Farm Fresh Fun

[Safira Haran]

Ukio | [member=Calixte Diantha]​

​

The shuttle rumbled as it broke through the atmosphere, levelling out to glide across the open fields of Ukio. From up in the clouds they seemed to cover the planet like a patchwork blanket of multicoloured fabric. Safira sat in the pilots seat, raven eyes heavily focused on the view port in front of them. Currently, they were speeding over a field of golden yellow wheat that stretched up to meet the pinkish light cast down by the setting sun. Already, Safira could make out the beginnings of night on the horizon, perfect for the job, the description of which finally flashed bright on the console between herself and her companion. The sable skinned woman briefly glanced from the view port to the redhead sitting next to her. She'd been mean up to now, refusing to give a single detail of the job out till they had broken through the atmosphere. 'So...' Safira said with a grin on her face. 'You ready for this?'


Leaning forward, she swept a gloved finger across the screen to bring up several windows. The first she motioned too was the detailed description of their bounty. 'Someone's got a real hatred for this guy. Yash Seki.' She said simply as she zoomed the window closer, bringing a picture of a rugged looking man in question to the forefront. 'Apparently he's doing well enough for himself that someone wants to do some digging.' Safira nodded down to the text that flicked to the forefront of the screen. 'There's a safe in the cellar, under the main house, where he keeps all his books and the like. It's an in and out job.' The sable faced woman afforded herself a brief grin at her companion. 'Whatever else we find there is ours to keep. But check the rest out.' At the very bottom an addition line of text read: "The recipient of this bounty will receive an extra cash reward for burning all fields belonging to Yash Seki. Reward will be transferred upon visible proof of fires."

With rather casual movements, Safira flicked on the autopilot and span in her chair to properly face her redheaded companion. Safira's eyes sparkled, an eager look in them as she continued to flicked away at the console. One after the other things popped up, cast in the bright blue glow of the console. 'This Yash guy has a natural spring running under his house. It connects just...' Her finger searched out a particular map. When they finally found it and brought it to the foreground, a map of cave systems glared at them from the screen. '...Here. He's foolish enough keep it in the main house. Intel says the room is surrounded by a buncha mercs, but nothing we can't handle. That's our way in.' With nothing left to show Calixte, Safira sat up in her chair again, reaching for the purple stripped buy'ce she'd place on her head before they land. 'Oh, and seeing as the last thing we gotta do is set this guy's farm on fire it's probably best we make as little fuss as possible in the house.'

The ship swept smoothly to the side as it began its descent to the planet's surface. 'I've set a course for the cave system. It's a fair few miles to get through them but I figured you wouldn't mind.' Safira spoke confidently as she pushed the thick beskar helmet over her wild raven curls. 'You ready?'

 

[Calixte Diantha]

The hardest part about agreeing to this job that [member="Safira Varad"] had offered, was the lack of information that had come with it. Yes, Calixte trusted her new friend unconditionally – which was saying something, because the redheaded vixen didn’t normally trust anyone right away. Make friends, play nice, be a steady and stable member of a team, yes. All of those things she could do with ease. But lending her trust to someone? Not so easy. So it had surprised Cali just how blindly she trusted the woman seated in the pilot’s seat beside her.

“Well,” Cali started when she had been asked if she was ready. “I suppose I’m as ready as I can be, all things considered.” Despite the lack of information, the redhead was smirking in amusement. Her attention immediately shifted when information was pulled up and into view, and Cali leaned in eagerly so that she could read the displays clearly even as Safi explained the job to her. The redhead’s brows lofted high as grey eyes trailed over text and pictures, and the more she read? The faster the smirk returned to her lips.

“I gotta say, when I agreed to this whole mystery job, this was not at all what I was expecting.” Grey eyes shifted from display screens to the other woman. “Stealth, theft, and arson?” Cali clicked her tongue once. “This is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about when I said I wanted to be taken somewhere nice. Well played.” It had been the very statement that sparked their first conversation, after all.

When asked if she was ready, Calixte unworked her seat harness and nodded her head. “Oh yeah, I’m ready.” She assured before putting her own helmet into place on her head and getting to her feet.

 

[Safira Haran]

Ukio | [member=Calixte Diantha]​

​

Safira grinned and clapped her redheaded friend on the back. 'I knew you would be.' The companionship the two had found in each other had come at just the right time for Safira. With the Crusaders now up and running officially, she had found herself lost in the swathe of men that it had drawn. While she had Nya, whom Safira would not have exchanged for the entire Galaxy, Calixte was a blessing in a beskar disguise. Both were part of the complicated heritage and culture that came with being a Mandalorian and Safira had found comfort in sharing the hardship that came with it. Her curly haired friend was sharp, sassy and always up for a fight. Three qualities that Safira had always found herself being drawn toward. On that note, she let out an amused laugh at Calixte's comment. 'The three words every woman longs to hear, huh? I told you, you were searching in the wrong gender.'

With that, Safira stood from her seat, blinking once to get a reaction from her HUD. The ship gave the telltale trembles of a landing as it touched down onto the flat green plains of Ukio. A soft hiss sounded out as the hydraulics brought down the landing ramp, which made the sable skinned woman shoot off toward the exit. Even through the thick metal she surrounded herself in, she could feel the warm air turning cool with the setting sun. 'This way.' One of her arms came up to gesture toward a river that ran off into a waterfall. 'The cave systems start behind it.' With no hesitation in her step Safira crossed the open field that lead to the edge of the cascading water. To get down she'd have to jump, but they had jet packs to stop the fall from doing any damage. Her commlink crackled as it tuned in to Calixte. 'I would say ladies first, but seeing as we're both women.' There was an obvious hint of amusement in her tone as she spoke.

'Red-heads first.'

 

[Calixte Diantha]

"You were certainly not wrong." Calixte commented right back with a broad smirk. She certainly didn't have a problem with affection or attention from either gender, but thus far? Her own had treated her much better. While not knowing as such, Cali and Safira had very similar thoughts in terms of this quickly formed companionship between them. The Crusaders had grown rapidly in numbers, and most of those numbers were men. And while Cali could get along with men just fine, having more feminine company was something every woman needed from time to time. So having Safira around was definitely a bonus the redhead hadn't expected.

With everything in order, there was no hesitation in Cali's step as she followed her friend off of the ship and out into the open. She kept pace with her sable skinned companion, and when the pair of them reached the edge of their currently path, the redhead slid to a halt. She leaned a bit so that she could get a good look at the distance between where they were and the ground, but rather than be put off by the distance? Cali smirked even though it couldn't be seen behind the helmet on her head.

["See? Too good to me."] she crooned through their comm link before quite simply stepping off of the edge and letting gravity catch her weight and pull her down. Adrenaline spiked through her veins, and had this not been a stealthy sort of mission? She would have shouted in her almost euphoric moment. But instead she kept quiet, and only when it became necessary for her safety did she bother to kick her jet pack to life. It was only enough of a burst or two to keep her from hitting the ground and killing or hurting herself, because otherwise she didn't much like to use it.

["Alright, c'mon already. What's taking you so long?"] she teased, then stepped aside to make sure Safira had plenty of room.


[member="Safira Varad"]

 

[Safira Haran]

Ukio | [member=Calixte Diantha]​

​

Safira couldn't help but laugh at her companion, the sweet chuckling tones catching the static through the comm. ['I always know how to treat my women right.'] Her armoured body bent at the middle as she gestured toward the edge of the cliff with a smile hidden behind a beskar helmet. Before too long the metal clad warrior had slipped over the edge to plummet toward the craggy rocks below. Safira peered over the precipice to watch as the jet pack burst to life, preventing the redhead from taking much damage. The sable skinned woman nodded, equal parts impressed with Caxlite and nervous for her own jump.

Almost on queue, Isley's voice picked up in her head. He told her not to be nervous, warriors were brave. Mandalorians were brave. Calixtie's quip was the final straw. Safira laughed as she replied. ['Hey now, don't get cheeky. I was merely admiring the impressive view.'] With that, she stepped off the edge of the cliff one foot at a time. Almost instantly, she felt as though she had left her stomach behind. A sinking feeling in her gut that carried on as the wind whistled through the cracks in her helmet. The floor rushed up quickly, but not quick enough to prevent Safira from from igniting the jetpack.

A whoosh of air sent a spray of water over the area as she landed neatly beside Calixte. A heavy sigh of both relief and adrenaline echoed out. ['Phew. Damn. I'll never get used to using those jet packs. Not my forte.'] She wasn't so worried about admitting things like that to Calixte. Everyone had their downfalls and Calixte seemed the type to sympathise more than poke fun of, which is what most other Mandalorians would have done. After a moment or two to allow the rush of a dangerous experience to fade, Safira turned to glace at the waterfall. ['Come on, it's this way.'] Her heavy boots crunched against the stone floor as she made her way over to the cascading water.

Once at the very bottom of the waterfall, with droplets of clear liquid covering her HUD, Safira turned to motion to Calixte to follow. One gesture was all it took before the raven haired woman dove through the shimmering falls to explore the cave system that was tucked behind it.

 

[Calixte Diantha]

The redheaded vixen continued to make playfully teasing little noises as she waited for her sable haired friend to make the fall. It wasn't an easy thing to do, especially if Safira was anything like Cali herself was. The redhead could do plenty of things alright, and there were things she would brag about that she could do flawlessly, but jet packs? Never had been her thing. Adrenaline however, that was one of the few things Calixte lived for, and dropping off a cliff knowing that she was garbage with a jet pack? What better adrenaline was there?

['Mhm excuses, excuses.'] she teased again, then grinned behind her helmet when she spotted Safira's frame closing the distance between them again. When the other woman landed, Cali applauded like some posh person would. ['Very nice, Safi dear.'] she crooned, and then shook her head. ['Jet packs are not my thing either.'] she agreed wholeheartedly.

When her current partner in crime looked towards the falls so did Cali, and she took a moment to size it up. The water was going to be a bit forceful, but it was nothing the pair of them couldn't handle, she was sure of it. She followed after Safira without a wit of hesitation, and when the dark haired woman disappeared behind the falls, she was quick to follow. She did pause long enough to look behind herself though, and made an impressed sound. ['So long as no one saw us go in, no one will ever know we're even here.'] she stated. They couldn't see the cave system from the outside, and now Calixte could barely see the outside from within.

It was definitely a well thought out system, and the redhead was impressed - even if the pair of women were here to cause nothing but problems and chaos.


[member="Safira Varad"]

 

[Safira Haran]

Ukio - Cave Systems | [member=Calixthe Diantha]​

​

Safira reacted as any would to a teasing applause, by bending her body in the middle and sweeping her arm out in an over the top bow. ['Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week.'] When she rose again Safi could only nod at Cali's comment, it seemed they had more in common than they had both originally suspected. ['Honestly, who the hell wants to be suspended mid-air. Hard enough fighting on the ground, never mind fifty feet up.'] Normally Safira wouldn't have admitted what she was about too so readily, but Calixte was quickly becoming a friend. ['I'm not the most graceful of creatures either.'] The ebony woman spoke sheepishly, her tone obvious even through her comm.

The sound of her footsteps disappeared under the rumbling waterfall that aggressively attacked her armour, but the sound was rather peaceful. Like being stuck in a ship during a storm. The heavy pitter patter didn't last long, soon Safira found herself breaking through the wave of water, face to face with the cavernous set of tunnels that would lead them to the farm. With the rumbling waterfall behind them echoing each and every drop as it splashed out into the caves, Safira was more grateful for the comm then ever. ['Like I said, a few miles.'] Her eyes flicked up rapidly a few times, casting her HUD in a dull green glow that illuminated the caves around her. A stream of fresh water had carved a valley through the ancient stone long ago and ran directly through the centre of the path they would take. ['Well, this isn't so bad? A few rugs, a couple chairs and a lamp or two and you'd have yourself an authentic hovel.']

A grin formed over her lips as she took the first steps through the rocky tunnel system. ['That's the plan. Hopefully nobody comes across the ship in passing, but I don't imagine they will. I figure once we set the fires everyone will come rushing out of the house to put them out, we can get back through the house and into the well and come back the way we came. But that all depends.'] It would be a mile or two before they reached the roughly carved well Yash Seki had carved out to access the stream, but for once Safira didn't seem to mind being buried under a metric kriff ton of rock and dirt. Cali was good company. ['We got a long ways to walk yet, why don't you tell me more about yourself? Everytime we meet we seem to be with other company or in the middle of battle. What brought you to the CIS?']