Church's Summer

Quiet Reflections In Vale

The days leading up to the weekend were a nightmare and a half; like he had suspected his team had taken his one time act of kindness as a normal thing, leaving him as the team's designated tutor. It would for sure be the last time he did something because of the goodness of his heart.

Church stepped off the airship, taking his first look of Vale proper. It hardly lived up to its name; the streets were covered in trash and homeless people sat in the alleys. A frown set on his face, he pulled up his hood, and started walking. Tucker's Vengeance needed more ammo, he had spent a lot of it on a sparring match against Taiyang... it wasn't a proud moment.

As he headed further into the city he noticed the streets becoming cleaner, as well as a lower homeless population. The sidewalks were lined with restaurants, cafes, and the occasional shop. His eyes eventually spotted the dust shop From Dust Till Dawn, it was the highest rated one on his scroll. Of course, it had only been open for a little over a year, but that just added to how good it supposedly was.

Opening the door, a bell sounded from above him, leading the gaze of the employee behind the desk to him. The employee was older, probably late thirties or early forties; his hair was a dark black, not a hint of any graying. Behind the man, Church saw the license that allowed him to sell bullets and Dust hung up on the wall like a diploma, judging by the fact that the name on the license and the name on his nametag matched, the man was probably the owner.

"Flannery, yeah? Do ya sell any sniper rifle rounds?" It was better for establishing connections to use his name, connections Church desperately needed.

Flannery hummed, gesturing with his head behind him. "There's a small assortment of them in the back. You're welcome to look."

With barely a nod of acknowledgement, the AI in human form headed into the back. 'It must be scary to own a shop where you sell Dust and bullets. All day people come in asking for high piercing rounds and explosive dust.'

Finally he spotted what he was looking for; the 14.5×114mm HVAP (high-velocity armor-piercing), it was the closest he could find to the UNSC's own HVAP round. It had taken him some time to first get a hold of it but it was worth the wait, they blasted through walls like paper.

"That's an excellent round you got in your hand. Not many people can handle the HVAP rounds, say they have too much of a punch to them. I would warn you but you clearly seem to know what you're doing." Flannery's eerily quiet footsteps put off Church; he wasn't exactly a small man, he should have made some noise.

Church turned the case of bullets over, holding it closely with the Burn Dust in his other hand, scanning his eyes between the two. "I should, seeing as I've used them longer than I can remember."

Flannery quirked an eyebrow, an amused expression on his face. "Young ones think they know everything." It was muttered under his breath, but Alpha's above average hearing picked it up. "Do you want me to ring them up?"

He delicately handed over the volatile Dust, as well as the bullets before following the employee up to the front. While Flannery chattered about mundane things that Church filtered out, the AI's eyes landed on the Hard-Light Dust in the glass case built into the counter. "How much for a set of that Hard-Light Dust?"

The soul employee seemed annoyed that he was cut off, but quickly replaced it with a mock smile that was practiced to perfection. "Good eye, just got them in the last shipment. That would be five hundred thousand Lien for one set."

The AI reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, fishing out a red credit card; he flipped it in his hand for a second before handing it over to Flannery. "Give me one set." With a deft efficiency Flannery packaged up the items, before handing them, as well as the credit card, back to back to Church.