A Favored Nation

[Arage Bao]

Lots could be said about the Elrood sector, Sam mused to himself while packing the bags they would need for the journey.

The usual supplies, of course- toilet wares, can't ever forget those, the food packages with Fen's... special dietary needs. How that stick of a girl managed to work through those veggie wraps at the speed she did was beyond him, but it seemed to make her happy. Also made her grow like a beanstalk, so there was that as well.

Used to be she barely reached his hip, now? Now it was different.

"Don't forget to properly calibrate the speeder, Fen." Sam shouted over his shoulder, but he didn't really need to. He knew she knew what to do, but it made him feel more at ease somehow. She still didn't talk, so he talked for the both of 'em.

Maybe one day she would be ready, maybe not.

They had a larger ship now. No longer the dingy freighter he had called home for close to two decades, something more... respectable, leased from Clan Rekali- Sam was still slightly uncomfortable to just take what he needed from the Clan.

Even as Alor'ad. Just didn't feel right.

"Oh, might also wanna check if we got spare batteries for the tracking equipment." Also shouted, but it was his way of showing affection.

So [member="Fennec"] knew that he considered her an integral part of this setup.

 

[Quietus]

Things had settled down for a while. Three years had seen a cruddy space freighter become home and a cruddy space fighter become friend. Fennec fell into the role of his shadow, his charge, and without a backward glance to where she'd been or come from.

Mouse. Fen. Girl. Lil' Sam. Urchin. She'd been called a lot of names and preferred none of them over any other. Sam was the only one that called her Fen regularly and that was just fine. Being his sidekick came second nature and she'd taken the role with its share of hard knocks and discipline. Sam wasn't want to let her range free unchecked, but she trusted him inherently.

Plugged into her tunes, the girl was busy calibrating the speeder when he called back but couldn't hear the old man for the music in her earbuds. Covered in grease and oil in clothes perma-big for her tiny figure, the girl worked diligently with sweat on her brow and smoke in her eyes.

This speeder would be perfectly calibrated.

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Fennec"]

Just a single eye glance was afforded over his shoulder. It wasn’t difficult for him to notice the earplugs currently in her ears and isolating her from the rest of the cargo bay. Part of him wondered if it had been a bad idea to buy her those for her birthday - the day they met was a good as day as any in his eyes and she didn't seem to particularly care.

But then violet eyes softened as Sam saw how hard she was working.

It was a hard life out there. Backbreaking work, always had to watch out and make sure you didn't piss off the wrong person, could always accidentally get involved with some newbie Sith Lord's schemes, those were the things he kept in mind when he worked her hard.

So she would be ready when the day came he wasn't around anymore to protect her.

For now, though? Fen deserved a little something to lighten her load. If it meant listening to music, why not? The last box was pushed into place, strapped down to the floor - the Gs this thing could go through would be intense, last thing Sam wanted was for all their supplies to be dashed to pieces while they launched or when they attempted to land. He straightened himself out, then stretched out slowly and carefully - the cracks he felt humming through his bones made him cringe just a little bit, before patting Fen's head on the way out of the bay.

They still had some little things to do before launch; engine check-up, the last of the tools arriving (he had ordered a spare part for the tra'palon they were strapping) and other than that...

Well, [member="Alec Rekali"] knew Fen and him would be gone for a few months. The thing with Caspian and the auctions had calmed down, in all honesty it was time for the new generation to start making moves. He'd be there when they needed him, but it was time to take a step back in things.

 

[Quietus]

Calibrate speeder: check.

Spare batteries: check.

Engine calibrations: check.

Tools: check.

Toiletries: double check.

Fen sat in the bridge before the main control console waiting on the old man as he made his way up from the cargo. Sometimes it took an old man to badger things into place - namely, the speeder. She was capable of strapping the thing in but it required some brawn to tighten it down. They'd learned to let Sam put the extra cinch on things the hard way; partially paving the way for the conception of Rekali Podders. Fen had to rebuild their old speeder after it'd been flung about the cargo hold on a particularly harrowing adventure.

The girl sat diminutive in the large Captain's chair, grey eyes roving over the panel before her with growing intrigue. It had only taken one near-death experience for the both of them to place some limitations on the use of her budding technopathy, but Fen had been practicing for several years now with her builds and her projects and her experiments. There was a stubborn streak in her from who-knew-where and when it reared up it often lead to explosive results.

Fortunately she was a quick learner, but this didn't make her any less bull-headed.

Fen lifted her right arm tentatively, palm turning up and out towards the myriad controls. As seconds dwindled into moments she felt the creation of connection build within her sense - as if establishing ghost circuits from her mind to the machinery before her. Fen could feel the energy coursing through wires and circuit modules, sense the various areas of exchange and control.

She blinked and the engines began to purr, auxiliary systems booting up from standby.

[member="Samael Rekali"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Fennec"]

Just a bit of a trickle of sweat started to form.

That was the thing with rigging, ya had to be double as sure about it longterm if ya didn't want to end up with a few broken bones or worse while trundling around the bay during really heavy moments in space. So you checked it once, you checked it twice and then you checked it another half a dozen times, until you were sure about it.

Back-breaking work, but even now Sam had little difficulty with it.

Long time on the ship, traveling to here and there... it made ya body lean against this sort of regular shet.

Sam's about to strap it down one more time, when the familiar ringing of his girl sounded through the bay. Brows furrowed in thought as he pondered about that - it was the same feint purring, that little acidic tone at the back of the slur, the rumble tumble desire to leap in the air and speed away through space... that was his girl.

Few could make her ring like that though.

Needed a hand for that, the right eye too. Otherwise she'd just grumble and roll around kn the other back, after giving you the evil look.

Rekali shrugged and gave the strap one more time, before heading over to the cockpit proper, and there she was. The other girl in his life, this one smaller by multiple factors and just as quiet as his lady could be loud.

They ate the same, though.

"See ya started experimenting again," he mumbled, before shooing her out of his worn seat to her own smaller one next to his. "Thought we said ya'd wait 'til I was around for that."

A look was cast to the side, sizing her up, before shrugging.

"'least ya didn't make her grumble. Woulda set us back for 'nother two weeks."

His hands left the seat and rested on the controls, fingers moving ever so fast, checking systems and rerouting power when it was called for. His lady was an oldie, but she still could kick it it good when needed.

"Nicely done, Fen."

His praise was short and to the point, but it was as rare as a green oasis in the desert. A welcome sight once you seperated it from the mirages.