One Man's Trash

[Gillian Rel]

Ord Cantrell​

It all seemed too good to be true. If they had actually gotten their hands on the old warehouse they could convert into factory it could cut the cost of Project Skyward significantly. He had come to Ord Cantrell with Skuld, this was just as much her project as it was his. It had been her idea that had spawned the entire project.

"The old man wasn't lying when he said it was remote.." he said making his final approach into the planet's atmosphere. Ord Cantrell was a pretty populated world, with massive resorts and several large cities. The coordinates he had been given were nowhere near any of those, instead, they came over dense jungle.

They were close, he brought the ship around a cloud covered mountain and there it was, in a small valley. It was a large building, big enough for what they would need. "Certainly a fixer-upper." he commented as he passed over. The massive building was aged, the jungle had long encroached and reclaimed the land as its own.

"We certainly have our work cut out for us here." he said as he brought the ship down. First, they would need to get inside and examine the building to make sure it was structurally sound. Then they could start on bringing some workers in to begin work. He had a feeling they would be out here for some time.

They exited the ship, the air thick and muggy. It was already warmer than Gil liked and it was only morning. It took all about five seconds for a large bug to land on his neck and bite into him. "I love it already..." he said sarcastically.

@Killa Ree

 

[Eva 'Skuld' Stark]

Not many would see the Deucalian woman actually smiling. Smirking, maybe, giving a small smile or at least not a scowl... but it seemed like something she hadn't imagined would happen in her lifetime. The first step forward to getting a factory for Blackwell would take some work, true, but who didn't expect that these things took a little elbow grease and some muscle?

Typically, she would have taken the Killer Ree herself, but the buckethead she worked with was adamant she do any repairs from the frag embedded in its' ventrals before she flew anywhere else. It would give her time, anyhow, to plan over a new starfighter design she had in mind without worrying about gravity wells and hyperspace anomalies...

She glanced out the spaceport, and nodded once in approval at the crowd of vegetation around them. Being out in a rural location meant it was more difficult for other companies to send corporate spies to sabotage or spy on their works...but perhaps Gil did not approve so much. She had never been to Ord Cantrell.. really had no reason to, until now. It was probably going to be kriffing hot, buggy and messy.

"Not bad for a start..." she hummed, icy eyes narrowing in contemplation. It certainly looked like it needed a thorough cleaning... repairs, a new roof, some water damages... she was already calculating in her head, and the numbers were already quite large. She continued eyeing the building as best she could, but she didn't spot anything too terrible...

What was so wrong with it for the old owner to fold it so cheaply?

She had donned her armor, of course, ax by her side, along with her daggers and blaster, and Bita, a beautiful vibroweapon crafted by Tagal Saxon himself. She didn't know why she felt the urge to come fully armed... but the last time she came anyplace that had a wild jungle, she had been charged at by three Zakkegs.

So a bit of caution was not too much to expect.

The muggy air practically smacked her in the face as they descended, and she huffed. "I know, right?" She muttered darkly, swatting away another bug with a scowl unseen beneath her helmet. "The atmosphere is so... lively." However, her eyes were more occupied with the abandoned building before them.

"Did the owner say anything of this before you got it?" she rumbled, tilting her head to her companion. "Seems strange to be in the middle of a jungle like this... and so very well maintained." The last part was on a bit of a sarcastic drawl, but it wasn't unkind. Rather, caution. It was certainly odd, even for her.

Well, they would take a look inside anyhow, and within time she could easily see it cleaned up and updated to standard... But why did she get the feeling all those weapons she had on hand would come in handy?

@Raydo

 

[Gillian Rel]

Skuld seemed giddy, or at least as close to giddy as Gil thought the woman could get. The air literally hummed with the insect life around them, he could get himself starting to contract some obscure jungle virus.

"Meeeh." he sounded in response to his question. "The man was pretty trashed when he thought it was a good idea to gamble away the deed to the building. I got the impression it didn't mean anything to him." he said with a shrug. "It wouldn't surprise me if he hadn't even been out here to see it. It doesn't look like anyone has been out here in decades..." he commented as he cut through some vines and pulled them back to reveal the front door. "Yeah, such a pristine building.." he said as they passed a part of the wall that looked like it was seconds from collapsing.

Gil stepped up to the door and hit the button to open it. The door trembled a bit but didn't open any. "I guess that was a bit of a long shot anyway.." he said looking for something to pry the door open.

It would take both of them to get the door open and Gil had no doubt that the Deucalian woman was much stronger than he was and likely contributed much more than he did in getting the door open. The door slowly but surely creaked open, several birds deciding the newly open door was their perfect escape route and rush out the opening. "Kriffing..he swore as he stumbled backward before tripping on a vine and falling into a collection of undergrowth.

"Yeah..This place is just magical..." he grumbled as he tried to free himself from the tangled brush.

 

[Eva 'Skuld' Stark]

She hummed out thoughtfully as they continued trying to clear the way through the dense undergrowth; she wasn't against greenery, but even this was too much for her. She preferred icy valleys, sheer rock mountains, some howling wind... but of course, what was the phrase that her uncle used to say?

Aldrei líta á gjöfhest í munninum.

That thought, however, wasn't a comforting one.

When he began struggling with the door, she began to pull as well. It took the both of them before it finally rattled open with a metallic moan, and she swatted as some birds burst out, more annoyed than anything else.

She snorted a laugh at his comment, tugging free her vibroblade to cut away any offending vines that seemed to want to hug Gil, before hauling him to his feet. Though typically such a door would close after being opened, it remained yawning open, though the light barely seemed to illuminate the gloom within.

...Charming.

She tilted her head, sheathing her blade before snagging her Elduröxi from its' loop.

"No time like today, let's see vhat he left for us..." she was still grinning somewhat though, despite the helm giving away nothing. She could snicker all she wanted, but Gil had every right to be on his guard.

Ja. Something stunk with her too, and it wasn't the charming atmosphere. So much for a first visit to Ord Cantrell.

@Raydo

 

[Gillian Rel]

Skuld said something in a language that Gil had no clue what it was. There were too many languages in the Galaxy and droids made it easy to get by.

He continued with a string of curses as he struggled to get free. He could swear he felt something crawl up his leg. If Skuld thought he wouldn't take off his pants in front of her if something did actually crawl up his leg, she was in for something.

She hauled him to his feet, and he had no doubt she could have thrown him a good distance if she had the mind to. Some people were intimidated by such a strong woman, Gil kind of liked it. Maybe that's why he had developed a pattern in getting stabbed....

He chuckled at the phrase that was only slightly off. "You should probably keep looking elsewhere for a summer home." he commented pulling his quickdraw free from its holster.

Gil stepped inside the dark hallway beyond the entrance. The air was musty in here, vines had grown along the walls. "What language were you speaking earlier?" he asked making conversation as they continued down the hallway. There would some access to get to the lower levels and hopefully from there they could get the power back on.

 

[Eva 'Skuld' Stark]

Yeah... she wasn't a huge fan of this location's locale either.

He seemed as enamored as she was, so at least her tastes were not alone in this location.

But at least it was a beginning. She already had a draft of starfighters that she was itching to get down and started on. She smirked when he mentioned having a summer home here; she was not of the mind to find a 'summer home', whatever that was. Must be a Deep Core sort of thing.. she shook her head, letting one chuckle slip with a shrug. "Nei, no thank you. My tastes are a bit less lively." To punctuate her statement, another fat bug buzzed close to her head, and she swatted it away absently.

As they continued down the corridor, an awareness prickled at the back of her neck. It was too quiet in here, especially in comparison to the jungle outside. She may not be one of those witches, but even she knew when something was off, or wrong. But she was somewhat caught off guard when she heard him ask about her language.

Her mind cast back, and almost instantly she recalled. It was muttered so quickly, she didn't even know he heard her.

"Ah." She paused, then gave a one-shouldered shrug, careful to step over one particularly large root that reached up through the duracrete. "It is my native tongue. Called Deucalic. Not many speak it anymore."

And for good reason.

That feeling of unease still didn't shift, however. Even though her eyes continually scanned their surroundings, she felt like whatever decided to camp up here was not friendly. She kept her ax on hand... Just in case.

@Raydo

 

[Gillian Rel]

"Nonsense." he said waving off her comment. "I have seen you party, you did lively just fine," he said turning to her with a smirk before continuing down the hall again.

He nodded his head after she said it was her native language. He had never heard of it, but there probably billions of languages out there so it wasn't surprising he had never heard of it before.

They entered a large open room with run down looking machinery in it. Much of it was in disrepair, many of the machines would be cheaper to replace than fix. He let out a whistle which echoed throughout the large open space. "We got our work cut out for us, Stark." he said tapping one of the machines, a part falling off.

They spent the next while looking for access to the basement and finally found it. He found the long deadlift and they pried the door open. They would have to climb down to the bottom floor. As the door slid fully open, he heard the distant rustling of something moving down below. It sounded bigger than birds or bats. "That didn't sound reassuring.." he said suddenly regretting he hadn't brought a larger group.

 

[Eva 'Skuld' Stark]

She snorted at his comment, giving an unseen smirk of amusement. "I have forgotten what happened... I am not party person. Ask my man."

She paused after that statement, and shook her head slightly. Nei, he wasn't hers... was he?

Now was not the time to dwell on those thoughts in particular.

All those thoughts fled, however, the moment they touched on where assembly would be.

Almost immediately, thoughts, ideas, calculations were drafted up in her head. Offices for engineering groups, worker rooms, assembly, machine replacement or scrap, how much, how many teams, what it would take...

A startled laugh burst from her, echoing in the dusty, empty space. She was just far enough from Gil to safely fling her arms out, ax in hand, beaming wide.

She couldn't help it; it was like a dream, and she almost said as much when she realized her partner had moved on, and she paced after him, still beaming.

But when she heard the rustling...

She grinned wickedly, and chuckled, ax humming to life.

"Now this is a holiday," she rumbled, digging around in her pack for something. A small light was tugged out, and she handed it to him, tilting her head towards the open maw of the downshaft.

"Let us see what is down there; now the real fun begins."

@Raydo

 

[Gillian Rel]

He chuckled at her comment. "Could have fooled me." he said with a shrug. It seemed like a good quarter to Kuat Drive Board asked after you that night.

They continued through, Gil about jumping out of his skin as she let out a bellowing laugh the echoed through the large open area. Some birds that had nested on some far away equipment took flight as Gil tried to not have a heart attack. "Kriffing Hutts, woman." he said, gun in one hand, his other on his chest.

When they came to the stairs, and the noise down below he was more than happy to let her take point. She did have the ax, after all, it only made sense. "If you yell again, I am going to shoot you." he said only somewhat serious as they began to descend.

As soon as they hit the last step, there was a deep, rumbling growl coming from the darkness further down the hall. "I hate this place." he muttered.

 

[Eva 'Skuld' Stark]

She smirked at his reactions, giving a one-armed shrug as they descended deeper and deeper into what would eventually be a small start... but a large boon to Blackwell when they joined the playing field of ship engineering and design. She didn't need others' designs; she had seen enough in the galaxy, that she knew what it was the galaxy wanted.

There were perks to being kicked out of your family, maybe.

She chuckled when he cursed aloud at her reaction, chuckling. "I am sorry, Gil. Next I yell for anything, shoot it first."

She her grin morphed into a fully savage grin at the growl as she crouched lower, ax humming to life. "Now there's a challenge... I love this place." The light shone deeper into the darkness... and another pair of eyes flared yellow right back. It growled again... and then flared on a wide mouth of very sharp teeth.

…

What was a Nexu doing on Ord Cantrell? But then there were other eyes. Two more. This was going to be interesting. But could her companion handle one?

No time to find out, the first one reared forward, towards the one with the light. She leaped in, ax hefted.

She always loved a good challenge. This might just about cover it.

@Raydo