Private Engines and Old Ghosts

[Lily Rhodes]

The Star Port on Dressel was hardly what Lily would call bustling, but it still had a steady flow of off-worlders and traders passing through. In comparison to the last few weeks, the change of pace was more than a welcome reprieve.

She had planned on making her way back to Jaibrek in the Firefist to visit Velok, but the flickering power surges had forced her to ground sooner than she’d like. She’d pulled half the engine room apart, cursing the entire time trying to locate the bad coupling, before she’d found the panel underneath the ship that had been blown away in one scrap or another…maybe it was the evacuation of Moorja?

She couldn’t remember.

Some haggling with the locals for replacement couplings and a freshly machined panel that cost far more than she had wanted, now all she had to had was fit the damn things. Simple right?

Lily adjusted the angle of the hydro spanner trying to get a better grip when the circuit shorted, the jolt of electricity snapping up her arm. She withdrew her hand sharply, dropping the spanner, the ache setting deep in her shoulder as a stream of curses rolled off her tongue. She swung a frustrated kick at the toolbox at her feet which did nothing but add insult to injury.

She heaved a frustrated sigh dropping to the floor cross legged, resting her elbows on her knees and digging the heels of her palms into her eyes. She was exhausted, she was angry and above all she just wanted something to go right for a change.

“Just one fething day…” she muttered to herself. “That's all I’m asking for.”

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

The irony of another friend of Velok of Toola being on this port was lost on them both as Empyrean wandered through the docking area, oily jumpsuit masking a body made for war. He was greasy, he carried a beaten up set of tools he stole at the last place he docked, and he had more that a few cuts on his knuckles from prying too hard on a stuck bolt. He hadn't missed being a mechanic, but there was a joy in applying his engineering skills on things more managable. He did, afterall, design the greatest starship in the galaxy - the Mors Mon.​

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What was a few hyperdrive repairs to that? Surprisingly, harder than he cared to admit. Half of the galaxy used outdated equipment with no replacement parts within three sectors. Instead, he was forced to custom make half the things he used to repair stuff, and while he didn't care about the profit margins considering his vast hidden network of wealth, it was cutting it a bit too close to not be annoyed. Afterall, he promised himself he wouldn't dip into his rainy day fund, so all the credits he had for the nights meal were in his pocket... If only he could get another quick job, he might eat steak tonight.​

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He heard a sling of curses within the port he passed by, forcing him to come to a stop and reverse his steps to glance in. Lily Rhodes sat on the ground, obviously at her wits end. Empyrean didn't know who this was, nor did he all together care that much - but a job was a job.​

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"Need some help?", he said with a grease smudged grin.​

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"I'm still taking jobs tonight if you got a few creds."​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

Lily straightened at the voice, lifting her her head from her hands and blinking away the tiny stars she'd pressed into her vision as her eyes flciked over grease stained overalls and a toolbox that had seen better days. Suspicion made her look for finer details, not because he offered her any reason to suspect his offer wasn't genuine but because life made her wary. Grease was set in the grain of his hands, cuts decorating his knuckles.

She heaved a sigh looking up at the mess about her before getting to her feet. She'd already spent a small fortune just getting the parts, or at least a fortune by the standards of someone used to living from one job to the next, what was a few more.

"Please, otherwise I'm never getting off this rock."

That wasn't entirely true, she could probably limp the Pilgrim's Rest to another star port, maybe call a helping hand from someone, but the idea of putting up with another day of flickering lights and unstable shields filled her with dread.

"It's the power couplings, I managed to get replacements or at least as good as you can get for replacements this far from the core but I can't get them to fit and I'm sure there's a limit to how many times I can get shocked."

She managed a small smile that did nothing to hide the tiredness she felt as she ran a hand through her hair.

Darth Empyrean

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Power couplings were a tedious affair, and not Empyrean's favorite task, but she shrugged and kneeled down to inspect the working area. Some scratches in the surface finish, some deep enough to form grooves, showed this ship wasn't a stranger to sticky situations. He scratched at his clean shaven face and considered for a moment the best approach, but eventually gave up thinking of the easiest solution and decided to do it the more straightforward way.​

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"I could probably get you up and running in a few hours.", he eventually said.​

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"No parts, just labor... Probably run you about 300 creds. Not cheap, but an emergency repair requires emergency funds. We got a deal?", he said with a grin, reaching a hand out to shake her own.​

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Lily Rhodes​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

Lily folded her arms over her chest, watching him inspect the mess an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. If it was simple, he would have a solution pretty quick, but the time he was taking did not fill her with any kind of joy. He rose, scratching his chin and leaving another trail of grease stains on his skin and opened his mouth.

Lily went pale.

"Three hundred?" she breathed.

Her eyes flicked to the workspace, then out towards the star port. That would wipe her clean, the last of the money she'd scored with Vess, the funds she'd pulled from her accounts had dried up months ago. She'd be living from one job to the next, back to where she was before...well...everything. And if she didn't take the deal?

"Shit." she shook her head, finally looking back at him, gaze flicking down to his hand. "I'd say that's daylight robbery but you can't even lift that unless you're brushing shoulders with rich pricks on Canto Bight." She chewed the inside of her cheek as she weighed up her options.

"That price gonna come down if I say it doesn't need to be done that fast?"

Dressel was bound to have a job somewhere, the underground existed on every planet, it was just a matter of finding them and getting a foot in the door. Not that there was a door in existence Lily hadn't been able to get through.

Darth Empyrean