Great, Kid - Don't Get Cocky!

[Connor Harrison]

The Mara Corridor
Past Hutt Space, Due North to SSC Territory​

Connor missed his E-wing. He also missed his new freighter. Since the E-wing was now out of action in the Silver Temple on Voss, his new ship proudly taking its place, he was lost. Right now, he was flying a solo fighter with no weapons simply to get from A to B and back again. This wasn’t what he was used to, but it did the job.

The trip into the Unknown Regions had been…eventful. A smile flickered as he thought about what had happened on a world seemingly lost in time; a real charm and warmth to the planet untouched by much technology, but still finding time to appreciate the holiday season like the rest of the galaxy.

Still, he was heading back to familiar territory, his path clear ahead and his mind set on what he had to do. Retain his confidence, trust his ability, be the Jedi he was meant to be and show them the power of the Light. It would be good to build bridges with old friends and make new ones. He could complete his journey with Taeli, rescue Kyra from an empty life on Jakku, and find his way back to the Silver Sanctum and reclaim his position as Master.

The one-man fighter tore through the stars as he headed North, skirting the edges of Hutt space along the Mara Corridor on a nice even speed. Lightsaber and greatcoat safely tucked away, sleeves rolled up on his jumper; he was finally within distance of that good place – emotionally and physically.

[member="Niyla Ar'i"]

 

[scarletsurf]

The young ringmaster sat in the pilots seat, spinning in the chair as she stared into empty space. She had been reciting the lines she wrote for their very first show for hours, over an over. There was no way she would mess this up! "Welcome one and welcome all..." She said again, almost unconsciously as her eyes fluttered from sleep to wake. The rest of the troupe was currently off on their own adventures, there was Urdusa and Milo, the odd couple, and James the pilot. Niyla didn't really know where he was...such an odd character. Shawn was probably off looking for some rare relic to call her own. And Malik, Niyla smiled at the thought of the masked explorer. He was probably off taking out Retu and his gang. She was happy with her life here, as she thought of the crew she slowly fell to a slumber. That is until a loud shock went off and multiple crashes against the hull of her ship occurred. Niyla quickly threw herself up and looked out the ships window. "Pirates!" She said aloud and reached for her rapiers, ready to fight if need be. They would have a hard time getting into this cargo ship. Although she had an idea they would be persistent, considering the cargo onboard. Despite being a ringmaster to the Alura Traveling Circus she may also have been a... smuggler of rare and exotic items. A new one at that. Perhaps she was reckless, but she had to have some way of paying the credits required to run a operation like the circus. Plus; it was a nice rush of adrenaline.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor was close to nodding off when the HUD pinged up on the cockpit window, a step up from radar - painting a near 360 degree display of where objects were and ships in the area. The first sign of life for hours, and it appeared one vessel was surrounded by a few others. Small, but heavily armed it seemed.

Sitting forward, the trouble brewing North-North-West of him skirting Hutt Space, he flipped the com switch on the dash before him, eyes narrowing to squint into the distance.

"Unknown crafts, come in - identify yourself. Are you ok, over."

Why was it he could never travel from one side of the galaxy to the other without coming across SOME form of trouble.

[member="Niyla Ar'i"]

 

[scarletsurf]

Niyla recognized the ships model, mass produced and looked military grade. She was hesitant to respond as the last thing she needed on her vessel was a person affiliated with a major faction. Whether she was going to respond or not no longer mattered as a well placed ion torpedo shut her ship's power down, along with the shields. Soon the generator powered up but it only kept life support and lights on. Niyla was starting to become nervous, she now needed help whether she wanted it or not with no shields or power to speak of.

This is advanced tech for pirates. She thought and walked to the controls, throwing forward a lever which activated the emergency spotlights. They flashed multiple times and Niyla could only hope the other vessel understood. The zeltron may have been a great swordsmen but she couldn't take on an entire pirate crew. As she watched for the ship's reaction she felt a tremor in the ship, it seems the pirates have began to dock.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The small explosion from the hull signalled that there was trouble, even before the crew could reply or protest. What sort of Jedi would he be if he let that go? Shaking his head, Connor pushed the yolk down to speed up his ship and follow the HUD towards the ships.

Either this was a Republic or Hutt armed assault on an invader, or invaders, or pirates had struck a cargo ship. It felt like the latter.

"This is Connor Harrison of the Silver Sanctum – I advise you to turn away and leave right now or risk facing the SSC fleet."

Of course he was bluffing, but he had to try. If that didn’t work, he had another option.

"To unknown cargo craft, lower your rear cargo hold; repeat, lower your hold and prepare for boarding."

He gunned the twin ion engines and hoped one of the commands, if not both, would be met. The pirate ships, clearly looking worse for wear and showing signs of battle, were closer and beginning to dock.

[member="Niyla Ar'i"]

 

[scarletsurf]

Niyla was thankful he understood, she complied and as he said she lowered her cargo hold. Only leaving it open for him to get in before closing it. As she went to greet him she felt the ship tremor.

Fantastic... She thought and wiped nervous sweat from her brow. As she neared the loading bay she passed various smuggling compartments, her nerves only rising. This man said he was from the silver sanctum, she had heard good things of the group before.

As she reached the hold she saw the ship. Inside was what seemed a tallish figure with dashing features. She gripped her rapier as she spoke to him, licking her lips before she began.

"Thank you for your assistance." She said and expressed a nervous smile.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor moved quickly, avoiding what felt like a seismic blast from the pirates to try knock him out of orbit. The cargo hold opened and it didn’t take long for Connor to make a bumpy landing inside, sparks flying up from the underbelly as he did.

Quickly pulling off his belt and pulling back the hatch, he peered out and grabbed his lightsaber hilt from under the pilots chair and jumped down onto the metal floor. It was a lot bigger in here than it looked outside. He was welcomed by a girl, looking rather fiery with pink hair and slightly extravagant clothing. And a mean rapier gripped in her palm.

"You’re welcome, but you’re not out of this yet. Tell me, who are you and what’s happening? Where’s the Captain?"

He started off into the depths of the ship towards the main hold and cockpit area, if the corridor directions were accurate.

[member="Niyla Ar'i"]

 

[scarletsurf]

She was rather frantic at the moment, his presence throwing her off at first glance.

The ringmaster paused for a moment not knowing what to say- quickly she realized the silence and adjusted her posture to seem more official.

"I am the captain." She spoke with a strong tone. Her voice sounded young, maybe early 20s. She nodded, putting out her hand. Keeping the other latched to her weapon.

As she stepped closer to him she noticed the hilt in his hand. A lightsaber, the girl wouldn't lie, she was anxious to see a weapon like that in action.

"I am Niyla Ar'i, ringmaster to the Alura Traveling Circus." She looked away, a loud explosion occurring above them. "And.. I believe I am under attack."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor turned, a small questionable look in his eye.

"You’re the captain? Where’s your crew?"

He took her dainty hand and shook it. Or rather, the explosion from above shook both their hand and the ship itself, sending them both a little off balance.

"Ok, forget that – I hope they’re ready to be boarded."

Running forward to a fork in the corridors, he looked to Niyla.

"Listen; stay with me. We’ve got to get the cockpit and break away before they take control. You’re going to have to fight your way through and take me there." She did look able, but a little nervous. "I sense a strong aura in you. You’ll be ok."

[member="Niyla Ar'i"]

 

[scarletsurf]

Niyla nodded and pulled her weapon from its scabbard. "Let's do it." She said confidently and gripped the hilt tightly, pushing her bangs from her eyes and motioning for him to follow her.

She was nervous but she couldn't admit it to herself. She stepped up and walked to the ladder, pulling her body up to the next floor. She looked back and waited for him, wondering if the pirates were in the kennels yet. She wasn't nervous about them finding her cargo, it was well hidden and doubted they would. As she reached the hall she knew beyond was where they most likely breached, it was the weakest spot on the ship's hull.

"They should be up this way." She motioned towards the door with her rapier and pushed a hand through her hair.

"Ready?" She asked him and furrowed her brow.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor followed, keeping his hilt gripped tight in his right hand as the noise seemed to subdue externally, but could be heard internally which was never a good think. Breached ships meant big trouble, and it would take a great deal of resolve to repel these pirates and force them back. Hopefully a lightsaber would do the trick.

"Stay out of trouble and don’t get yourself killed, aright?"

Looking to the girl, Connor felt a reserve of Force energy within her, unsure what her place was, but the rapier looked pretty nasty, and he would keep an eye on her. Letting Niyla activate the door, it pulled back smoothly to reveal six armed figures congregating at the far end of the hold, about to break up into small groups to scout the ship. The cockpit viewport and the blanket of stars could be seen at the far end.

It was either the swish of the doors or the ignition of the blue blade of the lightsaber with that signature snap-hiss that got their attention, and their shouts came before the blaster bolts did.

Connor moved quickly left, hoping the girl would break right to draw their attention.

With a strong swipe of the blade, he deftly redirected a bolt back the way it came and into the sternum of one pirate, a Gran, who bounced backwards in a heap. Connor crouched down behind, what looked like, a long swoop bike covered in cloth. At least he hoped it was something like that and not a stock of missiles!

[member="Niyla Ar'i"]

 

[scarletsurf]

As the doors swished open and the men were revealed Niyla felt a surge of energy as the mysterious man locked eyes with her. As if there was a connection. She then glanced to see the pirates, 6 of them, all seemingly armed to the rim. "Fantastique..." She spoke, a heavy accent laying over the zeltronian language.

Niyla jumped to the right when she noticed him turn left, it would give him room to split up. Though, he seemed rather capable.

The 19 year old girl ran down the line, when she dodged a few shots and let her sword meet the rugged skin on the rodian pirate. Blue blood splashed across her clean floors as she stabbed him.

Niyla stabbed first.

The scavenger rolled her eyes and kicked the feet out from another, whom was just about to shoot a missile launcher at the rogue, though his missile seemed to have left the barrel anyways.

It fell much off trajectory though as she kicked him when he launched it, instead the missile flew into the wall and busted the durasteel frame to open a small hole in the wall which gradually grew in size as the pull of space ripped the old steel apart.

Niyla slammed her hand on a large switch and thrust it down, suddenly a blue film ran across the gap and the pull of space stopped, luckily however it seemed to take one of the pirates.

That is just great! The girl thought rather flustered, she fixed the ship more than she used the karking thing. Niyla then looked down the hall to see how the Connor Harrison faired, she met his gaze with curious eyes as she assessed the situation.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor repelled a trio of blaster bolts with his blade, hearing the exclamation that a “Jedi Knight” was on board. Get it right, he was a Master. Nobody ever said Jedi Master – Knight seemed to be the better call for them all collectively.

He stood upright after his defence, to see Niyla taking care of herself, and the rest happened in slow motion – the explosion, the pull of gravity and the fight to avoid being sucked out into space. Connor killed the blade and held the hilt in one hand while the other gripped the loose straps holding down the cargo he was behind.

The pull was like something else, but thankfully the girl knew her ship and stopped it as quick as it came about. He fell to his knees and stood, shaken, looking at the devastation the girl had brought up on them in a matter of seconds.

”You finished destroying the ship? Get to the cockpit – we’re going to blast the ship off you with a jump to hyperspace.”

He picked up the pace and ran over to her, the sounds of other docking up above.

”I take it you CAN get this ship to hyperspace?”

[member="Niyla Alura"]