Doom Amongst The Dunes (Shelved RP)

((Right guys, this is going to be fairly controlled/structured RP, so you may have to follow the story as best you can. I will be guiding you along the way with the NPC's though so don't worry. I can guarantee you'll get your fair share of combat which is why I've chosen the 'psycho-bunch' to join me on this particular occassion! . As I say try not to divert too far away from the original story but I will allow for some freedom cause I work best when I plan things as I go along.So expect some surprises!))

Your new employer (known only to you as "The Falleen") has sent you on thankless mission to protect and escort a local diplomat by the name of Dakota Tyn out of the core world of Coruscant, which is now under siege by the marauding Sith. She is being accompanied by her Echani bodyguard Masurigi who seems intent on keeping her safe. Dakota has requested that she must get to Ryloth to speak with the the diplomatic relations officers and of course, she wants 'no questions asked'. She has mentioned the pay off being quite substantial if you can get her to her destination as quietly as possible and more importantly...in one piece.

As the agencies pilot Ree'tak has mysteriously vanished, you've had to make a stop along the way to the planet of Duro where you are to meet a Smuggler and would-be pilot by the name of Kressla Bareen, who has promised to take you to Ryloth if he can get his share of the cut. Onboard his ship 'The Pacer' you have also encountered a strange Ubese passenger going by the name of Redwatch, who's intentions thus far are unknown.

With Sith fleets lurking at every part of the known galaxy, it is not long until you run into big trouble above the desolate moon of Tatooine. Kressla's Lethisk-class freighter is no match for the heavily armed Sith warship that you have encountered and one false move could send you all into an early grave.....


"Sir, we have a small vessel approaching on screen."
The lieutenant was fresh out of military school and this was the first time he'd encountered a possible republican ship.
"Is it one of ours?"
Admiral Kalem was a stern, direct and seasoned veteran and with the current events unfolding on Coruscant, he wasn't about to take any chances.
"It appears to be a small transport ship sir, but it's alliegience is unknown at this time."
"Open a communications channel. I want to know who is aboard that ship."
The lieutentant fumbled about with the buttons nervously as the admiral paced up and down the bridge, arms folded behind his back and watching intently.
"Communications channel open sir. Would you like me to address them?"
"No. I shall handle this myself."


Meanwhile aboard 'The Pacer'....

Kressla hadn't even noticed the gargantuan threat approaching his helpless vessel. His mind was too focused on replacing some damaged power couplings below deck.
"THIS IS ADMIRAL KALEM OF SITH WARSHIP 'THE VECTOR', STATE YOUR DESIGNATION!"
The admiral's voice bellowed through the communications transmitter, shaking the deck below.
Kressla immediatly dropped what he was doing and ran to ship's helm as fast as his Durosian legs could carry him.
"Oh noooo, oh nooooo, oh noooooo...."
"What is it Mr. Bareen?"
Dakota had now awoken from her slumber and had made her way into the helm. She was an attractive Togrura, far too attractive for a diplomat one might say.
"Sith! Sith! They're on the viewscreen!"
He pointed his long fingers toward the view of the incoming Sith vessel.
"Quickly, fetch my companions. Surely they've delt with something like this countless times before."
Being a diplomat it was in her job description to be calm in unexpected events such as this.
"It is imperative that I not be found aboard this ship. Maybe my travel companions could speak with this 'Sith admiral' and get us out of this mess?"
The Duros nodded and scurried down to the crew quarters. Inside he could see the Togruta's companions who had clearly been interrupted by the voice of the admiral.
"Diplomat Tyn wishes you to speak with the Sith battleship! Hurry!"

((Ok, we're all ready to go! Please remember to use the when you fell you're ready to move on from a scene. Thanks!))

The Ubese passenger looked up from the portable holoscreen he was holding. This was unexpected. Bareen was clearly panicked but the faces of those he shared the cabin with showed little sign of alarm. And why should they? They were either what they appeared to be or, like him, had their cover stories locked down tight before they left Duro.

He ran a quick check on his datasplint. All functions normal. Good.

Returning his gaze back to the holoscreen the Ubese let his eyes wander the page, though his attention was squarely fastened on the people opposite him.

Masurigi walked out of one of the rooms hastily. She didn't look to impressive. She was clearly much shorter then other of the crew members. Dressed in a grey tunic that wasn't loose enough to hide how thin she was the girl looked more like a farmers daughter from some backwater planet then a fighter.

The only signs of any technology on her was a shield belt... Obvious to all that were around the galaxy a bit it was echani made- Light and decorated with ceremonial symbols of some kind looked more like a fashion piece then a usable item- and a armband that looked heavier and bulkier... Both didn't fit her appearance to well.

Young, pale, blue eyed and white haired girl clearly didn't look like she belonged here...

The only things that were saying otherwise were the sword handing from her left side with a clear sign of usage on it and a half meter long stick with a metal tip on it hanging from the other side.

She looked at the Duros curiously with her big blue eyes expressing confusion.

This was a new situation for her. She wasn't the kind of girl to get in trouble much. Sure she used to cut and beat up people allot... But mostly it was legal and rarely anyone died.

"Talk to a Sith Admiral? What would i say?" She boggled. " I can't tell him the truth can i? Mistress Tyn is the diplomat here... She should be good with words and do the talking... So why doesn't she?"

She clenched the hilt of her sword that was hanging from her belt. She didn't know what to do about this situation. She never got used to the concept of lying. She didn't need it that much. Other lied to her of course but she was trained to read that by their stance, breath, eyes, movement... It worked...Sometimes.

She looked around at the people on the ship with hope in her eyes trying to find someone that could fix this situation.

((OK. I edited the post to give people an idea how Masurigi looks like. Kind of inspired by LWs post . Sorry for any confusion! ))

Valik's massive frame was sat back in a decidedly uncomfortable chair which he was barely able to fit in. He had his feet up on a small coffee table near to the chair and was sharpening a rather antiquated, elaborately styled knife.

Even for a Feeorin Valik was hulking, a brute of walking muscle who found very few natural predators anywhere in the galaxy. His skin was an off-grey colour which looked almost akin to metal, yet he sported no cybernetics whatsoever. His size disguised his natural dexterity and reflexes though his love for melee combat over blasters did nothing to help with this reputation.

Aware that all his companions were specialist combatants, he still found his attention drawn towards the large dark-furred Wookie as he spoke:

"Sith?" His voice was deep and guttural yet surprisingly fluent in Galactic Basic. "Humph. What is there to say to Sith? This little ship is no match for a Sith Battleship, let us either shoo them away like the insects they are or give them an honourable combat.... on more equal terms."

With that he made a massive bellowing laugh that was utterly inappropriate for the situation -making it even more difficult to know if he was being serious or sarcastic - before placing down the knife and picking a small tranq-syringe from the table and slamming it into his neck, releasing calming chems into his bloodstream.

(( Im almost finished on this fella's back history, you folk will have to bear with me, apologies!))

This wasn’t good. Whoever this Tyn was, it seemed a mistake to defer this matter to subordinates. Since when did a diplomat need someone to talk on their behalf? Redwatch resisted the urge to frown at the Feeorin. A Sith battleship was not something to be laughed away and any captain worth his salt would grow more suspicious the longer his communication was left unanswered.

The Ubese leaned forward in his chair shifting his weight to a more ready position and cleared his throat.

“Excuse me,” he directed to the group at large. “I hate to stick my nose into where it’s not wanted, but I have a very important rendezvous which a mild case of getting blown up might delay. Can I suggest someone answer the good diplomat’s request?”

(( ))

Masurigi sighed and brushed her short white hair nervously as she looked around the room.

There was no one here that could do It... No one else here looked as inconspicuous as she did.
The wookiee probably didn't even speak basic, Feeorin was clearly unstable...And the Ubese... Or whatever he was wasn't going to "bite the bullet" and do it for them.. clearly. And he clearly would atract more attention then she would. So that leaves only her...

She took a deep breath and straightened up a bit, maybe to look taller? Then she said with a serious face.

"I'll do it..."


(( ))

The Duros stared blankly at his passengers. His bulbous red eyes glistening with fear.
"But....but....my ship.....my poor ship! Somebody do something!"

Little beknown to the passengers, Dakota had been eavesdropping behind the door. She slowly slid her finely formed body around the bulkhead in a provacative manner, just to make sure she'd caught their attention..
"I do have ears you know? And I could probably hear that loud-mouthed Feeorin if I were as far away as the Meridian sector."
She gracefully crossed the room and sat in the corner away from the other passengers.
"Now, it was my understanding from your employer that you would be assigned to escort me to Ryloth or am I mistaken?"
Her direct tone sounded odd coming from such a soft voice.
"If memory serves me correct, I also recall making myself very clear that I want no questions asked. Now, I suggest you get on that transmitter and speak to that battleship or I may be inclined to rethink our little arrangement."
The Togruta was clearly used to getting her own way, possibly due to the fact that she was undoubtedly from fine stock. She glanced at Masurigi, who had been willing to step up and take control of the situation.
"My dear sit down. you are here simply as my bodyguard and that is what I am paying you for. These.....'brutes' on the other hand are being payed to escort me to safety, and that is what they will do."

"Sith?" The Feeorin spoke in Basic, Ne'tra had never encountered that before, but he hadn't interacted verbally with all that many of his kind. "Humph. What is there to say to Sith? This little ship is no match for a Sith Battleship, let us either shoo them away like the insects they are or give them an honourable combat.... on more equal terms."

'Could be a good ally.' The Wookiee thought, staring back at the Feeorin who rivaled even Ne'tra's size. Both of his options would be hard to create in reality, though. We certainly wouldn't be able to shoo away a ship twenty times the size of this Pacer and they wouldn't be able to get close enough to have "honorable combat". But at least he reminded the group of action. Besides muttering the petite Echani woman muttering to herself, no one had said anything.

"But....but....my ship.....my poor ship! Somebody do something!" The Duros stared at us, craven and cowardly, little in size and significance.

The Togruta woman came from the other side of the wall, "I do have ears you know? And I could probably hear that loud-mouthed Feeorin if I were as far away as the Meridian sector." 'Immature reaction, prancing around like a child.' "Now, it was my understanding from your employer that you would be assigned to escort me to Ryloth or am I mistaken?" 'Arrogant. Thinks she's so much better than us because she's the one hiring us, I should slice her where she stands.' "If memory serves me correct, I also recall making myself very clear that I want no questions asked. Now, I suggest you get on that transmitter and speak to that battleship or I may be inclined to rethink our little arrangement." The Togruta was clearly used to getting her own way.

No one seemed too worried about the situation, save the pilot, and no one was jumping up to speak for the package. It was obvious that, with the vibro-blades and vibro-knives that almost everyone was equipped with there wasn't a diplomat among them. Besides Tyn, of course, but if she was afraid enough to hire four body guards for a routine get together, she wouldn't have the gumption to speak to a Sith Admiral.

Ne'tra Kar'ta would have spoken for the ship, but his clamorous Shyriiwook didn't make him much of a negotiator. So he went to the only logical option.

Walking up to the Duros smuggler that had just ordered them to speak to the Sith Admiral, standing several feet taller, in front of the man.

"Acs acc roohar cacaca rawwwa roohar anachwoanacacoooowa, acww rooha orawws soo crahwo acs, rooha caworaor soo sacwo Rawaccacrraan rawwwa acooawo rooha rarwo raranwo soo rrwos hac raorar crawwwoanr." (( It's your ship and your livelihood, if you want to save it, you speak to the Admiral and hope you're able to get us away safely. ))

She was an imposing figure, this Togruta. In command. Which again begged the question why not address the Sith ship herself? It further suggested that this “arrangement” she spoke of was more than a simple escort assignment.

Redwatch gave an inaudible sigh. Perfect. He liked things simple and this had complicated written all over it.

He watched the dark furred Wookie make his way over to Bareen, who seemed to shrink in on himself at the beast’s approach. Whatever the roaring Wookie meant, Redwatch got the feeling it wasn’t volunteering as spokesperson.

Valik put the tranq down, empty and useless as it now was. Fiddling with some device or other in his large hands he turned to face the people but didn't stand up.

'Our Wookie friend has a point. We were asked to escort, not be diplomats ourselves. How is it going to look if any of us appear on a screen and try and convince them "we mean no harm."? Not good, thats how.'

He shuffled uncomfortably in his chair but still didn't fit in it very well.

'Give me someone to smack, someone to shoot or someone to kill and we have no problems. I for one have no intention of playing nice with these Sith, and if anyone other than the ship's Captain answers the call, they'll be suspicious anyway.'

Though the tranquilizers had seemed to have calmed the Feeorin some, he still seemed less than happy about the situation.

((BTW: Valik cant speak Shyriiwook, but he does have a rather basic translator in his hands))

Masurigi looked around. Her statement clearly didn't make any impression on anyone here...

And then the Diplomat walked into the room.

The first thing she noticed about her employer is how can she almost literally sucked the air out of a room just by entering it. She was a predator... But not in the same way others in this room were. She wore no weapon on her... But somehow she made even the wookiee feel a bit smaller compared to her.

A predator with claws made of words and gestures.

Masurigi nodded her her slightly at her employer with respect.

Togruta walked through the room... Slashing and cutting with words like there were weapons. Masu was impressed by her. She met such people before... Not in the most pleasant of situations mostly and their words were filled with hate and threats. But this woman? The threats were subtle... There was no hate or even anger one could see easily.

This woman was a warrior in her own way. She had to respect that.

"My dear sit down. you are here simply as my bodyguard and that is what I am paying you for. These.....'brutes' on the other hand are being payed to escort me to safety, and that is what they will do."

She was right. This wasn't Masurigis expertise nor her job. She felt glad to be re leaved of responsibility for it. She smiled and already seemed more relaxed although the danger was far from over. Somewhere inside though she realised that this was the diplomats weapon at work...

"As you wish, Mistress"

She nodded again at the diplomat and walked her way to her. Sitting on a chair close to her placing her sword on her knees for comfort. Or so it seemed. These "brutes" were dangerous and Masu wanted to be prepared...Even if they were here as an escort.

(( ))

*BACK ABOARD THE VECTOR*

"Hmm...still no response. They must be hiding something."
The admiral was growing more impatient with every moment.
"Lieutenant, prepare to fire at my command."
The young Lieutentant was startled at the request of his commanding officer. His few years of training hadn't prepared him for something like this. Destroying a vessel that showed no signs of being a threat whatsover was a heinous and cowardly act by any standards.
"But sir, there may be innocents aboard the ship?"
He didn't know where he found the courage to muster the words but he had a moral duty to fulfill and if he was going to be the one to push the button, then he wanted to know that he was doing it for thr right reasons.
"Are you disobeying a direct order Lieutenant?"
The admiral scowled at his lesser.
"No sir, but I feel we should perhaps wait a while longer."
"If I wanted your opinion Lieutenant I would've asked for it! You are relieved of your duty, now get out of my sight before I have you court marshalled!
The Lieutenant instantly dropped everything he was doing and ran from the bridge.

The admiral's eyes demonically slanted downward as he planned his attack.
"Now, lets see if this gets their attention...."
He pushed a flourescent white button on the control panel facing him and sent a large red burst of energy toward the small encroaching vessel. The impact was sudden but it was merely a fraction of damage compared to what his precious battleship could do.

*BACK ABOARD THE PACER*

The cannon blast from the battleship sent Kressla flying across the room, knocking him unconcious. This wasn't a good situation for any of the passengers onboard to be in. Sparks were flying from ever section of the ship, a small fire had already started in the engine room and more importantly, the pilot was incapacitated.

Dakota held tightly onto the the nearby Dejarik table, desperately trying to stabilize herself.
"Now what are we going to do?!.."

In an instant reaction, Ne'tra had to tense himself and push against one of the walls to remain upright. The blast had be a shock for Ne'tra, it didn't seem natural to fire on such a harmless little ship. The Sith, opposed the common Repulic mentality, weren't ones for unnecessary combat, except for some power hungry, feeble Dark Jedi. Communication in a situation like this was out of the question. The fact that they were still alive meant that it was probably just a warning shot, that warship could have devoured them in an instant, especially sitting stagnant as they were. They only had one option left.

Ne'tra knew the ship had to take to action, fast. But he doubted he would be able to fly this Republic-model ship, the only ship he had ever flown was his Sith-manufactured stolen vessel.

So he resorted to something that people always responded to. "Etameeeaynee egeeor ora ormoaetee ceyaynoredaloet, YnAWo!" He roared at those still standing.

As the blast hit The Pacer the whole crew quarters shook sending more that one individual spiraling. Quite literally stuck in the small chair that was bolted to the floor, Valik did not move but the translator he was carrying loosed from his grip and skidded across the floor, making understanding what Ne'tra had just said impossible.

Struggling to wrestle himself free from the chair and seeing Kressla knocked unconscious, he bellowed:

'Can anyone fly this death-trap of a ship? We need to set down on that moon now! That warship cannot follow us into the atmosphere - it will have to send fighters after us and those we can handle...'

'Not the best plan,' he thought to himself... 'but better than sitting here and getting blown to bits...'

'Diplomacy has no home here, let us level this playing-field!'

The blast shook the ship with such power it threw Masurigi of her chair and sent her flying through the room. Driven only by instinct she tumbled down to the floor and rolled on it to land on her knee.

She wasn't an expert on ships but she was quite sure the next shot would leave nothing but space dust if they didn't do something right now.

Masurigi quickly looked at Dakota. She seemed unharmed. She intended to keep it that way.

"Enough of this..." She said standing up and with as much haste as she could muster (And indeed it seemed she could muster allot) rushed to the door of the cabin leading to the cockpit. This admiral wasn't wasting any time and this "escort" didn't seem capable of making a decision. She intended to buy some time... She needed to talk to him...

Recovering from his initial shock of the blast impact, Redwatch got to his feet as the Echani waif disappeared from the room.

“I can pilot this ship” was his reply to the Feeorin. Well enough to crash into a moon anyway, he thought. “Somebody had better do a sweep for signs of damage.”

Hopping over the prostrate Kressla, Redwatch quickly made his way to the forward passageway giving the howling Wookie as wide a berth as possible. Taking the companionway steps two at a time he burst into the cockpit and slid into the pilot’s seat.

This ship couldn’t be all that different from the Core Galaxy Systems freighters he was more familiar with. Scanning the control console in front of him Redwatch mumbled to himself as his fingers traced over the many buttons, dials and switches. He nodded and smiled grimly glad to see he hadn’t lied. He could fly this bird.

The thin Echani girl was adjusting the comm-set and he briefly met her blue eyed gaze. What the hell was going on? A warning flashed onscreen and he turned his attention to the read-out. Frag! The automated fire suppression system must have been damaged by the blast.

“Someone get down to the engine room and kill that fire now!” he bellowed over his shoulder.

“Pitch… roll… yaw… fine. Okay, escape pods… deflectors...” knowing it was all but pointless Redwatch initiated evasive manoeuvres, getting a feel for the ship as he plotted a course for the nearby moon.

(( ))

She rushed through the corridors as fast as she could.

"What will i say?" She thought as she burst into the cockpit. "The com was down? The speakers were turned off? The pilot was in the back? " Her mind boggled all those options as her eyes were trying to identify something in this cockpit resembling a communicator.

They all sounded the same to her... Simple and believable... She wasn't an expert on words and lying obviously and she didn't feel how suspicious those excuses she made up sounded.

One thing she knew is that she had to think up an excuse for making the Admiral wait so long..."Ships break right..?" She said to herself while her eyes finally rested on something that looked like a communicator panel.

Running wasn't an option... Not this late and she couldn't fly the damn thing anyway. The sith were probably on the best shooting position they could be and holding their fingers on the triggers waiting for them to move... No... This required talking. Their not suspecting anything... not yet... Her hand ran over the controls of the comm-link trying to activate it and get the admiral on it when the Ubese or whoever he was ran into the room and jumped on the pilots seat.

She looked at him surprised. What that the hell was he up to? Their eyes met for a second and as the red flag appeared on the pilots controls he screamed.

“Someone get down to the engine room and kill that fire now!"

"No! We can't run!" She though and as he turned to the controls trying to get the hand of this ship she grabbed her swords hilt and said.

"Don't you even think of moving this ship! You want to get us all killed?!" She narrowed her eyes and tried her best to sound threatening. Her hand was resting on the hit of her sword ready to strike if he didn't comply...

Becoming infuriated with the chair obviously designed for smaller frames, Valik lost his temper and ripped it from the floor, bolts and all.

Looking around he saw the scene quickly descend into chaos:

The Ubese and Echani seems to head toward the cockpit and the Wookie looked close to ripping something to shreds.

Valik was no diplomat, nor a pilot and his options were limited. When the Ubese yelled about a fire in the engine room, he took that as his most useful course of action and with a dismissive shrug he threw the now broken chair over his shoulder and headed toward the ship's engine room.

(( ))

Redwatch slowly eased his hands away from the console and looked at the girl next to him amazed at her total lack of grasp at the situation.

“Look, that Warship fired with no provocation.” He spoke slowly and calmly, ignoring her threatening grip on her sword and maintaining eye contact. “Whoever shot that blast could have spread our atoms half way across this sector if they’d wanted to. Some bored sadist over there has decided they’ve found some sport and I really don’t want to play.”

Remembering Tyn’s earlier words to the Echani, Redwatch changed tack. “I can understand your need to protect your mistress but think. If we stay put this can end only one of two ways. We get boarded and they search the ship from top to bottom,” he paused to let those implications sink in, “or they continue target practice and we all have to walk home.” He smiled, trying the ease the tension. “I don’t know about your kind, but the air out there is a little thin for me.”

Chafing at the precious time this was wasting Redwatch turned back to the controls and began to resume the Pacer’s course correction. “Our only hope is to get as close to that moon as possible and pray we break atmo.”

(( ))

Masurigi listened to the Ubese carefully... But she couldn't find any logic in his words. To her this ship couldn't handle such an escape even if it was still intact... Not to mention the sith having all the guns aimed at them. She shook her head.

The Ubese turned to his console. She had to react. " I told you not to touch those! " She yelled this time...

"Think for just a second. They hailed us. We didn't respond. They shoot a warming shot at us... You assume to much, Isn't that normal military procedure? And this warning shot almost destroyed this tiny ship! The next one will be fatal!" Her hand stroke the sword hilt slowly. She was loosing time on this and she hated it as she had none to loose any more...

"Are you good enough of a pilot to fly this damaged ship through the barrage of sith fire?" A smile appeared on her face. In her opinion he didn't look like it.

"Now... Don't move this ship. They aren't looking or us, this ship or the Mistress yet... We still have the benefit of the doubt don't we?" She turned to the comm and prepared it.

"And even i this doesn't work..." Probably it won't... she though sighing i her mind " We still can buy some time. Kill the fire... Get ready or the last run..." She took a deep breath and turned the com on... The holo screen lighted up.

"This is the Pacer to the sith war ship. Hold your fire. I repeat. Hold your fire!"

As she said those words... one could say she looked scared. One could also say she was a good actor while seeing her now- playing scared. But the truth is. She wasn't acting...


(( ))

Slouching back into the chair Redwatch held up his hands in supplication. The child seemed determined to run the show and he was in no mood to argue with her. He had the unshakeable feeling they would all end up on that moon one way or another.

As he put his feet up on the edge of the pilot’s console the words of the Togruta diplomat ran through his mind. My dear sit down. you are here simply as my bodyguard and that is what I am paying you for... So much for ‘normal military procedure’. The irony made him smile.

Folding his arms across his chest in a somewhat petulant attitude he leaned back to listen to the comms exchange about to happen. This should be entertaining.

(( ))

*BACK ABOARD THE VECTOR*

"Sir we have an incoming transmission from the republican ship."
The lieutentants replacement was nervous after seeing what had happened to last officer that had disobeyed the admiral.
"Very well, patch them through."

"This is the Pacer to the sith war ship. Hold your fire. I repeat. Hold your fire!"
A womens voice echoed through the speaker.
"State your purpose of being in this sector Republican or I WILL be forced to destroy your vessel."
The admiral readied his finger on the launcher.
"We are allowing no ships to pass."

*BACK ABOARD THE PACER*

"I must get to Ryloth. We're going to have to try to get past that ship!"
Even in the face of death Dakota was a determined woman. She wasn't going to allow any Sith warship to get between her and her destination and that much was clear.

Arriving at the corridor leading to the engine room, Valick rounded the bend and had to immediately pin his large frame to the floor to narrowly avoid getting engulfed in a fireball.

Crawling along he peered through the thick smoke and managed to make out at least three major fires and two minor ones, and it was spreading quickly. The automatic fire supression system seemed to be offline, most likely hit in the impact.

'Well this doesnt look good.... bah, I'm too pretty to die..' Valik smirked to himself as he crawled along on his belly toward the engine room.

"State your purpose of being in this sector Republican or I WILL be forced to destroy your vessel."
The admiral readied his finger on the launcher.
"We are allowing no ships to pass."

This didn't sound good. But at least they didn't fire at them any more... For a short while. Masurigi sighed heavily. This got out of hand pretty fast. A smuggler that failed to do his job at the start, escorts that had no idea what they are doing and her... A Bodyguard trying to talk the way out of this mess for her employer who was a... Diplomat.

"This is insane..." She thought as she turned the speaker off and looked at the Ubese...

"Why are you sitting like that? Shouldn't you be setting this ship ready to fly?" She shook her head... "Whats wrong with these people?" She thought feeling quite annoyed.

Her intention was to buy time. Maybe get this sith admiral not to blast them right away...
She turned the speaker on again and replayed to the impatient sith.

"We are a private passenger vessel on the way to the outer-rim. We had minor issues with the ship and our pilot failed to respond to your call, as he was below deck."

Was that a good lie? Sounded true enough to her...

Time was ticking slowly... But they weren't shooting and that's what counted.

Maybe they'll let us turn around to the planet? This thought crossed her mind.

She was responsible for her employers safety not the success of her "mission" or trip... whatever this was. Not being blaster right away or chased by a sith war ship all around the nearest moon seemed safe enough option to her. At least on the planet the Mistress could try again... Preferably with a better smuggler.

She was protecting her employer...As a good bodyguard should. Interestingly enough her own safty had yet to cross her mind in all this...

"Why are you sitting like that? Shouldn't you be setting this ship ready to fly?"

Well this was fabulous. The girl was brainsick. First she threatens him with murder to get him away from the ship’s controls and now she asks why he’s not flight ready.

As she flipped the mic switch Redwatch wouldn’t have been surprised if she had told the Warship the captain hadn’t responded because he was entertaining passengers with an impromptu Jizz session or that wild Space Banthas had chased them here. So he was thankful when she did respond.

"We are a private passenger vessel on the way to the outer-rim. We had minor issues with the ship and our pilot failed to respond to your call, as he was below deck."

At least the diminutive sociopath can spin a decent lie, he thought as he sat up straight and arched his back, wringing the tension from his wrists and fingers.

Redwatch was aware it probably wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference how ready he was. Looking at the warning still blinking away on the console he knew if he engaged the main engines with that fire still ablaze there wouldn’t be much chance of anyone going anywhere.

(( ))