notallofus | (no subject)

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This had proved to be one of the smoothest jobs they'd ever run. Hera, acting as a graduate assistant who had ended up at the administrative building when she'd meant to get to the xenobiologly labs on the other side of campus, had distracted the guards long enough for Kanan to slip in and out of the Imperial liaison's office without any trouble at all. Then again, neither the office nor the files inside were overly protected – the Empire didn't seem too concerned with anyone slipping away with their notes on Bar'leth University's faculty. It wasn't a weapon, or some exploitable resource, so maybe that wasn't surprising. But there were contacts in the rebellion who could use the information on which academics might be sympathetic, and which might be in imminent danger from the Empire.

And so they finish far ahead of their scheduled rendezvous with the Ghost. Kanan changes out of his maintenance uniform disguise, though Hera keeps her civilian clothes, and with little else to do in the meantime, they wander along the edge of the campus, its famous natural and cultural history museum looming not far in the distance. Most students and faculty have cleared out by now, but the paths and column-lined buildings are illuminated with white lanterns, keeping the campus bright as the cool evening sets in. The paths are lined with flower beds, and ahead of them is a wide pond, still enough to reflect the gymnasium just beyond it.

It's a very peaceful place, on the surface. But they had already read enough of the files they'd recovered to find that under that surface, it's anything but.

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Hera straightens, folding her arms.

She keeps her eyes on him, then nods, once, as though she were merely waiting for him to start up the speeder.

Yeah, well, hopefully he is at least going to accomplish the first step on the way to starting up the speeder.

Which is to say, sure, you can use the Force to hurl boulders around if you're powerful enough, but you can also use it to move smaller things.

Like wires, tumblers, bolts, and hinges. In this case it's wires and plastic, adding just a hint of curl to something small and flexible so that the lock -- and the potential of an alarm -- shorts itself out.

"Your compartment's ready, Captain."

Hera hops into the passenger's seat, though even as she unlatches the compartment, she slides along to the driver's panel, to make room for Kanan.

"Can you check through that, see if there's anything that identifies him? I'd like to know who his father is."

Hera, meanwhile, is working on starting the speeder.

"Can do. I'm almost willing to bet there's some kind of dirt in here, if only because those young tough-wannabes had very loose lips."

Kanan tosses off an easy salute, sliding into the passenger seat and starting to dig through the flimsiplast and datacards that are all tucked away inside what some careless rich kid assumed was a safe place.

He lets out a low whistle at some of what he finds, pausing to strap himself in, because he'll be less effective at searching if he gets flung out of his seat.

It's a good move on Kanan's part, as it only takes Hera a matter of minutes to start up the speeder, and launch it into the street. It's certainly fast, and the bar is quickly long behind them. She heads away from the main streets, out of the sparse evening traffic - and likely the main surveillance points.

"So now that we've stolen a luxury speeder -"

She makes a quick, sudden turn, perhaps to see how well the speeder handles it.

"- any ideas for where to dump it?"

Edited 2018-03-20 06:33 (UTC)

"Seeing as this isn't an area with too many swamps," Kanan says (more's the pity), "Hmm. How about somewhere far enough away that you can really put this thing through its paces before we crash it into a ravine?"

It's just a suggestion.

Kanan pauses in his perusal of the documentation in front of him to brace one hand against the door. When the sharp turn is over, he goes back to digging.

"Ah-ha. Here we have an unpaid citation in the name of young mister -- whatever his name is. Brock Derndal. Huh."

"Well, depending on how soon they realize it's gone, putting this through its paces may happen either way."

Still, she swings into a lane that leads toward the edge of the city.

"Probably won't be hard to track whoever his father is."

Edited 2018-03-22 00:51 (UTC)

"They seemed pretty into their conversation," Kanan says, deliberately relaxed, leaning back comfortably in his seat. Anger isn't useful here, so he'll let it go.

"Not that I'm trying to jinx us. You think we should toss Sabine at running down the father? She'd have fun with it."

"Probably safer that they're not driving, anyway."

The buildings are either side of them are getting shorter, streetlamps becoming fewer and farther between as they race toward the edge of the city. Dusk is giving way, to stars and two crescent moons flaring up in the sky.

"We could offer it to her," Hera agrees. "I'll probably be a little busy for it."

And as much as she wanted this tracked down, Hera wouldn't regret not having to do it herself.

Edited 2018-03-22 01:19 (UTC)

"Not for us, but for everyone else, definitely," Kanan agrees. He doesn't peer out the windows to look at the increasingly visible stars, but he knows they're there. "Safer they're not driving, I mean."

He scans a few flimsis with his datapad, then tucks it away again, replacing all the documentation and datacards in their appropriate position in the compartment.

Then --

"Sounds like we have a plan. Though, considering how fast this thing can go -- are you sure we couldn't stash it in the Ghost's cargo bay, at least for a while?"

He's probably kidding.

"And what, drive it around home?"

She's careful not to say 'Garel,' keeping her eyes ahead as they speed through the edges of the city, now mostly passing smaller homes and cantinas. She pulls down her goggles, looking out into the distance for anything that might be promising as a dumping ground.

"This thing isn't exactly subtle."

"I think it'd help us blend in on Nar Shaddaa, next time we have to head out that way."

Okay, now he's definitely kidding.

"No?"

Then his head turns, and now he really is peering out of the window.

"I think I see some trees over there, maybe a large rock formation? Could be a place to leave this thing behind, only slightly worse for wear than we found it."

Or, you know. A lot worse off. Either/or.

"Then it's a good thing we're not."

She glances toward the trees Kanan indicates, adjusting their direction slightly.

"I could take a look under the hood," she offers, instead. "See if there's anything that might be useful to us."

While not as obviously flashy as one of the most expensive speeders in the galaxy.

"I think that sounds like a perfectly lovely idea."

Okay, now Kanan grins, quick and a little too sharp.

"I'm sure anything this fancy's got to have some terrifying power source."

Not to mention all the rest of the bells and whistles.

"You'd think."

She swings the speeder out of the lane, toward the dark, wooded hills not far in the distance, Hera still pulling a mostly smooth ride from it.

"But a lot of these high-end models are more sparkle than substance. Not much to look at beneath."

"Do you think there's a chance we could turn some of the more easily-removed sparkle into substance?"

They still have to refuel the Ghost, and pick up spare parts, and --

Some more credits are always welcome.

Kanan takes this moment to check behind them, reaching out with the Force just a fraction. Given the lack of noise he's pretty sure that no one's chasing them down, but --

Better safe than sorry. Usually.

"You can take a look once we're out."

She lets Kanan take care of looking behind them, keeping her own eyes ahead.

"And you might want to update Spectre-3 about our location. I'm not walking back to the spaceport."

"I'll do that," he murmurs, focus elsewhere for a few long seconds.

Then --

"Unsurprising as it may seem, I think we got out of there with no one the wiser."

He turns then, keying on his comms.

"Spectre-3, I'm sending you our coordinates. There was a slight change of plan, but we're ready for a pick-up now."

Chopper blats with the standard annoyance that always goes with any 'change of plan.' Hera keeps her eyes ahead, slowing the speeder and gliding it more gently among a grove of trees.

She loops among them easily enough, the lights along the speeder's front illuminating their path, until she dips it down, along a narrow rock crevice that cuts through the otherwise upward slope.

It's not exactly a ravine, but it will do. Hera pulls out a flashlight. "You can take a look at the outside while I'm under the hood."

Edited 2018-03-24 01:05 (UTC)

"I'm honored."

He's smirking a little as he says that, even as he wipes away the scowl Chopper's annoyed blatting had brought to his face. (It's more useful when Chop can actually see his expression, too. Well, it's more entertaining for both of them, anyway.)

"I already want to start taking bets on whether all the gilding is real, or just paint."

Hera steps out of the speeder, moving around it, though she circles the front and keeps walking, instead making her way to Kanan's side.

"Hold on a second -"

She puts her hands on Kanan's shoulders, tugging him down toward her and leaning up to kiss him, moving just slowly enough that he can pull back if he wants to.

Kanan definitely doesn't want to move away, meeting her mouth with his and participating fully in the kiss. Moments like this are few and far between, and each one is worth lingering in.

When he pulls away from the kiss, a stretch of time later, he says --

"I hope fifteen seconds was okay."

"I think any more might be irresponsible, don't you?"

She smiles, lifting her hand to gently pat his jaw before she turns to move back toward the front of the speeder.

"Probably," he admits, reaching out to brush his fingers across hers as she moves, then heading for the back of the speeder to begin his own survey.

"It sure was nice, though."

"We'll have to find time for it again," she calls back, as she feels her way around the hood, and then lifts it up.