OOC: Restricted to Astyria members and invited outsiders.
The Assembly, Speaker's Office
1800H
"It's raining." Eli clasped his hands behind his back, and looked out across the bay. The large windows in his office gave him an enviable vantage point, though at this particular moment he couldn't see very far at all really. The storm had come in faster and harder than they had expected, and while it was nothing unusual for this city, the heavy rain and fields of mist did a good job of obscuring his view. The light was starting to leave the sky, as the sun dropped beneath the horizon.
"Isn't it always?" Zhi offered. Being his Chief of Staff, she usually ignored his tendency to state the obvious. "It certainly feels that way sometimes." She added idly, checking her watch.
"I'd hoped it would be clear for tonight at least. Vigil is a beautiful city, it would've been good for our guests to see it at its best."
"They're here for a few days. I'm sure they'll get the chance."
"...True enough." He replied eventually. In the distance he could see Zenith Tower, only just visible through the columns of rain. Zenith was 118 stories tall, making it the tallest of the many skyscrapers in the city. Its mirrored outer plating reflected light like a mirage, and made the tower glitter against the already bright city skyline. A very recent construction, Zenith was state of the art, in terms of architecture, design, and of course, security.
The top 18 floors of the tower had been set aside for government use. For the next few days they would be hosting dignitaries from across Astyria, who were attending an international trade summit. Tonight was to be the opening party, hosted in Zenith's penthouse event centre. It was arguably the most prestigious venue in the city, and inarguably home to the best views in the city.
Eli turned to face Zhi, who gestured briefly at her watch. He nodded, picking up his suit jacket off his chair and folding it over his arm for now. Eli had dressed for the evening in a crisp three piece suit, coloured entirely jet black, including the shirt and tie. It was a modern choice which accentuated his more youthful looks, and it played well with the cameras, which was important for his media following.
Without any further discussion he left the office, putting on his jacket in one smooth and obviously well practiced motion, and moving down the hall towards the elevators. Zhi fell in a few paces behind him, her perfectly cut and slightly revealing red dress flowing gracefully as she walked. The dress was sleeveless on one side, deliberately leaving visible an elaborate dragon tattoo that snaked down her arm.
A few steps back, just far enough to not cause discomfort, a pair of bodyguards followed, their weapons comfortably concealed under their carefully tailored suits.
A few moments later the elevator reached the roof. More guards appeared with umbrellas, to shelter the Speaker and his Chief from rain as they walked the short distance to the helicopter. From there it was only a few minutes of flight to Zenith.
* * *
The Keystone, Command Centre
1804H
"Eyes up, Peacekeepers." The murmuring in the room slowly died off, as all eyes eventually settled on Deputy Director Kang Hammond. The command centre was not unlike a Greek auditorium in shape, with multiple tiered semi circles of computer stations surrounding a central open space, pressed up against a high wall covered in various displays. Hammond stood in the centre.
"Righto, let's keep this simple." He hated speeches but it was going to be a rather busy evening, so best he get this out of the way now. "Dignitaries from across the world are today entrusting us with their safety. I expect you to make good on that trust." He paused, expecting the officers to take a moment to dwell on their responsibilities, and making eye contact with a few of the different officers around the room. "No mistakes. Not today. Let's get this done right, yeah?"
He nodded his thanks as an officer handed him a mug of coffee, and loosened his tie a bit. "So let's get to it. I want eyes on all primaries at all times." They had been keeping an eye on things all day of course, but if there was going to be a major incident, it was going to happen tonight. This was the only time every dignitary would be together in the same room.
There were maybe four dozen officers in the command centre. The large displays on the back wall were mostly occupied with showing the current locations of all foreign dignitaries, as tracked by their assigned Peacekeeper escorts. Other displays showed live images of key locations, primarily Zenith, and feeds from circling helicopters which were rotating between the different dignitary escorts. A final display confirmed SOUTHERN CROSS had detected no aerospace intrusions.
Security had been escalated across the city for the duration of the event. Additional Police and armed Peacekeeper officers were on duty, and emergency response teams had been placed on standby. An AWACS equipped jet circled the skies above, supplementing ground based radar. It was joined by two pairs of Daredevils, already airborne and ready to intercept threats. The major routes between Valiant airport and Zenith Tower had been preemptively swept for hazards, and would be temporarily closed when dignitaries were in transit to reduce traffic concerns.
The Peacekeepers had already spent a good week leading up to the event methodically sweeping the city. All outstanding leads were chased down, and large amounts of suspect persons were temporarily detained for the duration of the event, somewhat indiscriminately and not entirely legally. The courts would object in due course, but they would deal with the legal fallout afterwards. For now it was better for everyone that anyone capable of threatening the event was contained.
* * *
Zenith Tower, Penthouse
1825H
The main room of the function centre was a large square space spanning the entirely of the 116-118th floors of the tower. The higher parts of the walls curved inwards as they approached the ceiling, with different sections curving in at different angles and in different directions, in a complicated floral inspired design. The inside of each curve was lit up from hidden lights in wildly different colours. The whole effect was that when one looked up, the ceiling was a confusing but mesmerizing cacophony of colours. The lower sections of the walls were lined with large windows, which looked out upon the bay and the city surrounding it, though the view tonight was mostly rained out.
In the centre of the room the floor started to slope down into a sunken circular space, where an orchestra had set up to provide the music for the evening. Before the slope, most of the rest of the room was filled with tables and comfortable seating. Off to one side was another sunken space, this time a long rectangle, which curved inwards slightly as though wrapping around the orchestra space. The sunken rectangle was where one would find the bar, stocked with almost every kind of drink imaginable, both alcoholic and otherwise. A pair of pillars on the opposite side of the room housed the elevators to the roof and lower levels.
The room was already fairly busy, with various corporate guests and other important peoples having already arrived and settled in. Wait staff circled attentively, but otherwise were mindful to be invisible until needed. There were no visible security elements present, aside from a pair of guards beside the elevators.
The entrance foyer at the bottom of the building was another story, having been converted into a full security checkpoint. All guests were to be comprehensively checked by Peacekeepers before being allowed into the elevators. Recognized dignitaries were not to be physically searched but were still to be scanned for weapons, as were all their staff. Foreign security escorts had been permitted until this point but were not allowed upstairs.
Calo allowed himself to lean back against the table as he surveyed the room, grateful for the reprieve. His knee was very seriously not cooperating with him lately. The doctors had said he needed surgery, and while he had every confidence in their ability, he simply didn't have the time to spend a week recovering in hospital. He had also refused use of a walking stick. He may have been getting up there in years now, but he was fairly fit for his age, and his pride wouldn't let him limp around relying on a silly stick for balance.
"Drink?" Benji offered a tumbler, but was waved off. "It'll calm the nerves." He said, undeterred by the slightly disapproving look he got from his father. When the Secretary continued to show no interest, he shrugged and rapidly downed the contents of the tumbler himself.
Calo watched in mild wonder as his son emptied the entire glass of god only knew what in mere seconds. "You've spent far too much time abroad." He observed. "Nowhere else would you learn a skill as concerning as that."
"You admit it's a skill then." Benji grinned broadly, turning and wandering off in search of more interesting company, before the man trapped him in a death via lecture scenario.
Calo said nothing, and was actually quite thankful for the distraction when one of his staff waived him down. Everything appeared to be in place for the evening's event. All that was left to do was await the arrival of their foreign guests. He stood up and carefully buttoned up his dark grey three piece suit. It was going to be a long night.
