[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]
Passing up the controls to Mara was likely the best possible thing Fable could have done. The girl did things with her ship that Fable could barely understand, for the most part - the rest was completely astounded bewilderment. It wasn't unlike when she sparred with [member="Fabula Caromed"] who, despite having biologically the same body as she did, used hers to smash tanks recreationally a devastate capital ships professionally. Fable hated feeling useless, but for the most part, she was. The only thing worse than a harsh truth was willful ignorance, after all.
She cursed her bad luck to be born in an age where the pirates hadn't simply teleported aboard her ship or something so she could have knocked them senseless, herself.
It was really a quick stop, all things said. Sure, the locals were a little mercenary...
<No! No, no, no. I will not be taken to the cleaners by some back-alley fly-by-night dingus!> Fable seethed, pacing the lobby of the mostly-legitimate business they'd stopped in at. As it turned out, the credit of a Mandolorian clan didn't mean much to a nowhere-dealing scrap guy, but he was the only person in this hemisphere who had the parts her piece-of-crap Vector needed to get airborne again. <Will not. Cannot!>
Luckily, the guy was busy in the back making a phone call, and Fable's complaints were heard by little more than her little cousin and a rusty little mouse droid.
But negotiation is a skill everyone has to learn eventually, right?
A towering man covered in scars, sporting an ugly-looking prosthetic arm and patchwork bounty hunter armor stormed through the entrance of the junk shop. "MAR-NAAAY! I'm BACK. You got my parts, yet?!" The grizzled man barked irritably - more the tone of an exasperated sibling or friend than an unhappy customer. He took one look at Fable and Mara, turned white as a sheet, tried to back through the door he'd come through, but wound up splaying himself against the wall in terror.
"Y-You!"
"...me?" Fable replied, bewildered. She glanced at Mara, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Us?"
"Cah-cuh, cuh...Cavataio! She-devil!" He stammered dumbly.
Fable didn't even get a chance to explain that she wasn't, before the shopkeeper returned and gave his companion a puzzled look. "Yo, Gragni. The heck is wrong witcha?"
Gragni pointed an accusatory finger at the girls. "Don't you know who they are?!" He screeched. "That's Fabula Cavataio, the woman who ripped my blasted arm off like it was an afterthought!" He hissed. "She's not human, she's a feth-spawned siege weapon!" He turned his attention to Mara. "And that girl?! She's a fething MERRILL, you lunatic! As in the ODF Captain, Jorus Merrill! Do you have any idea how many crimelords her family has ripped apart?! Just because?!"
As it turned out, my family had enough credit by reputation to get us what we needed with a promise to repay them swiftly.
Fable straightened her back, puffed out her chest, and affected the demeanor of the woman she'd spent the past 6/7ths of her life emulating. Fabula at rest wasn't much different from Fable, but the mother's anger - and even annoyance - tended to burn quieter and more intensely than the daughter's. She gave Gragni a stern glare, then swivled swiftly to Marni. "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but he is correct." She informed him pointedly. "And now that we've been identified, I'll have to dispose of you both. My apologies."
Marni didn't look too convinced, until Gragni screeched in fear and fell to the ground, throwing aside his rifle and begging for mercy. Aparently, the man had a bit of a reputation for being tough, but even he wasn't going to stand against two names like that. Or even call their bluff. "Whoa, whoa!" Marni hissed, bringing his hands up in surrender. "Look, this was just a misunderstandin'! We'll take your credit a-and I'll throw in a discount!"
"A heavy discount." Fable corrected.
"I'll take it as a loss, an' keep my mouth shut!" Marni promised eagerly. "Jus' - I ain't lookin' for no trouble, alright?!"
Fable glared at him, as though considering this, then picked a pair of cold drinks from a cooler by the register and added them to the counter alongside her order form. "...we'll take these, too." She added flatly. "Have the parts at my XR-95 within the hour. You'll recieve payment in a week."
Never before was Fable so glad she flew the same model ship as her mother.
As it turns out, if you're just the right level of nice, people will bend over backwards to help you!