Krat was on top of a high building that had a clear view on the warehouse the meeting was taking place at. He looked through his scope at the building while proning. It became clear soon that there were a lot of stormtroopers and mercs guarding the building of interest, far too many for Krat to take on alone, even with his aim.

He then heard canonfire going on. He searched the skies for what caused this noise, and saw a Republic vessel being shot at by multiple TIE-interceptors. It looked like they were in trouble, and Krat could use some help as well. He activated the intercom inside his helmet. "Denying, get the X-Wing to my position. And before you ask: No, you may not shoot at anyone while on your way here. We need to spare the energy for when the real battle starts."

He looked through his scope again, this time activating the heatvision-function on his visor. It looked like a lot of the people inside, which were a lot to begin with, were widespread, meaning that explosives like a thermal charge wouldn't be as effective. He heard Denying on his intercom, crawled back a bit, then got up, put his blaster back on his back and walked to the other side of the building.

There was his loyal droid waiting a few meters underneath him in the X-Wing with an open cockpit. He jumped of the building, fell a few meters before using his jetpack to slow down the fall and landed safely inside the cockpit, which closed right behind him. "Get the scoreboard ready, buddy! We are going to help some Republic guys." he said before heading off towards the ongoing battle, while still flying low between the buildings as cover.

As things tend to do when one is in a meeting of criminal lords, things suddenly took a turn for the interesting.

"There is a New Republic vessel approaching," so the commander of the Children said.

A confident smirk appeared in Alastro's lips. Of course, most of the criminal lords seemed to have no intention of fighting, but that was certainly not Alastro's case.

His companion stood up and approached Grogga the Hut, but Alastro had no interest towards that. His job had finished once he got them into the meeting. Afterwards, it was their own ass on the line.

He stood up and approached Tras Oren, extending a single green hand towards the commander (or whatever title she had) and then said, "My name's Alastro. Alastro Hunnem. I wish to offer my services as a mercenary in defending this place against the New Republic. If they manage to send a landing party, things could get pretty bad, and as I hear it Stormtroopers aren't exactly the most reliable at times."

He turned towards one of the Stormtroopers with a mocking smile, before turning to Tras Oren again.

"Though my services are quite expensive, you'll find yourself satisfied by the end of the day. So, what do you say, Tras? Do we have ourselves a deal?" He still had a confident smile in his face.

He didn't plan on staying for too long if the woman refused to hire him, having the New Republic on his ass would take away his peace and calm, and if they did hire him then he'd get that job he was looking for.

---

The notice of the approaching New Republic forces was... unsurprising. It'd have been more surprising if they didn't come.

They kept a close eye on the Children Of The Emperor, or so was Julis' impression.

The Jedi were also probably with them. Grandmaster Luke, though she never met him, sounded like a prepared man that would rather have all of his bases covered.

Also, her master, Tar, never really had her spar with anyone but himself, though she knew several other Jedi by their appearance, and others may also know her by her appearance. Luckily, she was wearing her Darth Ianthinus outfit and only the Jedi that was after her could recognize her.

The expectation of the coming fight made her thrilled as she reached for her lightsaber. Standing guard near the warehouse was making her anxious and impatient.

Julis, contrary to many of the other crime lords in the planet, was eager to let the New Republic land and let their soldiers disembark and try to stop them. They would be annihilated.

If there were Jedi with them, Julis could also test herself against them and their presence became more of a certainty as the ship approached the surface, thanks to Julis' connection to the Force.

She did no effort to hide her own presence as well. They could come looking for her if they wanted. She could then practice her dominance, see if her power was already enough to balance both sides of the force, or if she was still lacking.

"Can't they hurry up?" A sinister smile appeared below her mask. She was getting more and more eager to kill all of the Jedis on board that ship.

Aura had to get out of there. Getting paid was nothing compared to this. When the Mantis guy started to take a side it hit her how deep this was. She was getting involved in a war that she didn't want to be on either side of. There was no way she would side with the Children of the Emperor, she had morals. It was often believed that smugglers didn't have morals but she did and she would not compromise them in such a major way. Hesitantly, Aura stepped out of the corner and tried to edge towards the doors without anyone noticing. She managed to slide behind the stormtroopers and slide out without anyone reacting.

But she wasn't expecting the quantity of Stormtroopers waiting outside.

Akyra glanced up at the sound of the intercom, as if doing so would allow the pilot to know that she was paying attention. The slightest hint of relief spread through the Vahra at the announcement. Sure, there were a few complications, but they were prepared for those. The important part was now they could get off this ship.

A familiar presence approached shortly after the announcement. Elyka. Better her than anyone else, the Vahra thought. While she was acquainted with the other Jedi, she still did not know them as well as she knew Elyka. To be honest, she had felt slightly relieved when she learned that they would be on this mission together. Akyra might try to keep her friendships at a minimum, but she could not deny the comfort she felt knowing there was an old acquaintance with her that she could rely on.

Akyra glanced at the Jedi. "Only once, with my master. I can't say I'm pleased to be back." She answered, her displeasure obvious in her voice. She wasn't quite as excited as Elyka, though she would be lying if she said she wasn't glad to be on this particular mission. After all, it wasn't every day that they were assigned a mission by the Grandmaster himself.

Giving a slight nod at Elyka's suggestion, she followed her fellow Jedi, though it was quickly cut short. There was a disturbance, something was wrong. Her assumptions were only confirmed at the sound of an alarm. Akyra cursed under her breath in her mother tongue as she turned around. Now they were in for space warfare, one of her least favorite things. "So much for a quiet arrival. I'm going to help with the gunners," She informed before hurrying off, not bothering to check if Elyka was following.

"So much for a quiet arrival..."

She already knew what Akyra was going to say before she said it, both of them knowing what they had to do. As Akyra hurried off, Elyka spun on her heels without hesitation and sprinted back through the doors they had just passed. As much as she wanted to bang her head senselessly against the wall for failing to foresee the attack, let alone leaving her ready position so eagerly, she managed to focus completely on the confrontation ahead.

Elyka leapt off the ground into a front flip, closing quite a distance as she landed in the A-Wing's cockpit. She powered up the engines and began to guide the fighter as it hovered and glided across the hangar bay, flipping a row of switches as the rear thrusters warmed and the cockpit steadily swung closed.

Speeding out of the Ardent Liberty before it began its evasive maneuvers, green lasers blasting past her, Elyka was already reaching breakneck speeds as she activated her jammer to throw off the TIEs' targeting. She took advantage of it by diving straight down and at the oncoming squadron of fighters, barely managing to get any shots off while narrowly avoiding any collisions.

They seemed to split formation as she swooped past them, sharply steering back upwards at high speeds but arcing widely, getting too close to Nar Shaddaa's skyline. Quickly she adjusted her targeting system as she came around back at them while her cannons had time to tilt and aim this time before she pulled the trigger. She had a better chance at taking one down this run, though still dangerously flying straight at them, rolling her craft to best avoid smashing right into theirs.

While Cal twiddled his thumbs, waiting for Grogga to finish so he could get his credits, Owen was firing at some of the TIE Interceptors attacking the Ardent Liberty. He wasn't doing it to explode the starships, but rather doing it to weaken them so his companions' shots would do more damage. He flew around, only for a shot to hit his upper right wing, and as such send him to the ground. The X-Wing didn't explode thankfully and Owen hopped out of the cockpit, pulling R2-T5 from his slot so that the droid could come with him. Using his commlink, he tells his teammates: "I'm down, repeat, I'm down!"

Fan jerked her X-Wing sideways, pitching it through the rain of green fire and then rocking it back around to take aim. The interceptors were fast, sure, but just like any other TIE they lacked both in shields and in armor. Nearly everything had been stripped out in order to make them as fast as possible. They were hard targets, sure, but a couple of good shots could cripple or destroy even the speediest Squint. That was the fact that firmly held itself in Fan's mind as she tried to center one of the maneuverable craft in her crosshairs and opened fire. Her shots missed, red light streaking by and just barely missing the TIE.

The good news now was that they were mostly attempting to focus fire on the Ardent Liberty. That was also the bad news, but it would take a lot more for the fighters to do anything serious to a Corvette. A few of the Interceptors peeled off and opened fire on her, forcing her to roll her craft to the side. But if they stayed calm they could handle this, right? There weren't really that many fighters, and she could guess the Imperials didn't want a drawn-out fight up here! And... there!

This time Fan knew she had the enemy in her sights! Jamming her fingers down on the controls to fire, she managed to catch one of the Interceptors in the base of one of its solar receptors, where the hooked 'wing' connected with the eyeball-like cockpit. There was a flash of sparks and fire and smoke, and the Squint came apart where the shots had hit, spiraling downwards as flames rolled out from the damaged spot. She spotted a few more explosions, as several TIEs were caught by fire from the Ardent Liberty's cannons. The rest broke off and tried to ascend further. They were really focusing on the corvette...!

Just as she began to tilt up to pursue the attackers before they do another run, she saw the shape of an X-Wing going down! For a moment, she was terrified, but seconds later she heard a report from the pilot that he was okay, he'd just crashed.

That was a relief, at least...! Nearby, she saw another TIE Interceptor breaking off, and soon descending with flame pouring from its engines, as one of her fellow pilots, Wix judging by the X-Wing, successfully managed to do some critical damage.

That A-Wing though... was that one of the jedi?! She made so risky moves, but managed to put a shot right through the cockpit of one of the Squints!

It was like these weren't the best pilots the Imperials had to offer... or that the Children of the Emperor's fanaticism made them throw themselves at their goal with reckless abandon.

They'd done a good job, but it would take more then that to cut through the swarm of TIEs!

---

Frustration mounted as the droid hurried away to assist the crew. She couldn't assist, not directly, with this battle. Not until they reached the ground. But she had to assist in some way... what kind of jedi would she be if she did not?

"Shurima, I'm heading for the bridge," she said, glancing at the other jedi for a moment before breaking off into a sprint. The Ardent Liberty was abuzz with activity, engineers hurrying to keep the shield generators monitored, gunners working hard to keep the fighters at bay... All the while, Saku hurried through the white corridors, sprinting across them until she reached those final doors to the corvette's bridge. Without pause, she passed through them. Immediately, her eyes were treated to the open view of the outside, of fighters reeling by, and the occasional flare of an explosion or laserfire. But what she was focused on... she felt it earlier, too. There was something... wrong down on the surface of Nar Shaddaa, beyond the usual criminal dealings.

"Captain Tyrrhan?" she called, swiftly making her way across the floor and looking up at the taller woman, "There's something strange here. We need to land as soon as possible. The moment we have an opening through these fighters. There's something wrong down there on Nar Shaddaa."

At the moment, there was no carrier in sight. The TIE Interceptors, who were at last taking more evasive tactics suited to the fighters they were piloting, had seemed to come from no clear source.

---

The blonde-haired woman seemed taken aback for a moment when the mantid approached her and asked for a job. However, she quickly composed herself.

"I'm certain your services are excellent. However, I'd appreciate if you did not insult my guards," said Tras Oren, folding her arms across her chest, "Regardless, I'm open to the suggestion. An added gun is an added gun, after all. I do have my own... more unique forces at my disposal for the purposes of this mission, however."

She spotted one of the others here, another bounty hunter whom she had seen arrive with the mantid, speaking to Grogga as the various crime lords murmured among themselves.

Grogga himself looked as if he was considering the words of the hunter.

"{This deal is an enormous one, Bounty Hunter,}" came the slimy, rumbling voice of the hutt, "{But I share your concerns. The Republic can and will retaliate if they learn we had involvement in the attack on their ship. The moment they do. These Imperials could abandon us the moment they receive their information!}"

Without pause, Tras Oren turned fully to face the hutt. "I understand your concerns, wise Grogga. And indeed, the concerns of all those present. However, as we speak, the lives of my men are on the line, some being lost, in order to protect you."

Her hands traveled to her her sides. "Brave Imperial lives are ending in the name of your defense. Not only that, but we are losing equipment in your defense as well. That, I hope, should demonstrate how much this deal means to us. If it does not, however..."

She brought a commlink up.

"We have one layer of defenses I am certain you do not without us."

The Dark Acolytes were being summoned, now.

"Yaaah! Eat shit, Imp bastard!", Kara shouted as she watched one of the gunners hit a TIE and evaporate it. It was pretty apparent the TIE pilots were either extremely desperate or quite honestly fanatics from the way they were flying. A nagging feeling in the back of her head forced her to take the Ardent into steep dive and back up again. With a screech a TIE scraped by the cockpit, just barely missing the ship.

Pretty much unexpectedly the door to the bridge opened and one of the Jedi entered in quite the haste.
Sarcastically she replied to the Jedi's worries: "Oh, yes. There is definitely something wrong. Normally I wouldn't have to spend four hours to talk my way past the Hutt defences."
Kara twisted the control stick once more to evade another TIE that had suddenly changed course, but now burst into a lovely plume of flame and debris.

"And so far I haven't been able to spot their carrier. I'm starting to think, they might come from a Hutt ship. Only one way to find out..."
Kara noticed that, as soon as she turned her nose towards the planet, a group of TIE interceptors blocked her.
"Well, Master Jedi, seeing as you find it so urgent, I'm gonna try something really crazy."
Her eyes squinted as she pushed the intercom. "Attention, shields to front, all remaining power to engines, brace for impact!"
She knew what she was doing, yes. Somehow she was very sure this was going to work.

As soon as the green light on her main panel light up signifying the shield was where it should be, Kara punched the throttle to maximum.
The Ardent Liberty lurched forward racing at the three TIE Interceptors. Kara could almost feel the fear in one of the pilots as the Ardent rushed at the TIE's. A fiery explosion and a massive tremor going through the ship later, Kara, slightly injured from banging her head on the main console, slowed the ship down again and inspected the viewport. Sighing with relief she saw that the Ardent had managed to pierce the cloud layer.
"Well, Jedi. Be glad this worked, we're close enough to the city that the TIE's won't dare firing upon us if they don't want to risk their supposed new alliance with the Hutts."

Gideon rocked slightly with the ship in the first wave of attacks. "You are indeed correct Saku, we have to move." It was quite surprising at the Droid's eagerness to help. Although.. it's unorthodox programming makes it different and quick to act without orders. "Go F7, do your job." Gideon quickly added as the machine rushed off to the engines. Gideon didn't immediately follow Saku after she announced that the Lac'Il was moving to the bridge. He... felt something, most likely a disturbance in the force. There were two immense anomalies coming from Nar Shaddaa, which Gideon knew that the other Jedi's on board the Liberty could at least feel something. Gideon had to discuss his fears with the other three if they stay alive.

Gideon ran through the doorway, almost sprinting after Rira. The sarcastic comments from the captain probably did not ease Rira, but the events that would follow made Gideon's stomach turn for a second or two. The Orryxian genuinely forwarded all shields and charged straight at three fighters. Gideon barrelled his way towards the pilot seat and braced himself by holding onto the chair. "Captain Tyrrhan! You can NOT be seri-" He began to exclaim until the corvette pummelled it's way through the interceptors. Kara did suggest the notion that the Imperial Fighters might not fire on them so close to the city to avoid casualties. "We can NOT be so sure Orryxian, I trust your judgement enough but make sure you trust yourself enough Captain." Gideon advised. He stepped away from the seat and walked back to Saku. "Rira, you feel it too?" He inquired, somehow telling from her body language and facial expression he remembered before sheer alarm everyone in the bridge shared.

---

"Bantha shit!" Severus exclaimed as he dropped his knife in the attack as he was suiting up. He scooped it up and sheathed it as he sprinted out of his room. He had to man a turret and fast. Severus distinctly remembered a schematic of the ship and tried to recall where the heavy laser turrets were situated. Once he recalled it, he changed course immediately and ran as fast as he could. Severus got more and more nervous the minute. This mission is going to be over before it started at this rate, and especially if the Orryxian tried some ballsy moves that she seemed to be infamous for.

Fusion slipped down the ladder when he found an unmanned turret on the starboard side of the corvette and immediately sat down in the seat. Instead of using the provided targeting screen, Severus pulled a cord from the ventral side of his mechanical arm and plugged it into the data port. The targeting UI transferred into his cybereye in a matter of minutes, which was a lot more comfortable for the cyborg infiltrator. Severus gripped the controls and immediately started firing at interceptors that seemed to be swarming the ship. One flung from the right while another interceptor came from the left.

Comlink chatter went crazy around battle stations of the ship, but Severus only used it for call outs. Severus traced one particular fighter, just in front of it. The infiltrator developed a small, sly smirk as he fired the shots, two pairs of green laser rounds propelled through the dark vacuum of space racing straight towards his target, and fortunately, they made their mark. "Starboard turret, Tango Down." He commented on the comlink. Another rumble shook through the ship. The Captain better know what she's doing. The thought left his mind after half a second before he began to fire again.

Alastro made an exaggerated bow after Tras accepted his help.

"Thank you, Tras. From now on, my enemies are your enemies. Consider my gun yours."

The woman did seem extremely confident of their strength, though. Even as Grogga started complaining, the woman was quick to calm the Hutt's worries as she brought a commlink up and called for someone.

'The Dark Acolytes', she said. Well, that indeed sound like some real firepower. Whether they would live up to their badass name or not was a matter that would be seen after the fight started.

Alastro still turned to the 'Bounty Hunter' that had accompanied him in the meeting, though. Well, yes, he did introduce them as a partner bounty hunter of his, but what were they trying to do, making Grogga back down?

The Children were obviously planning something big, and if the slimy fat bastard missed on it, he'd let his whole weight (which Alastro was sure was a frigging lot) fall over them. Well, not his problem.

Julis turned her head to the sight and put two fingers by her ear as the incoming transmission arrived. She nodded after receiving her instructions.

"Understood." Julis merely said before cutting the comm link, turning on her heel and heading for the warehouse.

The Stormtroopers she encountered on her way stood on attention as she passed through.

Julis could only think about Tras' intentions, though. She surely was trying to gain some respect through the use of the Dark Acolytes currently on the planet, but Julis certainly did not seem averse to the idea, in fact she welcomed it.

The more they feared the Children of the Emperor, the better. It would make them think twice (at a later date) if they should really follow through with their usual acts of villany.

She arrived to the door leading to the meeting and the Stormtroopers standing guard there too stood in attention. Julis nodded at the both of them, and the one by the right nodded back, before moving slightly to his side and opening the door for her.

Darth Ianthinus then walked into the meeting before going to where Oren and Alastro were.

She stood in front of the two of them and then scanned the whole room with her eyes.

Criminal scum in great quantities. If it were any other day, it'd be like her birthday, but right now they needed to work together.

"Greetings, gentlemen. She started, "I am known as Darth Ianthinus. A Dark Jedi, part of The Children Of The Emperor and here to ensure that this meeting can go without interferances. I can sense Jedi inside the New Republic vessel, so I am sure you will find my help invaluable." The Necropolitan said to the gathering of crime lords.

More than one looked at her with surprise, others with fear and some others with obvious incredulity.

Alastro, for one, did not care for the incoming Dark Jedi and her presentation card.

"Well, if the Jedis DO show up, then I've already got someone to cover my ass." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"In any case, Tras, consider your back protected by yours truly. As long as it is not a Jedi blade, I can stop just about anything." The mantis said with a confident smile in his green face.

Julis could hear Alastro clearly enough though, but showed no signs of being affected by his words as she walked to take a position beside Tras Oren.

Sulik

The soundscape roaring above the skyline drew a concentrated lack of interest from Sulik and the various thugs in the alleyway. Years of work had trained them to politely ignore any firefights and ship-to-ship combat near them. Such things were strangely common on Nar Shaddaa, and it wouldn't do well for them to pry into things. This kind of mindset is often the dividing line between a dull and successful thug and an inquisitive and very dead thug. The fact that the people inside the warehouse sounded very riled up meant nothing to the simple, loyal knuckleheads outside. Sulik, however, was having none of it.

Sulik impatiently rapped on the window of Delro's car. Tactfulness or professional confidentiality could wait, Sulik was bored.

"Valued customer," Sulik called through the thick glass to Lucar. "This area is not safe for you anymore. For a nominal fee, the Sulik Hunting Club can accept an additional contract, and secure an escape route for you."
Sulik leaned heavily on the car, luckily avoiding the attention of the thugs around him.
"Act now, sir, and we'll give you a special bonus package! This is the best possible deal I can give you!"

@clanjos

Finally managing to flee to her ship, Aura managed to get into the air only to see the full extent of the flying firefight. It looked as if the New Republic was winning but it was close. The TIE Interceptors seemed to be replenishing themselves. Her heart screamed at her to join the fight but her brain rationalized differently. Her shields were old and patchy and she would need a co pilot to pilot the guns. This ship was designed for cargo and fleeing, not war.

She saw a column of smoke coming from a downed X-Wing, thankfully not on entirely on fire but it wasn't in good shape. Now that she went to with no hesitation. She was not letting someone die because of her fear and alignment. Her heart argued that it was because she missed the New Republic but that was an argument to dwell on later. She landed next to the crash site and scanned for any survivors. She picked up one life form and dropped the ramp to investigate.

@Simple Unicycle

Elyka grinned from ear to ear as she managed to nail the cockpit of an Interceptor, flying through the explosion that momentarily took its place, fire trailing the twin wing tips of her fighter. Continuing upwards as the Ardent Liberty flew back down into the atmosphere, she chuckled in the heat of the fight, admiring the work of her comrades and reveling in her own while she looped back into battle. Lasers and explosions lit up her view like fireworks.

"I'm down, repeat, I'm down!"

Her self-indulgent moment was short-lived, as she turned her commlink up, and it wasn't just the downing of that X-Wing; there was a disturbance in the force. Something dark, similar to the feeling she had in her dreams the moment before she woke. Also, TIE fighters.

"Ah shit!" she grunted as she steered off course hard, attempting to avoid incoming fire, green bolts blazing past only inches from the cockpit. Not just one or two, but three interceptors had decided to pursue her, having broken off from the main swarm. They obviously tired of her speed-based hit-and-run tactic, and her A-Wing had no room for a droid, meaning it wouldn't take much to put her down like her ally.

She began a dive towards the planet again, seeing the Corvette pull of a risky but effective maneuver itself. It was obvious they must be trying to land rather than sustain battle, and that it had one hell of a pilot. Elyka flew just as desperate, rolling and swerving out of the path of continuous fire. She knew she had to focus on the safety of the Liberty and the rest of the team, but she was dying to find out what was going on in that meeting that was so important it warranted this high profile of an attack on a Republic ship.

She attempted another run at a concentrated force of TIEs, forcing the few Interceptors hounding her to risk friendly fire. Firing indiscriminately as she mainly focused on not crashing while trying to get her pursuers to do exactly that, her reuse of the exact same tactic was effectively a middle finger to the enemy pilots on her ass.

@guineamania
As Owen took cover behind his downed X-Wing, he saw a YT-2400 freighter landing nearby. "Doesn't look like an Imperial ship... What is it, T5?" He asks his droid, which let out a few beeps. "You don't know? Damn." The hatch opened, and Owen raised his pistol. With R2-T5 following close behind, he walked towards it. "Who the hell are you? Identify yourself, I have a blaster and I'm not afraid to use it!"

That was a lie. Owen, while a great shot with pistols, had never actually shot anybody with one. In fact, he had never killed anyone or anything in his life; that was for the other pilots to do. Still, he aimed it at the hatch.

While others took their positions in fighters or on the bridge, Akyra was one to position herself behind one of the unmanned laser cannons found on the Ardent Liberty. The turbolasers were helpful, but the best option to fight back against the TIE fighters was through the use of a weapon that was easier to maneuver. She settled herself in, quickly becoming familiar with the controls. A glance outside allowed her to see the chaos, though for the most part they were holding up well.

The fighters were focusing their aim on the Ardent Liberty now, giving both their fighters and the gunners a chance to get a good shot on a number of the TIE fighters. Akyra's handling of the weapon was awkward, but her aim was true. At first she had only missed, but she soon regained her concentration. A nip on the wing of one, a direct shot on another. It seemed the ships weren't equipped with anything on the defensive side.

One gunner commented on her aim. She had her connection to thank for that.

The ship suddenly lurched forward, then followed by a tremor that left one of the gunners cursing and commenting on their pilot's crazy antics. To some extent the Vahra agreed, but at least she got them closer to the ground and out of the mess.

Given a moment to catch her breath, Akyra began to contemplate the disturbance she had felt. The others would have felt it by now as well. There was something dark waiting for them.

@Simple Unicycle

Aura stepped out to find herself face to face with a battered pilot pointing a blaster at her face. "Woah, hold up soldier. I came to help!" Aura shouted, raising her hands in a mock surrender. "Was just heading off planet when I saw your craft go down. Thought, now what a shame. I should go check if that guy is okay like a good citizen of the republic," Aura lied through her teeth. The pilot didn't need to know she was involved in with the crime lords and their meeting with the Imperials. As far she he would know she could be a random trader who got caught up in a business well beyond her understanding. That would work.

The driver's side door swung open, Delro's chauffeur booted out and landing with a loud "plop" on the sidewalk. Lucar slammed the door back, rolling down the passenger's side window. This wasn't the first time a rival gang or government official came upon one of his deals with Delro... And, hopefully, it wouldn't be the last. Lucar began fiddling with the comms on the driver's side.

"Get in, Sulik, we're not waiting around for the Republic agents show up."

Sulik eyed Lucar with unmasked suspicion. He certainly didn't expect him to have done something as rash as that. Perhaps that was why he resorted to hiring someone like Sulik instead of a regular security force. Carefully watching him all the while, Sulik squeezed into the seat next to Lucar.

"It's your choice, valued customer. If you like, you can sign a second bodyguard contract with us, for when the Hutt whose car you're stealing comes after you. We can discuss our rates after you return to your shop."
Sulik leaned back and set his boots on the dashboard. It wasn't like the owner of this car could complain about him-- Lucar would take all the blame. Besides that, Sulik was sure there'd be some fun to have when Delro noticed the theft of his prized speeder. The potpourri of thugs outside continued to ignore everything that was happening around them.

"If this is all you're doing, I'd suggest we move on soon. I am not obligated to fire back at anyone coming after us, as per the terms of the contract." Sulik chuckled. Old Platki always knew how to write a contract, and Sulik was glad that he'd insisted on being specific when writing this one up.

"Sulik, Delro and I have done good business for decades. One more borrowed speeder isn't going to screw that up. Hell, this isn't even the first I've had to steal from him this month."

Lucar began prepping the speeder for takeoff. Unfortunately, he was met with the sound of grinding gears.

"Besides, I'm not doing time in a Republic prison. They'd take my fingerprints and find me out. They'd send me back to Naboo."

Leaning over the divider, Lucar reached into a compartment and retrieved the owner's manual. Leaning over in the driver's seat, he thumbed through it in a panic. Something was obviously upsetting him.

"I can't go back to Naboo, Sulik. The Gungans will kill me after the incident."

Sighing in frustration, Lucar tossed the owner's manual over his shoulder.

"Frell it, I'm not chancing Naboo."

With that, he slammed his fist into the dash... as the speeder's repulsorlifts flared to life. He gunned the accelerator, shifting the gear... and finding himself unable to slow down.

A few seconds later, the antique dealer and Trandoshan were crashing into a stand selling some sort of citrus fruit across the street. Lucar coughed as the dust cleared, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the air. He shook his fist at the crashed speeder.

"Who the hell still drives stick?!"

Emergency Response Droid F7-250

A blur of blue and white, F7 streaked down the corridors that twisted inside the Ardent Liberty's interior. The machine bounded off walls, leaped over the panicked and frantic movements of other humanoids rushing towards the sounds of battle, and ricocheted past all manner of obstacles in order to complete its task. As an ERD, response time was everything, and F7 in particular was programmed to seek out the most efficient path possible to better preserve organic life. Ever the slave to its programming, F7 would not be denied in the pursuit of its goal. Absolute focus, that was the reward droids received in exchange for the chaotic non-conformity of most other sentient, and it proved this focus that spurred F7's servos into action.

Its agile, cat-like form screeched to a halt in front of the flashing, red lights of Engineering; small sparks birthed into existence as metal scraped against metal underneath the droid's feet. Optical scanners scouring for signs of distress, F7's large, blue head provided stark contrast to the emergency lights shinning above as the machine ducked into the room. It didn't take long for the droid to locate the sprawled and slightly bleeding form of an engineer, the poor man's head being cradled by a fellow organic as others swarmed around the pair.

"Attention, my purpose is the extraction and preservation of injured organics. That humanoid has sustained damage to its chassis, and I will repair it to the best of my ability. Permission is not required," F7 explained flatly to the worried form of the uninjured engineer. Its programming dictated that during times of stress, organics tended to respond irrationally to stimuli, and as such, when the conditions were met, F7 was to lend its aide as its processors deemed logical. The engineer did not offer resistance as its three-pronged digits gingerly replaced hers. The whir and buzz of its processors operating at full capacity hummed quietly as F7 analyzed the sustained wounds. Unconscious, Human male. Carpal bones seemed to have sustained three hairline fractures, and abrasion on left-side cranium indicates head injury. Possible concussion. Solution: Immediate transfer to medical bay for further aide.

"I will be relocating this organic to the nearest medical facility. I recommend you return to your preassigned task so that other organics do not succumb to the opposition's star-craft fire. Lasers are extremely hazardous to one's health," F7 ordered matter-of-factly to the still sitting engineer. Without waiting to see if the humanoid responded, the machine proceeded to carry the injured organic in its arms bridal-style and rushed towards the Med-Bay. While the Human seemed fairly stable, F7 did not want to risk the chance of the Corvette's now obvious and risky landing jeopardizing its new patient.
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Dark Jedi Akaemos Fain

That cold, cruel smirk crept its way back onto Akaemos' face as Tras Oren's words buzzed into his comlink. Heading his Commander's que, the Chiss fell in line with the rest of now apparent Acolytes. He saw a few familiar faces, well, masks rather, stand at attention beside Tras Oren. However, one caught his that he hadn't noticed before. She introduced herself to the Hutt and its surrounding henchmen as Darth Ianthinus, before falling back in-line with the rest of her fellows. Her accent was strange, Akaemos decided. Not quite Imperial, but rather more colloquial and relaxed. Perhaps I should keep an eye out for her, he thought to himself. It was perhaps a bit too irregular to so casually introduce oneself to a crime lord and its lackeys, and it would be just like the Jedi to attempt to infiltrate their ranks, but then again, Akaemos had a tendency to jump at shadows. Regardless of its legitimacy, the Chiss kept his concern filed away in the back of his mind for later.

Ready for whatever those Jedi scum brought for his entertainment and ever the creature of Imperial habits, Akaemos waited for further orders from his superior and the green light to assault the New Republic crew.