Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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It was not every day she got word from her cousin. In fact, it seemed like she got word every day about her cousin, but almost never anything from the woman herself. Not even a little note. Nothing about the trial even, save from Gen's daughter.

At least her clients were faster at contacting her. Corvetta was not exactly famous, but her rep was pretty well-maintained as a skilled pilot and about as upright of a human being as a smuggler could be. What reputation her assistant for this job had was kind of an unknown. This [member="Alyssa"] chick seemed to have an alright head on her shoulders, judging by their brief conversation over the Holonet. But there were always those people who looked impressive up front and not so much in action.

Docked in Bay D-14 at Silver Station for the layover to Maramere, Corvetta and the lovely YT-2400 vessel would hardly strike anyone as a outstanding combination upon first glance. Just another spacer and a weathered freighter traveling the spacelanes and hauling provisions or knickknacks across the stars to some other world, where the whole thing would rinse and repeat as the ship was unloaded and loaded. It was not an incredibly impressive lifestyle to many, but to Corvetta, it was just life. She had been born in space. She was meant to live in space.

Flask of Mantellian brandy (her absolute favorite) in hand, the youthful flygirl leaned back against the landing gear of her ship, legs crossed at the ankles, and took a generous couple of swigs. Not too much, lest she be tipsy by the time she hit the cockpit. But enough to keep her blood on the move and her inviting smile glued to her face.
 
So many paces in the galaxy had so much history that it astounded Alyssa when she stopped to think about it. Her present placement in said galaxy was definitely thought provoking, and she was here for an altogether dangerous reason. She was on Silver Station, which had started life ages ago as a hidden resistance station. Now, Alyssa was walking on said station, brought here to help crew a ship for a mission that itself wasn't inherently dangerous. As long as no one found out precisely what Alyssa was. Hundreds of years, and still the populace of the small station would likely rip any Sith apart if they caught them walking on the station alone. But what was life without a little bit of danger to spice it up.

The woman she was here to crew for, [member="Corvetta Salvo"], had a very good reputation, some daring acts in her history but mostly just known for sticking to her deals and her guns. The fact that she was cute, had nothing to do with why Alyssa had signed on. Nothing more than a little. OK, but still, Alyssa was going to be professional, business before pleasure. There was enough danger of being found out that Alyssa didn't really need to muck with fate by doing anything rash.

Alyssa came around the bend in the corridor and saw the sign leading to Bay D-14, where she was to meet Corvetta. Alyssa was wearing her usual clothing, an armorweave body suit (ala Black Widow) with a gun holstered in the small of her back. She also carried a small backpack of supplies and carried a whip at her hip. She needed to get every excuse for training with it, she had plans and didn't want to have to start from the beginning when she finally crafted her Savored Sting. There was no lightsaber attached to her, she hadn't built one yet and having one would be a fairly large tell tale that she was a force user. She knew she would certainly never pass as a jedi. She did have a pair of peculiar bracers on her arm, but they matched her outfit so well that they could be easily shrugged off as fashion, or protection stemming from an unusual fighting style.

The corridor opened up and Alyssa zeroed in on Corvetta instantly, she was the best looking being in the bay, and therefore easy to find. Alyssa approached the woman who was reclining against her landing gear and stopped a meter or so away, thumbs hooked behind the straps of her backpack and a smile brightening her face.

"Captain Salvo, I presume?" She asked, though it was more of a statement as they had seen each other on the holo. "I'm Alyssa."
 
Captain? Well, technically she was. She never chose to identify by that, though. She just liked to think of herself as a pilot--a good one, at that. But it was only a sort of formality to go by 'Captain'. Corvetta had never really thought of herself as the leader type, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm Corvetta," she responded, tucking away the flask and standing up straight to greet her crewmate for the week. The other brunette was all strapped and slick in a suit that the pilot guessed was fairly expensive, armor-woven and sleek as it was. Conversely, Corvetta was about as grungy as they came, smudged t-shirt and flak jacket topping off her baggy cargo pants, kind of broadcasting clearly that she spent her life aboard freighters. The spacer offered her mostly clean hand to shake, noting the odd cord strapped by her help's hip. Of all the weapons she had seen crewmates and passengers past carry around, this might by far be the most unorthodox. Had this chick been a nerfherder at some point? All Corvetta ever carried was a DX-13, and that was only because her father had told her to hang onto it years ago. She had never fired a single shot from it to this day.

"And this is the Lost Cause." The ship introductions were actually usually the hardest. People got along fine most of the time, but there was the occasional client or hand who would turn away after laying eyes on the Corellian model freighter. It was a classic and beautiful in Salvo's eyes--something she and her friends had worked hard for--but the fresher spacefarers sometimes realized at this moment that they wanted something a little more elegant. That was their prerogative, but this flygirl loved a ship with character. "Real sparker, isn't she?" Corvetta commented proudly, winking at the vessel.

"You want a tour first, or ya think we're good to truck?" Her spacer lingo slipped out here and there, something [member="Alyssa"] would probably get used to in time. "Don't wanna rush you. Though there's plenty of time to burn convo while we're gunnin' hyper." Corvetta could be awkward, but she was practically an open book to anyone who wanted her to be.
 
Corvetta Salvo said:
"You want a tour first, or ya think we're good to truck?" Her spacer lingo slipped out here and there, something Alyssa would probably get used to in time. "Don't wanna rush you. Though there's plenty of time to burn convo while we're gunnin' hyper." Corvetta could be awkward, but she was practically an open book to anyone who wanted her to be.
Alyssa hadn't been born to a spacer family, what Alysa had been born into could hardly be called a family, and even that was quickly taken from her. She didn't off hand know what the words meant, but she thought she could parse it out. She needed to remember that she was here as crew, her mission was simply to not break cover. To that, Alyssa smiled wider, not something that she found difficult when faced with the pretty spacer. She didn't mind dirty.

"She's a beautiful ship, I'd love to have a tour." Alyssa replied, then indicated Corvetta to precede her in.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]
 
"Snazzy," Corvetta remarked, smiling eagerly as [member="Alyssa"] offered a compliment to Lost Cause. She was ecstatic to hear that someone else showed an appreciation for a freighter, and wasted no time in turning and clomping up the passenger boarding ramp that led into the cockpit partition. Her friction boots could be a little loud against the floor panels, but she moved with the agility of a lizard about the confines of any ship.

The pilot flicked on all the lights and proceeded down the hallway that led to the portside where the bulk of the ship was. Before they got to the lounge, she opened the cabin door connected to the cockpit section and removed her vest, slinging it into a corner where nearly her entire wardrobe was piled on the floor. "This is my crashpad. So... I guess if I'm not in the main quarters, you can knock here and I'll be out for whatever." She scooted a little further down the corridor. "I'm usually crankin' about, though. I really don't fade much. I got this insomnia thing, ya know?

"Oh, and you can use this room if ya wanna." She patted the door next to her own cabin before moving on into the lounge. Dead ahead were three doorways--to the right, another cabin. "Or there's the pad over there. Usually my pal Killer's room, but it's just you and me for this shunt.

"Cargo bay's dead 'head, and the ring run is over there. It leads to all the other pads, the galley, and the 'fresher." She put her hands on her hips as if appraising the ship for the first time herself. "Gun turret's center anchor, though I have no idea how the frak to use those. Never had to use it myself. Don't think we'll need any guns this round, but it doesn't hurt if you're into the sparkin' and shreddin'."
 
Alyssa followed and noted all of the locations listed and described. She'd been aboard enough ships to know what a fresher was, and a galley. Everything else she filed away to find the context eventually. She was here to learn and train, the learning was part of the training and the training was in survival. She didn't think the spacer was going to prove violent at all, so long as Alyssa remained silent on the whole Sith thing.



Corvetta Salvo said:
"Gun turret's center anchor, though I have no idea how the frak to use those. Never had to use it myself. Don't think we'll need any guns this round, but it doesn't hurt if you're into the sparkin' and shreddin'."
"I don't think I'll be of much help, I've never used a weapon that large." She admitted, looking to where she had indicated. "I agree, this trip shouldn't require it's use." Alyssa smiled, she didn't look worried. "I'll take the room next to yours, I promise I don't snore." She chuckled softly.

"So, what will my duties aboard be?"

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]
 
"Well, I don't think I snore, either. At least, no one's told me I do in twenty-three years." Years--so relative to a spacer. How did one keep track of years in reality, when they had no common sun to dictate their days? The only way she knew how old she was was by a chronometer set to Coruscant time.

"Is that all ya got?" Corvetta asked, pointing at the backpack strapped to her temporary first mate. "There's plenty of space for more if you've got anything else. Though a light packer is always appreciated." There were more than sufficient supplies and rations aboard the Lost Cause, and there would be much more when they arrived on Maramere.

She tread back towards the boarding hatch in the cockpit pod and fingered the switch to retract the ramp and close the door. "But if you've got everything, I'm ready to burn."

[member="Alyssa"]
 
"Lets burn. This is all the stuff I brought with me." She slipped the pack off her back and slid into the room she had claimed and set it down on the bed. She closed the door behind her and returned to Corvetta's side.

Alyssa followed her into the cockpit. She watched closely as Corvetta took the controls, intent on trying to learn as much as possible while on this mission.
 
With that, Corvetta brought up the boarding ramp and sealed the hatch, then walked up to the pilot's chair and plopped her cargo panted spacer butt down without ceremony. She spun around for a single revolution and kicked the copilot's chair around invitingly.

"How much you know about flying?" she asked as she planted her feet to stop the spinning and began to run through power-up procedures and flight checks. A flick of a red switch initiated a resounding hum throughout the corridors of the Corellian ship, signifying a startup in the life support and digital systems--everything except that actual engine. She glanced out the cylindrical cockpit canopy at the docking control booth situated at the top of the hangar.

"You know dust-off speak for Mister Control Guy up there?" The pilot gestured at the comms systems on the dashboard. "Feel free to be my guest. I'll let ya do as much as you want as long as you can."

[member="Alyssa"]
 
Alyssa grinned, though she was certain the woman didn't intend the double entendre. She sat in the offered co pilot speak and looked at the comm unit. She truly didn't know, but she had few good guesses. She took the headset and slipped it on, looked over the console to make sure she was broadcasting to the traffic control people and then adjusted the mic to be in front of her mouth.

"Lost Cause to mission control. We'd like to make for open space, could you be a dear and let us know when we are clear and on what vector or...lane..." She trailled off, but refused to look lost at her companion. She waited a moment, then a womans voice came over the line. "Ah, a newbie. No worries, hon, Gertie'll take good care of you. You'll be clear to head out any time in the next ten minutes on an outbound vector. We're not so busy as to have constant traffic, but we have a supply hauler coming in in about ten minutes. She'll be docking right next to ya'll so the outbounds'll be blocked from then until she completes docking."

Alyssa nodded and turned to [member="Corvetta Salvo"]. "Gertie says we can leave any time in the next ten minutes, any outbound vector. If not that, we'll have to wait until a supply...ship, docks next to us."
 
The seasoned spacer got a good chuckle out of [member="Alyssa"]'s attempt at obtaining exit clearance--not out of any sort of wicked pleasure, but some things were just so natural to her that she forgot what it was like to be new at this job. Reassuringly, Corvetta patted her copilot on the shoulder and keyed in the ship's ignition sequence. "Frakkin' right are we waiting ten minutes to do nothing." Without much of a pause, the pilot engaged repulsors and toggled the landing gear retraction, followed by a quick burst of the main boosters. "Drop mag-fields please," she requested as the Lost Cause began to drift towards the maw that opened to the forever.

Soon enough, they were out of Silver Station and tracking along a predefined safe route that would avoid collisions with other incoming and outgoing vessels until they reached a point at which the freighter could enter hyperspace. Space travel never really got old for the lifelong spacer, but sometimes it was not anything fresh to her. "Wanna take the controls?" she asked, and switched primary control over to the copilot's instruments without waiting for a response. "Mostly auto-pilot at this point, but ya might as well work your polish off now." Salvo's blue eyes sparkled with an anticipation of giving a potential pilot their first run-through. It was almost like when she first got to take the helm all by herself without Dad around.

"Hyper shift is center board. Yoke is center (See that half steering wheel thing?). The Cause is a big one for starters, so she's gonna need a little more tug to get 'er turning, but not too much." She would be fine. It was just a routine little procedure and not much would be required of her. Not like they had any cargo to thrash around right now anyway.
 
Alyssa chuckled as they took off and left the area around Silver Station. She saw the supply ship coming in and it was huge.



Corvetta Salvo said:
"Wanna take the controls?" she asked, and switched primary control over to the copilot's instruments without waiting for a response. "Mostly auto-pilot at this point, but ya might as well work your polish off now."

Alyssa choked a little bit, her eyes bulging as the stick in front of her became live. Nothing really happened, but she suddenly wrapped her hands around the stick as if to let it go would spell their doom. After a moment, she relaxed and looked at the readouts, her eyes tracking everything even if she didn't quite know what they meant.



Corvetta Salvo said:
"Hyper shift is center board. Yoke is center (See that half steering wheel thing?). The Cause is a big one for starters, so she's gonna need a little more tug to get 'er turning, but not too much."
She nodded silently, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she pulled the ship into a turn to starboard, aiming away from any celestial object or ships near them. She felt like she had to practically lean into it to get it to turn enough, then had to lean back the other way to get it onto the right track she wanted it to be on. Once she had it aimed in the right direction, she turned her attention to the hyper shift. They had discussed where they were going in messages prior to Alyssa arriving on Silver Station. She input the destination coordinates and waited while the computer calculated the jump to hyperspace.

Once the computer was done, it had her shift them a bit to port, then she grabbed the hyper shift and pushed it forward, taking them into hyperspace. Once they were encapsulated in the warp and weft of hyperspace, she leaned back in her chair.

"You have to warn a girl before doing something like that." She said as she turned her head towards the pilot, her tone of voice and grin putting the lie to any hostility that the words might have seemed to hold.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]
 
It was perhaps not the smoothest bit of maneuvering, but it was excellent for a rookie, Corvetta had to give her that. A simple job, and [member="Alyssa"] passed with flying colors. There would be time to do some more flight training later on if the other girl was willing.

"Well, some of them won't even try unless you force 'em," Corvetta retorted, a fun-loving grin spreading across her face. "I won't do that again, though. Just needed ya to have a crank at it so you know what to expect if you ever need to take the pit." Versatility was the name of the game for small freighter crews. Someone needed to be able to take over for another crewmate in case of emergency.

The pilot swiveled her chair about to face her first mate for the week, eyes lingering on the blueshift of hyperspace for a moment before facing her partner. She tugged at her goggles for a moment--her makeshift hairband--and shook some stray strands of hair behind her shoulders before inquiring about an itinerary. "Pretty chill from here 'til Maramere. I gotta flush the alluvial dampers at some point, but that's about it."

The spacer doubted mechanic stuff sounded incredibly exciting to Alyssa, so she decided to get a little more casual about things. She was awkward, but she would try to entertain her company as best she could. "So, where ya from?" She glanced at the whip again, still amused at the thought that she might have a strangely fancy nerfherder aboard.
 
Corvetta Salvo said:
"Well, some of them won't even try unless you force 'em," Corvetta retorted, a fun-loving grin spreading across her face. "I won't do that again, though. Just needed ya to have a crank at it so you know what to expect if you ever need to take the pit."
"No, it'd be good practice to throw me under the bus every once in a while." She said with a smirk as she stretched her arms up. "I just really wasn't expecting it, which I guess is the point." She laughed softly.



Corvetta Salvo said:
"Pretty chill from here 'til Maramere. I gotta flush the alluvial dampers at some point, but that's about it."

"Alluvial dampers..." Alyssa said, she frowned in thought as she tried to think if she had heard that phrase before, she didn't think she had.



Corvetta Salvo said:
"So, where ya from?"
The question stirred her from racking her brain. She had never heard of alluvial dampers, and was wondering if it was something she should learn about. Then the question came. Where she came from...that was a very long story, and a very dangerous story. She was lucky that her beauty had kept the slavers from marking her on neck or face, their brand was instead burned into the flesh of her right buttock. In their minds she wasn't likely to remain clothed very long, so having it that out of the way spot wouldn't be an issue. It was one of the reasons she rarely went around without a bodysuit like what she was wearing. Her sisterhood tattoo was on the left leg/abdomen area and likewise wouldn't be seen readily. All of her other scars were emotional. The best lies were often wrapped within the truth, so she decided to say a little and just leave the whole Sith thing out.

"I've moved around a lot. I was born on an agricultural planet, I never learned the name. My mother was a...Courtesan...and I never knew who my father was. My mother's employer sold me into slavery. I was held for a long time, a lot of things I don't want to talk about, but also some things I cherish. Dance and gymnastics training, while they were for sickening reasons, they gave me something to hold on to. I was rescued and have lived all throughout the galaxy, doing this and that as needed." There, most of the truth, with just a little left out. She took a deep breath and looked back up at [member="Corvetta Salvo"]. "How about you?"
 
[member="Alyssa"] may have been confused about alluvial dampers, but Corvetta was equally confused about whatever courtesan was. It must have been an awful thing if it directly or indirectly involved slavery transactions of any sort. Slavery... That was not something Corvetta was familiar with in the slightest. She had never been rich; never been privileged. Heck, she had never been respected by most folks. But being treated like someone's property; an animal? That troubled the spacer.

How does one respond to that, though? The pilot was not exactly one who knew how to behave in every single instance. She had even offended some people unintentionally just by being herself and trying to act in a way she thought was friendly. Treading lightly was not necessarily her thing, but she could recognize a conundrum when she felt one. "Well..." she began, wanting to express sympathy but afraid of her own words. "I hope everything is locked down for you now. I'm a friend if ya need one." Why not? Alyssa seemed like a nice girl so far. She had handled the surprise exchange of pilot controls without screaming at Corvetta, after all.

The pilot unlatched one of the multitude of pockets on her cargo pants and procured her flask of brandy--from which she took a generous sip. "I'm from everywhere, really. Born in space--orbital station right over ol' Brentaal Four. My license says I'm Chandrilan, but that's about where that ends." The flygirl chuckled in thought. "You might not believe this, but the Prime Minister of the Republic is my own cousin. I'm sorta famous--but not really."

She paused to offer her flask to the other girl politely. Well, she thought it was the courteous thing to do. Corvetta never really worried over germs too much. She had been exposed to so many diseases over her lifetime of transporting who-know-what from who-knows-who to who-knows-where that any hygiene beyond keeping her own body clean was not something she really worried too much over. "Been a spacer all my life. Shunted from Bespin to Bastion and everywhere in between. And that's about it as far as my life goes." Not like being a slave. Frak, that's rough.
 

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