Trooper

Accusation

Kessel: 13 BBY
Spice Mine
Ryn Alera

Ryn exited the ship, followed by Mal. Jess sidled over to her. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Follow my lead," she whispered.

"What have you done now?" Jess groaned.

Mal walked stiffly past the overseer's guards, then suddenly, she whirled and grabbed one of their blasters. She fired and one of the guards fell limp to the ground. "Stop her!" The overseer demanded.

Ryn darted forward and grabbed Mal's wrists. "Make it convincing," she muttered through gritted teeth. Mal nodded and twisted, pinning Ryn's arms. She cried out and winced. Mal's grip loosened but only slightly.

Ryn felt the barrel of the blaster press against her forehead and they began backing towards the ship. "Please tell me you have the safety on," she whispered. Mal didn't reply.

"I'm taking her and him," Mal jerked her chin towards Jess. "They'll take me somewhere and none of you will follow or I'll kill her."

"Why would we care about her? She's just a smuggler," the overseer scoffed.

"I know you don't care about her, but he does," Mal sneered.

"Please, don't hurt her," Jess shouted. He took a hesitant step forward.

"On the ship, now!"

"Kill the three of them," the overseer sighed.

"Wait! If the spice isn't delivered, Ryke Altor and Crimson Dawn will come investigating!" Ryn pointed out. "What's one slave to the wrath of the entirety of one of the biggest gangs in the galaxy?"

The Quarren paused, thinking. "Count yourself lucky, Slave. If Crimson Dawn shows up, I will hunt you down and you'll find yourself in even worse conditions."

Mal pressed the blaster harder against Ryn's head. She flinched, closing her eyes as they backed towards the ship. Jess edged past them and she heard the ship's thrusters fire up. Mal didn't release her until the boarding ramp was securely closed.

Ryn rubbed her wrists in relief as Mal tossed the blaster aside. "Sorry about that. I did have to make it convincing," Mal said. "And thank you."

"It's all right. We'd better get you off the grid before they find out something is up though," Ryn replied. They walked into the cockpit and slid into their seats.

"We'd better hope we don't get sent on anymore missions to Kessel for a while," Jess said. Ryn glanced at him, aware of the tension that radiated from him. Mal nodded, blissfully unaware.

"Would it be possible for you to drop me by Naboo?" She asked.

"Of course. Jess, can you erase our course from the navicomputer?"

"On it."

Ryn set the navicomputer and made the jump. As soon as they were in hyperspace, Jess erased the trajectory. "Is there a refresher in this thing?" Mal asked.

"Right back there," Ryn twisted in her seat and pointed. Mal nodded and headed back. As soon as she was gone, Ryn turned to Jess. "What is it?"

"It's nothing." He reached over the control panel and began preparing to drop out of hyperspace. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I think Kessel affected you more than me."

"You're probably not wrong," Jess agreed.