[b] The Tiraahn System [/b] 

---

A'sha stared at her passenger for a long moment in silence. "You will tell me everything you know about your cargo, doctor." she re-iterated, her eyes resting on his, her will attempting to gently nudge him into compliance. 

Sleep gone from his mind as adrenaline kicked him awake, he looked nervous and swallowed a big lump down his throat. "I... asked for no questions captain and I like to keep the contents of my cargo to myself. Please i mean you no harm and all I can say is... that there is a reason I want to get away from republic space so please help me." He looks pleadingly, his hands tightening into fists, clenched with either rage or desperation. He then widened his eyes at a idea, "Can't you.. .create a distraction, create chaos so that they are too occupied with what would be transpiring here to send a message to the next system about our identity while we get away?" He gestured to the space beyond were the chase was taking place. "Clearly that freighter thinks he can outrun the republic forces, why can't we?"

There was a tense silence for a few moments after those words left her. "You'd best sit down and hold on to something." 

For an instant, the man seemed relieved, before his forehead creased again with worry, yet he complied, stepping back, throwing worried glances to the doors leading out of the cockpit. 

A'sha again surveyed the scene, glancing from monitor to monitor, and out the viewport. The republic's ships were still in pursuit of the one, presumably, smuggler who was trying to make a run for it. She framed he chin with a hand, staring pensively at the controls of her ship. The awkward silence continued as such for a minute that seemed like an hour, and the passenger seemed about ready to speak again, before the hands flitted over the controls in a flash and the Hound jerked onward in sudden acceleration. Speeding past several civilian craft waiting in line to move on to the next system, however, they were more than a little conspicuous. 

A glance toward the sensor screen showed a handful of V-wings had broken off from the main body of the customs ships and were speeding to catch up. The smaller, more agile ships would undoubtedly close the distance quickly. The last thing she wanted was to start trading flak with the Republic. Just then, the familiar voice of her mechanic chirped over the ship's intercom. 

"Please tell me that was some other ship bumping into us and we're not trying to speed our way past customs." 

"I wouldn't have turned down some credits in compensation if the paint got scratched up a bit. But no, we're actually trying to speed our way past customs." she replied nonchalantly, her hands idly slipping over to direct the targeting computer, and the Hound's guns. 

"I've never been arrested in my life!" 

"There's a first time for everything. Builds character." and with a few quick adjustments, the Hound's precision beam lasers were locked on to empty space, practically meters from the hull of a nearby ship. 

"Please tell me I'm not actually getting arrested." 

"...Probably not." 

"Just so you know, if they don't blow us out of the stars, I'm telling them you kidnapped me." 

"Your trust in me is touching." A'sha mused, dryly and her fingertip hovered over the designated firing button. "You just hold on to something now." 

And with a simple push of a button, a discharge of concentrated energy shot out across the empty space. It was close enough to let everybody in line know there were shots being fired, and far enough away that it didn't melt a hole through anyone waiting in line for the hyperspace lane. But like a shot in the dark, the effects were immediate; one after another the ships broke off from their spots and sped in all manner of different directions. Panic reached its height in a manner of seconds as every ship made evasive maneuvers in case they were the ones being fired upon. Some veered too far in the wrong direction and ended up slamming into one another, within moments the front of the line had turned into a barricade for the Hound itself. 

Changing course to go around them would only give the fighters more time to catch up, she had to go through the mass of panicked vessels. A'sha's eyes shot from one ship to another, and those drifting like lazy chunks of asteroid, too afraid to try and move through the crowd. There were too many to maneuver through. 

"Silla, I need you on the tractor beam." she uttered into the intercom, hands still on the controls, making minute corrections, eyes front. 

"I can see what you've done out there, how is the tractor beam supposed to-" her mechanic's voice cut off suddenly, followed an instant later by a gasp of realization. "I'm on it." 

With a humorless snerk the Hound's pilot guided the ship to and fro, avoiding several stray vessels, but unerringly drawing closer to the insurmountable mass ahead. Her gut was telling her to brace for impact and she desperately wanted to curl up, as if that would somehow lessen the damage a collision in the midst of that swarm of ships would cause. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped harder onto her controls, glancing every other second between the viewport and the intercom. They were thick into it, enough that veering off would probably cause a crash just as well as speeding forward. 

"There, it's done!" like a shot in the dark, Silla's voice shouted over the comm. 

And just as quickly, A'sha activated the Hound's tractor beam. And somewhat to her surprise, she found that reverse-engineering such a device was far from impossible, as one vessel after another slowed down into a slow halt on their course toward the Hound as they made their way through the cloud. 

"Targeting computer's probably blowing out smoke by now." the pilot muttered to herself as she watched one collision after another be averted and moments later, all there was before her was the wide expanse of space. Stars far and wide, and not a single ship in sight. Her shoulders slumped as a wave of relief washed over the woman at the helm, for a moment, it seemed as if they were in the clear. 

Until, of course, two little dots made their way past the "traffic jam" they'd caused, speeding unerringly toward the Hound again. A'sha's eyes furrowed as she stared at the screen. She had to question the sanity of the two figher pilots that were still in pursuit. The Hound was larger and far-more heavily armed than them, if they intended to engage her, they wouldn't be able to dance around her shots forever. They were drawing closer, however and the navicomputer was still alight, setting the coordinates for their jump. She preferred shooting at Republic ships to being ripped half-way across the Galaxy in a botched hyperspace jump, however. The turret bearing the Hound's flak guns spun about, aiming at the pair of tenacious pilots. Much like before, A'sha's fingertip was hovering over the last key, if she was lucky a volley would scare them off without causing any damage. 

She felt luckier, however, when the navicomputer chirped up, its task finished, their course set. With a pull of a lever, the stars bled into each other, each turning into a streak of light as if they themselves were speeding across space, and the feeling that everything else was slowing down, rather than the Hound itself speeding up. The warping tunnel of Hyperspace lit up the cockpit moments later and finally the mercenary could afford to relax. She cupped her face with a hand and rubbed her cheek for a few seconds. 

"That went better than I thought it would. Nothing exploded and I won't even have to re-paint the hull. Here's hoping there isn't a blockade waiting for us when we come out the other end, doctor." she mused, not turning about to look at the man. She reclined in her seat, and stared out at the endlessly shifting tunnel and waited. By her reckoning, this was far from the first hitch they'd run into.

[hider=The summary] The Hound and its crew speed their way past Republic customs into hyperspace and on toward Tanaab, surprisingly without having to blow anyone up or being blown up themselves. 

Notable events include a failed Mind Trick, causation of dozens of interstellar traffic accidents and avoiding death through the wonders of reverse-engineering.[/hider]