Private boot://system32/noodles.ini

[Noodles]

Outfit: bomber jacket, layered skirt + leggings, boots
Equipment: portable slicer rig, satchel of wires & snacks, HUD goggles, headphones
Companion: 404
Tag: Acier Moonbound

The hangar was quieter than usual. The Hidden Path's ships rested in their bays, silver and patched metal reflecting the pale light that streamed through the high panels overhead. Tools were left where they had last been used, coils of cabling sprawled across the deck, and the faint scent of coolant and oil lingered in the air. Somewhere in the background a repulsor hummed, steady and low, but for now the bustle of crews and pilots had thinned to silence.

In one corner of the cavernous space sat a slight figure cross-legged on the deck plating, a portable rig sprawled open in front of her like the gutted remains of some mechanical beast. Wires spilled out in tangled knots, feeding into jury-rigged ports, while screens flickered at odd angles, their glow catching the teal streaks in her short, choppy hair. An oversized bomber jacket hung from her shoulders, sleeves pushed up past her elbows as her fingers tapped in restless bursts that sounded almost like music. The battered headphones hanging around her neck bled out the distorted thrum of a Huttese sludgecore track— Sleemo at full grind.

404 rattled and beeped as it trundled up beside her, the squat droid balancing a steaming pot of instant ramen in its front hatch. With a creak of its mismatched arm, it nudged the pot toward her. Noodles reached out without glancing away from her work, snagged the container.

"Thanks, bud," she muttered absentmindedly before slurping a mouthful and setting it to the side, eyes still locked on the flow of code.

She tapped her temple with two fingers. A faint click sounded as one of her implants came online, and the faint glow of her scratched goggles flared brighter. Lines of data scrolled across her lenses at dizzying speed. She muttered under her breath as she chased the threads of the firewall she was weaving, half words, half sound effects.

"Bzzzt, nope, cut that... re... route... heh, gotcha..." Her voice rose and fell like background static, slipping between nonsense syllables and sharp fragments of real speech.

The hangar might have been still, but around her the work never stopped, chaotic and messy, exactly the way she thrived.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Odessen Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

The day had been too quiet. Most of the Path had shipped out on runs or missions, and Ace wasn't on any of the rosters this time. No leads to chase, no doors to kick in. The kind of day that left him pacing corridors with nowhere to put the restless hum still working through his muscles. He'd already done a few rounds of training, but repeating the same saber drills didn't make the silence any lighter.

So he wandered. Past the comms hub, past the empty briefing room, down to the hangar where at least the smell of coolant and oil made the place feel alive. The space stretched wide and still, ships sitting quiet in their bays. A few tools were left scattered on workbenches, but most of the crews were out. Ace slowed, boots clicking soft against the plating, and caught sight of the chaos in the far corner.

Wires spilled across the deck like someone had gutted a navcore. Screens glowed at odd angles, their light catching streaks of teal hair as some girl in a bomber jacket tapped with rapid precision. The droid at her side trundled forward with a steaming pot balanced awkwardly in its hatch.

Tic shifted at his shoulder with a doubtful beep. Ace's mouth ticked up faintly.

"Yeah." He murmured back, low enough to sound like it was just for Tic "I'm wondering if it's supposed to look like that too."

He came closer, resting his hands on his hips as his eyes tracked the mess. At first it looked like chaos but then he noticed the rhythm in it. He recognized the kind. The same rhythm that came from the inside of an engine block when someone knew how to properly work it.

"Path must really be desperate." He said finally, dry but not unkind "This the Council's idea of a clean workshop?"

Ace crouched down, hands resting on his knees, gaze flicking from her rig to the wiring she'd pulled apart. "You need a second set of hands? I'm better at fixing things I can actually touch, but I can keep wires from frying themselves."

Noodles ​

 

[Noodles]

Outfit: bomber jacket, layered skirt + leggings, boots
Equipment: portable slicer rig, satchel of wires & snacks, HUD goggles, headphones
Companion: 404
Tag: Acier Moonbound

404 gave a couple of distorted beeps as Ace crouched nearby, the noise crackling like a half-fried circuit. The little droid’s tread squeaked once, then it angled its dented chassis toward the stranger, photoreceptors flickering.

The girl didn’t move. Her hunched frame stayed folded over the rig, shoulders shifting in quick jerks as she hammered out another flurry of inputs. One hand darted to adjust a loose wire, jamming it into place with a spark and a hiss, before she leaned back in and kept typing. Screens stacked around her reflected pale green across the scratched lenses of her goggles, streams of code racing faster than most eyes could follow.

The ramen pot sat beside her knee, half-forgotten, steam curling up into the hangar’s still air. She slurped a mouthful between keystrokes, set it down with a clatter against the plating, and tapped her temple twice again. The glow behind her goggles flared, silver and harsh, as another implant clicked into focus. Her voice cut through without her gaze leaving the screen.

"Nope."

It was as if the whole galaxy was simply background noise. Her fingers were already off again, muttering under her breath in broken fragments.

"Reroute... that... frag, nah... patch... here... 'kay pog das the one... "

404 beeped again, softer this time, as if apologising on her behalf.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen - Odessen Outpost

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace blinked once at the flat "Nope." his brows tugging together before a short laugh slipped out. Not the reaction he'd expected, most Path slicers at least pretended to appreciate an extra set of hands.

Tic gave a sharp little chirp at 404's softer beep, as if offended on Ace's behalf. Ace reached up and tapped the droid's chassis. "Easy. Guess we're not exactly in demand."

Ace shrugged his shoulders, face unbothered by the rejection. He rose to his feet, ready to leave, but his gaze caught on a loose junction just under the edge of her rig. One of the jury-rigged lines was spitting the faintest static arc, bleeding power where it should've been tight. She hadn't noticed, too deep in the flow of her code.

"Careful." He said, nodding toward it. "That line's cooking itself. Give it a minute and it'll fry your whole patch."

He then dusted his palms against his pants, and finally turned like he meant to head out. His mind was already moving faster than his steps, chasing down what to do with the rest of a mission-free day.

Maybe he'd check over the Flickerfox again, even though he'd tuned the drives twice this week. Or run another round in the forest, see if some kind of epiphany could refine his technique. Or maybe, he'd just crash in the mess and try not to think too hard about how quiet everything felt when the others were gone.

Anything to burn off the static still crawling under his skin.

Noodles​

 

[Noodles]

Outfit: bomber jacket, layered skirt + leggings, boots
Equipment: portable slicer rig, satchel of wires & snacks, HUD goggles, headphones
Companion: 404
Tag: Acier Moonbound

The warning pulled the faintest twitch across her face, annoyance plain. She kept typing, muttering low like she could drown his voice out with noise. 404 gave a sharper beep, garbled and drawn-out, the sound enough to make her shoulders stiffen.

"Ugh, fine," she hissed, finally dragging her gaze up from the screens. "Wha—?"

Her eyes widened behind the goggles the instant she saw the arc spitting from the cable.

"Kark!" She lunged, flailing for the loose wires and shoving them back together. A sharp spark bit at her glove, but the line steadied. She exhaled through her teeth, sharp and short, then slumped back against her heels, still seated on the deck. Only then did she look properly at him. She blinked.

"Hey."

The silence hung. She squinted like she was rifling through her head for what was supposed to come next, lips pursed in thought. Finally, with a little tilt of her head, she landed on it.

"Got any snacks?"