THE MAELSTROM
Aboard the
Corellian's Luck
[member="Kingsley"] | [member="Eliza Steele"]
_______________________________________________
"Hey, no need for that language, I understand some of those squawks ya know," Andan said over the comm to
Kingsley. When
Eliza sat down beside him, Andan offered a grin.
"We share jokes. He's fine, we're fine, we're all fine. But he's about to kick his hauler into ludicrous speed, if I'm not mistaken."
Reaching out to the control panel, Andan flicked some switches, altering the telesponder code for the
Luck in order to avoid giving away the ships real identity. As of now, they were the
Nexu Racer, especially appropriate given the state of fleeing they were currently in. When Eliza commented about showing a girl a good time, the smuggler couldn't help but chuckle as he began powering up the throttle.
"It's not my best effort, I admit," The smuggler said, as he flipped .
"Capture, interrogation and possible airlock release from Pyke mercs? Maybe my top five. But hey, the Luck's never let me down so far, so here's hoping, huh?"
It was around that time Kingsley sent word he was about to burn booster pods. It was also the moment the Pyke vessels began to speed up as well, angling heavily after the rapidly moving hauler and its smaller escort. The large ion engines on the
Sarisa-class Gunships were definitely modified, as they lurched forward considerably faster than the standard model should have allowed. Andan wasn't surprised, really. Pyke were criminals so it made sense they tinkered on their toys to have something up their sleeve. Still,
"Well... looks like feathers is either going to punch through the maelstrom, or he's going to break apart," Andan paused, watching portions of the hauler ahead coming off, littering debris through the area. The young pilot expertly evaded, spinning the YT-2400 to avoid a nasty durasteel beam, before weaving lazily in pursuit of the larger vessel.
"Hopefully it's not both. So anyway, Eliza, glad I get to show you a trip through the Kessel Run. You ever done it before?"
Despite being part of a somewhat infamously famous family, Andan had always felt his family's claims of how fast the Solo's were capable of making the Kessel Run were exaggerated, perhaps even by a lot. Still, all things considered, now was as good a time as any to attempt it. The
Luck was in great shape, all systems functioning as well as hoped, there was a witness to the run in the co-pilot's chair, and they all had a criminal syndicate breathing down their necks... so really, things were ideal, and all that remained was to dive headlong into the madness awaiting beyond the safety of the channel.
"Here goes nothing!"
Or everything.
Pushing the throttle lever to maximum, the
Luck launched forward at incredible speeds, its military-grade ion engines burning bright blue-white and leaving a long flare in its wake. The inertial compensators strained, the g-forces just managing to affect the humanoids in the cockpit, pushing them back into their respective seats mildly. Andan personally loved that feeling, it was like he was flying on the edge of it all, to the point where even technology had trouble keeping up... and then they burst through the swirling mass of the maelstrom wall, disappearing from their pursuer's view.
Inside the vortex, an endless sea of asteroids, debris, hollowed out vessels and all manner of obstacles greeted the two ships. There was a thick gas-like cloud that threatened all visibility, as distant bursts of light flashed and illuminated the nightmarish space. Silver lining though, the hauler was making great speed, and Kingsley was doing an amazing job of not immediately crashing and dying, so Andan felt things were going well so far. In fact, the hauler would probably had to slow down from booster burn soon, which would mean the
Luck would catch it no problem.
"Alright, keep an eye out, we do not want to be grabbed by a space monster today," Andan murmured to Eliza, shrugging as he glanced over.
"I'm feeling good about this one. Yeah, I doubt Pyke are following, so we've got some breathing roo--"
The alert sensor activated, as the Pyke gunships punched through the maelstrom wall behind the fleeing vessels. Andan couldn't believe it. Well, actually he could, considering how much product was on Kingsley's hauler. Obviously such a load was worth a very large sum, enough so that whoever was leading the thugs following them thought it was worth chasing, even into the maw... and you just couldn't shake that kind of crazy easily, it seemed.
"Kingsley, we've got company," Andan said over the comm, hoping the transmission wasn't too distorted. The
Luck rolled, avoiding a medium-sized asteroid that sailed by at speed.
"Pyke just can't seem to quit you, my friend... your Eravana is just too nice a prize. How's the boosters? Got much left in the tube?"
The last thing they needed was for Kingsley's ship to lose all its speed and for the gunships to catch up...
"How good are you on a turret, Eliza?"
