An evening of Work (Palas/Nui's Jewel crew)

[.:Falcon:.]

Kesslene jumped out of the landspeeder, and motioned the Twi'lek to follow her. They were at the side of Ri-Parra's grungy little shop, parked in its shed. As soon as everyone was out of the speeder, Kess locked the door and led the way towards the front door.

She ducked into the low doorway, and peered into the smoky dim light. -Where were you?- a voice grumbled in Huttese. The sound of flapping wings came, and Ri-Parra rounded the corner. -I assume you have a reason for being late.-

-Of course I do.- Kess answered. -And I also brought customers.- she went deeper into the shop, and leaned against the grimy counter.

"Mmm..." Ri-Parra continued in Basic. "Hello." his greedy gaze moved over Palas, and he flew over. "What can I do for you, hmm?"

[Meira]

Palas was a little anxious on the ride to meet the girl's master. She didn't really like being so far away from her ship. She had tossed Lash a communicator before heading out the door. If anything went wrong, she hoped she'd be able to hold her own until he could come and pick her up. But it really wasn't too long of a ride, and Palas was able to get herself in check before the two ducked into Ri-Parra's shop.

She listened as the girl and her master spoke in Huttese. Palas wasn't exactly fluent in the language, but she knew enough to catch the drift of the conversation. But she kept her interest on the odds and ends that decorated the walls of the shop, seeming uninterested. When Ri-Parra spoke in Basic, Palas turned and smiled, turning on the charm just a little bit.

I was hoping you might have some parts I need for my ship. Alluvial dampers? I think mine are starting to cut out on me.

[.:Falcon:.]

"Dampers..." Ri-Parra said consideringly. "mmm. I think so, hmm? Let's go back and see, eh?" He took the Twi'lek's arm, and gestured towards the shadowy back of the shop. "I'll take you out to the yard."

He turned to Kess. "Watch the shop." with that, he led Palas towards the back, and into the quickly-fading sunlight of Tatooine.

[Meira]

Palas was careful not to pull her arm back from Ri-Parra when he took it. She didn't want to offend the guy, but she didn't like being touched either. Especially by strangers... especially on a planet like Tatooine. Who know's where this guy had been. So she let him lead her, his hand on her arm, until they reached the door to the yard. She subtly pulled her arm from his grip, hopefully so that he wouldn't think anything of it.

She was led around the yard, mustly full of junk. But junk was her specialty, and she could see that, though the place looked hopeless, there was a lot she could do with the assembled scrap that the average ship captain might not think of. But her practiced posture and mask of facial features kept her from giving away her enthusiasm. She had to appear disinterested, otherwise, he might try to swindle her. Then again, he'd probably try to swindle her either way. But it was always good to not show your cards until you were ready.

They reached a pile of engine scrap, and Palas stepped in a circle around it, looking to see if there was anything she could use. The drive was, over all, shot, but the dampers looked to be in fairly good condition, repairable at the least. Taking a small tool from her utility belt, Palas managed to free a couple. She inspected them more closely, nodding to herself, before turning back to Ri-Parra.

How much? She asked, holding up what she had removed from the busted engine. She was hoping this next part wouldn't get drawn out. She was getting a creeping sensation that something was off. Her Lekku twitched, but luckily they were hanging down her back at the moment, out of sight.

[.:Falcon:.]

"Mmm..." Ri-Parra considered. "Lets say...15,000?" he asked. He started high, always- a trick of the trade. Ri-Parra liked tricks.

Kess, in the shop, busied herself in continuing work on a busted data pad they had gotten. It was monotonous, but not as bad as some work she could be doing.

[Meira]

Palas allowed her features to change as Ri-Parra named his price. Of course, this was not acceptable. It was far too high. But that was how the business worked. The seller started high, and the buyer started low, and they found a middle ground they could both work with. Ri-Parra had his tricks, and she had her own.

Her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth scrunched smaller. Her violet eyes were stern. A classic image of disagreement. She shook her head and and her lekku twitched, adding to the facade. Of course, it wasn't entirely an act. There was no way she would pay that much for the dampers, but looking even more disappointed with the figure than she actually was meant she might be able to lower it even farther.

Ten. She said, her voice flat. She didn't try to cut his price in half, that would just make him more stubborn. But 10,000 would be a good low starting point. She was sure he would lower his price with her offer.

[.:Falcon:.]

Ri-Parra considered. "11." he pronounced finally. Kess came to the door, and leaned against the frame, listening. The Twi'lek fascinated her. The fact that the woman was a Twi'lek was strange, since they- especially the female variety- were more often than not, slaves. Just like her.

So, the fact that one was able to break away from the captivity that held her close was comforting to her 15 year old mind. There was hope, somewhere.

[Meira]

Palas studied the Toydarian carefully. Had they really settled so easily? Perhaps it was a stereotype, but Palas had always considered Tatooine traders to be the most troublesome. They loved to barter, and seemed to do it just to see what they could manage. It was an annoying process, and so at the moment, Palas was caught between feeling relieved and feeling suspicious.

Whatever the motive, Palas decided it would be better to close the deal quickly while it was still an acceptable number. She nodded her head in approval of the figure, and stuck out her hand to seal the deal.

A movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention then, and Palas turned her head slightly to see what it was. The girl was standing in the doorway watching them. Palas smiled by reflex at the girl before turning back to Ri-Parra.

Do you mind if she gives me a ride back? Palas asked, inclining her head towards Ri-Parra's slave. She was a big help... and I don't have a ride. Palas hoped the compliment towards the girl's usefulness would be enough to convince Ri-Parra. Palas didn't know why, but something inside of her was drawing her towards the girl, and if she could help that girl find even a few moments of freedom, she would do it.

((Ri-Parra can call in about Palas when she and Kess leave, so we can move ourselves forward))

[.:Falcon:.]

Ri-Parra clasped the Twi'lek's hand, then looked over her shoulder at Kess as the woman asked for a ride. "Sure, sure." he said. He flew back towards the shop building, pushing Kess away from the door so he could get in.

Kess's eyes gave her thanks to Palas, accompanied by the tiniest of smiles. Ri-Parra might be in a good mood, but a ride back to Mos Espa would be much better.

((OK, I'm confused. what do you mean by 'call in'? XD)

[Meira]

As Ri-Parra led the way back inside, Palas repositioned the parts in her arms so that she could extract a cred-chip card from a pouch on her belt. After making sure that the correct amount was on the card, plus a little extra for allowing the girl to drive her back, Palas placed it on the counter.

Her eyes had caught the smile and the look in the girl's eyes, and she smiled again in response, glad that her idea worked. Now that she had paid and everything, Palas thanked Ri-Parra and bid him goodbye before stepping back out into the arid Tatooine air.

Palas set her things down in the speeder before taking a seat and waiting for the girl to get into the drivers seat. Once they were on their way, Palas finally turned to the girl. So what's your name? She asked casually.

[.:Falcon:.]

Kess followed the Twi'lek to the speeder, climbed in, and began to drive back towards Mos Espa. All wassilemt for a matter of minutes, then the woman asked a question. Kess glanced at her. "Kesslene. Kess for short." she answered, turning her gaze back to the front.

There were questions she was dying to ask- how had she gotten here, what had she seen, what wonders were there out in the rest of the galaxy?- but she had to remind herself that, despite the woman's friendly manner, Kess was still a slave.

((I think I'm just going to'take it for granted' that Ri-Parra snitched...I'm too tired to type it out. XD))

[Meira]

Greegar had many friends in the galaxy, and among those friends, the word of bounty spread fast. Even in the outer rim, Palas and Lash were becoming known. Especially on a Hutt planet, the two were bound to be noticed. And they had, or Palas had at least. After she left with the young slave girl, Ri-Parra had sent a message to a local Hutt and was promised a decent cut of the bounty for tipping them off. The Hutt sent one of his bounty hunters out to intercept Palas. And since the fee was substantial enough, harming the slave would not be an issue.

The bounty hunter, a particularly aggressive Rodian, set out immediately. In his small ship, he caught up on the trail easily, and was soon right behind his prey. Though he could bring them in dead if needed, the Rodian still needed a body to bring, so blasting the speeder to bits wasn't an option. Being careful not to hit anything that might go boom, the Rodian opened fire.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Palas was riding along in a good mood. Things had been going along fairly well, so she afforded herself the time to relax slightly. She had an urge, some moments, to ask the girl questions, but something inside of her kept her tongue. So she just rested her head back against the seat to enjoy the ride.

Suddenly, there was a blast of fire that hit the ground just to the side of the speeder. Palas jumped at the sudden sound, her heart racing and her hand moving instinctively to the small blaster at her hip.

Keep your head down! She said to the girl as she turned to see where the shot had come from. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the ship. It might have been small, but it was a fighter. Her blaster would do little against it. Turning back to facing forward, Palas looked over at the young girl.

Move out of the way. She commanded, already moving to take the controls. Once seated in the drivers seat, Palas began some basic evasive maneuvers as she fished her comm out of a pocket. Flicking it to life, she hoped she was close enough for the Jewel to pick up the signal.

Lash! Lash! Can you hear me! We've got trouble!

[Jenno]

“Phhffffttt” came the crackle from the cockpit as Lash was walking towards the common area. He froze for a moment, unsure of what he’d just heard. Then when it came again he ran the rest of the way to the cockpit and past Yunas who had been getting to know the place. He launched himself into his chair, flicked one of the many switches nearby and looked about the console until he found a particular nozzle and turned it. That’s when he heard the sounds from the other side of the communicator.

He heard the sound of Palas’ voice; he managed to make out her words though the signal was weak. A few rapid alterations to the ship’s systems made the signal stronger, allowing him to catch and explosion from the other side of the conversation. He slipped into his piloting phase, with one hand he flicked a switch to allow him to communicate while with the other he transmitted the launch codes to the docking control and entered the sequence to lift the loading ramp. “I read you Palas, lifting off with the Jewel now. Hey Yunas,” he called out of the cockpit, “you might want to come and strap yourself in.”

Wrestling with the equipment, Lash finally asserted a strong grip upon the piloting controls and lifted the ship off the ground as steadily as he could. “We’re in the air, heading for Mos Eisley now. Try and keep on a straight path to Espa, scanners should hopefully pick you up.” Lash was switching hands on the two handed controls, often using one as he pressed a number of different buttons, he was diverting as much power as he could to the scanners, they weren’t the greatest in the world, certainly not military-grade stuff like he was used to, which would have been really helpful on an open area like the one they were currently flying over. There weren’t really any distinct landmarks for them to point out to him; there was arid flat land, flanked by even more arid flat land, some minor rocks jaunting out of the ground.

“Palas, care to inform me of the situation so I know what I’m flying into?” Lash was uncertain of what to expect, it could be a small squadron of fighters, a hulking freighter or a gaggle of land speeders, but whatever it was it didn’t sound to nice across the com-channel. Having done all he thought he could do the pilot concentrated on his flying now instead of fiddling with controls, although he still made sure to monitor them like a hawk.

Each time it was required of him it seemed as though Lash would slip into his calm and serious piloting state better, although it was hard not to be flying a fighter as he did so, and it was at times difficult not to resort back to the typical military style conversations and distribution of orders. But he was getting there, fighting his way through it all with that serious expression and uncharacteristic amount of focus. He was getting there.

[Mara]

[... from A Diamond in the Rough]

Trevil was sitting at the pazaak table in the lounge area when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes. It was Lash, back already from his transaction with the thugs from a few moments ago. The Bothan was surprised; they must have accepted him a lot easier than the human had thought. He shrugged his shoulders slightly in a purely human gesture and was about to turn back to the game he had started--not able to find a setting for sabaac, he had settled for the table's original purpose--when he heard some static coming from the front of the ship. He panicked slightly, hoping the ship wasn't falling apart. And his fears weren't helped when Lash broke into a sprint and ran for the cockpit.

Worried that something may be going wrong, he picked himself up off the bench and turned off the game. He had been losing to the computer brain anyway. Trevil was almost out of the lounge when he heard Lash's voice coming back towards him. So there was trouble. He just knew it...

Since he had already been in motion before the man's request that he strap in, Trevil made good time to the cockpit and got back into the copilot's chair he had just recently evacuated. To the best of his abilities, he strapped the crash webbing around himself and braced for whatever was about to come. He was barely in his seat when the ship lifted off the landing pad. Well, whatever was wrong with the ship, it obviously wasn't hampering its engines. Yet.

Trevil ignored the human next to him as his hands ran quickly over various controls as he flew the ship onward. He wasn't a big fan of space travel and generally tried to gain passage on the smoother passenger transports, not random freighters. So he just kept his violet gaze straight out the viewport, vaguely hearing the man speaking but registering it wasn't to him. So maybe the trouble was with their esteemed captain and not with the ship itself. Come to think of it, that sound he heard had been static not steel screeching. The Bothan sighed to himself; the ship was okay.

[Meira]

((Ok, I think we've waited long enough. Talarian, whenever you can, jump back in. But I'm gonna go ahead and move us forward))


Who knew that hearing Lash's voice could be a source of so much relief... coupled with so much frustration. Try to keep on a straight path? What was she going to do? It wasn't like she had a sudden urge for sight seeing. But he was on his way with her ship and so all she could do was breathe and do her best not to let that ship lock on to her. Who was this guy anyway?

A sudden explosion to the right rocked the speeder so hard it nearly flipped over. Palas had to pull hard to the left, and then back right again to steady it. Out of frustration, she pulled her blaster from it's holster on her leg and fired a few futile shots back at the ship. When the energy clip was spent, she tossed the useless thing to the floor of the speeder.

Lash's voice came over the comm again, asking for details as to what he was flying into. Again the frustration crashed over her. But then again, his caution with her ship was admirable. The speeder was rocked again, and Palas couldn't help but let slip a cry of anger as she fought to keep the speeder upright. Grabbing the comm again, she spoke into it.

Oh, well... you know.... guns. A ship. The usual.

Up ahead, some large rock formations were coming up on the horizon. Gunning the speeder's engines, Palas aimed for them, hoping that they might provide some cover, at least temporarily. She knew such features to the Tatooine landscape were scarce and unreliable. But right now, they looked a mite safer than was was currently right behind them.

I'm coming up on some large rock formations. Keep an eye out for us, we're getting close.

[Jenno]

“Roger that, Captain” came Lash’s reply over the comm as he passed up on quite an ample opportunity to poke fun at Palas. To those who knew Lash even a littlee it was apparent that he was different now that he sat in the cockpit of the Jewel, a serious problem confronting him. It was as if he’d slowly slipped into a trance and only flickers of his former self remained.

Having officially crossed the city limits the pilot fiddled with a few switches to focus the scanners ahead of the ship instead of all around it; this gave them a bit more range. In the meanwhile he pushed the controls forward as much as he dared. The noises that spouted throughout the ship was the poor girl talking to him, warning Lash when he was pushing her engine to hard and too far. He hoped that the captain had managed to get her hands on the parts they needed, the ship would be much more reliable, and a much smoother ride, with the newer parts. Heck, a small tune-up would probably do wonders for the bulky freighter.

It was no easy task piloting this ship, Lash was still trying to master the controls and it was proving much harder than he’d like. Right now he overburdened with tasks to perform, he was flying the Jewel, listening to her so that she didn’t fall apart whilst trying to spot any dust clouds or Palas’ speeder and the ship which was currently on her tail and along with all of those things he was trying to find what weapon systems he had access to, if any.

Then came a bleep from his right, he looked at the flat screen on the console and the one flashing dot soon became two, that was good enough for Lash to inspect it. He altered their flight path slightly and as he looked out the viewport at the distant vehicles the sense of urgency within him began to rise. A single fighter was something of a relief but the fact that Palas was on an open plain didn’t help her case at all. If they were going to drive the ship off her tail they’d have to grab the pilot’s attention, and quickly.

He gave up his flustering search of the weapon controls, he didn’t even know if he could fire any from here. Instead he looked to the bothan next to him, a somewhat serious and slightly uncertain look on his face. “Say, you’re good with computers and such right? Think you might get to ship’s manned turret back there,” he said motioning to the hatch with his head, “and take some shots at the ship we’re coming up on. If you’re wanting to get off world in a decent piece its best we pick up the captain and the parts she’s got with her.” He stopped for a moment, thinking to be finished, until a thought popped into his head. “Oh, you might want to try to avoiding blowing up the other ship, otherwise that’s probably just going to make us a bigger target.” He returned to focus on the flying of the ship; he paid little attention to the movement within the cockpit, and after a few moments muttered to himself. “One day I’m gonna get to fly this thing without the threat of imminent peril” he sighed.

As his focus slipped somewhat, he noticed that Yunas was no longer in the cockpit. Flicking his communicator on Lash spoke to on board buddy, whom he assumed was getting set up in the ship’s manual gunning turret. “Alright Yunas we’re cloming up on them, remember just try and make him back up, I’m going to sweep across him as you do, try and get us in between him and the captain, happy gunning.” He finished jokingly; finally part of his original self was coming back.

As he pressed a button the comm slipped through to Palas and with a childish grin he called out to her. “This is your saviour speaking Captain, don’t think we’ll have time for a pit stop so you just keep up the good work on not getting blowed up, when I tell ya to steady up though, you’d probably be best doing so, unless you wanna lose that pretty purple head of yours.” Switching off the transmitter for a moment he moved both hands to the controls, ready to pull off what he thought would be a pretty flashy move. Any moment now Yunas would be able to start firing and they’d have Palas on board in no time, then they could clear out of here and head back to safety, at last.

[Mara]

((Sorry, it's a bit scattered. I hope it's easy to read. )


Guns, a ship, the usual?

Trevil wasn't sure he was happy that all this excitement was actually something that Palas thought was commonplace for her and the rest of her crew. Nor was he happy about the fact that he had heard her say it, now strapped in the copilot's seat. Next to Lash, the pilot. Just because this kind of thing was usual for her, didn't mean it always ended up in a good way. Perhaps she was just always being chased. By people with big ships and guns. Without realizing it, his claws were digging slightly into the armrests of his chair, and he tried another calming deep breath, still staring frozenly out the viewport in front of him.

He also wasn't sure if he wanted to be flying in after the captain. If she was getting close to this rock formation, so would her pursuers. The pursuers with big guns. The Bothan didn't want to get blown up, not when he could be so close to finding his ex partners and getting what he deserved. Not when he was about to leave this blasted barren wasteland of a planet. But there was nothing he could do but sit there like a statue, listening to the ship falling apart around him, Lash's hands flitting over the controls. Digging his nails in farther, he barely felt the ship increasing speed, so conscious he was on all the creakings of the Jewel and of the possibility of his impending doom.

Then Lash broke into his thoughts, and the Bothan almost panicked at the look on the human's face. But he used all his willpower and the stoicism of generations before him to keep a blank look on his face, trying to look as unconcerned as he possibly could. Panic on the inside, but don't show it on the outside: that was one thing that kept Trevil going as far as he had so far on his search.

He forced his fur to remain calm as well as the human motioned towards the turret. Yes, of course, slicing into computers was exactly like firing up a blaster cannon. Right. But Trevil kept his thoughts to himself, knowing that if he tried to speak up right now, he would be less than comprehensible, a poor example of his species right now. But the gun should have a targeting computer, so he shouldn't have to do it all completely old-school, he didn't think. Just aim and fire. Should be easy enough, right?

The Bothan really didn't have any choice. Just moments before he was wishing he could do something to help save him, them, but now he was really regretting those thoughts. Trevil started unstrapping himself from the chair, slowly. He nodded at Lash. Yes, he did want to get off the planet on one piece. He just had to take shots at that ship with the big guns. Easy enough. But wait...what was the human saying now? Trevil remained in his seat a moment longer. So now he had to shoot at the ship but not actually hit it? Sure, easy peasy. Right.

Again, Trevil nodded at Lash before departing the cockpit for the hatch in the floor that would take him to the gun turret controls. He settled in and strapped up tightly, making sure to double-check that he was secure before turning his attention to the controls in front of him. It was rather crude and old, but he thought he would be able to manage. The Bothen turned it all with his large paws, and the computer managed to warm up with a slight whir, making Trevil feel a bit better. At least the targeting computer, what there was of one, was still in pretty good shape.

He had just gotten the commlink set up when he heard Lash's voice over it with further instructions. Yeah, of course, take potshots at the ship but don't blow it up. Sure, Lash, anything you say, thought Trevil. The Bothan took a deep breath and jacked up his seat a bit so that he had a better look at the console in front of him that clearly showed two dots: Palas's speeder and the ship with the big guns. He grabbed the controls and rotated the gun around to aim at the enemy ship, his finger on the trigger, waiting for an opportune shot.

The enemy ship came into sight, and Trevil lined up his aim before tweaking the angle a bit to the side, hoping that he would just hit the air nearby its starboard engine placement. Close but not actually hitting it. He hoped. With a short prayer to any higher being that could be listening, he pressed the trigger and fired. A moment later, the bolt bounced off the shield of the ship, and the ship was still intact. The Bothan breathed a sigh of relief before lining up another shot, this time angling off more, so as not to hit the shield.

[Meira]

Relieved to hear they were on their way, Palas continued to keep her focus on simply driving the speeder. Of course, that was easier said than done when you had a deadly ship right behind you. But there was no point in getting all 'woe is me' over the situation. She could get out of this. She'd been in tighter spots. Another shot from behind encouraged Palas to shut her mind up and just drive. Soon enough Lash would be there with the Jewel and....

Wait. What the heck was she thinking!? Why did she call Lash in with her ship! Surely the only thing that could happen would be that the ship gets blown sky high... and THEN she dies too. But wait, they had the Bothan now... two people on the ship. One pilot, one on the guns? Oh she sure hoped so.

Just then, Lash's voice came back over the comm, and Palas wanted to punch him right in the face for acting like a clown in such a serious situation. But as he spoke, she could just see the Jewel up ahead. And as if they knew she needed the reassurance, a couple of shots flew overhead at the ship behind her. The lack of explosion meant the ship was still there, but at least things were evening out just a little.

As if to prove her wrong. The enemy ship landed a stray shot across the back of the speeder. The force of the hit nearly flipped the speeder over, end over end, but Palas gritted her teeth and held it steady. A thick cloud of smoke was now issuing from the back of the speeder, and perhaps that was a good thing. Maybe it would help confuse their location and they could avoid another hit.

In either case, Palas had just about as much of this chase as she could take. It was time for Lash to do whatever it was he thought he could do. With all her strength on the controls to hold the speeder straight, she yelled through her comm.

LASH! Quit wasting time! You do whatever it is you're gonna do and you do it NOW! Or so help me... I'll turn YOUR ass purple!!!!

[Jenno]

OOC: I don't remember doing a post this bad for a while now, sorry :/.

As he sat with both hands glued to the ship controls, Lash could tell from Palas’ tone and words that she really was not finding him or his words amusing during this little moment of peril. She didn’t seem like the sort to look too keenly for the silver lining when the sky got darker, and that was becoming more apparent at her lack of humour in a life or death situation. It rose some fluttering questions in the pilot’s mind, like how many times she’d actually been put into a situation which could very well be the end of her. If one was constantly thrown to the nexu, as the saying went, then it could very easily break them if they didn’t come up with some way to escape from the seriousness of situation. Lash had two ways to get past it, one was his serious trance-like state and the second one he’d use more frequently was humour, to laugh and joke in the face of death made all the seriousness and certainty evaporate and leave him feeling a bit more light-heartened. But then, when he wasn’t serious about a problem, it could very easily end badly, as he knew.

With the Jewel approaching fast, Lash had to make his move. He pushed down hard with the controls and made the ship dive into an arc, cutting up below the pursuing ship until Lash had quite confidently made the hulking freighter the fighter’s newest target. Now the Jewel loomed behind Palas’s speeder, they were close enough to wave, although Lash resisted the temptation to do so. Another bleep over the comm, “alright listen carefully, you’re going to have to trust me now, keep at the same speed you’re going and don’t change direction. I’m going to move the ship in to pick you guys up, soon as you’re up the ramp cut the engines. And argue all you like but if you don’t do what I say then you’re gonna end up nothing more than a big ball of fire. Now just hold on.” Cutting off the comm system, Lash entered a key on the pad next to him and the loading ramp slowly opened.

What followed was an extremely straining and tough move for the fighter-accustomed pilot, looking over his console out of the viewport he had to monitor the Jewel’s distance from the ground and make sure the ship didn’t hit the speeder in front of them. Not only that but at the same time he had to try and make sure the ship and the speeder were level, then he had to try and keep them at the same speed. This was not a manoeuvre he should really be doing, having never attempted it before. But if Lash had one shred of confidence, it had always been with his ability to fly, and his ability to lose a game of pazaak before he could down a Corellian ale.

The pull on his arms from the controls were intense, he could feel how much his muscles had atrophied since he last flown, it wouldn’t take long for them to seize up, he had to be as quick as he could with this. Careful… careful, there, it was on the ramp, just a bit more to go, steady with the controls, ease the ship onwards, the shield would hold enough for him to pick Palas up, they had to. Almost… almost… there! With the sign that they were now on board, Lash closed up the loading ramp and once that was done pulled back on the controls, sending the Jewel shooting up towards space, their escape route.

Pressing something over head swiftly, the comm to the turret buzzed on, “Captain’s on board, just try and keep that fighter off us best you can, only a bit further now Yunas, good work.” Flicking the switch back, Lash pushed onwards, pressing the Jewel as much as he could. It looked like they’d make it back to Kuras IV after all.

[Mara]

((I have a feeling this will be short, not too much to respond to... and not much inspiration.))


Trevil aimed a few more potshots at the enemy ship, making sure the blasts went well wide but not enough to harm the speeder lower to the ground. Well, at what he had taken to consider as the enemy, when in fact he wasn't really sure if the ship he was currently strapped into was an ally. But for now he was following his roles. And, as the human said, making sure his ride off Tatooine didn't blow up before he could get away. The Bothan was really getting annoyed at not being able to find his ex partners, getting on a couple years of searching for them now.

Trying to keep tabs on the movement of the freighter he was in, Trevil stopped firing, just in time, when Lash took the Jewel in between the speeder Palas was occupying and the chasing ship. Sighing, he swiveled his turret around to their aft where the other ship was now currently flying. He wasn't sure what the scruffy human was attempting now, with his only view of the electronic firing console controlling the belly turret gun. Trevil decided that he didn't want to know. He also didn't want to think about the other ship returning fire or how long the shields would hold up against the bolts. It was complicated enough for him just shooting at the other ship without actually doing it fatal harm. He didn't need to think about anything else. Or want to.

He heard some sort of clunk up above his head and down towards the back of the ship. The Bothan whispered a quick prayer to any gods that were watching. Trevil knew it couldn't have been the enemy ship; he still had the ship in its sights. But without being able to see through any viewscreen or know what Lash was up to... he was fairly fearful at this moment. Enough that his last show was a little jerky, and he almost took out part of the trailing ship's hull. With that jolt to his senses, he made sure to concentrate a lot better, being more careful in his aim.

The ship in his sights began to shrink, making Trevil realize that Lash was giving more altitude to the Jewel. Whatever he had done, it must have worked. He wouldn't be leaving now if he hadn't done something to save Palas. Though, that ship was still following them, even if from a greater distance.

His comm buzzed then, Lash. Ah, so he had saved the captain. That was good. For good measure, he fired off a couple more shots at the other ship. And if his violet eyes weren't lying to him, it seemed they were headed to the atmosphere of the planet. Could he finally be leaving this Force-forsaken planet for good?