~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He ran faster, trying to get away. The coin pouch was clutched tightly in his hand. He could see one of is sisters ahead, as he knew he would. "Les, hold onto this," He thrust the pouch into her hand as he continued running. She opened it, amazed at the amount of money in there. It would be enough for them for almost a month. She tucked it close to her body, under her clothes in a hidden pocket. She silently wished her other brother was there.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The ship emerged from hyperspace. Nick could see the huge fleet of ships ahead. "BRIAN! THEY'RE COMIN' AT US!!!" Nick yelled.
"We're ready," Brian responded. He and AJ were in the gunnery.
As the shots were fired, AJ wanted to know, "What the hell did you guys do to get everyone pissed at ya?"
"Um..." Brian concentrated on another targeted. "We also work in the black market."
"Smuggling?" AJ concluded.
"Will you cut the chit-chat, we have pirates on our asses and I think this needs your full attention." Nick ordered over the mic.
"Compared to the scraps I've been in, this'll be a piece of cake!" AJ blew a ship to stardust.
A ship came closer, guns blazing. Their shield were on high and Nick's ship was loosing power. Nick managed to maneuver them around another vessel, which got caught in the crosshairs.
"Um... Nick.... We have a bit of a problem." Brian's uneasy voice filled the mics.
"What?" The controls stopped responding to Nick.
"Oh Shit! Tractor beam!"
AJ climbed out of the gunnery as fast as he could and made his way to the cockpit. "Do you have any missiles?" He asked breathlessly.
"Yeah, why?" Nick looked at AJ quizingly.
"You fire the missile and then jet out of the way and the beam will pull the missile in instead of us." AJ explained. He had heard of such a maneuver performed by Han Solo.
"Are you sure it'll work?" Nick began punching in codes.
"In theory...yes. I've never seen it done, but I've heard of it." AJ replied as he slid into the copilot's chair and began punching in other codes.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Nick demanded.
"Saving our asses from the Royals If you haven't noticed, a ROYAL ship has us, not a pirate. If they catch us, we're as good as dead!" AJ retorted. Nick didn't like him taking over the controls, but he let it pass. "It's away! Now boost the engines!" AJ ordered. That time, Nick didn't have a problem with AJ taking control. Unfortunately, one of their main engines had been hit and they couldn't get enough boost on the ones they had left. Another tractor beam began pulling them in as the missile was pulled into the vessel. "This should be interesting." AJ mumbled. There was a loud explosion and Nick gave all power to the engines when the tractor beam was disabled for a second. "Watch out!" AJ screamed.
Nick looked just tin time to see a solar panel coming at them. AJ managed to get away, however, another ship caught them in another tractor beam. AJ tried firing another missile, however, the system was malfunctioning. "Um...AJ, I think we have a problem." Nick looked at the other man. AJ nodded.
"What the hell was that?" Brian came running into the cockpit.
"Remember when we were boarded by the Royals a few years ago?' Nick tried. Brian nodded. "Well, it's about to happen again."
"SHIT!" Brian swore. "Nick, they can't find me! Not after what I pulled when we first met!"
"They can't find YOU, they can't find ME! Remember, I'M the one who snuck away to get away from them!" AJ exclaimed.
"Um..." Nick looked around nervously.
"Remember the Battle of Yavin?" AJ asked. The others nodded. That, along with several other events if the civil war in the next galaxy were famous here. "You smuggle, right?"
"A little," Nick was a little uneasily.
"Hide in those compartments and-" AJ started.
"Won't work," Brian interrupted, "They're not big enough for us to fit in 'em."
"Shit!" AJ was thinking fast.
"Um... don't look now, but we're in the docking bay," Brian looked uneasily thorough the windows.
"Any suggestions are welcomed at this time," Nick said. They heard the hissing sound of the boarding hatch opening.
"Hide!" AJ's voice was a harsh whisper. All three ducked into the shadows in the various parts of the ship, weapons ready.