“You let me out for a formal gala, Quaestrix? Do I give the airs of a man who enjoys overhyped booze, tight suits and faux politeness?” Even with a comm channel seperating him, the insulted expression was easily visualized. Hanging off the side of the gala hall, Titius was chaffing in all the wrong places. Oh my neck is going to look like a hangman special from this collar. NOT the suit for acrobatics.
“You don’t need to see my invitation.” “I don’t need to see your invitation.” “Enjoy the gala.” “Enjoy the gala.” “Thank you. I will.” Taziadu'ku said to the security guard she’d just mind tricked her way past. Blackhawk, posing as a bodyguard, followed behind her.
The day before, aboard the *Nocte Drakon*
A Waystation
The Elder had finally gathered her team; Blackhawk, her first best friend and whom she trusted no matter what, Titius Osseus, a mad scientist, trusted friend and a coffee addict whom she’d given (and possibly regrets) a very special supply of Shilian coffee to, and Taziadu'ku Daughya, Blackhawks pilot and an excellent agent (vouched for by the Clawdite). All had their purpose and value to the mission. While the Quaestor wanted to go the more covert route, and sneak in, the Tem Gala had too many eyes everywhere. So instead she was taking the undercover route and hit it from two if not three directions, to see who within the Severian Principate leadership was actually loyal, if not at the very least with the Brotherhood. Plus the threat of a possibly experimental crystal derived stim compound being sold at the gala was something of a red flag. That was why she’d personally gone to Titius to ask him to come with her on this mission.
“We all at an understanding of what we’re looking for and need to do?”
The group sitting around the holo-table nodded, Blackhawk and Tazi smiling, already formulating a plan to get themselves into the venue, even though Tahiri had the resources to get them in easily.
“Where’s the challenge in that!” Her Togrutan counterpart stated.
Titius mumbled something into his third cup of caff.
Present
“Well, you do clean up nice, for what it’s worth,” Tahiri smiled as she greeted those passing by the table she had acquired. “I know this isn’t your thing, it isn’t really mine either. Play it cool till we find out who’s meeting who, and if this compound is real, you know my promise is good for you having a few samples to experiment with it to your hearts content.”
“You two in yet?” The Elder gently petted Eeth'Mireth, her Tailring pet sitting on her shoulder, while switching to her mental connection with Blackhawk. Knowing they could easily check in on the comms, but she wanted to make sure they were fully in the gala before doing that.
“They made it past the door greeter so as long as noone asks too many questions, they should be in.” Titius rappelled to the next window and cursed quietly. “You three did not hear this, but I really wish I had a Force push at this point. Explain to me why I had to bring my formal attire when I am strapped halfway up the building in the pitch dark? Scrubs…don’t…have…pockets!”
Titius pulled a stiletto blade out and tore the seal on the window. A solid kick sent the pane crashing into the room beyond, Titius not far behind. “And that’s all four in. Say something silly if the whole party goes sideways will you?”
As if there was any doubt? Blackhawk quipped mentally.
“Perfect,” Tahiri just managed to catch the giggle before it slipped out over the comm, about Titius’ musings. Taking the last sip of her drink, then standing up, her stunning yet simple, shimmery midnight blue evening gown, flowed over her curves smoothly as she moved. She sent a playful mental poke back to the Clawdite.
“Roger that, Titius. Focus on getting to and grabbing as much of the stock as you can and we’ll handle the rest. Make sure you say something sane if things jump in the fire up there.” Smirking a little as she moved into the crowd. One last message on the comms, before she enacted radio silence till any of they found something or someone was in trouble. “Alright team, lets hit the floor hard and get this corruption ring found asap. I’d rather not be here longer than we have to be. Mark the targets, plant the devices, and get out with the goods. And lets try not to attract too much attention.”
Working the crowd, she stoked up conversation after conversation, skimming the passive thoughts of those around her, hoping find some underlining talk or thoughts about stims, some mention of ascendant crystals, and getting only hints here and there. Even as she managed to get close to even a couple of the head leaders, their minds were either stoic or calm, with no hints of anything she was looking for.
Hoping Tazi was getting something better, she moved and focused harder on the leaders subordinates. Finding a couple actual mentions of experimental stims and a meeting taking place soon, she quickly marked the persons whose thoughts had betrayed them and moved to plant a tracker on their person.
Once she was done with a good deal of room, she moved towards the grand staircase and quickly excused herself from further conversations to ‘go find her partner on the rooftop bar and possibly freshen up a bit.’ Heading to the lift to carry her up to the upper levels of the building, where guests could take a room and refresh if needed, and access to the luxury rooftop pool and bar at the very top of the 30 story building. “Titius, Tazi, Blackhawk, I’ve managed to grab a few potential targets, going to the fifth floor to ‘refresh’ and see if there’s pattern. Let me know when you two on the floor are headed up.”
<@280930981983289345>
Taziadu'ku and Blackhawk were navigating their way through the party quite well in their cover dynamic. Tazi handled the majority of the social aspect, moving between conversations like she would a ship through an asteroid field. Blackhawk, posing as a bodyguard, followed close behind, managing to avoid actually having to talk to most people. Things were going decently.
“A bodyguard? In a place like this?”
Blackhawk turned to the source of the voice. He looked down to see a human woman, several inches shorter, looking up at him.
“One can never be too careful,” Blackhawk replied (as I’m sure you are aware.“ He’d instantly recognized the Triumvir of Oath.
"Sadly, yes.” She agreed. “But, is it really needed here, at a private gala of all places?”
“If there are other people around, there’s a need for security.” Blackhawk stated firmly. “I’m sure you have extra security around here, weather you know it or not.” He had, in fact, already spotted at least three individuals he’d pegged as extra security. They weren’t super obvious. Most probably wouldn’t spot them without knowing what to look for. No doubt they’d spotted him before the woman had approached him.
“Indeed.” she sighed. “But this is supposed to be a relaxed event. Please, try to enjoy yourself, at least a little.” She moved on, slipping into a different conversation as if she’d started it
“I don’t think we’re going to get anything useful down here. I probed her while you two were talking. She doesn’t know of any corruption beyond the inevitability of it’s existence.” Tazi opined. “Well, let’s go then.” Blackhawk replied.
Titius pokes his head out into the hall. The smell of disinfectant crashes into him, making the air seem flammable. Stalking down past several doors, he hears noise and sees a dimly lit section. Voices exchange calm instructions and counts. as Titius leans around to see…
Dozens of pallets each with a few cases bound to the top. A few workers in safety suits are pulling small packets to workbenches and breaking the contents into rows of cylinders. Titius ducks back as one walks by the doorway. How much did Tahiri say I could have? Guess we will find out. Slipping in behind the worker, he grabs a protective mask and falls in stride then peels off towards another worker holding a tablet on the far side of the room.
“Hey, what is our final count?” The worker stares at the tablet and murmurs something vague. “Have we been given a destination at least? Rendeshi is eager to get this finished so we can setup for the next event.” The mention of Rendeshi was enough to make the worker look up finally. Hey, youre not part of this… Titius didn’t let the worker finish instead plowing his elbow into the worker’s face and pulling them to the floor easily. A brief twist put the worker to sleep and Titius looked over the crates to see noone noticed the scuffle. He dragged a crate off the nearest pallet and gave it a lift. It was lighter than expected.
Somehow, Titius not only made the door with the crate but down several hallways before hitting a lift. Kneeling, he dropped a pile of silvery sand to the floor which immediately began rippling. “Find anything containing information on this floor. Ignore this tablet.” Titius tapped the top of the crate. The dust shot off like a fast moving stream, swirling around doorseals and vents. Back at the lift, Titius tossed a tube in the tube and slapped the selector for the top floor. The sand returned as the lift doors closed and Titius followed.
The building shook briefly. The attendees all paused for a moment. The building had shook more vigorously than normal, but not enough to actually cause panic. They quickly resumed their mingling. Some, however, made for the exits. Blackhawk had a pretty good idea why. “Isn’t this supposed to be a stealth mission?” the Clawdite growled into his comm. “Does anybody suspect a thing?” Titius’ replied cockily. “Some do. You shook the whole damn building!” Blackhawk hissed in reply. He was annoyed, but the Clawdite had to concede that stealth was, in fact, still not compromised in spite of the explosive that had just gone off.
“It’s fine,” Tahiri’s calm voice came over the comm. “The people I placed trackers on are moving towards the source of the explosion. Which means, we have a decent lead on whose corrupt.”
Her lift had shaken a bit, but made it to the rooftop and quickly met with Titius, almost getting pushed back in, by many of the slightly frightened people who felt more the shaking than those below. Getting to the side, she disappeared from sight and waited till the entire rooftop was vacated. Moving to the second lift, she knocked and found Titius waiting with the crate. Nodding she quickly sent a message to her ship for pick up.
“Titius has the product, my ship is coming in to pick it up,” the Elder reported. “We’ll be on our way back down shortly. Let’s get home.”
After to making sure that the cargo was secure, Titius escorted her back down to the main floor. They made their exit, along with Tazi and Blackhawk. The team met back up at the Waystation, getting a full report ready to go for whom needed it.