Building your own legacy...

[GhostOfProtocol]

The ship in front of her was beaten, a broken YT-1300 light freighter she'd rescued from a junk yard. It had been carried to her on a cruiser and thus she had no idea if it run or not. She strolled around it lightly, fingers pulling off scraps of rust. The boarding ramp was falling off, she noted that down on her notepad as she passed it.

She knew full well that she could only do so much on this ship, perhaps get it running. It would need a full body repaint and new gun turrets at minimum. She shook her head, ducking underneath the freighter. She felt her hands brush the landing gear, almost afraid they would buckle and collapse. She shook her head once more, knowing full well that a freighter this cheap was bound to have problems.

She shrugged, continuing her walk. She had given up on attempting to find the legendary Millennium Falcon, settling with a beaten freighter of the same model that she could make her own. The Falcon would always have the legacy, but she could never make it hers. This rust bucket could be made hers, hers and a co-pilot's anyway. She looked down to Sparky slightly, nodding.

"I know right, rust bucket"

She felt her eyes drift to the lower "gun turret". The glass protecting the shooter was gone, the seats and computers were hanging off and wires were thrown around. The actual turret was in bits, holes through the barrel and even bits of the barrel chipped away. She knew it would take a great builder to get this in order, but she could perhaps get it working.

She moved from under the freighter, stepping up the entrance ramp lightly. She heard it creak under her, shaking lightly. It almost sounded like it was liable of falling apart any moment. She shook her head as she stepped up into the main corridor. She growled, falling as the secret compartment hatch gave way under her. She pushed up to her feet, crawling from the compartment. She saw the mess of wires in the compartment, grabbing one lightly. It was beaten, tattered, not connected to anything. It appeared to sum up the whole state of the ship.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

She dropped the wire, allowing it back into the compartment. Turning on her heel, she watched as Sparky maneuvered his way across the hole that the falling hatch had created. With some difficulty he managed to clear the hole, a series of angry beeps following. The droid, clearly angry that she hadn't bothered to help continued beeping as he followed the corridor.

She chuckled, nodding. Continuing down the corridor, each step slow and light. She didn't want to have to suffer another accident like the one earlier. She cleared the main corridor, darting into the main hold. She turned, watching Sparky use his USB plug thing to plug into a small panel in the wall. She made a mental note to thank all the gods that all tech seemed to be R4 compatible. She chuckled, looking at the ruined seating in the corner. There was a main seat that was in ruins and two other seats, again in ruins.

Sparky beeped from the corner, turning. He rolled over lightly, beeping. Alicia took his beeps, nodding lightly. "I gathered as much, the hyperdrive is dead and most of the wiring on this ship doesn't connect. Also I kind of gathered that their were hull breaches on this thing. In all honesty i'm surprised that you even managed to work the slot, that their was even enough power in this thing to let you" she told him, listening to his beeps. "You shouldn't of done that, transferring your power to get a reading. Nice to know though"

She stepped forward, patting the droid's dome lightly. Strolling, she continued to move across the main hold, stopping in front of the cargo transfer hatches. She grabbed the bottom of the shutters, pushing it up. The gap was big enough to get most things through, crates would be the easiest thing in the world. The space was amazing. She chuckled, stepping through one of the gaps to prove a point. Sparky decided to use the door.

The forward hold was small, a giant hole in the wall to make it cold. She shook her head, fingers tracing the gap to the outside world. She knew it would take a massive job to redo, a simple sheet of Durasteel wouldn't hold for long. She shook her head again, a habit almost. Stepping from the hole, turning. Pulling a crate towards her, opening it. Empty, the crates were empty. She sigh, almost afraid that they were full of dangerous weapons or animals or something worse.

She stepped across the room, sliding through a door with Sparky in tow. The freight loading room was quite intact, a lick of paint maybe. It was big enough to serve as another cargo hold if needed. She looked at the crane on the ceiling, following the mismatch of wires across to a Sparky compatible panel. The droid had a job, finally. She chuckled, explaining to Sparky. His beeps said it all, he didn't like the idea of working as a crane guy.

She strolled over to the Freight Bay doors, pressing the large green button. She eyed the LED's around it, wondering what wire was broken to stop it lighting up. The door seemed fine at least, she watched as listened as it made the noise of a cat being crushed. It banged off the floor, the perfect size. She could probably fit her X-wing up the gap, she just couldn't fit it in the freighter itself. The downside of it.

She pressed the big red button, that should again of again been lit up. She nodded, wondering if they did work, she just needed to turn the power on. She nodded, knowing how much sense that would make. The freight bay door closed, banging as it connected with the top of the Freight Loading Bay. The magnetic lock holding it in place. She knocked her knuckle off it lightly, watching Sparky lead off into the second hold.

It was much the same as the first hold, just bigger and less holes. There was a small hole in the floor, leaving a mess of exposed and snapped wires on show. It didn't go all the way through however, a sheet of Durasteel would cover it easy enough. It was only a cargo hold at the end of the day. She shrugged, looking around lightly.

She strolled back to the main hold, darting down the port side corridor. She nodded, glad that the corridor had replaced the secondary boarding ramp. There was a small Circuitry Room around the first corner, across the corridor from the ceiling hatch. She had noticed the room from the main hold, sighing. Inside was a mess of fried wires and broken switches. Sighing, she stepped from the room, closing the door. She turned another corner on the corridor, eyeing two rooms opposite each other. One was much the same as the last, a larger Circuitry Room with fried wires and broken switches and snapped leavers. The one opposite was the crew quarters.

She allowed Sparky to lead the way, following the small droid. She allowed her eyes to drift, broken bunk beds scattering the floor. The beds in the wall seemed alright, no bedding though. She slid onto one of the wall beds, sitting. There was a broken astromech charger in the corner, Sparky instantly checking it out.

She allowed Sparky to leave the room, following lightly. Still got more ship to explore.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

She stepped down the corridor, following it with interest. Certain bits had holes in the walls, others were quite clear. She nodded, following Sparky across into the engineering bay. The worst of the damage was here. Rusty pipes, rusty wires and holes in the walls and floors. Bits of engine were missing, leaving her to sigh even more. The hyperdrive seemed damaged, Alicia just glad it was there. She nodded lightly, pulling open a hatch in the floor. Underneath was a perfect, near brand new escape pod. She remembered the junkyard owner mentioning that to her. He had fitted a brand new escape pod.

She closed the hatch, stepping from the bay. She followed the corridor back around to the entrance ramp, sighing when she saw the gap in the floor. Slowly she slid across the wall, toes narrowly on the edge of the gap. Once over she stepped back, grabbing Sparky and helping him finish his trip across. Up ahead was the Cockpit Access Corridor, the bit of the ship she was most looking forward to visiting. It was probably going to be the bit of the ship where most of the problems lay.

She moved slowly, stepping down the access corridor. The cockpit door was already open, the power turned off. The power turned off meant that the mechanical pistons powering the doors couldn't close said doors. She sighed lightly, stepping into the cockpit. The first thing her fingers came into contact with was a chair, one of the four. She spun it aside and out the way, stepping forward. She felt a switch brush across her head, hanging down by a very loose wire. Some buttons from above and the sides were hanging out by wires and a few buttons on the main board were doing the same thing.

She felt her fingers dance across the main board, the cold metal numbing her fingers. Her mind knew where to find the main power button, and she felt her fingers touch it, pushing it in. She heard the ship power up slightly before loosing the power. Clearly some major circuit was broken, she actually guessed something like that would be the case. She stepped back, leaving the ship in much the same way she entered.

She needed to get this ship airborne.

She needed to get some wiring done.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

She reached down, grabbing the crate of wires and tools she had left outside. Lifting them, she nodded to Sparky as she allowed herself to stroll back up the boarding ramp. She wanted to tackle the broken smuggling hatch first, she didn't want to fall down again, it was embarrassing the first time, with any hope their wouldn't be a second. She chuckled, placing the crate next to the hole. She sat, sliding down into the hole, backing up lightly. She grabbed a hinge, a drill and two screws from the crate, placing them to the side.

Grabbing at the hatch, she lifted it. Holding up into place she reached to her left, grabbing hold of the drill. She lay back, feet holding the hatch into place as she positioned the hinge and the first screw with her right hand. With her left she slid it onto the drill, sliding the drill onto the screw. She quickly drilled the screw up into the thick metal, doing the same with the next screw. Moving her feet, she nodded. The catch was holding, and she nodded as she pushed the hatch upwards.

She climbed from the secret compartment, kicking the hatch closed. The screws didn't show, which was a good thing. She nodded, glad she had finally fixed the first issue. Placing the drill in the crate she moved south, towards the Circuitry Bay. She moved slowly until reaching the door, grabbing hold of the handle. Pulling the door open she stepped inside, placing the crate down next to her. She reached into her crate, grabbing hold of some loose wires.

She was going to patch the wires, it would be an easy way to get the ship working. The wires still worked, they just had gaps. By using wires to patch the gaps the power would flow, allowing the ship to regain power. Night was approaching fast, the light within the ship would be gone, thus the power flowing around the ship needed to happen soon. She grabbed a basic soldering iron and some solder, connecting the wire into the first gap.

Placing the iron down, she sidestepped. She had just spotted a loose wire that needed to be replugged. Grabbing hold of the wire, she twisted it back into the main circuit board, adding a slight amount of solder to hold it in place. Grabbing some more loose wire she patched even more gaps until she was sure all the wire in the room was patched. Then she grabbed hold of some basic cable ties, using them to bunch all the wires together. The wires that controlled the lights were in one bunch, then the wires that controlled something else. Eventually there were nice neat bunches of wires around the room, leaving space to actually walk. She screwed the main circuit board up onto the wall out the way, nodding at her handiwork.

She moved across to the next Circuitry Bay. It was much the same thing, solder some spare wire to patch gaps in the main wire. It took time, even resulted in her burning herself. Lucky for her Sparky was on hand, using her grabbing tool to get a bowl of cold water from somewhere. She held her hand there for a moment before drying it and continuing her work. Eventually she did the same thing, cable ties. She bunched all the wires together, nodding again at her handiwork.

She knew that their was still plenty of broken wires that needed patching, but she hoped she'd done enough to get the lights working. She moved back to the cockpit, tracing the walls with her fingers for no apparent reason. She slid into the cockpit, reaching over one of the main pilot chairs. She felt her fingers instinctively go to the main power button, pressing it in. She heard the whirl of the electricity around the ship, watching as the shattered lights in the cockpit lit up. They didn't provide much light because of how broken they were, but they provided enough.

She strolled back out to the main corridor, watching as the lights flickered. They were working, they just needed new bulbs fitting. She was happy however, she got the lights to work. She just had to finish patching up the rest of the wiring before getting some durasteel dropped off so she could patch up the holes.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

She felt her fingers lace around the soldering iron as she entered into the forward hold. She needed to clean up the wiring before using two sheets of durasteel to cover the hole. One sheet either side, that would work fine, she hoped anyway. Nodding to herself, she put the crate down, grabbing out a long bit of wire. Moving her hands slowly, she gripped the solder in her pocket. It took some navigational skills, steady hands. Tying the end of cable into place, using the solder to hold the other side into place. Grabbing and untying the other side, soldering it into place.

She moved her hands down, grabbing a smaller strip of wire for a smaller job. She fitted it slowly, taking her time. The new engine she had ordered before the job had started was outside. She had a plan on how to get it fit, she just wasn't sure if it was the best plan. She fitted another wire into place, using the solder to hold it. Once she was sure that she'd managed to patch up all the wires she nodded, sliding back.

She'd lost sight of Sparky earlier, not quite sure where he'd vanished to. She stepped from the forward hold out into the loading room, Sparky in the corner plugged into the R4 compatible panel. He was moving the crane, being helpful for a change. She nodded to him, strolling across to the freight door control. Pressing the green button she nodded, noting how the LED's were working around them. Some of the wiring she'd done had clearly been a good thing.

She chuckled as the door hit the ground, Sparky sending the crane down it. At the bottom lay the engine crates, brand new. The crane latched around them thanks to the teamwork between Sparky and Alicia. Eventually the dream team managed to get the engine part crates up into the ship. She closed the door, opening the first of the crates. Sparky sent out his tow rope, watching as she tied it around some of the crates.

She picked a crate up while Sparky dragged the rest. She hadn't said much during this, she didn't really need to. She was thinking through a list of people she knew, who would make the best co-pilot for her adventures. She needed someone who was up to smuggling as well as fighting for the alliance. She wasn't sure who'd make the best one to be honest.

Wasn't sure at all.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

She allowed Sparky to enter the engine room first, eyes drifting around. She hadn't realized how busy her droid had been, using his inbuilt welder to get some durasteel that had arrived a few minutes prior and weld it into place on the holes. From the inside it didn't look the neatest, but she knew Sparky's thinking. Weld it on the inside so it remained smooth on the outside. It was a smart idea and she patted her best friend's head lightly, nodding.

They piled all the crates in a corner, looking at the engine half that was already there. It appeared to work, and thus she decided she didn't want to take it out if she could help it. The important bits were there, it was just a case of finishing it. She chuckled lightly, grabbing a chrome pipe from one of the crates. She lightly strolled over to the engine, sliding the pipe onto one of the holes a pipe was required.

She nodded, quite happy it fit. Sparky rolled over, welding the pipe into place. Both of them got working, fitting pipes and gears where they were needed, fitting wires in the places they were needed. It took hours, both of them covered in oil and water. Both of them came out smiling however, happy that they had finished the job. She chuckled, throwing the empty crates into the number three hold. Extra storage was always a good thing.

She nodded to herself, strolling back into the cockpit. She needed to set to work on the buttons. Chuckling lightly she grabbed hold of the first loose button, pushing it back into place, using her drill and some screws to hold it. For those that couldn't be screwed in she used some solder and glue mixed wth the heat from the soldering iron. It was a technique she'd tried before that formed something really strong so she figured it was time to try it again.

Once she was sure all the buttons were fitted, she continued working. She started sanding off the rust, a job that had taken even more time. She was almost glad she'd brought her sleeping bag because she had to claim the crew quarters half way through to finally get some sleep. Once she'd slept the work seemed to just speed. Just chatting and playing around with Sparky.

Eventually she had a metal gray ship. Ready for painting and refurnishing.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

The hardest job would be painting and furnishing, so she was leaving them until last. She had a gun to rebuild first. The top gun seemed to have done alright, it wasn't damaged too bad anyway. That would just require some new glass. She walked down the Quad Laser Access Tube, slowly making sure that the mental checklist in her mind had everything checked off. She was sure the only thing left to do was fit this then paint and furnish.
She nodded, climbing down the ladder to the lower gun. She was glad she had placed everything where she would need it before starting. Sliding into the seat she reached to the crate she had placed there, grabbing out a wrench. The turning of the chair was stiff, but she guessed that was due to an overtightened bolt somewhere. She was happy to say she was right, a quick twist of the bolt with the wrench and the chair and thus gun moved like it was meant to.

She climbed out of the broken glass hole, grabbing some of the precut glass from the crate. It fit well, and thanks to the fact these ships had little slits it didn't move either. Airtight, perfect. She chuckled, grabbing a sheet of durasteel to fix the gun. She placed the durasteel sheet over one of the functioning barrels, using a hammer to shape it into the shape of the barrel. She slid into the hole, Sparky showing up and welding it into place. She patted his dome lightly, nodding. He was a useful droid, always where you need him.

She nodded lightly, knowing full well the hardest bit was yet to come.