Clan Laerrin

The buzzer flared and the targets popped out. Kairi ripped off her blindfold and readied her rifle. Two shots for every target as she ducked and weaved behind the armament table. She was quick but the buzzer came back before she had even shot all of the targets.

"Kriff," the eldest heir muttered. She flipped on the safety and tossed her rifle onto the table, barrel at least down range.

Axel had come to the range to make sure his sidearm was properly sighted. Not that it was his usual weapon of choice, but it was good to have options. But he wasn't going to miss a chance to watch Kairi work. And so he did, standing a good safe distance behind her, perhaps seven meters.

"Always pushing yourself, huh Laerrin?" Axel called. He wore one of his rare smiles, the one reserved for his few friends. "How many seconds did'ja give yourself to double-tap all of those, anyway?"

"Ten seconds for that drill," Kairi answered, formal in tone. She slid her finger across the table and continued, "The strafing is part of the maneuver. It's not necessary to put down every adversary before reaching the corner but I prefer not to be pinned down." The woman then winked and cracked a smile, breaking her formality for the time being.

"Can't improve without pushing the limits," she claimed. She looked back down range and slammed her fist on the table. The blow hadn't been too hard, lest she actually break something. Some of her shooting hadn't been completely on target. "It might be a bit late."

"Move fast, hit hard." Axel nodded. "Just like in the Rebellion, huh?" He chuckled roughly in response to the wink; the balance between formality and casual conversation always fun to play with.

"Yeah, I hear that. It's why I'm here." Axel patted the blaster strapped to his hip. He frowned. "It is getting late, though. I figured I'd get in a few rounds before bed, but how long have you been here?"

"SpecOps only wanted the best," Kairi noted, "Stormtrooper training cut too many costs. They provided adequate soldiers but adequate doesn't win wars." She shrugged, smirk on her lips. "Can't say that the regular guerrilla fighters were so special. They wouldn't be so happy to hear that."

The muscular woman checked her chrono and then headed over to her rifle. She detached her bayonet from her hip and stuck it back onto it.

"Maybe taking it off threw off my aim," she remarked, patting the blade's attachment point, "As for the time, I've been here for fifty-four minutes."

Axel grunted. "Yeah, I guess they wouldn't be, huh?"

He frowned, crossing his arms casually over his chest as she reattached the bayonet. "Maybe." He said. "Habit's as important as anything with this sort of thing. Maybe more than some things."

A shrug. "Maybe you could learn to do without it. But I wouldn't do it any different than you go into combat." After a moment, Axel snorted. "Not that I'm trying to tell you your business."

"They didn't breach into a moving ship with only a blueprint of the layout," Kairi boasted. She then shrugged, relaxing her attitude. "But their work is important too. Every role is needed."

The former special ops soldier sighted her rifle down range again. She took a moment before squeezing the trigger twice at the nearest target.

"Just an excuse, really," she concluded, "Though I appreciate you not trying to lecture me. Who knows how well that would end." She shot him a small smile before shooting one more target twice.

Axel snorted. "Hey, I'm not stupid. And I'm not so fond of my own voice that I need to tell people things they already know."

He watched, giving her a nod as she put two bolts into one of the targets. "So, you were pointman for my unit before." Axel grunted. "Don't suppose you're gonna tell me what's coming now? For old time's sake?"

"I've heard a lot of people talk during my journeys across the galaxy. You're right in saying your voice isn't one of the better ones," Kairi said in a neutral tone. She set her rifle back down and looked back at Axel, clearly appraising his response.

When satisfied, she pulled out her datapad and filled in a few entries. She shook her head and then readdressed the man before her.

"Consider Tatooine a bit of a training exercise for our unit cohesion. But we're also looking for someone." Kairi tapped away at her datapad a bit more before holding it out. "Vanito Cadera, better known as 'The Hangman.' Bit of a ridiculous name but that's what you might hear out there."

Axel wasn't one for beating around the bush. He crossed his arms over his chest. "What's that supposed to mean?" He... well, growled wasn't quite the right word, but it was close. But his voice was just naturally like that.

"The Hangman?" Axel scowled. "Sounds like a great guy." At least his voice could do sarcasm. "What do we want him for?"

"So gruff," Kairi said and then cracked a smile. She rolled her eyes and shrugged too. "It's not so bad, don't worry about it. Hopefully it's not so easy to get under your skin once we reach planetside."

Kairi scrolled through the dossier. Most pictures were grainy of a man in blackened Mandalorian armor. His beskad was his most notable weapon, at least at first glance. A few more pictures showed some of his handiwork, victims hanging from the ceiling from whipcords. Some apparently dead from strangulation, other evisceration while helpless.

"Worked a lot under Clan Saxon's regime. Lost some good comrades to him on Mandalore. He might have some leads on others who would still oppose the rule of Mand'alor," Kairi explained with grim determination. She brought up clearer pictures of Vanito Cadera. A family picture. Wife, two daughters close in age. "There's the only evidence of him having a semblance of normality."

Axel gave a casual shrug. "I just like knowing where I stand is all. You know I like to face my problems head on." Smiling, he reached up, wrapping his knuckles against his own head. "A little too literally, maybe."

His gruffness turned into real disgust as he looked at the pictures. "Scumbag." Axel muttered. "Glad we're bringing him down."

The dark frown turned a bit confused at the pictures of the family though, his brow creasing. "Huh." He said. He looked at Kairi, his brown eyes uncertain.

"Headbutt is a dangerous maneuver," Kairi noted, "Guess pointman as a whole is too."

Kairi tapped on the man's family photo, lips completely flat. Her eyes were back to assessing Axel, prodding, searching.

"Is it better to threaten something he cares about to bring him out or risk losing him?" she asked plainly.

Axel grunted. "I like knowing where I stand. And that means I'm not gonna make a threat I won't follow through on."

He shook his head. "Maybe she knows what kind of scumbag she's with. I don't know. But maybe she doesn't." He shook his head again, more firmly than the first time. "And no kids. No way. No matter what."

"Good to know," Kairi said, "We don't know where they are anyways." She flicked the photo away and smirked. "Wanted to see how far you'd go."

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Axel crossed his arms with a smirk of his own. "Lots of tests, of poking at our brains, of seeing which way we jump."

Axel gave a big shrug, his broad shoulders rising and falling dramatically. "Hey, no problem. I'm an open datafile, you know."

"It's good to know who's capable of what," Kairi remarked. Her face turned back to a blank state. "Good to know who to send where. I know you can get your hands a bit dirty but how much?"

Axel's expression returned to neutral, too. For him, though, that was a frown. "Depends." He shrugged. "On the reason. On what it means."

"So philosophical. I find it easier to just turn that all off and do as I'm told." Kairi folded her hands in front of her, all military-like. "I had the advantage of having ethical commanders, though. We both know the Imperials took advantage of such a mentality."

"Philosophical?" Axel grunted. "Seemed pretty practical to me. You had ethical commanders. I spent years working for crime lords."

He shook his head, smiling just a little. "It's why I didn't mind working for the Rebels. But then it was over, and I was done. Until now."