Nova's eyes widened as the furry fist came flying toward her. She reacted immediately, and would try both to sidestep the strike, and to deflect the brunt of the blow — though even if she had somehow gotten her forearm up in time, it would have been pulverized easily. Thankfully, Rahullu's fist halted in mid-air, just shy of Nova's nose.

She realized then that she had managed only the beginnings of a single step back, and had only barely begun to raise her fist in self-defense. Without missing a beat, Nova looked at Jendu and winked, while tilting her head to indicate the Wookiee. "And he's my friend."

She began to laugh in spite of herself, before turning to face Rahullu again. "Hell. For a second there, I thought I was about to get spaced." 

Nova had always been able to protect herself successfully, even as a child growing up in the dangerous vertical cities of Nar Shaddaa. And though her Imperial naval training had included basic hand-to-hand combat as well, what she had learned in Flight School clearly paled in comparison to a Wookiee's ferocity.

She shook her head, and leaned back against the bulkhead. "It's true though. Once we're on the inside, I won't have this."

Nova quickly drew her blaster. Then she absent-mindedly spun the pistol and holstered it again, before narrowing her eyes thoughtfully.

Although others in her place may have suffered from stir-craziness, Nova took solace in long journeys. In just under two weeks spent leaping between realspace and hyperspace, she now felt more confident than ever in the prospects of the Bandits' mission.

Jendu had taken to co-piloting lessons and daily drills on ship operations like someone who was trying to impress, rather than someone simply performing tasks out of necessity. And now that he was free from his ertswhile first mate duties, Rahullu had taken it upon himself to keep the crew prepared for close-quarters combat — though Veir and Tiktuk were, more often than not, too buried under circuitry, wiring, and elbow grease to attend.

Still, Nova felt like she owed it to Rahullu to prove that she could handle herself even when unarmed, and so she often trained with the Wookiee after she'd completed the day's flight instruction. That said, she did smile to herself when Rahullu would try — but to no avail — to rouse Veir and Tiktuk to join, even after they'd exhausted themselves working in the cramped engineering conduits for hours on end.

Each day too, Nova began to ruminate more and more upon what they knew about the Jedi prisoner. If this Jedi had already turned against Palpatine, like the others in the Jedi Order had, surely s/he would jump at the chance to join the cause once liberated? Surely s/he would welcome the opportunity to restore the ideals of the Republic! If Jendu couldn't reach the Jedi with a politician's rationale, maybe Tiktuk's desert shaman spirituality would hold sway? Nova knew now that there was a reason the team had come together as it had....