Private Lending a Hand

[Shai Maji]

Mandalore's Orbit/Ship Hangar​

Afternoon​

Shai was crouched down on the roof of her freighter, her mechanical hand morphed into a hydrospanner as she worked on a few parts of the maintenance-heavy vessel. Her tank top was splattered with fluids while her cargo pants and combat boots had a mixture of splotches and singes on them. After fighting with a broken hydraulic piston that simply didn't want to come loose for several minutes, Shai had enough and slipped her goggles over her eyes. She looked to her cybernetic arm and in an instant the hydrospanner collapsed and folded away to make room for a plasma cutter. "Mother kriffing..." she growled as she started to heat up the bolts and tried once more to loosen it up. The plasma cutter switched back to the hydrospanner and she tried once more to loosen the piston. Finally it started to come loose and when the bolts were out, all that was left was to pry the piston free. Another monumental task that only infuriated the Shistavanen more.

She finally had enough and stood up, swinging her leg to give the piston a powerful kick. To her relief it came loose and flew out of the socket... and then collided with the new piston next to her which sent it skidding off the ship and drop through the air uncomfortably close to the head of a passing Mandalorian. Shai cringed as she watched it miss his head just barely and skidded across the floor. At least nobody was hit, though she did get a few annoyed glances from other people also walking past.

She mouthed a quick "Sorry." as she waved at them in apology and then glanced at the dude she nearly hit with her piston. "Hey man! Sorry about that. Umm... can you- can you get me that piston, please?" she asked him with a guilty smile as she stood on the wing of her freighter. It would probably be the right thing to just go back into the ship, go down and get it herself. But she was a little embarrassed and frankly not in the mood to do all that effort when she could just ask. "The maintenance ladder is on the left side of the boarding ramp just inside. Please dude?" she pleaded as her arm reverted back into a hand, scratching the back of her head through her messy mane while her other hand slipped her goggles back onto her forehead.

Kreslin Westwind

 

[Kreslin Westwind]

Kreslin had a busy morning. It had been several days since the withdraw of the Sith Emperor and a majority of the Imperial forces from Manda'yaim, the day victory had been declared. While most the Mandalorian Unions forces had withdrawn to orbit to recover and regroup, a small, rotating force was still planet side, hunting down and engaging the last remnants of resistance. Imperial garrison soldiers cut off from transports had assumed defensive positions across the planet, and when bombardment was not possible, they had to be dug out. On top of them, there were still lingering remnants of the Death Watch under the control of the Empire. They fought a guerilla war across the planet, but were slowly being hunted down, in part by the actions of Clan Vizsla.

Kreslin was returning to the orbital fleet after one such hunt and kill mission with a few other warriors when a shadow passing overhead caused him to jerk to the side. His hand shot to the pistol at his hip, but he forced himself to relax. Turning to some of the other warriors with him, he jerked his chin in the direction of the turbolift at the far side of the hangar. Laughing, the warriors continued on while Kreslin crouched down to pick up the piston up.

Hefting the item, Kreslin walked around the side of the freighter, climbing the ladder with on hand gripping the railing carefully. He would charge an enemy fortification head on with little hesitation, but climbing a ladder unsafely was a step of courage even Kreslin did not want to cross. He had heard stories of what could happen. Stepping off the ladder and onto the ship, he winced as the broken ribs in his chest shifted a bit too much, and he took a moment to regain control of his breathing before walking across the freighter.

Coming to a halt, Kreslin placed the piston down near Shai, his helmet twitching as he took in the repair work she was doing. "You do know they make droids for this, don't you?"

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai watched the man climb through the hatch but raised an eyebrow as he paused for a few moments. He finally handed her the piston and she immediately got to work on bolting it in place. "Yeah..." she muttered at his comment as she screwed in the last few bolts. She looked up at the man as she sat on her knees with a small smile. "But where's the fun in that. Plus Bab- my droid is in the cockpit. He's checking the systems as I work." she admitted before giving a quick glance at the rest of the components. "Okay, this wing's sorted." she mumbled as she rose to her feet, adjusting the goggles on her forehead.

"Oh jeez, where's my manners. The name's Shai. Shai Maji." she introduced herself as she held her right hand out for him to shake... rather awkward, given it's current state. Her eyes went wide for a moment and in an instant her hand switched to the plasma torch. "Oh for..." she grumbled as her hand finally switched back to its proper state. "Sorry, I'm still... getting the hand of it." she apologized with embarrassment in her eyes, not realizing the pun she made.

Kreslin Westwind

 

[Kreslin Westwind]

Kreslin nodded his head briefly as Shai spoke, first informing him of the droid she owned, and then her own name. As she rose to greet him, he hesitated away from shaking her hand. Given the spontaneous nature of the thing so far, he decided to best not to test the waters there too much. Instead, he took a step closer, gripping her arm briefly in a warriors grip. "Well, Shai, I am Kreslin of Clan Westwind. Well met, though under rather poor circumstances at the moment." Releasing his grip, he took a step back and looked over the ship from his now elevated position.

He gestured with his hand at the vessel, taking a few steps away from Shai. "This is an interesting craft. How did it come into your possession, Shai?" Kreslin's words held little emotion as he spoke, simply stating a question while he inspected the craft further.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

She completely understood why he was so hesitant to shake her hand. She even considered shaking with her left hand, but at least he still gave her a good shake even if it wasn't the type she was used to. "Sorry about that..." she muttered softly as she looked at her hand. When he gave his name, she looked up and blinked in surprise. She was talking to the top dog. The hesitation was clear as she looked him over with a nervous look in her eyes.

He asked about her ship and a guilty chuckle escaped her. "I won it in a game of Sabacc a couple years back. As for Baby, I sort of borrowed him without permission from a guy just after. We've come a long way together." she admitted to the man. It was a big surprise to realize that the ship had been her home for nearly ten years. For nearly ten years she worked to get enough money to bail her mother out. It was a heavy revelation to make, but not one she could reflect or comment on in her current situation. She was pretty sure he also didn't exactly give a crap about her life's story so instead she glanced around to try and divert the conversation. There was still a rather cyborg-looking bantha in the proverbial room that she wanted to discuss with the guy.

"Hey uhh... you mind helping me out real quick? I gotta open up the engine to check on something and the panels have a habit of dropping on my head..." she asked with nervousness in her voice as she pointed to the engine. "It'll only take a minute, just need to check the coolant pipes." she reassured him as she walked over to the massive engine next to them. Her hand morphed into her spanner and the panel was opened up, allowing her to climb in. "Just hold that open for me, please?" she called out from inside the engine as she hung halfway into it. At least she didn't have to lie about that little fact. Sure enough, the heavy panel started to lean forward and threatened to drop down onto the Shistavanen's back. After a few moments she crawled back out and wiped the grease off her hands against her trousers. "Thanks for that. Figured as much, the sensors are just pulling a fast one on me." she spoke as she closed up the panel and bolted it back in place.

She turned to face him and simply stared into his T-visor for a moment. "... Can I talk to you? In private?" she asked him softly as she gestured to the hatch leading back into her ship. "It's about a... friend of mine. One that's being held in the brig of the ship." she elaborated with a hushed voice.

Kreslin Westwind

 

[Kreslin Westwind]

Kreslin shrugged his shoulders after the handshake, trying to relax his aching muscles as Shai spoke. Before he could respond though, Shai prodded him into helping her with the repairs and maintenance of her vessel. Before he could respond in either way, she was heading off to start the next task, a frown spreading across Kreslin's face at the action. This woman had some guts, or perhaps simple disregard for authority, to almost demand and then expect Kreslin to work on her ship after she had dropped tools at him.

Turning his head, he gripped the lever she had indicated and pulled it open, holding it in position long enough for her to complete her work before letting it go. As he was wiping the grease from the lever off on his pants, and getting ready to tell Shai that he would be going, she decided to ask of him another favor. The frown on his face deepened even further as she spoke, and his right hand slowly tensed into a fist at his side. He stared down at her for a few moments before speaking, his voice coming out in a quite, hushed tone.

"You presume much to ask me of that, Shai Maji. If you must speak, speak. I will listen to what you must say." Kreslin remained perfectly still as he spoke, his body held rigid and at the ready. This encounter was something he had not been expecting today after coming back from live combat, and it was continuing to takes turns he was not prepared for, or eager to explore. He had a good grasp on his temper most days, but this woman was finding ways to push his limits in such a short amount of time. Perhaps the live combat on the planet was not so bad by comparison to this.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai could tell that his patience was wearing thin. Between his tone, his body language and just her own intuition of when people were getting annoyed with her, she knew that she was going to have to make it quick. Otherwise she might end up with a Beskar fist to the face. With a nervous chuckle she scratched the back of her head. "Right, uh... you're holding a woman in your brig. A cyborg by the name of Aerith. You already extracted any and all information you could from her but she's still in the brig. Is there a way we can cut a deal for her to go free? She's been wanting out of the sith army ever since I met her and I think she could be a great addition to the Union. But not as another tool. So is there something I can do to have her go free? I'll even take her in as a foundling if need be." she explained to him with a remarkably determined voice. She was sure he knew about Aerith... maybe even Shai's own little stunt to reverse the programming in the woman's head while she was still in the cell. But getting permission from the top dog to get her out was probably the best guarantee she could get.

"Joti said she'd talk to you about it, but I wasn't sure if she'd gotten around to that yet. I just... I made a promise to her. I don't want her to go from being a tool for the Sith to being a tool for the Union." she admitted as she glanced at the ground then back to him. She studied him for a moment as her eyes narrowed at him. "Are you okay?" she asked more bluntly. "You're looking kind of like you just got out of a fight. You need a stimpack or something?" she offered him as she gestured to his armour.

Kreslin Westwind