Chapter 275: Vexical Prime: Fixing Armor
The Mercenary Boss calmed his subordinates while Jace’s group relaxed as well. Then they went up the elevator to a higher level floor. He had realized when the building was being used as a base that a group had managed to get possession of the drop pod. Fortunately it was someone he could turn into allies.
Before they were flexing to try and get a bigger payday. But Jace would just hand the costs off to Director Fenrir since she already gave him permission to prioritize safety of the civilians. She would be upset with the loophole but at the end of the day they would not care that much.
The elevator door opened up and Jace walked out before it was completely open. This level had an abundance of weapons, ammunition, and other things around the room. Sitting near the center was the drop pod they had come to retrieve. But the rest of the weapons and ammunition that were in the room would end up being just as useful.
The drop pod was on its side since it was difficult to sit up on a hard floor like this one. If the floor was dirt or gravel it would probably be sitting upright. As he approached he could see there were a few scratches and marks on it. But it was nothing more than damage to the paint.
There were heavy footfalls behind him as the Mercenary Boss and a few of his people. Along with the people Jace was working with began approaching. "We found it in a republic transport. The same transport had a bunch of civilians. Apparently they found it and then the republic snatched them up." The Mercenary Boss explained. "We were not able to open it."
Jace chuckled as he put his gloved hand on the drop pod. Visible electric lines branched out from his hand. He could now interface with it so he had a certain portion open revealing a slim piece of metal. "That is because this particular type of drop pod was specifically made with a genetic lock. Thankfully you did not try to forcefully try to crack it open."
Jace walked over to the opening and pulled out the portion of metal and then slapped it onto his left arm. A holographic interface appeared and Jace looked over it. "What are you doing?" The Mercenary Boss stopped next to him.
"Repairing my armor and then I will send you the payment. Fortunately they are unable to jam signals so I can still do that. Do you want it in black market or Vexical Empire credits?" Jace asked as he worked on the holographic interface. The device was a remote hacking and interface device that could be used for repairs. At the moment he was using it for repairs since it ran on a separate system and only required power to function.
"Black market. Unfortunately I cannot trust that the empire’s credits will still be valuable after this." The Mercenary Boss pointed out getting a grunt from Jace in amusement.
"Fare. I have this much saved up." Jace sent the amount directly to his cybernetic eye. Once again showcasing his prowess but this time with hacking technology. It was difficult to remotely access cybernetics like he had just done. Not to mention it was highly illegal, but Jace really did not care. He was at the moment more focused on his interface.
His Spectre Armor had taken damage. But not how he was expecting. He was expecting something to be broken, maybe some complex problem. But it appears that a power conduit was loose. That was the only reason the armor was malfunctioning and probably occurred because he landed and bounced on his back.
Fortunately the problem was easily fixed by having the magnetic lock on the power conduit to just turn on and off until it connected completely. A few moments later his armor stopped fritzing. The issue with the armor was not that it was not getting enough power. It was that it was getting too much power.
He had already gotten too used to his armor redirecting the excessive power. He was not used to having to suppress it on his own for this armor. He would have to experiment with issues like that in the event this happens in the future. Once the power conduit was fixed all the other issues quickly resolved themselves. But Jace decided to keep the attachment, he had an open slot at the moment.
"We need to set up a battle net. How many other groups are you in contact with?" Jace asked as he used his new device to browse through the items that were in the drop pod. There is not an infinite amount of gear and equipment but he would prefer to look through an interface like this then on his helmet.
"Three at the moment, you will be able to cover the cost easily with this amount. How did you get so much money?" The Mercenary Boss asked with a grumble. "Aren’t you a career soldier? This amount of black market credits is a bit too much for one of you."
"When I was young I made a massive amount by doing some work for local gangs. I got so good I had people from other planets bring their work to me. Many of them were quite wealthy." Jace explained as he had a few slots open up on the drop pod. He moved over and began equipping himself with magnetic pockets that could hold extra magazines and the Pyre he was equipping himself with. He put the Holy Empire’s weapons he stole off to the side.
"I feel like the less I know about that the better." The Mercenary Boss pointed out aloud before turning to Shepard. "He mentioned that the Union was part of the operation. What are you guys doing? I doubt you are doing this without benefit."
"We are doing it to secure the safety of the civilians." Shepard shook his head and then thought of something. "But if we did get something it would be an insight into Spectre Jace. Getting to see up close how dangerous the Vexical Military’s new Spectre soldiers are is a benefit in a way."