Impact

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Asmus took a good look. There was a refuelling station and a caf shop. No guards in sight. He could hear a large road somewhere nearby, the whine of airspeeders at a high velocity was quite clear. They could strip off the outer layers they were wearing and would blend in reasonably well. If anything a pair who'd taken a brief stroll in the nearby woods. He could even see a sign that seemed to be pointing towards a trailer further along in the woods.

"I think we should go for it. The longer we stay isolated in the woods the harder it is to get past a patrol, but it's up to you," he replied. It seemed the time for digging was coming soon. "Bed down in that cafe and order a taxi?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"No, we should." Kaile agreed with him. The only issue was their gear. They had far too many to appear to be casual traders looking for a pit stop and transport.

"Well need to get rid of some of our gear. Cut down on necessities only," she instructed, shuffling back down the small ledge she'd perched herself in a low crouch. When sufficiently away from what would be prying eyes, Kaile unslung her pack and began to do just that.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Joy," Asmus replied, but he had a smile on his face. With a quick search he found some ferns and picked a patch within them. The soft fronds tickled his arms as he started to dig. He wanted the rifle and gear well out of sight.

The hand shovel was hard work, but fortunately the ground was fairly soft. It wasn't long before he'd made enough room for the rifle and weapons and a few more items of gear. Of anyone stumbled across most of their equipment they would pay it little heed, bit a combat rifle was a different matter.

He stripped off his jacket and kept only his small water bottle, ditching the last canteen after draining half of it and offering Kaile the rest.

He kept the pouch of credit chits and shared them between them. Some larger denominations would have to be changed down in the city or used for their room, but there were smaller chits too.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Kaile went through the same breakdown of gear. The heavier coat along with a bulk of the additional equipment they'd taken from the ship. She settled for a med-kit, her data terminal, and her side arm, which she kept holstered on her thigh. As she went through the rest of the gear, Kaile pulled out a much lighter Concho, which went draping over her figure with some pockets. It allowed for fluidity as much as easy access.

It was a large bulk of their equipment, but they wanted to blend in. Couldn't risk getting pulled aside. She kept her bag, but now it only had the items Vo had given her along with their current identidocs forged by SIS intel.

"Ready?" big brown eyes shot up to fix on jade.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Good to go," he replied. Unlike Kaile he'd decided to keep his blaster out of sight. This was a civilised city after all, so he kept his favoured, lightweight KYD-21 inside his light jacket. She would note a slight apprehension in his voice. Not a string undercurrent, but he had an underlying concern that their chance of success was slightly out of their control. If stopped they'd hand over the paper and trust in the effectiveness of the SIS division responsible for producing them.

Mentioning the path he'd seen before, they angled down through the woods to intersect the public footpath, then traced back towards the outpost. Asmus was no actor, but he could do casual pretty effectively. He pushed the door to the cafe open and held it open for her, flashing her a brief smile.

A human girl, maybe early twenties stood behind the counter. She barely spared them a glance before turning back to her personal device.

"Right, what do you fancy to eat?" he asked, heading for the counter. There were snacks behind a glass pane as well as a menu on the board behind the girl. "I'll order if you want to call for a ride back into the city?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

Always look for a place where the wall was to their back and their eyes to the door.

"A corner booth is fine." Asmus would be surprised to find Kaile's voice turn from her typical drawl to the clipped version of the locals. Her smile was easy going, eyes warm, and once again, she was that Kaile from before.

Her eyes had taken a glance at the special's menu. The scent of Nuna bacon, Nerf steak, eggs, and a fresh pot of caf had the desired effect of prompting a growling belly.

"Sure, right this way." the waitress said with a sunny smile, gesturing for the two to follow.

"Thank you." they both slid into their seats, allowing for Kaile to keep her back to the wall and her eyes to the door.

"Now what would you be fancying eating today?"

"Special sounds good. Cup of caf."

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Cup of caf and a soda please," Asmus replied. Unlike the agent there was no hiding his accent. Fortunately Eriaduan was reasonably synonymous with well bred middle class across a wide swathe of the galaxy. He at least managed to hide any underlying concern. Kaile made it seem so easy that he visibly relaxed. He wasn't here to play a role, just to casually order something.

"Erm, bacon and eggs and a slice of the cake of the day would be great please," he added. He gave the waitress a pleasant smile and she responded in turn, taking the menus and walking away. He slid his personal datapad out from his pocket and put it on the table. A few taps and he had some local taxi companies up. They were a little out of the way, but several of the companies suggested they could reach them within twenty minutes.

"Ah no need to book now," he said to Kaile with a shrug. "Looks like a quiet day and we can book one when we've nearly done. Damn I am starving."

 

[Kaile Vera]

“Well, this certainly better than starch bread,” Kaile managed to murmur low, bringing a hand up to brush her bangs away from her face. The agent kept her casual expression, but her eyes were sweeping up and around the cafe. There were two waitresses. One Droid cook. A couple of regulars by the barstools. This world had relatively a very low population of aliens. Humancentric at its core.

“For the public shuttles?” she inquired, glancing back up at the Wraith. His head was slightly inclined, searching through the contents of his datapad. Those dark forelocks falling down over his brow again. Kaile had to curl her fingers in to hold back the itch to brush them away.
“What about motels?”

 

[Asmus Janes]

“Those are for airspeeders, straight road in from here. I don’t mind paying. We can go on a public shuttle if you want, they stop by on the hour,” he replied. This wasn’t his battlefield, he didn’t see it in the same light as Kaile. But he did have exceptional eyesight and situational awareness and could read the sign on the street outside.

“Haven’t checked, you can if you want. Those three we talked about all had plenty of availability when we looked the other day.”

Asmus spoke boldly. Nothing he was saying would make them stand out in any way. The hotels they had looked out were all a good distance from the conference and none, as far as they were aware, were being used by the delegates. There would perhaps be some of the industry reps, but it was likely they were staying in hotels using their corporate expenses that were a little more upmarket than what Asmus and Kaile had in mind.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


"Airspeeders will be fine." taking the public transportation, while less risky regarding normalcy, would take too long with the additional stops. They needed to get into the city right away. Pulling out her datatablet, Kaile did exactly as he suggested. Fingers brushed back the strand that fell forward to brush her cheek. It was as if the woman was always fighting with her bangs and her hair.

"This one." she finally made her selection. It was close to the facility and allowed them to be able to go in and out within a short amount of time. There was also that landing bay about two blocks away. If they needed to 'acquire' a shuttle, it would be there. In te meantime, time to get up to date on a current map of the city and any news on the conference. Especially for any extremist rebel attacks.

Their waitress came back full of sunny smiles their drinks. "Here you go." she sang out, placing that cup of caf in front of Kaile and the soda in front of Asmus. There was no mistaking the flirty wink tossed over his way.

"Anything else I may get you?"

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"No that'll do nicely for now," Asmus replied with a warm smile. "Parched after that walk," he explained before taking a long draught of soda. It was cold and full of sugar, which was exactly what he needed right now. He could save the caf for with food. The waitress paused for a moment and cast a glance between the pair before walking away. Asmus ignored it, oblivious to the fact that she checked their ring hands, but Kaile would perhaps recognise the glance as being an attempt to discern if the pair were a couple or not.

Seeing what Kaile was doing Asmus decided to have a quick check of his datapad too. There was nothing odd about a couple both checking news and maps on their personal devices, he reasoned. There was nothing much on the extremists. Some quotes from the Governor waving the threats away as idle, some commentary from local residents that there weren't enough troopers on the streets.

That caused a raise of an eyebrow. How wealthy did you have to be to be content under imperial rule and actually wish for more troopers? Eriadu's history held several of those answers, he knew. It was a sore point for the young pilot.

"Hmm." With a flick of his finger he shared an article across the Kaile. An eye witness of a civilian shuttle being downed and denials from the garrison. Which directly contradicted the media outlet finding out that a civilian search party had been formed to fly out today. He met Kaile's eye and offered a thin smile. It seemed the imperials were stretched and a long way off their trail still.

"Perhaps we should stop off at the store and then get a second cab?" he asked. If they managed to track them to this point they could probably find the cabs that had arrived and look up their destinations. Going straight for the hotel could be a risk. Asmus was knew to this, but he was a quick learner.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]


Kaile's brown gaze caught the lingering and curious search of the waitress's eyes. Unconsciously, Kaile's left hand curled and turned, as if to block the woman's view. As quick as the woman gave it, she was gone.

"Pick up a few things as well," Kaile didn't miss a beat, but that little tug was back again. As was the trace of her gaze as it followed the waitress for one second more. Asmus, of course, oblivious.

"We can then get another cab there." large brown eyes drew back to settle on Asmus, who was avidly drinking another healthy drink from his pop. The corner of her mouth perked.

"Had enough of water?" humor came came, the woman extending her hand for the sugar packets. Three. She always had three.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Asmus gave her an easy grin. Smiles can so readily to the pilot, no matter the situation. He refrained from commenting on their relatively lean diet of ration wafers directly. "I'm more looking forward to getting my daily caf intake and some hot food," he replied. "You know how much I like both!"

His eyes drifted away from Kaile, his lips twitched. He thought back on their time in the Quintessences mess fondly. Maybe a camping trip would be nice, but perhaps a few days at the beach house would be better. Order in some food, some drink and enjoy each other's company with no distractions. From behind the counter, seeing that look, the waitress came to a conclusion and decided to reign in any attempts at flirtation.

"You know, I could do with getting some more clothes too." Hoods were apparently in fashion for men on the world right now, he had read. He could actually see two people crossing the road with them pulled low. That would perhaps be useful. "And speaking of food..." he said, seeing a tray placed on the surface between kitchen and front counter.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Something cleaner than what we have for sure," the Lorrdian agreed, following Asmus' gaze up towards the kitchen where a tray was set. Ah, that must be their food. The thought and anticipation brought another rumble to her belly. A flush covered her cheeks in mild embaraseement.

"How far is the speeder rental?" she inquired, adding three packets of sugar into her caf. Her spoon gave a slight ding as she quickly stirred it. Her hands were getting restless; she needed them to be kept busy. Every now and then Kaile would glance up and check the cafe.

"Here's your meal. Want any condiments?" the tray of piping hot food was set before them. Kaile turned with a half smile of thanks. Ah, no flirty gaze anymore. Was it a sad, silly thing that it make Kaile feel a little bit relief?

Stop being a ninny.

"I'm fine, thank you," Kaile replied, moving to adjust the plates and such, sparing a glance over at Asmus to see if he wanted anything.

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I'm good thank you," Asmus replied. His plate was drawn across the table a little quicker than necessary. Rations provided sustenance, but they held no fulfilment for the hungry. And Asmus was always hungry. He didn't reply to her question for a few seconds. Instead he shovelled some food into his mouth. If she had been embarrassed by a rumble, he suddenly remembered himself and brought up one hand to cover his mouth.

"Sorry," he muttered. Knife and fork went down and he tapped a few times on his datapad. "Cab will be here in fifteen," he relayed. "Best get food down us. Booked it to a little retail outfit a few miles from the hotel."

He returned his attention to his meal, oblivious to the little interchange between Kaile and the waitress. If he had noticed that the minor flirtation had the same effect that Omar's advanced had on him, he would have been quite pleased.

 

[Kaile Vera]

"Good." fork in hand, Kaile took a leaf from Asmus' book and dug into her meal. Every now and then she couldn't stop but smirk at the way Asmus was joyfully eating his food. Almost the same as when they were back on the Quin. A little bit more enthusiastic here than back on the Subversion. Granted, this was fresh food. So she could understand his rush.

She took a bit of the salt and pepper and sprinkled her plate.

"We'll be thrifty." she'd always been on the side of caution and bargaining when it came to shopping. Even if it wasn't on their tab and SIS instead. Curling her fingers around her cup, she took another sip of caf.

Now her worry would be if there might be any events or roadbumps once they were inside the city. Once in the motel, she could send another update.

"Fifteen minutes is good." brown eyes rose. Yup, the waitress, wasn't eyeballing Asmus anymore.

Was it silly to smile a little wider because of it?

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus enjoyed the smile, even if he was unaware of the reason behind it. He had always enjoyed her smile, as difficult as it had been at times to elicit it. They had been through a difficult day, but even if there was danger ahead they could pause and plan now. The city was huge and full of well off law abiding imperials. He doubted there would be a risk until they reached the conference.

He would be seeing Kaile in her element. The incident with the probe had convinced him of something. She may have said it of him but she was brilliant.

Was she so anxious because he was just learning what she was capable of? Likely he'd only scratched the surface so far. Was she aware of just how good he really was though? She would have to watch one of his after action reviews to see. He couldn't see her wanting to watch live action given the risks and how concerned she got for his safety.

Beep.

“Our taxi, a grey V12 has just arrived,” he read off the screen. The waitress had already left the bill so he fished out some credit chits and paid with a standard tip.

“Thrifty when clothes shopping…” he mused as he stood up.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile took a quick last minute few scoops of her food. A couple of eggs went into her mouth and she chewed furiously. One last gulp of caf and she set down the empty cup. Soooo much better. Nothing like a full belly full of breakfast and caf. It made the Lorrdian feel at the very least a bit more human. Helped to clear her brain too.

“Going to the refresher,” she called out to Asmus as he walked out of the door. Unlike him, she had a few things to drop off while they were here and there was an actual pot to deliver it.

The waitress gave them both a brief smile as Kaile strode on by, following the sigils that directed the woman to the refreshers. Unispecies, it had several stalls that would shift and adjust based on the needs of the user. Taking up one at the far end, Kaile gave a heavy, and well relieved sigh. Those trail rations were horrid on her system.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus hadn't had the pleasure of living off rations since his survival training. In his case they had the undesirable effect of slowing everything down. Fortunately GADF supply chains were good enough to keep the pilots well fed wherever they were based.

It hadn't really been all that much survival training. At least, when he thought back on it that was the way it seemed. He'd been taught to avoid pursuit in a number of terrains, but it was the interrogations that stuck in his memory.

Once they'd finally been rounded up they'd been taken to a mock imperial camp complete with stormtroopers and black-clad interrogation agents. A Jedi had helped ease the trauma of being held by the Techno Union and tortured by a dark Jedi, but the moment he'd been isolated and the music had started playing to keep them up at all hours he'd been taken right back. It had made the whole experience feel more real. They'd questioned him, conducted some psychological tests and left him overnight in a metal case barely larger than his body. In the end he'd broken protocol, but not to talk. He'd started taking his mind elsewhere as Kaile had told him and then started being rude. Very rude. And laughing at his own jokes. The annoyance on the GADF men who'd been playing imperials had kept his spirit buoyed.

“Two seconds, just waiting for my friend,” he told the landspeeder driver. He opened the back door but stood waiting for Kaile.

 

[Kaile Vera]

A quick wash up, some more water splashed on her face, and Kaile was set. She took a couple of seconds to run her fingers through her hair. It was a mess. A sense of silly girly obsession to at least look somewhat pretty arose. She had tamed the few wayward strands sticking up on top of her head and straightened her bangs before the woman gave a cluck of her tongue.

“Tch!” really? Was she really doing this? A glower at her reflection and she spun on her heel. Okay, enough of that.

Exiting the refresher, Kaile’s wandering gaze caught sight of Asmus standing beside a speeder. Crap! Quickening her step, she darted forward to make it to the front of the cafe.

“Sorry.” an apologetic grimace and half smile went drifting over her features.