Anyone Interested In Good Work?

The Lord Imperator walked into the cafeteria calmly. This mission had been another bust. He'd found a few cheap guns, and enough armor to hawk for a ride back to another star system. Still, he had next to nothing in munitions or energy. His rations woudl last him another week. He coudl use some profit. He looekd around the room. Mostly intinerant laborers, few of them were obviously security forces--and a Collector. No way. Of all the dives in the universe. Hell, selling one as a psecimen on the black market was a small fortune. However, they were usually aroudn to make offers. The war had ended their reputation as harmless and strange, but they were still occaisonally of value to gamble with--and that might make this trip less of a bust than it had been.


He walked over, looking at the Vorcha's with a nod. "Good to see somebody else who's not just here for the mines. Are you welcoming a visit at this point? I'd be interested in an audience with a Collector, as it would be a first for me," he said calmly. "Not gonna force it, though. I'm a firm believer in the rights of free beings to walk their own path."


He smirked, his usual mix of arrogant cheer and almost obviously duplicitous charm seeping through every word. It couldn't hurt to see what the collector wanted--even if was likely to be trouble for him. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And he needed a gain for once. Even if his trust was...in short supply with the Collectors.


He sat down opposite them at the table. "My name is Veus. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."


@fusion

The human looked at the large bug...synthoid....person. He was doing the talking, and Vrocha weren't known for leadership, so he was likely in charge of their expedition. And he was here to procure. How helpful. So was Veus. Nothing like two folks motivated to work in concert by simple virtue of self-interest. He smiled warmly. "I appreciate your candor, Gregor. I can influence certain events to my favor from time to time. Perhaps you could specify what kind of resources you might need, and I may be of some assistance--for a trade of some variety. Since you are interested in goods, perhaps you would be willing to provide assistance to me in labor as trade?" He nodded curtly. He hoped he'd guessed right about this large, ominous, probable harbinger of doom to come. He also hoped that this little plan could aid his ascension further up.



He grinned a little. "That having been said, I must admit, you seem quite the cautious type. Two armed guards is a bit of an entourage for a place this far out," he said with a nod, gauging the seemingly impassive Collector. It was obvious this one wasn't a simple soldier--he was a trader, and even if he was a future threat, he was in no position to be reckless against Veus now. It was a simple matter of timing at this point. Neither of them had the power to do anything but be civil and fair to each other--neither knew the other's hand well enough to perform a proper double-cross. He put his hands together calmly.



"So tell me, Gregor, what kind of resources have you seen fit to gather on a small world like this one?"



@fusion

Demetrius nodded. Raw materials on a mining world, there was never a shortage of that--the hard part was getting refined goods. But he had a lead on some automatons.


"Well, if you don't mind a drive, we're in luck. One of the mines was supposed to get a shipment of LOKI's and other supplies, but it the tracker died about fifty clicks north-east of here--some rough terrain. I can get us a cargo carrier to haul it, and if you and your men want to come along, I'm sure we can pay you with a crate of the machines while my people salvage some of the other supplies I was aiming to have shipped here on that truck. A little more security and labor can't hurt, and we'll get some gear for both of us. Does this seem like a reasonable use of your time?" He smirked as he made the offer. The Crimson brothers here were a small chapter, but they could get him the equipment he needed to salvage the supplies and look like a hero to the locals. The alien gunmen would provide insurance, and could skim more than would be gotten if no one had recovered the missing gear. A fool-proof plan, really.


He watched his newfound co-worker cautiously. After all, he was dealing with two separate, dangerous groups of people not known for their gentleness in this galaxy. Then again, the same could be said of him. He smiled calmly. "You're welcome to join in and take a fair share of the salvage for your work. That seems like a fair deal to me, if you're up for it."





@fusion

Veus grinned, standing up slowly. "Thirty minutes, you can meet up with me at the loading dock. Tell them Demtrius sent you, you'll be escorted with to the vehicle." he said calmly. "I need to finish preparing." Veus stood up form the tabl, walking out with his shoulders high. Just the amount of extra muscle needed....excellent.



--A little Later--




Veus grinned as his men--ten rather marginally useful miners whom his propaganda had won over and one driver who owed Veus a favor. He nodded as the large collector and his two buddies joined him. "Well now, it's good to see you've made it. Let's get on board the trawler and start moving. I want to start our survey while we've still got plenty of sunlight," he said with a nod as he opened the back of the large, empty treaded vehicle. "C'mon in. Not a lot of seating, but we'll make do."



He nodded to the other men--acolytes and allies. A good start. "Keep your side-arms ready. If the vessel we're scuttling was attacked, we may have to fight off what did it. Or other scavengers. Or giant lizards. Who knows, we are out in the badlands, after all."

@fusion

Veus grinned at his newfound colleagues. "That's fair. Claim what you earn. That's sporting," he said with a smirk.



"Commander," one of the men in red and black armor asked, "What a Nixen?"


"Klixen," Veus corrected. "Think of them as fire-breathing cockroaches that blow up like acetylene tanks when you kill them. They're red and ugly. On the up-side, the fire glands are rarities. Researchers pay a decent amount for them, use the chemicals and enzymes for synthesis of weapons and fuels." He smirked. "If it is a bunch of scavengers, though, try to end it before they reload--the more ammo on the body, the more we stand to make."


"Aye Commander," one of the men said calmly, despite obvious nerves.


He nodded to his men. The Driver chirped on the intercom. "Sir, We're half a click from the site, motion-trackers reading something humanoid, but thermals aren't giving me anything."


Veus frowned. "Short list there. Could be automatons, sent to scrap the site after the attack," he said, loading his Acolyte. He looekd to the Collector. "Looks like there might be some heavier mechs for the taking, if we're lucky. Nothing like salvage to shoo p for parts, yeah?" He grinned. "Crank up the lights to full and tail-spin a hard right into the site. It should throw them off balance," he said through the comm to the driver. "Everybody get on one side of the truck and brace yourselves to start firing--this is gonna be good!"

@fusion

He nodded. "And if it's piloted, go for the cockpit. Easier to clean the seats and dumb a body than rebuild a knee-joint on a large mech," he said coolly as the vehicle lurched when it turned. Opening to reveal....a large number of cold things. Metal-ish things. Friggin's Husks. On this side of the damn galaxy. And here he was hoping for something a bit less worrisome. Oh, well, this only confirmed his paranoia that the galaxy was, on the whole, spiraling poorly. Insert a Mily Joke there. Probably when writing the memoirs.



The men in the vehicle responded with fairly reasonable fear. "The hell are those things?"



Veus gritted his teeth. "Specimens. Kill 'em, but leave some parts large enough to dissect. The right lab rat will pay plenty for one of these damn things!" He said as he opened fire, attracting their attention. "Cut the ugly Bastiches into pieces, we'll ships what's left wholesale and start scavenging! GO! GO! GO!"


Veus grinned and focused as his eyes began to glow, spheres orbiting around him. "Time for the Crimson Brotherhood to RISE!!!" he bellowed as one sphere of biotic energy flew through one of the limping creature's torsos. He smiled. After all, what was the point in being the Messiah without a little conflict?



"Show 'em what unity means, boys!" He encouraged his allies to charge into the fray. He jumped off the ship, facing the oncoming storm of Husks. A swarm of half-dead, twisted beings, just as much machine as anything else. He would collect specimens, maybe figure out how some of this worked. Hell, maybe a cure would be developed if enough samples were taken hard to say.