Korianna Sol del Sartan - Solo Start

[GM Fang]

Korianna puttered away in the shop, assisted by her droid assistant, W1-DR. In truth, it was her father's shop, the Solar Mechanic, one of several such general workshops here in Mos Zabu. Korianna had a natural aptitude for mechanical repairs. She was always at her father's knee at a young age and quickly showed a knack for taking apart and usually putting back together various gadgets. She was especially interested in droids and she had built her current helper, a simple worker droid who acted as her welder. The droid was extremely polite at all times despite its rudimentary functions.

Korianna was up early and at work as she now lived in the detached mechanic shop, carving out a personal living space here. She dug through parts and made entries in her data pad about things she needed or wanted to keep an eye out for, both for her father's shop and for her own personal projects.

"Breakfast is ready." Work was interrupted by Korianna's step-mother, Bree. She carried in a tray of simple yet hearty breakfast items and set them on a nearby table like she did most every morning.

Later her father stopped by and checked over the shop, occasionally muttering a favorable sounding affirmation. Finally he came to one of their larger current projects. It was a swoop bike, a racer; brought in by one of the Dark Seraph gang. Corran didn't much care for the racers, thinking them malcontents and criminals. But the modifications that they were adding would pay the shop well.

"Don't forget, Kori," her father said finally, "I need the upgrades on this swoop finished by tomorrow, so that Greela can finish the engine mods." Greela Dritva was a Rodian mechanic who specialized in propulsion systems mostly. He worked as an independent freelancer and often did work at the Solar Mechanic as well.

"In the meantime, here are the rest of your tasks for the day." He transferred a data transmission from the datapad he carried into Korianna's datapad sitting on the work bench nearby. "The peripheral processor I ordered from Trallig's came in, and I'm going to need you to go to Mos Shuuta for some extra weapon power packs. We don't want to run low in case the Sand People keep their raids close to town. Oh, and you might as well get a gas refill valve for this one as well. That Trandoshan, Acevedo, usually has reasonable prices and lots of used parts." Corran pulled a blaster pistol from his belt and set it next to the datapad.

"Captain Zate is supposed to be arriving in Mos Shuuta today too. I am sure there are things we can use from that traveling chop shop." Corran stopped for a moment, bracing himself on his makeshift cane. Corran had been wounded severely in the Sand people attack which took the life of his first wife. "You might as well get a couple of power converters too. We can always use those."

The home of Corran Sol del Sartan - in front of the mechanic shop

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[Korianna]

Korianna:

Korianna buzzed around her shop working on this and that. At first glance she wasn't all that much to look at. She wore an ill-fitting, dirty brown mechanics jump suit complete with numerous pockets for tools and latch on points for larger items. The suit was clearly too big for her, as she had the arms and legs rolled back to fit her thin, 5'4” frame. Kori's hair was short and brown and her eyes were a darker shade of brown. Wielding goggles rested on top of her head and could be pulled down as needed. Her face was also dirty with traces of oil and grease on it. When she did smile, Korianna had a bright, almost impish grin. In spite of her unkempt appearance, when she did clean herself up, Kori was quite attractive.

There was many projects that Kori was working on, seemingly at the same time. Alas, the majority of them were stalled for the same reason. Lack of parts, a regular occurrence out here in the middle of nowhere on a dusty ball of sand that no one wants to live on. Even her personal assistance, Wonder as she called the droid known as W1-DR, could be and do so much more if she had the parts to do it. Kori found droid names so impersonal and tended to treat them more like people.

"Breakfast is ready." Work was interrupted by Korianna's step-mother, Bree. She carried in a tray of simple yet hearty breakfast items and set them on a nearby table like she did most every morning.

“Thanks,” Kori answered as she looked up from her work. Her real mother died when she was just a small child, but Kori still missed her. Bree had been as good a mother as she could to Korianna and the two did get along. Truth be told, Kori liked her step-mother more than her own father.

While eating, Kori turned her attention back to the swoop bike. It belonged to one of those racing gangs that many thought were just criminals. Kori had no way of knowing for sure, but some of them were on the cute side and that thought made her smile. Not long after that, her father arrived at the shop for his daily tour.

"Don't forget, Kori," her father said finally, "I need the upgrades on this swoop finished by tomorrow, so that Greela can finish the engine mods." Greela Dritva was a Rodian mechanic who specialized in propulsion systems mostly. He worked as an independent freelancer and often did work at the Solar Mechanic as well.

“Yes, I know,” Kori answered doing a poor job of concealing the annoyance in her voice. “It'll be done.”

"In the meantime, here are the rest of your tasks for the day." He transferred a data transmission from the datapad he carried into Korianna's datapad sitting on the work bench nearby. "The peripheral processor I ordered from Trallig's came in, and I'm going to need you to go to Mos Shuuta for some extra weapon power packs. We don't want to run low in case the Sand People keep their raids close to town. Oh, and you might as well get a gas refill valve for this one as well. That Trandoshan, Acevedo, usually has reasonable prices and lots of used parts." Corran pulled a blaster pistol from his belt and set it next to the datapad.

Traveling between towns out in the sandy wilds could be dangerous, hence the need for the blaster for personal protection. Truth be told, anyone who knew Kori knew that she had a better chance of hitting her target by throwing the blaster at them then trying to shoot it. Kori was a lover, not a fighter. She avoided trouble as much as she could.

"Captain Zate is supposed to be arriving in Mos Shuuta today too. I am sure there are things we can use from that traveling chop shop." Corran stopped for a moment, bracing himself on his makeshift cane. Corran had been wounded severely in the Sand people attack which took the life of his first wife. "You might as well get a couple of power converters too. We can always use those."

“Quite a shopping list,” Kori noted. “I can get the swoop done this morning and then head out this afternoon. I'll probably stop and visit 'Nera. Maybe spend the night.”

Nera, or more properly, Lannera was Kori's older sister who lived in Mos Shuuta with her husband.

“Alright, Wonder, let's get to work and get this bike finished.” Lowering her goggles, once more, Kori went back to work.

[GM Fang]

Off to the Dune Sea-

Bree waited a bit after she gave Kori her breakfast, to make sure she ate. Sometimes the girl was too caught up in her projects. "You're welcome," she responded. "Eat up before it gets cold." Satisfied that the younger of her husband's daughters was not going to skip or delay her meal, Bree headed back to the main dwelling building. "And be careful out there," she said, apparently already aware of the tasks Kori's father had lined up for her.

Later, her father came around to give her those very tasks.

“Yes, I know,” Kori answered doing a poor job of concealing the annoyance in her voice. “It'll be done.”

Corran frowned hearing the angst in his daughter's voice and sighed. He had tried many times to overcome the feelings she had for him, but she was young and refused to listen to his explanations. "It's important," he responded. "You can play with your droid designs once you're finished." Corran knew that despite her expressed rebellion, she was usually reliable enough to get her work completed, on time, and often better than was expected. "I can't do all the work that I used to and I am counting on you," he said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

“Quite a shopping list,” Kori noted. “I can get the swoop done this morning and then head out this afternoon. I'll probably stop and visit 'Nera. Maybe spend the night.”

Corran ran his hand over the seat of the partially disassembled bike, examining the work done so far. He wanted to work on the project with his daughter but past experience showed that would devolve into a shouting match sooner or later. ""Great, great," Corran answered. "Tell 'Nera, that I miss her and give her my best."

Lingering a bit longer, he finally stepped out of the mechanic's shop and limped back to the home dwelling building.

“Alright, Wonder, let's get to work and get this bike finished.” Lowering her goggles, once more, Kori went back to work.

The droid known as W1-DR, was based on a BLX labor droid with some customizations and modifications made at the whim of Korianna herself. "May I begin working on the chassis modifications, Miss Kori?" The droid was overly polite as always. Even when someone was rude or mean to it.

Over the course of the morning, Kori and her mechanical assistant completed the tasks that were needed. They extended the stabilizer bars on the swoop bike and relocated several of the power cells and control vanes. They then adjusted the steering controls and made some programming adjustments to the directional thrust nozzles. The last project was to refabricate some of the panels beneath and to the rear of the bike, so that Greela could do his thruster modifications to the repulsorlifts.

With the work finally completed, the pair reassembled the remaining parts and buttoned up the bike. W1-DR covered it with a tarp. Kori was then free to make the trip to Mos Shuuta. She had taken the route before, the distance taking about an hour and a half on their old Land-speeder. Gathering her things, along with the datapad that held her shopping list and the travel route across the Western Dune Sea, Kori first stop at Trallig's Outfitters. Once she had the peripheral processor stowed in the land-speeder, she was off on her desert journey.

The datapad and sensors updated the travel path in places due to the movement of sand dunes. Mostly they stuck to the Jawas Landcrawler routes as these were more stable despite having to meander a bit across the desert floor. About half way to Mos Shuuta, Kori saw a plume of black smoke rising into the sky as she cleared the latest rise.

[Korianna]

Korianna:

Bree waited a bit after she gave Kori her breakfast, to make sure she ate. Sometimes the girl was too caught up in her projects. "You're welcome," she responded. "Eat up before it gets cold." Satisfied that the younger of her husband's daughters was not going to skip or delay her meal, Bree headed back to the main dwelling building. "And be careful out there," she said, apparently already aware of the tasks Kori's father had lined up for her.

“I will,” Kori answered back without taking her eyes off what she was working on. The comment to be careful went completely over her head.

Not long after that, her father arrived at the shop just like he does everyday to tell her mostly the same things over and over.

"It's important," he responded. "You can play with your droid designs once you're finished." Corran knew that despite her expressed rebellion, she was usually reliable enough to get her work completed, on time, and often better than was expected. "I can't do all the work that I used to and I am counting on you," he said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

“I know all of that too,” Kori countered. “This isn't my first day, or even first year, in the shop. I know how things work. The bike will be done this morning. There's nothing to worry about.”

Once the daily ordeal of dealing with her father was over with, Kori and her assistant turned back to work on the swoop.

The droid known as W1-DR, was based on a BLX labor droid with some customization and modifications made at the whim of Korianna herself. "May I begin working on the chassis modifications, Miss Kori?" The droid was overly polite as always. Even when someone was rude or mean to it.

“Sure,” Kori answered. “That's as good as place as any to start with Wonder. Hop to it!”

The droid she called Wonder had started with the idea of having another set of hands around the shop since her father couldn't work as much any more. In fact, Kori had plans for Wonder to do more and more of the work so that she could do her own thing instead. Alas the general lack of parts stopped that plan dead in its tracks.

Before too long, the job was done and even Kori was impressed with how well it turned out. “Well, that should make the Old Man happy, as if anything could. Good work, Wonder. Take the rest of the day off. I'm off for Mos Shuuta.”

After giving her companion a friendly tap on the shoulder, Kori made her way into the back of the shop that she had converted into her private quarters. She grabbed her gun belt and slipped the blaster into it. Her helmet and riding goggles came next, along with a long scarf that she used to protect the rest of her face from the driving winds.

After finishing up her business in town, Kori headed out into the great wastes in the old family speeder. Once clear of other traffic, she accelerated to a speed that she was comfortable driving at. The time passed slowly, but it was nice to be out by herself away from her regular responsibilities. About halfway there, Kori drove up a rise to find black smoke off in the distance. Thoughts about what it could be filled the young woman's mind.

“There might be something good to salvage,” she thought to herself.

“Or it could be raiders again,” Kori's common sense countered. “Far better to just avoid any trouble.”

“But there could be salvage,” Kori's drive to get parts answered back. “Something that I could really use!”

“Or it could be slavers,” her common sense spoke up with. “You don't want to mess with slavers. You wouldn't like be chained up in a skimpy outfit to a giant slug.”

“But there could be parts to salvage,” Kori's reckless side responded. “Besides I would look great as a slave girl.”

“That may be, but you wouldn't have as much fun as you think you would,” Common Sense answered. “Besides there could be droid assassins there.”

“Maybe some got blasted apart and I could salvage them!”

“There could be dead bodies there too! That would be really gross!”

“Yeah, that would be,” Kori's reckless said in agreement. “But there could be salvage too.”

“Well, we could take a look from a distance,” her common sense added. “I suppose there wouldn't be any harm in that.”

“Now you're talking," Kori said to herself.

Adjusting her course, Kori moved the speeder foward with the intent of seeing what was going on, but not getting too close to put herself in danger.

[GM Fang]

Satisfactorily completing her tasks in her father's mechanics shop, Korianna was onto the second stage of her work for the day. Basically, it was a glorified shopping run, but with the added risk of crossing the Western Dune Sea. Mos Zabu was relatively isolated from the larger cities of Tatooine, but fortunately was not an overly long trip by landspeeder.

Kori kept to the Jawa Landcrawler route as it tended to be the most safe and only added about a half hour to the travel time. Most of the time the trips between Mos Zabu and Mos Shuuta were relatively quiet and uneventful. Kori hoped this one would be the same, until the black plume of smoke entered her view over the next rise. After an internal argument as to whether it might be dangerous or a potential salvage boon, Kori decided to inspect a little closer.

Guiding the aging landspeeder over the desert rocks, Kori moved closer to find out what sort of wreckage was causing the smoke. Being careful, it took some time before she could make out just what was going on. A one point, she had a strong feeling as though she was being watched, but it soon passed.

Down in a ravine, the droid tech could see a wrecked ship. Some sort of old freighter it appeared to be. Nearby, a Jawa salvage skiff had just pulled up nearby and a number of the little robed humanoids ambled toward the wreckage. Looking closer, it seemed there was another taller figure there, but from this distance, she could not make it out more clearly.

[Korianna]

Korianna:

Once close enough to the source of the smoke to see it, Kori brought the landspeeder to a halt and reached for her binoculars. The smoke was coming from the wreckage of an old freighter. Even worse, Jawas were already on the scene!

“Those dirty little sand rats!” Kori cursed upon seeing that she had competition. “They're not going to cheat me out of any potential salvage!”

Gunning the accelerator once more, Kori drove the landspeeder towards the crash site. There was a taller person with the Jawas, perhaps the owner of the freighter. No doubt the fast talking little sand rats were trying to steal the wreck from its rightful owner! That would not do at all!

“Don't let those sand rats bully you!” Kori will call out once close enough. “They'll rob you blind if you let them!”

[GM Fang]

Post Closed