"Just don't risk anything, okay? Get into the system, scan the areas and get the fu.ck out of there again. Not gonna spread rumors, but that system contains a nomad lair, Auxesia and an Order battleship. Fun for everyone. Makes me wonder how they end up not removing each other," he said, leaving it open for them to think about it. Turning the PDA off, he put it in his lap, before turning towards Elena again. For a moment, he thought she was looking way too cute for dangerous. Then he caught himself in that kind of chauvinistical thinking, actually glad that he didn't voice his thought. "Why do you prefer working in that branche? Nothing kills people as efficient as space does. You're young, and shouldn't end up like your friend over there, or worse." He looked over to Nick. "No offense, but she doesn't have issues in case of EMPs yet."
Nick smiles. "None taken. My damage comes from ground work rather than space combat. Mostly at least." He idly puts out another candle. "As for the job. That won't be a problem. I have an asset I've been wanting to deploy for quite a while already. This gives me reason." Still leaning against the wall, Nick continues. "My apologies for the silence, I prefer acting and speaking only when I know all the information available. Unlike Miss Voigt here who seems to forget I don't always update her on situation reports." With a shrug Nick stands upright. "I assume we are largely done here then? Seeing as you'll need us to move on with the next part of the job before we can be debriefed..."
Elena chuckled slightly when the Operative obviously voiced some sort of worries. However, this chuckle didn't last long as this question soon turned her mood a lot more serious, as she began thinking about his question for herself before answering him.
Many various questions arose in her head, all of them she already had a few times, but every time before she had not find an answer to them. Why did she actually do this all, risking her life seemingly unnecessarilly? She had never been bad at school, not at all, and could have probably studied a very reputable profession. Then again, she remember why she had left college already after the second semester, not being able to stand the atmosphere of strict learning anymore. But still, there would have been many other ways for her to find a job less dangerous than the one of a freelancer.
Elena's first visible reaction was an honest shrug, then though she decided to say something again, not really knowing how much time had actually passed with her thinking. "I guess where I currently stand is a product of many circumstances. Some fortunate, some rather unfortunate, it's always the same in life. Not everything goes as you plan it, and at some point, I simply stopped planning at all, and now I'm here." She stopped for a moment, stroking through her hair. "As with the job, I actually enjoy it. It has a lot of freedom. Not like many other jobs. However, I doubt you want me to get deeper into why I'm sitting right in front of you now. A lot of stories, but probably ones for another time."
Her typical nod returned again as she turned to Nick. "And Mr. Stenn here obviously forgets I don't tell him everything as well. A mutual agreement of sorts, isn't it, Nick?" Grinning, she turned back to the Operative.
Smirking at Nick, the Operative took both his helmet and slowly put it on again. "Right, were done here." he said, and his head was covered by the helmet, although the mouth piece wasn't hiding his mouth yet. "Have fun opening the door," he added, as that would be a bit more difficult without energy. Turning his head at Elena again, she would see him smiling softly at her. "If I was a charming woman like you, I'd try to stay planet-side. Maybe not Manhattan, but with the money you earned so far, you'd have enough for a nice living on Curacao or Baden-Baden. The latter would be the better choice, given the current situation with Gallia in the Independent Worlds. Think about it." As long as you're not involved with the current fuc.kery of galactic politics and the nomadic chaos, he thought. Standing up slowly, with the PDA in his hand and the little bag with the electronics in his other hand, he made a move to the bed in the other room to take the things out of the bag. After all, it was all their stuff.
Nick throws his head back in laughter. "I'd put your mouth piece on if I were you." He says as he walks over to his weapons on the bed.. "There's about to be a hell of a noise." Rummaging through his items, Nick selects a small looking black orb. "As I said, we never seem to go anywhere we intend on returning to when it comes to business." He looks at Elena. "Unless you want to come back here sometime? I haven't had to make a run for it in a junkers base in quite some time."
She followed him to the bed, having her arms folded behind her back, curiously looking at the person from behind. A wisp of a blush had appeared on her face, together with a smile. "I can only say the same thing about you. However you seem like a warrior to me, so I'll beware of telling you to quit ... well, whatever you're doing, actually. As with me - no way. Curacao or Baden-Baden might be all nice, but it would soon turn boring. And such a boredness is much deadlier than space. I gonna take it as a compliment, though." She watched the Operative emptying the bag in front of them, opening the view on all their belongings they had brought with them again.
Standing directly behind him, she said, in a quieter tone. "Also, what was it with this whisper you promised me, remember?" A wide grin appeared on her face then.
She turned around to Nick, recognizing the orb in his hand, her eyed widened. Elena sadly knew him well enough to know what was going to happen next. "No, I don't have to return to this station anytime soon. But maybe we could skip the running part? Or do I have to remind you of, well, something?" She thought for a brief moment, remembering this was actually a nonsense argument. "Well, actually, never mind. Do what you gotta do."
Having emptied the bag, folded it and put it back into his pocket, the Operative turned to Elena. "Those planets aren't nearly as boring as you might think." Again smirking, coming closer to her, with a hand on her shoulder, he whispered the initials of her own name into her ear before stepping back, grinning. His hands moved to his helmet and a moment later, his mouth was hidden again. "I'm ready. Same as last time, Miss Voigt. Contact me, we'll meet and talk. Money will be transfered as soon as we left this place. You have my word on it." With that, he waited for them, to pull off whatever move Nick had in mind.
Elena stepped back a little, having both her eyebrows raised at what Nick was preparing at the moment, not quite sure whether she'd like it or not. On the other hand, it had been a while since she had last seen a firework in front of her, and judging from Nick's mentality, she knew she would get to see one in a few seconds.
She briefly glanced at the Operative then, losing herself in her thoughts...
E.V. it was then... even though she cerebrated, she couldn't find any person in her memories with the same initials. Well ... there -was- one, but it was out of question it was her, obviously. Except - mh, maybe she dyed her hair and took some testosterone in the meantime. Masculine face, maybe a side-effect of Cardamine or something?
Catching herself in silly thoughts, Elena shook her head nearly unnoticeably. No way it was Miss Valdez. Glad she hadn't spoken out her thoughts loudly.
Nick gives a predatory smile as he sticks the orb to the door. Motioning for everyone to step back, he reclaims the rest of his gear and turns his back on the door. "Alright, so in about..." Nick looks at his watch, "... three seconds, that will blow the door open and we can--" Before he can finish speaking, the orb detonates, blowing the door clean off its frames and into the hallway. Nick turns and looks at the door, checks his watch again, looks back at Elena and Red, and shrugs. "It must of been defective. Oh well. Hopefully they won't be too mad at us for this." Nick says as he steps out into the hallway. "No need to look so scared. Our units power failed and we had to resort to drastic measures to get out of there. Sorry about the door, I'm sure your boss will understand."
Seeing the hole in the wall, the Operative sighed silently, looking at the emergency lever that was now visible due to the red light coming from the hallway. Nick probably didn't notice that thing when he entered the room, when there was still light. Not wanting to mention it, he followed Nick in into the hallway. The little chaos his explosion was causing drew some attention. Some people were standing in the hallway, wondering about the sudden loss of energy - not that it was a rare thing on the station, and exactly because of that they peeked around the corners. A security team was heading in their direction, followed by damage-control people that were already on the way when the EMP started. That definitely was one way to keep a low profile, the Operative thought sarcastically.
The security team saw Nick with his equipment and moved into position, hiding themselves around the corners, pointing guns at him while one of them ordered Nick to drop his weapons and explain himself. When he however would look around, he would realize only Elena was with him. The Operative was gone.