Private Trust Fall

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Denon

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

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Blaster fire tore through the air around him. Ace ran flat out, breath burning in his chest, the neon skyline strobing past in a blur. His boots hammered the rooftop as sirens wailed behind him, squad chatter snapping sharp in his ear. One hand shoved a datachip into his pocket, the other swung a humming blade that cast streaks of blue across the night. Tic clung to his back, claws dug deep into his jumpsuit. The BD-unit screeched in Binary every time a bolt cracked too close.​

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Another squad cut him off from the left, rifles raised. Ace didn't break stride, his free hand thrust out and the Force slammed a cargo crate into their path, scattering them like leaves in a gale. The distraction only bought him a few seconds, he vaulted a railing, skidded across the slick roof plating, and felt the heat of another shot graze too close to his arm.​

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There wasn't going to be a clean way out of this. His only exit was forward. The last rooftop loomed, edge rushing up fast. Beyond it was nothing but open sky and a three-hundred-story drop into air traffic. But he didn't slow.​

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::Hope you're there, Verse.:: He muttered into his comm.​

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With reckless abandon, Ace hurled himself off the skyscraper's edge. City lights spun around him in a dizzying halo as he dropped like a comet through the Denon night, trusting that somewhere below, Verse was already cutting through the lanes to catch him before gravity did.​

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Ines Pen-Ar-Lan​

 

[Ines Pen-Ar-Lan]

Trust Fall
Acier Moonbound ​

The Redhead sat at the back of the cockpit in a relaxed position. An arm was raised up high to let her hand support her head whilst her crossed legs were resting on top of the chair across the aisle. Her other hand was idly tapping away at a datapad. The grey bomber jacket made her seem stronger than she really was - but it was open and revealed a toned core underneath. Freckled cheeks framed intense green eyes.

Like a predator, she looked up from the datapad. Her gaze honed in on the Weequay at the pilot's seat "You can go faster than this" The man grumbled a few curses at her whilst speaking of how she was lucky to have been allowed boarding after their last dealings on Hutta. Even then, they could all feel how he pushed a little bit harder. The ship soared across multiple lanes of traffic. A sharp and mischievous smirk formed, reaching from her lips to her eyes. "Good boy"

He did not like that. The Rodian next to him, however, found it incredibly amusing. It wouldn't be long before he joined the woman "Faster, haha! You outta be happy you still alive! Big Boss Skagrak like this one. This one help him with spice."

"T'was a pleasure doin' b-..." the Redhead cut herself off as her earpiece buzzed to life. The pause would be temporary - she completed the sentence and steadily rose to her feet with the elegance of a powerful feline. "[...] -business." While the Weequay kept his eyes on the road, the Rodian looked back at the woman with a streak of concern in his black eyes.

The concern was well founded. Before he could scream for help, the woman's blaster pistol went off, immediately stunning him. Barely a moment later, it went off again. The pilot crumpled in his seat.

Agent Pen-Ar-Lan took half a step forth to ensure that the ship's course remained steady with one hand whilst her other pointed to the corridor leading up to the cockpit. As if on cue, a third traveller, this time a Togruta, rushed in to see what had happened. He would not get far before a stunbolt hit him. Casually, Ines holstered the blaster pistol and began her transformation.

First, the wig came off, revealing blonde hair tied up in a tight knot. She took a band off and shook her head to give her hair a bit of air and flow. Then, she removed a pair of lenses which had been colouring her eyes green. The bomber jacket was also removed and stuffed into her backpack along with the wig and the old lenses. She pulled out a large shawl with soft floral patterns. With a few elegant sweeps, she took it on with an extra wrap around her head - Verse was far more stylish than Mia, that much was certain. Finally, she picked up a new pair of lenses and took them on. In a matter of seconds, she had removed a wig, replaced her lenses and changed the bomber jacket for a shawl - it was clear that she had done this many times in the past.

Blonde, blue-eyed and dressed softly: Verse Melnau had a faint but cheerful smile grew on her lips. "Blast, blast, blast, blast, blast" She muttered with a small voice as the urgency of the situation seemed to be setting in on the young rebel. She pushed the Weequay off of the pilot's seat and assumed it herself.

Hands - almost trembling - took hold of the controls and ushered the ship forth at a break-neck speed. With a few button presses, she opened the top hatch before forcefully pushing down on the controls, causing the ship to take a 90 degree dive. Falling down a building on a planet like Denon, Nar Shaddaa or Coruscant was a long journey. Some unlucky souls would find themselves falling for hours. Ace's fall wouldn't be as long. Still, she would be cutting it close. Real close.

The ship hurled towards to ground at a pace noticeably faster than Ace was falling. Only when she got close to his position would she slow the ship down in order to give him something to grip. Hopefully, it would be enough to let him hold on and make his way into the hatch. In the very last second, Verse pulled up. The nose of the ship was but a few meters away from the building below. The ship entered a crawl.

Instead of rushing to the hatch to check in on Ace, she immediately sprayed a liquid onto a tissue and started wiping her face with it. Little by little, freckles and Mia's make up started coming off. This had been a close call on more levels than one - but by the time Ace would be able to reach the cockpit, Verse would be sitting there shaking from the near death experience. Her bag would lie on the floor next to her whilst the blaster seemed to have been tossed onto the dashboard ahead of her.

"I'm so sorry, Ace, I cut it too close there, didn't I?" She looked to him whilst failing to smile. "I'm so sorry. I had to deal with these guys." Her eyes wandered from alien to alien. Checking on if he had the data they were here for didn't even seem to cross her mind as she continued "Any injuries? Let me set us down for a spell, I might be able to fix you up a little."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Denon

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

The wind tore at his face and clothes, his ashen locs flailling as he began to pick up more and more speed. Tic's claws dug in tighter with a panicked string of Binary chirps that rattled in his ear. Ace didn't bother answering, his arms and legs spread out - hoping to slow his rapid descent.​

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A ship dove into his trajectory like an avian of prey cutting across the sky. For a second, he thought she'd miscalculated, the nose pitched too low and too fast but the hatch yawed open and the angle shifted just enough to match his fall. Ace gritted his teeth, tucked his shoulder, and hit the lip hard. Pain lanced through his ribs as he clambered in, dragging Tic with him. Then, the deck lurched under his boots as Verse yanked the nose back just shy of smashing the whole ride into a tower.​

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For a moment, all he could hear was his pulse and Tic's panicked whine. Then he forced himself upright, one hand braced on the wall, and followed the sound of the engines into the cockpit. Verse was already there, hands trembling faintly against the controls. Aliens lay stunned where she'd left them. Her apology tumbled out fast when he entered.​

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Ace leaned against the frame, chest rising hard, and let himself feel the adrenaline before finally answering. His mouth pulled into something halfway between a grimace and a smirk.​

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"Cut close? Understatement." His voice was hoarse but dry, grounding himself. His gaze flicked to the blaster on the dash, then back to her, softer now. "But you got me."​

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Tic emitted something that almost sounded like a chuckle before hopping off Ace's shoulder and wandering over to the dash. Ace followed, sliding himself into the co-pilot's seat, ribs protesting with every motion.​

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"I've been through worse. Let's get off the grid before we have more company."​

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Ace pulled the datachip from his pocket, eyes giving it a single look over before handing it over to Verse. ​

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Ines Pen-Ar-Lan ​

 

[Ines Pen-Ar-Lan]

Trust Fall
Acier Moonbound ​

'Cut close? Understatement' Concerned eyes were torn from the viewport onto him with a quick "Sorry" But Ace continued with a softer tone. Verse offered a smile and a nod before turning to once more focus on getting them somewhere safe.

Reaching safety would be harder this time. Instead of escaping a hutt palace with - as far as Gorbaar knew - nothing of value, they were now escaping with a datachip which their pursuers certainly didn't want to fall into the wrong hands. While Ace had been followed on foot, the ship's sensors would soon pick up a few speeders coming their way. Denon was a busy planet - it could just have been a coincidence if it hadn't been for the fact that they were approaching at a very quick pace. Far quicker than the ship they were currently in could fly.

For now, however, they were safe. The approaching speeders were still far away. Verse's eyes ventured between the traffic they were entering and the sensor board and then up to Ace. "Yeah, you're probably right." While her gaze returned to the viewport, her attention still seemed to linger on the jedi affiliate. "I know you're probably still full of adrenaline, but try to feel if you're extra sore anywhere. That fall might've caused a fracture or something. Not to mention whatever you did to get a hold of that chip."

She took the datachip he handed her and eyed it for a few moments. "That's some good work. Not even a scratch" she joked with a chuckle. "There's this mass of skyrises that have grown into one big lump over the years. Loads of people who live there don't see sunlight for days. It's busy, crowded, dirty. I think it might be a good place to lay low for a bit. We'll just have to get there before these guys." she nodded to the fast blips on the sensor monitor.

As if she had been avoiding the subject, she eventually glanced over "Was, uh, he there?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Nar Shaddaa

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace flexed his shoulder as she spoke, testing the dull ache spreading through his ribs. The fall hadn't broken anything, at least not that he could feel, but the skirmish with Yar had left some new scars. He winced, breath catching once, before muttering:

"Yeah. I'll live. Just sore."

On the dash, Tic chirped low, one photoreceptor flickering like he didn't quite believe him. Ace reached up and tapped the little droid's casing with two fingers, half reassurance, half order to drop it.

Ace's response to Verse's "not even a scratch" comment earned her a confident grin. His gaze flicked to the datapad and then to the smear of neon traffic outside.

"Crowded and dirty's good. Easier to disappear. If their speeders catch up to us beforehand, I'll deal with them." His tone was flat like always, but certain.

When Verse's question came, his jaw ticked. He leaned back in the seat, hand brushing absently over his lightsaber hilt as the ship pushed on. The fight was still fresh in his mind, Yar dropping from the shadows in full armor, the crack of his vibroblade sparking against Ace's lightsaber, the narrow ledge beneath them giving way in the chaos. The only reason Ace had the chip now was because he'd thrown Yar through a fuel conduit and used the blast to cover his escape. It hadn't been clean.

"Yeah. He was there." He answered, then thinking back to Dro Elamon "That's two glactic renowned bounty hunters that personally want me dead now." A smile tugged as he said this, almost like he was proud of it.

"How'd your mission go?" Ace asked, tilting his head toward her.

Ines Pen-Ar-Lan​