[Belasco] Overqualified

[Agrafena Landis]

Belasco, Rural Farmland
0.5 km South of Outbreak Zone
1840 Hours, Galactic Standard
Doctor Landis, RJF
@Sangga

This whole region of Belasco had turned into a quarantine zone practically overnight.

It had waterborne bacteria plague the planet every seven years. And now that the Republic could lend a hand, specifically with a very underused hazmat division. However, things got complicated. They knew almost nothing about the disease, and had basically no information on where to start besides a law enforcement officer that had been sent to investigate this whole ordeal. Upon searching for the man, they had discovered that some kind of crime organization had taken the officer into custody of their own. This complicated things, and Landis was reluctant to engage in combat on a planet without extremely explicit permission, or the necessary equipment. Her partner for this mission and second in command, Léon, had pushed them to it through a couple heated arguments.

He now scooted himself forward, overlooking a barn with a pair of binoculars from the grassy hill he had planted himself on. His helmet was set before him, acting as a stand for his rifle, the only weapon he had brought along with the rest of the cumbersome research equipment they had brought with them. The soldier cursed the Doc for bringing all this useless stuff--they hardly had anything to defend themselves with. And now she was down there, about to breach an unknown building with an unknown number of combatants inside. He could have been down there with her, but she wanted him up here.

Hopefully all those degrees still left enough room in her brain for common sense.

Landis moved toward the building in a low crouch, helmet already sealed to her head and blaster raised. She stopped against the wall, pulling out a stolen and heavily taped together explosive device that might have enough force to blow open a possibly large enough hole for her to walk through. Maybe. She'd done the calculations--but there were still uncertainties--what if the primer wasn't powerful enough? Or--

"Quit overthinking explosives and plant the charge, Aggie."

Léon's voice came over their comms. She sighed and then set the device's adhesive onto the wood door and backed away after twisting a couple exposed wires together. That gave ten seconds. Right. Back to getting ready to shoot things. The charge sparked, sizzled, then sputtered for a moment. Agrafena looked up at it and grimaced. Not enough primer. Of course--

The thing blew open, and she struggled to her feet, leaning into the new opening.

 

[Ham Haren]

To say that things had gone wrong, would have the boys back at his mother's bar cackling over their cups.

They were clever, and they could spot an off-worlder in a crowd. These were not local reprobates as the brief had stated, they could spot him for they were off-worlders too. So no quicker than the stun discharge that felled him, had he been bound and restrained. He could no longer feel his Door-knocker or his stun baton. But at the pull of his arms, the restraints bit into his wrists. They'd covered his eyes, but he kept them listening to his mutterings. It seemed to amuse them.

"You... you won't get away with this, you know." his voice was raspy from the lack of water and his continual mumbling. "I know I've said it before, but... the Republic will not let one of its own be taken into the darkness... especially considering what we know..."

"And what, do you know?" The primordial rumbling and hissing of the Trandoshan showed its irritation and being held from its kill. It seemed to be getting closer. He could now smell its reptilian hide and the stench of meat on its breath. He recoiled and shook his head, pulling at his restraints a bit as he did and then turned in the direction of the foul stench.

"Well, I know that your breath stinks something fierce." A slightly stifled chuckle came from her. The Mirialan woman he expected, the one that caught his eye just before he was taken down. But then again he could hear more than those two in here. As the Trandoshan, Slaaq, growled he turned to the chuckle. "At least one of your friends has a sense of humour." Slaaq moved away from him and another behind him stepped forward he could hear boot on the barns wooden decking.

"You should watch your tongue, Republic lapdog." this one's voice was rough but soothed with feminine charm.

"Let him bark, Kirishi, he'll be dead soon." The Mirialan, certainly younger, almost innocent. He turned to face forward and had stopped attempting to break his restraints.

"Yes, he will, especially if he keeps him angry like that. And especially if you keep blurting out our names." Anger, but still understanding the situation more than all of them here. He counted one more in here, maybe they couldn't talk, but they had not since he regained consciousness.

Then he heard the bleeping, he braced. It was a good job his head was covered, he just kept smiling wryly. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't." With that the door was blasted into and he leaned back on the chair, the blast throwing him over. The back of the chair shattered under his weight and he rolled into the door of a pen. He slammed the bulky, and cheap energy cuffs against the corner of a post until the lock shorted. He was free, scrambling up he removed the sack to see the charging Trandoshan. "Oh dear... maybe so." He did the only thing he knew to do. Ball his fists and begin taking cheap shots to the beast’s tough abdomen. Just above the hip, below the arms and in the centre. The Trandoshan crashed into him and the pair into the pen wall. The claws tore into the meat of his upper arms, what he'd give for a knife, like the one at the Trandoshan's belt!

He tried to reach for it. He had to get it, his life depended on it.

 

[Agrafena Landis]

Agrafena hopped into the room, lifting her last leg over some leftover wood as she rose her blaster and kneeled, scanning for hostiles. Immediately, the Trando pinning someone to a beam grabbed her attention, and she trained the blaster on him first, sending two lethal shots his way. That'd probably buy the captive enough time to get a weapon or get out. She turned her helmet and identified a second, a woman that was raising a pistol her way. She guessed human, then stopped thinking about species and blasted the weapon in her hand before shooting her in the leg. A third took her by surprise, a young Mirialan, and she was so close that she could only send the stock of her rifle into the girl's jaw, not bothering to check her status as she returned her focus to what was probably now a very pissed Trando.

Landis clicked her comm twice, and Léon stood to run for the building, being only 20 meters away and jumped through the opening to further check for remaining threats. Léon immediately trained his rifle on the Trando, and Agrafena refocused her attention to the two relativelt uninjured captors, checking their status while keeping her rifle level in the direction of the lizard man. The smoke cleared, and two Republic soldiers dressed in full combat gear with yellow detailing stood before the group. At the very least it looked cool.

 

[Ham Haren]

As his fingers strained and their tips hit the blade he grasped as Slaaq was knocked sideways it slid from the sheath. With this heft blade in hand. This single edged blade double backed into a Gut-hook at the end but he knew he had a knife in what rapidly appeared to be a gunfight, where was his-

The body of Ham Haren flew into the pen door with a splintering of wood, knife knocked out of his hand. With all three of his allies on the floor a Feeorin male, what Ham would remember later as the silent presence in the room, leaped down and fired the entire clip of his Door-knocker. This was dropped aside and a Hold-Out blaster was fired at the attacker, as the Feeorin made for the back door. At this point Ham had risen up, grasping the knife and threw it as hard as he could muster at the fleeing alien. He cracked a wicked half smile as the alien grunted and skid out of the back door. "Don't shoot, I'm coming out of this pen! I'm RJF! Field Agent Haren!" He stepped out of the pen and bent down to pick up his blaster, hissing at the pain of a cracked rib as he did so. No clips, but at least he had it. A quick glance over the corpses of his captive showed that his rescuer did appear to want some captives. The Mirialan was trying to get up after a blow to the jaw and 'Kirishi' seemed to be clutching her leg. Satisfyingly Slaaq was still on the floor, breathing but gripping on to his pathetic slaver-scum's life.

He nodded to the armoured trooper and then walked out the Feeorin's escape route, the brute couldn't have gotten far. He saw the trail of blood around the corner of the barn and heard another muffled voice, someone else in a helmet maybe. He edged up to the corner, his empty pistol in both hand and then rounded it. He saw the Feeorin, hands up and scarlet dripping out of his leg. Slowly, Ham walked up behind him and placed the muzzled in the hulking, tower of flesh's shoulder blades. He peered around and saw another RJF armoured trooper. He nodded and then padded the Feeorin down, he found a two cells for his blaster and his stun baton hung from the brute's belt. "Very nice work. Thank you for the rescue." He looked around for the other, the raider. He needed to give them his thanks more than this guy.

 

[Agrafena Landis]

Aggie had enough time to see a Feeorin drop from the ceiling and send a wall of lasers her way. She relaxed her legs and fell to the ground, firing three shots even as the guy ran out and booked it to somewhere. Their law enforcement agent came out of the pen that he had gone sailing through, grabbed his blaster, and went to stop the runner. She stood up, even as her partner came out of the cover he had seeked and went to help out the agent with the Feeorin. That left Doctor Landis with the two girls and the shot-up Trando. She checked the charge of her blaster and then the status of the two.

The woman, Kirishi, seemed to be out of the fight for now. The doctor merely glanced at her before turning to the Mirialan girl, flipping her onto her back and pinning her to the ground with an armored knee. She kept her blaster trained on 'Kirishi' while leaving her eyes focused toward the Mirialan, in case anything funny was going to happen. Unnecessary death was a lot of paperwork, and she was more of a conversationalist anyways.

Léon, on the other hand, arrived right as the agent had apprehended the Feeorin, and lowered his rifle, speaking in a heavy accent filtered through the helmet, both to Haren and his partner.
"Let's get him inside. Doc, I think we've got everyone. How's the lizard man doing?"

Aggie looked at the Trando, who was currently suffering from a couple of blaster bolts but other wise in normal condition. As normal as someone who just took two bolts could possibly be. Once everyone was inside, she left Léon to monitor the prisoners and administer first aid while reaching out a gloved hand to shake with the agent. Her accent rang through her helmet as well.

"No problem. We needed some information. If you've got the time, maybe we could talk about this plague going around. Maybe with less keen ears, seeing as this lot is trouble enough. You okay?"

Both of them had kept their gear on, and weren't looking to reveal their identities just yet. In case this was all a mistake or something, and maybe this so-called agent was actually the wrong person. That'd be a funny story.

 

[Ham Haren]

He took the offered hand firmly and shook it in a tight grip. "Of course, Doc?" This trooper certainly fought like a soldier, as opposed to a medic. An eyebrow rose at his condition, as he looked about the barn. Did he look that rough? He straightened with a minute wince and headed to the door, "I have had worse beatings of an evening back on Brentaal." He waited for the Doctor on the other side of the door and took in a breath of fresh air; the expansion of his chest causing a stabbing pain in his chest that forced a cough.

Holding up a hand he looked to her, the hardened facade dropped for a second. A grimace of pain and a slight buckling set him of kilter, that then had him stumble to the floor. "Alright, no! Gak me, I took a point blank Door-knocker round... I thought it might just be bruising and aches throwing up some old injuries again." He rolled from his crouch to sit against the wall of the barn to face her. He was breathing sharply and with some effort.

Looking up at the armoured figure, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes trying to focus on his words rather than the pain. "It's waterborne, its unlike anything the Republic has seen and we fear that if it gets into the Great Sea then this planet and all life on it is going to be left feeling its presence every decade or so. You were sent to find me, 'cause I know how to deal with scum like this because I am viewed as badly as the scum on Brentaal, seeing as I was raised among them and descend from some of the gakking worst." He held out his on hand to her once more. "Field Agent Ham Haren, Republic Judiciary Forces, while I could say Grand Army of the Republic... I'm no military man. Soldiers go in all guns blazing and don't think on how civilians think of them or how they out think them. Why don't you pop open the lid and introduce yourself now, and while you're at it, are you or your friend carrying any painkillers, Doc?"

 

[Agrafena Landis]

CBRN rarely had a chance to show off what it could do. It wasn't just a medical team--it was specifically made for combat within a hazardous environment. Of course, that applied to normal environments, too--though again, this was one of the rare moments where they could stretch all their limbs instead of just the 'shoot things' part. Aggie looked down and dropped to a knee when Haren fell, presumably from some kind of injury. She reached for her medical kit, stopping as he explained what happened. A stun blast at close range? Either these captors weren't looking to keep him alive or were really bad at their job.

She turned her head to Léon, pulling off her helmet to clip it to her belt as she completely pulled the kit from its place on her hip, setting it down and unzipping the pouch. Léon merely eyed the agent for a second before trading places with Aggie, being the more experienced medic (at least in field injuries). Landis was a doctor; she liked to look for complex solutions to simple answers, and sometimes an actual soldier was better for that kind of stuff. As the man continued after introducing himself, the woman listened and Léon gave him a shot, preferring to keep his helmet on.

As Aggie watched the prisoners and checked the wounds of them, not administering any pain relieving medication due to the fact that they were low on supplies--she made a mental note of all that the Republic agent had said. Waterborne, localized. Still manageable.
"So do you know how we can devise a cure?"

Léon turned his head briefly.
"Why not ask the chicks that blasted him? Trando ain't gonna talk."

"Léo, just get Agent Haren in working condition and shut your mouth, please."
"Yes ma'am."

Though honestly, it wasn't a bad idea. She returned her gaze to the young Mirialan.
"Well? You lot of kids have anything to share with the teachers?"

 

[Ham Haren]

"Not a clue, I was sent to find the cause. But there are already reports of deaths by some sort of plague. Very localised, but those that became ill died very quickly no more than a day or two. Then I found out this lot were working the area and I scoped them out and then they - ow!" He looked sharply at Léon and then carried on his brief. "They may be small fish, but this sort of thing has to be rooted in offworld. Why would anyone from here want to poison the water in such a way?" As soon as Léon was done with the most basic triage he grimaced and tried to get to his feet. He was seeing blossoms of colour and the pain was something else, but he bit down on it and his lower lip. He stood up right, fighting to not hold his abdomen.

As Aggie turned to the reprobates the young Mirialan stared daggers into her, then returned to look at her friends in their stricken state. "Not gunna say any-" At this point the form of Ham moved with the certainty of a continent drifting to the CBRN specialist's side. He looked haggard, worn and above all pissed right off. He stood quietly, that was the more horrifying thing, with all the anger and pain in his eyes he still managed to stay quiet, that control was clear and the look of fear in the young Mirilan's eyes showed that the idea of him releasing control was very real. Then he stepped forward. His footfall was heavy, laboured and he then stood quite close. The was a smell of blood on his breath and a waft of medicinal salves and spray from his treatment.

"Answer her, or answer to me. Rest assured, I am not above beating your fragile frame to the state old scaly or your other friend are now finding themselves in to get the information. But as you can tell, I'd rather avail myself of the medic's skills further more. But I will do..." there was a pause, it gave her time to think. Time to listen to his soft, certain near-growl. The kind of voice of someone trying really hard to listen to reason but wanting to give in to ruthless aggression. "... what you make me do." his knuckles tightened and he waited for two beats and then began to move a further step forward.

"Alright! Alright, don't-" he retracted the step and yet remained. "We got told to grab you, they said you were getting too nosy and they didn't want no Republic dog sniffing around. That's all I'm gunna say." He squinted, scarred wrinkles formed and his stance did not slacken. "Well... that's it, back off you ol- ah!" With that Ham had shot his fist forward toward her abdomen, but held it back before impact landed. His face was a as it had been before as he retracted.

"Now that is your last warning, I suggest you keep talking." She looked furious but still as concerned as ever.

"You're crazy! I don't know who it was, no of us do but they call themselves 'Vesitge' They'd send us recordings from a withheld contact via the Holo-net. We know nuffin else!" He turned away and went back to Léon and sat back down. "This ain't right though, I know we ain't exactly goodies like you but then you ain't supposed to be like him." She was talking to Aggie, but the comments were about Ham. He hated being that way, but sometimes you could get the smarter ones to talk with some threatened force. It was the stupid ones that were the hardest to drag out, big blokes like the Feeorin or Trando, would've been impossible in his current condition.

 

[Agrafena Landis]

Léon chuckled through his mask as the agent reacted to the needle.
"Forgot to mention it was going to prick a bit.."

Aggie looked back toward him and then to the Mirialan, who started off trying to be tough as the Republic agent grilled into her immediately. She was on a knee, but an empathetic part of her wanted to stand up and defend the Mirialan. She had taken an oath as a doctor to do no harm..though that had been heavily catered to her life as a soldier, and she found herself stopping short of saying anything. Her lungs inflated as she took a breath and continued listening, clearing her throat once Haren was finished, squaring up with the Mirialan to check her retinas from the hit she had given her when they had breached. Léon moved on to the Trando and the other woman after checking the stunned fourth person. He set up an IV for the blaster bolts on the Trando and pulled up the woman's pant leg to check her wound.

"Vestige, huh? Doesn't ring a bell with us. You sure you don't know anything else? I'd be glad to break out the morphine, make you so dreary that you'll do just about anything we need you to."

"Or want you to. Heh heh. Remember Coruscant, Aggs?"

"Shut up and finish with her leg before she decides to marry you, Corpsman."

She scoffed and stifled a smile into a grimace as she released the Mirialan's temples. No concussion. Good. At least not a major one.

"I know this isn't right, honey, but neither is stunning a guy within the minimum safe distance. Or doing something you're bad at, like kidnapping a Republic agent."

 

[Ham Haren]

"We just did what we needed to to get paid, didn't even know he was one of them. A voice would call to give us jobs and see that they were complete. We didn't know them, always dropped off payments." her deep green eyes stared back with the honesty of someone well out of their depth. She was looking for any sign of an escape or a lapse in the medic. But compassion ran deeply in this Mirialan, she couldn't stop looking to her friends. "Are they going to be OK?"

Ham shook his head, a grin cracking at the banter between the comrades in arms. He missed having a partner, someone that had your back. Life as a Field agent was a lonely thing, he heard of pairings and even some cells but a lot of the force were on their own liaising with locals or Republic elements. They were the finger tips, all of them finding out what they could and occasionally getting burned. He looked up to this Aggs, not exactly something bad to look at, he liked her red hair. Young, but not a kid. He caught this thought and just scrutinised it more. Why was he checking her out like he was at a Cantina?

How much had the hit rattled about in his gourd? "Erm, Doc? Corpsmen? Somethings up with-" he was cut off by a vibration in his coat. He pulled out a small device, no larger than a datapad. There was a lit up screen on one side and a blinking light. He'd tuned into one of their comm devices while following these crooks. Getting up and shuffling around her heard the faint chirruping from the Feeorin's belt. A compact communicator. He hit a stud and a symbol projected out of the device, a old Cartel symbol. An altered voice, sounding like more than one rumbled out some queries. He immediately set the Signal Tracer to work, but very shortly after what sounded like imperatives there was a shriek or squeal from the device and it shorted out.

His grip tightened on the Feeorin's shoulder, and he looked to his scanner. With the time available, he now knew that the signal had gone through a communication's hub in the Belascan capital, Senta. "Gakking hell was that symbol, some old Huttese squiggle? Like a messed up tick or a V?" he put the scanner away and turned to the others. "To the Senta then? You got transport, but more importantly you got anything you can wear that doesn't scream 'I'm Republic CBRN and I'm out on a mission so watch out?" The gruff demeanour of this agent had rubbed many a colleague to request transfer, but he meant well. They were going to need civilian clothes if they were going to search the city.

 

[Agrafena Landis]

Landis hated stuff like this. The bunch were probably honest, good people, brought into the world of crime and together out of desperation. Perhaps the Trandoshan was an exception, but then again there always were unique exceptions to scum. She looked at the three, spotting the Trando that had taken three too many blaster bolts to the back, and the woman who took one in the leg trying to kill Agrafena. Her face didn't show anything, and she glanced to Léon, who nodded as he finished up his medical aid and slung his backpack once more. She returned her eyes to the worried Mirialan, and gave the professionally trained and confident nod of a doctor. They'd be fine. Of course they would. Only one's wounds were actually dangerous, and the stun blast seemed to have been alright for their fourth wheel.

Aggie turned her head and stood up, about to answer Haren's question but interrupted as the buzzing began and the agent soon located the source. Léon grabbed his rifle and stood, finding a spot next to the Doctor as the Republic agent accurately pinpointed exactly where to start looking. Seeing as she and Pokorny didn't have much else to counter with, they couldn't help but agree. She decided to go with the plan. But they did need civilian clothes.
"Not on hand. Unless.."
"Stun Blast Idiot is around my size."

Aggie scoffed and let a smile come onto her face.
"Kind of hard to believe I'm asking this, but mind if we borrow your clothes for a little while? You can probably make it back home half naked. Though I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to avoid working with this organization anymore, or next time we may end up shooting you instead of fixing you. One last favor for almost killing me?"

"It's a fair deal. We're short on credits, and there's nobody that'll stop us from taking extra means to complete this mission. You sure didn't back down."

Maybe a bit rough, maybe not.

 

[Ham Haren]

The Mirialan looked dumbfounded and then upon realisation that this request began to remove her jacket and trousers. Ham helped Léo with Feeorin, this bruiser had a decent ribbed jacket and some combats. They could use their uniforms boots, only the keenest of eyes would notice them for what they were. "Didn't think I'd be field stripping the crims that had me captured this morning... funny universe isn't it?" With the pair now not sticking out like a pair of CBRN troopers odds of this missions success were increasing. Ham scavenged another couple of power cells for his pistol and hid them away in his greatcoat. His stun baton slid into it's loop within his jacket and the 'Doorknocker' was placed on his belt in line with his coat's outer pocket. "Right, when we're ready."

With that he moved outside of Aggie's blasthole and looked around for a transport they all must've come here on something he recalled a airspeeder that didn't exactly have pace or comfort, maybe a light cargo skimmer? Also, the whine of a skimmer bike or two swam into his memory. While he didn't fancy the idea of the bikes he wouldn't mind requisitioning the speeder from his captives. It might be less conspicuous than anything the troopers had, if anything? There, tucked behind a shed. A very square looking craft, a box with hover capabilities. Pacing back and leaning into the hole, "Keys for a cargo airspeeder? Check your pockets." He entered, pulling out his datapad and pulling up a requisition form. "If one of you would provid-" he cut off as the keys were thrown at his face by the woman with the leg injury. He paced forward and lowered the datapad to her. "This is a requisition for a highspeed air-cruiser. Running up an invoice of around a third more than what you have out there, and be glad we're not taking the bike so you have something to go back on. No imprint the screen with a digit, please." As she complied he nodded, a wry sneer cracking across his face. "Thank you citizen, please await for three to five business days for your compensation to be wired to an account in your name..." he looked at the datapad and then held the back to face here and there was a little flash. "... Destanit Tembfil..." The woman's eyes opened wide and the realisation that the name was wrong. But she knew and the scan and picture would match. "... you may acquire this via many holo-net banking services or in hard credit from your local Judiciary outpost." He turned and strode toward the keys bending down as he pace continued.

He waited outside for his newfound allies, he was glad he could do something for them, but he had no obligation to do more. Just some punk kids looking to make some credits, maybe this would be a sharp wake up to the realities of the universe. The Republic was a friend to those that helped them, and a terrible foe to those that stood against it. No wonder it still stood against the turmoil thrown against it. It might change, but as long as it had people like the Doctor and her friend, even these kids if they got with 'the program'... even people like him... it would still survive in one form or another

 

[Agrafena Landis]

And thus, from all of Agrafena's ideas i lnfluenced by Léon, this just had to be one of the worst.

First was the very awkward taking of the Mirialan's jacket and pants, trying her very best not to look uncomfortable. No doubt that she was, but this could at least spare everyone else the trouble of their very odd predicament. Léon was already refitted and outside by the time she had relaced her boots and pulled on the tighter pair of pants, nodding her thanks supported by a hand gesture as she tossed her gear into the back of the airspeeder and got in, waiting for the other two to catch up. Haren was already fine as is, but Léon looked odd with the jacket around his shoulders. He didn't exactly seem comfortable, either. So she wasn't alone in that respect of this.

"All ready. Let's go before they ask foe their clothes back."

"Their clothes? No, these are mine now. I'm keeping the jacket."

"Then you're writing the report on it."

"So be it. Nice damn jacket."

Aggie scoffed as she sat up straighter in her chair, checking her sidearm and tucking it into the new jacket she wore, hoping this wouldn't go as downhill as they were prepared for. She looked at a shaking wrist and clenched it with her other hand, ignoring the aching pains coming back once more.

"Sooner we go, sooner I can get out of this stuff. It feels a size too small."

"You've just never worn real clothes, Aggs. You look good, dare I say, ma'am. Just don't act too confident and we'll be ending up in the wrong kind of establishment."

Dammit Léon...

 

[Ham Haren]

He'd checked the instrumentation and turned the engine over and on an idle by the time they were boarding. To say he was taken aback by Aggie was an understatement. His eyebrows roe revealing too many worry lines for a man his age. "My... well... anyway." He jumped into the drivers seat and the boxy craft began to respond to his commands for ascent. Befre long he had got to grips with the controls and focused on inputting a flight path into the city.

With the route fixed, he was given an estimated time to touchdown. As he had seected the centre of Senta, it said three hours, but they'd be in traffic for one before they hit the edge of the city, at which point he'd put them down rather than commiting to an hour in rush hour. He locked in the cruise control and turned bak to face the passengers, once more he was slightly knocked back at the stark change in both of them. "You'd fit right in around my Ma's place..." he turned around and left them to ruminate. "... its going to be a while, and unless you want another hour to prepare in here, I'm going to have to put us down on the edge of Senta." He turned back. "Anyway, why was it that you two signed up for this? I got picked out of the field agent line up... my personal technique and charm are obvious reasons for such a decision." he was dry. Wit, thirst and tone. But something in his face screamed honesty, the twinnkle in the corner of his eye? The crooked grin, the course stubbled chin? Each identifier wasn't enough but all together gave this oddly trustworthy appearance.

Turning back he turned the craft off course to check the auto-correction feature still worked. Lazily they banked back on course as he let go of the wheel. "Well,she's flying her own now." He hooked his ankles up onto the dashboard and slumped into the corner of his seat. "But its been nice to meet the pair of you, and thank you for rescuing me... I meant to say it before but with those kids and..." an ache hit his chest as he recalled her exit from the barn in her new apparel. "... a changing of uniform... there's not really been time." He turned away from the communicating window and tried tothink on other things.Now wasnot the time for such venturesor ideas. Straight thinking, and hard policing.

 

[Agrafena Landis]

There was an awkward moment as what people were saying registered in her brain. She inhaled a deep breath and ignored the rising heat in her cheeks, turning then another shade of red besides what they normally always were. Though, since it was so dark and the speeder was starting to move quite a bit fast, she was able to turn to face the window and act like she was checking her sidearm. As Agent Haren started some small talk while they moved, she left Léon to go ahead and partake in most of the conversation. Her thoughts wandered as she holstered her pistol once more.

"Me? I go wherever Doctor Landis needs an extra hand. Or two. Or when she can't lift extra weight. I'm kind of the pack mule. Though, the official answer is that it's kind of our jobs to do this thing. A bit of a niche interest, to be honest."

"I'd be glad to send you on your way with a couple transfer papers, if that's what you need."

"No, I like this better. I got a nice jacket out of this FUBAR mission."

Haren set the speeder into a bit of a cruise control mode, and she slid down in her seat and braced her knees against the back of the passenger chair, clearing her throat and checking her watch. That group of criminals probably are on their way by now. Where, exactly? Who the hell knew. Hopefully not to stun another unfortunate soul. She, again, let Léon do the talking. It was what he did best in situations like this.

"Just our job, Agent Haren. Plus, we kind of needed you for the leads on this disease. Hostage rescue isn't our thing, but, then again, CBRN learned to adapt over the years. We're not exactly famous or anything."

 

[Ham Haren]

Ham caught her blushing in the rearview screen and he smirked to himself. So these Republic troopers were a bit like him. Square pegs doing the impossible, and fitting in round holes! What had this CBRN unit been through? What trials had the beaten, what enemies had been conquered? How many lives saved? All of these were great, yet something leapt into his head. "So with all that is going on... and your postings? You don't get out much huh? I mean..." he leaned back and looked 'up' at Léon. "...we're going to be going into a potentially hostile situation with the need to be as covert as we can. You up to blending in?"

His gaze drifted from the well-cut and hardened male that screamed military type, and then made its way to staring into the reflection of the Doctor; at least she looked like a civilian. She looked so strikingly different, and with her shy demeanour causing the reflection in the window, she looked like a painting of a star crossed lover or something. His hand drifted to his belt and along to his holster where as softly as he could, a finger tip unfastened a button. With that done he could draw swiftly if her friend took offence. "Hey, hey you!" his voice was a growl, sharp and directed. He then waited a beat and then carried on the verbal attack. "Shock of red atop a body that won't quit." He watched her reaction and kept Léon in his peripheral leaning oddly in the chair so he could draw against him quickly if needed. "Yeah you, smart girl, waht's the like of you getting caught up in gak like this? You don't want to hang around a guy like him, come up into this cab and hang out with a real man or at least come and keep someone that knows what their doing company." He leaned into the grip he had on the holster, very overtly leading with an area he shouldn't. Mentally preparing himself for a second, he then grinned a smile that he'd seen too many times, several of which he'd shattered under his fist. What was she going to say?

Something about her made him hate himself. He, for some reason, wanted her to feel comfortable. No, it didn't stop there, he want to make her happy, yet he knew that this test had to reach a conclusion. So to finish the entire effect he winked at her and began to chortle to himself. How would they react? What would they think of him?

 

[Agrafena Landis]

You don't get out much was an understatement.

Basically her whole concept of free time was when she wasn't on a mission, and that consisted of filling out paperwork, conducting research on new types of diseases, eating on base, and maybe playing a certain stringed instrument for a bit. She rarely went off-base, and that was devoted to missions or the occasional meet with Léon at a diner or somewhere close to discuss research or try to avoid talking about his fun he had in his spare time. She never gave herself the luxury of getting into a relationship, or anything interesting of the sort. Léon certainly did. His asides should have been rathee obvious about it, though that didn't make him in any better position, except maybe with a better grasp of how to respond to what came next. A new voice came from the agent, one that didn't match but one that she had heard many times before.

Aggie turned her head to look at him in confusion as he continued, commenting further on her physical appearance. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Léon, who knew the game more or less but was willing to mess with his CO a bit. At least not too far.

"Yeah, well somebody with a face as ugly as yours is going to have to work a bit harder."

The accent didn't help with his act, but at the same time it just wouldn't have worked the same without it. She sunk deeper in her sitting position, trying to contemplate what to say and not being able to find anything. Landis would be better off just being a mute, honestly. This was terrible! If there was one thing her intelligence was lacking in, it was normal, personal conversation. But this was worse than normal. Heat rose in her face as she realized she had no idea what to do. Léon interrupted, immediately picking up and responding by pointing a finger.

"Hey, back off, okay? That's a bit too far. Say something else, we're going to have a couple problems."

Part of his tone was joking, but there was an underlay that showed the opposite, however subtle it was. Aggie managed a stunned cough which was followed by Léon messing up her hair with his off hand. She was better off keeping to herself in this case, though the worst was inevitable around here. Sooner or later she was going to need to find out what to say. Léon couldn't be her social brick wall forever.

 

[Ham Haren]

The draw was sharp and placed the barrel of his pistol running along the back of Léon's forearm. His head then tilted and a grin that involved his lips retracting tight to his teeth cracked across his face. "Very good, so at least we know where we're standing if someone pulls this gak on anyone of us." He holstered the weapon and sat sideways across the front bench. He checked Landis and then drifted between them both. His face returned to a mask of normality.

Seconds dripped into minutes and eventually an hour had been filled The sharp features caught the glare of the sunlight and he turned to them. "I'm sorry, but I have to know what I'm working with on all levels." he felt a sting in his chest, in fact it was broader than just a simple sting an ache hit him in his core. "I meant offence, of course, but not... argh!" He threw his hands up and turned to take control of the airspeeder. He dove them down to roof height, at least that way he had something to do. The undulating terrain was arced over and into then at a rise to the cliffs of the coast could be seen there was a series of lights glistening.

The sunlight not only on the Great Sea but on the domes and spires of Senta could be seen. This was it, they were being hailed and he punched in a pre-approved response from the flight plan. "Listen up, we're going to be landing soon." he then looked at the emplacements on the walls, he murmured to himself. "Here's hoping nobody knows we're coming a knocking."

 

[Agrafena Landis]

THEME​

Aggie looked back up toward the two, realizing why exactly the agent had pulled a stunt like that. It was a test to see if she could hold her own, not physically or in a combat environment, but rather in a battle of words. And she'd failed. Her partner, being far more experienced in areas like this, had taken over most of the weight. But she'd still failed. And if worse came to worse, she was going to shine like a brand new blaster in a battle-hardened combat unit. Léon put a hand on her shoulder and relaxed slightly as the blaster aimed toward him was lowered.

***
​

They didn't exactly trust the guy, but at the same time...they kind of had to. He was a bit of a control freak, as it were. Then, suddenly, he convulsed and put a hand to his chest. Aggie immediately tried to reach for a pack as he stabilized, then stopped herself and leaned forward to check his heartbeat with two fingers to his neck. She couldn't tell if anything was off, at least not right now with what she had on her. Her eyes glanced to Léon, who returned the gaze as they slowly reached their destination.

Domes and spires of Senta was a mild way of putting it. This place was huge.
"Doubtful. If Aggie couldn't pick up on social queues, we're probably fine. You've got a PhD for that, right?"

Landis let out a short exhale before leaning back in her chair, returning to her silence.