@hexes-and-headaches
It had been some time since the Machine and their pilot had set up shop in this...āplaceā. Whatever it was, it was simply known asĀ āthe Planetā and it was home to some rather....odd resources. Plants bore some resemblance to oneās theyāve seen, but the planet...for lack of a better term, bled some sort of strange substance called Ivory. And it seems the leading...āgovernmentā was harvesting this Ivory for financial and cultural gain.
Admittedly, given what he was able to find out, the Ivory would be something fascinating to observe in a more controlled environment. But at last, he had to focus priorities other aspects first. Like his smuggling ring/market gig they have set up here.
It had taken a not-a-insignificant amount of effort to see exactly what kind of wares this place would be susceptible to. And given this One Concern, the people here were almost hysterically sheltered on what really should be basic skills for a society. In particular, it seem the masses sense of entertainment and knowledge for basic mechanical skills was a laughable pit of emptiness. A pit that was easily filled with the easiest kind of shit to smuggle here. Oh, guns and weapons were always gonna be big sellers. Thatās just the nature of life, at least as Tom saw it. However, the drive and demand for knowledge and arts was almost hysterical to the Pilot and Bot, given it reminded them of the worse of the Franzās Reign.
And like all reigns of the most controlling sort, the demand for contrabands was high.
In normal circumstances, Ottomo and Tom would let one of their goons run the errands between the smuggling ringings. However, Ottomo and Tom felt that given the...circumstances, a more careful and hands on approach was needed. So for potentially big sales or markets, the two make it a point to show up. Both for instructions but also to make sure there wasnāt any sneaking hands in the metaphorical cookie jar, so to speak.
Especially given that only a very small handful of his crew knew about the...circumstances of this potential avenue for influence and material, and that to avoid the prying eyes of the Egrets, most of those running the markets wereĀ ālocalsā they recruited due to their knowledge of the area and understanding of the culture. It helped that while most of them were given weapons that while effective, didnāt really do much to the machine if they tried getting a bit uppity. And the butler wasnāt above making examples.
Ottomo and Tom slip inside the pathway that leads them to this place, the machineās long legs letting them cover ground quickly and makes the quick walk to the headquarters of theĀ āmarketā they had set up. The few of his crew in the know dropped off a massive amount of contraband for sell and trade in this world and if Ottomo was able to keep his head low long enough, he get a nice amount of materials and goods for it...
