Ask Coruscant Sabacc and Dumb Luck

[Neriya Dahle]

Neri twirled the blaster pistol around her finger, as she looked the white-haired woman tied up in the chair up and down. Half an hour after the bounty was issued, the pilot had caught her target. It was a new personal record. It still surprised her a little how off guard her bounty had been, considering the feat she had pulled off not that long ago. Apparently the woman had won three high-stake Sabacc games in a row, either through dumb luck or some higher power Neri didn't believe in nor cared about. Naturally, the other players hadn't taken it so well. And with her being the opportunist she was, Neri saw a chance to gain a few credits here.

Instead of this turning in another back alley murder, she had managed to get the gang members who were present to leave this woman to her. It took quite a bit of convincing, but it would all pay off in the end. Or so she hoped it would.

Sitting on the edge of the table with her legs crossed, her foot kicking slightly as she locked eyes with the woman. "You're in quite a bit of trouble love, the odds really aren't in your favor.." Neri exclaimed. "You see, I offered the fine gentlemen you played cards with that I would return their creds, seeing as you obviously cheated." she twirled her blaster pistol again, giving the impression that she was bored, which was far from the truth. "So could you be a good girl and tell me where you hid those creds?" Neri asked, cocking her head slightly to the side as her attention shifted back to the woman in the chair again. A slightly mischievous smile played about her lips. "Oh, I forgot you can't answer with that gag, my bad. Promise you don't scream?" she continued, winking at the woman as she got off the table and moved over to her.

Neri glanced at the woman's weaponry, which the pilot had neatly displayed on the table. It wasn't quality gear, but it still meant that this woman knew how to put up a fight. Cautiously, the pilot ungagged her captive. The white-haired woman played an important role in her plan; she couldn't afford to mess up and let her escape now.

If Alana would start screaming or swearing Neri would swiftly slap the woman's face with the back of her hand. "So, the creds. Where are they?"

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

This was stupid. Like, insanely stupid. Alana hadn't even been expecting to be jumped, especially not by this Schutta with a poorly done dye job; seriously, what was up with this ladies hair? Someone was framing her for cheating, and she didn't have a damn clue about what this pretentious woman was on about. It was completely and utterly ridiculous. Of course, she had a gag stuffed in her mouth so actually explaining herself was down right impossible. She merely glared at her kidnapper, feeling rather impatient about this whole affair. She wasn't even supposed to be on Coruscant, it had all been by accident, hell she was going to use the winnings to get off world. Now this was happening, and she was none to pleased. She had tested the ropes that bound her, and sadly the little twit had managed fo secure her rather snuggly. If not for the gag and the whole situation she probably would have been enjoying this whole thing. Seriously, this was like something out of a holofilm, it was almost too ridiculous to believe. Sadly it was in fact happening, and given how the situation was at current, Alana was going to have to talk her way out of this one.

Finally, after listening to this runt of a kath hound talk to herself for what seemed like an eternity, the gag was finally take out of her mouth. Taking a deep breath, Alana tilted her head to the side as she stared at Neri, a bit of anger in those red eyes, before speaking. "I'm not telling you where I have my winnings, because I didn't fething cheat." Alana squirmed in the ropes, gritting her teeth as a few things clicked in her mind. She almost never won at cards, so did that mean those derk for brain bastards let her win just so they could send someone after her? Well that didn't make any sense what so ever. Why would they let someone win just to do that? Alana scowled and looked down, shaking her head as she was honestly a bit stumped about what was happening right now. "I'll level with you I suck at Sabbac, I'm honestly surprised I won to be honest, but I ain't no fething cheater. My daddy raised me better than that." She said without a hint of hesitation, looking up to Neri, with half a mind to tell the woman to let her go. There was no well in hell she was going to spill where the winnings were.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Neri pursed her lips as the woman responded to her question. It was not the answer she would have liked. "Your daddy should've taught you manners as well now we're at it." she mumbled, just loud enough for Alana to hear it. It was clear that she wasn't gonna spill her secrets. Why did this woman have to make it so hard.

The pilot trudged back to the table, sitting down again like she had done moments prior. "Listen, I don't care if you cheated or not. Fact is, I promised to return those credits. If you don't wanna tell me where you hid your winnings, I'll just deliver you the gang like this. They'll probably kill you, or worse..." Neri placed a finger against her chin, looking out of the single window that filled the room with the neon light of a billboard. "I heard the slave trade is making a comeback. Perhaps you'll end up scantily clothed and chained to a Hutt for the remainder of your days.. Would be a fitting end, don't you think?" A grin formed on the pilot's face. The image alone made her smile, this woman was far too feisty to survive a life as a Hutt slave.

"Luckily, I've got a proposition for you. I'll untie you right now and help you get off planet, far away from these gangsters. I'm a pilot with connections here, you see. Getting you out of here is easy peasy for me." Her eyes were full of mischief as she spoke. Double-crossing her contractors brought a lot of danger with it. But this was an opportunity she couldn't let go. Besides, if everything went according to plan, she'd get a lot more credits out of this than had been promised.

Neri leaned forward a little as she continued. "Of course, I'm not gonna do it for free. I want half of your winnings." she stated, trying to gauge Alana's reaction as she spoke. "Think carefully on your choice, I won't offer it again." she added. "So, whaddya say? Are we in cahoots?"

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana's eyes narrowed at this little pretentious woman standing before her. No one was allowed to speak bad about her dad, especially not some crazy mixed haired schutta who screamed 'daddy issues'. "You're one to talk." She muttered back, her hands gripping into fists, though she did nothing else to try and silence this woman before her. Astra would probably sense how incensed she was right now, as Alana was more than fed up with this stupid planet and it's denizens. She just wanted to go home, not deal with this pilot tripping on her own ego. She probably wasn't even a pilot, hell she could have been insane for all Alana knew. The grin after talking about being enslaved to a Hutt kinda confirmed it. Alana wasn't scared, no, she was fuming. "If your trying to scare me you are doing a terrible job sister." She remarked, the look in her eyes might as well have shouted 'shut the feth up', as this girl was so full of it. This girl was so eager to get Alana to agree, but the truth was they needed each other to get what they wanted in the end.


"Absolutely not. I'm not a fething idiot. You'll just take the credits and leave me here." Alana gritted her teeth, feeling a sense of pure anger building in her, as she wanted to knock this woman into next week. "You're willing to backstab your own boss. How the hell do I know you aren't going to backstab me?" Alana shook her head, knowing that she was in a bad situation, but she wasn't going to be tricked by this woman standing before her. "Good, sell me into slavery. I can tell you right not I'm not worth a damn thing. You and I both know it. You don't even have the credits that you need, so nice try partner, but I'm not going to give over the only thing keeping you from killing me." Alana looked around the warehouse, a small part of her wondering if this was the last sight she was going to see. 'You can kill her, you just have to focus.' Alana winced and shook her head. Last thing she needed right now were the voices in her head. She wasn't going to plead for her life. She wasn't going to grovel like no damn dog, because if she did that meant Kraud was right about her not being cut out for this life, and she refused to buy into that. She needed to refocus her thoughts, find a solution, and live to fight another day. Giving into her frustrations was just going to get her killed. "I'm the best chance you got at getting off this world, and I got no issue splitting this share with you assuming you are even a hair of truthful alright? But how in the hell can I trust you when you got me in this situation?" Alana asked, looking up to this strange pilot woman, a slightly annoyed expression on display. "Clearly you aren't happy with your station, and neither am I. And if you need the money this bad, you gotta beg me to help you, then force bless you, you might need it more than me." Alana's hat slid off the side of her head, hitting the floor, as she glanced down to it and sighed. "So, how can I know to trust you? Because I can tell you right now, you take me back to those guys without the credits, and five years later you'll be right here wondering if you made the right choice. I'm your ticket out of here, so maybe untie me and I'll tell you where the stash is? That sound good?" Alana would know about being stuck in a rutt, she'd been living that life for the last few years now.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

This was starting to become frustrating. Here she was, trying to act all nice and give the white-haired woman a chance to resume her life, like nothing happened. But she had to be rude instead. Neri blinked once, twice even, as she tried to figure out where this attitude was coming from. She understood why the woman was concerned about the offer. There was no reason for her not to shoot after obtaining the credits after all. Instead of formulating a good defense, or persuading Alana that she was trustworthy, a snarky comment escaped her lips. "Keep that depression to yourself love, I know enough boys that would pay lots to own a pretty girl like you." she commented, mildly annoyed by Alana's 'I'm not worth a damn thing'. Not because she cared about her, no, but because she believed that everyone should be proud on themselves. Confidence was key, after all.

Neri slightly tilted her head as she listened to what else her captive had to say. Did she not get what kind of situation she was in? "Okay, first of all, you seem to be misunderstanding something.." Neri began. "I get paid either way. You are not my best chance to get off planet, cause I already got the means to get outta here already. Only reason I'm stickin' around is cause you happened to be dumb enough to get lured in their little trap. The only reason I even considered helping you, was cause I would've gotten more creds out of it hon." the pilot paused to let her words sink in. "I can't give you any reason to trust yours truly, but neither can you give me a reason why you wouldn't just jump me the moment I untie you." The proposition she had made was based purely on trust and a little faith from both sides.

"So, since you didn't give me a clear 'yes or no' answer, I'll ask again. We in cahoots or no?" Neri asked, but this time, her tone and expression were serious. "I'm not gonna sit around here and wait all day, so let me give you a time limit." she added, locking eyes with Alana as she took the comlink out of her pocket. Without breaking eye contact, Neri swiftly activated the device. "Got the woman. We're underneath the Coruscant Hotel." After just a few seconds, an unfamiliar voice could be heard. "Got it. We'll be right there for the transfer."

The white and brown haired woman slowly lowered her comlink. "What's it gonna be? Dancing for a slimy Hutt until your legs give out, or placing your faith in me for a couple of minutes?" This time, Neri wasn't having it. She wouldn't go along with a vague answer, or any attempt to bargain. No, if Alana didn't take up her offer now, the pilot would hand her over to the gang.

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana was not amused at all by the response of the woman, Alana didn't have depression, she was just fully aware of just how worthless she was. Then again, most people only cared about having a pretty face, they wouldn't. know about her issues til well after the trade was done. It seemed this woman didn't like Alana's answer, no, she wanted to just rub it in her face about how worthless she truly was right now. She merely rolled her eyes, feeling her temper starting to get the best of her. She looked away from Neri, shaking her head as the woman prattled on. Alana knew well enough her situation, that's why she was so fething angry right now. 'Just kill her.' 'You have the power.' 'Silence her, just focus.' Alana closed her eyes, as she could hear the voices fighting to get back up to the surface. She wasn't listening to Neri right now, her mind occupied with getting the voices in her head to stop. Her head slumped down between her legs, as she felt pressure building up in her skull like a pressure cooker. 'Please stop, please stop, please stop' She pleaded, her body heaving as she felt as if her head was about to burst.

Finally, the pain stopped, and when Alana lifted her head, she saw Neri raising the comlink to her lips, and call out their position. Alana's eyes began to water, she had just had enough of this world, and the fething people. She was just wanting to keep to herself, do her own thing, try and just be her own person; and EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. someone just had to screw it up. She began to shake, her jaw clenched so tight it could have bent durasteel. That pressure she had felt in her skull was now coursing through her chest, her body trembling in rage as she fixated on that little device Neri was holding onto. A low, deep voice whispered in her ear. 'Enough'. The image of snapping the woman's neck flashed in her mind, but the disgust that followed snuffed out the anger she had towards her captive. "ENOUGH!" Alana's fist tightened, feeling something in her hand just 'crack', as the comlink in Neri's hand exploded into bits. Alana's face went from a display of rage, to one of sheer horror, as she realized what she had done. Tears fell from Alana's eyes, as she leaned forward, feeling that pressure in her chest be released, with a void now moving to fill it; as well as a sense of being hallow, she just wanted to go home. "Yes! I'll help you, okay! That good? Alright? There, I said it. Okay?" She kept her head down, not able to meet the eyes of Neri. She felt nothing but shame in herself for having shown such weakness.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Just as she lowered the comlink, something utterly unexpected happened. She had tried to gauge Alana's reaction, but this was something she couldn't possibly have expected. Neri's attention immediately went to the device in her hand, as she felt how it got crushed under some kind of pressure. The pilot was no fool, however, as she quickly dropped the comlink, which exploded before it even touched the ground. For a good minute, she was silent, as she looked at crying woman and back to the remains of her comlink a few times. This was obviously her doing but.... how?

"If you wanted to perform party tricks you should've said no" she said, as she pointed her blaster at Alana. For a minute she did consider shooiting her, or hittinf her hard with the pistol. Military grade comlinks like this one were expensive, and her supposed partner just destroyed one of them. "But cause you're all teary-eyed and emotional, I'll accept your plea. as the yes I'm looking for."

Holstering her blaster, Neri moved over to untie her captive. Once Alana was free, Neri would stretch her hand out. "Neriya Dahle, pleased to meet you" she exclaimed, a little wary of the fact that Alana could attack her at any given moment now. This truly was quite a gamble, but the pilot was certain that it would all pay off in the end.

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana half wanted the woman to shoot her on the spot, as she quietly wept to herself, knowing that her condition was only getting worse. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She muttered, shaking her head side to side as she felt immense guilt for what she might have nearly done. To her surprise, Neri accepted her offer, and moved to untie her, to which the teary eyed huntress offered her hand to shake in kind. "Alana Calloway." She muttered, her tone sounding defeated, butbshe would still work with Neri to get away from this place. She just wanted to go home. Turning to her possessions, Alana moved to redress and rearm herself, as she cared little if Neri watched or had the decency to give her some privacy. She wasn't in the mood to fight, she just wanted to get all of this nonsense over with. Maybe if she was lucky Neri would just kill her once they were on the ship. That would be better than returning home like the failure she was.

As she got herself re-equipped, Alana would talk so as to hurry this whole process along, though her tone was rather lifeless as she spoke. "We need to stop by the alley outside of here. I stowed the winnings in the grate there, won't be much of a hassle to get to." Grabbing up her rifle, Alana checked the energy cell on it, and was satisfied that it still held a full charge. "I'll buy you a replacement for your comlink later. I....I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry." Alana continued, before she finally had all of her gear in tow. Stepping back from the table, she scooped up her hat and put it snugly down upon her head; as well as taking a moment to dust it off of course. Neri was probably going to berate her again, but what else was new? Alana was ready to head out now, though she still felt that empty feeling deep inside. She just wanted everything to go back to normal.


@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Neri frowned as Alana introduced herself with a defeated tone. "Cheer up sis, we'll be outta trouble before you know it." Neri moved over to the window as she spoke; the gang would catch up with them quickly and she wasn't about to be surprised right now. After Alana redressed and rearmed herself, Neri turned to face her new partner in crime. "Don't worry about the comlink. Just save your part tricks for later, we might need em." she exclaimed, preparing to leave the hotel room. "Grate you said? Lead the way."

With a hand on her holstered blaster pistol, the pilot followed behind Alana. Once they got outside of the hotel, she scanned the streets for any familiar faces. Luckily, she recognized none of the people that passed them on the streets. Just as she was about to go around the corner and follow Alana into the alley, however, Neri heard a familiar voice.

"Dahle! Why are you outside? Where is the woman?" kriff. The pilot turned, faking a smile as a rather fat man approached her, flanked by two (probably armed) Zabrak. "Oh hey, Braxton! What brings you to this lovely neighborhood?" Neri greeted, as cheerfully as she could. "The woman of course... you told me you had her here. So where is she?" Even a nerfherder could tell that he was getting annoyed already. "Ah, that. She's inside, room 217, tied to a chair. Can't miss it." she stated. So far, he didn't seem to suspect anything yet. "Right... Then why are you outside?" Okay, maybe she was wrong. "Oh you know, gotta have a smoke now and then. Work is stressful, you feel me?" her reply was followed by a wink, which seemed to frustrate the mob boss even further. "You better not be lying Dahle... Nasir, keep an eye on her. Jared, follow me." with a sheepish smile on her face, Neri waved him goodbye. During the entire encounter, however, only one thought crossed Neri's mind. Now don't tell me she ran away with the credits...

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana decided to not let Neri know that 'party trick' she used was something she didn't know how to do that 'trick'. In fact, she never wanted to do that 'trick' again. "Sure." She muttered, checking her equipment over, trying not to think about what she had just done, and rather on the fact she needed to get the heck out of dodge. Alana could only hope the woman was right about this being the last bit of trouble she would have to bear for a good bit. Seeing as how Neri had given her permission to lead on, that was exactly what Alana was going to do. Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, she was off, with Neri to her rear.

When the reached outside the establishment, Alana waved Neri over to the alley, as she slipped in and moved to collect the credits from the grate just sitting in the middle of the alley. It only took her a few moments, as it was still rather loose from her recent endeavor, as she withdrew the credits and tucked them into her coat. She looked back and noticed Neri wasn't following her, which struck her as odd as the woman should have been on her like white on rice. Slowly standing up, Alana slung her rifle off her shoulder and readied it, as she slinked against the wall and took a quick peek. She saw one rather large Zabrak looking over Neri, who seemed a tad uneasy. Had the gang caught up with her? That seemed to be the case. It would have been a great opportunity for Alana to just book it and leave the girl behind; after all, it'd be her head now wouldn't it? But she couldn't spare the thought. She wasn't exactly fond of the woman, but to leave to that fate....no one deserved that. Certainly not her.

Leaning back into cover after her split second glance, Alana took in a breath and focused on the sight she had seen just a moment ago, thinking of the angle she needed on the target, the distance. She could still see the Zabrak, shifting back and forth, his gaze fixaed on Neri, his arms crossed, eyebrow raised as he seemed to be onto her. Perfect time to strike. Alana leaned out, eyes closed as she did what she always did, let her instinct guide the shot. She aimed the rifle down to the Zabrak, her trigger finger twitched, and a shot rang out. A blaster shot exploded past Neri, narrowly missing her leg as the bolt slammed into the Zabrak sending him falling backwards, his left leg nearly turned into a numb from the shot impact. Alana opened her eyes, knowing she had nailed the target, as she lowered the rifle and waved to Neri, hoping she was getting with the program. "Get the hell over here!" She called out, as she was ready to get lost. The gang members inside probably heard the blaster fire, and would be after them soon.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

The sheepish smile didn't fade, as she stared at her newly appointed friend. How was she going to talk her way out of it this time? The Zabrak didn't really look like much of a talker anyway. And while she was reckless, she wasn't stupid enough to fight this tall Zabrak. Yeah, this was gonna be real trouble.

Luckily, she wouldn't have to do a thing. In the blink of an eye, a blaster bolt passed by her, slamming into the Zabrak's upper leg. With a cry of both pain and surprise, the Zabrak fell backward. Alana didn't need to say a thing, as Neri already dashed in her direction. "Gotta move fast now, otherwise we ain't getting out of here anytime soon!" she shouted as she passed Alana, fully expecting the woman to run after her.

Once they were far away from the Coruscant Hotel, Neri, in between breaths, shared the next part of her plan. "There are way more thugs working for that gang than those three pushovers. They call themselves the Redfaces, not exactly the kind of people you wanna have against you. Especially not on Coruscant." Neri clarified, keeping up a fast pace as she crossed one of the near-empty streets. "But since we're already on their to kill list now, I doubt it'll get much worse if we steal one of their freighters." With her blaster pistol in hand, the pilot suddenly turned right, entering a small alley, if it even could be considered one. The alley led them to a backdoor entrance of a large building. "See? told you I knew my way around here love. Tis' an entrance to the spaceport, leads to the private hangar of the Redface gang, to be exact. The last thing they'll expect is us showing up in their own territory, so I doubt it'll be well guarded." she exclaimed proudly, hoping that Alana would be somewhat impressed by her companion's worth. "So, would you be so kind to lead the way, miss gunslinger?"

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

Alana was rather grateful that her companion reacted as quickly as she did. Alana slung the rifle back over her shoulder and followed in tow, as they needed to get as far away from here as possible. "Don't need to tell me twice!" She muttered, as she moved as fast as her legs could carry her, already hearing the shouts of some very angry gang members behind them; or maybe it was just part of her imagination.

They ran for a fair bit, where they had ended up, Alana wasn't exactly sure, but she could only guess far away from that damn hotel. Alana posted herself against a wall, panting as she caught her breath, having had to cling onto her hat else it would have gone flying off into oblivion. When Neri began to explain there were more than just the three, Alana felt like it was rather obvious to her; but then again, Neri didn't know what she knew. "Right, Right, so lets just steal their ship, sure they'll forget all about us then." Alana commented, half sarcastic, half not. Frankly she didn't care what they did to these jerks, so long as they got off world. "I'm kidding. Let's just steal their drek and get off this rock." She followed up with, hoping Neri would launch into some long winded defense of her plan. What was it with gangs having stupid sounding names anyways? Redfaces? Seriously? That was the best they could come up with? Alana would follow behind Neri as the woman began to move forward, thankfully at least one of them knew their way around this place. "I didn't doubt you knew your way around, I doubted if you'd kill me or not once you got the credits. Thankfully you've held back on doing that." Alana muttered, not entirely sure what to make of her new 'ally', other than she was a tad crafty. As they snuck around to the backdoor of a building, Alana raised an eyebrow at the idea of this place not being guarded. "What do you consider well guarded?" She asked merely for clarification, though it hardly mattered where they were now. Alana was a tad impressed with the woman's know how, but it only confirmed what she had suspected earlier; Neri was just waiting for her chance to break out of here, that's why Alana wasn't dead. When Neri asked if Alana would mind leading the way, she merely shrugged and pushed her hat down a tad tighter. "Sure, why not. It's only our lives on the line, right?" She muttered, as she readied her rifle and moved towards the door. She crept up close, then tried to listen to anything noticeable on the other side of the door. If the door was locked, Alana would whip out her handy multi tool to bypass the lock, and if not she would open it up barrel first, fully expecting to barge right into a fire fight. One thing was certain though, she was getting the hell off this world, even if she had to drag Neri off it behind her.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

She had to admit, the more she ran around with this woman, the more she felt guilty about tying her to a chair. While she didn't seem like it at first glance, Alana was definitely a trustworthy person, with her heart in the right place. If only she could ever live up to that example..

"What I consider well guarded?" Neri chuckled. "Take a peek and see for yourself" the pilot suggested just as the door slid open. Of course, it wasn't locked. This was the infamous Coruscant Underground; nobody was stupid enough to enter a building that wasn't their own. That was why the Sullastan and the Chagrian in the hallway were completely taken by surprise. Before they even reached for their holstered blasters, Neri had already fired three shots with her trusty DL-18 blaster pistol. She didn't even bother to put it on stun, hitting the Chagrian square in the chest, and the Sullustan in his shoulder and upper arm. At this range, she couldn't possibly miss.

Without batting an eye to the two gang members, Neri continued down the hallway. It had to lead to a hangar, it just had to. She wasn't 100% sure, but like always, she acted as if she knew what she was doing. And thankfully, it paid off. The hallway brought her to a large, messy hangar. Wasting no time, Neri took cover behind a couple of crates, pulling Alana with her. The thugs present in the room were blasting music on max volume; they weren't aware of what just happened in the hallway, or so Neri suspected. The hangar was mostly empty, housing only a single Quadjumper. The pilot released a sigh as her gaze fell upon the Quadjumper. "Of course they have a spacetug.. Why did I expect better?" she muttered. "It's not gonna be a flashy or fancy escape, that much I can tell you already." she told Alana, with her gaze still locked on the spacecraft. "I mean, it's not a bad craft by any means, but it lacks in aesthetic you know? Plus, the hyperdrive is probably tra-" With a confused look on her face, Neri turned to Alana. "Wait, why am I even explaining this to you?" the pilot shook her head. "kay, I'll rush towards it, you cover me?" she suggested, wanting Alana's approval first before she made any reckless moves.

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

To Alana's surprise, the door was unlocked; did people really not lock their doors here? Weird. "Well, pardon me. I thought there'd be a welcome committee waiting for us." Alana muttered, looking around the place with her rifle at the ready. Alana was going to pop a shot at the two men that were waiting there, but Neri got them first. She let the woman move on by her, as Alana took up the rear now, letting Neri move on up ahead. Least her new partner was a good shot, those were a tad hard to find now a days. She hoped Neri knew where she was going, because Alana sure as hell didn't. She got the feeling that her and Neri weren't all that different, maybe the woman wasn't as bad as she let on. It was too bad they had to meet in such a fething bad situation.

Entering into the hanger bay, Alana was snatched into cover by Neri, and the reason was pretty obvious. There were two goons sitting in there, but thankfully there were blasting some terrible music that had captured their attention. Neri went into some critique about the ship they were looking at right now, to which Alana merely shook her head. "Hey, I'd take a garbage skiff so long as it gets us the hell out of here." She muttered, rubbing her saw as she was looking at the situation, thinking the best way to take out the two goons that stood before them. "I don't care for flashy, just hope you can pilot as good as you talk drek flygirl." Alana snickered as the woman started to get a critique of the craft, clearly Nari was very particular about her style of ship; not that Alana could blame her. Alana looked back to Neri with a small grin as the woman looked to her. "Cause your excited to get outta here?" Alana replied, finding it rather amusing that Neri was gushing about this. Alana nodded as she was asked to cover for her partner, as she raised her rifle and took aim. "Yep, I got you girl. Go get our ride." Alana muttered, as she took in a breath and would begin to fire into the group; giving Neri an opening to jump on board the ship.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Neri's confused expression made place for a grin, as Alana responded with some good-natured banter. "Just you wait, I'll show you what Neriya Dahle is capable of" she muttered, as she waited for the right moment to make a run for it. Once the two started laughing and turned their backs to the ship, the pilot took her chances. Neri jumped over the crates they had taken cover behind, and ran straight towards their ride. The two goons didn't seem to notice anything just yet, but something here wasn't right. Her sixth sense was tingling.

As she reached the boarding ramp, Neri understood why; a third, Rodian thug came strolling down the boarding ramp, instantly spotting the woman. Luckily, she had her pistol readied for the draw, reacting only an instant faster than the Rodian. The sound made by her blaster pistol as she fired it echoed through the hangar, drawing the attention of the two thugs.

Dashing up the boarding ramp, she narrowly evaded a blaster bolt, slamming into the ship just above her head. Knowing that she had little cover here, Neri wasted no time. Alana was on her own for now, but the white and brown haired pilot was certain that the feisty woman could handle it. Plus, it wasn't as if she was going to have an easy time inside the Quadjumper either. The door leading to the cockpit slid open just as she stumbled into the cargo hold. A Zeltron woman stepped through, with her heavy blaster pistol at the ready. "What the hell has gotten into you Dahle!" she yelled. Before she could pull the trigger, however, Neri grabbed the woman's wrist, slamming it hard against the interior wall of the Quadjumper. The Zeltronian, overwhelmed by the pilot's sudden assault, dropped her blaster pistol. "Yeah well, changed my mind about this whole Redface thing" Neri immediately followed her disarming move up with a shoulder throw, hurling the Zeltronian out of the Quadjumper. "It's time to make a break for it love!" she shouted to her partner, hoping that Alana would be able to get here soon.

Setting foot into the cockpit, Neri instantly moved over to the control panels. Flying a tugboat like this was child's play. The craft's engines roared to life, as Neri's hands moved over the controls at astounding speed. Half of the control panel flashed red; the ship hadn't been used in a long while. Preparing to get to work, Neri cracked her knuckles. "Welcome home" she mumbled to herself, as she waited for Alana to join her in their newly acquired spacecraft.

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

It seemed like the two woman were slowly working over their inital issues with one another, as they exchanged a bit of banter. Which was well needed, because otherwise Alana would just fixate on the fact she nearly snapped the girls neck; which wasn't a really positive thought to hold on to. "I hope you do." Alana stated, before she let the blaster bolts fly. The first shot she let loose was a bit high, burning right on through the hat one of the thugs wore, while her second shot nicked him right in the shoulder as he turned around.

The fight was now on, as the men across from her brought blasters to bare, three guns against her one; seemed like even odds in Alana's mind. While Neri disappear into the ship, Alana focused on keeping the little nerf herders across from her stuck in their current predicament. Despite her cover behind one the crates, the truth of the matter was the bastards had a larger rate of fire than Alana. She had to duck back into cover as the crate she had selected began to be torn to shreds by the blaster shots that nearly hit her, though she did manage to drop one of the men before that. She decided it would be best to let the morons shoot themselves dry, and fire back once they were done, and sure enough that's what they did. Popping up, Alana took sight of the contraption that had given them this opening, and fired. Alana's shot nailed the music box, as it exploded into bits and showered the poor bastards in the smoldering debris. With the music gone and the pause in the firing, Alana could make out Neri's shout echoing in the hanger bay, and knew it was time to skedaddle.

Leaping over the smoldering crate, Alana booked it for the ramp, and was nearly inside when a blaster bolt from behind struck her in the shoulder and sent her tumbling to the floor of the ship. "Son of a womp rat!" She groaned, dropping her rifle as her entire left shoulder felt like it was on fire. She called out, as Alana turned and got herself up, thankful for the blaster vest she was wearing, but the blast had caught her at the edge where the protection ended. "I'm in, get us out of here!" She called, in case Neri wasn't already hoofing it. Alana would make her way into the cockpit and sit down next to Neri, just incase she needed help; though her left arm was unresponsive at the current moment and her left shoulder was quite literally smoldering. "Don't worry about me, just hazard of the job." Alana said through gritted teeth, feeling her nerve clusters starting to come alive and scream in pain from the shot. Yea, she'd need a medpack for this.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Just when the pilot started to get impatient, she heard the sound of someone slamming into the ship's metal floor, followed by swearing of a familiar voice Neri grinned as she, in response, immediately raised the boarding ramp. After pulling a few more levers and pressing a wide array of switches and buttons, Neri launched the Quadjumper. Of course, the hangar remained closed. It was their first obstacle.

Leaning over Alana to reach a switch just above her head, Neri began talking again. "Deflector shields are up, we ain't got turbolasers and the navicomputer hasn't been updated since I last saw mom, and for your information, that was a long time ago.." Taking the yoke in her hand, Neri officially got the Quadjumper off the ground. "In summary: she'll fly, but absolutely not through hyperspace." The Quadjumper shuddered as it rammed through the gate, causing Neri's eyes to widen for a second, as she barely kept control over the vehicle.

Accelerating their vehicle, Neri chuckled. "I'm not getting paid to care anyway" she responded, steering their craft to the nearest skylane. She leaned back in her seat a little, finally feeling safe again. That was, until they received a transmission.

Without a second thought, Neri opened the comchannel, which she realized was a mistake once she heard the voice. The tone of the woman was calm, yet very threatening. "Neriya Dahle. I'm disappointed in you girl. You know what happens to those who betray us. I had high hopes for you... Such a shame." The ever-confident Neri was still grinning, but she was visibly sweating. "Yeah well, can't trust Bespinians, am I right?.."

 

[Alana Calloway]

Sitting down in the chair, Alana glanced over to the pilot as the woman rattled off a bunch of techno info that didn't really help the situation facing them. Like at all. When the ship slammed through the gate, Alana was slammed back into her seat, but on the plus side her arm was starting to have some sensation back, though it was operating at far greater strength output. "Well we weren't planning on getting into a firefight anyways. Just get us lost. Once we get to the spaceport we can book passage off world." Alana muttered, her hand holding onto her hat as their new ride wasn't exactly graceful. Neri boosted up the speed of their Quad jumper, and made a comment about how she didn't care about Alana's new injury; which prompted a snicker from the injured party. "You're probably hoping I drop dead, just makes a bigger pay day for you." She smirked, as she leaned back and tried to get on idea of how bad her new wound was. "Well sorry to disappoint you sister, but I ain't that easy to get rid of. I'mma try and find something to fix this up with. Don't need to be drawing more attention to ourselves." Alana rose, wanting to go looking for a med pack, but a notification from the comm station stopped her in her tracks. Standing in the door of the cockpit, Alana turned to see what was going on, and was not impressed by what unfolded.

Neri seemed to be giving into the pressure, not like Alana was handling it any better, so Alana was going to help the woman out. Moving into range of the device, Alana tried to pipe in a little bit of outer rim swagger; which was about as elegant as one would expect. "With all due respect ma'am, there isn't a chance in hell you're going to find us once we burn outta here. So drop the act lady, cause the truth is you're just bitter cause you got played." Alana put her good arm on the back of Neri's seat to prop herself up, as the woman on the comm terminal paused for a moment. "So, this is the person you've decided to hinge your bets on Neriya? Perhaps I was wrong about you." Alana shook her head and left Neri to put up with the woman on the comm, as she tried to find a dressing or something to dress her shoulder. While doing so, Alana couldn't help but notice a single speeder seemed to be trying to get rather close to their jumper, like, terrible close to the ship. Were the Reds still after them, or were people on Coruscant just that bad at flying? Alana looked back towards Neri and called out to her. "Hey, Neri, I think your pals want their ship back. Got a pack of them here." One of the men drew a blaster and took aim, and that basically confirmed it to Alana, as the idiot starting taking pot shots at the ship.

@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

"Oh we're not getting on a passenger ship sugar, unless you wanna get caught again." she responded. "Also, you're paying me to get you outta here. Can't honor that agreement if you drop dead, so nah. I'd appreciate it if you stayed alive." she added glancing at her partner as the woman stood up from her seat.

The transmission truly had her sweating. She knew who this woman was. What this woman was capable off. Her cocky grin had been wiped off her face the minute she heard that voice, and even Alana's return to the cockpit didn't cause it to return. Her little addition to the conversation made the pilot freak out even further, as she nervously gestured for the white-haired woman to be silent. Alana just shook her head, and left her alone with the voice again.

"Because you actually proved to be a valuable asset, I'll give you one last chance.", the voice continued. "I'll pay you triple whatever that woman is paying you, if you return to the hangar right now." Neri bit her lip, clenching the control yoke in her hands as she counted the credits in her mind. Oh, it was so tempting. The amount was enough to buy a freighter of her own, and her current contractor was already wounded. All she had to do was reach for her pistol, aim, and... "Yeah about that.. the odds of you shooting me in the face as soon as I land are quite high. So sorry sugar, but that's not gonna cut it." she replied, her voice a little hesitant as she let the wealth slip through her fingers. The comm channel was silent for a while. "Very well. Know that you'll be no longer safe in the core until you arrive at my doorstep, and beg me for forgiveness." without any further chance to reply, the woman disconnected from the comchannel. And just in time, as Alana shouted a warning to the pouting pilot, who failed to get the last word.

"They want what now?" she shouted back, glancing at the warning signals as the sensors of their stolen craft picked up the speeder to her right. "Aha, got it. Hold on to something love!" without any further warnings, Neri maneuvered the Quadjumper to their right, ramming into the speeder just as the goon fired his blaster. The speeder took the hit full force, spiraling out of control and dropping a few skylanes, only to explode on impact with a levitating billboard. "Oh Alana, you better be worth all the effort..." Neri mumbled, sending their craft down a path she knew was a shortcut.

@Algarus

 

[Alana Calloway]

"Yea, guess you make a good point." Alana muttered, maybe public transport would just make things worse, but on the other hand Alana had no clue where they were going to go now. This was a pretty horrible situation, not to mention she didn't fully trust her partner right now.

Alana wasn't sure whether to be offended or flattered by the words of her companion, so she decided to just accept it as a sorta in between comment. Alana hadn't managed to find anything during the search, as she was blissfully unaware of the deal being offered to Neri, though if she overheard it she probably would have been more apprehensive than anything around her new companion. When Alana cried out her warning, she briefly pondered grabbing her pistol and trying to fire back, but that would just be pointless. Firstly she couldn't do a thing to the men without opening the door, and secondly, there was nothing they could do to her so long as she was inside the ship. She watched with an amused grin as their attempts to fire through the ship failed utterly, as the blasts washed off the hull of the ship; or perhaps the deflector shields if the little rust bucket had deflector shields. When Neri called out a warning, Alana gripped onto an overhead support, as the ship slammed against the speeder in pursuit, sending the little craft hurtling through the air and leaving the two women to make a clean break. "Nice going fly girl!" Alana called out, as she moved back into the cockpit, her arm stinging like made from having had to make use of it now.

Working herself back into the cockpit, Alana grabbed onto Neri's seat with her good arm and tried to make sense of where they were. It seemed that Neri had finished her holocall, and Alana could only wonder how those two had ended the conversation. "Guessing that was your boss?" Alana asked, a scowl starting to stretch across her face. Here she was, going around throwing yet another life into disarray, it was like she was cursed or something. "Sorry." She muttered, before sliding into the seat opposite the pilot. She wasn't exactly upset to be free, but rather that it had to be her that was getting Neri into all this trouble, made her feel a tad responsible, even though the woman had done this of her own free choice. "So, what's the plan? We need to be able to jump to hyperspace, but I don't know anyone here that can set us up with a ship to get off world." Alana's thoughts briefly went to that of Ines, but decided against roping the woman into this. The further that girl was from this conflict the better.

@Powerfullhorus