Rush Hour

Jolder stepped into the alleyway behind one of the many bars that dotted the slums of Lianna. She looked down both ends, listening intently for any movement. "Damn it where'd he go?"   From behind, the unmistakable sound of a bag full of bottles being tossed out of a dumpster and the screech of a startled Lothcat marked her quarry. "Mir! There you are, I thought I'd lost you!"   "The weeper can not find the keeper!" Mir mused, rummaging through the bag. "Lost me! Can not lose what you do not have!"   Jolder put her hand on her hip, tilting her head back in an exasperated fashion. "Yes, fine. What are you doing? We're supposed to be back by now."   "Finding!" Mir said, proudly showing the bottles in his bag. Behind him several trash bins had been clearly upended and rummaged through, much to the delight of the local Lothcats. Mir moved past her, his bag clinking as he walked to the next bin.   "Well hurry up why don't you?" Jolder said as Mir dove into another garbage can. She looked around the alleyway, noting it was empty besides herself, Mir, and the few Lothcats munching away at the scraps strewn by Mir. She spotted a well light, blank wall just up the way from Mir's path, and surmised she had enough time and space to work. They were already late, and Cale was going to be moody about it either way so why not take their time? She removed her helmet, setting it on the ground and dropped her bag beside it. She quickly stepped back to look at the wall from afar before moving back and removing a few paint cans from her bag. She worked quickly, having done this one before. Nothing too fancy she though, but it'll get the point across. She quickly sprayed the outline of a few raised fists, tools in hand in front of the mark of the rebellion, the Red Star bird. She then moved into the details, painting menacing looking stormtroopers behind the raised fists, as if to stop the workers rising against them.   "Do you think that wise?" Mir asked, admiring Jolder's work from behind her and startling her.    "What? The Rebellion?"   "Throwing caution to the wind." Mir said, before shouldering the clinking bag of bottles.   "Oh, the art. Probably not but someone has to do it!" Jolder said, packing the paint in her bag and following Mir. "What did you do with the M.O.P.?"   "Its right here!" Mir said, moving the Notorious M.O.P. out from behind a stack of empty boxes and dumping the bag of bottles into it. Jolder noted how very much it resembled actual trash. They were nearer to the end of the alleyway and the street, and could here bits of conversation as crowds passed going from bar to bar or from work to home.    "Alright Mir, lets get going. What are the bottles for anyway?"   "An early warning system! I used them all the time to let me know if there any scrap droids around! Can't mistake the sounds of breaking glass!" Mir said, before tossing one behind him. The bottle sailed in a high arc through the air, before coming straight down and shattering on the helmet of a stormtrooper as he and several other stormtroopers rounded the corner into the alley. Everyone stopped in their tracks, staring at each other with a palpable silence.   "Cheese it!" Mir yelled, jumping into the Notorious M.O.P.. Its air jet engine roared to life as he rocketed down the alley way, knocking more trashcans and debris into the alley.   "Damn it Mir!" Jolder activated her jetpack, flying down the alleyway to catch up with Mir as he bounced from wall to wall.   "Hey! Stop, you're under arrest!" Yelled the stormtrooper captain, chasing after Mir and Jolder.   "Blast them!" Blaster bolts zipped down the alleyway behind them, as Jolder caught up to the M.O.P. and turned to fire a shot behind as they veered around a sharp corner, Mir making use of a broken broom handle to push off the walls and into another alley.    "What did you do that for!?"   "I said it was a warning device!" Mir laughed, bouncing off another wall and onto the crowded street as people dove out of the way of the rocket powered mop bucket.   "Watch you fire! Get them!" a group of corpo's yelled, now chasing them as well as the Notorious M.O.P. scrapped along the side of a land speeder next to them. Mir laughed as he threw another bottle ahead of him, this one striking a corpo off of his own speeder as he turned to start his pursuit. The M.O.P. swerved as Mir tried to avoid large crowds, knocking a few people down before the street narrowed. Ahead a cart was slowly crossing the street, leaving little room on either side.   "Mir! Watch it!" Jolder cried as she used her jetpack to push the M.O.P. down a different alleyway, barreling over another trashcan They passed two corpos relaxing and eating their lunch on their speeders. They immediately dropped their sandwiches and flicked on their lights as they jolted forward to follow the speeding mop bucket. She barrel-rolled over to the other side of the M.O.P., forcing the it to make another hard turn onto another open street, trying to shake the pursuers. Dropping down onto the open street they narrowly avoid a passing speeder, angry honks greeting them as they dodged into oncoming traffic. Mir quickly pushed the M.O.P. back into the right lane, swerving around a bright blue car with a yell of "Sorry!"   The corpo speeders were quickly closing the gap, only slowing down to avoid or go around traffic, their sirens blaring and lights flashing. "Stop!" one yelled on his loudspeaker, Jolder and Mir ignoring it as they swerved down another alley. Jolder blasted the base of a large stack of crates, blocking the alley. This did not slow down the corpo speeders, who simply went higher over the debris and continued to give chase. They fired their blaster cannons, barely missing the speeding bucket as Mir pelted another bottle behind them.    "Jolder! Environmental brake ahead!" Mir yelled, seeing the dead end of the alley way fast approaching.    "I see it!" Jolder yelled back, before shooting her grappling hook at a passing bollard and hooking it to the M.O.P.. She quickly pushed the bucket left, the now taught rope helping to swing it wide into another alley and onto an open street. Seeing the way clear and very few people in the street, she turned, flying backwards to aim at the two speeders following them. She quickly locked both of the targets, firing a barrage of micro-missiles into them as a bright orange fireball and black smoke filled the street. They slowed down, looking behind to make sure they were no longer followed.    "Ok, I think we lost them." Jolder sighed, landing next to Mir.   "I don't think you had them either."