Date & Time: 2nd December 2097 Anno Domini, 0650 hours
Location: ?
Weather: Clear Sky
If Juno had to sum up their situation in just one word, it would be 'screwed.' On the bright side, Tiberium hadn't hitched a ride with them to this new planet when they got 'teleported'. Regardless of how the Scrin managed pull it off, it was one less headache for everyone involved, especially when they made First Contact with an alien civilization. Well, not technically 'First contact', but a first encounter with a humanlike civilization that wasn't hellbent on wiping humanity from the face of the universe.
Juno watched the desert sand being blown by the wind within the confine of his team's large jeep when his earpiece crackled with female voice, "Juno, one of the drones caught a local approaching our convoy. We need your team to intercept and redirect them. The location had been sent to your TacPad."
Colorful arrows flickered across the windshield, displaying their would-be path through the desert terrain.
"They are en-route."
"Copy." Juno responded before relaying a message on the same earpiece, "Vic, Afrim, get back to the jeep, we have a situation."
"On our way." Came the replies.
Shortly after, two men in casual outfit —shirts and blue jeans— adorned with electricized reactive body that resembled a sweater vest appeared. Afrim settled in the driver seat while Vic went to the backseat.
"Another curious local?" Afrim asked nonchalantly.
"Yep." Juno answered.
Afrim sighed, "And they say curiosity killed the cat."
"It could've been worse, honestly." Juno shrugged. "We good to go?"
"Vic?" Afrim turned to the backseat.
"Yeah, yeah. I got everything." Vic replied.
Afrim stepped on the pedal. The jeep lurched forward. It descended downhill. The landscape of the endless desert blurred from a whirlwind of sand and rock. It took them several minutes of traversing the bumpy desert before Juno spotted a moving black dot alongside a small sand cloud in the distance.
"Stop here." Juno ordered.
The jeep halted to a stop.
Juno asked Victor for a binocular. Afrim opened the dashboard and handed the binocular to Juno.
Zooming into the sand cloud, Juno saw a 4x4 truck driven by a figure whose face was obscured by a helmet. The helmet resembled the steel bucket worn by knight from the Middle Ages. The figure was alone, driving towards them.
The whole situation was suspicious. Nobody in their right mind would do a solo travel. Bandit raids were common back on Earth at the border within former Yellow Zones.
"Juno to Baseplate, does the drones detects additional contacts?" Juno asked.
"Negative." The female voice replied.
"Are the drones armed?"
"Standard loadout. 50 milimeter and sonic missiles."
"Status on Alpha team?" Juno asked.
"Look to your East." The radio operator replied.
Juno turned the binocular towards east. Sure enough, he spotted a heavily armed squad in power armour. One of them even gave a thumb up when he noticed Juno was observing them.
4 kilometres, the displays on the binocular read. It would take approximately 0.3 seconds for the projectile fired from their position to hit their target in case shit hits the fan.
Juno turned his body towards the backseat, "Vic, get the railgun ready."
"Got it." Afrim replied. He opened the hatch and hauled a large rifle on the roof. An InOps agent wielding standard mechanized felt out of place but he supposed desperate time call for desperate measure.
"Get closer and honk him." Juno ordered Afrim.
So, Afrim stopped the car and honked. The figure stopped his vehicle.
"Keep the engine running. Vic, cover me." Juno ordered.
Juno disembarked the jeep. The figure opposite of their jeep mirrored his action. Juno's right hand hung near the holster of his handgun as he approached the figure. When he was close enough, the figure towered him.
"You are approaching a restricted area. I'm afraid I have to ask you to turn back." Juno began in English.
"Ah, I didn't expect to run into Columbian in this part of Yan territory." The figure remarked in unexpectedly perfect North American accent. The voice was undeniably male from the gruffness and deepness. Regardless, the terms 'Columbian' and 'Yan' were unknown.
The figure continued, "I can offer something for passage."
"I'm not looking for payment. I need you to leave." Juno commanded.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that. My business partners in Lungmen expect me to arrive by tonight. My colleagues are very influential, you see. I'm sure you don't want to deal with spiteful businessmen."
Juno didn't know the area well enough to determine whether it was a bluff. The last thing they wanted was a PMC to come searching for them when the convoy hadn't fully reconsolidated yet.
"You mentioned business partners. Are you a businessman or a travelling merchant?" Juno asked.
"Merchant, businessman. They both mean the same things. Why do you think I travel alone?"
"Less profit to be split?" Juno answered with a sigh.
"Bingo."
The fact that some merchants back home would rip off people if GDI didn't regulate and supervise the market prices, he ought to believe his claim that he was a merchant.
"Stay here. I need to contact my superiors." Juno ordered the figure before walking back to his vehicle. Afrim had the railgun pointed at the sky, away from the man, but ready to lay down accurate fire at a threat at a moment's notice.
When Juno was sure he was far enough, he spoke into his earpiece, "Baseplate, the native says that if I don't let him pass, his…colleagues would be looking for us. He said he's a merchant and is willing to offer something in exchange for passage. I need advice."
"One second, Juno—Chief Mastos? Sir."
The radio operator was panicking before the line was abruptly cut off for a few seconds.
Then, a male voice spoke, "This is Monarch, I am taking over. Ask him whether he can offer information."
"Come again, Monarch?" Juno asked.
"I need you to extract intel on the local areas from him. This is a direct order from Deputy Parker. Do your best to not reveal anything about our circumstances."
"Got it." Juno sighed before walking back towards the figure, whom was eyeing the jeep and the weapon Vic had in interest.
"My superiors agree to let you through in exchange for information." Juno said to the figure.
"What information do you need?" The figure asked.
"Internal politics, economic, everything on Yan and Lungmen." Juno replied, using the term he heard from the man earlier to bullshit his way through.
"That kind of information doesn't come cheap." The merchant changed his tune. Now, he's the one doing the counter-offer.
"You said you'll offer something for passage." Juno remarked.
"I rather take a long detour and have those assholes cut percentages of my profit than being labelled as a spy." The figure remarked.
"Fine. What do you want in exchange?" Juno asked.
"Your weapon." The figure nodded towards Vic.
"That is out of question," Juno replied. Obviously, that wasn't a good idea.
"Too bad, then."
"There might be something else that might catches your eyes. Let me ask my superiors." Juno said.
"I uploaded the list of items we can offer to him on your tablet." Mastos quickly chimed in through the earpiece before Juno could ask.
Juno took a sheet of transparent flexible plastic from his pocket that was his tablet. He turned on the tablet and scrolled down by dragging his index finger downward.
Juno noticed that the figure was watching his tablet. Then, the figure broke the silence, "Interesting. I do not sense Originium in your weirdly designed tablet. Perhaps, I can trade information in exchange for that?" The figure pointed at the Juno's tablet.
Juno was puzzled. Then, realization came. Different planet means different technological growth, resulting in different definition of electronics. Hell, their operating system might be different too.
"What do you think, Monarch?" Juno didn't bother walking away from the figure's hearing range anymore. The figure seems to watch Juno's interaction with interest.
"EVA can remotely delete the data and remove the device from our network. I'd say go for it." Monarch replied.
"My superior agrees. How can you offer the information, in return?"
"One second." The figure walked to his vehicle and came back with a box of papers.
"Lucky for you, I just happen to carry a file typewritten pages for this occasion."
"Here's a example." The figure took a sheet of paper and handed it to Juno.
Juno immediately read it.
Lungmen dollar may be the strongest but it's vulnerable to financial manipulation. See Addendum A-1.
Lungmen suffered attack from Duke of Kaschney. It seems Wei Yenwu is enforcing stricter security and spy network. See Addendum F-2.
Juno had half the mind to refrain from blurting out a 'What in the actual fuck?'. He expected the figure to be giving him a thumb drive or something similar. He sure as hell didn't expect the papers to be actually typewritten.
"How can I guarantee that this isn't false information?" Juno asked.
"A dissatisfied customer means they would not buy products from me anymore. I'm not losing a potentially lucrative investment that is your group. That, alone, is revolutionary to Terra." The merchant nodded at the tablet in Juno's hand before placing the box on the sand.
Juno began to have a second-thought whether it was a good idea to trade the tablet for information. The merchant seemed to be willing to risk being accused as a spy to get it. But he supposed that to be left in the dark about the planet was much worse than whatever consequences from introducing Earth technology to this planet.
"Instead, how can you guarantee that the device wouldn't be broken when I leave? And what about the charger cable?" The merchant asked.
"It's solar charged, and you can easily find us around this area. And…oh I already disabled biometrics authentication. Just press on the power button." At least until they reconsolidate set up a stealth generator.
"So, deal?" The merchant asked.
"Deal." Juno shook the merchant's hand before handing him his tablet.
"I never catch your name. Mine is Juno Everest." Juno remarked.
"It's Cannot Goodenough. It's a pleasure doing business with ya."