Dead men don't wear plaid (Meira)

[Dire Wolf]

Sera's emerald green eyes began to flutter as she sat at the holo-computer waiting for her orders to be sent. She had just gotten word via their datapad to be at the terminal from 2300 hours to 0300 hours. The Zeltron sighed, or she would have if she wasn't so damned tired; that was an awful long time to be waiting for some orders. Vossk tried to think, she really did... but it just wasn't possible... she was too tired. Her eyes felt like led as she tried to keep them open, but her efforts were in vein: she drifted to sleep soon after.

A few hours she awoke with a gasp as the woman realized what she had done: Fallen asleep. She wasn't supposed to do that... especially with super-classified orders coming her way at any time. The Zeltron bit her lip slightly as she opened a new message, it was from Spec Ops HQ. She tentatively read over the whole thing and dumped it into her datapad, then quickly deleted the file from her terminal. Without another thought she shut it down and went off to find Dal.

Once she found the Rattaki she instantly handed him her datapad and began to go over the mission orders, she generally did this... no doubt it annoyed him, but she didn't care. It helped her remember.

“Mmk, its looking like we are off to Manaan to... well... assassinate a general who is rather... outspoken... about his position on foreign entities. We are framing the Mandalorians. Command even supplied us with a few Mand... Mando'ade phrases to yell out.”

She couldn't help but beam at the thought, hurting one enemy was fun, but when one hurt that enemy and made him think that another did it... now that was just genius. Unfortunately they wouldn't be wearing their Infiltarion armor on this one, but on the bright side they would be wearing something a bit... heavier. The mandalorians called it “Geskar'gam,” but the rest of the galaxy knew it by “Mandalorian Battle Armor.” Dal would no doubt love trudging around in his heavy assault armor, but Sera... she preferred the ability to twist, contort, and move quickly. A wry smile pursed the features of her face.

“This one should be a riot.”

[Meira]

Dal was glad it was Sera who handled receiving orders. He didn't have the patience for it. He hated the time frames. Having to sit around for four hours waiting for when they decided the time was right to hit "send" just didn't make sense to him. He'd get too frustrated and likely break something, and then they'd be in trouble. So Sera handled that, he handled the gear. He was cleaning and organizing their locker room and weapons closet when she finally came and found him.

He took the datapad and started to read over the mission details, but like always, Sera gave away the best details before he could read them himself. He had long since stopped yelling at her about it. Speaking the mission specifics out loud was really more for her own benefit than his, but it still got under his skin and itched a little. I can read, you know. He mumbled under his breath. But he didn't say anything after that.

To be honest, he was too excited to berate her about it. They were getting to go kill some guy, AND they got to pretend to be Mandos while they did it. Of all the other types of warriors out there, Dal respected the Mandos the most. They held a little too closely to honor and all that, but the Rattataki could appreciate their fines in battle. He wouldn't mind wearing their armor in the least, though he was sure he'd still prefer his own. That was another thing he had in common with the Mandos he guessed. He was as proud of his own armor as they were.

Sera's last words brought out the smile on Dal's face. And he chuckled slightly as he handed back the datapad. He turned and put their armor back into their lockers. It had been sitting on the work bench, ready to go. Turning back around, he grabbed two of the bags of gear and nudged Sera towards the door, his face displaying his transparent eagerness.

Let's go, doll! He said, throwing her a wink before whistling for Rocky. The wolf-cat came bounding into the room, already able to pick up on the energy the two were putting off. This was what they lived for.

[Dire Wolf]

Sera smirked at her partner as he mumbled his snarky retort; they may have had their little arguments almost constantly, but she respected her comrade. No, she didn't respect him. She trusted him with her life and would honestly lay down her own to save him. It wasn't love she felt, but the woman had fought, bled, and killed at his side for nearly a year now. Naturally this did not stop her from sending a playful quip his way.

"You can?"

The woman let out a little chuckle as she threw him the friendly jab. With that the Zeltron walked over to the locker and retrieved her '02 Carbine. Oh she hated the names that the Empire names its weapons. It was always "type" this, and "type" that, why couldn't they put some creativity in their names? Even the republic used letters... it may not have been much but it was a step up from what the Empire was doing now.

A slight smirk pursed one end of the woman's lips as he gave her a wink and a somewhat excited comment. The Zeltron didn't reply to it, however, she only gave a little nod and headed off towards the hanger bay. It didn't take long for them to lift off and make the jump into hyperspace to the Inner Rim world of Manaan.

"The armor will be at a drop off point. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

It took the shuttle at least a day to travel to the oceanic world, the wait nearly killed Sera... it always did. She was a sniper at heart, the woman preferred big open spaces as opposed to the cramped cabin of the shuttle. They were on Ahto city just short of thirty minutes after they arrived in system, Sera casually walked out of the shuttle and looked back when she reached the base of the ramp.

Though she didn't look it on the outside, the Zeltron was ecstatic. She lived for this... the rush before a mission.

[Meira]

Sera was probably the only one Dal would allow to talk to him like that. Anyone else would likely get a good size hole through their skull if they tried. Maybe not a superior officer, but definitely anyone else. So Sera lived to fight another day, either oblivious to, or taking advantage of Dal's kindness. He chuckled to himself as he followed his partner to the shuttle. Kindness was not a word many would ascribe to him. But it was there, evidenced by his easy friendship with the Zeltron woman, and his companion Rocky, who was always at his side.

The trip was uneventful, as usual, but Dal liked it that way. It wasn't that he needed the quiet and calm for his thoughts, so much as his will. The quiet time before missions, when all was prepared and there was nothing to to but wait, was a time he could use to psych himself up, to focus his mind on the task to come. He barely noticed the cramped quarters of the ship. His mind was so turned inward that even Rocky could only solicit an absentminded pat on the head from the man. But as soon as they entered Manaan space, Dal's statue-like demeanor changed.


Just like Sera, Dal was now abuzz with the energy of starting the mission. Unlike Sera, however, Dal couldn't keep the smile from his face as he moved down the ramp. At the moment, the two were inconspicuous. They were just two people, maybe a couple by the way they moved easily together, visiting beautiful Ahto City. They were civilians, here on vacation, their bags looked just like luggage. They made their way though the welcome center without incident, Dal even joked with some of the workers. Even Rocky played his part, appearing as harmless and docile as any house cat.

Once past the welcome center, Dal removed the datapad from one of their bags and looked up the location of the drop point. It took only a few moments to get oriented, and then the two began to move again. They moved through the city with ease, blending in well with the throng of tourists and residents. Dal even slung his arm over Sera's shoulder, sure that it might irk her just a little.

Finally, they reached a street that turned away from the main channels, and as they moved down it, they were much more alone. The lane turned sharply left and met a dead end. There was a door with a key swipe. Dal took the key they had been provided and swiped it through. There was a beep, and the light turned green. A moment later, the door slid open revealing a small room. Dal turned to his partner with a smile.

Ladies first.

[Dire Wolf]

The two did indeed look like a couple as they strode through the space port, this draw far less attention to them despite the fact that not many people saw Rattataki... as a matter of fact the planet Rattatak's location was unknown to the Republic, and one of them coupled with a Zeltron? That would be an odd sight indeed.

The woman instinctively flashed a slightly irritated glare up at Dal as he threw his arm around her shoulder. She quickly suppressed the irritated glare as she stood up on her tip toes and pecked him on his chalk white cheek. That might make him a little uncomfortable, but she was just pitching the facade further.

Soon they veered off into a dark alley, and once they were a moderate distance away from the street she simply shrugged off the man's arm. Sera then continued down the alley and gave a cursory glance behind them as Dal swiped the card. It was highly unlikely that someone would happen to walk down the rather menacing looking alley and make the sharp turn.

If the hapless soul did he would quickly be cut down, probably by Dal seeing as Sera was not exactly the greatest at hand to hand or melee combat. Though she was often described as near divine when it came to anything ranged, be it a blaster or a simple rock.

Vossk barely had time to shift back around before she heard the soft swish of the sliding door and a "Ladies first" emit from her giant of a partner's vocal cords. She gave a little smirk and pecked his cheek. Okay, so she was a little minx... so what?

"Thank you Dal. You're such a sweet heart."

The Zeltron casually walked into the room, waiting for Dal to enter and the door to close before turning to the locker labeled with the correct number. She quickly slipped out of the top of her little outfit without a second thought and began to put on the cuirass of the Mandalorian battle armor. Her armor was ironically colored black, the Mando's used that color to represent justice on their armor. This would indeed be a form of justice; a down payment for the pain that the Republic indirectly caused in her life for not getting a politician thrown in jail for corruption and slavery.

[Meira]

Dal's eyebrow arched at her first peck on his cheek. Soon, an egotistical smile crossed his lips. But when they turned away from the main walkways, Sera shrugged off his arm. Dal had chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

Aww, and here I thought that was genuine. He said playfully. Once they were securely inside their drop point room, Dal was also removing his clothing. His black tattoo across his left side was a striking shock against his snow white skin, but Sera had seen it countless times. To anyone else, it might have been worth a pause for examination. But not to her.

Her body on the other hand... well, that was always worth at least a moment in Dal's mind. And he always managed to let her know. Her back was to him, but that didn't hide her subtle curves. He let out a sound, mimicking Rocky's purr, before turning back to dawn his own armor.

The black armor had a faint shine to it. Dal pulled it on and secured it, moving on to the rest. When he was wearing everything but the helmet, he turned back to his partner.

Black is definitely my color, don't you think? He asked, holding out his arms and turning so that Sera could admire him. He smiled again with self satisfaction before securing his sword on his back and taking out the case that held his rifle. Assembling it quickly, he then patted Rocky on his head.

You're gonna have to sit this one out, boy. He said, scratching under the wolf-cat's chin. You can wait here. we're supposed to come back and destroy the evidence in here, so we'll pick you up then. It wasn't as if Rocky could really understand him, but Dal spoke to him like he could just the same. Again he turned back to his partner.

So what's the plan, doll?

[Dire Wolf]

Sera smirked slightly as she heard a purr emanate from behind her, she turned her head back so that she could see the source out of the corner of her eye. That little smirk she had on transformed into a bigger one as she saw that it was, in fact, Dal giving her a good look see. The Zeltron only resumed what she was doing with the slight shake of her head... okay... she would flirt with the guy a little more. She shifted her gaze back to Dal with a little mischievous smirk as she wiggled her bum at him... then returned to strapping herself into the raven black mandalorian armor.

And she never considered herself a flirt. How wrong she was.

The woman had just finished slapping the final piece onto her body when she heard her partner speak again. She looked back at her partner and gave a slight nod of approval, black was most certainly his color.

“Definitely. Though I think you could use some hot pink in there somewhere.”

Sear giggled as the mental image of Dal, one of the harder men she had ever met (second only to Pryde), donned in a suit of armor that was painted in a black hue with bright pink trim. Soon her giggle turned into a full blown laugh as a random tu-tu and fairy wand was thrown into the mix somehow. All of these strange actions could probably be attributed towards the excitement and giddiness that she tended to get before going out on an assignment.

Her face grew serious as he asked about the plan. She would have told him, if they had one. That was the thing about Imperial Spec Ops: They gave you a principal... rarely anything more. She was honestly surprised that they gave the pair two suits of Beskar armor, a fact that honestly worried her. It either meant that this operation would be a particularly tough one or that it was one of incredible importance... perhaps both.

“Hmmm... We weren't provided with much, just this armor and an appointment, which is in...”

She looked down at her wrist, which she flipped around to reveal a small chrono. Luckily they had a small amount of time before the pair of “bounty hunters” were due in.

“Soon. Half an hour. It will take a good five or ten to get to the base, probably another five or ten to get to the guy. That gives us ten to plan.”

She sighed. Dal knew all of this and the reason why she insisted on pointing out the obvious escaped her. It always did. Sera gave herself an irritated look as she turned to assemble her rifle, absent mindedly speaking to her partner along the way.

“Getting in should be easy... but out. That will be the problem. They won't take kindly to use sneaking in and killing their little General... so we will have to do it quiet-like. I think you will be making the kill this time, Dal, death by giant man choking you has never really been my strong suit. Unless you want to stab him with that shiny sword or something... I dunno.”

The Zeltron woman stood up and walked up next to Dal almost the second that she had her recently re-assembled rifle slung across her shoulder. She gave a little smile and the curious tilt of her head, her black hair lightly shaking side to side with the motion.

“We will just have to haul some serious tail after we make it out, I am sure that he is a busy man... and it wouldn't be long until someone found him in his... position.”

[Meira]

Oh the games we play. Dal thought, shaking his head after Sera gave that little shake. More accurately, it was more like the games she played. Dal might do his part by walking around bare chested to show off his manly form, but he wasn't much for bum shaking... at least not the shaking of his own bum.... Moving on.

Sera's comment on a possible improvement to his look won her a hearty chuckle. Maybe next time he could put in a special request. Again, moving on. They got down to business after that. Sera spelled out the few details that they had. Kill the guy and get out. They had an appointment, and that was it. In general, it was the getting out part that was going to prove the most difficult. Dal scratched at his chin while he thought it over.

What if we set up a distraction? He asked, his eyes looking as if he were watching something far away. If we can get their attention diverted elsewhere, then maybe we'd have the time we need to get out. But the man they were after was important. A distraction could backfire, causing people to rush to their target sooner and discover his death while the two were still there. Dal sighed, surely Sera was coming to the same conclusion, so he didn't bother mentioning it. Then another thought occurred to him.

Our appointment is with the target? He asked, still thinking to himself. What if we could get him to leave? If we get him out of there, then we'll have a lot less security to deal with. He might bring a small guard with him, but that shouldn't be a problem. By now, he was thinking out loud more than anything. There were bound to be holes in the idea... seeing as how it was his, but it wouldn't hurt to mention it. Sera could shoot it down if she wanted. It wouldn't be the first time he had an idea that was replaced by one of her better ones. It almost wasn't fair, she had the body and the brains in their partnership. Dal only had the muscle. It was a lot of muscle, sure, but she still had the upper hand. He smiled slightly to himself. Dal really didn't mind that much, as long as she shook her bum every now and then.

....Moving on.

[kt]

Life was good.....well.....as good as Xander could make it, leaving the Red October and it's crew still weighed down on his usually carefree mind. It had been almost two months since that day and the zeltron man took up as many jobs, even ones of questionable nature in order to get over his depression. His reputation had apparantly been pretty good because two days ago, Xander recieved a call from some sort of Sith Military dude, the rank of which had been already forgotten. It was now that Xander was on his way to Manaan, Ahto City to be exact to preform an assassination of some sort of general person of the Republic.

It took a very short time to land on the oceanic planet and with a stretch and a yawn, Xander climbed out of his borrowed ship, a little junker that he borrowed from a contact and started his walk to the location of the gear he'd need for the job. With a wink at the girl at the front desk of the welcome , the Zeltron made his way to the drop point, backpack containing his prized weapons and a few rather powerful...surprises slung over his shoulder. It didn't take long before Xander made his way around a corner, down a rather dark alley, through a door, and into a small room with three sets of Mandalorian armor. Xander had the great fortune of being able to ask for lighter armor than the two people he supposedly had to have help him. Even the color was different, unlike the two suits of black crusader armor, Xander's was a dark blue, symbolizing reliablility, something that he prided himself on.

Xander, in all of his cleverness, devised a plan that would insure a clean gettaway. Before donning his armor, Xander put on a maintanence outfit and headed out the door with his backpack of explosives and guns on his shoulder. With a fast walk, Xander entered the building to the left of the base that the target was in, a good hour left before the appointment was to take place. The building was a moderate sized restaurant. It was slow so that was good, no real unneccesary deaths would happen. With a seductive smile, Xander entered the building and walked up to the register, giving the young waitress a kiss on the hand and a few sweet nothings whispered in the ear before informing her that he was here to check out their....fuse box for bugs.

A bigger smile formed on his face as he successfully convinced the waitress, being let into the basement to do his work. With quick precision, Xander planted four rather large thermal detonators in all four corners of the basement, all with a single remote control detonator that could activate all of them with a push of a button. After leaving with a kiss on the waitresses cheek, Xander hurried to the drop point to put on his mandalorian armor and started to walk towards the base, making sure to watch out for the to morons who would be tagging along with him.

[Dire Wolf]

((OOC: so sorry, Sera hasn't been very agreeable lately *thwacks Sera* but I forced her to tell me what she wanted just for this post. >_>))

Sera nodded. Distraction. That was actually a pretty good idea... but the only problem was making the distraction. If she had her Infiltration armor it would be easy as pie, all she would have to do is riddle a few folk with holes and sneak off with that spiffy armor of hers. But how? As if on cue her armor's wrist datapad (which had been wirelessly linked to her normal datapad) chirped at her. The woman nearly jumped out of the said jet-black Mando Iron suit. After a few seconds she began to key in a few rapid fire keystrokes, and the hologram of her new orders quickly hung in mid-air. She sighed.

“Thats a good idea, Dal, it looks like the planners thought of that too. They hired a merc,” she said the word with a special kind of loathing, “to plant a bomb for a distraction and meet up with us. He should be a Zeltron wearing blue Mandalorian armor. Name's Xander Seraph.”

She almost winced as she said the words “Zeltron,” it probably meant that she would be hit on by the guy. A lot. Probably sexually assaulted too. Most of her race was filled with far too much lust for her tastes, which wasn't to say that she... well... wasn't, but the difference was that Sera had learned to control her urges. More or less. Okay kind of. Fine. Not really. But at least she wasn't loose... just... overly flirtatious. The Zeltron looked up at her partner as the little hologram of her orders fell back into her armor's gauntlet.

“Well, it looks like they gave us this one on a silver platter. We go in, you kill the guy, this “Xander” blows up whatever he was hired to blow up, and we all fly off into the sunset. Or up into space... whatever works best.”

The woman gave a little flirty smile as she grabbed her rifle, slung it over her shoulder, and brushed past the Rattaki man and out the door. She looked over her shoulder at the great white man, giving another flirtatious smirk.

“Comon,” her voice was plagued with that playful tone, “lets go before he dies of a heart attack or something.”

[Meira]

Dal's first idea turned out to be not so bad after all. The big man smiled to himself. It was a rare thing when his ideas turned out to be the method of action. And even though they were going along with the idea because command said so, Dal had still thought of it on his own. It was something to be proud of in his eyes. But he was brought out of his own thoughts as Sera detailed the additions to their plan and team.

Another person? A merc? A Zeltron? The first two felt like something of an insult. Did command not think they could take care of this? Nah, they probably just wanted to make sure they didn't get captured. But still... that last bit of information made Dal laugh heartily. He caught Sera's expression as she said the word, and he couldn't help but chuckle some more.

Are you two gonna be able ta keep your hands offa each other long enough to let me kill this guy? Dal asked as he followed out behind his partner, adding a wink at the end of the question. Or should I let 'em know what's what? Dal mocked a few fist throws. He flashed a smile and continued walking.

Now that they were in gear, they had to be a little more careful about attracting attention. Their progression towards their target location was slower, but they arrived in time nonetheless. The merc wasn't too hard to spot, the armor was sort of eye catching. Dal activated the comm in his helmet which should be linked to both Sera's and this Xander fellow's.

Oi. Xander. You better have done the part you was hired to do. Or I'll put some hurtin' on you. And I know how to hurt.

[kt]

(Sorry about the rather sad length of this post, this shall be my first and last crappy post in this thread.)

It wasn't long that the Zeltron man had to wait when his two associates finally approached the entrance of the base. Xander had a bored expression on his face as the Rattaki man spoke to him via the comm in his helmet. "All taken care of mate. Let's get this over with, this suit draws more unwanted attention than i'd like...... oh, and did command mention that my contract is long term? Just thought i'd let you two know." The rather stern tone coming from Xander's mouth only came into being while on a job, even more so during these higher paying ones.

It had been awhile since Xander had worked with others on a job, he was feeling some semblance of happy but kept it well hidden, now was a time to focus on the task at hand, not on the usual mindless nonsense that he normally kept himself busy with. "One question, you want fireworks before or after we leave the building?" The blue clad Zeltron waited patiently for the Rattaki man and his partner, a fellow Zeltron woman, to go in front.

[Dire Wolf]

Sera couldn't help but let a little amused giggle erupt from her throat, one that she attempted to suppress too quickly... she snorted. This action is known affectionately as the “gigglesnort.” This was all at Dal as he mocked a few throws of his fist. She only shook ever so slightly at the giant Rattataki man. He wouldn't have to worry about her putting her hands on the Zeltron, no, quite the opposite... she worried about the Zeltron putting his hands on her.

“Bah, you don't have to worry about me, hun, though... I would appreciate it if you... heh... defend my honor.”

She gave a little snicker at the thought.... like she was some sort of damsel of old that actually needed someone to defend her. Then Dal issued his little “promise” to Xander via the comm unit, the woman turned around and put an armored hand on the man's chest. Now was not the time to threaten mercenaries, they tended to take it personally and having this man walk away right then was a MAJOR security risk.

“Dal, don't threaten the guy. Those mercs tend to take that kind of stuff personally... and I'd rather not have him “accidentally” open up our comm link to the authorities.”

With that, she turned back around and continued to walk towards the military base.

[Meira]

His words might have been a joke, but his intentions were true enough. Dal wasn't about to let anyone touch his partner. That was just the way it worked. Part of the reason why he was even paired up with the Zeltron woman, and not on the front lines somewhere, was because she needed someone to watch her back while she had her eye down a scope. Dal wasn't one to hold to the concepts of honor and loyalty too much. But in this case, he was fairly sure he'd take a shot right to the chest if it meant her getting away alright... and she took Rocky with her.

Sera chided him for threatening the merc. Dal just shrugged his shoulders. Yeah, she had a point, but so did he. The guy's response would say a lot about him. And if Dal was gonna work with some stranger, he had damn well better not be easily intimidated. Luckily, the guy didn't seem half bad. Didn't get all jumpy at the threat, but he stood his ground. Seemed square enough. When the guy mentioned a more long term contract, Dal let out a slightly disappointed sounding grunt. More people meant more backs to watch. But at least in this case, it also meant more boom.

You can set it off as soon as the target is dead. Dal said, continuing towards the base. They approached the front and were stopped by security and asked to produce identification. They each had forged papers to present and were let by without incident. Once inside the base, they didn't stand out too much. Weapons and armor were common sights within these walls. They proceeded until they reached their target's office. The doors opened and the general turned to see who had come.

Ah, come in. He said, waving with his hand as he dismissed a secretary. You must be the Mandalorian representatives? Please, take a seat.

[kt]

(I am SO sorry for the rediculous delay!!!!!! T__T I honestly didn't mean to but they've been workin us like dogs at the factory this week...and pretty much last week too. Please skip me this turn because i can't think of anything to write. Again, sorry for the horrible delay, may it never happen again.