Noventa - A Star Wars Story

"Anything it takes," Yara says with a firm nod, although she doesn't look as unnaturally cheerful about it as Cal does. "Though I've never been accused of being strike team material. I [i]can[/i] keep my head down in a fight, provide support..." She rubs the bridge of her nose with her thumb, thinking. "I've been to Charnel Gulch on business, of course, but I haven't got a strong sense of what their targets down there would be. The mines? Town center?"

Cal smirked. "Just like old times. I guess old soldiers never really do get to rest." The smirk softened. "Don't know about the rest of you, but it makes me feel good to see the lot of us veterans suited up and ready to go. Maybe it'll let the young folk know they don't have to stand on their own just yet."

He flashed Yara a quick smile, just for her. "As I'm sure Doc here will confirm, if we need bravery, skill, and recklessness..." He chuckled. "Well, I'll bring a little extra of the third. There's some people counting on us in a few hours time, but once that's settled, we're in." He gave Yara a curious look, having just included her in a 'we' without asking. But, well, he was pretty sure of her answer.

"I suggest we resort back to Rebel cell tactics. No centralized hub of information, in case of capture," Leo spoke up, placing his hands on his waist. He regarded the tactical situation. "But we need to get a response team to Charnel Gulch, and soon. Maybe we can save them before anything else happens." He mused, pursing his lips as he stroked his graying beard.

"Sounds like we should learn from ol' Guerrera for those tactics, as well. But we can't give in to barbarism like he did..." The Clone trooper continued, and Tania nodded. "Exactly. We cannot be monsters like he was, I won't allow it, especially if we are counting on help from our New Republic allies. A strike team insertion. With equal parts bravery, skill, and recklessness."

Yara taps her fingers on her desk. “They have to be hurting for supplies. Manpower too, perhaps, though that’s harder to say for certain. They claim they’ve occupied the planet for resupply. If they could be convinced that’s more costly than it’s worth to them...”

Cal pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Well. That ain't nothing."

He studied the display a few moments, and shook his head. "We're ready to fight, but the problem has always been that Star Destroyer. We rise up down here, and they level the city from up there. If that can be dealt with, or at least kept busy, we can do our thing down here."

He looked between all of the others, from one to the next. "Do we know what our thing down here is gonna be?"

"Good. We are going to need all the hands we can get." She nodded, as Leo moved in, bringing in a small, tactical holodisplay.

"As you know, after Jakku and the signing of the Concordance, Chancellor Mon Mothma demilitarized the Republic, to assauge fears of a strong central government." The display brought up the orbital area above Noventa City.

"As you can see here," Leo began, folding his arms over his chest, "There is only the Gladiator in orbit. Contacts noted that the Raiders spread overnight, moving to Charnel Gulch." The map expanded to include the whole system.

"But no other movement from Hyperspace. We... might have a good chance." Leo concluded, then Tania looked to the pair.

"I was able to reach out to a few old friends. We might be able to get some small space support, but nothing like we had at Endor or Jakku."

For his part, Cal broke the kiss and turned to face the newcomers slowly; he wasn't about to let a little thing like visiting luminaries get in the way of a really good kiss. His eyebrows did go up a little at the sight of Commander Leo, but his features, while flushed, showed not even a bit of shame.

"Commander." Cal said, giving Leo a vaguely formal sort of wave. "Good to see you here." He, too, didn't quite want to step away from Yara, his hand resting comfortingly at the small of her back, twin to hers at his hip.

He cleared his throat. "As it happens, Doc and I were just getting ready to discuss things. Figure out some sort of plan." Mostly true; Cal's lips quirked. "Having the militia commander and the New Republic representative involved in that sounds even better to me." He eyed the sullustan's uniform approvingly. Seemed like she was ready to fight, too.

Yara isn't exactly surprised to find last night's kiss repeating itself, but she is startled by how natural it feels, how obvious. She shifts her weight away from the desk to stand up and lean into Cal's embrace, one hand slipping behind his neck to thread her fingers into his hair and pull him closer...

... and then, too quickly, reality intrudes.Visibly flushing--damn that recessive redhead pigmentation; if she were ever crazy enough to submit her genome to black-market cosmetic tweaking the first order of business would be melanin production--she breaks away from Cal, and clears her throat. "Uh. Well. It's the least I could have done." She runs a hand over her hair, tucking back an out-of-place lock.

"Any word back? Or are we on our own for now?" she asks, composure mostly regained. One hand still rests at Cal's hip right above his gunbelt--she seems not to have noticed that she's neglected to reclaim it.

A if on cue. A slight clearing of a feminine throat. Ambassador Tania stood, leaning against the doorway, behind her, Commander Leo. He was clad in pieces of his old ARC-trooper armor, looking away a bit flushed. "Sorry to interrupt. Seems like it would have been a waste to do so before now, though." The sullustan woman smiled. Instead of formal administration robes, she was wearing an old Rebellion commander's uniform, a blaster at her side.

"Though I think I could trust my instincts in knowing that this was the place to start." She stepped in, inviting the commander with her. "Doctor. Thank you for your help yesterday. Your transceiver helped get that message through to the Republic."

"I do know." Cal said, sighing softly. "Been through it enough times to know. And maybe that's part of why I kissed you last night." The corners of his lips curled upwards. "But on the other hand, when I woke up this morning, I found myself regretting that I'd only kissed you [i]once[/i]."

"Yeah." This time, his hand squeezed hers, fingers entwining. "I feel like I take a bit more naturally to it. But the stakes are higher'n I like. A star destroyer over my home." He kept his easy expression, but faint lines of worry could be seen around his eyes.

Her sigh brought his attention back to Yara. To her eyes. To her lips. "Well. [i]Second[/i] thing we do is figure out a plan. Come up with a way to fight back. Get a message out to the Republic." His eyes glinted. "But first thing we do..."

It was not so sudden as last time. No sudden surge brought them together. But for Cal, that just meant exchanging adrenaline for anticipation. His free hand slid easily around her waist as he leaned in, slowly but confidently guiding their lips together. Need and passion were different, and while the kiss lacked the desperate edge of the night before, there was no less heat for that.

"I don't know?" she admits, with a helpless sort of smile. "It's never happened before, at least... And things look different in that light, that red light. You know." Her hand grips his more tightly for a moment.

"I wasn't made for this; I just did it because, well... I had to. But it does come back, doesn't it? Whether you want it or not." She sighs. "So, what do we do now?"

That made Cal snort with sudden laughter. "Well, this is kinda like that, then. A little decoration for my bacta bath away from home."

His eyes followed the gesture, coming back up to meet hers. "I do, in fact." He said, his voice soft, lightly playful. "I run a bar. Tend to get lots of money in small amounts." Another little step forward, close enough to reach out and touch. "And yeah, thought I was done, too. Retired, even." He smiled wryly. "It all comes back more easily than I thought it would. I guess it's one of those things you never forget how to do, fight the Empire."

"But a fling?" His eyebrows went up. "Is that what you're thinking?" His smile grew more gentle as he reached out, his hand taking hers, the one that had begun to reach towards him. "You think I have to be worried I'm about to die to kiss you?"

Yara's lips quirk, and she runs her fingertips over the plant's leaves. "Aha. Make it a little more homelike in there?" She shakes her head, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "Some people put flowers near their refresher bathtubs..."

She reaches toward him a little as he approaches, palm turning upward, but the gesture only makes it about halfway before she shrugs ruefully and lets her hand start to drop back to her side. "Too many. Have you got a whole pocketful of credits? I rather thought I was finished with all this--underdog tactics, hiding like mad... the flings before the battles." She looks over and a little up at him--with her hip cocked against the desk, she's a few centimeters shorter than her full height. "Seems not."

Cal's hands were warm, and hers were... rather charmingly not. In one context, he remembered wincing at her touch. This time, his eyes lit up, just a little bit.

"Ah, see, I thought of that." Smirking, he touched pointer finger to his temple. "I made sure to get a sort that didn't need much in the way of water, 'cause I know how busy you get. And I made sure it didn't need much sunlight, either." His smirk grew. "I figured you could keep it in view of the bacta tank. Give me something to look at next time I stay here."

"Yeah, I suppose there are." Cal said, his voice soft. Smoothly he stepped closer, drawing within arm's reach of her. "I definitely put a lot of thought into a few of them last night." His lips quirked. "One of them on your mind? Credit for your thoughts?"

Now she has to set the scanner down again, which is going to be a dead giveaway that she had no actual reason to pick it up in the first place. She tries to do so as smoothly as possible, at least. "Flowers? I--thanks. Thank you." She takes the pot carefully, fingertips brushing his during the hand-off, then looks down at it with a bemused expression "I'll have to work out where I can put them that's got enough light. I shouldn't like to let them get sickly... you know, symbolically speaking."

She sets the plant down on the corner of the desk, shoving some vacuum packs of synthskin out of the way. "As for what next... there are a great many unresolved questions." Her eyes find his as she looks up from arranging the plant. [i]Including which sort of 'next' to tackle first...[/i]

Cal's smile somehow managed to both widen and soften at the same time, watching her reaction. "Yeah, we're all fine. A little shaken up, and we had a [i]lot[/i] of things to talk about." He let out a puff of air; it had been quite the conversation. "But yeah, everyone's safe for now."

He took a few casual steps into the room, his expression turning more serious. "I wanted to stop by for a few reasons. See if you're okay, talk about what to do next..." He smiled again. "And give you this." He held the plant out with both hands.

"I got it yesterday as sort of a 'thank you for patchin' me up so many times'." He said. "I'd actually meant to give it to you after the festival, but sorta lost track of things in all the excitement."

"Well, same to you." Yara arches an eyebrow as she turns, smiling widely... then suddenly finds herself at a loss for what to do with her hands. Half at random, she picks up a vital signs scanner from the array of stuff on the table and fiddles with a dial. "Is everyone, ah, safe? At your place?"

A tap came from... well, not from the door, but the door frame. When Cal saw it was open, he felt comfortable taking a step in. But, seeing how busy she was, he felt that it was a bad idea not to give her some warning.

"Hey there." He said, giving her a smile, edged with just enough smirk to make it fun. He leaned against the doorframe, posing casually. "Glad to see you made it back here in one piece."

Under one arm, Cal had tucked a potted plant.

[img]http://i66.tinypic.com/iqkkz8.jpg[/img]

Yara's office is somewhat less orderly than usual at the moment--not that it's normally spotless, but the piles of paper and other objects usually have their set places, with usable stretches of desk and side table between them. Not so just now; currently her portable casualty kit is open across the desk with its contents spread even more widely around it. Does its usual configuration include enough burn dressings? The animal-bite stuff can probably be condensed, unless Kor is bringing that giant cat of his. What about projectile weapons...? She sits on the edge of the desk, shuffling pieces around like a person working on an old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle.