Brave New World (Open)

[Deleted]

Accepting the device, Ambellina strapped it around her slender neck, tying her hair into a loose bun. She glanced at the vest pensively for a moment before relieving Runt of it and beginning to load it with the contents of her pack. She carried two spare blaster packs for her Westar, two spare magazines for her Model B, what remained of her Model B ammunition reserves, and a simple combat knife. She placed an extra strap on the vest to make her original pack easier to carry while wearing it. With a satisfied smile, Ambellina donned the vest.

"I'm known as The Lady here on Coruscant. I think that will do."

[MikDaTv]

The clones all nodded once to register the code name. Danny grabbed his vest. Before putting it on he removed his blaster pistol out from under his coat and took his holster off. He put his vest on and then wrapped a gunbelt around his waist where he holstered his pistol at his hip.

Runt put on his vest and grabbed his rifle, sliding a powercell home into the reciever and racking back the bolt to load the first charge of gas. He tossed the nearly indentical rifle over to Danny who loaded it with identical motions and pacing that Runt used.

"Hefty, when the wall blows we're going to need to move pretty fast. Do you want to stop and get ready now?" Danny asked.

Hefty shook his head. "We'll have to wait a while anyway. We have the better part of a day before our extract even gets here. We can drive around our target a little and scout it, then find some place to lay low before we do the do."

"Make it so." Danny said. He wanted to examine their target as well. Only fools trusted the schematics and layouts right off the bat.

Runt tapped Danny on the shoulder. "Since the ops not going down for a few hours, can we stop somewhere and get real people food?"

The Team had gotten their first taste of something other than ration bars a week ago after they had first inserted onto the planet. Danny was admittedly was very interested in the prospect of giving the ration bars a rest for their next meal as well. "No, we can't be seen all together." Danny said unfortunatly. The teams safety and security took precident over their desire to eat something that didn't taste like cardboard.

"Who says we all have to be seen together?" Tank asked. Even he, the most serious and mission orientated one of the group was jumping at the chance to actually eat, rather than simply ingest nutrients. "We can... order take out."

"I'll go!" Runt said very quickly.

Tank shoved Runt lightly. "You don't even know what to order."

Runt shoved him back. "Oh, like you do. How hard can it be?"

"Shut up! Both of you." Danny said sharply. "None of us know anything about ordering food and i don't want to compromise our security before the mission."

Everyone fell silent. They knew he was right. Splitting up to gain new life experiences before a mission probably wasn't a good idea, especially when they had hardly any previous experience to fall back on.

After a few moments of contemplative silence all their eyes slowly drifted to rest on Lady. Even Hefty was looking at her via the rear view mirror.

[Deleted]

As soon as the conversation had reached its middle Ambellina had known where it was going to end up. With an overly dramatic sigh she began taking off her vest and undoing her holster-belt. She partially unzipped her armor and folded the collar neatly before letting down her hair, giving her a decidedly more civilian appearance. Smiling at just how ridiculous this was, she resigned herself to the task.

"The fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach I suppose...Where shall we stop?"

[MikDaTv]

Danny smiled "Runt, your going with her." he said.

"Sweet!" Runt pumped his arm and practically tore off his vest. He grabed his pistol and borrowed Danny's shoulder holster, putting it on and then putting a jacket on over it.

Danny turned his attention towards Hefty and knocked his knuckles against the back of the drivers seat. "Hef, stop us close to the next establishment we come across."

It was a few minutes before the van came to a stop a few yards from a fast food establishment specializing in Twi'lek food. "We'll wait here for you two. Nothing fancy or complicated. Remember our bodies are used to nutritious cardboard. I don't want everyone getting sick." Danny said.

"Keep it simple. Got it." Runt said and gave two thumbs up and slid the door open. He jumped out with all the enthusiasm of a kid and held an arm out to help Lady climb out.

[Deleted]

Ambellina took the proffered hand and exited the vehicle, casting a disapproving eye at the place that had been chosen, but continuing towards the door anyway. She wrapped her arm around Runt's as they entered.

As the two filed in with the rest of the people in line for a meal, Ambellina began sweetly humming a tune and glancing around, seemingly nonchalant. In reality she was looking for any sign of trouble, as she was of the opinion that it was both foolish and dangerous to stop for food at a time like this. When their turn came, Ambellina stepped up to the counter and ordered.

"Good morning...may I have four orders of Roast Gornt, four orders of Munch-Fungus bread, four soft-drinks and an ale, please."

"Certainly"

The young Twi'lek behind the counter punched in the order. He was exceedingly ugly, but that didn't stop Ambellina from putting on her best smile. She handed over a credit chip to pay for the meal and was given a number and the cups for the soft-drinks. She handed Runt the cups and moved along, to the area where people were waiting for their food.

"Come along now, darling."

[MikDaTv]

Runt was barely keeping his excitement in check. He grabbed the cups and walked over to the soft drink dispenser. He leaned over to Lady and whispered quietly. "This is so awesome."

He waited for the woman in front of him to finish loading her cup up with her chosen drink before practically leaping forward and placing a cup on the dispenser. He stared at the buttons for several moments. "So many choices..."

[Deleted]

One of the young women behind the counter handed Ambellina her ale. Twi'lek Fermented Ale was not very strong, but it had enough of a kick to it to calm Ambellina's nerves. The Lady took a large sip of it as she observed Runt. Quite as she had expected, he was behaving as a child in a candy store would. It was, perhaps, unwise for Senior to have sent the most excitable member of the group on a new adventure.

After a short while the food that they had ordered was passed up. Taking a moment to thank the girl who had prepared it, Ambellina then moved quickly for the door, knowing that Runt would soon follow. She quickly got into the van and placed the bag on Senior's lap.

"Viola, bon apetit..."

Now that she was back in the van, Ambellina zipped up her armor and tied her hair back once again. Once this was done she strapped on the vest that she had been given.

[MikDaTv]

Runt quickly chose four drinks at random and carried the cups. When Ambellina walked out Runt quickly followed after her. "Hey, wait up."

When they got back to the van, Runt handed out everyone's drinks. "That was awesome. Next time i think we should all wear disguises and go together. Wait wait wait, we should go to a better..."

"Runt!" Danny said, silencing him. "Were you followed?"

Runt dismissed Danny with a hand wave. "No. There were three entrances, one security camera over the counter but it wasn't in operation. Twenty people in total, fifteen male, 4 female and one of... indeterminate gender. None of them were packing except for the guy who walked as we were walking out. He had a knife in his boot. None of them had any of the makers consistent under cover workers and Lady was pretty good at maintaining a cover. Guess she was trained in espionage. Chill out boss."

"I'll chill out when we're off this planet." Danny replied. He opened the bag of food and started distributing everything out. "Hefty, take us to our target location and park us. We'll stake it out for a bit, get some details down while we eat."

Hefty issued a thumbs up and turned the van around, heading back towards their target area. Runt, Tank and Senior all took a bite of their food at the same time and each of them closed their eyes and issued a very satisfied moan.

[Deleted]

Shaking her head at their reaction to the food, Ambellina leaned back in her seat and sipped her ale. Long ago she had learned that there was a human side to every clone, and these clones were definitely showing theirs.

"I suppose the rest of us take the simple pleasures for granted. Stimulating conversation for example...I know very little about any of you. Now would be a good time for us to familiarize ourselves with each other."

[MikDaTv]

Danny tossed her one of his ration bars. "When you've ate two of these every day of your life you'll understand our situation."

Runt reached into his pack on the floor of the van and pulled out a small rectangular device. He stuck it to one of the walls and pressed a button on the side. A red light came on which was quickly replaced by a green light. "We're ok to talk." The small jamming device would disable any electronic monitoring devices that might be aimed at the van. The chances of it were astronomically slim but they weren't about to bet their life on it.

"We can't say much i'm afraid. The less you know of us means the less you can possibly hurt us in the future." Danny explained. "We're a team of clones obviously. Specializing in unorthodox military tactics and black ops. We don't belong to any official government and this is not a politically sanctioned event. I'm sure you've picked up our code names by now and you've taken one for yourself."

He pointed to Runt. "Runt is our sniper and coms expert." He then pointed to Tank. "Tank is our medical and technical expert." He pointed his thumb back over his shoulder towards Hefty in the drivers seat. "Hefty is our demo and heavy weapons specialist and I am the team leader and mechanic."

"I'm the funny one. Tank was unfortunately bred without a sense of humor." Runt said.

Hefty waved his hand from the drivers seat. "And in case you haven't noticed, i do most of the driving."

[Deleted]

Ambellina nodded as she absorbed the information, stashing the ration bar into her bag, realizing that it may come in handy in the future.

"Well, it's certainly nice to be introduced more soundly."

When Ambellina next spoke it was with a strange accent that she had learned to cover fully through years of training.

"I am Ambellina Early, Rose of Orlais. I am a private assassin, and have been working on Coruscant for over a year now."

[MikDaTv]

Runt winced and Tank closed his eyes. Danny shook his head. "Ma'am, that was a bad idea. If what you told us is true, then you put yourself in a lot of danger."

Danny rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "If you are who you say you are, then we are a security risk for you. I can not guarantee that me or my men can keep your secret. I can only say we'll try our best."

The van slid into a street side parking space and Hefty turned around in his seat. He hand signaled to everyone that they were in position. Danny gave him a thumbs up and pointed to Runt. "Runt, grab your scope and start looking."

The sniper jumped up and climbed into the passenger seat in front with the scope to his rifle in hand. Tank pulled out his datapad. "Starting a wireless network search."

Hefty signaled for Danny to throw him his bag. Once Danny moved it closer, Hefty pulled out a detpack with a wireless detonator. "I can get us through that wall easy. One detpack should be enough."

Danny smiled. "Ok, lets stake it out for another hour. Then we move in."

He turned to Lady "It appears you have our attention for a while longer." He said and took another bite of his food. Hefty reached into the back and grabbed his own food, opening the container and digging in. Hefty ate like an animal. He seemed to only be able to enjoy the food if he was chewing large gobs of it in his mouth.

[Deleted]

"Ah, C'est la vie..."

Smiling wistfully, Ambellina reverted to the common basic accent that she had learned so well.

"Perhaps we will yet prove useful to each other...For now, let us enjoy the calm before the storm, shall we?"

Slowly, so as not to startle Gray Team, Ambellina drew her Westar and checked the sights and the blaster pack, making sure that everything was in order. She peformed even more extensive checks on her Model B, even though she did not anticipate having to use it, as the Westar-34 was more than reliable.

[MikDaTv]

As all of Gray Team finished eating, Danny gave the hand signal for final checks. Each of them went through every pocket, checking to make sure everything worked, had useable batteries, was functioning properly and was undamaged. Runt issued out their primary weapons. He kept his A-295 sniper rifle and handed Danny his unmodified A-295 rifle. Tank already had his custom bowcaster which he double checked was loaded. Runt passed the ACP Array Gun to Hefty who loaded the cells into it and racked the action back to load the first one into place He then put on a gunbelt that holstered his duel DC-15s sidearms.

Runt slung his rifle across his back with the barrel pointed upwards and tightened the strap across his chest, holding the rifle tight to his back. Danny did the same but with the rifle pressed against his chest. Hefty's ACP Gun slid home into the long rifle holster on his back and Tank kept his bowcaster in his hands as it's awkward shape didn't allow for a holster and the weapon wasn't equipped with a strap.

"Coms check." Danny said. Each of them in turn double tapped their throat mics. the breaking squelch could be heard in their ear and it told them that everyone’s com implants were working. He turned to Ambellina. "Did you hear our squelches in the ear bud we gave you?"

[Deleted]

Ambellina nodded her head in the affirmative and pressed her throat mic, producing the same effect that the others just had. Her weapons were ready, and slightly more simple than the various rifles that Gray Team carried. She had already performed her checks, and was satisfied.

"I'm ready...and very impressed with your implants, by the way."

The Lady's old habit of appearing unfocused even when poised to strike died hard. To look at her one would think that she were about to dive into a cool pool of water, not a potentially dangerous battle.