--ILLIUM --TASALE SYSTEM -- CRESCENT NEBULA--
"....and in any case, should the quarians accept the hegemonic offer of planetary asylum, their fleet could make a formidable shield against human incursion." Essul said as he glared at menos, his headache starting to subside a bit. "Is that enough information for you?"
Menos rubbed the back of his head, not looking all too pleased. "Wha-? Oh yeah, it's all good. It's just...." he began tapping his fingers on the table, "I was expecting battle plans for something like "Storming the Exodus Cluster" or "This is our top secret plan for a dooms day weapon on Spekilas". This in comparison seems a bit...dull." he said simply with a shrug, "That slave network info you gave me was pretty good though, so I guess we can call it even."
"These are drafted strategies, not some science fiction vid plot. Elysium's drafted strategy was "hold the line" but nobody complains about that." Essul said with a roll of his eyes, making sure to sell that he was annoyed more then pleased. Selling outdated hegemonic information, ones that had been revised heavily or downright dropped by the ruling government, or even plans intercepted by the less powerful sovereign nations and colonies for their own vies for power, was a good way of throwing off the nosey and inquisitive of what ones true plans were.
'And it's not treason because the plans were going to be released anyway as a bluff, I simply released them early.' Essul thought as he took a drink of the water he had, not wanting to get buzzed until this was all behind him. 'Sure it's not treason, and I'm sure myshalyat really does visit naughty and nice children to judge them in the end of seasons. Whatever helps you sleep at night...' he thought bitterly.
"...besides..." he began, looking menos in the eyes as he spoke, "Those slavers are the scum of the batarian people. Breaking the law and claiming to be doing it for cultural reasons...hope some nice alliance patrols pick that info up." he said, full and genuine honesty in his voice.
"A batarian who hates slaving...maybe I aught to cut back on the drinks." Menos said, barely even buzzed by the drinks he ordered. Salarian ale was perfect for salarians, working with their metabolism to burn out quickly and efficiently. It'd make them feel pleasantly warm and tingly and not sit long enough to get them drunk or mentally depleted. "Anyway, I can't guarantee who gets this data. But I'll make sure it's not backtracked to you. Anonymity of our suppliers is a keystone for our operations."
Essul nodded, looking to the tablet as he put it away, where the other one had been stored. Menos watched this with a frown before he gave a small and polite cough, "I...I think there's something you aught to know, about that data." menos said, looking to essul as essul looked to menos curiously.
"What is it?" Essul asked curiously, studying menos's face as he spoke. He was nervous, but also wouldn't make eye contact, and held his head downwards and towards the right, signifying guilt? 'Don't tell me he sold me out!?' essul thought in a panic, though on the outside he was calm and cool.
"That data...parts of it are encrypted. I couldn't find a way to break their firewalls without screwing the whole thing up." Menos finally said as he held his head down in shame, "The plan was to get your credits, see how big a douche you were, and let you realize what happened while I disappeared off into the night."
"And you only thought to tell me this now?" Essul asked, sounding angry at first before he blinked, "...why are you telling me this now?" he asked cautiously, unsure if he could trust this salarian anymore.
"Because you turned out not to be a douche." Menos said with a shrug, "An angry, off putting, boring kind of guy yeah. But you weren't my typical batarian client ranting racist while threatening to shoot me every few times." He said with a cocky grin.
Essul winced externally and internally, "..are they really-"
"It's more then type of person then the race they come from. Seen plenty of humans, turians, and krogan do the same. Even a few asari, believe it or not." He said as he folded his hands behind his head, leaning back, "It's just the type of people you come to know by talking to them more then 5 minutes. It's the real reason I come here and take my time, lets them put on a mask, then drop it without knowing."
"And what was my mask?" Essul asked cautiously, hands locked together and clenching tighter with nervousness.
Menos smirked, "That you're ruthless and cold, when you're not." he said as he put his empty glass in a stack with the others, forming a tiny pyramid of shot glasses, "The data's locked down and requires proper clearance to access. From what I can tell, it's made for leadership eyes only. That means having at least Brigadier level status to open yours, and ambassador level status for the councils data."
Essul looked to the table with his hand down, hands still clutched together as he frowned, "So...I need high ranking clearance to get to this data...I take it I can't just buy them off you."
"Trust me. If you could afford to buy them from me, you wouldn't need to be meeting with a mid level broker on illium..." Menos said, a serious look on his face, "That clearance ain't going to be easy for you to get, espeically the hegemonic one. I don't have the connections to get it, or I'd have broken in with them already...I'm sorry about this." he said, rubbing his forehead as he looked to the batarian half angerly, "You know you could have saved me this by just being a jerk. Then I wouldn't fee guilty about this problem and we'd all go on with our lives."
Essul continued to sit in silence, thinking things over as the gears in his head spun and ground rapidly. His mind drifted to one of his superior officers, an operation he'd told him about a long time ago before he'd left on his mission into the exodus cluster. The bar fight...he didn't need to think about their bar fight. But something he'd said, something about their embassy.
Essul looked to menos, nodding his head, "So I need ambassador level clearance, and high ranking clearance..." he said as he stood up from his seat, "It's been a pleasure." he said with a tilt of his head to show thanks before he began to leave.
Menos blinked in surprise, watching essul leave as he called out, "Where you going?" he asked, sounding confused.
"I'm going to go be an ambassador...." Essul simply replied, walking out of the bar and towards the docks, many assuming it was just another drunk batarian rambling incoherently.
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