~The Gunfighter of Andelm IV Part 2~

[Darman]

::Andelm IV Spaceport::​

​

*Darman exhaled hard into his rebreather as the toxic gas continued to spill out of the compartment. Sweat poured from his brow as he he pulled hard against the release lever and the gas spilled out of the relief valve into the compartment he was currently standing in. The gas he had mostly vented when he had nearly crashed a day ago had mostly gone but remnants of the gas had been stored in the emergency life support system's duct lines when they had closed off during pressurization. Climbing out of the oxygen compartment he moved to the center of the engine room and looked up at the engine - waiting for the gas to vent.*

"Come now... vent damn you."

*Climbing out of the engine room he moved towards the cockpit finally taking off the rebreather and putting it into the pouch on the work belt around his waist. He wore baggy black pants, his boots, and work gloves but no shirt. He was already covered with engine muk, dirt, sweat, and blood - some of which wasn't even his. Making his way to the cockpit had slumped down into the co-pilots chair and attempted to run the boot up sequence. Ever since the crash the previous day and the several hours of repairs he had attempted himself the ship had failed to power back on. It would take several weeks to repair the damage to the ship as a whole but the engine system and the computer itself had emerged from the fight relatively unscathed and he couldn't seem to workout why.*

"Work damn you!"

*His large hands came down banging against the control panel and he growled before falling silent. Looking at the useless computer terminal. Exhaling he stood - retrieved his coat and his gunbelt and moved towards the landing pad. He needed a working Terminal, and the spaceport was the closest one.

Moving down the landing ramp Darman slipped on without flourish or fanfare and clipped the belt on, his hands resting against his LL-30's. His head moved on a near constant swivel but he walked with his shoulders hunched and his head down slightly. Even his massive seven food frame seemed smaller - he walked without swagger, and seemingly without confidence or any self assurance but as he made his way through the spaceport everyone around him stepped to the side, moved away, or pointedly avoided eye contact.

Darman found himself at the long range communications center soon enough, but as he approached the terminal a small leather faced alien Nikto appeared seemingly out of no where - flanked by two very large Trandoshan Males snarling at the very sight of the lone gunfighter.*

"You've only got 22 hours left Darman..."

"Then bother me in 22 hours..."

*Darman turned his head downwards towards the Nikto but didn't look directly at him, his fingers tapping against the pommel of his blasters - waiting for a half moment before pushing past the Nikto looking up at the Trandoshan as well as he moved past silently without threat. He moved towards the terminal and raised the Holonet as he heard the footsteps of the Nikto and his brutes move past. His brutish fingers pecked without much grace at the keypad - typing out a short message calling for a Slicer - and sending it out into the Universe.*

::Slicer Needed​

Payment upon job completion​

Andelm IV Spaceport​

Ask for the Gunfighter.::​

​

 

[Aren D'Shade]

The news feed in front of the young woman was fleeting past her eyes. What information on it was for her eyes only and would be useless jibberish to another person. Unless that person was also somebody looking for work. It didn't even have to be exactly above the table either. Slicers rarely ran with the 'right' kind of people anyway. So when the message sent out by Darman flashed, she stopped her feed.

She wasn't a fighter herself and would prove to be a weak link if violence broke out at the spaceport. With the name of The Gunfighter, Aren didn't expect anything less. It was time for her to learn something so she set her datapad into her bag and stood up from the table she had been sitting at. Leaving a credit chit behind, she left the dingy coffee house.

Looking up at the sky and the flashing lights of the district she was in, the way to the spaceport was clear to her. As one approached it, the signs above become louder to her. Following the sound of the technology that called to her and she could touch, Aren felt like she could float away here. Knowing that was something impossible to her, she climbed into a speeder that was piloted by a droid. Doing this on purpose, she reached out with her skill of Mechu Deru and was on her way to where this person wanted to meet.

Her trip didn't take long and soon enough with the buzz of technology singing in her head, the young woman entered the location. She wasn't one to care about how she looked since it did not really matter. However, Aren did take care of herself and her hygiene. Her hair was short and an odd black to purple in colour. Oddly enough this was natural and she only added some gel to it to give it the sheen it had. At her side was a bag that carried all her tools. The bag was getting worn, but it still did the job it was meant for. One thing about pretty much everything Aren for a shirt was it bared her shoulder. On that shoulder was a tattoo and she never wanted to cover it up or hide it. So her shirt was sleeveless and tan. It was also quite clean. Her pants were more worn and looked very comfortable. At this point, there was no easy way to know what colour they were originally because she had worn them for so long.

First come and she would be the first here. Who knows how many others would respond, but she hoped to already have solved whoever sent the call issues. Walking up to the counter, her ID was asked for. Providing one with a false name, everything would check out. Something like altering a name and basic records were a piece of cake to the slicer.

"I need to speak to the Gunfighter."

[member="Darman"]

 

[Darman]

*The Andelm IV Spaceport was largely left underpopulated sine the departure of the grain shipments. The recent action had left everyone on edge and no one was particularly willing to linger without reason or cause. Several of the more personal ships had left, and even the freighters carrying goods had locked down their rented hanger bays as if everyone was anticipating retaliation. Anticipating a fight that was soon to come*

*As soon as the Slicer entered the spaceport the eyes of most of the workers were on her. The counter clerk ran her ID and the credentials passed as a ships engineer which would give her full access to the Spaceport. The clerk looked shocked when she asked for the Gunfighter but quickly relayed his whereabouts - his ship still remained at the large outdoor landing pads. Pad 421. After relaying the information the clerk felt no need to carry on the conversation and quickly shooed the 'engineer' on her way.*

::Andelm IV Spaceport Landing Pad 421::​

*The Gunfighter had waited no longer than 6 hours before someone had replied to his call for a Slicer. It was midday now and he was atop the Rae Wynd welding replacement pieces of armor hull plating to cover the turbolaser blasts that had crippled his hull during the last firefight. His ship had held together, gotten him out alive, but it was hurting. With help from Stardust and her engineers the engines were up and running and most of the internal systems should be working properly, but something kept the computer from booting up. Computers were never the Gunfighters thing - which is why he had a droid brain integrated with the core systems of the Rae Wynd and it was the Droid brain that handled most of the operations of the ship through vocal commands.

The Gunfighter had asked for work to be passed to him when the Slicer had arrived, and she should be arriving at any moment, but he wanted to get the hull patched as soon as possible. Without the computer nothing would work - such was the nature of the system, but once the Slicer had done her job He wanted the ship not only ready to fly, but ready for combat. Standing atop the Port cannon with a welding torch sending sparks flying all around him the Gunfighter wore tight fitting combat pants, dark black boots, and his gunbelt still holding his LL-30s. He was clearly still anticipating trouble. He did not however wear a shirt or a helmet - simply a pair of blast shades to save his eyes from the burning light of the torch. Grease, dirt, blood, and scorch still covered his chest - along with a myriad of scars and blast burns which signified his survival through many fights. It was a hot day on Andelm IV and the Sun beat down on him soaking his midnight black hair to his face further obscuring his vision - but even so when the Slicer came into view he noticed her immediately.*

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Having been given directions on where to find her target, Aren quickly headed in his direction. Her bag of tools hung at her side looking even more worn than her pants. Totally normal brown eyes that gleamed with a touch of mischief looked at the extremely tall man on top of his ship doing repairs as she walked in.

She was very short compared to him, but that was something she could be useful with. Her smaller size would allow her into areas he was too large to get into. That is if what he needed her to work on was somewhere hidden.

The sight of his guns did not scare or deter her. Walking up to the base of his ship, she stopped knowing she had his attention.

"What is it you need help with?"

The name she had on her false ID was Ari so if he asked for one, that would be the name she provided for him.

[member="Darman"]

 

[Darman]

The Gunslinger didn't answer right away, his head still turned half away from the one approaching on the ground - the blinding light of the welding torch sending splashes of sparks down onto the ground at the feet of the slicer. After securing the armored plating to cover the last of the holes he set down the smelting torch and climbed down to greet the young girl. He looked her over once brushing the dirt from his hands, which only succeeded in spreading more grease about. He looked down at her and then to the datapad that he had taken from his belt.

"Ari huh..."

He had... convinced ...the desk clerk to forward on any information of anyone answering his Holo Wave. This one had surprised him - most of the people on planet worked for the crime bosses, which means if this one was working here she had connection to the people that were actively trying to kill him on a regular basis. And if she didn't - then she was lying about who she was. He looked back down at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Say a ship has an integrated droid brain wired into the core systems of the entire ship. Navicomputer, Hyperdrive, Defenses, Weapons... everything is interconnected, and run by the brain. Nothing works, what's the first thing you would suspect being the reason why?"

He looked her over carefully as if her answer to the question would give him some sort of insight into whether or not he could trust her.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Ari wasn't that far from Aren so the transition was easy for her brain to connect and she nodded when Darman repeated the name she had given him back to her. Not caring at all that he was dirty, she held a hand out to shake if he wanted to. The height difference was something to take into consideration and she was rather intimidated by him. A sign of this was her chewing slightly on her lower lip, but there was nothing else to indicate her feelings.

Listening to his question, there wasn't too much of an answer for her to think on.

"At first guess, it would be the droid brain that is malfunctioning. If that checked out and turned out to be just fine, then I would check the wiring attached to see if it had come loose. After that, then I would make sure all the systems were functioning without that brain attached. Just take it step by step and a piece at a time."

She was not an untrusting person yet and this would show in her body language. Aren was an open book to somebody that could read human emotions, thoughts or feelings. A person not fully accustomed to dealing with organics, she preferred the company of droids and technology. This led her to live a life that was lonely and deprived of much contact with organics.

What her answer had anything to do with indicating she could be trusted or not was lost on her and she provided it with honesty.

[member="Darman"]

 

[Darman]

The Gunslinger looked down at the girl as she nodded and held out her hand - which surprisingly wasn't shaking, even if she was chewing nervously on her lip. He didn't smile at this - perhaps he would have if he had been in a better mood but he reached out and closed his massive hand around her own squeezing a little tighter than normal and pulling her closer a half step now that their hands were locked.

"Been here nearly 8 months and never heard of you, yet you reply faster than anyone else in the sector with perfect credentials on an imperfect world... What's your story, girl?"

He didn't much care truthfully, but he wasn't going to let someone onto his ship - into the inner workings of what was effectively his life and livelihood without knowing more about her - if not the truth, at least why she was lying about it. He didn't let her go right away - but his grip lessened slightly, enough to give the impression that if she was quick enough she may be able to slip free and bolt, and so his hand was resting on the holster on his hip for just such an instance.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

His tug on her hand worked easily and Aren was suddenly quite close to his massive frame. She did not break eye contact with him as he spoke, but they did narrow slightly. He said he had been around eight months and had never heard of her and wanted to know her story.

"Why do you need to know my story? I am here to help you get your ship fixed."

The grip loosened enough she could pull her hand away. Shivers went up and down her spine though and she kept her hand within his. There was no logical reason for it and it confused her. Aren felt if she did pull away then something horrible might happen to her.

"I travel around and don't stay in one place very long. You might have been here all your life and you still probably wouldn't have heard of me. Originally I'm from Coruscant and grew up on Zakuul. What's your story?"

A sign of rebellion? Not at all. Just answering his question and asking the same of him.

[member="Darman"]