Ceres wandered her way down the pier city streets, not truly aimless but with her eyes keen on watching the comings and goings of everyone she passed. Who entered which buildings. Who lingered at street stalls. Who watched her just as keenly and who didn't even give her a second thought.
There was a benefit to being born a nobody, growing up in a mining town of nobodies, and still being a nobody. Ceres blended in as just another star hopper, looking to resupply or find some temporary entertainment to keep her occupied while she was stuck in port. One could never see her and think oh, that is an assassin. Despite how she sometimes felt someone could see the harsh look of determination behind her eyes.
The entire process took about an hour - frustrating because now she was worried about how long she could leave her pilot on his own - but well worth the time spent prowling the streets. She'd bought herself a drink at one stall, and a fried spiced meat roll at another so it didn't seem like she was casing the place. Most of the street vendors were legit sellers, but here and there she could see a runner; someone who collected up particularly special means of payment or trade from those in-the-know, and then zipped off to take it for fencing. Once she'd clocked them, Ceres casually trailed behind, not making herself obvious. Winding through a few small streets, then into narrow alleys until they disappeared down a rather inconspicuous set of stairs heading into the underground.
Ceres found herself walking through an old sonic railway system, now defunct and covered in centuries worth of graffiti and decaying repairs. Bioluminescent fungus climbed the walls and ceiling to give an eerie neon rainbow glow. Much like the streets above, there were many species of people down here too, though in a more shifty, clandestine vibe. A small group were circled around a large hookah, smoking up and sending tendrils of spicy scents into the tunnel. Freelance companions scantily clad in soft leathers - ones that worked outside the control of guilds and law - tried to catch her attention with winks and beckoning fingers.
As she continued, the tunnel system turned off into a big open area, lined with grimey black market stalls filled with stolen tech, smuggled goods, illegal creatures and even an auction block for the underground slave market. If it weren't completely disgusting, Ceres might've been impressed with just how large the market had grown without getting busted up by local authorities. Whatever syndicate that worked in this sector must've had their hands deep into the pockets of the government.
With weapons being her main priority, Ceres searched the stalls until she found one covered with heavy tarps and netting. Even getting close to the small flap of an entrance, she could feel the tingle of energy fire raising the hairs on her arms and hear the faint pew pew and bzzzztBAP somewhere deep back inside. On entering she found herself face to face with a six armed alien with a cheeky little nametag that said Greetings! I am Umbenga.
"Ah, a sheka. Come, come inside! I have wares. You seek, aah aah, let me guess," he paused, eyeing her up and down with huge watery black eyes. "Poisons!"
"Guns," corrected Ceres, with a ghost of a smile. "A personal weapon and a long range. With replacement fuel cells and self charging."
"Aah, aah, a sheka that knows what it wants," he chortled, beckoning one of his middle arms towards a corner where, to her surprised, a long lanky tree looking thing suddenly shifted to twice her height and disappeared behind a curtain of beads. It returned shortly baring an armful of cases to drop heavily on the curators desk with a THUMP.
The six armed creature made quick work of opening up all the cases. The smaller ones contain a wide arranged of different pistols and guns, from bullet shooters to laser beams. The larger cases revealed a pair of long range snipers with high tech sights on them. Ceres perused them carefully, picking up one here and there to test the weight in her hands - aiming at a shelf and checking to see how it felt.
"Most of these are damaged. This one has a microcrack and is liable to explode on me," she mentioned, gesturing with the gun.
"Eeh, the price of buying used goods, sheka. This sort of finery not easy to come by in today's, aaah, dangerous market." explained Umbenga with a shrug of his meaty shoulders.
"Hmn. I'll take two of the Oerho pistols and that big sniper, but I'm not p-"
Bwiiiiingop~!
The charging of a high energy rifle behind Ceres cut her off and the barrel of something poked her in the back. These sorts of things weren't unexpected, but her heart jumped into her throat anyway. She prayed they didn't know humans well enough to notice that the color had drained out of her face. At least she'd kept her composure and her breathing even, as she rose her hands slowly into the air.
"I don't have the money on me," she warned. "A bit of a waste to shoot me."
"Aah, but sheka like you catch a nice price on the auction, more than the price of these guns, yes. Well worth." chortled, the alien. There was another nudge at her back and when she looked over her shoulder, she found thier third companion was a furry looking mutt with a pug nose and a body thick enough to crush through walls.
"Worth the price of a whole shipment of guns, though?" she rejoined, finding her voice a little higher pitched than she would have liked, but at least not sounding as if she were about to jump out of her boots. "I own a ship, legal papers and all. Not a single mark against her."
This seem to pique Umbenga's curiosity and leaned in over his desktop covered in gun cases. "Eeh then, is that so? Such a claim sounds convenient."
Ceres herself shrugged her shoulders. "Just so happens I am looking to haul cargo from the sorts that don't like asking a lot of questions. If it pays well enough. Give me the guns I need, and I'll load you up on a discount. Tell a couple friends they got twenty four hours to load my ship and I'll give the same. First timers discount."
Umbenga sat back, seeming to give this a deep amount of consideration. Ceres waited with baited breath, running through what she would do if she'd trusted too much in acting cocky and this all blew up in her face. If she ended up dragged off to the auctions, how long before the pilot figured out something happened to her? Could he even come get her? Would he? The man would be better off leaving with the ship and never looking back.
"The cut of your sack must be great boldness indeed to walk in unknown. I accept. But Umbenga is a fool to no one - I send a man. You take my man and my shipment, you get the guns and a percentage. A miniscule percentage."
The energy weapon poking her in the back charged down and disappeared, allowing Ceres the ability to breathe again. She nodded firmly and together they quickly went over the instructions for the shipment. Where her ship was waiting to be loaded, the details of where the delivery would be made. She wasn't keen on the thug that would be the accompanying passenger, but she was an unknown. She understood they didn't want to trust her with smuggled cargo without verifying she could be trusted.
Ceres couldn't have escaped out of the underground fast enough. Once she was top-side and her beating heart had returned to a steady rhythm, she found herself elated and overjoyed. One step closer to her mission.
Now hopefully her pilot was having just as good of luck.
