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[Cairo Kisufi]

Lieutenant Commander Cai Whatsisface of the Hapan Royal Guard. The reason for this mission was twofold. The first was his duty as an official dignitary and member of Hapes' Royal Family. He was to visit, have a nice dinner in the honor of the Queen of Hapes, and offer some medical and food relief to the civilians. Cake walk. The second, a clandestine mission assigned by the Imperial Security Bureau. Several guerrillas with important Imperial intelligence were held in an FWA prison. They had to either liberate these prisoners, or kill them before they could spill important Sith secrets.

There was one hiccup. Cairo was a male. Hapan tradition dictated that diplomatic, military, and economic affairs be fully handled by females. As Charlotte was deep undercover as Adava, somewhere in Sith space, Cairo was left alone. The ISB assigned him an Acolyte to serve as the official handler for this mission - Trace. They had met, he could vaguely remember, when they danced at that party.

His spine turned cold as he again thought about Taris, and about the seductive call of wildfire. That consumed his mind. So much so that he could barely even remember the appearance of Trace, only their moment of pulsing sound and shared movement.

Cairo had arrived earlier in the day, to check into his hotel. The royal suite. Armored guards waited outside his room, as he sipped from the complementary bottle of champagne. Cairo checked his chrono as he waited for Trace to appear. He wore a robe, an extravagant one, as he pressed his suit for dinner. Cairo wasn't born into this hoighty-toighty life, but boy he had taken to it. Reviewing the datafile, he remembered who Trace was posing as - his official +1, and a royal handmaiden to the Queen. His superior in every way.

Hopefully it didn't go to her head. He took another sip of the bubbly as he watched the sunset hit the roofline of the city from the suite. However the mission went, this would be remembered as a nice moment.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

There were so many gaps in the information that Trace had been given that it made her very uptight. But she'd learned that being an acolyte meant that when someone above you told you to jump, the correct response was to jump, not even ask how high.

So she'd been sent along with Cairo to Denon. Undercover. She wasn't used to undercover and barely knew enough about Hapes to get by. "Don't like Force users, matriarchy." That was enough, right?

The royal suite was cut in half by a pair of separating doors, and she opened her half, making her way into the common area. She was also wearing a cushy robe and decided that being a royal handmaiden was definitely the way she should have gone with her life.

You know, this is pretty great, she said, making her way over to the minibar and pulling out a bag of apple chips. Look, if they had access to a minibar, she was going to take advantage of it.

She thought back to their prior meeting on Taris, and at the time she had been much more sober than he was. The memory of him walking away and never coming back wasn't a very pleasant one, but she tried to put it out of her head and take a fresh start to this all.

I don't know how you got this undercover assignment, but dang, you lucked out, she said with a snicker and smile.

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo glanced towards her when she spoke. He had spent most of the day in a 'contemplative,' awkward silence for. The party was a sore spot, and he wasn't nearly mature enough to talk through it with Trace just yet. When he heard her open the bag of chips, he reached out through the Force to pull a handful of them to his own mouth. His stomach rumbled. Why did these diplomatic dinners have to start so late? He was hungry now, dammit!

"You should see it back on Hapes," his smirk complemented hers. "They really pull out all the stops. The Royal Entourage has a team of masseuses. A team!" Governing more than 500 worlds was, of course, hard work. Charlotte deserved the small bits of rest that her newfound royal status accrued. And Cairo was more than happy to leech off of her hard work, when he could.

Another awkward pause lingered, as Cairo was unsure what to say next. He clicked on the holoscreen in the room, turning to some trashy daytime-tv show about courtroom paternity drama or something like that. The show's host, a Vintian wearing glasses and a comically large mustache, sat silently as his guests slapped each other about with pocketbooks, accusing one-another of cheating. It was the kind of cheap entertainment that could bring people together.

"So, uh, you feel ready?" He glanced over at her, briefly, as he sipped his bubbly wine. "Got any burning questions about Hapes or the drop off before we go?" He expected her to be confused, after being abruptly dropped into a mission intended for Charlotte and him. But, he didn't want to assume, so he continued to sip quietly as he waited for her response.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Trace's mouth dropped agape as he snagged apple chips out of her bag.

Hey! Get your own! she objected jokingly, grabbing one of the other bags with the Force and flinging it at him to hit him in the chest. She munched on the chips, taking a seat on one of the absolutely luxurious couches.

Are you serious? she asked in disbelief when he mentioned the team of masseuses. She shook her head, unable to even imagine that type of luxury. Not to be mistaken, Trace came from a family that was far from poor, but they weren't royalty.

She felt a little bit awkward, less because she was actually feeling awkward and more because she could sense awkwardness in him. He felt... uncomfortable with her presence. The holonet turned on and she listened, her mind wandering from the show she couldn't see to the situation she was in. She almost said something about it before he spoke up again. She was kind of thankful for the change of topic.

Yeah, well, I was basically told nothing about this. I was assuming you were going to dive me the DL, she said.

What even... is this? Why do you work for Hapes? she asked. It seemed... weird and suspicious. In fact, it was so weird that if she hadn't been given the assignment straight by ISB she might have thought this was all some sort of a sham.

@Fine Dining Set

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Oh yeah. She was blind. He always forgot that with the Force Sight types! How many times had he thrown things right at Malou, completely blanking on her lack of sight? As the noise from the holo-screen continued to blare, Cairo listened to her questions. It was a rather strange mission to be dropped in the center of, wasn't it? To be fair, Charlotte had barely briefed him; and the orders from ISB left much to be desired.

"It's Sith bullshit. That's not enough?" He chuckled, softly, as he thought of the appropriate answer. "I've been embedded into the Hapes court. They have a massive aristocracy. My usual partner is on another mission, so we called in a a sub." He gestured his wine glass towards her, spinning it. "You want one of these, by the way? Denon Sparkling White? I don't think they're technically allowed to call it 'champagne,' but it still hits." Jurisdictional bullshit. Was it Chandrila that was the home of champagne? Or was he just getting the 'cha' sound?

"I didn't choose this one, sort of just got handed to me. But that's like...the nature of orders, right?" He had no idea being an acolyte for involve such a long con, a whole life spent undercover. But, he didn't have to try that hard at it. Charlotte seemed to manage fine, too. Maybe it would help to explain the first aspect of their mission. The dinner.

"We're a small part of a diplomatic envoy sent on behalf of the Hapes Consortium. No one else knows of our allegiance." He pointed an apple chip at her before biting it. These things were so good. "So, you and I get to play dress up as part of the royal entourage for the night. While the real civil administrators and diplomats of the planet actually deliver our relief package, we get to enjoy a lovely meal with some of Denon's elite, and the Hapan court." Court politicking had its drawbacks, but they through wildly indulgent parties. Cairo was excited to try some of their food.

"I, uh, officially hold a military rank here. Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Guard. It's mostly ceremonial." Still, he got to wear one of those insane uniforms with tons of medals for things he hadn't done. That would be a highlight. "Especially since the Queen herself isn't here." He paused, slouching lazily on the couch to give her a moment to digest this information. He hoped he had explained it clearly enough for her. It could be an altogether fun mission, but only if they were on the same page. It would help them vibe.

With his master's identity top secret, Cairo struggled to discern what was "need to know" and what was "she needs to know." His tone softened, and he visibly relaxed. Perhaps he was being a little bristly, for no reason. "Long story short, we show up to an aristocrat's party. Does that make sense?" There was also the second part, tacked on by the ISB. But...parties always come first.

@Phoenix

 

[Trace]

Trace shook her head as he asked if it being weird Sith stuff was enough for her.

“No, if I wanted to be blindly ordered around I’d have joined the army. But I’m too pretty for that,” she said jokingly.

“Well then either the Force or someone higher up is looking out for you,” she said, and maybe her as well. This job was the lap of luxury compared to a lot of others out there. In fact, that thought got her thinking of something else and her head tilted slightly to the side.

“Did you get me this job as a way to make up for ditching me in the dance floor? Or because you wanted more alone time?” she asked. Her tone was far more teasing and flirtatious than it was actually accusatory. While that night had been all around weird for her, it wasn’t a total loss.

“I have to say Lieutenant-Commander, having to hang out at a fancy dinner doesn’t sounds so bad,” she said before something clicked in her mind. “Does this mean I get a super fancy dress?!” she practically burst out and then blushed slightly at her outburst.

@Fine Dining Set