Spices and Princesses

[Erden Tarkhan deWinter]

Planet: Coruscant
Time: 10:14 am
Tags: [member="Daiya"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"]

Coruscant was the busiest planet in the entire galaxy. Tall skyscrapers cut the horizon, glittering in the sunlight. It was a place for multi planetary companies to establish their offices, hotel chains to build luxurious rooms and expensive restaurants decorating the glass windows. As one travelled lower to the ground level, the differences could not be more contrasting. Sunlight was blocked by buildings, speeders were older models and dress sense became less flashy. It was a clear distinction between the rich and the less well off.

One particular warehouse located at one of the many deserted alleys appeared to be constantly guarded by a bunch of people. Every now and then, unmarked boxes would be delivered to the warehouse by truck like vehicles. The same vehicles would later be loaded with new boxes later in the day and sped off to different locations. Most passer bys had no idea what kind of goods were being delivered. The Coruscant security forces would speed by the alley and never seen entering the warehouse for any inspection.

********​

​

"Yawn... This is boring," a purple Twi'lek complained to his Garmorrean partner who was halfway through his smoke and grunted in annoyance. The Garmorrean touched his vibroaxe dangling on his belt, wondering if he was ever going to use his blade since he was told to use his blaster rifle on all other creatures. There was no dishonour in killing other races with a ranged weapon, except fellow Garmorreans.The Twi'lek eyed his partner for a moment and slung his blaster rifle behind his back, deciding to join in the smoke break. No one would dare to enter the front gates of the warehouse, especially when it was owned by the Tian Di Society, a Coruscant based Triad. The Triad had greased enough hands to make sure that their territory was secured. What was not paid off was settled through a combination of negotiation, violence and threats. In short, no security or other criminal organisation groups would disturb the peace.

Meanwhile, the guard commander was busy browsing the holonet on his holodevice, deciding which bar he would be visiting after his shift. A few other men were chatting in the guardroom, paying half attention to the display screens behind them. The security cameras were on and would trigger an alarm when an intruder was detected anyway, so viewing the video feeds were deemed a waste of time.

Inside the warehouse, things were heretic as usual. Boxes were unloaded from the vehicles and the contents were emptied. Sometimes the deliveries contained Ryll. Other days contained Glitterstim, where security would be boosted tremendously in view of the value. Today, the shipment was a large tonne of Sansanna spice which was moderate in value but still valuable to the Triad. It was going to be another long day before the spice was packed into smaller sachets for distribution to the dealers.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

[member="Erden Tarkhan"]


Lori tugged on [member="Daiya"] 's sleeve. "Come on. This way!" Or at least she figured she knew which way they were going. It was so easy to get lost on Coruscant, most particularly in the lower levels.

And what brought the two down there? Spice of course! But not for consumption. Oh no. After helping [member="Thraxis"] ro get some spice off the market, Lori was keen on doing more. In a way she felt the same kind of urge to do it, like her Mom did when it came to trying to end the slave trade. Sure neither drugs nor slavery would be put to an end in their lifetimes, but at least they could put a dent into it.

"Apparently there's a warehouse that never seems to get any searches on it by the law. I got a tip about it. Could be bad intel, I'm not sure. But we could scope it out and see! Then if it is a bad place, then we could set up my traps and then BLAM! Take the spices to Thraxis to get rid of. He'd probably pay us pretty good. Whatcha think?" It was clear to see that Lori was quite eager about her plan.

 

[Daiya]

Daiya was all too happy to follow the older girl's urgent beckoning. She had become quite attached to the Commenori princess, who offered a friendship she couldn't find in Tawrro. The Wookiee made himself too much of a guardian and protector, it was hard for her to talk to him in a way that didn't make him want to act for her. It was easier with Lori, and the girl enjoyed the freedom that afforded her.

"How much of a cut would you get from Thraxis? I still know a few dealers from Denon," Daiya remarked, but then frowned quickly to herself. Going to Denon would be a mistake. "But they're small time, so I don't think the creds would be worth going there."

In truth, that wasn't why Denon would be a mistake. It just wasn't worth going back there at all, Daiya's homeworld wasn't safe for her anymore. It hadn't been safe for a long time, but especially not since she had left it. It had taken Tawrro most of his resources and their collective savings to get them offworld as quickly as possible, a masterful feat considering the resources of those after her. Even after the death of their crime lord, they still had considerable reach, enough to keep the planet off-limits to her.

As familiar as these seedy levels of Coruscant were, Daiya was relieved at every turn they made to find something new and unfamiliar, and not the recognizable signs of the levels she ran as a child on Denon. She flitted through the ecumenopolis' undercity with a carefree demeanor, reveling at how easy it was to slip back into the comfort of the big city, even amid its seedier layers, after spending so much time abroad on a tiny ship or on planets whose cities had only surface streets.

"You sure the traps will be enough? There might be some active guards around the place, too," the girl mentioned. She had run into situations like that plenty of times with Tawrro, and it was never pleasant to find some goon standing watch in a place expected to be empty. She didn't need to feel the outside of her jacket to know that her blaster was there, securely strapped underneath it, ready to come out at a moment's notice. Most of her hoped she wouldn't need it.

Yet, as always, part of her hoped she would.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Erden Tarkhan"]​

 

[Nika Satari]

Outfit: https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.OG-IDnxaoxbinWu_JajDJQHaL4&pid=Api
Location: Lower levels of Coruscant



These days Nika rose at noon, then worked till partway through the night. From grey predawn, breakfast, and a sleepy trudge to whichever nightclub or Syndicate owned warehouse with her entourage, to a foggy overhead sun which basked the surface of Coruscant in a pale light. The change had been difficult at first, owed in part to increased security following recent tensions between the burgeoning New republic and the First Order. But a body can get used to anything eventually, pushed hard and often enough she knew this as well as anyone present.

The Nerina syndicates business at Coruscant was run by Morkad and his crew, yet it was the will of the boss of bosses that she would personally take care of business with the Nerina syndicates friends. Morkad was loyal without a doubt, a fierce killer and money maker for the Syndicates will, yet he lacked the finer touch dealing with outsiders. Nika or the lace serpent as she had come to be known as in the underworld, was personally selected to undertake the job after all the half Umbarans relationship with the Atrisian triads went back to her early days as a simple hitwoman.

Even with her prior encounters with them, dropping off shipments of spice, blasters, or other illicit supplies, the Atrisians had always upheld the loose alliance which loosely united both Umbaran and Atrisian under a common pact of drug dealing and protection from other respective gangs. That she had come to respect in them, even if she herself saw it as a sign of weakness. The underworld was a dog eat dog society and she knew as well as anyone else present that the Atrisians hadn't got this far without getting their hands dirty.

Her administration of the Syndicates drug lanes south of SJO space, as they were, had come a few months ago after she'd eventually earned herself into the good graces of the boss of bosses, orchestrating multiple gangland shootings and spice shipments for the organisations gain. Nika knew that many within both the made men and council despised her presence, a half Umbaran female with power broke tradition, but none of them would dare to challenge her newfound authority as a captain and extension of the boss of bosses will.


The speeder truck eventually stopped at a warehouse of little remarkability, the driver hailed the guard twice by flashing his light before a signal was given for the speeder to stop. It was easy to forget there were still lives being lived further out on this particular level of the city. None of the masked police showed their inhuman faces at this hour. TIt was an unwritten fact that much of the lower levels were practically ran by societies worst.

The boarding ramp lowered, and Nika walked out took her first breath of Coruscants rancid air, polluted and rank with poison. She gestured with a gloved hand for only two of her men to follow her into the warehouse

[member="Erden Tarkhan"] [member="Daiya"] [member="Loreena Arenais"].

 

[Erden Tarkhan deWinter]

Coruscant was home to over one trillion people. That meant lots of territory ground, places and locations for criminals to breed. Some criminal organisations were more exclusive, such as the Nerina Syndicate whose members were made up of pure Umbarans or people with Umbaran blood. On the other hand, the Society was created by Artisians but had expanded the membership to include all species and genders, thus resulting in greater numbers. Even the Elders who wielded the power to vote for the Chairman were consisted of outsiders and some of the past Chairmen were aliens. That said, the two of them were currently working together on one of the spice routes to the south of the galaxy.

The speeder which reached the warehouse carried a rather important looking Syndicate member who had come to meet someone. When @Nike Satari headed into the warehouse, the two guards standing at the door eyed her and gave a nod. On usual days, a body search would be done but the Dragon Head had given orders to treat the guests with respect. That meant no frisking of weapons since the two organisations were in cahoots. It also helped that Nika knew the Dragon Head personally, having met him at least several times by now.

"Stand straight, the boss is here..." The Twi'lek nudged his partner as a black luxurious speeder with blasterproof windows drove into the alley soon after. A man in his thirties stepped out of the vehicle, dressed in a dark looking suit and glanced around. The place looked deserted still, except for Nika's speeder and his own. He walked over to the doorway and headed in as well, noticing that the half Umbaran woman had already arrived.

"Nice suit," Erden grinned at Nika and offered a handshake, surprised that she was wearing one as well. Probably the business meeting had prompted her to do so. "I guess you are in the good books of [member="Gerad Naahan"] these days. So what do you think of the latest shipment?"

A Society member brought up a sample of the spice in a tray for inspection.

Tags: [member="Daiya"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori scratched the side of her head in thought. "I'm not sure how much of a cut. But he's nice and paid me well before. Gray and I did a job for him a little while back.
I'm sure that he'd do good for us here too."

She didn't entirely know where she was going. The directions that she was given weren't entirely precise. "Guards? Well of course there would be. That's who the traps would be for, silly." [member="Daiya"] wasn't around when Lori set up traps for the Sith and their allies during the siege of Commenor. She had narrowingly escaped that one. But she would probably of been amazed! They worked pretty well at slowing those bad guys down.

"Do you have any other ideas? Sometimes it's best to have more than one plan."

[member="Erden Tarkhan"] [member="Nika Satari"]

 

[Daiya]

Daiya found herself nodding, bobbing her head as they walked. The money would be good, and if Lori already had dealings with this Thraxis guy, maybe he wouldn't rip them off too much. He was getting this spice for free, a deep percentage wasn't too much to ask in this case. Idly, the girl wondered how close Lori and Thraxis were, with a little persuasive suggesting Daiya was almost certain she could get Tawrro to help coax a few more credits out of the dealer. With that Lori might have enough to pay off the ship.

And Daiya had her eye on a new weapon she heard was coming out.

"Traps for the guards? Aren't they already there?" the girl questioned. Usually traps were set for someone you expected to approach you, not the other way around. She shrugged as they kept walking, Daiya following the older girl. She hoped Lori knew the way, even if some of the sights were familiar, Coruscant was laid out way different from Denon. Making a wrong turn or wandering into a sketchy neighborhood could put them in more danger than they wanted right now. Still, even without her Wookiee guardian, Daiya felt confident she could fend off any would-be muggers or ne'er-do-wells with her blaster skills. So long as they looked like they knew where they were going, it didn't really matter if they really didn't.

Glancing up at Lori, it was far too clear that she didn't. Uh-oh.

Grabbing her captain's hand, Daiya steered her toward one of the few actual storefronts on this level, the holographic display flickering erratically. Making sure her voice was loud enough to be caught by onlookers, yet not clear enough to be understood —an oft-cultivated skill of denizens in such underlevels— Daiya pointed at an object in the display. "Whoa, I've never seen a real one, only those in holodramas. Do you think they have one inside?" She kept her voice cheery for the moment as she pantomimed leaning to one side or the other to catch the item at different angles, spying through the corners of her eyes for anyone too interested in their activities.

Thankfully, the other pedestrians on the street were too concerned about their own business, or too familiar with the girl's purpose of action, to pay them any mind. Nodding to herself, Daiya commiserated a little softer. "Looks like they're not open on Taungsdays." She led Lori along for a few paces before adding absently, "Who does that, close on a Taungsday? That's, like, the weirdest day to close. I mean, I get Primeday or Centaxday, but Taungsday? Hmmph. There's this one place I know that's always open on Taungsdays, though, it's not far."

Stepping closer to the older girl now that their walk had a little more direction, Daiya leaned in, grabbing Lori's arm and peering up at her as they went, "Even if you don't know where you're going, you should always look like you do, otherwise you look like prey down here." The girl hoped Lori wasn't as clueless as she was putting on right now. The captain was fine handling their ship and other jobs, and the girl could forgive a little unfamiliarity with city-worlds like this one. But Lori seemed to do better rubbing elbows than getting them deep in the muck, so Daiya was hoping the princess had a little more sense than credits when it came to the actual heist.

Now, as to the particulars, Daiya was happy to offer her expertise. "And as for other ideas, find a building close by the warehouse with less security and set it on fire. Nothing too big, and not one that's going to explode, 'cause those get nasty and bring down too much of the wrong kind of attention. Just plain old fire, big enough to be a spectacle, not big enough to be news. Then you use the distraction."

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Erden Tarkhan"] | [member="Nika Satari"]​

 

[Nika Satari]

"Tailor-made by the hands of Onderons finest." Nika cooed almost sarcastically, dwarfed by her sycophant bodyguards who flanked the half Umbaran captain. She was barely visible through the haze of the street smog, but the purple characteristic of the syndicate caught the light of the low street lamp.

"My lord is most pleased by our work in the CIS, but there is much that remains to be finished with our friends on Rodia," She gestured silently with a flick of her right hand, one of her men wordlessly passed her an Umbaran currency note before stepping back.

"We must address the Rodian problem before it grows back like a weed, they sit on important routes that my Lord desires," she stated rather blankly before she rolled the note into a cylinder shape, bringing up close to the tray and snorting the sample.

Negotiations with other gangs tended to sometimes go wrong, which is why it was syndicate policy for some of their members present to take blaster rifles with them. Most people are more pliable after watching a compatriot’s brains get splattered across a dock, and this lot was no exception although unlike other gangs both parties present enjoyed warm relations.

"Pure as always Mr Tarkhan, we expect nothing less from the societies, now shall we head inside? I don't fancy spending my night in the cold."

That'd soon be another shipment down— now there was just the matter of ensuring that the police wouldn't get in the way of the syndicates shipping, but that was tomorrow’s work. And they would be done with duties here by the end of the hour.

[member="Daiya"] [member="Erden Tarkhan"] [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Erden Tarkhan deWinter]

"The Rodians have been a little aggressive recently. Didn't know they have stepped on Nerina's toes."

He nodded his head and made a gesture for the tray to be taken away. The quality check had been done without a hitch and that meant his work here was done. There was no point lingering in a place which could potentially link him with a crime, not when there was a local gang leader who could take care of things. The Dragon Head preferred to be spending his time making social calls and pursuing his hobbies, such as playing golf.

He took a step closer to [member="Nika Satari"] and whispered in her ear.

"I don't usually linger in places like this. Makes it easy for the law to pin us down. Only a normal gang leader will allow himself to be caught with incriminating evidence. A smart person will humbly suggest to go for a drink and grab some food at a bar located just along the next street. Even if there is trouble, there is enough time to react. You can let your men hang around the warehouse if you are worried."

He stepped back and made a gesture for Nika to follow him to the speeder.

"The bar is definitely more cosy than a rundown building. So how about it?"

Tags: @Daiya | [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori didn't resist as [member="Daiya"] took her by the hand and then later by the arm. That might gain attention, which was the last thing that either of them wanted. She played along with her improv. "Maybe...maybe Taungsday is a religious day for them? Some worlds have REALLY weird cultures.
Some have cults too. Those can be nasty."

She kept an eye on their surroundings as they walked, waiting not only for something to seem familiar, but to keep track of where they've been too. It wasn't supposed to be far from where they parked their ship. Hmm.

Aha! There it was!! Lori linked her arm with Daiya's, having more confidence in her stride now that she was fully aware of where she was leading them. She nodded as she listened to her partner-in-fighting-crime described her idea of a fire. It was a good idea, and one that they could use in conjunction with hers. "We could set up snares near the doorways. This way, when they come out of the warehouse, they'll get caught. Or! We could set them up further away. Whayever it is, we'll need to get them out long enough for ourselves to get in and grab some of that cargo before we make a break for it. If I had my jetpack, it'd be easier...But I left that at home." What a pity!

Finally they came across the warehouse that [member="Erden Tarkhan"] and [member="Nika Satari"] were in. Lori's pace immediately slowed as she eyed it carefully. "It's that one...I'm sure of it." Still with her arm linked with Daiya's, she began to walk around the building. Her eyes were looking for cameras, guards and activity; anything that could slow them down. And also for prime trap locations.

 

[Daiya]

That was the warehouse?

It didn't look like much to Daiya as she was escorted about its perimeter by Lori. There were a few speeder trucks parked around it, and some goods were being loaded on them, but it looked unassuming otherwise. No guards, no cameras, no defenses that she could see. Maybe that meant they were better hidden than the girl had expected, and she was worried over nothing. But the sane part of her dismissed that nearly out of hand, there was really only one thing she was feeling here.

It was a bad feeling.

With their presence now certainly known to whoever was inside, Daiya took advantage of the looped arm through hers to steer Lori aimlessly away. "Let's just pretend like we're lost," she mentioned, in stark contrast to her earlier advice. If this building was as well protected as she expected, there were no muggers lurking here, and there was little to really worry outside the buildings. The real trick would be getting inside them.

"Did you see any places to put some traps?" the girl whispered to her companion. They were around the corner of the next building now, easily able to circle back if they needed to. Daiya would prefer not to look like they were casing the place, even though that was exactly what they were doing. "I saw some windows but they were pretty high up. And small." She tilted her head as she thought. "I could probably get through them if I could get up there."

Sometimes being small had its advantages. Sometimes it didn't.

For her part, Daiya was scoping out the buildings around the target warehouse, looking for someplace that would serve as a good distraction. Without knowing what was inside the warehouses, it wasn't quite so easy to pick out. Tawrro used to use a scanner, but he had pawned it to help pay for their transit off Denon. This was one of those times the girl wished she would get a vision. "Do you have any other intel on this area? Do you know what's in that building" the girl pointed to a lower building nearby, "Or that one?"

As the rounded another corner, Daiya spied two things.

One was the perfect building to set on fire. It was small, probably not storing much of importance, but it was on a larger trafficked street than the warehouse and sure to draw lots of eyes, not to mention it backed up against several larger, more important-looking buildings. It almost seemed more like a storefront that had been converted to storage, probably one of the legacies of the area when it was used for something different, but the amount of speeders and foot traffic traveling near it told her that it wasn't expecting much of anything today, unlike the other warehouses that seemed to be embroiled in almost constant operations. A blaze there would surely create a sizeable commotion.

The other was a blaster-wielding Gotal standing in front of them, looking definitely like one of the guards they hadn't seen around their target warehouse.

"What do you kids think you're doing around here?"

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Erden Tarkhan deWinter"] | [member="Nika Satari"]​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Pretend that they were lost? Well that was super easy! Not that they were lost at all, cause they weren't! At least not anymore. But it was easy to pretend how they were just minutes ago. Of course they couldn't look TOO lost or they'd be easy prey.

She chewed the inside of her cheek as [member="Daiya"] asked if she knew of where to set her traps. Any spot would be a spot. But she had to be smart about it. The vehicles could be useful. Hmm.

Darn this was tough! Not only was she unprepared, but she was unequipped at this moment too. But this was just the scoping out part. It wasn't as though they were going to attack the place right now. That'd be later.

"The windows are too high. It's not safe without my jetpack and I don't have it here.
Though I wish that I did." That'll be something that she'll have to fix later on. The next time that she's home, she'll be sure to pick it up and have it with her always.

Lori looked to the smaller building. It was a perfect target for a fire. "I don't have any intel on them. We'd have to check and be sure that no innocent people would be harmed." Only the bad guys could get hurt. That was how she wanted things, anyways.

The Gotal came as quite the surprise when they rounded the corner. Lori moved so that Daiya was behind her. "We're just passing through. Why? It's a free world, isn't it mister?" Probably not the best way to handle the situation, but she was feigning innocence here.

[member="Erden Tarkhan deWinter"] [member="Nika Satari"]

 

[Daiya]

Daiya's heart caught in her throat at the sight of the blaster-wielding Gotal. It was a reflex, one she quickly suppressed, but it pushed her into a heightened state of alert regardless. She felt the absence of Tawrro fondly, but the girl wasn't completely helpless without his presence either.

Yet it was Lori who made the first move, stepping in front of Daiya and making a comment. The girl winced, it wasn't the greatest comment, and it wasn't going to put the thug at ease, but sometimes a firm tone put these types out of their comfort zone anyway. They were used to wielding power at the end of a blaster, not with their tongues. That was something Daiya needed more practice in, making her keen to see what the princess' words would do.

"Then scram before I shoot you and your little girl, puff lips," the thug spat, gesturing with his blaster. "I'll give you until the count of five...four.." Daiya didn't wait, pushing her companion forward and following behind as if she was being towed. It wasn't going to help if they made a scene, not when they were trying to be covert about this. Even if they wound up setting traps or burning a building, that was supposed to draw attention, not them.

Moving past the Gotal and his blaster, Daiya let out a little breath, but still feeling uneasy. She turned, the thug watched them just long enough, and then began to move in the direction they had come. Still, the unease would not leave her. A sharp pain behind her eyes erupted, overloading her senses as the girl pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling the vision flood through her.

Brown curls flew forward, revealing the smoldering hole in the princess' back, falling away as she collapsed to the ground. The world spun, bringing the Gotal in view again, a wisp of smoke rising from his blaster. His thin lips curled, "Nasty little Forcies..." The glow of the blaster flared white-hot before its battle cry was heard once more.

The girl didn't have time to gasp in shock. She didn't have time to cry. She didn't have time to wait for Tawrro to comfort her. She didn't have time to draw. All she had time to do was turn around while the Gotal's back was still to her, draw her blaster, and fire.

It sounded like a cannon in her sensitive ears, and Daiya could only hope that it was only her perception. Re-holstering her weapon, she grabbed Lori's hand and pulled at her. "He was going to kill us anyway. Come on, run!"

Run out of sight. Run from the heist. It didn't matter so long as they got away from the attention the dead Gotal was sure to draw.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Erden Tarkhan deWinter"] | [member="Nika Satari"]​

 

[Erden Tarkhan deWinter]

The crimelord was getting onto the speeder with [member="Nika Satari"] when there was a commotion. No, not exactly. Just a single shot of a blaster that made Erden and the rest of his crew paused for a moment. Someone in the vicinity had made that shot, there was no doubt about that. But the problem was trying to determine where it came from and what exactly happened.

"It seems that... our little drink may need to be postponed."

The Atrisan made a glance at the guards nearest to him. The Twi'lek was more alert than the Garmorrean, picking up his comms immediately to do a radio check on the rest of the security. One by one, the guards reported back their status, except for a Gotal who was hired help and had wandered away from his post.

"Boss. We are missing one person."

"And?"

"And... ahhhh, we will look for him."

The Twi'lek managed to wriggle past Erden's gaze and made a gesture for his companion to follow him, cursing his luck silently that he was the one nearest to the Dragon Head. If only he was assigned to guard duty somewhere else. Then he would have avoided the chore of tracking down a missing guard, potentially exposing himself to danger.

Except that he was wrong. While he left, Erden had walked into the storehouse and summoned the captain on duty to send out a few others to scan the surroundings.

Tag: [member="Daiya"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Nika Satari"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Puff lips? Puff lips?!! Now that was...was...such a weird thing to call her! Lori figured that it was intended as some kind if an insult, but she rather liked her lips, thank you very much!

[member="Daiya"] began pushing her away from the Gotal, urging her to get moving, and so she did. Although perhaps it wasn't as fast as her friend would like. Lori just didn't want to make a scene.

The blaster shot certainly did just that! Lori turned to look and see that it was Daiya that had done it. Oh no! How could she?! But it wasn't as though Lori had a chance to protest at all. Daiya was already urging her to run, claiming that the Gotal was going to kill them anyways. True or not, they were bound to catch the attention of everyone nearby.

Lori began to run, keeping hold of Daiya's hand as she did so. Though she knew that running tended to attract attention. Hopefully the only attention they'd get would be the authorities.

"We gotta hide!"

No sooner did she utter those words that a hiding spot presented itself. In the alley there were a few big garbage bins. For a second she contemplating having them both hop into it and hide beneath the bags of filth. But then she thought better of it. So she did what most would do, she pulled Daiya along with her to hide behind it.


[member="Erden Tarkhan deWinter"] [member="Nika Satari"]

 

[Daiya]

They ran.

Daiya pulled at [member="Loreena Arenais"], cajoling the older girl into a faster sprint. It took a second for her to get the hint, but at last the princess understood the urgency. The girl breathed hard as they went, her heart pounding in her chest. Not for the exertion of their flight, but for the scene that still played over in her mind. The guard or their lives, the choice itself had been easy. Nor did the Gotal's death weigh much on her mind. No, it was the circumstances that led them to that point, that brought them into such a close shave, that was what upset her. What scared her.

What exactly were they stealing, or from whom?

As they raced through a deserted alley, Daiya suddenly felt her hand tugged as Lori yanked her behind a group of trash bins. The smell was overwhelming, and the girl's instinct was to blurt out a groan of, "Ugh, this sti—" before clapping her own hand over her mouth. Foolish! Wide-eyed, the girl stared, trying to hold her breath as she heard footfalls in the distance. She froze, unwilling to move a muscle, as they grow louder, the sound echoing within the alley's narrow walls.

Forced to breathe again, the girl did so softly, quietly, though her heart pounded as loud as a starship's engines. She pulled the blaster from its holster, holding onto it as an escape ladder, just a rung away from death. A glance from the teen's eyes at her companion tried to see what Lori's readiness was, but the footsteps were near now and her attention returned to the little part of the alleyway she could see. If they were discovered, Daiya intended to take someone down with her.

The footsteps came closer.

There were two of them, she could tell.

And closer.

One heavily plodding, the other lighter on his feet.

Almost upon them mow.

She readjusted the blaster in her hands, trying to grip with palms damp from sweat.

It was quiet.

Then loud as a clatter was heard from the other side of the bins.

The pair stopped, looking around the garbage bins, the huffing breath and grunts identifying the heavier one as a Gammorean. Silently praying that her blaster could take one out in a single hit, Daiya waited for the ugly creature to show himself.

[member="Erden Tarkhan deWinter"]​