Arguing on the Holonet

[Rory Naasade]

Nar Shaddaa​

To: 01100100
From: TechMcTechFace
Re Topic: Alternative Power Couplings and You!
Look just cause ur sn is a giant D doesn't mean you have to be! Ur wrong and u know it! Telling SimonX to just ignore the risks around the P1-87 line is dangerous and terrible advice. Unless u work for the company that makes them and then its criminally dangerous advice.

To: TechMcTechFace
From: 01100100
Re Topic: Alternative Power Couplings and You!
Simon's a big boy, he can take it. Doesn't have to listen to me. Not my tech, not my problem.

To: 01100100
From: TechMcTechFace
Re Topic: Alternative Power Couplings and You!
My last reply got hidden cause the suggestion in it violated board rules. Imagine rude gestures and suggestions of anatomical impossibilities. But also- they really respect ur opinion here. If someone gets hurt cause they did something u recommended, that's not gonna bother u?


There were professionals and then there were professionals. Rory honestly wasn't sure where she'd lump herself. Depended on the day.

By and large, she no longer went out into the field for Charon. Oh, they still paid her, but mostly now to do mechanical work for them. She worked on ships, on power armor, on building and repairing weapons. She was a lot more use to them at a work shop on Nar Shaddaa than she'd ever been in the field. Even with the exoskeleton dealing with the issue with her legs, she wasn't the hard, grizzled merc sort. Occasionally, when they knew a job would lead to needing an engineer to do work in a hot zone on the fly? Sure.

But most days she tooled around in the work shop, handling a long line of one busted arse piece of gear after another. Between those, however, she worked on her own projects. Or surfed around on a holonet tech-head site.

Fingers pecked out a response to a different thread. There was nothing waiting in the garage at the moment, but she knew a ship was coming in with conductor problems first thing in the morning, and she didn't want to start a new project with that hanging over her head.

The bell on the door chimed, and she looked up from the data pad.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

"Oh my feth this little chit! Sortz, trace 'em, while I go grab my stuff."

And that was that.

At this point Sortz was probably used to the comings and goings of one Daro Tarsi. It was like he had a permanent tether attached to the sky. If something steered it? There he went. Off into the wind. She had insisted on coming with him. Insisted on taking that big boy of hers with, apparently something about having wanted to see a local museum for quite some time anyway? Daro wasn't really sure what kind of museum could be worthwhile here on Nar Shaddaa.

Part of him figured she just wanted to keep an eye on him.

She was a good 'un.

By the time [member="Rory Naasade"] came on over to the door the bell chimed two more times. The smell of ethanol (at least that is how heavy it felt on the nose) would wash over her. Also cigars. And cologne. Mostly that alcohol smell though.

"TechMcTechFace? I am here to have a word with you, you person!" The drawl came muffled from behind the door. Or right in her face, if she had opened the door by that point.

 

[Rory Naasade]

She hadn't gotten up right away. It wasn't until the bell sounded a second time that she remembered that she'd left the door locked today. The Charon workshop did public work (for public pay), but some days she just didn't want to bother and the company didn't ride her for it. She was making them good money, and didn't ask for much in return. Focusing on in house work a couple days a week? No issue.

Hopping down off of the stool, she winced, then looked around. Ugh, it would take too long to get into the exoskeleton- she hadn't been wearing it cause she hadn't NEEDED it right then, and she knew it wasn't good for her to rely on it always. Instead she wore just the brace she always had to. It meant that it took a minute for her to get to the door, and in that time the bell rung AGAIN.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" She yelled, pretty sure whoever was out there couldn't hear her through the door anyway.

Unlocking, she opened it-

And reared back slightly. The combination of the tone and his breath enough to knock Vinon off a stool.

"Phew, Mister," she said, blinking at him, eyes watering a bit. "I hope you didn't drive here like that-"

She stopped, blinked, only just registering what he'd called her.

"Uh..... okay yeah you found me- should I be worried? Was my last post like, WAY WAY too out there that I'm getting visits? The warning point on my account wasn't enough?"

Amused confusion.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"Lass, ya joking? I see more crazy chit than that, I visit the Holonet after all."

Which kinda begged the question what Daro was doing here.

Honestly.

He wasn't entirely too sure about it either. It had been a spur of the moment deal. Something to do, y'know? Besides, there was some business on 'Shaddaa that he could get out of the way anyway. Not that Daro had known she was from Nar Shaddaa, when he asked Sortz to trace her. No, but it had worked out rather well in that way. "Ya gon' invite me in, or do I gotta stand here all day? My knees ain't what it used to be, y'know." That was mostly a pile of chi-

Daro groaned as a shift shot some pain through the knees.

Okay, so it wasn't a pile of chit, but that was something he didn't wanna think about too much. A flask appeared, took a deep gulp, then disappeared once more. Rory - engineer and all - might have noticed a small flash when it popped in and out of his hat.

"Wanted to set the record straight on da P1-87," He pulled off the hat this time. There was no flask. Once he pulled his hand from out of its depths though... there was the power couplers. "-cus ya be waaaaay too sure about ya chit right now."

 

[Rory Naasade]

At first it was just confusion. But then as the situation in truth dawned on her, she just stared at him.

"D," she said finally, pausing a moment to collect her thoughts. They had talked a number of times over the holonet. Sometimes bouncing ideas back and forth, sometimes fanning over something, and sometimes, like in this case, arguing. But she had never, in a million years, expected him to show up at her gorram door. "If this is how you handle people disagreeing with you over the holonet, you need some serious help, you feel me?"

"Yah, yah, tell me about it."

"I just did."

Then she stepped back and let him in. She didn't mention his comment about his knee. Why would be obvious as soon as she started walking back into the shop again. The clear limp.

"Look I'm less interested in arguing over a clearly faulty product and way more interested in that HAT," she said, reaching for it. "What is THAT."

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"No, that wasn't-" ...meant literally.

Didn't matter anymore, because she stepped back in and let him in. A shrug, shuffling inside and peering owlishly around. Eyes lit up almost immediately. Workshop. That was the spot, yes, there was an immediate itch to go and explore. See exactly what sort of tools this one was using. Should'a been good, no? Especially because her mind was... well, it wasn't as good as him and nowhere near as adventurous, but it could keep up and that was all that mattered in these times.

He swatted her hand away when she reached.

"Lass, I rang da bell, before I walked through ya door-" Even though he didn't strictly need to do that. A B4 security system? Please. But it had been a matter of... uh... politeness, Daro supposed. "Ya better be chiming mah bell, 'fore ya reach for da hat."

Settled it right back onto his head and then trundled over to one of her corners.

There was a half-assembled (or disassembled, same chit really) speeder on its side. Looked more like a recreational project than anything else. He settled the power couplers next to it. No point in carrying that around everywhere, no? "Nice place ya got here." Brows furrowed as he looked over his shoulder. "Bit big tho." Real-estate was treasure on Nar Shaddaa. So, this had to have costed quite a bunch. Maybe the lady was some kind of-

Nah, not money.

She didn't have the eye for it.

"How long ya been tinkering then?"

 

[Rory Naasade]

"If that's got a doorbell I'll ring it. Can I see?"

She limped along behind him, a bit slower, but not particularly fussed by it. Honestly she was used to it. It was one of the reasons why, even with the exoskeleton, she was more typically useful to Charon in the workshop than in the field.

"Well gotta be able to get a transport in here. Company I work for likes to do things in house." There was a note of pride there but nothing to indicate what aspect of it mattered to her.

For Rory? It was the 'having a job' part.

She laughed and shrugged.

"Uh, basically forever? Long as I can remember anyway. Might not be an old hat," she grinned wider at him and at the joke, "but I do okay. Wanna see what I just finished? Going into production for Charon." She hobbled over to the bench on the far wall. It didn't look impressive. Weird little gel packets and a belt holster.

"High density gel- actually its gas, but calling it that made Varlo keep laughing. Used for low altitude drops," she tossed one over to him.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"Company, eh? Who ya work for then?"

The question seemed innocent enough, but there was a reason why Daro was busy peering at the speeder. Not at her. His expression was thoughtful. It was one of those modes. The layers of encryption, the security, it had been very tight. A sane man would have walked away from it. Daro? Naw, Daro he ran face-first into it and hoped for the best.

Or the worst.

Depending on the perspective.

"Old. Hat." His face squuuuinted hard and shook his head. "Leave the dad jokes to me, lass." He caught one of the packets and then sighed. Pulling off his hat. Looking at it with a smile for a moment, before passing it over to her.

"Be careful with da."

Then leaning down to inspect the packet. If Rory was looking, she'd notice he blinked one eye and the color shifted. Cybernetic for sure. "Mmmm, oh boy, do I love me some of dis." He murmured softly to himself. "Mechanics, no electronics," Humming and nodding along to that. "Antilaseeeer aerosol, ingenious, yes, yes! Oh, my chit tho, kyvalon-4?"

The color had been shifting with every comment.

Like his cybernetic was going through various modes.

"You tryin'a get a band of murderous Ithorians on ya ass, lass?"

 

[Rory Naasade]

"Charon," she repeated, as if she hadn't said it a minute ago. He was old. Probably hard of hearing. Or forgetful.

Maybe both.

"It was goooooood though," she said with a grin, half her body leaning along with the word.

She accepted the hat in trade, treating it lightly as she turned it over, squinting at in her turn.

"How many Ithorians you seeing in active combat zones lately old man? Come to think of it, when was the last time you saw one PERIOD. Best gas for the use, does everything it's gotta, and nothing it don't.... well, except the Ithorian thing."

Her eyes got WIDE.

"This is AMAZING HOW DID YOU DO THIS YOU GOTTA SHOW ME."

It wasn't clear if she was talking about the hat or the liquid key in her hand. It was very likely both.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

Or had a difficulty paying attention.

Maybe all three.

A glance over at Rory. "Lady, you gotta get out more. Every time I turn I have one all up muh business. Ever since da newest Mandalorian arseholes grabbed Ithor, there been a diaspora." A chuckle there. Dry and devoid of any humor. "Who knew that peace-loving priests dun' mix well with psychopathic murderers and barbarians?" The chit they had been up to was all over the news. Eshan, prior to that it had been Dathomir. Somehow the schutta queen ruling them all still tried to make them seem misunderstood.

It was unbelievable.

In truth Daro had turned back to the speeder. The excitement causing him to blink and look back. First the liquid key. Then the hat. Then to her. A moment of panic, before he calmed down. Right, right, the key was on a separate channel.

Not bio-coded to him.

The amount of times he had to get Zef to grab a key for him? Too many to count. Was just easier that way.

"Heheheh, is a good trick, eh?" Pushing himself up. He dusted his hands off on his knees and stretched a bit. Bones creaked, Daro groaned and shook his head. "Remember when I was ya age. Was a runner... a walker," Something flashed there. "Hold onto ya youth, lass, being ancient sucks." The man waggled on over to her, extending his hand to accept the hat back. "How much ya know about hyperspace reversion? How it works, why it works, chit like that."

Would make it easier to explain, depending on how much background Rory already had.

 

[Rory Naasade]

"Look pal I stay faaaaaar away from that area of space right now."

She had an accent. There was no denying it or pretending otherwise. Sundari for those that knew Mandalore well. Those that didn't? Yeah it was still obvious where-abouts she'd grown up. She might not fling 'oyas' around like candy but anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Mandalorians couldn't mistake Rory for anything but a Mandalore expat.

Rory didn't dispute a word of what he said though. She didn't seem offended by the 'psychopathic murders and barbarians' bit.

Leaning against her work bench as she eyed the hat in her hands, she glanced up as his tone changed.

A laugh, and she patted her knee.

"Never been much of a runner myself," she said with a grin. "But I'll keep it in mind. Make a note of it. Big red letters next to 'grow old' that'll just say DON'T."

She handed the hat back easily when he reached for it, putting the key back in and looking, for a moment, like she wanted to test that a couple more times, but just managed to restrain herself.

"Uh, not much actually. Haven't done much with that," she admitted, scratching the back of her neck a bit sheepishly. "Most of my focus was on.... other stuff."

Stuff that she could learn and study on her own. Stuff that hadn't needed access to expensive chit like starships with working hyperdrives.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rory Naasade"]

"You and me both, kid."

He said quietly, while turning the hat around in his hands for a moment. Then a sigh- he pushed his hand in, a flash (too quick, but it was light) and a flask was pulled out. He took a deep swig from it. Then another flash. It disappeared and Daro's head was covered with a hat again. Very nice and feminine one at that. "Well, might'a be difficult for ya to replicate this lil' magic then."

Thumb towards his hat.

Daro leaned back against the table and closed his eyes for a moment. Letting the alcohol booooze just right through his veins. "Ahh, stole my first ship when I was twelve and pulled it apart that same year. Put it back togetha even better, mhmhm." A shrug, the nostalgia gone. "Anyway, faster than light speed still sucks, right? Ya barely can get from one arse-part of a system to the other without dying of boredom."

"Try doing zero point zero, zero, zero, three times the speed of light all the way from 'Shaddaa to Coruscant. Corpses would be ash by then. Hyperspace then. Different dimension, hyperdrive pulls us into it and reverses us out, yes?"

One eye opening to see if she follows.

Then closing again.

"This hat?" Pointing to the hat. "Mini-hyperdrive....... I guess." Really super simplified for now. "Chit I need is stored in a local energized spatial matrix. Created at the time the pyronium embedded inside is run through with a current. You following that, kid?"