Private East Bound and Down

[Tansu Treicolt]

KUAT | KUAT DRIVEYARDS
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"Wowee," She whistled, turning on her heel to walk backward just to take it all in. Her hand flattened the top of her hat against her head to keep it from falling when she titled her chin up."Ain't this somethin'.."

They followed the signage from the landing dock to reception, Tansu chattering excitedly the entire time. Especially when they passed the manufacturing wing. A massive ring encircling the lush, blue-green planet below, the Drive Yards held the sort of grandeur that demanded appreciation. Entire starships hung suspended mid-construction, their skeletal frames jutting out into space while zero-g welding crews crawled along the struts like tiny little ants. Massive gantries carried whole freighter hulls from one arm of the station to the next, the movement almost balletic despite the scale.

Inside the client wing, the air smelled of sterile sealant and recycled coolants, tinged with the something floral to offset the industrialness of everything else. Walkways were polished transparisteel. Displays floated mid-air, projecting 3D rotational renders of custom models with names like Sunveil-Class, Dynast Havoc Runner, or the understated but terrifyingly fast Vakkar Ghost.

"Y'know, poor planning on your part bringing me to a place where you're in competition for prettiest thing to look at, cowboy."

Private buyers were whisked through sleek corridors by concierge droids with flawless diction and built-in datapads. Republic senators, defense contractors, royal families—all walked the same halls, their entourages quietly competing over specs, speed, and exclusivity. The kind of people that chose Kuat Driveyards for discretion on top of precision. Tansu understood that's why they were here. The type of shipyards in her price bracket were dustier and more prone to haggling. Here, she imagined the negotiations only got heated around the colour of the interior's leather or number of cupholders.

Try as she might, there was no way in the galaxy she'd look like she was meant to be here.

She stopped just shy of the pristine check-in console, eyes flicking over the too-white counters and the concierge droid that looked like it'd short-circuit if anyone tracked dirt in. Talsin, on the other hand, looked like he belonged here. Hair neat. Collar crisp. That lazy, charming grin already half-formed.

"I can't believe you're thinking this is a good idea." She murmured, brushing against his arm as a test for what amount of outward affection was acceptable here. "Everythin' in this place looks like it would be offended to be scratched."

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

Tansu Treicolt

Posture impeccable, expression stately, there was not even a hint that suggested Talsin wasn't exactly where he belonged. The sleek corridors and perfectly crisp desks didn't faze him at all. In fact, it put him more at ease, because that was how it was supposed to be. Clean, perfect, all meticulously organized for their comfort and pleasure.

It was just the little things that hinted at more. The way he only had eyes for her in the moment. The way he leaned towards her, subtly, wanting to bask in her joy. The way he tried to suppress a smile but the corners of it failed to be pushed down into neutrality.

"Oh, you know me, darlin', I never mind competition. It just makes me shine more." In the past the sudden break in his accent to mimic hers and the ego brushing would have infuriated her. Now she knew... it was his way to poke fun at himself while also breaching etiquette that had been stomped into him from a very young age.

A connection, showing he cared for her more than he cared about the etiquette.

He leaned into her touch, brushing her hip with his. As if to say- you do belong here... because you belong to me. "I don't care if they will be offended. I want to get you something nice. Something you want, with no reservation or limits, something that you can fly and will make you soar."

Talsin wanted to kiss her, but he couldn't. Shouldn't. Even here there were eyes of the court. The gossip... the intrigue, it could destroy her and he needed to shield her from it.

"You deserve it. I hate seeing you held back... when I know how far you can go if you weren't so restricted."

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

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"Corn Breaker nearly tore itself apart with only a few extra folks on it." Tansu murmured, sounding sad. "The repairs alone are gonna.." She ran her hands over her face, starting to sound faraway.

It felt like betrayal to her sister to share the disconnect they were experiencing, but Tansu itched to be an open book. She needed Talsin to know everything. To know exactly what he was in for. After years of wanting and poor communication before the final payoff, she wanted no flaw or withholding in their relationship now.

"I think.." she closed her eyes ".. well, maybe not think 'zactly, but I can't help but wonder if Talin had told me about her vision earlier, if we coulda had a ship more equipped to help. We were packed to the gills and barely made it out alive."

That part had been hard to talk about. The almost of it all. The almost being able to fully help, but only getting a handful of folks off the dread world. The almost being heroes.

Eagerly she'd shared the exploits of her first TIE experience in the atmosphere of Cademimu V. A whole squadron of them, out of nowhere! And she and Talin had flown their rickety, stitched together with the parts she'd pilfered of old Dark Empire tech, Barloz-class freighter and managed to not only survive, but help with the evacuation of the populace getting glassed. They didn't save them all. Hardly even a fraction. And it ate at her.

"We need somethin' that'll handle bette what the galaxy's threats keep throwin' out. 'Specially if we have any hope of doin' some real good out there.

What was one of your pa's quotes? A fool's a man who starts a job with a bad tool?" A wry grin. "My mama ain't raise no fools."

She did, actually. At least two of them.

A gentle chime, followed by a synthetic voice just too polite to be real, pinged from the other side of the sterile desk: Good afternoon. Mr. Lota. Your appointment for the Sovereign Series demonstration is ready. Right this way, please.

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

Talsin didn't like the danger that Tansu put herself in on the regular, but he'd be the biggest hypocrite to voice it. If there was anyone who looked suicidal from the outside it was him. Throwing himself into one fighter after another. Who had it been that infiltrated Empress Teta when the Dark Empire still reigned while a death mark had been put on his name solely because of who his family is?

Exactly.

So Tal kept quiet about his worries. Somehow Tansu always felt it regardless though.

"Maybe two ships then?" Offered with a little knowing smirk. "One that is for you, for pleasure, for flying as fast as you want. And then one that is a bit... tougher. That can help you at your missions?"

She'd probably hate the idea. It had taken a while before she agreed to him buying her ONE ship. But he had to try regardless. If Tal could get her a moving fortress for her missions, he'd feel much better about her being out there, risking life and limb.

"A man is only as good as the tool he chooses for the job at hand." Talsin quoted his father with that same posh accent. "But yes, basically what you said, my father always enjoyed being as wordy as possible." Laughing softly at the memory. It was still hurt, but the good kind of hurt. He was no longer crippled by grief every time he thought about them.

That was progress, he was told.

"Thank you." His hip brushing Tan's again. "Now, I want you to ignore the price tag. Pretend that doesn't exist. I only want you to look at the ships themselves and what they have to offer, okay?"

They'd step on through into the demonstration room. It had a holo-bridge that could project a solid-state projection. It let you feel the exterior of the ship as if you were right next to it. You could step inside the various rooms. It was very slick and sleek. "If you like any of them in particular, I am sure we could take a real one for a spin. Am I, right?"

That one to the synthetic representative.

"Too true, sir, the Duke Lota has full access to our facilities. Your family has always been good clientele, anything to make the process better for you."

Tansu Treicolt

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

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"Oh no, I couldn't possibly. I won't. We agreed on something for safety and help. I can't just have you fundin' joyrides, Tal. That feels all kinds of wrong." There wasn't a chance in the galaxy she'd say anything else. She already felt dirty taking his money in any shape or form.

She gave him a soft smile, but wanted to hold his hand. Talking about his parents hadn't been in the past tense when the first knew each other. Now, through the years, that changed. He wore dukedom well, but there always seemed a sadness at the edge of his eyes that cut her heart up to shreds. When he looked at her, she mouthed a voiceless I love you at him.

"Oh," inhale "wow" exhale of awe. One step after another, she slowed her typical fast saunter and let the experience take over. Without intention, her hand drifted to the projection and felt herself awed by the reality of it. But if she really wanted to, she could shove her arm through the silhouette and the outside would shimmer to reveal the construction within. "Incredible. This whole frame's reinforced durasteel all jagged lines and low profile; barely shows up on scanners and these plates? Heat-dispersing composite layered with KDY's own anti-ping finish. You could cook a steak on the hull and no one'd catch a heat sig and—" but didn't finish. Her eyes wandered instead to the next model and she made a trilling noise of excitement, quickly darting to the other projection. She crouched beside the exhaust. "These sublights? Ain't your standard fare—they're vector-thrust modulated with plasma-dampened nozzles. Real quiet-like. You could slip past an Alliance patrol or creep up on a Hutt moon without trippin' a whisper sensor."

And that one was nice, but then there was a dual-engine that caught her eye and she ran to.

"Stars! Triple-axis thrust-vectoring.And these? Look at the stabilizer fins—retractable, carbon-forged, responsive to atmospheric drag in real time."

Like a kid in a candy shop, she was entirely overwhelmed and overjoyed. She grabbed at Talsin's hand, too eager to remember protocol, and into the cockpit of the projection.

"And that's a state of the art avionics suite. Custom-calibrated to the microsecond. If you sneeze, this bird'll already know which way you're about to turn."

Bright eyed she sighed happily and feigned flopping into the pilot's seat. "I love this. This is crazy. Let's try it. Can we try it? The little bot said we can try it right?"

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Talsin Lota
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[Talsin Lota]

They ended up trying a lot.

Lots of ships, shuttles, fighters too. Tansu Treicolt at first tried to decline, being brave and a formidable independent woman who did NOT need this sort of thing. But the first time she sat herself down in one of those state-of-the-art cockpits and was told she could do whatever she wanted as long as she didn't get anyone killed something shifted in her.

Like a horse being let out of the winter barn and be allowed to dance in the grass.

Tal might not be a farm boy, but he knew horses from his time in the rural estates.

They finally ended up settling on one particular ship that really brought a smile out of her. He tried to negotiate an additional fighter, but Tansu was firm about it. He compromised by agreeing he wouldn't buy it for her until at least she got her next birthday. That hardly mollified her, but she seemed so eager to go and sit in her new ship she let it go.

For now anyway.

Talsin was just happy enough she let him buy one. For now. She seemed full of joy, bright, that was how he wanted to see her. But he noticed it around the edges. She was tense at moments, especially when she wanted to touch him and reminded herself they were in semi-public.

It cut him emotionally. But how else could he protect her?