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The imperial ship was gaining speed on them. Zuckuss was pushing "The Mist Hunter" as hard as he could but despite 4-Loms pleas the ship couldn't fly any faster.
"Is there a reason you're letting them close in?!" He chastised Zuckuss.
"I'm not, you bug eyed fool!"
"Bug eyed?! That's rich coming from you!"
"You know what would be rich?! You doing anything to help for a change!", Zuckuss looked away from the console just long enough to make sure 4-Lom saw how angry he was. He did.
"Want me to help? Get out of the way and let me drive!"
"I'd sooner die!"
"Keep flying like this and we will!", 4-Lom shouted while lunging at the controls.
With one hand Zuckuss batted him away and with the other he kept a white knuckle hold on the centre stick.
"Stop! Stop it! So help me I will crash us into the nearest star if ..!"
Just then the large burlap bag screamed.
"Are you happy?!" 4-Lom scolded, " You woke her up."
The bag screamed again.
"Calm her down!" Zuckuss yelled over his shoulder while pulling the ship in to a deep bank in an effort to lose the imperials.
4-Lom took a moment to compose himself. He knew that being a robot with a bug shaped head had challenges, it tends to put humans on edge. But he was sure if he was calm, composed and delivered his words carefully things would be okay.
At that moment the screaming bag slammed into him, sending them both to the ground.
"I am requesting that you stop making that noise!" 4-Lom exclaimed as he torn the bag open revealing their captive princess. With eyes filled with horror she opened her mouth to scream again but 4-Lom covered her mouth with his cold metal hand before any noise escaped.
"Let's try this again. My name is 4-Lom and over there is my associate Zuckuss.", at hearing his name he waved at her quickly never taking his eyes off the console, 4-Lom continued, "if I remove my hand do you promise to stop making that noise?"
With eyes still wide she nodded, slowly.
"Where are we going? What is happening?!"
"We are currently trying to bring you to a rebel base for your own safety but at the moment we are in the middle of dying horribly in space." Just then the entire ship shook under the impact of a laser blast.
"Shields!" Zuckuss yelled but 4-Lom was already reaching over the panels diverting power to the rear shields.
"Who is firing on us?!" She screamed looking back and forth at her captors.
"Imperials." 4Lom answered while pulling up a seat on the auxiliary system panel.
"My father is a general in the imperial army. He would never let one of his ships do such a thing!"
Several red blasts barely missed the ship while Zuckuss pulled the ship into another hard bank, "I invite you to look out the window and repeat your statement!"
"This is crazy! I demand you stop this ship at once!", her voice frantic.
"I'm going to put her back in the bag." 4-Lom said.
"Get back at the panel! We need to out maneuver these bastards!" Zuckuss's voice for the first time betraying him as a hint of fear could be heard.
"Stop the ship and bring me back to my father at once!" She yelled while slapping at the back of 4-Loms head.
"Your father sold you to the Hutts!" 4Lom explained. He tried to soften his voice as he explained, "He owed them a fortune and he couldn't settle up, " he paused, "so he offered you in exchange. We caught word of this over the spy network. General Organa insisted we get to you before the Hutts did."
"He.. He would never sell me.", her voice quivering.
Both Zuckuss and 4-Lom slowly turned to face her, waiting for the truth to sink in. Behind them a missile exploded in space.
"He totally would have sold me." With a defeated sigh she sank to the ground. After a moment she spoke up, "What do we do now?"
"I have an idea." 4-Lom said jumping to his feet, "Escape Pod!"
"Escape Pod!" Zuckuss echoed
"Escape Pod?" Princess Elisia asked.
"We're going to launch the escape pod, They'll figure we gave up and jammed you into the pod and shot you into deep space."
"...your not going to do that, right?" She asked timidly.
"Not if we want to get paid." Zuckuss answered.
"But they'll scan the pod and see its empty."
"Oh, it won't be empty." With that 4-Lom opened the freezer and through the cold mist he produced a dead body. "Spare corpse!" He gleefully answered her questioning eyes. She looked horrified. "You always make sure to keep a spare corpse around. Hundreds of uses.", he continued. Her unblinking gaze remained transfixed on 4Lom, stunned.
"Did... Did you kill that man?", her voice barely a whisper. "No, no, no, no.. wait." He paused to think, "Nope, not this one. Dead when we found him."
"This one?!"
"I can explain later!", with that he tossed the body into the seat of the escape pod, making sure to buckle the security harness before closing the door.
"Safety first.", he explained to Elisia.
"Is the passenger ready?" Zuckuss yelled back to 4-Lom, the ship shaking under another volley of blasts.
"Locked and loaded." 4-Lom answered jumping back behind auxiliary panel. With a quick calculation he programmed in a path sure to bring their pursuers deep into the outer rim. "Godspeed dead guy." He said slamming down the eject button.
As soon as it shot off the pursuit shifted focus to the pod. The plan had worked.
After flying in silence for while the princess finally asked, "what do the Rebels want with me anyway?"
"Not sure, but Organa." Zuckuss answered thoughtfully, "She one of the good ones. It will be okay."
"That Han guy on the other hand..." 4Lom added, the two bounty hunters exchanged grumpy knowing nods.
"So, are you two the good guys?"
"We," Zuckuss answered, "Are the guys who get paid."
The End