[03.17: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Working baths, good food, and wine….that's the real magic there…]
Zatanna Zatara let out a tired groan as she sat back into the…maybe leather? Maybe weird cloth?…backed chair in the 'common room' of this hotel called Chirpers. Well, Inn technically, though it seemed more like someone had taken the Oblivion Bar and decided to turn it into a hotel, even down to a sign in 'interview' about 'customer needs' during their stay. Understandable where she eyed a demon of some sort, dressed in very heavy looking robes fringed in gold and crimson, walking past on his/her/its way to a table of its kind. Certainly enough to cause Evan and Francois, two of their Special Forces guards from Quinn's Earth, to tense up and fight staring at yet another wonder and horror before them.
'After the clear instructions to not cause trouble they should have expected it' she mused accepting the goblet of wine she'd ordered, leaning over to Callum "Certainly more style than I was expecting, why the bath was positively divine after that long walk here. I thought I'd never get the dirt off!"
Supergirl had made her move, her mildly embarrassing move, on Callum, and that irked Zatanna at the bluntness of the attempted seduction. Honestly, it just went so well with the unsubtleness of the Supes team, though the swim and small camp-party after had been very pleasant…as if she was a teenager again. Even if she had felt a little old with Batgirl and Supergirl being all in all their teenage awkwardness while trying to show bravado. Amusingly Callum treated her like she was that age at times….and sometimes she felt she was back in time a decade because of it, of better times before all the responsibility came crushing down on her shoulders. If she ever had a chance she really had to reward her alternate younger self for that bit of joy and adventure.
Callum nodded, his voice low, but high enough to carry over the odd music and chatter that filled the well lit and expensively decorated cross between a high-class restaurant, medieval re-enactment, and a dive bar "Oh yeah, certainly worth the coin in my mind. Most of the other places aren't nearly as nice, this of a…ugh, touristy merchant places let's say. And you've handled it better than a few others did on their first trip here"
Zatanna grinned "Oh, what a shock! I grew up with this Captain dear. Well, not this exactly, but I really have to show you Shadowcrest sometime…or, did other Zatanna ever show you around?"
"Heh heh…no, never had been. Your Dad wasn't letting me, nor John, near his home"
"I can imagine…" she teased back, hiding the wince at thoughts of her Dad and what she'd read in those blasted comic books. All she'd learned from them was things she'd didn't want to know, even down to the fact she'd a terrible choice in men across dimension…also, Bruce needed a psychiatrist, a full time one, and all the help they could manage to give him. No matter what he said he wanted "…not the best of house guests there I'm sure my Father would say"
"Hmph! I agree with the Constantine thing, but I'm very well behaved!"
"Sure you are…" she murmured back in a mocking tone "…you're such a good boy I'm sure, not a bad influence at all at all, Mister Hires and Demons. That's not John's influence At. All. Now is it?"
"That was a…accident, a useful one at that!"
"You even use the same excuses as your mentor"
He gave her a mock anguished look, hands coming to cheeks, on his human face this time as nearly always when outside his comfort zone "Oh heavens, what have I become!"
--
{Sometime later, out in the Great Bazaar…}
Sigil was a wonder, and a nightmare, Zatanna found looking up at the sky…and seeing the city upside down instead of a sun, or clouds. She'd avoided using magic to see more than the physical, as the last time had been rather…
'Nightmarish' she remembered when she'd done it after arriving, and wasn't trying it again. Dimensional warping was crazy, and her curiousity had gotten the better of her…again. Just after she'd already learned more than she'd wanted thanks to the whole 'comics' debacle like Batgirl. She blinked as their small group moved along a street crammed with everyone and everything that she could imagine, and find the more mundane things standing out "They actually have a branch here? Really?"
"Hmmm?" Callum murmured as he and Quinn had been talking about what they needed to buy for the expedition the magic space ship was to embark on "What you mean Zee?"
She gestured over to a large blocky building amongst the shop fronts ahead and to the right of them "That shop over there?"
"I…" her friend answered in confusion and following her pointing finger "..hmmm, oh, damn Swedes, even exporting their blandness to the multiverse. IKEA? Is there going to be a Starbucks here as well?"
"Starbucks?"
"Oh, sorry, American coffee chain, it's popped up in a few of the alternates we arrived in. Disney's another one, I'm pretty sure it's run by a consortium of dimensional travellers…" Callum mused as they stopped a moment, and he looked at an odd box-like setup outside the door where a bland-looking man in a robe sat a desk along with a sign that shimmered oddly. She squinted at it, seeing the squiggles seem to take effect as Callum sighed, already reading ahead of her "…well, that's a 'use at your own risk' sign, and charge for the safety harness and portal gear. Looks to be a one-way portal once you lose sight of the entrance on the other side"
Quinn glanced over "And the man at the desk?"
"You pay a paperwork fee and record how you are for when you get lost, or be sane and use the 'safety services' he and those big burly armoured dudes and the wizard over there are offering for inflated prices. So, No, we're not going there. We have a week, and things to buy, and a Professor to meet"
'Who's a bear and a wizard, that's new' Zatanna thought as they got moving again, heading towards an employment service of all things run by a magic-user by the name of Tenzer according to the odd 'Gith' woman they'd hired as a guide. Oh, and the ANCIENT WHITE DRAGON in human little girl disguise that wander around silent and bored looking not more than two feet away from Zatanna with the other, actually human, guards. Truly Callum was John Constantine's apprentice, and she really needed to watch out for him before he got older while walking that path…a little bit of a bad boy was good, just not turning into a scruffy dark magic using bad man.
"And put a deposit towards hiring people…" she reminded him changing the subject "…thinking ahead already? It'll be months before your back at least you know"
Callum shrugged "It'll take months to find competent staff, and none of us can afford to stay here for an extended period right now. That's why we'll do this long interview session, enter a magical contract for what we want, and then rely on the experts who'll have to pay a liability if they sell us a bad bill of goods. Not unless you fancy spending weeks doing nothing but helping setup the arcane side of the portals we need?"
"No way, I signed up for the learning and the adventure, not to build log cabins in the wild" she retorted with a smirk "I'm high maintenance don'tca know?"
"I've been told, yes"
Zatanna harrumphed a little at that, though she was more amused than anything. In the end she wanted to learn as much as she could, and help shield her home from the dangers that lay beyond. That…and she'd needed a break after a year of battles and threats to be dealt with. This was dangerous yes, but it was different, and there was so much to see and learn "And I can guess by who! Now, I've some opinions on what sort of skills, and personality you'll want in…"
--
{Diamonds are a girl's best friend…unless you're a sorceress, then its wands of power…}
"Wand of Magic Missiles?" the dark skinned elf Breylna murmured as they talked and shopped while studying items behind the enchanted glass case "That sounds…useful"
Zatanna found the Dunmer, who wasn't a Drow like in a Mazes and Monsters game, a nice girl in personality, and also a very curious and dedicated mage as well. So when it was pleasant to shop with her and Batgirl, and their two female, non-human, 'guides' in a girls only shopping expedition. It was funny how games and stories got some things right, and then other things completely wrong…then again, she herself was a fictional character to some, so why shouldn't reality be any different for her own opinions on other realms from stories and myths?
"Never used wands and artefacts much myself, other than as a show rather than a focus, or in situations where rituals called for something…" she voiced back to the other magic-user as she studied the various items laid out for sale before them "…but recent events indicate it might be a good buy. We do have our allowance after all, ah, the joys of being on a salary. The Justice League should do that"
"As if you need the money, Miss Hollywood" Batgirl teased back in a friendly tone "…and we're heroes. Heroes don't save people because they're paid"
"I'm more Vegas than Hollywood, the casinos pay really well for a good magic act and I refuse to do certain scenes as producers approached about…" Zatanna snarked back, before sighing and shaking her head "…that is a problem of being a known heroine with no secret identity. I've had to sue three times to stop very insulting movies being made about me"
Barbara Gordon, and hadn't that been a surprise, in her Batgirl outfit winced "Oh, yeah, I heard from B about that. Did you really turn a director into a newt?"
"Now, now, bad Batman…" she grinned back "…telling stories like that. Anyway, it wasn't a newt, and it was self-defence when I confronted him about certain other matters"
"You can do that?" Breylna asked in curious excitement "…can you show me how? I've these alternation spells I've been looking to experiment with, and…"
Zatanna patted the elf on the shoulder, chuckling at the excitement in the girl's tone "Maybe later Breylna, right now we have shopping to do"
'Such as this Plane-shifting Staff apparently' she thought studying the….very expensive…item as the half-naked…man?...behind the counter wander over to try make his sale. Steeling herself, and mentally counting her budget, she plastered on her best 'Stage Magician' smile and moved to enter into a battle of the barter...
--
[03.18: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Packs on the mules, guards on the flanks, the caravan moves on shadowed banks…]
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 559]
[Current Dimension]
Sigil, City of Doors, The Cage
[Current Location]
Chirpers Inn, the Guildhall and Market District
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
4,500,526 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
22,450,000 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
30,600,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
[Trading Report – Sigil Days]
Cash Reserves Spent – All Silver and Gold coins on our person. Would have used the Septims as well;- but bad prices on them so, let's go with no to that.
Sales:- Mostly direct materials from our traders packs that were salvage from the Empty Earth. Gold Bars, Silverware, all that stuff filled our bags and travel packs that we'd looted, now with the permission of certain national governments. Prices weren't as good as the last time we were here, but we sold a good bit more thanks to our, albeit temporary, packs of holding we used on the mules. Tens of thousands of gold coins, and some platinum ones, in exchange along with gems and other light, valuable, items here in Sigil.
Payroll:- allocated two thousand gold coins to each member of the Caravan, excluding Quinn and myself, along with a thousand coins payment for the week long stay in Chirpers along with food and drinks. Everyone spending it on their own things, and have a rotation so there's always a group moving, and its mostly magic items with the mages and technical manuals with our soldiers from Quinn's alternate Full Earth. Paid a further two thousand gold to our two escorts through their guild;- an overpayment but worth the tip to build good relations.
Purchases;- 42,653 Gold Coins on a Cubic Gate. Holy Shrouded Lord did this thing cost a bloody fortune. It better be fecking worth it for the increased Planeswalking capacity, because I feel bad even now having spent more than half our sales proceeds on it. I've tested it out, and had an 'expert' in Professor Tripicus confirm its authenticity, but damn does it leave a burning hole in my wallet.
Right, beyond that we also bought another Amulet of the Planes and an Elemental Compass to join our Celestrial Etherscope. That cost another big chunk of our coinage, so much so that I couldn't afford to buy a Ring of Spell Storing that I'd have liked to add to the two we currently possess. Beyond that it's been an investment in Planeswalking tools, from Rings of Translation, Rings of Resist Disease, and Zatanna somehow getting a very cheap Staff of the Planes.
Tomes:- I've purchased Six Books;- Travelling the Crystal Spheres: Ports of the Astral Seas by Salamandas Starrider, Lure of the Void by Melody of Midnight, Codex of the Inconceivable by Unknown Author, Of Transmutations and Bodily Poisons by the University of Lepidstadt, and A Thesis on Natural Portals and Gates by Galabanus of The Republic of Darokin. Costly, but they came recommended by both our good professor, and the small planswalker guild office here in Sigil.
Services:- Two Days Access Hall of Information, contract with Tenser's Employment Services, two days classes with Professor Portiale on the Etheric Planes; A Primer for myself, Zatanna, Breyna,and Phinis.
[Diary Entry]
Well busy few days, obviously, since arriving in Sigil. Longer journey to get here on the 'safe' caravan route, and boy were we tired when we got up the mountain and through the portals into the city proper. Stayed at a great inn at the very least, and I've made sure to indulge in good and drink after the long, busy, days trading or learning with those we pay from said trading. Something I'm going to do shortly as we near the end of our time here and I intend to have a few drinks, a good meal, and then a nice long rest and day of doing nothing before we up stakes and leave. For home, as much as it is, though I do miss Kara and I feel bad leaving so soon after hooking up. Though that was probably a good thing as it brought up memories of a different me, a girl named Artemis, and things that aren't mine. It's probably not something to mope about in front of new girlfriend after all.
Anyway, we've had a hectic week and I've sourced some very rare, very expensive, planewalking gear and teachings that sucked my funds dry. Though that was to be as expected really as it's what I came here for in the first place, and it's not like any of the others did any different with their share of the loot as they say. The only thing I warned our 'soldier' complement when buying for their nations was to be sure it was safe to bring back as there were risks with such things. Thankfully they listened to me, even if I am a bit concerned about certain purchases such as Zatanna's new staff, and two faded and battered manuals on forcefields that I don't understand due to tech level.
Still I'd call it a fruitful, if costly, trip and hopefully by the time we return home in about a week everyone had their rest and the Fortune's Chance is ready to depart. I can help but worry when away from the ship, but I've tried to not think on it as that doesn't help in the end. All I can do is plot out our next path, and I think I've got a notion of how and where to go from long conversations with Professor Tripicus and the small Planeswalker Guild in town. Really need to go to the Infinite Staircase at some stage to visit the actual Guildhall, as, even faded in glory, the Planeswalkers Guild still offers many, many, benefits to those of us of the more entrepreneurial mindset for travels.
In terms of teamwork everything has gone reasonably well, especially considering the nature of our group, and we've largely avoided trouble beyond one attempted pick-pocket getting a little singed to stop his escape. I've been talking to Quinn, and he's been researching himself from things down in the city, so there's ideas he wants to try out should we find somewhere advanced enough to get tech from. The only major thing has been increased magical protections in case we have to deal with AIs in any such dimension. Not that I've a problem with AIs, but we just need to be careful in the same way as with organics. Just like we'll have to be more careful with exploration in case of nano-goo and other such dangers…
Anyway, I'm going drinking now. Slán.
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 566]
[Current Dimension]
Home Base, Empty Earth
[Current Location]
Fortune's Chance, Landed, near Trim, Ireland
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
3,400,330 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
21,450,224 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
24,622,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
[Trading Report – Preparing for Departure]
Loading Report Heavy Equipment:-
4 X T-45 Power Armour Suits {fully repaired}
3 X Humvees {fully restored and up-armoured}
2 X Chieftain Main Battle Tanks
1 X Cobra Attack Helicopter {upgraded electronics}
1 X Huey Helicopter {upgraded electronics and added shield stone for temporary activation}
4 X Sentry Bots
6 X Protectrons
1 X Assaultron
11 X Mister Handys
1 X Bulldozer
1 X Mobile Drilling Unit
Re:- Supplies;
We've loaded up for five to six months operations, atop our reserve, with food from Skyrim, our retained reserve from future California, and whatever we picked up in Sigil. Also;- our hydroponics area is up and running! Yay! Even if it's only seeds right now, it is a start to having a small herb garden.
[Diary Entry]
Good to be back, even if it's been a whirl wind of work as we get ready for departure. That and who wants to come with us; such as Other Quinn and his gang who want to stay here and work on the Slide Cage with our allied governments. Same as Isabel, The Mechanist, who also wants to stay behind and setup a workshop for herself here, and help our allies build their own Power Armour production facility from the Fallout bridgehead we'll establish. That's ideal in some ways, and less so in others, as I'd have liked an expert on board, but it does give us a later option to have a support infrastructure down the line. That and she's planning, obviously, on doing 'good things' for her home eventually just like she intended.
That's out first destination actually, we're landing and establishing a bridgehead with a small force defensive and science force drawn from the locals here and some robots she's left. We got the rest basically for our expedition. We're also landing a prepared exit gate should the going get tough, with two charges that recharged every three days assuming we put it near a ley-line. I'm not including that equipment that's now filling our holds, along with adequate supplies to last a few months, along with major radition protection and two restored T-51B suits. I have to go now, Kara is complaining I'm not relaxing with her at all so time to end my scribbling for the day it seems.
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 570]
[Current Dimension]
Fallout Earth
[Current Location]
Hawaiian Islands
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
3,400,330 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
21,450,224 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
24,622,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
[Trading Report – Preparing for Departure]
We've loaded up six more Power Armour suits, T-45D's, from the Army Reserve Storage Facility on the Big Island, along with parts, about two dozen Fusion Cores, and two damaged Main Battle Tanks of some sort. Gave up the helicopters.
[Diary Entry]
Everyone's dead Dave, at least on the Hawaiian Islands as best we can tell. Pearl Harbour took some big hits, and the radiation there must have been bad with its two direct hits, and what I'd assume were multiple neutron bombs. I think there were survivors for a time afterwards, judging by the wreckage forts on various parts of the islands. No one here now though, not for a long time looks like, and this world hasn't really recovered enough that sea voyages are very common anymore, or that the maps are right either. I'm sure voyages of discovery in the future will just say the old maps were bullshit as coastlines have changed from what Earth 'should' look like. Also wildlife, because damn if we had to kill giant murder birds and insects the past day.
Yeah;- so no romantic swimming in the sea for this here half-orc with Kara. Honestly we'll spend another day making sure the military base the team is setting up in is secure, that the Gate works with the decent power draw from the ley-lines here, and then hope their prepared enough for the situation. Also, we lost the Huey and Cobra to the expedition, just easier really as their both environmentally sealed {or can be at least} from the refits and that'll help exploring and patrolling the islands here. Bright side they're in a military base, that robots are clearing dust and skeletons out of at the moment, and there's power generators to make use of, even if its' been stripped down. I guess that's where some survivors came from.
Now, back to work;- our voyage of exploration awaits.
--
[03.19: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Star Trekin' across the multiverse…even it it's not the Enterprise, or the Federation…]
"Drive is charged, Null-Bleed shields at full capacity…" Jonathan called out to us as I sat on the bridge of the Fortune's Chance, on yet another day in the sightless-void we didn't look at as the sensors showed a potential dimension breech for us to exit through into another universe "…sensor lock is….good, data shows system is optimal. Want me to send out a probe Captain?"
"Launch a probe, keep monitoring the systems when you do. Brewster, you switch to monitoring whatever data the probe sends back"
"Aye -Aye Boss/Captain" the two replied as I sat back into my chain, keying the controls on the arm rest to bring up my own data-feed of the information, while my other hand rested on the Arcane controls on the other arm rest and focused on 'feeling' the situation at hand. It wasn't quite the Bleed, but a dimensional of similar nature we were in right now, and while I was eager to get out, I wasn't going to jump out blindly into possible danger. It was just unfortunate that Void while empty…. also wasn't not-empty either, in a dangerously paradoxical way of there and not-there.
Out before us a shimmering mirror lay in the white-black nothing ness as reality shivered around out bubble of reality and dimensional energy. The ship drew its own details and feed them, often nonsensically, back us in the best 'description' it could, even if it made little to no sense at times. Moments later the ships sensor-probe, quality Monitor-tech, flew forward into the Breech that was Not-A-Breech and out into Realspace once more, the stars shimmering and flashing on the screens before me. Seconds turned into minutes as we all went quiet and focused on our jobs for the minute, the image of a silence, empty, star system coming into view with each passing moment. Monitor-tech was beyond human-tech, beyond Oan and Apokilips-tech in many ways, and while we struggled with understanding the data…
"Right, system looks clear, breeching point looks good…" I muttered after a few minutes, glancing at Kara, then at Quinn, and getting two nods of unspoken agreement "… reality settings look agreeable, so bring us through at a slow burn. Drive power to full, engage full cloak, let's head out and get to business. Follow the probe, and watch for dimensional eddies and flux. Kara, take command, I'm going to watch the arcane side"
"Gotcha…" Kara replied giving my shoulder a squeeze as I closed my eyes and plunged into the systems and sensors with my magic. The Monitors had done it different, probably more easily, done such control….but that's because they'd created the systems for themselves, and for one person alone to Captain. We were different, the system completely reworked and built around having a crew, using teamwork as we fused magic, science, and psionics to polite the ship throw the Void That Was Not A Void. The Amulet of the Planes hummed against my chest as the Fortune's Chance slowly advanced towards, and then through, the Not-Mirror and emerged out into sunlight of a distant star.
It wasn't Sol anyway, the systems scanning and calculating possible locations in the galaxy as well as reading the underlying 'reality settings' as I saw them. An odd mix of Hard Reality and Moderate Magic I felt as the energy filled me and tested out the limits of power, and while it was wild, it was there and the hard-cap was higher than Quinn's Earth had been. None of the planets in system were life bearing, but more importantly the Oan FTL drive functioned and…
"What's that?" I asked as I directed attention to a sensor spike, readings flashing up at an unusual high energy reading at the edge of the star system. Faintly magical as I saw it, or exotic trans-dimensional energy as some would call it, and it burned in power on the systems as we were near the strange energy nexus. We were in orbit of a gas giant, and the third moon…wasn't actually a moon it seemed "Send the probe over to have a look if you could Brewster"
--
{Some time later, after a dinner and shower…}
"So, we know what it is?" I asked as I came back onto the bridge with a mug of coffee for myself in one hand, and a black coloured mug in the other hand. Zatanna was in the 'Command Seat' eyes closed and magic flowing into the controls as Barbara stood, dressed in civilian clothes, and then looking in my direction as I entered. Out on the screen, and on the holographic displays, the weird sort-of-Moon was illuminated in bright blue white, with multiple data-screens coming out from it lines of differing colours and data boxes.
"A transportation relay of some sort according to the computers" the red-haired human girl replied as I offered her the mug of coffee in my other hand while studying the data displayed around us "Point to point. Seemingly safe…but…"
"Yeah, lots of supposedly safe things that're very dangerous…" I agreed with a sigh, then used my now free hand to bring up some of the displayed information "Hmm, nearly set it off look like? Power spike when the probe got too close?"
"Yes…" Zatanna softly stated, eyes closed and body glowing in magic to my senses "…we should the drone through and confirm its safe to use"
"Got to agree, nothing ventured, nothing gained…" Barbara agreed "…and if it isn't we can engage the FTL and head in the direction of the nearest, energy active, star system…. here"
I followed where her finger pointed, then nodded "Fair enough, we have a spare or two, and with time we can replace'em I guess. Send the probe over there and activate the magic box. Just make sure we stay clear of its dangerous"
Our drives were still charged after all should we need to slip back into the void between planes and escape any threat. Barbara glanced at me "Kara still getting food?"
"Having a rest…" I answered honestly "…same as Quinn, though he's down in the canteen first. This'll be a long haul, so best try stagger it a bit, she was up hours before either of us after all"
"Probe is causing an energy spike Cap'n, Batgirl, you should watch this!" Jonathan called out as the probe approached the moon-thing and suddenly the power levels skyrocketed. Sipping my coffee I watched, the ship on the other side of the gas giant between them and the not-moon, shields up to max and invisibility cloak engaged, as the probe just…disappeared in a flash of light…
"And…tracking!"
'Good, the FTL Oan stuff works thank heavens' I thought as the probe suddenly vanished, but within about two minutes had reconnected through FTL-techs from the DC-verse to our bubble reality of a ship…
"That's a long ways away" I muttered as the far distant system began to blink on the galaxy map before my eyes that suddenly expanded to show where the Quantum Entanglement link was now "…can we get data?"
"Systems are…normal Boss" Brewster called out, fingers dancing over the rigged-up computer boards "We're getting…umm, activity. Good bit of activity in fact, but probe is set to low profile mode…"
I nodded at, studying the images we did get "No, no, it's fine. What are the power readings like? Are we okay to follow it through?"
Everything had been saying it was fine for a few hours now, but I was a little wary of the whole 'jump and it'll be fine' strategy "Ships computers are saying there's only the most minimal danger based on data, less than .00001 percent based on the test we just did. There is an active system on the other side, and we're seeing data transfers and broadcasts…"
"She's right Callum…" Barbara agreed "…we can sit here burning fuel, or we can step through and use the sensor suites to figure out if things are safe to try trade or not. We've talked about this, just follow your own plans and contingencies"
"A fair point" I admitted as Zee stood up at my gesture and I replaced her as she took a seat to my right, and Barbara on my left. Placing my mug in the cup holder I rested my hand on the arcane controls, then nodding in agreement the others on the bridge "So, let's go ahead then. Power up the sublights, and bring us to that thing on the same course as the probe. Signal an orange stage alert to crew…."
--
{Across the galaxy, two hours later…}
Disguising our entrance to the system had taken time in the end, and the faint flash of the strange massive teleportation device pissed me off as I'd failed to realise it was coming when we jumped into system. Sure it was a small flash, and we came out still invisible under full stealth, but it was still a potential give away to any prospective enemies….
Ignoring that I ordered the ship forward at half sublight speed, first to collect the probe and it full data-links, but also to make distance between us and the edge of the systems odd teleporter. There was a ringed gas giant not too far away, and within a short period of time we were sheltering amongst the secondary sensor scattering effect it offered. Images were being brought up now, collected from local stations…and there were humans and human-like aliens speaking an unknown language on it. I frowned as a channel changed and…
'Okay, well they've strippers and porn anyway' I thought as Barbara groaned, changing the data collection as blue skinned not-human appeared on the screen a moment, shedding articles of clothing. Something inside me told me I should recognise this…but memories didn't come yet, so I shook my head in amusement "Guys, focus on the joy. Turn the systems to incept and translate, this looks to be a port world of some sort and that…"
I tapped at one open band transmission…in English "…is understandable to me at least. So, we're apparently somewhere called Illium, so let's get moving on figuring out if we can risk heading down there…"
--
[03.20: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Sheltering in the shallows, then moving out with the tide…]
'Rao dammit Babs' Kara Zor-El thought with frustration as her communicator beeped insistently yet again and she picked it up and got control of herself, putting on a calm, controlled, voice "What's up?"
"Get yourself and Callum up to the bridge, think we're going to have to leave soon…" came her friend's voice and Kara resisted a groan "…the blue alien girls seem to be sniffing around where we are"
"Okay…be up in a minute" she told her back, flicking off the communicator and let out a groan as she stared down at a properly green Callum "Bridge"
He let out a snort "Unn…fine, I heard. Up ye get then"
Rolling off of him, as both of them complained about Babs and evil aliens, Kara reached up and behind her neck and unclipped the collar…feeling her full strength return once more, and the need for complete self-control that they brought. That was a nice benefit as she could relax for a few hours while the charge lasted, and the fact it was voluntary and NOT painfully weakening like Kyrptonite was. It certainly made having a relationship, where she didn't have to worry about crushing her partner in a moment of….um, weakness…much less fearful than Kal had made it out to be. Then again, he had Lois Lane and 'years of self-control and discipline' according to him…the big arrogant jerk that was supposed to be a baby that she'd raised…
'Complain later, get read first' she reminded herself, turning to Callum "Magic Clean-y thing now Buster!"
He gave her a blank stare as he sat up on the bed, then gestured with his hands in the air while pointing in her direction. It tickled Kara found as he muttered at her "It has a name you know…"
"Don't care" she teased back. It wasn't near as good as a shower or a bath, but it helped as she adjusted her hair and then used her super-speed to get dressed. Then glared at Callum was already dressed by snapping his fingers, standing back in human form. She narrowed her eyes at him "Are you actually just putting an illusion over you? Are you…going around naked all the time Mister!"
Her boyfriend gave her a confused look that went back into a stare, right hand reaching out and his walking cane flew from the wall into it "No, No I'm not. I just used a spell to summon my clothes to me"
"Oh…that's fine too I guess"
Callum rolled his eyes stepping up to her "Yes, Miss X-Ray vision"
"Hey!" she protested "I only use that for missions and fighting bad guys!"
Nowadays…she'd been curious about things like boys when she was…
Kara pushed that aside as she moved to hover alongside Callum as he opened the door to his room and they came out into the brightly lit corridors of the crew deck. Thankfully Callum's, and her, rooms were close to the bridge so they moved quickly to get there as Barbara pinged a ship wide alert that the engines were powering up again. That didn't mean particularly great news and she flew along quickly to the entrance to the bridge, the security doors opening for her and Callum as they approached, then locking into place with a wave of his hand after entering.
"Hey, guys…" Babs greeted them as numerous icons floated in the air near the command chair as Quinn directed sensor readings "…sorry to drag you back, but…"
She gestured at the screens and Callum nodded best Kara "Ships?"
"Coming our way, to discharge engines into the gas giant according to what we've picked up from this extranet of theirs. They've exited they Relay and making their way in our direction in say…another ten to fifteen minutes at current speeds computer estimates"
"Bugger" she heard him muttered, and she nodded as he glanced at her "Time to move I think?
"I agree…" Quinn voiced looking from a console "…look, we can't dock at this Illium place as we'll stand out like a sore thumb with no point of entry beforehand. Now seems like the time to slip out and head somewhere more backwards….since we aren't' going to learn much more Callum. Not worth the risk with all the traffic in and out of this system"
Kara shrugged "We can come back once we find a less….well, somewhere that doesn't check much, out in this Terminus of theirs, and then we can fake papers and come back in from there. You are the one that warned about it after all"
Callum let out a groaned, rubbing his forehead "Yes, yes, you're all right and I've been delaying. Fine, crank up the stealth and bring us out before someone notices us…take this course here around the planet, and then back towards the Relay. We'll exit and move towards this sector of space on this route they've been transmitting…"
--
{A long way distant and sometime later…}
Meditation didn't reveal much to me on this universe, just it was 'Mass Effect' and there was Space Cthulhu luring out there somewhere in the void. But there was one big benefit; they had English, and their universal database was an extensive publicly available affair. Nothing technical, not truly, unfortunately, but it did have cultural and species information, and, most importantly, with guides for travel and trade. Coming out of nowhere to a 'major' world then was a big no-no if we wanted to avoid attention, but we could appear out of the 'Terminus' and claim salvage and other backgrounds.
'Sure, we'll sound like potential smugglers or bounty hunters that commonly do that that; but better than a mystery for intelligence services to seek to solve' I mused as the Fortune's Chance, it's outer profile morphed to an old 'Bataraian' cruiser supposedly lost over two hundred years ago when operating as a pirate ship. Of course, it had been 'modified' since then, but the ramshackle looking additions should just match a number of the ship types we'd observed over the three systems we'd jumped through before this. It hadn't raised suspicions so far, beyond wariness of course, as our vessel moved to dock with the asteroid port known as Omega.
What was, according to the 'Codex' a haven for pirates, smugglers, and the flotsam and jetsam of the Terminus Sector. Or, as we were pretending, rogues and refugees who'd struck it rich looking to get back into 'civilized society' with a few well-placed bribes. Thankfully gold, certain raw materials and other goods we had salvaged from Home Base were valuable enough here, in bulk at least, so we could play the game and get some credits to setup 'Extranet Trading Accounts' with the Volus Banking Clans…hopefully. That was always the problem of advanced, organised, societies as they tracked everything and anomalies like us…
"Well, let's not be spotted then" I murmured softly to no-one as the ship clicked into black with the docking clamp, everyone on full alert. Then, in a firmer tone, clicked on the communications array "This the Fortune's Chance, Omega Docking Control, please confirm we hard seal and clearance to begin unloading of our goods and shore leave for crew"
"Yeah, yeah, human, hold yor balls if yo have any. Yo'fine, just make sure yo'leave a cut for the Boss on what yo'sell or there be trouble yo'don't want"
"Of course, always willing to pay our taxes. Fine, respectable, law-abiding, folk we are"
"Sure yo'are human, sure yo'are" the modulated female voice replied, clearly amused and nothing believing a word I'd said beyond we'd pay our tab I expected "Jus don't cause no'troble and we won't mess with yo"
"Friendly sort" I said as I cut the communication with a sigh, glancing at Kara "You okay to hold the fort down with Babs while me and Quinn go out in pirate land?"
"Oh yeah, very much so" she replied serious hopping into the Captain's Chair, her red-haired friend nodding in agreement "I've great need to see a terrible alien spaceport filled with slavers and pirates when I can't do anything to stop them….not unless I have to anyway. We'll wait till you bring us somewhere nicer"
I chuckled "As you command my dear, I'll make sure to bring you lovely ladies somewhere nicer in the future…once we have our electronic papers. So, just keep everyone on their toes while the docking bays are open and we unload our goods"
"You got it Boss-man…" Batgirl answered with a salute in a mocking way, but also sounding serious as she sat down beside Kara and started typing away furiously "…we're on the job"
I smiled at that, and at Kara as she waved me off, and I moved out into the corridors and started to make my way towards the lower decks to exit. There was always the option to teleport, but there was no hurry and I clicked on my ear-piece to listen in to the general commands going on as we opened up and deployed our security team and 'Repaired Mechs' in the shape of the Sentrybots and guards, two in T-45 Power Armour and two going with me and Quinn. Everything else being held back in reserve in case things went wrong and they tried to storm the ship.
Thankfully there was no trouble in the time it took me to get down below decks, and unloading of goods, with futuristic forklift-things already started under the watchful eyes of my small security team with their heavy weapons in full view. Always a good thing, to display power like that, when dealing with a pirate free port and its 'militia' regardless of setting. That and being polite behind the iron fist, plastering a forced smile on my face and gesturing at the others that I was ready to go as they stood at the bottom of the docking ramp. Not too far away an armed group of mixed aliens with the local weapons, a railgun variant, looked on, watchful as I gave a friendly wave.
"Greetings, Captain Outis at your service, I do believe I have a few crates of fine Earth liquor, and another of gold bars, for yourselves and your magnanimous and magnificent employer"
The…turian…in charge looked me over in my white suit and hat, then at Quinn, then my two T-45D clad guards, and two more ladies in more simple combat fatigues that should match local equivalents, my translation spells working efficiently "That's…new…"
His hand touched his helmet, listening to something that I couldn't hear before waving off his squad "Right, you've got access, don't cause trouble, and if you want to go to Afterlife the Boss has comp'd your entry. To encourage…such good behavior in future visitors"
"I accept such a gracious gift from the fair and powerful Lady of Omega and offer my most sincere and humble thanks for such treatment. One must always pay respect to the rightful rulers of those lands a merchant visits"
"You're a very odd human"
I chuckled "I've been told. Funny how having a ship and armed guards lets you indulge one's little eccentricities. Now, if one could provide direction to the market area it'd be much appreciated…"
--
[03.21: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Enjoy the music, the dancing…the armed guards everywhere…]
Afterlife…what a name to choose…
Well, Afterlife was an experience I found as we stepped in through the doors after the bouncers had allowed my party of five to enter unmolested. No Power Armour allowed, or heavy weapons, but all under the Order and Protection of Aria, Warlord of Omega or something like that. Nobody caused trouble here if they knew what was good for them according to said Warlord's minions and the general traders I'd spoken to down in the 'market' area. It was also the place to get 'serious' business done too of course, such for things we needed to get into the 'Core' of Council Space.
Kara and Zatanna looked positively divine in their expensive-looking cross between ballgown and cyberpunk dresses. I'd settled on my usual 'outfit' of white suit and hat, with Quinn in an engineer's 'business suit' thing, and the final member of our party, Nathan our US marine, dressed in a 'fancy' guards armour we'd purchased earlier. We looked like respectable people now, for a pirate haven anyway, even with the edge of 'legitimate businessmen' I'd imagine as we were escorted to a private booth by one of the minions of Aria; a cross between a guard and a bar-server to my eyes.
It was certainly noisy on the floor, and it was busy too, with all sorts moving about under the watchful eyes of armed bouncers. Oh, and the strippers too; oh they were called dancers, but the one nearest to us in her glass cage was in only a thong, while a batarian female a bid further up was in nothing but a collar and high heels it looked like. Afterlife was a strange mixture of strip club, high-class restaurant, bar…and most importantly to my orcish eyes, someone's Court. This place shouted out proudly of the power and influence of its owner, even down to the data-displays on who the dancers were, and, more importantly, why they were up there doing this – from debts, to punishment, to seeking income.
"Thank you kindly" I murmured loud enough for the server to hear as we took our seats, making our order of drinks as Kara gave a disdain full look at the dancers and the general setup of the bar. No surprise, it was a supervillain bar if they ever saw one, but she was our muscle right now as, beyond a few high-end dangers, she was at a high level of power just like I was. Zatanna smirked at her, clearly used to such craziness as this place, leaning in and whispering something to my girlfriend while pointing at a half-naked human male doing similar dancing up on the upper level above the bar. Kara made a huffing look back to the magician as I took the data-pad in hand as the server left us.
"Do I want to know?"
Zatanna smirked back at me as she arranged herself between myself and Quinn, Kara sitting my right, with our bodyguard on the outside of her "Oh, just making a joke. It seems there are many services to make use of in this place"
I nodded as I put down my data-pad as Zatanna looked through one of the others "Pirate port, so when they say anything you want, you can get, for a price…they usually mean it. It'd suggest trying not to think too much on it, or getting involved in the less savory things we may disapprove of"
'Such as the slavery and drug-dealing' I left unsaid as I silently cast some protections over us as Zee nodded at me, doing similar moments later in a whisper of backwards talk. We were merchants looking to trade, not holy paladins on a zealous mission, in the end, and we had no right to jump in and start shouting about others morals when we weren't going to stay for very long. Not unless they threatened us anyway, and for now we were paying our dues and respect to the local pirate queen; so allowed us to do business in her town. Such as now, when a Volus, a short gas-breathing species, arrived with two well-dressed mercenaries at his back.
"Trasnal T'vond I presume?" I asked politely, with a smile as my hands rested on my walking-cane "Captain Outis, Fortune's Chance, I believe we can do some business for each other?"
"Hssshaahhh, hssshaaah, Yes Earth-clan, hsssshahhh, we can" the diminutive suit-wearing alien replied as he adjusted the seat and brought himself up to our height at the table as his bodyguards sat on either side of him as our drinks arrive. He seemed to adjust something on his suit, voice modulating as the breathing eased "…you require all that is stated on this….hssshaahh…contract?"
I accepted the data-pad, reading through it closely a few minutes in silence, before handing it to Quinn and Kara to do the same as co-owners of our little business. Both agreed it was the situation, and I nodded as the long silence stretched out, handing back the contract with our signatures to join his "Of course my friend, the fees are acceptable for such effort on your part. Why it's very…"
Blah, blah, blah, turn our dirty money clean was basically the spiel I was giving, well-rehearsed for the past few hours back on the ship. The Volus here was one of their Banking Clan Branch Managers, and, since it was a pirate Free Port, that meant his job was getting all the money from said pirates and smugglers acceptable when they got into 'civilized' space. Oh, we were paying for that service through the nose, nearly forty percent loss on conversion into the account, and a further two percent fee for every sale that was lodged, but it was worth it in the end.
Afterall…we just needed a war-chest to get into areas where we could get access to technical libraries and other research material. Pre-Eezo information, as the stuff was called, and most importantly that of the human Systems Alliance before it found the magic space rock that fuelled most everything space related. It was unfortunate most of the weapons used the same power, making them rapid-firing, low maintenance…but weak magic weapons overall. Armour though…well, these personal barriers might only block physical attacks, but they did not look cripplingly energy-intensive, or need Eezo-magic to work. That and other 'mundane' items would be the profit margin for us…
--
{In a meeting room, a day later, as we sail amongst the stars…}
"So, what do we think of the armour and its barrier system?"
Quinn shrugged "It stops bullets really well?"
"That it does…" I agreed, but that wasn't Quinn's area of interest, or expertise, so we both looked in the direction of our two 'science' advisors, Anna Sanchez, the US soldier from the Justice League who we'd made our Chief Engineer, and Academician Zyannya who'd we brought out of the breeding camp "…but beyond that, can we use them?"
Anna nodded, bringing up schematics on the screen before us "In terms of replicating them? No, not for some time at least. Can we take them off the armour and modifying our existing gear? Then the answer is yes, the armour itself isn't particularly advanced we found to our surprise, the real protective coverage is from the barrier system, and that's almost made to be adjustable for differing sizes. Now, it'll take time to figure it out, but the maintenance documentation is fairly straightforward"
"Mostly because it's civilian grade rather than military, very high-end civilian grade, but…still…" she continued than trailed off and I nodded.
"That's fair enough. Better than I expected really. Is there any issue with adding a few suits to our Security Team?"
She shook her head "No, it's mostly idiot proof to use the phrase. For this dimension this is a really old, fairly stagnant, technology with plenty of development, and even more testing and dumbing down to the most common denominator. The guns are another story, sure their tested, and have documentation…but the answer to everything is 'Element Zero is awesome and makes it work!' essentially. Neither of us have any idea how the Element functions, nor recognise it from our home dimensions. Also, its supposedly very toxic, and therefore very dangerous as well"
I sighed "I thought that'd be the case, no matter, we have funds and we have star charts, so I need everyone to come up with what data we should try to data-mine from public databases. I'll say we're better off with older stuff, that we can grab for little cost or effort, and we can buy a few working models of more advanced gear, or things we can't duplicate due to the effect. It should work on a lot of dimensions, but the fact it needs fuel is a problem"
"History and cultural data would be useful…" Faralda said simply as I finished "…. but what most interests us is information on this blue magicka that they call biotics. It seems a fascinating natural magic related to this strange element, and we want to understand how it works if we can. That may take decades of course, but it might give greater insight into how the various Planes interact with magicka as a whole"
Zatanna and Phinis nodded agreement at that, and I rubbed my chin "Yeah…yeah, that's actually a good point. I was only looking at it to mimic the effects, so we didn't get caught out, and that's a mistake to limit the scope so much. So, that's another thing to add to the shopping list"
"Games…"
Eyes turned to Jonathan as he gave a 'oh come on!' shrug back us "What? It's a valid request, and comics too…"
"We do not use the C word here" Barbara stated firmly "Remember?"
"Yes Bat-Boss" Jonathan replied looking embarrassed "Sorry"
I shrugged "I don't see an issue, considering some of the dimensions we come across its probably best to expand our database, and, well, yeah recreation is also a vital part of who we are"
After all 'money' had limited meaning when you were travelling between dimensions, at least while you were on the ship anyway. Barter was the way of the ship, and we all wanted different things, so as Captain it was up to me to juggle it all along with Kara and Quinn. Which really meant me as Kara favoured Superhero-y solutions, and Quinn was….Quinn basically, and certainly not a people person. So I began taking notes, jotting down the requests and then discussing them with our respective groups, including our goblins, one of which wanted technical samples of various items. That done we began to sketch our travel path between systems while mimicking the local FTL drive…
--
[03.22: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Sailing the unfriendly skies of the Shadowy Seas…]
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 591]
[Current Dimension]
Mass Effect Universe
[Current Location]
Planet Horizon, Iera System, Shadow Sea
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
3,400,330 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
21,450,224 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
24,622,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
672,941 Credits [Mass Effect Universe[E-Banking, Backed by Citadel Council]
[Trading Report – Preparing for Departure]
Sold the armour and weapons we bought in Omega. Mostly bought food, it's an agri-colony after all, and we've a suggested market for the stuff as well. Got a list of what the colony needs, or maybe just wants and tell us it needs, but I doubt we'll be back any time soon. Now that we've got trade goods, and a track history, we'll make our way into System Alliance territory and then into Citadel space proper. We're pretending to be human for one, secondly their navy is a bit stretched by all accounts and not as good at checks, and thirdly they've got data we want. So, while we've spent money the data from the local colony databanks is worth the cost.
[Diary Entry]
Nice place, bit wild west frontier for my liking, and even worse it grates on my senses for a general civilizational level of building colonies out in range of pirate navies shorn of protection. Of course, people can, and usually are, idiots, but you'd think there'd be better control on all this. Even down to accessing local star charts and colony data-banks with nary a questioning beyond public use and stated boredom. It is way, way, too easy to scout out colony defences – and I'm not even trying to do that!
Anyway, no point on getting focused on other peoples problems when we've our mission to get through right now. We're docked, well landed, the ship on Horizon, and it's a nice sized colony, bit over six hundred thousand humans, and the environment isn't too bad either. Magic to protect from diseases and other things is still necessary, and we've taken turns taking shore leave and seeing the sights. Also, for us to load on the agri-product that they export for what I think is a good price – thank the Shrouded Lord for the Extranet to easily check historic prices before arrival.
The main thing is they've a pretty decent technical and educational database here in the colony, and limited restrictions on what you can download. So, honestly?
Yoink. That about sums it up as we've taken as the Colony Development Guidelines and Technical Manuals that the Systems Alliance provided them, all really old by their standards, but a great big goldmine for our allies back home seeking to rebuild Earth. Quinn is delighted, as is my Chief Engineering Sanchez and a host of other people on board, and they'll have many hours ahead to research with. Even Batgirl seems happy enough it, as non-mad scientist in origin, and could be a help for her Earth as well without dangers of super science. I call it a start of what needs to be done. Oh, and more comics; I'm afraid to look at them as there's a few 'limited edition' releases of Enchanter The Dread Necromancer of Justice.
Whatever, lets think on those irritations later when we aren't out in risky space, always on watch for various threats. Seems attacks on traders is on the rise, as is slaver raids, and I the Batarians a bit odd in continually provoking their neighbours with slave raids. Yeah, sure, they're using catspaws, but they actually hit established colonies of all major species and yet nobody responds with a 'bomb the shit outta planet' in response to those provocations. Maybe our goblin Tirdelk is right and these Asari use it as a means of people control for the more adventurous and rebellious parts of their population since they make little effort to recover slaves, and only seem to complain loudly, while doing nothing. All while living centuries and running the galaxy. Weird.
So, we're going to enjoy another day or so's shore leave here before we head to the Nubian Expanse Relay, then finally into 'official' Systems Alliance territory. Honestly settlement is weird around thanks to these Relays, and my studies don't indicate where they come from as these things are way older than fifty or sixty thousand years according to the ships sensors. Whatever, next stop is dodgy enough, Yamm, Batarian territory, but they sell bio-fuel, made from a dangerous algae, and several of my crew have interest in such things. My hope is to buy cheap, store safely, and then had on very quickly.
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 597]
[Current Dimension]
Mass Effect Universe
[Current Location]
In Space, exited from Attican Beta Relay
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
3,400,330 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
21,450,224 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
24,622,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
162,434 Credits [Mass Effect Universe[E-Banking, Backed by Citadel Council]
[Trading Report – Preparing for Departure]
Bit over five hundred thousand credits to fill several holds with sealed tanks filled with bio-fuel. Got on pretty well with the Batarians to tell the truth. Yes, the whole slavery thing, but who am I to judge? Magic confirmed they were being honest with me, and sensors show us everything is safe even before the defensive spells in case they're not. So, now we've holds full of agri-products and bio-fuel to sell at market.
[Diary Entry]
Didn't stay long in Batarian space, but they were professional, if a bit arrogant and smug, but then again that seems to be the default setting for government officials here. Because that Turian Captain we just encountered was a giant jackass high on his own power as a patrol ship captain. Yeah, that's was hours of getting inane questions being shouted at us about suit-rat this, and four-eyed that's, along with confirming our ships manifest and points of exit and entry. See?
This is why I made sure we had a paper trail. Because there's always some Lawful Stupid dickhead out there that undermines the need for Order and Law that the rest of us fight for. Look to just smack his smug dickhead face, but I was smiled, was polite, and convinced him we were but humble traders and certainly did not need to be searched as our paperwork was very much in order. He still held us up FOR FUCKING EVER while he checked said paperwork, well electronic paperwork, and making smug asshole talk about System Alliance failures to patrol its territory. I can understand why he's out here in the ass-end of nowhere having to deal with all those problems.
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 599]
[Current Dimension]
Mass Effect Universe
[Current Location]
In orbit gas giant named Treyarmus, Cacus System, Hades Gamma Relay
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
3,400,330 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
21,450,224 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
24,622,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
183,341 Credits [Mass Effect Universe[E-Banking, Backed by Citadel Council]
[Trading Report – Preparing for Departure]
Was told there might be Quarians here, and here are three ships discarging into the gas giant. Willing to trade, and we traded bio-fuel, sadly not food as they can't eat it apparently, for various salvaged mining and agricultural equipment. Also, some games their children supposedly built, and that's entertaining enough for Jonathan and co. to buy a few of the one-off items to test them out. Even Willow liked the idea for whatever reasons, though I think that's sympathy.
[Diary Entry]
We are on the Anansi-Ishtar trade route now, and following a bit of local feedback from a few days ago that this place is a common discharge point. Yeah, I know WE don't need to discharge, but best to be seen doing it with some illusions so we don't stand out too much; anyway, only a minor loss in terms of energy. Most importantly it got us trade contacts, and purchase of certain technical manual copies along with the parts. Paranoid folk, but friendly, and I like and respect that;- so I tried to do a fair trade with them. Even warned them about Captain Fuckface the Turian because he seems to be super racist as well. Speciest maybe?
Other than that we've got a job, thanks to our Mob Accountant/Banker, relayed through local clusters thanks to the Turian bastard reporting where we are. Seems there's an urgent delivery to be made to a colony site, or archaeological dig site, and we're in the neighbourhood and had made promises to be available to do a job or two, that were legal of course, in that two month period. I think it's more about spying on the place because they want footage of the place, and just confirming everyone there is a-okay for some reason. Why I do not know, nor do I care to know why they want to check the dig team is perfectly safe when they are digging up a hole in the ground.
It's an industrial world so we can sell our bio-fuel and agri-food for big credits as well, and most importantly it'll have databases to study and download from. At least I assume it will since it has an actual capital city, even if thirty to forty thousand settlers doesn't sound like a huge amount to call a city. Eh, I won't complain, it's got ancient ruins, and maybe there's technical data to be had from these Protons or whatever way their name is spelt. Ruins always interest the Skyrim group after all, even if I personally don't see much benefit when we've plenty of easily available tech-data to grab in the meantime. Maybe in the future we can return and research in depth, but not now as we find our feet. So, Therrum, here we come. Slán.
--
[03.23: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Ancient ruins of Doom, a Priest of the Shrouded Lord…yup, here come the zombies…]
'And things were supposed to be so simple' I thought darkly as I watched the long-range sensor display of the archaeological dig site as we communicated with Therrum planetary control. Firstly, they had no idea anyone was there, though lack of sensors and patrol ships was the reason for that, and secondly the sensor profiles were those of a robotic species known as the 'Geth'…who weren't organic friendly. Not only that but the heroic tendencies of my crew were shining through as they wanted to go help as the planetary authorities asked for help…
'Plus; offer of pay from our mystery backer on Illium' I mused closing down the discussion over the galactic extranet, through Relay signal booster-relays we were claiming, with the region branch manager of our bank of choice. We'd lurked for an hour, the crew gearing up for possible combat as I sought out information….and sort of hoped the problem went away by itself perhaps, and I killed the connection after promises of a hundred thousand credits to investigate and confirm, with a further hundred and fifty thousand credits to get Doctor Liara T'soni out alive and well.
"Did you really have to do that?" Kara muttered staring at me "We already agreed to attempt a rescue!"
I sighed, then shrugged as I stood up from my desk in the ready room "And now we're getting paid for our good intentions as well, win-win. With eleven minutes to spare at that. After all I'm not risking our people's lives for nothing, not for some alien mob boss's daughter or whatever"
"Everyone whose going with are a volunteer" Quinn offered unhelpfully…
"True, I'll admit that's true…" I admitted as I began the walk of the room, the other two at my sides "…but we can't just jump into situations either. Nor can we use full force…" I gestured at Kara, then at myself "…or certain powers, or individuals, without risking blowing our cover. Come'on, let's get down to the assault bay, we're already running late and I still have to get into my armour, as do you Quinn"
"Good boy Callum" Kara said sweetly, leaning over and kissing my cheek, then giving my shoulder a squeeze along with a serious long "Be safe you hear! I should go with you…"
"No…" I shook my head as we walked "…you and mages, and goblins we can't get in disguise, are our reserve should we need to…"
"Save you helpless boys, got it. Right" she replied patting myself and Quinn on the shoulders "Don't worry you big strong men, the hepless teenage girl will be there to save you"
"Har har har, very funny…" I replied as she moved to take to the bright, to command the strike, as she was both the most powerful of us all, yet not exactly subtle in the dimension we were in. A trump card we best not used unless we really had to "…now I'll get us down to the hanger bay, I'll notify when ready"
"I know what to do Callum, just getting going" was the reply and I simply nodded, Quinn stepping in beside me at a gesture as I summon magic to myself, snapping my fingers…
Then blinking back into existence in the assault bay in the teleportation circle we'd created there for just such occasions as this. The glances in my direction, and checking of my watch, showed I wasn't late, and that everyone else was geared up as the loud rumble of engines combined with that of machinery and beeping alerts of the bay engineers. Quickly I allowed Anna Sanchez to guide me to a suit of power armour, carefully inserting my arms and legs as I was guided in, then as she checked the seals before the suit enclosed around me; the HUD flashing to life around me. Carefully I tested out movements, getting green signals as I heard Quinn being helped into his own suit – while he wasn't the best with weapons, he was the best with tech, and in the suit for movement…so along he came.
Zatanna and Deborah 'Debbie' Deplhi were moving up and down the line of Power Armour, and the two warming up Chieftain Main Battle Tanks, casting protective spells while Deborah 'Crimson Crow' Delphi was actual in a suit herself. Yet another difference between the two dimensionally identical twins as the Justice Alliance superheroine wanted to fight and had learned to like wearing power armour…even if interfered with spell casting. That's what I'd thought her Armoured Arcana training was for as I tested out the limits of my own suit, then cast a shield spell over our group of eight walking tanks to add to the magical defences.
"Everyone ready?" I asked over the tac-net as I gripped the heavy mini-gun in hand, allowing the ammo pack to be fitted for extended combat as the HUD showed rounds loaded after a brief connection. The answer was in the affirmative as we formed up on the ramp along with the Assaultrons, Sentrybots, and Protectrons as the alarm beeped out the time count warning. While the Fortune's Chance had been originally been a Monitor Hunter Killer, and was well built…
[Confirm Mission Ready. Count Five Minutes]
Our weapons were exactly terrifying by local standards I admitted signalling Kara were ready. Yes we had some lasers, or Variable Energy Bandwidth Dimensional Vector Weapons as they were called by the systems;- and sure it was great having a system that could create any beam from Kryptonite beam to Yellow Fear beam…
That did not help at long range as out effective long-range weapons were two 'fire anything' coilguns, and the missile systems that'd been installed between the Superheroes teams, and our allies. So, we had a handful nuclear missiles, more cruise missiles, and then some launchers from a naval guided missile cruiser. That meant unless we wanted to go overboard and expose ourselves, we were going to be spending costly weapons systems till we could upgrade everything. It should still be more enough to deal with the three 'landing ships' over the target, but the conversion from Hunter-Killer to Invasion Support Lander, then to Tradeship was showing itself uncomfortably right now.
'Still, this baby was built to invade Justice League Earth's, and hold up against Superman and family…we're tough' I thought as the doors swung open before us, the magical barriers holding out the dust and winds outside from the bay. Now wasn't the time to think on those matters, instead I cast a Battle Meditation on our small group, words moving our tac-net at the Go signal from Kara on the bridge "Let's do this!"
--
{A little while later, in a Mako…}
'We're all going to die, we're all going to die…' Tali'zorah Rayya thought to herself as she gripped the sides of her seat just like Garrus and Kaiden on either side of her as the Mako moved into battle. The battle didn't scare her, and Commander Shephard was awesome…
Unless he was driving the Mako – because he drove the, far too manoeuvrable in her mind, Alliance ground vehicle like a lunatic drunk on Ryncol. She had taken landings, on dangerous planets, less terrifying than this part of their missions. The Geth she could handle, the probably-Batarian Mercenaries she could handle, but Keelah…Spirits of the Ancestors let her make it out of this moving deathtrap alive, and hopefully without throwing up in her suit. And she certainly did not eep, nope, not at all, as Commander Insane Driver bounced off rockface to 'gain a little extra speed' and 'avoid enemy fire' with 'evasive' moves…
"….just keep'em busy Joker!" her hero, and terroriser right now, was showing like a madman into the communicators alongside his equally insane co-driver in Wrex as the Mako's gun boomed out from the roof over them "We're nearly there"
"Better hurry Commander, looks like their bugging out…" the human pilot of the Normandy came back into the Mako sounding stressed "…and it's all we can do to dodge their missiles and guardian array, and there's Geth between you and them!"
"Keelah…that's an Armalture! Watch out Shephard!" she called out eyes forward on the display as multiple Geth icons flashed before them and…
"On it!" her hero called out immediately as the Mako screamed suddenly "Wrex! Ramming SPEED!"
'That's not what I meant!' was what Tali had intended to say, but it came out as "Aaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
…just like everyone else in the Mako as she clung to her shock seat as the demon machine bounced forward even worse than before….then jolting her forward in her seat as it smashed into something, bucking as if the ship was crashing down through atmosphere. Happy sounds indicated they were dead, though that was Wrex and Commander Shepard doing the weird human High Six or something hand gesture…
"Geth Down!"
…then the Commander was moving, weapon unlimbering into place as he called out for them to dismount….after clearly wrecking another Mako "Dismount team! We're nearly out of time!"
Tali could have shared a breathing unit with at him at those words, quickly grabbing her weapon, releasing her belt, and then leaping out of the machine that'd haunt her nightmares. Now all that lay before her were Geth, blessed, blessed, Geth that she could destroy, and she dashed for cover, shotgun blasting the nearest one as she saw the mercenary far too close for comfort, landing bay open. Not that only that but they were retreating back to it, with their weird looking mechs between Power Armoured suits…
'Must have suits. Strip them down. Send to Fleet' flashed through her brain as she watched the barriers an armour of the black colour armour shrug off multiple blasts from the Geth around the facility…and worse, between Tali's new shipmates and the mission. For there was an asari slung over the shoulder of one of the armoured mercenaries, strolling towards the ramp of the ship without care in the worlds as…
Whummppfuummmpppp
…and explosion ripped up the group between her, the Geth, and the escaping enemy as a…ground assault vehicle she didn't recognise, with a very big gun, fired a shell that exploded amongst the…
'Not-Geth?"
"FUCKING ZOMBIES! FUCKING EVERYWHERE I GO…" a loud mechanical voice roared out from across the distance, loud over the shrieking dusty winds as the black armoured figure and the one beside him lowered heavy weapons platforms and took aim at the…horrifying combination of humans and mechanical that were surging out of the entrance to the dig sit "…DIE TECHO UNDEAD! DIEEEEEE!"
Then there was a roaring scream of a weapon she didn't recognise, though Ashley seemed to recognise it, her voice in her ear "Is that a goddamn minigun? Who the hell uses those anymore?"
"These crazy people apparently…" the Commanders voices replied as they watched they watched the armoured figures and their mechs walk backwards up the ramp, odd weapons tearing apart the Geth and nightmare things as Tali shot down a Geth Trooper and knew they weren't going to stop the enemy escaping "…damnit, can anyone get a shot on them?"
"Negative Commander, they've a biotic…"
…and up into the air flew several of the charging….surviving charging…zoo-om-bies?...and were held there by a biotic amongst those on the now ascending roof. Held in place the Geth monsters were relentless gunned down as they watched the large ship begin to lift up, dust blasting out around her as Tali moved to shelter behind the large rock beside her. Just the sound of Shepard's voice in her communicator, calm and serious, yet filled with anger.
"Normandy. Track that ship. We have to get T'soni, no matter the cost"
--
[03.24: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Is that….Yakety Sax I hear?...]
'Well, this is a clusterfuck' I thought to myself pinching the bridge of my nose as I noted the damage to the various combat robots and to the tracks of the Chieftains. Not only that but we seemed to have pursuers, in a fancy ship at that, one that'd demanded we surrender for inspection and other such things we weren't going to allow at all at all. Simple refusal had gotten us shot at, and then we'd shot back…it was a clusterfuck I didn't want to have right now, but did.
"Why is everyone after the blue alien girl?" Quinn muttered to me as sat in the conference, going over the various damage caused, and repairs that needed to be made because of them "We got asked, and there was the robots and their zombies, and then the mercenaries who turned up?"
"I have no idea, and she's still asleep, and I'm not going to interrogate her as seemed equally confused during the rescue. Frankly we need to lose our bloodhound and make our way to Illium if we can. Drop her off and then do more shopping. That's someone else's problem then, as long as she's safe and sound" I replied with a tired sigh "We just have to avoid drawing more attention to ourselves…somehow"
"That means staying within local tech limits?" Kara half-asked, half-stated, and I nodded as our 'command staff' sat around the conference table "Then we'll have to dance around systems a little you now"
"Well, we've time to get to Illium so we can carefully move through less developed colonies…" Barbara offered as we sat around the galaxy map with its strange system of Relays, Primary and Secondary, and known FTL limits for local FTL, that made routes very strange looking to my eyes "…here, possibly here, and that don't seem to be common routes according to the Codex of theirs. Then move up to one of these possible lanes and then we're where we want to be"
Kara looked at me "And what about our guest and…"
She gestured at me, in my half-orc body and I sighed, hand tapping my mask "She's on the passenger deck…"
"We've a passenger deck?"
"Yes Barbara, it's the upper bunk area that we don't use. It's easy cut off from the rest of the crew areas and essential parts of the ship…" I answered her taking the mask in hand, looking and studying it idly "…so we just make sure we only send in our human members. Just treat her as a guest, and we've given her a nice clean, decorated room, with clothes and local alcohol even. Need to keep up the masquerade after all"
"We still need to figure out what's so important about her…" the red-haired vigilante said, then shaking her head "…or is it the information that she discovered at that site instead. This dimension has no mention of zombies for one on their extranet, and both you and Deborah here found those…whatever they were…wrong as you called it?"
"Indeed…" Deborah murmured, back in her combination swimsuit and cloak affair, fingers drumming off the table "…they felt foul. Corrosive to the soul"
"Moderate level, but constant psionic field around it…" I replied bringing up a picture of the 'Spike' along with a protective rune in case it was a memetic hazard "..,I'm pretty sure just being around it would start to corrupt and turn people without any protections. Which opens a can of worms about where it came from, and why it's suddenly here, creating techno-zombies"
"The machines didn't create it" Deborah stated calmly, eyes closed, recalling her memories "…they were magic-less as best I can tell, and I suspect it was related to the site"
Barbara looked at us concerned "Is the Doctor clean of control?"
I nodded "Yes, at least to all our tests, and she was in a different location, and clearly not idea it had even been there we passed it. I'm glad it's destroyed, and yes, it could make the archaeologist on the site very valuable to certain people"
"Supervillain and Doomsday weapon" Barbara sing-songed "You know I'm ri~gh~t"
"No, please no" I muttered "…we're already in a conspiracy, somehow, so let's not get into that, here. So, you lovely ladies get to interview her, make friends, after I give a quick introduction as my human self?"
Keeping up the façade was going to be pretty hard, but I took my duties seriously and I'd keep this Doctor T'soni safe while we tried figure out what was going on. The bright side was, for us, was that our mystery back merely wanted the blue alien girl confirmed as safe, and let go and do her own thing somewhere safe. We'd ensure she was safe after that time a while…
I listened to the others as they talked about it, my mind concerned for other things 'Such as the undead and multiple parties wanting her, or her knowledge…'
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 606]
[Current Dimension]
Mass Effect Universe
[Current Location]
Landed Noveria, Pax System, Horse Head Nebula
[Current Cash Reserves]
2,420 Septims [Low Quality gold-mix]
15,234 Californian Dollars [Earth-04, Chain-2091, Disunited America]
2,621 Dollars [US Provisional Government[Earth-01, Chain-2091, German-ruled America]
26,522 Dollars [United States of America[Buffy-verse]
19,667 US Dollars [Earth-JA01 on Account [Bank of New England]
14,210 US Dollars [Earth-JL02] on Account [Bank of Metropolis]
10, 264 US Dollars [Buffy-verse] on Account [Bank of America, Sunnydale]
3,400,330 Punts [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Bank of Ireland]
21,450,224 Francs [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
24,622,500 D-Marks [Quinn's Alt-Earth] on Account [Banque du Bordeux]
462,300 Credits [Mass Effect Universe[E-Banking, Backed by Citadel Council]
[Trading Report – Frozen Planet of SCIENCE!]
Sold much of our bio-fuel and agri-food to this frozen wasteland of a colony. We also confirmed Liara's safety at the local branch office of Twiss Finance, and so we're still good with our Illium payment – received fifty thousand of the hundred and fifty bonus, balance on letting her on Illium or Citadel. Since the Citedal is a big no, we'll do that in Illium instead of the two other asari world options. Wary of Core Worlds for the minute.
[Diary Entry]
We've lost our pursuers as best I can tell, and we've found a market to sell our goods too for premium prices as well. It's a frozen wasteland outside of the colony, but that's pretty much irrelevant as this place is a Research Colony – oh, yes indeed, we have a Human-Salarian Research World filled with cutting-edge tech companies doing things. And that means support infrastructure, and while things are costly to access versus the fringe, it is access to public research papers and data, and that's what we've been downloading. Shrouded Lord bless publicly available technical manuals and colonisation guides!
So, yeah, we're resting here in port a few days while we, very carefully, extract all the data Quinn's Alt-Earth is going to just love us for. It's not quite going to Sol, but it's plenty of old fashioned, by local standards, data and research into what worked and didn't work with various terraforming and environmental methods in the past, and what might have made failed projects work. All without eezo of course, which means human basically, as we don't have eezo in Home Base and I'd rather avoid what is somewhat toxic as well as magical active – and requiring regular supplies.
Now, onto other matters; Doctor T'soni. Friendly woman, intelligent, educated, and very confused as we don't work for her Mother, and what could be so important about her dig site. Then she effectively answered that question with general talk on her research on these dead aliens this lot almost worship. A species that ruled the galaxy and then magical disappeared about fifty thousand years ago – and she wrote, the fringe mind you, theory that they might have been wiped out by someone. Then solidly rejected, but sure this site was full of proof, etc, etc, etc.
So, yeah, ancient aliens go bye-bye – I'm getting Freespace with Humans and Vasudans getting 'WTF?' by the Shivans when they return vibes. More worryingly she had no idea about the psionic or arcane effect of that odd pillar thing, so another concern to add to the list of things to watch out for. Because this is info-hazard time, and that's Dead Spacey as well, and I really hope it isn't a eldritch horror waiting to pounce while corrupting investigators and scientists. These are nice people, and they've no goddamned clue about certain things – and a seeming unwillingness to learn about new things. Yeah they've some inventiveness, but everything seems based around emulating Ancient Aliens, and then fine-tuning what they've got.
Sad as they're several interesting historical articles here that indicate past asari and turians were on the right track before the blue space magic. But, then again, that's always the danger with magical societies {even if its not truly one here, just a similar model} when they get fixated on one area of power and then ignore all other options. It's actually a risk we run with Home Base Alt-Earth that handing info over could stifle, rather than help, development in the long-run. One can only hope they can work around that.
That all means we'll be staying here a few days to do our 'research' and trades, plenty of things like medi-gel and omni-gel I want to buy, and we're going to do guarded shore leave for a few crew members. The Sunnydale lot for one, Willow, Tara, and Dawn wanting to see the sights, and some illusions for the Winterhold lot, and we'll wander about the frozen sights while I shop. Research and development is vital after all, and this the ideal place before we get on the move again- it also lets us lay low from our pursuers as this place ain't exactly legal either let's say. Pay a few bribes and we shouldn't be logged till we're gone. Anyway, off to have some tea with our guests. Slán.
--
[03.25: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Later on, we'll conspire, as we dream by the fire, to face unafraid, the plans that we've made…]
Noveria wasn't exactly a tourist spot, but it did have relatively nice facilities beneath the rather drab décor I found. Not surprising really since this was a Corporate World, and corporate staff, from lower level up to executives, needed access to nice things to keep working effectively on the frozen rock that existed due to legal dodges and strategic planetary placement as best I could tell. The restaurant here was certainly nice, and had a spectacular view of the storm outside through very thick, heavily reinforced, but still see-through not-glass 'walls' of the edge.
There appeared to be further coverings that could be deployed, but for now they weren't as I looked out at the swirling mass of white outside the colony. It was a good idea for a restaurant I found, reusing one of the hardened parts of the original colony, a control centre as best I could tell, and converting to its current, brightly decorated, purpose. The food was nice too, and it was all rather pleasant and relaxing as I sat Doctor T'soni and four others of my crew, wining and dining so to speak with everyone beyond the asari wearing magical protections against various dangers.
Sadly no heavy armour escorts, or proper, visible weapons, due to a 'civilized' colony with Corporate Security all over the place, but that was fine as I still hand my cane and 'old relic' pistol, and Kara was…well Supergirl should the going get tough. At least beyond the local barriers and armour four of our six were dressed in, and pistols my two 'guards' were allowed after some discussion. Paperwork was the bane of all of us, but hopefully we wouldn't need such as security here seemed pretty decent…as best I could tell anyway. Being careful was the only way an inter-dimensional trader could function in the end, and we'd discussed options if things went seriously wrong.
Not that my mind was on that now as I listened to Doctor T'soni talk about her theories on the Protheans, and what the findings had been from academia with Kara and Barbara as I sipped my wine. Today had been a successful day, downloading several technical codexes, and we'd purchased an M-29 Grizzly (surplus) infantry fighting vehicle, even if it was sans weapons. Something that was easily fixed, and upgrades made, to the large, tough, future transport for us when we hit Hazard Level Planets as the locals called them. Always useful to have different tools for different jobs after all…
"Hey stop zoning out…" Barbara murmured teasingly, poking me in the side "…Liara is giving a very interesting answer to our questions oh brave Captain mine"
"To which I was listening to my drunken XO…" I retorted, earning an amused smirk from Kara towards her friend as Doctor T'soni looked flustered as I sighed "…and I find the history fascinating, even if we're a bit bumpkin like in knowledge I'll admit thanks to Terminus living, but history has always been an area of interest for me and your findings are interesting, if somewhat concern. Empires being destroyed at their height, and nothing but confusion as to what happened!"
'All very Bronze Age collapse really' I admitted as Doctor T'soni smiled, back on solid ground once again I think "Oh, yes, I…don't have an explanation for that part yet unfortunately, but evidence points strongly to such a conclusion at the dig sites"
Nathan Anderson, my Security Chief, harrumphed at that "Yes, and then whoever destroyed them disappeared off into the ether, never a good sign. You'd think people would be more open minded when it comes to researching what happened to them"
"Ehh…" I muttered with a shrug, looking into my wine glass "…people glorify them, I've read the Ascension theory on them, load of nonsense in my mind, as there's no proof that was the path they took. Liara's evidence points radically different, along with much of the other published data I've seen on your recommended reading list. It's almost the religious to me how its accepted. You've an uphill battle ahead of you Doctor"
The asari woman chuckled awkwardly "Not many will listen to a maiden's theories, so…I knew that already I'm sorry to say"
"Oh don't give up hope Liara, you convinced us poor benighted merchants after all" Barbara offered with a grin, nodding at the rest of the table "…and apparently its important enough to someone"
"I'd rather it wasn't quite that important" our VIP murmured, poking at her food, and I hummed it thought a moment, then put down the wine glass.
"It may not be that after all, perhaps the site itself held some ancient weapons cache. We'll get you safe to your end point, and then you can publish your findings in safety in the years to come…" Kara assured her before I could say anything "…and you've got someone looking out for you, and that's something"
"Yet you won't tell me who they are"
I shrugged in response to Liara's statement "Because we don't know, and we don't ask. That's just the nature of such things Doctor"
"Well, away from such depressing thoughts…"Zee spoke up with amusement "…I'm rather enjoying the view, though I don't think I'd like to be out in it!"
"Oh goddess no…" Liara mused, glad at the end of such dark thoughts, her attention switching to the howling, shrieking, storm outside according to the sensors on our table indicating the increasing ferocity of the weather….and the selling point of the spectacular view it was bringing to the restaurant guests attention "…it is rather a bad storm"
I looked out at the white-blue expanse of sky and distant mountains "Well, that explains the delays on landing and departures they were talking about. Still only building out there apparently…"
It was surprisingly beautiful from here I found as I sipped from my glass, looking out at the storm outside as it turned up its fury enough the VI announced vehicle travel was being temporally restricted as had been expected earlier today. Still 'safe enough' for most vehicles, but…Corporate World, everyone was covering themselves for insurance purposes. It was amusingly comforting in a sci-fi setting as our little group chatted way as the desserts arrived and myself and Zatanna silently ensured they were safe to eat…
"Captain" Nathan stage whispered to me, back straightening and giving a simple nod towards the entranceway to the restaurant…
And there, walking in like they owned the place, was a squad of Asari. Armed asari, in matching skin-tight uniforms, save for the weirdly dressed one at the head of them as guests scattered neared the entrance. My hand moved to my cane as we began to adjust our chairs as heads moved…and then focused on us. It was rather clear who was the target as Doctor T'soni muttered in shock "Mother…"
Before they got close enough to catch us sitting I rose up to stand, as did the others at the table as my two marines serving as 'official' guards hands moved to pistols, but didn't draw them. Already nearby customers were starting to edge away, though nobody was running yet in the spacious restaurant as a server moved back into the kitchen after staring at…Matriarch Benezia was the name I recalled. Taking a step forward I placed on a pleasant smile, my defences up as I rested my hands on the hilt of my walking cane "Why it seems we have guests to our meal. How may I help you lovely ladies this wintery day?"
"Begone from my sight vermin if you wish to leave, this wretched daughter of mine is needed. Saren has demanded it"
"That's not a nice way to greet your fair maiden of a daughter now Ma'am" I stated keeping up the smile, judging who had to die first when this all went wrong as they drew closer, her voice loud, and I adjusted my grip on my melee weapon "We were having a rather pleasant bit of wine, so I think it would be best you leave…as she is under our protection"
"Mother…please…" Doctor T'soni started to say, but she seemed unnerved by her mother for some reason "…I, but Saren is a criminal. No…I…"
'Okay, speaking to me now it seems' I noted as the…there was something wrong with those eyes as the shifted from confusion, to fear, then empty murderousness in mere moments as that blue magic pulsed around her as the asari guards spread out to her sides, as my team did the same in front of the table. Now the rest of the clientele were well way from us…and the guard was gone from the door…
"Her Father thinks such pathetic creatures as you will deny me. She is far less subtle than she believes…" the blue woman with the…wow that's cleavage…. sneered at me "Have you faced a squad of Asari Commandoes human? Leave, your not worth the delay of killing"
'Ughhh….I'm in the middle of a Mob Custody Battle! With guns instead of lawyers!' flashed through my brain as Doctor T'soni retreated behind my people, all while shaking her head in shocked negative as I smiled falsely and widely, hands raising up, cane in one hand at an angle, the other free in a 'what can you do' gesture as I spoke "Such concern for our well-being, why I thank you, Madam, for such kindness…but I must say No to your kind request"
"Then…" wait…is that Counsellor Troy part of my brain wondered as the eyes flashed and blue magic flared around the well-endowed, ridiculously dressed, asari mage "…DIE!"
I'm sure the plan was to hammer me with said magic as my defenses flared in my own illusionary blue thanks to prepared spells…
But I was faster as my spell slammed into her with invisible force as I thrust out my free hand, illusionary blue fire on my gloved hand. Before she knew it the spell-caster was flung across the room to slam into a support pillar with a clatter of tables and carts she hit as she went airborne. Zee was casting too, also with out restricted mimic illusions as the surprised asari guards moved their rifles and pistols to fight as our table slammed into two of them. My two guards, Nathan and Evan, had drawn their pistols, moving to fire as Nathan used one hand to grab Doctor T'soni and try get he behind cover.
And then Kara was moving, her 'barriers' and 'armour' seeming to shrug off the sudden eruption of rifle fire as the lingering clientele of the restaurant screamed distantly to my ears. Instead, Kara just marched forward to the nearest asari 'commando', ripping the rifle out of the blue woman's hands and punching her in the stomach, before throwing her into one of the three still standing. Meanwhile, my hands gripped my cane, drawing on the hilt in a smooth, easy, motion as I stepped forward as the blade came free of it's sheath to slice through the rifle of the asari nearest to me as she tried to shoot me. Life had just become even more complicated it seemed…
--
[03.26: What Makes a Merchant, Man of Trade?]
[Standoff at the Noveria Spaceport…]
Tevos rubbed at her temples as she read the rapid-fire reports of the mess that had suddenly exploded on Noveria, along with the sudden rash of secret messages from a number of the most influential Matriarchs of the Republics. She couldn't even get a few hours rest without some new political disaster exploding and, yet again, a smiling human face showing up as being involved in giving her a headache. Not only that but this could be a public embarrassment for so many within the Circle, as Benezia was proving publicly a traitor with her alliance with Saren…
'And now Aethtya decides to drop the mask of playing bartender….over her's and Benezia pleasant little taboo of a daughter…' Tevos thought as she sat up in bed looking over the communications and finances involved as they were streamed from Noveria and an update from the Shadow Broker as per the terms of their agreement with the Council "…by sending in an elite black-ops team from the Terminus….oh, Goddess, this is a disaster that just won't go away'
'What in the Goddess's name was Benezia thinking?' was the second thought as not only had she stormed a corporate restaurant, with an entire squad of commandos at that, like an eager maiden out on her first adventure…
But now she was a hostage to her ex-lover's totally-not-a-mercenary-kill-squad who'd dug in with goddess damned power armour and heavy ordinance in a few minutes. Under wary watch of the crooked mercenary 'security force' of Noveria that were screaming for help…because now Geth had turned up and were trying to rescue the Matriarch in a very public confirmation of the Humans testimony. In the space of less than an hour Tevos…well, sides were going to have to be picked in the Circle now, as well as handling Sparatus and Valern when two Matriarchs were deploying kill-teams, one of them a now confirmed traitor after Tevos spending hours arguing for prove and a trial.
'Oh, why couldn't she be a dead martyr than a live embarrassment' Tevos seethed as she stood up, holding up the data-pad and calling out Irissa to get up and help her get dressed along with the rest of her commando bodyguard. There just wasn't time to see to such mundane things as the situation could be even more of a disaster as Commander Shephard, their new human Spectre, was arriving in the system and in pursuit of both Benezia and her daughter. This…this could spill a lot of the Republics' dirty undergarments onto the public extranet if they weren't careful, and subtle the human was not…
'Okay...Aethyta…and oh Goddess, Omega, so she's working with Aria…joy' she hissed silently as financial, official ones, were pulled, along with the, also official and likely not the full story, track of this mercenary team sent in. Unknown, smugglers route, well-armed and trained, to the level of taking on a commando unit…. humans as a front, but likely asari of the militant faction on that ship and in that power armour. That by itself screamed the doctrine of the militant fringe dating all the way back to Dillinga's days. For now, good, as Geth attacking the facility…in a few minutes Bad – Council Spectre that they barely controlled, based decisions on scary dreams after losing the Prothean find on Eden Prime, and with a vendetta against Saren…
'First step; get Valern and Spartacus and make sure the humans don't make the situation worse' she told herself pinging her two colleagues for immediate communication. Geth on Noveria was going to spread fast on the Extranet, and once word of Benezia…that would set the varren amongst the maidens on Thessia and Illium, even more-so once the factions figured out whose troops were on the ground. Not only that but Liara T'soni had controversial views on the Protheans…Goddess this was a mess that needed to be swept under the rugs as soon as possible. Something Tevos very much doubted her so-called friends on the Council, let alone the overly ambitious humans, would let her do…
--
{Meanwhile, during a blizzard…things are heating up…}
It was a Mexican standoff, in the middle of siege, I found as I sat in the spaceport lobby with my ship's security team of power armour and robots deployed around us. Not how I wanted things to be, as not only were we watching the crooked corporate security team looking terrified at us…but the robots called the Geth were attacking the station as well. Because of course the blue-skinned mob-boss made a deal with them…
'Though what worries me is what the hell is wrong with her and her people' I thought in concern as I sat sipping my hot mug of coffee as the laptops we'd setup showed the combat situation. Breaking for the ship was an option, but that would only escalate the…problem we faced…as it was pretty clear the colony defence grid was up and running just like the Fortune's Chance. Not only that, but there was something serious wrong with the minds of Doctor T'soni's mother, and now that corporate security feeds were blocked on us, and I'd a few moments…
"So, this ship affected your mind somehow?" I continued looking down at the kneeling, restrained prisoner who I'd cast a Domination spell on along with her guards. We'd blindfolded them as well, and given them a placebo 'truth drug' to explain their obedience to themselves, and to Liara who sat unhappily to my side as armoured guards watched for any dangers. It had been…. disturbingly easy to dominate the will of these asari, their minds a castle with walls shattered and gates torn off thanks to some sort of psionic influence. Worryingly this reeked of mind-flayers, Colony Brain level ones at that…
"Yes, it was the angles….the sounds…it just made Saren seem so right…" the 'Matriarch' almost babbled, voice filled with horror as I magically mastered her mind and forcibly suppressed the psionic blockers to allow her actual personality become dominant "…oh Little Wing, forgive me. I did not mean such things…"
I tuned out the woman, bringing up the link to the other ex in that relationship, this woman on Illium, as her hologram stood unhappily a few inches high on the table "Okay, this is rather more than the discrete check-up, then rescue mission, we signed up for. We have Geth sieging this facility, there's some sort of crisis she…"
My gloved hand gestured at the sobbing former deadly enemy "…was dealing with in a bio-weapons lab for this Saren terrorist, who may or may-not be mind controlling her, and that lot over there…somehow. Oh, and there's a Council super-cop on the way as well wanting her and Liara according to the goon squad across the way. So."
I gestured at Liara who was clasping and unclasping her hands together "She's willing to go with them, peacefully, so I need to know is that safe for her? Hopefully soon, before we fight our way out of here and break for the Terminus. Also, payment, and some explanation of what hell you've gotten us involved into would be a very good idea right about I believe?"
The truth was I wasn't inclined to run, not yet, not with what the prisoners were babbling about, even if I had to fly over to the 'bio-hazard facility', nuke it from orbit, and the flee the dimension. I wasn't sure of this was a native threat, or was there interference of some sort, but simply abandoning this place, knowing what I knew, with so much unknown…well…
'I'm in a hostage situation, eyes on us that we don't need…let's see can we fix it before jumping to simply running away' I reminded myself as I listened to the answer…
--
{Never fear! A Hero is here!}
Tali'zorah nar Rayya followed behind Garrus and Wrex as they moved through the spaceport as the Normandy landed at the opposite side of the facility to the armed cruiser filled with mercenaries. Which was bad because they were the ones who'd taken Doctor T'soni…but also good because there were suddenly Geth here, just like on Therrum. What was so important about the asasri Doctor that the Geth were so interested in her?
Whatever it was Tali would figure it out, and then warn the Fleet as the monstrous, soul-less, machines her ancestors had created were up to something terrible…she just knew it. So she followed Commander Shepard and the others as they strode through the hardened corridors as Tali watched the holographic displays showing red icons outside. The Geth were trying too, and failing at, entering the colony spaceport, but the extranet feed was warning of the monsters all along the route to a place called Peak 15, a research lab of some sort. Then froze along with the others…
"Commander Shephard I presume?" a mechanically modulated voice called our from behind a black power armoured suit, heavy repeating weapon held at the ready as Tali spotted two mechs covering the gantry about the entrance into the spaceport western landing area "We have been warned of your arrival. Do you abide the terms of the truce?"
Tali was confused by this, clutching her shotgun as the Shepard gave a tight nod "Yes, we have the Geth to deal with first. What happens are that depends on your ability to follow Council Law!"
"Above my pay-grade" the armoured figured shouted back "Boss says for you to head on in. Three only. Don't cause trouble"
"Hnnn" she heard Shepard growl, and Tali activated her sensor suit at a pinged command to her suit from Garrus as the Commander gestured to them "Garrus, Tali, with me. The rest of you…be ready for anything"
"You got it Commander" came back from Ashley, as they fanned out, ready if they had to come help them Tali hoped, along with guarding the watch position for Geth on that side. The storm outside was dreadful, and interfering with sensor sweeps, but Geth platforms could probably navigate it more easily that any organic could. So she followed the human and turian into the danger zone, where two more armoured suits waited along with four more guards in odd combat armour and helmets, and the leader of the mercenaries as he sat over the bound and kneeling captured asari.
He didn't exactly look like a dangerous mercenary though, dressed all in white, even with a funny hat and cane as if injured, as if this was a day at party on the Citadel, not a dangerous battle. Doctor T'soni sat beside him, a guard at his back and another human in light armour, with no visible weapons, leaning back against a pillar and watching Tali and her friends like a hawk. A hologram on the table blinked out of existence, and the human in white smiled at them as they were all friends all of a sudden, hands on the top of walking cane "Ah, hello, welcome to our wonderful party. Callum Outis at your service Commander Shephard. My apologies for our previous meeting…didn't recognise you I'm afraid"
Tali blinked in confusion behind her suit-mask as the human gestured at the asari they'd come to capture, and mother of the asari they'd tried to find on Therrum. Okay, clearly she and Doctor T'soni weren't working together then her brain argued as the human spoke "Here, a gift for you! These fine asari ladies, bargain price too…"
--
