Running in the Red

[Abby Miller]

Honestly, She should have seen to this weeks ago.

Normally, Abigail had enough general knowledge to keep her ship going and her profits in the green. Not so as of late when every stop at a port was heralded by something else breaking down, usually in such a way that it could only be replaced. As a bonus: Each component breaking down usually spread to another two systems, leaving The Kestrel in an eternal limbo of repairs and breakdowns, despite Abby's best efforts.

She didn't want to start calculating just how much money she'd lost by putting off hiring a proper mechanic, compared to the amount she'd -thought- she'd saved by trying to patch things up herself. Given the rather concerning plasma leak in the engine room, the forward landing strut seeming permanently locked into 'Ready' position, and the consistently inconsistent ticking of the power coupling in the aft cargo hold, it was time to get The Kestrel some proper attention.

There was only one problem with that plan: The last place she'd managed to land on was Nar Shaddaa. At best, she'd be overcharged for the work. At worst she'd be overcharged and come back to a ship missing it's controls and everything not welded down. Abby paused, shaking her head. No, they'd take everything welded down as well.

This kind of negative thinking wasn't getting her anywhere, she decided. What she needed to do was clear her head and keep her eyes open, opportunity could appear out of the strangest and least expected of places. That thought was what had lead Abby down a few levels of the Starport, to the rec levels where she could hopefully get a drink. Cross referencing a few spacers for their suggestions might be a good way to start.

Pausing in front of the Cantina door, Abby composed herself and put on her most winning smile, before pressing on and entering the Cantina.

Right into the middle of an all-out brawl.

[member="Anna Sachae"]

 

[Anna Sachae]

SOME APPROPRIATELY GRITTY BAR
Nar Shaddaa, Local Time 1820

There was some kind of commotion in the main room, but Anna paid it no mind. Screaming, shouting, the sounds of glass shattering... none of that was relevant to what was happening right now. All that mattered was the moment, the metal guts she had her hands in, and how it was connected. Not just to other machines nearby, but to people, and places, and memories. Really, you could only know how something was out of place by understanding how it fit in.

Coming off her latest job on one of a dozen scavenger ships she'd been on in the last few months, Anna largely had enough to keep her flying. And since she had the money to take it easy, the fact that she wasn't was a pretty clear indicator of why she felt the need to compulsively play with sparky electrical hardware. When she'd stopped by the Twirling Twi'lek, Anna had noticed two things in rapid succession. First, the barkeep droid was programmed with one helluva margarita recipe. Shortly thereafter, she heard the holoprojector giving out several seconds before it started fizzling.

It had taken a good twenty seconds to convince the owner of this fine establishment to let her take a swing at it. Chances were, he was concerned she was a huckster who was just going to steal as much as she could and then vanish into what was becoming a very frustrated crowd. Regardless of that, she eventually got his blessing, and for the last few minutes, she'd been laying beneath the grill-sized machine that refused to show a bunch of pent-up spacers the Mid Rim Huttball Championships.

Like most temperamental machines she'd looked at, this poor thing was overworked to the point of exhaustion. It wanted to do its job. It had nothing but its purpose in the galaxy, so it was as frustrated as everyone else in the building. Unfortunately, as Anna ran her fingers over a few sticky stains, it was clear what had happened. Years of wear and tear weren't helped along in the least by a few spilled drinks. One of the more recent ones had dripped off the solidified goo of a few previous spills right down into the ionic compiler, leaving a smoking, sizzling mess.

Anna tweaked it twice, then gave the stains a good, thorough rub-down with a sonic scrubber. After a few seconds of being powered down to rest (and so she could check the heat sink), it was ready. The Kuati woman stood up, closed the access panel, and patted it twice. As if on suggestion, the holoprojector hummed back to life right in time to catch the start of the second half.

Walking through the slowly dying chaos of the room around her, Anna sat back down at the bar and picked up her margarita, lifting it towards the cantina's owner, several meters away.

[member="Abby Miller"]

 

[Abby Miller]

Spacers were a weird lot, especially on Nar Shaddaa. Quick to anger but, also quick to calm down. Evidently, the source of the initial uproar had been the busted holoprojector. As soon as it flickered back to life, the loud arguments and full on brawling soon died down, as people found something more interesting and less painful to spend their time pursuing. Abby could appreciate the crowd's calmer tone, she'd been about to try and find another dive before things settled down.

Having paused in the doorway upon spotting the fight, Abby now committed herself to entering the Cantina.

Making her way through the crowd, which was now returning to it's seats, booths and the like, Abby found a few free spots at the bar. Given the option of sitting next to a Herglic deep in his cups, a Trandoshan trying very hard not to look too twitchy as he played with a knife or a friendly looking brunette with a Margarita, Abby chose the latter.

Sighing contently as she took a seat, she gave her neighbor at the bar a small smile in greeting. "Hey there, been here long?" She asked, thumbing toward the dispersing crowd over her shoulder. "Quite the crowd by the looks of it."

[member="Anna Sachae"]

 

[Anna Sachae]

Hm? Oh, new person! Anna turned to face the woman who'd just sat down next to her and put her drink down. Her smile was brilliant, as always. "Since the first quarter! Mid Rim championship. Rodian Raiders versus Bothuwai Barons. I was pulling for Ithor or Kashyyyk, but they tend to get knocked out pretty early." Shaking her head, she grinned and picked up her margarita. "Doesn't mean it's not a good show."

Anna took another slow sip of her drink, then put it back down again and turned on her stool. "I'm Anna," she offered, head cocked to one side in a quintessential girl-next-door pose. "You smell like ozone and freighter fuel. Spacer passing through?" It wasn't a risky guess. It was a spacer bar. Most of the guys here were some kind of crew, whether active or otherwise. Even Anna had spent plenty of her time on ships recently.

The alternative wasn't nice to think about. Nar Shaddaa wasn't exactly known for its bright, upstanding citizens. Most of the people here were desperate, and a lot of them had some really dangerous, awful ways of dealing with that desperation. This girl wasn't anything like that. At least, not on the surface.

[member="Abby Miller"]