User:Semperfly

"I have to bypass five cooling ducts, two sensor blocks, and a re-circulator plus I have to do it while the system is rebooting, in mid-flight, AND keep us from getting blown up. Are you saying you can't do it? Of course I can frakking do it! I just want you to know how hard it is."

- Wilma and Captain Kinney of the Prairie Spirit

Wilma Tikrit was a Togruta female who often worked as a mechanic, weapons specialist, and engineer aboard various vessels and on various planets in the Expansion Region, Mid Rim, and Outer Rim.

Biography
Like most Togruta, Wilma was born on the planet Shili in one of forest valleys of the southern hemisphere. Though her parents were very artistic – her father Balakay a musician and her mother Lamaiya an architect - Wilma showed little interest in such things, preferring instead to spend her time tinkering with various gadgets and devices she came across. Even at a young age she was fascinated by schematics, technical drawings, the blueprints her mother worked on. Things that she couldn't begin to understand but the complexity of which drew her interest more than anything else, including the desire to socialize with other children. Her childhood was mild and peaceful but marred with the occasional physical altercation. Bullies at school teased her for wanting to spend time alone reading. Having made few acquaintances and even fewer actual friends Wilma often found herself with no backup in fending off the bullies. She quickly learned that being outmatched and outnumbered in a fight would be the norm for her.

As an adolescent Wilma grew restless. She felt her home world didn't offer the proper mental stimulation she sought. Her mother's insistence that Shili had a vast potential for technological greatness failed to persuade her, while her father's own wide-eyed perspective on the galaxy only fueled her desire to see the stars. Balakay would tell her stories of the many planets he had seen while touring the hyperspace lanes, looking for the next gig to perform with his crew. Lamaiya wouldn't dissuade her daughter from these ideas, and in fact pointed out that seeing the majestic designs that other cultures had to offer had helped expand her own architectural repertoire. Still, Lamaiya didn't want her little girl to forget where she came from and insisted on taking the family on regular hunting trips along the river banks to help connect Wilma with her home world.

Upon reaching adulthood Wilma had made her decision to see the galaxy. A chance encounter in 8 BBY with the owner of a salvage vessel finally gave her the chance. Captain Andre Kinney of the Prairie Spirit was in dire need of repairs; the ship's engines had been badly damaged in an ion storm and had to port on Shili on the way back from the Tingel Arm. Kinney landed at the repair depot where Wilma had been completing her apprenticeship where she soon displayed uncanny skill not only in diagnosing and repairing the ship's engines but improving their efficiency as well. Kinney was impressed with her talents and offered her a position on his ship. They would be returning to the Outer Rim after some stops in the Core Worlds. Wilma jumped at the chance and bade her family farewell.

Over the next two years Wilma worked on the Prairie Spirit as a junior mechanic under the tutelage of the ship's chief engineer, a Mon Cal named Nodir Beev. Nodir taught Wilma not only the nuances of the ship but also tried to instill in her a sense of caution in their travels. Wilma was mildly aware that the Empire was not kind to non-humans but its presence on Shili had always been minimal [citation needed]. Her only experience with non-Trogruta were often other starship crews that would port in Shili and while they often human-heavy most were mixed species and congenial in her presence. She just assumed that humans who didn't like non-humans wouldn't come to a non-human world.

At first only Nodir and Kinney tolerated Wilma's gruff and often sarcastic attitude while the rest of the crew gave her far less latitude. While they attempted to be friendly with her, patience could only lasts so long and numerous arguments would break out among the crew. Over time, however, the arguments with Wilma had more of a familial feel. The crew never truly understood her attitude but they recognized her skill and grew to appreciate her unabashed honesty. They learned to accept her ways and often coaxed her out of her room to socialize, much to her consternation. It was during these years that Wilma acquired the shell of an early model R2 series astromech droid and began tinkering with it. Over time this droid would become her closest ally.

While on the Prarie Spirit Wilma learned that the galaxy could be a harsh and deceptive place. Simple salvage missions often turned dangerous when pirates decided they wanted a cut. They learned to be quick and sneaky in their missions and Wilma learned the importance of strong defenses both on the exterior and the interior of a ship. It was during this time some of the crewmembers also taught her how to properly fire a blaster. While the automated security systems were in place whenever the ship was boarded, Captain Kinney felt it was the responsibility of every member of the crew to defend each other. These were times when Wilma felt she truly belonged, when she realized that these people she had squabbled with and dismissed as idiots would give their lives for her.

One unfortunate instance near Leritor would change Wilma's outlook forever. The ship had been boarded by bandits while in the middle of a salvage operation. The interior security system malfunctioned and a firefight broke out within the hallways of the ship. In the confusion of the battle Wilma and the others lost sight of one of the bandits, not realizing he was heading for the engine room. Only Nodir had remained in order to protect the ship's core. By the time the crew fought their way down there and neutralized the final bandit the damage had been done. The core was in tatters and Nodir's life slipped away shortly thereafter. Wilma's shock at the loss of her closest friend would provoke her decision to leave Captain Kinney, the crew, and the Prairie Spirit for good.

Returning to one of their main ports of call at Tynna, Wilma packed her gear, her astromech, and said goodbye to the crew that she had begun to think of as family. Not having cultivated many friendships throughout her life Wilma was unaccustomed to dealing with such loss and felt being alone would be preferable to the constant reminder of her friend. Kinney and the crew were sympathetic to her situation and tried to change her mind. Despite the split the crew would often seek her out when they were in port, hoping to talk her back onto the ship. And from time to time in her subsequent travels she would often call on Kinney and the Prairie Spirit to help her out of a tight spot.

While on Tynna Wilma connected with one of the parts distributors that often supplied the Prairie Spirit with much needed equipment. The young Tynnan, Chimzead, made Wilma an offer. He wanted to open his own business refurbishing some of the more complete ships that had been sold to the salvage yards. With his business acumen and Wilma's skill with a hydrospanner they would be able to supply the sector with the finest ships at the lowest prices. This agreement was successful for a time but Wilma's attitude started to cause numerous problems. She would become attached to the ships she was rebuilding and refuse to have them sold to pilots she felt were unworthy to fly them. Eventually Wilma and Chimzead went their separate ways, their business having failed due to Wilma's reputation.

Having left Tynna with her equipment, astromech, and debts, Wilma realized she would need to find work again soon. She began searching for jobs that would keep her on the move, finding short term contracts across the Mid Rim and Expansion Region. Some of the work was simple and tedious, other job were complicated projects that expanded her knowledge. Over time she developed a network of contacts from Ryloth to Bothawui to Iridonna and many systems in between, doing her best to keep her extroverted personality in check. She found time to visit Shili a few times a year, regaling her family with tales of successful adventures but keeping her failures private. Her parents were proud but worried about their daughter, especially when she would talk of supply runs to the Core Worlds or visits to the Outer Rim.

In 4 BBY Wilma decided to try her hand at an entrepreneurial venture on her own, relying on the various contacts she had made on the Corellian Run. She obtained a second bank loan to finance her project and set up shop on Rodia. The Togruta's natural affinity for hunting ingratiated her into Rodian culture and she soon found herself more successful than ever before. However, instead of repaying her loans Wilma took to spending her profits on new projects, many of which would fail spectacularly. Wilma's repair shop began to specialize in weapons and armor as a response to the natural tendancy of the Rodian market. She gained a great deal of familiarity with repairing and improving numerous weapons that were ostensibly for hunting and self defense. Wilma's reputation spread and she noticed her clientele were starting to shift to the more profitable, but more dangerous, bounty hunters.

Wilma had learned her lesson in turning away customers and soon became known as an arms modifier that wouldn't ask too many questions. Still, her lack of business sense and competition from other technicians in the region eventually drove her out of business, leaving her with few assets and crushing debt only a year into her venture. Her reputation among local bounty hunters was impressive but ultimately without the equipment she needed to work her magic that reputation couldn't pay the bills. Wilma once again took off into the galaxy to find opportunities to ply her trade and expand her skill set. Due to her popularity among bounty hunters, however, many of the jobs she was offered were of dubious legal status. But she needed the credits and managed to cut deals with quite a few unsavory characters, modifying ships for smugglers and weapons for bounty hunters.

As the jobs became more and more dangerous, Wilma often found herself on the wrong side of the law. She managed to escape prosecution many times - often with the help of Captain Kinney or bribes from some of her contacts from Rodia - and learned how to cover her tracks when making modifications for high risk individuals. After a close encounter with a pair of ISB agents Wilma realized that continuing along this path would soon find her dead or in an Imperial prison. She tried to leave behind the life of an outlaw and return to legitimate work, finding jobs on various transport ships. Her experience at making quick, on the fly repairs and modifications impressed many ship captains but her sour nature and insistence in autonomy resulted in those jobs being one time contracts at best. Few captains appreciate being treated as if their ship's engine room is the sovereign territory of the mechanic.

In 2 BBY Wilma became romantically involved with Miral Paris, a Corellian women she met at an engineering conference on Alderaan. Miral, a particle physicist working for Incom on hyperdrive efficiency, took a liking to Wilma's gruff exterior as it complimented her own and the two hit it off immediately. Their relationship soured when Miral's parents forbade their daughter from dating an alien, fearing Imperial attention. Wilma's harsh criticism of Miral's refusal to stand up to her parents ultimately ended their romantic involvement. Despite this, Wilma accepted an offer to consult with Incom on some of Miral's projects and the two maintained an amicable friendship. Afer seven months at Incom Wilma felt the itch to travel again and parted ways with both her former lover and latest employer.

Using the high wages she had earned at Incom Wilma once again risked everything in a business opportunity, to the point of taking yet another bank loan while still repaying her previous ones. Unfortunately the opportunity she was presented turned out to be a fly-by-night operation that took advantage of Inner Rim anti-alien sentiment. Her investments into a company that was contracted to expand an engine manufacturing plant near Duro was squandered by a shady, corrupt executive and her attempts to recover her losses in court only resulted in further assets lost to the legal team. Once again without income and facing crushing debt, Wilma packed her gear and her astromech. The only job that would take her was to be a junior engineer on board a medical frigate, a job she felt was beneath her but ultimately necessary to keep her head above water.

Chesty
"That little droid is probably going to outlive all of us because it'll probably be something he causes."

- Nodir expressing his frustration at Chesty's quirks.

The longest project Wilma has had is her R2 series astromech droid she named Chesty. She originally found the shell of the droid while working aboard the Prairie Spirit and over the years began rebuilding it with parts she would acquire on salvage runs or through other dealings. Due to unreliable part sourcing and Wilma's own style of modifications, Chesty had numerous quirks. Wilma soon realized that the processor would often crash at inopportune moments and thus had a hidden core installed that could load a full backup of his personality profile and memory banks on command. Wilma grew attached to the little droid's quirks and maintained frequent backups in case the shell was ever destroyed.

Chesty's problems included occasional fluid leaks, an overconfident nature, a tendency to list slightly to the right when using his wheels, a sprung hatch or two, and a few bent appendages. Many of his body panels were sourced from other salvaged astromech droids and thus he's a collection of mostly green panels with a few in other colors. His left leg is a slightly darker shade of grey than the other and some of panels were sourced from R3 and R4 shells making the fit slightly off. Some of the attachments fail from time to time, the fire extinguisher and buzz saw being the most unreliable. Wilma has had to clean fire suppressant material from out of Chesty's shell numerous times when the extinguisher activates prematurely.

Despite these issues Wilma has developed the droid to help her in many ways. Chesty's ability to talk to computers and slice the HoloNet are second to none, at least according to Chesty. Wilma has also used the droid to her advantage in dangerous situations, hiding a spare blaster and some essential survival equipment in Chesty's compartments. He also maintains an encrypted channel with Wilma's own comlink and datapad though from time to time the encryption algorithm glitches and makes the message irretrievable.

Personality and traits
"Did he just call me a nerf-herder? You can't use that word, that's our word!"

- Wilma reacts to a racial slur.

Wilma's solitary nature developed as a child. Despite most Togruta being social, Wilma greater interest in machines prevented her from developing serious friendships. By the time she joined Kinney's crew Wilma was well on her way to becoming a recluse who only dealt with others when it involved her job. The crew of the Prairie Spirit brought her out of her shell to a degree and she was becoming friendlier until Nodir's untimely death. This event felt like morbid vindication of her previous temperament. She began to hold onto the belief that getting close to others would only result in further anguish. This drove her frequent outbursts and aggressive nature toward others. She didn't want friends, didn't need friends, and felt they would only hinder her in life.

Too young to have understood the nature of the Empire when it took over the galaxy, Wilma never really paid much attention to galactic politics. Imperial presence on Shili was minimal, the planet deemed too unimportant to bother having more than a token garrison of Stormtroopers [citation needed].

Wilma is never too proud to admit when she's wrong but far too stubborn to realize when she is. Nodir once remarked that her mind was like a steel trap; sharp and dangerously fast but once she was set on an idea it became nigh impossible to release it. This coupled with her lack of social interaction only improved her ability to work with machines. Her analytical mind could work through a variety of problems and quickly rule out unlikely causes, leading to repairs that would be completed before other technicians could even pin down a problem.

This ability was hampered by her overconfident nature and the feeling that she knew better than the manufacturer. She has a habit of wanting to modify and improve every device she finds, believing that if she had designed it from the beginning it would have never failed or that it was always supposed to work a certain way but the engineers didn't have the skills to see that. Wilma's modifications of her own tools and weapons have saved her in the past yet other times caused greater problems than they solved.