Covert Reconciliation

[MoreThanSane]

Tap.

Rattatapatap.

Tap tap arattatap.

Aelianus glared darkly at the Colonel sitting across from him, the man's infernally loud fingertapping reaching a remarkably irritating crescendo. Aelianus's hand brushed the length of cord in his jacket. Oh how simple it would be to slip across the hard, smooth durasteel table between them and wrap the cord around his neck! He twitched, the urge almost too strong.

With a sniff, he reigned himself in. However annoying the man may be, he didn't deserve to die for it. Did he? Aelianus was striving to be more empathetic--to be empathetic at all, actually--and he was nearly certain that this wasn't the sort of thing an empathetic person would consider a cause for execution.

He pulled an empty hand from his coat, leaving the cord inside. He doubted his partner on the mission, Juno Armstrong, would be very pleased to find him on the floor garroting his commanding officer. If only she would hurry the kriff up and get here, he wouldn't have to listen to the man's infernal tapping....

He sighed, remembering the last time he'd been paired with Juno. That fiasco had resulted in hundreds of deaths and nearly claimed both him and Juno. In fact, it was the reason he'd been holed up in a medcenter for a month, and out of the field for another. But some good had come of it. Now he and Juno were... well, he didn't know what exactly they were.

The Special Forces soldier shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He felt something toward Juno. He didn't understand it, really. It was something completely new. But it was there, odd and nagging and incredible in its power. And now it scared him. Terrified him, in all honesty. And yet, he couldn't think of anything in the galaxy he was looking forward to more than seeing her again. It had been too long. Far too long.

"You okay, son?" asked the Colonel, whose fingers had finally--thank the Force--come to rest.

Aelianus looked at him and raised a condescending eyebrow. "I'm fine, Colonel Martin. Very fine."

Martin chuckled, weathered face scrunching as he shook his head. "Good for you, son."

Aelianus scowled, unsure what the Colonel was getting at. People were just so strange sometimes.

 

[Cassanova]

A Jedi Knight strolled down the hall of the base, there wasn't anyone who would doubt her at this point. The Jedi held her head high, she wore a form-fitting armour that served dozens of purposes, and a flowing sleeveless robe. Juno Armstrong, Jedi Knight.

Having been appointed to her new post as Jedi Knight, Juno was issued with not only a mission but some good advice from the Jedi Council. The advise was for her only, but the results were clear. She held herself more seriously, and you could feel her walk into a room. Her confidence, ability, or simply he fact that she was becoming a truly elegant and beautiful woman turned heads as she walked through the base. Barely pausing to open the door, Juno brushed through the door as it hissed open. The minor change in air pressure sent a gentle gust of wind, flushing her hair over the lip of her robe's collar. The wind also revealed the unmistakable chrome of her lightsaber, which hung gently on her right hip, tucked gently behind the crimson robe.

She could see the two occupants clearly, however the Colonel was the only one with a clear view of Juno as she entered the room. She gave a respectful, but perfectly silent nod towards the man. Silently and gently tucking her hands behind her back clasping her wrist in the darkness between her armoured back and dark robe. She did, however, take the time to pass a knowing grin to the back of Aelianus' head, "Reporting, sir."

 

[MoreThanSane]

The sound of the door hissing open was just barely audible. Aelianus deftly popped his chair up on one leg and kicked out a foot, swiveling it around and bringing the newly-arrived Jedi Knight into full view. There was a clack as the chair's other three legs were allowed to once again make contact with the floor, and Aelianus couldn't help himself. He grinned.

Juno was, unsurprisingly, even more beautiful now then she'd been the last time he'd seen her. It was all he could do to remain in his chair, with her standing close.

"Jed Knight Armstrong," said Colonel Martin, getting to his feet and slowly straightening, obviously from some sort of joint pain. "You're late. Please, have a seat." He walked over to a bag sitting on the room's far wall and then brought it back to the table, depositing it there with a thud. He flicked open two latches on its front and opened it, then pulled out a flimsi file.

Aelianus scooted his his chair back around as Juno took the chair vacated by the Colonel. With a conscious effort, shifted his gaze from her to Martin. There would be time for catching up later. And if there wasn't, he would make time.

"I'll cut right to the proverbial chase," began the Colonel, looking at each of them in turn, "the mission to Lorta was bad. You both probably realized that when our kriffing frigate was blown out of the sky by mercenaries. That's not something that happens every day and, even though--thank the Force--we managed to keep the story all plugged up, it's not something we can afford to ignore. Mercenaries just don't go around shooting up warships. Intel dropped the ball on that one. And they dropped it hard."

"No shavit," said Aelianus.

Martin nodded. "We didn't know what we were sending you boys into, and we paid for it. But now it's time to get even." He pulled a photo from the file and dropped it on the table between them. "This is Ivan Boriskovic. You might remember him."

Aelianus looked at the picture. Extravagant man. That's what he'd tagged him during one of their firefights on Lorta. "Yeah. I thought we blew him up with the base."

"Apparently not." The Colonel flicked another photo onto the tabletop. "This was taken six days ago on Corellia," he dropped three more alongside each other. "This four days ago on Commenor, this two days ago on Thyferra, and this twelve hours ago on Balmorra."

"Obviously he's up to something," Aelianus touched the last picture with a finger. "Why haven't your men taken him yet?"

"It's not that easy." The Colonel set the file on the table and crossed his arms. "When we sent you to Lorta we had no idea that Boriskovic was involved. If we had, we would have let them be. This man's an animal. He's got his slimy little hands in everything. Obviously," added Martin, "even GA Intelligence. So we can't just 'take him,' Sergeant. He's leading us places.

"Unfortunately after Lorta, we can't trust Intel. Not on the Boriskovic matter, anyway. But we can't afford a mole hunt right now. We really can't." He shook his head. "We're too tied up. You two seem to have made an impression higher up on the food chain, though. Lorta was a disaster, yet you two survived and carried out--somewhat--the mission."

"So you're sending us." It wasn't a question.

Martin nodded. "We're sending you." He pushed the bag toward them. "Everything you'll need is in here. Detailed instructions, documents, information, identities, comm codes, and the passkey for the unmarked Intelligence freighter we snagged you for the duration. Clothes, weapons and such are there." He put the photos back in the folder, then deposited the folder into the bag and closed it. "We don't care how long it takes. It doesn't matter. We just need intel on Boriskovic's ops, and then we need Boriskovic." He eyed them each hard. "You get us what we need."

The Colonel threw them a casual salute, then left the room, boots clacking rhythmically on the flooring.

Aelianus waited until the doors closed, then gave Juno a wry smile. "Hello Juno," he said.

 

[Cassanova]

Juno swiftly scooped the bag between her legs, and thumbed through it, pulling a data pad which held the majority of the details onboard it. She skimmed the files as the Colonel left the room. When the doors shut, she tossed the data pad back into the bag.

"Hello Juno."

"Hello, Lee," she smiled to him, and offered him a kiss on the cheek as she leant over to him. She shifted her weight in her seat, her new combat boots, lined with some fancy material that Juno couldn't pronounce, groaned as she turned to face him. "So here we are, chasing down this guy again," she looked to the board, and let her eyes absorb the features of the man who was behind the misery that brought her and Lee together. At the very least to thank him, then arrest him.

"Whats the first move, Sergeant?" she playful added.

 

[MoreThanSane]

He smiled, relishing the brief warmth of her lips on his cheek.

"What indeed?" Aelianus asked as he leaned back in his chair and began stroking his chin absently. His mind whirled as it filed away the information it had just been fed. Strands of data were pieced together like a puzzle, the complete formulated into full thoughts that consciously surfaced while the rest was filed away for future reference.

Ivan Boriskovic.

The name echoed in his mind, bouncing through his consciousness as he tagged it with every bit of information he had on the man. There would undoubtedly be more to come once he looked through the bag.

Ivan Boriskovic.

This was the man who'd killed an entire frigate's worth of Galactic Alliance personnel. This was the man who'd killed his squad. This was the man who'd nearly killed Juno. He looked up and his eyes met hers. Rage flared within him. Juno. This man had almost killed Juno.

Inadmissible.

He had little desire to bring the criminal to a legal "justice." Nor was he particularly interested in pleasing whatever paper pushers he'd managed to impress. He was, however, relishing the idea of revenge. Ivan Boriskovic was a terror, and so he would pay. The simplicity was refreshing.

"I suppose step one will be getting to our freighter. I'm rather looking forward to seeing what Intel thought to provide us with." He got to his feet and slung the bag over his shoulder, then offered Juno his hand. "We may as well be on our way." He frowned to himself; they had a lot of catching up to do, and he didn't quite know how to begin. Luckily, this mission would be anything but exciting and fast-paced. At least not from the start.

And so he simply smiled at the lovely woman as he helped her to her feet. "A brilliant piece of armor," he said as they walked from the room. "Quite nice."

 

[Cassanova]

Aelianus was correct, the armour that Juno was sporting was nice. It also came with a hefty price tag. As a Jedi, however, Juno wasn't given payment as far as credits go. The Order's requisition office merely kept a tally of what equipment went out to whom, and those who ordered sparingly from the office were given the option of the more impressive equipment. Since joining the Order, Juno had accumulated a woefully small tab at the office, having only ever ordered a lightsaber, a few spare parts, a datapad, and a new pair of boots. So when she was promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight, and there was more need of her to have newer gear, the book was essentially open.

The armour she had chosen was subtle and discreet, and still had 'Jedi' written all over it. It was also suitably impressive, and came with a laundry list of features Juno hoped she would never need to use. As a Jedi Knight, she was also given the choice of a ship - Juno had chosen a fast, small, one-manned fighter that she had yet to name. Nonetheless, it sat in the dock awaiting her return.

Juno led the way out of the room, but waited for Aelianus to catch up. As the pair walked to the dock, Juno couldn't help herself but have a conversation with the man. She found him to be intriguing, interesting, and completely charming all in the same breath. It was odd for her, she didn't know a damned thing about him, and he barely knew anything about her - well, not that she had told him anyway. After a moment in silence while Juno searched her mind for something to say, she simply bounced back to the Sergeant's original statement about her armour, "It's one of the new designs..." she paused, as she motioned to the circular ring that moved with her, resting on her shoulders, from which her robe hung, "...I've barely finished reading the owners manual for this thing, though."

She chuckled and looked to him, "So how have you been, Lee? It's been a while since the Gala..."
She trailed off, remembering the night to which he had been trying to subtly lay claim to her. Juno, however, had realised quite early on, that he wasn't being subtle that night, and thoroughly enjoyed the attention. Nonetheless, she did remind herself that at some point she would have to put her foot down and let him know that she was not to be protected -- A conversation for another day.

 

[MoreThanSane]

He snorted. How had he been? "Bored," he said simply. "I've been insufferably bored. It seems there's some group of babbling idiots in command who can't tell their--" he broke off. "Nevermind that. I just haven't been as active as I would have preferred. The whole thing is," he paused as they exited the Alliance building and descended the steps to the speeder parking area, "frustrating. But I won't bore you with details."

He suddenly remembered how he'd most recently expressed that frustration. "Ah, not that way. Follow me." They walked parallel along the wide sloping steps toward where a speeder truck was attaching cables to another speeder that had been left there. There were a few pedestrians watching as they ate their lunches.

"Hey," Aelianus shouted and pulled out a badge he'd counterfeited, "Coruscant Police. Detach those cables, I'm taking this speeder." The truck driver simply shrugged and Aelianus gestured for Juno to enter the vehicle, following suit himself shortly after. "I apologize," he said, the speeder shaking slightly as the man followed his orders, "I'd forgotten I left it here."

He started the repulsorlifts, then made a wide turn and flew the speeder into a skylane leading to the spaceport. "It's been too long since the Gala, Juno. And I'm sorry about leaving you so abruptly. The call that came in sounded so much more important then it actually turned out to be, and by the time I returned," he shrugged, "I believe you'd been whisked away yourself."

He looked at her, momentarily ignoring the careening traffic that characterized the skylanes of Galactic City. "I am... happy," he thought that was the right word, "to see you again."

 

[Cassanova]

Nestling into the seat a little more, Juno eyed around and posed a non-related question to Lee, "Use the metered bays next time, Lee. They check them every six hours..." she chuckled and nodded towards the horizon, "My ship is parked in the same bay as the one we're taking. Do you mind if we swing past and get some gear from it?"

As the pair talked, Juno simultaneously flipped through the datapad, skimming its information for anything critical to her participation in this mission. She wasn't quite sure if Aelianus knew yet, but technically she outranked him now. Juno made a mental note to let that piece of information slide. Nothing jumped out and bit her. It appeared to be little more than photos with timestamps and locale notes. Sounds like intelligence was more or less useless again. Alternatively Juno still hadn't quite gotten into her stride as a Jedi Knight yet, so she may have missed the finer points - however she was comforted by the fact nothing would have slipped Aelianus' grasp.

She chuckled as Aelianus fumbled through his emotions. She thought he was cute, and pondered for a split second how often a man in his position has feelings to share, let alone actually sharing them. "I'm happy too, Lee. I can only hope that this time our meeting isn't filled with boring speeches or terrible intel," she waved the datapad, "...but then again, not much seems useful on here. I'm not expecting this to be predictable."

Her eyes fell to her knee and quickly examined the new armour, it was comfortable, and quite apt at controlling the temperature nicely for her body. She only hoped that if things went awry as they did upon their last mission, it's full functionality wouldn't be pushed to it's limits. Admittedly, Juno had learned a great deal too, but some things were best not left to chance.

 

[MoreThanSane]

Aelianus smiled as they came up on the spaceport. He was happy to see her, and happier to know that she was happy too. For a moment he was disappointed in himself. That had been the most pathetically infantile thought strain he'd had in years. But, oddly, it really didn't seem to matter. Was that because he was happy?

"Nice ship," he said, bringing the speeder to a halt outside the craft. It was indeed quite beautiful, and he was more than a little surprised that a Jedi Knight would be issued such a vehicle. It looked too vicious, in a way. Too deadly. Then he glanced at Juno. He needed to reassess his view of the Jedi, he realized, for if Juno was their poster child of sorts, then his assumptions were completely wrong.

"The freighter's supposed to be nearby," he said. "Meet me when you're finished." He pushed the accelerator as the Jedi Knight exited, the pull of the repulsorlifts causing the passenger door to slam shut.

The freighter they'd been assigned was indeed nearby. In the next bay, actually. But it was--externally, at the very least--unimpressive, a stark contrast to Juno's sleek fighter.

It was old. Rusty, worn, hull plating peeled and torn in spots, paint dashed haphazardly across its outer shell. And it was of no design Aelianus recognized. Certainly nothing like the YT-series ship he owned. He hoped, as he punched in the keycode on a pad just right of the ship's ramp, that its interior would be more impressive.

As the ramp lowered, he heard the squeak of new boots on permacrete and turned to find Juno behind him. "Shall we?" he asked as the ramp hit the ground with a dull thud.

 

[Cassanova]

Juno stood up in the speeder, and kicked a leg over the side of it's door. She looked to Aelianus and smiled, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

A few steps led Juno to her ship, The Axiom, which was an Alliance R&D post-prototype model of which a dozen or so were produced, to test their efficacy in the field. Overall the ship looked an odd combination of elegance and - not violence - but sharpness. Pin point accuracy was what the J-12 Aethersprite was about. Fast, blisteringly fast turns. Juno imagined that at times she would wish for more weaponry aboard the ship, but there was something alarmingly 'neutral' about the ship, as you could not visibly see any weapons.

Opening a hatch in the left wing, Juno pulled a bag which held a few supplies - nothing groundbreaking, of course, as Juno preferred to carry the essentials on her person at all times. Once she had her bag in hand, a quick walk to the front of the ship led the ships onboard droid circuitry to recognise her instantly. Juno smiled as the ship seemed to chirp happily at her presence, "Ex-Oh..." XO was the nickname she had given the onboard circuitry, well in essence, the entire ship, "...lock it down. I'm going off world and I'm not sure when I'll be back. Forward any communications to that frigate."

Juno pointed to the rusted out frigate to her ship which provided a series of positive chirps to her. Juno smiled and began to walk over towards Lee as the boarding ramp aboard the 'rust bucket' which Juno had accidentally nicknamed the ship as the sound of her new boots gave her away, Aelianus didn't seem to miss a thing, "Shall we?"

"Yes, sir. I believe we shall," Juno led the way up the ramp to the ship, barely wasting a moment to move towards the cockpit. The ship itself wasn't particularly grand, nor special, but there did seem to be something 'off' about the ship. The exterior was rusted to hell, it looked like parts were missing, but the interior seemed so intentionally dull and uninteresting. Juno passed a quick look to Aelianus, "Why do i get the feeling this isn't as worthless as the outside suggests?"

 

[MoreThanSane]

"Quite simply," Aelianus said, "because it isn't." He'd noticed the small signs as they came aboard--a chip in the durasteel wall here, just about the right size for a fingerprint analyzer, a caf mug there, seemingly sealed to the table it had been left on. His favorite so far was the cobweb in the common room's corner closest to the corridor leading to the cockpit; Intel had done a brilliant job with that one. He wondered what exactly would happen when he tugged it. I'll find out soon enough.

"Let's check the cabins. I'm interested to see what kind of wardrobe we've been provided."

There were three cabins on the ship. The foremost was the captain's. It had a large bed pressed up against one wall with a dull metal nightstand on its left, an equally boring lamp atop it. The rest of the room was bare, with the exception of a dresser directly adjacent to the bed.

"Trust me," said Aelianus as he examined the dresser, "it isn't nearly so unimpressive as it seems." He opened a few drawers, feeling around inside each of them for a switch or lever. There were none. Next he ran his hands along the outside. It was, likewise, devoid of anything suggesting that the dresser was more than it appeared. But Aelianus knew it to be so.

"Hmm...." he straightened and grinned. "Oh they're clever," he said, recalling a conversation he'd had with a very enthusiastic 5th regiment tech while stuck in the medcenter while he'd been recovering. The man had been incredibly pleased to find someone with sufficient clearance to hear about his new projects, and Aelianus had had nothing better to do than listen. Smiling at Juno, he kicked the dresser hard in its center. Quickly, smoothly, its top opened and a scanner slid up and came to rest at roughly eye-level. It beeped once, and Aelianus assumed it was running facial-recognition software.

"Identities confirmed," said a computerized voice. "Welcome aboard." There was a hiss, and the dresser separated and slid outward, revealing a small room lit by a bright bluish-white light.

"Very clever," Aelianus murmured as he stepped inside. The place was filled with women's clothing. From businesslike pantsuits to flowing ball gowns. "Oh that's right, you're the senior officer on this one," he said, turning to Juno. He'd forgotten about the implications of her promotion. "Well, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun in here." He pulled one of the gowns from its rack. Pinned to its front was a datacard labelled "Instructions--Read!" in bright red letters. "Be sure to take a look at the card before you put anything on. Sometimes Intel's equipment can prove rather," he paused, putting the gown back, "explosive."

 

[Cassanova]

A skeptical look escaped Juno's serious demeanour as she stared at Aelianus. "Explosive?"

Her answers were given to her as she read the card on one particular dress; This dress is coated in a sodium compound that when moisture makes contact, will emit a blinding white light. Do not wear in the rain.

Alliance Intelligence seemed to pull out all the stops for this mission. Why? Apparently they were after Boriskovic just as badly as she knew Aelianus wanted him. Juno didn't harbour any preference. He was reaping havoc upon the galaxy, and breaking the law. To her it was as simple as he needed to be stopped. Nonetheless, Juno honestly didn't quite understand the need for all of... all of this. She was a Jedi Knight, and in ninety percent of the situations presented to her, being honest about that was the peaceful solution. Occasionally hostilities ensued, but rarely did lying about her life choices produce a positive result. At the end of the day it went directly against one of the precepts of the Order. While Juno knew these to be guidelines, it still irked her to unnecessarily lie.

"Lee... Why all this? Why don't we just go in, and arrest him?" Juno's face registered relatively clearly how she felt about all these clothes, the deceptive nature of the ship. Not to mention the fact that Alliance Intelligence was involved - she was dutifully skeptical of anything that she was told by the files issued by them at this point.

Juno placed down the bag of gear she had collected from her ship upon the bed, and sat down upon it. She kept her gaze locked to Aelianus, and had let her mind wander about the relationship between themselves as she waited for a response.

 

[MoreThanSane]

Aelianus frowned as Juno sat down on the bed. "You heard the Colonel as well as I, Juno." His hand pressed a panel as he exited the hidden closet and it slid shut behind him. He lifted himself up and sat on the edge of the once more whole dresser. "Boriskovic is connected, the fact that he had the resources to shoot down a GA frigate is sufficient evidence of that. His being seen on so many planets in such quick succession suggests that his organization is far-reaching, most likely dealing primarily in drugs, but his presence on Balmorra suggests that he also sells weapons."

He'd thought the implications were clear. But he always saw things clearer than most people, and Juno wouldn't be any different. "For the Galactic Alliance, that means trouble. He could be supplying any number of crime cartels or pirate gangs, or even the Imperium. Or perhaps not only supplying but directing. And then we think back to the Lorta mission again. He knew we were coming. That means a mole.

"So, we have a well connected drugs and arms dealer with enough funds and influence to get himself a mole within one of the most efficient intelligence agencies in the galaxy. For the Alliance this isn't just about Boriskovic, it's about who Boriskovic buys from. It's about Boriskovic's organization. You don't just remove the head of a group like this, or his lieutenants will kill thousands in the ensuing power struggle, and then Intel loses all progress they've made."

He wondered what it was exactly that had upset her. Possible reasons for her not wanting to be assigned to the mission flashed through his mind, and he homed in on the most painful. But it didn't make sense. She'd seemed happy enough to see him again, and he didn't see any reason for her to fake such feelings.

"This mission is going to be slow, Juno. Long and slow. We watch, we listen, we gather information. And when the time is right, we take Boriskovic down. But only when the time is right. Only when we're sure we can take his organization--or at the very least most of it--down with him." He paused awkwardly. If his suspicions, however seemingly unreasonable, were correct, it would be best to address them sooner rather than later. "If you aren't interested in being stuck with me, largely out of contact with everyone you know, hurtling around the galaxy on a mission that may well take weeks or months, tell me now."

 

[Cassanova]

The Sergeant was right, and Juno knew it. She would be involved in this mission for weeks at a minimum. She honestly had no problems with being with Aelianus every waking minute of the days to come, and cherished the thought of finding out more about him. Even as Aelianus dutifully listed why they couldn't simply remove Boriskovic from his position, Juno's mind was in a constant state of duality. She was partly transfixed by his green eyes. She let that part of her mind continue on its downward spiral, where she brought her conscious mind to bear on the task at hand.

Admittedly, Juno wasn't given the full story when she was requested to come to the briefing, but she was certainly glad that Aelianus was on hand. He had a certain eye for detail that Juno simply didn't possess. When it came to a fight, however, very few people, including Aelianus she suspected, would be able put her into a losing situation. Either way, she was acutely aware that the mission was going to require her focus. This was something she was prepared for, of course. Aelianus, being there was simply a pleasant distraction, and let Juno practice the art of compartmentalising her mind to operate simultaneously. A challenging skill that she had read about during her time as a Padawan that simply divided the mind to operate on a number of different problems, while still putting all ability into the task at hand. Some say that a mind could be split ten ways, doing nine completely unrelated things in one's head, while performing the most delicate of motor skill tasks. Juno was working on perfecting the art of two things for the time being.

"I guess we're going to have to be very comfortable, Sergeant," Juno smiled and stood up and moved over to Aelianus, "Lee. There is no one in the galaxy I would rather be stuck with right now."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him gently on the lips. Juno drew her head backwards a little, and allowed her blue eyes to dart between his green. Dismissing all inhibition at this point, she moved in for another, more passionate kiss.

 

[MoreThanSane]

Aelianus' mind seemed to slow, the myriad of thoughts and calculations simply fading away as Juno's lips met his. Everything that he considered important ceased being so as he reciprocated. There were no thoughts. There could be no thoughts. Thoughts were external, unimportant. The Alliance, Boriskovic, the war--they were irrelevant. All of them. There was only he and Juno.

Nothing else mattered.

~~~

"Hyperspace jump complete."

Aelianus opened his eyes and sat up slowly, watching with slightly morbid fascination as the scar on his bare abdomen writhed with the motion of muscles beneath. He shook off the urge to touch it and looked around. He was in the vessel's common room, sitting on the main couch. His shirt rested on the heavy durasteel table.

He swung his legs over the couch's edge and grabbed the shirt. The ground was cold and he winced as his feet made contact. He would have to remember to wear socks from now on.

"ETA to spaceport," he ordered the ship's droid brain--an impressive feature that he and Juno had discovered before departing Coruscant. The incident might have been considered embarrassing had it not been so fundamentally comedic. Regardless, the artificial intelligence had taken care of the piloting thus far, leaving he and Juno plenty of free time. He found himself immensely grateful. Where is Juno? he wondered before noticing light filtering down the corridor to the refresher.

"Thirty-two minutes and eighty-three seconds."

"So thirty-three minutes and twenty-three seconds?"

"You are quick for a human, sir." They'd also noticed early on that the ships AI considered itself superior to organic beings, an annoying trait that somewhat dampened Aelianus' enthusiasm.

Aelianus snorted and pulled his shirt on. He winced as the odor met his nostrils. Perhaps he should use the refresher himself. "Warn me when we're five minutes from touchdown, and monitor comm traffic. Let me know if you hear anyone saying 'Boriskovic.' It could prove useful."

"Certainly, sir."

He strode down the corridor to the captain's cabin and knocked lightly on the door. "Juno? We're nearly there."

 

[Cassanova]

Knock knock knock.

"Juno? We're nearly there."

Juno quickly decided that there were far worse ways to be woken up. As Juno propped herself up in her bed, she smiled sheepishly as she recalled events from the night before. Ranging from the incident with the AI core, the challenge Aelianus had with removing Juno's armour, and then to the night they had shared together. She pulled the sheet up to herself, and tapped a button on the side table, which opened the door to Aelianus. Juno motioned for him to come in and sit on the bed.

She looked to him with honest, and vulnerable blue eyes behind which was a lingering question. Juno fought on an internal level for the few moments that it took Aelianus to join her. Admittedly, in her mind, those few seconds seemed to take more like an eternity. She honestly wanted to know what the meaning of the night before was. Was it relationship? How did it affect the mission at hand? How would this affect their careers? What would come of it? Her mind buzzed with a thousand questions - and not a single one of them pertained directly to the mission at hand. Her mind was completely focused on Aelianus. When she realised this, her mind posed another thousand questions. Why him? Why do I feel like this? How can I be so affected by a man I know so little about?

It took a while, but Juno suppressed the questions, and accepted their existence, and acknowledged their time to be voiced would soon come. In the meantime, however. Juno kept her eyes fixated upon Aelianus as he moved to sit on the bed next to her. As he finally settled upon the bed, Juno pivoted in the bed and discarded the sheet, showing her naked back to Aelianus. She began the process of sliding on her armour - as a one piece suit which did up from the front it was a challenge at best. "Whats our first lead? And how do you want to follow it?"

 

[MoreThanSane]

The smile could not be contained. The bedding was strewn about, half-on the bed and half-off, Juno sitting amidst it, more beautiful now than ever with her black hair disheveled and her wide blue eyes bright with memories. Shared memories. Memories that linked them and the smile that spread across both their faces. Wonderful memories.

As Aelianus sat on the edge of the bed, watching the beautiful woman slowly pull on her armor, he couldn't help but wonder what would become of them. He hadn't the slightest inkling of what the love was that "normal" people so often referred to, and he doubted he ever would. He'd come to terms with his own peculiarity years ago, but now he wished fervently that he had some kind of emotional guide book. He felt drawn to Juno. He felt an unyielding adoration for her and everything that she did and everything that she thought and everything that she was, but he had no way of knowing if that was the fabled "love" that seemed universally shared by sentients across the galaxy. Nor did he, with that in mind, have the slightest idea as to what Juno herself was feeling. Was she truly interested in him, or was he simply a distraction?

He shifted slightly, suddenly obsessed with the notion. But there was no way of knowing. Not without asking. He looked at Juno, watched the rippling of perfect muscles beneath perfect skin, and decided against it, for the time being.

"What's our first lead? And how do you want to follow it?" she asked, still turned away from him.

Aelianus blinked, her voice shaking him from his reverie. "Our most recent intel places Boriskovic at Carruggan's Hotel and Casino in Bin Prime. If he's still there it means he's probably sitting..." he broke off, momentarily distracted by Juno's continued efforts to work her armor on, "...uh, sitting around waiting for a deal to go through. So we check the guest list. If he's there--and we'll know, people such as this always use their real names--then we rent ourselves a room. Intel was kind enough to throw us a few million credits, and we can requisition more if need be. If he's waiting for a deal--again, that's if--then he'll no doubt be entertaining himself in the casino. And from there it's simple. Disguises, recon, snap some pictures, meet his contacts. Overall, we'll have to prove very interesting people..." he broke off, once again distracted. "Would you like some assistance?" he asked as he got to his feet.

 

[Cassanova]

She turned to Aelianus and grinned, "If i let you help me again, we won't get anything done, Sergeant. Besides, if we're talking disguises, perhaps a suit of armour isn't the right outfit."

She chuckled as she removed what she had successfully put on so far, and gracefully pulled a sheet to her body to cover up. Moving gracefully over to the wardrobe, Juno began thumbing through some of the items of clothing that were selected for her by Alliance Intelligence - There's an oxymoron if i've ever seen one, she thought. She playfully turned back to Aelianus who sat on the bed still, and curled her finger in his direction, summoning to him. "Get over here and let me know what you think I'll look good in," she paused, and poked him in the chest, "And don't you dare say a bed sheet."

She pulled out a few choices, holding them up to Aelianus. She was playing him like a fiddle at this point, gauging his tastes in her fashion sense - at the end of the day she did like him, and she definitely enjoyed the night they had spent together. Juno had decided to set a part of her mind to unravelling the mystery of Aelianus Atratinus - Juno was rarely defeated at things she had set her mind to. As it stood, she felt as though they were in some quasi-relationship of some sorts. I don't think either one of them dared to say it though, in fear that whispering of this good bond that was building would scare it off to be lost forever. Soon enough, however, one of them would gather the courage to set the record straight.

After pulling a few options out and laying them on the bed, Juno snuck her way under Aelianus' arm, and rested her head on his shoulder, "So, what do you think?"

 

[MoreThanSane]

He smiled and enjoyed the warmth of her body against his, the sheet's thin fabric the only thing keeping them apart. He caressed her arm idly, looking between the outfits she'd laid out. He wasn't sure why she would want his opinion, but he decided it didn't matter. If she wanted it she wanted it, and he couldn't withhold anything from Juno Armstrong. Ever.

"The blue one," he said, "definitely. It suits your eyes." He bent his neck and kissed her on the forehead before giving her a gentle push toward the bed. He took a deep breath to try to clear his mind. "Put it on now, Juno, or we truly may waste what's left of today. I'll be in my cabin when you finish."

With one last lingering glance at the woman's perfect form, Aelianus tore himself from the room and made his way to the refresher. He cleaned himself up, shaved, then went to his room and opened his own "hidden closet," as he'd come to think of it. Intelligence had seen fit to provide him with a wide variety of outfits as well. He selected a black dress suit--the model he favored at most formal events and gatherings--and put it on. It had a variety of gadgets worked throughout the jacket and pants. Concealed pockets, explosive buttons, EMP-hardened microcams and more. It was truly a feat of ingenuity on the part of Alliance R&D.

He caught his breath as Juno stepped into his room, absolutely stunning in her gown. "My... you're beautiful," he whispered.

"Fifteen minutes until touchdown, sir. I know you told me to alert you at five, but internal sensors are reading a significantly increased heart rate and bloo--"

"Shut up."

 

[Cassanova]

She chuckled at the AI's commentary of Aelianus' physical state. Juno had known she was attractive, young men had been telling her that for years. However, this was the first time that Juno believed it. She took a few strides towards Aelianus, now only just shorter than him as she wore a simple set of high heels, bringing her height up to just over 6'1". She stood directly in front of Aelianus and smiled, "Sergeant, I believe the AI might be malfunctioning..."

The AI chimed in on cue, as a cheeky grin grew across Juno's face, "Actually, ma'am, my systems are operating at normal levels. His heart rate and blood pressure are well above normal. His pheromone level also reads signif--"

Juno smiled as she pressed a button on the doorframe which muted the AI's systems. She turned her attention back to him and kissed him lightly on the lips. "You, sir, need a plan for this Casino. You do realise that I'm assigned to this mission to keep you out of trouble, right?"

Truth of the matter is that Juno was chosen not only for her involvement in the mission prior to, but also due to her skill set of combat surpassing her age. While, of course, Aelianus had his combat skills, he was primarily the brains and the eyes for the mission. At the end of the day they each brought a unique skill set to the mission at hand. Then there was the fact that together they fit the profile of a couple. Hopefully more than just fitting a profile... Juno tossed through her mind quickly, and then looked back to Aelianus.