Making 'Friends'

Posted on Sat Jan 14th, 2023 @ 2:39am by Lieutenant JG Jenna Jade & Ensign Raven Windancer

Mission: Trade And Tribulations
Location: Planet Side

Raven took a deep breath. "Dang, it feels good to be on solid ground again!" Raven picked up her duffel bag, and stepped off the transporter pad. The hustle and bustle reminded her of her old stomping grounds, bring an unexpected tear to her eye. Raven wiped it away with a slight smirk. "Come on, Jenna, let's get inventive!" Raven looked back at her traveling companion with a full smile.

Jenna hoisted her backpack fully onto her shoulders and then stooped with her knees to grab her own duffel bag. Raven's request had been to bring everything needed to potentially put a vehicle together from the requisite parts and Jenna had packed everything she could. A portable lathe? Yes, a new turbocharged engine? No. "Inventive, you say?" She asked, "Ah'm an engineer, not a glorified wrench-jockey, Raven! Ah don't even know what you're here lookin' for, but you asked me to help 'nd Ah couldn't leave ya' hangin', could Ah?"

Raven was about to respond, when three shuttles zoomed over, each sporting a different, design, color, and banner. "WOW HOO! Racers! Come on, Jenna!" Raven grabbed her share of the gear and took off, weaving expertly through the crowds until she found the track, paying for herself and Jenna before making her way to the finish line. "Three more laps and they'll be done," An alien with a broad neck flap smirked as she handed some coins to another, far more saurian species.

Jenna trundled along behind her friend, then eyed the coins as they were passed from one to another, "Don't know if they'll take our credits, Raven, but..." Her eyes caught another shuttle, well behind the others in the race, "That ain't an anti-grav system, we're talkin' aerofoil lift. Sure, they have anti-grav, but they ain't usin' it right now." She reached out with her free hand and turned Raven slightly towards her, "You good with those, hun, or do we wanna find somethin' a bit safer?"

Raven's eyes shown with anticipation. "Yeah...I can take these. Good eyes on that aerofoil lift. Pardon me, friends, may we make a wager?" Raven asked the Saurian, holding out four credits.

"Who's asking?" The Saurian ask, looking the two up and down before their eyes settled on the credits.

"Ice Queen, and this is my pit jockey, Jenna," Raven shifted her gear and held put her hand, keeping the credits in sight but out of reach.

Jenna rolled her eyes slightly, but edged forward herself, "We're newcomers from the Federation, down galactic south o' here." She plucked one of the credits out of Raven's hand and tossed it towards the Saurian, who caught it out of the air, "These are what we use for currency, there's no exchange rate... Yet. But we came on the big ship up there, so if we need somethin' better to trade, we can deal with that, too."

The Saurian eyed the two smaller women hesitantly, then tossed the credit chip back to Raven with a grunt of assent, "All right, what do you want to wager on? This race is just about over."

"What's the race with the biggest draw? I've flown/driven/ridden pretty much everything out there, so I'm not picky," Raven caught the credit and started flipping it casually. The Saurian laughed...sending a slight shiver through Raven from the anticipation. "Ha! We have a Dark Horse at last! The Zata Run is where you should begin, although, you'll need a vehicle. Come! We'll discuss it in my tent," the Saurian turned and walked off, not even waiting for the current race to finish. "I will bring you your winnings," the neck flared alien assured as the threesome walked off. "Reyca! Break out the Romulan Ale, we have business to discuss! Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Octavia Zaruna, captain of the Omart Team," Octavia extended her hand to Raven then Jenna.

"Pleasure." Jenna entoned, "But perhaps somethin' not quite as strong as Romulan Ale? Ah believe that it's a bit strong for the circumstances." She glanced at the various vehicles, then took a closer look at one of them and shuddered. It was obvious that that particular one had a hard time in a race, but was still being prepped for another run. It definitely needed some work done that wasn't happening. "What sort of race is the Zata Run? Ah'm probably not the best with ground vehicles, but Ah can still sing the tune,"

Octavia roared with laughter. "Well met, Jenna! I was actually testing the two of you, and you passed! Reyca, some papaya juice and green tea please. The Zata Run is in three parts: the first is almost an aerial ballet in that you must fly through an obstacle course. The second part is and underwater course, and the third is a straight up race through a desert. It should be quite easy for the great Ice Queen," Octavia narrowed her eyes at Raven in challenge.

"My main question would be...how do you know me? I've never raced beyond the Sol system," Raven countered as she selected a papaya juice, never breaking eye contact.

"Riptide,"

"SSSPPPP! RIPTIDE!? You know him!? Where...ahem. How is he?" Raven clumsily regained her composure as she wiped the juice from her face.

"He was well the last time I saw him. He STILL thinks highly of your racing," Octavia's eye's sparkled mischievously.

"Well I'll be. Anyway, which of your magic carpets will I be flying?" Raven got back to business.

"I'll let you and your mechanic pick. I have many fine vehicles, but only two that I think will win," Octavia gestured to the last two fliers in the tent.

Jenna just dropped the duffel bag with a clunk, then unshipped her backpack and let it fall as well, but in a more controlled fashion, "Raven, talk to the nice lady while I do a once over?"

"So, have you been keeping up with your racing since you and Riptide parted ways?" Octavia asked, selecting a pawpaw looking fruit from the tray.

"Oh, here and there...though I DID get my butt kicked by a crewmate and his nephews in a holodeck mythical beasts race," Raven snickered affectionately at the memory as she grabbed a blue orange.

"Oh? The great Ice Queen beaten by children? That had to have been most embarrassing," Octavia was trying to get under Raven's skin.

"It wasn't a real competition, the three of them were amateurs that just wanted to have fun and I was learning my crewmates outside of the 'office' as it were," Raven wasn't taking the bait.

While the two racers were talking, Jenna made her way over to the two indicated fliers and first scanned one with her tricorder before opening the engine compartment and beginning a thorough visual inspection. She spent a few minutes there before turning her attention to the other one and doing the same thing. All told, it was about fifteen minutes and an additional detailed walkaround of each before she made her way back over to the two.

"Miss Octavia, Ah would very much appreciate it if you'd stop with the tests?" Jenna huffed with a scowl, jabbing a finger at the green racer, "If Raven here takes that one, Ah'm undecided whether she'll lose the wing at the wing root, or if it'll break off at the booster's joint. Either way, wing will fall off, flier won't fly, she would die." Her finger pointed at the purple racer next, "That one is structurally sound, but the primary engine needs some work done to it. Oh, she'll get up and go, but there's a blockage in the injection rig, which Ah think would rob it of about forty percent of her acceleration. Give me an hour or two and Ah can get it cleared up and find anythin' else wrong with what makes her hum."

Octavia's jaw dropped as Raven roared with laughter. "And THAT is why she's my crew chief!" Was all Raven said.

Octavia regained her composer, and joined in the laughter. "By the Great Mountain, you are as crafty as a Chameleoniod! I am done with the tests. I had Reyca put that in there as we walked here. Other than the blockage, that is indeed the best choice for the Zata Run," Octavia was still chuckling as Reyca refilled her glass.

Jenna shot Reyca a dirty look that if looks could kill would have seriously wounded the other woman. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled, "Ah am a Starfleet engineer, if Ah didn't see somethin' so obvious, Ah should just quit and find a new job. But Ah'm gonna still go over her with a fine-toothed comb just to be sure that nothin' else slipped in when Reyca bodged her up."

Reyac cocked her head, blinking her eyes in confusion. "Reyca, the short translation of what Jenna said is that if you try anything like that again with anything either of us are going to be driving, riding, flying, etc., you won't be having a good time thereafter," Raven snickered softly, clapping Jenna on the back. Reyca blinked again, then a small smirked twitched the corner of her mouth, and she bowed her head respectfully to Jenna and Raven.

At that glance, Jenna rolled her eyes and turned back to the craft before taking a few steps back towards where the rest were and leaned down to pick up her kit bag, "Go find out what sorta course you're flyin', Raven, Ah'll have her set to rights in no time." She unzipped the bag and dug around for a moment before pulling out her first tool, "Let's see... Where t' start."