Engines and Stuff

[Kurt Meyer]

Kalinda University
[member="Adder"]

This.

This was something he knew.

Sort of.

Engines, thrusters, everything that had to do with ships and vehicles had always fallen into his wheelhouse. It was why he had come here in the first place, why he had thought he could actually do things at Kalinda. This was the type of thing that Kurt was actually good at. He had a natural inclination for all things mechanical. It was how he and Kaile had built The Messa, how they'd upgraded The Coil.

It was a talent.

Of course talent was all but useless when you were sitting in a classroom learning about all the different kinds of science that actually went into producing engines, thrusts, and whatever the hell else made a ship go. It was that realization that had brought Kurt crashing quite low, especially because only one of his ten classes this semester was hands on learning at the engine shop Kalinda had.

The very idea of that had made Kurt miserable enough to want to quit, though a small talking to by his father had of course changed his mind.

Still, it meant he had to take the small pleasures of this new life, and part of that was being able to work in the engine shop. The man who 'taught' this class, if you could even call it that, was a grizzled old veteran from the Republic. Kurt might have actually met the man before, apparently he had spent most of his years in the service fixing up busted starfighters for the Navy. Of course the Republic had been rather large, so the likelyhood of them every having seen one another was small.

"NO! That's where the fuel cap goes you ijdit!"

Kurt grinned as he heard the man yell at another one of the students.

So far he'd earned none of the same treatment, only light praise. It was a small comfort in this new world.

 

[Adder]

There was a light knock on the door.

“Kahn?”

A couple students closest to the entrance looked up, but were shooed back to work as their instructor rushed by. His strict grimace disappeared the second he glanced back at the woman standing in the door, instantly replaced by a wide grin.

Adder was swept up in his bear hug before she could offer more than a chuckle in greeting. Resolved to pat his wide back and smile, the redhead was returned to solid ground only moments later.

“Glad to see Wilson wasn’t lying about you retiring,” the pilot said, leaning on the wall. “Didn’t wanna bother you during class but…” Adder shrugged, “little bird told me you disappear off to the pub soon after you’re done here.”

The man went scarlet, rubbing his embarrassed neck. “Kjor,” he intoned, and the redhead softened at the nickname she hadn’t heard in decades.

“My lips are sealed. Thing is, Kahn, this… I’ll be honest, I’m not just here to catch up.” Adder gestured to their surroundings. “You got a fancy new shop here, with fancy new equipment. I was wondering if you could let me work here after hours. I got a researcher clearance all set up with the board, but, y’know. They said your class, your rules.”

She paused for a moment, glancing briefly to the room of students. “That, and, uh... one other thing.”

Kahn lifted an expectant brow.

“You got any talented kids in here? I’ll be needin’ an assistant.”

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

Kurt wasn't really paying attention when Adder stepped inside, mostly because he was absorbed with the small engine that was sitting in front of him.

He had always been good at this particular thing, just checking out an engine and maximizing what it was used for. He and Kaile had managed to push The Messa to an absolute edge. In the end the ship had been so fast Jamie had almost killed him when she'd tried to pilot it. In a weird way that was a point of pride.

That wasn't even mentioning The Coil. "There."

Kurt said as she slipped the fuel rod into place, a soft glow enveloping the casing of the thruster. He grinned, and then slowly pressed the panel closed again. The Engine should work now, pretty well. Kurt rolled his chair back just slightly, looking around the room before picking up a small remote on the floor. He fiddled with it for a moment, then pressed a small red button in the center of the remote. A slight whirring noise erupted and the engine slowly came to life.

"Now..." He flicked another button. "Ah here you are."

He just needed to read the...

Suddenly the engine sparked to a hot blaze, burning to full thrust and nearly ripping itself off it's mounting. Kurt let out a panicked yell and half fumbled with the remote, almost dropping it before he managed to catch the small device and slam the red button down. A few seconds later Kurt let out a quiet chuckle, looking around the room with a shrug. "My bad."

A sigh erupted from the teacher before he answered Adder.

"Believe it or not, that idiot."

 

[Adder]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“Him? Ha.”

Adder winked at her friend, but when Kahn didn’t burst out laughing, her smile quickly faded. “Oh, for— you’re being serious?” The pilot shook her head, rubbing away at the lines of frustration on her forehead. “Fethin’ figures.”

The man simply shrugged. “All I got, Kjor. Take it or leave it. The rest of them are…” he waved a calloused hand at the sorry bunch. Someone yelped in the corner moments before black smoke began rising from his construct.

“...yeah. I gotcha, Kahn. I’ll take it, I guess. Call him over?”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

"Nah, best ya just approach him on your own. Kid don't like bein ordered around."

It was an observation that was absolutely true, and also one that conflicted wildly with Kurt's background as a former member of the Republic Navy. It was one of the reasons why he'd been dishonorably discharged, that and the officers didn't look too kindly on fraternization.

Not that it mattered much now.

His time in the Republic was over and done with, forgotten by most and really only brought up when he needed to look good in front of someone. Jamie had used it as a way to get her parents to like him, though it hadn't really worked out all that well for her mother. That woman was enough to scare the wits off of a Nexu.

The Mechanic smiled slightly, then bade Adder to move.

"Best just say hello."

 

[Adder]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“He got a cause at least?”

Kahn rolled his eyes at the retreating red mane, quickly rushing over to the alarmingly black plume of smoke rising from a nearby engine. Adder meandered between the worktables to the scruffy human.

“Hiya.” The pilot stuck out a hand. “I’m Adder. I was gonna ask if you had a minute, but I see you done fried it good…” she grinned and leaned against the edge of his bench.

“Does stuff always explode around ya, or can you actually get it to work?”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

Kurt looked up at Adder, sizing her up for a moment and then suddenly breaking out in a grin. "It usually works out fine either way."

The Courier stuck out his hand and slapped it into Adder's.

What he said wasn't untrue either. The Messa had been an absolute junker thrown together in different pieces and experiments, same story went for the Coil. Everything Kurt had ever done had been experimentation and playing around. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it ended up with an explosion. Either way he learned something.

"Kurt Meyer." He said in introduction. "Do you need something?'

The phrase held no animosity, but clearly more than a little suspicion.

 

[Adder]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“Yah.” With a squeeze, she released his hand. “Kahn says you’re least likely to set shet on fire in this class, although…” Adder glanced meaningfully to the smoking engine block on the table.

“Anyway, I’m gonna be borrowing the back of this shop. Building a special kinda ship, and I could use a hand. Kahn’s a sensible guy, shouldn’t be hard to convince him to give ya course credits for it.”

The pilot shrugged, sliding off the desk. “If you wanna help, that is.”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

He considered for a moment.

The prospect of building a new ship, something he did for a hobby, appealed to him. He and Kaile had built both The Coil and The Messa together. Before that he'd worked on building his own pod-racer with his father. Creating things like that had been one of the primary reasons Kurt had even come here, to learn to do it better.

"What kind of ship?" It couldn't be too big if this was gonna be where it was built.

The Science Building was pretty big, but it certainly wasn't big enough to fit anything larger than a starfighter. He supposed that she might want to construct some sort of escort craft, but in the end Kurt couldn't really haved guessed given that he knew next to nothing about who Adder actually was.

 

[Adder]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

With that same glint a proud parent gets in their eye when their kid makes it first across the finish line, Adder replied: “The actual most agile ship in the galaxy.”

She winked, slid off the table, and gestured for the man to follow.

“I got plans drawn up, models and sim—” she paused, glancing over her cybernetic shoulder, “actually, how far along are you in modeling class?” Her cheeks colored as it dawned on the pilot that she’d forgotten to ask what year he was.

Sithspit.

“You know what, I’ll just show ya, yeah?”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

"Modeling class?" Kurt said quietly, almost disdainfully.

He wasn't quite there yet, this was only his first semester here and he'd require many more to actually get anywhere close to modeling or designing his own ships. He had quite a bit more to go before he actually got to that point

"Yeah." Kurt said with a smile. "Better to just show me."

It wasn't that Kurt didn't understand the concept of modeling out a fighter on a computer or something, but...well the idea of starting was an entirely different thing all together. There was only so much that he could actually take in, and it would be easier if they started from a place he already knew. "Here."

He said as he got up and walked towards a terminal in the back of the class.

 

[Adder]

Adder replied with a quiet hum and followed the taller man to the back of the shop. As the terminal whirred to life, she fished a datastick from her belt and stuck it into the port on the first try.

Awyis.

With a grin, the pilot opened the files, then stepped aside so that [member="Kurt Meyer"] could take a good look.

“The idea’s to use modified power couplings tech – ya know, the stuff that keeps podracers from crashing. Or, uh… from crashing more often, haha. Anyway, power couplings to eliminate friction, then some sweet— hey, you know the Kom’rk fighter? I saw one and was like, sheeeeit, and basically knew I had to try to do that.” She took a breath, swiping to the next model that showed off some basic projected abilities through animation.

“But, y’know – better? And also a bunch of stuff from my old fighter design, advanced nav, hyperdrive, things like that.”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

"Kom'rk's aren't really fighters." Kurt mumbled as he looked at the design on the terminal.

He remembered them from the war. The Republic had many enemies at the end, and right before Kurt had been discharged from the Navy one of them had been the Mandalorians. They had been a fierce opponent, both on the air and on the ground. It was no surprise to Kurt that they had ultimately brought the death knell down on the Republic itself, though just how he felt about that was something he'd never really considered. The Courier frowned and scratched his chin.

"They're more like assault craft." Sort of like The Messa had been. "Do you really want to go that big?"

That would need some custom power couplings.

Usually those things were about the right size for a pod-racer or even a regular starfighter, but something as big as Kom'rk? They'd have to custom build it. That would be the least of the problems of course, but it was a small start.

 

[Adder]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

A snort. Adder shook her head.

“Nah, not on my life. Gonna downsize the systems, obviously. ‘S just the basic tech behind the rotating wings, y’know?”

The pilot grinned, switching over to the list of internals. “I got a bunch of stuff that I used in the last fighter that turned out amazing, so it’s going into this one too…” she trailed off as she browsed through the list of internals – “You ever been in a dogfight, Kurt?”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

"Yep." More than one actually.

There had been plenty during the war, then that one with the Alliance and the First Order. He hadn't meant to be there originally, but when space elf ladies scooped you up and threatened your life it was best not to say no. Jamie hadn't been too happy to hear about that one, but in the end it had worked out well.

"I prefer fast myself." Kurt said as he glanced at the list. "Outrun anything."

The Coil had been built for that, outpacing even the fastest interceptors.

 

[Adder]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The redhead scoffed as she leaned around the terminal to yank out the datastick. “Not like it’s gonna be a space snail. But it don’t do you any good if you’re fast in a straight line, does it? Yer just gonna get shot in the back.”

Adder stuffed the chit back into her belt and nodded towards the shop. “Show me around?”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

"Not entirely true." Kurt said with a shrug. "Doesn't happen if you're faster than everyone else."

Which is exactly what The Coil was.

The ship could quite literally outrun proton-torpedos. Of course in order for it to do that the afterburners needed to kick on, but that tiny little detail was something he would always fail to mention. It helped that the ship also had a cloaking device and a few other handy features, but again that wasn't something he really needed to talk about. The Coil was one of a kind, well built and kept secret back on Tatooine. There was no need to tell anyone about it.

Especially a stranger. "Sure."

Kurt said with a smile.

"I guess we'll mostly be working in the Science Building." The Hangar bays were always too busy for this sort of thing.

 

[Adder]

“Right.” The engineer snorted. “No ship can outrun a missile. Not without some good ‘ole evasive maneuvers.” Grinning Adder patted the pocket with her datachit. “Don’t need absurd speeds if they can never even get a lock on ya, do you?”

“Oh yeah. After hours probably. Shipbuilding ain’t the quietest thing.” Even when you were careful, things tended to catch fire when you least needed it.

“Any special equipment you’ve got around?”

She was going to grab a full inventory off of Kahn later, but right now, this was faster.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Adder"]

Hours? Kurt wasn't entirely sure just how much this lady expected him to work. It wasn't like Kurt was here for a part time schooling gig or anything. He had come to Kalinda to earn a degree, something that he could be proud of. He had a dozen classes that he attended every week and most of them were far beyond his comprehension. He spent most of his nights just trying to understand what the professors had been going over in class that day.

This place wasn't easy on him. "Me?"

Kurt echoed the question, reaching up to scratch his chin. On The Messa he and Kaile had managed to build up a rather large collection of tools, most of them specialized in some way, but he'd given all of that up when he gave her the ship. The little freighter wasn't exactly easy to keep together, and Kurt had known she would need every little bit of help that she could get. The rest of his stuff was all back on Tatooine. He'd never thought about ship building here.

"Not really." He said with a shrug. "I have this."

Kurt said as he held up his wrist and showed off the small band there. "It's not really anything special though."

Sure it could project half a dozen different tools, but none of them were anything they couldn't find in Kahn's shop.

 

[Adder]

“Nah, not ye, personally,” she let out a good-natured chuckle. “Just, y’know. This place—” she swept her hand at their surroundings, “Kal-U.”

Adder glanced down at the toolband on his wrist, eyes immediately sparking up with interest. Nothing like a bout of unsanctioned tinkering. Force only knew how many dorm ceilings would’ve been charred by her experiments if she’d actually studied on site.

Theed had dodged a bullet there.

“Looks neat,” she said. “Built it yourself, did ya?”

Even as they chatted, the pilot picked her way back towards the class. Kahn looked to be wrapping up the assignment. Fifteen minutes early, as it turned out, on account of a missing eyebrow and some minor burns.

Ah, engineering.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]