Log:The Irregulars: The Life of the Party
The Irregulars extract an asset from Zeltros. Dad dancing is a vastly unappreciated skill.
OOC Date: November 21, 2020
Location: Zeltros
Participants: Dyannah Nerus, Jax Greystorm, Nerys Greystorm, Qadira Suuryet, Rose Tico
[Jax Greystorm]
The current team of Irregulars assigned to this mission had crowed into Jax's Helix Interceptor, the Painted Guardian. The ship was on its way to Zeltros. The mission was to protect one Dr. Dani Tsara. Dr. Tsara had been named as the head of the New Republic's Department of Veteran's Affairs. Dr. Tsara was heading up the treatment and placement of the critically injured soldiers after the recent series of battles on Carida. For reason that New Republic intel hasn't been able to uncover, Dr. Tsara became the target of a group of mercenaries and her life threatened. New Republic Intel had took the threats serious and assigned various security details. That was supposed to be the Irregulars' job.
That lasted until Jax jumped into system. The Corellian called back to the small cabin of his ship, <Guys, just got a call from the team we're supposed to be relieving. There's been an attempt on Dr. Tsara's life. Mission parameters have changed, we're going extract her and what remains of the security detail. Unfortunately, where they're hold up is in the middle of Zeltron Party Parade. Well two of them, there's land speeder floats, and air speeder floats going over head. So we're going to have to infiltrate, extract, and make it back to the spaceport. I can't just land in it. I've been talking to air traffic and I got told nope, don't care whose kid I am, If I'm a jedi knight, or what security clearance we have.>
The Irregulars had made it to the street where Dr. tSara was hidden, and it was as Jax described. There were a mass of people from the galaxy, two separate parades one on the street level and one in the air. There were balconies along the buildings. There was colorful floats, confetti, fireworks, loud music, drinks, and crazy colorful costumes.
[Nerys Greystorm]
"When are our missions ever straightforward, Jax?" Nerys, who had opted for her shadowsuit for the mission, had outfitted herself to look a bit like a space ninja. It wasn't quite the same as a real carnival costume, but it had the benefit of fitting her really well, which was the standard for Zeltros fashion, and not sticking out like an armored sore thumb. She had a sword and a staff with her, because such was how space ninjas rolled, and Bitty was tucked in on a simple harness on her back. She had a fancy bag on her side, because how else was she going to collect all those beads, right?"
[Qadira Suuryet]
"Of course it can't be - right, what Jetpack said," is the reply from Gadget. Aka Kadi, but she digs right into the mission. She's wearing slightly modified void armour, but it's been decorated to be like she's a giant mynock. So, there's that. Right in the spin of things. "But I really feel I should play some music somehow. This party atmosphere just seems made to egg me on." A pause, and grin, not that anyone can see it. "So, it's the usual. At least I remembered to bring a blaster? I promise to try not to shoot you?"
[Dyannah Nerus]
Blending in was the least of Dyannah's problems. She could jump right into the sinuous line of mostly nude dancers, their hands on each others hips even if she was wearing a space suit, the helmet attached at the collar and dangling over one shoulder. Not being recognized ranked nearly as high on her list of priorities and protecting herself if the mission escalated into a firing match were much higher. On a lark, she had already bought a huge bow that strobed colors and wound it through her thick blue hair. If asked she would say she was the countess from space. It's Carnival. Anything goes.
[Rose Tico]
Rose Tico had taken the codename 'Etta' for this mission, and dressed down her uniform to appear more common, like the cheap party-goer who paid the cover not to participate. Her trousers were more capris, and she wore stylish running shoes. Her coat was a stylish spacer's flight jacket cut short, and she wore a dark shirt beneath that which she tucked into her pants. She had a weapon but it was concealed along her lower back, and extra blasterpacks stowed on her belt. For once, Rose allowed her hair to hang freely, the raven black strands cupping her face in a manner that made her look younger! She made use of an ear-bud comm piece, and quietly followed the team onto Zeltros.
The party caught Rose offguard. Hailing from a miners colony, parties like this were foreign to the Hays Minor native. The closest thing in memory that Rose could recall was her trip with Finn to the Casino, but that seemed far more posh than this. Rose felt herself drawn to the spectacles, the laughs, and the laid-back party vibes. It was rare to find such enjoyment during a war and reminded Rose what they all fought for.
[Jax Greystorm]
Jax made it into the party wearing his Clone Commando armor though the poor suit, had 'Party Boy' painted on it and was about 3 different colors of neon orange and green. <They never are easy Jetpack. It's like somebody back at command doesn't like me. I've got a bead on the res point. Heading that way... Agh! I just got pinched. How does this armor not have enough protection there!> The Corellian was trying to make his way through the crowds towards an alleyway. A series of lavish floats celebrating and/or lampooning different groups and ideas across the galaxy role past. He stops for a moment as float passes by with an X-wing chasing a Tie fighter shooting 'flowers' at the Tie fighter goes past. Dancers in paint on flight suits dance and chase each other. "Thank the Force none of the Rest of Rogue Squadron here. Ironside would get ideas."
[Nerys Greystorm]
Nerys, well, she was in the 'not fitting in' but hoping she would get a pass train, as she made to follow Jax, one hand holding her bag tight to her side, the other trying to casually bat away anyone getting too close for comfort. She blinked, the flashing lights playing havoc on her vision as she tried to narrow down where they needed to search. She tried to keep in close proximity to Jax, as she searched, trying to make note of anything which looked out of place. her voice came on comms as the team moved out. "I make one potential threat. Over at the northeast junction of the street, heading with the flow of the parade. A float with painted stormtroopers. Seven of them, by my count. All doing a lot of heavy looking around. All armed with E-11 rifles. The float is tagged with a banner, 'Make love not war, end all conflict now!'"
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi is so far so good. She is quietly looking around, feeling the pull of the fun, the music, and all the Zeltrons about. It's definitely one of those days. The void armour was probably a good call for the engineer. She continues to glance around, looking here and there, thoughtfully. She looks at the floats of course, they're so shiny! And Nerys is pointing one out. That gets a nearly imperceptible nod from the mynock disguised being. <One of the balconies - third from the right, left side of the street. there are people there, but they're not throwing beads or cheering.> She keeps looking, and then adds, <In fact, they might be trying first aid. I suppose it might be just natural? Corsair, is that anywhere near where we're expecting to go?> She also keeps moving, sticking with the group.
[Dyannah Nerus]
<"Copy that,"> Dyannah sends while being danced in a circle by an exuberant young Zeltron man that is not half bad looking. <"Who wants to go take a look at them? They don't have nearly enough glitter on their armor to be in costume."> The Zeltron woman had deliberately walked into a group of people throwing glitter paint bombs. Now, she really looked the part being splashed bright pink, yellow and green.
[Rose Tico]
The atmosphere here was very personal, and easy to get lost in both mentally and physically. Rose found it difficult to stay with the team. The sea of shifting people made it hard to focus, and being short was not helpful. Rose was touched, grabbed, hugged, and even kissed before being conferred beads to wear around her neck. Through this entire gauntlet of attention, Rose somehow managed to stay focused, if not a little sheepish.
Amidst all this action, Rose spots what she thinks might be their mission. Conveying that is done through the comm device, and she triggers it active by pressing a button on the inside of her wrist. <<"Umm, Etta here? Yeah.. I think that is our point of interest.. if.. uh, my word is worth anything here--oof.. excuse m--">> Rose was bumped into and cut her transmission while trying her best to keep moving and focused.
[Jax Greystorm]
The float that Nerys had pointed out was moving towards Dyannah. The driver was doing horrible staying in formation. They were heading for the woman in armor as she emerges from the group of glitter paint throwing males. The air speeder driver actually breaks out of formation and passes over the people above and hovers a few meters from Dyannah.
<*Cough* *Cough* What in the... that smells horrible and I got paint on my visor.> Jax was following Dyannah and got paintballed. He's now covered in glitter and it wasn't going to be coming off soon. <Gadget, Etta good eyes. I'm going to help Dutchess distract these guys. I suggest somebody see if that's the target to extract them.> Then Jax swings onto a float and runs to jump onto the airfloat with the troopers. He's dangling over the side. People are clapping as they think it's all part of the plan.
[Nerys Greystorm]
Nerys, who was not about to just run up on the stormtroopers, because, let's be honest, she was not in her good armor, decided against the straight on attack, and she soon broke away from the group. <Going to head up to the balcony to see if I can identify the target and get some protection on her.> And Nerys was off, working her way through the crowd, pushing and shoving and being generally //just like the rest of the revelers// as she did so. She was soon at the building and about to begin a free climb up along the balconies, because that always worked in the holovids. The shock of glitter paint was a surprise and she only just managed to avoid getting a good handful of it in her face. She did take a moment looking down at herself, "It doesn't even match my hair." And then she was off, moving up from balcony to balcony. <Have we got a codeword for them? Or is my name enough?>
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi eyes the storm troopers, eyes Jax and Dyannah as they go that way, and decides to go with Nerys. << Etta are you coming with us or sticking with Corsair? >> she asks, as she pauses. That does mean the glitterbomb gets her good, but that provides all the motivation Kadi needs to get climbing. She is panting slightly at the top, and having a bit of trouble seeing, which means she finds the nearest cloth to wipe her visor. Hopefully nobody is wearing that. Oh. Oops.
[Dyannah Nerus]
In the maelstrom of noise and pheromones, Dyannah tunes into Jax and his intentions. <"Bluff, baby, bluff."> she radios back over coms.
Training, meditation, and a strict upbringing learning how to control the wilder Zeltron impulses notwithstanding, the Countess might be succumbing to the party atmosphere. There is some extra swing to her hips as she heads for the float, twirling in place while she watches out for reinforcements before grabbing its side. Three troopers look down at her, and she can feel the menace through the unchanging facade of their helmets.
"Boyz!" she shouts with a Zeltron street accent. "You got to dance and feel the paaaarrtie. You with me on that?"
[Rose Tico]
Rose eases into an alleyway with a clear vantage of the party troopers and Dyannah. If there was some sort of inherent sense of danger, Rose didn't feel it; she was acting on intuition. To Kadi's transmission, Rose replied. <<"I will remain down here in case something pops off here. Three of us climbing is bound to cause suspicion, I think.">> Rose stays in her hideyhole, watching and waiting.
[Jax Greystorm]
As Dyannah climbs onto the float she finds herself staring down the barrel of seven blasters. Then she rolls her hips and makes her challenge. The lead trooper who was wearing a neon glowing purple pulls his helmet off. He looks to be a grizzled old Imperial war vet, with a salt and pepper beard. He yells out in a grizzled voice. "Lets Party!" The blasters are put down for a moment. One of the troopers looks at Jax through blank Imperial storm trooper helmet. Then Jax starts to dance horribly like a wounded mynock but with less coordination and rhythm. Dancing is clearly not a jedi thing. There is a look of disbelief from the trooper you can feel int bore into Jax. Then the trooper starts to sway to the music. Jax does remember to respond to Nerys, <Jetpack, identify yourself as Corsair and present your orders to her. She doesn't know know me. I'll be Dewback for the rest of the mission, Special Agent Corsair.>
As Kadi and Nerys approach the scene. There's a Quarren soldier with a blaster bolt burn in his chest, several Zeltrons tryin to get him medical attention.The labored breathing Quarren though is trying to hold them at bay with a blaster. There's an Zeltron woman in conservative dressed and middle age that he's providing protection for as best he can. She's try to help him out, "Lurk, the new team will be here soon. You're bleeding and got to let them help you."
[Nerys Greystorm]
As soon as Nerys was clear and on the balcony, she made sure to show her hands so that she was nor armed. Picking up on jax's transmission, she stopped herself in time to reroute her storyline. "I am Corsair. We're here to extract you to safety." She retrieved the orders she had been given, moving to allow the three to take them from her. "Doctor, What is your status?" Because that was probably the thing she needed to figure out. Right after whether they would decide to shoot her or not. Once the orders were taken, Nerys waited for them to be read, and the for Quarren to lower his weapon. "We need to get moving, in order to get you to the extraction point. We can provide cover for your while we move." Nerys reached into her bag, which, sadly, she had not filled with beads. What she did remove was a personal deflector shield, which she offered to the woman, "Put it on. Your safety is paramount." She was already moving to the door of the balcony to see about getting them moving.
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi stays quiet, but she's got that armour and a blaster. And she can see now. Too bad about the smeared dress down below. someone has just realized it's full of glitter and is trying to figure out where it came from. Kadi however simply nods. She's just - Corsair's buddy. Check. << Target acquired,>> she radios to the group. << We are starting to try to get moving. we do have one injured Quarren. >> She'll take that duty while 'Corsair' talks to their rescuees.
[Dyannah Nerus]
Not even the bulk of a void suit hides the bone deep sense of rhythm that Dyannah has. Daringly, she raises her hands in the air, sinuously revolving in place on the little bit of space the platform allows. Ribbons flounce from the blaster handle in its holster at her back in time with her movements. Smiling at the bearded man, she unleashes all the charm Zeltron's mythically have. Up close to a dancing Zeltron woman with party on her mind gets the desire effect.
"Dance with me, sweet man." She twists slender pink fingers into the salt and pepper beard. "I do like beards."
[Rose Tico]
With things seemingly in hand, Rose's tension eases up a bit and she tracks where the team is. Opting to remain where she was for now, Rose demonstrates patience. She was not needed for every action, or any action in this case! Which meant she was working with a team of professionals. That made life so much easier. Rose remained vigilant, watching for any other threats until she got the orders to move out.
[Jax Greystorm]
The grizzled old Sarge does what Dyannah orders him to do and he dances with her. The old man has moves and is surprisingly good. Meanwhile Jax is now dancing with one of the Mercs, who is trying to help correct the Corellian dance moves, <Gadget, Corsair... That's weirds... get them to the ship. Etta can you get Dutchess and me out of here? Create a distraction? I think they're not going to let us go...>
Lurk gives out a breath relaxing as he meets Corsair aka Jetpack aka Nerys. "Fine fine... Get her out of here." Dr. Tsara looks at Lurk, "No your coming with us." Then prepares to help the trooper up and out to escape.
[Nerys Greystorm]
If there was one thing Nerys was good at, or for, it was getting out when she needed to get out. At least when she hadn't gotten shot, stabbed, or otherwise incapacitated. As soon as the team was moving, complete with her helping to support the injured Quarren, she lead the way back down through the building, moving to allow them to escape out of a back door. As she moved, she reached back into her bag, pulling the D-49 which she had brought with her. She did not wield it herself. Instead, Bitty, finally unlatching herself from her harness took //her// pistol back, holding it, as she always did, shotgun fashion, legs bent to provide a brace. No worries, gang, the smollest droid had your back. From there, it was a maze of side alleys and backways to get them back to the extraction point.
[Qadira Suuryet]
Kadi was for a moment not sure what to do, but with all that was going on, she simply took up the rear guard. At least if nothing else, she'd be the one to get shot first. That would be a warning right? She has Button of course, but that little droid probably hasn't even been noticed. And isn't the fighter that Bitty is. << We are moving, >> She radios back. << through the alleys and headed to safety. Hopefully we're lost enough now that they can't find us.>> And not so lost that they can still find the port and their ship!
[Dyannah Nerus]
Laughing aloud, Dyannah matches the Trooper's moves, keeping an eye on Jax who shuffles like a nerf. Occasionally, she gets a glance at Rose in their gyrations. Relief floods through her at Kadi's com call. With a grin, she ducks her head and turns to hide her response, <"I so copy that."> Casting a glance back over her shoulder at Jax, she dances towards him.
"Let's jump. No reason to stay now."
[Rose Tico]
<<"Roger.. one distraction.. coming up.">> Rose 'Etta' Tico replies. She pulls her jacket open and begins to prepare a series of flashbangs with small fireworks: This wasn't your snakes and sparklers, this was the good stuff. After Rose bit the tape off, she sparked the twisted fuses together and lifted it up to watch a moment, her eyes reflecting the glow.
<<"Distraction deploying now.">> Tossing it into an open dumpster, Rose melded with the crowd just as explosives began to fire off.
POP! POP! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPOP! FIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! POPPOPPOPPOPPOP! FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWYYYOOOMMMM! POP! BOOM! POP POP POP POP--FIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Was that cheering? Not bad for a dumpster bomb, Rose. For a moment, it felt like she was with her sister again, making a ruckus. She almost said, 'Come on, Paige,' but stopped at "Come on Pa.." A happy memory nonetheless.
Later the team and the contacts are aboard the Painted Guardian. Jax was sitting in the pilots seat and his now painted helmet sits in his copilot seat next to him. The Helix rising up in the as it prepares to take off. He was busy contacting New Republic Intelligence and plotting a hyper space course. As the Helix breaks atmosphere and heads out off system. He calls back to the Cabin, "The bosses knows the sit-rep and we're ready to leave the system on your order, Corsair." He waits just long enough for Nerys to give the order before they slip into hyperspace.
The next morning, a group of hung over Mercs now dressed in Zeltron clothing, their armor lost through out the night, stumbles out of a bar with hang overs. The old Sarge looks at one of the mercs who was wearing a storm trooper helmet, the last vestige of the unit. He scratches his chin, "I think it's time to retire and go on vacation."
