Bloody power converters! (MM, D4)

[Elaranu]

"Engineer... for a rebellion of sorts? How distasteful. More so than the bitterest kaff. As a very insightful man I met the other day said, do they even know where to begin? I suspect most do not."

[Djanik]

"Most do not."

He took another sip.

"But some do, and some must."

With a faint sigh, he added, "At least they would provide an interesting challenge - a unique set of design constraints."

[Elaranu]

"Yes. And steady work, to be certain. I will not disagree there."

She thoughtfully sipped more kaff. Ela did not actually seem angry or offended by the idea. Just disagreeable or stubborn.

[Djanik]

Djanik nodded.

"It would be, at least, until a change was made. And if it was made..."

With a chuckle, he set down the cup and gestured to his ship.

"Then there would be a new galaxy, in need of talented designers to make new ships"

Cracking his neck, he added, "It's just a dream for now, but I feel that the galaxy needs dreams."

[Elaranu]

"I suppose so. Making a dream into reality is hard work, harder than most people think. Which is why so many give up. Or only consider the beginning. Even really dreaming is hard work."

She said this wistfully as she leaned against the counter with the kaffe pot on it.

[Djanik]

"That's true."

He set his mug down, and tapped the roller holding the new chairs, fresh leather. "Yet with some work, they can, sometimes, come to be."

Running one hand along the back of the pilot seat, he added, "They won't always come true, sometimes they'll fail - sometimes they'll cost more than we can pay. Yet sometimes, they will come through, and things can change. Especially when many dreamers are joined in purpose."

With a wry smile, he scooped up his fusion torch, "I suppose I should get back to work - waxing whimsical won't assemble a starship."

[Elaranu]

"What you are not working? Or am I just distracting you?"

Finishing off the cup left a small milk mustache on the now more awake woman.

[Djanik]

He grinned, and handed over a relatively clean shop rag. "You've kept a bit of extra kaff with you." He gestured to his own upper lip, as an indication of where.

Offering a lopsided grin, he added, roguishly, "You aren't distracting me - or that is to say, I don't mind the distraction. I actually rather enjoy it."

Picking up a hydro-spanner, he added, "If you'd like, I wouldn't mind a hand finishing the assembly - give you a chance to know the girl, inside and out. Maybe you can find the positive and negatives to use, or avoid, in your own designs."

[Elaranu]

Ela put down the mug and snatched the rag away with a frown, dabbing at her mouth before throwing the rag on the counter. She listened to the offer, then nodded, "Yes, I am always up for looking at the ins and outs of new ship. One of my favorite things to do, was when I get the chance. So if fly-boy does not mind... I just so happen to have tool belt nearby."

[Djanik]

"It would be my pleasure."

Her annoyance was sort of cute.

Still, he wasn't going to tease her more, so he just grinned and climbed the gantry, returning to his work while she gathered her tools.

[Elaranu]

It was a quick trip out to her rental for said tool belt, which had been locked in the trunk, and she was soon back with it and a bundle. Looking around... "Do you have washroom or such? Maybe broom tiny space you keep things in?"

[Djanik]

"Uh, sure."

He gestured toward the far left of the hangar, past the ship.

"The head's on the far wall, under the office." The garage had a raised office, at the top of a small stairway, a tiny room with a single closed window. He'd been living in it for the last few weeks - might as well only pay rent on one building, not two.

[Elaranu]

Nodding, she went where indicated and shut the door behind her.

[Djanik]

Djanik shrugged.

If it was just a tool belt, he wasn't sure why she needed privacy but...

Some things were just mysterious.

Getting back to work, he whistled as he went, hooking in the power shunts to get the port engine online.

[Elaranu]

Elanaru emerged in a completely different outfit; Gone were the brown and purple bodysuit and bandana, back were a recognizable set of form hugging work overalls and construction goggles, heavy gloves holding a spark-accel.

"Your place is a mess, you know that? Not fit for folding clothes in, so I found some place to hang them, fashioned hanger out of paperclips, pen caps, and some detonite putty. Do not worry; Will not explode without detonator signal."

[Djanik]

Djanik stuck his head out of the panel and observed, "It's your clothing - so you're the one taking the risk."

With a faint shrug, he added, "Sorry, I'm the stereotypical bachelor mechanic, I guess. Never seem to find time to straighten up."

Tapping the side of the hull, he added, "I've been a bit distracted."

[Elaranu]

"Is all right; I know how it can be with boys. I had four older brothers growing up. You remind me of youngest."

[Djanik]

Ouch.

"That bad, huh?"

He finished with the power connections, and then began bolting down the plate.

"I hope you at least like your youngest brother."

[Elaranu]

"Of course, he was good one. Him and oldest. It was middle two that were trouble. Pranks and such. Very well liked at school though by many; Life of the party types."

[Djanik]

"Ah, well that's good. Still, I can't say any man is eager for a beautiful woman to compare him to her brother..."

Djanik, slid down from the gantry again, dusting himself off and keying open the ramp into the lower hull.

"I'm gonna have to work in the engine compartment, so feel free to have a look around."

---

Attaching the unnecessary ship description post:



The Rusalka was a project launched 31 years ago - there was a niche in the market, the KSE executives believed they could fill it. Smaller colonies and independent systems on the edges of civilized (and not so civilized) space needed a cost effective multi-role ship that multiple colonies could jointly purchase, for defense, law enforcement, and transport.

The end result of these conflicting design goals was the Rusalka - a surprisingly nimble design, it mimics the form of the more popular Firespray design they would later produce, but does not feature the same pivoting features - it flies, lands, and fights in the vertical configuration. The ship has surprising endurance, with a respectable amount of storage available in the underslung living quarters - a small combination living space that can fit a very cramped two man crew, with the alternative configuration of making one bunk into a very cramped cell by adding a locking door over the bunk space in some versions of the craft.

The underslung hull also houses the respectable cargo hold, life support systems, and backup generator - it can be sealed so even if the cockpit is damaged, the crew could theoretically survive for weeks in the crew section, awaiting rescue. It would be a miserable few weeks, and the ship isn't heavily armored enough to make such a situation likely.

The main body of the ship features a forward cockpit for the pilot, just ahead of the ladder to the living space, and flanked on either side by the pylons which mount the paired KSE-921 engines that give the craft it's surprisingly nimble handling, along with twin Soro-Suub 133 laser cannons, though these have a tendency to be temperamental, and many pilots set them to a toggling fire to avoid overheating. Later upgrades resolved the issue, but early models suffered as much as a 50% reduction in fire rate from the flawed initial design.

Further behind the cockpit is a passenger seat, placed just past the ladder into living quarters, and next to it is the access to the remaining ship systems, including main power generation, hyperdrive, and shields. The compartment is roomy enough to allow work from inside the ship, but it tends to be uncomfortable for larger humanoids, given the space houses multiple systems.

The ship is entered through the living quarters, near the bottom of the ship. However, it also has an interesting feature by which the pilot chair can be lowered down the front of the ship, and then raised back into the cockpit - providing a quick way to mount up in emergencies.



Djanik's personal model is a 15 year anniversary edition - a commemorative line launched to push a few more orders at the end of the first production run, and thus inheriting all of the flaws, and none of the fixes. On the plus side, it has real leather seats and a fancy '15 years' emblem on the control stick, along with an integrated kaff dispenser near the bunks, which is a real plus.

[Elaranu]

Ducking under the tarp herself, Ela looked around at things, running gloved fingers over the bulkhead briefly as she walked beside it from back to front.

"Just look, hm? No tinkering or helping?"

[Djanik]

"Oh, tinker away."

He laughed, the sound muffled strangely by the metal piping in the engine compartment behind the pilot chair. He was now feeding those power lines in from the pylon to the engine itself, fiddly work which drew the occasional curse.

"I welcome any and all help from an expert - I'm more of a mechanic on the side, I confess."

[Elaranu]

"You did say you were a pilot in the military, correct?"

[Djanik]

"Yes, I was."

He paused, wondering where this was going.

[Elaranu]

"Well, that makes sense why you would have mechanics as a side thing then; If you fly a ship, you may as well learn how to take care of it. I mean, it is not too much different than the path I took, first fixing them then flying them as long as I was tinkering around. To test them, as it were."

She looked into the engines, trusting they weren't about to turn on on her.