[Closed] Just Business

Alkonost had never been an appealing world to settle on. Despite an atmosphere comfortable for humans, between the near continual threat of the local fauna and the freak weather conditions it had attracted only the most hardy and desperate to populate the handful of mining towns. Despite its location on the fringes of the Attican Traverse it had been a world few had been likely to visit and fewer still had been willing to etch out a living on, and that had been before the arrival of the Reapers. Now it was only a stop off point either for those looking to strip anything of value from the bones of surviving colonies or, like him, stay off the radar for a short while.

Sitting on the deck plating, Archer observed his surroundings from the open hatch of the assault shuttle. Looking between the cloud choked skies and the broken shells of prefab housing, he subconsciously rested a hand against the coffin sized crate to his right. Of all the monumentally bad ideas he’d had in the past this had to be at the top of that list. Selling illicit tech, of Reaper origin no less, to a company far larger than anything he would have even considered approaching one year ago and little to no experience dealing with them. And if that wasn’t bad enough he’d opened with the words “not a credit more or less”. Christ, could he have screamed desperate any harder?

“In position now captain” the voice crackled through his helmet’s speakers “everything’s ready as soon as you give the word.”
“Good,” Archer sighed “remember only begin if I give the signal or you lose contact with the shuttle. If we’re lucky they’ll stick to a simple trade and this won't turn ugly. Archer out.” Closing the link he looked skywards waiting to see the first signs of the ship Titan had sent.

It was the hum that he heard first. A distant thrum lost in the rumbles of thunder that gradually edged into a full throated roar. A trio of black, green, and silver Mantises burst through the cloud cover, screaming towards the dock. The lead descending, firing its thrusters and sending a wash of hot air over the landing pad as it's escort broke off. The two gunships moving to sweep the shattered remains of the colony. Floodlights lancing out into the gloom, throwing up shadows in the wreckage.

Across the plate deck of the pad the lead Mantis had set itself down with a thump that shook the platform. The hatch at the back clanged open and the corporation's representative steeped out, his coat still blowing in the gunship's wash.

For a krogan, he was surprisingly well dressed. His clothes tailor cut and fine material, the ballistic layer beneath his clothes and the KB generator around his waist discretely hidden. He carried no weapons, that's what the pair of armor clad turians flanking him were for.


"Mr. Archer I presume?" He shouted over the howl of the Mantis's engines, the thrusters already cycling down.

Rising and taking a few steps forwards as the platform shook with the force of the gunship’s landing, Archer’s hand fell to the carnifex at his side as the door opened and the hulking armoured figures stepped out. While he had arrived in full crisis armour, experience had taught him that it was generally a bad idea to be visibly armed to the teeth while negotiating payment. Of course that had been with his usual clients, not a respectably dressed krogan.
"You presume correctly" he answered once the engines had fully died down, his eyes briefly following the other gunships as they passed overhead "Mind showing some proof of who you represent before we begin?"

"Of course Mr. Archer. Have your ship check our IFF." The krogan's smile had far, far too many too sharp teeth to be considered anything but predatory, regardless of the man's intent. But his words were honest enough. If the gunships and soldiers in Titan colors weren't enough then the Archon in high orbit around Alkonost with the corporation's ident codes should have sealed the deal. These men were either very committed impersonators or the genuine article. And given how jealously corps guarded any proprietary information the odds of them being anything other than the Titan representatives was becoming progressively smaller.

"Now, if I may inspect the package?"

Ignoring the far from reassuring grin the krogan was sporting,Archer keyed in the comm. signal to his ship
”Keeper here, go ahead.”
”Confirm the ship has a Titan IFF” Archer said “and it’s exact class and make.”
The answer came barely a second later, in an insulted tone “We wouldn’t have let them enter orbit if they weren’t one of our contacts. As for the ship it’s definitely one of their frigates, Archon class.”
That settled it. Feeling his usual paranoia ebb Archer closed the link, perhaps someone might have been lucky enough to salvage a working IFF from a wreck but an entire working frigate? Unlikely. ”It’s right over here” he jerked his head behind him and stepped back into the shuttle for a second and keying a code into the side of the closest crate. With a hiss of refrigerated air the locking mechanisms on its lid snapped open revealing the corpse inside. Even without its distinctive armour the now dead husk-like lines crossing its skin and graying flesh singled it out as a cerberus agent.

”Take as long as you need” Archer said stepping out of the ship and back until both the guards,krogan and their gunship were all easily within sight. ”Barring the snapped neck and a few bones it’s otherwise intact. The armour took the brunt of the force when he was blown clear of his Atlas.” That wasn’t entirely true. Anyone would notice the sockets where the eyes had been and incisions made to disable the ocular flashbangs but he doubted Titan would be so concerned about that so much as the fact the previous, if inactive, tech laced into its brain was no long at risk of exploding. Now they'd learn if dragging it off of Veratix, plus the time and effort spent preserving it in the intervening year, would have been worth it.

"Thank you, Mr. Archer." The krogan flashed the human another grin. He got the muscle movements all right, proper widening of the mouth, flattening of the lips, the tips of teeth shown. The only thing that was missing was the warmth. Perhaps he never properly mastered that particular element.

Perhaps the nameless krogan just didn't care.

Ignoring Archer and his comrades the man bent over improvised casket. Rumbling quietly to himself, dictating notes into his OT or just thinking out loud, the alien examined the body. His meaty hands passing over the corpse with a deceptively gentle touch, feeling the broken bones, gauging the damage, a quick, cursory look at the product. The minutes dragged on before the krogan finally stepped away from the crate; only to boot up a program on his OT and dive right back in, taking scans, readings, pictures, leaving Archer and his crew with only the blank helmets of the turians and the distant thrum of the Mantis escort for company.

"Hrmm."

Archer didn't return the smile. He simply stood back and kept looking between the trio of figures nearby making mental notes on their distance and armaments, content to remain silent and just get this over with. At least until the krogan representative started taking scans.

"Remember, I agreed to let it be examined" he warned "not for you to leave here with an omni-tool full of data." It was more bluster than anything else, even if he tried to back it up threatening a client wasn't any way to convince them to pay. Even if it was likely they had only sent someone to steal any data they had. He had offered Titan a chance to send any number of specialists they needed and they had opted to send an overdressed thug to check it over. If the krogan wasn't broadcasting to someone else, probably either on the gunships or orbiting frigate, he was the smartest damn plathead Archer would have had the misfortune of running into.

The krogan didn't so much as look up. "The data is for my personal use in verifying the authenticity of your claims Mr. Archer. If you find this objectionable please, by all means, don't hesitate to speak up." The man's voice was like boulders grating together.

"Or perhaps you would have found a salarian or asari more acceptable?" Yeah, that grin was back, only this time there was a tone of genuine amusement. It was difficult to say if it made the expression better or worse.

For a moment everything was quiet, the only sound the wind blowing over the platform as the storm drew closer. The krogan glanced up at the sky curiously and then back at the armored human.

"Thirty for the body. Forty five if you happen to have any relatively intact pieces from his mech still in your possession."