Not According to Plan

[Sinistra]

[member="Zaria"] | [member="Xavka Duquo"] | [member="Neiros Starwind"]

The neogiations to acquire the prototype had been smooth, the meetings were cordial and with enough charm and grace flowing all around that the secure of the prototype drive was something of a mere formality. Indeed, it seemed that Madame Corsai only need to show up and give her assurances and Commissioner Mikal was happy to hand the prototype to her. It had passed scans, it was not bugged by any device she could find and so it was loaded in the relatively small cargo hold of the SoroSuub PLY-3000, Azure Gleam.

The ship was a chartered yacht, with a small crew to attend to Kira, Zaria, and Xavka and two other Kuati merchant house representatives. The cover was a diplomatic and commerce trip to Lianna, in order to pay lip service to those who controlled the trade between two of the largest ship building economies in the galaxy. Of course, Sinistra had arranged the entire thing in order to get her hands on the prototype.

They were probably about halfway back to Kuat when the Azure Gleam dropped so suddenly out of hyperspace that Sinistra was thrown to the floor of the dining area. Dishes and food were spilled and broken as she raised herself up, looking around confused. She hit the com panel on the wall to the cockpit.

"What's going on here? What happened?"

::We've hit an interdiction field. Three ships just dropped out of hyperspace and have us surrounded.::

She looked at her traveling companions. The prototype was the most important thing, her cover secondary. She wouldn't unnecessarily revealed herself but this was about to get hairy. What were they after? The cargo, or passengers? She hit the com button again.

"Have they issued demands?"

::No, Madame Corsai. But they are maneuvering to board us.::

She looked around the room at the others onboard.

"Suggestions?"

 

[Zaria]

Zaria was overly excited about being on this mission of sorts. She had chosen herself a role more suiting to her experience. Bodyguard. Zaria only knew enough of the specifics which suited her just fine. The more she knew the more dangers that came along with such knowledge. The outfit she wore look alittle bulky on her but the reason behind the outfit was to hide her lightsaber underneath the clothes. It would not be easy to access but the small hold-out blaster attached to the outfit's belt would suffice for now. In a pinch she could squeeze off a few rounds and if the situation become dire then and only then she would require the assistance of her true weapon.​

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Zaria felt a violent shudder from the ship that nearly tossed her to the ship's floor. Only by her excellent agility and grace was she able to avoid such an embarrassing moment. Zaria looked around at the others just as the one she was assigned to protect spoke to the cockpit through the com panel o the wall. The reply back was not positive news. Three ships had taken up position to prevent them from escaping. Pirates? Mercs?​

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Board us? The mission was turning into something of an adventure now. Zaria craved adventure but the scenario which they found themselves in was against them. What was the number of the boarding party? Would the three ships unleash turbo lasers on them if the boarding party was repelled? Most of all what where they after? Zaria knew the one she was to protect had acquired something important from her meeting and she wondered if that precious cargo was the object of the enemies obsession? What if the three ships were slavers? If that was the case Zaria would make sure nobody would leave this ship in shackles and chains.​

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"Our first duty is to protect whatever it was you had brought aboard from you meeting," Zaria said removing the blaster from her hip. "Which means we need to expel this incoming boarding party." Expelling the boarding party was monument to everyone's survival. Pirates and mercs would probably kill anyone on the ship while slavers would do the opposite and try to avoid killing everyone. "We may be dealing with pirates or mercs or even slavers. The first few seconds of fighting will tell us who we are dealing with exactly."​

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"I'm more concerned about those ships out there than I am our uninvited guests," she concluded.​

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[member="Sinistra"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]​

 

[Neiros Starwind]

He was one of Lady Corsai's personal rogues. Smuggling. Slicing. Maybe a little bit of violence. He didn't care what it was the Lady wished him to do. He knew her credits were good. This job seemed quite calm, compared to jobs in the past.

Of course he'd think that moments before the entire ship around them lurched. Thrown from his seat by the sudden drop into conventional space, he stood by the door, only sheer reflexes and training keeping him from sliding dramatically across the floor. Well that was almost embarrassing.... He thought sheepishly to himself, his trusty P.A.V. in hand, looking about the other occupants of the room.

"Ma'am, you just tell me where to aim. I am but another weapon at your disposal." He bowed his head slightly. He never gave anyone an open shot at his bare neck. He trusted her credits. He didn't trust any one individual in particular. One doesn't survive in Coruscant's undercity by giving away trust on a whim.

A gunfight. Looks like this job is really going to be worth it! He thought, a slight smirk cutting across his face, frost blue eyes glinting almost playfully. One of the few things he loved more than a fattened wallet, was watching life leaving the eyes of someone at the business end of his rifle. He watched Lady Corsai and her counterpart with thinly veiled anticipation.

@Zaria @Sinistra​

 

[Sinistra]

[member="Neiros Starwind"] [member="Zaria"]

"My priority is the cargo."

Under the com panel set in the wall as a deck plan map of the yacht. She started pointing at the 2 access points where a boarding party could enter the yacht.

"The air locks are here and here. They can't get the cargo bay open from outside, so if they are after it, they are gonna have to come down this hall to begin with. The other one is up here near the crew compartments. We might have to split up."

She jostled as she felt one of the ships contact the yacht in preparation for boarding. She looked at the pair of them.

"I'll escort the other passengers to a stateroom and lock them in. Zaria head to the back, Neiros to the front and get the captain and pilot cover you. When we figure out what they are after, we can have a better plan. Stay alert and try not to accidentally shoot each other."

She lead the rest of the delegation quickly down the hall. After she locked them in the stateroom adjacent to hers, she ducked into her room, shedding the long flowing overcoat from her dress clothes. This was not her idea of proper fighting attire but she didn't have a choice. She still threw all her concentration into hiding her force presence so that even Zaria would not be able to identify that another Force user was close by. If she had no choice, she would do what must be done, but she would exhaust that possibility first. She headed towards the front where Neiros was, as the ship was bumped again by another contact with a marauding ship.

The captain and pilot were locked in the cockpit, sending distress signals that were almost certainly being jammed.

The airlock erupted in sparks as a cutting torch burned through the metal. They were out of time.

 

[Zaria]

With a nod from her head she ran past the others toward the back of the yacht. With every step she took the thought of simply discarding the blaster for favour of her lightsaber came cropping up. She rarely used a blaster and was unsure how truly effective she would be. But she had already had set a plan in her mind on how to deal with it. For now she needed to reach the back of the yacht and secure the airlock to prevent anyone from getting in.​

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The ship lurched forward again jarring her into the wall. Zaria recovered quickly without missing a beat. She arrived to the airlock's door and was just about to type in the lockdown code when she heard cutting and hissing followed by sparks being shot out toward her. The bad guys had arrived here before she did. How could they know where the airlocks were located so fast. Then a terrible thought occurred to the Chiss girl. The mission wasn't just compromised. Someone sold them out.​

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"We have a problem back here," she said into the com panel. "They're already cutting through...." The metal door squealed and fell forward onto the ship's floor. Zaria sidestepped into a corner raising her blaster. When the first silhouette emerged into the smoky threshold she pulled the trigger. She continued pulling the trigger releasing blaster bolts into the now vacant hole while stepping backwards and unzipping the front of her outfit. The time for her lightsaber was drawing closer.​

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[member="Sinistra"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]​

 

[Neiros Starwind]

"Ma'am." Was all he spoke in response to his orders. Rifle in hand he sped down corridors of the ship, dodging furniture and crew alike on his way to the cockpit. Upon arrival, he was met with the startled stares of the captain and pilot. "Look, gents, I know I'm pretty. But seriously, get your feth together, lock this karking door behind me, and start trying to signal for assistance! And I don't give a feth about the jammed signal. Keep trying until either Lady Corsai or myself come to tell you to stop!"

He didn't wait any longer, turning and bolting down the corridor. The ship lurched once more, sending Neiros off his feet. Fortunately he was almost where he wished to be, rolling smoothly to a position against the wall, opposite the corner Lady Corsai was posted at. Peering around his own corner, Neiros took aim at the sparking access door. This is about to get interesting.


[member="Zaria"] [member="Sinistra"]

 

[Sinistra]

"Kriiiif."

She had told Zaria and Neiros at the start of the trip that she had some combat training so she wasn't completely helpless if anything were to befall them. Now she thought she jinxed the trip. She listened to Zaria shout the situation through the coms before it went silent. The sound of weapons fire replaced it as and she looked forward at the door.

The prototype had to be protected. She knew she could hold off whatever was coming through from the airlock as the forward area was narrow and there was no room for them rush her, question was, did she trust Zaria to hold the cargo area alone? Much bigger, it bottlenecked into a larger room and if pressed into retreat, she could be surrounded.

She glanced at the closed cockpit door. Decision made.

"Neiros, head to the back and cover Zaria. Make sure they don't rush the hold. I've got it up here. Go!"

The panel was cut through and fell to the floor in front of her as she opened fire with an E-11 rifle from the ship's armory case near the cockpit. There were only 2 rifles and a blaster pistol that was now in her belt. She wasn't concerned that they would get the other blaster. Not yet.

She managed to keep out the way with the smoke from the torches for a moment, but soon she had taken cover behind a credenza around the corner and picked them off as they appeared in the opening. After they lost a couple, she was sure they would switch tactics, but she wasn't sure what to expect yet.

[member="Neiros Starwind"] [member="Zaria"]

 

[Zaria]

Zaria held up firing her weapon now dropping to one knee and aiming down the sights toward the ruined door that now resembled a gaping wound. A few seconds past with no return fire and Zaria knew they didn't flee but where trying to wait it out. Once again another figure stepped into the door way followed by three more behind them. Persistent if not predictable. Greed had that effect on people. She squeezed the trigger again. Just when the bolt struck the chest of the figure she Force pushed the dead body backwards into the others.​

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Zaria stood up and began backstepping again. This was not an ideal spot to fight. The bottleneck that led to the cargo bay was. Zaria checked the status of her blaster and frowned when she saw that she had expended much of the power cell and gas canister when she fired needless shots into the vacant hole. Again the call of her lightsaber was hard to ignore.​

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Then to her dissatisfaction a small little oblong device flew out from the hole. Zaria recognised it for what it was at once. A flash bang grenade. She was slow to react closing her eyes and felt her irises and pupils burn with unsettling pain. Zaria dropped her blaster and produced her double-bladed lightsaber blindly. With a thumbing of the stud both blades emerged from either end. Her Master had forced her to learn how to wield her weapon with eyes closed. Trusting in the Force. Submerging herself into the Force she allowed the ancient entity to guide her hands.​

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The blades hummed right and left as she batted blaster bolts into the ground in front of her. If she couldn't correct her vision quickly then she was doomed. There was only so much she could accomplish temporarily blinded.​

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[member="Sinistra"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]​

 

[Neiros Starwind]

Firing of a round of splintered metal shrapnel down the corridor into the new opening in the ship, Neiros would pump his rifle, loading the next flachette shell. "As you wish, m'lady!" He replied, sending the second round down the corridor, punctuated by shrieks of pain as bits of metal found their homes in nooks and crannies of armor, biting into soft flesh.

Turning, and covering distance swiftly, Neiros replaced the spent magazine in his rifle. He was confirming the power cell and considers status when he heard the familiar sound of a saber being drawn. <They brought a Jedi?!> he thought in alarm! but a wave of relief hit him as he saw the red double-blade batting bolts down. Sliding into some advantageous cover, Neiros fired of both flachette rounds one after another, with satisfying results, before following it up with a few bursts of suppressive fire.

He could tell from a quick, cursory glance, that the Force User was rendered visually impaired. "I'll cover our relocation! You lead to the choke point! We've got this, if we can get there!" He called to her, while gunning down yet another would be invader.


[member="Sinistra"] [member="Zaria"]

 

[Sinistra]

The attacks appeared to be coordinated, as they were getting flashbanged in the back, so would one come bouncing sailing through the front hatch. Sinistra was faced away from the door, behind the credenza and not looking when it went off. The light did not blind her, but she was deafened by the explosion although she was thankfully out of the immediate blast radius. Everything sounded far off with the irritating ring of tinnitus over it as she eased off the suppression enough to see if there were other force users near by. She locked it back down, and began firing through the hole again. If Zaria could have sensed her, it would have been only a whisper of a presence for a moment, but it could have been dismissed by other things.

Sinistra retreated down the hall, ducking into the open door of a stateroom, aiming the other way down the hall for a better defensive position. She needed to retreat to have them move forward. She knew if she kept them pinned down the flash bangs would keep coming. Better to get them to be believe it succeeded. She kept her rifle up, watching for anyone moving past towards the back of the ship. As one stuck the muzzle of his rifle into the stateroom, she yanked it, pulling him in and breaking his neck. She pulled him in and took his rifle. It was definitely the better one. She could not hear voices, but she crouched with a hand on the floor, trying to feel the vibrations of footsteps.

Two more went down before she moved fast to the galley down the hall, taking a position to see out the half window into the dining room. She had no way to communicate to Neiros and Zaria without breaking her cover. Hopefully, the deafness would subside soon. The intruders had started to work on the cockpit door but no other locked doors. Were they after the whole ship?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Captain Epson watched the mercs he hired fall like leaves from a tree. He ordered more charges into the hole near the back cargo area, light saber be damned. He'd never met a forcie who could hold out against a well armed pirate for long. The drive would be his. The rest be damned.

[member="Neiros Starwind"] [member="Zaria"]

 

[Zaria]

Blaster shots erupted from behind her. Not at her. The firing died down and she powered down her weapon wiping the streams of wetness rolling down her cheeks and pooled in her eye sockets. If her Master ever learned of her mistake she would have her running up walls. Literally. "You have my thanks," she said to her hero. Zaria turned around stretching out her senses picking up the vibrations of the ship and began to jog down the corridor toward the choke pointe.​

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Her eyes slowly began to recover but the brightness inside the ship was adding a small amount of havoc to them. More tears threatened to cascade down her cheeks and again she wiped them away with increasing anger. Never again would she be caught in the grip of another flash bang grenade. ​

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From behind her she heard the coughing of blasters in the distance just when she reached the choke pointe. Zaria turned around igniting her blade while her eyes had finally adjusted themselves. Now that she could see again someone or a group of someones were going to pay. The man that had come to her aide had arrived with a trail of mercs on his tail. With the hilt held tight in one hand she moved her free hand out in front and with the guidance of the Force released another wave of energy knocking the lead merc backwards into his comrades. Sending them to the ship's floor.​

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"A final stand," Zaria sarcastically announced to her hero. "Let's not become legends shall we?" With a twirl of her weapon she took a fighting stance ready to begin cutting the intruders down. From the knocked down piles of mercs two battle droids stepped over them. Zaria snickered at the droids. Another wave of energy - this time from her ability of Force Flash - was aimed at the droids. The Force energy hit them straightaway instantly shorting out their circuitry. "Need to better than that boys!"​

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[member="Sinistra"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]​

 

[Neiros Starwind]

Chuckling at the comment [member="Zaria"] made, Neiros primed his rifle. "M'lady, I have no intentions of dying this day. Too much is left unstolen, and too many targets still breath. I've killed too few and won too little to meet my end this day." he said, a broad grin cutting across his handsome face.

Taking his position under cover, he timed his shots carefully, clearly missing the Sith warrior as she danced among the enemies, as his marksmanship showed through by the downing of target after target, each one independent of the onslaught of the Sith. Between his near continual onslaught of blaster bolts, and the whirling hissing of the saber blade, the choke point held. Choke points are a beautiful thing. Funnel your foes into a narrow pass, and the smallest of numbers can keep the position against overwhelming odds.

Unless there are grenades.... Grenades always suck. Had he not seen the glint of metal in the melee, Neiros would have surely succumbed to the resulting shrapnel. Rolling into harms way, the Rogue grabbed the canister and in the same motion flung it back out into the corridor past his Sith ally. "FRAG OUT!" Neiros bellowed, diving back for cover. He had no idea how long they 'cooked' the grenade for, so he had no idea how long before it'd explode.

Thinking himself safe as he ducked around the corner, blinding agony struck him as a blaster round tore through his left leg, just above the knee. "Feth!" he muttered under cover, a scorched tear in his thigh burning sharply. The things I do for creds....


[member="Zaria"] [member="Sinistra"]

 

[Sinistra]

[member="Neiros Starwind"] [member="Zaria"]

Sinistra peeked out from the galley down the hall, and squeezed a couple quick shots at the backs of the ones cutting through the cockpit. She was starting to get some of her hearing back, the ringing was less loud and she tried to shake it off. Checking that nothing was coming through the airlock, she charged onto the other ship. There were 2 mon left, trying to break into another set of grenades. She cut them both down a pair of shots and cleared the rest of the ship.
'
She headed back to the airlock. They sliced the door and sliced the bulkhead. At least it could be closed or they could be evacuated. She check the radar. There was still another ship out there. A third waiting for the other two to be done and off or to interrupt on it's own. This would not do.

She headed back to the yacht and ran towards the back of the ship, firing at the droids assaulting them to help drive them back.

"I got the others taken care of, but there's a third ship out there."

She shouted over the din of battle at Zaria and Neiros, firing at the intruders.

"We cannot keep on the yacht with the other ships attached and make hyperspace. We're gonna have to get that thing and everyone on one of the pirate ships and hope it has a weapons system."

 

[Zaria]

The confinements of the area was causing Zaria to feel handicapped. She was a practitioner of the Ataru form - which appeared useless at the current moment. All the Chiss girl could do was repel blaster shots and watch as her hero cut down pirates in front of her. Her thoughts of survival at all costs was pulled into reality when she heard the hero yell something about 'Frag Out.' Her eyes traced a metal canister hurling through the air toward the groups of enemies. In one motion she powered down her weapon and in another took cover the best she could.​

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A glimpse of pain rippled through the Force whilst an explosion rocked their location. Zaria saw the smoking pant leg and the charred flesh through the hole of her hero's thigh. "We can't stay here or their numbers will overwhelm us." Zaria peeked around the corner and was greeted with red lines that peppered the area where head was just at. Zaria bit her bottom lip in anger. Zaria then saw the one she was suppose to protect come flying down the hall - blaster bolts already preceding her. The woman had a plan. That was good because this plan was not working.​

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"He's wounded," Zaria said nodding her head toward her hero. "I'll handle the detail of getting us a pirate ship." Without waiting for any protests from her two companions she burst down an adjoining corridor - allowing the Force to direct her to the ship.​

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[member="Sinistra"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]​

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[Sinistra]

Kira/Sinistra watched her, fairly impressed with her gumption in the face of pretty thick odds. She was starting to feel better about not having to reveal her identity. It was still up in the air though. These two would make excellent additions to her team should they make it out alive. Putting that thought to the rear of her mind, she turned her focus to the wounded man ducking behind cover.

A few more shots through the hole to cover Zaria and she looked down, pointing at his wounds.

"How bad? Can you walk on it?"

She needed to know if he was going to need her to take on his role. Some people were odd, a wound only emboldened them. She did not want to assume that he would be one of them. Of course, if he could not power through the pain to persevere, then he would be useless to her later.

[member="Zaria"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]

 

[Neiros Starwind]

"This? Nah, reckon it'll make for a real pretty scar, and a nice story to go with it." The rogue gave a chuckle. He got into a kneeling position, and then unloaded a few bursts of blaster fire, downing a couple of the invaders. "I'll live. I've got too much left to do to die here. And I've had better than these feth try me and fail." He'd reload another magazine of flachette, and pump the handle to prime. "On your ready m'lady, we'll follow our Force capable friend ahead of us."


[member="Sinistra"] [member="Zaria"]


(OOC: forgive the short post, wonky weekend.)

 

[Zaria]

Her boots slapped gently upon the surface of the ship as she scampered down the empty corridor which - by her accounts - would loop around and spill her out behind the pirates. Pirates were known for fighting in numbers but they were also known for lacking tactics and intelligence. Her body flew around the elbow of the corridor and spilled out right behind the pirates. They - all five of them - where still shooting at the direction she had just left. A mental face-palm. Her Master had taught her to kill quickly and efficiently - never spare a moment to breathe.​

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The assassin charged toward the backs of the pirates whilst upstaging her normal speed with Force enhanced speed. Her thumb slid across the activation stud. In concurrence both blades returned to the party - each blade choosing one dance partner. When the music of conflict had concluded Zaria stood among the piles of dead pirates. Not sparing a moment to breathe she shot back toward the opening from whence the pirates had originated.​

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Bursting through the ruined door first and then down the connection tube Zaria entered the ship. For the normal sounds associated with a ship - it was quiet. She moved about taking care to muffle the sounds of her feet. The ship wasn't big and her search ended rather quickly. Zaria managed to commandeer a vessel for them. "One pirate ship delivered," she said into the com link in her hand. "Do you need my assistance or do you want me to..."​

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The Force alerted her to another presence. A presence steeped in the Force. Zaria twirled around and saw a man dressed in more fancier garbs than the pirates. "Jedi," Zaria spat. The man put his hand over his heart as if she struck a mortal blow. The man recovered from his poor acting skills and laughed.​

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"Perhaps once I was called that. Now I'm just an entrepreneur with lavish and expensive tastes. Who currently has a job to complete," he said slipping into his hand a lightsaber that was concealed in the cuff of his long sleeve tunic. "You know what? How about you help me? I could use someone of your talents. What say you doll?" Zaria raised an eyebrow replying, "You lost me at doll."​

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[member="Sinistra"] [member="Neiros Starwind"]​

 

[Sinistra]

Kira/Sinistra looked at the drive behind in the hold, biting hard on her lip in thought. Not now. They just needed to get it off the ship. Her eyes swept to Neiros.

"Can you get this thing maneuvered to get aboard the other ship? I'm going to go for the other passengers and crew. Be ready, we need to get out of here in a hurry."

She ran out, blaster at the ready, her hearing getting a slightly better but still with the overwhelming ringing going on. She wasn't particularly interested in actually saving the crew. She could, in theory, drop her Force Suppression and kill almost everyone but then her identity would be vulnerable. Not to mention, a trip where she was the lone survivor looked far too suspicious. She shooed the other Kuati merchants down towards the hallway, towards the ship Zaria disappeared into. The crew was not far behind them.

She couldn't hear the lightsabers thrumming on the pirate ship, but she could see the addition of another color flashing off the floors and ceiling. There was another Force user in the equation. This was not getting any easier.

She signaled to everyone to get down and be quiet, as she eased by herself into the airlock of the pirate vessel, her weapon raised to back up Zaria from the new threat.

[member='Zaria'] [member='Neiros Starwind']

Spoiler

Sorry for delay!

 

[Neiros Starwind]

"Done and done m'Lady!" The Rogue replied, heading to the drive. It took some time unlocking the grave lifts the ships crew used for maneuvering cargo, but once that little bit of encryption was bypassed, Neiros would have them attached to the merchandise, and have it levitating before him on route the ship of the Ladies choosing.

He was, unfortunately, met with some traffic. Passengers and crew members, backed up behind the boss-lady. "Trouble I assume?" He inquired, unable to see the holdup from his present vantage.

[member="Sinistra"] [member="Zaria"]

(My god I am SO sorry about the delay. Work went to hell on me lately, and everything else snowballed after that. TT_TT)