Litessen stood just outside the airlock entry, leaning casually against the wall as though she really had nothing better to do. The space station's current time cycle was the least busy, simulating what would be considered late night on planetside - if there'd been any planet nearby to simulate.
It's current placement was as much part of the diplomatic meetings it had just finished hosting, and while most participants of those meetings were scheduled to leave in the next time cycle - the 'morning' time cycle - she was among the few who had already gained clearance to leave early, citing the need to rendevous with a frigate that would be passing near enough to pick up her short range shuttle to take her to her next destination. The lower ring was nearly deserted right now, so she'd barely even seen a passing guard, much less any non-personel, until the small figure of a female slipped quietly into view.
Litessen regarded the young Mirialan with a tentative, but encouraging smile and nodded. That was all it took, and the girl dashed up to her after one last wary look further down the corridor, slipping into the airlock when the Jedi's violet eyes slid that direction. With one last glance behind, she followed the girl onto the shuttle and waved the door closed before pointing down to the waiting astromech droid.
"It's okay," she encouraged the girl. "He's going to remove your collar. Just pull your hair out of the way."
In moments, it was done, and Litessen opened the door long enough to place the collar just outside of it. When the shuttle detached, the slave collar would be blown into space, and with luck, far enough away that exactly which airlock it had come from would at least take time to figure out.
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The first volley of fire was clearly a warning as it soared across the bow of the shuttle, bouncing off the shields. Startled from dozing, Litessen became fully alert, her fingers moving across the controls in front of the captain's chair. "D5, what's going on?"
She'd never been much of a pilot, and it showed in how much she relied on the astromech droid to run things. The short range shuttle she'd aquired had adequate defenses, but it wouldn't withstand much in full on combat. The answering chirps that came with the readout were low and nervous, and she nodded in answer as she pulled up the daunting image of a small, heavily armored starship.
Muttering a curse beneath her breath, she pulled up an astrochart. "Don't bother putting him through on the com. I know what he wants, and there's no way I'm going to--" she broke off as an idea came to her. "D5, I'm going to start typing instructions to you through my wristpad. Put the bounty hunter through, voice only, and ease your way toward that gas cloud."
The droid chirped a correction that elicited a roll of her eyes. "Whatever it's made of. It'll mess with readings a little, won't it?"
As the droid chirped his answer, she jumped out of the chair and headed into the back of the shuttle where her passenger was hunkering in a corner with wide, terrified pale eyes. Lifting a finger to her lips, Lita signalled for the girl to remain quiet as she moved to her side, and the click of the intercom signalled the connection to their pursuer's transmission.
**Shuttle Vigilance, kill your engines and prepare to be boarded.**
Lita pulled the girl up to her feet and led her toward the only escape hatch. The shuttle shuddered as D5 finished altering course and diverting everything the little vessel had to shields and navigation. She regretted leaving the droid behind and hoped he managed to somehow survive as she answered the com with a calm, clear tone. "This is The Vigilance. You have no authority here. What is this about?"
**This is about your unauthorized removal of Jalif Makria's property from the space station last night, Jedi. No one needs to get hurt here. Just let me dock and retrieve it, and you can be on your way.**
She triggered the door open and helped the trembling girl into the tiny space. "You're mistaken. The only property I arrived and left with was my own. Now, cease and leave, or I will file a complaint against you and Makria with the Republic. I imagine that would make all the progress we made during negotiations evaporate and eat into the profits he stands to make."
She was bluffing. The negotiations had resulted in a lucrative deal for Jalif Makria, to be sure, but that deal was more important to the Republic government than the theft of a slave girl. She couldn't risk the Republic learning of what she'd done anymore than she could risk being found out and...well, chased by a bounty hunter, apparently.
**Have it your way, Jedi.**
The channel cut off, and Lita knew time was running out. Hopefully, she'd bought them enough time to reach the nebulous clouds for her planned ruse to work. She secured the hatch and smiled reassuringly at the young girl just before the child flung herself into the woman's lap. Wrapping her arms around the girl, she soothed her while she tapped the final instructions for D5 into her wristpad.
The shuttle banked hard and shook as the bounty hunter's ship fired on it once again, seeking to disable it rather than destroy it. Her eyes remained on the readout on her wristpad as the droid reported back to her and the girl clung tighter. Shields disabled. One more shot would take out the engine and leave them vulnerable to boarding.
"One more time, and we'll be on our way," Lita cooed in a soothing voice to the terrified youth.
Another, more violent shudder told her the volley had begun, and before the shuttle rolled dangerously onto its side, the escape pod was already blown free amidst the debris from the shot, hurtling toward Taris. Now, if only D5 could keep the bounty hunter too busy to notice...
