The King on Stage

[Evelyn Fest]

"Alright, we know our places? Then lets get to this." Evelyn looked to the two standing around the table with her. They seemed to know their responsibilities so she nodded and walked out with them. The group of rebels, quite unassuming to most other people, moved outside of the shack they had met up at and began to move. The two humans went one way, as the Gotal went another direction.

Evelyn felt a little bit nervous about him, having the job of distraction, but if everything went well he'd be scot free. She smoothed out the wrinkles on her maids uniform, identical to the one her partner wore, save for the pistol that she had strapped to her inner thigh. This was her first mission like this, where she'd actually have to talk to the enemy instead of just killing them.

They met up around the corner from the servants entrance of the King Palace on Dac, on the planet of Mon Cal. Them being human didn't raise too much attention as the king had other species hired as his servants, even his guards were human, under the lie that they were really there to keep an eye on him and make sure that he was cooperating.

So this thankfully worked towards the rebel's advantage. Now all they had to do was sit and wait for the Gotal to trigger the distraction needed for the two humans to enter the palace without too much attention.

 

[The Storyteller]

[OOC: Tagging because im a dumbass who doesn't do it in the previous thread. @Cazar @TheMorrigan

 

[Horus Tempest]

-Music-​

There was a place for everything, Horus supposed. And this was the mission he had been assigned to, something he could never have performed on his own. It was a bold plan, what they were about to attempt, but age-old wisdom graced his senses, as though Master Luy was sitting next to him and commenting on his thoughts. Be at Peace, bathe in the Serenity of the moment. And so it was he took a deep breath, straightened the tie of his serving uniform, and turned to the one who commanded this mission. He had never met either of them, though he could tell at least one among them glowed with the same power he possessed. Horus contemplated differing strategies before actually departing, but the one they came up with was sufficiently dangerous, to say the least.

"Here goes nothing. May the Force be with us."

It sounded cheesy, saying those words, as though he had no right to say them. He knew that was self-doubt talking, and stowed such thoughts where they belonged. Away from his mind, he was focused on what they were here to do, not what he had the right to say. Such things where pointless internal debates that held no bearing, either way. He had his full loadout stashed in a case that he disguised as a servant's packings. Luckily, security seemed pretty lax about the helping hands, still, he had managed to make the case open to reveal nothing at first, only in the lining would his gear be noticeable. With a smile, he waved his hand forward, as though to signal that Evelyn was in command and he would follow her lead.

"Whenever you're ready, I'm ready. Let's rock and roll."

@Farnis13 @Cazar

 

[Mig Cabra]

This planet reminded Mig of his longtime home on Manaan. It was too bad they had a temporary stay here and had to be hostile. For some reason they thought the Gotal Engineer would make a better distraction than sneaky spy. Mig was unsure about the decision but he was fine with helping wherever he could. The palace would be heavily guarded up front and it would be a fairly busy area for passerby's as well. He had thought of a few ways to be a distraction for his friends, but was unsure which would be best until he got there. Mig was armed and armored just like usual but nothing was illegal about his set up. Here on the surface cities it was common to see such beings.

The Engineer had a set of skills, but they were not usually combat related. Making a speeder explode or careen wildly was easy for him. Shooting at a bunch of guards was difficult. It would only take a few seconds of prep work for a speeder to explode in the distance. Mig just hoped his timing would be right for it to happen.

"Hello there, fine sirs!" Mig said loudly as he approached some guards up front, who seemed fairly amused at the sight of Mig. "I believe I had an appointment today with the King!"

Mig hated lying. There was no appointment with the King officially scheduled. The Gotal had made that up completely. Guilt would follow him for many days because of this lie, but it had to be done. The guards looked among themselves and one whispered into a comlink for confirmation. Mig knew it would come back as false eventually. Would they shoot him? Arrest him? Maybe just tell him to go away? This was all just so confusing. Mig was ready for his next step either way.

"Is something wrong?" Mig asked, trying not to sound nervous but failing horribly.

KABOOM

An explosion rocked the walkway as a speeder (finally) exploded. The guards ran through Mig, knocking him over, as they ran to investigate. More came from the Palace and ran passed him as he began to stand back up. Citizens fled in panic unsure of what was going on. Mig started the distraction, but now what? He thought he might have to start shooting if the speeder explosion did not keep them distracted long enough. For now he would watch, hiding behind a non-exploded speeder across the way.

@Farnis13 @TheMorrigan

 

[Evelyn Fest]

Evelyn kept her demeanor cool and collected as her and Horus approached the servants entrance. There was a guard, a young Mon Calamari, standing at the door. He held a pike at his side as he craned his neck around to check out the commotion of the explosion. He looked to the duo as they approached and said, "H-halt. What's your business?"

Evelyn frowned and gestured to her uniform and said, "We're staff, just trying to get to work. What're you doing here didn't you see that explosion?"

The guard nodded and said, "The two others at the door are checking it out. What department?"

Evelyn said the first thing that came to mind. "Kitchen. Are we done with the 20 questions? It's our asses if we're late."

He nodded, relaxing a little bit as he saw that these two obviously weren't terrorists or god forbid rebels. Thank whatever god was up there that rebels didn't exist. "Yeah yeah, just show me your badges."

Outwardly, Evelyn didn't react. Inwardly however, she quickly began panicking. The debriefing never told them to secure badges. She began replying, "Kriff, I think we left them in the speeder... which now that I think about was pretty close to the explosion."

The Mon Calamari muttered a curse in his native language and said, "Alright, come on in. I'll take you to the security office and we'll just confirm your identity."

The guard opened the door as Evelyn approached. "Come on man, we're late as it is. Can't we do this another time? We really can't afford another write up."

The Mon Calamari shook his head as he stepped aside, the letting the two enter. "Can't, especially since there was an explosion so close by. If you think you have it bad, I would literally be my ass if I didn't take you to the security office."

Evelyn sighed, making a big fuss of the inconvenience. "Alright fine. Lead the way."

At least we're in she thought to herself. Now to figure out how to ditch the guard.

 

[Horus Tempest]

The Mon Calamari guard was a shifty sort, not completely trusting, as was obvious with the conversation between the guard and Evelyn. Horus' mind raced with what to say when they finally asked about the case. They entered a security station, flanked on only one side by a single guard. The Vahla contemplated knocking him out, but thought better of it, they couldn't afford to mess up the operation this early on and he would not have a failure on his hands. He had a reputation for getting stuff done, and this would be no different. He raised his hands slightly and placed the case down on the table, turning to the Mon Calamari guard and smiling gently. He went behind the booth and began to tap away at a console stationed there, looking through the database no doubt to find our identities. His hand went to hover over the case and Horus immediately coughed into his hand.

"Sorry, how long is this going to take? As my partner already mentioned we're running out of time. The last thing you want is the King and his entourage on both our afterburners. We're in trouble as it is..."

The Mon Cal scoffed and moved his hand away from the bag, continuing to look through the database. A confused look crossed his face for a moment, and he began to look the pair over. Horus gently grabbed the case and pulled it off the desk, putting it at his side cautiously. He might not have a choice but to strike the being over the head with it. The guard began to circle around across the desk, cautiously.

"I can't seem to find you in the system. Are you new or something?"

"Obviously. This is a part-time thing as it is, and at this rate, we'll be fired! Are we allowed in or not? You have an explosion to deal with after all!"

The guard took a moment and then shook his head, going to move it up towards what Horus could only guess was the commlink in his headpiece. Looking above, there didn't appear to be any cameras, therefor Horus simply shot a smile his direction. Then swung with the briefcase, striking him across the neck but not hard enough to cause a knockout. It did, however, cause him to muffle any cries for help, allowing the Vahla to lunge and grapple across the ground with the guard, looking over at Evelyn with a visage that might as well say 'Hit him damn it'. He could only hold the guard for so long until he managed to utter something or tap an alarm, so the Vahla adjusted his grip and attempted to get a solid grip on a headlock, but the Mon Cal was too slippery. He'd have to rely on just pushing him down for now.

"Hit him, quickly, we don't have time for this!"

@Cazar @Farnis13

 

[Mig Cabra]

Mig had no idea how long he needed to keep the guards away. The other two were supposed to go do their thing quickly. That did not give him a time limit. He would hold for as long as he could until some sort of signal came. It seemed the guards were inspecting the explosion closely and seemed to be looking for a source. The Gotal decided that another distraction would be needed eventually so he started to work at the speeder he was currently hiding behind. Everyone was focused on the wreckage across the way, so it was simple enough.

"One minute... about..." Mig said to himself as he peered up at the guards who were slowly losing interest in the investigation.

The Gotal quickly walked towards the palace and hid in some bushes. He was out of range of the blast now but in a spot to stop the guards if they went rushing back for some reason. Mig hated being alone. Missions were always better with friends. Maybe soon they could reunite and celebrate a win. Hopefully his friends did not die in there. Not again.

@Farnis13 @TheMorrigan

 

[Horus Tempest]

With a groan, Horus released the guard, who scrambled to his feet. Looking down at where his commlink was only to find that Horus had grabbed the radio and held it tightly in hand, swinging left hard with a punch of his own. The impact sent the Mon Cal to the ground with a satisfying thump, Horus standing over him victoriously. Quickly, he dragged the body to a hiding place and stowed it away so none were the wiser. He heard a second explosion go off outside and rolled his eyes slightly. The Gotal was certainly getting things done. Leaving the security depot with the case in hand, Horus traveled into the main courtyard with a curt nod. The majority of the Guard staff were too busy dealing with the explosion to bother stopping him this time around, the only guard meant to do so had been incapacitated. Walking down the hallway briskly, he found a terminal and started to patch in. Before he continued, he spoke through the commlink to Mig.

"See if you can meet me inside. If not, hang tight, I've got some slicing to do. Let me know if something comes up."

Turning the next corner sharply, he tried to look for an area he could discreetly log in to the servers. He found none, instead just a bunch of terminals reserved for staff members that where wideout in the open. Luckily, he'd managed to slip by without interacting with any guests. Horus didn't have many options, so he simply leaned over the public terminal, attached the slicing equipment to it and did his best to look like he was repairing the thing. Rapidly typing away through records, he tried to see if there was any recordings he could tap into. It would be harder to try and elicit a confession from the King directly. This would have to do.

"Oh come on."

He didn't have access from this terminal. He'd have to go further in. Gently grabbing his equipment, Horus made a jolt and started moving across the left side of the room, past the other staff quietly without making much noise. He was way too thick in enemy territory to do something that might tip them off, so he did the only logical thing. Doubled back towards the security outpost. It would have a secure datapad inside, and hopefully he'd have better luck with that one. Cursing under his breath for walking away from it. Having turned the corner again, he found himself in the location marked with a security terminal, where the formerly conscious guard had been. This time it worked, and he started to copy over the files and look them over. Tapping the commlink again, he radioed to Mig a second time.

"How are things on your end? I think I have an idea. I'll get some security recordings and hopefully broadcast them in some way. I might need you to get into a uniform of your own. Or set something up to broadcast this on your end."

@Cazar

 

[Mig Cabra]

The second explosion was wonderful. It sent some of those Sith guards flying backwards and caused a huge uproar. This gave him every bit of cover he needed to run towards the palace now. It would probably not be super well guarded as all the guards were out front. A single guard stood at the entrance, seemingly watching the explosion with interest. Mig thought he would be an easy stealth target to take down. Then he would get inside to help upload the broadcast. Everything was going great.

"Coming, will connect the recording to the broadcast signal in palace. It will give everyone an alert that the throne has a message, then play it." Mig said loudly, not even bothering to whisper.

A loud voice caught the guard's attention, but he could not see Mig in the bushes so far away. There was a clearing Mig would need to cross to reach the guard for any take downs before getting inside. Mig figured he was still distracted and simply started walking up to the door from a slight angle. The guard watched him out of the corner of his eye the entire way, but said nothing out of pure confusion. An assailant did not usually walk over casually. This had to be something else.

"Surprise!" Mig shouted as he tried to hit the man over the head with his Bowcaster.

Mig was not tall enough, and failed to reach. Plus the man had seen it coming from miles away so he simply stepped away and swung to punch the Gotal. Mig staggered backwards from the punch and was shocked that he had been avoided. He almost was unsure what to do when the guard pulled out a pistol and started yelling for someone to activate the alarm. Mig fired his bowcaster point blank at the man as the alarms started to go off. He was no longer recognizable as a human, but the alarms were going now.

"Oh no! We need to hurry!" Mig shouted at the comlink as he ran inside to try to find his partner.

@TheMorrigan

 

[Horus Tempest]

Nodding slowly as Horus contemplated the implications of Mig arriving in the palace. Nobody would look twice at the friendly Gothal, so long as he kept his mouth relatively closed. That was the hard part, keeping Mig quiet was like trying to catch a freighter with the Force - impossible at best and suicide at worst. While the small being had his amusing moments, he somehow managed to make most scenarios extremely noisy. Luckily, the explosion that rocked the outside was his brand and made the necessary distraction for Horus to be able to slip past a few more firewalls. Moving the datapad over to his knee, he continued to type on the security console, hoping to get past security finally. If not he'd have to allow automatic slicing, which took the precious time they didn't have. He couldn't access the video files from his location, all he got was security errors, so he went with the original plan and attempted to retrieve the audio files.

"Oh come on you stupid thing!"

He resisted the urge to punch the datapad he was using for slicing, but as he did so he just barely slipped through the firewalls and found several audio logs. Listening through one, it had everything they needed to implicate the King as being nothing more than a puppet. Luckily, Mig's distraction meant the guards were very preoccupied. Taking the datapad cables and retracting them, he stepped back and took a deep breath, chancing a peak outside the security outpost. He waved to Mig from across the way, only to see him turn to a guard and yell surprise before attempting to strike him. It failed, and the alarm started to sound. Waving to Mig slightly more furiously, he winced slightly as the guard went down in a haze of smoke and flesh. He could barely recognize the cindered corpse.

"That we do! Come on, we'll need to be quick!"

He held the door open for the small goat man. Hopefully he would be quick enough about it to slip in undetected, but on the off chance he did not Horus primed the blaster behind his back and prepared to wheel it to the front to catch any guards unaware. To his surprise, they where still preoccupied with the explosion. The guards began to wheel on their heels and turn to the security outpost just in time for Horus to curse beneath his breath. Bringing his blaster to bear, he rained a symphony of stun rounds down course. Striking all the guards to par, one twice, just in time to allow Mig to join him and make their way to the throne room. They'd have to go loud this time around.

@Cazar

 

[Mig Cabra]

Alarms blared but luckily most thought it was due to the explosions outside. It seemed no one bothered to stop the pair of rebels making their way to the throne room itself. Mig was expecting to see the King when they entered, but he must have fled somewhere when the alarm sounded. Typical puppet afraid of a little alarm. The Gotal Engineer quickly ran to the King's control console. It had everything they would need to send a planetary broadcast and turn off the alarm itself. Mig plugged in the datapad and began to wire everything together, only to find it was unlocked.

"Okay! It's set up! Push play, friend!" He shouted happily as the recording would begin spreading to the entire planet.

Mig then attempted to turn off the alarms as well so they'd be able to leave easier. It was simple enough but the damage had been done. A guard came to the throne room to investigate the broadcast alert and alarm. A Red Skinned Sith guard that just screamed bad news. That was certainly not a loyal local. Mig pumped a shot out from his bowcaster which made short work of the guard and the wall behind him. He was starting to love how easy this weapon made life.

"Let it play, buy a new datapad later, friend! We should go." Mig wouldn't wait for Horus to figure it out before he started to leave the palace and head home.

Chaos would be erupting all over the planet as the Mon Calamari and Quarren people saw the truth. The audio recordings would prove their newest King was nothing but a puppet keeping them under Sith rule. Mig had no clue how they would react, but it was clear that people were unhappy. The more militant Quarren would be sure to cause a fuss if the Mon Calamari did not. It was a good day for the rebels.

//end?

@TheMorrigan