Rbz17 The Bazaar
General Summary
The crew meet back at the Rubezahl, gathering across the two "diner" booths that served as their messhall. While they weren't pursued, they weren't sure that they had made a clean getaway either. It's likely that the Legion knew something suspicious was going on. But they wanted to make good with their deal with Wynne, and fast as the Pigeon was, Cassidy's transport schedule was coming up soon, and Wynne was unlikely to be satisfied with clearly outdated information.
So, they figured, either we got our hands on Cassidy -- either in the "prison" or while in transit. Or, we had to figure out where they were transporting here -- what was so secretive that even their high ranking code cylinders were not cleared to know.
They quickly ruled out snatch-and-grab. Whatever was going on, it was secretive and high security. They weren't exactly a special ops team. Saskia had an interesting idea to pose as reporters, or otherwise an innocuous group, to get an interperson meeting with her. Perhaps it would give us some more context to what was going on. Or at least it may be a way to sneak a tracking device on her.
Reinhard and Benesh had another idea. They knew when she was scheduled to be transported. They will need a ship to do that. Maybe there was a way to hit the street and find out more about ships in that transport window, maybe even use the Rubezahl to tail the ship as they leave orbit.
The crew debated for a while and decided they had the time and resources to follow both leads. Reinhard and Benesh would head to the spaceport and do some legwork there, while Saskia and Quinn headed to the local "black market" to look for a hyperspace tracker.
The Elysium Bazaar was was an open secret, and indeed, a major draw to the planet for those in the know. Rumor was that anything you want was available, for the right price, from the right person. It operated alledgedly right under the noses of the local authority, but in actuality, those noses were stuffed with regular and hefty bribes. The Bazaar itself was a long, winding alleyway sandwiched between the curved bases of two spires in the "old town". Shops of all kinds lined the street to the point that there was barely enough room to move. Hundreds, maybe thousands of patrons shuffled past each other, and the smell of sweat would be unbareable if not for the odour of exotic spices, flowers, and incense. These were, for the most part, polite fronts to the real goods being traded. An easy distraction for tourists that wander by, and enough of a cover that Elysium authorities can give the appearance of patroling the stores' wares. Quinn was quite familiar with the Bazaar's reputation. While the tracker was important, he was actually here for something else -- saplings to help Reinhard attone for his VR addiction. And so he "allowed" himself to be distracted by a particularly botanical spice merchant's storefront. Wandering inside, he caught the portly and gregarious shopkeeper just as he exited what looked like an airlock as he pulled off a full-face mask, "Hello, how can I help you today?" It took only a few volleys of questions to convince the shopkeeper that he wasn't looking for the usual bio-engineered fare. The storekeeper, giving him an appraising look, nodded and gave him a mask before putting his own back on. He introduced himself as Guillaume and led him into the back room. Beyond the airlock was a sort of sunlamped greenhouse. Exotic plants were potted in shelves shrouded in mist. Quinn recognized several of the species prized by those who follow the Gardeners.
When he brough this up, Guillaume nodded and chuckled. Over a cup of tea, Guillaume confided that his parents followed the Gardener's ways, and he had been "initiated" though never really kept up the tradition. He thought the teachings, if you could call it that, made sense, and despite the prevelance of bioengineering on Elysium, he kept a special section of the garden devoted to fully natural cultivars. Their attention turned to the saplings that Quinn sought. Guillaume picked out a few from a backshelf and bundled them up for sale.
As they wrap up their hour long chat, Quinn realized he never even asked about the possibility of tracking someone through hyperspace. Guillaume raised an eyebrow and led him to a shelf of tiny sunflower like plants. These, he gestured, were gemini sprouts. They come in entangled pairs and always pointed themselves at each other. They were also mild parasites, able to implant themselves onto a person's scalp and pass itself off as a knot of hair while drawing a small amount of nourishment from the host. An ideal tool for spys, but incredibly difficult to grow outside of a host. Guillaume looked quite smug at that and happily took a hefty exchange of cred in exchange for a pair of the sprouts.
Meanwhile, deeper into the Bazaar, Saskia took a more convention approach to her search. She started browsing what looked like a store front for hand terminals and accessories, before casually approaching the storekeeper about hyperspace trackers. The storekeeper huffed and said these were not goods that one simply buys -- no, no, certainly not consumer electronics. Undeterred, Saskia pulls one of the code cylinders and waved it in front of him. "We're with the Legion on important business. So you better show me the goods, or else some very serious people will be upset with you." Seemingly cowed, the storekeeper led Saskia into a backroom and asked her to wait. She did so, but quite some time passed before she realized he wasn't coming back. More than that, it seemed like she was locked in and her hand terminal couldn't reach any of the other crew members! She yelled and banged on the door for quite some time before it opened abrupted, and two thugs in dark colored clothing pushed themselves into the room. "That was a Legion code cyclinder." "Where did you get that?" These two weren't Legion, that's for sure. But Saskia couldn't tell what they wanted, and so she stalled for time. And stall she did. Reinhard and Benesh had returned from the spaceport and were puzzled by the lack of communications from Saskia. So they arrived at the Bazaar and collected Quinn before heading deeper. "I think her last message came from here," Benesh frowned as he tapped his hand terminal. These peasant technologies were sometimes interesting but usually just mildly annoying. They were walking up to the front of the store and already, Reinhard sees something amiss. The storekeeper stood at the front of the store, arms crossed and nervous, and was actively shooing away onlookers and prospective customers. He turned and saw them coming and began to say something about the store closing soon when Reinhard simply pushed him aside, "Oh, don't worry. We just want a quick look." Benesh and Quinn squeezed past him too, and once inside, the trio could hear a commotion in the back. Immediately Reinhard's eye glinted at the prospect of some hands-on problem solving turned to grab the still-complaining shopkeep. He dragged the flailing man and thrusted him through the backroom door. The two goons were surprised as the door burst open. One drew a gun only to for Reinhard to send the shopskeep flying into his face. The goon, who managed to draw a switchblade, paled and dropped his weapon when he saw Reinhard's repeating rifle.
The Elysium Bazaar was was an open secret, and indeed, a major draw to the planet for those in the know. Rumor was that anything you want was available, for the right price, from the right person. It operated alledgedly right under the noses of the local authority, but in actuality, those noses were stuffed with regular and hefty bribes. The Bazaar itself was a long, winding alleyway sandwiched between the curved bases of two spires in the "old town". Shops of all kinds lined the street to the point that there was barely enough room to move. Hundreds, maybe thousands of patrons shuffled past each other, and the smell of sweat would be unbareable if not for the odour of exotic spices, flowers, and incense. These were, for the most part, polite fronts to the real goods being traded. An easy distraction for tourists that wander by, and enough of a cover that Elysium authorities can give the appearance of patroling the stores' wares. Quinn was quite familiar with the Bazaar's reputation. While the tracker was important, he was actually here for something else -- saplings to help Reinhard attone for his VR addiction. And so he "allowed" himself to be distracted by a particularly botanical spice merchant's storefront. Wandering inside, he caught the portly and gregarious shopkeeper just as he exited what looked like an airlock as he pulled off a full-face mask, "Hello, how can I help you today?" It took only a few volleys of questions to convince the shopkeeper that he wasn't looking for the usual bio-engineered fare. The storekeeper, giving him an appraising look, nodded and gave him a mask before putting his own back on. He introduced himself as Guillaume and led him into the back room. Beyond the airlock was a sort of sunlamped greenhouse. Exotic plants were potted in shelves shrouded in mist. Quinn recognized several of the species prized by those who follow the Gardeners.
Meanwhile, deeper into the Bazaar, Saskia took a more convention approach to her search. She started browsing what looked like a store front for hand terminals and accessories, before casually approaching the storekeeper about hyperspace trackers. The storekeeper huffed and said these were not goods that one simply buys -- no, no, certainly not consumer electronics. Undeterred, Saskia pulls one of the code cylinders and waved it in front of him. "We're with the Legion on important business. So you better show me the goods, or else some very serious people will be upset with you." Seemingly cowed, the storekeeper led Saskia into a backroom and asked her to wait. She did so, but quite some time passed before she realized he wasn't coming back. More than that, it seemed like she was locked in and her hand terminal couldn't reach any of the other crew members! She yelled and banged on the door for quite some time before it opened abrupted, and two thugs in dark colored clothing pushed themselves into the room. "That was a Legion code cyclinder." "Where did you get that?" These two weren't Legion, that's for sure. But Saskia couldn't tell what they wanted, and so she stalled for time. And stall she did. Reinhard and Benesh had returned from the spaceport and were puzzled by the lack of communications from Saskia. So they arrived at the Bazaar and collected Quinn before heading deeper. "I think her last message came from here," Benesh frowned as he tapped his hand terminal. These peasant technologies were sometimes interesting but usually just mildly annoying. They were walking up to the front of the store and already, Reinhard sees something amiss. The storekeeper stood at the front of the store, arms crossed and nervous, and was actively shooing away onlookers and prospective customers. He turned and saw them coming and began to say something about the store closing soon when Reinhard simply pushed him aside, "Oh, don't worry. We just want a quick look." Benesh and Quinn squeezed past him too, and once inside, the trio could hear a commotion in the back. Immediately Reinhard's eye glinted at the prospect of some hands-on problem solving turned to grab the still-complaining shopkeep. He dragged the flailing man and thrusted him through the backroom door. The two goons were surprised as the door burst open. One drew a gun only to for Reinhard to send the shopskeep flying into his face. The goon, who managed to draw a switchblade, paled and dropped his weapon when he saw Reinhard's repeating rifle.
"She might feel that he is a bit off his rocker."
"You finally realize this?"
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