[Freezair]

Heavens to Murgatroyd, interplanetary fanatics! Thanks to the devious detonation device the dastardly DR. DESTRUCTO planted within THE SOJOURNER'S engines, our plucky heroine, ASTRA NAUGHT, has crash-landed on a strange alien world! Thick vines choke the the underbrush as Astra finds herself outside of a strange, ramshackle city! But what lies within? Her salvation?

Or her undoing...?

_________________________________________________

Astra struggled away from the wreckage of the destroyed Space Schooner, brushing debris away from her helmet and straightening out her Receptor Antenna. Not that it would do her much good now--with her ship in this state, there was no way she could remote-control it. But it looked like her wrist recorder was still operational. She flipped back the cover and it beeped in response.

"Personal Log. Stardate: 11256. I've crash-landed outside of some sort of jungle city. It doesn't look like the friendliest place... the buildings are run down, and there's an... interesting smell in the air. (Yowza! That's ripe...) But it does appear to be inhabited! I'm going to attempt to make contact with the locals. Astra out."

She clicked the recorder shut, straightened her skirt, and headed off towards the city.

She had no idea if this planet was even civilized or not. With any luck, though, someone would know where to find parts for a Cosmoworks 520 Space Schooner. Bright red with chrome stripes. Preferrably.

[Celtic]

Another day, another bo-ring day. A young-ish looking boy dressed mostly in gray nondescript clothing was leaned up against a sheet of metal propped up against a shack. He was alone in the alley, which didn't seem wise at this part of town. Youths here seemed to prowl in groups, and everyone had a bit of a shifty look in their eyes. He toyed with an unlit cigarette in his mouth -- he really couldn't stand the things (the nicotine made him god-awful nauseous) but everyone else was doing it so he did too.

He was waiting for Laz and Long to come through. They were older than him and actually part of a gang! His mom kept telling him those boys were "bad news" but what did she know? They had life figured out. Caine was hoping that they'd eventually pick him to go with them into the city. He didn't know exactly what they did (everything was secretive here) but they had money and amazing stories. Caine longed to see the inside of those fancy buildings -- he'd even settle just to see the outside up close! Nothing good ever happened outside the city. Maybe, just maybe...

His day dreams of fancy hovercraft and tailored suits were cut off when he caught sight of a... girl? She was dressed.... fancy? Weird? Caine had never seen anything like it. So bright, so.... Cool? Was it cool? His little brain raced trying to figure out how he felt. He decided to try and sneakily get a closer look. Trying to look nonchalant, he walked towards the newcomer. Hands stuffed in his pockets, hugging one side of the street, trying to steal glances at this person. A globe with an antenna on her head? Who wore that stuff? He was trying so hard to piece together where she might be from and why in the hell she was here that he didn't even realize he had stopped walking and was just all out staring.

[Freezair]

A local! Astra could have fallen down at his feet. (Which would have wrinkled her fancy Reflect-O-Matic Solar-Radiation Proof skirt.) Here she was, wondering if she'd have to go hunting for help--and here, some appears before her.

"Heeeeh-llloo," she said slowly. She didn't know if the locals would understand her speech. "Caaaan yooou understaaand meeee?"

But she quickly abandoned this. Not because she immediately knew she was being understood--because her worries about her ship took over in her mind. "My ship just crashed about five hundred zillometers back in the jungle that-a-way. I'm in need of parts and repairs. Do you know of any licensed spaceship mechanics around here?"

[Celtic]

Caine looked around, surely she wasn't talking to him. Surely she had someone better to be addressing! But no one else was there, it was just him. She started speaking -- at least he thought she was speaking. Her mouth was moving really slow, like really slow. His attention drifted back to her outfit, she was so close! Everything was so shiny, so unlike anything around his drab little town.

Wait. She stopped making noise. What did she say? He started to panic, but thankfully a couple words poked through. Ship....spaceship mechanic. Holy shit.

"Y-you have a spaceship? Oh wow, can I see it? You've been somewhere other than here?" Wide little eyes now bored into Astra. He was going to go to space. He was going to help her, and he was going to go to SPACE.

[Freezair]

((hi hello yes I'm alive no I'm not very good at replying in a timely manner))

Great moons of Jupiter! Astra hadn't been expecting such enthusiasm! Listen to him jabber about spaceships! Astra tried to puzzle out his reaction. He must be one of those "spaceship hot-rodder" types! A fan of fast ships who spends his days hanging around "chop shops!" He must want to see my ship so that he can "scope my wings!" But then again, maybe that's just what I need. Astra rubbed the outside of her helmet, right about where her chin would be.

"Young man! I think I could use a fella like you," she said. "You can absolutely come take a look at it. What currency do you folks use around this part? Zipnars? Gleeboks? I also have a few Andalarian credits, but I'll need to calculate the exchange rate... "

[Celtic]

Did she just say that? She could use a guy like him. Surely this was some mistake-- right? She didn't know him, in fact she knew nothing about him! But then again, she seemed so sure! He would have to trust this lady, after all, she had been to space while he not been to space. That's gotta mean she's more qualified to make these decisions than he is.

"Uh, I think we just use keystones... At least around here. In the city though you can probably use those uh, ziboks and um, glipnars?" Oh gosh, he knew he fumbled that completely, "I'm, uh, Caine by the way. It's real nice to meet ya." He offered a smile, and his hand for a shake.

[Freezair]

"Keystones? I've never heard of that particular currency. Do you happen to know the exchange rate for standard galactic credits? I often tend to travel in the less advanced sections of the galaxy, you see, so I don't often keep  a Credit Storage Fob on my person..." She moved her hands animatedly as she spoke.

"Ah! But where are my manners? Your name's Caine, you say?" She stuck out one gloved hand. "Name's Astra. Given that you didn't recognize me straight away, I take it you haven't heard of me in this quadrant. Come along, Caine. My crashed spacecraft is this way."

With an almost ballet-like grace, she pirouetted away on one heel and began striding back into the jungle. She muttered to herself as she walked, wondering aloud about exchange rates and payment. "Keystones... keystones... some variant on Lumigrox glowstones, maybe...? Or perhaps it's more closely related to Tikvorrus keychits..."

[Celtic]

"Uh, yes, it's very good to meet ya, Miss Astra!" He was almost skipping following behind her-- he could barely contain his excitement. She was saying so many words he didn't understand, but she was assuming he'd heard of all these things. Does he just come right out and say he's clueless? Should he pretend to know things? How hard could it be to pretend to be worldly? I see the guys pretend all the time... I just have to make it for a little while. He wasn't trying to deceive her, not in a malicious way anyways. He just didn't want her to leave him when she found out he was virtually useless. This was his one shot to be more than just a kid from the slums.

"Uh, I'm not sure on the exchange rate. It's been a while since we've seen somebody with other currency, but I'm sure in the city they'd be able to change it for ya!" He was trying to sound chipper to make up for the lack of information. At the very least he knew how to get into town and he was combing through his entire memory bank trying to figure out where to exchange monies/ where to get parts of a spaceship. Caine had a couple ideas, but nothing was for sure.

Maybe the guys know... Caine scoffed, almost out loud before he caught himself. If he introduced Astra to them, well who knows what would happen! They'd certainly try and leave 'the kid' at home, as usual. No, I've got this. I can do this.

[Freezair]

Astra lead them along through the underbrush, tracing through the pattern she'd stumbled through to reach the edge of the city. I really ought to get a laser machete, she thought. This sort of thing happens to me way too often.

But then they reached it.

From the tail end of it sticking out of the ground, it was bottle-shaped. And though it was streaked with dirt and soot, it was clearly, beneath it all, a glimmering chrome shape, painted all over with brilliant red stripes. The end of it was rimmed with fins, and its snub-square door hung open at an awkward angle.

Astra looked over at Caine and felt a swell of pride in her chest. Even nose-deep in the earth and banged up like this, The Sojourner was still a beautiful machine, her pride and joy--and this boy was going to help her get it working better than ever before.

[Celtic]

(I'm alive !!)

Caine really did have to pick his jaw up from the floor. He had to process the thought that maybe he shouldn't have his mouth gaping wide open and then attempted to casually close his mouth with his hand because his brain couldn't do it alone. Really it wasn't his fault, he'd never left this little hovel he called home and really hadn't hoped for much with his life. But this-- this was hope. It was akin to a religious experience almost.

"A-and it actually flies? Like to other planets?" Caine at that moment realized he needed to resume his little ruse of actually knowing about stuff and things. Yikes. He peeked at Astra and hoped she was pre-occupied with admiring her own machine. Gosh, she actually owns this? Could you imagine? Caine cleared his throat and took a few steps closer. He didn't know much about space craft, but like any good slum kid he knew a bit about machinery and basic mechanics. Getting Astra's baby back in tip-top shape was going to take some work.

[Freezair]

((Holy cow! I'm trying to respond to stuff again!))

Astra barked a laugh at Caine's little comment. The one about it actually flying.

"It sure doesn't look like it, does it? I had one humdinger of a crash. Would you believe Dr. Destructo managed to plant a nano-bomb in my engines without me even noticing? I've just been oblivious lately! I need to be more alert."

Astra didn't so much as open the hood to the engine as she did wrench back a scarred, burning hunk of metal. The smell of electrical burning was strong, as was the telltale ozone scent of a nano-bomb.

"I don't know if any of my tools survived the crash, I'm afraid. But I could root around in my storage compartment and see, if you don't have a standard micro-driver on you at the moment."

[Celtic]

He picked out the word bomb and immediately took a few steps back, ready to bolt. Caine did notice that Astra didn't seem too worried even if there was a bomb somewhere in her spaceship, Maybe it's supposed to be there? His brows knit together as he pondered the thought. Bombs were supposed to be bad, right? Maybe they aren't bad all the time? After all, all he really knew about bombs was that they made explosions and well... Explosions did make things go up right? There. He made up his mind, if Astra wasn't worried, then the nano-bomb whoseewhatsit was normal and it was not going to hurt him. Really though, he couldn't imagine that Astra would hurt anything, let alone put him in grave peril. Caine took a few steps forward again to stand next to his companion.

"No... I didn't grab any tools before we left! I think my ma might have something at home though. We're always having to fix stuff up, not much works here." Oh no, did that sound too pitiful? It was just true! Astra had seen where he was hanging out after all. The slums really weren't much to look at, and anybody-- truly anybody-- could tell that it was the poor part of town. Maybe he could be useful after all, "You said maybe some survived? Where would they be? Not to brag but I am pret-ty nimble, I can get them for ya!" It wasn't just an empty boast, Caine spent a lot of his time climbing trees and buildings, and he even earned a couple bucks sneaking into some warehouse for the guys. He puffed up his chest with pride, eyes gleaming-- ready to be of service.

[Freezair]

True to her word to be more alert, she caught the flicker of fear in his eyes at the word "bomb."

"Oh, don't worry! The bomb already blew up! It's what wrecked my engines in the first place. And I know there's a lot of misconceptions out there about nano-bombs, but I promise, they leave no radiotoxic residue!"

She scratched the outside of her helmet, right above where her chin was beneath it. "My tools, huh? Well..."

She stepped over wreckage to the bean-shaped door she'd stepped out of. "I kept a lot of my repair goods in the cockpit, over here. There's a white compresso-chest built into the control panel, just beneath parsecometer. The panel to access it might be crushed, though. I think I've got a prybar under one of the cockpit seats, though, for, well. Emergencies. Like this one." She looked a bit sheepish.

"Either way, watch your head in there, fella."


((I'm picturing the inside of the ship looking very much like a 1950's diner--all red and chrome and rounded. Minus the checkered floors. For reference if you have him slink in!))