How Much For That Fender?

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

[fancybox2]

ORD MANTELL
1400 Hours

@EmilyHuene ; @Phantom [/fancybox2]

Sometimes things just break down. Sometimes no matter how good an engine, it still sputters and dies out because something inside doesn't work right. And sometimes, things just get old. Today, that's what brought Kae'Leigh Tameris to Ord Mantell. The Mid Rim system posed as one of the many places to fix up a ship as the place was a literal junkyard. Some people found exactly what they were looking for and were on their way. Others...well they weren't so lucky.

The Jedi Knight had docked her ship at one of the hangers and quickly shut everything off as they landed. She feared the engines might burn out right then and there and they'd come crashing into the space port. Luckily the Force was merciful. With a sigh, Kae'Leigh rested her head on the dash board for a moment to thank her lucky spirits.

After a moment of silence she would leave the ship, locking it up under the care of her astromech droid, and then venture off into the streets she knew so well. Kae'Leigh had come here on several occasions: with her Mandalorian friends before they got more involved in the war effort; when her master wished to teach her after leaving Nar Shaddaa; and lastly, when she came looking for said master when he exiled himself (he'd still yet to be found). But Kae'Leigh didn't fear walking the dirty, messy, crowded place for she grew up in places like this. For a good while today, she'd feel absolutely at peace believing she was home again.

Her attire on this gloomy yet warm day, Kae'Leigh had brought out her armored pirate clothing that made her look like just another pilot stopping by for fuel. But the seemingly-ordinary leather jacket had durasteel inserts in it for extra protection. Even her legs were covered for the tall knee-length boots would also provide durable resistance to blaster fire or heavens-forbid, a lightsaber. Coupled with the attire the blue skinned Twi'lek carried two weapons. The first one -the only one in plain sight- was her R-5 blaster pistol that hung from a holster on her hip. The second was Kae'Leigh's Brylark lightsaber hilt that she hung from the back of her belt and was hidden by the tail of the jacket. Her lekku were also tied back with the same material as the pants and jacket, only they did not have any durasteel hidden inside them.

 

[NIdari Oberu]

Ord Mantell, the only place in the galaxy that is both a mechanic's best friend, and worst enemy. The pros of this spaceport is that there are plenty of parts to go around, the cons are that there are plenty of parts to go around. If you needed a specific part for your hyperdrive, or just the right-sized bold for one of your landing gears, it'd take a lifetime for you to find it, if you didn't know where to look. Luckily for Nidari, she knew just where to look.

Not many of the scavengers and random engineers went for the mostly intact, but abandoned, ships when searching for parts. Mostly because they were probably outdated and worthless piles of junk anyways, but if one knows where to look, everything in the old ships can be used in the new ships. So, Nidari made her way through the corroded and broken ships, trying her best to not look suspicious.

For this particular outing, she chose to don the padded jacket of her Combat Engineer's armor, along with the wrist and leg armor pieces, along with a pair of welding goggles resting atop of her scarf. Her navy blue scarf is tied to cover her neck, hopefully keeping any harmful substances from infecting her gills. From her waist, she carries her EBF-MK1, a pouch for the welder's power packs, and a small tool case. Strapped to her thigh is her collapsible staff, in case she needed to fight for the part she found (it's happened before).

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

The rusty shipyard was indeed the perfect place to look. Scraps long since abandoned and hidden way for only the best scrounger could find. And it seemed two of them were on the same planet that day. Unlike Nidari, Kae'Leigh had no intention of being quite. She strolled right into the place with a spring in her step making her lekku bounce behind her as she walked. Nidari would hear her coming a mile away. Only, Kae'Leigh knew she was there too. The Force was fortunate sometimes like that.

As soon as the blue skinned Twi'lek picked up on the aura of another person, she tried not to draw too much attention on it. She didn't feel like getting into a fist fight over some engine part today. Though that was always a possibility as this random thief might have the very thing she needed. She hoped not. So, for now, she would stay clear of the person's path and try to start hitting up a different side of the yard.

Climbing up onto one of the more taller ships Kae'Leigh took a moment to look out over the fast heap of scraps. With her hands on her hips she almost looked like she enjoyed the view. And maybe she might have if not for the awful, foul smelling odor that plagued Ord Mantell which was even worse in the wind that breezed over her. Now she remembered why she didn't live here permanently. After coughing for a minute and regretting her decision to come up higher she noticed Nidari a few ships away. It was hard to judge a person based on their looks from so far away, but Kae'Leigh was confident that she could take the girl if needed. That's why she had a lightsaber. Maybe she'd go say hello.

Making no attempt at silencing her footsteps, the blue skinned Twi'lek would start to head over to Nidari's position. Her eyes searching around like she was just coincidentally in the wrong place. But she knew exactly where this girl was for she could sense her in the Force. Walking into the torn side of one of the ships, Kae'Leigh would ignite a flashlight she'd brought with her and scanned the inside of the ship.

"Hello?" she feigned ignorance. "Anyone in here...?" Her voice sounded so innocent it would be hard to think she was a threat. But who trusted anyone in this corrupted verse they lived in?

 

[NIdari Oberu]

Unknown to Kae'leigh, Nidari could not hear a single thing while her welder was running, and unfortunately for her, it was. Nidari was currently hanging upside-down in the engine room of the ship, using her collapsible staff as a sort of pull-up bar by wedging it into a tight space, and then activating the spring mechanism to expand the staff. This provided enough pressure on the sides of the walls to hold Nidari's small frame.

If Kae'leigh were to venture forth into the ship, she would be greeted by this sight almost immediately after entering the engine room, where she would see half of Nidari's body above the floor while the other half was below the floor, with sparks of light and heat flying in all directions.

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

"Oh?" Kae'Leigh would say in awe as she noticed the girl welding something. The welding itself ewasn't that exciting, but the image of this girl doing it while inverted and hanging by her legs was rather amazing to see. It seemed rather beautiful in a way. Her eyes then noticed the staff she was using as a support. Kae'Leigh had a keen eye for tech and noticed right away it wasn't just some solid stick of metal. It took her no time at all to piece together how the staff was likely made and how it would collapse and piece together. While the Jedi never thought she'd ever want another weapon, having a staff like this might actually be useful.

Then again, having one that could block a lightsaber might also be pretty interesting. She'd never met anyone who carried what was called a pole-staff (so she didn't know they existed), but the blue skinned Twi'lek would look that up next time she had some free time to roam around. Building any sort of saber would be another challenge for her because she was lacking in crystals, but building a collapsible staff like this clever mechanic was would be a fun little hobby she could do right in her engine room back on The Silver Bullet.

Kae'Leigh would then bring her attention back to the welding mechanic and so decided to whistle loudly in hopes of getting her attention. She didn't want to startle the girl by coming up to close and shouting to get her attention might have the same effect. Worse even, if she waited until the girl was done then it would be even more of a pain because she had no idea how long that could even take. And the sudden presence of this girl talking while the girl thought she was alone could freak her out and cause her to fall from her perch. No good options either way.

 

[NIdari Oberu]

"Holy Nerf-Herding Shit!" Nidari practically screamed as a loud whistle was suddenly went off behind her. In one swift motion, she turned off her welder, and holstered it. Then, she pulled herself up and out of the floor, her legs releasing their hold on the staff as she sommer-saulted in the air, landing on her feet. Then, she grabbed her staff from it's place in between the walls, and extended it out to it's full length.

"Who the hell are you?!"

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

Kae'Leigh jumped a little herself when the girl swore in surprise. That was not the reaction she expected. Maybe she should have announced her presence a different way. Too late now. The girl would then pull herself up out of her upside down position and flip up to her feet. It was an incredible feat of dexterity that should not have been as easy as it was to pull off. Unless, this person just used the Force. It happened to quick for the blue skinned Twi'lek to notice though. So further investigation was needed.

Reaching back down she pulled the staff from the balancing position it had been and the material expanded even further. The girl asked the Twi'lek who she was to which Kae'Leigh took a careful step back and raised her hands. As the fabric of her jacket lifted slightly from her arms in a defensive position, Nidari would just be able to catch the butt end of the saber behind her back. Though it was wooden and blue, it still had that same sort of appeal as a lightsaber did.

"Easy now. Just a friend. A fellow scrapper." Kae'Leigh gave the dark colored girl a smile and would introduce herself with a bow of her head. "Kae'Leigh Tameris. What's your name?"

 

[NIdari Oberu]

Nidari's eyebrow shot up at the introduction, "A friend? Honey, if you're looking for a friend, then you are in the wrong business." Keeping her staff at the ready, Nidari kicked the floor tile she had removed earlier back into the hole, mostly to prevent the woman in front of her from stealing what she had been trying to get too. As she shifted her attention back onto the woman, Nidari took stock of what she was dealing with.

The Twi'lek was obviously fit, with a little combat training, the tools she carried on her were that of an experienced junker, but the small cylindrical tool that hung from the back of the woman's belt was confusing, maybe it was one of those odd multitool screwdrivers, or maybe something else.

"As for my name... You can just call me Ari."

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

Kae'Leigh chuckled a little at the girl's reservations about making a new friend. She shrugged her shoulders and looked to the side for the moment like she was considering an answer. Then, turning her attention back to the dark skinned girl she replied, "Well maybe that was a little naive. Not all of us can be trusting in this day and age. I was like you too at one point. Till I found friends who fought beside me. How about an acquaintance then? Until I gain your trust? Will that do....Ari?"

Lowering her hands the Twi'lek would put them into her pockets while still giving the girl a warm smile. "So I'm looking for a T9 bracket. My wings a little frayed and reentry has been somewhat of....well a bumpy ride. Know anywhere handy I might pick one up?" She was asking of course in this scrapyard. There was bound to be a piece somewhere in all this mess that had the angled grip she was looking for.

 

[NIdari Oberu]

Nidari simply nodded as the woman in front of her offered an acquaintance, but she was still wary. "I can help you find the bracket you need, just let me finish up what I was working on down there, okay?" Nidari then took a few steps forward, taking her staff from her side again and holding it horizontally in front of her waist. There was a loud clang as the staff expanded to the limits of the hallway. Moving the grate floor aside, Nidari sat on top of the staff, testing it's hold on the wall. After putting her welding goggles back on, Nidari untied her scarf, revealing three, very thin lines on each side of her neck, "Would you mind holding this for a second? It was getting in my way earlier." With that, the woman would lean backwards, letting gravity take hold of her as she swung down on the staff.

Her head was underneath the floor for a good ten minutes before she finally found the piece of circuitry that she was looking for. Smiling as she hoisted herself back up from the bowels of the ship, Nidari would retrieve her scarf from Kae'Leigh and thenreplace her staff and the floor grate where they belonged. "So, are you ready to go and get your bracket?"

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

"Shiny!" the blue skinned Twi'lek squealed in delight.

So Nidari was going to help after all. Kae'Leigh was very excited. Even if they had to wait a little bit for the girl to finish her work first. Kae'Leigh had all the time in the world. She was a Jedi, and patience was a virtue to them. Something far more important than a lot of other things. Clarity and peace of mind. Easy tasks for a Jedi knight such as herself.

With fascination, Kae'Leigh watched as the woman open up the staff once more. She really would have to get her one of those. With concern, she held her breath as the girl tested the weight and then descended to lower herself into the hole once more. Kae'Leigh would come by and kneel down, curiously following along with what the girl was searching for. After a moment, she then pulled off her scarf and handed it to the Twi'lek who took it without a second's thought. She would miss the view of the girl's gills, but Kae'Leigh would have another way of noticing them soon enough.

Sadly, there wasn't much to view. So instead, she sat up straight and let her mind calm and slow down, allowing her mental state to gently relax into a quiet meditation as she waited. A calming aura would wash over Nidari -not on purpose of the Jedi- that would more than likely ease her worries and concerns; it would also likely improve her own mental state, making her happy and pleased with herself.

While this was going on, Kae'Leigh's hands were wrapped around the scarf simply by the fact she'd been handed it by Nidari. Flashes of the scarf's own past would reveal itself to Kae'Leigh in her mind. Places it had been. Things it had seen. Most of it -if not all- were focused around Nidari and now the blue skinned Twi'lek got a real good look at the gills. Not that she judged by any means. She had tails essentially growing out of her skull. Though to her that was normal. Having hair there....gross. They weren't animals!

When the deed was done down below, her fishy friend would pop back up and take the scarf from the Twi'lek who was still seated looking like she'd been turned into a statue. It was not normal by any means, but Nidari -if she was smart- would recognize it to be something Jedi were known for doing. A topic for another conversation. Hearing her footsteps and the staff returning to its condensed size, Kae'Leigh would now open her eyes and smile at the dark skinned girl. She handed her to borrowed cloth and then would stand up to leave with her.

"I am! Let us be on our way." Turning to the exit she would start making her way out before calling over her shoulder. "Perhaps later you might be willing to let me try out that pole of yours. It looks wicked fun. I'd love to build one myself if I can figure out how it works." She then realized what she implied and quickly added, "Not that I plan on taking it apart or anything!"

 

[NIdari Oberu]

Nidari cocked an eyebrow at Kae'Leigh's odd sitting position as she approached her, "Meditation? I thought only those force-weirdos did that sort of thing." Nidari took her scarf back and then wrapped the fabric around her neck once more. As the pair made their way out of the ship, the Twi'lek mentioned something about maybe using her staff for a bit to see how it worked and how to build one. Nidari smiled and replied, "Sure, but I could do you one better, I've got some of the blueprints for the staff on my ship. I wanna add a few different functions to it later, so I asked for the schematics to be sent to me."

Nidari would lead them to another ship a little ways away, the model of ship that they needed to salvage from was rare in this part of the yard, but luckily there was one nearby. During the walk, Nidari thought back to the odd behaviour of the woman she was helping, noting how she had found the twi'lek meditating, and then how when she was welding, a weird sense of calm had washed over her, as if it wasn't natural. The feeling reminded her of something in her past, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

As they arrived at the ship, Nidari took the tool bag from her waist and began searching for her pocket drill and the right bit. "Alright, so this ship has only got the one wing left, so let's hope that no one else salvaged the brackets you need." Nidari finished her searching and then put her drill back in her bag. "I'll look for the ones up on the top of the wing if you wanna look for the ones on the bottom." After saying that, Nidari would run up to the ship, springing off of one leg and then grabbing onto a hand hold before hoisting herself the rest of the way up to the top of the ship.

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

"I wouldn't say they were weird," Kae'Leigh argued as if it was just a discussion over something trivial like the weather. "But would it bother you if I said I was?" She was speaking hypothetically, but her question was very serious.

To her question about trying out that staff, she instead counter offered by saying she even had blueprints back on her ship. That would do wonders! Kae'Leigh wouldn't need to second guess anything and all the parts with their sizing and lengths would be right there. Shiny! How very generous of the girl. She'd have to repay her somehow.

They'd make their way over to the other scrapped ship which Nidari presumed would have the bracket in question. Kae'Leigh looked it over trying to stay optimistic. While the ships themselves never looked promising, the scrapper in her knew there could be figurative gold inside those engine parts. But there was always the risk when it came to treasure chests like these because someone could have beaten her to it and picked it clean of all the little goodies inside. Only way to tell was to look. And pray.

But Kae'Leigh knew the Force wouldn't let her down. It had led her hear, and she had a good feeling about this. Arguably however, while she'd come looking for a bracket, she knew in her heart she'd already found a friend. In one way or another, the Force had brought Nidari into her life now. For how long, and for what purpose, remained to be seen. And was this a good thing or bad? Again, only time would tell.

"Fingers crossed," she said in agreement about hoping for that inner gold. Nidari then offered to check out the top of the wing if the Twi'lek would take the bottom. "I'm usually more of a top girl," she'd say with an adult innuendo thrown in. "But I suppose I could switch every now and then."

With a cheeky grin she watched Nidari rush off and then she entered in at her own pace. For now, she didn't need the flashlight she'd brought with her or any of her tools, but once she got into the inner workings that changed quickly. She didn't want to alarm the girl above her head by bringing out her saber, so instead she pulled out a small handheld flashlight from her bag that really didn't offer much light. It was enough to get her by without running into anything or hitting her head though. So that was enough for the Jedi.

 

[NIdari Oberu]

Nidari inspected the top of the wing with a trained eye, pulling off panels of durasteel, sometimes having to cut through a few pieces with her welder. It took a rather long time, and Nidari was starting to regret agreeing to help the woman, because it was costing her time to get her part back to the ship she was trying to fix in the first place. And after nearly ten minutes of searching, Nidari had found nothing. Shaking her head in frustration, Nidari pounded on the outside of the ship, hoping to gain the blue woman's attention, "Found anything yet?"

After waiting for a response, Nidari went back to searching, repeating the process of checking in with Kae'Leigh every ten minutes until one of them found the bracket. But, after about thirty minutes of searching, Nidari finally gave up on this particular ship and dropped down to the ground, "Hey! I could'nt find anything up on top, any luck down there? Or should we move on to a different ship?"

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

How hard could it be to find one bracket...? Apparently it had been a long time since Kae'Leigh went hunting for a part like this. But being in the wing, crawling on her knees, feeling the air being thin and hot from all the heated metal, it felt just like she was back at home on her own ship. Without a care in the world, just her and her baby. That was perfect. Only, this wasn't her ship, and she didn't know a fender from a fracking freeline. This wing was built so much different than her mynock it was a wonder how such a thing was flying at all. But like how there were hundreds of types of speeders, there were a thousand times as many shuttles. But how could this one not have a single T9 bracket?!!?

After the first ten minutes her friendly new Wreans partner would knock and call down to her. Kae'Leigh pulled her arm out of the wires and broken metal frame to wipe the sweat from her brow. "No!" she cried back. "Just a severe case of sweating-my-behind off."

Things were starting to get annoying. She needed more tools; Nidori had the right idea. Kae'Leigh could hear the whir of the welder up above her head and it gave her an idea. She unclipped her saber from her back and waited for the next time she heard the tool start up. Making sure the girl wouldn't hear the sound, she ignited the blue blade and the iconic ignition screech would be drowned out in the vibrations. With new found steam in her system, she began using the blade to cut away the frame to make her work that much easier. She still had to be careful about where she was slicing though for one bad cut and the whole thing would come down on her head.

Another ten minutes went by and still there was no sign of the bent beam. Kae'Leigh again would call back that she hadn't found it yet, making sure to keep her saber very still as she spoke. They went back at it with the blue skinned Twi'lek cutting away small holes and chunks out of the duresteel hull. She had a few almost-excited squeals as she dug into the bend of the wing, but the brackets were not T9s. She needed a very specific curve to the metal and anything less would not qualify.

After the thirty minute mark, Kae'Leigh was frustrated beyond belief. But she was stubborn and that outweighed the desire to quit and try somewhere else. It was like a deadly gambling addiction. "Maybe the next slot will win...." Good thing she never played the machines. She didn't even notice that her partner had worked her way back and dropped to the lower floor until she heard the boots hit the ground. For the briefest of seconds the Wreans female would see the blue light of her saber. Not that she would think too much of it, plenty of tools used blue/white lights. It could have just been a trick of the light on the metal too.

Even still, as soon as Kae'Leigh realized the girl had stopped looking she cut out the power to her blade and quickly tucked it behind her back and out of sight. She still was on her knees and had part of her hidden away under all the support beams. She had to wiggle her butt out to get back to a place where she could sit up. Curses for being tall! Finally she was able to sit up to her knees and turn around to see Nidari.

"Oh heeeeyyy," she'd reply in the most "I wasn't doing anything illegal" tone she could. "No such luck. Beginning to think this is a...well. A lost cause." Then, with a smile, she'd add, "But that's ok you know. Not everything is shiny all the time. Sometimes we don't get what we want. It's life. Just gotta accept the loses and move on. Right?"

Kae'Leigh would turn around and start scooting back toward Nidari while her arms adjusted behind her back to hide away the lightsaber once again. She really didn't need the girl seeing that just yet.

 

[NIdari Oberu]

"Heh... You've got a point there," Nidari chuckled as the blue woman retreated from the inside of the ship. Nidari had seen a suspicious blue glow coming from the hole, but quickly wrote that off as a portable welder, maybe that's what the woman had strapped to the back of her belt. Shrugging it off, Nidari would wait and then help the woman up from the inside of the ship. She would then lead them down to the path.

"So, since I couldn't really be of any help in finding a replacement, I figured that I would offer my services in an attempt to fix your problem so that you have more flight time before your ship completely goes to shit."

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

Leaving the first ship the girl would then offer her own services in helping to fix the ship. Kae'Leigh was certain a new bracket would be needed, but as any mechanic would tell you, there were a hundred different ways to fix a problem. Maybe Nidari would think of something that the blue skinned Twi'lek would not.

"Shiny! That would be so helpful! Thank you." With a happy glee she did a little spin, her jacket flaring out as she did. Again her saber would be shown to the girl if she cared to pay attention. But just as quickly as it came, it was gone. "So. Let's head over to my ship then."

Getting out of the junkyard would take the longest amount of time, but before they knew it they were out and entering into the hangar where Kae'Leigh had parked her Mynock-series freighter: The Silver Bullet. She gestured to the beauty with her arms over her head and did another spin (this time slower). Unlike most ships, the boarding ramp was actually near the front of the shuttle so they only had to walk a few meters forward rather than circle all the way around. Heading to the landing gear next to the ramp the Twi'lek then typed in a code into the access panel and the ramp would descend.

"Welcome to my baby," she would offer to the Wreans.

Inside the ship, she hung a left towards the starboard side of the ship. While most ships with wings had actual panels jutting out from the side, the mynock-class was straight and narrow. It did however have an overlapping flap from one side of the ship connecting to the other which had a small hole in it, thus causing turbulence to shift around. Kae'Leigh would move Nidari through the cluttered ship (Kae'Leigh was a hoarder of tools and spare parts) up to the highest point on the ship where they had to crawl on a catwalk to get up to where the T9 bracket would be replaced. A large hole was torn into the durasteel currently with scrap metal welded to it to hold it in place.

"So....obviously I'm not the shiniest welder. Don't judge."

With a giggle she'd move far enough through so that Nidari could then squeeze over and look at the patch job herself. Since they weren't in space, there would be no danger of tearing it all out right now and starting over. But, a new piece would solve the problem far faster.

 

[NIdari Oberu]

As Nidari was lead through the cluttered ship, her eyes were scanning the piles of scrap metal and spare parts, every few feet bending down and snatching a piece of metal, turning it in her hands, and then trowing it back in the piles, or the pockets of her jacket. Already thinking of ways to fix the blue woman's problem, Nidari watched and then followed Kae'Leigh up to the patchwork repair.

"Oh yeah, I've got my work cut out for me, no offense."

As she moved to get a closer look, Nidari unhooked her welder, put her goggles on, and pulled her scarf over her mouth. She then began to cut away at the previous fix, leaving what she could of the original metal and pulling out the scraps with her gloves. After all of the original repairs were pulled out, she started pulling the pieces of scrap metal from her pockets, and then welding them all together into a makeshift T9 Bracket. She then started to weld the bracket to the hole, doing it slowly so that there were no mistakes in the welds and no chance of the ship exploding and/or the inhabitants imploding.

"Alright, I think that I did the best that I could do. Hopefully it works, but if it doesn't you have full permission to get payback."