[i]- Unregistered waystation, Outer Rim[/i]

There was a distinct moment of calm before it happened. Solace felt the atmosphere shift through not just the force, but also her basic instincts. The man felt off, even before he caught sight of her. Something about him was wrong, almost fake… As if his aura was carefully constructed so as to- She swore internally as soon as she noticed the very particular details that set her senses off. The man had noticed as well and was already reaching for his gun, shouting two words that set the bar into chaos. Her sister dove before the first blaster bolt, crying out and scrambling for cover. For her it was a little harder, as all she had was a flimsy durasteel table now flipped on its side between her and the agent.

All around the cantina was shouting and drawn weapons. Some of the bounty hunters had decided to take this moment as an opportunity to cash in on the chaos and the smugglers thought it best not to let that happen. It provided an excellent distraction however, as while not many in the cantina cared much for each other, no one like the Empire and the stormtroopers that hastily entered to try and quell the brawl. Solace took the time to reach out to her sister, finding her hunched over behind the bar and cowering, all the while the Trandoshan next to her simply carried on cleaning glasses.

[color=a187be]++ Sena, we have to go. Now. ++[/color]
[color=f6989d]++ H-how?! Everyone is shooting, and there's bad guys at the door! ++[/color]

As much as she disliked how adverse to conflict her sister was, she was quite right on this one. Just a cursory glance towards the door with her force-sight told her that much. There were six troopers advancing into the bar, firing sporadically into the cantina patrons and shouting to try and restore order. It was incredibly ineffective, but they were still a significant problem. Her mind raced as she thought through the ideal scenarios to get them through the blockade and out the door, but with her lightsabers still on the ship, they were poorly equipped for any kind of assault. Even less fortunate, it seemed Henrik saw fit to die before she could get any use out of him. Shaking her head, she sighed as she reached into the man's coat pockets, idly thumbing through his belongings while she thought of a way to get them out.

[color=f6989d]++ V-verra! What are you doing? That's not yours! ++[/color]
[color=a187be]++ He doesn't need these credits anymore, and besides, an extra blaster could be pretty useful right now. ++[/color]

Requiem was always that way, so steadfastly tied to the old codes that she didn't even jaywalk. It was infuriating at times, especially since she had been so opposed to something as minor as getting some cybernetic eyes to blend in a little better with the human populace. Solace paused for a moment, an idea coming to mind that sounded so stupid that it might actually work. If they couldn't directly engage the stormtroopers, then throwing them off balance would even the odds enough for both of them to make a run for it.

[color=a187be]++ I'm going to do something stupid, be ready to run for the door. ++[/color]

She didn't bother with her sister's protestations, instead taking another look at the group at the door. With just a gentle brush against their minds she got a feel for what kind of people they were. A wicked grin spread across her lips when she saw exactly what she wanted, a distinct lack of combat experience among them. Her plan ready, she waited for the precise moment that the group was clustered together, signaling Requiem to be ready to bolt on her mark. Solace stood from behind the table, drawing the attention of the group as well as their blasters. It was down to seconds now, she had to not only be accurate but also fast. One hand braced the table to vault over it, the other reaching up to her face.

The trooper on the far left and closest to the bar had leveled his blaster on her, finger hovering over the trigger as all six of them watched and the imperial agent turned to face her. Fingers dug into the soft flesh between the bridge of her nose and her right eye, in a single motion scooping the cybernetic implant from her face and launching it straight ahead of her. A feeling of disgust and horror seeped from the group, the eye spiraling through the air until impacting with a wet thwack against the chest of the trooper in the center.
Both sisters were in motion before they heard the panicked scream from the man, his finger spasming on the trigger and lighting up the one next to him. More shouts followed, but by the time the stormtroopers were able to pull together, their targets had already fled into the halls and towards the hangar decks…

[hr]

Their flight through the station had been frantic, taking the long way around checkpoints and trying to avoid the closing noose of the Empire on them. All communication channels had been cut, even the intercomm for the station had been redirected to broadcast imperial messages demanding compliance. It only became clear to them just how screwed they were when they found the hangar sealed and patrols closing in. That had been mere moments ago, but felt like forever as Requiem hid behind her side of the barricade and tried really hard to put on a brave face. It was difficult for her, mostly because she rarely left the ship anymore, and never had to deal with this type of stuff anymore.

The bad men at the other end of the hallway weren't too open to talking, so she didn't know what to do. If she could find a sense of calm, then it would be no problem at all to use the force on them, or at the very least put up a barrier. Her sister's side was looking particularly worn, the boxes melting from how much blasterfire was being put down the hall against them. It was all very mean she thought, and didn't make any sense at all if they wanted to take them alive. Then again, she supposed that maybe they were just afraid because of what the Empire told them about force-users. A feeling of sadness overcame her, thinking of how easy it was for it to look like they were just doing their jobs. That settled it! She was going to try to be nice one more time, and give them a chance to see just how good force-users really were!

Requiem slowly calmed her breathing, walking herself through the Jedi code and the short meditations taught to her long ago. It seemed to be working already, as she felt like a weight was lifted from her and could already tune out the blaster fire. She kept at it though, thinking on how she would defuse the situation. Opening with a force barrier would let her speak to them face to face, but also protect both herself and her sister. It was easy and quick to establish, which would let her focus on weaving a calming effect on the force around them… Yes! That would work perfectly! Requiem was quite happy with herself, having found a non-violent solution to their stormtrooper problem.

Standing with confidence, she held a hand before her, incoming blaster bolts dissipating upon contact with her skin. [color=f6989d][i]The force flows through me…[/i][/color] She projected a barrier forward a few feet, stretching it to cover the entire hallway and sighed as she heard the gentle thump of new impacts upon it. Slowly they stopped, their officer clearly recognizing a force-shield when he saw one and knowing that merely overwhelming it was not an option. Yet, both of them knew that it was a defensive measure and nothing more. Solace left cover beside her, moving to start working on the doors, but that would take precious time that she wasn't sure they had. That left her with the next part of her plan, and one that she really hoped would work.

Gently projecting an aura of calm forward, she watched as it washed over the squad of stormtroopers, confusing them at first before sinking in and slackening their grips on their weapons. [color=f6989d]"Please, set your weapons down."[/color] Her voice was soft and light, but carried clearly across the hall. For a moment they hesitated, but she put a little more will into the force swirling around them, and they complied. Even with their helmets she could tell that they were disoriented, and she wanted to try and end this before she risked damage to their minds. [color=f6989d]"Return to the cantina, tell your captain that we had already left when you got to the hangar."[/color] All of them nodded slowly, turning around and beginning to shuffle back the way they came.

[color=f6989d]++ Verra, they're leaving but I don't know how well that's going to work. ++[/color]
[color=a187be]++ Trust me, I don't want to sit around to find out either. I just got the door, so let's get out of here. ++[/color]

The door opened as the sisters relaxed, the stormtroopers now out of sight but not quite out of mind. Luckily all of the supplies they had purchased on the station had already been loaded, so all they needed to do was board and get out.

[color=a187be]++ Alright Sena, strap in because we're not waiting for clearance to leave… ++[/color]

[hr]

[i]- Jedha, Upper Orbit[/i]

It had been several days since their very unfortunate run-in with the empire in the outer rim, most of that spent in hyperspace so as to avoid patrols but also due to necessity of their destination. When Solace had gotten to the bridge of the Absolution, she had noticed a pending request for their services on Jedha, something regarding the temple on the moon. Neither sister really knew much about it, other than the rumors of it being under Imperial occupation and the local citizens heavily oppressed. Such was life across the Empire though, so it was not hard to imagine.

Sure enough, upon exiting hyperspace they found their sensors overwhelmed with imperial IFFs, a fleet orbiting the city of Jedha and overseeing all visitors. [color=a187be]"Shit."[/color] Solace swore openly, taking evasive maneuvers and working to minimize their own presence on sensors. Generally, she tried to avoid occupied planets for this exact reason, but the growing rebellion was a decent cause and they paid well enough that she answered what few jobs they sent her way. This one was already looking pretty bad, as they had to swing wide around the fleet and towards the desert regions of the moon in order to avoid them.

[color=a187be]++ Sena, check the speeder in the cargo bay and make sure it's ready to fly. We're going to have to set down a ways from the city. ++[/color]

An affirmative came her way as her sister left her room, her presence telepathically broadcast to her as the ship slowly began entry of the moon's atmosphere. Well, at least the ship was rated for planetary landings, if it wasn't then both of them would be in some serious troubl- A loud crack from the aft of the ship interrupted her thoughts the moment that they hit atmo, followed by a very brief loss of gravity. All across the panels in front of her were angry red lights, most of them flashing and somewhere a shrill alarm sounded.

[color=f6989d]++ W-what was that? ++[/color]

Solace checked the readouts, a bead of sweat trickling down her face as she let out a morbid laugh. Of all the times that it could happen, it chose this one particular moment.

[color=a187be]++ We… We lost power to engine two… ++[/color]

Silence crossed the telepathic link between the sisters, both of them knowing quite well what that meant for them. Their ship was already barely hanging on, and without all three engines their landing was going to be a little rougher than normal. Requiem frantically moved about the cargo hold, tying down what she could before running to the bridge, finding her sister at the helm and doing everything she could to control their descent. Both remaining engines strained past their threshold, an angry red plume illuminating either side of the smoking trail of the central one.