Backroom Festival Adventures

[Shax]

Corellia, Coronet City​

There was a rising tension in the Corellian system, the Insurgency against the Sith Empire had begun to plant operatives in governmental positions, while at the same time driving up anti-Imperial sentiment amongst the populace. As of yet, open conflict has been avoided, and in an attempt to maintain the peace, a wealthy government official by the name of Ionas Kensala has organised a mid-year festival for the populace with a small gala happening at the end of each day during the two day festival. While originally a gesture that was clearly designed to bring people together, for the Insurgency, it was simply a cover for their operations.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Volken was unsure why he was here, he had heard about Corellia, he had heard about the Insurgency, but he was at a loss as to why he was ordered to help either. Here he was though, helping an alleged terrorist organisation influence the politics of an entire system of planets. Thankfully, so far he hadn't been asked to do anything that might violate his already strained moral code, and so far, the Insurgency representatives had been polite and at least semi reasonable.

Currently he was blending in on the first day, he wore a set of the currently in style Corellian clothes, and had only his collapsible Vibro-lance on hand, simply hanging at his side. He had gotten himself some food and was waiting patiently for the other Insurgency operatives to arrive, he had arrived early just to get his bearings and to adapt to the atmosphere of the festival. It had seemed that the general mood was happy, people were glad for the distraction from their everyday lives, and thankfully there was very little Imperials, at least in uniform, attending the event.

OOC: This is a Semi-social thread designed to allow the different characters of the Insurgency side of A Game of Influence to meet each other and have some interaction, while working together to bribe or blackmail the aforementioned NPC Ionas Kensala into helping the Insurgency. PVP is discouraged, and death is disabled and this thread is only open to Insurgency PC's.

 

[Herrith]

Herrith stood in the middle of the crowd, wearing a long red dress and separate sleeves to cover her brands. She wore her boots underneath, so the outfit was Corellian enough to blend in.

She wandered the event, looking for anyone that stood out as an insurgent. But then again, insurgents were hard to spot, hence why the Legion hadn't squashed them all like bugs. Ah, well. Herrith enjoyed helping the underdog.

Within a couple minutes, she spotted Volken among the crowd and quietly stalked over, ignoring glances from other participants of the party. The Zeltron put on a smile and spoke in her more native accent.

"Funny seeing you here, love. Now explain why."

She smiled again and put her arms behind he back.

 

[The Prophet]

Draped from head to toe in layers of elegant crimson, patterned with shimmering gold, Aizahk strode confidently into the ensuing festivities. Hands clasped behind his back, as was habit considering his martial background, he carried himself with almost regal poise. After all, if the Insurgency - a rogue element, branded by the Sith Empire as terrorists and low life scum - was to stay hidden amongst the crowd, what better disguise than that of a man of stature? If one clearly hailed from higher ilk, how could they possibly associate with the filth that works only against their noble interests? At the very least, that was Aizahk's interpretation of the general Imperial mindset. And, thus far, his logic appeared to hold true.

Avoiding any particular eye contact with those around him, in the hopes of skirting any potential unwanted encounters, Aizahk briskly made his way to an elevated position. Though he considered taking a seat in a nearby booth, sitting alone likely didn't befit the character he intended to play. So instead he decided to begin by simply drifting about the crowd, clasping a drink in hand, passing his gaze across the room occasionally, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of his fellow agents.

 

[Atlas Silexia]

Ano made his way through the gala hall, receiving weird looks and gestures from party-goers who didn't even know what a Kyuzo was.

His regular armor had been decorated with royal blue markings, an ancient tradition in his culture. He had made his way through the party awkwardly, trying to find any of his fellow insurgent agents. The meeting up here was quite a discreet situation, only given brief descriptions of his fellow insurgents. He wasn't normally one for helping a terrorist organization, but the pay was good, and honestly, he hated the Sith.

He continued to shamble around looking for his fellow agents, hoping he would receive a verbal signal or gesture.

 

[Shax]

Volken was mid bite of his sandwich when Herrith approached him, he didn't expect to see her here, but it wasn't an unwelcome surprise. He swallowed and smiled up at the woman, she looked good, her dress was clearly designed to grab attention, and as Volken glanced around, it was clear it had. He gestured to the sandwich in his hands and spoke in a friendly tone "I've always heard the Corellians made the best food, so far I'm not disappointed." He was always an awful liar, and it was clear he had other motives past the fine dining.

Quickly moving past his obvious lie, he spoke again "You look good Herrith, its good to see you off of Nar Shaddaa, and what brings you here?" Volken gestured to one of the seats close to him all the while smiling as he did so. He was genuinely happy to see that she was off of the aforementioned "smugglers moon," he had no love of the world and while it was probably not the case, he chose to think that his words had prompted the change, at least until told otherwise. As he glanced around, he noticed another Alien shambling around the party, it wasn't a common sight to see aliens in the area, and so far Volken had only seen Herrith and this now this new being at the event. Volken couldn't think of it as anything other than an Insurgency agent, considering it was here and in armor. Now that he thought about it more, he looked back at Herrith, she was probably here for the same reason as that alien, and Volken hopefully.

 

[Herrith]

"I've always heard the Corellians made the best food, so far I'm not disappointed."

Herrith scoffed and replied in her normal tone.
"Nice joke. Where'd you find that sandwich, the dumpster?"

Volken gestured to a nearby seat and she sat herself, listening as he spoke and also observing a familiar Kyuzo in the crowd.

"You look good Herrith, its good to see you off of Nar Shaddaa, and what brings you here?"

Herrith replied in her formal tone.
"Don't overflatter me. I'm merely here for the party. And the...job offer."

She winked and poured herself a drink, making note to wave over the Kyuzo Bounty Hunter if he didn't notice the two beforehand. They all had to be here for the same reason.

The Insurgency called. Fun.

 

[Atlas Silexia]

He continued to make his way around the crowd, trying to avoid looks, until he saw a familiar Zeltron wave him down.

He made his way over to the table and situated himself down next to the other two sitting there. It was abundantly clear that he should have just came in that suit his droid offered.

"Herrith? Didn't think I'd see you here. Whose your friend?" As he gestured over to the man covered in the formal Correlian wear, and having at a sandwich that had dirt written all over it.

 

[Herrith]

"Herrith? Didn't think I'd see you here. Whose your friend?"

Herrith smiled at the bounty hunter's remark.
"Just helping the cause. You? And this here's Volken. The religious warrior of the righteous."

She added extra sarcasm to the last part and then continued.
"Sit. May as well enjoy the party in your..armor."

 

[Atlas Silexia]

Ano took the remark as a light joke, and pondered on the title of Religious warrior of the Righteous.

Strange, but he was glad that this guy was on his side.

"That's... Interesting. I'm Ano, Mercenary for hire." and adjusted his hat to show that it was a bit more than just an accessory. It was a shield.

He put his hand out to Volken, waiting to hear what would come out of the mans mouth.

 

[Shax]

Volken looked down at his sandwich when Herrith mentioned finding it in a dumpster, now that he thought about it, there were no food vendors in this room, where did he get this thing? He pondered this for a few moments seemingly deep in thought while both Ano and Herrith conversed. He only looked up when Ano directly addressed him, he smiled and accepted his hand "I'm Volken, Paladin of Mortis. Nice to meet you Ano." He took another bite out of his sandwich, food was food after all and it shouldn't go to waste.

He glanced around again, looking for anyone else he could easily identify as an operative. He thought he saw a few, but then again, this was never his area of expertise, thought one person caught his eye. Someone who fit almost too perfectly into their role. That and he was standing over everyone else, seemingly looking for someone. Hey kept an eye on him, while at the same time turning back to Ano to ask a question "So how do you and Herrith know each other? I'm a little fuzzy on recent events so you may have to fill me in if you were in something I should know about." He gave a friendly smile, he didn't really mean to pry, but that was exactly what he was doing, even without realising it.

 

[Atlas Silexia]

Ano looked back down at his armor... Was it really that noticeable? Whatever

He responded to Volken politely, it was natural to want to know how they knew each other. "Back on Nar Shaddaa, I got into a pinch with the exchange. Herrith here made sure that it stayed a pinch and not an issue. Basically, she had smuggled me off." He made a point to not say how costly her service were though.

"Anyway, not sure if you mind if I ask, but what's a Paladin of Mortis? I'm not entirely familiar with that title" Ano said, honestly curious about what it is that he did, and why he was involved with the Insurgency.

 

[Herrith]

Herrith sat there quietly, letting the two introduce themselves as she scanned the crowd. Hmph. She sipped from her fancy glass of Corellian drink, flagging potential Insurgency members. Not many. Not at all..

Maybe she'd underestimated the Insurgency's forces. Maybe not.

 

[Ulysses]

Ray came and sat at the bar. He knew nothing of the insurgency, beyond that hacked holonet announcement, though he had swiftly dismissed it as the rantings of an ideologue. He had, however, done a number of jobs for those whom the empire would deem enemies, including a renegade former senator and a Jedi.

He was at this particular gala because a former such client had said that it would be a good place to find work. As he looked around, Ray wasn't so sure. There were plenty of crowds of people but this was very different to the cantinas he was used to.

Perhaps I'm going up in the world, a better class of customer, he thought to himself, perhaps my spice days are behind me and it's bootlegged Corellian wine from here on in at 5 times the margins.

[edit 6/9/17: remembered that Ray had seen the holonet vid]

 

[The Prophet]

Watching the teeming crowd with a scrutinous eye, it didn't take long before one gathering stood out to Aizahk. Perhaps to the untrained eye, the distinctly non-human element of the group might have been the subject of their observation. However, despite their formal facade, the three appeared to match the descriptions of his fellow agents. Deciding he ought to liaise with them as soon as possible, Aizahk headed towards them as naturally as he could. Staying aware of his surroundings, he approached the three with a grin. "Aizahk." He waved slightly. "I'm here to help with the job offer."

 

[Shax]

Volken smiled, he was happy that someone at least was interested in the Paladins. Anyone outside of Adumar and its surrounding worlds would usually scoff at him and walk away, so it was refreshing to have someone actually ask about the subject. He cast a smug glance over at Herrith, and did his best to quash the eagerness that had just sprung up inside him, it was after all, important to make a good impression. He smiled, and sat up a little straighter in his chair before saying "The Paladins of Mortis are members of the Chuch of Mortis, we serve the Maker of All-" Volken stopped as another man joined the steadily growing group, and tried to return his focus to the mission at hand.

He smiled up at the man, who identified himself as Aizahk, and gestured to a nearby seat. He didn't sense any deception coming from the man, at least not directed towards him or the others in the group, and as such, Volken decided to trust him. "Nice to meet you Aizahk, I'm Volken, this is Ano" He gestured at the Kyuzo "And this is Herrith. Sit down, we have some time, so far the mark hasn't appeared yet, and I can only guess he is waiting until all the guests pile in."

(OOC: Posting order will go as follows based on who posted first in the thread. @Herrith Hendarsin, @The Prophet, @Atlas Silexia, @Ulysses, @Dawnrider. Will change if people continue to join)

 

[Herrith]

Herrith merely kicked Volken under the table as he gave her a smug look and began explaining the Paladins before a new man arrived. He didn't seem deceptive, but she made a note to watch every one of the people she'd never met. And the ones she did know. You can't trust everyone.

She smiled as they continued talking, zoning out and watching the crowd and the city. When was the last time she'd been here? Pre-freedom days. In fact..she swore she recognized a couple buildings. The Zeltron made it a note to check out the city later.