Great another damn party to attend for the Brotherhood. Well let’s do this. She sent Bentre a message on his communicator.* “Meet me in formal attire, we have a Tem Gala to attend and I need your hacking skills my love. Seems the Brotherhood wants evidence of corruption within the Severian Principate. I think we can find plenty at this party, but I need a fellow accomplice.”
Bentre smirked, it had been awhile since he was asked to do anything with his scheming wife, but a party as cover for him was perfect. “I’ve been wanting an excuse to break out my tuxedo again.” And while I am at it, might as well bust the Severian Principate wide open.
“Sounds good, see you there and remember I’m Cathe'rine and you’re Atrus.”
She hung up and put on her blue Matriarch dress, makeup and heels. If she was going, she would look fabulous.
Severian Principate Space 41 ABY
Tasha’Vel arrived in her finest and met Bentre just outside the entrance into the party. He looked dashingly handsome in his double coat tail tuxedo. She took his left arm in hand and whispered. “Are you ready for this? I will distract others with my social skills, while you sneak about and gather what we need.”
“Sounds good, shall we, Cath’erine?” His mouth twisted up playfully as he motioned to the door.
“As you wish, Atrus.” She replied punctuating the name.
Entering, she handed the tickets over to the man collecting them and took in her surroundings. There were several people chatting near a small bar, as out on the main ballroom floor were others dancing.
A couple of people greeted them at the door, one a lady in fine red clothing and a man in a regular tuxedo.. “Lovely party isn’t it? They have so many good wine selections and the food is just so immaculate. The Principate really did outdo themselves. You must be one of the newer allies they picked up recently. I am Maevis.”
She gave her husband a wink. “Cath’erine, a pleasure to meet you. I am here with my husband Atrus to enjoy some of the more finer luxuries that the Severian Principate has to offer. I am sure tonight will be very exciting. Isn’t that right my love?” She smiled politely.
“Oh yes indeed, I can’t wait to see what else they have in store, but if you will excuse me I just need to use the men’s room for a moment.” He smiled. “Where would that be located?”
“Well just down to the right side past the dance floor.” Maevis replied.
He gave a polite bow to her. “Perfect, thank you very much.” Tasha then let go of his arm as he slipped off to the bathroom.
“So Maevis, if you will excuse me as well, I think I am going to check out that dance floor if you don’t mind.” She replied as she gave a curtsey while sauntering off towards the dance floor.
Several people were dancing out on the floor as she made her way closer. She made note that past the dance floor were two guards watching the crowd as they seemed to be guarding a door. She then scanned the dance crowd and spotted one person in particular who seemed to stand out more. It was another man with lighter brown hair and brown eyes, also wearing a very fine tuxedo. He seemed to be doing less dancing and more observing. She chuckled as he looked familiar, this was definitely someone from one of the other clans and probably on a similar mission. Carefully, she made her way up to him. She drew close to his ear and spoke gently. “Well hello there,” she clasped his shoulder firmly, “I am from Clan Naga Sadow. You seem a little out of place here, friend. It seems that you could use some company in this strange land.” She smiled, but there was a chilly seriousness in her eyes. The eyes always gave her away.
The man looked at her for a moment and shrugged. “Eh, it’s a little too fancy and high class for me. Everyone seems a bit..what’s the word? Aristocratic if you ask me, but here on some business.” He tilted his head. “Odan-Urr, if it really matters..”
She smirked fondly at the comment. Diplomatic high society run-ins were always so dull. She then raised an eyebrow. “Same business then I assume?”
“Yeah something like that, say would you like to assist and join me? I think it would be far better to have more than just one dealing with crowd control.”
“Sure thing Odan-Urr, just kindly give me a moment to radio my partner.” She put a finger to her ear. The commlink clicked to life. She whispered, “So Atrus, it seems we have someone that is wanting to join our happy little duo. Hope you are getting ready on your end. By the way there are two guards at a door just past the dance floor. They seem to be keeping folks out. Might be something worth getting into.”
Edgar stared at this very strange Twi’lek woman who literally just walked up to him and blew his cover. “Am I this out of practice? Do I really stand out at these things more than I realize? Blast it, Kav is going to love me coming back and agreeing with her that I need to go to these things more often,” the Jedi thought to himself.
“So Odan-urr, so what was your plan? Are you here alone? Fantastic outfit by the way, but you’re going to need to up your game if you don’t want to stand out at these things,” she commented.
Quickly looking around and taking a quick moment to sense the people nearby are no threat, Edgar took the lady’s hand, “My Lady, let me get you a drink and then yes, we shall have that dance.”
Taking her arm, he walked her over to one of the bars in a quieter corner of the event. All the while keeping his senses open and eyes peeled. Walking up to the bar, he ordered two drinks and then looked at his companion to take a seat at the bar. “Wait, so your plan is to get drunk and here I thought you Odanites were better at this?” criticizing him.
Letting out an audible sigh, Edgar gave her one of the drinks and whispered, “Look, I was told others might be here looking for the same thing I am, and I’m grateful for the help, but let’s get things straight. I don’t even know who you are, and why are you so freely announcing our clan affiliations? My name is Edgar Drachen, and if you must address me, it’s Ed or Edgar. I hear you called your partner Atrus, and who might you be?”
Tasha giggled and said. “Ok, Odan…. I mean, Edgar, I’m Tasha’Vel Versea, and my partner Atrus is providing overwatch on the party and the outside when it comes time for us to head out. Right before I noticed you, he reported …”
Just as she was speaking, she stopped talking and held her hand to her ear. Apparently, it was important since her face went from jovial to serious in a second flat.
Bentre strode through the dance floor, past the restrooms, and through a doorway into what he assumed was a simple service hallway. His wife had pointed out the guards. He was looking for an alternative route in. It wouldn’t serve to be seen dispatching obviously placed thugs.
If he had learned anything during his time as a Consul, it was that confidence was key. Sure, he could have disappeared from view. He could tried to knock someone out and take their clothes, nestling into the background like a jokingly-disguised assassin in some poorly-produced holodrama. Instead, he walked and he looked. He watched for signage.
He looked for the sorts of places he was not supposed to be.
It wouldn’t be obvious. He highly doubted there would be a big sign in crisp Aurbesh saying “top secret, keep out”, but he could hope. Instead, he looked for the more general signs. An “employees only” or the like would do. If he was careful, he might even manage to talk his way right to where he needed to go.
He had to be careful though. He trusted Tasha'Vel to do her part. She was better for more than stabbing things. He just had to keep the faith. She was good at thinking on her feet, if it came to it.
And in the worst case? She was really good at stabbing things.
He watched the doors as people shuffled out. A brief glance told him one was a kitchen. Another looked like it might hold something like a broom closet? He wasn’t about to actually try the doors himself. He just had to wait for an opportunity, or something that looked juicier than a storage room.
He looked through, his mind racing. A security office would be an obvious way to gather his intel. All he would have to do is download the feeds, and he would have plenty to work his way through.
Then, a wicked idea scratched at the back of his head.
Why not go for it all?
Tasha'Vel was more than capable of holding down the fort to let him work. Mere security footage would be a pittance. He could go for the big haul. He could go for it all.
He was going to find the server room. A nice, juicy, evidence-filled donut of undeniable proof. His stomach growled for a minute at the thought of donuts, but he shook his head.
He needed focus.
She turned to Edgar and smiled. “Seems Atrus found what he was looking for and needs us to provide a means of distraction to the lovely gentlemen guarding the place just past the dance floor. So would you care for a dance?”
At the request Edgar’s mind came back into focus from all the scenarios running in his head and smile at the lady “Of course, dancing is one the few things I’m good at. There are many dances and balls on Kiast that I think you and your partner would love to come to.” he said confidently as he took her hand and proudly paraded her through the crowd to the dance floor. They reached the edge of the floor just as a new song was starting, and the Jedi took the lead as they started dancing. Tasha pulled in close and leaned into his ear “Nice work, you seem to get everyone looking at us, and you even got a couple of the leaders to come out on the dance floor. Lead me over there, and maybe we can get one of them to dance with you instead?”
Edgar seemed confused since he really didn’t pay attention to the mission brief, but on the first time he passed them, he noticed they were all ladies and immediately noticed the brown haired human. She was quite attractive. As they were dancing in wide arcs that passed the ladies a few times, it was on the 4th time that the song came to an end, and Edgar did, in fact, feel a tap on his shoulder.
As he turned, he saw a blue-skinned Twi’lek turn to Tasha and ask, “What is such a lovely woman like you dancing with this scruffy pirate?”
The hallways behind the scenes were alight with activity. For once, Bentre felt like he was in his element. He stood tall, and made confident eye contact with many uniformed wait staff and the like. It wasn’t until a clearly harried human approached him that he felt any real worry about the whole affair.
“Hey, what do you think you are doing?” The woman scowled at him.
“Oh, I am sorry. I thought the restrooms were,” he waved a hand, “somewhere over this way.”
“No, the party is back at-” the woman stopped looking him over more carefully, her face twisted in confusion, “wait, how did you find yourself all the way out here?” She grabbed his sleeve, and started to pull him along. “I am going to need you to talk to security. "You-”
Bentre gave a sidelong glance. There was Twi'lek in a jump suit further down the hallway, but he seemed more focused on the task at hand. With a nod, he swiveled back to the woman and raised his free hand.
“That will be enough.” He focused in the Force, ignoring the pain this draw caused to lance across his body and his mind. “I am here to service the servers. You wouldn’t anything to go wrong because you inconvenienced a technician during this prestigious event.”
Confusion flashed across her face as the mind trick took hold. For a moment, Bentre worried that it had not taken. He focused harder, trying to push past the flashes of pain he was experiencing as a result. Desperation and a strike of fear drove him. His expertise was stealth over traditional infiltration.
“Once I was informed of the cascading errors, I knew I had to lend The Principate my services. Nobody wants anything to go wrong today.”
A small war seemed to play out on the human worker’s face for a few moments. Frustration and agitation played, with irritation giving way to simple resignation. She sighed. “Yeah.”
“It really wouldn’t be worth your job if you were busy detaining the man whose job it was to fix server issues. After all, you don’t really know anything about that sort of thing, do you?”
“Yeah.” She muttered. “I don’t really know anything about that. It is best to let you work, right?”
“I am sure you have better things to do than bother me. It might even be helpful to show me to the work site, don’t you think?”
The woman seemed to teeter for a moment. “I do have better things to accomplish than bothering a tech. I think- I think I will show you to the servers so you can work. I don’t know enough about that sort of thing.”
As he lowered his hand, he smiled. “So, let’s take care of those servers for you.”
She turned, and started to walk deeper into the faciilities. Bentre followed with a confident smile. He fell back a bit, and after looking to ensure he wasn’t being watched, he pulled out his commlink and muttered into it. “Okay Cath'erine. I am off to go fix the servers. You, have fun and do what you do best. You are the best at dancing after all.” He pocketed the commlink, and followed the worker, smiling like a nexu pup with a large steak.
He was back in his element.
“Oh, he is quite the dancer and you could even say…quite the conversationalist.” She smiled. “ How about a nice dance with this scruffy pirate? He may surprise you.” She then let go of Edgar and bowed politely. “Go ahead try it.” She urged the lady. Not wanting to be embarrassed by Tasha'Vel the lady took Edgar’s hand and began to dance with him.
She then took the opportunity to slip past the dancing crowd now watching Edgar and the lady to make her way to the one guard left watching the opening. He was standing there still.
“Well look at you all strong and confident. You look so bored. Would you like to dance?” She asked sweetly as she got closer.
“Lady I have to guard thos place, I can’t let a-"He was cut short by the Twi'lek stabbing her sleep poisoned stilleto into him. In seconds he slumped forward and Tashavel grabbed and swiftly moved him away from the opening, sitting him down in a chair on the side away from view. "Nap time.” Just then her comlink went off. “I have it Cathe'rine!” She put a hand to her ear. “The footage?”
She heard him rant. “No everything! Footage, receipts, dealings, credit logs, names…With this we could end the-Hang on, nine hells, gotta go!” Her comlink went off.
“Well bantha spit.What did he do now?” Whatever it was, she already had a bad feeling welling up inside her as she murmured. “Why couldn’t you just get the footage only like we had planned for Bentre?”