Ask Nar Shaddaa Flightless Birds

[Nyri1]

Sitting at a small caf shoppe on the balcony of a skyscraper, Nyri Istria enjoyed sipping away at the last of her credits in peace. The caf was shitty and the shoppe, built as a balcony on an old skyscraper owned by the Hutts, was almost completely inaccessible unless you knew exactly how to get to it. The owner had vastly underestimated the amount of patrons that wanted to stop their speeders in the high speed airspace of Nar Shaddaa to have a sit down at a shitty cafe with no parking.

But, it was peaceful nonetheless. To the gutter rats who traversed the bowels of these skyscrapers like human shaped parasites, little places like this were sacred. The sounds of speeders zooming past above were naught but gentle hums at this altitude. Finishing her caf, Nyri stood up and push her hair back behind her shoulders. Picking up and putting back on her leather jacket, she thanked the disinterested youth running the front of the shoppe and headed outside.

Today was the last night she planned to spend on this wretched world. This world, which chewed up and devoured her adoptive parents like so many other refugees, had come to be known as 'home' to Nyri. But if home was truly where the heart laid then Nyri knew she could never consider this world her home. She couldn't understand why, but if she sat too long in the quiet, listened too closely to the stillness of the world, then she could almost hear its cry. Mournful, pained, and wracked with eternal suffering, the very planet within her feet cried out to her.

It was almost too much to bear. So Nyri attempted to shut out the world, keeping her times of peace to a minimum and her focus on her job. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she withdrew her little friend 'Tat' and set him gently on her shoulder. Handing him part of an old, stale biscotti she nicked on her way out, she chewed on the other half and made her way to one of the hundreds of 'lobbies' in this interconnected skyscraper. While many beings knew the outer workings of the buildings of Nar Shaddaa with its many streets and twists, Nyri knew the innermost parts.

She knew exactly where the fortunate enough to own starships liked to hang out, to drink and watch the sports games. The lobby of building 429, 76th floor, was a popular getaway among the smugglers. If she landed herself some contraband cargo when she stole the keys to a new ship, that would be even better in her eyes. Ships had keys, right? Of course they do, just like speeders, most speeders, some speeders. Shrugging her shoulders, Nyri concluded she would worry about the details once she got to that point.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Her asking suddenly became a problem when some of the smugglers in the pub determined she was no longer wanted. She had offered credits and offered labor in exchange for a lift off this world to another. It was essentially her life now, moving from world to world; she was keeping under the radar, her nose out of trouble since she knew if she was run through any enforcement computer, her name and picture would appear. She did not want to be sent back to the orphanage, this was not how things were supposed to be. Regardless, it was not unusual to be turned away from pilots, however, she had better luck previously in finding someone to agree with her exchange.

The pub owner had a talk with her about leaving quietly or otherwise and to stop bothering his customers. Though she spoke quietly, he still had her escorted out by a large scaly creature who made sure her exit was more dramatic than it needed to be. Lyra jumped to her feet as the door closed, a little more agitated now as she now had spent much of her time this evening not making much progress.

However, she watched as a white-haired woman approach the entrance and Lyra's light up with hope. "Hey! Miss!" she called out waving to the woman, "Hey, before you go in, I wanted to ask if you were looking for any work hands on your ship?" Lyra asked, she reached her hand into her pocket feeling her credits, "I can pay some for my own meals, so you wouldn't need to worry about that." the teen offered, trying to sweeten the pot for her possible pilot without the awareness the woman she was talking with did not have a ship.

@Black Noise

 

[Nyri1]

Nyri stepped off one of the elevators to the 76th floor just in time to see a red haired kid get tossed from the smuggler's bar. Staring for no more than half a second, the Echani shrugged her sword sheath strap into a better position on her shoulder and kept walking. Kid had probably gotten caught trying to snatch a wallet or down a drink for free, Nyri had done as such and more in own youth. Right before reaching the door, she heard the kid call out.

While Nyri's face, graced with a gentle smile, didn't change much at the kid's question, Nyri's plan did almost a complete turnaround in an instant. Placing a hand on her hip, she spoke. Nyri's voice came forth soft and, to someone unacquainted with Nar Shaddaa, with an accent tripping of someone who had clearly grown up around multiple races with whom basic was a second language.

"You? A ship hand? What know you of ships and their insides? You are very young, I am not confident in you yet."

Turning away from the smuggler's bar, Nyri passed by the door and started walking down one of the long inner hallways. She did not speed away, but walked slowly, her body language making it clear she expected the young woman to follow and present a case for her hiring. If the little redhead knew the layout of the building they were in then she would know that Nyri headed in the direction of the private dockyards.

Lovely little hideaways, those private dockyards. Can't get in without bribing a guard or gunfire, 24/7 monitoring with cameras, and top notch security droids in the hallways to prevent 'armed' threats. They were all but impenetrable, unless you were a private investigator with arms to twist and favors to call in.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Lyra had to pause a moment to process the woman's response. She doubted her and even told her she didn't trust her to know what she was doing. Her brow furrowed in curiosity and confusion as she watched her walk past the door. The white-haired woman was not in a hurry, but definitely was heading to the hanger where some of the smuggler ships were waiting for their pilots. With a hop and skip, Lyra caught up just a little past Nyri and turned to walk backwards and to speak to her about her credentials.

"Hey, now, I am the hardest working girl you're going to find." she reassured, "You tell me what needs to be done, and it will be done. I am nimble and can fit into those small space on your ship if fixes are needed. I can do repairs, or whatever it is you need, tell me to jump and I'll ask how high!" Lyra explained, occasionally looking over her shoulder to make sure she didn't run into any oncoming pilots.

"You also don't need to worry about me bothering you with questions, I keep to myself, quiet, efficient and I go where you're going. No need to chauffeur me across the galaxy." The teen pointed to herself with with both her thumbs in pride before place her fists on her hips, standing still for just a moment for Nyri to take a quick overview. Another pilot walked past them, looking at the redhead with amusement and laughed as he continued on to the spacer's bar. Lyra frowned and looked to Nyri.

"So...what do you think?"

@Black Noise

 

[Nyri1]

Nyri did not pause to even glance at the young woman, knowing she would catch up, knowing she would plead her case. Indeed, as the redhead popped up and around her to describe her skills, Nyri was not unimpressed. However, she could not showcase her thoughts on her face, instead keeping a blank expression broken only by a thin smile. A pilot crossed their path, laughing at the younger woman's enthusiasm. Nyri's eyes narrowed at the man, showing a quick flash of annoyance before relaxing once more.

"So...what do you think?"

For a little while, Nyri was quiet, as though she were thinking. Stepping into another long hallway, Nyri spotted what she was looking for and headed straight for it. A man behind a desk sat quietly some ten feet head when, suddenly, Nyri stopped. Finally looked to the young redhead. A genuine smile finally slipping across her face, the Echani asked, "Yes, like what I hear. But not sure if you're what is needed. There is something that is needed. If you can do, I think we can go wherever we desire. Can you fly?"

She did not wait for an answer, Nyri knew the young girl could. It was a skill many had and something that a being didn't need to be good at to claim knowledge. Turning towards the man at the desk, the Echani strode up to him and spoke. The man, a small, unassuming Rodian with his head in a datapad, seemed shocked and terrified at the sight of Nyri.

"<How goes things? Good I hope? Open the door for me and I can pretend I didn't see you.>"

Nyri spoke Huttese to the Rodian, and he opened the doors without a second thought.

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Lyra had to do a double take to the woman's response. After everything she had just presented, that was her response, dull and uninterested. However, she could have asked Lyra sooner about what she knew or told her what she needed to be done so she didn't need to give a fluff presentation of herself. The white-haired woman gave a teen a look that told her she may have just bitten off more than she could chew as she didn't wait for her to respond to her question about flying ships.

The redhead opened her mouth to give her answer, but paused when she seemed to tell security to open the door; Lyra looked at the woman and then back at the Rodian, but wondered if she perhaps lost her keycard to get into the hanger. The Rodian of course, proceeded with the suggestion without further incident.

This was getting entirely stranger as she followed, uncertain if now she should tell her she had never actual flew a ship before. Sure she could figure it out, but may have needed a droid to help, but most ships were easy enough to get off the ground and into space. And many of them had automatic controls for shortcuts to more demanding tasks on ship guidance. Lyra walked into the hanger, looking at each ship as they passed by, wondering which one was her ship.

"So, what kind of ship do you have?" Lyra asked.

@Black Noise