Blaster Gala [Rugs]

[Cassy]

Considering the weather on a lot of other planets. Zeltros was literally in the middle of summer. A huge outdoor gala was being thrown and it was filled with the swankiest of the swanky from across the galaxy. Some clad in less than nothing. All races of the galaxy seemed packed into this one party.

Running security was easy at a place like this since most people here didn't even register as a threat. The hosts themselves had gotten a hold of the rogue jedi and bounty hunter known as Cassandra Novos. A good looking girl in her own right; even dressed in tight black pants and a tight fitting black shirt that showed a little cleavage; she was mistaken for a party goer more than a few times.

The force had been quiet, and Cassandra had her lightsaber clipped on her leg; so many mistook her for a jedi, although she didn't hide the weapon; it wasn't on her waist so many missed it as well.

"Why didn't I just come to this party.....instead of accepting the job." she said as a drink tray passed her, carried by a Twi'lek hostess. Her HK droid would click over the radio comm in her ear and tell her to "stay focused master" as she rolled her eyes to herself a little but smiled to herself. "Indeed...I suppose."

The hum of general movement and laughter was in the air, as Cassandra would walk up to a fountain and look down into the reflection of the running waters. As she did so; before she could take in her reflection she felt a strong pull in the force nearby, looking up and around. She wondered if it was a threat; but, it didn't feel like that. It felt, familiar. Looking around but not seeing anything yet; she merely turned with a swing of her long braid and stared back into the fountain.

She wasn't a jedi anymore. It wasn't her job to find force sensitives or anything like that anymore. The hum of music and mingling, clattering of classes and drink trays filled the air as she stood alone near the ornate fountain.

[Rugs]

Zeltros, by any measure, lived up to its reputation.

Tsubasa had never before visited the world, though he’d heard plenty of tales during his travels of its revelry and hedonism. That all changed a few weeks past, when he accepted a job as a security detail for a big gala in the world’s capital. It seemed more outdoor festival than gala to him, but who was he to judge? The pay was good — good enough to free him from searching for contracts for a while — and it seemed, on the surface to be an easy affair.

Just make sure nothing happened, and ride off into the sunset.

It seemed unusual, to him, for a gala to reach out to a Force user specifically--and he’d heard mention that another was on the job as well. The Galaxy is unstable. Only months ago, the Archeri had spread like wildfire through Hutt Space. Now the prospects of war between the Republic and Empire grew darker every day

This balance can’t remain forever. Not as it is. Tsubasa hoped they hadn’t been pushed over the edge already; he hoped they weren’t tumbling, waiting to crash into the ground.

Was it any wonder then, that people wanted something to celebrate? Even here, he saw people from all over interspersed within the mostly Zeltron crowd. Leaning against a marble column at the fore of a large beach house that squatted against the shore, Tsubasa reached to the Force.

He could feel the presence of another Force user, near a fountain int he cobblestone-paved plaza. He wondered, briefly, if that was the other person assigned to the duty. Yet underneath it, he could feel something else — it was subtle, easy to miss, but a malevolence hung in the air.

[Cassy]

As she gazed into the fountain, she for once began to smile at what she saw. A brief glimmer of her past self, who never let her love for herself slip or falter came through. However, the lives she had taken darkened her gaze into a more serious stare at herself. If not for the feeling of...being watched, she would've continued to look upon herself.

Looking up and around, she expected someone to be looking at her nearby. But the people closest to her were just moving about. Shrugging to herself, she looked at a few of the Zeltrons here; they looked to her just like humans with a more red skin tone. Soon enough however, she seemed to spot a familiar face; across the room.

Furrowing her brow to be sure it was him, she realized it was and made her way over to him. Her tight fitting attire, while all black still held some semblance of a force users attire if one looked closely; her long braid was recognizable enough as were her looks in general, she was pretty sure that they would both remember one another.

"Well, well." she said in a greeting, walking right at him from the front, so he would see her coming his way. "Didn't think this was your kind of crowd." she said standing right next to Tsubasa just about. It went without saying between the two of them, and her general body language that she'd deduced he was here for the same reason as her. She was just being coy.

For awhile after greeting, they would probably stand in silence together for the most part; until eventually Cassandra started feeling...dangerous thoughts from the crowd, spread out at different points in it. Her expression mirrored the thoughts she was feeling; as she looked at different spots in the crowd randomly. To an onlooker it would seem as if she spotted a bug or a fly buzzing around and around and it might look comical to Tsubasa or anyone who could see her clearly.

[Rugs]

Tsubasa lifted his eyes at the voice and the sound of footsteps approaching him. The woman from the fountain — Cassandra, if memory served — was approaching him. He gave her a small smile and polite nod of greeting, mindful of Ifrit perched on his shoulder.

“I prefer quieter places, true.” He glanced past her; the festival wouldn’t pause for their conversation, and he was there to keep an eye on things. Not that there was anything to see, at the moment. “But people deserve to celebrate, after what the Galaxy has been through in these past months.”

Tsubasa still worried at the trials that were to come, if the ill winds blowing on the Force were any indication. Still, that was no worry for right now. “I hope your people made it through the crisis safely,” he offered. That was when they’d met, back on Tatooine. Cassandra had wanted to move some refugees from a settlement there to Nar Shaddaa.

Looking back, Nar Shadda didn’t seem the best choice. We can only do what we know at the time, he thought. Regret cannot undo past decisions. We bear them, find peace, and carry on.

Tsubasa often found himself recalling his old master’s teachings; now even more than when he was younger. He wondered, momentarily, what Barsavi would think of him now he’d grown out of the ways of his hot-headed youth.

Well, mostly.

He raised a brow at Cassandra’s face as she looked around, searching for something. “Ah, you feel it feel too, then?” He sighed and stood up straight, no longer leaning against the column. “Something foul is in the air.”

All around them, the galal carried on as if there wasn’t a care in the world. Tsubasa intended to see that continue. “Have you heard of any trouble?”

[Cassy]

"Yes, they actually evacuated....although when I got their message, I did panic a bit....I headed straight back home. It's....not so much a planet as it used to be I'm afraid." she shook her head.

It was good to see a familiar face, as she took him in. He still was in good shape. The force moved strongly through him as well. Even with her lackluster sensing abilities she could still feel his power. She wanted to ask him more about his training, but with her recent string of murder and violence when dealing with evil, she didn't know if now was the best time for her to be asking about anyone else's past; when her own present was so lively. Abandoning the Jedi Order all those years ago was the best decision of her life so far.

"Not particularly, but I was paid.....a lot now that I think about it." her silence after she said this would show that she was thinking a lot, very quickly. There must have been a reason for that. She could see her employer from here and the human male was mingling just fine, seemingly beginning to attract a couple women to his side. He made eye contact with Cassandra and gave her a wink as she rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Almost like.....he knows something is about to happen."

Closing her eyes, she literally zoomed through the crowd mentally with the force and used an empathy technique Teer Ka had taught her to assess his feelings and surface thoughts. The dark side didn't move around him, and he felt very sharp and clear. Opening her green eyes, she would cross her arms. On them, were two black armbands; mostly for style to match her black outfit.

"Hmm....." only then did she start to hear an argument among the crowd. Looking to Tsubasa, she would then walk over to the commotion. Apparently, it was an argument over a woman as two men shouted at one another; apparently over her as she could tell this from the body language alone; one guy standing in front of the Zeltron girl and another yelling back at him. Back in her days as a Jedi, she would've stepped in to resolve this immediately, however now she just smirked. Crossing her arms. As the argument continued to intensify. Situations like these often worked themselves out; but for now she would just stand nearby in case something worse was about to happen.

With a brief scan of the three individuals involved; she felt a very strong feeling of anxiousness and danger from all three of them.

[Rugs]

Tsubasa had planned to respond to Cassandra, but found his attention dragged elsewhere as a minor altercation broke out. Some men were arguing loudly with each other. He sighed, annoyed, but followed Cassandra over. As they arrived, Tsubasa saw a pair of uniformed security guards arrive. They pulled the two men, still screaming at each other, apart, and before long, seemed to have the situation at hand.

Tsubasa relaxed, shaking his head. They weren’t the only security there; two people, even Force users, couldn’t provide all the security needed for an event with thousands of people sprawled along the beachside getaway. Still, he suspected the two screaming meatheads wouldn’t be the last of that type of trouble, especially after the sun went down.

Yet, even with the situation seemingly resolved, that feeling of something not quite right, of sitting on the knife’s edge, lingered.

“You suspect the boss may know something?” he asked Cassandra, resuming their earlier conversation as he motioned for her to follow him, away from the throngs of milling people. Tsubasa didn’t know the man particularly well; he’d been contacted through a mutual friend and the job set up from there. “What do you know of him?”

“Tsubasa,” Ifrit, still perched on his shoulder, spoke up suddenly, “I am starting to pick up on increased comms activity from local law enforcement authorities.”