Private Talking Shop

[Zoar]

JEDI TEMPLE, CORUSCANT
HANGAR BAY, DAY
​

It was a rare thing for Zoar to connect with someone.

He didn't make many... if any... friends. Growing up at the Jedi Temple, none of the other younglings had taken any interest in his fixations. He loved technology, making things work, and there weren't many Jedi that understood that. But he'd been blessed with a few kind encounters recently. Most recently, Jasper Kai'el. A Jedi who apparently dabbled in mechanics, like him.

Of course, after their class together, Zoar sent him a message, offering to talk shop. Maybe test out his suit's combat ability. He'd been entirely surprised when Jasper actually said yes.

The Miln's power armor plodded into the temple hangar, tall, imposing, and very out of place amid the other Jedi. At Zoar's waist hung the hilt of a greatsaber, as if to proudly proclaim the hooded, turadium-plated behemoth was, in fact, a Jedi.

Although there was also a level of hesitation and confusion to the suit's robotic gait, as the head turned a full 360, looking for Jasper. He wasn't quite sure why they were meeting in the hangar bay.

- Jasper Kai'el -

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Zoar ​

Jasper could barely contain his excitement. He didn’t often get the chance to get to know new people given his bizarre relationship with social interaction. Somehow, he had managed to connect with a Padawan while in a recent ethics class, one who shared an interest in tinkering. Needless to say, he was ecstatic to show him the Philosopher, his reconstructed D5-Mantis Patrol Craft that had served as his home while in exile, doubling as a bad. People were interested in the bar aspect (for obvious reasons), but not so much the ship.

As Jasper made his way to the hangar, he caught sight of Zoar’s mechanical suit, waving to the armored Miln.

“Hey!” Jasper called out. “Thanks for meeting me here.”

Jasper made his way over to the Padawan, giving him a more reserved wave this time.

“Well, this is the temporary meeting spot,” the duelist admitted, scratching the bridge of his nose awkwardly. “The actual meeting spot is over there.”

Jasper gestured to his ship, a grin spreading across his face.

“That’s my ship, the Philosopher,” he explained. “It’s a completely reconstructed D-5 Mantis from before the dark ages. I found it when I lived on Corellia, or at least the shell of it. Put it together myself.”

Was the opening too bold? Maybe. All Jasper was really thinking about was that he could finally talk engineering with someone else who seemed just even more passionate than him. It wasn’t an opportunity he was going to waste.

 

[Zoar]

Zoar heard Jasper's greeting, and immediately turned to face him, taking an instinctual step back at the yelling, before nodding, and walking towards the fellow Jedi. He met Jasper halfway, trading him a small wave of his own.

//Yeah, of course,// the Miln said, his high-pitched voice coming through the suit's speakers. Besides his room, the hangar bay was where he spent most of his time. Sometimes, he needed the tools the order had on hand to fix their ships for his suit.

Speaking of ships...

//Noooo waaaay,// Zoar exclaimed as the Philosopher was pointed out to him. The suit's tromping increased in speed as Zoar rushed to the vehicle. //A D-5? Man, these things are nasty, and hard to find, I bet. The hull must be thousands of years old.//

Zoar inspected the ship from up close, standing under one of the armament foils. His cybernetics began beeping as he took in the sight. What he would give to crawl around in the walls...

//How much of the original hardware is left in it? Did you customize it at all? Does the ventral foil get stuck? I heard some of these older models have an issue with that...// He paused, taking it all in.

//This is really cool.//

- Jasper Kai'el -

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Zoar ​

//How much of the original hardware is left in it? Did you customize it at all? Does the ventral foil get stuck? I heard some of these older models have an issue with that...//

Jasper grinned. It was actually nice to have someone be interested in his ship. Nobody else ever talked about the details, so it was a breath of fresh air.

"Thanks," Jasper reacted, positively beaming. "It's not perfect, but I'm proud of it. I can answer those questions though. More was in tact than you would expect, but I didn't keep all of the original hardware. I replaced the hyperdrive, completely redid the fried circuitry, and replaced all the hydraulics. The engine is the same, but it's been heavily modified. N-not perfect, but it doesn't fall apart, so I'd say it works. I tried to replace the foils, but I couldn't actually find any parts suitable for replacement, so that ventral foil is a little slower than I'd like. With how old the model is, I'm shocked it still works."

Jasper turned to the Miln, eying his suit with great intrigue. Zoar wasn't the only one with questions.

"Your suit is real neat," Jasper complimented, examining the armor. "I'm sure it's more impressive on the inside than it is the outside. It has a scomp link, so I'm guessing you've got a droid brain in there to help run it. Oh, and probably a datapad and built in targeting to pilot it. Is it insulated? I don't see many gaps in it. This thing looks tough enough to survive a space walk if you wanted... Oh."

Jasper became red in the face, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Jeez," he laughed awkwardly. "Now I'm getting ahead of myself."

 

[Zoar]

Zoar bobbed his head once at every explanation Jasper gave, checking out the ship with a fervor matched only by Jasper himself, most likely. //I'd love to take a closer look. You know, you can probably just fix the foil problem with a realignment. Or you could cast a new joint for a more permanent fix, but metallurgy is a pain in the butt.//

When the attention was turned to his suit, he immediately became bashful. If a suit could blush, it would be. //It's nothing special, really. As far as power armor goes, it's not even all that great.// Jasper's following assessment was mostly correct. //That's a yes on all accounts, except that the droid brain in here isn't... the smartest. The scomp link is for me.//

The suit tapped it's head. //Cybernetic brain implants. Crazy useful.//

//Can we... go inside your ship?// He really wanted to see the inside.

- Jasper Kai'el -

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Zoar ​

//Can we... go inside your ship?//

"Y-yeah," Jasper nodded. "Of course."

He lead the armored Padawan to the entrance, making his way into the heart of the ship. Of course, the bar was the most notable thing in there, spotless as usual. It was always a weird thing to explain to other Jedi, as not all ever took up a side job, especially serving drinks.

"I-I installed a bar when I was away from the order," Jasper explained, thinking up an explanation on the spot. "I use it as a cover to get info when I'm out in the field. Turns out people really trust bartenders with information. O-of course, it's nothing special, even compared to the rest of the ship, but it's a good for long-distance trips. There's more than just this on board, so feel free to look around. I-I'm okay answering questions if you have them. I don't really get to talk about my ship very often."

 

[Zoar]

Zoar followed his fellow padawan into the ship, the power armor's upper body turning a full three-hundred and sixty degrees to take in everything. The ship had that Old Republic feel, except where there was supposed to be open space, there instead was a bar and drinks.

//Huh. Interesting.// Zoar accepted Jasper's explanation. //Do you do much of that? Info-gathering?//

If Zoar ever wanted to know something, he could just dip into the Holonet. But the Holonet didn't go everywhere. Sometimes, you had to hear it straight from the Orbak's mouth. And a few drinks to loosen lips probably didn't hurt.

Quickly, the mech found a computer terminal, and jacked in with the scomp-link, letting Zoar access the ship's systems. He began scanning through everything he could, trying to gather a complete understanding of the Philosopher. A few lights and screens around the Mantis began flashing pink as the Miln rooted around in them.

//How's the weapons package on this thing? Original parts too, or modified? Anything you need fixed that I can help with?//

- Jasper Kai'el -

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Coruscant, Jedi Temple Hangar
Tags: Zoar ​

//Do you do much of that? Info-gathering?//

“More than you’d expect,” Jasper admitted. Even he was shocked at how much intel you needed to operate on your own. Unfortunately, gathering info happened to be something he wasn’t proficient at. Yet despite this, people just seem to trust bartenders for some reason. “But not very recently. I’ve been trying to readjust to being at the temple.”

//How's the weapons package on this thing? Original parts too, or modified? Anything you need fixed that I can help with?//

“All modified,” Jasper explained. “I took the guns off a downed TIE to replace the weaponry. The old guns were kinda old. I also equipped an ion cannon for a bit more versatility in the air. As for help…”

Jasper thought about it for a moment. Something routinely broke on the Philosopher; It’s back-left thruster. It seemed to always be taking damage of some kind, and he could never perfectly fix it before some other freak accident sent him careening towards the surface of another planet.

“I do have something you could look at,” he concluded. “My back-left thruster took damage a while back in a dogfight and I haven’t been able to get it back in working order. Kind of a safety hazard. If you’re offering, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

 

[Zoar]

Zoar's suit gave Jasper a strange look. //How did you become a Jedi? If you don't mind me asking?// Zoar was raised in the temple as a youngling. To him, living in the temple was synonymous to being a Jedi.

Hearing about the blaster cannons of the ship, Zoar nodded. //Sounds alright. To be honest, I don't know much about weapons systems. Not my area of expertise. Just being able to put something this big together is really impressive.//

Jasper revealed that there was an issue with his ship, Zoar's voice took on an excited edge. //Oh, I'll take a crack at it!// The suit began tromping towards the aft of the ship, until it reached a small exit hatch.

The power armor turned around, almost sheepishly. //Ummm... I need to get out of the suit to get into the ship. Could you... turn around for a sec?//

- Jasper Kai'el -