Getting Some Grease On My Hands (OPEN)

[Celiana]

After finishing her first lesson with her Master Celiana headed back to her room and retrieved her tool kit after which she walked out the door locking it behind her. Taking a turbolift down to the hangars Celiana walked out into the smell of grease and industrial coolants.

She was home. Celiana walked over to where there were speeders, droids, and swoop-bikes. Pulling her tool kit from her belt Celiana noticed a swoop bike that sat off to the side in an obvious state of disrepair. Walking over to the seemingly abandoned swoop bike Celiana started pulling tools out of her tool kit and waved a droid over next to her.

"Droid, how long has this bike been here?"

A dull silver droid with red photo receptors trundled over to answer her question.

"One standard week ma'am. The mechanics gave up on trying to restore it and there were other things that came up such as a heavily damaged Dynamic class freighter. That is still being worked on."

"Droid, are the parts needed to repair this swoop-bike on hand? Also has anyone laid claim to this swoop?"

"Yes ma'am, the parts are all in stock. As to the bike nobody has filed the paperwork to lay claim. Would you be interested in doing so?

"Yes, have the paperwork sent to my datapad and a copy to the terminal in my quarters number 134 in the women's dorm."

"Yes ma'am, for your information ma'am there's a fee of 1,000 Galactic Standard Credits to lay claim along with the paperwork. The parts you will need to restore this vehicle are in stock all you will need to do is inform a droid and they will bring the parts to you."

Turning to face the droid Celiana said, "Thank you droid." Then turning to the speeder bike Celiana took in the sight of what would eventually be her own swoop bike. Speaking more to herself than anyone else Celiana said, "Alright, time to get to work."

 

[Celiana]

Tapping a button on her left forearm bracer Celiana brought her data pad out of sleep mode, the ghostly blue holographic display winking into existence above her forearm. Tapping the holographic display above her forearm and swiping right to the home screen where everything from holonet to e-mails to digital media. Tapping the e-mail tab bringing her to the most recent mail.

Opening a new message from the Voss Hangar Celiana found the paperwork for laying claim to the swoop bike she was about to start working on. After going through the paperwork saying that she'd be liable for any damage to equipment, herself, and the fees of 1,000 Galactic Standard Credits for laying claim to the bike she was about to start repair work on. Going through the forms Celiana signed of on each place requiring a signature and then going into another tab for all the different currency she had she withdrew 1,000 Galactic Standard Credits and scheduled them to be payed to the Voss Academy Hangar Requisitions Office.

Going back to the paperwork Celiana finished signing off on paperwork before hitting a button submitting the forms.

"Alright, paperwork's out of the way. Time to get started on the actual repair work." Reaching for her tool kit hanging on her belt Celiana pulled out a wrench set and started unfastening bolts on the swoop so she could pull off the plating and get to the engine and internal parts. "This is where the fun begins." She muttered to herself.

 

[Celiana]

Calling up schematics of known swoop bikes on her datapad Celiana discovered that the bike she'd lay claim to was a Zephyr-G class swoop bike. Pulling her tools out of the tool bag on her belt Celiana placed the tools on a short table and tapped the button waking her datapad. After linking her datapad to the Voss temple's hangar and the maintance and droid repair crew Celiana reached out with The Force and extended her senses to encompass the bike.

Her Master had mentioned that she seemed to have a natural connection to technology through The Force and that people with such abilities made either excellent mechanics or pilots she hoped that she'd be both. She'd read the history and archives on Anakin Skywalker. He'd been both an incredible mechanic as well as a first-rate pilot. She didn't want to follow his path but she recognized the talent.

Closing her eyes and breathing in then back out Celiana felt the connection to the atmosphere she was in. Her senses open to the bike, the hangar, and the droids milling about. Then her senses sharpened by The Force showed her the things wrong with the bike. Idly allowing her mind to wander the lesson her Master had shared with her on Telekinesis subconsciously floated to the surface of her mind.

Keeping the connection to The Force open Celiana saw the pieces she'd need to repair the bike highlighted in a soft blue hue. It was the same as when she sparred with somebody their emotions, their personality, all of the things that made them them took on a color of their own. Maintaining her connection to The Force Celiana extended her right hand towards the table she'd set her tools on and called her ratchet over to her hand.

Glancing over she saw the ratchet floating over towards her hand, glancing back towards the swoop she saw where the bolts were on the bike keeping the metal plates fastened over the chassis of the bike. The ratchet touched the palm of her right hand and she slowly closed her fingers around the ratchet. Tapping the ratchet over the bolts she switched to her left hand and started loosening the bolts from the plates covering the chassis of the bike.

Glancing over to a small pail Celiana again reached out through The Force with her right hand calling the pail over to her. Sliding across the floor until it came to rest against her hand she continues loosening the bolts off of the plates and begins pulling the loosened bolts off the plates with The Force. Leaving her right hand open palm up and motioning with her index finger in a come hither motion Celiana begins pulling the bolts out of the plates and holding the bolts in an increasingly growing cloud of metal bolts. Celiana then closed her right hand grouping the bolts tighter together before directing the smallish cloud of metal bolts down into the pail.

Starting the process over again Celiana felt her connection to The Force growing. A smile came across her face as she realized she was practicing and growing in what her Master had mentioned to her of being a Tech Mage and taught her of Telekinesis. That knowledge more than anything made her smile even more.

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Celiana]

The work on the swoop bike was going quickly and Celiana couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at her work. The pail she'd pulled over next to her had slowly been filled with the bolts she'd pulled from the metal plates covering the chassis of the bike. Feeling slightly sore from sitting on the hangar floor as she'd loosened the bolts Celiana rose to her feet stretching. Arching her back out and pushing her chest out Celiana felt a slight pop in her back.

Leaning back forward Celiana walked over next to the swoop and started pulling the metal plating off of the right side of the swoop bike exposing the core components of the swoop. Metal plating began to form a small pile on the hangar floor beside her. Walking over to the left side of the swoop Celiana knelt down and retrieving her ratchet went back to loosening the bolts on the left side of the swoop.

As she worked Celiana noticed the metal plates were a coma-inducing dull, ruddy, brown. That'd never do. Tapping her datapad's display waking it again Celiana called over a maintenance and repair droid. Waiting for the droid to arrive Celiana continued loosening the bolts from the left side of the swoop. Reaching back out with The Force Celiana pulled the pail of metal bolts over next to her foot on the other side of the swoop bike. Casting her senses over the bike Celiana saw that all the bolts on the left side had been loosened enough to pull out. Lifting both hands in front of her palm up and reaching out with The Force Celiana mentally envisioned grasping all of the bolts simultaneously then pulled them out with The Force.

Levitating the bolts once more into a small cloud of metal Celiana reached out with The Force and directed the bolts downward into the pail. Just then the maintenance and repair droid arrived beside her. "I am Dee-S-T-7, How may I be of assistance ma'am?" Fierfeck Celiana thought I'll never remember that.

"Droid from now on I'll refer to you as Dusty, as to how you can be of assistance I need all of these metal plates including the ones I'm about to remove from this bike taken and cleaned. All the rust, grime, and even the current paint will need to be removed and these plates should come back here to me as if they had just come out of the factory. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am, you want these metal plates returned to stock factory status? You will be wanting these pieces of plating returned here then?

"Yes, that's correct Dusty. You may send a notification to my personal datapad when you've finished. Also if you can run a diagnostic on the internal parts of this swoop-bike and send a report of that to my datapad as well that'd be wonderful. If you can do both of those things for me I'll make sure you're scheduled for a nice oil-bath."

Giving a quick jerking bow Dusty said, "Yes ma'am it will be done." Pausing momentarily Dusty turned to her and said "thank you ma'am, I'm in need of maintenance as well but that can wait."

The fact that Dusty had thanked her was....interesting. Although the fact that he needed maintenance but hadn't received it bothered her. As Dusty started picking up the metal plates to take them to be restored Celiana pulled the rest of the plates off the swoop-bike and handed them to Dusty. "Dusty after you've taken these to be restored to Stock Factory quality. Schedule yourself for whatever maintenance you require but make sure they don't do anything to your current personality matrix"

There was something off, quirky about the droid and she liked droids having their own personalities. Giving another quick jerky bow Dusty said, "yes ma'am, thank you ma'am."
Picking a rag up off the table where she'd left her tools Celiana wiped her hands off and began packing up her tools. Pulling a mag-lock out of her tool-bag Celiana set it on the bike and entered her code into the lock. Setting it to notify her if anyone other than her tampered with the bike Celiana also tied the mag-lock into the security system programming an alarm to sound if tampered with.

Finishing securing her tools into her tool kit. Celiana pulled another security device from her kit and slipped her tools into the workbench drawers by her swoop-bike before attaching the other security device on the workbench programming it the same to notify her and sound an alarm if tampered with. Then she walked back out of the hangar to go and get a shower and some food. She'd be back soon though....

 

[Celiana]

Getting a notification on her forearm bracer Celiana woke up from her nap. The notification was from the hangars. There was a diagnostic report as well indicating that the engine had some minor problems with it. There was room for multiple upgrades to the bike though. Maneuvering thrusters on either side of the rear of the bike, she could tie in the thrusters to the main engine but on a separate part of the engines primary systems.

Pulling on her cargo pants followed up by her boots Celiana headed out her door keying in her lock code. Taking the turbolift down to the hangars Celiana headed over to her swoop and saw the metal plating she'd tasked Dusty with restoring to stock factory status sitting in neat stacks on the workbench by her bike. Keying in her unlock code Celiana grabbed her tools and set about doing the minor repair on the engine of her swoop. She sat there silently and while she repaired the engine she added her extra touches. By adding a set of extra air intakes atop the already stock set of air intakes in the bike she allowed for an extra boost to the already considerable speed her bike would be capable of.

After fixing the engine and stripping it down to bare bones to coax every bit of power she could Celiana put in a request for a powerful set of micro maneuvering thrusters to tie into her bike's engines. She'd reroute the controls for acceleration on the bike to two separate acceleration channels. The main engine and the air intakes to power boost the maneuvering thrusters.

She'd wait for the thrusters to be delivered to her workstation until installing the parts. She'd need to tie in everything to the same systems but reroute things so they could run properly. She realized as well that she needed to find a really gonzo color scheme for the plating before she bolted everything back down.

She could also stand to upgrade the cannon sitting underneath the nose mount. She'd have another busy day in the hangar for sure.

 

[Celiana]

Having taken a break from the Voss Temple Hangars after the departure of her previous Master Celiana needed something familiar. Taking the lift down to the Hangar Celiana heard a notification on her forearm bracer, her datapad buzzed letting her know the parts she'd requested were being brought to her workstation. The turbolift whooshed open and Celiana jogged over to her workstation as the droid she'd nicknamed Dusty trundled over carrying the parts she'd requested. "Good afternoon Ma'am! It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too Dusty! Did they get you that oil-bath and maintenance done?" Celiana unlocked her workbench where she'd placed her tools and started getting things set up to work on her swoop-bike. "Yes ma'am they did. I'm now operating at an 80% greater level of efficiency."

Celiana took a look at the parts that Dusty had brought over to her workbench the set of micro-maneuvering thrusters sat on her workbench table ready to be installed. Celiana once again opened herself fully to The Force and immersed herself in it's vast currents before beginning to work on her swoop-bike again.

 

[Celiana]

Having opened myself up to The Force again I quickly fell into something comfortable. Mechanical work. Stripping the wire covering away from the actual wire leading to the the electrical portion of the controls on the swoop I pulled a fusion cutter and a plasma torch from my workbench and made sure everything was grounded. Then pulling the set of micro-maneuvering thrusters off the workbench where Dusty had set them I pulled an air compressor over and after starting it up briefly and efficiently blew out all the possible places dust could've gathered before snugging it atop the engine housing.

Briefly stripping away some of the safety barriers on the engine housing I tied the systems together as a single unit. Taking the wiring of the maneuvering thrusters and securing it against the frame of the swoop-bike I pulled some wire covering and quickly finished sealing the wiring of the maneuvering thrusters insulating them to a single system. Running the thruster wiring up to the main controls I tied the thrusters into a secondary thrust control on the right control grip as well as the braking controls on the left control grip.

Having insulated the thruster wiring and tying it into the secondary control systems I bolted the maneuvering thrusters to the main engine then reconnected the main engine's wiring back into the main thrust controls on the right control handle. Bolting everything back down I decided to take a break and come up with that gonzo paint scheme for the plating. I was getting close to being done with this swoop-bike.

Just then a notification chimed at my workstation. Opening the attachment I saw that the my speeder bike purchase had cleared and would be being delivered to the Voss Hangars by the end of the week. Couldn't wait to modify that bike as well. I'd need to get a ship before long to keep my swoop-bike and speeder bike in. Maybe I could talk to my new Master about the possibility of that. Heading to the lift I punched the button to take me to the cafeteria time to grab some food before I came back and finished up.

 

[Celiana]

Having finished up a quick lunch I headed back down to the hangars to finish working on my swoop-bike. I finally had a paint scheme I'd decided on and I needed to sketch out the designs and color them in before I could have the outlines printed onto the plating of the bike. As the lift doors parted I walked out and headed over to my workstation. Tapping the button on my station datapad I woke it up and using my thumbprint unlocked it. Opening up a new design template I pulled a stylus from a drawer of the desk and stated sketching.

Before too long the design started taking shape. I'd based it off of gang tag style art commonly found on Nar Shadaa. It'd be bright and colorful and definitely would be recognizable. Having finished the sketches I copied the designs to my datapad on my forearm bracer, then I sent a copy of the designs to Dusty to make sure that the outlines of the design were for sure copied to the plates. Logging back out of the pad I locked down my workstation and stored my tools, engaging the locks and security systems. Trudging to the lift I headed back up to my room to get some rest hopefully.....

 

[Celiana]

Waking up after a night of restful sleep finally I threw on some work clothes and snagged a cup of caf on my way down to the hangars. As I made it down to the hangars the lift opened and I headed over to my workstation. Unlocking my tool locker and unlocking my personal datapad I did a quick search on various art styles of graffiti to draw inspiration form for my new bike. Turning to the bench where the metal plates for my swoop-bike I saw that Dusty had made sure to do the metal plates up right. Each one was painted perfectly and immersing myself in the currents of The Force I lifted one of the plates up and over to the bike frame.

Calling a ratchet to my hand with The Force I started tightening down the plates and started to see the design I'd chosen come together around this bike. Some Force users, Jedi mostly, they saw patterns in nature, in crowds, in flight... I saw the patterns in my own terms. In technology,fixing things, blade-work, martial arts, and flying. My way of seeing patterns was one of passion. Which quite a few Masters didn't agree with, they saw the passion and embracing those passions as a path to The Dark Side. Though if I wasn't passionate about something I couldn't excel at it.

As I'd sat there thinking I hadn't realized I'd finished tightening down the plates over the swoop-bike until The Force gave me a message. "You've finished Celiana, well done. Start on your other bike." Realizing I needed to get my other bike finished I started up on my other bike by ordering several different paint colors and airbrush supplies and taking a seat by my swoop-bike I began to meditate until the supplies arrived....

 

[Celiana]

A beeping at my workstation alerted me to the fact that the airbrushing supplies as well as the paint had arrived. There was also a notification with the Voss Hangar Control notifying me that I'd need to check in with them today. Not long ago I'd purchased an updated version of a Dynamic Class II Freighter. I'd always had a flair for the dramatic and I loved history so it had seemed appropriate to want my first ship and hopefully my last to have ties to the days of The Old Republic. This ship was the same make and model as that used by the Prodigal Knight Revan as well as the Jedi Exile Meetra Surik.

Since I was already on the hangar level of the temple I decided to go and check in with Voss Hangar Control. As I arrived a droid trundled over and asked for a biometric scan in order for me to be given clearance for ships. Placing my hand on the pad and giving a retinal scan the droid sat there momentarily and said "Good day ma'am there is a ship currently being stored in the Voss Hangars, a Dynamic Class II Freighter registered to one Celiana Drayven. This is you yes?" Smiling with glee I said, "Yes that would be me. Here is my pilots license for you to register the ship to my name."

"Acknowledged, you now have take-off and landing clearance to this facility and the ship has been registered in your name. Good day ma'am." I had my own ship....Smiling widely I realized I could now store my bikes aboard my ship. Walking back out to the garage I headed to my workstation and disconnected it from it's current place before activating my swoop bike and attaching a winch to my workstation. Then shifting my swoop-bike into first gear I towed my workstation over next to my ship.

Walking back into the garage I powered up my speeder bike and drove it up next to my swoop. Looking my ship over I saw that the purple accented hull was there as I'd requested, walking over to the underside of my ship I activated the ship cargo elevator that would bring things up into the ships main hangar bay. Activating the ramps to enter the ship I mounted back up and drove my finished swoop and workstation onto the ship's lift and activating it brought everything up into my ship. Deactivating the winch on my swoop and setting it into repulsorlift mode I dismounted and pushed it over next to a wall thrusters facing the wall, nose towards the ships entry and exit ramp. Pushing my workstation over into a corner by an already existing modification bench I engaged the magnetic locks to secure it to both the modification bench and the hull.

Walking through my ship I realized it needed a name...I thought of the fact that Aria and I could go anywhere in this ship, then of the lotion I'd rubbed into my skin before showing her that gorgeous view of the stars here on Voss. The Cherry Blossom, that's a perfect name for my ship. Though I'd need to stencil the name onto the outer hull somewhere in view. The purple accents my ship came with would give me a starting point for some of the things I had in mind.

Walking through my ship I quickly realized I'd be needing to make this place more homey I'd move some things down here later. Walking back down the ramp I grabbed the airbrushing and paint supplies on my way out. It was time to decorate, laying the supplies on the ground I went and grabbed a small scaffold and rolled it over next to my ship climbing up with airbrushing and paint supplies in hand I filled the reservoir with a peach colored pink mixed with a plum color and stenciled the name on my ship... The Cherry Blossom. As that was finished I climbed up on top of my ship and switching out the current paint reservoir for a dark brown I started painting the trunks and branches of trees.

Going over that layer again to make sure it stuck I sat on the hull mixing three different reservoirs of paint combinations. There was an Autumn red, a soft peachy pink, and a magenta plum. As I waited for the top hull to dry I set about doing the accents on the sides as well painting the dark brown branches on the sides I quickly painted the blossoms on the branches. I also knew now what the them of my bike would be, Cherry blossoms. Aria whether or not she realized it had truly started to allow me to see the beauty in all things and I was Immensely thankful to her for that.

Now that I thought about it I realized that next time she wanted to spend the night that she could just come spend it with me aboard The Cherry Blossom. No masters, no need to hurry for training, there was a refresher aboard, it was liberating to think about really. Before long I'd finished on the sides of my ship and climbed back up top to finish the Cherry blossom orchards. The work went quickly and I was glad for that it meant that I'd be able to finish up my bike soon. Suddenly I was finished, stepping back I looked at my work and was immensely satisfied. The blossoms on the sides were the peach pink, and the blossoms up top were a mixture of the Autumn red and the magenta plum.

Climbing back down off of my ship I walked over with the airbrush and paint reservoirs and loaded a glossy white into the airbrush. Spraying down the whole body of my bike until it was a glossy white. I then loaded in the dark brown quickly painting the trunk of a tree and the branches before loading in the Plum color starting out the blossoms before loading the Autumn red and giving the blossoms layers. Finishing the Cherry blossom tree I walked over to the other side and switching a glossy black paint in I switched the airbrush to an exotic Echani script that looked like Kanji lettering. On the plain white glossy side I wrote "Aria, you are my blossom. You give me my hope and bring light to my darkness."

Smiling I realized that what I'd written was true and was surprised that tears started rolling down my cheeks. Letting them fall I loaded up a clear gloss and airbrushed back over everything sealing the paint job I'd done. My work in the Hangars was done for the day and I set security measures over my bike and my ship before I headed to the lift to go and catch some dinner. Perhaps I'd run into Aria on the way...The thought made me smile as the lift doors closed....

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[Celiana]

After having gone up to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat I grabbed a repulsor cart at the entrance to the women's dormitories and opening my door I propped it open using the cart. Sighing I started packing things into boxes and stacking them on the cart. Pulling up the different rugs I'd acquired over the last several months and began rolling them up one at a time. Shouldering them I began to stack the rolled rugs up on the cart. Before long I'd stripped my room down to the stock way it had been when I'd arrived here on Voss.

Pulling the repulsor cart out of the doorway I pushed it back down the hall to the turbolift and punched the button that'd taek me back down to the hangars. As the lift doors opened back up I pushed the cart over to my ship before stopping to activate the freight elevator on my ship. Pushing the cart into the freight elevator I walked up the entry ramp and triggered the freight elevator to have the repulsor cart lifted up into my ship.

Walking over to the cargo bay I opened the door and shouldered two of the rugs carrying them both into the common area and after dumping them on the floor I kicked the ends of either one so they'd unroll around the holo-table in the common area. Walking back to the cargo bay I shouldered two more rugs carrying a third using The Force and lugged them into my cabin. Setting them down one at a time I then lifted my whole bed with The Force setting down the largest rug underneath my bed and unrolling it with The Force before I set my bed back down on top of it. That rug was the most important one I owned as it had come from some of the finest weavers on Eshan.

Using The Force again I lifted my desk and cabinets moving a smaller area rug underneath and flicking it open using The Force as well. As soon as it sat in place properly I set my desk and cabinets back down on top of it. The Mandalorians were known for their warlike tendencies but they also had great craftsmen. The rug under my desk was made by one and in my mind it was wise to be firmly rooted in places that had meaning to you, these rugs all came from different places. Eshan, Mandalore, Coruscant, Katarr, and Voss. Those places all had meaning to me.

Having gotten the heavy lifting out of the way I shouldered the last rug I'd brought in and brought it into my bathroom. It was a blend of Coruscanti, Voss, and Katarr fabrics and I unrolled it so that it extended from the bathroom into my cabin just short of the Echani rug under my bed. Returning to the cargo bay I brought boxes of things into my cabin and began filling my previously empty bookshelf with boxes of books. There were quite a few fictional books for fun while a good portion were copies of journals belonging to various ancient philosophers and explorers.

Finally I hung the dream-catcher I'd made with Aria above my bed and tied several thin strips of leather to the Chrome ring before tying various rings to the dream-catcher. One was a sparrow, another a phoenix, one a wolf and another a surf ring. Letting my hand brush against the dream-catcher I set it tinkling about before I headed back to the cargo bay and stashing the repulsor cart in a corner and securing it down with a mag-lock. Going back into my cabin I laid down on my bed and just relaxed for awhile...

*THREAD FINISHED*