Impact

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He couldn't miss it, not this close. It had always been her hands that held the truth, whether they were taking a fistful of his hair or clinging to the hem of her shirt.

She was still hurting. After all this time she was in pain.

That hurt him too.

His hand moved down towards hers but as it got there he tucked the packets into the palm of his hand and grasped hers with thumb and forefinger.

"Okay," he said. I'm sorry and I'm here. If she looked up she would see the glowing affection clear as day. He had no outlet, not here. Couldn't go poking around for the truth and put her off her mission. That would have ruined him. It was her mission. He has just been the transport.

The packets were in the shell of her palm a moment later. Dextrous hands that could shuffle cards, make a Starfighter sing, set her ablaze and perhaps - with a little training - do more. Pick pockets and locks, put trackers in the right places.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Kaile curled her hand around the synthflesh packets, feeling the warming press of his half grip. It was only a thumb and forefinger, a tiny little clutch, but combined with his heart filled gaze. Yet it meant the 'verse. A small part of her heart broke. That spider crack was ever growing. Another pang. This time not because of the sorrow, but because she felt herself becoming weaker. Even more attached.

One week had her returning back to his arms every night since she first came to his cabin. That second day a tentative offer of continuing watching the series and her vague reply. Only to have her feet bring her back to his threshold, biting her lower lip in anxiety.

How long would they keep this up?

Kaile's chest felt heavy. Too much on her mind. The sudden sound of birds flying overhead startled her from her thoughts. Reminded her where she was at. Where they were at.

Right.

Looking back down, she afforded him the same attention and care as he had her. A few patches of pressure points and a wiggle of toes later, Asmus was ready for a fresh pair of socks. Well, after a quick foot massage.

"We should go." the espion reminded him, handing him back his foot for him to stand.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

That nod came again and he turned his attention to their surroundings. He could almost feel her mentally steeling heraelf against the discomfort, against him, before they continued. Asmus decided it would be prudent to do the same.

His check of the bags included putting on fresh socks. He made a throaty rumble of pleasure as he slipped them on. Their boots hadn't dried out but they were far less water laden. Modern fabrics meant they were almost dry at least.

There was a slight panic as he realised the edge of one of the packs was cut. Must have been the journey down. He hadn't left a trail behind them, but the inside of his bag was littered with rations. He gathered them back up and wrapped them with the others.

Taking out a small plate and placed a two cubes on it and sprinkled them with water. They grew to thick wafers the size of half a slice of bread. He left them aside as he wrapped it all back up and slung his gear over his back and water across his chest. A final check for any signs left behind and he strung up all four socks from his bag to finish drying and picked up the wafers. He passed one to Kaile.

They were well packed with nutrients and surprisingly tasty. Just a little on the chewy side.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Thank you," Kaile responded with a wan smile. It used to be that this sort of starch bread hadn't been the best tasting field ration. Granted, technology helped a bit in the past several decades with that. Well, for those vendors who were keen on at least making field rations at least a bit tasty. Arceneau Trade was working on an entire selection if she recalled correctly.

A small wave of her hand as she broke the green bread in half and took a bite, "Not as good as fresh, but does the trick." pretty easy going conversation. Nothing too serious. It was just bread. Shoving the food into her mouth to hold it temporarily, Kaile slid her bag towards her to rest between her knees. She had to check over her equipment. Sensing his movement, she took the bread out and asked,

"Everything good?" a nod towards his bag inquired about his earlier fussing.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"K12 field tent is good, a packet of rations ripped is all. Might just check the tent actually...'

He pulled out a shiny silver packet. If the bag of rations had been ripped, could this have been? Better to make repairs in the day. A few inches thick and maybe the length of his forearm and width of his palm. He pressed his fingers into it and there was an audible click. He tossed it away from him. In the same instant it unfurled and changed to a mottled forest green camouflage. As it landed the colours shifted further, uncannily matching the surroundings and the brighter shade of moss.

It would barely fit them and their bags, but it would do. So well insulated it would keep them safe from night time thermal scans and warm too. Excess heat would be used to recharge power supplies.

As he walled around giving it a visual inspection he answered her question with one of his own. "You haven't been in the mess on leftovers day. I'd take rations," he said emphatically. There were enough safe topics to keep their minds off their feet. He gave a nod of approval and touched a dark grey panel at one corner of the tent. It maintained its colour by folded itself back up nearly.

"Good to go."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


"Good." the last thing they needed was a ruined field tent. Not that she hadn't slept out in the open before. She had. Just that hyperthermia was not on the list Kaile wanted to check off.

"Socks still damp? What about your boots?" another bite of bread and quick chew. She was mentally checking off what they needed to do and the status of their gear. There were still several more kilometers they had to travel before making camp for the night. Then attempting to contact the Subversion as well.

Too much.

But this filled the time in between. Allowed something she knew to continue the discourse between them.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"These might dry by morning. But it's humid," he said, giving the socks that hung from his bag a flick. He went to check his boots, tentatively slipping a hand inside each.

"Still damp," he reported. "But will have to do. Couldn't be helped really. Needed that bike to make ground but it had to go in the river."

He gave each boot a shake upsidedown as if that might help. Then he slipped his feet back in. They weren't squishy any more, but it wasn't perfect.

"Still, worse places we could have crashed. They hunted anything that ears humans to extinction a looong way back. Quite peaceful really," he said, looking around. A city boy and then a spacer this was a change of scenery. One he hadn't stopped to appreciate given the circumstances.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


That was the issue. It was humid and just reeked of the baking heat. Even in the shade, Kaile could feel the trickle of sweat crawling down her nape and her throat. Dark moist spots were forming under her arms and along her blouse of sweat.

"Well, reckon it is good to know we won't be someone's lunch." a part of her would mull about the pros and cons of using the Force to help perhaps out with taking as much water as they could out of their boots. On further contemplation, it wouldn't make sense. The humidity would still be there regardless. And if they had to cross another body of water?

Taking the last bite of her bread, the agent did the same and slipped her socks over her own feet and slid her boots back on.

"There is still plenty of brush to go over." she added, tossing her head to try and push her bangs away from her eyes. With a sigh, her face became focused again. She stood, wiggling her toes on damp socks. The synthflesh patches would have to do.

"Okay. Let's go."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Best get some more water on board," he suggested, taking a long swing from his canteen. Whilst a human needed around two litres in cool and dry conditions, marching through these conditions could take up to six.

It had been a nice little interlude. Some of his comments had been quite genuine, he couldn't help but think that under different conditions he would quite happily spend a few weeks travelling around secluded woods with Kaile. Once he had craved nothing but the bustle of cities and ports, an appreciation of nature perhaps grew with its absence. Or age.

"When is the next river or stream by the way?" He asked. It would be quicker for her to bring it up than for him to fish the datapad out of his bag.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

[SIZE=13.3333px]A pause. Kaile gave a glance up, seeming to peer through the trees. In reality, she was checking back on that mental map. Brief flashes of color went streaming over her eyes. If one could explain it, it was more like a HUD tracing a grid over the terrain. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]"About two klicks out," she replied, blinking once and the slight blue hue was gone. Taking her bag, she slung her arms through the straps and onto her back. A brush of her hand to push back her bangs again and the woman gave the nod. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]"We can restock on the water there. Use the filters." their canteens came with a unique filter used to remove toxins, bacteria, and any debris. A small grunt and she rose, moving forward to start the trek again. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]A frown. [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]How much more light did they have?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Best make it as far as we can before nightfall.” they couldn’t risk using lights in the dark. [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Agreed,” he replied. He did a quick mental calculation. They weren't making the quickest time. Terrain was such that their straight line speed was low. They would at least make the river before it started getting dark. Better to get the tent out before it got fully dark. Even if the trees kept the warmth in close the temperatures dropped quickly here.

“Good job we landed on the summer side of the world,” he reflected a few minutes later. The canopy was thick here which was advantageous in two ways. The ground was relatively clear of plants and they were well shielded from prying eyes in the sky.

“Can't hear the gunship,” he reflected. Couldn't hear any shuttles in fact. With a little luck they would find the crash site and investigate it after they'd reached the city.

He pulled up alongside her, sweat now sticking his hair to his forehead. “Have you been in something like this before?” He asked.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Umm.” well there was that one time Denon. Before any other group had ever set foot on the city world after the four-hundred year darkness. [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]He likely wouldn’t be too keen to know that there had been rakghoul and Bando Gora spliced zombies down there[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px], she mused. The thought made her chuckle. It was abrupt so she wasn’t too worried about that. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Belsavis.” she added, giving him a glance at his direction. It was the only world so far that she’d liken to this one. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“The deep space exploration ship crashed onto the planet.” she added, giving a slight grunt as her legs moved her along. Hands brushed away branches, while birds continued their calls over head. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.3333px]“Not much of an extraction as making sure we survived.” [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Did you hear about Malastare?” He asked as he picked his path across some long roots. They knuckled up out of the ground making this patch slightly treacherous. A sprained ankle would slow them greatly. The ache in his legs had reached a constant, dull thrum. He knew he could now keep up this pace for hours and hours.

“Might be hard to believe but we crashed whilst the netherworld storms had mostly cut it off. We ended up in a desert wasteland and...Well we kind of formed a speeder bike gang to survive. Finding other groups of Mandalorians, Bando Gora and Gamorreans to find enough fuel and parts to get a rescue. Coruscant was easier after the first two days of being chased. Damn stormtroopers offered a reward for pilots. Eventually found an Alliance friendly family and lived in their basement until the GADF took the sector back.”

There was little embellishment to the stories. Odd for him to speak so plainly. But he was tired, couldn't waste too much breath.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

[SIZE=13.3333px]The Netherworld. Honestly it was one event that really had not affected Kaile or Kurt. They’d spent the bulk of their time in the Messa, unaware of what was happening while they were upgrading a few of the freighter’s systems. Coming back to all that had been a rather shocked surprise. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]A slight frown and then a glance over at Asmus. She studied him for a moment before shaking her head, a hint of a wry smile over her face. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“I’m sensing a trend with crashing there.” light-hearted banter. [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]I could do that.[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] The tease followed a small grimace. The dull throb of her legs was a constant reminder of where they were and where they were heading to.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Coruscant. Malastare. Here?” a pause then and added.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.3333px]“No wait, that was flying out of the back of a ship on a speeder bike.” [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Er no, on Malastare we built speeder bikes from scraps to scavenge across the wilderness. I did not however drop a speeder bike from a shuttle moving at eighty percent of the maximum rated velocity of the bike at ground level.”

He looked over at Kaile as they walked. A smile, any kind of smile from her buoyed his spirit and helped him keep going. Not that he was struggling yet. Tomorrow he would start to struggle. Because they had to push on. This was no gentle stroll, they had to make ground as fast as they could.

“You know you took that surprisingly well,” he chuckled. “I was expecting at least a whimper, if not a small cry.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[SIZE=13.3333px]A thought back to Tatooine. To the time that Kurt had brought her into his podracer and they went blazing across the sand with a Sandstorm practically at their heels. The whoops and hollars they had given. The way the adrenaline had rushed through her veins. The sensation as if the entire ‘verse was simply fading away in that moment of riding the line between life and death. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Considering all she’d had experienced in the past, jumping out of a moving shuttle on a speeder bike wasn’t the worst thing she’s ever done. [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]Nor the craziest. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Reckon that wasn’t my craziest stunt.” she admitted, vocalizing her earlier thought. “Didn’t really have time to consider if it was the best idea or not.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Another two steps and Kaile let her attention span to the incline of the hill they were hiking. “You said to trust you.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Another few steps, her ponytail swinging at her back.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“So I did.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=13.3333px]It was as simple as that.[/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

The silence that followed that statement would be quite apparent. It was the silence of a man who needed a moment to digest the words he had just heard.

“Okay,” he replied quietly nearly a minute later. He tried to think of something amusing to say to cover that. He'd already told her that it meant a great deal, had already said he would trust her back when the time came.

He looked over at Kaile again. Not searching for a smile this time, not the way she looked at him or trying to find the connection they shared whenever they held each other's gaze for more than a moment. He was trying to find Agent Vera. He would need to recognise her just as she had recognised him as the pilot.

The last week had been practise in a way. Working shifts were professional, building the plan from their separate expertise until it met in the middle. But he would have to see it under pressure as well.

“For the record I did not get shot down over Malastare so that doesn't count,” he replied eventually. “And I still appreciate that you trusted me.” He added. “And I'm especially glad I didn't kill us after you did that too.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“No more than I am.” she added, reaching over with her hands to cross over a large fallen tree trunk. A small gesture followed. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Careful there, these things can crumble underneath you.” what Asmus would find in his search would be no more a different Kaile than one who was a bit more serious. Focused. The Kaile he knew perhaps had lost a bit of the tint of her rose colored glasses, but that didn’t make her any different. Just a little bit harder, colder perhaps. Detached. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Or was that simply because the Lorrdian didn’t want to fall ever further into the pilot’s arms? Could very well be both. One thing was for sure, the Wraith Commander had an affect on her. No doubt about that. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Minutes turned to hours before they made it to a small bubbling brook. Water cascaded down from a mossy embankment, pooling below a nook of rocks before swirling downstream. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Well,” one half pant and exhausted word fell from the agent’s lips. She came to a stop just beside the tiny falls. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Found that brook.” Kaile added with a wan smile. She was saturated with sweat and covered with grime. A few mosquitos had decided to feast upon her arms. Her feet were sore and her legs screamed with the need to rest. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Exhausted, Kaile crouched down beside the water. Taking a few handfuls of the clear liquid, she splashed it over her flushed face. A small moan of pleasure resonated from her lips as she immediately felt the results of the cool water hitting her sweltering skin. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“I swear the humidity is just getting [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]worse [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]by the hour.” came her half grumble, splashing her face again. [/SIZE]

 

[Asmus Janes]

“It's oppressive isn't it?” He replied rhetorically. The first thing he did was lean his head back and drain every drop from his canteen. Then he refilled it, took another long drink and refilled it again.


Asmus didn't dare take off his bags. They still had some walking to do. If he took them off now it would seem all the more difficult to sling them back on and set off again.


Crouched down besides Kaile he then proceeded to splash down his face and hands. He cupped water with one hand and ran it from his forehead to jaw. It struck him how clear the water was. It felt softer than the water in a city or ship. It smelled different too. The brook was crystal clear, he could see where the last evening shards of light cut through the canopy and picked out coloured stones under the brook.


“I need to get out more,” he reflected with a chuckle. She would see a slightly wondrous look behind his suddenly smile. Another handful of water was run through his hair, smoothing it back and sending a shiver down his spine.


“Might cool down for a bit soon. We should probably press on for another hour before the light fades. And we're going to need a hotel room and a sonic as soon as we get there,” he added. Quads complained as he drew himself back up. A few bits of gear ditched and they wouldn't overly stand out when they worked their way into the city. Plenty of people used hiking rucksacks to carry overnight gear, had become quite fashionable recently. Of course Asmus had taken some time on the net to look at local fashion trends as part of their research….

 

[Kaile Vera]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Damp hands ran her fingers through her hair, pushing back the sweat slick bangs off of her forehead. A few more splashes sent a bit of the cool water on her neck and nape. So much better. A quick pull of her own canteen and she drank some water. Refilling it didn’t take long. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Lifting her gaze, the agent caught him staring off into his surroundings with a touch of awe. “Yeah well, reckon that assignments on the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px]Subversion[/SIZE][SIZE=13.3333px] don’t allow for much of that.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Which they didn’t. They were long tours. Often a year or more. For Kaile, she just rotated out. Different ship, different crew. Different mission. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Securing her canteen, the Lorrdian gave a nod. He was right. Thighs protested, but she came to her feet. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]“Well, here’s hoping that there is a room and a sonic available in town.” not that they’d be there for long. [/SIZE]