revivalproject | Someone Didn't Pay the Electric Bill

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Someone Didn't Pay the Electric Bill

WHO: Cal Kestis, Kaz Brekker, Asterope Glass, Merrin and whoever might want to drop by
WHERE: Not-Temba/Sh'Ka's Power Station and related areas
WHAT: Cal's assembled a team to work on restoring the power and maybe establish communication from the other city
WHEN: End of August to mid-September ~~OMG WHY IS IT SEPTEMBER ALREADY~~
WARNINGS: ~~Kaz~~ N/A

Basecamp was set up within some of the offices of the power station, with a space for a rudimentary campfire outside if people wanted to heat up food or water to drink or use in general, or just enjoy the fresh air at night. Cal had brought along a couple of portable space heaters he'd cobbled together in case things got too cool inside at night, free for anyone's use.

The first day had mainly consisted of setting up a space for them to stay in and unloading whatever they'd managed to bring by way of equipment and rations, and a bit of territory scouting to see what was available for them. While the water plant, wherever that was, would have to be another project entirely, at least water itself was available, if requiring a bit of a walk from the station. Kyle's buddy system would be recommended, mainly out of concern for the large creatures that have been known to dwell within the wooded areas not far from there.

The power plant itself would be the next thing to look at to see what might need repairs, and if parts would be needed from the other city. Cal had Reeve's notes to share as well as previous experience in working on power restoration for Temba, and the similarities between the cities would make things at least a little easier. The most tedious part would be inspecting the connecting lines to make sure there wouldn't be any damaged areas that might cause problems if they went ahead and turned everything on. This would take the longest time, so the inspections would be divided up in sections, and they'd check back in after each one. The option to swap out between engineers would also be there so no one would be stuck with any one task, and Merrin would be able to bring them back and forth as she got more familiar with the layout of things.

It would be a lot of work and effort, but if there were things worth learning here, getting this done would be a key part to it.

((OOC: Feel free to treat this as a mingle and task sort of thing! Working on stuff? Taking a break? Getting chased by bunnyboars? Dropping off care packages for your hard-working engineers and friends? Do it do it do it! I will post an update on progress once I get some infos~))

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"No, I think you might be onto something," Cal says as he pauses to study the connections in regards to the suggestion made. He's always willing to listen to a second opinion, and Asterope tends to bring some good insight.

"Hand me that spanner? Let me switch this around and we'll see how it works out."

She passes the spanner over, and generally plays nurse for the operation, getting Cal any other tools he needs, holding the other cables up while he works. Being listened to is a new sensation for her, one she's enjoying very much.

"It should relieve the amount of resistance at the 348 port by 20% or so, and reduce redundancy in that circuit as well."

It's a job that goes smoother with someone providing him the tools. His little droid hangs over his shoulder, playing the job of flashlight in the meantime.

"How'd you figure that?" Cal asks as he works. He can't help but find it amazing how Asterope's able to calculate such things. "Think that should do it. I guess the real test will be once we have power flowing through it." He looks further along the line in consideration as he nods to himself.

"Well, resistance in a parallel circuit is possible to calculate. One over total resistance equals one over the first resistance plus one over the second, plus one over the third...so you just solve for that, and figure the effect of moving one of those resistances."

It's simple enough to her.

At least he's listening very hard to the explanation. He might even understand it to some degree. Brows lifting, Cal starts to straighten up as he looks back at the connectors. BD-1 switches his directional light off, swinging back behind the padawan, little feet clinging to the rigger's harness he wears.

"You're pretty good at this sort of thing. What'd you do before you got here?"

"Uhm, astrology."

Which might sound odd, with her understanding of science, but there is a good degree of mathematical calculation and charting involved, even for a pseudoscience.

"Was going to be part of a colonization mission, though, charting the stars and the moons from the surface of a new planet, learning foreign skies for the purpose of navigation. This wasn't the intended planet, but that's still an eventual goal--to befriend the heavens and learn their secrets."

Come to think of it, she had mentioned something of that, hadn't she? Cal glances back at her, nodding as he recalls their first conversation. It's kind of impressive how she's adapted her skills from astrology into things like this.

"That's right, you'd talked about that. Did you get a good chance to study the night sky back in Temba?" he asks.

"Enough to tell that this city isn't of a particularly different latitude from the other. The skies are roughly the same, no differences in the stars." She gestures up-down, as if her hands are on the surface of a globe, trying to make her thoughts clear. "If this were significantly north or south of Temba, there'd be different stars to see. Not constellations, there aren't official constellations, yet."

That makes enough sense. "Well, maybe that's a good thing that we're not so drastically far away from Temba. But we still must be a significant distance given how long it takes to get here even at the train's speed."

Cal's not even sure how fast the train goes, but it seems a lot faster than the cargo one he'd had to run across in his escape from Bracca.

"Can't really tell what direction, though. More research needed. It's not important at this moment. Power station first, then attempts to map. It's a shame the surrounding area is hostile, no one can just walk the train route and try to keep a sense of direction."

She shrugs, looking at Cal's progress with the junction. "This looks like it'll work."

"Yeah. And going by foot will take who knows how long? But you're right. We've got more immediate things to work on. So long as we're not cut off from the main city, it's not something to worry about."

Cal grins then as he tosses his tools back into the bag they'd brought along. "Yeah, I think so too. Let's move on, then."

"It's sort of relaxing, working on this. Satisfying, like...untangling something horribly knotted. Or sorting things into neat tidy boxes."

She leads the way to the next problem area she'd noticed that needs hands-on intervention, letting Cal get a look at the issue first. "And it's nice to feel...useful."

Cal laughs lightly, giving her a nod as h picks up the bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "I know what you mean. Something to actively work on instead of looking for something to do is nice. I know there's lots to be done in Temba but having a focus like this is good."

Once they've reached the next spot, he sets the tool bag down, stepping closer to study the connections of the area in question. Feeling useful? He understands that. "This probably needs to be cut out and rewired. Looks like it got exposed too much to the weather, that'll definitely cause problems."

"It's not even just finding things to do on Temba. It's knowing...um. That there's a purpose to being here, perhaps. That existing in this world holds value to someone."

Well, that got pretty deep, pretty quickly. Right, no, let's back out of that conversation right away.

"So after the rewiring's done, weather protection is the next step. If you start that, could run back and get the supplies for that, help with getting it sealed up."

The padawan's eyes flick back towards her then. That's something he can understand too, although he senses there's something more to what the woman says than that they aren't merely here by happenstance.

"I can do that," Cal says, a brow lifting slightly as Asterope is quick to focus back on the task they've got in front of them. He does the same, looking back at the line. "All right, I'll start working on things here then." It'd certainly be quicker if they divided up the tasks.

If she takes her time a little, to gather everything (including tucking away her feelings, shoving them deep, deep down) and come back, at least she brings ration bars as an excuse. "When you're at a stopping point, take a moment to eat. It's already been a few hours now."

Edited 2021-09-03 17:16 (UTC)

It's easy for Cal to get lost in his work. He's made some decent progress in removing frayed wiring and exposed cables, and by the time Asterope comes back, he's working on soldering the replacements. BD-1 glances over at her from his perch on the padawan's back, giving a beep.

"Has it?" Cal powers off his arc welder once he's satisfied with the progress, turning with a pleasantly surprised smile as Asterope had thought to bring something to eat. "Probably a good idea. Thanks," he says as he takes one of the bars.

Asterope sets the weather protection supplies aside to indulge in her own ration bar. She seems, on the whole, to be one of those people who could subsist completely on these and unflavored protein without complaining. Or at least, she doesn't seem to care what flavor's on the menu any given night. Food is food, right?

"Your, uh, mechanical friend doesn't need any snacks or anything, right? Wasn't sure if there was anything else that'd be nice to bring."

It's not becoming for a Jedi or even one in training to complain, and Cal's had worse, so to him he figures there's nothing really to complain about. He bites into his ration bar once he's settled down to sit, only then realizing that maybe he is a little hungry after all. That's usually how it goes though, you don't realize as much until there's something to eat right in front of you.

"BeeDee? No, he's good. And he's on a fresh recharge so he shouldn't need to plug in for a good while." He grins at the droid who's hopped down, translating for BD-1 when the droid tweedles something in response to Asterope. "He thanks you for thinking of him though."

"You're very welcome." She nods, addressing BeeDee directly, sitting beside Cal. "Inorganic intelligences of the level of sophistication that'd be needed to thank people sincerely are outlawed, back home. There was a fear of them being weaponized. But it's hard to imagine people getting scared of him."

"Outlawed, really? That would include a lot of droids back home. They have varying degrees of personality in general. BeeDee-One's definitely no exception." Cal smiles fondly at his little friend. BD-1 glances down at himself as Asterope considers him.

"Well, it's true that there's the potential for them to be weaponized," Cal notes. "In the war I had to take part in, we were fighting armies of battle droids. And although BeeDee's an exploration droid, I wouldn't discount him. He's not built to fight, but he's not afraid to jump on something several times his size if he thinks he can help out."

"You were part of a war? Were you a soldier?" There's a complex mix of emotions on Asterope's face. Fear, discomfort, sympathy...envy? But whatever she's feeling isn't enough to chase her away from where she's sitting next to him.

"...yeah," Cal admits with a nod, but he hardly looks proud of it. He'd been barely into his teens at the time.

"Five years ago. Not exactly a soldier. I was part of an order called the Jedi. The knights and masters ended up becoming generals and commanders for the Republic we fought for. And since most of the Jedi were out across the galaxy to do this, a lot of the padawans, myself included, ended up having to do our training in between if not on the battlefield itself."

"Back home, the threat of war loomed over the whole planet. Some scientists even turned to...trying to design enhanced humans who'd make good soldiers. Stronger, faster, better senses, better minds. Countries would buy these perfectly designed soldiers for their armies. Though sometimes the labs would be discovered, destroyed."

She tells it like history, like it's not her own story, like she's not revealing something deeply personal to him. She removes herself from her own past--but then, hasn't she been talking around herself this whole time, in a sense?

Cal grimaces at that, looking quietly over at the woman for a moment. There's something she's not saying here, or at least there seems to be some sense of that. If he were to put it into words it wouldn't be nearly so easy. But a created army is unfortunately something he can relate to.

"The Kaminoans created an army too, one no one knew about until conveniently, the Republic found that it had one at its disposal." He frowns. "Maybe they should have wondered more about it. But the Separatists pushed for a war, and with millions of clone troopers ready for battle, the Republic had its army, and the Jedi to lead them."

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