Private Never Get High On Your Own Supply

[Iris Arani]

Iris kept her blaster leveled, shooting off at the people that were still following after them. Kill and survive was the main goal right now. Ignore anything else. Ignore the people screaming, the colors around them as they greyed. Focus on survival. It wasn't until they were up and moving that she finally lowered her blaster and breathed. Really breathed. The kind of 'stay calm, stay in control' breathing she'd been taught over the years dealing with this panic.

"You don't carry a lightsaber... you freeze up in the middle of a fight... you some kinda fraud or is it something else?"

"You ever fight in the war?" She snapped back, practically glaring towards him before taking another, deeper breath. Emotion like that wasn't something she was used to feeling. Keep control, keep breathing.

"Just, drive."

Yuri Maji

 

[Yuri Maji]

Yuri blinked at her remark and spared a glance at her with a frown, though he didn't respond for a long moment. He simply kept his focus on the lane ahead of them as he sat back. "No need to tell me twice." He remarked as he took another turn. The map indicated they were quickly closing in on his ship, a huge relief for the smuggler.

After a while, Yuri looked at her again for a moment. "I ain't a soldier." He commented. "I never fought in any wars, but you don't live this life without seein' your fair share of karked up stuff." He slowed in a busy skylane leading to the port, taking the time to process what she said properly. A few pieces started to line up in his head. "My Ma does the same. Not in combat... but drop a pan, or pop a cracker or somethin' close to her, and she does the same. She used to be a soldier." He admitted softly. "Same happens to me now and then." A partial reason to his rather questionable usage of substances.

They finally touched down by his ship and Yuri immediately hopped out to get to it. The boarding ramp lowered and Yuri entered his ship without skipping a beat, only to come to a screeching halt as he passed through the freighter's galley. On the table and couches, his armour was splayed out along with cleaning materials. "Wait there." He immediately ordered, turning to usher Iris out of the galley and towards another part of the ship. After a few minutes of cleaning up and closing the door to his personal quarters, he went back to fetch her. "Okay, all good now." He muttered with a nervous voice. Hopefully she didn't get a chance to see any of that.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

".. It's not fun."

Which was the honest truth, and about as much as she was willing to discuss her own problem. Especially with a spice addict currently wanted by almost all of Denon. The only relief was when the speeder came to a stop and she could hop out. Not that her guard was down. She looked about, tightened the grip on the borrowed blaster she had. Ironically, she'd feel a lot safer with a lightsaber.

The only one she had on her though was one she refused to use. Domxite would have to come first.

A quick tap on her wrist at least sent the signal to her friend. They'd get there when they could, if Yuri didn't immediately leave anyway. Might not be safe to. She blinked as she was ushered along though. She hadn't bothered to pay attention to the ship itself. No colors came from within, but there were plenty around the hangar. He was nervous. That's what first became clear as he stepped back out and closed the door to his room.

"You don't need to be embarrassed about what you left out. Plenty of people have them." Whatever she was talking about was very much not the armor, not that she'd actually seen what was hidden. An assumption based on how others reacted similarly.

"Can your ship cloak? Change it's registry?"

Yuri Maji

 

[Yuri Maji]

The Shistavanen blinked with confusion as Iris spoke up about whatever he hid away. For a moment a frown set in as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. "Leave what out? If you're talkin' about my stash, I ain't that sloppy." He remarked, making his way back to the cockpit. She went on to ask about his ship, which earned a chuckle from Yuri. "Hey, I got some creds, but not that much. But yeah, thing's got an IFF spoofer, we can change registry easily." He explained as he sat down and powered his ship up.

After a few moments he glanced at Iris. "So... where exactly do you wanna go? I feel like we can settle this without havin' to fall off the map. There's always someone that can be bought over." He commented, starting the ship's engines as he spoke. But a glance out the viewport had his heart sink. Two speeders in the distance were flying towards their direction at an alarming speed, but the biggest concern was a glimmering ball of fire flying ahead of the speeders. "Get out, get out!" He barked as he grabbed Iris and sprinted out of the cockpit straight to his room. A few seconds later, the ship rocked as the cockpit was blown open.

"Okay, that's it." He growled to himself as he undressed and suited up in a body glove, soon followed by what he tried to hide from Iris. A few moments later, Yuri exited the ship clad in Mandalorian armour as claxons blared around him. "We'll have to get another way out." His synthesized voice perked up as a blank visor glared at the incoming speeders.

Iris Arani

 

[Iris Arani]

"If you have the money, I'm sure there's someone to pay off." Specifically? Iris wasn't sure. But she also didn't think he'd have the cash needed to actually pay off what had just been put on his head. Nor did she have the time to think about it. Danger. She blinked as she was pulled from away from the cockpit as it was blown apart. More danger. She gripped at her chest, staring at the ruin, the fire.

She breathed deep, closed her eyes. Detach. Right now she just needed to detach.

She reached into her pack, pulling out the hilt of her lightsaber. Domxite wasn't here to help keep her calm, but they were in danger and she didn't want to just make him fight alone. The blade ignited in a flash of blue before Iris stepped forward, letting her blade zip through the air to knock aside a stray bolt. She could handle this much.

"I'll cover."

Yuri Maji

 

[Yuri Maji]

The girl drew a lightsaber and knocked away the first of the incoming bolts, taking up a more defensive position with the onslaught. "Works for me." The Shistavanen muttered as he glared at the incoming vehicles. He raised his pistol and ignited his jetpack to gain some elevation before letting loose with powerful particle bolts.

The three speeders weren't built to sustain damage like that, though they reached the landing point for the passengers to spill out with weapons at the ready. A snarl rumbled from Yuri as he took aim and fired, letting Iris do her job at deflecting the blaster bolts. The few that snuck past had little effect on his armour as he advanced. "On me. I'll take point." He spoke, picking up the pace with his jetpack. In a matter of seconds, Yuri was in the middle of the action to let loose with blaster fire and the systems in his armour.

Their attackers retreated as he pressed the attack, but an ominous whine caught his attention far too late. Another explosion sent him hurling back to Iris with a heavy groan. Dazed by the thermal detonator's blast, the Shistavanen tried to return fire with laughable results.

Iris Arani