It took several stops at several shops before they came across a garage that wasn't busy for the next ten days or more. It seemed that the Slugorth had been busy in the swamps lately. The place was Hernacito's Repair, Salvage, and Tow. The sign, one of those fancy electronic billboards over the building, plainly stated mechanics on duty with immediate availability, first come is first served.

When Jennifer and Hawkins came out of the battered Mountaineer they were met by a tall man in his fifties. He wore a greasy pair of coveralls with Hernacito over the left pocket. He looked at the Mountaineer and whistled shrilly.

"I hope there were survivors." He said as he walked past them and surveyed the damage. "It's been a while since I've seen something this beaten keep rolling."

Without asking he went inside as they pair was left to look at each of curiously.

"Excuse me." A female's voice drew their attention.

She was short, young, and had a definite family resemblance to Hernacito. He name tag read Juanita. She looked at Hawkins and he realized she was figuring it out; he was a cyborg. She then scrutinized Jennifer and genuinely seemed confused.

"Alright, then, dad has his own ways but he is damn fine operator." She said. "I handle the electronics and I do some cybernetics on the side. How can we help you folks?"

Jen had hit the shower in her room, spending some time enjoying the feeling of the clean water sliding over her skin.  Taking some time to tidy up and get refreshed, storing the battered armour in a sack and putting on clean clothing, a mustard yellow button up shirt of heavy cotton and a tan leather short jacket, flowing red yellow and purple patched ankle length skirt, accompanied by tough expensive quality walking boots.  Sunglasses and a wide brimmed tan hat to shade the eyes and protect her head, with an air filter lower face mask wrapped in a red and white bandana at the neck.  The gauntlet with the hooked blades was on her right arm though the blades were retracted, a little show of self defense, though walking along side a combat borg would likely be enough to keep trouble at bay.

Meeting the engineer Hernacito Jen gave a bright friendly smile.

Luckily no one was badly injured, apart from the poor Mountaineer.  Systems are mostly in good shape but the armour is shot and the hull punctured. Blinking a little as the guy left she gave a shrug and a questioning glance to Hawkins, then turning to the new voice gave a smile to young woman.

Holding out a hand, Hi, I'm Jen. Giving a little nod, I know, being able to talk with the machines is very different from dealing with people, I find it hard myself sometimes.  What we need is the hull resealed, new plating on the damage sight and the system incidentals repaired, stuff I couldn't do on the road.  Bigger possible project would be to have the powerplant exchanged from battery to a mini nuclear one.  Failing repairs and refurbishment then a look at part exchange for a new ride.  But a little reluctant to let her go as she's carried us through some intense stuff.

Hawkins nodded along. As usual when she was in the mood to talk Jenn was good at it.

"Fusion Engine may be beyond our budget just now but if you do any of the NG comfort upgrades or similar we like to know."

Hernacito came out the Mountaineer. He was punching data into a hand terminal. When he heard Hawkins mention upgrades his face came up to look the pair.

"You are hard on the gear." He said. "Looks like a bug attack some kind. A real mess. By my calculations you are going to need one hundred seventy two thousand, four hundred eleven dollars in repairs and parts. I'm a generous man so I'll call it one seventy two even. You'll need that four hundred eleven around here."

He waved to a nearby mechanic to draw his attention and said, "Hey, Mannie, grab the catalogues."

He turned to Hawkins and said, "I can order the upgrades from NG if you want. It will take a few weeks to get here. But, in town we have access to several suppliers who make comparable upgrades and the cost in about the same. Only, you won't have to pay those excessive shipping costs. And those I can start working on right away. Well, once I get her patched up and painted. What color you want?"

Listening to the prognosis Jen was happy that the plucky vehicle was repairable.  Looking over at Hawkins with a lift of an eyebrow.

How does that look in the budget?  As for colour, I'm very much a fan of something earthy toned as a base.  Also less likely to be eye catching when we're out and about, non brand upgrades sound good and would save time.  Better living area and a mini galley would be handy to make things a little more comfy for travel.