Brand New World / Same Old Shtako

AN; "Speech" - (Thoughts)

Disclaimer: While the concept is mine, I do not own the characters I'm playing with, nor the worlds I'm playing in as they belong to someone else. In other words;

Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afford them if I did.

However I do reserve the right to alter/change/hopefully improve this without notice.

ooooo

ooo

o


Chapter Two

(The Hollows,) Harry grimaced, as he navigated his way through the dregs of both the human and alien societies here in Defiance. Not a place that he liked to visit but there are some sources of information that cannot be acquired easily. As Harry deftly maneuvered his way around the crowds, he kept one eye on the various gambling and fight areas he would come across. Harry had intended to find the man he had previously dealt with for information, but soon found out that he had mysteriously disappeared one night. Harry could not uncover what had happened but the rumor was that the man was ran afoul with a Castithan and apparently paid with his life. But that was just a rumor.

All that meant was that Harry now had to deal with finding someone with just enough morals and the skills to help in finding the information that he was looking for. So he spent the next few hours talking to some of the most vile and corrupt people he had come across. A couple people thought that Harry might be an easy mark but he severely disabused them of that idea after he left laying unconscious where he briefly fought them. Harry shook his head slightly as he noticed when he was leaving area, that several people quickly appeared and, ironically, relieved the would-be thieves of their possessions.

(Live by the sword and you will die by the sword,) Harry thought to himself, feeling slightly disappointed.

After spending another hour speaking to various people, Harry came across two people that had shown promise. The first was an old, gruff Liberata male called Ma'Teal, and the second was a young girl that went by the name of Falcon. Harry had met with each one separately, assessing each one with his senses when he shook their hand. Both had given Harry the sense that they could be trusted, but only up to a point. As long as he treated them fairly and did not cause them harm, he had the feeling that they would treat him the same. What was more important was that neither felt like they would betray him, except under extenuating circumstances, such as a real threat of death.

During his interview with Falcon, Harry had been surprised to learn that the girl was actually older than he first thought. Her petite stature tricked him into thinking that she was a very young girl looking for work, as apparently most people thought she was, or as a young boy, if she dressed and acted differently. Falcon had been working in the Hollows for a few months now, trying to make a name for herself.

Ma'Teal, on the other hand, appeared to have a several Liberata and Humans that would do various 'jobs' for him now and then. He also had some loose contacts with the Spirit Riders and other Irathient tribes that lived out in the Badlands. Harry got the feeling that Ma'Teal came across as someone who was slow and methodical in the way he approached his goals. Thinking his way through a problem instead of rushing into anything on the spur of the moment.

Seperately, Harry gave each one a simple job as a test. They are to find any background information on a man that is living in Monroe, an Earth Republic held town couple hours north by roller. Harry had given them some of the promised scrip to start off with, and if they were successful in their task without the government in that town becoming aware of them, then they would get the remaining part of the fee for the task. This test is to prove to Harry that they have the ability to complete a task undetected while avoiding any obstacles.

After Harry was finished with his dealings, he decided to wander through the Hollows and watch the people. He had passed by several semi-permanent tents that held different gambling and fighting areas. Harry was starting to get bored when he heard a familiar voice coming from an opening ahead of him.

"... what you Humans used to call, a low blow."

Harry stopped in the opening of one of the fight areas and then shook his head at the absurdity of it all. Here he was witnessed to an old fashion shakedown scene between the local Castithan welcoming committee, headed by Datak Tarr himself, and the two Arc Hunters that were rescued from outside of town.

(Well, it seems that Tar hasn't changed any. He's still trying to fleece people of their last scrip.)

A soft, but sharp intake of air drew Harry's attention to the smaller Arc Hunter, only to find her staring back at him with what looked like a knife in her left hand. "Easy," her companion spoke calmly, causing her to glance slightly at him even as the man kept his eyes on Datak. Harry used the momentary distraction to withdraw from entryway.

(Well, that was interesting,) Harry thought to himself. He made a mental note to keep an eye on that Irathient girl. This was the first time in a long while that someone was able to see him when he didn't want people to. This young alien both unnerved him a little and intrigued him.

Harry pulled further back from the opening and into a darkened corner, where he waited. Datak and the other two Castithans were the first to leave the room, followed shortly by the two Arc Hunters. He frowned slightly, focusing on his hearing, he listened as the Irathient girl tried to describe to her partner exactly what it was that she saw outside.

"I know what I saw, Nolan," the Irathient grumbled.

"You probably just saw someone walking by that just happened to be looking in," Nolan responded. "But now it's time for that bath." Nolan headed off, leaving his partner to sign in exasperation before following behind.

Harry hesitated a moment before heading in the direction of the Castithans. Reaching out to the thinner of the two males following Tarr, Harry lightly laid his left hand in middle of the back, causing the Voltan stiffen. Harry then reached down and deftly relieved the alien of the ill-begotten scrip in his hand, while keeping an eye on Tarr and his fighter as they continued on without noticing. Quickly pocketing the scrip, Harry pulled his left hand away, causing the Castithan's body to relax slightly, and pushed forward with his other hand. This caused the male to stumble and fall into the two Castithans.

Datak scrambled out from under the other two, swearing up a storm in the Castithan language. The fighter quickly got to his feet and turned around to find Harry. The alien barely took one step forward, intending to attack, before Datak clamped a hand down hard onto his shoulder to hold him in place.

"You really do need to find better help, Datak," Harry leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"YOU!" Datak Tarr hissed. He pulled his fighter back as he surged forward, pulling out a metal hilt and activating the charge blade.

Harry only smirked at the angry alien, making no move except to raise both hands up. "Temper, temper Datak. Remember that you're in public, and we can't have a 'Proper Castithan' like Datak Tarr foaming at the mouth like a Saberwolf in heat for everyone one to see, now can we."

Datak stopped, eyes flickering back and forth as he became aware of the crowd milling around them. He calmed down and took a deep breath, deactivating his charge blade but did not put it away. Ignoring his people for the moment, Datak moved closer until he was just inches away from Harry.

"You will pay for that disruption of my household all those months ago. I know that it was you that caused it," Datak spoke in a low voice.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Harry answered with a knowing smile. "but since I have you here, what do you think of the color of fuchsia? No, never mind that right now. You see, I was just strolling around and heard a very disturbing rumor about an info broker that I once had dealings with. Something about him meeting the wrong end of a Casti's Charge Blade." Harry place his right hand on Tarr's shoulder much to the man's displeasure. "Now normally I wouldn't care what goes on here, but this has cost me some serious scrip, so you would not know the name of the bloke that might be responsible for the untimely disappearance of my acquaintance?"

Datak shrugged Harry's hand of his person and stepped back slightly. "I'm sure that I do not have any idea of what you are talking about;" Datak responded, mimicking Harry's earlier reply. He then turned to the thin man that had gotten to his feet and spoke a few harsh words in his own language. Both men nodded and slowly backed away. Datak turned back to Harry "As for your 'acquaintance', while one always hears about the underhanded dealings of you Humans, I do not think that one of my people is responsible for the man's disappearance. It was a disappearance correct? He wasn't found to be dead?"

Harry tipped his head slightly. "That is true."

"Then I would highly suggest you stop listening to fearmongers, finish your business here and leave," Datak spoke authoritatively.

"You want me gone, Tarr? As you wish," Harry just spread his arms wide and gave a slight bow. With a smile, he concentrated on shrouding himself within his magic. "For now," his voice, sounding deeper than was possible, echoed eerily in the darkness. Harry found the effect this had on Datak, amusing. The Voltan's eyes had widened suddenly, then started subtly moving back and forth as if Datak was expecting something to jump out of the darkness. He activated his charge blade, but kept it down by his side and motioned for the other two to start moving.

"I may not know exactly what type of Indogene-cursed technology you are using to do that Human, but you do not scare me," Datak growled. "If I catch you sticking your nose in my affairs again, you will regret it."

Harry stayed still, right where he was as he watched Datak slowly backed away and exit the area. Harry chuckled to himself once the Castithans were gone and he pulled out the scrip, quickly counted how much was there.

(Interesting, those two Ark Hunters had actually managed to win a tidy sum,) Harry whistled softly to himself as he moved along. He never noticed that the remaining people in the area, both Human and Voltan, look around with a little fear in their eyes as a phantom whistle could be heard passing them by, when they knew nobody was there.


After Datak left with his people, Harry spent some time gathering together some basic, but necessary supplies that he needed. He also picked up a couple of sturdy leather rucksacks, for which he was planning to get enchanted. However to do that done, a side trip back to Mark's clan would be necessary, if he wanted to have them worked on properly. Harry stopped and sighed. He really missed being able to do his own enchanting, but at least he had someone that could help him.

Harry really needed to make the time to seriously examine his own magic. It had taken him six months just to get to his current level, but he really only took it seriously in the past month before coming back to Defiance. Harry had found it very frustrating, especially since his wand was only one of his many personal items that were missing when he first woke up. And working without his wand made it that much more difficult to relearn how to use his magic again.

After taking a quick look around to make sure that no one was in the area, Harry raised his hand to a small pile of trash, a few feet away in a corner. The neck of a bottle could be seen sticking out of the side of the pile. With brief look of concentration, he spoke.

"Accio bottle."

The trash shifted a little as the bottle came loose from the pile. The bottle then slowly rolled across the ground until stopping next to his shoes. Harry took a deep, resigned breath. (I seriously need to work on my wandless abilities.)

Kicking the bottle back to the pile, Harry found himself wanting to curse the aliens for their arrival, and not for the first time either. No matter whose fault it was, Voltan or Human, he blamed the aliens because it was their terraforming devices that had irrevocably changed not only the Earth, but almost the very essence of magic itself. He had found early on that the few wandless spells he had managed to master before either no longer worked, or the effects were vastly different in some way.

Harry had learned from Mark, the altered werewolf he had met out in the Badlands, that potion making was especially crippled as most of the ingredients were from magical plants and animals that were either drastically changed or were outright destroyed. Now Harry was no means a Potions Master, but even a partial loss of such an important piece of magical society saddened him.

Harry quickly shook off that bout of depression, knowing that the was nothing he could do to change it. Quickly looking over what he had acquired, Harry felt satisfied with what he had managed to put together in such a short time. With nobody watching, he quickly shrunk down all of the items, except for one of the rucksacks. He then placed them into the unaltered rucksack and slung it over his shoulders.

"Better head back to the Needwant and let Kenya know that I'm headed back out to the Badlands for awhile. Otherwise she'll probably shoot me the moment I get back," Harry chuckled lightly, as he headed off towards his friend's establishment.

tbc