Private How to Get Out Unscathed

[Sentiri]

Denon
Capital District
The "Pentad"​

Night did not come to many places on Denon. The neon glow of the city-planet was ever present through nearly every one of the many vertical levels of the skyscraper landscape. The Capital buildings were among the select few places where one could go and get something close to darkness. The light pollution made seeing the stars impossible, replaced instead by a hazy black. But lights and billboards and holograms were all absent. The day/night cycle of the district was a reflection of the planet's actual day/night cycle and after hours work was uncommon for most of those who were employed there. Functions in the evening were truly evening functions and the same was true for the daytime.

But this night, there were no functions. The din of the city beyond barely bypassed the numerous water features installed specifically to reduce any outer noise. A central and expansive yard tied five buildings together. The yard itself had more greenery than most Denon citizens ever saw in their entire life. A single central building stuck up from the center of the yard, piercing the artificially nature park from far below. The central tower beneath the platform was the headquarters of CorpSec. The tower above was designated as the Capitol Building, the place where the leaders of the Corporate Authorities of Denon gathered to make their decisions about the livelihoods of their citizens and met with foreign dignitaries on matters of political concern. The central tower was rarely used.

The five surrounding towers served as both political and corporate headquarters of each of the five premier DireX: Marlene Starlight, Larz Blackheart, Diviak Manfloon, Qanatain Xopsaloff, and Luminous Sun. Each skyscraper was styled after its respective owner.

When Sentiri had visited the "Pentad" before, she had come to meet with Larz Blackheart. That had been months ago when she had first arrived on Denon. Their relationship had ended abruptly after the Chiss woman recovered the information that the secretive DireX had been withholding from her in exchange for her servitude. That information had been the location of Rhéala Aleyv, her onetime partner turned flame. Once they rekindled their relationship, Sentiri cut ties with the manipulative executive and hadn't looked back.

Now she was here once more. Except this time, her focus was on a different member of the elite: Luminous Sun. The next person on the list trying to steal her love and life away. Sentiri wasn't about to let that happen. Not again.

"Are you ready?"

Anakin Stormrunner​

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

There were few things Anakin liked about the upper levels of Denon. The streaming water fountains and fields of grass larger than the homes of many of the planets lower levels did nothing but twist his stomach and send poison through his veins. So when Anakin admitted, if only in the safety of his mind, a dubious safety considering the recent revelations but a safety nonetheless, that he liked the dark nights of the upper levels, it wasn't a decision made lightly. The plants and the water was simply a reminder of the grave imbalance between the inhabitants of the planet, but the darkness belonged to the slaves. In darkness came safety, refuge from Depur's cruel watching gaze. The fact that the upper levels, those held in the tightest fist by the Depurs of Denon, were the only ones to be blessed with true darkness was not lost on him. Call it superstition, or cultural symbolism blown out of proportions, but Anakin couldn't help but think that it was proof of their fallibility. They could still be beaten, in time and with patience and hard work.

"Are you ready?"

Standing in the shadows of the upper levels, bright blue wings obscured beneath a diamond shaped poncho, Anakin whispered the secret guttural words of his people. First a prayer to Ar-amu for protection, to Leia for strength, to Ekkreth for the cunning and the guile to fool Depur. He whispered and he clutched his japor, and from his waist in a bag no bigger than his thumb, he brought forth precious drops of the liquid. It dripped off his fore and middle finger once, twice-
Before he flicked the digits out and sent the remaining two drops arcing to the ground. "Tagwa." He spoke in Huttese, an old habit after speaking amatakka. His shoulders hunched at the mistake, bunching up the fabric and the netted dark brown pattern of the poncho. "Yes." The poncho was black, as was customary for these jobs. Black was the color of freedom after all.

Metal clinked as Anakin pulled two small metal boxes and a flat disk the size of his palm out of an unseen pocket. The disk wash flicked on, filling the air with the faint buzz of a dead comm channel. They could talk freely now without fear of listening devices. "I can get you in with this." He held a cube between two clawed fingers. "It'll fool the cameras and sensors around you so you don't show up on any of their systems. Keep it on you at all times." One of the cubes dropped into her hand. "It won't stop you from using your own scanners and technologies like most of these things, but it also wont hide you from being seen if you run into someone." His own metal cube dissipated back into his coat along with the still buzzing flat disc. "That's where I come in. With the All-mother's help, I can hide us from being seen, but you'll have to stick close."

"Once we're inside, a contact of mine will be waiting in the service shafts. They know where the information should be kept." They had originally planned to hand the information off earlier, but something had upset Sun recently and all the Amavikkans were treading carefully to avoid her ire. "Once we get that, we can narrow the search down from an entire floor to a couple of rooms." The static stuttered in it's constant drone. It wouldn't be long now until they risked bringing attention the the audio jammer. it didn't have the benefit of being silent. "The rest of the plan is simple. The security for the floor should be the same near the room." The unless went unsaid. The dreadful possibility than Sun had caught on and sent more guards their way. "Once we're inside, you do what you need to and I'll keep any unwanteds off your tail." He flicked the jammer off, and wrapped the desert around them both. He thought of the air and the dust and the ground beneath their feet. Nothing but light and motes of dust, and pressed the thoughts outwards, directing the attention of others away from the empty place that they stood.

Sentiri