Star Wars: Too Good To Be True (Closed for Lexavier and HotKittygirl)

Led_Astray

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The fat human cargo master - his name already forgotten - was sweating in the heat and swearing as he slapped at the ubiquitous swamp-flies that were buzzing around. Saxan Vaal looked down at him with cool superiority - being cold blooded meant the heat didn't bother him at all, and the flies did not seem attracted to his green blood. He ran his clawed fingers through his black hair - pointlessly, of course, as unlike the unfortunate and corpulent human, the Falleen smuggler did not sweat.

"Too good to be true..." Saxan murmured again, adjusting his armoured vest to hang more comfortably. It was an unbelievable situation, an absurd dream, and yet here he was, watching as three thousand tons of Chak-Root liqueur was pumped into the two modular saddle-tanks on the shortened spine of his heavily customised KDY Spacemaster.

Bored with waiting, he stared out over the landscape, but beyond the camouflaged landing pad there was nothing to see except twisted parodies of decent plants growing out of swampland, a mixture of virulent greens and earthy browns. All shrouded in a light mist that did nothing to assuage the heat.

The value of the cargo being loaded was... well, incalculable. More than the ship was worth, for certain. Certainly more than his life was worth, the Falleen grudgingly admitted to himself, no matter that the life of a Falleen was worth ten times that of any other species. He kicked at the gantry rail irritably with his fine nerf-hide boots, then cursed himself for showing emotion, even in front of this fat slug of an inferior human. But if something went wrong on this run...

That the situation had arisen at all was incredible. The recent defeat of the corporations by the clone armies of the Republic - no, the Empire now, he corrected himself - had seen them retreat back to this, the Trilon Arm - and as a result of their increased military presence, the usual small scale but regular smuggling operations had been disrupted. Disrupted for so long that the secret distillery and its small workforce of bots had built up this ridiculous stockpile of Chak Root liquer. But now, fearing that the Empire's authority was beginning to expand towards this area, the owners of this little set up wanted the stockpile gone - and fast.

And so, here he was. Saxan Vaal, a smuggler with a reputation for getting the job done. There was enough money here to bribe the customs officials at both ends of the trip, so it should be a simple matter of getting the cargo from "A" to "B". "A" in this case being the marshes of Erysthes, "B" being Starforge Station.

His ship, The "Winged Serpent", with its ability to accept different modular cargo pods, and its vastly improved range over the stock model, was an ideal choice for this sort of operation, and he grinned as he looked at the brand new bulk liquid tanks that had been carefully roughed up to look ancient and battered. Decals painted on the side declared them to be full of low grade Peragas Fuel. One liquid looked much like another on most scans, and Peragas fuel was toxic, explosive and not worth the hassle of stealing, even if he should run into pirates.

"There!" declared the loadmaster, shifting his bloated carcass around to address the tall (and undeniably handsome, like all of his race) Falleen. Saxan didn't bother controlling his skin-colour shift - there was no way this fool would recognise the pale blue of utter contempt. Look at him, sweating away, as if he had actually loaded the cargo himself, instead of just directing droids with that data pad. "All loaded up and the tanks sealed. Step inside and we'll sort out the false bills of lading."

Saxan looked around. He didn't feel entirely comfortable leaving his ship under the care of just his droid co-pilot, but here? There was supposedly nobody else within 200 klicks. That uncomfortable feeling of being watched that he had must surely just be an expression of his desire to be gone from here as quickly as possible.

"Very well, Loadmaster." he snapped, efficiently. "The sooner the cargo is on its way, the happier we will both be."
 
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The air was fetid and it clung to Mala Luroon's skin. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, a small price to pay she supposed. She sighted up on the Faleen again, the hunting rifle sitting comfortably against her shoulder as she crouched behind some low rocks. It would be so easy to pop him here, his head would split like a ripe Muja fruit. She sighed, no job was that simple.

She rolled onto her back, the blue skin visable between the two folds of her opened flight suit glistened with moisture from the humid air. Her cleavage heaved as she sighed again, more theatrically. She hated back water planets like this, reminded her too much of her dancer days on other Outer Rim worlds, like Tatooine. The Hutts sure loved her dancing and they loved it even more with her skin soaked in sweat. She ran a hand over her headtails soothingly.

It wouldn't be long now and she'd be filthy rich, a dream job that was too good to be true. She could retire.. again, this time from her life as a Bounty Hunter. It was fun and everything, taking any job whether it was executing or capturing someone, to pirating cargo from other people's vessels, but there were always moments like this. Endless waiting in undesirable conditions for the mark to finish his business. It would certainly be useful before the Empire truely gained it's hold. Empire.. Republic.. didn't matter to her aslong as she got paid.

She was not about to mess this one up by losing focus though, her client meant business. He'd even provided a top of the line ship to aid them in capturing the precious cargo - to be returned ofcourse. It was certainly going to get it's mileage before it had to go back, that was for certain.

She rolled back over and once more pressed her green eyes to the scope of her rifle, gazing down at the target and his ship. She licked her dried lips slowly, watching the rather fetching Falleen walk away with the load master. Mala looked across at her partner and smiled brightly. They'd worked together for the past few years and knew each other pretty well by now. "Ship's clear, what's the plan, homing beacon? Or a Navigation Tap? Either way we're going to have to get pretty close to that thing..."
 
Valaila Moryne didn’t think that air could have been as thick and un-breathable as it was in this moist wasteland. Elongated ears twitched irritably as another massive bug buzzed nearby and it was all she could do not to scream. How she hated this place, everything seemed to have sixteen legs and want to crawl under her clothing. Thankfully, that lithesome, svelte frame was clad in a tight fitting bodysuit clinging greedily to those lush curves. A mesh vest and thick utility belt completed her grab, from which numerous devices clung from. While she wore a blaster pistol at her left hip Vala was far from comfortable using it. It always felt clumsy and heavy in her grasp, while Mala had taught her how to properly wield it she just never felt confident using it. She had been given natural gifts that could easily rend flesh with one quick swipe. Even then Vala had never been much of a fighter, she much preferred to let someone else, preferably Mala, to do the dirty work. The Cathar was far more useful with a datapad or hydrospanner in her delicate grasp.

Yet the job had been simply too good to pass up. Mala needed backup, someone she could trust completely. More often than not Vala would provide her support from afar; this day it was different. With a soft whimpering huff she adjusted her spot behind the rock, another twitch of her ear given before she glanced over her shoulder and brought her macrobinocular up from her side. Violet, slitted orbs narrowed as she placed them against her eyes and looked out from their spot. Easily she measured the distance, other readouts flickering in her field-of-vision. She watched the obese human and the other walk off and a certain tension began to build within her. Mala’s voice almost caused her to squeak out a scream all over again. She tensed and pressed herself back against the rock, her ears drooping lightly before she tried and offer a confident look.

“Uh…homing beacon, I suppose? Ve can sneak up on dem afterrr they leave the atmospherrrre. Or ve can just pick em off herrrre and take it ourrrrselves,” The Cathar’s accent wasn’t as thick as it once had been, though it got a little worse when she was anxious. Her violet gaze lingered upon the woman that had saved her from a life of slavery as a concubine. The memories were distant and blurry even now; all that she was now she owed to this Twi’lek she considered her only true friend. She reached for her own pistol and un-holstered it awkwardly, trying to show an air of confidence.
 
Saxan followed the slug-of-a-human down the winding steps into the concealed distillery. A collection of ramshackle bots were still working away, operating the complex machines that took raw Chak-Root and processed it into the highly intoxicating liqueur. The machines were a mystery to the tall Falleen. If it wasn't part of a starship, he wasn't interested.

They crossed the distillery floor, and Saxan had to admit to himself that this was an impressive operation. To have built all of this, and kept it concealed, was quite a feat - and meant the backing of a very powerful crime syndicate. He had been careful not to ask too much - such people didn't take kindly to nosiness - and as a result didn't know the ultimate owners of this operation - only that their credits were good. Perhaps the loadmaster wasn’t quite as contemptible as he appeared? Saxan had taken this to be a punishment posting, given to some poor sap who had displeased his masters and was thus sent to sweat in the swamp. But looking at the size of the operation close up made him realise that it wouldn't be left in the hands of an incompetent. Surreptitiously, he scrutinised the fat man more closely.

It took a good three or four minutes to reach the far side of the enormous room, where they odd pair fetched up at a desk against the far wall, empty except for a few datapads and a terminal. The loadmaster picked up one of the pads.

"OK. Customs here have been bribed to ignore you - and at the other end, too. The only thing you need to worry about is running into a random customs frigate or other corporate ship that decides you looks suspicious. Here's your fake flight plan that says you are heading to the core - broadcast that when customs first approach you, it contains an encoded message that will let them know you are the one they are to let through without an inspection."

Saxan nodded. In here, out of the heat, no longer sweating, the human had developed a greater air of competence.

"Here's the bill of loading for 3000 tons of Peragus fuel, including the galactically recognised hazard codes. Any ship gets to close, you broadcast these. Even a pirate should back off, unless he just gets his jollies blowing up random ships - nobody wants to be too close to a Peragus explosion, and it simply isn't worth stealing."

Saxan nodded again, saying nothing, although he allowed his skin to take on the slight yellow sheen that indicated he was impressed. It was wasted on the human, of course, which is the only reason he didn't keep his skin a neutral shade.

"And here is your fake flight plan for Starforge Station, indicating you have come straight from the Peragus mines. Again, the 'no hassle' code is built in when you broadcast it. You'll be directed into a certain hanger, your pods removed, and you are to fly out and not look back."

The loadmaster indicated a chair.

"Take a seat, and have a read through of all three - if you do come across a random patrol, you need to be able to talk about your flight plans and your cargo."

The smuggler did so, agreeing with the loadmaster's plan. The last thing he wanted if he was stopped by somebody in deep space was to not have his story straight. Getting caught with 3000 tons of Liqueur... well, whilst it wasn't actually illegal, it was so heavily taxed that it was worth the risk of smuggling. Especially in a load this size... If the owners of this shipment end up having to pay the tax bill, they are sure to take it out of my hide...

5 minutes later, he had finished reading. Another 5, and he was back at the bottom of the stairs. What with the walking, and the reading, and the loadmaster's fussing, he had been underground a good 20 minutes and it was a relief to be back outside. He breathed in the humid air, soaking in the heat, feeling it invigorate him, then strode over to The Winged Serpent, ducking under the rounded forward section and heading up the loading ramp. With a final, casual wave at the loadmaster, he raised the ramp and headed along the ring-corridor to the cockpit. Taking a seat at the controls, he activated the pre-flight checklist, then turned to address the occupant of the seat beside him.

"Any sign of anything on the sensors, Hardshell?"

Beetle.png


"Negative, captain." replied the LOM series protocol droid, inclining its insectoid head to one side. "Do you wish me to begin hyperspace calculations?"

"Yes, go ahead." Replied Saxan. He was more than capable of doing them himself, but the droid had a quirk of personality that made it get antsy if it wasn't kept busy. Still reflected the Falleen smuggler it's still better than having to share my ship with a co-pilot of inferior species...
 
Mala considered it again, the crosshairs resting on that handsome forehead. She nibbled on her lip, her finger hovering over the trigger. Finally she looked up, lowering the barrel of her rifle and shook her head. Her eyes couldn't help but linger on that beautiful frame, the curves lewly displayed in tight leather. "I'm afraid here wouldn't be a good choice. They'll be watching this shipment like a hawk until it breaks atmosphere, if it leaves with the wrong pilot they'll hunt us all the way back to the client, not good. We'll have to take it when it's left orbit."

She paused, considering their options, they had to move quickly, it wouldnt stay unoccupied for long, and her partner was clearly as uncomfortable as she was. "Homing Beacon, get it attached to the hull, I'll cover you." she grinned, "You're way more agile than me, you'll be down and back up here quicker than I would. Don't worry, I gotcha back." She patted the blaster rifle softly. "We'll be swimming in credits after this score." Her eyes glinted with mischeif, the fun would begin soon.
 
The Cathar watched as Mala took the time to consider her options, going so far as to take aim once more. Yet she hesitated and Vala knew what was to come next; Mala never hesitated. She offered a gentle nod of her head, those ears twitching once more. Her plush lips pursed before she let out a sigh, holstering the pistol back at her side. While the twi’lek’s reasoning was sound it still didn’t help settle the quiver of anticipation in her stomach. It wasn’t until she saw that cocksure grin that Vala felt her confidence returning.

“If only I had a stealth suit,” She wrinkled her nose impishly before returning the grin. With Mala covering her back with that rifle of hers, well, how couldn’t she felt safe? It was a unique thing to trust one so fully, but then again their relationship was far from the norm. “Maybe veen ve get those crrredits I can.”

Those violet orbs twinkled lightly before she pushed up and into a squatting position. With a slow, subtle motion she drew closer and gave the twi’lek a gentle kiss upon her cheek. “Don’t stare too hard,” She said in a soft, husky murmur before she was off, leaping agilely over the rocky outcropping and was gone.

Like a shadow Vala crept through the mire and muck, hunched and close to the ground. Instinctively she tensed her hands, drawing out those razor sharp claws that could rend flesh though she hoped she didn’t need to use them. The trek through the swamp felt far too long for her own taste, she dare not look back lest she lose her confidence. Only as she approached the starship did Vala reach to her belt and retrieve the small device. Her gaze swept the ship curiously, looking for just the place to put it. Hopefully the alien wasn’t too paranoid, Vala thought as she attached the tiny object to the hull and flipped the switch. Only then did her ears perk and the snowy white Cathar peer back towards the rock. With the universal sign of thumbs up did Vala slink away, the feeling of being chased ran through her uncontrollably. Her confidence waivered as she splashed through a unseen puddle before breaking out into a full run. She leapt the rock once more and collapsed onto her firm backside with a grunt, her eyes wide and her breath coming in heavy gasps.

“Are we set?” She asked between gasps, casting Mala a look and hoping it was over.
 
Unaware that there was a treacherous device attached to their hull that would signal their location no matter where they went, The Falleen smuggler and his droid co-pilot finished their preparations and activated the atmospheric drives.

The Winged Serpent rose gracefully off the landing pad on its repulsorlifts, and the landing gear retracted smoothly. The powerplant and engine were designed for a standard Space Master, and the Serpent's much reduced cargo capacity meant it had power to spare for swift and agile manouvering.

Rising rapidly, faster perhaps than the hiden observers had expected, The Winged Serpent was soon in orbit - and being hailed by the efficient robotic voice of the planet's custom control.

"Transport identifying as 'Winged Serpent'. This is Customs Control. Please transmit your flight plan and bill of lading. Failure to do so will result in you being in breach of orbital flight regulations. Transport identifying as 'Winged serpent. Please..."

Saxan interupted the repetition of the challenge by plugging the first datapad into the comms unit and narrowcasting the contents to the nearest customs relay satellite. He repeated the process with the second. A live female voice, sounding both tired and irritated, broke into the transmission.

"Winged Serpent - you are cleared for orbital departure. The sooner that fuel is out of our orbit, the better."

"Thank you, Customs Control. We are preparing to jump now. Winged Serpent out."

Saxan turned to his mechanical co-pilot. "Hit it, Hardshell."

The view of the stars in the cockpit window blurred, every point of light stretching into a line, as the Winged Serpent entered hyperspace.
 
Mala concentrated, tracking Vala down the slope trying desperately to keep the scope off that wiggling bottom. It was easier if she just searched for unusual activity, but it all seemed quiet. Vala was back up before much longer, and Mala did one last sweep before rolling over and letting out a relaxing sigh. "We definitely are my pretty, that was good work. When the ship leaves, we'll high tail it back to ours and follow him out."

They fell silent, just their soft breath panting as they waited. Mala rested a hand on her partners thigh idly. With the roar of the engines, it announced the ship's ignition sequence. She peared over the outcrop as it slowly began to rise into the sky, and then took off like a shot. Jeez that thing could move. She hoped they'd be able to catch it. "We better be out of here Babe."
 
Her ears perked at the compliment, a genuine smile of appreciation drifting out over her lips as those violet orbs came to rest intently upon Mala. Even it was but a small compliment for an easy issue she was always there to give praise when it was do, though it was far from excessive just when it was needed. They fell into an easy silence, or at least Vala felt such as she leaned against the rock. Her breathing slowed and became even long before the ship began to rise. The hand upon her thigh caused her to tense briefly, though the sleek feline relaxed just as quickly. Mala’s touch was always so sure, just as her movements were always so precise. The young Cathar admired the twi’lek beyond mere words and as they waited Vala felt the emotion grow. She was always an impulsive one, finding her curiosity getting the better of her more often than not. And just as often it got her into no end of trouble; thankfully Mala had been there as of late. The roar of the engines and the rumble that overtook them caused the cather to tense and duck instinctively, her ears folding flush against her bright, amethyst hued hair. It was a stark contrast to her snowy white fur, though the darkness of her attire helped to mute it somewhat.

“Let’s go,” She said with a mewl, her attempt at sounding confident ending pathetically. She whined at her own words, though her hand slid out over the other’s and offered a ginger squeeze even while she un-holstered the blaster pistol yet again, if only for a hint of reassurance.
 
It did not take long to complete the first jump - relatively speaking at least. Not long enough for a good game of Dejarik, certainly, and so Saxan spent the time preparing and eating a small snack from the well-stocked autochef, trusting Hardshell to take care of any problems in the cockpit.

Not that there would be any - even this backwater of the galaxy had well established hyper-space routes. Speaking of which..

A small chime sounded throught the ship, and Saxan made his way back to the cockpit. Settling back into the command chair, he turned to Hardshell. Without any other prompting, the droid spoke.

"We are leaving hyperspace for arrival at destination, Bonodan System."

The viewscreen blurred and the view of normal space returned.

"Excellent, Hardshell. Tap into the local comms net, get the latest data on the Hydian Way, and plot a course for Pax System."

"Of course, captain. I expect that to take no more than 10 minutes" responded the droid, interfacing with the nav comp.

Saxan nodded. The Hydian way was one of the most well established hyper-lanes in the galaxy, and since he outwardly appeared to be on perfectly legitimate business, there was no point in taking the additional risk of traveling outside the well established routes. He'd do it if necessary, of course, it was part of being a smuggler, but there was always the risk of accident. One wandering gravitational anomaly in the wrong place could cause serious delays - and an equipment failure, fair from any well traveled route, was a death sentence.

To pass the time, the Falleen smuggler changed seats, and idly checked the cargo monitoring system. The main holds showed as mostly empty, of course, aside from the Sorosub V-35 speeder he kept for planetary travel, and various other sundries. And the modular saddle-tanks still showed as being filled with 3000 tons of "Perogus Fuel".

Still too good to be true... thought Saxan to himself, his skin flushing the vivid green of naked greed as, for the hundreth time, he idly specualted about ways of making off with the cargo for himself. But the pay for simply delivering it safely was substantial enough, and he could do without looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life - the vengeance of the sort of criminal organisation that could set up the Erysthes operation would be brutal and relentless.

Recognising that his dream, of absconding with the incalculably valuable contrabrand were just that, dreams, he sighed and returned to the command couch and addressed his silent companion. "Are we ready to jump yet, Hardshell?"
 
Mala straightened up and threw the rifle over her shoulder, the strap coming taught about her chest. She gave Vala's hand a reassurring squeeze, laughing off any sense of nerves. It was actually good to see her getting down and dirty on a mission like this, Mala didn't like to put her in unncessary danger but this payload definitely warrented the extra pair of eyes. If there had been time she'd have attempted to calm her, reassure her with words, even take her into her arms protectively. But there wasn't. That ship was getting away and they needed to double time it back to theirs. She kicked dirt, sprinting back the way they had come, Vala easily kept pace with her. For a techie, that body was surely lithe and toned.

Their ship was primed and ready by the time they arrived, and they quickly slipped onboard and into the cockpit. "That ship is getting away fast, but I bet we're faster." She slumped into her co-pilot seat, pulling up a map that pinged the location of their target. "Looks like he's heading to the Bonodan System. If he sticks to standard Hyper-lanes we got 'im." She laughed excitedly. "Wooooheee I can taste those credits now! Lets get this bird in the air!"
 
Vala couldn’t help but feel slightly reassured by her partner. That laugh seemed out of place, as if she didn’t care, ah, such confidence was inspiring and unnerving at the same time. Yet it was not time to linger on such thoughts and actions were an easy way to drive out one’s nerves. The sleek Cathar easily followed after the other and no doubt could have out paced her if they were running in a suitable environment. But this was no race, Vala kept her pace even with the twi’lek and focused on her footing through the dense and boggy foliage. They came upon their ship swiftly, well, at least it was their ship for the time being. It was a sleek and fast thing with enough bite to do the job.

There seemed a dramatic change in the Cathar as they climbed aboard and she slid into the pilots seat and took command. Slender digits rapidly shuffled over the control console, flicking switches and hitting buttons with speed and sureness. Her violet gaze narrowed and she simply let out a rumble of a purr from her throat. The ship was ready for action and it seemed to lift with some eagerness, or perhaps it was simply the Cathar at the controls as she sped into the atmosphere. She piloted with impressive skill, the small, speedy craft lifting into the void and soon on the trail of their target. One hand rose above her hand and flicked a few more switches before she began to calibrate the hyperdrive. The moments ticked by before they were ready and with a sidelong glance she offered Mala a smile.

“Rrrready?” She purred lightly, though they sped off before she even got an answer, stars blurring as they sped off in pursuit.
 
Mala loved watching the Cathar work. The way her hands swiftly travelled over the controls always impressed her. Even though they hadn't had this ship very long, Vala seemed to know exactly what made it tick. How she remembered the first time those skilled hands had travelled over her own body in much the same way, finding every point that drove her wild.

The ship slowly lifted and then sped off in pursuit. They weren't that far behind and their ship could move twice as fast in hyperspace. Mala gripped the arms of her chair as the hyperspace tunnel of light blasted into view as their ship accelerated hard. Mala observed the controls for a short time, but mostly left it to her skilled partner. She slipped from her chair and perched on the arm beside Vala, throwing her arms around her and pressing her lips to her cheek. "Not long now Babe.." she breathed into her ear, her excitement truely palpable. She loved being close to her companion, the feeling of her light fur against her skin always set her ablaze with desire. She reluctantly pulled away from that little embrace, she couldn't get distracted now, not while the hunt was on.

She returned to her seat and withdrew her rifle, quickly dismantling it and checking it. It was her baby, her pride and joy. A customised Merr-Sonn LD-1 Target Blaster Rifle, supporting a top of the line scope. Just as she was assembling and realigning it, the console alerted them of their impending arrival into the Bonodan System. They wouldn't have long before their target jumped again so they'd have to be ready. Mala glanced across at Vala with an excited grin, running a hand cooly over her long head-tails. "3......2......1........" The ship emerged into normal space, off to one side of their target. Their victim loomed, seeming much larger than it had when it was landed. "Whoop! Hit 'em with the tractor beam Babe, let's real this Bitch in!"
 
The Cathar enjoyed the sensation of the ship rumbling about her as they shot into hyperspace, the sensation was something one had to get use to but Vala had come to enjoy it well enough. The liftoff and acceleration through the atmosphere had been exhilarating as was the thought of catching their target, yet now it was simply a matter of waiting. Vala took the time to look over the controls, taking in the gauges and making sure the ship was holding together. Not that she really needed to, it wasn’t an old bucket of bolts that was being held together by meshtape and well wishes. Still, it was practical and always a sound habit to fall into.

She didn’t realize Mala had moved until she felt the breath against her pointed ear. The cathar couldn’t help but shiver lightly at that voice, the way she talked and the endearing names she would call her. She couldn’t help but recall the way Mala’s body reacted to her touch, or the taste of her passions. While Vala was an experienced techie, she had spent many years as a slave; with that came a whole different set of skills and experiences. She was delighted to show her savior all she knew, though now she couldn’t think of that. Maybe once they had the credits in hand she could show Mala a proper way of setting the mood. She tilted her head and offered an affectionate nuzzle to the twi’lek before she left though, a small sweet smile lingering upon her lips even after she left.

With a flash of light and a bleep Vala’s attention turned wholly to her ship. The dropped from hyperspace in a perfect spot, she couldn’t have hoped for a better position. She flashed a wicked grin and grasped the controls, pressing another button to engage the tractor beam.

“Hold on tight, my prrrretty blue friend!” Vala called out as she swept the ship in a wide arch, dipping down towards the ship and leveling out for a better shot. She hesitated for just a moment, if only to get a better shot before she pressed the button again and activated the beam.
 
"Are we ready to jump yet, Hardshell?"

"Negative, Captain, but calculations are almost complete." responded the droid.

"Alright, I'll just...."

The cockpit was suddenly filled with light and noise as the proximity alarm went off.

"What... The... Frak!" yelled Saxan. "Hardshell?"

"An unidentified vessel has just dropped out of hyperspace, remarkably close to us. Scanning now... it identifies as a Trilon Industries Assault Fighter, registered to a private security corporation from the Deltooine system.

That's the sort of ship that might be used to pursue and arrest a fugitive... maybe it's a customs vessel?

He flicked the switch that broadcast the hazard warnings.

WARNING! KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! HAZARDOUS CARGO! EXPLOSION RISK! CHEMICAL HAZARD! KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! WARNING!

The Falleen breathed a sigh of relief as the sleek and deadly smaller vessel pulled away - only to swear violently as it swerved around on an attack run.

"Power to shields and begin evasive maneuvers, Hardshell!" yelled Saxan, leaping from his seat. "Oh, and patch comms through to the forward gunwell..."

He sprinted through the short corridor, feeling the ship lurch suddenly. He slid into the gunnery chair. He slipped a headset on and then, flicking switches to bring the remote turrets into operation, he yelled into the comms mike.

"Report, Hardshell!"

"We have been locked on to with a tractor beam. We outmass the attacking vessel significantly - they cannot stop us but we will not be able to evade them." responded the droid, without emotion - its simulated calm one reason he had chosen this model over the ubiquitous and prissy 3PO series.

"Roger that..." responded Saxan, frowning. Tractoring without warning meant pirates... There could be as many as 9 people aboard the Aggressor. "Cease maneuvers and route power to the weapons..."

Alright you sons of bitches thought the smuggler captain to himself. You get one warning...

He punched open a broadcast frequency, even as he brought both sets of dorsal laser cannons to bear on the attackers, glad he has spent money on the control systems that allowed both turrets to aim at a single designated target with a single command.

Then, with his deep, smooth voice betraying not a hint of his anxiety, he began. "This is the Winged Serpent to unidentified assault fighter. We are carrying only fuel, not worth your stealing. Disengage your tractor beam now or I will open fire."
 
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Mala let out a little chuckle at the lies the ship spewed, even as the tractor beam caught hold causing the ship to shudder. She gripped the arms of the chair tightly, glancing over at Vala, her graceful hands deftly guiding the ship. The target ship slowed, their efforts to evade dulling. That could only mean they were preparing to fight. "Activating and angling deflector shields. We'll be able to stand a little, but we better move quickly." Mala almost whispered, flicking the shield controls on the panel before her.

A cool and casual voice drifted from the speakers and Mala's lipped quirked into a grin. "He knows he can't take us, subterfuge is his last defense. You know what to do, let's board this badass. I'll stall him while you get into position." She reached across the panel, a mischievous glint in her eyes, as she activated the comm.

She put on a slightly silly, deeper voice as she spoke: "Uh.... Vessel Winged Serpant, this is the unidentified Assault Fighter. Your message has been heard and understood, and we will be disengaging our Tractor Beam right after you've answered this question..... Have you heard the one about the Gungan Priest and the Farmers Daughter?"...........................
 
Her aim was true and the beam latched on as it should. The ship responded in kind and it wasn’t long until it had all guns pointing in their direction. This was to be expected, after all, any smuggler worth their salt could wiggle their way out of a situation or at least blast their way through. This one seemed the latter type, much to Vala’s angst. She preferred a quick and clean approach, the last thing she wanted was to get into a dog fight, but if push came to shove she could always rely on her partner’s trigger finger. Those triangular ears twitched lightly as she concentrated though there was no denying the look of surprise as Mala spoke. Her tone was...well...ridiculous! The cathar couldn’t help but laugh at the voice alone and the horrible joke made her snicker. Yet she never lost focus, if anything it gave her a boost of confidence as she gripped the controls and veered swiftly to one side, then the other. What power remained she sent to the engines, closing the gap between the two ships and hoping the shields could take the hits from the blasters for a few moments. The process was far smoother than she would have liked, but in the heat of the moment it was the best she could do. They lurched and thumped, the smaller vessel latching on and the sweet bleep on screen indicated they were good to go.

“Ve got et!” She cried out, her emotions rising up from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Only then did she let herself get distracted and steal a glance at Mala. “Shall I back you up? Or...” For a moment she hesitated, after all this was her part of the mission, she wasn’t exactly the one that lead the charge with blasters a’firing. Though if support was needed she would join in without hesitation.
 
The voice that responded to his message took Saxan by surprise - feminine tones but putting on a ridiculous fake accent.

He gave the message the only response that was worthy of it - a concentrated burst of laser fire. The ships's oversized powerplants had made up-rating the lasers a trivial affair - these hijackers were about to learn that this serpent had teeth...

At this range, and locked together as the two vessels were, the Falleen simply could not miss. The forceful beams of coherent light tore into the smaller vessels shields, and the reptilian smuggler nodded with satisfaction as his readings indicated imminent shield failure... just a few more seconds and...

"Burning Frak!" he swore, as the ship shuddered. The skrags had grappled and were now too close to shoot at - even if he did take out their ship the damage to his own would be crippling. And it probably wouldn't take them long to over-ride the locking codes dorsal airlock... he was about to be boarded and there was very little he could do about it...

Abandoning his now redundant position in the gunwell, he moved quickly through the ship back to the cockpit, calling out to his droid co-pilot as he slid into one of the secondary seats.

"Calculate us some short hyperspace hops, Hardshell... we only have one chance of getting clear of this..."

He activated the internal scanning console, so that he could monitor the progress of the pirates through his ship, and locked down all the internal doors. Not that that would slow them for very long... But if their pilot was not paying attention in the next few minutes, then Saxan had an ace up his sleeve...

spacemaster-interior.jpg
 
In Mala's eyes, this was the worst part, although she'd never say as much. The ducking and weaving threw her stomach around, and it wasn't like she could concentrate on firing the guns. If they significantly wounded the ship they'd never be able to haul that cargo away. The goal was capture, not cripple. But she trusted her counterpart, even if she did close her eyes tightly. The ship connected with a resounding thunk and Mala sprung into action, slipping the pistol from her holster as well as slinging the rifle across her back.

She glanced at Vala and grinned her excitement. Leaning in, she pressed her lips briefly to her furry cheek. "Make sure we're secure and safe and follow me when you can. We don't want no surprises." She kissed her again before climbing from the cockpit and racing to the blast door that barred the connection to the freighter. A whistle from an activated customised Astromech droid alerted her to its arrival. "Get cracking R4, hack the door. Come on come on...." she said urgently, even as it connected to the port, whirring away. The door opened several long moments later and she stepped inside, pistol at the ready. Instantly she was met by another door, she cursed her luck. Ofcourse the ship would be locked tight. She stroked her hand across her headtails cooly as she waited for R4 to get to work....

Droid: http://t1.***********/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKwobejhcBkJF36UCKMvzDXvyibbo9zFBVuTaHAtrG6ZcNSe6mRw
 
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Vala could not be more confident in any other situation than when she was flying. Even as her experienced and battle hardened comrade closed her eyes and clutched the seat Vala wore a look of confidence. The hard part was over, at least for the moment. They had made it this far and the cathar knew now it was up to Mala, once she gained access it was all over. She would have blushed if that ivory white fur did not cover her flesh completely, though that confidence look waivered for a moment as she offered an almost shy smile.

“Of course,” She murmured softly, her ears flicking and a quiver overtaking her as Mala kissed her again and raced off. It was almost comical how in the heat of the moment, with blaster cannons firing and ships latching on to one another that Vala could feel that flutter in her belly at that simple kiss. The cathar steadied herself with a deep sigh before she turned her attention back to the controls. She flicked across the screens, checking for any signs of undue stress on the hull, if they were still latched on correctly or it anything else was amiss.
 
Watching the internal sensors, Saxan could see a humanoid life form and a droid had managed to slice their way into the dorsal airlock. Idly, he decided to make life more difficult for them. It wouldn't stop them, or endanger them, but it would be a severe inconvenience...

"I wonder how good they are at handling zero-G..." he murmured with a grin.

He tapped a few commands into his console, and killed the artificial gravity floor-plates in the airlock.

Then he grinned. The next chamber the intruders would enter, the cargo lift, could potentially be a much more deadly trap...
 
The droid was almost through the inner airlock door when Mala's stomach tightened as her body suddenly became very light. The droid bleeped hysterically as the pair began to float as the gravity left the room. "Schutta!" she cursed angrily. This would waste time, too much time. Finally her floating took her to a wall which she was able to push off of, revolving in the air to land within reach of the Droid. Carefully she manipulated the droid so it's feet hit something solid. "Activate your damn magnetic feet. Stupid thing..." it made some more bleeping before the resounding thunk announced it's connection to the wall.

It wheeled back into place and inserted itself back into the port, finishing off its decryption routines and the door slid open. "Vala, you read me? I'm through the airlock, coming upon cargo doors..." she updated her partner over her com, her finger pressed to the small device sitting in her ear. The room beyond seemed to be some sort of Cargo lift, the walls either side were made up of two large cargo doors. A smaller door stood at the other end of the long room. "Come on you hunk of junk.." She whispered to her metal companion as it began wheeling down the room. Carefully Mala twisted into a crouched position, and pushed off, flying down the long room...
 
Those triangular ears perked as the voice echoed from the console. Vala raised her forearm and pressed a button, connecting the comlink to the ship’s console before she responded.

“I rrrread you,” She said over the com, her brows knitting as she gazed over the current readouts. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, at least for the time being. Now with Mala gone that typical doubt began to knot in her stomach. She couldn’t help it; the twi’lek had always been the cool confident one, at least in most situations. If it wasn’t flying, or slicing into a computer system, or even rebuilding hyperdrive generator, Vala was typically apprehensive at best.

“Hov is it going?” She asked over the comlink, unable to stop the quiver in her voice. It just seemed to be taking far too long, Mala should be inside already…
 
"Oh, yes... that's it, in you come..." chuckled Saxan to himself as he saw the two intruders, one mechanical, one flesh-and-blood, moving into the cargo loading bay. A dark ripple of satisfaction ran across his skin.

He switched the gravity field back on. If he was really lucky, the pirate would hurt himself when he landed... if not... well, it might not matter anyway...

Because his next action was to trigger the cargo lift. Down in the cargo bay, red lights would be flashing, a warning buzzer going off, the door that the two had entered by would slide shut, a safety feature that would over-ride any slicing the droid had done.

And the rectangular cargo lift that made up almost the entire floor of the area the pirate and droid where in would be oh-so-slowly dropping, breaking the airtight seal, sending the breathable atmosphere whistling into space...
 
Mala floated through the air like a little dart. Her finger went to her ear out of habit as she spoke into the comm. "All is we.........." As she reached about the centre of the hallway, the gravity snapped on and she hit the ground with a thump, driving the wind from her lungs. She gasped heavily to regain her breath just as the room went dark. Red emergency lights flickered and the door behind her hissed shut. "Oh...... damn..." The floor beneath her shuddered, before the hiss of pressure all around her alerted her to the opening cargo lift. The droid bumped her feet, whirring anxiously.

"Vala! Shut down the cargo lift! It's opening baby, shut it down!" She begged into her comm as she wrapped herself around her droid, hoping the mag locks on it's feet would hold, along with her grip. As the lift broke the atmospheric seal, she was suddenly pulled from all directions and she screamed, the noise becoming lost in the loud evacuating oxygen. "VAAAAAAALAAAAAAA!" Her hold on the droid was slowly slipping, she didn't know where she'd go or what would happen but she seriously did not want to let go....
 
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