Private Misfortunate Meetings

[Bohatei Chorva]

Location // Middle Rim
Participants // Ijam'cahi

With the smell of burning electronics in his nose and the whining chirps of his controls ringing against his eardrums, Bohatei curses his luck.

With his employers having gone under, there wasn't a surplus of reputable work for him anymore. Instead, he had taken to doing work in the Middle Rim with various different colonies. It wasn't too different to what he did before, ferrying resources and supplies from one city to another. Of course, no longer having any real reputation with a company that exists had complicated the matter slightly.

Especially when it came to security.

Having been midway through his journey to Corellia with a supply of Durasteel for a manufacturer, the Zabrak had the misfortune of being caught by surprise by a group of pirates. What shortly followed was nothing short of a one-sided beatdown, the group having been sufficiently beat back to warrant a retreat.

Not without making off with a good third of the shipment, however.

The Contact V floats through empty space, it's previously radiant engines now darkened and smoking. The top left of the hull is ripped open, twisted and sparking metal revealing the magnetically locked cargo within. The rotating turret on the top of the vessel had only one cannon remaining, the other having been damaged and blown apart.

Sitting in the cockpit of his vessel, Bohatei fiddles with the controls before him. Various red lights are flashing, alerting him to numerous malfunctions and damage reports across the Ghtroc freighter that now drifts. Taking care of his damaged reactor first, the Zabrak flicks a couple safety switches to kill all ongoing reactions and to switch to his batteries.

He then makes an effort to seal all ruptured rooms, sealing off the first cargo bay and rear of the vessel. His side of the ship, thankfully, remains secure and pressurized.

Now, for the hard part.

A distress beacon comes to life, transmitting on what channels Bohatei could manage to reach.

"This is the Contact V. Requesting any --ai----e vessels to respond. I am cu--entl- dead in space. Requesting immed-at- assistance. Please respond."

The message repeats.

The message eventually reaches a certain Twi'lek's freighter.

 

[Ijam'cahi]

Flying was new.

Incredibly new. Ijam hadn't actually ever had her own ship. Not that this could really even be called a ship. A refurbished fighter missing too many of it's original parts. It let her get out into space for some salvage for her shop. Small parts, engines, what have you. Some war from ages ago left it's fair share of parts to be picked out. And maybe, with enough, she could fix the ship she did have to get out there in the galaxy.

Grant it, finding a ship with it's distress beacon active was also fairly new.

She stared at the message display in surprise once she caught it. Then pulled on her controls to start heading right that way.

"This is Ij-Star... Bird......" Right. Code names. Ship names. Starbird sounded.. Fine?

"Coming to your location. Are people in need of assistance? Medical, I mean?"

Bohatei Chorva

 

[Bohatei Chorva]

The closer 'Starbird' got to the source of the signal, the stronger the voice became. Static clears, and the voice becomes more pronounced. Clearly, whatever long range transmitter the Contact V still had was damaged by whatever had caught them.

Soon enough, she would arrive to the source of the signal. A Ghtroc 720 Series freighter, drifting aimlessly with dead engines. Along the left side of the hull, a massive gash leading into the vessel was created. Judging by the angle that the metal was ripped outward at the source must have been some kind of torpedo, shortly followed by explosive decompression of the cargo bay within. The rear engines had also seen better days, having gone completely dark. The freighter still had RCS thrusters at least, occasionally letting out small jets of air to keep the ship upright.

Three of the escape pods remained intact, although a third was jettisoned nearby. It had been crashed into one of the invading vessels, the only wreckage and remnant of the battle outside of the Zabrak's freighter. Both of the front ends were crumpled inward, both the pod and ramshackle shuttle likely beyond repairing.

Although, not beyond salvaging.

"Well, my confidence has taken a hit but I'll live." He replied, his tone sounding much more relaxed with someone actually responding to his distressed, recorded and repeated ramblings. "Other than that, nobody else save this droid that they left behind." Bohatei replied with a cautious gaze to the deep green hulled machine lying in the corner of his cockpit.

He eyes the restraint bolt on the machine for a moment, his seconds of silence noticeable over the rumblings and occasional blinking of lights fron the Zabrak's controls. There is a short set of tactile clicks from his end, the voice once again piping up soon after.

"My sensors are all on the fritz thanks to the aforementioned astro-droid. How's the damage look from your side, Starbird?"

Ijam'cahi

 

[Ijam'cahi]

"Ooh. Uh. Hate to tell ya the bad news but I don't think you're gonna be flying that anytime.. Ever." She smacked her scanner, just in case. But sure enough, that freighter was totaled. Ijam let out a sigh before starting to maneuver her little shuttle closer. Scanners at least showed a place she could attach to that wasn't depressurized.

"I can pick you up at least. Tow this back down to where there's air? Help ya salvage, maybe?"

Bohatei Chorva

 

[Bohatei Chorva]

There is a period of silence after her words came through. The ship he had spent the last six years at least within, working alongside friends and family alike was irreparably damaged by the pirates that had attacked him. His lips purse in thought, once again turning back towards the C1 Unit that sat disabled in the corner. Anger burns within his throat, vitriol threatening to spill out into a flurry of curses and remarks. Bohatei grits his teeth for a moment as he takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the sour scent of electronic smoke. Keeping his mind off of the smell, the Zabrak would let out a long and cathartic exhale.

'Breathe.' Bohatei would remind himself, repeating the gesture a few more times to quell the anger that swelled in his chest and made his head chill. 'Calm down. You will get your chance.' His focus soon returned, the sensations calmed down for now as he looked back towards the controls of his vessel.

Or what was left of it.

The Starbird was able to find the airlock on the right side still pressurised and functional, the docking lights flickering to a green light for her to approach.

"That's disappointing." Bohatei exhales, his voice shaking slightly. He didn't want to let off just how deeply this threw him off, but those who were particularly inquisitive could tell. "Docking's ready to go. I'd appreciate the help in figuring out what's salvageable." He would speak up, managing to steady his voice soon after as the Zabrak kept speaking.

"I've got a shipment to finish off, as well. If you're up to it, we can finish it and split the payment after. Sound good, Starbird?"

Ijam'cahi

 

[Ijam'cahi]

Ah man, he really was upset wasn't he?

The long silence was all she needed to figure he was probably going through something. Ships were important to any spacer. They were home, or so her dad use to tell her. A melancholy smile was all she had as she waited for his response. No point in rushing him. Unless his life support was broken. .. It wasn't broken right?

Her gaze shifted back to her scanner, which she smacked again as a sense of dread for why he was quiet came over. .. Oh, good. No it was still working.

A sigh of relief was all she had before she pulled the controls. Got her ship ready to dock with the one working airlock. "Can't say I can be much help. Starbird here doesn't have a functioning hyperdrive, so if it's off world the most I can do is help you find a vessel that'll take ya the rest of the way. Otherwise, I'd love to help, yeah."

Bohatei Chorva

 

[Bohatei Chorva]

There is a clunk and a hiss as the Starbird connects with what remains of the Contact V, the airlocks twisting into place and pressurizing the short tunnel between the two starships. The Zabrak presses a button, confirming the lock and lifting the deadbolts on his own end. With the docking complete, the guiding lights darken once more. Bohatei leaned back for a moment, having felt it in his seat as the two ships connected. "Good dock Starbird, board when you're ready." He spoke into the communicator once more.

Having changed into a spacesuit after the initial blast that compromised his ship's internals, Bohatei would check the tank fastened to his belt. Satisfied that he had enough air to last himself for now, the Zabrak would fiddle with his controls on his wrist. The Astromech on his left stood upright soon after, confirming the restraining bolt and his controls were both working.

His brow furrowed slightly at the Starbird's words, opening up the doors to his cockpit and walking out into the main hall of the Ghtroc freighter.

Atleast here was still pressurized.

"Well, depends on what you mean by 'not functioning'. If it's damaged, we can see what's in my one and see what we can do about fixing it up." Bohatei offered. After all, the ship was completely busted. "Not like this ship's getting anywhere."

Looking back towards his controls, Bohatei eyed his Navicomputer and read his current position on the route.

"It's only the next system over. If we can get it running, it ain't far. You'll have plenty for a new one, once we split the pay. What do you think?"

Ijam'cahi

 

[Ijam'cahi]

"Non functioning as like uh.. Non existent." She laughed nervously as she waited by the airlock. Still speaking through the com. The next system over wasn't too far to travel without a hyperdrive at least, just meant days instead of hours. And money, yeah. That didn't sound too bad to her, especially if it meant she could get herself a hyperdrive.

The door slipped open as she raised a hand. Waving in greeting to the Zabrak now that he was in view.

"Let's ah, get your ship back down to ground first. Then we can figure out what you want to do next, okay?"

Bohatei Chorva

 

[Bohatei Chorva]

"I don't think we can fix a lack of existing, in that case." The Twi'lek's laughter is reciprocated, a softer tone coming back through the speakers. There was no way a Hyperdrive from his ship was going to fit on her own vessel, either. Well... maybe with enough tape and crossed fingers. "If that's the case though, where are you from? Quite a ways out from any large colonies." The Zabrak tries to start up some small-talk as the airlock hisses and slowly opens up, letting her into the vessel.

Down the hall, Bohatei would reciprocate the gesture with a small wave of his own. He was clad in a light grey spacesuit, the helmet still folded back. There is a scratched out patch on his shoulder, the nametag on the front openly giving away his name under 'Bohatei C.' The neck region of the bulky outfit is slightly scarred.

Said marks line up almost perfectly with the trio of horns that poked out from his fringe.

"Yeah, I'm probably getting a bit ahead of myself here." The Zabrak nodded, a more relaxed expression on his face now that there was some proper help to get him out of the situation. "Like I said though, sensor array is still buggin' out thanks to our green menace back there. Not too sure what it's lookin' like out there." A thumb is pointed behind him in the rough direction of the cockpit, a C-1 Series Astromech idling near the door and staring right at them.

"What do you say we look at first?" Ijam'cahi