First Reply Dead in the Water

[Rayne Lo'to]

Dead in the Water
Outer Rim
Tags: Open (First Reply. DM for further requests.)

The lights were beginning to flicker now, finally shifting into red. The backup generator of the Sunbeam had gone into effect. The YV-929 armed freighter had been running out of power for some time now. Rayne had been nursing it to the nearest planet at sub-light speed, but her luck had finally run out. The cockpit had gone almost completely dark, with only the light of the starry galactic sky and the faint glow of the backup generator giving some form of vision. In a fit of frustration, the outcast struck her navicomputer, an action she instantly regretted. Her hand was, as it has always been, made of flesh, which did not enjoy being thrown into durasteel. Rayne yipped in pain, pressing her knuckles ever so slightly between her lips. This wasn't getting her anywhere.

The answer was obvious, right? Just activate the ships distress beacon and wait for aid. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. Any ruffian could wind up hearing the distress call. Pirates, Sith, Imperial spies... Slavers no doubt. That wasn't even mentioning her recent raids against Hutt cartel spice runners. There was no doubt in her mind that her ship was now on a list. All of these factors combined kept her petrified in her seat, her arms wrapped around her cradled legs. Rayne knew that she couldn't just sit here. It was either take the risk for survival or starve to death out here. No in between. For a moment, the twi'lek considered dying as a viable option given the other outcomes, but the thought of starving to death quickly ruled that out. It hurt to be hungry, and Rayne didn't exactly have it in her to pull a blaster on herself. Finally, she stood, leaning up to the comms of her vessel and reaching for the distress beacon. Her finger hovered over the dial to execute it, ever hesitant.

"Well, I'm fethed anyways," she reasoned with a sigh.

Finally, Rayne's fingers made contact with the console. Before long, the beacon had flared to life. She was dead in the water, and now the entire galaxy was about to know. That terrified her.

 

[Kole Eckttor]

The grizzled man was awoken from his nap by a small pinging sound emitting from his control panel.

Letting out a muffled yawn, Kole rubbed his eyes as he slowly woke up. Had he reached Svivren that quickly? What was assumed to be a much shorter journey then expected turned out to be a viewport full of hyperspace. The white and blue swirl still trailed on. Oh well, he wasn't in a rush to get there anyways. Leaning forward, the man examined the control panel, trying to locate the source of the noise. After a few seconds Kole saw the little red light flashing on and off. Lifting up his reading glasses, he examined the faded writing above the bulb: distress beacon.

"What do we have here?"

Looks like someone was stranded out in realspace. These days you had to be careful though. Pirates were using the distress beacon technique more recently to attract gullible travelers like himself. Even though Kole kept this in mind, there was a gut feeling he had to check this one out. Reaching for a nearby lever, the man slowly dropped the Corellian Sunset out of hyperspace. Leaving enough distance between himself and the unknown vessel, he gazed out of the viewport to quickly identify what laid there.

His immediate observation told him it was a lone freighter, either out of power or pretending to be. Flicking on his transmitter, Kole tried to send a message out to the stranded vessel.

"This is the Corellian Sunset, and we received your distress signal. What seems to be the problem?"

Rayne Lo'to ​

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Outer Rim
Tags: Kole Eckttor

"This is the Corellian Sunset, and we received your distress signal. What seems to be the problem?"

It had been a few hours now. The Sunbeam's oxygen was fine, but it was starting to get pretty cold in the cockpit. Rayne had wrapped herself in a tattered blanket and dozed off when the message came in over her open comms, bringing her out of her slumber. Rayne, now intently focused, listened to the incoming message, peering out at a frigate which had just arrived. The vessel was... certainly strange looking, but no markings indicated that it was a pirate vessel or associated with the Hutt Cartel. She frowned, her breath escaping visibly into the fridge air before she moved to respond.

<Th-this is the Sunbeam. S-started l-losing power a ways back. M-my backup generator and life support have kicked in, b-but everything else is dead.>

The young pilot took a minute to steady her breath. It was really cold now. Her chattering teeth were making it hard to speak without stuttering. Still, she had to get out her information. The frigate seemed to be friendly, so keeping everything to her chest would get her nowhere.

<I-If you could give me a jump to r-restart my battery, th-that would be fething f-fantastic. I j-just need enough power to make it-t to the nearest inhabited world.>

And hopefully that didn't include boarding her vessel and harvesting her organs. That would blow.

 

[Kole Eckttor]

Kole waited patiently for a reply to come through.

When the comms finally kicked back on, the voice of a young girl was transmitted through. Great, another freshy pilot that has yet to figure out the distance of their backup generator. Get stranded out in the dead of space a few times, and you come to learn really quick what that distance actually is. Only recalling those memories for a few seconds, the old man shot back a reply to the floating vessel.

"Hear you loud and clear Sunbeam. If everything else is dead for you, then your auto-couplers won't connect if I were to restart the battery."

The Corellian Sunset was much too big to try and manually guide in and dock to the girl's vessel. Worst case scenario is that the two ships would collide, sending the Sunbeam into a violent spin. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Only one idea came to mind, but he wasn't sure if they would agree.

"If you are willing, I could bring you into my hangar and make the repairs there."

He had been across the galaxy and back enough times to know that this pilot might not accept his offer. Rarely do you find a kind traveler that goes out of their way to help a random citizen. For all she knew, Kole's ship could be scrappers, criminals, or even pirates. But hey, if he could offer a helping hand to a stranded traveler, then he was going to do it. Besides, it was the right thing to do.

Rayne Lo'to ​

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Outer Rim
Tags: Kole Eckttor

Rayne hesitated for a moment. Bring her in? That was a trap. Surely. Right? Then again, what other choice was there? It was either take the risk or die in the vacuum of space. The choice was pretty much already made for her at that point. After a moment of hesitation, she opened up the comm channel again.

<F-fine. Th-that works. I... I'd appreciate the repairs.>

Well, this was either the best or worst decision she had ever made in her life. One was the continuation of living. The other was, for all intensive purposes, the opposite of that.

Dying would fething suck.