Dark Shadows

This time when Nelkf and Jax stepped out of the chamber, they could see the machine had done its work. Nelkf breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the dozens of ships awaiting them. "We did it," she told Jax "We're outta here."

Jax hardly seemed to notice. He was busy searching through the ships. He ran into the hanger with renewed strength, coming to a halt next to a miss-matched freighter. He smiled in relief. "She's here, Nel."

Nelkf spun around. Who was Jax talking about? "She?"

Jax rested a hand gingerly on the hull of the strange looking freighter. "My old ship. The Galaxy Casino. She's not as fast as some of the ships out there, but she never fails in a scrape. There hasn't been a scanning device yet that could make heads or tails out of her."

"I don't know that I can either," Nelkf muttered. She could see bits of snub fighters, transports and various freighters. There was even the dorsal stabilizer of an Imperial shuttle. A flying nightmare. A patchwork ship. She shook her head. "Jax, there are plenty of other ships we could use. Do we have to fly that monstrosity?"

Jax gave Nelkf a stubborn nod. "Yes, we do. I'm not leaving my ship. I built her. Sure, she looks like the result of a freak accident, but considering I spent the better part of two years working on her, she's really something."

Nelkf sighed and poised the disrupter at the Casino. A small hum ensured, and the lock turned green. Jax quickly ran inside, and Nelkf followed. "Does it still work?"

Jax glanced up from his position over the controls and grinned. "She should. Luck's been with us so far. If not, we won't be around long to mope about it," his smile faded. "But you'll have to take the controls until we're safely out of here. I can't fly with a mindkiller."

Nelkf nodded. "Right. Maybe you should stay in the main compartment."

Jax glanced back. "Maybe I should. I think I'm getting ready to black out here."

"then what are you standing here for?" Nelkf gave him a shove. "Go! I'm not a rookie. I can fly a freighter. Sheesh."

When Jax had disappeared, Nelkf found herself at a loss for Jax's controls. "Blast you, Jax! Where the bloody Sith is the starter?" she had to pause and clear her head, something she was not used to doing. Okay Nelkf. Think here. If you were Jax, where would you put the starter? Nelkf got up and walked back to the ramp. It had already shut, but sure as day, there was the starter, right next to the hatch. Nelkf slammed her fist down on the button and ran back to the cockpit. The Casino hummed to life under her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Luck must still be with us. Suddenly, Nelkf heard the sound of blaster bolts pinging off metal. Oh no!

The Sklinth ran to glance out of one of the multiple windows lining the ship. She barely had time for a glimpse before a well-aimed blaster bolt spattered against the window. Oh no! No,no,no! They found us! It took Nelkf only an instant before she was back in the cockpit. Leaping into the pilot's seat, she thought, Okay luck. Stick by me. I'm going to need it. Switches flipped and lights buzzed as the frantic Sklinth attempted to fly the ship.

She was thrown back into her seat as the Casino rocketed from the bay and out into the wilds of Lekan. Struggling to regain control of the run-away ship, Nelkf pulled back on one of the many levers. The ship narrowly avoided colliding with a mountain and swung up. Faster, faster, Nelkf thought, If we don't get up enough speed, we won't make it out of atmosphere!

Luck remained on the escapees' side for the time being. The Galaxy Casino quickly left the hostile world of Lekan behind in exchange for the peace and solitude of the stars.

That peace did not last long. Almost immediately, a squadron of TIE fighters appeared from the planet's shadow to intercept the Casino. Man oh man! Jax, you better have given this ship one helluva shielding system if we're ever gonna live through this.

Nelkf tugged violently on the controls, sending the Casino into a wild, disoriented spin. The TIEs, momentarily confused, began to break formation and surround the ship. Let's see them surround this!

Nelkf threw all her strength into the drive. The ship continued to shake while the TIEs fired missing shots behind her. The Sklinth squinted ahead through the oddly shaped glass as if to judge timing. With an angry snarl, she pulled the ship out of it's mad spin and tore away from the oncoming TIEs.

Ironically, Nelkf found herself wondering why protocol droids were even invented when she heard Jax yelling at her from the main hold. She slammed her fist down on the cockpit door controls, locking herself in and Jax out. Oh yeah, I forgot. Some folks like Jax don't know any protocol. As much as Nelkf wanted Jax up here in the cockpit with her, to waste even one second in the switch meant risking a head on collision.

She continued to pilot the freighter through the increasing amounts of TIE fighters, ignoring the pounding noises and curses coming from the other side of the door. Sorry Jax. An escape is a lousy time for conversations. It looks to me as if that's how the cards fell. Swerving and ducking, she continued to fly the Casino farther and farther away from Lekan at sub-light speed. Maybe this flying junk heap can hold out longer then those TIEs can. With any luck, I'll figure out a way to make it to hyperspace. Normally Nelkf hated jumping in and out of hyperspace, but at this point the solid white blur would be a welcome sight to her.

Nelkf knew that the chances of her figuring out which switch took her to hyperspace were next to none. She pounded her fists on the controls in despair. "Oh, for the love of Chaos!"

A streak of laser fire burst forth from the seemingly dormant hull of the freighter and exploded against an oncoming TIE. The TIE's left ion engine blew, taking the solar panel with it. The small one-man ship flung into an insane spin. He must be nauseous by now. I think I may be starting to like this piece of space junk. The TIE pilot did not have much time to suffer in his barrel roll, for the bubble like cockpit soon erupted in a burst of flames. Nelkf rubbed her hands together devilishly and swung the ship around. "Okay Imps. You want to play? How about a game of cat and mouse?"

"Nelkf! No!" Jax had finally succeeded in hot-wiring the lock and snatched Nelkf's hand away from the firing button.

"Let go!" she snarled, "This is a dogfight! Can't you see?"

"Nelkf, give me the controls. We need to get into hyperspace. You can blow Imps up some other time."

"There might not be 'some other time.' Now get lost!"

Jax pulled out a vibroblade and held it like a club. "Sorry Nel, but like you said before, we haven't got time for this." Jax struck, and Nelkf fell unconscious to the floor of the cockpit. Jax hurriedly tapped keys and set the navicomputer. "Remind me to thank you when you wake up for helping me out back there." Jax glanced at the readout, and pulled the lever that sent the ship into hyperspace. Jax smiled. "So long Lekan. Next stop, Mos Eisley spaceport."