The Hijack

Iznora ground her teeth together in decision as she looked between the two men on her ship, one of her blue hands roughly wrapped around the Twi'lek's wrists as she thrusted him into a seat. The ship's dashboard beeped desperately in warning, getting shriller as the danger seemed to get more and more real. She ignored it easily, her mind working in it's usual mechanical matter, she had been trained for situations like this, it would not get the best of her. Anger licked at the base of her thoughts, hot and violent, but it only sped up the thought process. Warning: Impact Imminent. Warning: Communications have been tapped, the robotic voice of the woman crowed over the speaker as the danger lights danced across the metallic paint inside of the cockpit.

This was the instant where Iznora's two very different lives would mingle for the last time, the heartbeat of the Syndicate would not be stifled and tangled with the mess that was Imperial Intelligence once again. Her bright crimson eyes flicked to the front window where she could see the Hutt Cartel's ships advancing more quickly than what any sane person could be comfortable with. Of course they were the Hutt's ships, identifiable simply because of the work she had done inside the slimy species' immoral industry, but they weren't after her precious cargo. They were after the few crates of special production spice she had hidden in the back for the Tretarkii Syndicate, not the Twi'lek she wouldn't mind choking to death at this very instant. Iznora looked to Baldarek, the Chiss she had grown more than fond of, and knew that he would understand what she was doing as soon as she executed it.

Lies, it would all be lies, of course. The Hutts were ignorant and obtuse to say the least, they would take whatever lead she would feed them, and that would buy her time. All she needed was some time.."Baldarek, do you hear that? We've got company." she said loudly, her feminine voice dominant and clear, ringing against the mechanical beeping and shrilling like a bell in the night. "You better take the escape pod and get the hell out of here before they find out that you're Intelligence. We both know the slimy bastards wouldn't know what to do with your information if they found it." Baldarek paused for only half a moment as the words ran through his thoughts, blinking once before nodding sharply and rising hastily from his seat. A single look was exchanged between the two before he disappeared into the back of the 'Aphelion', the kind of glance that was heavy and swollen with promise. The promise that the two would meet again, no doubt. Iznora would be damned to lose the only thing she had grown close to in the last 8 years of her life, she simply wouldn't allow it. No matter what happened, they would embrace again.

"There's an escape pod for me too, right?" the Twi'lek's voice was raw with emotion, and even though the man had been through a lot in the last few hours, Iznora found it pathetic. She ignored the man's alarm, grinding her teeth together in animosity as she reached to the dashboard, smashing her fist into the controls violently. With a slight electric rush, the control lights went dark, leaving only the shrill warning sirens to scream of the danger that was approaching even more rapidly now. At least now the Hutt's wouldn't be able to hear them.

Iznora turned to the Twi'lek, her red eyes burning with fury as she violently grabbed each one of the man's lekku, letting her blue fingers curl with force. The blue skinned alien let out a cry of pain, wincing as he looked into her dangerously resentful eyes. "Now you listen to me, Republic scum," she growled, her face only inches from the one called Jaaht'o, "You are going to do every little thing I say without a flaw. Do you know why?" The Twi'lek shook his head gingerly in her grasp, careful not to increase the pressure on the long appendages that extended out of his head. "Because if you don't, and you decide to tell those glutinous fat slugs about the information I need, I'm going to kill you. I will take these cute little lekku of yours," she squeezed a little harder at these words, "and cut them off tiny piece by piece until you're in such pain, you're begging for it. Do you understand?" Jaaht'o swallowed, nodding through his wince. "That's what I thought." she said with a nod almost to herself as she let go of him and stepped back. "Don't think for half a second that I won't, because as soon as I get out of this mess, I will track you down and see to it that you have never been in so much agony in your whole miserable life. And that's only if the Hutt's don't do it themselves."

"What happens if I don't tell the Hutts? You hand me over to Intelligence and then the same thing happens after I tell them?" the Twi'lek asked after a moment of reassurance that his tentacles were still intact and not damaged. Iznora let out a small sigh of comfort as she heard the escape pod dislodge from it's holding place on the ship, at least Baldarek had made it out. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a section of the Cartel's ships fly after it, the others continuing to rush at her head on.

"Tell you what, Jaaht'o," Iznora's voice was much more alluring now, though it still had the undertones of hatred and chagrin, "If you don't tell the Hutts, I will personally see to it that you are not harmed or disturbed by Imperial Intelligence ever again. And I'll get you out of the Hutt's grubby mitts. Fair enough?" As she spoke she fished a small shiv out from her pocket and cut through the bindings on the man's wrists in one smooth motion. At the exact moment that the female Chiss finished her words, one of the Hutt's ships crashed into the side of the Aphelion with a loud and raking thud. Iznora clenched her teeth once again, removing her blaster rifle from where it rested on her hip.