Stranger in his own land (CIS)

[Montag Card]

Master Sergeant Montag Card exited CIS SOCOM in full dress green with a smile plastered across his normally grim face. He was alive, having survived a powerful blaster bolt to the head on Tatooine, and after a few months of coma and another month of recovery he was back in the action. He'd just received new orders from Command. Apparently there'd been a lot of changes while he was out. The Phantom Corps had been reorganized into squads.

Card's new assignment was Venom Squad.

He didn't know anything about it's members or what his duties would be but he didn't really care. The soldier felt alive for the first time in a long time, he'd quit all that quasio angsty bull he'd been going through before. Montag finally felt content with his place in the Galaxy.

He'd been born again in a way. A cleansing by fire.

These were Montag's merry thoughts as he entered the cafe directly across from the Command building and ordered a coffee and some Bantha steak.

 

[Mother Askani]

Ashlyn been up for quite some time putting in hours in the lab. She had been working on a new project, one that would hopefully prove very useful for the CIS. She knew she would be working very late tonight so she decided to stop across the way from the Command building to grab a coffee. She rose her forearm towards her chest to check the time. Realizing that she had more than enough for a break she pushed her way from the lab table and headed towards her next objective; coffee,

She was dressed in a form fitting black dress, that stopped just above her knees, all covered by her lab coat. It bore the insignia of the Confederacy in its upper right corner. She wore her hair curly, and tied back. Her glasses and a pair of black heels completed the look.

When she walked through the doors, she looked around at all its inhabitants. Smiling at some as she walked her way up to the counter. She stood in line behind a man who was dressed in green, he seemed to have been apart of the military at some point; she could tell from her own experience. She was motioned over by another employee to place her order. She waited at the counter for her coffee, it would take forever.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

Montag took a few glances at the woman who was also waiting at the counter for her and gave a slight grin. She seemed agitated that she had to wait for coffee, wore an expensive looking dress underneath a lab coat that bore a government insignia on it, and wore her hair in a semi professional manner. Obviously a government employee and by the air she had about her she was probably a doctor or scientist instead of your average tech.

Someone who made others wait instead of having to wait.

Montag felt in a particularly social mood since he'd woken up and decided to do something unusual. Speak.

"This place always takes forever." He said cheerfully in the direction of the doc. Maybe she'd reply?

 

[Mother Askani]

She let out a deep sigh, as she made faces. Her finger nails were clicking against the table top in front of her. She continuously inflated, and deflated her cheeks. While she watched, she grabbed acouple of napkins to bring along with her when she left. While she tugged at the napkin holder, she heard the voice, that was obviously the man beside her. She quickly looked over to him, scrunching up her face, tilting her head in a way she could see through her glasses. She began to smile, as she quickly folded the napkins in front of her,

"Oh yeah, I've heard. Now I see for myself." She said smiling, while pushing her glasses up on her face. She turned back to watch as the servants prepared everything. All of this for a coffee? Really? She sighed one more time, and quickly turned her head back towards the man.

"So do you come here often, or..is this like your first time?" She asked, patiently waiting for a response.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

"All the time Doctor.......?" Montag replied, letting the honorific hang so she could respond.

While it was true it'd been a while since he'd actually been in the cafe it'd been an old favorite a few years ago, when he became even more involved in Phantom Operations. The joys of being a SNCO seemed to be boundless. Waiting for crappy coffee made by tired employees was certainly on the top of that list.

 

[Mother Askani]

Her smile grew, resulting from her knowing that he was looking for her name. She looked away, and then back. "Ashlyn Roberts, Dr. Ashlyn Roberts." She responded back, reaching out her hand hoping to meet his so they could shake each others. She herself hadnt spent any time within this place, usually one of her colleagues would take orders and come across here to pick things up. This was a first time for her, now she knows why her coworker comes back later than expected. This wasnt to say this wasnt a nice place with good food, but maybe it was just that service was slow. Hmm

Finally her drink arrived, she grabbed it after saying her thanks. She walked over to the other side of him where all of the other ingredients sat. As she enhanced her coffee, she turned back to him.

"So what did you order? Because I only asked for a coffee and it took this long, I could only imagine yours" she said smirking.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

"Montag Card." The Master Sergeant replied while meeting her hand in the middle, leaving out his title purposely. He liked the look she had about her. Professional yet friendly, a rarity in his field. Her quip and smirk reminded him of his order and he glanced back toward the counter with slightly annoyed eyes.

"Just a number one with the coffee."

"Order up." Came an unenthusiastic reply as the employee passed a small bag and cup of coffee to Montag.

He took it with a nod and took a seat at a nearby table, not bothering to put any cream or sugar in it.

"Do you have the time Doctor?" He said with a slight motion toward the seat across from his own.

 

[Mother Askani]

She slowly nodded and turned back to her coffee to finish infusing it with cream and suger. After stirring it rather quickly she performed a taste test. She was preparing to leave to get back to the lab, she turned around to find the man, sge didn't want to leave without saying anything. She was caught slightly offguard when he asked if she had the time. She had an surprised expression on her face as she began to ponder. She was always about work, and she figured it would be best to get back to her research, but she knew she needed to become more sociable. She slowly nodded.

"Yes, actually I do." She said responding. She held her cup in her right hand near her upper chest. She followed him over to the side table, and she sat down with her legs crossed.

"So, do you work?" She asked after taking a sip of her drink. She figured she'd ask him this before bringing up the military.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

"Yeah, Phantom Corps, just returned after a leave of absence of sorts. Yourself?" Montag asked as he took a sip of the coffee. Kinda made him remember why he came to this slow cafe. This was something he hadn't done in a very long time. Sat down with a stranger over a cup of coffee, apparently getting shot in the head had done him wonders.

 

[Mother Askani]

She nodded her head as he explained what he did. Phantom Corps? Sounds familiar, hmm and sounds close to the military as well, was she right perhaps? She took another sip of her coffee, before swallowing it, and sitting down the cup on the table. She took a napkin and patted down the area around her mouth. She pushed her glasses up on her face once more.

"Well I'm a professor, and researcher at the University of Coruscant. I also happen to be the Viceroy of Kamino, where I oversee the medical facilities and things of that nature," she said while sitting her hands, interlocked, on her knee that was elevated from her legs beings crossed. She was extremely proud to say, though she didn't want to come off as if she was rubbing her accomplishments in anyone's face. She's been told that's how she is from people before, though she never purposely does it.

"The phantom Corps? That's the military, right? Because I assumed you to be apart of that or something similar." She said following up her response.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

Montag took note of Ashlyn's body motions as she spook of her medical accomplishments and her governmental position. She seemed proud, and rightly so if the things she'd just named off were true. The posture change in particular caused Montag to smile. He enjoyed the company of confident women.

"Yeah. Been doing it since before I'd be legally aloud to own a speeder. Well, that's how Phantom used to operate anyhow, snatching up a planet's promising youth. I think they just recruit from the regulars now, seeing as the CIS stabilized. Anyway, I'm rambling, what're you currently cooking up in the lab?" Montag said with that same grin as he began to work on his meal.

 

[Mother Askani]

She noticed his smile, she must've been doing something right, it would seem he was becoming rather comfortable with her judging by his posture, and body movements. This was rather nice, this was probably the first time she had been this sociable. She was usually always within her study's and research. When she didn't have the luxury of free time, she was teaching at UofC. To have a coffee and to sit and actually talk about stuff was partially heave to her.

She nodded as they conversed, she had heard about the changes regarding the military. She wasn't sure if there was anything in particular she knew about the phantom corps, but she recognized it, and figured she had been informed of their purpose before. It kind of brought back memories of her time within the republic military. She chuckled when he assumed he was rambling.

"Well, I'm currently working on an experiment with Midi-Chlorians. I'm testing samples from the Ysalamir of Myrk. To see how their able to negate force users. So that's what's in the works." she said nodding slowly, she glanced off at the others in the restaurant, and quickly turned back to the conversation. "So any good memories from your time in the phantom corps?" She asked before picking back up her coffee.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

"Sounds interesting. It'd be nice to know, see if we could replicate it." Montag said as he reminisced on the few times he'd had the misfortune to face skilled force users. They had to be one of the most agitating enemies a soldier could face, mostly because of their tendency to throw non force users about. Until they received a slug to the forehead.

Montag shifted slightly in his seat and gave an uneasy smile at her question. Given how morally ambiguous some of his previous assignments had been.

"I suppose I enjoy it. It's necessary work for CIS's continued survival and I suppose I enjoy it." Montag said as he polished off the small meal efficiently.

 

[Mother Askani]

She nodded, he understood exactly what she was going for. Replication could prove very valuable to the government, and also be a breakthrough in the scientific world; at least the one she was apart of. She was already highly respected among her colleagues, but if she discovered an agent with the properties to negate force abilities, there's no telling what type of honor she might be given. To be honored was her goal though, but it was a nice perk at times, some might not like it because so much is expected of you, but there's always that one side effect.

She slightly raised an eyebrow as she noticed the shift in his seat, was he feeling a little uneasy around her? What did she do to cause it she wondered. Hmm

She reverted back to her normal face, with an subtle smile across her face. She still wondered more about his line of work. "C'mon tell me more. Share one of your stories with me, please?" She said softly chuckling.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@Dr. Ashlyn Roberts

Montag took a moment to think back on the stories he'd be allowed to tell her without violating CIS law, or wanted to. Most of his tales after training involved him either in combat or doing something clandestine for the government. His mind finally settled on a target elimination mission that'd gotten scrapped because of civilian involvement and bad intel. Something that wasn't present on sealed or shredded documents.

"Well, there was this one mission one Tatooine where it was just myself and one other Phantom in a two man sniper team. Intel had told command that a known arms dealer was stealing shipments from our factories and selling them at discount prices to some enterprising Sith Governor. So the government took interest and they decided to send a couple of us to take the guy out. The intel had said the dealer was set up in one of those big Jawa junk traveling things out in the middle of the dune sea, you know, the huge crawlers? Anyway, wed low crawled for most of the day in full gear and camo to get within a comfortable range of the damned thing. So we set up and waited. Watching this behemoth of a vehicle doing absolutely nothing. No movement. Nothing. Night came and we continued to just sit there through the cold. By the time dawn came we were doubting that the thing was even functional, definitely not inhabited. We were about to scrap the entire mission when we heard soft footsteps coming from our rear." Montag chuckled before continuing, barely able to contain his laughter.

"And we kept still, ya know, the camo we had made us basically invisible even if someone was on us. You have no idea how stressed out the two of us were, we'd thought it was the arms dealer. My buddy got stepped on and we reacted instantly, subduing both the intruders as quickly as we could. It was a Jawa and a human who looked like a mechanic! The little guy shouted some gibberish in jawa and the human looked like she was about to crap her pants. We called a taxi on the woman's holophone and got outta there before anybody showed up. We later found out that the Jawa's rig had crapped out on him on the way to pick up his pal's. Intel had gotten it completely wrong. We had a good laugh about it." Montag chuckled again and took a sip of his coffee as he slowed down his laughter, a massive grin now plastered on his face.

"Whatta bout you doc, got anything interesting to share about the lab?"

 

[Mother Askani]

Her face filled with surprise, as her eyes got big and her mouth dropped. The part of the story when his colleagues was stepped on made her cover her mouth with her hand. It was pretty humorous. She began to laugh that she leaned over and slightly shoved him. Probably not even strong enough to phase him. It was good to know that even when on an assignment one could have fun, and memories come out of them, she took a big breath, inhaling as she came out of her laughing frenzy. She turned and took a sip of her coffee, picking up a napkin after to pat around her mouth.

When she heard his question about any interesting stories from the lab, she opened her eyes pretty wide, and sat down the used napkin beside her cup. She looked out across the Cafe, "We'll, believe it or not. Most scientist or doctors aren't really fun. Humor isn't something that you come across within the lab." She said with her animated expressions as she talked. "None of them are like me, I'm probably the only doctor that's willing to laugh, and joke around." She explained further. "But I guess I do have a small story, I was at a Cafe, and I met this man who worked for the government. As you know, I do as well. But we began talking and laughing, just socializing, and it was probably one of the best times I've had. It all started with us being in line together." She said before turning around to fully face the table, picking up her cup and drinking from it. She hoped he would catch on.

@[member="Montag Card"]

 

[Montag Card]

@[member="Ashlyn Roberts"]

Montag chuckled after Ashlyn finished talking, mentioning their current chance meeting as one of the best times she'd had. That'd suprised Montag a bit, given how most didn't have a isolated life similar to the one he'd led. It'd seemed as though she had. Montag smiled and finished off his coffee, putting all of the trash into the one brown bag.

He took a napkin and wrote his holonet number and non military email across it before passing it to Ashlyn.

"This really was nice, not many people I can say that I talk to like that, we should definitely do this again sometime." Montag chuckled before replying. "When you don't have a lab to get back to and I don't have a ride to catch."

Who knew where this friendship would end up?

 

[Mother Askani]

She was glad to see that he had gotten it, his smile made her smile. In just a couple of hours time she grown pretty fond of Montag, seeing him as a friend. She took the last sip of her coffee, and prepared all of her trash as well. She could only imagine now what her colleagues would say when she came back; ugh. She saw him take a napkin and write down something, she assumed it was a number or message of sorts.

When she received it her assumption was right. It was his holonet number, and his email of course. She smiled as she placed it in her lab coat pocket. She stood up from the seat, pushing her glasses up on her face, and looked up at him when he began to talk once more.

"This was indeed very fun. I'm all for sitting down and talking again. I don't usually do this often, at all really. So this was good for me." She said with a subtle smile on her face. His next statement would produce a laugh from her. She patted him on the shoulder and walked away towards the Command building. She figured that wouldn't be the last time they spoke. Blossoming friendship it was.

@[member="Montag Card"]