An Odd Request

[Alaisia]

"Come on, I need to get out of here!" Alaisia said, her voice low. "You know as well as I do that it isn't safe here anymore."

The pilot looked at her in disgust, and her only answer was a frown. She glared at him for a moment before he shook his head again. "No," he said quickly. "No. No. NO. I won't do it. What you want would be suicide. You want to leave here, saying it's 'cause you're escaping the danger of the ones who hunt your kind, but you want to go right to one of their homeworlds?! You gotta be kidding me!"

"I can't explain now," Alaisia said quickly, still keeping her voice low, "I'll tell you why I need to get to Korriban later. Just please, I need help."

"You're not getting it from me," the pilot said, stepping away from her. He pointedly turned his back and started toying with the control panel on his ship.

Alaisia glared at him, but kept calm. She knew that she needed to stay calm. Nothing would come from getting mad and raging about not being able to get off the planet. Naboo had become almost a second home for her, but now her destiny called her elsewhere. She had met someone. Someone very mysterious... Someone who had trained her a little bit despite being one she would have otherwise called an 'enemy'. It was for him that she was on her way to Korriban. Getting there was the hard part. She had spent the last few hours arguing with that pilot and she didn't want to go through the rest of them. She hoped he would just pass her off as a 'stupid' padawan with a deathwish.

She walked back into the line of trees, shielding herself with a bit of foliage, and sat down to meditate. Perhaps she could find answers within the Force, if not then she would try again with another pilot.

 

[Chask274]

Eric took a deep breath of the fresh air. A few months of hard work with the Cartel left him needing a bit of a break, and Naboo had always been a place Eric wanted to visit. A week of sight-seeing and that one odd encounter with a Gungan had lead to a very nice vacation. Now, the spacer was hoping to pick up a charter to finish off his break. The best way to do this was to just casually lean against one of his frieghter's landing struts, enjoy the afternoon with a flask of bourbon, and wait for somebody to pop up.

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia paused in her meditation, feeling a pull back to the ships. Perhaps it was time to go looking again.

"Still got a deathwish?" she heard the pilot she had argued with yell as she walked by but she ignored him. He was not the one she was looking for. He had made that clear the last time she had talked to him. Instead, she turned toward a pilot who was leaning against one of the struts of his ship. He looked like he was waiting for something. Perhaps it was for her.

"Hello," Alaisia said quickly. "I'm trying to get off the planet. Wondering if you'd be willing to give me a ride. I'll make it worth your time."

 

[Chask274]

Eric took a last sip from his flask before putting it away. Smiling at the girl, he straightened up and stretched, "Well, that all depends on where you want to go. I will tell you that I'm a bit more willing than most to go into Imp space, if thats what you had in mind." As he looked at the girl, Eric got that familiar tingling sensation at the base of his skull. This should be interesting. "Be straight with me, are you with the Jedi? Its not a dealer breaker, and I ain't planning on turning you in, just need to know for planning purposes. Ohh where are my manners...My name is Eric, whats yours?"

He'd heard the rumors of the Jedi being on Naboo. He'd also be an idiot if he tried turning her in, as he would probably also be captured, being Force-Sensitive himself.

 

[Alaisia]

"I..."

Alaisia paused, not sure if she could trust him. "My name is Alaisia," she said finally. She glanced around, dropping her voice, and added, "and yes, I'm a Padawan. I need to get out of here, before they find me. I'll tell you where I'm headed once we're off the surface."

Alaisia waited for his response, counting the seconds that passed by. She could hear the other pilot still making a fuss. He was yelling about how a 'mad jedi kid' wanted to die. He was likely drunk, but because of that he could very easily blow everything she had worked so hard to obtain.

She glanced back at Eric, grinning and hoping that he wouldn't notice the other pilot.

 

[Chask274]

Eric grinned, "Well, Alaisia, welcome aboard the Second Chance. Judging by how loud that fellow is being, I don't think it'll take long for who ever is looking for you to find you. Come abroad, I'll prep for lift-off." Turning, Eric strolled up the ramp and into the cockpit, and immediately began the start-up cycle. If Alaisia chose to follow him to the cockpit, she'd find any of the other seats open. If not, the common area had some very comfy couches. "Also, if you happen to run into an astromech, don't worry, he's mine!" That particular droid would be on his way to the cockpit, helping finish pre-flight checks.

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia stepped up into the ship, following Eric to the front and took a seat behind his at the controls. She watched the astro-droid go about its business, no idea what it was working on, but was glad to see that they were leaving Naboo behind.

(OOC- Sorry for the wait. Life kinda got in the way. Also for the short post. Didn't know what to say this one...)

 

[Chask274]

As they lifted off, the ship's comms panel crackled to life. "Cargo vessel Second Chance, this is flight control. Return to the spaceport immediately, you are not-" Eric snapped the comms off with a smirk.Well, that's not good... Eric piloted the ship into orbit before cutting the sublights and letting it drift. "Alright Alaisia, where are we heading to? We'll have time to talk what and why later, but right now I need a direction so we'll be gone before NSF fighters show up." Eric adjusted a few instruments and waited for a response. He felt bad for being so energetic and demanding, but a Padawan running from one of the only safe havens for Jedi with the planetary security actively looking for somebody, who may or may not be Alaisia, was sending up all sorts of red flags. As a smuggler, these situations were very common to Eric, but the circumstances for this time around were very odd.

Spoiler: OOC

No problem, I know the feeling! :)

 

[Alaisia]

"Um..." Alaisia paused for a moment, startled by the turn of events. It didn't surprise her though. She knew that the Sith would be after her. She just hadn't expected them to find her so quick. "I need to get to Korriban. I'm going there to meet with a friend."

She hoped that Eric would accept her reason without much complaint. She laughed to herself as she thought about how it sounded. Escape the Sith searching for her on Naboo by running to Korriban, home of the Sith training academy itself.

"I know it may sound mad. But that is where I need to go."

 

[Chask274]

Eric stared at her a moment before shrugging with a grin. "Ok then..." Setting a course, Eric triggered the hyperdrive. Beathing a sigh of relief, he stood and stretched, they were in the clear for now. Leaving R2-74 to monitor the controls, Eric headed back to the common area and kitchenette. "Please, help yourself to some food or drink, we'll be traveling for a couple days" Grabbing himself a glass of Corellian whiskey, he sat down on the couch. "First off, I'd like to apologize for being a little crazy back there. The getaway can be one of the more stressful parts of a job, and that one was no different. Now, if you don't mind telling me, why is a Padawan running from one of the only safe havens for Jedi straight to the Sith homeworld?"

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia sighed. She should have known that he would ask 'why'. She had hoped he wouldn't have though.

"I'm going to meet a friend," Alaisia says. "I need to find him."

She was surprised by just how easily she said that V was a friend. She didn't lie. He had been kinder to her than anyone else ever had, even if he had tricked her and puzzled her. It still amused her to refer to him as such.

"He left so quickly, I didn't get a chance to catch the same shuttle," she said. "I wasn't sure how I was going to get over there until I found you. And I'm lucky, too. There are Sith on Naboo, capturing and killing any Jedi they find." She laughed to herself. "I have no idea what they would have planned for me. But despite what you may think, I will be at least relatively safe on Korriban. I know at least one person who can help me hide and blend in."

 

[Chask274]

Eric chuckled and relaxed a bit, "Okay, that makes me feel a bit better. My primary concern was how you'd hide yourself once you got there, but it sounds like you got that covered. As I said, help yourself to the kitchen, there is plenty to eat. You can take one of the guest cabins, and please, unless I specifically say other wise, don't open anything marked as 'Weapons' or 'Maintenance'. If you need a quiet place to think, aside from your cabin, I'd recommend the turret*. Nice view, and it's perfectly quiet as long as the equipment is off."

A direct flight from Naboo to Korriban would involve flying through large amount of Imperial Space. However, at the cost of adding some time to an already lengthy trip, Eric planned to pass through Hutt Space. That way, they'd be much closer to Korriban by the time they entered Imperial space. As a member of the Hutt Cartel, Eric would also be able to bypass many of the issues travelers usually ran into going through Hutt space. The trip through the Hutt's territory would be pretty uneventful, with occasional stops for fuel or a checkpoint.

Spoiler: OOC

*Think Millennium Falcon style turret, except there's only one, on top of the ship.

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia nodded, knowing that if she didn't eat soon her stomach would start to growl. She silently made her way to the kitchen and picked a couple pieces of fruit before wandering around a bit. She soon found the turret, though she didn't really mean to, but curiosity got the best of her and she pulled herself into the seat and gazed around to see the 'great view' Eric had told her about.

Surprised, she couldn't help but stare as Naboo shrinked into the distance. She had never seen the planet from a distance and it astounded her by just how beautiful the planet was. So she sat there, eating her fruit, until she grew tired and made her way to the cabins.

 

[Chask274]

They'd been in flight for a couple of days, and had just entered Imperial space, when disaster struck. It started small, the usual vibraion in the deck caused by the hyperdrive slowly getting worse, then drastically increasing to the power of a low level earthquake. At this point, a loud bang could be heard throughout the ship, and the ship dropped out of hyperspace abruptly, throwing anything not tied down forward as the aging interial dampeners struggled to keep up. "What the kark?!?" yelped Eric, as he was thrown from his bunk onto the floor. `That's definitely not good...'. Leaping to his feet, the smuggler exited his cabin and called out, "You ok, Alaisia? Hey, '74, run a diagnostic and put the sensors on maximum, would ya? This ain't exactly a good place to break down." The power feeds to the hyperdrive had melted, forcing the drive's failsafe to kick in and shut it down. It was an easily fixed problem, but would take time.

 

[Alaisia]

"I'm okay," Alaisia called back, still groggy. She rubbed her elbow, which had hit the floor as she had fallen. Immediately she imagined the worst, that they were being attacked by an Imperial ship. If they had been, though, she was in danger of being discovered. She couldn't let any sort of Imperial see her until she caught up with V.

She looked at herself for a moment, groaning quietly to herself as the entire way she dressed screamed 'Jedi'.

"You wouldn't happen to have an extra flight suit, would you?" she yells to Eric. She would pay him back for it, of course, but she thought it would be better to be seen that way than in her robes. She would tuck her robes away in her little bag and keep them for some other day that she might need them if he did happen to have something she could have.

 

[Chask274]

Muttering under his breath about various stupid things always going wrong with the ship, Eric stepped out of the engineering bay at the rear of the ship. "I should have one laying around, let me take a look." Wiping his hands off on a rag, he walked over to a cabinet. Rummaging through it's contents, he pulled out a grey flight-suit that should fit. He handed it to her.

"Once you get changed, could you do me a favor? I need '74s help with something in the engine room, which means the sensors aren't going to have somebody watching them. Could you please go hang out in the cockpit and monitor the range range scanners?" The scanners had been set to go off as soon as a ship was detected, however, the alarm was difficult to hear from the rear of the ship. Hence why help was needed. The repairs were almost complete, just needed the astromech to weld the new parts in place while Eric help them in position.

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia took the flight suit, thanking him. She had no experience with a ship, but if something changed she would definitely let him know.

She quickly changed into the flight suit and tied her hair up, tucking her padawan's braid carefully around its base. Satisfied, she tucked her robes into her bag and hurried out with the bag over her shoulder.

She seated herself in front of the range scanner panel and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She just hoped that the droid was able to help Eric quickly.

 

[Chask274]

As the final coupling was locked in place, a loud alarm sounded from the direction of the cockpit. Eric winced, as it would be nearly deafening at the controls. Of course, being the jokester that he was, '74 had maxxed out the speakers in the cockpit before he'd left. Running into the cockpit, Eric snapped off the alarm "Sorry about that, that droid can be really be a nuisance sometimes. Now lets see wha-" Eric stopped mid-sentence as he looked at the read-out, and his eyes widened in shock and fear.

"Oh crap..."

An Imperial border patrol was approaching their position. It was a patrol frigate and two escort fighters. Leaping into his seat, Eric's hands flew across the controls, telekinetically moving the ones he couldn't reach. "Strap yourself in, this is going to get a little rough! '74, energize shields and get the drive spooled back up, we need to get out of here quick." The sublights blazed to life as the freighter shot off, away from the approaching ships. The QIE fighters caught up quickly, and after their requests for the freighter to stop were ignored, began firing. The Second Chance's sensor jammers would prevent missile locks and delay any attempts at identifying them, but that would only work for so long. This would be fun...

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia strapped herself into the seat behind Eric just in time before the freighter shot off. She saw TIE fighters outside and fear coursed through her for a moment before she got it under control. She calmed herself, knowing now was not the time to fret. Eric obviously seemed to know what he was doing and she doubted he wanted to get captured by the Imperials either.

She kept her senses open, though, and searched through the Force for the feeling of another. Someone who would recognize her for what she was. She hoped that none of the crew on the Imperial ships were Force Sensitive because if they were, they would recognize the mark she left in the Force. She had a self-taught skill of sensing others, but she did not know how to hide herself. It was something she would need to learn some day, she admitted.

 

[Chask274]

Thankfully, there were no Sith or Force-Sensitives on board any of the Imperial ships. Unfortunately, the patrol frigate was an Arrestor-class vessel, equipped with gravity-well projectors. Which meant, until they either ran far enough away, or disabled that frigate, jumping to hyperspace would be next to impossible. "OK, your probably not going to like what we're going to do next, but it's about the only idea I got. When I say, hit the switch that's marked 'Launch' on the silver panel next to the throttles. '74, man the turret and get those fighters taken care of. Here we go!" Throwing the ship into a 180-degree spin, Eric flew straight at the prow of the frigate. With the grav well projectors active, only two of it's main turrets could function at a time, making the task of dodging incoming fire a bit easier. Skimming along the side of the frigate, the spherical grav well projector came into view. A red light on the weapons panel indicated a confirmed lock, "Now, Alaisia!"