Ask Raxus Pitch Meeting

[Vayden Q'orr]

Always looking to refine his craft, Q'orr made a point to focus intently on how Ada responded to the questions posed to her. Always looking for small tidbits he could add to his own repertoire, in his experience it was the little takeaways that made the difference from good to great.

In his father's words it was the 80-20 rule. 80% of the work could be done by just about anyone and would be considered a job well done. It was those that went those extra 20% that would separate themselves from the rest.

She, of course, handled the questions with ease and left none of the interviewers with any lingering negative emotions that could skew their reporting later on down the line. With that slog finally trudged through Talen was somewhat at a loss for what to do with his free time. He hadn't been in the public eye for a full week yet and was already sick of that kind of life.

He decided against going anywhere while the sun was still out to avoid having to interact with more clout-chasing vermin. Instead he'd stay in his room and interact with those same people at a distance through a livestreamed Q&A. Dumb questions from people on the HoloNet were far easier to answer with the added benefit of not needing to account for any one individual for very long if at all.

Most importantly, it helped him to stay in character while biding his time. He would go crazy if he abandoned his usual routine altogether and had to find a way to bring some semblance of normalcy to his assignment.

He had no weapons to take apart and put back together, nor could he risk diving too deep into the HoloNet for fear of his searches leaking at any point. Yet he yearned for something that felt more productive than what he'd done so far.

That's why after his livestream, once evening had set in and the majority of the resorts guests were out enjoying the surrounding nightlife, he made his way towards the gym. It was certainly believable that a lead actor like himself would be doing their best to stay in shape so close to filming.

He dismissed Taz who'd been shadowing him to that point and got to work. For the next precisely hour and a half and not a second longer he engaged his back in a multitude of ways, making sure his frame would maintain strength and durability. Afterwards he showered and began making his way back to his room.

Along the way, he was stopped by the sound of music coming from a seemingly empty ballroom. Only after peering in did he notice Six there dancing alone. He approached slowly, sliding the entrance closed quietly behind him. He walked with steps loud enough to announce his presence but intending to be as unobtrusive as possible.

He watched for a moment to appreciate the way she moved and once she found herself between songs he spoke up "You move well." He said plainly. Once he had her attention he'd raise an eyebrow to wordlessly ask whether she was in character or not while asking aloud "Do you often dance alone like this?"

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

She had noticed him of course - he hadn’t exactly masked his presence arriving. She didn’t stop what she was doing immediately, alternating between quarter turns and armless promenade pivots to the music until it came to a stop. He was still Talen in appearance, but his rigid stature suggested he was straddling multiple identities right then. He looked as if he had never set foot in a ballroom before.

“Apparently our line of work prevents us from entertaining dance partners,” She said with a smirk, tossing his own sentiments back at him. She followed up by gracefully closing the distance, extending her hand without a word. The gesture made it clear she wasn’t asking, a glint in her eye speaking more than words were needed to convey.

A new song came on, one with a faster tempo but in the same vein of style. She would let him take the lead at first, placing a hand on his shoulder and drawing close. If he was terrible, she would effortlessly switch to take the male role in the dance. Her feet swept across the floor, and she was always on the balls of her feet as she practically glided across the room.

At some point, she hooked her foot around his, leaning back to drop herself into a dip to dramatically graze the floor with her fingers before easily sliding back up and switching from one hand of his to the other. It was a battle for dominance in the dance, and so far she was the alpha easily spinning and tossing around a man twice her size.

@Pazaakly

 

[Vayden Q'orr]

He gave a polite chuckle in recognition of her callback, eventually settling into a slight smile. As he took her more than simply offered hand he gave a small bow before beginning. As an agent it was a constant battle of knowing where to dedicate time to.

In Vayden's case it was easy to feel like a master of none at times. In trying to prepare himself to be anything for anyone at any time it meant he could never gain profound experience in skills like dancing. He had of course learned much of the basic for the purpose of social events that normally occupied rooms like the one they found themselves in that night.

It was only natural then for him to fall behind and eventually be led by the clearly more experienced Six. He wasn't slighted by it however. He was more than happy to watch her work as he slowly got into the swing of things. The longer the song went on the looser he became, those few lessons coming back to him and lightening his feet in the process.

Now more acclimated to the jive, he took the lead back from her between hand changes. Guiding them in a lazy circle across the ballroom floor, every step more animated without losing control or the tempo. He saw her dip and raised her a move of his own: twirling her towards him, she'd find herself with her back against his chest. Then with his arm holding her against him by the hip he'd lift her into the air for a graceful spin for all their nonexistent observers to admire, her arms and legs still available to her in the air to add any flair or pose she desired.

He hadn't seen it as a battle in quite the same way that Six had, but he knew it was a challenge at the very least. As always he felt out the opposition first, then operated based of his observations with the tools at his disposal. It didn't hurt that for once he was genuinely enjoying himself, either. Even if his face didn't show it, the energy he brought to the dance certainly would.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

He stopped being dead weight soon enough, something she had expected honestly. He was generally quick on the uptake and seldom backed down from a challenge. The two moved effortlessly across the dancefloor, carried by the music and the rhythm. To his credit, he even managed to avoid stepping on her bare feet. He tugged her against him, her back against his chest. The slick move actually drew out a soft chuckle of appreciation before she was easily hoisted up into the air. She went with it, arching her back, tossing her arms up, and curling a knee up to do a pose before he brought her back down.

Quite frankly, she was unconcerned with what role he was playing, she was simply enjoying herself. He would learn soon enough this was exactly how an agent could still enjoy life’s simple pleasures without letting it destroy them. His stoic as usual expression, however, clued her in that he was actually not playing Talen in the moment.

Another promenade pivot led them into another dip. She grinned as she gazed up at him from the dip, an arm casually slung around his neck, “You don’t move so bad yourself,” She said with that fanged smile. Her free hand came up to brush aside a few errant strands of hair that fell over his eyes.

Not a moment later, there was a loud rumble that echoed throughout the resort. It sounded like an explosion, one both agents would recognize right away as a bombing and nothing else. If Q’orr managed to keep from dropping her out of surprise, she smoothly slid back to her feet, running over to grab her heels and AT-specs.

She turned to look over her shoulder, giving him a curt, silent nod before she looked away.

“OH MY GOD WHAT’S HAPPENING!!!” Ada’s shrill voice echoed as she ran out in a panic, frantically pinging their security detail. She already knew this was a terrorist attack. It wasn't entirely uncommon on Brentaal due to how hotly contested the planet usually was, but she had hoped nothing of the sort would happen while they were on their mission.

@Pazaakly

 

[Vayden Q'orr]

As he held her in the dip he gave a true smile of his own. It was still small of course, but it was just enough for the dimples in his cheeks to show for the first time. His forced Talen smile never revealed them, so the number of people that had seen that feature given his normally neutral expression were still in the single digits.

Her smile on the contrary interested him. His mind focused not on the aesthetics, but the possibilities such a feature could provide. All his life he'd had the displeasure of entirely useless and more recently actively detrimental features. And here she was with a built in weapon at birth.

He couldn't help but have his eyes settle on her smile thinking of all the scenarios where something like that could prove useful. He was already imagining a scenario where one could be removed to cut free of bindings, and by effect curious as to whether or not they grew back as they do in some species.

The subtle touch of adjusting his hair for him was unexpected but he wouldn't complain. "I must ad--" Then came the rumble. The thought would have to wait for another time. In an instant he cycled out of his pleased expression and into his usual demeanor once more.

It would be frustrating for him given the lack of visual of the outside that the room provided and given what would have to happen next he ran high in doubt that he'd get one any time soon. He returned the nod and bolted out of the room without a word, only several meters down the hallway did he shout "What the hell was that?!"

Only moments later he'd be joined by Taz who'd known more or less where he'd be and naturally sought him out as soon as it happened. To Talen's relief and Q'orr's dismay he'd be spirited away back to his room now flanked by both Taz and Marlon inside. Surrounded by witnesses he played up the panic, pacing back and forth in his room and impulsively checking his EZphone over and over.

The last part would hide the fact that he was sending Ada an encoded message on the surface simply expressing concern for their safety but beneath the encryption actually checking if she had gotten any update or intel on the situation outside yet.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

The two were quickly rushed down the corridors towards a safer location. She was fuming internally, but externally she maintained her panicked facade. There was a nagging at the back of her mind wondering whether this was targeted. Whether Two was involved. She had to discreetly admit to Q’orr that ISB was out of contact for now - they had to make their panic genuine. If she rapidly started contacting HQ during a crisis, on the offchance they found a way to crack her signals, they’d notice the patterns.

Marlon was next to Q’orr as usual, “Don’t worry Mr. Brisbane, I won’t let anything happen to you,” He said with a warm smile. Six popped another cigarra gum into her mouth, trying to contain her rage at the deviance to the meticulously planned operation.

As they rushed down the corridor, blasterfire could be heard.

“Get down!” Marlon shouted as he tackled Brisbane to the ground, practically hugging him to shield him. He leveled his blaster and shot back at some of the terrorists that turned the corner to come into the hallway. Six screamed hysterically, guarded by Taz. A shootout ensued as the security detail exchanged fire with the perps. She could already spot a string of bodies up ahead, smoke and screaming erupting all around.

She looked up to spot Taz miss his shot a few times. She gritted her teeth and 'accidentally' knocked her elbow into his the slightest bit while he aimed. He grunted in irritation, but he suddenly managed to drop one of the shooters in the process.

After a moment, the shooters gave up on this hallway and fled. Unfortunately for Q’orr, Marlon survived the encounter. He grabbed Q’orr’s hand and helped him up, “Are you okay?!” He asked as Six helped herself up, trembling in fear.

“Let’s move out,” Taz said curtly, quickly charging down the hallway and leading the others, “Don’t look down, m’am,” He warned. Six kept her gaze leveled, pretending to be mortified at the sight of dead bodies.

@Pazaakly

 

[Vayden Q'orr]

Q'orr continued to play his part effectively, despite the incessant desire to push Marlon into the crossfire at every given opportunity. Answering his "savior" he said "I- I think so." He looked all around in a panic, masking his assessment of the situation through what appeared to be a frantic cornered response from the actor in way over his head at the moment.

As they walked down the corridor the bodies of the downed assailants came into focus. He did his best to take stock of the different species represented, sadly most of them had maintained their face covering during the firefight giving him very little to go off of. What he did spot however would prove to be much more useful than a terrorist demographic census.

He allowed his eyes to glaze over as he walked forward and just so happened to trip over an extended limb sending him to the ground for a moment. He fell onto another one of the bodies and let out a scream of horror coming into such close contact with a corpse. As he pushed himself up and off of the body he took the terrorist's communication device with him.

It was a very crude device, no holographic capabilities by the looks of it. Most likely used only to transmit audio for the purposes of coordinating the attack. Marlon was trying to say something but he had good reason in character to ignore him, so he did just that. Instead of pay mind to the guard he reached up with both hands to hold his head.

It would externalize the stress he wanted to portray but more importantly hide the fact that he'd slipped the stolen device into his ear. Immediately he started to pick up on chatter, only to find a new complication. They weren't speaking a language he understood. It was a fact that irritated him to no end that despite his best efforts, the galaxy was so vast that he'd never truly know enough linguistics for his line of work.

He'd have to hope that Six could fare better. With their security detail in a semicircle around the pair as they pressed forward and their attention focused outward to potential threats the handoff was simple. He placed the device in her palm discreetly with no other confirmation, trusting her to know what to do.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six was questioning whether to keep the mission and cover going as is or whether to switch to combat. For now, she continued playing her part, Taz keeping too close a watch on her to do anything too suspicious. Vayden was tripping over every other step, which put Marlon on him like glue. Being dramatic had its pros and cons, and in this case he was drawing a lot of extra attention. Marlon was practically hugging him as they walked, preventing him from any other accidental tripping or scavenging.

She was still looking in the other direction when Vayden grasped her hand. Externally it looked like a show of fear, but she knew him better than that. She gave him a panicked look in turn, her own hand giving his a reassuring squeeze as she took the device. The advantage to him hogging up all the guard attention meant the focus was off her enough to inspect the comlink. As they walked through the smoke and chaos, she reached for one of her refurbished EZPods, syncing it with the device before popping the pod into her ear.

“-If they didn’t die, they’ll be taken to the Grand Oradin hotel-” A voice gruffly said, Six’s tech rapidly translating it in her ear.

“Why does the damn cat want filmmakers so badly?”

“This is bogus. I’m gonna ask him to raise the pay.”

By then, the film group was out of the hotel, but Six knew they were all in danger. The description of a Cathar also all but confirmed that Two was involved. The casting call had an encoded message - one another Cipher would be able to decipher if he still remembered his training. He may have worked out that the ‘film crew’ were Imperial.

“Where are we going?!” She asked Taz in a panic. He quickly worked to calm her.

“We were advised to take you to the Grand Oradin Hotel.”

“No!” Six said in a panic, tears streaming down her face, “No no no! We just got attacked at a high profile resort. I’m not going into a hotel! No! Take us somewhere else!”

“M’am it’ll be the saf-”

“I said no!” She screeched.

Before long, the film crew was diverted away to instead a local vacation home in a discreet location. The guards left them alone, getting in touch with local authorities to understand what was happening. The local news was buzzing about a terrorist attack claimed from a group originating from the Outer Rim.

An agent posing as costume crew and another posing as a cameraman were both killed in the blast. They would be posthumously honored for their efforts. After everyone was situated in their rooms, Six made her way over towards Vayden’s. She had a datapad in her hand. Unsurprisingly, she found a very concerned Marlon standing outside of his door, gazing longingly at it. She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.

“Oh! Hello Miss Vance,” He said, “Mr. Brisbane is having a hard time.. He seems very rattled by what happened.”

“Thank you Marlon, for your bravery back there,” She said with a weary smile, “I’m going to go check on him if that’s okay? Can you please go ask Taz whether we’ll be moved again?”

“Oh-Oh of course, can you tell Mr. Brisban-” And Marlon rambled on a few more things as Six politely shut the door on his face. She dropped the Ada Vance act, spotting Vayden. It was a modest room, a large bed, window, private bathroom and not much else. She took the EZPod out of her ear, “Good work,” She commended him on nabbing the comlink. She jutted her chin towards the bathroom. She couldn’t risk anyone eavesdropping and she closed the door once he stepped in.

Six flipped down the lid of the toilet and took a seat, sighing, “There are details I hadn’t shared with you yet,” She admitted, “I didn’t know if you were capable or not,” She wouldn’t sugarcoat it, “I have good reason to believe that Cipher Two, a cathar formerly classed as KIA, is alive and working against us,” This was highly classified intel and a hunch she was working on that wasn't a formal directive from HQ. No one else believed Two could be alive, “That makes this job infinitely more complex. He likely caught onto the code we broadcasted in the casting call. One option we have is to maintain our covers where we go to the casting call cities to reaffirm our commitment to the movie. At the same time we try to root out Two’s location. Another option is that we let Farz and the others keep playing that front while you and I use their comlink to locate Two. A lot riskier since we'd be dropping our covers, but if it's just us it may stay covert.”

They needed to eliminate him in order to take out the obstacle in their way. Six decided to share all the details she had been given, “One of the individuals we are trying to extract is extremely high priority. I wasn’t given specifics, because it’s above even my paygrade, but this individual is top priority. If Two is actively fighting against us, he either is also trying to track this individual or has them in his custody already.”

All the cards were on the table now. Six quickly popped one of her cigarra gums into her mouth, desperately craving a cig right then. She let Vayden digest the information. No doubt he had thoughts to add, and this was his chance. The setting couldn’t be more bizarre - them reviewing intelligence plans while she sat on a toilet.

@Pazaakly

 

[Vayden Q'orr]

"Talen" continued to project a sense of panic and generally being overwhelmed by the stress of the situation. Q'orr knew that if Six managed to pick up on any relevant information she'd find a way to act on it. No need to try and study her expression for a hint as to whether or not his idea had worked or not.

Given her sudden outburst at the mention of relocating to another resort, he assumed it had worked to some degree, at least. All the while while they were being teleported he remained on edge. Eyes glancing all around frantically, transitioning as they put more and more distance between themselves and the resort into a stare into nothing. He had seen and caused far worse than they'd experienced that night, but Talen's only experience with gore was in that one student short horror film he made when he was still in school. Fake blood did not smell nearly as bad.

Once he had been escorted to his new room and finally had a door to separate himself from Marlon, he immediately got to work. He used his datapad to start going through all the related news about the days events. He saw the rumors, most of which he paid little mind to. He was more concerned about timeline. Partially it was to help understand the enemy, but just as useful it could be to learn the people of this planet. Their news cycle, how fast information spread.

He took note of the best estimated time of when the blast itself occurred and when they entered the resort. Judging off those alone it seemed to be a very coordinated effort. That kind of discipline wasn't a calling card of most terrorist groups in his experience. He certainly hadn't seen anything in his briefing that suggested such an outlier existed here. Maybe the report was incomplete?

He made a note also of how quickly news of the attack had spread. If their cover was ever fully blown and they had to make a quick getaway he wanted to know how much time he could expect to have before their faces were out there for any civilian to identify and make things harder for them.

It was during this time as he worked sitting at the edge of the bed that Six came in to the room. He gave her a simple nod in acknowledgement of her praise, accepting it but just as quickly moving on. He wasn't keen on celebrating any victory no matter how small until the job was finished. Giving her a curious look he followed her into the bathroom, understanding a moment later the reasoning.

As she took a seat he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked like a mess, covered in dust and the blood of the one person he'd purposely fallen onto. He had been to preoccupied in learning more about the attack that he hadn't even considered cleaning himself off. Although he could probably justify it with more empty lip service, it didn't feel in line with his cover to simply sit in that kind of state.

So serving the two-fold purpose of maintaining character and adding more noise pollution to cover their conversation, Talen Q'orr stepped into the refresher, closing the door and beginning the process of scrubbing himself clean. As he did so he listened intently, doing his best to wrap his head around all the new information he was receiving. Working with a Cipher had been one of the great opportunities of this mission. Now they'd have to contend with working against a Cipher as well. It would be an amazing learning experience, if he completed the mission that is.

He considered the options laid out before them for a moment as the water continued to rain down on him from above. Then he opened the door and said "The code we broadcasted is the foundation of the entire operation. If its drawn the attention of a Cipher working against us, we need to act on it. Nothing can be built on the foundation with a structural threat like that. It's considerably more challenging but it's the necessary path."

He started thinking of how it could be done, which was harder in practice than in theory. If he couldn't even theorize then it didn't bode well for the application. "Our disappearance from the public eye can be explained fairly easily, it would be a while before Talen and Ada feel comfortable out in the open and given the investment they represent they'd be sure to kept safe until any threat seemingly passes. The real issue is what we tell our guards if we take that angle."

He applied body wash as he considered how quickly things had gotten more complicated than initially believed. Such was the life of an agent, he mused.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six paid little heed to him freshening up. Even if it was all to cover up noise, there was something soothing about him at least pretending to be at ease around her. Working with other agents sometimes got exhausting because they were always actively posturing. She considered his logic - there was no right or wrong answer because they didn’t have enough data to guarantee any outcomes. The high priority target was also a missing variable. Working with gaps in the data was an irritating part of being a Cipher.

Without a word, she rose and walked back out into his bedroom. She found his suitcase, hoisting it easily onto the bed with her Firrerreo strength. He would see her lean in and press a discreet button that looked like the keycode to get into the luggage. However, the combination she put in caused another panel to appear. She leaned in even closer and a small light did a retinal scan. There was a click and an entire top compartment of the suitcase opened.

Six pulled it out like a drawer, fishing out items that clearly belonged to her like various sets of armor and two pistols, one of them a highly illegal disruptor. She popped in a powerpack into each pistol before taking out an extra one for him and tossing it over. Six worked in silence, digging through the compartment till she found something that drew out a wide smile. A pack of smokes that had been denied to her this entire trip. She quickly stashed them away before looking over at Q’orr as if she hadn’t just been shamelessly rummaging through his luggage, “I’m put through more scrutiny than you. Had to get my contraband in somehow,” She said simply with a playful wink.

“I’ll tell Farz to work up some bullshit to send the bodyguards away and handle media,” After all, that was the benefit of multiple agents working undercover. Six glanced down at her chrono, “Meet me in the backyard in two hours. Oh and..” She looked at him for a moment, “Lose the contacts. And do something with your hair, it’s…unnatural,” Six said with a slight grimace. Talen looked way too pretty for her tastes with the perfectly coiffed hair and perfect skin. While it was great for the part, she was thrilled to not be going into a combat mission with Prince Charming.

Naturally, Six didn’t offer much else in terms of explanation. However, when he arrived at the rendezvous spot, he would find her in light armor, HQ already having been told about the change of plans. She glanced up at him, “They were expecting everyone to move to the Grand Oradin,” She relayed what she heard on the translated comms, “If we intercept them, we may be able to trail them back to their hideout.”

@Pazaakly

 

[Vayden Q'orr]

Q'orr finished up in the refresher, stepping out with a towel wrapped around himself as he watched Six extract her things from his suitcase. He wasn't surprised she'd found ways to stash things away, nor that he hadn't come across it yet. Not carrying his own bags had been a natural part of his cover. "Pass me some clothing while you're at it."

He got dressed and tucked the provided weapon in his waistband, hidden out of sight by means of the pants and baggy shirt combination he now sported. He looked curiously at the smokes she had apparently put at equal value to weapons and armor. He felt a sense of pride knowing he had no such addictions. Never could he compromise himself like that. With a hint of side eye in tone as opposed to literal he said "Those aren't allowed in checked luggage, you know. Flight risk and all."

Once she had left he returned to the bathroom and examined himself in the mirror. The contacts were easy enough to do away with. His hair on the other hand wouldn't be so easy altered on is own. After all last time his end result flow was the work of an entire team. With a simple brush and a liberal amount of gel he began combing it all straight back until every stand was flat against his head like a black cap.

His eyes were still more noticeable than he'd prefer, but stealing some kind of visor or another along the way to cover them would be no issue. Donning the smuggled armor as the final touch once the time drew near he made his way to the backyard. Looking much more like his usual self he gave a curt nod and answered "Understood."

Thinking back to the research he'd been doing before she'd arrived he added "Given the variety of routes between the two resorts where they may have been lying in wait I suggest splitting up and covering more ground that way. It will also help to not draw attention to ourselves. If a Cipher really is around and watching, one person with a matching silhouette can be a coincidence. Two matching descriptions side by side is an instant apprehension."

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six’s brows rose as he casually stepped out in nothing but a towel. Clearly he wasn’t the shy type. She didn’t let her gaze linger long enough to be inappropriate, tossing over some clothing for him. This was the second time he gave her bullshit for her smokes, whether it be through his expression or words. Six gave him a half grin, “You don’t have any vices, gramps?” She quipped back.

She was checking her chrono when he showed up in the backyard. Him no longer looking like a prissy little prat already put her at ease. She put in her EZPod, handing him the other one. It would translate the comms coming from the crooks, “I hope you left Marlon a loving note before you bailed, or he’ll be in tears,” She couldn’t help but tease.

The idea to split up was sound, though it did mean everyone for themselves. It was how Ciphers operated anyway.

He would have to take discreet measures to get around because he had an imposing and obvious frame. Six, on the other hand, could blend into any crowd. It wasn’t surprising to see anyone in what looked like armor with all the chaos happening.

“Don’t see targets in the hotel. Can you confirm they weren’t caught in the blast?”

They would both hear the audio coming in from wherever they were. Six was walking through the street when a giant crowd of people began to pass by her, dancing and singing. It was a festival of some sort, and her terrible luck put her right in the middle of it. She could hardly hear the comms and she was definitely cut off from progressing for the time being.

“Please tell me you’re making progress,” She commed to Q’orr. He would hear obnoxious music in the background from where she talked.

Moving to target roll: 2/20

@Pazaakly

 

[Vayden Q'orr]

Q'orr chuckled mentally at her quip but kept a straight face externally. He knew he was older than most in his position but gramps wasn't a name he got called often. He wondered for a moment just how much of an age difference existed between them then answered her question with "Perhaps when I was younger you could call aggression my vice, but now in my advanced age I've outgrown such things for the most part."

Once they'd met up he was thankful to have a new line of communication, less thankful for her teasing though he did acknowledge it. "You tease me. Don't worry, no matter how annoying he is at the end of the day I am a professional." Then, moved by just how thoroughly displeased he was by the guard he added "Which means no one will ever find his body when I kill him."

As he began making his way through the streets, he knew any attempt at a subtle cover would prove challenging given his stature. Although relatively new to the espionage phase of his career, he had a couple of go-to covers that had suited him well in the past, one of which he fell back on now. He leaned into his size, playing the part of an obnoxious tourist getting in everyone's way while trying to get their camera on everything they saw.

Ignoring the scattered bouts of protests of people he muscled past or whose views he obscured with seeming obliviousness he made quick work of cutting through the crowd. As he did so he heard the foreign voices on the frequency and adjusted his course accordingly. His strategy was sticking close to any traffic lanes, the logic being that these groups would have to leave at some point and he highly doubted such a large group had all shown up on foot.

It paid off, to an extent. Under one overpass not normally accessible by common foot traffic was a speeder of some kind with two individuals tucked away in the shadows. Far out of visual range for anyone not actively searching like Q'orr was. Comming Six he said "I believe I have visual on at least two of them. One human ; one Aqualish. Stationed under the overpass."

Not long after more chatter was picked up on by the both of them "Confirmed absent from the blast radius. Its possible they're worried about having a tail and are taking the 'scenic route' to be safe. Scan the crowds for anyone matching the descriptions. Worst case scenario we start dangling some of their buddies out as bait."

@Sreeya

Roll:16/20

 

[Cipher Six]

Buddies? That had her concerned. She wasn’t aware of anyone in their group being taken. Then again, this was a Cipher they were dealing with. Six didn’t react immediately, still trying to sort through the crowds. From Vayden’s vantage point, he would be able to make out the human dragging over someone with a bag over his head. The figure was squirming, but the feeble movements suggested he had been drugged. It wouldn’t take long for Q’orr to work out it was Marlon. Of course, the idiot went looking for his would be paramour.

“What do you see? I’m working through the crowds now,” Six commed. She hated being blind like this, but she knew Q’orr would be reliable in providing data back to her. An idea popped into her head then – she couldn’t risk them actually finding the safehouse and coming across the entire group. They didn’t know both she and Q’orr were out and about, “I’m going to let them take me,” She declared on the comms, “They don’t know you’re out there yet. Tail them while I keep them focused on me. It should take us right to the hideout.”

It was a risky plan, but it was the one that risked minimum lives and blowing their cover. Six gave Q’orr the specified area where she dropped her weapons into a dumpster. He would have to grab them for her to allow her to help when they took down the Cipher. Based on the chatter through the comms, she was confident the two of them could get the job done – the only complications were the Cipher and the cover being blown by Marlon. Perhaps Q’orr would get his wish after all.

Before long, she started to wander around, “I’m going dark. It’s on you now,” She said before dropped her comms into a secured location as well. She couldn’t risk anything being found on her. They needed to fully believe they had the element of surprise on her. Moments later, as she walked along a dark alley, she was subsequently grabbed and shoved into a speeder, veering off.

@Pazaakly