First Reply Ghosts on the Road

[Zee Caromed]

​

Ferrix, 02:19​

When traveling, one couldn't rely on the kindness of strangers to get by. You had to eat, you had to put gas in the tank, and until Zee managed to meet the man who was somehow wealthy enough to pay his bills while also having obtained that wealth in a way that jived with Zee's ethics completely, he still had bills to pay. Still had to make his way like anyone else. He didn't hate that.

It was nice to get his hands dirty. Just jetting around the galaxy meant you missed out on all the cool stuff happening planetside.

The slight young man pulled his head out of the engine of the heavily modified podracer he was tinkering with, taking a moment to check a timeclock on the wall. Well past midnight. He'd been hired to tune up a couple of vehicles for a local garage, install some parts, and he had been diligently working since noon to earn his pay. The garage smelled like lubricant, ozone, and weld. The garage door was open to the elements, hoping to coax a breeze in off of the wastes. In typical Ferrix fashion, it was somehow wet AND stuffy, a little chilly outside but still too warm inside the garage. Zee didn't mind too much, if he was being honest. Too warm was better than too cold any day of the week.

"Think we're about done, boss!" The slight young human called out over his shoulder, raising his voice to be heard over the rickety old jukebox quietly blasting half-static rock in the corner. Zee's jumpsuit was open to the waist, secured by a combination of toolbelt and the arms serving as a belt. His tank top was covered with oil and grime, as was the rest of him. The podracer loomed in the center of the garage like a slumbering beast, massive engines just waiting to be fired up. The roar of thrusters, the conversion of fuel to kilometers of distance in the belly of a machine more dragon than speeder...

Zee liked Podracers quite a bit.

He had no idea why his customer had been interested in paying for an offworld mechanic to come in and install all these custom parts to the vehicles in this nowhere garage. Maybe they were stolen, maybe there was a race coming up they wanted to get an edge in on or a heist or something, maybe they didn't have anyone local they could trust. Privately, Zee hoped it had to do with smuggling. Smuggling was a fake crime made up by greedy plutocrats, after all, and if he'd made it a little easier to get that done? Fine by him.

The music wound down. Zee spun his hydrospanner around in his hands and slipped in into his toolbelt, taking off his thick leather gloves. "...boss? You around?"

Open to: Literally anyone! Be the boss, be the guy who killed the boss, be another wrench jockey, be the bagman come to inspect the goods, be the racer who wants to commune with the machine, whatever you'd like!

​

 

[Vendra Vane]

The music wound down. Zee spun his hydrospanner around in his hands and slipped in into his toolbelt, taking off his thick leather gloves. "...boss? You around?"

There was an argument, a grunt, a crash, and finally silence. The cacophony came straight from the boss's office.

However, the sudden dip in commotion was nothing but an intermission. Suddenly, the boss saw himself thrown clear through his door, his body sliding across the cold pavement.

Out stepped a tall Mirialan woman, clad in dark armor. "And that's for--" She stopped talking as soon as she realized he was now unconscious.

Vendra leaned over--poked at him a little. "Ah, you'll sleep it off." She muttered to herself.

At no point during all this had she been aware of the young mechanic in the garage. She thought they were alone. She was told they would be alone. So from the moment she felt something was off, to the moment she turned her head and saw the human standing there, her expression went from one of frustration to surprise. Eyes a little wider, a less hostile brow, and a mouth slightly agape.

She straightened her back and tossed a single Wupiupi, which landed next to the boss's head, and then crossed her arms.

"It's... not what it looks like."

The way she spoke made it sound rehearsed, like she's been caught in awkward situations more often than she'd care to admit. Even her blue eyes were halfway through a roll, and her hand flicked upward in dismissal of the attention.

Zee Caromed

 

[Zee Caromed]

Zee was halfway through toweling his hands off when his employer came crashing out of his office and to the floor, highlighted by the tallest Mirialan woman he'd ever seen. Heavily armored. Didn't seem to be too upset or even flustered. Zee gave her a baffled look, glancing between Vendra and the floor.

He could almost hear a derisive 'clean yourself up' as the green lady tossed a wupiupi to the floor, delivered like the stinging one-liner in an action holofilm.

Zee cleared his throat quietly, his voice very soft, very even, and very interested in not infuriating the woman who may or may not be armed. Who may or may not have been a junkie who wandered in out of the desert to beat the taste out of this guy. Jilted lover, maybe? Or just somebody he'd owed money to. That last one didn't bode well for Zee getting paid for this job. "Yeah, sure, absolutely not what it looks like." He agreed quickly, his head bobbing up and down. "Whatever you say, for sure."

Whatever the situation was, Zee was keenly interested in not getting his teeth kicked in today.

"I'm a nurse." Zee answered gently, showing Vendra Vane his empty hands. "Whatever's goin' on, I'm not trying to turn you in or anythin'. You mind if I make sure his neck ain't broken or something? He still has to pay me." The slight man requested hopefully, sounding very much as though he were attempting to talk down a potentially dangerous animal.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra exhaled slowly.

For a second, she thought this was going to end in another Lok. He was agreeable, but so many people are when it's convenient. She took a step forward, her crossed arms replaced by a hand on each hip, which may've highlighted the holstered blaster on one side and her junk lightsaber on the other.

"A nurse?" She parroted in surprise. "Not a mechanic?" Skepticism in her question.

Part of her wondered if this was an elaborate ploy, but the unconscious man on the floor behind her was no good dead.

Vendra sniffled. Why is it so muggy and dusty in here? She reached up and wiped her nose on a glove. "Sure, check him out." A hint of resignation.

She paced twice, then leaned against a support beam and watched as the human went to work. "Did you notice him acting unusual lately? Say... disappearing for hours at a time, or hiding unusual packages in plain sight." She glanced around. Looking for something.

Zee Caromed

 

[Zee Caromed]

"I do both." Zee answered with a mild shrug, taking a knee next to his supine employer. He had a fairly delicate way of doing so, settling carefully on his knees by the unconscious man's waist almost as though he were sitting in seiza.

Leaning over his patient carefully, Zee did a couple of preliminary checks. Pulse, checking his neck, pulling his eyes open to look at his light reflex, checking his head for bleeding wounds. After a brief examination, he was largely satisfied that the man wasn't about to die. And to be honest? That was good enough.

Zee turned his attention back to the looming woman who had a bit of a cop-like atmosphere about her. He stood and leaned against a toolbox. "Don't know anything. Guy hired me to do some tune-ups. Haven't said more than dozen words to him since." He replied idly, resting his hand near a flatbar. Just in case. "You a bounty hunter or somethin'?"

In truth, Zee had his suspicions about the parts he'd been paid to install, but - that was his business, not hers. He wasn't about to sell out the guy who had yet to pay him to some woman who Zee was pretty sure could fold him like laundry.

 

[Vendra Vane]

had a bit of a cop-like atmosphere about her.

Ven didn't know why, but a sudden chill ran down her spine, like somehow she had just been brutally owned.

She shook off the feeling and removed a flash from her belt, took a swig. The reek of heavy liquor from the vessel could be smelled, but honestly, it was probably the kind of smell that belonged in a garage. She assumed by his demeanor that her first assumption was correct, and that the boss hadn't been killed during their out-of-control argument.

Still, she found it odd that the young man who devoted his time to mechanics had also been a nurse. Of course, this was all a cursory examination on her part, but shouldn't someone like this be at a cushy gig in the core worlds? She shook off the thought.

"Or something," She quipped at the interrogation of her line of work.

She eyed the subtle hand by the flatbar and smirked. "Mercenary is the closest to what I am. Contractor, if you're feeling professional about it."

It sounded to her like things here were temporary. She looked at the vehicles. "Part-time doing tune-ups... Out here?" Had to be a story, right?

 

[Zee Caromed]

Mercenary. Contractor. Sounded very bounty-hunter esque. The only thing that didn't agree with that assessment was that she hadn't started flashing around her Bounty Hunting credentials or othersuch nonsense. In Zee's experience, most (Non-Mando) bounty hunters fell into one of two camps - the sort who would shoot as soon as look at you, and the kinds who swaggered around waving their gun in your face and couldn't shut up about hunting bounties. The green woman didn't fit neatly into either category. Perhaps he needed to amend his criteria.

Zee hopped up to sit on the toolbox, huffing his hair away from his eyes. Whatever was going on, the lady didn't seem like she was inclined to move on, and if Zee left his employer here he'd never get paid. While he wasn't willing to get beaten up for the guy, if his presence discouraged further violence by providing a witness? He could do that. "Part-time work doing tune-ups, yeah." Zee replied with a faint (and quite dry) smile. "Maybe he didn't know anyone local who knew anythin' about podracers. Maybe he just wanted somebody cute putterin' around the garage for a few hours." He speculated idly. As though to demonstrate, Zee paused to touch up his lip gloss. "Decent enough pay to get a roof for a few nights but much more'n that, so I don't much care about his motivations."

"So, what's the plan? Wait for him to wake up, then shake him down again?" Zee asked curiously, nodding towards the unconcious boss. "You got a name or somethin'? Maybe I can give a message. I'd probably be a wicked good secretary."

 

[Vendra Vane]

As he followed speculation with a touch up of his lip gloss, Ven gave a knowing tilt-shrug of her head. He reminded her of someone she once knew, long ago. A memory she ran away from once upon a time, but now lingered, akin to a trophy on the dusty shelf of her youth. A reminder of where she came from, and proof of who she was now.

"So, what's the plan? Wait for him to wake up, then shake him down again?" Zee asked curiously, nodding towards the unconcious boss. "You got a name or somethin'? Maybe I can give a message. I'd probably be a wicked good secretary."

"That is the plan, yeah." She answered dryly and followed with her name as soon as he asked. "Vendra."

She glanced down at the unconscious man. "Maybe you can be a 'wicked good' secretary right now," she glanced back. "I'm also waiting on something from him. Let's call it payment for services rendered, yeah?"

"First part of being a good secretary is knowing absolutely everything your boss gets up to. I'm looking for... a package. Something small, easy enough to hide in plain sight." She looked around. "Could be inside one of these parts. Could be buried in a hole out back. Could be he has a stash inside one of these walls."

"Oh, and what do I call you?"

Zee Caromed

 

[Zee Caromed]

Zee considered her question with what he hoped looked like mild bemusement. "Just call me Vivi." He offered offhandedly, almost cheerful. "It's probably short for something."

"I spent all day in this garage here - if he buried things out back, I'd have no idea why or where." Zee explained. And to be honest, that was the complete truth - he didn't have to lie on that count. The contract had been a bit sketchy from the start, so he'd kept his head down. It'd helped that there was a lot of work to do, arguably more than he'd agreed to do... but there was a pressing need to get paid, and podracers were fun to work on, so Zee hadn't minded so much. "I only stepped away a couple of times for a smoke break, or to call my sister. Didn't even stop for lunch."

"Anyway, sounds like you want me to do more work for you than for him." Zee noted thoughtfully, head tilted to one side as he considered Vendra. Shaking somebody down was a dangerous art, and more than anything Zee didn't want to get himself or the unconscious man killed. If he had to play the part of the unscrupulous cronie to get to that point, oh well. "And if I'm your secretary, that means I should get a salary - right?"

"Mr. Snooze here is a theoretical employer, since he hasn't paid me." Zee added dryly, folding one leg over the other. He propped his chin up on his palm, eyes locked on the greatest source of potential violence in the room. "But he might pay me, so you can understand why my loyalties might be a bit..."

He trailed off, waggling his and too-and-fro. Comme ci, comme ça.

 

[Vendra Vane]

"Probably short for something," she chuckle-mumbled, followed by something barely above a whisper. "Cute."

She believed Vivi, to say the least. For a second, she doubted the name given to her, but the ever-melancholic philosopher considered that for a moment. Vendra only became her name as a matter of time. It's what people called her. This was Vivi: the nurse, the mechanic, the secretary getting on her nerves right about now.

Vendra scoffed at the shakedown that was anything but sly. The Dark Jedi removed the lightsaber from her belt and then ignited it. The blade spat orange-red plasma like they were flares, and wavered erratically. The wayward flares fizzled out uncomfortably close to the Mirialan's face, but she did not flinch. The lightsaber recoiled with a growl, rather than a flicker, and she clipped it back onto her belt.

The weapon looked more like junk than a lightsaber. It was made of entirely worn--and in some cases improvised--parts. The instability meant something was on its way out, but she didn't know what. Dark Jedi she may be, but she was never actually trained how to maintain it.

"Pay, I can do. Salaries are for after I know you won't stab me in the back." She said with a stone face. "I paid for parts, and this weasel said he now has another buyer. I guess the credits could go to whoever finds it, because clearly he doesn't know where they are."

Zee Caromed

 

[Zee Caromed]

SABER.

The moment a lightsaber came out, no matter how junky, Zee's demeanor changed on a time. He took his hand away from the crowbar and sat up straight, eyes wide with alarm and hands visible and slightly raised. He had a keen understanding of what a weapon like that was capable of, and he had an even keener understanding of his own limitations when it came to defending himself. Fisticuffs? Maybe. Blasters? Probably not. Lightsabers? Hell no. Not when all he had going for him was his looks and a garage he was passingly familiar with.

The growl of the weapon, the fluttering orange-red blade, the way it sputtered and sparked - it almost seemed to light the dim garage ablaze for the moment it was ignited. Hell, it even snarled as it withdrew. Zee's heart raced, as though it wanted to burst from his chest and flee the scene entirely. He couldn't help but feel he'd been threatened by the equivalent of a serrated, rust-pocked prison knife, the sort of weapon that was more threatening for the lack of maintenance than less so.

"He had me install some parts in the podracer over there." Zee reported quickly, eager to appease and doing his best to be non-threatening. "And a couple in the swoop against the wall." He explained. "Most of them were pretty normal. Some of them I didn't recognize. Those are mostly in the left side of the engine compartment of the racer."

 

[Vendra Vane]

I'm better than I thought. She mused.

VIvi's sudden cooperation was music to her ears, as was his immediate divorce from the crowbar.

Vendra looked over to the aforementioned racer. She didn't much like the idea of stripping the engine herself. For one, she was anything but a mechanic, and two, there was still the slim possibility that Vivi was lying. Oh, and I guess a secret third thing lurked in the shadow of her thoughts. Curiosity.

The spacer reached behind her back and took another item off that belt, which really held up the whole world as far as she was concerned. A small, hard-cased satchel of sorts. She opened it and revealed a tiny trove of treasure. Credit chits.

She grabbed a few of the chits and held them in plain sight. "You're a mechanic. Say, I'll give you these for being so helpful already." She tossed the chits his way, then held out a few more. "And triple the amount if you remove those parts."

Zee Caromed