Walking the earth with eyes turned skywards ...

[twelve_not_fourteen]

A shame that he isn't moving all that slow and that he can't read her thoughts. If he was to know she was in a hurry - he'd have a lazy smile on his lips and Han would have to make some mention of her wanting to rush into getting him alone.

Instead, she's treated to what it's like to walk through a dingy alley with Han Solo. If she were to look carefully at his face, it would be a bit hard to read. He has a look on it that seems to be looking at everything at once or possibly nothing at all.

He, also, might be a tad more quiet now than he was inside the cantina. Not to the point of being unfriendly or in a way that suggests he doesn't want to talk anymore, but ... he does seem slightly different now.

"My ship is still half taken apart." He reminds her with a half hearted shrug. "I can't go anywhere in a hurry."

Comments

[cheeseburgermarvel]

It wasn't so much that Carol was particularly in a hurry, it was more than she hated idling. She was a woman who did - or at least tried to do - everything with purpose. And that included walking. Why meander through this sketchy alley when they can get to the comfort of her ship and crack open the bottle?

Carol isn't glancing over at him at the moment as she has her eyes scanning for potential threats. She could probably physically best just about anyone who appeared, but she prefers not to be surprised.

"Good point," she says as her eyes flicker up to another eave. "I guess that means we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han thrusts his arm out into Carol's path suddenly, while at the same time, slowing his walk to a halt. If she's too busy peering around the alley she'll likely collide right into the extended limb. It's not a gesture that's going to hold her back physically - not with her strength - but he's hoping she'll know he wants her to halt.

"Something's not right ..." He murmurs, more to himself than to her. His hand dips down to free the DL-44 from his holster. It was the kind of evening you'd expect to see people out and about on a core world in a district full of restaurants, bars and assorted night clubs - yet there was nobody around.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol does bump into the arm mostly because she didn't expect for him to throw it out in front of her. But the fact that he put it out and is now pulling out his gun tells her that something is about to go down.

So she moves from a relaxed walking position into one more suitable for throwing a punch and starts building up the energy under the surface of the skin on her hands. Carol knew better than to ask him to clarify as that would give potential attackers a clearer target. So instead she goes back to scanning hiding areas.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

There are two beings behind them that happen to be hard to see. A tall, bird-like alien species with one trait that makes them particularly adept at sneaking around - feathers that seem to blend into the colors of their surroundings. They don't appear to armed.

Appearing from behind a corner, in front of them, are three figures. By the look of them? Two humans - one male and one female - and a muscular, blue skinned twi'lek. This group is armed. Dressed in the kind of garb that people from Han's galaxy equate with the criminal element.

"Hard to catch you without your furry bodyguard, Solo." The cobalt skinned figure says. His lips curling into a self-amused smile when he sees the bottle and recognizes what he might possibly be interrupting.

Han's eyes flick over to the other and with a look that suggests he' extremely bored by this confrontation already, he acknowledges his tormentor, while setting the bottle carefully on the ground.

"Garem Till. It's been a while." Solo purses his lips and then adds. "What's this about ..."

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Her eyes glance back at Han, attempting to read the situation. She can only guess at the history between him and this Garem guy. Luckily for them, he doesn't seem to realize what kind of a threat she is.

Normally Carol would be annoyed by the slight, but she'll make an exception if leaning into the guy's ignorance keeps them mostly unscathed. So she relaxes her fighting stance, but keeps the energy building in her hands. Let them underestimate her. It can only help in the inevitable scuffle.

While Han talks to the guy, Carol is attempting to decide what kind of opponents she'll be up against. Either way, she's going to start off with an intense blast of energy from her hands to buy them both some more time.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

The flash of bright light is enough to make the eyes of all, apart from Carol, wince. Han, too, is dumbfounded himself for half a second ... because he knew that his company wasn't carrying a flashbang or wearing some kind of gauntlet to make that blast appear.

He doesn't have the time to marvel at her, though. His eyes track upward and he fires two quick shots toward something above them. A heart beat later the limp body of a sniper comes tumbling off of a roof about fifty yards away.

"Care to rethink your-"

Han's attempt to gloat is cut off by a very loud avian screech and the aliens behind the two Captains start closing on them fast. The camouflage effect of their feathers becomes a burst of bright blue color making them far easier to see.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

He can marvel when they're out of this. And she'll have to take a moment to marvel the way he took out a sniper.

"You're gonna have to tell me why all these people are after you," she calls as she makes a jump to the side to avoid the swoop of the feathered aliens. Because a sniper, three armed solider-mercenary-bounty hunter whatevers, and two bird things are a hell of a lot of man power to go after one smuggler.

Carol waits for one of the birds to fly up to reposition themselves for another strike before soaring up and connecting her fist with its face and sending it spiraling off. She did her best to stun the thing and not kill it, but like hell if she's going to take the precious seconds to find out what happened.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

These bird-like creatures appear to have evolved out of the ability to fly. With those changes came denser bones. Likely you'd want your bones to be as dense as possible when you're getting punched by someone with super-strength. ... It's probably still alive, but if it is getting up, it won't be getting up very soon.

The display makes all the humanoids reconsider the life choices they made up to this point, but the other avian isn't taking the sight of its companion being dropped like a rock very well. It screams with a cry so loud that it drives Han's head to throb and then swings it's beak Captain Marvel's way for a bite.

Solo's hand, experienced in many gun battles, is a blur. Trusting Carol to handle 'feathers' he snaps off some non-lethal shots to the knees and shoulders of their other tormentors.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

The cry is loud enough that Carol has to cover her ears and she's disoriented for just long enough that the beak connects with her and pushes her back against a wall. The wall breaks a little, but Carol steps away from it looking like she hasn't just been pushed into solid rock.

With an icy stare, she zooms forward and connects a fist with the bird's chest, sending it flying down the alley to smack against the stone wall on the other side. This time she doesn't even consider if the thing is getting up or not.

Noting that Han has the others under control, she takes another survey of the area to make sure that nothing else is going to spring up out of the shadows.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

The Corellian is only vaguely aware that displays of super-strength are happening around him. Mainly because he's got his eyes on the three more human resembling threats right now.

The two that Han doesn't particularly recognize - hired goons or some lower status members of Garem's crew - decide they've gotten more than they bargained for in this alleyway confrontation. They pick each other up off the ground, boots kicking up some of the grit off the pavement while they shamble away.

The leader, though, is not going to get let off so easily. His DL-44 still tracking on Garem, Han delivers a boot to his gut and the man loses a few shades of color from his face. He spends a moment sputtering and gasping for breath.

"Garem, old friend, I feel like I'd be doing myself a favor if I finished you right now." Han says as he struggles to think of any good reason not to shoot a man that wants to kill him that badly. "So here's how it's going to go. I'll let you leave and you'll retire."

"And do what? Commercial fish on some ocean world? Herd nerfs on some desert?" The bitterness in his voice suggests that he'd almost prefer Han pull the trigger.

"Not my problem. I ain't going to be so friendly if I see you again."

"One of these days your luck is going to run out, Han Solo." He says with more resignation in his voice than menace. "I just hope someone gets it on holo when you do."

With that, Garem begins the painful task of standing up again on a badly injured knee. He makes it as quick as he's able and braces himself along the alley wall to limp away.

All indications are that the two Captains are safe now.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol lets out a breath as as she turns and heads in the direction of the abandoned bottle. She didn't hear anything distinct bottle breaking sounds, but she was a little distracted kicking some avian ass.

"You two were old friends, I take it?" she asks in a tone that's questioning, but not judgmental. It seems reasonable that a smuggler wouldn't be universally adored and had they been closer to Earth it easily could've been someone who wanted to jump her.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

The bottle remains intact. Had there been more of a scuffle closer to it, perhaps they would have been less lucky. Since she's now the one closer to it, she may as well be the custodian of it.

Han is surveying the wall behind them. The one that now has a Captain Marvel shaped dent in the side of it. His pilot's mind is thinking about the velocity she would have have to hit it to make that kind of a crater and the estimate that his mind came up with is 'awfully hard'. A thoughtful frown settles on his face - though weither it was due to her words, the wall or the fact that people were trying to kill him is anybody's guess.

"Yeah. I suppose you could call him a rival smuggler if you wanted to use the term loosely."

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol scoops up the thankfully-intact bottle and shifts it into the crook of her arms, almost like she needs to protect it in case they're jumped again.

She crosses back over to him and glances over at the indentation of herself in the wall. It isn't the first place she's left an impression and it won't be the last. "I'm strong," she offers as explanation, even though he has clearly figured that out by now. "And I can fly." It's stated plainly as she's not sure what may or may not surprise him. But hopefully it's not a complete turn off.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

She mentioned being a pilot before and yet, somehow, he gets the feeling that's not what she's talking about when she mentions being able to fly.

At this point, Han feels like he wants ask all kinds of questions. How strong is she? How far into an atmosphere can she fly? Does she try to keep it a secret? Is she human? Does he have control of her strength all the time? are there limitations to her abilities? And on and on and on ...

The only one that comes out of his mouth, ultimately, is this, "have you always been like this?"

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Not this time. This time she specifically means shooting into the sky and space on a whim.

Carol opens the bottle to take a sip while they're standing there. She isn't sure how Han is going to react - everyone is a little bit different. Some take it in stride, some freak out, some ask a million questions, and some just conveniently find a reason to disappear.

"No," she replies. "Years back I was in an accident with an alien. A Kree. And his DNA kind of...fused onto mine." But while she hasn't always been like this, she does feel like she was always meant to be like this.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

It's a little unnerving to the young smuggler. Oh, outwardly his demeanor has hardly changed since the moment they happened upon each other in the cantina, but inwardly. It's ... a lot. He comes from a galaxy where humanoids can have all kinds of different characteristics, so the abilities themselves aren't really the problem.

What bothers him is that he never expected it at all. Nor has never really seen anything like it. Han is a man that prides himself on having 'been around' and something like this can't help but remind him just how ill equipped he is for some situations.

But. How mad can you really be when your new friend so willingly offers her powers to help you?

"Glad if it had to happen to someone, it happened to you." He says at last. Han makes a waist high wave of his hand. An 'after you' indication, since he still plans to go to her ship. "I ain't never heard of the Kree. Is the whole race as strong as you?"

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol's relieved that at least on the outside he doesn't seem to be very bothered with the reveal of her abilities. She's intrigued by Han - probably more than she should be - and would like to get to know him better. In which ways is still to be determined.

At his gesture she continues their walk to her ship though her eyes are scanning the shadows of the alleys far more than they were before Garem Till showed up.

"More or less, yeah," she replies while closing up the bottle for the walk. "Some hit a little harder, some hit a little lighter, but they're all forces to be reckoned with. Very advanced civilization and really high tech." Not people you really wanted to get on your bad side. "They've seemed to ignore this corner of the galaxy, thankfully."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han, conversely, seems unphased by their encounter. As if someone getting mad and wanting to put a smoking hole in him was just part of a regular day. He doesn't even seem to be scrutinizing his surroundings any more than before they got jumped.

The smuggler's eyes darken just a touch at what she's describing of the Kree. Strong and smart is not the kind of qualities you want potential foes to have. Why he feels like they could be enemies without her giving any indication one way or another, he's not sure. Probably just the way he's wired to think ...

Everyone is a foe or at best, an annoyance, until proven otherwise.

"I suppose so. Lot of problems from them out your way?"

[cheeseburgermarvel]

He's not wrong to be wary of the Kree. If they did ever become interested in this corner of the galaxy it could turn rather nasty for the citizens. Everyone she'd encountered in this quadrant already seemed to have a boatload of problems already. And she's wired the same, for what it's worth. She's seen too many hostile aliens to think any other way.

"At times. Not at the moment - we're having a Chitauri problem right now - but they've been a problem before." And knowing the Kree, they would be again even though their numbers had dwindled significantly in the past decade.

"What'd you say is the biggest problem around here?" Part of her mission is to assess the players in this quadrant. It was always best to ask the locals.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He manages not to stare dumbly at her, but he certainly feels that way right now. She just name dropped another entire race of alien's he's heard nothing about. It probably shouldn't bother him. She's from a place very far from here ...

Just because you don't know about something doesn't mean it can't hurt you, though. He shakes away an anxious feeling that wants to settle in the pit of his stomach and instead, focuses on her question.

"Politics." Han says. "It's a bit of a long story, I guess, but we ended up under control of one guy. The Emperor does have a way about keeping things organized, but a lot of people aren't fond of his methods."

[cheeseburgermarvel]

In his defense, there would probably be a lot of alien species he knows about that she doesn't.

Carol frowns at his answer as they take a right in the direction of the hanger where her ship is parked. "Hmmm. I've seen that happen in other places and I have to tell you that it doesn't ever seem to have a happy ending." Plenty of riots, rebellions, and bloodshed. They were going to have to keep tabs on the goings on around here.

Finally she stops them in front of a large hanger and gets them inside. Her ship, just a bit larger than the Falcon, sits there powered down. After what happened on the way there she's just glad to see it.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

It's a particular quirk of Han Solo's. This want, of his, to be the guy that has been around and know everything there is to know. He just isn't old enough to realize that it's a bit of a fool's errand.

Talk about the Emperor makes Han shrug. He doesn't really know what to say about galactic wide politics, to tell the truth. He was only a couple of years old when the republic fell and being under the thumb of Shiv Palpatine is all he can remember. The time spent in the Imperial Navy was nothing like what he expected - but he was able to see exactly how powerful the Emperor's military is.

"I'll be happy if I can just keep flying under the radar."

All thoughts of civil current events are gone from his head when there's a ship to look over. It's a pretty big ship, bigger than his, and it has that clean look that newer vehicles seem to have. He takes a slow walk around the vessel before he says anything and when he does ... it's about the answer you'd expect.

"Looks pretty nice from the outside." He admits. "How long have you had her?"

[cheeseburgermarvel]

"You seem to be doing all right so far." Even with the attack earlier in the alley Carol can tell that the man can handle himself and knows what he needs to do to get what he wants.

But then they move to ship talk and Carol happy to show her off. While Han circles the ship she just stands near the entrance with the smile of a proud parent on her lips. The ship isn't technically hers, it belongs to Alpha Flight, but she's been the only one flying and she had a say in the design.

"Just a couple of months. She's pretty new." Carol gestures towards the entrance before heading over to open it up. "Inside is even nicer."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Full of surprises when you get to know her? ... like her pilot?"

It's very complimentary when he says it and the tone of his voice is almost a purr. It's the kind of playful sensuality that could only come from a guy that's got full confidence in the way that he talks to women. Not to say that he's always successful at charming people, but ... he's almost always putting his best foot forward.

"I can't wait to see more."

And hey, if she has her back to him, he's gonna take a second to appreciate the view in front of him. He's not a monk or anything.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol's pretty good at pushing away that kind of playful flirting when she doesn't want it, but she's definitely into it today. She's been all work for weeks now and a little fun would be a lovely break. And when the fun looks like Han does, well, might as well lean in.

"Something like that," she replies with a grin, glancing back at him over her shoulder. The ramp whirs to life, unlocks, and lowers from the hull providing them an easy step into the ship. With another glance she heads up the ramp and onto the ship. Now which part to show off first?