MC: AOTE: Rhea

[starmark2k]

Nic walked through the croud and ripped off the appron he was waring, He moved through the crouds of people trying to see what was happening. As Nic walked along he counted five stormtroopers all were two busy trying to control the croud. He also Noted that they all seemed to be recruited men rather than Clones which could be an advantage for them.

 

Nic reached the speeder and sat in the front passenger seat.

 

"Hey Wait!" One of the stormtrooprs shouted as he walked towards the speeder "Let's see some ID."

 

Nic sighed and discreetly took out his pistol and hid it behind the door so the imperial could not see it.

[stingerhs]

Ryshana was quick to follow the screaming Jana into the kitchen and then the rest of the gang out the front door. Chaos was everywhere, but Ryshana was able to quickly sort through it with the aid of the Force.

 

Reaching the speeder, Ryshana jumped into one of the back seats just as the Stormtroopers started to approach the speeder.

 

"Let's see some ID."

 

Ryshana then looked right at the Stormtrooper and concentrated. "You don't need to see his identification," Ryshana stated.

 

"We don't need to see his identification," the trooper replied.

 

"We aren't the people you're looking for," Ryshana stated.

 

"These aren't the people we're looking for," the trooper stated.

 

"Move along," Ryshana stated to Beryl, but the connection through the Force to the troopers was maintained.

 

"Move along," the trooper stated as they backed away and motioned for them to leave. Continuing to back away, the troopers then continued checking the rest of the crowd that was watching the rising smoke from the building.

[starmark2k]

Nic watched Ryshana influance the imperial stormtrooper, He had heard of the power the force can have over the weak minded but he never seen it in action before. It was almost unbeleivable that a Loyal clone would sherk from his duties simply by a Jedi telling him to. He watched the stormtrooper walk away and holstered his pistol while turning to face Ryshana.

 

"Looks like you can be useful." Nic turned back around with a smile.

[Writer]

Jana grinned and jumped into the speeder. "Wish I could do that," she commented. "Just so's we got someone with us that can, we should be alright. Now let's get out of here!"

[JasraLantill]

Beryl kept her opinions on Ryshana's little trick to herself, although she had been very impressed by it. Even, perhaps, a little envious of Ryshana's abilities. But with the Stormtrooper gone, and everyone in the speeder, Beryl didn't hesitate to leave the scene.

 

"Hang on," she said in all seriousness as she jammed the speeder into gear, did a U-turn, and headed down the street away from the chaos and smoke.

 

"Nic, we'll need somewhere to hide out for a while. Rayne's got a warehouse on the other side of town. Should be good to use until we can find a way back to the Echo. But you're the captain. What do you think?"

[starmark2k]

"Nic looked around him and checked to see if they were being followed of watched. "No, Just head back to the Ship, The quicker we get off this world the happier i'll be."

[JasraLantill]

The Echo should have been hidden inside one of Rayne's cargo ships by now, but not knowing exactly where it would be, and not willing to risk trying to contact Jack on a non-secure channel, Beryl took her best guess.

 

"Port Nine it is then," she said confidently to Nic as she guided the speeder through the city to the shipping district. "It's normally used for shipping out consumables--you know, food, clothing, parts, that sort of stuff. That means there should be no passengers, no mercenaries, and, hopefully, not too many Storm-Troopers around. Although..." She paused as she expertly performed a stomach-dropping manoevre in order to weave between two heavy transports before dodging down another alley. "...with Ryshana's ability for 'persuasion,' it shouldn't matter if we do run into a few bucket-heads."

 

The alley took a sharp turn to the left, then to the right, and around the next corner the entrance to the loading docks at Port Nine was visible. Beryl stopped the speeder. "Like them," she said, nodding at the two Storm-Troopers that were guarding the entrance to the port.

 

She turned around in her seat so she could see Ryshana and Jana. "So, Ryhana, any chance of making those two think this speeder is actually a heavy transport of grain or something? If not, I've got an idea. We could sneak in by hitching a ride on the underside of one of those transports I passed on the way. But whatever way we get in, we'll need to head for Hanger 3. That's exclusively Rayne's building." She pointed to a large light green building. "The green one. There. That's where the Echo should be."

[stingerhs]

Thinking for just a moment, Ryshana got an idea. "Hmm, go ahead and set us down. I'll handle it."

[JasraLantill]

Beryl grinned impishly. "Oh, this'll be good," she said, as she slowly piloted the speeder towards the gate, then parked it just off the road. She turned around in her seat, folded her arms on the back of it, and gave Ryshana an inquisitive look. "So? What's your plan? And, what do you want us to do?"

[stingerhs]

"Ok, here's the plan: you wait for the gait to open, and then you quietly go on through. Don't bother waiting for me or worrying about me. I'll meet you in front of the green building. See you in a few," Ryshana stated. Jumping out the speeder, she didn't wait for any of them to protest. Instead, she turned the corner and headed straight for the gait.

 

As she got close the two stormtroopers quickly moved to block her path. Judging by their movements, Ryshana could tell that these were mere recruits and not clones. "You're not allowed here, ma'am. That is unless you have the proper authorization," one of the stormtroopers stated.

 

"But I have things to do. Can't you two fine gentlemen just lend me a hand?"

 

"Well, I guess that would depend on what you're trying to do," the first one stated.

 

Looking over at his partner, the other stormtrooper then stated, "Yeah, and then the Commander will have our heads if we let her in without authorization." Turning back to Ryshana, the trooper then said, "Like we said, if you don't have authorization, you're not getting in."

 

Turning to look over at the second trooper, the first one then said, "But can't we at least hear what kind of business she has at the port?"

 

The helmet on the second trooper twirled around a bit, and Ryshana knew that he was rolling his eyes in frustration. "Fine. What business did you have at the Port, ma'am?"

 

"Well, there were a couple of options. First, I could've had my friends just run your little gate to get to the ship we use for smuggling. Or, I could've just done some Jedi-stuff on you and made a way in myself so we can get to the ship we use for smuggling. Or, finally, we could've just not bothered so that your day will continue to be as boring and uneventful as it has been. Does that work?" Ryshana replied.

 

"Now look here, missy. I get enough of the bad jokes from my 'partner' here. I don't need any of them from you. And since you've satisfied his need to listen to your proposition, just move along and have a nice day," the second trooper stated.

 

"Wait a second. What if she was telling the truth?" the first trooper said as he turned to look over at the second.

 

The second trooper then made the same eye rolling movement with his helmet as he turned to look over at the first trooper and said, "Look, this lady was just making a bad joke. Why would anyone possibly tell us such a preposterous lie other than to make us laugh in a poor attempt at humor?"

 

"Well, maybe she was telling us the truth because she knew we wouldn't believe the truth even if it was the truth."

 

"Oh please. Next thing you know, you'll be telling me that the Emperor is some sort of a Sith Lord and had been secretly plotting to overtake the galaxy for the past 20 years."

 

"But what if that *was* the truth? I mean, that would be a justification for the Rebellion and whatnot, too. Just think about it."

 

As the two troopers continued to debate with each other, Ryshana carefully maneuvered herself around so that she could at least see inside the gatehouse. Seeing the switch to raise and lower the gate, Ryshana flipped it with the Force, and then she moved back around to her old position in front of the troopers.

[JasraLantill]

Squinting, Beryl watched from the speeder with Nic and Jana as Ryshana talked to the guards. Then her eyebrows raised as the guards started arguing, first with her, then with each other.

 

"And I thought I was crazy. What the heck is she doing?" she asked Nic and Jana. "Is she using some sort of Jedi mind.... Wait."

 

She saw Ryshana duck her head into the guard shack. A few seconds later, and the flimsy gates to the docking area started to open.

 

Beryl let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Well, whatever she's doing, she's got the gate opened." She got out of the speeder, pausing as if hesitant to leave it behind. "Well," she said, looking at Jana, then Nic. "Ryshana did say just to walk on in." She grinned at Nic, and offered him the lead with a dramatic sweep of her arm. "After you, Captain."

[steven]

Jack sent a message through the Comms to Beryl,Nic, Jana and Ryshana. "It's Jack. What's taking you lot so long? We've landed in that feighter in..." There was a short pause "Hanger 3. Beryl should know where that is. Goren out."

[starmark2k]

Nic was about to walk past Beryl when his coomlink started to beep. Grabbing it he heard the message, He switched the link to transmit. "OK Jack, We're on our way... If you haven't already can you analise the Data we got from Moff Butcher. I want to know where that ship is!"

 

Nic placed the link back in his pocket and took out his blaster looking back at Beryl "Better safe than caught with our pants down." Nic looked around "Hanger 3" Looked back at Beryl "a little help."

[JasraLantill]

Beryl rolled her eyes. Then she looked at Jana. "How did you ever hook up with this guy?" she asked her. Then she held up her hand. "Wait. Don't tell me. Lemme guess. He was lost and asking you for directions."

 

She turned her gaze back to Nic. "Big. Green. Building," she said slowly, then nodded at the big, green building to the left and across from the open dockyard. "Just follow me," she added.

 

She took out the blaster she had stuffed under her belt, snatched from one of the patrons during the confusion at the Frosted Crab, and took point as the three of them headed across the street.

 

Beryl kept a wary eye on the two guards, now arguing semantics over the Empire's policy on not employing species other than humans for security sensitive jobs. She was certain that they should be able to see her and the other coming towards the gate by now, but they seemed to pay them no notice.

 

She looked towards Ryshana, who was still standing quite calmly in front of the gatehouse and the guards, then she glanced over her shoulder at Nic and Jana. She shrugged with puzzlement, then just... walked through the open gate.

 

She paused for a second. No alarms. No blinding floodlights. No 'Hey!-You there!-Halt!'s. Not even a pointing finger. She shrugged again, motioned for Nic and Jana to follow her, and then headed off at a slow trot to the big, green building with the words 'Hanger 3' painted on the outside.

 

Beryl approached the side door and put her ear to it to listen. "Sounds pretty quiet inside," she whispered to Nic. She tried the door handle. "Locked though. Anyone know how to pick a Raptor Nine Security-Pro cypher lock?"

[starmark2k]

"Yeah i can." Nic said standing back holding out his blaster and pulling the trigger, The energy blast impacted on to the side of the door and left a smoldering hole where the lock once was. Nic then stepped forward and kicked the door open. "Works every time."

[JasraLantill]

Beryl's eyes flicked from the smoking hole up to Nic's face. "Smooth," she said deadpan. "Think you could teach me that complex technique one day?"

 

She didn't wait for a response. Instead she moved through the door. It was dim inside, but that didn't matter for what she was looking for. "Well, there's the freighter."

 

There it was indeed. And it was massive! It filled nearly the entire hanger bay--plenty of room to hide the Echo inside it. Beryl's sharp eye picked up movement to their right, though whoever or whatever was approaching them was still several yards away at the far end of the hanger.

 

She motioned with a nod of her head to Nic and Jana that she had spotted something, then silently mouthed the words, "I'll go right and you go left," to Nic.

 

She crept away, tiptoeing into the shadows behind some stacked cargo containers, waiting for whoever or whatever to approach.

[Writer]

Jana watched Beryl slip to the shadows and frowned. Ducking behind her own set of boxes, she waited. Whoever it was would soon discover that, despite her vertical challenge, Jana was no pushover. Still in the shadows, the oncoming being came into view and Jana lunged, not caring for the moment who it might be.

 

Startled, the stranger was caught off balance and toppled, with Jana coming down on top. Then, she realized who she was sitting on. "Oh, whoops!" she muttered. Standing, she looked down at the person she'd mistakenly attacked; Beryl's brother, Rayne.

 

"Uh... next time, you might want to stick to well-lit areas," she suggested, smiling sheepishly. "Makes you less... suspicious."

[JasraLantill]

"Suspicious?" Rayne growled, as he picked himself up of the hanger floor and brushed off his clothes. His eyes narrowed at Jana. "It's my kriffin' hanger!"

 

"Aw, quit moaning, Rayne," Beryl teased her older brother, as she stepped out of the shadows, tucking her blaster in her belt. She grinned at Jana. "Nice tackle."

[Writer]

Jana returned the grin and shrugged. "TCTA training done good by me," she teased. "At any rate, Rayne, even in your own hangar, you stand the chance of running into invited guests who've no right to be where they are." She glanced at Beryl and Nic. and her grin returned. "Oh, I guess you just did."

[JasraLantill]

Deadpan, Rayne looked at Jana, then looked at his sister. "You're a bad influence on her, Beryl. You know that, right?"

 

"Me?!" Beryl feigned innocence. "Think it's the other way around." She winked at Jana.

 

Rade rolled his eyes. "At any rate, you'll find your ship inside the rusty mudcrutch over there." He nodded to the freighter. "Entry ramp is over there."

 

"Rusty mudcrutch?" Beryl said, raising her eyebrows. She looked at the freighter. It was big and old, granted, but it still looked shipworthy enough. "It's a bulk freighter, yeah," she said slowly, "but it doesn't look that bad."

 

"I’m not berating it," Rayne said. "That's its name. The Rusty Mudcrutch.” Rayne gave Beryl a look. "And no," he said before she could comment, "I didn't name it myself. It just came that way."

 

"So who's piloting it?" Beryl asked, thinking that Rayne had set up a crew already.

 

Rayne grinned sardonically. "You are."

 

"Me?"

 

"Look, I'm quite happy to help you out, Beryl," said Rayne. "But I'm not putting any of my employees in the danger zone. Vader's looking for you. And I don't want to get on his bad side." He paused. "As soon as you're in space, I'm reporting the Rusty Mudcrutch as stolen." He looked at Nic. "Sorry, Nic, but that's how it has to be. As a captain, you should understand where I'm coming from."

 

He looked back at Beryl. "I know they're slow, but you know how to fly these," he said to her. "When you're out of orbit, just dump the Echo from the cargo hold."

 

"But the bay controls are in the cockpit," Beryl said slowly. "And as I recall, they can't be set automatically."

 

"You’re right. They can't."

 

“So… either I’m left stuck in the cockpit, or the Echo has to come back and dock with the airlocks to get me.” Beryl’s eyes narrowed. “Providing off course, that there’s enough time before the Imperials find your stolen ship.”

 

Rayne gave her a taut grin.

 

“I told you, I already have a job, Rayne!” Beryl said indignantly. “Stop trying to… interfere and make me come work for you! It’s not happening. We’ll figure this bay door thing out. Nic and Jana are very resourceful.” She looked at Jana and Nic. “Right?”

[starmark2k]

"Well as you're already going to class us as theives we may as well add criminal damage to the list of offences." Nic said as he looked back at the door he shot his way through. "We'll get the Echo out of 'Rusty' the same way we got in here."

[JasraLantill]

Beryl gave Nic a strange look. "'Rusty's' hull is a lot thicker than that door is, Nic. But...I guess we could set up some remote charges on the hull door latches, and blow them after I get us up into orbit. It's a bit risky though. The Echo could get damaged from the charge blasts. Jack won't be able to put up the shields while we're inside the cargo hold." She frowned a bit. "Maybe Ryshana will have a better idea when she gets here."

 

"When she gets here?" Rayne raised his eyebrows. "You mean, after all this time, you still have a missing crewman?"

 

"She's not missing," said Beryl. "She's coming." She looked towards the the busted door, but the angle was such that she couldn't see the front gate. "I think."

 

"You think?" Rayne shook his head. "Well, she'd better get here soon so you can leave. I've got an appointment with the Transport Commissioner in a half and hour. That should give you just enough time to get into a high orbit." He motioned for Beryl to come closer. She did and to her surprise, he hugged her. "Take care, sis," he said to her, patting her shoulders. "And don't go getting into any more deep holes. I may not be able to toss you a rope next time." His expression grew dark as he broke the embrace. "The Imp's are really tightening their grip on everyone."

 

"Thanks, Rayne," said Beryl. "I'll try to be careful."

 

He snorted and shook his head, knowing that to be untrue. Then he left the same way he had come.

 

"So, where is Ryshana?" Beryl asked Nic and Jana. "She should be here by now."

[stingerhs]

Ryshana stood there and listened to the stormtroopers argue. It was actually mildly amusing to listen to two of the Empire's Finest argue over their government's policies. As Nic, Jana, and Beryl snuck past the guards, Ryshana waited for just a minute before trying to sneak on through.

 

Finally, Ryshana started to walk quietly through the gate. "Hey!! We didn't give you clearance to go through!" one of the troopers yelled out after her. Stopping in her tracks, the two troopers quickly ran forward and stood behind her with their rifles pointed at her. Putting her hands up, Ryshana carefully turned around.

 

"You know, those things could hurt somebody," Ryshana stated carefully.

 

"Well, we've already told you that you couldn't enter, so just come on back, and we'll forget the whole thing," one trooper stated.

 

"I say we just shoot her and claim that she was trying to run past us," the other said quickly.

 

"No. That'll look too suspicious, and besides, I've got a better idea. Set for stun," the first trooper stated anxiously.

 

As they started to flip the switches on their rifles, Ryshana rolled her eyes and calmly reached down to her leg brace and pulled out her lightsaber. Activating it, Ryshana felt the bewilderment from the stormtroopers through the Force. "I told you she wasn't lying about that one part," one of the troopers stated.

 

"Now, look. There is no way you're going to be able to do anything to me. I've dealt with too many people before to even think that you'll pose a threat to me. Now, here's the deal," Ryshana stated as she suddenly paused.

 

Concentrating for a moment, Ryshana quickly pulled the rifles out of the troopers' grips with the Force and mockingly levitated them in front of them. As a further show, Ryshana then turned the rifles around so that the barrels were pointed directly at the foreheads of the two troopers.

 

Continuing, Ryshana said, "I'm about to stun both of you with your own weapons. When you wake up, you'll tell your supervisor that your weapons malfunctioned while a speeder was entering through the open gates."

 

"What if we tell them a different story?" one of them asked.

 

"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure that you can't," Ryshana stated. "I hope your ready."

 

Suddenly, the two rifles went off simultaneously. With both of them set for stun, the two troopers collapsed to the ground unharmed. Concentrating with the Force, Ryshana then began using an old technique to rearrange the memories of the two troopers. After a minute or two, Ryshana made sure her lightsaber was deactivated and reattached it to her 'leg brace'.

 

Heading towards the hangar, Ryshana thought for a moment. It probably hadn't been very wise to reveal herself as a Jedi to the two imbeciles, but it was definately the easiest solution. Still, this whole concept of constantly running and hiding was definately starting to take its toll on her. It was never what she had orginally been trained for, and even she was still learning how to handle things on her own. Shaking her head in mild frustration, Ryshana entered the hangar.

 

Seeing Beryl first, Ryshana quickly smiled as she entered. There was just something about that girl that made her feel a bit more alive. Noticing the huge freighter, Ryshana then commented, "So, we get to fly around in that garbage heap. Sounds like fun."

[JasraLantill]

Beryl snorted. "Bah! Fun for you maybe," she said jokingly. "Flying those things is like reining in a Bantha. And even though my 'dear' brother has kindly put the Echo inside the Rusty Mudcrutch, he only gave us a half an hour before he calls in the ship as 'stolen.' So, we need to get moving."

 

She suddenly raised an eyebrow at Ryshana. "And what took you so long to get here anyway?" she said, sounding just a bit worried. She looked over Ryshana's shoulder to see through the hole in the door, but she still couldn't see the gate or the two guards. "Please tell me you haven't lost your Force or something like that. Your Jedi tricks come in real handy in sticky situations. And I have a feeling things are going to get real sticky, real soon."

[stingerhs]

"Oh, those guards wanted to give me a bit of trouble, but it's nothing to worry about. Come on, if we only have a half hour, we had better get moving," Ryshana replied.