Velocity (nehantish)

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Krasst! Frelling dren-soaked piece of... of dren!" Arya banged on the hyperdrive coils with a hydrospanner, but the only result was an unsatisfactory thunking sound. Twisting around and grabbing the metal support beam she was hanging upside down from, the smuggler righted herself and pulled her long body out of the service hole she'd been working in.

Stomping her boots on the deck plating, the dark-haired woman made her way to the cockpit of her chevette77 freighter. She'd barely made it out of an Interdictor cruiser's gravity well, but after the panicked jump she'd made to avoid being caught by the Empire... well, she had no idea where she was, and her hyperdrive was fried.

Luckily, or unluckily, she found a nearby system she could sublight to. Nehantish. Information in the navicomp was scant, but she knew that Nehantites were some of the handiest mechanics in the 'verse. If she could just get there, they could fix up the Wing of the Raven just fine.

If she could get there.

Arya plugged in the coordinates and set the auto-pilot. She needed some shut eye. Imperial spice traps were nerve wracking, even for her.

----

Ten hours later, she was back in the cockpit, asking for clearance to land. Control fed her a set of coordinates, and she started the freighter down. She needed fuel now too. "Frelling krast on a dren stick." She gripped the yoke and followed the beacon in.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit wiped his brow on the back of his arm, effectively drying the crop of sweat he had formed while also leaving a blackish smudge from the oil and grease which had been on his forearm. Such was the life of a mechanic. Flipping his spanner over in his paw, the Nehantite dropped it back into his belt, then stood up, glad to finally have the hunk of junk he had been working on back in working order.

It had been a long week. It always was since he no longer ran his own shop, but had to work for another. Anauri had decided to go exploring a few months back, and Tevit simply couldn't handle the rebuild shop all by himself, so he sold it and made his way back home, where he promptly fell back into the same line of work. Oh, what he wouldn't give to be a spoiled billionaire like his cousin. Gray-furred tightwad bastard... Tevit shook his head. That was no way to think of family, even if it was true and J'ktal had been holing up all manyer of strange aliens while at the same time turning down his request for some investment cash for his own local shop. Tevit would never understand the rich.

Just a few more months of saving and he'd have it on his own, Tevit kept telling himself. Just a few more months of living in his ship, working double shifts, and eating cheap college student fare, and he'd have enough to put down on his own shop. Glancing up at the clock reminded him he onyl had three more hours before he was finally off-shift. Three hours, that was, unless they got an incoming emergency repair job, and that wasn't likely unless the military was letting rank amateurs pilot again.

But, no sooner had the yellow-furred mongoose loosened the belt on his coveralls and plopped back into the old, ratty sofa that ran along one of the shop walls than the flashing red alarm lights went off, and he hauled himself back up to a stand. The massive overhead doors folded back, letting the harsh sunlight pour in around the silhouette of a ship whose engines sounded in dire need of repair. He heaved a sigh of defeat. It was off-world, and the owner probably didn't fancy following normal busniness hours. Looks like it was going to be another all-nighter. Strapping on his tool belt once more, Tevit waved off the afternoon supervsor, ran a paw through his hair which only succeeded on leaving a few more oil streaks, and then stepped up to the entry hatch of the ship, ready for the owner to come out yelling and screaming that his perfect spacecraft had blown something under no fault of his own doing. That was always the story, and it was never, ever true...

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya hit the release on the ramp, and started walking down it as it descended. A yellow-furred Nehantite was buckling on his tool belt as he walked towards her. She stuck out her hand for a firm handshake. They both had grease stained hands. "Blew a hyperdrive coil, and I nearly bled my sublights dry on the way over here. Care to give me an estimate on cost?"

The smuggler glanced casually around the area, marking exits and personnel. Eyes wandering back to the mechanic, she offered up a tight smile. "I'm sort of in a hurry. This put me behind schedule. You know how it is."

[Tevit Ramastan]

A woman. Ugh, if there was anything worse than a foreign man in a hurry with a broken ship, it was a woman in the same predicament.

Tevit looked at the ship again and rubbed his chin, an apprehensive look about his face. "Fuel we've got in abundance," he said, "but it's the coil that'll be the tricky thing. Haven't got any stock right now, dor does this whole hemisphere. I'll have to take it apart and repair it. That's the only way you're going to get it back in working order in less than a week. Supply lines don't reach too well out here."

Looking back to Arya, he shrugged his shoulders. "Came to the right shop, though. Me and the boys can probably have her back up in a day and a half, maybe two. Nothing sooner though, and I won't have a price estimate until we get the hyperdrive dismantled. Sorry about your schedule, ma'am, but you're not leaving tonight. Better find yourself someplace in town to stay. Arnie up at the desk knows a few good places. Anything you need off your ship before we start crackin' her open?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya frowned. Suppose it can't be helped. "There's nothing I need to get off the ship, just stay out of the cargo hold. My employers put a seal on it - if you break it I'll have to kill you." She stretched a bit, feeling the weight of the blaster in her shoulder holster.

"Arnie knows a few good places, huh? Best go see him then. Thanks for taking me in on such short notice."

[Tevit Ramastan]

"Not a problem, as long as your credits are good," Tevit replied, a slim smile on his own face. With a curt nod, he let Arya be Arnie's problem, and focused on the ship.

It was an odd ship, one he had never worked on before, but they were able to dig up service and schematic manuals on their database, and with diagrams in paw, Tevit and a team of tour other Nehantites went to work. The hyperdrive was shot, at least their diagnostic devices told them, but getting to it would be quite a trick. A few hours later, most of the external panels around the engine bay were off, and all that could be seen of Tevit were his hind paws hooked around a bracing bar as the rest of him hung inside the ship itself.

Cursing, Tevit hauled himself back out and threw a socket wrench against the wall. "Stupid piece of crap foreign design!" he vented his anger, but in words far less civlized. "Jurn, can these panels come off?" he called across the shop to a brown-furred male sitting on the couch eating a sandwich.

"Nope," Jurn shook his head, "not unless you wanna cut 'em away and then weld 'em back on. Owner prob'ly wouldn't like that too much."

"No, she'd probably pitch a fit," Tevit muttered under his breath, then pounded a fist against the hull. "Gar, the only other way in is through the inside, and I don't think we can get there from the main access ways."

"I might be able to fix it from out here," a voice from behind him said. It was Piper, the youngest member of the crew, and the only one who had gone to college of any sort. He had been brought on to help with the more sophisitcated electronics, and when he had an idea, the others had learned to listen.

"It might not be the drive, but the electronics. If I can reprogram it, we might be able to get it to work. I mean, we didn't smell anything burnt, or notice any singe marks, right?" Piper asked, and the others had to agree. "So, let me hook up the system to it and I can see what I can do."

Tevit was skeptical, but if it meant they could be done sooner rather than later, he would allow it. The supervisor had gone home, and that left Tevit in the rank of senority. It was a decision he would quickly come to regret.

Only minutes after Piper had hooked up his computer, the young technician's eyes went wide behind his glasses, then he frantically tried to unlink, but it was too late. He had misread the power capacities of the system, and overloaded the relays. Everyone could smell the smoldering wires before they burst into flame, and from there it was a mad rush to put out the fire as the riring leading to the hyperdrive burned down like the fuse to a bomb in a movie. Fire extinguishers blasted, but only enough to keep surrounding areas from catchign light, right up until it passed through the bulkhead going into the cargo bay. Tevit hesitated for a moment, but diecided that Arya would be slightly madder if her ship burned and exploded than if he opened the bay. A few blows from a heavy wrench later, he was through the doors and putting out the fire inside.

He emerged again, hacking and coughing from the smoke, but the fire was out, and now they had the task of cleaning up the burn marks and running new wiring through the ship in addition to fixing the hyperdrive. At least the good news was that they could get to the proper access panels now. Waving the crew in, Tevit issued them their orders while he made it out to the waiting room to get a soda from the machine to help quench his thirst. Just his luck that when he looked up, Arya was back. A dumb, "Errr," escaped his lips as he tried to think of what to say. He was hoping to have finished the job before she found out what happened. "Um, about your ship..." he started, hoping the rest of the words would come to him.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The hotel she'd been directed to was nearby, and not infested with insects. Both were excellent selling points, but she still felt that the price had been a bit steep. After haggling over credits with the desk manager (she hadn't gotten anywhere, must have been the fatigue), the smuggler headed back over to the shop to keep an eye on the Wing of the Raven.

The mechanic was there, a damp soda can nestled in his paw. He flinched, and stuttered, "Um, about your ship..."

Arya frowned, hands stuffed into her jacket pockets. She couldn't quite see the freighter through the veiwing window from this angle, but there were a few smoke darkened mongeese walking about. "I can already tell I'm not gonna like this." She tugged a hand through her short black hair and walked towards the window.

"What the frell do you think you're doing!?" Arya pounded a fist on the glass before she could catch herself, but thankfully her hand rebounded without breaking anything.

[Tevit Ramastan]

"Hey hey hey!" Tevit tried to calm her down while sqeezing hismelf between her and the window so that she didn't break it.

"You've got soem serious low-grade wiring in that thing and it just caught fire," he explained, quite miffed. "Gar, you should be glad we were able to out it out before the whole thing went up in flames. Sheesh, and who designed that thing? It's nearly impossible to even get to the hyperdrive, let alone get the coil apart and fix it. We're replacing your wiring with far better grade stuff, and cleaning it all up, so just chill out, and let us do our job."

Indignantly, the mongoose mechanic took a swig from his soda, and hoped that Arya would understand. So far, she still didn't know the cargo bay had been opened, and that's how he wanted to keep it.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya took a deep breath to try to relax. "Sorry - guess I should be glad the whole thing didn't blow up."

Her eyes narrowed as she saw a mechanic carrying a coil of wiring walk to the back of the ship, and then disappeared as though he'd walked into the cargo bay. "You didn't..." The angle wasn't quite right, but the Nehantite she'd watched didn't appear around the other side.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Crap, she knew. Crap crap crap. Tevit had to do some clever talking, and fast. "We should be done by morning," he tried to divert her attention. "Some of the exerior panels might requie some new bolds and mounting brackets, but we've got a guy working on that already. Don't worry, we've got it all under control. As soon as we get the coil out, we'll be able to real get moving. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work."

In the back of his mind, Tevit prayed that she wouldn't follow him, but he could already tell she wasn't fully buying it.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Ramastan was talking fast, distracting her from watching the other mechanics. She shook herself lightly, staring at him a little wild-eyed. "Shadra is going to kill me. What..." What have you done, was the thought stuck somewhere in her mind, as Arya pushed past him, breaking into a run towards her now open freighter as she hit the duracrete.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Aw crap. Things had just gone to hell in a handbasket.

"We can explain!" Tevit called back to her, but she wasn't listening. "The fire went through the bulkhead, I had to open it, or you wouldn't have a ship right now. I had no choice!"

He couldn't see the look on her face, but from the expressions of the rest of the crew, things did not look good at all.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Panic quickly faded into a blanket of fury, which faded into panic again as she reached the cargo bay. The seal that Shadra the Hutt's lackeys had placed on her bay door was broken jaggedly in half and part of it was lying on the floor. Her mouth hung open at an odd angle, not realizing that her blaster was clutched tightly in her right hand.

Mechanics scattered, but one was stuck inside the hold where he'd been pulling out the fried wiring. He ducked behind a crate.

The blaster dropped to the deckplating of the hold as Arya sank down beside one of the five large crates that were strapped securely to the floor. There was a moment of silence.

"Frelling frelled piece of frell!"

Her commlink beeped softly. Arya blanched.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit slowed to a stop behind her, his mind reeling as to what to say. He didn't know what was in the crates, and so far none of them had been disturbed, and he hoped she could at least see that. Inside, Dobar carefully looked up over the edge of one crate and saw the blaster lying on the floor beside Arya, but he still didn't dare move.

Tevit came up behind Arya and carefully stepped on her blaster, pulling it away from her with his bare footpaw. "Um, yeah, see, we didn't have much choice. We'll write a letter to whoever the shipment belongs to explaining what happened, if that helps."

Carefully he inched the blaster further from her, not fancying getting shot that day.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya held up a hand. "I have to take this. Please be quiet and don't say anything."

She pulled her commlink out and clicked to answer the transmission and open a channel. "Arya Ravenwing here."

"You are late." The voice of Shadra's Devorian majordomo rattled through the comm. "Excuses will not save you this time, smuggler. Shadra is most displeased that her goods have not reached Kuat yet."

"Yeah, about that. Would you believe I busted my hyperdrive evading Imperials, and then had my ship almost exploded by Nehantite mechanics?"

There was a pause. "No. Get the shipment to Kuat by tomorrow or there will be a death mark on your head." The channel was broken, the majordomo had terminated the link.

Arya threw the commlink across the hold hard enough for it to break on impact with the wall.

[Tevit Ramastan]

The situation had officially gone from crap to holy crap.

Tevit's mouth hung upen and he toned dumbly, "Uhhhh, um, It's not going to be able to be that far from here by tomorrow, even if we work all night. Sorry." He really had no idea what else to say, but he carefully stepped back anyhow, pulling the blaster farther along with him. Some day he would learn to say no to dangerous women, but evidently he still had problems with them.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She glared at him. "You better hope so." Arya stalked out of the hold to eye the seal.

There might be a way to fix it back together... she picked up the piece from the floor, and carefully fit it into the other piece. Nope. She had an idea though. "You got any paper lying around, Ramastan? And I want my blaster back."

[Tevit Ramastan]

How did she know his... d'oh! His name was written on his coveralls, that was right. Leaning down, he picked up the blaster from the floor, but carefully removed the power cell from it before handing both back to Arya so that she wouldn't shoot him.

"Here," he said. "And, paper? Yeah, we've got some up in the office, but, what for?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya looked at her blaster, noting the missing power cell. Angrily she stuffed it into her sholder holster. "A paper rubbing. Popular with kindergarteners with trees. I'm going to help myself."

She stuck the half of the seal into her jacket pocket, and pulled out her pocket knife, flipping it open. With a few expertly placed motions, she separated the other half of the seal from the door. Arya looked at the mechanic, and glared at him. "What are you doing standing around? Get my ship put together. If anyone touches those crates, I'm taking you all down with me."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Dobar hastily returned to clearing out the old wire, then running the new stuff while Tevit ordered the others back to work. The hyperdrive was easily enough accessed throgh the cargo bay's back wall, and in a few minutes, Piper and another tech-savvy worker were already hard at work disaaembling the otuer shell to get at what lay inside.

For hours they worked, and when there were too many workers to actually work on the drive itself, they set themselves about cleaning up the smoke and fire damage, all the while under the ever-watchful eye of Arya. Test after test was performed on the coil, and each time it failed and was taken back apart to be rebuilt. Piper, who had actually been part of the morning crew, wound up asleep on the couch, havign nodded off while working. Tevit took his place, but didn't pretend to know as much as the technician did, so he patched in a call to an old friend, who helped walk him through the process.

Finally, as the sun began to rise again, the coil tested positive, and the crew worked to put it back in. The engines fired, then faltered and quit, and it took another hour of tuning and calibration to finally get things right. But, in the end, the job was deemed a success, and Tevit himself topped off the ship's fuel reserves before finally writing up the bill. It might seem high, but after the amount of overtime put in, it was actually a bargain. Along with the bill he would present arya with the power cell to her blaster as a gesture of trust, though that didn't mean he wasn't going to get shot over it anyhow.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The nightmarish night was finally over, and Arya had just finished putting the final touches on a fake seal for the cargo bay door when Ramastan walked up to her. The mongoose had worked through the night on the project, and she had to respect his dedication.

The repairs cost her the advance the Hutts had paid her for the job. Hopefully they wouldn't want that money back if she was later than midnight tonight Kuat time.

The seal wasn't perfect, the makeshift stamp she'd fashioned from the paper rubbing of the original, broken seal was not as precise as she could have hoped. She was tired, and more than a little grumpy when the mongoose handed her back her power cell. Instead of putting it into her blaster, she pocketed it.

"I don't know how you did it, but you managed to royally screw everything up." Arya rubbed her eyes a bit, "I'm so angry I'm not even angry anymore. It's your lucky day."

[Tevit Ramastan]

"I screwed things up?" Tevit balked. "Listen, lady, that hyperdrive hasn't been serviced since... probably since this thing was made. You've got to take care of your ship, or stuff liek this happens. Not my fault you neglected scheduled maintenence and it blew. If anything, a polite smile and a little thanks would be in order. We don'tmusually pull overtime like that."

The mongoose quickly processed the patment and finalized the transaction, let letting Arya back out of the deal. "So, you're free to go, just let me make sure we've got all our tools off the ship, then you can board."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She took a step back, and affected a bow. "Thank you so very much." Arya walked towards the ramp, and leaned against a strut.

"To cut back on over time, you should probably get your stuff out of here in a hurry." The smuggler jabbed her thumb up at the inside fo the ship. "I can put the service plates back into place, no need to waste time covering the holes."

[Tevit Ramastan]

They had been paid, the job was done. Tevit couldn't wait until Arya just left. He was tired, hungry and starting to get cranky. On his way back out to the shop floor, he threw a phone sign to one of his partners, signalling him to call their boss and let them know it was done--something they always did after a large job. Company policy.

Tools were here and there, and Tevit dumped them into a large plasitc bin, which he carried out after doing a final inspection of the ship. The yellow mongoose in his blue coveralls was about to call to Arya when one of the side doors of the shop burst in and a swarm of armored police officers, and two Shadow agents rushed the group. Only scarcely could he make out the drug and customs control emblems on some of their shields. Could anything else go wrong?

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya was yawning when the doors burst open, and she yelped, grabbing for her blaster. Power cell. She had the cell out of her pocket and into the blaster before she remembered how to move her arm.

"Frelling krasst, you called the cops!?" Arya ran towards the mechanic in the confusion of the moment, beelining for the ramp and the freedom of her ship.

[Tevit Ramastan]

If possible, Tevit was more startled and scard than Arya was. A wrench fell from his paw to clatter over the duracrete floor as he stood there, slack-jawed. Immediately Dobar had been slammed up against the wall and cuffed, and Tevit watched as Piper was thrown to the floor and stood on while he too was placed under arrest at gunpoint. Tevit was simply frozen, not knowing what to do.

Arya's hand snagged his arm and yanked him along, and he felt a blaster stabbed into his side as he was taken 'hostage.' Before he knew it, the ramp was shutting, and the overhead doors to the shop opened, flooding the bay with sunlight. It was only then that Tevit realized what was going on. Whatever Arya had probably wasn't legal, and he was being kidnapped. Gar, this was just not his day.

Falling into the second seat, the Nehantite hastily buckled up, thinking he would figure out his new situation later. It was only then that Arya's words came through to him, and he replied, "What? I didn't call the cops! Why the hell would I call the cops? What's going on here?" The roar of the engines drowned out the rest of his startled questions, and he felt the ship jolt and lift from the ground. Oh boy, things were about to get a lot more interesting.

[Arya Ravenwing]

White lipped, Arya gripped the yoke and pulled the freighter up into the air. "You better pray that hyperdrive is really fixed - !"

The troops on the ground were shooting at her, and she held her breath, hoping none of their bullets would pierce the hull. She'd just gotten an upgrade, so it should hold...

In another second they were free of the shop and she gunned it for high orbit. The comm squawked angrily at her, and she switched it off.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit clutched his head in his paws betweeen his knees as the ship hurtled starward. How was he going to explain this to his boss? He was so fired, he just knew it, and that meant he'd have to borrow money from his cousin to pay his rent until he found another job.

In less than ten seconds, they would know if they would either escape, or be dead. Briefly glancing at Arya's course, tevit could see that they were heading straight through Shadow pilot training grounds. Down he counted the seconds, watching the tracking radar, praying he didn't see a familiar formation appear on it. Three, two, one. They were clear. Only then did he sit back up and breathe a sigh of relief. "Garfife, what's going on?" he asked to nobody in particular. Turning to Arya, he asked again, "What is in that hold? What's going on here? Who are you, and why am I here now, too?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Too many questions!" Arya thundered, and thumped the nav computer with her palm. It beeped, paused, and then the display indicated she had a jump planned.

She shouldered herself into the crashwebbing that was hanging loosely on the sides of her chair, buckling up as she pushed the sublights for the jump point.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit closed his eyes. He hated jumping into hyperspace, always made him queasy. And there it came, that akward slow sensation begore he felt his organs smashed against his spine. The mongoose squirmed in his seat to keep from sitting too hard on his tail, and keeping his stomach in check. Finally the inertia evened out,a nd he was ab;e to relax in his seat once more, a light crop of swear brewing eneath his fur, though it went unnoticed as he was still dirty from working for hours on end.

Silence reigned in the cabin for a few moments, then Tevit carefully unbuckled his seat belt, his chest heaving for breath. He was scared, and being kidnapped by a strange woman with a gun and the cops chasing her was good reason for it. Slowly he looked to the side to see what she was doing, but he didn't dare say anything more, not with how his last questions had been answered.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Her unwanted passenger moved, and Arya slowly turned the pilot seat around until she was facing him. Ramastan eyed her cautiously.

"Why the frell would you call planetary security on me, just when we were getting along so well?" Arya threw off the crashwebbing and got to her feet. "Come with me." She stalked down the passage towards the common area.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit growled as he stood up. "I didn't call the cops," Tevit defended himself again. "I don't know who called the cops. But what I want to know is what you have, or who you are, that is so important that they'd rush in with a squad like that. There were two Shadow agents; they don't just throw those guys areound on random raids."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She waved her hands in the air just above her shoulders. "You think that I have any idea what's in that hold? They sealed it, for krasst's sake. In go five crates, then it's sealed. The seal inside is still complete. I don't go nosing around in my employer's business."

Arya walked across the common room, past the built in booth and couch and dejerrik table to the refridgeration unit. Popping it open she pulled out a beer. "Which is more than I can say about you. Frack I can't believe I still had to pay for this." The smuggler tossed him a cold one from across the room.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit deftly caught the bottle and used his teeth to pop off the cap. IT was a thick, dark brew, not one of his favorites, but he was thirsty, and also knew the alcohol might help settle him down some. Plopping onto the couch, the Nehantite ran a paw through his headfur again and replied, "Hey, I said it before, if you had taken the time to get regular scheduled maintenence done, your hyperdrive wouldn't have gone out like it did. And, would you knock it off with the whole blaming me for that seal thing? Sheesh, not like we even wanted to take the stupid job in the first place. If business hadn't been so slow laytely, we would have sent you elsewhere."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya sat at the booth, boots on the seat and butt on the thick top, facing the couch. "Excuse me? My hyperdrive blew because I got caught in an Imperial Customs checkpoint. Getting ripped out of hyperspace by an interdictor will do that to you."

[Tevit Ramastan]

"Oh, and I suppose you, being the incedible smuggler and pain in my butt that you are, would know more about hyperdrive repair than someone who has been working on ships all his professional life, then?" Tevit quipped, taking a drink. "Sure, that may have been what set it off, but trust me, you weren't far from losing it otherwise."

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Look, I take care of this ship, okay!? And she takes care of me just fine." Arya tipped her head back and finished off the bottle in her hand. Setting it down onthe table by her shins, she added, "Anyway, you stink. Literally.

"And I didn't really mean to take you with me. After I finish the job, I can drop you at a spaceport."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit shrugged. "Well, you try being covered in fur in 100 plus degree temperatures working on your stupid ship all through the night and not smell like a rose," he replied, then took another swig from his beer.

"And, are you going to pay for whatever flight back home I have to take? You didn't exactly give me time to grab my wallet, you know." He paused to wiggle his bare toes. "Heck, I don't even have my boots, thank you very much."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya frowned, taken aback for a moment. "I didn't think you wore shoes."

She got up, tossing her bottle into a disposal unit. "Anyway, I have a sonic shower you can use." She rubbed her hands together, "We should be at Kuat in about an hour."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit finished his own bottle as well, then stood up and tossed it out as well. "We do wear shoes, or boots, or whatever, just not usually in the shop unless there's been an oil spill," he explained.

"Now, about that shower?"

Arya gave him directions, and in a few minutes he re-emerged from her living quarters feelign quite refreshed, if not a bit ionized. He would never get used to those things, preferrign water and suap, himself, but he had to admit that the no drying off time was an added bonus.

"Thanks," he said, then finally extended his paw for a handshake. "I'm Tevit, Tevit Ramastan. Guess it's about time we finally introduce ourselves and everything."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya looked up from her half-hearted game of dejerrik and shook his hand. "I'm Arya Ravenwing, but you probably already knew that. And I'd fly you back to Nehantish myself, but thanks to the incident, I'm sure they have my ship and my name on record already."

She scrubbed a hand through her hair. "I just want this day to be over!"

From the cockpit the sound of the reversion counter could be heard, and Arya made her way to the pilots seat. "Might want to sit down, we're reverting to real space in five... four... three..."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit scarcely had time to drop into the second chair and fasten his restraining belts before the ship lurched and bucked, falling back out of hyperspace. His stomach was in his throat, and he swallowed to force it back down. Gah, could nobody come up with a smoother way to decelerate?

A field of stars greeted him through the viewshield, and when his body caught up to the slower speed, the mongoose breathed a sign of relief. It was beautiful, he had to admit. He had always loved seeing the galaxy from in a ship. A slow smile turned up the corners of his muzzle as he became lost in looking at it, then finally broke away to look at the control panel to see that the ship was back on auto-pilot, and they were being guided into their port of call. Ahh, he would be on his way back home shortly, thank goodness. He just hoped his boss wouldn't be mad at him for what happened.

"So, is that... Kuat, you said it was?" he asked pointing at the planet that loomed ever closer.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Yep, Kuat. We won't be going to the planet - see the rings? Those are space stations." Arya eyed her unwilling companion.

"You really haven't gotten out much, have you?" Wing of the Raven angled in towards the innermost ring. There were several unfinished capital ships docked at the outer ring. "Kuat is famous for it's ship yards. The planet is a virtual garden, inspite of all the industry in orbit."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Kuat, the great shipyards. It was all coming back to him. Tevit unbuckled his restraints and stood, comign close to the viewshield. Garfife... what he wouldn't give to be able to work on ships as grand and powerful as those, especially above a planet so green. It was everything he wanted, but as they drew closer still, an icon painted on one of the ships soured the sweetness of his hopes.

It was an Imperial ship.

The yellow mongoose was immediately crestfallen, and he sat down glumly again. Now instead of hoping to see the incredible building platforms and talk with the engine experts, all he wanted to do was get away unnoticed. Though being covered in fur and having a tail might hurt his chances of blending in.

"So, um, you going to just drop me off, or do I go with you to make the delivery, first? I know we're probably behind schedule," he asked.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Right you are." Arya scanned the shipyards as well, looking for any unusual activity headed her way. None. She breathed a mental sigh of relief. "Drop first, then you can leave."

She turned her head towards him, "But do me a favor and stay in the ship until the deal is done. I don't want questions, just my credits." The freighter eased in towards its docking bay.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit slouched back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Whatever, just don't get me in any more trouble, please," he said, then looked out the viewshield again to see the shipyards coming in closer, and they slowly came to land in an airlocked pad.

Gar, there were Imperial symbols everywhere. Arya must have not known anything about what happened on Nehantish, or if she did, she apparently didn't care. All he could do was sit and wait, and fight the cold shivver that ran down his spine.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Her unwanted, unnecessary, and accidental passenger was silent and sulky as she brought the freighter into an airlocked landing pad within the innermost ring of the station. Arya felt... well, bad wasn't the right word. She wished that things had turned out differently on Nehantish, for her own sake as well as his.

Locking the steering yoke in place, Arya got up, and stomped down the passage towards the hatch. Slapping the keypad, she extended the ramp, and started down it.

As she reached the duracrete landing pad, the ramp began to retract. Arya stood for a moment, arms folded defiantly, and then looked around. No one was here yet. She looked back and over, and decided that they couldn't see Tevit through the transparisteel cockpit viewscreens. Not from this angle, at least.

Turning her attention forward again, she was rewarded by the doors to the bay opening. A Nemoidian in a tall hat and a small group of humans came through, and headed towards her.

The 'moid approached her, while the men went to the back of the freighter immediately. "I trusst that everytheeng has gone... smoothly?" He stared at her with large, fish-like eyes. "Shadra hasss... asssured me that all... can be accounted for."

Arya could hear her fake seal being broken off as the men opened the hatch. "Don't worry, I didn't break the seal." Oh gods, don't notice anything.

"Good." The Nemoidian turned to watch the men start bringing out the large crates. Arya moved to watch as well... watch the men, the ship, and the 'moid. She needed that money, dammit.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit tapped his bare toes on the floor of the cockpit, bored. The chair was comfortable, at least, but having a tail made it nearly impossible to sit easily in a chair designed for those who didn't. Minutes ticked by, or at least he thought they did, because he wasn't weatring his watch. He felt like a bum, clad in his coveralls and toolbelt, and little else. He didn't even have his wallet on him, that was in his pants pocket back in his locker at the shop. Arya had better pay for his transport back home, because if she didn't he was really in the dunes without a camel.

How long was it going to take to unload some crates? There hadn't been that many of them; he knew, for he had seen them when he was working. Maybe something was wrong. Were it not for his lack of a wristwatch to entertain him with a ticking second hand, Tevit never would have gotten up and gone to the viewshield to see what was taking so long. But his watch was in his pants pocket as well.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Who ... iss that!?" The Nemoidian squawked, pointing over Arya's head. "Sshadra sssaid you were alone!"

Arya turned her head slowly, and saw Tevit's yellow furred face in the viewshield. "Ah... oh, well, you know how it is. Shadra always forgets to mention Tevit."

The 'moid glared, fish-eyes bulging. "Get him out! of there."

The smuggler shrugged, "He's just my mechanic -"

With a snap of his fingers, the 'moid summoned two of the men away from the crates. "Get that thing out of there!" Tevit's eyes widened, and his head popped out of sight.

Arya jumped in front of the burly men, hand itching to dive under her jacket and to her shoulder holster. "C'mon guys, let me go get him. He's a little slow, but great with machines. Shadra didn't mention him, 'cause he's less than a bug in her eyes. You two will scare him to death. I'll go in there, get him out, and then we can finish the transaction, okay?"

The Nemoidian pondered that for a moment. "Fine. But be... quick."

The dark haired woman extended the ramp again, and walked back up it calling, "Tevit! Tevihhhht! It's okay, these nice people just want you to come out and stand with me. Don't worry, it'll be okaaay..." She beelined for the cockpit, knowing her voice was carrying outside.

[Tevit Ramastan]

What? What the hell was Arya doing, talking to him like that? If she thought for one moment that he was going to play the fool she could just--

It was then that he saw the two large men, and caught Arya throwing him a wink. As degrading as it might be, Tevit knew it was in his best interest to go along with it. "What's going on?" he whispered out the side of his mouth as he looked at her from inside. "Tell me you didn't do what I think you just did."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She muttered right back, "Of course I did. Now, just play along, my slow, mechanic friend." Arya grabbed his paw and pulled him after her. In a louder voice, "We're coming out now, don't startle him."

They walked down the gangplank, and Arya headed towards the 'moid, ignoring the muscles who glared at her and Tevit.

[Tevit Ramastan]

He felt like an idiot, a royal idiot. So hard had his people fought to show the galaxy that they weren't the dumb animals that the Empira had made them out to be that it was a slap in his face to have to now act the cliche. His steps were slow and measured, and he let his ears lower as he looked around at all the unfamiliar faces. While he hated acting, he had to admit he was good at it. Then again, he had an excellent teacher.

Keeping close to Arya, his paw held her hand and he scooted away from the large brutes as he passed them, coming up close behind his "captor", his tail threatening to tuck itself between his legs. Only every now and then would he fully make eye contact, but that was an act. Tevit was keeping a very keen eye on what was going on.

when they came to a stop, Tevit let go of Arya's hand and he moved slightly behind her, away from the others as he looked around, but still he said nothing. There, the crates were being unloaded carefully, and it seemed the broken seal hadn't been noticed. For that, he breathed a mental sigh of relief. But, burrr, the floor was cold.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The Nemoidian studied Tevit, and grumbled, "Shadra ssaid you traveled alone, ssmuggler." He sounded more whiney than angry now, and Arya breathed a mental sigh of relief.

The five crates were carefully loaded onto a hoversled, and secured. The 'moid patted down his robes, and came up with a sealed envelope. "Your ...other half." With a stiff bow, the alien and it's lackeys trundled the crates out of the hangar.

Arya visibly sagged, clutching the envelope to her chest. "Oh thank the hells." She paused a moment, then straightened and flicked open the envelope with a finger. A credit chit lay inside, indicating 10,000 credits to be transferred. She only had to visit a banking clan kiosk to activate the chit and recieve the credits. Waggling it at Tevit, she grinned, "And for that performance, you get some too."

She punched him lightheartedly in the shoulder, and ran to the hold of The Wing of the Raven to make sure there were no scratches.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit breathed a sigh of relief and he dropped his act. 'For making me do that, I better get a cut," he replied, then followed Arya to the hold. "See, new wiring, much better stuff, too," he pointed out, even though there were still a few burn marks along the wall where they were run.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya growled over the burn marks, but soon she was closing up the ship and engaging the extensive security system. "Now, we go on a little walk. I'm meeting a friend at a bar nearby, if she's still there. Then to a bank kiosk, and I'll give you your cut.

"After that... up to you what you do." She good naturedly slapped him on the back. "You're not a bad guy, Tevit." Arya led the way out of the hangar, and into a passage that led to the main promenade.

Across the promenade was a neon lit bar, the Greasy Rodian.

[Mandy with an I]

A half-smoked stim hung from her lower lip as she tapped a rapid beat on the bar-top with perfectly manicured nails. She took a deep drag, letting a plume of smoke out through pursed lips.

Daetana Jinn had been waiting for her friend, passing the time drinking and fending off advances from her fellow patrons. Her black boots tapped out a similar rhythm as she gave the bar another once over glance.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit followed along, knowing his meal and flight ticket depended on Arya, and, after all, she hadn't been that bad herself. The slap on his back was fortunately padded by his fur, but he still smiled a little. Perhaps the day wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it was.

The diner was a dive, odd among the rigid, well-kept state of the rest of the station, and Tevit's sensitive nost wrinkled as soon as they entered. The smel of cheap cigarettes and greasy food filled his nostrils, and he coughed before he became used to it. "Nice place" he said to Arya. "Must have missed the valet out front, though."

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Valet?" Arya looked confused, but shrugged off the comment as she pulled up the stool next to Dae. "Hey stranger. Buy you a drink?"

She smacked the red head in the arm with the envelope, and grinned. "Hope the next job you've lined up pays double though. Had to get repairs on the way here... s'why I'm late. Oh, and why he's here." Arya swiveled to face Ramastan, and began the introductions. "Tevit Ramastan, mechanic extraordinaire, this is Dae Jinn, co-conspirator, and the pretty one of the group."

[Mandy with an I]

"Hey."

Came the mumbled reply as she flicked her spent stim to the floor. She waved the tender over, ordering another drink.

"Is he sticking around?" Dae took another stim from her jacket pocket, lit it and blew a plume of smoke into Tevits' face.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit huffed a quick burst of air, sending the smoke back, then grinned sardonically. "Yes, he's sticking around. At least until he is paid. Now, does you have a probem with that?"

He didn't like her already. This was going to be a joy. Tevit then shook his head and dropped into a seat, making it qute apparent he wasn't going anywhere at the moment.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Drinks!" Arya twitched the bartender's sleeve to get his attention. "I need your darkest ale, and this guy'll have one of whatever he likes. Put it on her tab," she pointed at Dae.

Settling down at the bar, the medallion under her shirt shifted, pressing cooly against her skin. "After I get one in me, we're going to cash this chit and get the frell outta here. I have a bad feeling about this place. The 'moid already almost called off the whole deal 'cause of Tevit here."

[Mandy with an I]

Dae frowned, flicking hot ash at Tevit and taking her drink in her free hand. "I can understand why. This place isn't so bad...if you know the right people. And Mong are definitely NOT the right people."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit took his glass of ale from the bartender and took a drink before replying sarcastically, "Oh, that's right. We're only good for fixing things and polishing stormtrooper boots, or being little lapdogs, how quickly I forget."

The look he shot Arya spoke volumes for his immediate displeasure with the current situation.

[Arya Ravenwing]

If she was a cat she'd of laid her ears back at the tension bristling around her. At least Aaron never insulted people to their faces. "Knock it off Dae. He saved our collective rears by re-wiring the ship overnight."

Arya picked up her glass, ignored the others, and tipped it back, downing it in a few long swallows. Someone in the darker portion of the bar whistled and she flipped the shadows an obscene gesture. She got another whistle. "Dae I hate this frelling bar."

In the promenade beyond, a group of three stormtroopers walked by, giving the diner a look over as they passed. Arya leaned closer to the bartop, "The Imps frelling creep me out. Under their noses is one thing, under their noses is another. Oh and did I mention I got almost caught by Customs yesterday?"

They'd been here too long already.

[Mandy with an I]

"Yeah, yeah. See?" She gestured to Tevit with her glass." Some stereotypes do fit...And the Imps are nothing to worry about. Just act like you're supposed to be here and everything will be fine."

She downed the contents of her glass, quickly ordering another. "Next gig we'll try to stay away from their "noses", okay?"

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit was broiling in his seat, but suddenly got an idea. Reaching for a napkin to wipe off his mouth with, he nudged the ashtray ont he table into Dae's lap, then looked at her innocently as she tried to get the hot ash off herself.

"Oops, clumsy, stupid me. I guess the stereotypes are right after all. Oh well, what can you do, I guess I'm just a big, dumb animal."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya gritted her teeth, slammed her empty glass down, and stalked out of the bar.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit got up and quickly followed, stopping outside and growling, "My money, now. I tried to be nice, I fixed your blasted ship and even played along in front of your... whoever those guys were, but I did not deserve this!"

[Mandy with an I]

Dae followed a few moments later, still brushing ash from her pants.

"Give him his frelling money so he can get his furry can gone." She grabbed Tevit by the front of his cover-alls, pulling him down to face-level. "And don't think I agree with paying you anything, especially after you ruined my new pants."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya continued walking in a straight line, ignoring the two behind her. Now... where is that credit kiosk? Last time there was one right on the corner but it looked like it had been moved.

Ah, no, there it was. Arya got into line behind a stiff looking guy in a grey uniform with Lieutenant bars. She smiled sweetly at him, but he looked a little nervous with a woman as tall as he was standing behind him. She fingered the chit, and wondered how the ride to Kessel was going to be with Dae. She was a finicky one, all right, but Arya would die before going back on their deal.

A deal was a deal. Dae found the jobs, Arya did them, Dae got her cut. Unfortunately, after spending the advance on the repairs, and agreeing to cut some to Tevit by way of apology for kidnapping him, she'd be left with a grand total of... She did some mental calculations. Five hundred credits.

Of course, she could give Tevit only a thou, and that would bring up the remainder to more. Arya accidentally brushed the officer in front of her with her shoulder as she twisted around to look for the other two.

-flash-

A dark man screamed as lightning flashed from his fingertips, falling...

...falling

falling...

Arya gasped and jerked away from the Imperial, who glared at her.

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit reached up and pried her hand away, then straightened his all-encompasing article of clothing. "What you think and what I was promised are two different things entirely," he replied. "Listen, I didn't want to be here, and the sooner she's back with my money, the sooner I'm gone. But, you better realize that without me, she never would have made her drop."

The Nehantite stood defiantly before her, his paws hooked into his toolbelt. "Besides, you asked for it with the ashtray, and you know it." A smirk crossed his face.

[Mandy with an I]

"You're just lucky I didn't put my stim out on that pretty yellow fur of yours." She ran a finger down the fur that stuck out from his coveralls, smirking right back at him.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya shuddered, blinking away the vision of the falling man, and crossed her arms in front of her as the line advanced. "Frell, why're there so many people in this queue?"

The lieutenant in front of her coughed delicately, and murmured, "The other kiosks in this section are all malfunctioning."

"Krasst." She checked her chrono, and looked behind her for Tevit and Dae.

[Tevit Ramastan]

"If you had, I would have shoved that ashtray down your throat," Tevit replied in a saccharine sweet voice. "But thanks for caring. Now, I'm going to go get my money, nice meeting you."

Pushing past Dae, the Nehantite walked off towards the direction arya had gone in, a wrench swinging from his toolbelt. Where was she? He just wanted to go home, he was already in trouble at work for sure, and who knew what his roomate was doing to their apartment while he was gone.

There she was, in a very long line. Oh well, sooner they got through it, the sooner his troubles would be over. Man, he was hungry.

[Mandy with an I]

"But thanks for caring. Now, I'm going to go get my money, nice meeting you." was mimiced at the back of his head, in a high-pitched whiney voice, before Dae lit another stim and stuck it between pouting lips.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya nodded silently to Tevit as he joined her in the line, and offered Dae a tight smile. Her partner puffed away at her stim, letting the smoke curl out lazily from her mouth.

The line moved forward, slowly. Arya resisted the urge to check her chrono, and turned to Tevit, "Might want to check to see if any transports are heading back your direction."

The officer in front of her turned around disdainfully, "By the Emperor, woman, the same malfunction that took out all the kiosks has made hell of the commercial transport computer systems. There won't be any transports from Kuat for at least a day while they investigate." He coughed lightly in response to the smoke wafting around from Dae's stim, and added, "I suspect the Rebels."

Arya smiled cheerily to his sneer, and turned to Tevit, "All right, so I guess you can ride with us. Unless you'd rather stay until they figure out whats going on."

[Mandy with an I]

Dae merely rolled her eyes, tapping her foot and taking another long drag on her stim as she waited.

[Tevit Ramastan]

The bad day got worse. Of course, what else had he been expecting? The Twi-lek bikini team to appear and give him a beer and an instant party? Psh, hardly.

So. now he had the choice of either going with Miss Kidnap-you-without-a-plan and her ever so charming partner, or sticking around on an imperial station with no identification card on his person. Tevit seriously debated between the two options before the thought of getting home sooner rahter than later tipped the scales in Arya's direction.

Hooking his thumbs into his toolbelt, the Nehantite sighed in annoyed defeat and replied, "Well, think I'll be traveling with you for now, at least until you can get me to a commercial transport that is running."

[Arya Ravenwing]

The line moved forward, and Arya nodded, "We can drop you at the nearest system, if you like."

After an undetermined amount of time, she finally got to the front of the line, processed the chit the 'moid had given her, and recieved her money. The trio moved to the side as Arya divvied it up between them into three coded chits.

Dae pocketed the most, as Arya had spent all of the advance on the freighter. She did manage to keep a good two thousand for herself, but it wouldn't last long. Not with re-fueling and the like.

She shoved a chit valued at 1,000 credits at the mechanic. "For your trouble, and your help."

[Mandy with an I]

"Thanks."

The stim dipped low as she slurred out the word, slipping the chit into a pocket. She sighed, flicking it onto the ground.

"Let's get out of here, kids."

[Tevit Ramastan]

Tevit took his chit as well, tucking into the zippered inner chest pocket of hic coveralls, nodding in thanks. Having grown used to being thrifty, it would cover his flight home, and then some. Wrinkling his nose at the smell of Dae's stim, the mongoose turned and followed Dae.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a pair of stormtroopers, one pointing at him, then the other used his radio. Cursing under his breath, Tevit glanced ahead to see another group of them coming up to intercept the group. "What's going on?" he hissed through his teeth to Arya. She didn't have time enough to answer before a trooper held up his hand, halting them.

"Identification cards and travel permits," he demanded, and Tevit swallowed a lmp in his throat. "You too, furball, but reach nice and slow, you don't have a blaster in that toolbelt of yours, do you?"

Tevit's red eyes narrowed, and he tried to stifle a growl in his throat. He wasn't an animal, and these troopers had no right to be stopping them. In the back of his mind, he dearly hoped that Arya or Dae could help get him out of this one.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Is this really necessary, trooper?" Arya fumbled in her jacket pockets, looking for her ident card.

She hated the helmets - couldn't get a personality read on a faceless mask, which was probably the intention. "Look, here's my card. But we left yours in the ship, didn't we honey?" The smuggler casually looped her arm through Tevit's, and hoped to the gods he would play along. He felt stiff and angry though, and she didn't blame him.

Just need to get out of here. Normally she wouldn't think twice about pulling her holdout blaster, shooting the troopers and dragging them into an alley. But on Kuat they were very exposed, and probably being watched on cameras. Maybe. Hopefully not yet.

Dae was grumbling around her stim, but she also produced her ident card and their traveling permits for Kuat.

[Tevit Ramastan]

The trooper's partner checked over the ladies's cards, but the first trooper was not going to budge on Tevit's lack of identification, raising his blaster to aim it squarely at the Nehantite.

In an attempt to at least get a little leeway, Tevit played along, turning to face Arya and he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "It's okay, hun, I think I might actually have it in my pocket, here," he said, reachign his paw back, out of the trooper's view. Suddenly, Arya found herself shoved aside as Tevit swung a heavy monkeywrench, smashing the trooper in the head, before swinging his arm back and throwing the heavy iron tool directly into the other's face.

And then he ran. Bare paws slipping across the polished surface at first, he finally gained traction and took off like a rocket though the spaceport, not knowing where he was headed, but determined to get away. He actually yelped when he first heard blaster fire, and thanked Garfife that Imperial stormtroopers were worse shots than he was. Finally, he spotted a small craft, its hatch still open, and he made a dash for it, hoping the keys were still inside. If not, he could always hotwire it. Frell, the blasters kept shooting. This was not good. Not good at all. If he had known his day was going to turn out like it had, he simply would have called in sick.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Frell. The kid panicked, literally throwing a monkey-wrench into Dae and Arya's plans for the day.

The two women shared one split second look, a mutual here we go again, and then they dove in opposite directions. They'd meet up at the ship as soon as possible. The troopers across the promenade were running in their direction, and the ones who'd been wrenched were pulling at their blasters.

Arya snatched their ident cards and papers off the ground where they'd fallen, and stuffed them into her pocket as she zig-zagged away from the stormtroopers. Blaster bolts splattered against the spacestation bulkheads to the side of her, and she picked up the pace. Hopefully Dae was having better luck than she was.

The smuggler turned a corner, and then another one, losing her pursuers, and nearly herself in the process. She paused outside of a public refresher for a breather, and to regain her bearings. "Frelling furball!" She could hear blaster fire in the distance and hoped it wasn't killing her partner or her kidnapee. Arya pulled her black nerfhide jacket off, deftly turning it inside out and exposing the red lining. Slipping it back on, she looked away from a squad of six troopers that were heading at a fast clip up to the promenade, and then started to make her way back to the docking bay.

She reached it without incident, and was keying into the docking bay door when she heard a familiar click.

"Stop and put your hands up." A blaster rifle nudged her in the back.

Arya turned around slowly, hands up at about shoulder height. There was only one trooper, and he wouldn't have had time to call it in yet. She hoped.

"Is there a problem, trooper?" Arya smiled prettily, and batted her eyelashes at him. Frelling clones. Or whatever they were, these days.

As the trooper cocked his head to transmit that he'd found one of the miscreants from the promenade deck, Arya lunged to the side of his rifle, knocking the end to the left with her body and grabbed the trooper's helmet. They went down in a tangle of armored arms and legs, the stormtrooper punching her hard in the stomach.

She was ready for it, though, and merely gritted her teeth as she focused her strength in her arms. With a vicious twist she snapped his neck.

A few moments later she was inside the docking bay with the door locked and the dead trooper beside her. There weren't any cameras in this bay, which was why the 'moid had picked it... but all the same Dae needed to hurry.

[Mandy with an I]

There was a light rap on the door.

A slightly singed and out-of-breath Dae folded her arms across her chest in a huff for what seemed like the millionth time today. The right arm of her sweater was torn and bloody from a lucky shot, but she had seen worse. Shakily, she took out a broken stim from her pack and lit it.

"Cmon, open the frellin' door."

[Arya Ravenwing]

"All right, all right!" The door slid open to Arya's muffled words, and Dae slipped inside to find her partner pulling wires out of the exposed door panel. Arya shut the door behind her, and ripped the wires that controlled it out of the wall. "That should hold it for a while. C'mon!"

Dae was already halfway to the ship, and within a few moments they were strapped into the cockpit. Skipping pre-flight checks, Arya fired up the repulsors and lifted the freighter off the deck. "Flip on the transponder mask and get us a new ident for the stormies to pick up on. I don't want our welcome mat here getting tarnished from this frell up - !"

The Wing of the Raven eased towards the hangar opening, and Arya tapped on the fire controls, blasting the magnetic shields to dren and clearing their way to open space.