Garrus Vakarian: Citadel Security (Currently Being Rewritten)

Prologue

1:00 am
Choras Den, Lower Wards
Citadel

Finch walked swiftly through the doors leading out of the bar, Chora's Den, and followed the white, metal path, through the wards towards the elevator that would take him to his meeting.

It was time, this deal, if all went well, could potentially make him one of the richest humans on the Citadel, rivalling even Ambassador Udina, the Human representative on the Citadel. Still he was cautious about the deal. His Batarian contact, Khato Gakmorok, who had set up this deal for him, had said this was a relatively new contact that Khato himself had only had minor dealings with in the past, and that meant Finch needed to be careful. It could be a trap.

It was then that Finch reached the elevator in the lower markets area of the wards. He activated the call pad for the elevator. After a short wait the doors opened and a group of Asari stepped out, offering greetings as they passed, but Finch was too anxious and in too much of a rush to acknowledge their formalities, or to wonder why they were wandering around at this hour.

On the elevators glowing orange control panel, Finch selected the lower Wards, the location of his meeting. The doors closed and Finch felt his stomach lurch as the elevator carried him away to the weapons deal that could potentially set him up for a long time, if not for life.

As he waited for the elevator to reach the lower wards Finch raised the metal case he had been carrying and examined it closely. It was a silver case, about double the size of a conventional briefcase, with solid, black metal latches to keep it sealed and a coded lock so that only Finch could retrieve the merchandise held within. However, this briefcase only held a taste of what Finch's enigmatic new supplier had in his possession, or so Finch had been told. If all went well here, he could hopefully sell the entire stock, or at least a large portion of it. That's how he would become rich. Maybe he would get an apartment overlooking the lake on the Presidium, the luxurious area of the Citadel close to the embassies of all those species deemed worthy enough by the Citadel Council, but he was getting ahead of himself, the buyer in this deal, for all he knew, could be dodgy.

At that moment, the elevators doors opened, revealing the smoky hallway leading to the lower markets.

"This is it...time to hopefully make me some money." Finch did not have to walk too far to reach the alleyway where the meeting was occurring. He stepped into the alley and ahead he spotted a lone figure standing about twenty metres away. That must be his buyer.

He checked the time on his Omni-Tool, it read 1:28 AM. "The buyer got here early." Finch observed, muttering to himself. "I wonder how long they've been waiting."

Visibility wasn't the greatest in this alley, the only illumination came from red lights placed at intervals along the walls. Not many people used these alleys, mainly out of fear. The steam from the pipes running the walls of the alley, along with the red lighting, gave the back alleys of the lower markets a spooky, dangerous feel that most people avoided, which made them the perfect meeting place for this deal.

Finch ran his hand through his thick brown hair and started walking towards the figure cautiously, squinting through the smoke of the hallway.

"Not many people use these alleys, they aren't the safest." Alyus called out to the lone figure, once he had gotten closer. It was a code, not the best one for sure, but it was something he had organised as a means of making sure he had the buyer, and not just a civilian in the wrong place at the right time. This was necessary with him having never met or communicated with this buyer in person, although he made a mental note to think of a better code. He didn't even know what species this buyer was. His usual clientele were Batarians, Humans and, at times, the various mercenary groups of the galaxy.