Private To Seek Passage

[Artur (Γ013)]

Jaminere, Capital Spaceport
​

People. Why did there always have to be so many people?

Artur kept his head down, ducking and weaving within the crowd as much as he could. It was somewhat hard to do—on a predominantly human world, that meant that most of the ones in the spaceport would be a part of the human average, and even in height alone he far surpassed their measure. Still, he managed as well as he could, endeavouring to keep himself to the edge as much as possible. If anything untoward should occur in the spaceport, it wouldn't do any good for him to have to try and force his way out from the center, if even he could manage such. Nevermind the trouble he'd have if he had to open the parcel he carried along his back; finding a proper sensor-jamming 'instrument' case to store the rifle in had been difficult, and if he should have reason to reveal what was inside, no doubt he wouldn't be leaving the planet for another ten years.

That would be unacceptable.

Booking passage, at least, looked like it might be a bit easier than normal; rather than relying on standard shuttles, hoping a fake ID could get him moved along without trouble or having to bribe the officials, Jaminere seemed to have its fair share of private enterprise vessels in the spaceport for once. Most every ship listed didn't appeal to him—most of them were too proper seeming, a bit too above the board, to be particularly affordable for one of his means; there were a few, however, that were a bit more...

Well, trashy.

The first couple still didn't work out particularly well for him. One was captained by a Trandoshan—one look at the lizard's face turned Artur away immediately—and the other's captain seemed to see fit to charge the most exorbitant price he could. Absolute robbery, even; undoubtedly there was something untoward going on there, to be upcharging for simple transport so ridiculously. Surely there was something untoward going on with every vessel on the list he'd compiled, but with that one, the feeling was doubled. The captain, a true scoundrel.

That left him forcing his way through the crowds of people to the bay wherein rested his third ship. It was ugly, no doubt about it, and it was an ugly as well, one that didn't even seem to be primarily composed of starship parts. The central fuselage looked more akin to the main body of some sort of large all-terrain walker, and it was clearly going to be a cramped fit having two people, but...

"Excuse me," he called out, walking up towards it. Luckily, this time the captain of the ship was outside already. He gave her a quick once over with a critical eye; red-headed was the most obvious trait, not particularly muscular, not particularly soft-looking either, and clearly armed with a pistol at her hip. "Excuse me," he said again, coming closer. "You are...captain Minnau, yes? This is the...Hangry Hellbucket?" Despite his accent, it was clear that he sounded very dubious of either the ship or its name. Perhaps of the captain willing to fly it.

But he was looking to buy passage aboard it, so he certainly had no room to comment on any of those things.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Excuse me...

Kalyn was stood with her back to the individual who approached, gesturing this way and that to a series of DUM pit droids who were currently patching up a small breach in the ship's hull. All things considered, given how it looked, the purchase had proven more or less agreeable. Only a few minor issues to contend with... And this one wasn't even the salesman's fault. She supposed it was what she got for trying to navigate her way through uncharted asteroid fields.

Turning on her heel, she faced the strangely accented male and tipped her head up in order to look him in the eye. Tall fella, wasn't he?

"Yeah," came her reply when he queried about her and the ship, "I'm she. Uh, her... Uh, Mara," one hand reached out toward him, in offer of a shake. There was the slightest hint of old oil lingering on her palm, and her exposed arms, and her cheek. "What can I do you for?"

Gaze shifted momentarily back toward one of the DUM's who dropped a spanner; her eyes rolled. "Knew I should've hired somethin' better than a damn pit droid" she mumbled to herself. What could she expect from a droid meant for fixing - or, really, refueling - podracers? Still, they were making relatively quick work of the fix. She might have done it herself, arguably should have done it herself, but she'd had business to tend to while here.

Apparently, if this stranger was anything to go by, she still had business to tend to.

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur glanced down at her hand, quickly noticing the oil upon it. Before he reached up to shake it, however, she quickly turned her attention aside for a moment. "Would that I knew enough to help," he drily replied to her mumbling, taking up her hand and giving it a single, stilted shake before releasing her just as suddenly. "Artur." He glanced down, giving at light kick at one of the pit droids that had come curiously up to him, sending it scurrying on its way. Dealing with people was difficult enough most times, but he at least had patience enough for that. Not for the droids' antics.

"Ah, would it be possible to..." his eyes fell upon the breach in the hull that was being patched. Hopefully that wasn't where he might be staying. "...to charter your ship for transport?" If it was right where he'd be in the ship, assuming she was willing to work with him, then hopefully the droids would manage a good job. A sudden hull failure in hyperspace rarely spelled good news for any occupants near the breach in question.

Neither in realspace, but there was at least a higher chance of survival.

He turned from the work being done back to look down to the captain of the vessel. "I understand space will be tight, of course, but no worse than a public shuttle...and, well, those don't particularly agree with me..." He made a vague gesture towards himself, seemingly indicating the whole of his person. He was certainly quite large, nearly a foot taller than the one he was speaking with, and at least awkward enough to match her own odd introduction. "I don't mean to be a bother, not at all, no clue what other business you have, but, if you have the space..."

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Should've just done it myself" she stated with a shrug, "But, you know, time is money or... whatever..." Her eyes narrowed at the droid currently welding on the last part of the plate. Ugly work... No doubt she'd end up redoing it at some other port, but for now, well, ugly or not it looked like it would hold. Overdone, one might argue.

"Alright, go on now, git," she said, waving the trio off with a shake of her head. It took her a few moments more to realize what he'd just asked. "Transport?"

Kalyn glanced from tall man to the other ships present in the large hangar, each of them seemingly far more suited to such, then back to him. "Uh...." Was she down as offering such services? Why yes, yes she was, but the idea wasn't to transport passengers... Just their... stuff. Taking on a whole person? "Crik."

Bringing a hand up she pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, and tried to think back to the last time the Hellbucket had a passenger. The Mandalorian... Though that had been dire straits, he'd been stranded, emergency power dwindling fast. This was.... Not. There were other ships.

Why wasn't he pursuing other ships?

"There's a spare bunk" she stated, crossing her arms at her chest, "But it's not in its own room. Don't know if you can tell it by lookin' at her, but uh... There ain't really all that many rooms in general. If that ain't gonna put you off though, sure. Gonna be a few extra UCks though, I ain't normally in the habit of transportin' people. That rate you saw's for cargo, bub." She glanced him up and down. "Though it does seem as tho you're travelin' light. Throw on another 20 for the gluk and we'll be golden."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as a thought came to mind.

"Uh... Where you headed by the way?" Probably should have led with that, no?

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

A brief look of confusion passed his face as the captain seemed so immediately surprised by his request. Sure, it was a bit odd, but not that far off from normal, certainly? Even for a ship that only carried cargo, it was an easy opportunity for money. But, as she elucidated a bit further on the innards of the ship, that confusion shifted to embarrassment, as he rapidly came to the conclusion that he thought he knew just what was stopping her up. The curse, the closed-off position, crossed arms...

He turned from her gaze somewhat bashfully. "I'll, ah, I'll be fine in the cargo hold," he replied to the comment about the bunk. "I would not wish to make you uncomfortable, I merely wish to go...somewhere. Anywhere, so long as it's not Imperial, Sith, or crusader space." Jaminere was already too close for comfort to the home of the former Sith Empire; he could still remember having the lessons learned from the rebellion of the planet years ago drilled into his head, or beaten into him if he didn't learn them quickly enough.

Unconsciously, Artur scratched at one forearm a bit uncomfortably. "Just give me a blanket and a space to fit into, and I'll be fine, truly, if it isn't too much trouble." Certainly less trouble than sleeping in the same bunk-space as her would be, at any rate. "But, so long as you aren't travelling deeper into old Sith territories, if you want to just drop me off wherever you're going next, I'm happy to pay."

He wasn't, really, but he needed to leave Jaminere.

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Great. Now he was talking about holing up in the cargo bay?

"Oh, no you don't, nu-uh" she stated with a firm shake of her head, "Ain't nobody freezin' to death in my hold, don't gotta turn the Hellbucket into literal hell with spirits an' all spookin' up the place." A long sigh, then she gestured with her thumb up the boarding ramp. "Go on, top bunk's mine. You can put yer luggage in the hold 'til ya need it."

Where was she going next?

Well, Kalyn frankly hadn't given that much thought. Not into Crusade, Former-Sith, or Imperial space evidently. "I'll be headin' down the Mara Corridor" she settled on, making it sound as though that had been the plan all along, "You just lemme know which world speaks to ya, and we'll be golden."

Provided he followed her gestures and headed on up into the ship, she'd follow after him. The inside wasn't much to look at either, seemed more like a workshop than a living space, but there was a gluk machine for all your hunger fixings, something that resembled a lounge, the aforementioned bunk - two beds inset within the wall itself - and a couple of doors. One for mechanical and engines, the other the refresher.

She stepped toward a workbench, which had until just now been rumblings, and gave it a light tap. Whatever salvage it had been deconstructing was finished with, and as much as she was hoping to get it onto a new project she knew how noisy it could be. So she sighed, stared at it wistfully, and headed past it toward the cockpit.

"Warned you she ain't much," Kalyn stated. "What'd you say your name was again?"

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Even worse, it appeared that as soon as he had spoken up the luxury of choice had been removed from him, short of immediately backing out and running off to find another ship. "As you say," he murmured in response to her refusal to allow him to sleep in the cargo hold, still looking away. At least the direction of travel was agreeable. Captain Mara, heading down the Mara Corridor. The same way he'd originally been going a week or so ago, before he ended up getting stuck just jumping around in the Ash Worlds and Tion Cluster.

Walking up the boarding ramp, he kept his eyes running around the inside of the ship. It was true, there really wasn't much; the cargo hold where he found a corner to stuff his things, the small amount of 'living' space, a hatch for any ship-to-ship boarding, and the path into the cockpit. And, of course, some odd machines. One was clearly a workbench and scrap table, though it appeared automated. The other was some sort of...

Food dispenser?

Was that what she had meant by 'gluk' moments ago? By this point he was almost afraid to ask. "It's about what I'm used to," he replied with a shrug. A bit more obviously salvage and rust and the like, but spartan accommodations were nothing new to him. It was why he'd been willing to take a free space among the cargo. "Artur, captain Minnau. My name is Artur."

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Mara," she said, a little softer than the other words she'd uttered thus far, "Minnau was my Father's name."

It wasn't of course, but neither was it actually even hers. On a ship so small and dingy formalities were more or less laughable. Yeah, no, she had no need for such ridiculous titles. "Just Mara, none of this Captain chit needed pal. Uh, Artur."

Surprisingly enough he didn't seem too bothered about the innards of the ship, though no doubt a cabin of his own would have been preferable. Oh well, we all wanted what we couldn't have right? For one person it was plenty enough, for two..?

Well that was stretching things a little. Good thing she didn't have any permanent droids - save for the one integrated into the hull that was - scooting about the place, or they'd be tripping over one another. Speaking of... She should probably clear up the lounge. Make space for him to actually sit, or whatever. Eh, when they were airborne. Probably best he join her in the cockpit for take off anyway.

Safer or whatever.

Welcome to Minnau Airlines, where safety is our highest priority!

Well he didn't balk at the notion of traveling down the Corridor so that was all well and good with her. "Uh, you need to do anythin' else before we leave?" Personally she wasn't in much of a rush, but frankly he looked like he was ready to get the heck out of dodge. She knew that look, she'd sported it for a while herself after fleeing the Imperial labour camp.

That haunted expression... Yeah. They'd leave as soon as he was ready.

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur nodded, slowly. "Mara." He couldn't entirely decide if it was odd that she was insisting on using her given name or if his training and experience had left him the odd one out. As the captain of the vessel, she was entitled to be referred to as such, but if she'd rather be just Mara, it would be easier to call her that than it would to do anything to make the interaction any more uncomfortable than it already had been. Such might prove unbearable.

"No, I have nothing else to attend to." No work, all his possessions were aboard the ship, nobody specifically to try and find. She'd already heard him say he wanted to avoid heading deeper into Sith or Imperial space, so no doubt the plan wasn't to follow the corridor up to Galidraan. Minntooine next, most likely, then further along into the Outer Rim. Through Silver Jedi territory. Not ideal, but...perhaps he might have to remain on the ship a bit longer than a few jumps.

Getting caught between the Silver Jedi, the New Imperials, the Ashlan Crusade, and any Sith remnants was a frightening prospect. Not one among them would likely have any qualms against trying to capture him or worse. The Sith, for 'deserting,' even though he'd been forced into their service in the first place and their empire had fallen before he'd been brave enough to leave. The New Imperials for being a Sith war asset, and any information he might be able to give them, or to punish him for 'crimes' committed agains them.

The Silver Jedi and the Ashlan Crusade, of course, would likely first notice what had been done to him, and he doubted they'd ask questions beyond that. Simply deal with the 'threat' as soon as possible. He exhaled a quiet sigh, breaking his silence with his eyes fixed somewhere on the floor. "Perhaps we could leave sooner, rather than later, jah? If you're fully loaded?"

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Nothing else to attend to.

"Perfect" she said, crossing off the last of her list of things to do here mentally. She'd swing back around eventually, and if she didn't? Well... There were bigger fish out there regardless. As much as she wouldn't speak on it, she knew better than to linger where another hoped to avoid. If nothing else it would keep further strangers from her ship should they come looking for him. No trouble was the best kind of trouble, after all, when you had a bounty on your head.

Truth be told Mara didn't know if hers still stood. The Sith were long gone at this point. But... It was better safe than sorry. Somebody might still want her head, for whatever reason. Or his.

"Come on up front, just for take off, then you can, well, you can do whatever you please. Might be nice havin' someone to talk to for once, Bith knows RQ ain't sayin' all that much up there." She tapped the ceiling about where the astromech protruded out of the hull for good measure, then sealed the doors and reentered the cockpit.

Whether or not he chose to accompany her into the two-man cockpit she'd soon enough have everything checked and prepped to leave. A little while longer and they'd be drawing up and out of the hangar bay, prepared to leave the world behind for good.

He seemed a little... sheepish. Reserved. Not exactly personable. Once there was no real need for her to pilot the ship any longer - though she couldn't deny enjoying the process - she swiveled in her seat and regarded him for a moment. "Y'know, usually I keep it pretty cold down there but uh, if you really did just want some privacy I can divert power to the bay's heater. Ain't much, no bunk or anythin', but you know, in case you need a break from all... this..." she gestured around the weird innards of her ship, before scooting out of the seat itself.

As she moved she picked up a few things that lay here and there, so clearly in the way, and stuffed them wherever they seemed to fit. Not the best solution, but better?

"Gluk?" she asked, as she moved to prepare herself a bowl, "this is the legit chit, Art, not some poor man's copy. Real noods an' all."

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur nodded again, following silently up to the cockpit. It appeared remarkably similar to some older imperial shuttles, even with the same control layout, but had clearly been heavily truncated down to simply a pilot and copilot. None more. If the turret on top wasn't automated, then in the event of an emergency that meant that either himself or the captain could fly it in a moment's notice while the other accessed the turret controls. That fact, at least, made the prospect of a trip in the bright yellow ship seem a bit more palatable.

For the moment, though, there was nothing for him to do but sit and watch and hope the vessel made it off the ground. Once it had, and the astromech integrated with the hull was able to take over and fly out of the planet's gravity well, the captain turned back to him. "Oh, it's not..." For his privacy? She had appeared to be the one most surprised by the idea of taking a passenger, especially with the knowledge that there was only the one small dedicated sleeping space. Closer by far than he was really comfortable with, she hadn't seemed it either, but commanded him not to sleep in the hold all the same.

Yet now she was actually giving him the option. How confusing.

"I'll let you know if I do," was his noncommittal response. Though, like he'd said before, give him a blanket and maybe a pillow and he'd be fine. It would certainly prove no less comfortable than anything he'd dealt with before. As she left the cockpit he followed along behind, only for her to mention that mysterious 'gluk' again. And...nudes? No, 'noods,' noodles, she was moving towards the kitchenette and food synthesizer; the first of the homophones wouldn't make any sense. At least, he was hoping that was the case.

Even then, with just the one clue...he still had no idea what she was really talking about.

"...Gluk?"

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Not..?

Well whatever he was going to say was lost to the void, and Kalyn didn't much feel like pressing the subject any more than she had. He already seemed confused enough, the offer had been made and that was that. Not her usual method of doing things but then nothing right now was her usual method was it?

Mind drifted back to Fenn. At least this one wasn't huntin' bounties.

At his confusion about the soup though she peered over her shoulder at him and grinned. "Oh, boy, you never had gluk? You're in for a treat then, my dude. Come, come," she gestured him over, and handed him the bowl she'd just been holding. Reached into the cupboard to get herself another one. "This 'ere's the gluk machine, put your bowl under, hit this button here and..." As she spoke she followed through the steps with her own bowl, and out came a series of noodles, broth, and even some sort of meaty substance.

Nerf, maybe?

Tasted like nerf to her.

"Uh, you can change the settin's, if you ain't one for meat. Or if you want a different broth, or, well, I mean, feel free to mess with it I guess. You can't really hurt it, and I figure you'll be having a few meals of it at the very least ye?"

She stepped away to give him the room to try for himself, leaning her back against the side of the lounge's sofa. "There's other options beyond the gluk but, honestly, no clue what. Been a while since I stocked up, and I'm really rather partial to the noods."

Sometimes she'd bring some veggies aboard, and toss them in for good measure. Something, something, health. Whatever, she did enough running around in her day to day life to offset it, surely?

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur watched the entire process somewhat dubiously. So it was, essentially, a food synthesizer—or, rather, more of a processor, given it likely took specific ingredients all to keep it stocked, rather than just base elements it could forge together into edible substance—that was limited to a single dish. That dish being some sort of noodle soup called gluk. At least it smelled decent, and what came out...

He repeated the captain's procedure, getting a bowl for himself as well. No real vegetables to speak of, and the meat—at a close glance, it wasn't true nerf steak. The grain pattern in the meat was too clean, regular, manufactured-looking. Fortified synthsteak of some sort, certainly a step up from veg-meat. That, a peppery broth, and the...

'Noods.'

He lifted the bowl to his lips, taking a sip of the broth. Definitely peppery, but not in some sort of unbearable way. True pepper, not chilis. Not overly thick, definitely had a fair amount of fat to it. A quick glance in the still-open cupboard revealed the presence of some disposable chopsticks as well, which he quickly grabbed, as he didn't have his mess kit with him to grab his own spork. "Certainly nicer than ration packs, isn't it?" he observed, breaking apart the chopsticks and grabbing at some of the noodles with them.

It had been a while since he'd had proper food. Normally it was just energy capsules or ration cubes, or at worst, nutrient paste. Nutritious, perfectly able to keep him healthy and moving, but not exactly food. It was also good enough that it only took a few moments for him to reduce the contents of his bowl by half. "Where's this from? I don't think it's common in this part of the galaxy."

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

His comment made her grin, and she nodded her head in response to it. "Aye," she stated, scooting back enough that she was now sitting on the arm of the chair as she cradled her own bowl and got to chowing down, "Nice an' warm." Definitely comfort food, guilty comfort food but all the same. Delicious.​

​

She watched as he sipped at the broth and ate the food so quickly that she was amazed he didn't choke on it. He had half the bowl gone by the time she'd taken just a few bites-and-slurps of her own. Impressive...​

​

"Denon" she said, with a shrug, "Probably somewhere else, but yeah. Denon." She tilted her head to one side as she regarded him, still leisurely sipping on the broth. How long had it been since he'd had a proper meal? The haste at which he ate made it seem like far too long... Malnourished? Or just a fellow high metabolism kinda guy? Kalyn knew how that was, her species could eat a man out of house and home if they weren't careful.​

​

"Help yourself to more, if you like," she offered, "As I say, there's other broths and meats and what not. Might even be somethin' green in the fridge if you're lucky, I'm tryin' to be better about keeping that chit on hand. Veggies and what not." Another shrug.​

​

At least he was enjoying the soup.​

​

Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

"I don't mind the synthsteak, honestly."

Maybe he shouldn't have said that. Maybe she didn't even know that the meat this setting had wasn't actually meat. His first bowl quickly finished, he returned to the machine and got a second, having already been told he could do so. Best to stop with the second, though, he didn't want to make her regret taking him on. That would be bad.

Just for good measure, he made sure to eat this bowl quite a bit more slowly. In the (highly likely) event that he still felt hungry afterwards, he still had ration cubes, energy capsules, and other high-density, high-efficiency food options in his things. He just hoped he wouldn't have to break out the nutrient paste any time soon; that would be truly desparate hours.

"So, Denon? Have you been there, then?"

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

Synthsteak?​

​

Eh, that made sense. Did it bother her? No, not really, because it was delicious. Probably far more stable for space travel anyway. So she shrugged it off and just watched as he finished his bowl and made another.​

​

"Healthy appetite," she said with a grin, "There, already something we share in common." Might be there was more, but she wasn't about to pry or stand around listing off her favourite things, that was silly. She still hadn't quite finished her own, mostly because she was doing a lot more thinking than talking, but as the machine dinged to show it had finished providing his second bowl she turned her attention to her food and ate more ardently.​

​

Soon enough her bowl was empty, the last of the broth being sipped from the edge. Delicious. She'd never not finished a bowl of the stuff. Pushing off the arm of the chair she moved to set the bowl down in the dishwashing unit, and then pondered his question.​

​

"Once or twice, in another life," she remarked of Denon. Certainly not somewhere she'd visited since her escape, too close to memories she'd rather not remember. "What about you? You don't much strike me as a city man, no offense or nothin'."​

​

Artur (Γ013)​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

The captain appeared prone to understatement. Artur lifted his eyes to gaze at her for a moment over the lip of the bowl, where he had been busy shovelling the noodles into his mouth. Between the healthy appetite comment, and now this observation about his distaste for crowds and cities. "Yes," he replied. "I'd ask what was your first clue, but by now you've probably lost track of it with all the others." Really, it wasn't just groups, it was people in general. Something that was likely already more than obvious to her after how the conversation had started.

Her wording about visiting Denon, though, made it clear that she had her own issues to keep hidden. Not particularly surprising; most spacers did. But Artur wasn't the sort to let a phrase like that slip past him without making some note of it. He'd been unable to let them pass for a long time, even. Smuggler, then? He imagined that was the most likely explanation. Hopefully for them both she had extricated herself from that trade cleanly. If not...Artur wasn't entirely worried for his safety, but he didn't like having to clean up messes.

"So how does a ship come to be named the Hangry Hellbucket, of all things?"

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

"Yes?" she stared at him for a moment, especially after the rest of what he'd said, and tried to figure out what he meant by it. "Yes you've been to Denon or yes you dislike cities, or..?"​

​

Well the second option was very clearly a given. But still.​

​

Returning to the sofa, Kalyn began to clear it of the junk she'd taken to piling up on it, setting them into drawers and cupboards and the like instead. Some she even sort of just... dumped... into the cargo hold. Rather unceremoniously, too. Just bits of scrap she'd yet to process and likely wouldn't have a chance to until he was gone. Unless he didn't mind the rumbling, grumbling noises of the machine.​

​

When it was more or less clear, still a few articles of clothing and the like here and there, she dropped down into it and stretched her arms over the back like a Queen on a throne. Casual, leisurely, with little care in the world.​

​

His question just had her grin, a light shrug accompanying it.​

​

"No clue, didn't think to ask in all honesty. Dude I got it from was some Ithorian on the 'net, maybe it's some inside joke or somethin' I ain't privy to. Weird name tho', ain't it? Don't exactly inspire confidence." She chuckled, patting the back of the seat as though she were petting the ship itself. "Still, she been good to me so far... Tear in the hull not withstanding, o'course."​

​

Damn asteroids.​

​

"Maybe I should make up some funky story, for next time someone asks. Or I could change it each time. Ya know, make it somethin'. Always fun to let stories spread among the stars, no?"​

​

Artur (Γ013) ​

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

One eyebrow raised, partly curious, and maybe a bit alarmed. "Perhaps the story you come up with is the more mundane," he suggested as a possibility. She was certainly right that the name didn't inspire confidence, and if the tear in the hull would prove emblematic of other bad luck that followed the vessel, well...such could prove problematic in many ways, each more unpleasant than the last. At least the captain herself didn't seem particularly worried by the concept.

Moreover, she seemed to rapidly have gotten more comfortable having him around than she'd seemed when first he'd asked for transport. Progress.

"Were I you, I might be worried that there's some sort of purpose for the name. Any strange settings abnormal for a ship like this that you've seen, or abnormal instrumentation?"

Kalyn Shif

 

[Kalyn Shif]

A brow raised to his comment of mundane stories, and a contemplative expression washed over her. Was he right? She thought back to the first time she'd stepped aboard, and tried to consider anything odd she'd noticed.​

​

Well... There were a few things.​

​

With a huff she hoisted herself up off the sofa and then gestured him to follow her back toward the engine room. "There is this one thing" she said, crossing the small-and-clammy room to where a poster hung on the wall. A, uh, pinup. "This blasted thing. Seems like it's fused with the dang hull. Can't seem to pry it off, tho' it just feels like your regular ole flimsi. Go on, try..."​

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No matter what he did, if he did indeed try at all, the sexy ortolan wouldn't budge.​

​

Mara shook her head, and chuckled.​

​

Beyond that though?​

​

"Ain't much else, mind. But uh, tell you what, you find a good reason she's called what she is and I'll give you back the gluk credits. A real story's always better than a fake one."​

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Artur (Γ013) ​