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 Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:37 am
Caecilius:
Strolling out of the sector where his apartment was nestled, a rather decent location for the price he should add, he made his way to the first destination. Which would be the contract office, of course. He couldn't expect to buy things with "I'll pay you back later", at least not anymore, that is. He had already had that turn sour on him enough times that the stores on Omega either didn't allow it anymore, or flat out didn't deal with him. Oh well...
But first he needed a believable excuse for why he had taken someone's contract, and why that person was now dead. The complication wasn't so much that the Batarian was dead, people died all the time on Omega. The problem was more that a human was taking a contract from another person, since they weren't really thought of highly in the galaxy yet. That would change of course, once they kicked the scaly hides of the Turians across some neosteel. Repeatedly. Lucky for him that the guy who had taken the contract wasn't a freaky lizard, or that would be immediate cause for suspicion. Mostly because of how recently the First Contact War had been and all...
Maybe he could try the classic framing, say that the Batarian was actually the one tampering with the stuff in the warehouse, that would take care of the 'getting rid of the pest' part as well. It would be easy enough to flesh out too, all he'd have to say is that he overheard the Batarian getting drunk with his buddies, bragging about how he was going to bag an easy job because he was the target. They were humanoid, and the only witness 'thought' he saw a human, what irony that it would be a similarly distrusted species.
With that settled, he rounded the last bend, coming to the hole-in-the-wall that this particular contractor ran out of. Punching the door lock in a completely unnecessary manner, he strode in to the only desk, pulling up his omnitool and offering a transfer of data.
"I'm here to claim a contract from another individual, contract 89723543-FK48. Heard him bragging in a bar about swindling your agency, trailed him, and dealt with him. Needless to say, the warehouse won't have any more pest problems."
The Krogan behind the desk grinned, laughing heartily at his story, which was good in this case. He pulled up his own amber gauntlet and looked over the data Caecilius had sent."HA! Can never trust those slimy Batarians. Sure, I'll give you the reward, but you're only getting half. Can't let you humans get too full of yourselves, it would upset the balance. Aria doesn't like when that happens..."He didn't think this giant lizard had any dealings with the de-facto ruler of this rock, but he wasn't about to argue with anything that weighed 5 times himself, and had a lust for violence just as large. He wasn't stupid. He growled lightly at the offer, but held out his right hand nonetheless, omnitool still active.
"Fine, I'll take it..."
The damn Krogan probably knew he was desperate enough to take any reward, but in all honesty those that weren't desperate here were few and far between. Shaking hands, the two omnitools synced, and Caecilius was now 25,000 credits richer. For a little while.
His business completed here, he thanked the kind lardbag and turned to leave the way he came, wishing he could slam the door. On to the next order of business...
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 8:03 pm
The next stop was to get rid of the Avalanche, and though he wasn't expecting to get much for it, credits were better than having a beaten up shotgun taking up precious space. Credits could buy food or weapon mods or biotic necessities, after all. Luckily he knew of just the guy to go to, a salarian about his age that knew guns. Handheld, vehicle-mounted, ship-mounted, even some station defense ones.
Having navigated the maze of Omega, he activated the door with his omnitool, stepping inside with a grin as he noticed the owner halfway through dismantling a really nice sniper rifle. Parts were all over the table, seemingly haphazard, but Caecilius knew better, the salarian had his ways.
"Hey Anahe, trying to turn that one into a tank gun?"
"Yes! Well, not yet at least. Needs more rifle components. Bigger mass accelerators. Or, many smaller ones. Can be dismantled and built into a bigger one if needed. Would love to show you finished product. What brings you out here today Cae? I don't have any new stock yet. You took the best of my mods last time anyway. Selling the shotgun? You prefer pistols. Or fists. Should make a pistol that shoots fists for you. Best of both worlds!"
"Yeah, it's an Avalanche, but it's not in very good shape. Can you give me something for it?"
Unholstering the shotgun, he offered it to the salarian for inspection. Anahe took it and immediately checked it over, before starting to dismantle it in the midst of the already dismantled rifle. Digging out the mass accelerator, he grined and looked up at Caecilius, showing off his find.
"Yes! This is still in good shape! Problem most likely lies with battery and capacitor systems. They tend to subcontract those. But Armax makes splendid equipment. Will give you 150 credits for the shotgun. Plus 150 credits for just the accelerator. Would have had to pay that much for a new one. Plus shipping. Plus waiting. Better deal for both of us!"
Caecilius returned the grin, glad he had made his friend's day, and was able to profit from it too. Activating his omnitool, he held out his amber-clad hand to the salarian, who did the same. The two synced, and the exchange was completed. 25,300 credits to burn now. Nodding and giving a lazy two-finger salute to the salarian, Caecilius turned and headed back out the door, off to the next stop.
"Glad I could be of help, ping me when you finish the rifle, I'd love to see it in action!"
Letting the door close behind him, he smiled a bit to himself. It had taken a while to develop a good business relation with Anahe, but they were always honest with each other, a rare trait on Omega. Nearly everyone here wouldn't think twice about bluffing, cheating, or swindling another person. Including himself. Being a human didn't help much, but the salarians didn't seem to care in general, or at least the few he knew.
Turning down an alleyway, he headed along to his next stop, a shop that specialized in biotics.
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Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:56 am
Caecilius slumped against the wall outside the shop, trying his best to not give in to his frustration and punch a hole through the door. The Asari would make quick work of an L1 like himself, and he didn't really want to be turned inside-out if he could help it. Something about her just rubbed him the wrong way though, the calm superiority complex she had, and of course her exceptional beauty. Though the last bit didn't really matter much to him, but he wouldn't put it past most of the station to fawn over her for one reason or another, probably to try and get a discount. As for himself, he would rather punch her pretty face into a pulpy mess than think of doing her, though in all honesty it was the Asari that were the nicest of the 3 Council Races. Usually.
Either way, he had replenished his stock of power bars and drinks, and had sprung for a couple of protein bars that were a little more expensive than his usual choice. And had been seriously overcharged for the whole thing, her bit about how 'Galactic conditions increased the cost of shipping' was stupid, but he wasn't about to risk getting hit with a singularity. 3,000 credits for the box? ******** annoying Asari.
Heading off to his last stop, a food store that catered to humans, he wondered for a moment what he should get to feed his new guest. He had plenty of protein bars, but she was still human, she might appreciate something else. And the bars weren't formulated for her, so it would be kind of a waste. Unless she was secretly a biotic, which wouldn't make sense with the whole confusion about his own biotics that had happened. Perhaps seeing what she chose as her preferred weapon would help clarify exactly where she fit into the military brackets. He almost thought a sniper rifle perhaps, but her skill with hand-to-hand didn't really fit with that.
Shrugging off the thoughts, he realized he had arrived already, and went up to the counter to order. But what would he do with her? She obviously had skill, enough to pull her own weight as far as finances, but if she didn't know Galactic then how would she take contracts like he did? That reminded him, he wanted to see if anything would come up for the language in her helmet, and he pulled up his omnitool to add the search to the station's extranet queue. Surprisingly it only estimated about an hour, though really there was no 'peak time' on Omega, people were up and about at all hours. Maybe he could get a translation package for her omnitool, but that would require knowing what language she spoke. Or, wrote really. However, a visual guide for how to use the omnitool might be useful, and he added the download request to his previous request.
Putting away his omnitool again, he took the box of food he had apparently ordered, too lost in his own head and his omnitool to really remember. Checking the box, there was the usual packed food, and two bowls of freshly steaming noodles in thermal cases to keep them warm. Wait, two bowls? Why had he ordered two? He looked up at the shop owner in confusion, but she was already off taking care of other customers. Shaking his head, he inspected the noodles, both were in disposable ceramic bowls and came with a set of beaded chopsticks. Tucked between the cases the bowls were in was a receipt for 1,700 credits, with a handwritten note on the bottom.
"Enjoy your meal! : )
-Meha"
Well, at least he could count on some humans to treat others of their own species nicely, and not overcharge for the food. On his way out he passed by a group sitting a table, and overheard them talking about hooking up some of their friends, as well as how many babies they should have, and what they would do with the kids. He tried his best to ignore them and get out the door quickly, as the shop tended to attract some crazies.
The Lucky Noodle was weird sometimes.
Back on the streets of Omega, he slung the two boxes under his left arm, leaving his right free just in case there was trouble. Unfortunately for Caecilius, the rest of the trip home was uneventful, not even a close call to be had. A few alleys away from his place though, his omnitool vibrated to indicate it had completed it's instructions on the extranet, with two data packages. The first was the return of the text search, which came up with No direct matches. Language unknown. So the language she 'spoke' couldn't be found in the galaxy, or at least a quick search of it. Perhaps hiring a Information Broker would give a more conclusive answer. Closing that file, he opened the other, which was the visual tutorial for the omnitool, made for those that couldn't read for one reason or another. Originally it was a replacement for the lengthy operating tutorial if the user didn't want to read text walls, if he remembered correctly. Either way, could be useful for his guest.
Reaching the door to his apartment, he did a quick scan of the door logs. No activity since he had left...nearly 4 hours ago? His own fault for taking his time perhaps, but he hoped the female hadn't gone stir-crazy and trashed the place...
Rather than worry about what had happened, he figured it was a better idea to just see for himself, taking a deep breath before opening the door. Scanning the apartment quickly, there wasn't really much out of place, but a blur of motion behind the couch caught his attention...Continued in Dinner and a Show
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