[The Wreck] "Grand" Opening (Open)

Access Hall 18 was experiencing a lull in the usual midday traffic. The Heart of Liselle had been an asari luxury ship before it had been unceremoniously added to the Wreck by a group of particularly successful pirates, and as such the ship was shiny, sleek, and surprisingly spacious. It had been an attractive place for businesses to open up, had a thriving entertainment industry, and was always well kept as a result.

One such business lay between the a batarian diner and "Flo's plate care center". The registry marked it as "Triple A Defense Services", but the amalgamation of (what must have been at least three) neon signs above the door labeled it quite clearly as "Ravej's". A smaller sign next to it flickered "CLOSED" in Galactic Standard, Hegemony Standard, and a dialect of Tuchankan. The inside of the store itself was nothing to write home about, mainly guns on racks, labeled clearly with statistics and prices. A shelf off to one side had LOKI's folded up and ready for purchase, and another had racks and racks of ammo mods. Two bins full of ammo blocks and heatsinks served to fill up the empty space in the center of the shop. The collection of merchandise was definitely varied, at the least.

Ravej grunted behind the counter. Nothing like dealing with business to break up the monotony of a century or two. He pressed a button on the desk, and the sign outside flickered to "OPEN".

A grin spread across his face. It was going to be fun, being the one selling guns to suckers instead of the one shooting them for once.

A lone salarian in Eclipse-issue armour waited in the shadows, leaning on a rusted wall in what was probably once someone's front porch. It was hardly comfortable, but that was the point. Most of the Wreck's citizens feared the denizens of the night - for good reason -, and thus usually tried to avoid the vorcha-infested areas. Access Hall 18 wasn't nearly as badly infested as the central shaft or mining pits, but even so, people tended to exercise some modicum of caution in the floating hulk of ships.

... And dark secrets they are, indeed.

His second finger twitched in a slightly unusual motion - a shimmer nearby, flicker of stealth nets (ah, there you are). He'd been waiting here for hours - salarians didn't need nearly as much sleep as other species, an advantage priceless in stakeouts and the like.

'Maerot Telasurn' tapped something into his omni-tool, scanning the area for surveillance - nothing out of the ordinary, but he hadn't been able to get clear readouts on the shop in question. Something about the walls. Perhaps he could-

sign

The door sign switched from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN' - Galactic Standard, Hegemony (with a misplaced ending, no less) and some dialect he couldn't quite determine; he suspected it as some form of krogan, judging by the shape of the characters. But he could worry about that later - 'Telasurn' mentally filed it away for further reference, stepping forward into the crowd of... Wreckians?... hurrying back and forth, and quickly approaching the shop before some Blood Pack merc called him out on the armour. It'd took him a lot of work to get the right size.

One of the stealth nets flickered out, the previously-unseen asari coming out to stand beside him, at the door. They knew their jobs. One was to wait outside, the other to follow Valaron, for that was the salarian's actual name, into the shop and provide support, if needed.

'Telasurn' opened the door, stepping inside immediately. His cloaked guard followed, ducking inside behind him and taking an inconspicuous spot in the corner.

'My name is Maerot Telasurn.' A lie. 'I'm from Eclipse,' another lie, 'and am here to... well, you know why I'm here. I am alone,' a lie, 'and unarmed.' A big lie, but he'd made the weapons as undetectable as possible.

'And you would be Mr. Ravej?'

"S'what it says on the sign, innit?"

Ravej glowered at the salarian, appraising him. "Let me tell you somethin' about the Wreck, frog. There's a lot of crime here, you know. Comes with bein' a haven for pirates and all that."

He got up from behind the counter and walked over to 'Telasurn'. "As a result of that, most of us here 'businessmen' tend to invest a few creds into decent security systems. Stuff like scanners, defense drones..."

He looked the salarian in the eyes. "Security cameras."

Ravej leaned in towards Telasurn, his face inches away from the salarian. "I do not appreciate bein' lied to, Mr. Telasurn. I figure I oughta make that clear right about now."

He backed off a bit and got a far off look in his eyes. "Now...who was it that wanted me gone? Figure most of the huntresses or whatever they call themselves have either left Eclipse or gotten themselves killed. Might have been T'Nassa, she always was a tenacious bitch. Naelina maybe, though I doubt she'd remember which one I was. Probably went after Rael, poor bastard. Shoulda left the Pack when he had the chance. In any case..." His vision snapped backed to Telasurn.

"Let's talk business."

"As a result of that, most of us here 'businessmen' tend to invest a few creds into decent security systems. Stuff like scanners, defense drones..."

what didn't I get rid of those
"Security cameras."
SHRELLDAMNIT could've sworn I disabled them couldn't have missed one could I? no no sure I got them all he's bluffing no way he could've detected anything
right?

The krogan leaned in towards him, right in his face - dominance, leadership posture for krogan, trying to intimidate... ... it's working, he thought, taking a step back to meet the, ah, "businessman"'s glare. "I do not appreciate bein' lied to, Mr. Telasurn. I figure I oughta make that clear right about now."

"Duly noted.", replied 'Telasurn', glancing around the shop. Lots of gun racks, two large piles of discarded mods or heatsinks... not the best of cover. Even three against one, he didn't fancy his chances against a krogan in hand-to-hand.

The krogan stepped back a little, his eyes distant as if thinking about something. "Now...who was it that wanted me gone? Figure most of the huntresses or whatever they call themselves" what is he talking about "have either left Eclipse or gotten themselves killed. Might have been" is this something important? T'Nassa, she always was a tenacious bitch. Naelina maybe, though I doubt she'd remember which one I was. Probably went after Rael, poor bastard. Shoulda left the Pack when he had the chance. In any case..." Ravej's gaze snapped back to the salarian - oh sh

"Let's talk business."

"What? ... Oh, right, that. Yes. Looking for salarian technology, from Special Tasks Group. Trying to reverse-engineer it onto standard equipment, I believe, but unsure of details. Am, after all, only a procurement officer. You have the items?"

Lyra appeared then at the doorway, about as audible as a pindrop in a sandstorm. The asari had gotten a hard stare as Palmer had walked by and whoever was in the corner was currently the center of her attention. A frown and then she decided it wasn't worth the attention. Probably here for the salarian or something. A second passed and she decided to give the goods in the front at least a cursory examination while the salarian was dealt with.

"Right, in here." A door behind the counter unlocked and opened. Ravej ushered the Salarian in, following closely enough behind to block someone from sneaking in. It was probably just paranoia. Probably.

The door shuts behind them, and the lights in the room flicker on. Weapons of a significantly higher grade line the walls in here: A trio of Wraiths underscored by a row of Eviscerators to one side. A duo of Revenants on the other. Behind a glass case, various Cerberus weapons were positioned, meticulously polished. Finally, a lone Widow anti-material rifle lay beneath a spotlight, engraved with a small "X". The whole room looked very professional, very well kept.

The partially disassembled Venom on the weapon bench ruined the effect a bit, but nobody's perfect.

"Now, which display was it..." He tapped on a terminal next to the Cerberus weapons. The display turned a few times, displaying a collection of Blood Pack weapons, a Cobra, and finally, a quartet of Scorpion pistols. "Got 'em during the war. Pretty amazin' what people'll just leave lyin' around."

"Course, the husks mighta had somethin' to do with that. Heheh."

He turned to look back at the Salarian. "So-" ~dingaling~ "Er, hang on for a sec."

He opened the door back to the main room and leaned out. "Jes' a couple a minutes, lady. Sorry about the wait."

Ducking back into the room, he turned to take one of the Scorpions down and offer it to the salarian. "So...you said three times the market price?" He grinned.

"Right, in here."
'Telasurn' reluctantly walked in first; his guard would be confined to the main store area (hope he remembers the plan), unable to assist, whilst he was trapped in a small room with a krogan and—

—some damn fine guns. Is that a Harrier?! I haven't seen one of those since—
Eviscerators, not bad, Wraiths, pretty nice; where'd he get—

The salarian's eyes visibly widened as he noticed the Widow. The rifle would break his arm in four places if he fired it, but the quality was astounding. Worth two hundred thousand at least.

Telasurn surveyed the room as Ravej moved to the Cerberus display; a matching pair of Revenants caught his eye; who'd he have to kill to get those?, he wondered idly, his gaze drifting down towards...

... the Venom. It was hard to tell what it was, it being half-assembled, but he was sure that was STG. Not the sort of weapon that should be in the hands of a krogan.

"Now, which display was it..."

Meanwhile, outside...

The asari eyed Palmer warily, and discreetly activated her omni-tool, typing in a message to the agents inside. As an asari, she wasn't official STG, but it would've looked shifty had only salarians gone in to a krogan shop. There was enough hostility between the species anyway.

In the back of the shop again...

Telasurn's omni-tool buzzed quietly and he glanced down at it, one eye still on the rack of weapons. Blood Pack, a single Cobra (at this, he stepped back slightly - an instinctive reaction to a weapon that could, quite easily, destroy the shop and everything in it), Scorpions. "Got 'em during the war. Pretty amazin' what people'll just leave lyin' around. Course, the husks mighta had somethin' to do with that. Heheh."

A message from the asari guard outside; it read:

Human female approaching.

The krogan turned to him, and he tensed up slightly, knowing his chance was coming. "So-"
"Hmm?"
The door chimed - "Er, hang on for a sec." - and the krogan stepped out towards the door. This was his only chance.

His hand flashed out towards the Venom, pocketing a vital part of the mass accelerator and replacing it with an identical, defective, part he had literally just fabricated a minute ago... all in less than a second.

And inside...

The other salarian had barely a second's warning to press himself flat against the wall, tactical cloak on, before Lyra walked in. Somehow she'd seen him even through the cloak; he made a note to find out why later. But he had bigger things to worry about as the krogan leaned out - "Jes' a couple a minutes, lady. Sorry about the wait."

He wasn't sure what the other salarian was doing inside - something with the workbench? He'd have gone in himself, but the krogan was simply too large to allow him to pass unnoticed.

Back in the weapons-room...

The krogan ducked back inside and took down one of the Scorpions, showing it to Telasurn. "So...you said three times the market price?"

The salarian took the pistol, replaying the message in his head. It was twice the market price, not three times. "I believe it was-"

The krogan grinned, and the salarian stopped, his eyes wide open like a pair of flashbangs - minus the flash and the bang, of course. He wasn't crazy enough to get the ocular-nerve implants like Cerberus did.

"-... triple, yes. Three times the market price."

"Heheheh. Good to hear." He took the other three scorpions down from the rack and set them on the weapon bench while he rummaged around for a case. Dropping the plasteel box on bench, he began packaging the pistols before noticing the Venom. The krogan stared at the disassembled guns for a few seconds, before shaking his head and closing up the box.

"Alright, here ya go. They're empty, obviously, but they work and like I said I've stripped the FRM right outta them." The replications don't work for shit, but it's not like you need ta know that... He patted the salarian on the back. "Pleasure doin' business with you." Telasurn was practically shoved through the door, and Ravej followed closely behind.

"Hope you'n the asari enjoy yer new toys." He waited for the salarian to leave the store before adding "Fuckin' Eclipse, think they own everything."

Ravej turned to the human. "So, what can I do for ya?"

Lyra looked up at the krogan and sniffed, I would like to examine the YMIR mechs, the rocket drones, and the kamikaze drones that you said you had for sale. I also assume you have better guns then what are present right here. I would like to see those as well.

The krogan looked her up and down. "You ain't one of the street dregs, are you? Shame. Easier to palm this shit onto 'em." He sighed. "Alright, back in the back, follow me. Show you the guns first, most of the mechs and drones are in the storage unit next door." He re-opened the door to the back room.

"After you."

There was a measured pause with a hard stare at the mention of being a street dreg and then Palmer moved through the door, her paranoia about being first subdued by doubt that this person would kill customers and the lack of a bounty on her out here so far.
A sharp inhalation of air was her only reaction to the room and then she moved forward again, this time with a fervor, coming to a quick halt right in the front of the Widow. It had been a while since she had held one, the Alliance having taken back all the gear they had provided her after the war, and a hand instinctively shot forward to pick it up. It got close to touching it too before Palmer realized what she was doing and then she looked back, May I?

"Nice, innit?" The krogan grinned at her. "Go on ahead. I know how you sniper types are about this kinda thing. Just don't, ya know, drop it or somethin'."

She grasped the weapon in her arm and smiled. It felt like an extension of her arm, the way that all tools should. Absolutely perfect. She peered through the sights, making micro adjustments as she moved it from side to side. It just felt so... perfect. Where did you get this?

"Got it offa some schmuck when Gruul attacked the station. Fucker never had a chance, buncha high tech shit and he forgot to check his damn seals. Anyways, it was a mark seven when I got it offa that guy, but I've been gettin' the upgrades for it for a while." He gave the gun a loving look before glancing at Palmer. "It's one of those re-designs that came out after the war started up, so you don't need to worry 'bout breakin' your arm or anything."

I'll take it if you are not overly attached to it. She snuck a quick glance at the cerberus weaponry in the room and then nodded to herself, Now about those mechs.

"Ain't quite that simple. You're not the only one interested in it, ya know. Lotta people lookin' for some high quality firepower like this. I'll put your name in as one of the interested parties, but there's no guarantee someone else won't pay more for it. Movin' on..." He exited the back room, and then the shop, moving to a second door between the diner and the storefront. Another wave of his omnitool and the door activated and unlocked, letting him and Palmer inside.

The storage area was messy and unorganized, in stark contrast to the shop. Disassembled bits of mech lay scattered on the floor, wiring trailing from parts like entrails. Most of the intact mechs were folded up and stacked along the walls, save for a YMIR that was currently splayed upon a work table. "Sorry 'bout the mess. Most of the people here can't afford much more than a LOKI at best, so I don't get people in here much."