The transport had been traveling through real space for some twenty minutes when the ship rocked violently. A deafening roar, like an explosion out of a war-holo but louder, rawer, echoed through the corridors and met the ears of the travelers within. Emergency lights lit up across the ship, klaxons blared over the freighter’s intercom, and Jaren Jast heard boots pounding in the hall outside his passenger’s bunk.

He pulled himself out of a coffin-like bed and up into a shoebox sized room. Jast was not exceptionally tall, but even at his height the limited dimensions of the room were confining. A few inches taller or wider and it would have felt claustrophobic. The room was sparse, lacking almost entirely for decoration. Its only fixtures were the bed and an odd furniture piece, some ill-conceived cross between a desk and a dresser. Jaren had not made much use of the drawers, preferring to live out of a bulky traveling bag, but he had left his blaster on the desk-drawer, in easy reach of his bed.

He lifted the black, gold, and ivory WESTAR piece and slid it into his waistband, leaving it to rest under his shirt and jacket at the small of his back. The gun secure, he stepped to the door and keyed the control pad to the right of the frame. The durasteel portal swept open with a metallic hiss, and he poked his head out into the corridor.

The Arkanis Sailer was a mid-sized transport, of a model with a passenger capacity for some twenty travelers and boasting a crew of ten or so. The Sailer’s captain, a profit-minded Nemoidian, made do with a crew of five to cut costs and had overbooked the vessel with some thirty vagabonds willing to pay for transport regardless of the cramped conditions. Jaren was quite fortunate he wasn’t sharing a room, all things considered.

One of the crew, a Twi’lek Jaren believed to be an engineer, was fast approaching down the hall, and he shouted for travelers to make way as he moved. Jaren backed into his room for a moment to let him pass, and then proceeded out into the passageway. Other passengers were doing the same, exchanging nervous glances and questions. There were no answers among them. Jaren figured that he ought to find some.

He turned the collar of his synthleather jacket up and moved into the hallway, following in the footsteps of the Twi’lek engineer and making his way toward the main deck.

Astra was standing gazing into a little-stained mirror in the room she was placed into. Watching her own blue eyes as she began to squint. Trying to see through the darkened oil splatted mirror. The mirror seemed to be older and worn out. As if somebody laid it down and let the oil drip and expand with layers till it dried on the reflective surface. "This isn't the coziest place..." Sighing as she grabbed her arm peering down at her feet. In a weird way, she missed the human trafficking ship she was raised on. At least that was a place to call home.

The ship she was on then violently shook causing her to stumble and almost fall to her knees. She caught herself on one of the walls for the room was tiny. She stood there in a stance to keep herself stable as she looked around with wide eyes. "What was that?" She asked herself glancing towards the door. For a moment she waited to see if another wave would vibrate through the ship nothing happened. Adjusting her clothing and hair she walked towards the door and put the pin in. The door opened with a shrieking metallic sound from the rusty gears scraping together. Instantly she covered her ears and walked quickly out of the room. She hated that sound and she hated this place.

Wanting to figure out what was happening. Astra started heading towards the main quarters of the ship. Hoping a crew member or captain was there for answers. The only weapon she had beside her was to her left and it was an older rusted blaster that looked like it might work.

"...two of the main engine are still online, but we've sustained significant damage to the-" the Twi'lek trailed off as the door to the bridge slid open and Jaren stepped through. The command bridge was a rather spacious, circular room at the head of the vessel, with a large viewport out into space. The long console had three chairs, likely for a pilot, a navigator, maybe a communications officer or similar, but only the central seat was occupied, by a woman Jaren guessed to be the pilot. The Twi'lek had been in the middle of addressing the Nemoidian captain and the first mate when Jaren had interrupted, and the three stood at the center of the room. They all stared at him, and there was a long pause before Jaren elected to speak first.

"Hello there."

The first mate, a burly human male with a shaved head and a square jaw, drew a blaster and trained it on him as he entered. Jaren raised his hands, open palmed, level with his shoulders.

"Easy," Jaren said.

"We're in the middle of a situation here, friend, so why don't you head back to your bunk and wait for instructions?" the first mate suggested. Jaren vaguely remembered his name to be Jaxon. He had been rough enough when he'd met him upon boarding the Sailer, a veteran spacer with a gritty, underclass Core Worlder's accent. He was in no better of a mood now. The rest of the crew, though, was not so bold. Slouched shoulders, fidgety movements, clear unease on their faces. Jaren had a knack for reading a room, and this room was nervous. He continued walking forward, closing the distance a bit to bring the gap between the crew and himself to a conversational length.

"I don't think there's any need to threaten me. I'm just interested in checking in on the situation. You have a lot of worried people back there, it might help if we got some information sooner rather than later," Jaren offered in return.

"Captain Montaak, we're being hailed," announced the woman at the helm. The Nemoidian captain turned from Jaren to address her. Jaxon, the first mate, turned an ear to her, though he kept an eye--and the blaster--on Jaren.

"Bring it up on screen," Captain Montaak ordered.

As she wandered down the corridor she felt a little lost. She actually didn't know which was was which. Sighing Astra glanced at her feet trying to remember. She remembered coming onto the ship being led through all the unwelcoming corridors filled with pipes running along them.
"I think left...?" She pointed but then she instantly looked right. "...right?" She was embarrassed that she didn't even know how to get to the upper deck. Breathing deeply she went left.

A little ways down she found a stair well and went up. She was on a floor she recognized as being the upper deck of the ship. There were a few people complaining and trying to figure out what was wrong. Though none of them were crew or the captain. A crew member ended up walking over and was trying to lower the tension of the passengers.
Astea walked right over to him and tapped his shoulder. "Hello..." She smiled as she put herself in a somewhat awkward stance. "Do you k ow what's going on? The rocking? The loud noise?" She questioned him. The crew member she did not recognize the species but his dark eyes glared at her. "Nothing just a little asteroid hitting the ship most likely." His words blunt and defensive. Astra stood back a foot or two to his reply. "Alright. Thank you." She replied as she turned away not believing a word he said.

She was now trying to find her way to the captains quarters or the control room. Barely being able to find the floor she wanted to a feeling of lost filled her. Astra stood there sighing as she just walked blindedly through the crowd of people. Not comprehending anything anybody was saying.
She just kept looking up at doorways hoping one would say the title of command room or a sign that would tell her where she wanted to go.

Jaxon kept his blaster trained on Jast as the holovid came on screen. A helmeted individual, human, if Jast had to guess by the build, sat at in a cockpit.

"This is Captain Montaak of the Arkanis Sailer speaking," the captain addressed the feed. "Who am I speaking with?"

"My name is Deklen Ordo. I have an easy offer for you, Captain. I'm a bounty hunter, and I have reason to believe that you're carrying several marks aboard your ship." Jast lowered his hands as Jaxon relaxed his gun-wielding hand, his eyes fixed on the bounty hunter on-screen. "As you've probably noticed, I have a lot of firepower, more than enough to put you and everyone aboard into the void before you can get yourself to the nearest egress point into hyperspace. But that's not how either of us wants this to go."

"What do you want, bounty hunter?" Montaak demanded.

"Engage your airlocks and prepare to be boarded. My crew and I will secure the marks, then you and yours are free to go." Jast studied the captain's face, but the Nemoidian did not betray any sort of emotion. Only the impassive grimace of cold, calculated analysis in the face of annihilation graced his features. "Do we have a deal?"

"We have a deal. Ms. Montra, prepare the airlocks." The screen cut out, and Jaxon holstered his blaster. Jast lowered his hands fully and backed out.

"Thank you," he said, and turned to leave. The captain and his crew did not speak, or make a move to stop him.

As he moved down the length of the corridor, he found a young woman come up via stairwell to the upper deck. She looked around, seemingly lost. "You looking for someone?" Jast asked her.

Astra went up the stairs that stated it was the way to the communication room. Where the captain and the crew she wanted to find was. Though, as she got to the top she was blocked by an individual. As the individual asked if she was looking for somebody. She seemed a little guarded and stepped back. "No, no one in particular." She smiled innocently.

Keeping a little smile on her lips she didn't want to bother anybody or have anyone bother her. She straightened her stance up as she stood in the stairwell on a stair second or third from the floor she wanted to be on. "Would you know where the captain is?" She questioned with a soft voice. "Or perhaps would you know why the ship was rocking?" She kept her big bright blue doe eyes on the stranger. Astra was a little shaky inside since she doesn't want to be noticed or recognized at all.

Jaren pointed down the hall toward the bridge. "Captain and crew are over there, but things are a little tense. Seems like we took some fire from bounty hunters. They're coming aboard to haul off some marks on the ship."

While Jaren didn't have a bounty on his head, if this hunter was affiliated with the Empire he had a different sort of trouble on his hands. His mind raced to the datapad in his bag, and the information he was transporting across the galaxy. He was keenly aware of the blaster in the waist of his pants. He was no stranger to violence, but the situation at hand was unclear. All the same, he needed to make a decision now, rather than later.

"I need to get to my bunk," he said, but as his mind whirled, he realized he might need a hand. The plan he had in mind was a two person job. "I might need a hand, though. Are you looking to make a few credits?"

When Astra heard that there were bounty hunters coming on board. Her heart started racing and for a moment that's all she could hear. "Bounty hunters..." She whispered and couldn't keep a scared look out of her eyes. Thoughts of going back to the man she had married haunted her at night.

If you ty hunters were coming on board and how the stranger said it so none chalantly. She knee the captain most likely gave permission for them to board. She didn't want to go to the communication room anymore.

Looking back up to the stranger as he stated he had to get back to his room. A slight sigh came from her lips. She was already thinking on how to get off this ship. "What do those credits entail?" She asked a little suspicious. She didn't want to follow somebody and them throw her right to the hunters. "Is it getting off this ship?" She asked keeping her voice low.

Jaren Jast smiled. "That is exactly what it entails. I don't know if I have any issues with these bounty hunters and I don't intend on sticking around to find out. If I remember right we're right above some fringe world. Tatoodan. Tatooine. Something like that. Dust ball, lightly populated. With space ports." The captain and crew announced each of their realspace exit points as they arrived. Jast made sure to pay attention to those announcements, just in case this sort of situation arose. He drew a commlink out of a pocket and offered it to her.

"There's a long range communication port in the common area on the second level. I'm going to send a message to my partner, get in one of the escape pods on the fifth level, make planetfall, and wait for evac. If you want in on that pod, I'm going to need you to get to the engineering suite and shut down the life support systems, however you can. If the life support is down, the airlock won't pressurize, which will keep them from docking. At least for a while." He held the commlink out to her.

"You in?"

Astra stood there and watched him. Mainly listening to his words on the idea he had to escape. "Tatooine." Astra commented so he at least knew of the planet. "Sounds like you are speaking of Tatooine." She smiled with a little more comfort when he spoke about unsurity with these bounty hunters. It gave Astra a sense of peace knowing they could be on the same level.

Glancing down at the commlink she knew if she took it she was in. She didn't know if she fully could trust this man. Buy it gave her a little more reinsurance that he didn't want to stay around to see what these hunters wanted either. Listening to him again on the plan. She nodded her head. "You can count of me." Astra said in a more serious tone to the innocent one she usually vocals. Taking the commlink she hoped she could trust this person. Though, that's all she could do right now. Trust this stranger and hopefully get off this damned ship. "I'm in." She confirmed as she held the commlink close to her. Astra's pale skin and blue eyes seemed to bright up a little more.

Turning slightly and taking a few steps down. She looked back up at the guy since she didn't know what the lifesupoort systems were. "Do the life support systems have a specific appearance?" Astra asked in a I dont want to screw this up kind of way.

"Yeah, I'm not much of an engineer, I'm not sure I could describe it. I think it's a boxish thing? That's not helpful. You know what, actually," Jast answered, moving away from the stairs and back toward his bunk as he spoke, "there should be a control panel in the engineering suite. You should be able to get access to the support systems through that. If you can't find it, just blast something!" he finished, and then turned and ran.

He spent all of twenty seconds in his room. He kept his belongings well organized, and so most everything was already ready to go when he returned. He moved the blaster from his waistband to a proper holster at his side. It was a low-slung, true leather carrier, designed for quick draws. He'd shot his way out of more than a few bad situations. He imagined this might be one of them.

He swung the pack over his shoulder and made his way for the common area on the second floor. He brought the commlink to his lips. "How are you doing?" he asked into it.

Astra had confidence till he didn't even know what it appeared to be. A boxish thing or blast something. She knew enough to what a control panel should look like. So that was her goal to find a main control panels in the engineering room. Hopefully those would lead her. "I'll do so!" She smiled with doubt. Watching as the man ran off she ran off too.

In her head she kept repeating fourth level engineering room. As she kept going down the stairs. Getting lower and lower she found herself on the fourth level. Looking around she was looking for any wording to point her in the direction of the engineering room.
Nicely there was signs stating which way was which. She ran down the corridor she needed to go down. On her way passing a lower crew member her gave her a suspicious look. She just smiled sweetly at him before running again once past him.

Before turning a corner she glanced back noticing the crew member stood in his spot watching her. Quickly wrapping herself around the corner out of sight. Hearing the commlink she put into her belt go off. Covering the speaker so it wasn't loud. Putting it up to her mouth she spoke quietly. "Almost to the engine room. But.." She paused and looked behind her to see if the guy was following. He wasn't yet. "A lower deck crew member seems suspicious." She stated as she opened the door to the engineering room. Putting the commlink back into her belt as she closed the door quietly. Hoping the crew member wouldn't notice which room she went into.

"This place is disgusting..." The words just popped out of her mouth as she flicked on the lights. Wires, gunk and random scrap metal all over the floor. Most metal in the room was rusty and dented. She felt her cheeks tighten as she made a weird face. Astra was use to high class living and travelling since she was about thirteen. Trying not to make noise she carefully stepped over the rubbish on the floor.
Trying to find the control box that woukd turn off the life support systems. She heard a ting of metal hit against the same material. Lashing around with a step back she watched a black rat run across the garbage. It stopped and looked at her before picking up something in the muddy textured gunk and running away. Sighing in relief that it wasn't any of the lower crew deck members. Astra walked around the room reading and observing all the different controls. She didn't want to shoot something and have an explosion happen. So she was taking caution.

Finding one she looked at it for a moment. Reading the numbers and the lettering she could understand since it was worn or half gone. Running her fingers across the half written words she decided this is probably the best bet. It seems she came across the main panel which she felt the airlocks would be on.

Astea didn't pick her commlink up to warn the man. She flicked a few switches an nothing happened. Tilting her head she switched them back. Repeating this with a few other switches. Nothing happened. Finally she picked up her old blaster and took a few steps back. Breathing in deeply as she shot the control panel. Sparks flew and the lights went dark for a moment. Red lights came on an a siren sounding noise warned everyone.

The engine room door swung opened and she seen the crew member who gave her a suspicious look. She smiled at him as he demanded she dropped the gun as he raised his. "Dont shoot!" She called out putting her hands up. But keeping the gun in her dominant hand.

Jaren moved quickly.

He came to the common room and pushed his way past a pair of sentients and through the door. People were streaming in as they gathered to take stock of the situation, and he found himself cutting in between more than one pair of passengers in the middle of conversation before reaching the long range communications terminal. He slid his credit chip into the reader, paying an unreasonably high fee for access to the booth, and connected his datapad. He typed away on the pad, entering his coordinates, the tracking information for his personal broadcast, and a few words on the situation. He attached an encrypted signature to verify his identity, and sent it off into the Holonet.

Minutes later but worlds away, aboard the bridge of the Raven Trespass, a Twi'lek woman opened his communication.

No sooner had he sent the message than did emergency lights come online across the ship. Klaxons blared through the ship's intercom. He swore loudly, stuffing the datapad back into his pack. He knew he should have expected something like that. He moved his hand to his blaster and, by feel, switched it to stun.

He shoved his way back through the passenger room and, as soon as he was clear in a corridor, took off in a flat run for the engine room. "Hold position, I'm coming to you," he ordered through the comm.

He slowed his pace as he came to the stairwell, creeping down silently and drawing his blaster from its holster. He descended the two levels to the fourth and stepped off into a corridor. Hearing something, unsure of what, he moved in that direction. He was rewarded as he arrived at his destination a moment later. Just in time, it seemed. One of the Sailer's crew had a blaster trained on her.

He sized up the situation, leveled his blaster with the crewman's back, and pulled the trigger. There was a blue flash as the bolt caught him between the shoulders. He collapsed instantly, crumpling to the floor with a distinct lack of ceremony. Jast lowered his blaster, his accomplice liberated. He holstered the gun and motioned behind him.

"Let's move. Pods are on the fifth level."

---

Aboard the Black Mantis, Deklen Ordo waited for his ship's engineer to prep the boarding hatch.

"Airlock is not pressurizing on their end. Seems like they've shut down their life support systems," the engineer, standing by the airlock door, announced. Deklen Ordo, fully armored in his Mandalorian suit, cast a gaze in the engineer's direction. "We can do it from our end," the Rodian added quickly, tapping away at the control panel. After a few moments, the engineer announced that they were good to go. Ordo hit the open button before the engineer had finished speaking. The airlock slid open with a hiss, and the uneven pressure announced the bounty hunter's arrival onto the Arkanis Sailer with a gust of artificial wind.

Deklen Ordo strode forward. He cut an imposing figure in the flashing emergency lights. At over six feet in height, fully outfitted in matte green, battle scarred armor, and carrying a host of blasters, grenades, and other gadgetry of varying degrees of lethality, he looked every part the Mandalorian warrior. He arrived on the deck of the Sailer flanked by two rifle-toting mercenaries, also armored, though not in the traditional battle gear of Mandalore.

He found himself face to face with three crew members. The Nemoidian, Captain Montaak, a human male, and a human female stood before the airlock. The Nemoidian stood defiantly before him, staring directly into Ordo's T-shaped visor in an attempt to maintain eye contact. Ordo's men raised their blaster rifles, leveling them with the crewmen, primed to shoot.

"You are Captain Montaak," Ordo stated.

"Yes, I am," Montaak answered. "And you are Deklen Ordo?"

Ordo drew a heavy blaster pistol from his right hip, leveled it with the Nemoidian's head, and pulled the trigger. A bright red-orange lance punched through the captain's skull, and the Nemoidian fell dead on the floor. Ordo pushed the Nemoidian's corpse onto its back with a booted foot. "I am."

The two humans recoiled in horror as their captain crumpled to the floor. The man's hand flew to his pistol, but the threat of the mercenaries' guns stayed his hand. He froze further as the bounty hunter trained the heavy blaster on his chest. "You," Ordo addressed him, "you are now in command of this vessel. I trust you will not further complicate my efforts here."

"No," the man answered, hand dropping from the grip of his gun, "none. First Mate Jaxon Stratham. How can we help?" he asked. The first mate swallowed hard as he waited for a response. Ordo holstered his blaster and brought up a holographic image of a man, projected from a datapad built into his left wristguard.

"This is my target, Jaren Jast, wanted by the Sith Empire. I believe he is aboard your vessel."

"He's one of our passengers. He was in the room when you first contacted us," Jaxon said, trailing off as he uttered the last words of his sentence. Ordo tightened his grip on the holstered blaster. The flashing red lights cast over the bounty hunter's armor reminded him of splashed blood. He looked to the captain's unseeing eyes. For a moment, Jaxon believed himself to be a dead man.

"Where are your escape pods?"

Astra could feel her heart racing and her breathing getting a little to heavy. Anxiety was going through her whole body. A blaster pointed square at her and she didn't want to try and be the hero. She knew if she tried she was going to get shot. Maybe not a dead shot but it still was going to hurt.
Hearing the muffled noises of the commlink going off. She jumped a little and the crew deck member took a few steps closer. "Put your gun down." He demanded one more time. As she backed up she smiled nervously. "I can't do that." She replied as she was trying to get behind one of the metal tanks. Most likely filled with oil or fuel of some kind.

Hearing a blaster go off. Astra jumped with a squeak out of her lips as he eyes shut closed. Dropping her blaster it echoed on the ground a few times. She felt around her body quickly to see if she was shot. She didn't feel anything but she still was a little freaked out. Opening her eyes she seen the man in front of her the one she made a deal with. She was instantly relieved when she noticed she wasn't shot and the fallen stunned crew member on the ground. "Thank the lords..." Astra whispered with a little bit of tears in her eyes. This all was a little overwhelming. Picking up her gun again she was still breathing heavily. "I hate this universe..." She stated as he motioned for her to follow. Astra stepped over the stunned body and started following the one she could trust for now.

Jaren had fought for five years during the Great Galactic War, and had spent the long years of the Cold War running intelligence operations as an independent contractor to the Republic Strategic Information Services and its private, off-the-record affiliates. This particular operation had been a disaster by every estimation, but he’d kept his cool, as he always did. A non-lethal shot to the back of an armed and dangerous enemy was a slow day at the cubicle for him.

Not so for this girl.

“Hey, easy,” he said, attempting something akin to reassurance, “we’re almost out of here.” Not particularly effective, really, but he was on edge himself. She followed close behind. Not that she had much of a choice, he figured. They were in the shit now.

They entered the stairwell and began descending, but Jaren paused as he heard the clamor of hurried boots on the stairs above them. “Go, go,” he urged her to continue down, and angled his blaster upward. He discharged the WESTAR one, two, three times. Wild blue lances shot upwards, warning shots threatening to stun anyone coming down. The stairwell’s occupants were clearly dissuaded from continuing their descent, judging by their shouts and hurried backpedaling.

He pressed onward after her, and they came to the fifth level of the Sailer. The lowest level of the ship was sparse, two narrow corridors on either side of the vessel lined with escape pods. Some of them even looked operational.

“Check to see if they’re operational,” he said, moving to the first one. He pressed the buttons, but it was nonresponsive. “At least some of these have to be in working condition.”

Astra kept close to the guy since she really just wanted to get off this ship. As he tried to reassure her she just nodded and closed her eyes as the tears went away. "I know. We are almost out." She more spoke to herself to try and calm herself down. Everything was extremely overwhelming to her. Especially since she grew up in a captive state from birth till now. She never really experienced anything quite like this. It was blood rushing and exciting though it was also terrifying and very new.

She started following him down the stairwell. The man in front of her stopped abruptly and she instantly felt as something bad was going to happen. That feeling in her gut started twisting and turning and her stomach didn't feel settled at all. She went in front of him and scaled down the stairs as she kept trying to keep a decent pace going forward. Astra was just going to listen to the man and hopefully that kept her safe and off the target point.

Astra nodded "Why wouldn't they have operational escape pods?" She questioned as she was trying to think positively. Running over to one of the pods panels she touched the screen as it shocked her. "Ow!" Violently she shook her hand as she looked at her fingers. They were already starting to redden. "Stupid thing." She hissed out and put the tip of her finger into her mouth. Trying to make it feel better. She went over to another one and looked down at it. This one's panel was lit up a little and it had a green circle lit up by the name of the pod. Astra took her finger out of her mouth and wiped it onto her pants as she then pressed this one. The door opened and the pod started to run its engine. She got excited and then the door shut but the pod still kept up. "This one seems to work but the door is a hit or miss. Mr..." Astra then realized she didn't know the guy's name. Peering over her shoulder she just stared at the guy. Trying to figure out a bunch of different reasons why the pod could be malfunctioning. "I hate this ship..." Muttering as she had a disappointing look going over her face.

Jaren sauntered over to assist.

He tried a few buttons, and then, when that gave nothing in the way of results, he banged a closed fist against the top of the pod. The door slid open. “Huh.” He tossed his bag into the humming escape pod. “Good enough,” he said. “After you.” He offered her a hand and helped her clamor into the pod. It was a comfortable three-seater, from the look of it. Cramped and confining, but they weren’t going for luxury with this escape, as it were. With only the two of them there would be room enough anyway.

As soon as she was safely in the pod, Jaren stepped a foot in, aiming for the ladder down.

“Commander Jast, freeze where you are,” a muffled, but smooth, voice ordered from behind him. Jaren turned to look and found himself staring down a tall Mandalorian warrior emerging from the stairwell a little under ten meters away. He held a heavy blaster pistol in his hand. Jaren could see down the shadowed muzzle, even at this distance. “Step out of the escape pod.” Jaren did so, raising his hands.

“I haven’t been Commander Jast in a long time,” Jaren replied easily, but he grit his teeth as he spoke. “Deklen Ordo, I take it.” He assessed the bounty hunter. The voice had been familiar, but now, off the screen, in person, and fully in the light, he realized he recognized that armor. “You’re the bounty hunter from Nar Shaddaa. One of 10's men. How did you find me?”

“The Empire has spies everywhere,” Ordo said, gesturing ever so slightly with the gun. Jaren narrowed his eyes. His trigger finger twitched. “My superiors knew you were taking this ship off-world before you did. Now, the datapad.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me?” Jast asked, tempting the bounty hunter to continue talking.

“I will, yes, just like your partner—” Ordo gestured with the gun again, and Jaren moved with fluid motion and lightning speed. He drew the ivory, black, and gold blaster and fired. His aim was true, and the bounty hunter's sentence was cut short by the sharp crack of blaster fire and a flash of azure light. The blue bolt caught the bounty hunter on the right. Ordo went to the wall with a shout, but the armor absorbed much of the damage and he was still on his feet. Seemingly paralyzed on his right side, propped up against the wall on his shoulder, he extended his left arm. A jet of flame issued from his wrist.

Jaren dove into the pod headfirst to avoid the flamethrower, crashing shoulder first on one of the chairs inside. Orienting himself, he slammed a fist against the launch button, which sounded with a heavy chunk. The door slammed shut, and the pod jettisoned away from the Arkanis Sailer and hurtled into space with a tremendous burst of speed, throwing him across the tiny vessel with wild force.

As he finally managed to take his seat, bruised and battered, and begin working on the pod’s controls, he took a moment to introduce himself.

“Jaren Jast, by the way," he said, extending a hand to the young woman. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Astra flinched a little to the loud bang of the man's fist against the top of the pod. Funny thing it actually worked and the pod stayed opened. Grabbing onto the man's hand as he offered it. Smiling with appreciation. "Thank you." Entering the pod Astra glanced around the cramped yet comfortable pod. At least there was only the two of them or it would not be as comfortable.

Sitting down on one of the sets she tried to get comfortable. Then she heard a voice and looked up to the entrance of the pod with a confused appearance on her face. Her brows were furrowed a little as she slowly got up. Just being able to see the guy she was trying to escape with disappear out of the pod. That caused the anxiety that has been lingering in her to spike up again. Being able to hear her heart beat in her ears again she took a deep breath in and tried to stay calm. Keeping to be silent she tried listening on the conversation. Twisting and turning started to appear in her stomach again.
Hearing something about Commander Jast, the Empire and another name Ordu or something along the lines. A blaster went off and it struck some type of metal. Covering her ears in a split second as she closed her eyes. Really hoping it wasn't the guy that was trying to escape with her. She was not in a position to shoot anybody especially somebody that knew how to handle a gun better then she did.

Hearing a crash in the pod she opened her eyes and turned seeing the man pretty safe from harm. Watching him instantly slam onto the launch button seemed as if everything went into slow motion for her. She instantly fell to the floor as the pod launched and she let out a noise of discomfort. Sliding towards the way they were not going she opened her eyes again. Seeing the man in front of her. Watching him take his seat her eyes seemed a little sharp. Astra was questioning who this man was now.

Standing up she kept her eyes on him. He came off very nonchalantly as if nothing just happened. Her brow stayed a little furrowed as her blue eyes pierced under her eye brows. "Astra Mink." She introduced herself with a shook voice. Taking his hand and shaking it with a decent grip. "It's nice to meet you too." Astra smiled as she let her hand fall back to her side. "So...Tatooine." Astra looked out of the escape pod window to the planet. "What's the plan when we get there?" Asking as she did not know what to do once they landed.

“Pretty name,” Jaren commented. He worked the controls as the pod rocketed through space, orienting the vessel toward the surface of Tatooine. In the viewport, the distant yellow-red orb of earth came into full view.

“So, Astra, the plan. We’re about four hours out from planetfall. I’m going to shut down all of the systems on here for a few of those hours. That’ll make sure their scanners can’t pick us up out here in the black. Zero emissions. It’s hard enough to find an escape pod in the void, but we might as well make it impossible.”

He pressed a few buttons as soon as his work was complete, and the pod seemed to have died entirely on them. Even the gravity gave out, and they were suddenly weightless. “Everything except the oxygen is offline,” he explained. “As soon as we touch down, though, we’ll have to move. I imagine they’ll have a good sense of where we could land and will be following up on any planetary impacts they pick up. We don’t have any way of landing quietly on this thing, so, yeah, we’re going to have to move fast once we touch down. They’ll be after us as soon as they pick up a reading on our entrance.”

He rummaged through the pack and produced a sleek, compact, matte black blaster pistol and handed it to her. “Here. Standard military issue, bit of an upgrade from that thing you’re carrying around. Very easy to use. Just point and shoot,” he said, offering it to her, grip-first. “Hopefully you don’t need it, but if you do, you might as well be carrying something that can punch through Mandalorian armor.”

Astra smiled to the compliment "Thank you." softly she commented back. Hanging onto the shoulders of his chair she watched as he controlled the ship. Really not knowing how to control one herself to well.

Hearing the plan she nodded and somewhat had a suspenseful feeling on the fact of having to go four hours till they were on the planet. Then Jaren explained he was going to turn off some of the power for that time. Which means it was most likely going to take over four hours till landing on the planet. "Well, we don't want to get caught now." Stating as she turned to look at the confined space. The only window was where the controller of the ship was. Looking back out it she admired space and how a planet looked from afar.

Watching the power go out around them. It caused the planet in front of them to burst in color and she smiled to this. It was even more beautiful now. Astra then realized Jaren was talking and started to put her focus on him. "Yes, this is going to cause the sand on the planet to splash up. That will be noticed and we will have to move somewhere out of the sun and the radar of those pirates." Looking back again she couldn't actually see them but she knew the ship was behind them.

Astra noticed she started to float since she wasn't strapped down and she tried gripping the chair arms. Failing at keeping her grip she was floating. Giggling a little as this was a weird feeling to her. "This is weird..." She commented as she tried moving a little and ended up flipping around and positioning herself. Hand on the ceiling so she seemed to be standing but her feet didn't touch the ground.

Seeing the dark hued blaster she titled her head. Knowing the blaster she had barely worked most of the time. She got lucky when she had to shoot the control box on the ship. Taking it by the grip she looked it over and nodded her head. "Hopefully, I won't need it." Astra kept her eyes on it as she was keeping herself positioned in the air. Placing it in a hoop on her pants. Astra then pushed herself towards the seat by Jacen and strapped herself in. Sighing as she heard the word Mandalorian. Closing her eyes as she kept her fingers feeling the gun. "Is that who the..." She paused trying to remember the name. "Ordo was?" Astra questioned as she looked up to Jacen. She did not like the feeling that a professional bounty hunter is on their tail.