Private A Moment to Take Stock

[In Rhan]

In stuck her tongue out in response, though she happily accepted somebody to lean on while they had a moment to take stock. "Showoff." She replied half-heartedly. "...that WAS incredible, though."

Closing her eyes, In nodded. "My beautiful swan, making me look bad." The Pantoran woman sighed softly, though she couldn't help herself from grinning. She knew for a fact that Niysha spent as much time scrambling as In herself did, she just did a better job of hiding it. "I'll hide behind you, don't worry. And I kept my promise back there - never even got close to the lightsabers." She replied glibly. "Feel free to praise me for my clever discretion later."

The elevator was reaching the top of the compound. In forced herself upright, steadying herself and re-securing her hair cover. She then pulled her blaster, glancing between her two accomplices. "Alright. We get up there, we get on the shuttle, and we get the hell out of he-"

In recognized the distinctive whirrrRRRR of a rotary blaster cannon spinning up a second before the lift was high enough to bring it into view. A Weequay carrying a massive gun was backing towards the open bay of the shuttle - and let loose a barrage of blaster bolts the moment In, Niysha, and Choonga were visible. Trusting Niysha, In dove and tackled the Balosar man behind a stack of boxes a moment before the space they were in was filled with hellfire.

 

[Niysha]

The trip to the top was supposed to be relaxing, and to be fair it absolutely was at a certain level. Niysha felt at ease just being physically in contact with In, let alone doing their thing together. Their ship may have been taken, they might be marooned on a pirate planet full of rabid weasels, and she might have been taking a moment to realize just how bizarre her life had become since In had entered it, but in this moment most of that didn't matter much. She had In and for the moment it was quiet, and that was enough.

Unfortunately her peace was interrupted by the growing realization of what was waiting for them at the top of the shaft. Niysha could easily make out the four or five men scattering about for cover, but more importantly she could see the huge man with the even bigger cannon long before he started to warm it up for murder. She let out a quiet breath the moment before the sound started and reached for her lightsaber again.

Peace was a lie, even in this tiny moment, and she had plenty of passion. Raw drive. Ambition that burned cold in her heart. In Rhan would make it to that shuttle safely and the two of them would snuggle as it broke atmo, and no power in the galaxy was going to stop that from happening. A heavy repeating blaster was just about the last thing anyone wanted to see, and Niysha found plenty of power in that fear.

As the lift lurched to a halt, Niysha ignited her lightsaber in the same moment that the other two ran for cover, resting it in front of her in a tighter guard than before. She was rubbish at forms, but she was pretty sure this was somewhere between Shii-Cho and Soresu. Shii-Choresu? Just about every saber jockey in the galaxy was going to get onto her about that one. Her stance was sloppy, but fortunately, Niysha had one keen advantage when it came to blasters.

It wasn't surprising; it was the same advantage she had in almost every situation.

When the repeated, high-pitched screaming of the repeater went off, she stood perfectly still and intercepted only the shots that made it into the silhouette of her body. Each bolt lit up like a blazing streak in her vision, moving just slow enough for her to avoid the vast majority just by not being there at all. She stepped two paces to the right and swung upwards, avoiding four bolts where she had been and deflecting two more. She slid three paces to the left and dropped a bit as she swung, ducking under one bolt that got too close and skipping two more that would've nailed her body, while deflecting a fourth.

The process was (ironically) slow, gradual, and patient. The upside to a repeater was the poor accuracy. It was meant to fill an entire area with blaster fire, which meant that the vast majority of the shots went wide enough that Niysha didn't even have to do anything to evade. All she needed to do was trust her instincts and stop the ones that were going to hit her directly. Eventually either the battery would exhaust, the gun would overheat, or In and her boyfriend would figure something out.

In Rhan

 

[In Rhan]

Watching somebody casually weave through automatic blaster fire and either dodge or deflect lethal shots with ease was downright hypnotic. In had been a dancer before she'd been a trucker, she understood grace when she saw it. She had no idea if she could have ever moved as intentionally or as skillfully as Niysha was. She'd have been perforated within seconds.

Speaking of, there was no promise that Niysha could keep doing that forever. In pushed herself off of the flustered Balosar, looking around for something. Anything. There HAD to be an angle. Something she could do.

The Balosar pointed, then flipped a switch on the crates they were hiding behind. They sprung a half-meter into the air. Hovering freight! "Perfect!" In crowed. She passed her blaster to Choonga. "I have an idea. Cover fire. Move with me."

In wasn't the only person who found it hard to not focus on the Sith and her fearsome, flawless Lightsaber stylings. The frizzy Miralukan had the focus of the Weequay and his crew to such an extend that they'd stopped retreating towards the ship. This gave Choonga and In time to reposition, the boxes soaking up the stray shot or two while Choonga fired wildly to take some of the heat off of Niysha.

Her goal - a large barrel-like container beside the fuel storage, one of the many fluids you wanted at a resupply station to top off visiting ships. In reached the barrel and wedged herself between it and the rhydonium tanks, pushing with her legs until she wanted to scream. The massive tank of space lubricant teetered, then crashed to the ground and spilled open, covering the pirates - and the shuttle pad - with layer of nearly-frictionless viscous fluid. Shots went wild, limbs went flying. The shuttle pad itself, slightly and imperceptibly tilted, now caused the shuttle itself to groan as it bean slowly sliding towards the far end of the pad. If it went over the side, it'd fall into the river.

In gave a yelp of alarm and dove, but succeeded only in slipping on lubricant and falling on her face.

 

[Niysha]

It had been so very long since Niysha had really run herself through her paces against a blaster. She didn't use her lightsaber much in the first place, let alone in full view of anyone who had the ability to remember its existence. It didn't take long for her to dip back into the hazy focus that came with meditative practice. Distracted awareness. A flow state. There was a zenlike comfort in doing something effectively, repeatedly, at a rythmic pace.

Only about one out of every three or so shots even came close enough to her body to need an active defense. As she sank into her flow time felt slower, giving her plenty of opportunity to simply not be where a shot was going to land. Every blast that she intercepted with her lightsaber let out a quiet, iconic crack and flew off in a random, harmless direction. She was vaguely aware that there were more people shooting at her than just the man with the cannon, but a wall of blaster fire had no face.

Her tranquil little storm of hell and death was only interrupted when the number of attacks threatening her sharply decreased. Niysha focused in a bit, remembered that she was a living being of higher mind, and took stock of her surroundings. In had spilled a massive vat of liquid for the second time in as many minutes, this time... industrial lubricant? The big man was still standing steady enough to focus, but the rest of the pirate squad was more than a bit distracted.

It was time to move.

Niysha focused in on just the heavy repeater. His accuracy wasn't improved by standing on engine lube, and she only needed to intercept three more bolts with quick, minute adjustments to her stance before there was enough of a gap in the fullisade for her to extend her hand and reach out with sudden, eager ambition. The telekinetic Force that extruded from her fingers was gentler this time - less "blast" and more "wave" - but far more oppressive. Thicker and more intense. No matter how hard he tried the massive Weequay man couldn't keep his footing, and when his back hit the deck, he was already sporting far too much backward momentum to stop himself from flying off the side of the landing pad with comedy velocity.

The Miraluka wasn't one to waste a single opportunity, and immediately dashed for cover, her lightsaber pointed up and away at a harmless angle but still quite active.

In Rhan

 

[In Rhan]

In wished she could manage a fraction of the grace and alacraty with which Niysha had whooshed up the crane. Being able to soar fifty feet with precision would have been really helpful for getting in the shuttle before it fell into the river and was rendered useless for their purposes. Alas, she was limited to the dimensions of mortal movement.

In took a couple of steps onto the pad and immediately began to slide. Choonga attempted to steady her by grabbing the back of her belt, but it was too late. He'd already entered the lube zone. The best either of them could do was try and steer the chaos as they began following the same route as the Weequay. In realized she was drifting wide, gave Choonga a look, and then pushed him towards the shuttle as hard as she could. Her aim was true - he clanged against the loading ramp and rolled up into the shuttle like a bowling ball.

Which just left In to find a way to make it, herself. Sliding slowly towards the river, she drew a survival knife and stabbed it into the shuttle pad to try and steer herself - but it was a losing endeavor. She was fully oiled, she could barely maintain a grip on the knife itself.

 

[Niysha]

There was some... Niysha didn't really know how to put it to words. Actually, that wasn't uncommon as of late. Every new experience with In was a truly new experience that she had no frame of reference for and struggled to describe. While unexpected, the whole "ice skating drama playing out in slow motion on a lubricated flight deck" thing wasn't surprising. Bizarre and noteworthy, but not surprising.

The shockwave from her most recent Force blast seemed to have dealt handily with the rest of the pirates Niysha had taken cover from. So liberated from her confinement behind cover, she deactivated her lightsaber - though she kept it handy and didn't return it to her belt - and stood. For the third time today, she visibly, publicly called upon the Force, her outstretched hand gently and carefully slowing In's momentum to a stop. When the Pantoran woman had fully come to a rest, her legs were dangerously close to dangling off the side.

With a gentle breath, Niysha found the destinies of In and the shuttle, and pulled them together. Once again gently, she guided In along her path safely into the arms of her new Balosar boyfriend. From their position on the other side of the lube puddle, several meters away, it was unlikely either of them would be able to make out her slightly goofy, empathic smile.

Niysha walked casually to the edge of the splash zone and stood, hands on her hips. She raised her voice just a bit, to be heard properly; it cracked a bit in the process. "Whenever it's convenient for you two, please get the engines warmed up."

In Rhan

 

[In Rhan]

Today marked the very first time In had ever felt Niysha using The Force on her directly - that she knew of. She was almost as flabbergasted by the experience as she was by the fact that Niysha ahd used her reality-defying powers to plant her in the lap of an increasingly-smitten Balosar. In might not've seen Niysha's big stupid grin, but Choonga absolutely did. The two shared an awkward chuckle before he helped In upright so that she could run into the control room of the shuttle.

Choonga returned Nisyha's smile with a matching grin and a thumbs up before realizing that the woman was blindfolded. Then he was just confused. Had she done all of this without sight!?

In was much more focused. The lanky Pantoran woman slid comfortably into the cockpit of the shuttle - noting dryly how 'swanky' it was. Leather seats, carpeting, shiny rocks and such all over the controls, and even a pair of fuzzy sabacc cards hanging from the roof of the cockpit. In had no idea who would put all this gaudy garbage all over a perfectly good shuttle, but judging from how far back the seats were they had to be ONE HUGE DUDE.

The well-maintained engine fired up quickly. Rather than plunging over the side, it slid off into a comfortable hover. The passenger bay remained open.

Choonga lingered near the back, holding his arms open as wide as he could. He then spoke words he never thought he'd say in his life. "Coo wha-nee wompa, Sith! Ee ga no tuuku!"

 

[Niysha]

Athletics were never Niysha's strong suit, but she was still Sith. That was like saying that a university-graduate chef's weakest cuisine was Corellian; yes, she was exceedingly whelming by Force-user standards, but compared to the average person, Niysha could jump several meters straight up, do a standing backflip, run for miles without rest, and balance perfectly on a surface barely the size of her own shoes. Impossible feats. Valery Noble might've been able to launch herself across a puddle of engine lubricant and land with perfect grace while Niysha could barely keep her balance sliding slowly across... but unlike every other living being on the flight deck, she didn't fall.

Coasting gracefully across the impromptu skating rink, Niysha landed in the unknown Balosar's arms without her lightsaber in her hand and with no lightning or asphyxiation. Hopefully that wouldn't send him the wrong message and make him braver with other Sith women in the future; they were, by and large, more deadly than the men. As always, Niysha's status as what amounted to a declawed kitten laid wildly outside the bell curve.

"My hero," she replied with a smirk, then patted one hand on one of his shoulders and sat down on the loading ramp to take off her boots. They were far too slippery at this point for her to waste time and energy walking around a flat surface and trying not to break her tailbone.

Inside the shuttle, there were no shortage of comfortable places to sit. Judging by the nonsense strewn about on every surface, this was someone's private pimpmobile. Hopefully it was that guy the Miraluka had sent flying off the side of the landing pad; it would've been appropriate pre-emptive revenge for the travesty he'd created in here. Chances were whoever had decorated this monstrosity had an equally gaudy bachelor's pad in the base below. Niysha did not want to consider the kind of "dates" he brought home.

"I'm going to assume you can fly this thing solo," she offered quietly as she took the co-pilot's seat. "But I'll be whatever help I can."

In Rhan

 

[In Rhan]

In nodded in affirmation, closing the loading doors. The shuttle took fire from the remaining pirates, but there weren't enough of them up and moving around to deal meaningful damage - not that she was about to risk it. She took them out along the river and then upwards into the black. The sleek shuttle smoothly broke atmosphere. Unfortunately, The Dancer in Green was not exactly anywhere to be found.

"Local scan suggests they took it to hyperspace." In cursed softly. Tilting her head way back, she looked directly up at the Balosar looming over hers and Niysha's seats. "Cheeba. Tasket hoo ju-nah bolo?" She asked hopefully.

The Balosar frowned a little as though recalling an unpleasant stench. "Lah-nee Lrungo ka. Bacca baa shee noko gabunah." He speculated aloud, his bruised antennaepalps twitching.

In wrinkled her nose in disdain. "Lrungo?" She complained, the word slithering from her lips completely dripping in disgust. "Uck. The sports bets guy?"

Choonga shrugged helplessly, offering a mildly sheepish smile. "Gabba gacha ruu tanna hei." He defended. "Ju-nah bolo I'm sorry. Hoko chuka no friend larga hailai sko..."

The last thing In wanted to do was to gamble her life for a ship in a casino run by one of the most gamble-oriented huts she could name off of the top of her head. But what choice did they have? In didn't both to ask Niysha - she suspected the Miralukan was on board with only a glance. The Dancer had become her home, too. "Call your friend. Niysha, help me set a course for Lrungo's Palace." In directed, throwing the shuttle forward.