In the shadow of the day...[Tad]

[Vitra Karr]

She never liked Bothawui...too many soldiers, and not one of them hers.

Fingers rose to clasp the black edged ID tags hanging around her neck. Vitra was a freelancer, a former Imperial pilot who'd had enough doctrine shoved down her throat to last a lifetime. Who now worked for anyone able to pay her exorbitant fees; whether it be as a pilot or a mercenary, she earned every single credit.

The ID tags, however, were not her own. They belonged to a soldier she met years ago on Alderaan. The memory brought a smile to her face, warming her features and her chestnut gaze.

The expression didn't last however, as the comlink on her wrist chimed with an incoming message at last. This, was why she was here.

It took only a few minutes for Vitra to make her way inside the complex, and find the appropriate briefing room. A-263...just as the message read. She nodded to the officer standing in front of the holoscreen and took one of the two seats available. He began detailing the mission - a simple smash, grab, and detonate on Imperial installation orbiting Dantooine.

Vitra doubted it was going to be simple. But that was why they paid her...she made the complex and impossible happen on a fairly regular basis.

She took the datapad he offered, and scrolled her acceptance on the outstretched flimsy he held. "Who's going to be my partner for this mission?" she asked arching a sculpted brow as she looked up, curiosity writ in her gaze.

"He should be here shortly. Gear up and leave as soon as you're ready." the man replied, offering a polite tilt of his head before exiting the room and leaving her in silence.

Not knowing how much time she had, Vitra took advantage of the holoscreen and called up the schematics of the installation. Manipulating the controls she studied the layout until she heard the door click open behind her.

[Taddius "Ram" Rammstein]

It was an early day on the base for him, earlier than normal but he had a mission and Tad was prepping for it. That meant that his morning schedule was out of whack so he had to adjust and get everything done beforehand. He grabbed for his dogtags, weird because they weren't there and not the Alliance ones either. Infiltrators (or so he was told as he's still new here) don't wear them, no he was reaching for his old Alderaan tags, weird, he hadn't done so in years.

Grabbing a bite wasn't really an option at the moment so he went to get some caf and headed to the bunkers. Apparently he was going to have to deal with some merc. He didn't know the details yet but was quickly learning that this was the way of Special Forces so he didn't really care. They were who they were in spite of a lack of intel, besides, perfect intel was a trap anyway. Something about the mission though was an odd one, he had a secondary objective; Infiltrators aren't supposed to have those on a "smash and dash", at least those on this small a level anyway. Apparently he was supposed to "pick up" another Infiltrator, one who is "stuck" inside the base and unable to evac.

If this wasn't odd enough, it was a name he knew, Attenboro "Torch" Mintleston. One of the ones from his class who was a crap candidate, such a clumsy idiot. The thing is, the guy, a human, was a whiz with explosives. That of course brought up more questions. Was this his op initially? Did he louse it up? Is he "made"? Did he break? Should he share this with the merc?

Walking into the small room, the door clicking as he opened it, he thought of one simple answer. Only one way to find out.

Then of course he saw her, that silhouette, the hair, the smell of Corellian roses... it was "Vi".

"I was wondering if I would ever see you again." The smile on his face should have told her all she needed to know about whether he wanted to see her right then and there or not.

[Vitra Karr]

Alright, alright...maybe Bothawui wasn't so bad.

She turned away from the holoscreen, tossing her head slightly to get her chestnut curls out of her line of sight. This was something, after all, that needed savoring. Fingers set the control pad for the holoscreen down before she rested her hands on her hips, silver flecked irises cascading slowly up down his form.

Tad was definitely a sight for sore eyes, and she was hard-pressed to mask her real reaction to him. So she covered it up and spoke, even though he'd be able to plainly see the Alderaanian tags she still wore.

"I was wondering the same thing...but I didn't think it'd be here of all places." Vi replied, her voice slightly accented as it always had been. Pushing off from the table she was leaning against, her heels clicked as she stepped forward, stopping in front of him.

"Been a long time, Tad."

[Taddius "Ram" Rammstein]

"Too long if you ask me."

Sliding one hand behind her back, he pulled her closer. Truly, definitely, admittedly he OH SO wanted to do more but this would have to do at the moment as they were in the middle of a military base. His free hand slid up her chest to his dog-tags nestled in between her breasts. Holding them for a moment and smiling, electric blue eyes met her gaze, she may want to hide how she felt but he sure as frell didn't. "I've missed you." Pulling her by the dogtags, his lips met hers as his other hand locked the door. They wouldn't go any further than this here, but no use someone walking in on them at that moment.

[Vitra Karr]

Her effort to keep her feelings hidden didn't last beyond his hand pulling her close. There were so many memories inherent in the touch of his fingers to her skin, especially over the tattoos that she wagered he could still trace from memory. The silver threads in her irises receded until only the soft chestnut color remained, locked in a gaze with the bright blue Vitra remembered oh so well.

Tad's hand took possession of his tags and used them to pull her into a kiss, something she wasn't expecting him to do given their location. But...she supposed work could wait just a few brief moments. She leaned into him, lips lingering on his while her hands lifted to rest one on his shoulder, the other on the back of his neck.

Vitra smiled, a genuine and warmly breathless expression he'd recognize as the tilted her head back slightly. "I...missed you too." she managed, her voice not much above a whisper. Tad would know just how much she meant it and how hard it always was for her to admit to her feelings.

Her fingertips traced an absent pattern on the warm skin at the back of his neck, while she made an effort to get her very distracted mind back on track. It took a moment...ok, several moments...fine! Minutes. It took a couple of minutes, but Vi finally managed to get the mission back to the forefront of her mind.

"Mission parameters are relatively simple. Which...concerns me a bit. Wonder if they give you any more detail than they gave me. Should probably compare the data we got." she said quietly.

[Taddius "Ram" Rammstein]

The mood was meant to change there to "professional" and for the most part it did, but he had been away from her for too long. Now that he had her in his arms she wasn't leaving (unless she wanted to) any time soon. Her tone revealed just how much she missed him, but his gaze, his touch, taking in everything he could about her hopefully reciprocated. He hadn't smiled, truly smiled until he walked in the door.

Putting his own datapad down on the table and then accessing and uploading the information to the holoscreen, he indeed showed her some more intel. Normally mercenaries had a "need to know" status as did all and this was probably more than she was cleared for, but this was Vi... he had no secrets and wanted none.

Nodding at the screen he pointed out the layout of his as compared to hers. They were mostly the same thing, but his showed the extra rooms and entrances. not to mention the last known coordinates of "Torch". "Apparently I have a secondary objective, I have to pick up and babysit an Infiltrator who botched his mission and babysit as well." He clearly wasn't pleased about the turn of events in his tone, but Tad was never one to not complete a task.

Pointing at the docking ports with his free hand as the other was still around her back, massaging every inch of her skin it touched. "We'll have to find a way on as those ports had serious auto-defenses as well as too many patrols for a simple listening post. This place is a communications jump point, it's the first of its kind and not quite operational yet. If works, the Empire can coordinate every legion, every fleet, every thing from Coruscant and never have physically travel unless necessary or as a show of force."

[Vitra Karr]

Fingers toyed with the tags around her neck as she leaned comfortably into his side, fitting there as if they hadn't been apart at all. It was comfortable, and for the Hapan woman, that was saying something.

With a soft sigh, she watched his datapd sync up with her own and display the intel he'd been given. He was going out on a limb, revealing this much to her, but...they'd always been able to trust one another implicitly. And need-to-know be damned...who thought that -not- telling the pilot about the level of defenses on the docking ports was a good idea?

Tad continued and Vi frowned, glancing at him briefly before tilting her head back to the holoscreen and the tiny blue blip that indicated Torch's last known position. "Let's hope he's managed to evade capture. It'd be hard, but not impossible on an unfinished installation like this. Plenty of places to hole up and snatch a few basic supplies." she added, pointing out a few spots on the schematic. While she'd not been on this particular installation as an Imperial, they tended to follow the same basic layouts. Originality wasn't precisely an Imperial strong point.

"That one..." Vi said after a few moments' silence, mulling over Tad's statement about the ports. "...that port there is off pretty much by itself on that side. Its tiny, but we're taking a Lamba, so its not like we'll need a ton of space. We land there with the codes we've got, and if we time it right, we'll have about two minutes to secure the port and the ship before the patrol swings by to check it out. That'll get us in. Getting out again will be a different story."

[Taddius "Ram" Rammstein]

Tad didn't like the idea of picking another up. After all this wasn't the general army, no, no-one gets left behind, this goes without saying but at the same time the guy knew the risks. No, he would have to wait, after all he was "secondary" for a reason. They'll get him if they can, but there's a station to hit first. His hand and arm around her back and waist felt comfortable, and he didn't want it to end but they had an op and it was one she could walk away from, he couldn't. Tad didn't pull away, but his hand went to massaging her back by the fingertips, lightly and slowly in a "brush".

"If we do this right, we won't have to worry about how we get out, it'll be provided for us." He was of course thinking about diversionary tactics, the bucketheads wouldn't worry about two Rebels on their station, or really anything else if something bigger was about to happen. "How good at you at slicing?" The question trailed off because he received a "blip" on his datapad, the shuttle which meant that they should be standing there waiting for it in the hangar five minutes ago.

"I'm going to get my gear moved, anything you need?" Sure, she was cleared for basic equipment by Republic uppers, but again, this was Vi.

[Vitra Karr]

"Slicing...not my strong point, but I've got a few tricks and gizmos at my disposal. Perk of having friends in low places." Vi smiled, glancing down at the datapad as he did at the blip. Shuttle was prepped and ready, now merely waiting on them.

She was about to shake her head no at his question, but gave it a moment's thought as she unplugged the now synced datapads and powered down the holoscreen. Handing him his, Vi tilted her head and grinned, "Find us some plasticene thermite gel, and we'll be golden. I didn't know what the mission was before I got here, so I'm already a bit overpacked."

Shouldering her bag, her stilettos clicked as she walked by, stealing a kiss as she unlocked the door. "Meet you at the shuttle. I need to do preflight...never trusted ground techs after the Mygeeto incident." Vi winked over her shoulder, through a curtain of curls before disappearing down the corridor.

It didn't take her long to reach the appointed hangar, and for once, her credentials scanned the first time, without incident. Nodding to the guard, she sauntered inside and laid eyes on the Lambda, ramp lowered with a couple of techs waiting beside it. She dropped her bag on the ramp and left her jacket atop it as well, taking the flimsis she was handed.

"Preflight scans? Power and fuel levels? Awesome...thanks. I'll take it from here." Vitra smiled, flipping through the flimsis as she walked around the exterior of the shuttle, doing a quick visual check of the exterior. It was in decent shape and she could only hope it would get the job done. Diagnostics and a pretty facade were all well and good, but performance under actual conditions was something else.

Once inside, she dropped her bag and jacket in a storage unit, leaving it and the others open for Tad to stow whatever gear he was bringing along. Knowing him...there'd be enough to assault a small planet, nevermind a half-finished communication installation. But at least he always planned for all contingencies.

Better than a Corellian Scout, that one.

The flimsis were set aside once Vitra reached the cockpit, along with her datapads, while slender fingers pulled back her chestnut locks and loosely pinned them up and out of the way. She had to admit, the techs had done well this time...everything seemed to be in excellent order. Power cells were properly charged, fuel tanks topped off, and computer systems on standby. Even the navicomputer had been calibrated, with several possible routes to Dantooine plotted out.

Sitting in the pilot's seat, she did her own preflight check while she waited, and pondered the proposed routes. Two of them were decent suggestions she mused, leaning forward to peer closely at the display as she compared them.

[Taddius "Ram" Rammstein]

As she left, Tad just ran a finger over his lips as he pocketed his datapad and quipped before the door shut "You love getting the last word, don't you?" Of course it was their thing, but that was a story for another time, he had to get to the armory. Walking out, he noticed two techs talking about the "brunette who just walked by" and how she "winked at one of them". That brought a smirk to his face as it was neither of them that she took a gander on.

Walking down the hallway and turning into the "storage" wing, he walked by the rations, by the slicing tech, no, he needed none of them he needed the advanced stuff. Reaching the weapons he ignored the heavy stuff, too much to carry for CQB. He breezed right by the rifles too, too "stalky" not to mention too loud; a carbine would have to do, just in case. Of course he wouldn't have much use for it if all worked out as he hoped so he went for one he could sling to his web gear. No, he wanted his gear, the compound bow, collapsible of course and the tactical quiver of arrows, mostly explosive but many were tipped to pierce armor. A quick pickup of a slicer's kit and some explosives (thermite gel of course) and he was good to go, that is of course if the Quartermaster didn't have an issue, which he did.

"Why duz a 'Infiltratuh' hav'to hav'isplosives like 'dis? A rifle? Since when d'you need a rifle?" The Weequay was battlehardened, he had years of experience in the field on the front lines. The problem is he'd never been past the front lines.

"Do you know what we do?"

"Well, no... but..." The Chief realized that while Tad was being a smug jerk, he might be right.

"Don't worry about it then, Chief. I'd ask the same questions in your position, but I'm telling you, don't worry about it." Trying to be understanding, the Infiltrator open palmed his compatriot on the shoulder blade with a smile. With that he grabbed two vibroknives and headed for the hangar but not before grabbing a duffel as with procedure. Bringing enough powercells to shoot a battallion was something he wanted to do, but not something he could though, not this time.

Not surprised at some of the looks he got, Tad attributed them to the gear, no, they were attributed to rumors that he had a crush on the mercenary. Well they were true of course, but he just kept going until he walked up and into the shuttle. Stowing the gear in various compartments he wriggled the gel pouch in his fingers when he caught Vi's line of sight. Then he pulled out a personal duffel and pulled out his web gear and one other thing. The sunglasses she had gotten him on their trip so long ago, they were just as pristine now as they day she gave them to him.

"You ready?" Putting them on, he sat in the co-pilot's chair.

[Vitra Karr]

She winked at him over her shoulder as he stowed the gear he'd brought, pleasantly surprised at his restraint. Dark eyes turned back to the controls spread out before her, a softly hummed tune lingering in the air as she finished pre-flight and went over the flimsis the ground crew had given her. Nodding, she tucked them away and looked out the front viewport to see one of the crew giving her the all-clear.

Vi saluted by way of response and fired up the engines as Tad dropped into the seat beside her. "Always." she replied with a grin, eyes lingering on his features and sunglasses for a few brief moments. That had been a most memorable trip indeed.

The comm crackled to life, eliciting a 'here-we-go' under her breath as she put the headset on.

"Ground control to MT...you are clear to launch."

She smiled and flicked the switch to reply. "Best words I've heard all morning, Control. We're ready."

"Clear skies to you both."

"MT out..." Vi said with a nod, flipping the comm off and tossing the headset aside onto its hook. The doors opened before them and she guided the Lamba smoothly into the air and out of the hangar. Massive doors slid closed behind them as she guided the shuttle upwards in a loose spiral.

Soon enough, they broke atmosphere and slid through the fleet that happened to be in orbit. Vitra arched a brow, eyes looking towards the bridge of the Munificent-class frigate as they passed. "Huh. Wondered what she was up to." she murmured, before shaking her head and turning her attention back to the navicomputer.

Helpfully, it chimed it's readiness as she did, eliciting a smile from the woman as she reached up for the lever. With a tug, Vi sent the ship into hyperspace, the shuttle making the transition with relative smoothness. She sat there for a moment, silent, watching the star lines sliding by...a sight, she mused, that would never get old.