Do you hear the droids singing? (Dev)

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson moved through the thick mounds of sand that covered the landscape of Jakku. It wasn't a rare occasion to see her here, with work being some what slow she needed to do some salvaging to make some credits so she could eat. You could only lie, steal and cheat your way to food so many times till you start running into the same people. Pulling up a pair of goggles she spat out the brush of sand that had kicked up as she wandered. A small blaster attached to her leg and a zip line hooked to the burnt up edge of a super star destroyer, she sighed softly.

"I was never a fan of sand, but junk places like Jakku usually have the best waste that people want but don't know they want." She pulled her goggles down and looked at her partner for this little mission to get some parts that the old Empires decided was trash.

"Guess what they say is true, another man's trash is Allyson's meal ticket." Smirking, she started her way down the gutted hole of the SSD.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Allyson Locke"]

Every so often the green woman would halt in her tracks to write something down in a little note book. Steady intervals. Her expression furrowed in concentration as she took in the sight. Whereas Allyson was here to scavenge ancient things to earn a quick buck, she was here for more scientific pursuits. A whole dang Super Star Destroyer, pre-Gulag was just sitting here with its face planted into the dusty surface of Jakku and nobody gave a shet.

It boggled her mind.

For some reason she had assumed that every nation - especially the One Sith - would be having scientists here. Trying to scavenge something of value out of the debris. Because there was always something of value, even if people these days didn't want to acknowledge that.

"Mmhmmmm." she murmured as she drew a rough sketch of this angle, before putting her notebook back in her pocket and continuing down the descend.

"So you do this often? Climb into a deep, deep pit of a Super Star Destroyer to... pay a meal?"

Fascinating and a little bit exciting.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Hanging there for a moment on the cable, Allyson looked curiously at the green woman. Unlikely pair, but that's how Allyson worked. People she probably shouldn't be with or people that she wouldn't have hung out with back on Corellia seemed to be the types she enjoyed being with the most. Specifically non-humans or near humans. Her best friend was a Twi'lek and now her partner was something else - something green and smelled similar to broccoli.

"Uh, few times a month I guess. I mean I can only do so much with smuggling jobs, the One Sith and the Republic have been putting massive pressure on the hyperlanes with their stupid wars" The cable spun slightly as a dry breeze blew heat into their faces. Allyson pulled up a scarf from around her neck and placed it over her mouth.

"No one wants the stuff out here, its all junk so we find parts that can be reused, shine em up a bit and hope for the best. The turd that looks things over is a kark head, but a smile usually wins him over...unless he hasn't eaten" Frowning under the scarf, she started to repel down the side of the ship's inside. "Come on [member="Cerita Sarova"] this ol thing isn't going to bite - she doesn't take anymore"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Allyson Locke"]

Cerita smirked at that and nodded, before realizing that she was all alone with her companion already rappelling down into the darkness of the pit. She took one more look at the area, it was really beautiful - even though most of it was sand, grime and a whole lotta desert, but that didn't make it any less interesting for her. But that didn't mean a lot, she supposed. Cerita was the kind of person who could find something interesting about a single grain of rice.

A shrug, before she put away the pencil too and followed Allyson into the darkness that beckoned.

"Hey, wait up!" she'd shout down as she sped up.

They had met a few weeks ago. Cantina in the Outer Rim. A seedy place all in all, but [member="Dissero"] had said it best. You learned the most about the Galaxy by spending at least some time in the seediest places.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Continuing down Allyson surveyed the landscape of the ship. It had been picked apart for the past years, which was to be expected. Easier access the more it was picked apart which meant they needed to go deeper. Stopping for a moment, the young mechanic looked around taking in the sight of the massive ship. She could only imagine what it was like while in its prime - did it once house names that were etched in the minds of every civilian of the galaxy? A smile spread across her face as she did an old Empire salute and march in place while she spun downward slowly.

Continuing farther down she figured the ship took a nose dive into the sands of the junkyard planet. Which meant all the good stuff was at the far bottom and would be sand logged. The thought of using small brushes to pull sand from nav computers put a sour look on Allyson's face. Looking up, she noticed her partner making her way down the same route. The woman seemed all sciencey similar to the egg heads she went to university with - before she dropped out from boredom. The thought of actually being out in space on a ship was far more interesting that sitting a desk talking to men who dreamed far too big for their wallets, designing ships to just sit in hangers.

Nah, Allyson wanted to be on the ships, to explore. Finally getting to the ground or where the sand had created a make shift flooring, she remained hooked to the cord and locked it. If the sand decided to give out, she would be okay and survive. Pulling the scarf down Allyson surveyed what looked like to be the hallways towards the bridge. "These things are so cool, Force, imagine what it would have been like to work on one of these things?" Moving closer to a small panel, she ripped it open checking out the wires and parts that lay inside. Pressing a hand to the side of the ship, she closed her eyes and focused on her mechu deru. She knew the ship was dead, but sometimes life remained in the old husks. "I just wish she would talk to me." [member="Cerita Sarova"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Allyson Locke"]

"Probably boring." the green woman was as always very quick with bursting her companion's bubble. It was starting to become a recurring trend with them - Allyson got excited over something... and Cerita was right on time to deliver a jab that annihilated the bubble immediately. Wasn't out of malice or anything. It was just the way she was. All scientific, punctual and making sure everything was supported by factual evidence.

"Ship this size? Probably had hundreds of thousands of people working on it. Sub-contracters and the like. So it isn't likely you would have been in charge of more than..."

She took a wide look, before settling on a bulkhead over their heads. Cerita pointed to it.

"To more than that."

After which she looked back at Allyson and realized what she was doing... again.

"Uh... sorry. I mean, very exciting, yeah!"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson turned her head and stared at [member="Cerita Sarova"] . The woman was so good at sucking the fun out of everything. As she spoke, Allyson just stared and waited for the inevitable apology. It always came especially once she figured out that she was fun sucking everything. Looking back towards the panel after the apology was delivered, Allyson mumbled something under her breath about Cerita needing to get laid or pollinate or something along those lines. Staring at the panel she reached in and started to pat her hand around the probes and cylinders that were sticking out.

"From what I gathered, there's a nav computer still functioning that you could probably get into - you can splice yeah?" If she didn't Allyson knew how, but she would rather continue to stick her hands in panels and gut the ship for her valuable parts and energy cells. Sticking the tip of her tongue out of her mouth barely, she bit down as she reached in till her entire arm was inside the panel. "Didn't realize these were so deep." Chuckling softly, "Oh bby I've only been elbow deep in you one time." Finger tips found what she was looking for and she started to pull.

In the back of her mind there was a low beeping noise that started to act up only growing stronger as she pulled the cell from its hole. "Do you hear that beeping?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Allyson Locke"]

She tried a smile, before coughing awkwardly and looking around the room they were in now. After the mention of a nav computer was made Cerita once again found her rhythm back - something to explore! Something to find, figure out and learn! Now that was what she was talking about. The green girl started hunting for a display, a screen or anything else that might give her a way to interface with the nav computer that should be somewhere around here.

After a few seconds of brushing away debris, she finally found a grimey screen. Rubbing it clean with her sleeve she started tinkering with it. Short-wiring things, a little pushing and prodding there, until voila.

The black screen blipped once, before green text started to appear in front of her.

"Uh... no?" Cerita would call over to Allyson. She wasn't hearing any beeps right now.

"Had your ration of water yet?"

Arid environments ran havok on humanoid respiratory system.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson put both of her feet up to the wall of the ship using the locked cord to hold her upright as she put her other hand into the panel to grab on to the piece that was being stubborn. Using her legs, she squatted and then pushed up trying to pull the part free. She did it a few times and when exhaustion started to take over she looked over at [member="Cerita Sarova"] who was busy with the nav computer. Guess she didn't need Allyson's help anyways - which meant things would get done faster. "Oh? No I haven't, but I'm pretty sure I'm all there. Must be something else." After the moments rest, she started back at trying to pull the cell from the panel. "Stubborn thing this is." Finally after a few more heave hos, Allyson swung backwards as she curled up into a little ball protecting the energy cell that seemed to come out in once piece and free from sand. The last thing she needed was to swing and drop the thing into the sand pit they were standing on.

"Yes!" Celebrating a bit too early, Allyson found herself swinging back towards the panel and the wall. In a small panic she stuck her hand out and instead of just catching herself against the wall, she blew it back with the force. She swung like a wrecking ball into the now large hole in the side of the ship. "You know, when I want to do that - it never happens. But when I just want to stop swinging I'm capable of doing bantha poop like this." Allyson caught herself on some wires and found her footing again. Giving herself some slack she started to move through the hole. The beeping noise in the back of her mind started to get louder this time actually forming some sort of message.

"Hmm so you're lost." She spoke out loud to no one in particular then turned her attention to her partner. "Hey Cerita you getting anything on that nav computer? If not start ripping it for parts...I think I'm going to try and find this beeping noise."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Allyson Locke"]

"Yeah, bits and pieces here. We will see if I can dig out something useful." Cerita mentioned over the screen. As a person who had a moderate amount of experience when it came to excavations, discoveries and exploration, the green girl knew that one of the most important things during these trips were your tools. It could be the difference between life or death... or slightly less dramatic, it could be the difference between something worthwhile or just a bunch of crap.

Which was why Cerita had brought a small datapad with her. Highly advanced stuff; taken from a Techno Union shipment. It could attach itself to virtually all kinds of systems and get readouts.

She was hoping to find something of note. Maybe a location or a route to some kind of Imperial Outpost... anything, that could be meaningful.

"Sounds good, Ally. Be careful."

That's what friends said to each other, right?

 

[Allyson Locke]

That's all that Allyson needed. The nav computer would be taken care of by [member="Cerita Sarova"] and she could venture off into the dark abyss of this ship and find what she was looking for. Moving through the ships parts she could feel the former life that the ship had. Where before she thought it was some old Empire machine, it was something else, something different. It had a vibrant life to it, strong and desire of freedom. Stopping, Allyson adjusted her goggles and realized she was personifying a downed ship. Sighing softly, she wondered if that made her weird or just meant that she understood these things a bit better than others. She had learned about the Force knowing that it ties every living thing together, but why was she able to speak to droids and ships? Wrinkling her nose, she decided not to think to hard on it.

Continuing further into the ship, she stopped and found an open panel. Taking the opportunity she carefully ripped the wires out of the panel and shoved them into her bag, along with other components she could possibly sell or use on her own ship. Once the panel was gutted clean, she walked to the edge of the sand road and looked down. It seemed there was another tunnel to fall down. Pulling at her cord, she made sure she had enough slack to move down a couple more stories. Seeing that it was enough, she repelled down the side and moved into the next corridor.

"I know I know! I'm coming as fast as I can little guy." Allyson mused at her comment, knowing her luck he's probably some huge battle droid or something.

 

[Allyson Locke]

The thoughts of a huge battle droid didn’t really bother Allyson too much. It would be nice to add a bit more security on the Coronet. The side of the ship provided a good footing for her to repel down, open spots here and there for her feet and others for her hands. Continuing down one more story she stopped and hung there for a moment. Allyson did her best to readjust herself for a second and attempt to add more slack to the cord, it seemed it wasn’t long enough or had been caught on something.

Bending at her waist, she hung there slightly like a stuffed animal in one of those crane games. Spinning slowly, she looked down and wondered how much she valued her life over the value of helping whatever it was that was speaking to her. Knowing her luck, if she chose to value the droid over her own life - it would be a trap and she would possibly be gutted like a fish by some dashing Sith Lord. Though, she highly doubted Jakku would be the place to find [member="Darth Vornskr"] .

The brunette scavenger pressed her slender index finger against the small com that was a head piece. Radioing to her partner, she started to speak - but only met static. “Stupid thing why do I even bother.” Allyson ripped off the head piece and let it fall, as she watched it she cursed internally knowing that she could have salvaged that for some credits. Deciding now that disconnecting from the cord was worth more, she reached back and unclipped herself. Falling, she reached out and grasped one of the holes and began to climb down.

Luck be a lady sometimes.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Landing feet first as she jumped the short distance to the ground, Allison looked up at the dangling cord. At least she would be able to climb up and reattach herself, which proved to be a good thing. Adjusting the jacket she was wearing, mostly to shake out whatever sand particles that had collected as she made her way down. Sand was a bother, it really annoyed the young woman always having to show up here on Jakku or Tatooine to find parts to sell off. Why was it always a desert planet that had the best graveyards for ships?

Standing there, Allyson listened for the droid beeps which had suddenly gone silent. If she had made her way down here only to find that it was her mind playing tricks on her she was going to scream. Remembering some of the advice Ember had given her during her time as his first mate, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her gifts with machines was because of the Force, which meant if she wanted to connect to the little bugger that had summoned her, she needed to focus on the Force.

Allyson decided to kneel, she had seen other Jedis doing it from time to time. She wondered if that's how you were able to connect better with the Force. Kneeling to it as if it was some sort of God that controlled everything in the galaxy. Comparing it to a God was one way of coping with it, for some of the many reasons she needed to believe that something connected everything. Meditation was never her strong suit, but it was how she was going to connect with the small droid that beeped at her.