Private The Ghost In The Shell

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

He was fine. He was could recover. The wounds were no problem at all. He had already cleaned out the blood within his armor. The only problem was the armor itself. They broke through some of its functions and systems, he couldn't summon the suit's strength and support in his left leg and right arm. One of the sensors was blocked out, blinding him in one eye. He was essentially walking with a slight limp and was half-blind, and he wouldn't dare try to activate anything else without a proper diagnosis. His recent quarry had roughed him up more quite a bit with the Quad Cannon from their ship. It must have on Chaos of a targeting system to hit him as fast and as small as him from within that ship. Luckily, he managed to grab hold in spite of the injury to his armor. Then all it would take would be breach the defenses of the ship, something that Deryn does very well.

Now all of them, except one, was locked in his prison hold. He was going to make his way back to the guild to claim his rewards but the journey, especially in this ship and its slow Hyperdrive Speed, was too dangerous. Pirates infested the way there and in his current state, he could fight but not fight as well as he wanted. Now, cruising through the stars in the Warhawk, he struggled his way towards a planet. The next populated one was near twelve hours away by his speed. Kark. He had to signal in someone, anyone. If it was pirates, he could still engage in a ship battle even in his state. Hopefully, the signal would attract someone with the needed parts to fix him up.

Mariah of House Marr

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[Mariah of House Marr]

Mariah sat in the pilots seat, next to her was W-5 a droid of her own making. It wasn't the most advanced on it's own, but it gave her the advantage of being able to take personal effect in combat, without taking the same risks. Still, he was sufficiently capable. She had just finished a job of questionable legality, the cargo was unopened, but it was scanned in spite of their wishes. They'd never be aware of that fact. Point was, it wasn't a bomb, so she didn't care. She was paid, and she was off now.

EEEEEEEP. An alarm went off, she looked at White who immediately spoke, "Distress signal. Marking it's location." he said and data he said. She looked at it considering for a moment then letting out a sigh, "Alright, set course. I'm getting the flight-suit ready in case we need to board. Keep course for now. I'll get you a weapon on my way."

She left to get ready. At present, the only droids on board were White and a surgical droid. She planned on making or buying a few more. She was good with droids, they made her job easier. Absolute obedience, and occasional memory wipes, meant there was no risk of someone spilling the beans on any of her operations.

She came back in the suit, handing the droid a IR-1, something she also held, and holstered a bar-58-blaster-pistol and pv-16-sunfury-pulse-pistol. She cracked her neck as she saw the ship. It was smaller than hers, about half that of the fyrnock. Good sign. Meant she probably didn't have to worry about them going into full on combat. Still, she wasn't out here for an ambush. She wanted to know what the deal was.

"Open a line to them. I need to talk." White immediately attempted to do so, if Deryn Kaaldos could receive she'd talk immediately, "This is Mariah Marr of the Fyrnock. We've received your distress signal and are on our way. However, before I go any further, I want to know you and your ships condition as well as your name. And a notice, I'm not here for you or your property. I don't want your ship or anything on it by any means of force. I expect you to have the same respect for me and my property."

Her voice was definitely young, but it was still full of authority. Truth was, she had no idea if boarding them was even a good idea. Or letting them board her. She didn't know how many people might be on board, and definitely didn't know the type of weapons or skills they had. Or if there were more ships out there. That was the risk you took answering a distress call. And the Warhawk wasn't exactly something that looked completely peaceable.

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

When he saw the ship twice the one his size, Deryn immediately went through the motions of combat with it inside his head, while crossing its fingers it didn't have as itchy of a trigger-finger that his fantasies envisioned it to be. A wave of relief went through him when he heard her speak, though he wasn't expecting a youngin to be the one he'd be addressing to. Still, it was better than nothing.

"I am Deryn Kaaldos....." He practiced his voice, still not activating the commline to get to her. The voice he naturally had wasn't exactly welcoming. He spent a lot of time shouting on that last mission and now he was having trouble trying to restrain his voice back to 'normal'. "I am Deryn Kaaldos....." This one was too mellow, too soft. It sounded unnatural to hear from someone who poses as a Zabrak. He repeated twice more until he got it right.

"I am Deryn Kaaldos of the Warhawk." He finally said through the opened commline. "My ship is fine, though if it was faster, I wouldn't be calling a distress signal. Its me that is the problem. My armor is a life-support unit. I need it to survive but I lack the parts to fix it right now." He cannibalized the spare parts to make some of his new weapons. As much as he is a famed Bounty Hunter, he would never survive if he didn't have a job as a high paying as his. "It's compromised right now. The systems are down except for the bare minimum. My destination is through pirate-infested space but my ship is too slow to evade them. My life support systems are fine but I'm not confident I can go into trouble in this condition."

"I have the credits to pay for the service. Sith-Imperial Credits, Calamari Flan, Hutt Coins - whatever you accept." This is one of the times where his hording has paid off. Quite in a literal sense too. "Anything, but bartering, I can do." He wasn't going to be parting ways with any of his sweet belongings.

Mariah of House Marr



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[Mariah of House Marr]

He answered, Deryn Kaaldos. She turned to White pointing to some of the controls, meaning for him to look up the name he gave and find out what might be available on the holonet based on what he gave. His ship could move, but not fast enough, and presumedly he didn't trust his armament to stand up to pirates on the way to somewhere safe. Or at least, that it would take to long to do so. And there was the important part, his suit was for survival. Not the first occasion of that, cyborgs she found had that issue often as well. But people who used a suit were at a much greater disadvantage.

She'd worked on cyborgs before, and suits, plus this was a repair job, not a creation job. That always made it FAR more easy. She also had a surgical droid on board, but it didn't sound like that would be necessary.

A smile came to her face as he said he would pay, seemed to have quite a range of choices too. About half the time that meant crime was somehow involved. Pirates, hunters, smugglers, traders. She was the same way. Keep the most important currencies you get if you can hold onto. She chose to respond as White sifted through as many of the 'Deryn Kaaldos' he could, especially with the terms 'Warhawk', 'Injury' or 'Defect'

"I've worked on cybernetics a lot before, and droids. I think I can help out with your suit as well. Though I'm not sure what you want to do with your ship. If pirates are your concern, I doubt I could try and drag you there." She tapped her leg in thought, her voice getting a bit more cheerful, "Alright, tell you what. I'll let you board my ship alone, if you're able, do repairs on it and give you a little over standard fee for it given the trouble this is...and danger. And we'll discuss anything else after that. Sound manageable?"

She'd been involved in crime, she knew the risks here. Had to get out of some really bad situations in the past. There wasn't much she hadn't had to do really. But, here she was, after so long, still willing to make deals with people she didn't know, in dangerous places. No matter how long she'd gone, there was at least some sympathy in her.

Deryn Kaaldos

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

There was little she could gather on the HoloNet on Deryn Kaaldos. He was a former Sith-Empire War Veteran and was discharged due to unspecified injuries. She could find more on him if he she had connection to the CryptNet but the only thing on him on the HoloNet was that he was born on Iridonia, is a Zabrak, and a few public messages ordering firearms online. The Warhawk, however, she could find more on. Its original design intention is as unclear as to whoever its original designer was. It was a rare model that very few people had pockets deep enough to endeavor in. Dating back over a two dozen millennia in appearnace, the ship was given great ratings on almost all dimensions. It had good armament capacity, very strong defenses, and equally as fast and agile in Sublight speeds. It was obviously facing combat with all of its perks but its Hyperdrive Speed was slow as slow can be.

"The ship is fine and dandy but I usually fight in it with some of its functions interlinked to my armor and, like I said, armor ain't looking too good. He would get up, grabbing his Light Repeater, and headed to the armory on his ship to stash it somewhere. It was, after all, a rather intimidating gun and he wanted to bring something a bit more discreet along with him to board. He wasn't going anywhere without protection but his trigger-fingers weren't exactly itching to be engaged in a firefight with a little girl on her ship. Instead, he took the TDW L7 he had recently bought. It was a handgun, still large for its type but it wasn't going to be as off-putting as walking in there with a weapon that could punch through armored vehicles. "But yeah, I can get on board. I'll pay whatever I need to. Money isn't a problem for me, not after my current haul."

"Say, aren't you a little young to be offering random, potentially dangerous strangers that sent out a distress signal near pirate-infested space help?" He asked as he holstered the handgun and pulled his coat over it. "Don't you have like, parents or something like that?"

​

 

[Mariah of House Marr]

White pulled up what he could find, a war veteran with injuries. Explained his suit. At least it seemed he was telling the truth on that. Zabrak, those were known for being hardy. She was surprised he'd gotten injuries bad enough to need a suit just to survive. His ship was, in all honesty, exactly the sort of thing to be concerned about in space. A well rounded but strong ship that posed a notable threat in battle. Hers was made to take damage, but that didn't mean she didn't recognize risk involved. The Warhawk, and him, made for a dangerous person to let on her ship. She could leave, but then she'd leave him with the potential to die by the hands of pirates.

Everything he'd said so far made sense. She wasn't naive. But she wasn't going to just let it go either. She went to the controls, setting up and preparing for connection as he answered her about his ship. So it wasn't an issue, just him still. That was good...for him at least. "Good to know, I'll keep that in mind when fixing your suit."

She had White guide the ship to connect to his, "Well that's good to know, I don't know how much it would cost until I look at it. Don't worry though, wouldn't put you in debt. Especially with confidence like that in your 'haul'." she repeated the last word with emphasis hoping he'd elaborate on that later. Her hauls usually ended up being valuables. Sometimes less legal, but that wasn't important. Plausible deniability was a useful thing.

He could certainly hear her giggle as he asked about her being young, though she got a little quiet on her parents. Decades ago. Her mind still treated most memories as fresh. Still, her voice came back light hearted again when she did speak, "Not anymore. I can take care of myself, military school helped with that. Plus I got White here, he'll just kill you if you hurt me, zabrak cyborg or not. As for pirates, I doubt they carry the firepower needed to get through my shields, trust me, it's been tried. Besides, I can offer more as an ally than a target."

Shouldn't take long for him to be able to get on board so she could get a better look at him, and the situation. If he came across on his own she'd continue speaking, "You know, you really should get a droid for this. Would help you with problems like that. I'd be glad to sell you one designed for you, after we're done here."

Deryn Kaaldos

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

"Bounty Hunter," He added when mentioned his haul. "They are locked in the Prisonhold in my ships. Don't worry about them." Bounty Hunting is a complicated profession. They were all wanted alive but he had to kill the leader, who was also the gunner. Perhaps it was vengeance for damaging his armor or perhaps it was because he was a suicidal maniac that leapt at him with thermal detonators in hand. He punted him out of the ship and into a tree, subsequently breaking his spine, in reaction. The rest of the crew soon surrendered after that.

"Well, remind me not to get on his bad side. He chuckled at the remark on her droid. He had B-Z, but he wasn't much of a conversationalist. He was more like an extension of himself. An extension that he cannot reach because his armor, which he was interlinked to, is damaged. He could feel a little phantom pain from that realization. His armor was broken and in a way, he was his armor. It made him feel more exposed than he has been in a while, like a snail with a broken shell.

Then came her sales pitch which he shook his head at. The only droids he used were the ones he made. He wasn't keen on hooking something like a droid up to his armor and betting on its programming to be good enough. He preferred sentient beings, and he mostly preferred himself. "I can fix my armor on my own well enough. I don't trust a droid to be looking around in there. The only reason I'm really calling is because I lack the parts I need to fix it. I may have... used them irresponsibly."

"I'm ready to board when you are."

Mariah of House Marr

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[Mariah of House Marr]

Ah, hunter. Fitting. Former military, flying something like that. It also meant she had to be very careful if he did turn out to be a threat. She hoped that, if he didn't feel like obeying the rules. The clearly different appearance of White might make an impression. White had no built in weapons. It was average height. But it was clearly an odd design using plastoid and titanium to provide a remarkably human appearance in face and build, yet clearly not one.

He refused the offer, she shrugged, "Worth a shot." White came to meet her as she heard Deryn Kaaldos say he was ready to board. She opened the ship doors and held her hands together in front of her. White stood next to her, his face simply observant as he held a rifle. Mariah had set aside her own, but there was still a pistol on either side of her.

She still wasn't exactly intimidating. If it wasn't for the circumstances, the droid probably could have been mistaken for just an unusual protocol droid. She wasn't tall or menacing. And she had a simple smile on her face, "Bounty hunting huh? Rough business. Not a favorite of mine personally, don't like being in the line of real fire. That's why I made White of course." she said.

That really was an interesting suit. She wondered how much she could gather by looking it over, whichever of them repaired it. "Aight, come on. Whatever you need, I probably have in the cargo bay."

She held out a hand to shake if he came forwards before she'd start walking to the Cargo bay, regardless of if he took it or not. That is, after she'd shut the doors again. She wasn't risking his haul getting onto her ship. "You know life-suits are real risky right? Some find them less expensive, but I personally think cybernetics make more sense. I could be biased though, like I said I used to work on them. Or, spending however much it takes for whatever surgery you need, that's not something I do or ever have done however. Course, whether I fix it or you do, I'm gonna have to be there. I'm not gonna be having you touching my stuff, paying or not, without me watching. My ship after-all."

She didn't show any signs of intimidation. But that didn't mean she wasn't aware of the risks this guy could pose. Life suit or not, a military veteran, who was now bounty hunting, didn't stay alive because they were lucky. She was actively putting herself in danger and she knew it. For some reason she was still doing it.

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

He stumbled along the narrow walkway connection between their ship where the gravity actuators couldn't reach as well. He was in that zone where there was enough gravity to fall back down but where each of your steps would make you leap a few feet into the air. With one of his Power-Shell's leg damaged and not functioning, he was essentially walking with one leg stronger than the other, and that made things very awkward in this gravity. Not to mention, something was happening to his right arm that caused it to start screeching. With his sensitive.... whatever he used to hear, it was not pleasing at all. To take his mind off of the sound, he spoke as he crawled towards the door. "Really now? You sound like you've had some experience. Must've been one hell of a childhood you had. Mine, well, was pretty boring." He did, however, eventually make it to her ship fine and dandy. His coat, still floating as he entered, briefly displayed the TDW L-7 on his hip but soon flap back on him.

"Thanks." He said as he held his right forearm with his left hand, twisting and turning his right wrist as he listened to her direct him to the cargo bay. The power-armor was still off in that area and now he was experiencing resistance from within his own suit, which causes the screeching. He sighed in frustration but it only really made him more determined to get his armor done and fixed. Once he was done fiddling around, he'd use that same hand to shake hers. Most shandshakes would be firm and strong as custom but even with the power in that hand off, he wasn't keen on putting anymore of his strength on this little girl's hand.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it captain." He replied to her laydown of "her ship her rules" as they began their walk towards the cargo bay. All the while, he looked at her droid. It was a rather odd model but he realized now why she calls it "White". Honestly, it was displeasing to the eye, seeing all that synthetic muscle. Being an organism almost purely made of bare muscle, it was like staring at someone naked. He tried to not look at it as best as he can.

"I'm a bit of both, cybernetics and life-suit, I mean. I'm connected to the suit. The cybernetics allow me to control the suit without having to click a bunch of buttons as well as increase its overall physical potency. Its essentially power-armor as well. Course, the power went out in my left leg and right arm and any other functions would be too dangerous to use in this state." He was essentially a metal man with enhanced strength and speed except for his left leg and arm.

"My, ugh, injuries aren't exactly for the faint of heart. I had a healing implant installed in my cybernetics, a real powerful one too, but it can't bring back anything that I lost before I had it, nor can it keep me alive as well as the suit."

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[Mariah of House Marr]

She watched with a furrowed brow as he tried to make his way, yeah, looked damaged alright. He commented on her childhood, Heh, yeah. Childhood, definitely not something I did years after I tried loads of other stuff. she thought. Still, there was something amusing about people so rarely knowing her real age. At other times, it was inconvenient. Another advantage of using White. She cocked her head as she saw the weapon when his cape moved aside briefly, but held a hand to the side for a second to make sure White didn't raise his. "It was certainly...eventful let's say."

Another look of sympathy crossed her face with his attempt for the hand shake, "No worries." she responded simply. She certainly would have appreciated her hand not getting crushed. That would get in the way of...well everything really. His screeching was a bit irritating, but she'd had droid that did that before. She'd deal with it until he got all fixed up.

White followed along behind them, the face simply observant. At least it was doing it's job. Well, it was doing it's apparent job. Normally, she'd take manual control over him. Essentially her mind in its body. But this was not one of those times where it was a good idea. It made more sense to have both of them around, then just him or her.

He explained a bit on his situation, "Ah right. Guess that does make sense. Most people tend to lean one way or the other, guess I didn't really think of you as the in between. That's a really sucky position to be in I'm sure. You must have had some serious injuries, or a really bad doctor." She said shaking her head, not that she could have done better. She wasn't a doctor, she knew how to do cybernetics but there was a difference between adding something onto organic material and repairing that organic material properly.

He also apparently had a healing implant, those were impressive. She was always afraid of using them though, heal wrong, and it could kill you. And if you were healing wrong normally you could go to a doctor. If you healed wrong but faster...well it might not turn out so good. "Those are useful, but risky in my opinion. I think I wouldn't get one, at least, not one that's always active. Given how bad you make your condition sound I won't judge of course."

They'd arrive at the cargo bay soon, opening up the doors. She immediately started opening up a few of the boxes which were filled with a wide range of tools, while pulling others from different sections that contained parts, some droid, some cybernetic, some more basic materials, carrying them closer to a table she set up before setting a chair beside it, "Sit down, lay down, up to you. If you want me to work on it I can. Whether you know how to or not, clients vary. Don't worry about appearance, I've probably seen just about as much as you have...excluding war zones."

Heh, probably. Seen a lot of things, some I didn't even know were real. But careful with your wording. He still seems to think you're nearly a child. Not that there's anything he'd do if he found out otherwise...I hope. Even if he did find out he wouldn't possibly know how I've gone this long. Just dish it up to a secret if I have to. And hope that after he's all fixed up, he doesn't feel like making things violent. Should have brought more combat droids.

Deryn Kaaldos

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

"A lot of things about me from that time got a bit fuzzy. When I woke up, I felt like I've always been asleep. My memory was in dark places, some of still is. There were faces I couldn't recognize. There were names I couldn't remember. The light burned my skin, sometimes it still does. The darkness of the armor eases it. It took me months to start walking again but everything got a lot easier when I had my implants and got into this suit. This was his manner of saying that he can't say much of the details of his life before his "injuries". Still, a part of him was speaking from the heart. He knew what it was like waking up from a long sleep and meeting people as if you never met another person in your whole life. He knew what it was like for the light to burn your skin, and he knew what it was like to feel safe in an armored shell.

"Yeah. The healing implants had allowed me to survive compromises in my armor. Without it, I would have probably died from sickness from exposed muscle." He would've died a very, very long time ago with the implant. Even if Mariah was older than she looked, compared to his age, she really was just a kid. Though, age still didn't determine maturity, surely not in this case.

Now, when it was time to actually get down to business on the repairs, he would've done it himself. However, he made a lapse in judgement. When he had to repair himself, he used his unique physiology to work around the flexibility constraints of doing so in heavy armor, creating appendages from muscle fiber and the such. The problem here is that she was watching him. Doing such finagle-ry in front of her would be a problem of sorts, keeping what he truly is a secret. So, his only option was to let her do it.

"You have a go at it. They're your tools after all. I also don't trust I have the best of dexterity while half of my half my body is weaker than the other." He reasoned as he sat down on the table. With the armor on, he weighed approximately 750 kilograms, over half a metric ton. Hopefully, the plasteel table could take his weight until its finished.

Mariah of House Marr

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[Mariah of House Marr]

Mariah listened as the man recounted his memory of the injuries results, though not the injuries themselves. It sounded awful, she had never been in a position even a fragment of as bad as that. And she really hoped she never would be. "Well, at least it got better." she commented shaking her head at the thought of it.

He mentioned without his healing implant, he'd probably have died along time ago. She shook her head again, not in disagreement of course. Just at the thought of how bad he must have suffered to get to that point. In truth, while she'd had plenty of experience, she had never gotten in such a bad situation as to have lasting injuries. Course it helped that she had a full med-bay on her ship, and a droid, so injuries could be tended to as quickly as possible.

It was funny that Mariah, so used to being the one assumed young, was making the same mistake others did. Assumption of age. The man was supposed to be a zabrak, and he had serious injuries it seemed. She surely assumed he was younger than her. How incredibly wrong she was about that. Less than a third of his age.

She watched him sit on the table raising her eyebrows as she saw it bend somewhat under his weight, "Goodness." she muttered, that was a very rare occurrence. Mainly if she'd carelessly had White stack way too much on it. The amount of strength his suit must have must be absurd. She looked at the mask again then back at the table.

He suggested she could do it, given his current limitations. She stretched her arms over her head, setting her blasters to the side so that they didn't get in her way and then cracking her back, "Time to get to work then." She said removing several of the tools and setting to work on the leg first, attempting to try and get access to the deeper parts of the equipment. She had White dim the lights just a little, and using a headlamp instead. Just in case she opened it up to his skin she didn't want to risk excessive light to burn him. She'd talk as she worked, "So, your ship, the Warhawk. That's a good one huh? Naturally, I prefer mine. It belonged to my parents, my father had worked on it like I mentioned. Not made for battle, in spite of it's design. More getting through battle zones. Yours though, well rounded, excellent for bounty hunting I assume aside from your slow speed apparently. You have to fix it up often? Or is it one of those ships that is just so high quality you only have to worry about combat damage?"

Naturally, looking to repair the outfit, required looking also for any connections to tissue or important hydraulics or motors, if she hooked or disconnected something important she wanted to avoid getting a kick in the face, or bending something in the wrong direction. It also meant she'd be getting much closer to seeing how his body functioned in conglomeration with the suit if she found any connections or the safety features it had, something that might hint more towards his injuries. Or, perhaps less conveniently if it were noticeable enough, his true species. Whether now or later there was risk she would come across his actual tissue or nerves, and having had to work with those of a wide range of humanoids, it might stick out that his was of a much different brand.

Deryn Kaaldos

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

​

"Honestly, I didn't really care for efficiency when I bought it. Its my first and only ship and I picked it because it looked swag as kark." He chuckled as she would start to delve into the mechanisms that gave him form. The legs had some extensive hydraulic and synthetic muscle work inside. At the very least, the life-support systems were not to be found in the legs. Though, through all of the circuitry and strength actuators, there was a thin protective layer that shielded him from the suit's mechanisms. Through the transparent fold, Mariah could see the fleshless mass of muscle that he spoke of. It was rather nondescript but its muscle-structure was extremely well developed. "Whether or not it was actually a good ship came second. Luckily for me, it was. It doesn't see a lot of battle, though. I prefer hunting on ground. Not as good a pilot as I am a marksman, afterall."

If she had the knowledge of biology to, she'd realize that the muscle formation, while condensed, was not normal, not even for a Zabrak. The muscle fibers were thick, and filled the inside of the armor. The sheer power that it looked like the muscles contained were not characteristic of that of an injured man. However, it may have just been a result of the healing implant causing greater muscle potential. After all, muscle growth was dependent on microscopic muscle damage and how the body heals them. It explained somewhat how he was able to move his left leg and right arm without power even though they weighed a ludicrous amount. Though, even with healing-enhanced strength, that seemed rather improbable.

Within the leg, there seemed to be debris that had gotten caught inside the hydraulics. Duraplast, apparently, from his own suit. Along with that, several power-chords were severed. Some of the hydraulics and foundational structure were chipped and/or fractured and needed to be replaced. There was also some temperature vents that have been blocked off which were likely used to keep him at a relatively sterile temperature. For a normal engineer, this would likely be a extensive task. Though, he suspected that Mariah wasn't a normal engineer.

"So this ship was passed down, heh?" He was hesitant to ask about her parents. He knew it was a touchy thing for most people, though he didn't really understand why. He was a clone, after all. Grown in a tube and all that. The closest thing to family he had were the failed trial versions of him that died in those three hundred years of darkness. "Was rather surprised to see it. I got trigger fingers when I saw the size of it. Thought I attracted the wrong people."

"So I'm guessing you run this ship with a buncha droids. Unless the rest of your organic pals are shy, I mean."

​

 

[Mariah of House Marr]

Deryn Kaaldos

She smiled as she heard his reason for why he got it, amused at the thought process. Though he mentioned it didn't get used for the hunting purpose much, which meant 'swag' was a perfectly acceptable reason. As she continued she noticed the odd muscular structure. Zabraks commonly did have stronger muscles than humans, but they still bore a close resemblance. This was...different. It was muscle, seemed Mammalian. But it had grown very odd, for one the general structure was off. But for two it had actually grown beyond where it should be going.

She continued working, grabbing cords, along with a few other tools. Finagling to replace the severed pieces. Better replaced than repaired where plausible. It meant they should last longer in the future. It shouldn't take too long, she had a lot of experience in that. But she kept looking back at that muscle tissue. It just wasn't right. The size, the density, just about the only thing that fully fit was the coloration and general idea.

It made her wonder, just what else was involved. She hadn't caught on perfectly just yet. She had never worked on Gen'Dai before. They were far too rare, and even more so to come across in cybernetic work. She grabbed a few smaller, much longer tools, and started working on clearing the vents, a longer task than the last. Didn't want to get any pieces stuck.

She chuckled as he mentioned he got concerned seeing her ships size, and how she ran it. "Basic idea. I need to make myself, or buy, a few new ones for operating the turrets and communications. White I use as a co-pilot for the most part, I have a surgical droid, but it wouldn't know how to do anything else." She went quiet for a moment as she had to work her way a little more discreetly for one particularly small, but potentially hazardous, piece of debris. "I'm not sure what my father did, but I'd guess it involved getting shot at a lot. And the force, apparently. He never explained that part. Mom was an actual force sensitive though. Guess I didn't get whatever genes make you one."

Mariah leaned back and stopped for a moment, trying to put the topic aside for now. She sometimes wanted to talk about it, felt it helped. But doing so wasn't always the most pleasant experience either. She was doing the work fairly fast. But the arm still needed to be done, and she wasn't finished on the leg. Oh well, that was the way of things. It was after-all a life suit. You couldn't be careless or overly hasty. "Ended up in droid repair later on. Next was cybernetics, really, cybernetics are just droid integration into organics. I was already most of the way there."

She eyed the muscle closely as she went back to work. Gotten cords repaired. Cleared vent debris. Now a few more replacements, and structural repairs, and she could shut it up to move on. Seemed like an advantageous time to ask questions, "So, undergo any biological experiments? You've got some odd physiology under here. Trust me, it's important. Muscle and nerve variations are the two biggest factors with cybernetics, course, immune system comes into play as well. But if you make your cybernetics out of the right materials, it usually isn't an issue."

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

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"The only droid I have is B-Z. He doesn't talk much." He said, listening to her go on. When she mentioned White, he frowned inside his helmet. He still thought of its bare muscle disgusting. He shook the thought of it from his head, trying to focus on the conversation. So her father and mother were Force-Sensitives. They tended to live lives beyond themselves. He knew that, along their religion, the Force influences the world around them. The Force was, and is destiny to them. He wasn't quite sure about that but if it was true, Mariah likely had a rather extraneous life before her. "Force-user, huh? Did he seem more like a Jedi or Sith?"

He listened to her draw out how her previous occupations. There was one question that circled in his mind. "Kid, how old are you?" He asked, thinking she couldn't have been older than twenty. Age was an odd thing. There could be humans that were in their teens that still looked like they were in their prepubescent state. "Even assuming you were a prodigy, you speak like these things took over years." Years he couldn't believe she lived through.

He had spent most of his life asleep. Sleeping through his developmental years. He didn't know what it was like to age, only observed it. He didn't feel much different from when he first began his bounty hunting and assassin work several decades ago. He didn't know if he had any aging deficiencies they could have implanted in him but if there were, they haven't taken place yet. Or perhaps they were activated but his race lived too long for him to experience it within just a century. Speaking of implants.....

"I had Nerve Bundle Implants along side with the healing implant inside me. Its used primarily to link me to my armor. Technically, the armor is now as much a part of me as my bones." If he had any bones, that is. "It increases my reflexes too. Keeps me light on my feet while I'm wearing heavy armor."

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[Mariah of House Marr]

The man mentioned owning a droid, but not a talkative one. White wasn't either, but that was likely because he hadn't had nearly the amount of time required to give him personality to actually care about talking. He asked about her father, what he seemed like as a force user and she hesitated for a moment, "Well I don't think dad actually was force sensitive. I know mom was. If he was, he never told me, so I guess I wouldn't know either way. Mom though...I'm not so sure she was like either one. She was too militaristic to be a Jedi, but was way too kind to be a Sith. I think it was like if you took a Jedi, and put them in a Sith culture. But than reinserted that into the military. Hard to explain really."

Ah there was the question, her age. She smiled at first, continuing to work as he elaborated on it. She took a little time to think of an answer. "Aw, come now, don't you know you're not supposed to ask a lady her age." she joked, though she still intended to give him at least a little bit of an answer. Hoping maybe being open, might get him to be too, "Old enough that I could be a great grandmother probably. Sure is amusing, when people assume what skills you know because of how you look. On the downside, most people assume I'm lying. Not a lot of respect for the young looking people apparently."

She looked up at him with an amused, almost prankish grin, "Course, how that happened, that'll just have to be a mystery." no matter her age. She still had youth in her mind. Something that was both a great gift, and a great danger. It was probably part of the reason she was so willing to help him. Sitting by was never something she wanted to do as a child, and it seemed it was the case now too.

That topic may or may not continue. But there was also the issue of nerve implants he mentioned. That shouldn't have changed his muscles, but it was important. Still, this meant she was in the dark about some things. She took out a very small device, starting to work on closing everything up so that his leg could be completely finished and she could move on to his arm.

"What I found said you were a zabrak. Now, either you've mutated, you're a hybrid, you went under a very odd experiment, or you're not actually a Zabrak." She stated putting the finishing touches on the leg, "Your muscles don't match zabrak muscles. Or human muscles, or even wookiee muscles. Now, because of how much I had to go off of, and what was actually damaged and not, this wasn't an issue on your leg. But it does mean that I would very much like to know what you actually are."

She stepped back after closing the leg properly, stretching as she finally could stand up again properly and moving her hair to the side so the back of her neck could get a bit more air. Should probably turn the temperature down just slightly. "I shared a little. I'm old for my appearance, have been for awhile. It's the reason I collected so many skills and languages. How about you? Not like I have many people to tell."

Deryn Kaaldos

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

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"Oh, so you're like, one of those weird humans. Okay." He stammered out, not exactly sure what to call these weird humans. If there was an exact terminology of calling genetically modified humans other than.... genetically modified humans, it eluded him. "I once heard of this guy that just kept cloning himself after he died to become immortal. Each time one died, another one got spat out the machine. Some Sith Lord threw the machine into a star to permanently kill him." He left out the part where the rumors say that the ship they were on at the time may or may not have been a space whale - a Purrgil or something like that.

He tried to keep himself amused as she tinkered around on his leg. Silently, he tried to whistle again. Sadly, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to be able to produce such a sound with his physiology. Much of his physiology didn't make sense, when he thought about it, such as how he could speak when he had no lungs. Was it all in his head? Is that the reason why he can't regenerate from a head shot. He didn't think about it much when he should have but his mind snapped back to the moment as she seemed to have realize that the files on him weren't what they seemed. But why Zabrak?

"Zabrak? I'm not a Za-" He then realized that his cover was of a Zabrak. He wasn't asked of his faked race all that often. Behind the armor, he was just Deryn, he was Scarbrand The Bounty Hunter. What he was didn't matter much aside from that. In the light of this realization, he tried to sloppily corrected himself. "I mean, yeah, I am a Zabrak, missy. I got the second heart to prove it." He didn't have a second heart, nor a first one, but both of them were easily replicated. He was a mass of muscle and nerves and the heart was essentially a muscle.

"Might just be the healing augments, you know? Healing me wrong and healing me too much." He was never a good liar under pressure.

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[Mariah of House Marr]

Oh, so you're like, one of those weird humans.

She cocked her head at that. Unsure what he was thinking. His elaboration on another human trying to be immortal. She made an "Ah" face with her mouth, realizing the type of 'weird humans' he was thinking of. Scientific. Well, she was pretty sure that was definitely not what caused her immortality. She knew full well it was the necklace, and that probably meant the force given its origin and effects.

His surprise at the use of calling him Zabrak helped her considerably, not a Zabrak. Well, that cleared up a lot. She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms and smiling. He tried to correct his error. But she'd heard it already. "Second heart actually doesn't prove much, believe it or not. Zabraks aren't the only ones with multiple hearts." she said aloud, "Nautolans do, for instance, but you're not one of those either are you?"

She tried not to act too hostile. He was getting even a little more defensive as he tried to blame it on the healing augmentations. Interesting that a man who probably operated in very hostile environments wasn't good at lying. Then again, when she was put under extreme stress, she had very visible twitching. So she couldn't blame him either. Some people were just a lot better with their hands then with their mouths. Didn't mean he wasn't smart, just that he wasn't the best wordsmith.

"That's not an accusation." She said simply, trying her best to keep her breathing calm. Truth was, the knowledge she had didn't give her power here. The knowledge she had only told her what he was not. He could still probably kill her. And that wasn't even taking into account the gifts he really had. "I admitted to my age. And that age means I've worked on numerous species, including those with healing augments. And those who are better at lying."

She shook her head smiling. "Come on, I've still got to work on your arm. Whether you tell me or not. Buuuuut, I'd really appreciate it if you actually told me the truth on what you are. What do really expect me to do about it?"

Deryn Kaaldos

 

[Deryn Kaaldos]

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Begrudingly, he raised his hand for her to repair. He wasn't keen on sharing what was likely his greatest secret and greatest weapon. Many people would want a piece of him. Trandoshans would hunt him as a challenge. DarkNet Scientist would fight over scraps of his DNA to clone. All sorts of trouble would be coming his way and, as much as he loved trouble, anything revolving what he was on the inside was off limits. Inside of his armor, that is. "You're lucky you're cute, kid." He uttered as if he didn't just hear how she was in her advanced years.

However, what harm could telling her some of it be? She told him a secret, why can he not share? He thought it over, expressionless inside his armor. "I'm a clone." He said as he moved around the newly repaired leg. "A clone of something I know very little about." Deryn would would shake it around a bit, letting it vibrate and into his sensory receptors, allowing him a crude sonar map print of it in his head. She did a good job at it and in much less time than he would've.

"Been around, say, a few hundred years. Don't recall much of it. Mostly asleep." He added lastly. He's been walking this fine galaxy for about sixty years now. In that regard, he was technically younger than her.

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[Mariah of House Marr]

"You're lucky you're cute, kid."

She let out a sigh, "Probably." she muttered. 78 or not, there were parts of both her age, and her appearance age, that remained. She picked up her tools, adjusting where they were so they'd be easier to access as she started to work on his arm. The arms tended to be a little more complex, have a lot more small pieces involved.

She cracked her neck and put her hair back behind her as she moved to start working. She raised her eyes for a moment as she heard him speak again, so he did have an answer for her...however minimal. He was a clone, which meant he didn't even have the familiarity with his species most did. Which he admitted it seemed.

Few hundred years old...well that was a surprise. She smiled with a little bit of surprise at that. "Well...can't say I was expecting that." she admitted. A new bit of information. She chuckled to herself, "Guess that means I need to work on my assumptions too."

She might not be able to know much about his species based on what he gave her. But, then again, neither did he know what caused her to be her age. So...that was fair enough. "Funny thing, age. For me, I get to be both young and old. Physically and mentally. Then there are species like the Falleen who just...continue for a really long time at reletively the same age. Or Trandoshans, who reach adulthood really early by comparison. I guess in some ways I know what it's like to be one of those species who have longevity. I certainly don't feel old. Do you? You did say you were hundreds of years old. You don't need to answer that part."

Deryn Kaaldos