The Celebration - Semi-Open RP for Agents & Allies

Nodding politely to the Doctor as he removed the syringe from her lower neck and looked quizzically at the vial, Aleina re-fastened her neck-strap and bent down behind the small bar again before reappearing and addressing Ishad.

"Nothing Kaleean I'm afraid," she replied somewhat apologetically. "There is some 'Meltdown' here though, please - help yourself." Placing the bottle on the bottle on the bar she instinctively went to hand the Kaleesh one of the delicate crystal glasses but thought better of it. She knew he was more dextrous than many in the room, but didn't want to upset his warrior sensibilities by offering something that dainty to drink from. Instead her hand reached behind the bar once more, bringing out a sturdy but beautifully hand-crafted ceramic cup of dark golden brown. She slid it to him.

"...and my dear Ishad, I doubt I would have poison strong enough to even give you a modest stomach upset." She winked as she spoke, taking the comment in the light-hearted manner it was intended.

"We're all friends here," She concluded, and in her head: under this roof, at least...

Taking a moment to glance around she noticed that of all of the Allies of the Agency only the Sith'ari had so far arrived. Had the invitations not reached their destinations? Surely not, the messengers were paid far more than was worth to 'loose' such holopads.

Perhaps it is just too early? she shrugged to herself.

Jylan walked into the room and at once felt distinctly nervous, he had the talent of saying the wrong thing the the wrong person an unusually frequent amount of times, and all around him were either his superiors or Sith.
"You'll protect me won't you, I may have rubbed some of these people up the wrong way or there's a good chance I will do by the end of the night" he looked slightly pleadingly at Ril, he'd only met her in the entrance yet had built up a semi friendly rapport with her, well she was speaking to him so that counted as a rapport for him
"No..really?" she said in mock surprise "Well then I'd better not be seen with you or they may take a dislike to me as well." She walked off to towards the Balcony and waved him a grinning goodbye.
"Dammit....", he mentally added her to his enemies list while straightening his jacket and trying to look comfortable, which of course made him look more out of place as ever, he spotted a familiar face though, Skursir was across the room with two other humanoids.
Relieved Jylan wandered over, "Nice to see a familiar face Skursir, and you know one that's friendly and not too unpleasant to look at" he said smiling. "I can see out number 2 but where's our illustrious leader tonight....."

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Ril grinned as she walked away from Jylan, she'd circle the room and come back to him eventually, she was just as anxious as him having been in the Agency for such a short time but she wasn't going to show it, she was a pro.
Jylan's less than suitable appearance was at odds with the beautiful surroundings of the penthouse, so hoped it was due to the Agency hiring the best with perhaps questionable backgrounds rather then hiring slick looking incompetents.
The penthouse overlooked the Coruscant skyline, she walked over to the balcony and stopped to admire the magnificent view, it was one that even impressed Ril although she had grown accustomed to only seeing it when she was preforming unpleasant activities...

Turning she saw Aleena Fel, she'd never had the chance to introduce herself to the operative but had heard of her reputation, still she felt more comfortable introducing herself to another woman then any of the other Agents in the room.
Walking over she extended her hand, “You already know of course but let me introduce myself I'm Ril Tesv”.

Darth'Ishad nodded, "Friends," pauseing a moment "yes i supose you are right."
Letting out a smile, even though his mask covers it he was sure Aleena could tell.

"So what is the plan for tonight?" the Kaleesh asked not knowing really what to do at these kind of things.

"Well we will wait a while longer to see how many more arrive," Aleina began in response to Darth'Ishad's question. "Then the Falleen has an announcement to make to everyone present. It affects all of you - our allies - as much as it does The Agency, so he wanted as many present as possible."

As the tall Umbaran woman approached her, Aleina nodded respectfully at her approach. She knew the woman only from her personnel file, it was good to finally meet her face-to-face.

"You already know of course but let me introduce myself I'm Ril Tesv." She said, outstretching a slender hand that Aleina took in greeting.

"Welcome Ril," She responded, grinning broadly. "A pleasure to finally meet you at last, I was beginning to suspect the first time we'd get aquainted would be out on the field!"
It was a slightly odd sight to see the two in close proximity; they were both exceptionally pale-skinned, exhibiting an almost luminencence about them, and they both shared striking eyes that grabbed the attention of whomever they spoke to. Ril was quite a lot taller than Aleina of course, being Umbaren; and lacked the long hair that the Hapan woman possessed.

Looking around she added: "Didn't I see you come in with Jylan? Where'd he run off to?"

Darth'Ishad appeared to favour the company of Aleena more. No matter for hard questioning though, they had been exposed to each other in the combat groups and must have formed a pact of sorts. Skursir returned to his beverage, and another swig revealed that it was a Lum - albeit slightly sweeted, perhaps a different take on the original recipe. He was about to down the remainder of what was in his glass, but was interrupted, although thankfully so.

Jylan, Skursir's most favoured fellow Agents, strode into his company. "Nice to see a familiar face Skursir, and you know one that's friendly and not too unpleasant to look at" The man certainly had his charms, smiling a smile that was presumably seen as attractive amongst other humanoids. "I can see out number 2 but where's our illustrious leader tonight....."

"Ah, Jylan! It is good to ssee you again my friend." Skursir extended his arm out towards the combat mechanic, "You're looking healthy - and your perssonal life sseemss equally thriving" The Trandoshan nodded over to were Ril was in conversation with Aleena. "Asss for the Head of Operationss, I am afraid that I have not sseen him either, although people rarely do in any cassse."

After fixing up his clothes to be a bit more fitting for the event, Iorio left the shuttle he and the other Jedi had come in on. Not wasting any more time, as he was already late, the young padawan made his way inside the club. His new outfit felt odd, it wasn't exceptionally special nor was it entirely drab. The clothes themselves were of Corellian make, noted by a simple crimson stripe adorning the sides of the darkly hued garb. A plain outfit, bearing no indistinguishable markings nor particularly vibrant colors. Wearing no extravagant accessories, he looked unremarkable, almost in a remarkable way. While it allowed him to blend in a little bit more, it also made the man even more nervous than before. Carefully organizing his thoughts, Iorio tried his best to focus on keeping his presence hidden, as to not tip off any Imperials that were most likely present. However, with Andariun already inside, he felt confident they could handle themselves if something went awry.

Noting the extra sensors directly inside the club, he wasted little time in heading towards the Penthouse. Flowing through the crowd as calmly as sunlight dancing on water, Iorio worked his way towards the Suite and another security check point. Iorio cleared his throat as he approached the gargantuan security guards. "Iorio Tenova. I believe I am expected." Speaking as plain and as direct as he could, the Jedi did his best to remain as simple as his outfit suggested. One of the guards put a hand to his ear and repeated the name. After a brief pause, the giant man nodded and motioned for Iorio to lift his arms in order to be searched. Having carried nothing with him, the guard quickly finished and moved to the side, allowing him to continue into the Penthouse.

For such an extravagant invitation, the party was unusually small. The club below was barely audible in the suite, which amazed Iorio. Being mechanically inclined, the young man took a brief respite from rushing around to marvel at the technology that must've been present. Coming back to his senses before getting carried away, Iorio made his way towards Andariun before meeting the other guests present. "Can't I be some place before you? Just for once? Please?" the rhetorical jest was followed by the wide smile that usually is on Iorio's face. "So, how's the party? Any idea who invited us?" The man turned to eye the every person in turn while awaiting his friend's response.

((I apologize for the delay in writing this up, and the speed in which it has been written. Meant to do it yesterday but I was too worn out, and am rather busy the rest of the week too =/ ))

Andariun stood idly at the bar, glancing around the room taking in the various sights. The penthouse was far more than he could have imagined and was continuously amazed by the efforts The Agency went to for this party. I really should tell someone that instead of merely thinking it.

Forcing his mind back to the present Andariun turned towards the bar and studied the list of drinks. As the barman made his way towards the Jedi, Andariun though over the recipe for the drink an old friend of his had created. "Yeh, I'll have a Gruvian Tovash mixed with some Halmad Prime. Oh and throw in a bit of Sullustan gin to." Satisfied that he had correctly recited the mixture Andariun turned back towards the party, keeping an eye out for any familiar faces.

Iorio had arrived just in time for the two of them to seek out the host of such a magnificent celebration. "Iorio, if you want to get somewhere before me you need to spend less time figuring out what to wear." Andariun mocked, I mean who would wear those kind of pants with that?" he continued trying to hold back a smile. As his smile died down Andariun changed his tone to suit the occasion. "Anyway on to business. See the doctor over there? Well I believe the Hapan woman he's with seems to be one in charge around here. Or at least acts like she's in charge." Looking to his good friend Andariun enquired, "What do you say we go find out?"

Noticing the jedi who entered the room Darth'Ishad gave out a low hiss, "This neutrality you guys have here is a pain Skursir." His eye never left the jedi at the bar.

"Aleena how cna you stand being in the same room as them?" He asked curious to know why someone as dark as her would be ok with having jedi present. Then they started to aproach them, well aproach Aleena and as that happend he let out another hiss.

(lol sorry jus trying to spice things up a bit i dont mean anything bad from this guys)

Skursir hadn't met the Praxeum before but had studied their dedicated file very thoroughly. They had apparently, tight boundaries and forever followed a moral compass - very much still part of the Jedi Order and even though all contracts were carefully safeguarded from prying eyes, it was best to not mention Tython at all. This precaution would all be lost however if Darth'Ishad made a strike, his all too familiar hiss struck distaste and with an undertone of hatered.

"This neutrality you guys have here is a pain Skursir." Darth'Ishad said to the Trandoshan, his concentration firmly planted upon the Jedi.
"Indeed," came the reply, "They will no doubt ssensse your sstanding asss well. I had no idea that thiss event was opened to all alliess and they can sstill manipulate the force as a weapon. Interaction is perhapss not the best idea."

In fact, Skursir toyed with the idea of taking the complaint to the Chief Operative. It was perhaps time that she recieved some critisism. However, it would not change anything and he still had to respect his superiors no-matter how incompitent they were. Besides, the Jedi were nearly upon them and Skursir felt that it was his duty to cushion the blow between the two sides.

"Ah, the Praxeum I pressume, yess?" Skursir grinned, making sure that his teeth did not show to not appear intimidating. "I am Sskurssir, Ambassador of the E.P.O.C.H, may I ssay that it iss a pleassure to have you here". He extended his arm to recieve a handshake - a catch-all greeting, aimed first at the man in the seemingly plain garb, although prepared to turn to the other as well.

"Aleina how can you stand being in the same room as them?" Darth'Ishad said to her, his annoyance at being in such close proximity to a Jedi without having a light-saber to hand becoming steadily more obvious.

She threw him a half-smile which would seem to indicate she agreed with him somewhat, and replied:

"My loyalty is first and foremost to my Employer, Ishad. If the Falleen enlists allies from both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, then I do not question his methods, intentions or motives. Unlike some," She said glancing at Skursir who was facing away from her to greet the approaching Praxeum members, "I respect that those above me in the chain of command are there for a reason and to question them would be foolish and in some cases, dangerous."

She had felt Skursir's sudden contempt towards her when Ishad mentioned the neutrality of The Hyperion, and made a mental note for future consideration. She would have to watch the Trandoshan carefully. Any attempt to undermine her would result in his death....as an example to others, of course. For now a little 'friendly competition' would do no real harm. She was fast losing patience with the little lizard though, he tried to work above his station and that was starting to grate on her nerves somewhat. Still, if he became too tiresome she knew how The Falleen tended to deal with 'problems', so even though he trod on her toes yet again by intercepting the Praxeum ahead of her greeting them, she decided to let it go.

Looking around the room she could see more Agents arriving; Tando Alums walked into the room with 'The Thumb' beside him, the two in deep conversation. A few seconds later Ketene Nord entered the palacial suite seeming quite at home in the surroundings, unlike many of the other party-goers.

Horatz came in a few moments later, keeping to himself as usual and looking around the room in earnest.

Most are here, Aleina thought to herself. We'll have to start soon.

“Unless you count assaulting strangers in a lift a thriving personal life then I'm afraid no”, he turned around and ordered something alcoholic from the bar yet not too strong “Although I'm sure it does for some species”.

Jylan turned around and realised the Trandoshan had disappeared, looking around he realised he'd gone to introduce himself to the Jedi who just had arrived at the party, good for him he thought if he wants to be in the way when a bolt of force lighting is aimed at a bunch of Jedi.

“I think I'll stay at the bar”, he noticed the rest of the Agents arriving a little behind schedule and ordered up a round of drinks for them.

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Welcome Ril, A pleasure to finally meet you at last, I was beginning to suspect the first time we'd get acquainted would be out on the field!"

"Didn't I see you come in with Jylan? Where'd he run off to?"

“Yes we met in the hall, I think he ran off to the bar he seems a bit on edge for a man at a party” she said grinning, “He's quite an …..impulsive person”, she replied diplomatically, she'd only met him for a number of minutes yet that pretty much summed up all his actions and talking points so far.

“I have to admit I was surprised at the type of occasion your.....our employer puts on, most of my previous employers would never have agents meet together for an informal event like this and the few that did were to make public examples of double agents” she said with a grimace.
“In fact I was so suspicious that I checked over all my previous jobs to make sure I hadn't slighted this Falleen in some way and that this wasn't some type of elaborate payback”, laughing nervously “I couldn't find any but you can never be too sure in my line of work...” she said trailing off.

The loud music penetrated the small restroom where a human woman stood alone in front of the washbasins looking into a large mirror covering the wall. She wore a beautiful white sequinned full length evening gown which hugged her body down to her shapely thighs before hanging in a glittering cascade almost to the floor. Leaning slightly forward the tall woman raised a hand to to check her long platinum blonde hair, worn up for this occasion. She flicked at the centre parted wavy lengths framing and softening her face in what could be interpreted as nervousness had anyone been watching her.

From a small golden clutch bag laying open on the counter she withdrew a lip gloss and with great concentration began to carefully apply the makeup. Through stretched lips she queried the reflection “What the hell are you doing here, you stupid girl?” The woman in the mirror blotted her lips together but didn't deign to provide an answer. Shaking her head she replaced the gloss and snapped the bag shut. No more stalling – she was running late as it was.

On her way out the door she almost collided with one of the club goers. Awkwardly manoeuvring herself past the tipsy Juhani girl wobbling her way into the restroom she was thrown a look of contempt and a loud tut. Even through the booming noise and the people thronging nearby, the woman couldn't mistake the waves of envy emanating from the girl at odds with her outward show which bolstered her momentarily shaken confidence. With an arched eyebrow and and a dismissive glance she stepped back, holding the door open for the girl. The Juhani turned her nose up and tottered into the room projecting an air of superiority but the woman felt her twisting embarrassment. The elegantly dressed woman allowed herself to enjoy the smug warm glow of superiority as she passed the busy bar and crossed the hall on her way to the stairwell. Thinking how her former Master would disapprove of such an indulgence she accepted the wisdom of such a stance but knew herself well. Trepidation would ill serve her in this situation and the encounter had given her confidence. And tonight she would take it wherever she could find it.

Reaching the third floor the woman was relieved at the reduction of decibel level the gaming floor provided, however slight. Craning her long bare neck she looked round and headed for the security checkpoint to the penthouse suite. In the walk across the hall she concentrated on her breathing and centred herself as best she could.

Entering the checkpoint she was greeted politely by two capable looking security guards. “Bethra-Ken Alkanna” she announced herself. “I believe I'm expected”

“Yes, Miss Alkanna” One of the men said to her and held up a small sweeping device. “This is merely a formality”

She made a small chuckle as he waved the scanner about her person. If ever a dress was designed without undergarments in mind, hers was surely one. The guard bent down and paid more attention to her calves and ankles – the only place under the dress where she could possibly have hidden a weapon. She was impressed.

The guard straightened wearing a business-like smile. “Thank you for your patience Miss Alkanna, please proceed. We wish you an enjoyable evening” With an open gesture he indicated to the stairs.

Nodding her thanks she walked past the men and ascended towards the party.

Andariun slowly made his way through the room towards the host whilst continuing to admire the efforts the decorators had made. As the Jedi neared the host he could begin to feel a prickle in the Force. He knew that it was not hostile but the utter despite held against Jedi could e clearly recognised. He kept his calm façade and continued moving towards the Hapan woman.

Just before the pair of Jedi had approached there intended target they were ambushed by an eager Trandoshan. "Ah, the Praxeum I pressume, yess?" The Trandoshan asked with a grin. "I am Sskurssir, Ambassador of the E.P.O.C.H, may I ssay that it iss a pleassure to have you here." Andariun stretched out his hand to accept the welcome of the new acquaintance. "It's a pleasure to meet you Skusir. I am Andariun Shiru and this is my friend Iorio Tenova."

Andariun quickly gazed around the room once more but doing so in a more casual manner. "So, Skusir, I take it that most of these people here are from E.P.O.C.H? We were actually looking for the host of this wonderful celebration to give our thanks."

Watching the two Praxeum representatives as they were greeted by Skursir, Aleina decided not to step into the conversation, aware that despite her reservations toward the Trandoshan he was remarkably diplomatic for one of his kind and felt she would leave it to him to introduce them to her after he had greeted them to his satisfaction.

She found herself comparing their attire for some reason she couldn't quite place. Perhaps it was the considerable contrast in outfits? The one who introduced himself as Shiru wore simple garmets yet elegant in form which she had come to expect from her contact with Jedi in the past. Every member of the order she'd met tended to be dressed in either elegant or military garb, as the situation demanded, but the outfits were always practical in their conception. The second Jedi, who seemed slightly reserved wore a curious outfit that couldn't quite decide what it was trying to say, in her opinion. It was slightly more flamboyant than Shiru's in some ways, yet drastically more conservative in others, a reflection of the man's personality who was introduced as Tenova.
She was once again reminded of the many credos attached to the Jedi Order and why she could not study under them. She found the Jedi as interesting as the Sith and the similarities between the two orders were far more numerous than either would care to admit. She was a follower of neither of course, though she leaned more toward the teachings of the Sith than the Jedi, simply because of their methodology.
She watched Darth'Ishad's reaction to their presence out of the corner of her eye.

It was then that the blonde woman entered the Hyperion, and Aleina - among many others in the room - was drawn in her direction. She was tall, slender and beautiful; adorned in a figure-hugging evening gown which draped playfully about the floor. She was carrying nothing but a small golden bag which almost matched her long hair which was carefully assembled atop her head. The Chief Operative found herself almost captivated by the woman, she sensed a stong connection the The Force in her, but that was not it - many Force Users were in close proximity to her.
No, it was the strange familiarity of the woman that struck her, she knew that she had never seen her before but she could have been Aleina's polar opposite. Where Aleina's hair was dark, this woman's was light. Where she had dark, empty eyes this woman's were full of light and hope. Even their outfits seemed opposite: Aleina in a short black cocktail dress and the newcomer in an elegant white evening gown.

She smiled and shook her head slightly as she looked down at her half empty glass of Corellian Brandy she'd been nursing. Stronger than I thought, she said inside her head.

"It's a pleasure to meet to Skusir. I am Andariun Shiru and this is my friend Iorio Tenova." Came the reply from one of the Jedi. Skursir accepted his hand and shook it graciously.

"Agreed. It iss alwayss nice to have friendss under the ssame roof". Skursir gave another grin towards both of the Jedi. The were friendly, more so than most Sith excluding the Sith'ari Path. But this was only first impressions. They may well be more strict when on the battlefield. Either way, Skursir had a feeling of comfort now, not only from the Jedi, but the whole evening seemed to have an aura of safety and friendliness.

It seemed that Andariun made a light sweep of the room with his eyes before speaking once more. "So, Skusir, I take it that most of these people here are from E.P.O.C.H? We were actually looking for the host of this wonderful celebration to give our thanks."

"Indeed, although you may ssee many of our other alliess pressent thiss evening". Skursir quickly scanned for a suitable example, not wishing to expose Darth'Ishad and Void-Dallos. Unfortunately, the best he could find was a woman who appeared to embody the idea of white and brightness. He decided to drop the subject to the other matter.
"Asss for our exalted host, I am happy to introduce you to Lady Aleena Fel, Chief Operative of the E.P.O.C.H" He stretched his hand out towards the Hapan in a gesture of introduction and opened a pathway so that she may move to greet the Jedi.

Beep... Beep... Beep... The absent sound of the hibernating vessel systems had been designed to allow a pilot to sleep while travel was carried out. The designers had not succeeded with the idea. Sitting in the pilot seat was a man, a man who was certainly not sleeping. Staring at the computer screen keeping track of the journey’s remaining distance and pace he looked utterly captivated. The screen showed a route originating from a distant system with a set destination for Coruscant. The journey had almost been completed it would seem and the thought was confirmed as the viewport shield began rising, allowing the pilot a view of his location. Hyperspace was not always such a pretty sight as you would believe and had been known to cause various discomforts and sometimes mental instability. The man however raised his head and stared out the window, catching the last glimpse of the alternate dimension as the ship began decelerating. The stars which had so recently zoomed past the vessel affirmed a more concrete location and suddenly the planet considered the capital of the universe was visible. “You have arrived at… Coruscant…” the careless voice of the computer spoke and the ship returned manual control. Swooping through space the quite intriguing form of the vessel drew ever closer to Coruscant. The vessel retracted its wings and affirmed a more compact form. The planet that never slept, lit up by its constantly churning foundries, ever active midsection and pompous higher echelons, grew in size until the man could make out the myriad of ships entering and exiting its atmosphere. Joining the swarm of ships the vessel began its descent towards the planet and the reason for its journey.

Coruscant, a planet where you really could find everything. From criminal gangs and the scum inhabiting the under city and its industrial district to the spires and palaces reaching above the clouds inhabited by the richest and most powerful Coruscant truly was the planet where your wildest dreams could come true. Even with its distinctive form the vessel descended into the skyscrapers and buildings without much attention. Gliding through the air the vessel made it way, remaining in the more glamorous places of Coruscant. The vessel finally slowed down and slid in towards a docking unit. The vessels location was one of the most glamorous and highly spoken of night clubs on the surface; The Hyperion. The vessel extended landing feet and as they touched the floor the pilot killed the vessels engines with a high pitched whine. As the gates to the docking unit closed a door on the vessel opened and the man exited. Fully dressed in black the man eyed his surroundings before beginning to remove his leather mask. He pulled out a small data slate and scanned through the document open on it. “Invitation” was written with bold red letters but the man had obviously already read this. Scrolling through the information the man noted necessary information. He placed the leather hood in his vessel and began closed its door, locking it in the process. It was by no means a pretty ship but the man was obviously attached to it in some way, evident by the number of repairs and scars it had sustained through the years it had been in his service. The man began walking towards the lift leading from the docking unit and upon entering instructed it to carry him the final distance to his destination. The lift swiftly began ascending and before long the doors slid open, revealing to him a set of stairs which lead to a collection of gruff looking men quite obviously in charge of security. Beyond that was the collection of people the man had been invited to socialize with. Feeling no need to stress the matters the man checked he had not forgotten anything and then began stepping up the flight of stairs. The men at the peak approached him, requiring him to relinquish arms as well as produce identification. Not stalling procedures the man unholstered a blaster from his side holster and procured a package as well as a data slate. He handed the slate and the package to the men who spared not a minute with checking the contents as well as if he was whom he was suggesting. “Take care with the package, it is in fact a gift” he said as another rather bulky man was about to rip into it. “What’s inside it?” the bulky man inquired. “That would spoil its purpose would it not?” the man playfully suggested. “Had I really come here to end the life of somebody, do you really think I would’ve taken the main entrance?” he said. “While that is true you will still have to tell us what’s inside the package.” the bulky man said, running the security checks quite literally by the books. “If you must know it is a type of weapon, do not worry however, it is without a charged power cell and utterly harmless unless thrown at someone and even that wouldn’t inflict much damage!” the new arrival explained. "Invitation checks out" a less monolithic man added and the bulky doubter realized he was stalling the man. Grudgingly he returned the package and nodded to the men blocking the way, letting the newcomer in to the hall itself which had been reserved for this special occasion.

Taking more notice to the people present rather than the splendid decorations the man eyed his surroundings apparently in search for someone. He noted the wide variety of people present and made sure to put aside any patriotic feelings for this evening. He wouldn’t want his mood to lessen simply because someone was dedicated to the rival power. He located his target and began his approach. The woman was busy speaking to someone and if she noticed his arrival, she hadn’t shown it. “Miss Fel! May I say you appear splendid this evening and while I am applauding your apparel let me also comment on how incredibly much the Hyperion has changed for the better!” he began. Allowing no time for a reply he continued. “To dissolve some of the smoke surrounding my appearance let me, to your chatees, announce myself as Gideon Orwell and present you with this token of my affection” he said, ending the sentence with a smile and a slightly playful bow before extending his hand holding a rather conspicuous package.

The name was fake, she knew that. Having a quite problematic identity, however, the man preferred to adopt a name which could easier be understood by counterparts who perhaps ultimately preferred letters to numbers. How she would react to his alias adopted for the night was intriguing and while revealing his true identity was not as favorable as keeping up a guise it certainly wouldn’t be his doom. Now the ball was now in her hands, what shot she would attempt, however, remained a mystery even to the man as he looked into eyes of the same color as his.

[[ Directed at Lunarwolf ]]

Aleina smiled as the Praxeum representatives stepped forward to meet her but took the time to nod to Skursir in repsonse to his introduction. It seemed their mutual distrust did not come without a degree of decorum.

"Gentlemen," She began, half curtsying as best she could in such a restrictive dress. "I'm delighted you could attend. As one of our most important clients, we hope The Praxeum know they are welcome here, and with The Agency."

She noticed that despite the politeness from everyone, her defences were starting to build, an automatic reaction to being around another Force-User of unknown intentions. The Hyperion might disallow weapons, but one cannot ever truly disarm those capable of weilding The Force. Even without lightsabers they were deadly. Becoming aware of this, she did the best to shield her guard from the ripples of The Force, there were more than enough Sith here as well as Jedi, that alone should prove a suitable disarmament guarantee.

She was going to continue their discussion when her wrist-comm bleeped again.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, will you excuse me a moment please?" She said as she leaned in close to the communicator.

"Yes, what is it this time?" She said quietly into the wrist bracelet.

"I'm sorry to bother you again ma'am," It was Morastus again, the Noghri secruity officer. "Another of your guests has arrived and he has a suspect parcel he says is a 'gift'. He...."

But the guards voice was drowned out by another, one she recognised that was attached to an individual that in all the commotion, she had not seen arrive - Subject 36809.

“Miss Fel! May I say you appear splendid this evening and while I am applauding your apparel let me also comment on how incredibly much the Hyperion has changed for the better!” He began, all presence and bravado. Then, in the same breath:

“To dissolve some of the smoke surrounding my appearance let me, to your chatees, announce myself as Gideon Orwell and present you with this token of my affection”

Aleina simply shook her head and smiled. That man had more masks than an entire contigent of Imperial infiltration experts.

"Never mind, I've got it." She said into the comm and switched it off before Morastus had a chance to reply.

Taking the gift presented to her Aleina arched an eyebrow curiously.
"Great to see you Orwell, I wasn't sure if you'd got the invite being so notoriously hard to track down as you are! I-" Suddenly stopping mid-sentance as she looked down at the now unwrapped gift inside of which was a dark mahogany wood box with gold gilding, she had opened it and the contents had her completely taken aback.

Inside was a custom blaster pistol, exquisitely designed to precise unique instructions, in red and black. Ornate designs decorated the pistol making it equally as elegant as it was deadly. The unmistakable weapon was Orwell's, she remembered it from when they first met. It had been painstakingly furnished and restored however, and it looked like an awful lot of credits had been spend doing so.

"Orwell, its....its beautiful, thank you!" She said, placing it delicately on the bar behind her and reaching a hand out to greet him. As he went to take her ownstretched arm she chuckled.

"So formal? this is me remember? come here!" Grabbing the newcomer and pulling him close she embraced him in a tight hug that most people reserve for best friends or relatives. It was uncharacteristic of her to say the least, but it didn't seem to startle Orwell even half as much as the close company around the bar.

After a moment she pulled back but left her hands on both his shoulders.

"It's so good to see you, old friend." Nodding her head in the direction of the gift, she added: "It's disarmed, I trust? I'd hate for you to get thrown out so soon after arriving.." A subtle wink indicated that she was, of course; joking.

Releasing him at last she turned back to the group gathered around the bar.

"Gentlemen, this is a good friend of mine. Orwell, these gentlemen are from the Praxeum, our Jedi Allies."

Leaning closer to him she whispered in his ear: "Sutble entrance. Couldn't you find a shuttle-craft to crash in through the window before summersaulting out with a troop of Twi'lek dancers in tow?"

Skursir stood motionless and with his arms planted behind his back as he watched Aleena dismiss the Jedi in favour of an individual that Skursir had only seen when skimming over recent files and even then the man had just been in a portrait. How this Orwell came to aquire the friendship of the Chief Operative was frankly, none of Skursir's business and he would leave it like that.

When they embraced, Skursir turned to smile politely at the members of the Praxeum in a look that was tailored to convey the message of "Hang in there". Luckily, she returned to the bar with the man following closely.
"Gentlemen, this is a good friend of mine. Orwell, these gentlemen are from the Praxeum, our Jedi Allies."

Skursir remained motionless as he had not been called. He didn't even contemplate the fact that he had not. It was typical proceedings in the house of diplomacy and law. His mind instead turned to Jylan and the members of the Path who were no doubt in simple suspension as he was, watching the events unfold.

Hold. This was no business meeting. This was far from formal introductions as well. The event was a time to unwind and enjoy company, Skursir was not on duty. He slowly relaxed his stern position and stepped out of the circle of people without anyone noticing in order to pursue other's company. He wondered if Jylan would follow suit. In any case, he decide to find that woman who had captivated Aleena's attention.

"Evening, missss..." Skursir found the blonde human. Sporting a flowing white gown, something never seen on Trandosha, she would probably look extremely beautiful to most other males. Not that he had high standards of course... "I would ssay that you compliment your dresss nicely..." He gave a grin.

36809 was released from the embrace but stayed close to Aleena as her arms was still on his shoulders, he didn't mind. In fact he relished any type of contact, intelligence work can become so incredibly dull and being alone most of the time he had to admit, grudgingly, that he had sometimes felt lonely. Aleena Fel was one of the few individuals in the universe, he had knowledge of, that knew him well.

"It's disarmed, I trust? I'd hate for you to get thrown out so soon after arriving.." she said and winked slightly. Even though he knew he wouldn't literally be thrown out he did detect the tinge of concrete seriousness which did stand out from the kindness. "Yes, of course. This is my first chance to associate myself with you as well as all these charming individuals" he began, nodding at the collection from the Praxeum "You don't think I would risk it for something like a loaded energy cell do you?" he finished along with an almost grandfatherly smile. He could almost not remember how long ago it had been since he had last visited the Hyperion. The rather slow-moving reconnaissance mission had been put on hold and he had departed whatever rock it had been. This oppurtunity could not be missed, not only because of the chance to again familiarize himself with old friends and new additions to the Agency but also, because of his absence, to show that he was corporeal and not only smoke and mirrors. He knew that because of his quite misty line of work a certain amount of absence and vanishing was tolerated but recently he had felt the urge to return to the core and spend some time away from the gloomy and outright dangerous twists and turns of his employment. Not that anything was to dangerous for him...

He smiled at the egotistical notion and realized it had been a well placed smile as most of the individuals gathered at the bar was looking at him for acknowledgement after Aleena's introduction.

"Gentlemen!" he exclaimed quite brashly. "It is always good reminiscing with the opposition" he grinned, hinting at his line of work. "Joking, of course. I'm into trading myself and dare I say the republican policies on my line of work are quite more lenient than your counterpart." he said with a complementary smile. The best place to hide was in plain sight after all he thought as he concluded the lie. "Any friends of Aleena's are of course friends of mine." He said, assuring the republican members of the conversation that he held no grudge towards them.

"Sutble entrance. Couldn't you find a shuttle-craft to crash in through the window before summersaulting out with a troop of Twi'lek dancers in tow?" Aleena whispered to him after leaning in. "You know me, if it doesn't have Twi'leks it's not worth watching... Unless of course it's me" he whispered back and jokingly smiled, focusing now on the collection of people trying to figure out who would speak so that he could brew up a suitable reply.

The Kaleesh being present for all of this, he looked to the jedi. "My name is Darth'Ishad, Guardian of the Sith'ari path, and hunter of many."

As he was finishing Aleena and another person came over, this one was different he could tell by the way she reacted to him.

The room she had entered was large and luxurious, dominated by a sweeping view of the evening skyline. The briefing she's received from General Wylker on their hosts for tonight's gathering did not include much in the way of details. Bethra-Ken hadn't really known what to expect but judging from the eclectic group of guests it seemed The Agency had it's fingers in many pies.

The invitation sent to CODEX had been issued by an Aleena Fel, who could just about be seen behind a throng of people near the corner of the room at what looked like a small bar. The file CODEX held on her had described the woman as deliberate and reserved but a moment or two of watching her told Bethra-Ken the information was woefully incomplete. But no wonder - their systems integration with the SBI had so far been a shambles with every petty bureaucrat putting a block on their access. So much for 'unprecedented cooperation', she thought.

With a polite but unassuming smile on her face Bethra-Ken had made he way over to the large window and looked out over the magnificent vista. Mindful not to appear inapproachable she stood half-turned, still partly facing the many guests in attendance.

She was slightly surprised to be greeted first by a Trandoshan of all people. Dapperly dressed, he appeared relaxed and confident in his surroundings. “Evening, missss... I would ssay that you compliment your dresss nicely...” Not normally prescribing to racial stereotypes Bethra-Ken was still unseemingly taken aback at how urbane an impression the Trandoshan made; he really was remarkable in his deviation from the racial norm.

“Thank you” she said as she turned to face him. “That's very kind of you. I'm Bethra-Ken Alkanna” normally this introduction would have been followed with a nod or slight bow, but in this instance she held forth a slender hand to shake.

“A pleassure Miss Alkanna. I am Sskurssir, and Agent of the E.P.O.C.H.” he pressed her fingers lightly to his reptilian lips an a gentlemanly fashion.

“Ah, then I'm genuinely pleased to make your acquaintance Mister Skursir. I admit to finding myself a little out of my depth here, surrounded so by strangers and in unfamiliar territory as it were” She leaned her head forward in a mock conspiratorial manner. “I'm sure someone as gallant as your good self would never leave a lady so distressingly lacking in information. At least not for too long. Perhaps once I've 'done the rounds', if I miss anybody out, you can put a name to a face or two for me” She smiled a relaxed smile to reinforce the joking nature of her comment.

A highly buffed and polished service droid materialised next to the pair proffering a choice of drinks. As she lifted a fluted glass of champagne from the silver tray Bethra-Ken felt a fleeting affinity with the shiny machine. Analyse social engagement; follow endorsed social dictates; behave as expected... With a nod of thanks to the droid she took a sip of her drink and returned her unfaltering attention to the Trandoshan.

“Thank you” The woman at first seemed surprised at his appearance. No doubt she was not used to many Trandoshans. “That's very kind of you." She continued, "I'm Bethra-Ken Alkanna”.
"A pleassure Miss Alkanna. I am Sskurssir, and Agent of the E.P.O.C.H." She held out her hand. Skursir instinctively scooped it her with one hand and bowed to give it a light peck with his other arm behind his back.

“Ah, then I'm genuinely pleased to make your acquaintance Mister Skursir. I admit to finding myself a little out of my depth here, surrounded so by strangers and in unfamiliar territory as it were” Bethra-Ken said, she lowered her head subconsciously giving Skursir the idea that she was weak and had to be protected. “I'm sure someone as gallant as your good self would never leave a lady so distressingly lacking in information. At least not for too long. Perhaps once I've 'done the rounds', if I miss anybody out, you can put a name to a face or two for me” She gave a sweet smile, Skursir could help but find it sickening, but he focused on her words:
"But of courssse..." He grinned back.

Whilst Bertha-Ken selected a drink from a droid that had seemingly sprung from behind her dress, Skursir pondered what trade that Miss Alkanna could possibly be involved in to bring her so close to the Agency. When it was his turn to select a beverage, he randomly picked up a glass, more focused on the question in his mind, "May I assk, what bussiness iss good enough for ssuch a fine Lady?"

“My business?” The two words were spoken in such a tone as to be both question and answer. “Security” she expanded – almost. Though firm in her wording, she was nevertheless quite self effacing company and she congenially redirected the conversation without any awkwardness. “But that's neither here nor there. No doubt working for this Agency of yours you can forgive a lady her secrets”

He was perhaps only being polite in his enquiry, but if this Skursir was part of this Agency and not in the loop as to the names and occupations of all the guests, Bethra-Ken wasn't convinced she should be filling in his blanks. These social engagements were delicate affairs and the wrong word in the wrong place could upset a lot of people. She felt nothing concealed about the Trandoshan and feared she might be doing him a disservice, but it was better to err on the side of caution amongst these strangers, and especially in the face this mysterious Agency. At least until their motivations and their loyalties could be understood.

Security? That could mean a lot of things. Police force. Technology. She could even work for the Republic Army for all he knew. Better to play it safe and not say too much - not that Skursir liked to pry too much, although as with most people, he did like information, yet now was not the time. "Certainly Miss Alkanna, by all meanss, the E.P.O.C.H resspectss the privacy of it'ss clientss and will protect it in any way possible" Skursir rested his arms behind his back as he had seen so many Republic Officials do, "Whatever trade you are in, be assured that the E.P.O.C.H will continue to provide unparalleled sservice."

Another quiet bleeping that came from Aleina’s bracelet-comm made her look down. It was a very specific frequency; The Falleen was calling. He was ready.

Breaking off from conversation Aleina walked out of the throng of chatting people and found an empty space in the center of the room. Picking up a fork she tapped loudly on her crystal glass a couple of times before she had everyone’s attention.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank-you all for coming this evening. The E.P.O.C.H. Agency welcomes you, one and all. If I could direct your attention to the opposite end of the room, my employer wishes to address you.”

Aleina pressed a combination of buttons on her bracelet which had previously appeared to be various jewels and stood back, taking her place among the crowd of onlookers as the lights in the room dimmed to an inky blackness.

Almost immediately a holo-stream initiated reaching high into the air from the projector on the desk, stopping mere inches off the twenty-five foot ceiling. Fanning out into an arc it produced an amount of static across the blue holographic haze that twisted and curled until it finalized into an image of The Falleen, or at least his head and shoulders. Adorned in a large hood and wearing a mouth-guard, the vast majority of his face was obscured yet the large projection looked down upon the crowd, his eyes scanning across them all silently not unlike a general inspecting his troops or a deity gazing down upon its followers.

“Loyal agents, honoured guests...” came the voice across the hologram, as calm and captivating as ever.

“I apologize for not being with you all in person. Due to unforeseen circumstances I was pulled away from Coruscant and was unable to reach the celebrations in time. I would like to thank you all for coming, I must say it warms my heart to see so many of you there this evening, putting aside political and theological differences.”

He watched as the crowd looked among themselves, obviously not entirely sure why they were there or - in the case of some of the more cautious of them - whether this was some elaborate plot to get them all in one place. In their position, he'd probably be thinking the same.

“I imagine you are all wondering why you were called here, to The Hyperion.” He continued. “It concerns the Alliance you all have with The E.P.O.C.H. Agency and our wishinug to show our appreciation for your continued support. As you might all be aware, we have recently progressed another Galactic Year in....business and we wanted to celebrate by giving you all a gift or sorts, or what you may consider an opportunity.”

The holographic image of The Fallen shrunk then, and moved to the left to make room for a second hologram. A large multi-storey building appeared and began to slowly rotate.

“Some of you may have heard rumours, but this is Azure Towers in upper Galactic City.” The Fallen said after the onlookers had examined the new image for a moment. “According to all records it is officially the headquarters of The Azure Lost Persons Agency, a detective service that offers a more discreet form of bounty hunting. This agency takes up only two of the thirty floors however, and is a simple cover operation for the true purpose of the Towers; that of an embassy for you, our allies.”

The image of the towers zoomed in to one of the floors then, creating a 3d image of the floor plan layout which began self annotating and bringing up descriptors for each of the rooms.

“Our gift to you, Azure Towers is an Elysium and sanctuary for each of your organisations regardless of the current state of Coruscant's turbulent politics. Within the walls of the floor designated to your organisation, you will receive diplomatic immunity and hold special semi-sovereignty rights as well as a dedicated security force which will answer only to yourselves and even access to secure encoded comm-relays and a large central database. ”

Nodding to Aleina who broke from the crowd and walked to a large cabinet on the eastern wall, he paused as she opened it and returned to crowd with a handful of datapads. As she started handing them out to specific individuals, The Falleen continued.

“The Chief Operative is now handing out special biometric codes to be taken to the leaders of your organisations. Coded only to their DNA, these code will unlock the floors and allow access, thereby allowing them to set security protocols for all members of your organisations, whom are the only individuals who will have unrestricted access to your floors within the building. Even members of E.P.O.C.H. will be unable to access your floors or subsystems without your consent, each floor is fully isolated and self-contained.”

Waiting for her to finish, he added:

“Agents Trell and Alums, please ensure your datapads reach The Remnants and The Hands. Deliver them directly to The General and The Lady.”

As the image of Azure Towers shrunk and vanished from view, the image of The Falleen grew in size and once again took its place.

“I hope this meets with your approval and if you have any further questions, please direct them to the Chief Operative who will be happy to answer any queries you might have. For now I must leave you as my time grows short, but I wish to thank you all again for coming and please spend as much of the evening in the Suite as you wish, drinks are.....how does the saying go? 'On the house'.”

Without further ceremony the image of The Fallen crackled and vanished from view, the holo-stream shrinking and retreating back into the projector.

The true purpose of the gathering revealed, the party-goers were left to discuss the new development among themselves and enjoy the rest of the evening.