The Establishing of Government (Obredaan)

[H3xle]

Mike was not a party person, as expressed by the fact that he was toting around a small, easily concealed armory on himself while at one. He was, however, an excellent actor. He was putting those skills to use, schmoozing where it was necessary, making small comments on this talking point or that, sipping champaign, and all of it with a smile. In his outfit he was quite the handsome man, but it was not a memorable type of handsomness. Truly, aside from the blue flesh and red eyes, he was an easily forgettable person, his features, while attractive, were the norm for his race.

Despite not being a party person, he was truly enjoying his time with Ali. They weren't quite friends, but the platonic nature of their 'work place' relationship fit both of their life styles easily. He knew that, despite being on his arm and doing a marvelous job of feigning interest in him, she wasn't the least bit so. He had assumptions as to her leanings, but didn't truly concern himself with them. He was a man married to the mission. Romantic attachments only complicated the mission, muddied an agents mind with other concerns that Mike didn't need, nor wanted.

These thoughts were swimming around Mike's mind as he let the schmooze machine front he had in place do the light work. He had a knack for compartmentalizing his mind, he was paying attention to everything, but was leaving the information for a later perusal. Then a series of events pulled Mike fully back into the present, his mind fully engaged in the current time stream.

"His Majesty Xander Blackmoore, King of the Indupar Crown Worlds, and Lady Sitara Qin." The colour drained from Ali's face and she felt herself reaching for Mikaal's forearm and gripping it tightly. "The Sith are here," Ali heard herself mutter. She turned away and pressed her back against a pillar, hiding herself from the woman in the red dress. "Tara..." Ali whispered, peeking out to glance down at the dark haired woman strolling confidently on the arm of the nobleman Ali knew to have ties to the Sith order. She hadn't seen Sitara, the woman, since Kashyyyk, and hadn't been sure she wanted to see her at all. A pleasant afternoon of beachfront lovemaking had turned into a nightmare of emotional manipulation and sexual control. Sitara's had used her ability to force herself into Ali's mind to effectively enslave her. Ali had followed the instructions her mistress had left in her flat, keeping everything about their relationship secret.

Small utterances, but Mike caught them all. He let his eyes scan over to the couple walking in, as everyone in the room was at the moment. As that, his gaze wouldn't be felt as out of the ordinary. The 'King' was a tall, well fit man, and he had a very attractive young woman on his arm. Mike took in the way they both were standing, where they were looking and who they went and spoke to in a matter of moments before turning to his partner. He caught several emotions going over her face, meaning there was more going on than a mission, though they now had targets.

Mike waited a moment for [member="Ali Hadrix"]'s eyes to meet his own, then he offered a genuine looking smile and raised an eyebrow.

"Trouble, my dear?" He asked, then looked down to the drink in her hand. "Is the champaign getting to your head so soon?" An agent like Ali would be able to parse out the meaning of his inquiry without Mike having to add any inflections to any words. He was simply asking if she was going to have trouble completing the mission. That was all that mattered to him, after all.

[member="Xander Blackmoore"] [member="Sitara Qin"]

 

[Sitara Qin]

She could feel all the eyes on her body though only one pair truly mattered.

And for the sake of the mission, it wasn’t Xanders.

Though this Prime Minister wasn’t their target, he could very much provide key information that would make the mission successful. She simply needed to play her cards right, and if there was one thing Sitara could do, it was playing out a good hand. Life dealt her a sweet package, and she had every intention of using it to her own benefits.

She politely excused herself from the conversation she was having with the women around her and moved her way back to her partner. She handed one of the waiters her now empty champagne glass. As her hands linked through her partner’s, her gaze locked onto the prime minister who was already staring.

“Have you tried the champagne, dear? It’s exquisite.” She said, batting her eyes at the Prime Minister in front of her. Although she knew that the wine was far better on Ec Pand, men liked to have their egos stroked, and such pride came with its country.

She licked her lips, all the while holding the politician’s cool gaze. She didn’t need the force to know what he was thinking. She could tell that Xander knew it too, and was the reason why he had assigned him to be her focus.

He wouldn’t need a lot of prodding to tell her what she needed.

“And this place is absolutely grand, I would love to be shown around.” Her eyes beckoned the Prime Minister to understand. She watched as his throat bulged, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped down his saliva.

“Perhaps, I could give you the pleasure of a small tour, Miss Qin?”

“The pleasure is yours, Prime Minister.”

| [member="Xander Blackmoore"] | [member="Ali Hadrix"] | [member="Mikaal Thraighn"] |

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali caught Mikaal's words clear enough in the din of the chamber to understand the subtle meaning behind them. She shook her head and pressed her forehead to her palm for a moment, then nodded and looked up at him. "No, I'm fine, just...a little warm in here." Ali feigned, tugging at the breast of her dress repeatedly in gesture. She took Mikaal's hand and led him away from the Umbaran couple nearby, sitting them into one of the many booths that ran the length of the second level. "Our guests of honor are playing for the other team," Ali muttered in a not-so-cryptic fashion. The One Sith is here. "Looks like some of their players showed up early." Ali took lifted her glass to take another swig of her drink when she remembered Mikaal asking after her level of sobriety. "Maybe I shouldn't," she said, letting it play out that way, and set the glass down. Resting her head against his shoulder as she sat by his side, Ali passed on what information she had about the couple that had just made their entrance.
"Blackmoore's one of their key players in this league," Ali mumbled, "And Qin is his..." What was she? Ali asked herself, suddenly at a loss for words. Qin had begun as a sweet, young woman eager to return Ali her lipstick on the beachside properties of Kashyyyk. What she was now, Ali had no idea. Was she Blackmoore's little whore? His partner? His plaything? Ali frowned inwardly. The girl was either wrapped up in something bigger than she realised, or she was truly playing for the One Sith's political shockball team. "The only thing I know is that our players are going to get benched for injuries." Ali murmured, continuing with the sports-talk disguise. "From what I hear about Blackmoore, he plays for keeps, and though his learned skills are debatable, I hear he's naturally gifted." The message should have been clear for Thraighn: The Sith are here, and he'd better start counting bodies.

/ [member=Sitara Qin] \​

/ [member=Xander Blackmoore] | [member=Mikaal Thraighn] \​

 

[H3xle]

Mike kept his eyes off the couple as Ali explained with her head on his shoulder only as a professional would be able to. He kept his chin down and resting against Ali's head as she spoke. To all intents and purposes, they were a young couple in love holding a private conversation in the booth. However, Mike was mentally recording every word Ali said, every inflection and every pause. Mike could tell quite easily that there was another value in the equation that he was missing, but he figured and hoped that it didn't matter to the mission.

"The only thing I know is that our players are going to get benched for injuries." Ali murmured, continuing with the sports-talk disguise. "From what I hear about Blackmoore, he plays for keeps, and though his learned skills are debatable, I hear he's naturally gifted."

​"Ahhh, naturals. The bane of every trained athletes existence. What play would you suggest the home team play against such...talents?" Mike asked her as he reached for her hand, holding it gently to keep up the pretense. The shift in his body that the small move made would draw the hilt of one of his hidden guns across the outside of her arm, the point was clear. Should we shoot them?

[member="Ali Hadrix"] [member="Sitara Qin"] [member="xander blackmoore"]

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali felt her heart racing as she considered their options. Ultimately, the final decision rested on her about what to do with Blackmoore and his little whore, but Ali wasn't sure she could make an objective decision at the moment. She looked back up to Mikaal, a grimace set into her features. "We'll have to, but not here." She mumbled, drawing away from him slightly. "They'll be here doing recce, though I'll bet they have support assets in the area, probably working security for the event on the civilian side or posing as alternate guests. If we can get a hold of the original guest list we can cross reference it with new arrivals. A little digging should help turn up some of their assets."

===========​

// [member=Sitara Qin] \\​

// [member=Mikaal Thraighn] \\​

// [member=Xander Blackmoore] \\​

=================​

 

[Judah Lesan]

Xander watched as Sitara was led away by the Prime Minister, and tried to block out of his mind the methods that may be employed to get his guard down. The king was not always the jealous type, but he still did not like to think about it, then again, he would do whatever was necessary to get the job done, and one of those things, he was happening upon.

There had been too much attention on him by a couple of guests, and his mind began to scan surface thoughts. One of the was broadcasting her emotions so loudly, Xander could feed off them. His smile twisted as he made his way for the seeming unmatched pair. Several of the guests, the political types, had already injested a very slow moving toxin which would arrest their hearts while the slept. Xander could afford the detour.

"Is the champagne not to your liking? Perhaps you may like a private tasting of the wine this planet just agreed to bring in as an import," he said as he made his approach. "I never leave home without it."

[member="Ali Hadrix"] | [member="Mikaal Thraighn"] | [member="Sitara Qin"]