Two Tickets to Paradise

[Swindle]

Characters: Swindle, @juryrig
Location: Monacus
Content Warnings: Excessive levels of Swindle
Plot Summary: Swindle invites a potential business partner to the gambling paradise of Monacus.

[Swindle]

There were few places in the Universe that Swindle enjoyed more than Monacus. Rather, there were few places that he could turn a profit faster in. For a seemingly unimportant asteroid just south of the Vestial Imperium, it was a veritable paradise for anyone with an ounce of business savvy; something Swindle had in spades. From all the glitz and glamour, you almost couldn't tell that the place bought and sold Transformers as slaves. It was even less obvious that Swindle was receiving a cut of that same action. He was hardly bothered by it though, the perks of having a war erode his sense of morality. That, and enormous profit.

He was here for a slightly different reason today, however. No weapons peddling, no slave trading. Strictly business; of a different kind. Swindle was sitting pretty at the top of the Gyconi Pit of Destruction, sipping from a glass of high grade. The venue reminded him a bit of the good old days, doing book for "Megatronus" during his gladiator days. Of course, he was making more money now than he could've ever dreamed of back then.

Swindle had a date, tonight. A business date, that is. There was a connection between Monacus and Earth that needed to be made, and he would've been overextending himself if he tried to do it all by his lonesome. So, he had made arrangements to meet with a relative outsider, a junk peddler from Cybertron who used to haul pain around for the Decepticons until she grew a conscience, supposedly. An outsider was precisely who he needed, and this femme fit the bill perfectly.

Having an intergalactic arms dealer pay your cab fare to what essentially amounted to Space-Vegas had to be too enticing of a proposition to turn up, by his own standards.

[Deleted]

"Yes it's real, now come on. I got a meeting to get to." A femme said to a much larger bot, waving him off as she moved forward, fussing with her appearance. She had tried her best to look presentable for this meeting, but judging how the bouncer almost tossed her off the planet at first glance, she had done a poor job. The frame of Jury rig seemed to be a mix of other parts that did all match, despite some armor being attached to hide it as best as possible, and she currently had a pair of arms and legs that looked rather sleek and high quality, which clashed with much of her frame that could be seen beneath the armor.

Rig hated this, having to come to a place just to be stared at, but a chance to make a deal with the likes of Swindle was to much of a golden opportunity to pass up, especially when it came with a free trip. Spotting said transformer, and immediately feeling even worse on her appearance, Rig put on a confident smile and moved forward as if she owned the place "Ah, this finely crafted gentlemen enjoying the riches of life, you must be Swindle I assume?" She asked, putting energy and mirth into her voice as she position herself on a slightly raised area so she didn't appear as small.

"I must say, I never expected to be invited here, my line of work isn't the most glamorous, so Imagine my shock when I not only got invited but a paid for trip. You really know how to treat a lady Mister Swindle." She said, leaning forward onto the table and smiling as the bot. "Though, judging yours and my history, I doubt you wanted to simply spend a romantic evening with little Ol' me, despite it being a likely worthwhile experience." She postured and changed her tone as she spoke, hitting the notes she knew she had to in order to complete the little dance she had grown so accustomed to. With a smooth movement, she sat down at the table, and gesture to the drink and a cup "May I? Before we start business?"

[Swindle]

Charming, straight to the point, and careful not to mess up in front of a client; plus she knew the proper protocol. To anybody else, these kinds of features wouldn't be much cause for reaction. Swindle however how damning the lack of said mannerisms could be. He'd been right about her. Despite her patchwork appearance, he felt that Jury-Rig was a real diamond in the rough, and he wasn't just saying that because a rank amateur had ticked all of his boxes right away. She wasn't going to be making the big bucks right off the bat, but she could if she put her mind to it. Also of course, if she had the right connections.

"Oh, I would be insulted if you came all this way just to turn me down," Swindle chirped, his winning smile on full display. "Please, have a seat." He swished the high grade in his glass back and forth as Jury sat down, his mind already brimming with possibilities.

Swindle canted his head to the side, looking down at the gladiator pits in the center of the room. There were but two contenders today, who would also unknowingly play a role in his demonstration. "Ever been a fan of the time-honored profession of arena fighting? Personally I've always loved it; not the sport itself, mind you, but the opportunities that come along with it." Swindle flicked a switch on the edge of their table, and a holographic viewscreen appeared beside it, magnifying the images of the fighters. They were both clearly robotic like Cybertronians, were roughly the same mass and size as one, but something was off. Their movements were much too rigid, their faces carried no expression, and above all else, they gave off no spark pulse.

Nodding at his mental observation, Swindle added, "Mechanoids. Robotic like us, of course, but that's where the similarities end. They're automatons controlled by a brain module, but without a spark. Each one's body is made up of metal alloys, instead of sentio metallico. They're monoformers, in a manner of speaking."

Swindle paused to take a drink. "Their species belongs to a major power this side of the galaxy, the Vestial Imperium. They close their borders to anybody they haven't conquered, but Monacus is an exception. This far from Cybertron, sentient metal is a very rare commodity..."

Trailing off, Swindle was hoping that Jury would connect the dots.

[Deleted]

Despite not receiving answer to her question, Rig knew the buisness had begun and poured herself a glass of the high grade Swindle seemed to be enjoying. As carefully as she could, she poured just a little more than would be polite, her mind racing as the idea of receiving energon. It had been two days since she last got into her rations, so the pains in her body weren’t tobad but noticeable none the less. She lifted he glass and swished it, listening to Swindle attentively as her instinct demanded she chug the drink. “Never really got to see it for my self, was sort of born after things got serious in the war. But i’ve Heard good things from some people.” A picture of her parents flashed in her head as she took as measured a drink as she could manage of the high grade, then carefully leaned back in her chair to look confident and to cover up her body tingling and almost melting at the taste.

Her eyes sharpened when Swindle began to put down some information, likely connected to her reason for being summoned. The fuzziness and warmth of her frame dulled as the buisness side kicked into high gear. She took another more measured sip before smiling “Heh, and you wanted to help alleviate that rarity, so to speak?” She said, tilting her head and seeming to exude confidence instead of pretending. This was about parts and Cybertronian remains, her bread and butter, she could see where he was going with this. She passed and eye over to the fights, and seemed to get invested into the fight while drinking more. “I could probably help with tha, it is my buisness after all... But I doubt you just want what’s in my ship. Nah, if you wanted that small a profit, you could just get it yourself. ” her brow raised up and she turned to look at Swindle completely, her smile grow so much the out of place portion of her face seeming to bend a bit. “You know something big don’t you?” she asked, finishing off her drink and hiding her sadness behind a confident smile and sharp eyes.

[Swindle]

She was catching on quick, he had to give her that. Swindle wouldn't have called her here if he felt she was a dullard, anyway. So far, all according to plan. He switched off the viewfeed for the pit, having already proved his point. Swindle gently leaned over the table, his fingers steepled and his smile out. "It just so happens that I do, and I need a specialist to assist me." 'Specialist' might've just been a euphemism for junker or gravedigger, but for now the comparison was apt. "I don't know if you keep up with the war, but lately, it's been centered in a single star system. The Sol System to be precise, the third planet from the star."

"Place turns into a battleground whenever one of our scouts bumps into an Autobot, and they always leave quite the mess. The way I figure it, is that there's profit to be made here on Monacus by using what the Autobots and Decepticons leave behind on Earth."

Swindle adjusted himself in his chair, leaning backwards. Time to lay in the hook. "The Vestials pay top-shanix for sentient metal, alive or dead. But in order to take what could be just a junk stand at at bazaar into a thriving enterprise, we'd have to work together. I give you the juicy details on when and where the Bots and Cons lock horns, you scoop up the goods, and we turn it into a thriving market for the Imperium."

[Deleted]

Rig didn’t immediately respond, instead opting to pour herself another glass, this time intentionally pouring a noticeable amount more than would be proper. She examined the high grade, letting the smell of it hit her sensors and send a shiver down her spine, before taking an unreasonable amount of time to take a small sip of the energon. With her social posturing done, she set the glass down and spoke it out an ounce of hesitence or uncertainty “An active warzone is pretty dangerous, lots of guns firing at anything with a different color scheme. And from you’re describing, it’s not just a couple of squads. There are some big names there, some of which may not appreciate my self inflicted dismissal.”

She took another drink, this time quick and done with in a second “60-40 split, you keep me supplied on energon.... and when this all done, I want a penthouse with one or two of those slaves you seem to have lying around.” She said,
Leaning back in her chair and relaxing as she went for another drink, her body fuzzyall over as the air held her weighty proposal. The fun part began now, she thought to herself as her spark fluttered at the taste of the high grade.

[Swindle]

She was driving a hard bargain, but then again, Swindle would've been doing the same if he were in his position. She had guts to ask for such a large take right away, but he could work with that. He tilted his head forward again, "Now now, I can see a 60-40 split down the line if the first few acquisitions go well, but unless you're going to be bringing in barges of salvage or Primus-forbid, live Cybertronians, then we'll have to start lower." All while Jury had been speaking, Swindle had been taking notes. She was reacting peculiarly to the high grade, not like it was a luxury, but rather like it was an oasis in the middle of a desert.

"Tell you what. I'll cover all energon-related 'expenses' as a bonus, and we can see if you can work up to a cut'a 40, while starting at say, 25. And, as a show of good faith, you're free to use the penthouse I've got here on Monacus when I'm not in." Swindle leaned forward again, his expression slick as ever. "If you've seen my ship, you'd know why I spend so much time away..."

He was going to have to take a small chunk out of his Nebulous facility's energon output, but hey, for a foothold in the Imperium, it was worth it.

[Deleted]

He had an odd way of haggling, and she had already made the muster of not being clear on her terms, so he currently held the cards. Especially since he was willing to give in to the rest of her conditions, he had effectivly left her very little wriggle room. Jury couldn’t tell weather Swindle was just that much better than her or if it was all due to her own mistakes and inexperience. In any case she simply nodded and spoke “A trial run is fair, but you and me both know the kind of ordinance both sides bring when they fight over dirt, and how many bodies they are willing to throw at the problem. Start off at 20 percent, and if things go well, raise it up to 45.” She offered, feeling confident in her counter offer. The lower startin cost would be enticing to anyone just a little unsure of the venture, making the higher later percentage seem less unappealing should things really take off.

“Plus, throw in a bottle of high grade, to celebrate our new partnership.” She said, holding up the half gone bottle by the neck and swinging it side to side.

[Swindle]

Swindle had met some heavy drinkers in his time, but Jury looked to have fallen in love with the stuff on the spot. If she really had such a strong hankering for high grade, it was well within his power to provide it. "Twenty five to forty," he corrected, snapping his fingers towards one of the nearby waiter-bots. They wheeled themselves over to the table, eagerly awaiting the Decepticon's order. "Two more bottles of high-grade, my tab..." The bot nodded his head, quickly rolling around the corner to fetch the order.

"Don't try to drink all of that all at once, please. We'd be making a scene if I had to carry you out of here, passed out." The thought hadn't occurred to him until he placed the order, but the possibility that Jury could actually drink herself unconscious was a very real one. Hopefully, she'd learn to take the stuff in moderation.

[Deleted]

Rig waved her hand dismissively, but push the bottle away none the less "Hey, I may be young, but i can hold my energon." She said with a smile, extending her hand out to her fellow trader. "As for your terms, Alright, I accept. I look forward to our partnership, and of course, the profits." She said with a smile, holding her hand at the ready to shake as the images of new parts, luxury, and regular meals played across her optics in a haze of joy.

Then a rush of lightheadedness came and she almost began to tip, but she quickly right herself and tried to save face. She might have drank to much already...

[Swindle]

Swindle began to reach his hand out before Jury began to list off to one side. Despite coming off as a lightweight right away, he couldn't fault her; this really was the good stuff, after all. He finally shook her hand once she'd propped herself back up, shooting her a smile in return. There were piles of corpses and other discarded tech just sitting around uselessly on Earth, and now Swindle had himself a collector.

"It's a deal, then," he began. "But, are you sure you don't want to do anything about giving yourself an upgrade or two?" Swindle gestured to his face, obviously in reference for the clear split down the middle of Rig's. "No offense if you prefer the patchwork, but I know several guys, if you don't."

[Deleted]

Smiling as the deal was confirmed, Rig had already been calculating just what she would have to dump from her inventory, which of her caches she’d have to add to, and weather she needed to make more when Swindle had made his offer. It took her a few micro cycles, her drives coming to such a complete halt she could have sworn she nearly crashed. The offer hung in the air, swindle’s voice echoing in her head as she brought her fingers to gently touch the portion of her face that was not truely hers, a chunk of some fallen decepticon she had taken near the final days of the wars on cybertron’s surface. Her gaze drifted from Swindle to the glass of high grade, and she could just make out her reflection, and how the grafted piece clearing did not fit. It was jagged, didn’t follow the form of her face, was a different color even, and the eye itself was completely different as it possessed no pupil, just a solid solid color through out.

She could get rid of it, just like that, just a nod of her head and Swindle would have it taken care of it seems. She might be able to see her full face again, after so long. Not to mention, her ability to make a sale would increase, a much more attractive and less grotesque visage having clear precedent in getting people to be more open to you.

However, she remembered the day she got the chunk of face, and just smiled and shrugged “Thanks for the offer, but only hands I trust messing with my parts are mine. Besides...” the confidence faltered and she let out a sigh “Lessons should be remembered.” She said simply, placing her hands behind her head in a relaxed posed, All to Hide the clenching of her fist from Swindle’s optics.