Impact

[Kaile Vera]

"Curry." Kaile admitted, then added, "Street food." Another small shrug and roll of her shoulder to match her mild smile.

"There's this planet called Bazaar out in the wild regions -- near Endor." She began to explain, taking another spoonful of the soup. Her own knee began to play against his under the table. It would slide and brush against him in a light manner, as if done by mere reaction of his touch. "Pretty much an entire world that would make any Arceneau Trade station pale in comparison. They have market stalls throughout the planet, and endless amounts of street food. You can practically imagine just about any style of food from throughout the 'verse there."

A pause and she smiled wider, "They have some tandoor Nuna that is really good. And fresh naan bread. "

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

A little lopsided smile at that. The reply suited her. There was something he felt they had in common. They both liked places that were vibrant and full of culture. To travel and see new places. Asmus didn't want to be confined, but he had given up certain freedoms for his career. He still got to visit new places, but it was considerably less since joining the SIS. The inside of the Subversion was his view for most days. But he had leave soon and could do some exploring around Alliance space. Much of the Core was now accessible.

“That sounds just like somewhere I’d love to visit,” he replied, looking up to meet her eyes. “You could show me sometime.”

There was a noticeable widening of his eyes as he realised what he’d just said. It was too easy to imagine. Holding her hand and watching her smile as she showed her one of her favourite places. Still, it wasn’t an outrageous suggestion, he wasn’t pressing her. Asmus just moved on.

“I’ve always found it fascinating how many worlds adopt and change the curry. You like it with seafood? I didn’t used to until someone convinced me to try it.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile caught the widening of is expression and knew exactly where his mind went just by reading his expression. The scoundrel had always worn his thoughts on his sleeve. There was no hiding it. Was it because I am a Lorrdian or because I pay too close attention to his every move? His every word?

The thought made her wonder, pausing before answering for a few seconds. "I like all kinds of curry. Seafood, root vegetable, meat --" a pause then a crooked grin, "mystery meat..." she made a small wave with her spoon. " Tangy, spicy, savory... sweet. I like them all."

It was a nice thought, an idle fantasy none the less to picture him with her at Bazaar. How would that look like? What would that mean? The thought was powerful but also so contrary to where she was now. Don't think on it, she reminded herself.

"Spicy nuna wings are good too." Moving the subject along.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Mystery meat!" he said with a laugh. "Oh they did these skewers on an awful port. And I mean awful, this place was dire. Bad enough that most of the time I wasn't allowed to step foot on it. But they roasted these spicy sticks of miscellaneous meat and I could not resist them. Not for all the will in the verse. I mean… two days later, without fail, I would regret it. But every time we stopped there I would happily make the same mistakes again.”

Force, I love her smile.

It always seemed to come easily when he was talking and that made him feel special. Kaile had never smiled easily since he had known her and some part of him knew that it was just wrong. She was supposed to laugh easily, like him. He knew it intrinsically. Had he taken such an interest because he’d know thing were not as they were supposed to be? Looking down he realised he had nearly polished off his plate. His eyes spared a glance for the dessert menu, flicking back to Kaile with deliberate puppy dog eyes.

 

[Kaile Vera]

I love his smile.

The pair would find it rather endearing that both would be of the same mind when it came to the other. Kaile's knee brushed again Asmus' again. A slight sway and a rock followed. At his pleading expression, Kaile finally laughed. It was a light melodic sound, but it even caught Krause's attention. It certainly brightened her face, adding a glow that hadn't been there before. A small snapshot of how she should[/] be.

"Get your desert," she conceded with a mock dramatic sigh. Her own soup still had to be polished off. Unlike Asmus, Kaile was taking her time.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

“There’s no rush,” he replied with a smile. It was summer and they had nothing left to do until the sun went down. He set his cutlery down and left the food there was on his plate for a few moments. He didn’t really want to sit there and watch her eat, or wave over the waitress and request his next course ahead.

“You might find you have room too in a little while. And I’m enjoying the music. And company.” There was little humour in his expression as he looked back towards her this time. A flicker of candlelight and the look was gone. His gaze was back towards the performers as if he hadn’t just been looking at her like the most precious thing in the Galaxy.

His fingers tapped to the beat on the table. Keen to cross the gulf between them and find its counterpart on the far side. Time for their own language.

 

[Kaile Vera]

"Maybe," she managed to shine a ghost of a smile back to Asmus. "We'll see." Talking about desserts made the Lorrdian recall supper at the Quin. Of Kairon, Mai, Asmus and she all sitting around in the table. Some light conversation and then chocolate cake. It had been one of the high points during one of the lowest times in her life.

Much like his own fingers tapping an idle beat, so did Kaile feel a slight itch on her own. It was as if she was intristinctly aware of his location at all time, on the movement of his hands, the direction of his gaze. Brief longing lingered in her expression before the woman lowered her gaze down to her half eaten soup. Best get to it before it grows cold.

Mild relief came in the form of their waitress coming around to check on them. "How's the meal going?" She inquired with cheer and a bright smile. Her lekku gave a slight tremble of inquiry. "Would you like anything else?"

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

“Oh it’s lovely thank you,” Asmus replied. “Maybe a few minutes and we might order some dessert?”

“Of course, just wave me over if you need anything at all!” she replied with a smile before heading off to check on another table. Asmus mentally added a little more to the tip.

“You know, I’d happily make this place a regular. As much as I like to see new places,” he said to Kaile once more. Of course he would normally have added ‘if we lived here’ but there was no need to draw any further attention to being from elsewhere. Juggling lots of thoughts in his head was one of the key skills he needed these days. There was a constant thread trying to filter his thoughts before they reached his mouth. The one that was trying not to bring up their past seemed a flimsy thing however.

He finished off the last few mouthfuls of his meal. He twisted his seat around to more easily face the musicians. That brought his right hand closer to Kaile. It would – inevitably – go for her hand was soon as it was free.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Asmus would undoubtilty find them. It was a cautious brush. A pad of warm finger tips with the pilot's forefinger, almost as if testing the waters, emboldened only by the constantly burst and shift of their knees below. At that moment, they were more like teenagers in their throes of their first date. No Subversion crew to observe them. No Max. No Lucy giving the Lorrdian a narrowing eye. For all intents and purposes, they were here by themselves among the rest of the normal crowd.

Done with her meal, Kaile had left her hand resting on the table when Asmus had brushed over it. Slow seconds ticked by as chocolate met jade, and just for a moment, Kaile's fingers gave a light waving arch, playing against the gingerly pass of his own fingers over hers. Funny, how these little moments could seem so poignant. Where the rest of the 'verse would fade and now they were just a simple boy and a girl.

"You're not gonna get your dessert?" She inquired, her voice quiet, inquestive, and low. Partly because she didn't want to ruin it. Another because she felt herself waning in her resolve.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"In a few," he replied. There was a stark disconnect between his words and his expression. The reply to the simple question was autonomic. "Thought you might want one when you were done."

His hand turned palm upwards and she filled the space, curling his fingers into his until they were clasped. There was the delicate brush of her fingers against his sensitive palm, the music and hubbub in the background. There was the flicker of candlight, a bright spot in her eyes. And there was nothing else.

"No rush."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Their quiet interlude, this rather poignant moment would be another holophoto that Kaile would sear into her memory. Filing it away and tucking it in the rear of her mind so that she could bring it back weeks from now and enjoy it.

However, life always seemed to toss the pair into situations that they least expected. When life seemed to be moving on picture perfect normalcy, shit hits the fan.

Kaile's fingers had begun a light doodle of the palm of his hand when it happened. There was a loud noise followed by a trembling shutter. Cries of alarm and surprise went washing over the patrons of the restaurant. Krause immediately sat up, the agent already moving to see just what had occurred. A few of the patrons had ducked under their tables, fearful that they would be harmed.

Kaile had also reacted, ducking down amongst the others, her rapid fired, "Get down!" to Asmus bringing him along with her. Normalcy had left the building. Real life had come back in full steam.

A nearby patrol had come across one of Pute's men, and in their anxiety accidently set off primed explosives early. While it wasn't particularly large, the damage was done.

The entire area was now on high alert.

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Or... rush,” he added from behind the table with a shrug. The Quintessence was a crew that had kept running on their sense of humour. Even in the worst of times there was room for a quip. It was a trait that had followed him to the cockpit of an X-Wing. And Amadgener's briefing room, much to the captain's chagrin.

“Is there a back way out to the speeder park?” Asmus called to the waitress who was crouched down a few metres away.

“You should probably…stay...”

“The back?” Asmus reiterated. They couldn't run back to the central district. At least he was assuming Kaile wanted to get back and go for the colonel. There were alarms going off out in the street, the distorted shouts of stormtroopers. He could see the telltale red flare of distant blaster fire.

The twi'lek pointed towards a door that led through the kitchens. Klause was at the window looking into the street, he had a comm to his mouth.

“We go?” He asked Kaile plainly. Not even the curt nod this time to transition back to the Wing Commander.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile quickly went skimming through her pocket. A twenty credit chip was pressed upon the table over her head, her back still pressed against her chair. No need to leave without paying the bill. A quick nod towards Asmus made it clear, it was time to go. The countdown had already begun; they were fighting against borrowed time.

"We go." she managed to mouth out, darting her brown gaze up to their waitress. She was also ducking low, unsure if another explosion might rock the street or worse, within the restaurant.

Kaile didn't miss Klause up by the window, or the comm by his mouth. Ah, another agent. However, his manner and the way he stood made it click it wasn't one of Pute's. They wouldn't be that foolish. Then again -- an explosion had just gone of. The situation that revolved around that could be anyone's guess.

A nod towards the back along with a short eye dart to make Asmus aware of Klause came in the next seconds. Keep your head low and move quick, her expression seemed to suggest.

With her hand still within his, Kaile led point. Thinking back on it later, one might say it was rather sweet.

 

[Asmus Janes]

He laughed. Even with the explosion and the danger that presented, the extreme risk they were both about to take. He laughed. Just a quiet chuckle that she had taken the time to pay before they went. A quick hand managed to grab a two and slide it next to the other as a tip as they left. That simple act endeared Kaile to him even more.

They weren't the only patrons going for exits. Several went for the main door and Klause was kept busy trying to convince them to stay off the streets.

They pushed through the swinging door. None of the kitchen staff tried to stop them. Some still worked, other were quite still.
“What was that?” A young kitchen hand asked.

“Don't know. Back door?” Asmus replied. There was no need to waste words now. He pointed ahead and Kaile led on, pulling him along.

He let go as they stepped into the cool evening air. The sun was starting to get low but there was plenty of light still. He fished out his keys and slipped into the landspeeder. He twisted his head to get a bearing on where the spitter of blaster fire was.

“I may have been exaggerating about my driving,” he murmured as he reversed out, letting f the sideways momentum drift on the repulsors until they came within an inch of the car behind. “I was going to share me dessert too.”

He came down the side path and pulled into the road without even looking. Pilot reflexes had him slip between two speeders driving away from the trouble. He pulled out and accelerated past them. He tried to push it as much as he felt he could without drawing attention.

“You are above the speed limit.” The on board system said, before emitting a constant, annoying chime.

“Kaile?” He pleaded. “Maybe put the news on instead."

 

[Kaile Vera]

Confusion had swung over to Asmus' direction when he had laughed. However, there was little time to go over the rhyme or reason for it. By the time they were in the speeder, everything seemed to have slung shot forward and chaos ringing quite literally in their ears.

[ Warning: You are driving above the speed limit. ]

A grimace came to Kaile's lips at the rather annoying alarm. A quick shuffle lifted the curve of her bottom up from the seat. Her fingers went digging into her back pocket again. The tips of those slender digits brushed against a small compact data stick. It was her super de duper hacking device; what she had taken to calling it years back, but it worked in the same manner none the less.

"Sec," She told him, leaning forward in her seat as the Lorrdian slicer got to work.

[ Warning: You are driving above the speed limit. ]

"Geez these things are so annoying." she managed to say, the humor of the situation finally getting to her. Well, it was either humor or frustration. This was very, very serious. It made extracting the asset all the more complicate. All of their plans they had reviewed earlier that day out of the window.

Slipping the data stick into the small port, the agent pulled out her datapad. A quick press of a button brought up a miniature holodisplay. Her fingers went running through the code and trying to bypass the governing systems for the odometer.

"The night is still young... you just might not be exaggerating about your driving."

 

[Asmus Janes]

“I don't know, this is pretty bad driving,” he replied with a lopsided smile. In his head he was mapping out the route, picking the best path to avoid trouble and get them there quickly. Another part was having a little argument about whether it was best to accept that brief moment for what it had been, or whether to lament further that it hadn't been allowed to continue. The noise went away to be replaced by a news channel. Asmus allowed himself an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“We now have confirmed reports of another gun man or perhaps several near the Itsy Conference Centre where there has been a million industry event the last few days where a reported fourteen billion of military contracts had been agreed. No, it's now three. We believe the first rebel spotted has been taken down in the 4th district where that first blast was. The garrison commander has urged people to stay off the streets as they cordon off the dangerous areas.”

“Bad driving…” Asmus repeated. Two speeders coming from the opposite direction, Asmus pushed the throttle and turned hard, slipping between them and into a side street. Parking sensors went off at how close he got to both walls and oncoming traffic. “You know his schedule. Do we go to our hotel, his hotel or the conference centre?”

He could talk and drive. As Rogue One he had engaged with his Wing’s Squadron Commanders in one ear, Flight Command in another and his Squadron with whatever perception he had left. All whilst flying. Right now he would have felt safer with his blaster, but in reality they were going to talk, not shoot, their way out of this. A blaster just marked them as a target for patrols. At least until they had the colonel.

“Just in, another explosion has been witnessed near the conference centre. It's unclear at this time what the nature of this is. The military has ordered clear skies and we cannot get a camera up for a better look.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Holy -- The sudden turn and thrust of the throttle had the Lorrdian reaching out to grab the small handle over her head. Honestly, most never knew why it was there. Some used it to hang their dry cleaning; for now it was Kaile's go to I am holding on for dear life handle. Her shoulder hit the door, a brief stab of pain lancing through it. A grunt fell, but it came out as a grimace.

"His hotel." Now that the alarm was no longer roaring in their ears, Kaile could focus on other ventures. More aptly, the knowledge that they would not be able to return to their hotel room again. That idea went out the window. With as many of the Imperials on high alert, it was too risky. That meant all they had left behind was now lost.

"Burn everything." The agent managed to say, her brown eyes incredibly large against that pale complexion. "We won't be going back."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Asmus pulled onto a straight main road and settled into a cruising speed that was above the limit that wouldn't attract too much attention. Overhead he could see the lights of that gunship.

His left hand fished the chip from his pocket. It was of no use without the datapad back in the room and vice versa. He passed it to Kaile. Such a small thing, barely the size of a thumbnail. She'd know his intention. One snap down the middle shattered the lattice and forever scrambled the code the unlock SIS protocols.

“Oh but his driving his worse,” he murmured. The gunship swooped down before coming to a halt. It lit up the darkening sky with a burst of laser cannon fire. Red bolts came back up, lashing it's hull. It couldn't have been more than a kilometer ahead.

“Woah!” A flash like sheet lightning. The gunship was immediately ablaze, a dark trail hanging in the air between it in the ground. “Is it…”

He didn't finish the question. He hurriedly turned off the main road and rounded a city block before the gunship could hurtle down and block the road ahead. They were not far from the hotel.

“Front or back?”

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile gave a series of blinks. Her mouth fell open then snapped shut.

“Back!” she added a second later. Let’s not dawdle on thoughts that really shouldn’t -- another sudden swerve by Asmus prompted Kaile to tighten her fingers around the handle over head. She swung, bracing her feet against the floor of the speeder. There was a joke about backseat driving here. Maybe.

“Try not to crash.” she breathed out, but it was with mock concern. Kaile trusted Asmus with her life. He’ll get us there -- maybe a little bruised, but he’d get us there.

Everything was falling apart. Their asset was also feeling the heat. Alarms blared throughout the hotel, and nerves that had already felt shot were on fire with alarm and worry again. Sweat colored Hacken’s sun-spotted brow, the pale white tuffs of hair on top of his balding head unruly from its typical combover.

Desperation brought his datapad into his hands. Was this part of the plan? Was this his means for extraction?

 

[Asmus Janes]

Almost a second after she said that there was a loud horn as he squeezed between two speeders. A metallic clang as he tapped one.

He turned to her, wide-eyed, with lips twisted up on.mock horror. “Trying.”

His subconscious noticed the brake lights ahead before his mind caught up and saw the two troopers blocking the road. He slowed his speed and turned into a side road then found another clear path ahead. Their surroundings were becoming larger, taller buildings once more. But the district was sounding like a battlefield.

He saw green and red lights reflecting in the glass fronted buildings. Two more turns and he came in behind the hotel. There were several service entrances. Without pause he grabbed her forearm and squeezed.

“Stay safe, keep talking.” He pulled on his sunglasses.