A thunk ran through the hull, as the freighter touched down on the hangar deck, and they arrived at the airlock, to see the hatch already rolling open, and a young man in the khaki of an Imperial officer standing at the bottom of the ramp, followed by a pair of stormtroopers, and a couple of jumpsuit-clad technicians hauling a sensor pallet.
"Anakin Solo," Anakin said, offering a cocky smile. "Captain of the Yavin Turtle."
Tahiri suppressed a laugh. Lowie made a noise that an Imperial wouldn't recognize as one.
"Lieutenant Lannier," the Imperial replied, apparently impervious to Anakin's name as well as his sense of humour. "Imperial Navy." He gave a look around, and gave Tahiri and Lowie a proprietorial leer. "Are you his crew?"
"Girlfriend," Tahiri smiled proudly. "Among other things."
"Wookiee," Anakin translated, as Lowie added something insulting in Shyriiwook.
"I can see that," the Imperial clipped, betraying an Expansion Region accent beneath his Core Worlds affectation. "Do these two have their identification in order?" He sneered down at Tahiri - an expression that Anakin realised was pretty much the same whether you were a real High Coruscanti, or a jacked-up kid from Woostri. "I'd hate to have to detain the blonde."
Tahiri didn't even blink.
"Look, Lieutenant," she said, with a smile that was far more dangerous than it seemed. She made a gesture to hold his attention. "You don't need to worry about that. Just tell your men to search the ship."
She smiled, and he nodded.
"We don't need to worry about that," the officer decided. "Men, search their ship."
The techs looked confused, but they obeyed, opening the pallet and starting to set up. The stormtroopers hid their disdain for their subaltern behind their body-language, but they were even better-disciplined than the techs.
Anakin and Tahiri watched them unpack - his hand on his blaster, her arms folded across her chest.
"Been practicing your mind-tricks?" he whispered.
She grinned, and nudged him with her elbow. "Of course. You're great experimenting material." She smiled up at him. "Don't worry about it."
He laughed, a little nervous, but not much. "I won't." He hoped she was joking, but it turned out it didn't bother him if she really was messing with his head.
"Just so long as you don't have anything illegal to hide," she smirked at him.
"What are you two...?" the officer began, then paused, as the sound of female footsteps came down the corridor, followed by a brunette with a dark nerfhide jacket over a red combat flightsuit, a big pistol at her hip.
"Have I missed anything?" Jaina asked, sauntering to a stop, and grinning like she didn't want to miss the fun.
Lieutenant Lannier's eyes widened. "And this is your-?"
Anakin didn't miss a beat. "Sister."