Smuggling Not Snuggling

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"I got shot at, because of you." His voice was dead ice. "That was never part of the ba-"

Alistair was interrupted by a loud beeping coming from his console.

He offered Kinsey a scoff and then dragged himself off the floor, still somewhat mourning his pants. He pulled himself up and glanced at the console, his eyes flickered across the various readouts and then a string of curses echoed from his lips. "Poodoo."

Alistair slammed his fist into the console.

"Hyperdrive got damaged by the Torpedo." He flashed her a glare. "We're burning fuel fast."

A big problem.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Well if I didn't think you were a smuggler worth your salt, I would've asked for a second recommendation," she retorted over her shoulder, pausing at the warning sound. Features crinkled in real worry as she was quickly back by his side, glancing at the indicator. Bending over, she pulled up the nav-computer.

"We need to find a system. Or anywhere. Somewhere to put down so I can have a look at the damage done. Probably can fix it."

They didn't have long before they'd probably pop out of hypserpsace dangerously out of control - according to the fuel levels. If a system wasn't close by, they'd have to get creative. Abandoned space station. Breathable asteroid. Or plain old thinsuits. She wondered if this guy had any on-board or if it even came to that.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair let out a string of curses.

The problem with Hyperspace was that even a few seconds was literally billions of miles worth of travel. They'd only jumped a few minutes ago but by now they were already well passed Coruscant traveling through the deep core. The biggest issue with that? The Core wasn't exactly the best place to randomly pop out of hyperspace. Every spacer worth his salt knew that much. The core was mostly black holes, random asteroid fields, scattered stars, and everything else one could imagine.

Traveling through the core was hard at best, and on a broken hyperdrive?

Alistair let out another string of curses and then quickly pulled up the star maps. He had no idea where they were, not really, but some quick math in his head and he was able to at least guess. He frowned and then suddenly pointed to a system. "Here."

The system was marked as abandoned, meaning that once, long ago, it had been colonized by some galactic government or another but had likely been abandoned for hundreds of years. It meant the atmosphere was breathable, and that was the best they could ask for.

"Hang on." He told Kinsey as he hopped into the pilots seat. "This is going to get rough."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Kinsey quickly slid into the co-pilot's seat that had seen better days. Again, it felt like home. The familiar. So unlike Felix's apartment. Fingers pulled the crash-webbing on around her shoulders, securely clicking it in place. Blues seemed to darken, the little flecks of light swirling within their depths muting as she focused in on the star map - typing it into the nav-computer.

Kinsey was a Starchaser and could use the force. She didn't often use it - not since she'd been running from Sage. Most times she hid her signature and she'd been doing it for so long - almost forgot what it meant to even feel the force at all. But when it came to traveling in space? Astral navigation? Movement. Even movement between crowds - let alone stars - now that she could do. That came naturally.

It was in her blood.

Eyes closed for a hot second as she felt their next move. The force was a funny thing. "It'll work," she whispered to herself, eyes snapping open just as quickly. Fingers tightened around the crash-webbing as the elongated stars suddenly became short, popping them back into real space.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Crash landings were never never easy, and Alistair knew that because he'd been through a few of them. It was an unfortunate fact of Smuggler life that sometimes you ran across a group of folk that didn't particularly like what you were doing. Sometimes it was the authorities, sometimes it was pirates, and sometimes it was even other smugglers.

Usually you could talk your way out of it, pay a bribe, make a few nice faces, that sort of thing, but sometimes you got shot down. Alistair had only had that happen twice before, and neither time had he been in control of the ship, but...well that didn't really make it any better. His fingers laced around the controls and as soon as they entered realspace he caught sight of the massive planetoid directly before them. The thing was massive, almost as big as Coruscant itself.

Of course from orbit it was obvious that this wasn't a city world, rather one covered in expansive jungles, plains, and what he could only guess to be an ocean.

Klaxons began to blare in the cockpit as the planets gravity well ensnared them, grasping at the small ship in orbit and tearing them down towards the surface of the planet. A string of curses left Alistair's throat as he pulled on the ships control stick, his fingers grasping tighter and tighter.

"Here we go." He called as they burned through the atmosphere, the engines of The Mara kicking into overdrive as Alistair worked to level them out. They dropped like a stone, but somehow the ship quickly began to even itself. Still they fell towards the planets surface, coming down hard and fast within a small forest. Before long he felt the jerk of the first impact on the control stick. Then another, then another.

Before long they crashed into tree after tree, the Mara falling hard onto the ground within a clearing and tearing a strip into the earth.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Teeth rattled. Bones jarred. She wanted to close her eyes but couldn't. Fingers were itching to get on the controls. To be in control. But it wasn't her ship. And Fenn was doing a decent job, though she'd never admit it to the smuggler. Even when her head stopped rattling.

Face paled a moment as they came in. Almost looked like they wouldn't make land. That ocean. But they cleared. Color returned a bit to her cheeks.

Every fiber of that crash webbing was tested as they finally came to a stop. And things fething hurt. She groaned, sitting there for a moment. Didn't feel like she could quite move anyway.

"You okay?"

Finally, fingers fumbled upwards to undo the harness.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

His head hurt.

Somewhere during the landing something had fallen from the ceiling and smacked him in head. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it had hurt and broken the skin. He could feel the blood, though it wasn't enough to cause him much concern. He frowned for a moment, running a hand through his hair and wincing when he felt the shallow cut on his scalp. He glanced at his hand, spotting the blood and slowly shaking his head as he gathered himself.

"Yeah." Alistair said quietly, taking a deep breath.

For a moment he forgot where they were, though looking out through the cockpit window immediately reminded him. He frowned for a second, unbuckling the straps across his chest and pulling himself free. He scanned the cockpit for a moment, noticing the alert lights blinking.

"Looks like we're mostly okay." He told her. "Engines will need a touch up, but..."

A curse escaped him. "Hyperdrive is completely fired."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Might be able to fix that," she grunted. Adrenaline still coursed through her body. There was a muted pain along her ribs but she didn't think much of it. Unbuckling the harness, she stood, frowning as she caight sight the blood trickling down Alistair's face. "Should check that."

She'd brought a small bag, getting some supplies before meeting Fenn. Essential spacer stuff. No explorer worth their salt wouldn't carry a medkit. It was a small tin box - a bit banged up. Setting it down on the seat she just vacated, she popped the top, taking out an antiseptic wipe. "Here. Come closer." Top teeth gnawed lightly into the flesh just below her button lip, eyes trained at his hairline.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"It's fine." He waved her off.

Alistair didn't need anyone doting on him, especially not some crazy spacer chick who had just gotten his hyperdrive blown up. There was work to be done. His head shook for a moment and he closed his eyes, refocusing himself as he pulled up a full diagnostics.

His teeth sunk into his lip.

Just as he had feared the hyperdrive was completely burnt, there was no way they were going to fix it without half a new one. They could take some parts from a few other pieces of The Mara, but he doubted that would be enough to actually get them to jump to hyperspace. He frowned for a moment, glancing at Kinsey who was no busy fixing herself up. His lips thinned, and then he glanced back at the panel. At the very least they could still fix the sublight engines.

That was something.

"There's no way you can fix that thing." He told her with a scowl. "Half of it is gone, and we don't have the replacement parts."

Alistair had always been rather...careless when it came to replacement parts for The Mara. It wasn't a willing thing, but just something that happened due to his lack of money. His frown lingered, and then he reached over to the sensor panel. "I got an idea."

This world had been marked as an abandoned colonial project, that meant that once there had been a civilization here. There was a chance...a very very small chance that they might be able to find the remnants of the settlement. If they did that...perhaps their luck might hold and they'd find some much needed parts.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Teeth scraped off her lip and back into her mouth as a frown deepened on her face. "Your idea ain't gonna be worth chet if you end up getting an infection from that thing." Angular chin motioned sharply to his head. "Don't be such an ijeet. Or are you scared of a bit of antiseptic?"

Eyes of swirling blues seemed to lighten to the color of a lighter, summer morning of Naboo skies.

Stepping around the smuggler, she leaned in the doorway to the cockpit, blocking his retreat. Index and middle finger pinched the wipe tightly between digits. She offered it to him. "At least do it yourself. I'd hate to have to burry you if you did get an infection and die from stubbornness."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair scowled indignantly at the woman. He wasn't some child that needed to be babied, he was a smuggler, a gunslinger. His eyes lit up for a second with a mix of frustration and anger, but that quickly faded away as he was reminded of just who had set him up with this job.

He still didn't know if she was part of their organization...if she represented them in some weird fashion. Alistair's lips thinned, and then he snatched the small cloth from between Kinsey's fingers. Without a word he dabbed at the blood on his head, cleaning the cut and removing some of the blood with a careful and planned touch. The smuggler winced slightly as he did so, though as he had suspected the damage was not all that bad considering what they'd been through. When he was done he stared at Kinsey.

"Happy?" Alistair asked sarcastically as he turned away from her and glanced at the sensor console, reading the information that scrolled across it.

A small smile touched his lips, though it went away when he remembered who was standing behind it.

It seemed that several dozen miles from where they were a small settlement remained, or rather an outpost of some sort. Traveling there on foot would be difficult, but...there was a chance they could find what they needed there.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

She didn't watch him as he cleaned. She certainly wasn't a mother hen. She was just practical. She'd seen enough exploring not to be stupid about things. Fingers snatched up her tin medical box and stuffed it back into her rucksack. Strap went around her shoulder.

"As happy as you are I'm sure," she called over her shoulder as she walked down the ship toward the ramp. "Need to get a look on that hyperdrive from the outside." Stopping at the ramp, she pressed the release. The ramp creaked and groaned, nudging about halfway down before freezing up. Blues rolled. This ship was a real piece of work.

Made her smile slightly.

Head shook and she reached out to the manual release lever, gripping it with both hands. She grunted, tipping her shoulder down as she pushed. PUSH-PUSH-PUSH-PUSH. Lever barely moved an inch.

"Kark, feth it," she muttered.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Yeah that won't work." Alistair said as he stepped up behind her, watching the lever not move at all.

The Mara was an old ship. The variant of the vessel was actually produced well before the Gulag Plague, and thus that meant The Mara was well over four hundred years old. Of course with that amount of age came quite a few system changes, and those changes were done by various people using various components at various skill levels. It had made the ship rather cheap to buy, but also made it a huge pain in the ass to actually live on and use.

Alistair didn't mind most of the time, Generally the ship was good on fuel and the odd little quirks didn't really get in his way too often. Of course sometimes it got on his nerves, but it was well worth it in the end. As long as he got home at the end of the day.

He shrugged. "Just crawl out."

There was no point in trying to fix the ramp right now, not with other problems waiting.

"There's a settlement a few miles from here." He told her as he turned around and walked towards a small wall closet. He pulled it open to reveal a small pack, a getaway back that he kept hidden in the smugglers compartment. It had a few wildlife survival tools, some credits, and clothes. Alistair took the latter two out and put them back into the compartment. "We'll head there after you figure out I'm right and we can't fix the drive without parts."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]
She eased off the lever. "Really? How long were you gonna make me push that?" An affronted look slipped across her features.

Real wise guy. She saw that cock-eyed-smirk and a twinkle in those dark eyes set upon a dusky face.

"Well, we'll see who IS right," the girl murmured. Purposeful steps that marked her independence walked past scruffy. Sparkling blues sized up the gap the ramp left. Would definitely have to crawl.

"Guess you're lucky I'm not hutt-sized," dry quip left her lips as she got down on her hands and knees. Then her belly as she scrambled forward, heaving herself up and out. Wasn't long before she straddled the lip and was able to dangle and drop to the grassy ground below.

A sharp pain hissed up her side. Frowning, her fingers plucked at the bottom of her shirt, lifting it gingerly before fly boy dropped out. Black, blues, and greens spread beneath her skin along her lower ribcage. Seemed to be where the harness had been earlier. Fingers quickly tugged the fabric back down.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair threw the pack of stuff out of the small gap first.

There was nothing in there that could break, a durasteel waterbottle, some rations, firestarters, and of course a flare gun. He checked his blaster, making sure that he had an extra powerpack or two before he fit it back into the holster. After a moment he plopped himself down on the edge of the ramp, squeezing himself through the small gap that had been made when she'd initially attempted to open the thing. With a bit of wiggling he managed to squeeze throw, falling onto the ground with a quiet thud.

"Kark." He said quietly to himself.

There were more than a few things he'd have to fix on The Mara one day. With a scowl the smuggler glanced up at his ship, shaking his head and wondering if he wouldn't be better off just trading the damned thing in for something new.

A sigh escaped him and quickly he scooped up the pack. "Well?"

He looked at Kinsey expectantly.

"Make your decision." He already knew the hyperdrive would be fired. Perhaps she was a good enough mechanic to fix the engines, but the hyperdrive? Well it didn't matter how good you were if half of the damned thing was missing. "Then we can go."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Hmm," hands to the small of her back as she wandered around the side of the ship. "Nice job on the crash landing," she mused and wandered closer to the hull. A huge chunk of the back was carbon-scored off. Right at the hyperdrive.

Small sparks still jumped between the broken and frazzled wires of what was left. One boot hooked up into the rib of a step and she hauled herself up. Hands rummaged around, lips pursing as she took a closer-look. Being a spacer meant she had to be a karking good mechanic at times. A lot of the times - trading scrap pieces for other pieces to make something it may never have been intended for.

She had a good eye for fixing problems.

And this was a major one.

"Looks like the regulator is completely gone. You've got half a motivator. Inhibitor actually looks in good shape." She rocked back, hands hooking around the hull. "Surprisingly." Gingerly, she lowered herself down. "Don't get cocky but yes, we need some parts." Fingers came up to scratch at her cheek, lightly. Other hand motioned for him to lead the way. "Let's go." She imagined at worse, she had a cracked rib. At best, it was only bruised. She'd have to walk slow. Probably a lot slower than Alistair. And Alistair seemed like the kind of rogue that wouldn't take too kindly to any weakness. Seemed like he'd cut and run if things got too hard.

So, she'd have to hide any weakness.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Oh wow I was right?" Alistair said, not letting any sarcasm stay back from his tone of voice.

The diagnostics tool back in the cockpit had of course not been as detailed as Kinsey, and in truth what she said was actually very helpful...but he wasn't about to admit that. At this point there was a certain contention between the two of them, though most of that probably came from Alistair.

He wasn't really mad at her, not like he was mad at some other folk, but he was more than a little annoyed. He was under a massive amount of debt, he hadn't wanted this contract, and fixing his ship would probably force him even deeper into the hole eventually. The smuggler didn't like the thought of that one bit, and in truth it was really starting to get to him. The stress of it was weighing in, and slowly he felt as though he was being crushed beneath it all.

Not that he'd ever say that out loud.

"This way." He motioned. "Hope your shoes are good for hiking."

His weren't, but he'd have to live with it.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Kinsey never met a stranger. That's how it had been growing up. The girl seemed to have a way with people, naturally able to make friends and bridge gaps. There were never any ulterior motives for doing this. It was just who she was. Since Sage Bane though, she tended to be a bit more reclusive and a bit more cautious.

All for good reasons and hard lessons learned. Didn't mean she lost her winning smile or her ability to adapt to different situations or personality types. Take things in stride.

A genuine smile curled around her lips behind Alistair, booted feet walking across the terrain, hand trying not to press toward her side. "Always." She had good shoes. Kind of a requirement for an explorer. They were nothing fancy or expensive - just good for climbing, walking, and trekking. Well worn and well used - as Felix could attest to even if the smell had been disagreeable.

Hard not to pick up on his undertones of hostility.

"We'll be okay," she spoke quietly, picking her way across the grassy-field that quickly turned into a wooded forest. The ground seemed to rise and fall in growing hills. "Even if we don't find exact parts, I can fix her. Your ship. If I find...," voice trailed off for a bit and lips pursed before opening again. "Well, I can probably help you with the repair costs."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

As they continued their trek through the forest Alistair couldn't help but sigh slightly.

He understood that Kinsey was trying to be friendly, but he wasn't exactly in the friendliest of moods. He doubted that the Mara would be cheap to repair, in fact he was almost certain that it'd cost a few thousand credits. Sure the Huperdrive would be fixed...it had to be if they were going to make it off of this planet alive, but the rest? The giant hole in his hull and everything else...well that would have to be done by a driveyard or something similar.

"Sure." There was still a lot of sarcasm in his tone, denoting that he didn't exactly believe her.

Probably because she needed discount smuggling rates.

"Why are you here again?" He asked. "I mean not on this planet, but here with me?"

This time his question sounded more genuine. Usually he didn't give a rats ass about who he was smuggling or why they wanted off-world so bad, but...he'd been shot at because of her, so he figured he at least earned a little bit of an explanation.

Only fair.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Sandy-brown brow quirked at the sarcasm in his voice. Lips twitched slightly. The man's sarcasm and cavalier attitude didn't really rub her the wrong way - not really. She'd been around smugglers like him before. Worse people than him. Much worse.

Digging in her bag, she took out a hydration packet and began shaking it for activation.

"Well," she breathed, taking her time to open the packet and to answer his question. A few moments of silence stretched between them, steps along dried pine-straw and rocks seeming to echo in the empty woods. "Do you believe in treasure maps? Because apparently two criminal clans do. The group that shot at you was one of 'em."

She brought the hydration packet to her lips and began slurping.