"If that thing crashes, I will kill it." Cadena deadpans.

Sienna shrugs, "I'm sure it won't be all bad... And this is our first mission too, so we're in the same boat as he is."

"I don't want to be in the same boat. No boat piloted by that droid is safe." Cadena returns.

"Ooo, speaking of the boat, it needs a name..."

Cadena closes her eyes and releases a long-suffering sigh, clearly well acquainted with her sister's attempts to name things and rather disapproving of the results.

Sienna smiles and says, "How about... Clanker."

Cadena nods, thinking, Yep, it's as I expected... "Unless there are any objections other than my own..?"

"I was thinking of names along similar lines myself," Aleena admitted.

Barda just grinned and said, "Whatever. But we should make a stop or two on-planet before taking off for Kiev. I've got a few trade items which could provide us with a cover story when we get to Kiev, plus we might want to invest in a disguise kit if we want to move around inconspicuously."

Clanker? Crash's voice is barely audible as the engines fire up with a couple pop's and a small cloud of smoke. Oh, sure.. name the ship with a Clone Wars slur..

poor Crash..

"How about Clunker then?" Aleena suggested.

I don't know much about droids, but it strikes me as being better not to insult the pilot directly each time we refer to the ship ...

Barda quietly gave Crash the directions on how to get to Smoking Thunder, the town where she had been born and spent her early childhood.

As the Clanker/Clunker flew away from the traditional Nightsister territory, the landscape beneath it changed from tropical swamps and jungle-covered hills to the somewhat drier, and more temperate terrain of the Great Canyon clan lands.

Soon they could see partially-forested plains. Broad rivers cut through them as they flowed down from the watershed that formed Great Canyon’s border with the neighbouring Singing Mountain clan. None of the rivers had cut as deeply into surface of the land as the two-kilometre cliffs towering over the Great Canyon River itself.

At the heart of Great Canyon lay the town of Smoking Thunder, on the edge of a precipitous drop caused by some ancient upheaval of Dathomir’s crust. It was as if the primaeval goddesses had first made a furrow in the land, then lifted half of it hundreds of metres above the other half. The river flowed over the edge and tumbled down the precipice in an enormous cloud of spray.

Smoking Thunder itself was divided between the upper and lower towns, with both switchback footpaths and faster, more technological means of travelling between the two. There was a small landing field on the edge of the lower town.

“Most of our industry is actually deep inside the canyon walls,” Barda explained to the others. “And ‘housing’ is carved out of the surface of those walls. The actual buildings that you see are mostly the upper and lower commercial ports for the river traffic. The upper port receives the raw materials from mines in the mountains, and the lower port’s merchants send the finished goods down river to the sea and the coastal trade routes.

“The town’s name, Smoking Thunder, has nothing to do with our industries - we filter, clean, and dispose safely as much as possible. According to historical records, when Allya first saw the waterfall, she named it ‘The Smoke that Thunders’. My clan never produced many great witches, but Allya did teach us how to ‘industrialise’ on a small scale without wrecking the environment. Which is why we’ve ended with a near-monopoly on Dathomir’s more technological manufacturing,” she ended, almost embarrasedly.

The Clanker/Clunker landed safely, to the majority’s relief.

“I need to visit my mother, Magna Te, and arrange for the transportation of some trade items to the landing field. The rest of you can make a final supply run at Expedition Food and Supplies,” Barda suggested, pointing at one of the nearby buildings. It was a small shop.

She paused a moment, then added diffidently, “I have a cousin who’s an actress, Magna Opera. If anyone wants to buy a disguise kit, then I can contact her.”

"I'll do that..." Sienna says, "As you mentioned, we might attract unwanted attention."

Cadena glances at the shop and says, "We already have enough food, and there is nothing else I need. I'll stay with the ship until you three are ready to depart."

"And then you'll go shopping?" Sienna asks "innocently." Cadena looks at her, unmoved, and blinks once. "No. Then we'll leave."

Crash looks to Cadena, Yeah, I don't think I need anything either.... So.. uh, first time going off-world?

"Yes. First time flying a ship?" Is this droid actually going to try and pull some 'well-travelled being of the galaxy' routine?

Crash made a jerking motion with it's arms and head, in what it must think of as a approximation of a shrug. I am sure I traveled some in the war, but since my reactivation, I have done several supply runs for your people.

Cadena grunts noncommittally and turns back to look out at the shuttle's surroundings, rather hoping the droid shuts up before she feels compelled to turn it into a sword.

Poor Crash...

Crash tilts it's head as the witch ignores him, then turns and heads to the shuttle's hatch. I wonder if the others are nicer? This one certainly is not like Vanya... I wonder how she is....

Yep, I'm tying the universe together

Barda returned just over an hour later, directing a repulsor pallet loaded with some well-wrapped pieces of equipment and a tool kit perched carefully on top. Closer inspection revealed a couple of crates beneath the tools.

"I'm bringing along my welding gear, in case of emergencies," she said with a wary look at the Clanker/Clunker. "I'm also putting up my spare tool kit and four high-quality tools for sale, for a total value of roughly 2,110 credits. My mum added two crates of non-perishable trade goods, so that we can look a bit more legit. She did say that we shouldn't take less than 1,000 credits in total for their contents. Errr, are any of you good traders? 'Cause I'm not." she ended diffidently.

"I have a small knack for it," Aleena admitted. "But you'll have to give me an inventory list and explain precisely what the specific tools are, so that I know what I'm negotiating about."

A relieved look crossed Barda's face.

"Great! We have a few days en route to Kiev, so I'll tell you all about it then," she said.

Barda loaded the pallet onto the Clanker/Clunker and powered the repulsors down. She rummaged in the new cargo, then produced a case which she passed on to Sienna.

"Here's your disguise kit. Opera told me that you could just transfer 100 credits to this account," and she showed Sienna the relevant information on her datapad. Barda then looked around at the others and asked, "Are we otherwise good to go now?"

"I have some experience negotiating and can probably help some." Sienna replies. At the mention of a credit transfer, she looks a bit sheepish, "We don't really do... account transfers. I've got cash credits, I'll reimburse you if you pay her yourself, or I guess I could go pay her in person. Other than that, yeah, I think we are good to go."

Cadena moves to help Barda maneuver the pallet into the ship and lock it down so the cargo doesn't crush anyone en route.

Barda scratched her head a moment.

"Alright, I'll take the cash credits now, talk with the Expedition shop to arrange the exchange from cash to account transferrable currency, then do the transfer myself."

She took the offered cash credits, disappeared for about ten minutes inside the shop, and returned.

"That's been settled, and Opera says that you're welcome to drop by her next production whenever you're back in town."

"Great," Aleena was starting to feel impatient, "Let's get going!"

Cadena quickly wheels and walks into the passenger compartment, sitting down and settling down for a lengthy journey, crossing her arms, closing her eyes, and tilting her head back.

Sienna bounces up the ramp and hastily checks her satchel to make sure she has everything, then places the disguise kit in a compartment and sits a couple seats over from her sister, making sure to leave her plenty of personal space.

Aleena practically ran up the ramp and slung her backpack into a storage compartment. She pulled out her datapad in preparation for the trip - and with the intent of quizzing Barda about the goods to be sold - and found a seat close to Sienna.

"Maybe we should work together when the time comes to negotiate on Barda's behalf," Aleena suggested to Sienna.

Barda took one last look around at the landing field and what she could see of Smoking Thunder, then walked up the ramp. Once more I'm venturing out into the black, she thought to herself as she sat down across from Aleena. Barda began to prepare the trade inventory list on her datapad, with a view to transferring it to Aleena when it was ready.

"Sure!" Sienna says. "Let's see what we've got here..."

All right, here we go! Crash called from the tiny cockpit, the droid raised the small shuttle from the surface and accelerated towards space. As the old shuttle accelerated the hull vibrated and rattled as the air currents caused turbulence as they passed through the transition of warm air to the much cooler upper atmosphere. As the they passed into orbit the waning air gave the ship a final bump and the were in the vacuum of space. There... Crash said, it's nasally voice sounded relieved, That was not so bad.

The navigation computer dinged when it's calculations were complete, Crash reached over and pulled back the hyperdrive controls.... and nothing happened. uhhhh...oh, wait. Crash hit a side counsel with it's fist and the hyperdrive control lit up and began to whine before the shuttle lurched forward with a wuWomph! The star field stretched into lines and the ship entered hyperspace.

The four women spent much of the first few hours sitting very still, barely breathing as the ship continued on it's journey, as it became apparent they wouldn't fly apart, they began to relax. They even found the time to follow Mother Celia's instructions in regards to the talismans.

Towards the end of the second day the vibration was back. Small, almost unnoticeable, but by the time someone mentioned it, thin tendrils of acrid smoke began to appear. They watched the countdown anxiously as they approached their destination. Just as the time hit zero, Crash deactivated the hyperdrive and the drive gave a wrenching unCH sound. The shuttle abruptly stopped as it reached real space, a large cloud of dark smoke trailed the shuttle.

Well... good news is we made it! Crash declared, as Kiev slowly rotated, just off center of the forward view-screen. Crash looked over the hyperdrive counsel, cautiously tapping it with a metal finger. Not sure about the hyperdrive though....

Cadena springs up and moves towards the cockpit, "Droid, what did you do?"

Sienna fumbles with the talisman she was holding, shaken off balance by the rocky ejection from hyperspace. Regaining control, she slips the necklace back over her head and stands up, "Oh dear. That didn't sound--or feel--very good. Is the hyperdrive broken? Can we repair it ourselves, or will we need an entirely new one? I may be able to help with any repairs, but I admit I don't know much about hyperdrives... or mechanics."

Barda did her utmost to hang onto her patience.

"Crash, we need a more complete sitrep than that. Aside from the hyperdrive's status ... Can we land and take off safely? And what about local space traffic control ... are they hailing us. For that matter, what do scans of local space show us ... is there still a strong Imperial presence?"

Aleena felt momentarily terrified by the thought of being unable to return home. But then the thought of finding the orb - and hopefully deciphering its mysteries - buoyed her spirits again.

"We need to remain calm, otherwise we won't make the best decisions - and that includes what we say to each other," she admonished everyone. "What do the various consoles indicate, and what does that mean with regard to the bigger picture, Crash?"

Me? Crash's voice almost became shrill, Look, I may just be a droid, but I am not suicidal.. Just because I can survive in vacuum, does not mean I want to.. I mean, who would I talk to?

Crash looked over the diagnostic readouts. The diagnostic is having trouble even finding the hyperdrive.. I think it might not be there.. Oh, we do still have thrusters, so we can land at least.

The communications counsel lit up as a voice crackled over the speaker. Sheathipede shuttle, you have entered our sensor range, please declare yourself.

"Uhh," Aleena looked at the others, "So, what did we finally decide upon for the ship's name, Clunker or Clanker? My vote's for Clunker."

"Right now it's more of a junker." Cadena says snarkily, out of patience. "Let's land and see about repairs and replacement parts."

Sienna slips past Aleena into the cockpit and slides into the copilot's seat, "This is... uh... civilian shuttle Clunker. Who are you?"

Cadena crowds into the cockpit next to Sienna and peers through the transparisteel at the approaching ship, "That's the Empire, Sienna. That's one of their patrol ships. There's another closer to the planet."

"Well on the bright side, they aren't pirates..." Sienna says. Turning back on the comm, she says, "We're experiencing some mechanical difficulties with the hyperdrive and need to land for repairs."