Ask Naboo Panic at the Disco

[Val Varthra]

Naboo was perhaps the one world in the galaxy more beautiful than Chandrila. Before her academy days, Val had sometimes dreamed that someone — a man or a woman, it didn't matter to her in the slightest — would whisk her away from the stormy skies of Dromund Kaas and bring her here. Ironic, she thought, because she had come to the jewel of the Mid Rim to do the exact opposite.

The intelligence the ISB had on the whereabouts of Jayna Thorne were incredibly scarce. Unlike her brother Ezra, she was not plastered all over the HoloNet for being a new ensign of the Jedi Order. No, Jayna's activities were considerably more private and secluded from the public eye. Yet, Val was not in her position because she gave up when an assignment was hard. Through a combination of drudging up some old contacts from her parents' socialite days, many of whom lived in the Consoritum, she was able to discover that Jayna Thorne liked to party in the sketchy neighborhoods of Theed.

She relayed all of this to her two companions as their ship touched down in the woods beyond the city of Theed. "The locale makes nabbing Thorne less problematic than her brother. But I'm told she has a security detail on her at all times. They will be our prime obstacle."

Their ship was a gift from Vahliri, whose Consortium upbringing meant she had the ability to nab ships with Consortium registrations. Their landing location would make it much easier to bolt once Thorne was in hand. "I have it on good authority she is to attend a barn party on the outskirts of the city a few klicks from here. We infiltrate the party, grab the girl, and get out. No lingering, no side quests. Emryc Thorne has thwarted every contingency I have thus tried and I would not put it past him to have something prepared for us."

And on that note, she retrieved a small flask of something strong from her locker and kicked it back. She had a feeling she was going to need it hiking through the woods — however short it was — in this dress she'd worn to make her more easily blend in with the rabble. "One last thing," she said, handing each of them a small device to put on the cuffs of their shirts. "For communication in case we get separated." Hers was cleverly disguised as a choker that she quickly clipped around her neck to complete her ensemble. "Shall we?"

@Phoenix @Wit @Altaris

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla didn't know either of her companions for this mission, but Altair had asked her to help, and he trusted them, so that was enough for her. Besides, this needed to be done, for the good of the Empire. That was what she had been trained for, so there were just too many reasons for her to not refuse this mission.

Dressed in an outfit that would allow her to fit in, but also allow her freedom of movement if things went south. They might be under cover, but she almost every party she had ever attended had ended in a fight, so she was going in expecting this to be no different. Besides, she didn't really like dresses, what she was wearing just felt more comfortable.

Accepting the communication device that Val provided, examining it for a moment. "That's it?" She asked, feigning disappointment at the lack of more spy gear. "No lipstick lasers? Acid perfume? Comlink bomb?" She exaggerated her disappointment with each query, making them more over the top on person. She had lost much of her youth, never knowing what fun was till she was almost out of her teens, so now that she was back, and finally had reconnected with her friends, and seemingly earned their forgiveness, she was intent on catching up. "Hair brush nun-chucks?" With one last sigh of disappointment, she clipped the device onto the back of her jacket collar, where it was further hidden beneath one of her montrals. Smirking, she exited the ship, beginning to walk towards the party. It wasn't long before they could hear it, even if the woods was still all they could see.

"No toys, no speeders," she mused as they continued walking, "talk about budget cuts."

MUSIC​

@Malon @Phoenix @Altaris

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn was no stranger to infiltration, fighting, killing, or nearly being killed, but something hung over him on their trip to Naboo. It wasn't any sort of hesitation about what he was here to do - this was simply part of war - but rather... something else. A feeling of impending doom that crept up at the back of his mind. Was this just leftover PTSD of nearly being killed at Yavin? No, he didn't think so, and no matter how much he tried he couldn't shake the feeling.

So rather than try to quash it, he simply focused on business, his face set in a serious frown for most of the trip as he went over their limited intel again and again.

Dressed in an outfit that was both fashionable enough and flexible enough to allow him to do what he needed when they were inside, he descended the ship with the others.

Yeah, budget cuts so sharp I'm surprised we were given the fuel to get here, he responded sarcastically to Ashla's comment. He took the comlink device and fixed it into his sleeve, feeling quite naked without his lightsabers, but he'd have to suck it up. Maybe that was why he felt so bad about this mission. Yeah, that was what he was going to chalk it up to. He knew it was a lie.

As they made their way through the forest, his eyes darted around to mark the path they were taking.

We're going to need to nab a speeder on the way out. No way we can drag her kicking and screaming through this whole area, he pointed out. Or are we drugging her I would assume? he said before shrugging.

The dragging part is still relevant, though, he said. Even as they were talking about it, he could already hear the first booms of the music at the party and lots of repetition of the word "people." Like lots and lots of uses of that word. Despite having no idea what the song was talking about he couldn't quite keep from bobbing his head just a little bit.

 

[Jayna Thorne]

Jayna knew that she wasn’t supposed to be at the party. Since the outbreak of the ISC-Imperial war, the quarter-Sephi had effectively been placed on lockdown by her parents - followed by more security than usual, and confined to secure locations on Naboo and Thyferra. It was all to be expected, as neither of her fathers were willing to take any chances on her safety. Under normal circumstances, she usually went right along with Emryc’s directives - unlike her brother who seemingly took pleasure out of disregarding them entirely.

Even still, even Jayna had grown weary of the excessive safety precautions - and the barn party outside of Theed was the context she finally needed to break away for the evening. Besides, it was all over the top anyway. Where in the Galaxy would she be safer than Naboo, after all? No one could touch her there, and no one would even notice she’d failed to check in for the night.

Having arrived at the party an hour or two before, Jayna was already enjoying herself - grooving on the dancefloor with a few friends. The quarter-Sephi was adorned in the finest designer clothes - wearing a gold dress that exposed her left shoulder, complete with matching heels. Her arms glittered with aurodium and diamond bracelets, while dangle earrings swayed from her slightly fluted ears.

The Thorne heiress wasn’t particularly difficult to spot, given her height above most men and women. Of course, she was surrounded by a small cluster of ‘friends’, while droid security clung to the corners of the room.

@Wit @Malon @Phoenix

 

[Val Varthra]

Val was only mildly annoyed at being treated like that character in all the spy-holos who gave out the nifty gadgets. ISB did get cool tools from time to time, but mostly it was just hard work and perseverance. "You want fancy gadgets," she said as they walked. "In this economy?"

She scoffed, reaching for something in her purse. She handed a clear vial of liquid — stored in a cleverly disguised medication bottle with a faked label and everything — to Ashla (@Wit). "Here," Val said. "Since you want all the cool stuff, you're responsible for getting that into Jayna Thorne's drink." Then, to Varyn (@Phoenix), she added, "And we'll leave you in charge of the getaway speeder." It wasn't a bad idea, but she wasn't getting grease stains on this dress by digging through all the parked speeders outside the barn. "I'll distract her security team. As soon as they're away from her, make your move. Let's do this fast and clean."

Moments later, they were through the thicket and at the party, the music booming loud enough to rattle her bones and chatter her teeth. Val had never been to one of these things, but she had watched enough news holos to know what party culture looked like these days. Yet even that was not enough to prepare her for what she faced when she pushed her way inside. Everyone pouring in behind her was at least fifteen years younger than her. Leaving her looking like a perplexed MILF in a high school ballroom. She looked more like she was there to be the partygoers' supervision rather than among them, though she did her best to awkwardly smile as they passed her by.

Well, she supposed, at least it would be easy enough to distract security... @Altaris

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla inspected the vial, holding it up at eye level and shaking it tentatively. "Alright, a drink for her drink." She didn't have any objections with the plan Val spelled out, so she just pocketed the vial and nodded in agreement, waiting to see if Varyn had any objections, suggestions, or additions.

Once at the party, she drifted away from Val, making for the bar to pick up a drink. Ordering the most complicated drink she could think of, she used the time spent waiting for the drink to be prepared inspecting the crowd, scanning the gathering for their target. It didn't take long, as her eyes locked onto the young heiress almost immediately.

"Spotted her, madame Q's 11 o'clock." Using the title from a spy movie she had seen not too long ago, she finally accepted her drink and took a sip as she began slowly meandering her way towards Jayna and her tag-alongs. "Varyn, follow my lead."

With that she began drifting over towards Jayna, accidentally bumping into one of her friends, and putting on her valley girl routine as she turned to face him. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there." She put on a very convincing drunk laugh, as she took another sip of her drink. "At least I didn't spill any on you, right?" She laughed again, at which point she did spill a little around her. "Oops. Let me fix that, let me get you a drink. You, server boy!" She gestured at Varyn, even though an actual server was close by enough to hear. "A flute of your most expensive champagne for my friend here." She gave the young man a playful pat on his arm, before giving the rest of the group a look, as if just spotting them, including Jayna. "Make it a bottle!"

@Malon @Phoenix @Altaris

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn was perfectly happy to be the one going to get the getaway speeder, but was immediately wrangled into another job as well as Ashla requested his help.

I can do both, he thought to himself, carrying an aura of confidence in his abilities that wasn't unfounded.

Find a bottle. Yeah, easy enough, right? Force trick a server to bring him a bottle and he brings it out to them. Easy enough, he just needed to get the right situation. I.e. privacy.

He turned and vanished back in the direction of what he assumed had to be the kitchen area and waylaid one of the waiters as they were about to go back in.

Hey man! he said, moving to stop the guy. Hey, Miss Thorne was asking for champagne for she and her friends. I really wanna impress after I said something stupid to her earlier. Would you grab some and let me take it over? he asked.

As he said it, he brought his hand up, but the waving motion so typically associated with mindtricks was quickly altered into a hand against the side of his head as if nursing a metaphorical headache about the situation he'd gotten into.

I'll bring the champagne, the man said somewhat absentmindedly after a moment's hesitation and disappeared inside to return a few moments later with a tray full of champagne.

You're a lifesaver man, he said and disappeared back into the crowd, carrying the tray full of drinks and stopping beside Ahsla so she could "distribute" them to herself and Jayna.

And then it was going to be off to find a speeder.

 

[Jayna Thorne]

Naturally, Jayna wasn’t privy to anything that was being discussed or planned by the invading Imperial team - their conversations drowned out by the music and crowd, to the point that even her sensitive hearing wasn’t able to pick anything up. Instead, the Thorne Heiress continued to sway and groove on the dancefloor with her friends for a few minutes more - one hand lightly gripping the neck of her own glass.

She was the daughter of Emryc Thorne, and that fact meant that she had inherited some of the half-Sephi’s paranoia. Even if she wasn’t supposed to be at the party in general, Jayna was careful not to leave her drink unattended for even a split moment. She almost instinctively swiped the rim of any glass she sipped from - refusing to leave traces of her DNA for people to get ahold of. All of it had been drilled into her since childhood, a healthy bit of paranoia that helped to keep her safe.

By the time that Ashla began drunkenly stumbling into her social circle, Jayna and her friends had started to migrate away from the dancefloor - halfway between there and the bar at the far end of the room. Jayna towered over most people in attendance, and it meant that she had a cleat view of the Togruta as she approached, started making a fool of herself, and abruptly called for the most expensive champagne on the house.

While it certainly earned a few smiles and toasts from her friends, Jayna only stared back at Ashla with frigid, silver eyes - an icy glare that cut right through the Togruta. The completely random gesture set off alarm-bells within the quarter-Sephi’s mind, and she certainly had no intentions of accepting a drink that was offered to her by a complete and total stranger.

She was the most important fucking person in that room, and the latter sentiment was common sense to most people.

“Who exactly are you again?” Jayna asked after a moment, her tone blunt and unforgiving. Drunk or not, the quarter-Sephi didn’t take kindly to someone barging into her social circle and attempting to interrupt her night. She’d spend a lifetime trying to get away from her Daddy’s adoring fans, and assumed this was no different.

 

[Val Varthra]

The second the reality of her task set in, Val purchased a small vial of alcohol and disappeared into an adjacent bathroom. In the mirror, she silently reminded herself who she was.

She was an Imperial agent. A lieutenant of the Imperial Security Bureau who dreamed of sitting atop the agency as its director. She could not do that without taking risks. It's not like she hadn't needed to inhabit the mind and body of other people before. To be someone other than her true, mostly stoic self. To be in the ISB meant sometimes being an actor better than those found in a holodrama.

Still, she didn't like her task.

She took a swig of her drink. She could do this. She could do this. So, why did everything in her tell her she couldn't? The alcohol was fast acting, since Val rarely imbibed, and before long she was crying in the mirror, almost pulling out her hair at the prospect of putting on some grand performance to drag the guards away from their charge. They might be droids, but even droids could be distracted. Maybe she could even distract Jayna herself.

All she knew was that the other two — those fucking Sith with their fucking space wizard magic — better hold up their end of the job. If all of this ended up being for nothing, they would need more than the Force to save them from her. And with anger to replace tears, she dried her eyes, nearly smearing her makeup in the process, downed the rest of her vial, slammed into the bathroom disposal, and marched back out to the party.

She arrived back at the dance floor just as the music changed. By then, the rest of the vial had taken effect, the alcohol numbing the part of her that acted as a filter, that kept her crisp, clean, and professional. The part of her with any sense of embarrassment. She looked straight at Jayna Thorne's droid guards, pointed at them, and said loudly, "I've seen everyone at this party dance but them." She beckoned them to join her. "What are they holding out on us? Let's see if gears and screws are made of."

Several of the other dancers looked at her funnily. But not as funny as the expressions they made when she began to dance — popping her hips back and forth, her arms swaying like blades in front of her — before they broke out into loud gasps as she cartwheeled towards the droids, into the middle of the dance floor, spun and landed on a man a whole two heads shorter than her. He briefly looked stunned up at her before she pushed him away and resumed her place center-stage.

She hoped her team was doing their jobs, or she was going to kill them all...

@Altaris @Wit @Phoenix

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla stared the heiress down, standing as tall as her and not one bit intimidated by her icy stare. She had seen the sort, and no matter how rich or poor, they all cried the same when you poked them just right. Scooping up the bottle from Varyn, she poured a glass out before walking towards Jayna, locking eyes with her. But it did tell her how to deal with the young woman.

"I am," she came to a stop before the pointy eared girl, putting on the act of an equally haughty primadonna, "not impressed." She took another sip of the champagne, taking her time before returning her attention to Jayna. "But then again," she glanced around at the "friends" who seemed torn between sticking with Jayna and giving Ashla the cold eye, and eyeing the bottle of expensive champagne with hungry eyes, "given the company you keep."

With that she walked past the Sephi, and towards the bar her group had been heading towards. She looked back as she went. "Maybe I expected too much?" With one last smile, she moved to the bar, waiting to see if the woman took the bait.

@Malon @Phoenix @Altaris

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn could already tell that he was glad to be getting out of that conversation. Too much... attitude being exuded. He'd rather go steal a speeder, which was precisely what he went to go do now.

As soon as the champagne was delivered, it was back outside for Varyn and toward the valets and the speeders. The fortune on his side was that most people really weren't prepared for a Force-user to come swooping into their valet parking business and mindtricking their way through the whole thing.

I just showed you the ticket for that speeder truck over there, he said, waving his hand and tugging at the man - or rather the kid's - mind as he did so.

The kid hurried off in the direction of the speeder to retrieve it and Varyn "itched his nose" and spoke into his concealed comlink.

Speeder almost secured, he said. Hopefully all would go off without a hitch, yup.

 

[Jayna Thorne]

Jayna arched a brow, watching as Ashla stepped up into her personal space. It was clear the Togruta wasn’t some psychotic fanclub member, but just another haughty socialite looking to pick a fight for seemingly no reason. The quarter-Sephi stared at her calmly, entirely unphased by the little barbs that were launched, nor the way her some of her ‘friends’ eyed the bottle of champagne enviously.

While they might’ve expected Jayna to take the bait, it only demonstrated how poorly they understood their target. She wasn’t a woman to get riled easily - owing both to her Sephi heritage and the simple fact of who Jayna was. She was the daughter of Emryc Thorne and took the President’s example in most aspects of her life - including how to handle shitty behavior.

Jayna merely stared back at Ashla blankly - entirely disinterested and unimpressed by the Togruta's taunt. Her gaze lingered long enough to make the woman feel stupid, before turning elsewhere. She was just another drunk stranger, and not even on the quarter-Sephi’s radar. A single phonecall or signal to her security could've had the girl thrown out, but Jayna decided it simply wasn't worth her time. Instead, her attention settled on the members of her inner circle that were clearly eyeing Ashla and the bottle of champagne.

“Feel free to fuck off as well.” Jayna said icily, staring down at the women in question. They were the daughters of diplomats, wealthy executives and socialites - from families that her parents typically rubbed elbows with. Very few of them were actually people that Jayna cared about, and the quarter-Sephi had no qualms with telling a few of them to fuck off - given they wanted to play into Ashla’s attempt to provoke her.

She waited until they left - flocking over to Ashla to take the Togruta up on her offer of champagne. Instead, Jayna glanced back ahead, reaching down to press a button on her commlink. The quarter-Sephi was losing interest in the little barn party, and sent a single message to her driver to prepare the luxury speeder that she’d arrived in.

While Jayna waited, her gaze returning back to the dancefloor - staring at the commotion that had apparently caught the attention of her security droids. She watched as Val cartwheeled across the room and performed her weird dance-moves, blinking a few times in disbelief.

She wasn’t entirely sure whose wine-drunk mother had decided to infiltrate the party, but neither was Jayna particularly inclined to find out.

@Malon @Phoenix @Wit

 

[Val Varthra]

Val was doing her part. The droids were now completely focused on her, one of the shimmying in a way that vaguely resembled dancing. Meanwhile, she moved on from her prior moves to twisting her hands above head and rocking her hips in an attempt to continue enticing them. She didn't focus on Jayna Thorne at all. Her only goal was to keep these droids distracted long enough for her compatriots to do their part.

But she was getting tired and alcohol didn't effect her for very long. Those pissants had better get a move on before their target slipped away. They were never going to get this chance again.

@Altaris @Wit @Phoenix

 

[Jayna Thorne]

A few minutes passed, and Jayna finally decided that enough was enough. Upon arrival, the quarter-Sephi had hoped the party would be worth going against the strict orders of her parents - only to find herself disappointed. She had little desire to fight with some catty bitch (@Wit), and was thoroughly unimpressed with the geriatrics invading a party filled with teenagers. (@Malon) She had caught a glimpse of a rather handsome member of the help, but even he had fucked off to who-knew-where. (@Phoenix)

While some of her ‘friends’ still lingered around Ashla in hopes of enjoying that bottle of Champagne, Jayna began to cross the floor and make for the exit. A single press of a button on her chrono was enough to alert the security droids of her decision - and for all the ways that Val had been distracting, the pre-programmed directive to protect the Thorne heiress was followed without delay. They immediately moved into formation around the quarter-Sephi, gesturing other party-goer’s aside and clearing a path towards the exit. Only Jayna and her closest followers were allowed on the inside of that circle.

Anyone attempting to breach the perimeter would find themselves face-to-face with state of the art Blackwell Droids.

As she made for the exit, a luxury speeder pulled out in front of the barn - having been called for a few minutes earlier by the heiress. Unless otherwise stopped, Jayna would proceed into her vehicle and drive off with her friends, opting to spend the rest of her night doing something more interesting.

/Exit Attempt