spncentral | Kriffing Drivers/Flyers

One moment, Etain was just coasting along, about to make the jump into hyperspace; the next, the Force was screaming a warning at her and she pushes the yoke down sharply in a dive as another vessel of some kind appears right in her original path. So instead of a head-on collision, there's a scraping sound as the top of her ship loses a layer of paint to the bottom of the other ship.

After she's sure she and her ship are in one piece, she sits back in her seat, heart pounding as she tries to recover. That was too close.

After she's sure her heart-rate and voice were under control, she hails the other ship. "What the kriff was that about? That's an exit vector, not entry," Etain says, trying to sound peeved, but still sounding a little rattled instead.

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Kaylee has been through the hell during the last half hour. She's been separated from the Firefly and tossed who knows where. She considers herself lucky when the ship finally evens out and she's able to rise to her feet. She felt a painful bump on her head but she's fairly sure that she wasn't bleeding. There wasn't time to worry about that right now. Her legs shake as she pushes herself up to the ships communications and open the channel to speak to the ship that she had almost collided into.

"I'm sorry." She huffed into the comm as she tried to move herself to the ships seat. "This ship is running out power. Please I need help. It's a short range transport ship. I've somehow lost my ship. Run a scan on her and you'll see. Ain't got more than a half hour." Kaylee had no idea what was going on but she was rattled and she needed help.

She closed her eyes and hoped that her plea might have been heard by someone who wasn't with the Alliance. She had no papers and no way to explain what in the verse had happened to her and the rest of the Firefly crew. Kaylee hoped that they were safe.

Etain takes a moment to digest that, running the suggested scan as she turns her own ship around so she could see the smaller vessel. After a moment, the scan finishes and confirms the other woman's words. Then she gets another scan going to search the general area for any ships large enough for the shuttle to belong to.

"No chance of making it to the planet to refuel, then." Not with only a half hour to make what's an hour-long trip at this point.

The second scan finishes, informing her that while there were one or two other ships around, they were too small to belong to this one.

"The only realistic choice I see here is for you to come on board before you run out of power to keep the air circulators going. Then we can see about towing your ship if it seems worth bothering with." So much for making her rendezvous on time. But she couldn't really bring herself to just leave this person to hope for someone else to rescue her.

Kaylee held her breath as she waited for the stranger to scan her ship. The sensors pinged as the scan began and ended. Though it wasn't until Etain spoke that Kaylee finally released her lung full of air.

"Yes. Please. I ain't got nothing to offer but this ship." Which was honestly not worth a lot.

Kaylee wasn't used to kindness. It always had a condition but if she was alive then she might find the crew of Serenity and find her way back home.

"I can dock but my thrusters are out."

"Just as well that Buir had me learn how to dock with partly or fully disabled ships, isn't it?" Etain says as she maneuvers her ship closer to the shuttle to get it lined up to connect with the other ship. It's docking port wasn't quite what she was familiar with, but it's close enough that she doesn't see a problem with getting a tight seal for passage between ships.

"You might want to make sure you have everything you care about, in case your shuttle turns out to be a write-off." It'll save them the time involved with the other woman going back for things.

A moment later, the indicator light that contact and proper sealing for boarding have been made and Etain unstraps herself from her seat to head towards the door to let her in. "I'll have my end of things open in a minute."

"Buir?" That wasn't a place that Kaylee knew. Not that she knew that many places but she thought she'd at least hear of most places in passing. She traveled a lot and heard a lot of things.

"Yeah. I'll open the door in a sec."

She disconnected the line before letting her head rest against the console. She couldn't stay like that but the moments rest and relief was welcomed. Another moment passed. Kaylee knew she should get up. She had nothing to collect but she had to unlatch the door.

With a groan, Kaylee pushed herself to her feet and headed towards the door. She grabbed the latch and released it before pushing the thick door open. She looked into Etain's ship, hoping to spot her host before rushing on board; not that Kaylee had much of a choice.

"It's Mando'a. Means 'Father'," Etain says before leaving the cockpit.

Once she reaches the airlock, she double-checks the indicators to make sure everything was green before letting the door hiss open with a rush of air to fill the passageway between the ships.

When Kaylee sees her, she'll see a woman in Mandalorian armor minus the helmet, which had been left in the cockpit, holstered blaster to the right and a lightsaber hilt hanging on the left side. "Are you going to need the medbay?"

Healing was Bardan's forte, not hers. She could do some simple things, but it's not where her talents lay. Better to just take care of things the average way. Of course, that way, she gives no hints as to her Jedi origins. Given she's a Mandalorian, the lightsaber just implies that she's skilled enough to take down Jedi and keep their lightsabers as trophies.

Kaylee inhaled deeply as the from Etain's ship air filled the small passage between them. The small pod was running overly recycled air and comparatively there was no contest between which Kaylee preferred.

"Ain't that serious." Kaylee replied with a smile. She was dressed as a mechanic but with a bright pink shirt beneath her olive jumpsuit. There were a few playful patches on Kaylee's jumpsuit as well, making her appear a lot younger than she was. The usual smudge of black grease across her cheek while a warm smile pulled at her mouth.

"Just a bit bumped around. Nothin' but bruises and needin' air." Air was amazing!

"Nice ta meet cha." She stepped forward and offered Etain her hand.

"I'm sure," Etain says with a wry smile as she accepts the handshake. "I checked, and there's no ships large enough for your shuttle within range."

May as well get the bad news out of the way.

After the other woman is fully on board, she slaps the button to close the airlock and starts heading back to the cockpit to get the ships disengaged. "I'm going to see about towing your ship if I can get a good enough lock."

Kaylee's smile faltered. "What? Serenity ain't out there?" That wasn't possible and yet, Kaylee didn't think that Etain would lie to her about that. There would be no point...

She chewed on her lower lip, trying to push through the fog in her memory to what had happened. She'd been pushed into the shuttle by Zoey and then it had been forced to take off. There were no stars for a bit and then she was here. Kaylee had been sure that part of that memory was from hitting her head too hard.

"Thanks."

Kaylee followed Etain inside and took a look around at the ship. It wasn't a design that she was used too but Kaylee knew ships.

Once Etain's back in her seat in the cockpit, nudging her helmet slightly more to the side from its spot on the console, she gets the ship moving to take a look at whatever damage there may be to the shuttle.

And winces slightly at the amount of paint now on the bottom of the other vessel. "Haar'chak," she says mildly, her tone belying the emphasis usually going into the use of the term.

Kaylee follows Etain taking a seat close but out of Etain's way. She can help but since this ain't her ship she's going to wait and see if Etain needs anything first.

"I ain't heard curse words like that before." Her brow furrows slightly. She doesn't need to know what Etain is saying for her to know that the other woman had sworn. It's all in the inflection of her voice.

"What is it?"

Etain waves vaguely at the new coating of paint Kaylee's shuttle has. "I should probably see if there's damage to go with the paint loss later."

It clearly can't be anything too major, given her ship's alarms would have been throwing a fit if it was, but still. Repairs might need to happen later.

"Ain't much of a painter but if it's ur ship I can lend a hand. Don't got to pay me either. Just think of it as thank you for pickin' me up." She was beginning to think that she was a lot further from home than she knew.

"What's the nearest planet?"

Edited Date: 2018-01-10 04:14 am (UTC)

"Not just my ship, even if I'm the only one on it right now," she says absently as she carefully positions the ship so get the other one firmly attached. After she's sure the shuttle is secure, she turns the ship to finally get back on its exit vector.

"We're leaving Onderon. I had a quick and easy job bringing me here. Now it's done, there's no reason to stay."

"Onderon." Kaylee had never heard of that planet before, of course, at the outer rim that wasn't so unusual but she couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that twisted into knots in her gut.

"This ain't near the core planets is it?"

"Not really, no. It's actually along the outer edge of the Inner Rim." Too much further, and it'd be part of the next ring further away from the galaxy's core.

Kaylee wasn't sure what the outer edge of the Inner Rim was. Only the core planets really got names. There were planes on the outer rim but those planets were all terraformed and then left on their own to die or survive.

"What all places are near here? I ain't sure I know it." She was trying to keep calm but not knowing where Onderon was freaked her out a bit.

Etain pulls up the galaxy map and zooms it in on the relevant portion of the galaxy, letting the display rotate gently. "There."

Kaylee stared at the map. "What? This ain't right." Her brows furrowed and then her lips parted in shock. It can't be right. If this was right then... she was a lot further away from home than she thought.

"I ain't never seen none of these planets." Her voice was a little higher than she meant it to be and tight with panic. "How far across the veres did I drift?"

Kaylee wasn't sure that this was even possibly except that she was sitting here, in Etain's ship, staring at this map.

Etain side-eyes the other woman as the navcom beeps to say it was finished and she eases down the control that sends the ship into hyperspace, the stars streaking by into lines as the ship gets going. "Apparently, quite a ways. You sure you don't need the medbay?"

Kaylee shakes her head slowly before pressing her palm to her forehead. "I ain't so sure no more. Maybe I look over to see if I'm dreamin'" This didn't feel right to her but she had no idea how to prove one way or another. The technology was the same as she was used too...

...

"What kind of ship is this? Model or class?"

Etain needed a moment to parse some of what was just said. "Considering I'm pretty sure I'm real, no, you're not dreaming. You might have a concussion though, if you've hit your head."

Then she rattles off the class of ship, not that it would really be anything familiar.

Kalyee pressed her palm against her head as she tried to remember a detail that might calm her down. "I think I'm a bit further than I thought." Her accent rang out with a pleasant tang before looking over at Etain.

"You ain't hear nothin' bout the War against the Brown Coats or the Revers do you?"

Etain shakes her head. "I can't say that I have. A war that's started being called the Clone Wars ended a couple of years back. It was pretty much galaxy-wide."

Kaylee looked over at Etain like the woman had suddenly grown a second head. "I think I'm in the wrong galaxy..."

That surprises a laugh out of Etain which she turns into a cough. "Maybe we should check for head injuries in the medbay."

"Yeah. Might be a smart thing." Kaylee was completely shocked. She didn't know what to say or do or believe. This wasn't her home though and she had no idea how to return to her universe.

How as this even possible?

The Force works in mysterious ways. Or something.

"It's probably for the best," Etain says, unstrapping herself from her seat. Now they're in hyperspace, she doesn't need to worry about that for awhile. "Come on. Medbay's further back."

They can try to figure out what's going on after the other woman's been checked over.

Kaylee runs her palm over her face before rising and following Etain back to the medbay. She honestly hopes that something is wrong with her but that means admitting that the last year has been a dream or a hallucination. Kaylee doesn't think that she can make that up...

"What u gonna do?"

She asked, her accent thickening as they moved towards the rear of the ship.

"Check you for head injuries." She's mostly just moving this to the medbay because if anything from it's needed, that's where she'll need to go to get it anyway.

"Yeah but with what?" Kaylee really wasn't sure what to expect anymore and she didn't know what scanner thing Etain would use. Maybe it was different from what she was used too?

"Firstly, by basically poking you to see if you say 'ow'," Etain deadpans. Let's wait to see if she needs anything more complicated than her hands first, shall we?

"That's a good place to start." Or Kaylee supposed, she's just going to trust Etain.

"I doubt you'll end up needing anything more complicated than painkillers or something cold to hold against your head while laying down for awhile," she says with a shrug, walking into the medbay and palming the light on.

Time to get her gloves off to set them on the counter. "Take a seat."

Kaylee didn't have Etain's confidence. She walked into the medbay, taking a quick glance around before taking a seat as directed. Her fingers picked at the patches of her pants as she waited for Etain to have a look at her.

"I might want somethin' cold anywho." She was starting to feel lightheaded.

"For your head, or to drink?" Etain asks as she starts checking for bumps or the like on the other woman's head. "Let me know if anything hurts."

"Both though perhaps something a might stronger to drink." Kaylee was patient as Etain checked out her head. She'll tell the other woman if something hurts but so far she feels fine.

"Noted," Etain says as she finds and prods at the bump. Kaylee's opinion on her pain levels is probably changing right about now.

"Ow." She flinched away, tenderly rubbing the back of her head. "Don't keep pokin' it."

"I wasn't intending to," Etain says, turning away to find a cold compress. "I think you're basically fine. Bump to the head aside."

"Then why ain't I remembering anything about this verse. I grew up workin' on engines and ships. There's no reason I should be forgettin' things like this." Kaylee was trying to stay calm but it was near impossible to remain calm in a time like this.

"I meant in terms of you not having a concussion or something," Etain says dryly, returning with what she was getting for Kaylee and handing it over.

Kaylee took the medicine from Etain with an awkward smile. She really didn't know what to think right now or what to do. How should she be feeling? Lost... she felt very lost.

"A combination of painkillers and the cold compress should help with the effects of your knock to the head. Then, uh, I guess we can figure out what else to do later. If you have somehow been dropped into the wrong galaxy, I haven't the faintest idea how to fix it." Not reassuring, she knows, but well, it's true. No point saying otherwise.

"If you want to just sit in here while you recover some, that's fine. I'm going to fire off a message home to let them know I've got a passenger with me. Then we can see about getting you that drink." She knows there should be some non-alcoholic drinks on the ship, since despite what some people may think, alcohol isn't always appropriate.