small wiring issues, especially on the side panels. Alisha turns around, waiting for her friend to come on board. She didn't want to just dash off, talking to herself as she was used to back at the rebel dawn.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Ship's theme: Aboard the Ebon Hawk(KOTOR 2)

As Alisha walked around the ship, Xzig took a time to further examine her new companion. Alisha was young, excited and perhaps a bit naive. But she was a hard working, loyal woman, who would do her job with upper concentration and devotion. Xzig could see that. Her appearance reminded Xzig of her younger self: boys inside the Alliance spy corps had said she was blessed with a range of beautiful features. But the events of battle and hiding had somewhat washed them away.

Not with Alisha. Her face was nearly symmetrical, and the small spots of freckles made it even a little cute. Her hair, the same colour as Xzig it seemed, was perhaps a little shabby because of her work as a mechanic, but it floated softly with every jump she made. Alisha never ceased to smile: she was always happy. And her voice was very gentle, but crystal clear. Xzig felt like she had found the sister she never had. And it joyed her to have found such sa person. After Cxar and her mother, she had no other family. Now, she seemed to may have begun a new one.

"Well the plating, not a major issue though we will need durasteel, which seems to be slightly in short supply in.." Xzig was harshly put of her chain of thought. She saw Alisha was thinking. " Always thread with caution." Xzig said. Of course she knew Alisha almost exposed the word "Rebellion", so it was good she stopped there. "Well anywhere..." Alisha came up with. Xzig nodded. " Good, you can't be to secure." But Xzig saw she was not done with her analysis.

"Weapons seem all good. Might need calibrating but that's about it. " Alisha continued. Xzig was happy about that. At least the ship was able to defend itself in times of need. Xzig even saw the endless possibilities of adding other weapon systems. She would first add a concussion rocket tube, for sure. rockets were always good and effective weapon against armoured enemies. But first, they had to repair the rest of the ship. "Broken landing gear. Again, won't be too much of an issue though as any standard ones would probably be able to fit. The wiring will take a bit of work, but not overly complicated..." Was her final critique. Xzig knew that was true. " We'll find another one." Was her quick answer.

"Now, let's see inside..." Alisha walked inside, and Xzig saw her excitement in her walk and body expression. The first thing Alisha saw was the cockpit. She was waiting for Xzig. I'm coming." Xzig said. She walked up the ramp, into the ship. She saw loose wiring, but that could be fixed. First she came into the cockpit, which wasn't super damaged or anything. But it had loose wiring and a few loose panels. That could be fixed easily. They needed some other mechanic to fix the ship with them, but that would be no big problem. They walked through to the Living suite, past the captain's and first mate suites, which weren't that damaged. It only missed lightning. The living suite itself was a mess. Apparently, the Rebels did not deem it necessary to use it. so the chairs were cats aside, the table was toppled, and the Dejarik Holotable was defect. But these could easily be fixed. " We better make it neat in here, now." Said Xzig. She took up on chair, and waited for Alisha to help her. " We'll get trough the cargo decks later. First this."

 

[Frannykins87]

As soon as Alisha stepped inside, she thought what a mess. Again, nothing major to fix really just a lot of clearing and wiring.

" We better make it neat in here, now."

Alisha nods slowly with raised eyebrows, acknowledging her companion.

"Ye, bit messy! The holotable needs fixing for sure too later, but that won't take too much work either. We've been kind of lucky so far. But as girls, I think living areas should be a little bit niceR since we will spend a lot of time in space. I mean this will be our home pretty much, right? So might as well well get comfortable!"

She grins after saying this and comes over to help Xzig. They moved chairs and put the table the right positions. It didn't take long for them to rearrange the space so that it actually looked livable. Alisha looks around the room, pleased.

"Better! Other than lightning, this looks good. Maybe we could add a sofa later on, or something. "

Then Alisha walks over and stops at the entrance of the the corridor that goes around the turret access points. The turret access point seemed to require some work itself in terms of paneling and wiring, which she noticed was a frequent problem in the current state of the ship. She turns to her friend to rely that information, though really it didn't take a mechanic to notice the damage...

"Again more minor fixes on the turret access, though these will take a bit more time I suspect. So now..the cargo hold or the rest of the living areas and engine room? " Alisha asks her companion.

"Quite frankly I'm a bit worried how the engine room is going to look like. Though so far it's not so bad, just time consuming."

 

[Flying Dutchman]

As the two girls cleaned the Living room, Xzig smiled. It was getting better with everything they put in place. They would get it done nicely if they had the time. But it was adequate for now.

"Better! Other than lightning, this looks good. Maybe we could add a sofa later on, or something. " Said Alisha. Xzig looked up, and nodded. That was a great idea. A sofa allowed them to rest. " Great idea! We'll get one when we're at it. And perhaps like a pazaak table. We can use the relaxation." Then she saw Alisha walked further down the corridor, straight to the turret access. It was a lot of loose wiring and panelling, which they had seen before. Nothing hard in terms of repairing. But a time consuming job, given the fact how many time it repeated itself. It would take more than two people to deal with it.

"Again more minor fixes on the turret access, though these will take a bit more time I suspect. So now..the cargo hold or the rest of the living areas and engine room? " Alisha relied her companion. Xzig nodded again. " After you." She replied again for the umpteenth time. "Quite frankly I'm a bit worried how the engine room is going to look like. Though so far it's not so bad, just time consuming." Xzig grinned. She had thought exactly the same. " Indeed."

Xzig walked through the engine room, hoping not to find it completely destroyed. Luckily for them, they found again the same thing as they had found in most of the ship: much loose wiring and panelling. However, there was a big difference. In the back of the room, there was a small gap that some engineers probably had closed with some cheap iron plates. It appeared that the plates were holding for the moment, but it still presented a big weak-point in the ship. " Yeah. That needs fixed. No offence for the good engineers, but it looks a bit weak from here. Anything else you see? It basically the same: wiring and panelling. I think the Living Room was the worst part." And she looked to her partner, who was looking around the room.

Suddenly, she noticed something popping up from Alisha waist pocket. Xzig screamed and put her fists up in defence. " Whoah! What the heck is that thing?"

 

[Frannykins87]

Alisha shakes a little bit in surprise to Xzig's scream, and looks at her a little quizzically at first, then they could both hear the faintest squeal, and Alisha looks down at Blanky. She opens her eyes wide, in excitement.

"Oh!!Blanky!! So sorry, forgot to introduce you to her!"
Alisha looks up and smiles back at Xzig, who looked a little worried and gently takes out Blanky from her pouch, holding the rather large (for her species anyway) tooke in both of her hands.

"Don't need to be afraid. She is my pet, I call her Blanky. My dad gave her to me for my.. hmm.." Alisha stopped to think for a moment, looking up at the ceiling briefly before returning her gaze on Blanky. "I think it was my 12th birthday. She comes with me whenever I go.."
Alisha grins at Xzig, a little bemused.

"You can pet her if you want?"

She holds her hands slightly closer to Xzig, not too much, in case it would freak her out. Though Alisha though who would be scared from such a cute little thing? That was the plan. However, Blanky did seem to get freaked out a little bit and starts squeeling louder and almost dropped out of her hands.

"Or..not.."

She quickly takes Blanky and put her in the pouch again, where she stops squeeling, but still moves about a little bit.

"Well she doesn't trust strangers. She'll get used to you eventually."

Alisha smiles at Xzig again

"So no worries, it won't cause trouble. I generally feed her some of my food. In fact, it kind of eats a bit more than me.."
Alisha chuckles as she says that.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Blanky theme: Ewok theme

"Oh!! Blanky!! So sorry, forgot to introduce you to her!" Exclaimed Alisha. "Don't need to be afraid. She is my pet, I call her Blanky. My dad gave her to me for my.. hmm.." She said and looked to the ceiling. "I think it was my 12th birthday. She comes with me whenever I go.." And Xzig nodded. " Okay. Nice. All I got for my 12th birthday was a necklace from my dad. I still wear it though." And Xzig showed her necklace to Alisha. "You can pet her if you want?" She took the little thing out of her pocket and got it closer to Xzig. It started to squeal when Xzig got her hand closer. "Or..not.." And Blankysquealed out loud against Xzig. " Yes, I don't think he likes it." So Xzig took her hand back. "Well she doesn't trust strangers. She'll get used to you eventually." Said Alisha, and she smiled. Xzig smiled back. " Yeah, I'm sure he will."

"So no worries, it won't cause trouble. I generally feed her some of my food. In fact, it kind of eats a bit more than me.." And Alisha put her back in her pocket, apparently the creature's home or so it seemed. " Well, let's get back to the ship shall we?" And Xzig looked around. The engines seemed to be working, judged by the fact that they didn't seem damaged. That was good luck for them. Suddenly they heard some noise from the entrance ramp.

" Operative? Are you in there?" Said a voice, a man probably. Footsteps followed shortly after. A man with two other men came in and stopped at the sight of Xzig and Alisha. " Operative Barogus, ma'am. We have been called by the Dock-master that you need help with repairing this ship. We are here to assist you. My name is Dyren. I see you have a companion." Said the forward man. " I have indeed. This is mechanic Alisha, my friend and copilot. Thanks for the help. We can sure use it. If you could fix the loose panels and wiring, we would sure appreciate it." And Dyren nodded. The man started looking for any panels, and began placing them right. " While they do that, could you perhaps fix that hole in there? I'll go see if the computers react in the cockpit. Otherwise this ship isn't going anywhere, is it." She nodded to Alisha, and walked back to the cockpit.

 

[Frannykins87]

" Well, let's get back to the ship shall we?"

Alisha nodded and started looking around the ship again, adjusting the pouch where Blanky was every once in a while. Other than the gap at the back of the room, she didn’t see any major damage.

“Engines are ok, Thank God”

Alisha just finished talking when she heard a man calling out, then three men appeared inside the ship. The men looked somehow surprised to Alisha but were clearly there to help with maintenance.

"I have indeed. This is mechanic Alisha, my friend and copilot. Thanks for the help. We can sure use it. If you could fix the loose panels and wiring, we would sure appreciate it."
Alisha nodded and smiled at the three men, waving at them to greet them.

“Yes thank you, that would be great. Will save us lots of time”.

The men started walking on the loose wiring immediately. Alisha thought they looked very efficient. She was relieved, which might have shown on her face. At least she didn’t have to do all that work by herself. Obviously she was more than capable, it just would have taken ages. Xzig’s words focused her mind once more.

"While they do that, could you perhaps fix that hole in there? I'll go see if the computers react in the cockpit. Otherwise this ship isn't going anywhere, is it."

Alisha chuckled and nodded.

“Nope it isn’t. And yes I’ll do that, no worries.”

As Xzig walked out of the room, Alisha saw that the three men were hard at work, so focused her attention to the small gap in the back of the room. She walks close to it, and saw the the engineers probably had to do some emergency repairs, but the plate they tried to meld onto the plate really wasn’t going to hold on much longer. She runs her finger onto the meld line.

“Hmmm” she mutters.

Alisha then takes her torch from the left side of her belt where her tools are normally hanging, and her small metal mask from the pouch, trying to go underneath Blanky without disturbing her but inducing a small squeal from the pet. The mechanics look at her strangely for a second, then go back to work.

“Oops sorry Blanky” she whispers, slightly pats the tooke with her finger, and puts on her protective mask, which was enough to cover her eyes. She always had this mask since she started working with her dad. It was vital to protect her from the scorching of the torch, although she did occasionally burned herself a little bit, especially on her nose and cheeks, as the mask was only small and wasn’t the standard used by mechanics that cover all the head. But she got used to that. Heat didn’t scare her.
She then set to work to first remove the cheap plates that was onto the gap by unmelding them. The job was quick, around 10 minutes, as the plates were indeed quite flimsy and whoever melded them onto the gap was clearly rushed. As she unmelds the last little bit, the cheap plates fall down to the floor, making a soft metallic noise.

“Cheap metal..” She thinks to herself.

It suddenly occurred to her that she would need better plates to close the gap, and would need more of it to make sure it wouldn’t create a weak point. She lifts her mask on her head, and turns to the other mechanics, that were still busy repairing the panels and wiring. Alisha thought the room already looked better.

“Hey do you guys have some spare panels I can use to close this gap?”

The mechanics look up and the man that introduced himself as Dyren replied.

“Yes we do, we brought a cart full of spare parts outside your ship. You can see if there is something you can use there. Otherwise let me know, I will try and get more materials."

Alisha thanked him and put her tools back on her belt for now. She walks to the entrance of the ship, and peaked into the cockpit to see what her friend was doing.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

A

" How can this thing have ever flown? Everything is broken." Mumbled Xzig when she looked around the cockpit. Except for the loose wiring, everything seemed fine. She looked for the start-up button, and found it beside the captain's seat. The cockpit started lighting up, but suddenly the lights went out. " Wait what? Oh no no no." She banged against the wall, and the lights went on again. " Well. Let's see what we got here." Xzig said. All the lights were green, showing no damage to the computer core, thankfully. The Navi-computer was a bit of target, but that was normal with the events this ships had endured. Speaking of the ship's endeavours, Xzig found an interesting side-file while looking through the database. It was resembling something of an journal, probably the old captain's log. But when Xzig tried to open it, she saw it was encrypted. " Damn. Well, luckily it's an easy code. This will only take one minute." She spoke in herself. One of the mechanics looked up when she heard Xzig's voice, but quickly continued working. " Do you need help with the panelling in here, milady?" Said Dyren as he walked into the cockpit. " Yes, thank you. That saves us a lot of time. How have you been going?" " We have finished most of the lounge and cabins panels, along with the engine room and cargo area. Your first mate, I presume, has gone out to take some spare metal." " Okay, that's good. Let me know when you're finished." Xzig concluded. Dyren nodded and continued with repositioning the plates.

(OOC: Edit)As Xzig cracked the code, letters began to appear. They were categorized by topic, or so it seemed. One paticular note interested her most: 'Corellia'. She tapped it, and soon a voice came up.

Captain's log; 12 September; 1,007 ABY
" Today, Kyriss came to see us. It had been three months since our encounter with the people who called themselves Sith. Kyriss was still not over the loss of his half-brother. I told him to ' get over it, for you need to focus'. I know that whoever these guys are, they're gonna mean trouble. That is why I stay close to the Core. Corellia is for now the safest place. So I took Gruom, Ariisha and Kyriss with me. We're going that hang in tight. Nothing will get past the core."

Captain's log; 29 november; 1,012 ABY
" It's a hellhole in here. I thought by enlisting ourselves in the Alliance Navy we would be doing our part. But all it's been so far is unslaught. The Sith are relentless. We have been defending against them above Corellia for three straight weeks now. There seems now end to their raids. Today we lost 23 fighters alone. Ladt week they shot down a corvette. We can't hold out much longer. Ariisha is doing her best to defend the ship, but I think even a skilled gunner as her cannot hold back the Sith fleet."

Captain's log; 1 march; 1,013 ABY
" It's over. Coruscant has fallen. The Alliance is retreating. But we will not back down. My crew and I have enlisted for Bastele's Corellia Resistance. We are gonna hold back the Sith. No matter what. We have lost to many friends. Soldiers, Senators, Jedi...we cannot go back now. Even if the Sith will destroy us, we will die as soldiers. Captain Qwoonta signing off."

Captain's log; 14 March; 1,013 ABY
" This is Ariisha. Uhm...to conclude: the captain is dead. He was killed this morning in a raid on some Sith fuel storage on Byss, or something. I will take over his role as captain I guess. We will continue to fight on, especially for the captain now."

Captain's log; 31 may; 1,020 ABY
" There's nothing left anymore. The Sith have destroyed our roads and monorails. We are getting out of here. We'll relocate to Sullust, for resupplying and rest. The general has fought hard, but we will be going elsewhere."

End of recorded messages.|

Xzig said back after she heard the messages. The previous owners fought for her homeworld. Alongside General Bastele. They were heroes, no doubt. She didn't need to guess what happened to them. They were propably killed by the Sith. But she noticed another thing. A message saying " For the General only". Xzig guessed who the message was for. Bastele had to hear this message, no doubt.

" Uhm...ma'am? I am sorry to interrupt you, but could you please come look? There's something in the cargo bay." Said Dyren. Xzig nodded and got out of her chair.

When she got into the cargo bay, she noticed the floor panels were loose. Dyren noticedXzig's staring and explained. " We have found a hidden compartment beneath the floor. And it's filled with weapons. We've got 156 blasters, and 86 blaster rifles so far. Also 2 E-webb blasters. A good catch, if I say so myself."z Xzig nodded with open mouth. How did they get all those weapons? She thought. " I will hand them out to the men. The E-webbs will be stationed by the door, I guess." Said Dyren. Again, Xzig nodded. She was to perplexed to respond. Dyren took three men and gave them the crates with the weaponry.

 

[Frannykins87]

Alisha walked briskly past the cockpit, stopping for a moment to see what Xzig was doing, and seeing as she was busy with the cockpit, walked the landing stairs and went outside, thinking that the voiced messages she heard were from the previous owners and made nothing of it. She looked around and immediately spotted the cart full of spare parts and metal 10m away to the right side of the ship. She walks to it and starts ramaging through it, making some noise in the process. She saw some heads turning to see what the noise, so she looks up sheepily and, looking a bit embarassed,

"Let's see here..."

She moves aside several ship parts including small bits for engines, couple of bolts and nuts and the like. She almost had to bend into the cart to reach near the bottom, where she could see some spare metal sheets.

"Oh these will do"

She grabs one and with some efforts, and still moving parts aside, pulls it out of the cart. She holds it with two hands in front of her, judging whether it would be big enough.

"Hmmm should be ok."

She then let's go of the plate with one hand and walks back into the ship. She pokes her head around the cockpit but Xzig was no longer there. Slightly puzzled, she walks along the corridor past the cockpit, hearing chatting noices from the cargo room and notices that the engineers where in the middle of the room, with their backs to the entrance. So she walks in and sees Xzig and the others standing around some loose panels on the floor.

"Oh? What's going on here? How did we miss that?"

Alisha asks, pointing at her loose panels with her free hand.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Xzig was still perplexed when Alisha walked in and asked: "Oh? What's going on here? How did we miss that?" Xzig turned to her, open mouthed, and replied: " I've no idea. It just came out of nowhere." Dyren nodded to the two women and said: " I am sorry miladies, I will continue now. We are almost finished." And he turned around and took two other men with him. After a few moments, Xzig regained control of herself and asked Alisha: Are you done with the Engines yet? It seens like the computers are all working. Well of course I need to update the software. The system s look ancient. Oh and I found a message. It says 'for the General only' or something. Do you think they mean General Bastele? 'Couse if so, we need to deliver that message to him." She looked at Alisha, and finally said: " I think we better continue our work. I will have to update the computer software. Most of it's ancient." And she walked back to the cockpit. ' System update downloaded. Version 2.0.1.5a will be updated to Version 8.6.2.9d. Driver will be updated from Version 1.0.7.3b to Version 14.8.3.7c. Navcomputer will be updated from Version 1,011 ABY, 5 may to Version 1,023 ABY, 11 November. Do you want to continue?' Said the holoscreen as Xzig started the update program. She pushed a button, and a few moments later it said: ' 22 MB/s, 5 hours remaining.' So Xzig decided to get to the Engine room and check out what Alisha was doing. As she walked in, she said: " Well the ship is getting updated, so I guess we aren't going anywhere for at least a couple of hours. Do you need any help?"

 

[Frannykins87]

"I've no idea. It just came out of nowhere."

Alisha looks at Xzig a little quizzically as the men walk out of the room.

"Strange...are they hiding something?"Her thoughts were interrupted by Xzig's question.

"Oh ye, the engines. They are good to go I just need to repair the whole in the engine room" And she waves the metal sheet she is holding. At the mention of General Bastele, Alisha tilts her head and looks at the ceiling, trying to recall what she read about the rebellion.

"That general? Possible.." She then straigthens her head and looks at Xzig again. "Well I think we should point the message out to him anyway. It might help... somehow."

Again, Alisha didn't want to be too open about the rebellion and didn't want to mention words like rebellion, or cause, or anything that might hint in that direction. Of course, the men were out of the room but there was nothing wrong with being cautious.

"I think we better continue our work. I will have to update the computer software. Most of it's ancient."

Alisha nodded at Xzig.

"Yes of course. I will finish the repairs."

As Xzig walks out, Alisha also walks towards the engine room and goes back to the rather significant hole in the metal wall at the back of the engine room. She was still thinking about the lose panels in the cargo room. She was pretty adamant she didn't see them before, and she is generally very careful about details like that. Anyhow, after a head shake, she just decides to focus on the repairs.

After a short time, Alisha was almost done with attaching the plate to the wall. This plate was obviously much stronger than the one that was badly attached before, and Alisha was grinning slightly as she was working, wearing her protective glasses again and a glove on the blow torch hand. As she was melding the last side of the sheet, she hears Xzig coming into the room.

" Well the ship is getting updated, so I guess we aren't going anywhere for at least a couple of hours. Do you need any help?"

"Oh no thanks, almost done."

As Alisha melded the last bit. she takes a step back to admire her work. She was satisfied with it, not fancy or anything but practical and would defintely hold. She then looks around the room, beaming.

"Those men did a really good job fixing everything. Cut our time in half at least!"

The room did, in fact, look much better than when they first started. All the loose wiring and paneling was sorted into place, and although it didn't look new exactly, it looked functional. Alisha turns to Xzig again, lifting her work glasses and smiles at her excitedly.

"Well we've done it! We fixed her up and after the updates, we should be good to go!" She tried to, but couldn't quite contain an excited giggle. And then she remembered the plates in the cargo room, and raises her eyebrows in surprise, almost.

"Oh, but what about the floor in the cargo room? Might need to put that back in place no?" She asks her companion.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Xzig smiled as she saw the work of her companion. It wasn't shiny new or fancy, but the gap was sealed and it would work. She smiled again as Alisha spoke and giggled. " I believe we're almost ready to go. And I think that the man have already fixed the floor." And as Xzig finished, indeed Dyren walked in. " Sorry to interrupt miladies, but our work here is done. You are free to call us if you need repairs again. Oh, and we've fixed the Cargo floor. We'll be of then." He said. Xzig turned around and replied: " Thank you for your help. You can consider the weapons as a payment for your services. We'll definitely call you if we are in the area." And Dyren saluted and walked out of the room. He wws heard in the distance as he called his men. Xzig spread her elbow, as she had done earlier, and said to Alisha: " After you. Let's fly this thing hey."

 

[Frannykins87]

"Oh great, thanks!" Alisha exclaimed excitedly as the men interrupted them with the good news. Alisha was still grinning as Xzig promised them weapons in exchange. As they walk out, she blinks and looks at Xzig with a slightly puzzled look.

" After you. Let's fly this thing hey."

"Suuure..but.." Alisha paused for a second. "What weapons are you talking about?" Alisha says as she walks out of the room. "Did they find weapons on this ship?" She was just out of the engine room, with Xzig behind her and the turret access in front, when she thought of that, and another thought immediately crossed her mind.

"Was that what the loose panels were?" She turned to Xzig, wondering.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Xzig gave a regretting look as Alisha asked about the weapons. " Ooh. I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you. Yes, they found sime weaponry underneath the cargo floor. I told them they could take them. But don't worry. I saved on for you. Here, I think this might suit you. Always useful for stealth." She took something out her back pocket, and she showed a vibroknife to Alisha.

After Alisha took it, Xzig continued: " Now let's get back to it then. Don't want to waste more time. And soo Xzig smiled again to her companion, waiting for her to enter the cockpit.

 

[Frannykins87]

Alisha took the vibroknife and smiled at Xzig. "Oh cool, this will be useful! And good idea to give them the rest. We won't really need all that much. Yes let's go!"

She attaches the vibroknifes on her left side of her belt. She walks to the cockpit as her belt pouch makes a few shuffles. She puts her index finder inside and strokes Blanky a few times.

"You're all good in there? Yes you are!" She giggles as the animal makes a soft squeal, as if to answer. With Xzig behind her, they walk to the cockpit. Alisha is grinning. She thinks her father would be proud of her if he saw her at this instant. They were about to embark on adventure! No doubt they will encounter a lot of danger, but Alisha was prepared. She wanted to play her part, and didn't want to let Captain Ivellok or the Rebellion down. She was going to her best, she thought as she took the co-pilot sit at the cockpit. She didn't often get the chance of flying ships, however she did have all the technical know-how. She was confident she would learn fast. And since she already saw what the ship was and fixed it, she knew it fairly well by now.

"There we go. Ready when you are, captain"

Alisha turned to Xzig, beaming.