Corso Riggs had only been one full day on the Skylark, and already his captain, the sassy Twi'lek Zavvi, expected him to know which tool to hand her as soon as she asked for it. She was busy going over her beloved freighter with a fine toothed comb, ironing out any problems she found, even if they were minor niggles Corso thought wouldn't hurt to leave. She, of course, would have none of it, telling him a well cared for ship repaid the favour in spades to its captain, and that it deserved to be treasured, after she carelessly let it be stolen by Skavak.
"You forget to lock the doors for just a few moments, and some arsehole is off with your ship..." The young woman had clucked as she had inspected some of the wall piping. "Besides, who knows what that rotten son of bantha let fester..."

And now she was in the roof cavity, concentrating on more pipes, as well as the wiring that ran through the ship. Apparently, she'd kept a proper water shower on her ship, so multiple water tanks and piping had to be installed into the roof and in such close proximity to electrical wires, it was an area Zavvi kept the most watchful eye on. Corso had been drafted in to help, though his help basically consisted of 'pass tools to the captain so she doesn't have to keep coming up and down all the time'. This wasn't going too swimmingly due to Corso's lack of knowledge with plumbing and electrical tools.

"Damnit Captain! I'm a weapons...guy, not a starship mechanic!" He insisted. "I don't know what all these tools are called!"
"Didn't your father teach you anything?" The ruffled Twi'lek peered down at the mercenary from the cavity, her white shirt stained with grease and goodness knows what else, arms folded.
"He taught me to t' look afta rontos, not like how to stop a starship leaking!" He replied, just as ruffled as her.
"Look, not doing your rep as 'not a farm boy' any favours, Corso." She sighed. "I haven't the time to argue, though. Hand me the tool with the blue handle, please. That's a sonic wrench."

Corso peered at the tool, filing the information back for reference, before reaching up to hand it to her.
"What's it for?" He asked curiously.
"For wrenching things." She replied, Corso rolling his eyes as he settled down near the toolbox left on the corridor floor, looking up to the ceiling.
"Well, I can tell that, Captain, but what are you wrenching?"
"For now, we're messing with pipes. I need to make sure the pipes are all nice and tightened so we don't get any leaks. Vibrations during flight can shake things loose after a while..." Corso nodded, before asking;
"Where'd you learn to repair starships from, Captain?"
"Oh, I only know basic stuff, with little specifics about my ship. I need to go to proper mechanics for anything more complicated. I'm more into slicing and tinkering with computers." She shifted position to deal with a small fluid line. "I've been programming the Skylark for years with the best autopilot I can make out of the processing power I have. It's taken a long time, but she's quite self-sufficient, and that's nice. Just set a few parameters here and there, and she takes care of herself. I can leave her to go to bed at night, and she looks after herself, and will alert me if someone comes along."
"So, is the ship sorta like a droid now, then?" Corso pondered, finding himself drawn to the only thing he could see of the Twi'lek; her posterior. The events of the fateful drunken night were still fresh, but unfortunately, Corso's hormones had other ideas.
"Well, not really. She's not got intelligence the way you or me would define it, but she's smarter than an average freighter. For example, a normal XS Light Stock would need constant monitoring by a person during rest periods as the freighter cannot tell its owner if someone's coming, whilst the Skylark can. It's more convenience than anything else." She bristled slightly. "And I'll have you know my piloting skills don't depend on the autopilot at all, and in combat, it isn't on at all!"

Riggs chuckled.
"Hey, I weren't even considering doubting your skills, Captain." He paused thoughtfully. "You gonna join that fleet, Captain?"
"The Coruscant Aegis? Ehh...I might do. Might have to negotiate and tell him I can't be at his beck and call all the time...Normally I wouldn't consider it, but apparently we get paid for doin' it, and the Republic has discounts on ship equipment for those in the Aegis. I've always wanted a proton torpedo tube installed...Would give pirates a scare!" She chuckled, which quickly turned into a snort of frustration as the pipe refused to budge, forced her to change positions again. Corso also shifted awkwardly.
"I assume I'll be manning the guns up top?"
"There are some tucked away down the bottom too. Obviously it makes landing awkward, so they're for space skirmishes only. It's your choice which ones you use, but I hope you have a strong stomach."
"Why?" He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.
"Considering the moves I'll have to pull off, you might as well stand on your head for a while." She said simply. "So I'd recommend not eating for a while until you get used to it."

Corso nodded, before a thought came to him.
"I don't mean to be rude, Captain, but you seem kinda young to know so much 'bout things. I was jus' wonderin' where ya learnt it all from."
There was an awkward silence that fell, the sounds of Zavvi wrestling with the fluid pipe and Risha in the cargo hold the only background noise. The Mantellian was regretting speaking up when she answered his question.
"Many places, Corso. Some basic stuff from school, my dad taught me about combat and such...and a very good friend of mine taught me a lot about being a smuggler." The Twi'lek sighed. "I haven't spoken to her in a long, long time. It's mostly deliberate, though. She wanted me to be able to look after myself out there, and that if things go wrong, you ain't got anybody but yourself to get your way outta the mess."

"You've got me."
Zavvi stopped. For some reason, the way Corso said those three simple words hit home to her. And he was right. She wasn't alone, not any more. In the darkness of the roof cavity, she felt herself sag.
"Yes...I do." She admitted. The Twi'lek rubbed her nose with the back of her glove, not caring about the grease that attached to her skin. She would definitely need a shower after this, but she needed to tend to these pipes first. She attempted to resurrect the conversation. "I lost her contact details an age ago, if you can believe that, so I don't know what her number is. Hopefully one day I'll catch up to her. This is her ship, after all."
Corso glanced around.
"Ah, no wonder you were so angry when Skavak took it."
"Yes. She's done so much for me; I'd hate to repay her like that, by having her ship, my ship, stolen out from under my nose. It used to be called the Phoenix. I renamed it Skylark, to show it was mine, and the Phoenix was a little pretentious anyway."
"Pardon me Captain, but the Skylark don't make any sense. Surely it would be better called the Starlark or something?" He asked, hearing a snort of derision from above him.
"Well for one, the latter sounds tons more crap than the former, and secondly, I named it after a bird in a bedtime story I used to like to hear." She glanced over her shoulder to the mercenary below, his lips already stretching into a grin. "And don't you laugh, you're the one who names one of his guns 'Sergeant Boom Boom'!" She called down to him.
"Says the lady who named her ship afta a kiddies' bedtime story!" Corso laughed back.
"If I didn't need this wrench, you'd so have an imprint in the middle of your forehead, farm boy!"
"I'm shaking in my boots, Captain!" The young man grinned, pantomiming. "You'll have to come down an' get me!" Though I'd rather you stay up there like that. His thoughts whispered devilishly, and he tried to push them to one side. Though he did have to admit, in tight trousers, his captain did have a fine- Stop that, Corso!

It was then a hydrospanner hit him in the head.
"OW!" He yelped, rubbing his now sore scalp.
"Did I forget to tell you I still had a hydrospanner up here?" She grinned down at the farm boy, who crossed his legs when she looked at him. "Oh wait, it's in your face now!"
"That hurt..." Corso grumbled.
"Well, don't disrespect my aim, then." She smirked, returning to her work.
"I was only playin'..." He muttered, placing the hydrospanner into the toolbox neatly.

A silence settled for a while, Zavvi finally managing to tighten the pipe to her satisfaction, gently starting to shift around in the cavity to see if she could feel any fluid that had escaped, her sensitive lekku twitching around.
"Captain..." Corso's voice drifted up to her once more.
"Yes, farm boy?" She glanced to him sitting below, looking demure.
"I never like asking for favours, but I think we know each other well enough by now." He continued, piquing the smuggler's interest. "Go on..." She rolled carefully onto her back, bracing her legs.
"I want to look for my cousin Rona. She-ah!" He startled as suddenly his captain's upside down face appeared in front of his. "Captain!" was his ruffled reply.
"Don't mind me, farm boy, carry on." She said, with a smile, the ends of her headtails trailing on the floor. He rolled his eyes.
"As I was sayin', she's the only family I've got left, and she should know what happened."
"First things first, Corso." Resting a finger on his nose was incredibly difficult from this angle. "You should never worry about favours; you're part of my crew. " He blushed.
"That's a real generous offer, Captain. I'll, uh, keep it in mind."
"But tell me, why didn't you try tracking her before you met me?" She asked.
"Ah, I didn't really have the time, workin' for Viidu. And, uh..." Her eyes widened slightly as his blush deepened. "Uh, I kinda wanted to introduce the two most influential ladies in my life."

"Whoa whoa, you're not getting by for that sorta comment!" She grabbed one of the loose dreadlocks by his head to pull him a tiny bit closer. However, Corso could see the pigment of her skin around her cheeks had darkened. "Explain." He chuckled nervously.
"She came with me when I left to join the brigade, but she jumped ship at the first port." He shrugged. "All she ever wanted was to get off Ord Mantell."
"So the family rebel?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "We used to have a blast together. She liked me to run interference so her father never caught on dates with offworlders."
"Hang on, aren't you about protecting the 'poor womenfolk'?" Zavvi was half joking and he knew it, but his brows furrowed.
"Well, yeah. My uncle'd've given her a wallopin' if he'd known the kinda men she was with."
"Would your mama've done the same for you if she'd known you were fraternizing with a woman like me?" Zavvi grinned widely, seeing his blush bloom all over his tanned face.
"I uh, I dunno, Captain." He stumbled, swallowing hard and trying to return to their original topic. "I remember a time uncle came lookin' for Rona while she was on a shuttle with some Agamarian pirate. I was about twelve."
Well, this is gonna be interesting. The Twi'lek thought to herself, grinning. He scratched the back of his neck.
"I didn't know how else to distract uncle, so I started a fight. Got the whole ship confiscated." He chuckled whilst Zavvi groaned, covering her face with her hand. He frowned thoughtfully. "I never did find out how Rona got out of city jail..."

"Stars, Corso..." The smuggler sighed, rolling up back to the roof to lower herself properly down, since all the blood was starting to pool in her head. She ignored the fact she was filthy and greased, safe in the knowledge Corso wouldn't bat an eye. "Well, that explains why she means a lot to you. And like I said, use what you want to track your cousin down; I think I have her to thank for getting you to me, in a weird way." She smiled wryly. Corso opened his mouth to say thanks, before Zavvi continued with; "But...that doesn't explain how I've become one of your...whatever you said earlier." She folded her arms as he started blushing again.
"You gave me a home afta Viidu and my old crew were taken out, and..." He shrugged. "I like travellin' with ya, Captain, and the fightin' and the things we do for others..."

"Guess that's fair enough." She nodded. "But Corso, please stop putting me on a pedestal; I'm just a normal smuggler just trying to make her way through the galaxy without leaving a trail of bodies and having enough credits to live on. I'm nothing special."
You're special to me. Corso couldn't help thinking, but wisely kept his mouth shut.
"Anyway, farm boy, I better tidy myself up. I'm meeting up with a friend in a couple of minutes, and I doubt she'll be too pleased if I turn up looking like this. And no, I do not need an escort!" She jabbed his chest, whilst he held up his hands in surrender.
"I never said a word!" He replied.
"Yeah, but you thought it!"
"I did not!" He retorted, puffing his chest out. Zavvi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I'm seeing her alone, so I need you to inquire with Risha if she's got her stuff sorted yet." Corso groaned.
"Oh naw Captain, you're not leaving me with her are ya? Are you sure I can't come with you? I promise I won't get in the way or anythin'!" She folded her arms, assuming a stance Corso knew all too well.
"Corso, I'm sure you could be civil to Risha for just for a minute or so. She won't bite your head of so long as you learn to keep your gob shut."
"Captain, she thinks I ain't nothing more than some idiot from the Outer Rim!" The mercenary protested. "You ain't seen the way she talks to me!"
"Well, I don't like the way she's all haughty either, but you don't see me complaining, do you? Stop being such a man-child and talk to her like you're not five years old." The Twi'lek snapped, before she softened. "Look, you only need to find out how everything's coming along, and then you're free to do whatever you like that doesn't involve looking for me. Start by not patronizing her, and you should do fine. She's not going to deal with your 'lady' nonsense any better than I do."

Corso grumbled, shuffling his feet, and the smuggler knew this wasn't over just yet.
"Riggs, I know you were brought up to see 'ladies' as delicate objects, but me and Risha are as far from 'ladies' as you can possibly get; you need to realize we could kick your arse if we wanted to, so you'll have to treat us as equals, not as some kind of...I don't know, waif or something." Zavvi explained, then sighed. "Or at least, just tone it down some. May have worked for your little farm girls, but out here, all you're gonna get is whapped upside the head or laughed at."

She paused just a moment, before patting the side of his arm.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out, farm boy. Now scram, I've gotta tidy up here, and you standing around is just going to distract me. Shoo! Go and find your cousin!"
"Aye Captain." Corso said, trudging away to think about what she'd said to him on his way to the bridge.

Stars, this is harder than I thought...I'm trying so hard to try and be polite to her, but all it seems to be doin' is riling her up. And if I do that, I might as well not do it all. But I ain't any good at being suave!
He paused, chewing his bottom lip as he turned some things over in his head.
She don't think she is a lady, but she is. I'm just gonna have to make her see she is one. But just trying to be suave wouldn't hurt, I suppose. I just gotta think of something too say...

Zavvi wasn't a particular fan of the cantina under the Senate tower; too small and not enough shady people to start a brawl with. However, she'd got herself a drink, and was now flirting with a young man who was very interested in her, and he couldn't seem to stop flattering her. She was quite taken with him, returning his flirts with her own, though she put less effort into it as she knew she'd have to extricate herself to talk her friend, though she had her ways to get guys to back off if they were getting too persistent.

The Twi'lek noticed movement from the corner of her eye and turned slightly, seeing clothing flutter past the other patrons mingling around. She turned to her admirer.
"I'm sorry; it's been nice talking I need to leave your delightful company. I have some business to take care with my friend over there." She nodded to the table. He seemed disappointed.
"What a shame, I'd've loved to get to know you some more..." Zavvi felt a slight nervousness gnaw at her spine for some unusual reason. Bizarre, that didn't usually happen. "When are you next going be around these parts?"
"Alas, I should be leaving tomorrow. The galaxy waits for no-one, and especially not credits." She spoke. "Goodbye."

The young man did try to get her to stay longer, but she waved him off, going over to the table her friend had settled herself on. The man did try to follow Zavvi, but one look at the friend made him hesitate, before he decided to retreat, thinking better of it. The smuggler sat down, grinning widely at the figure opposite.

"Long time no see, sister." She said. Her sister smiled shyly, light green eyes shining.
"Yes. I'm sorry I haven't been able to contact you for a while, but you know what it's like." Her voice was calm and serenely controlled.
"Aye, that I do." Zavvi scowled briefly. "But tell me, why'd you contact me? Is something the matter?"
"Yes, there is. I'm in need of your help, Zee."
"Anything I can do, Xu? But I'm not sure I can be any more assistance than what you already have." 'Xu' was amused.
"Don't sell yourself short, sis. You know more the underworld than I do, and I need your expertise to find me something that was stolen."
"I'll do my best, but it could be anywhere by now, and tracking it down could take months. I'm already in a long term job too, which will make things even harder." Zavvi explained. "But go ahead, what do you want me to find?"
"I need you to help me find some relics called the Noetikons..."