08-28-2015, 11:06 PM
For all the futuristic influence present in the design of Coruscant, the interior of this building looked surprisingly modern. Well, modern in the sense of shining white linoleum tiling, plain beige-colored wall, and the minimalist and curvy design choices for layout and furniture. At least the front desk seemed to be manned by an actual person, though.
After walking up to the receptionist's desk and communicating his intention to apply for being a bounty hunter, Dante's quest got notably more complicated. At first he was outright rejected, with the claim that Dante was to be registered as not just a qualified citizen but as a military-capable individual, which was some complicated stuff that he'd really rather avoid getting into. His next idea was to simply lobby for the position, to try and convince someone that he was a capable individual for this kind of job. It was met with skepticism, but Dante was nevertheless pointed towards a specific office.
After some searching (it's like they somehow make these buildings non-euclidean, sometimes), the demon hunter approached what looked to be the correct door, D-203A. He had been told that he currently shouldn't be occupied with any others meetings, but that kind of vague statement didn't retract Dante's skepticism. He raised a knuckle and tapped hard on the door several times, getting a gruffly "come in" in response. Dante obliged, opening the door.
The office was a bit cozy, to put it lightly, but there was still enough room for everything that needed to be there - desk in the middle, a couple of chairs opposite, a single ceiling lamp to give more light than a noir firm, and a single large potted plant off in the corner. Oh, and of course the person sitting behind the desk: a short-haired square-jawed man who looked like Clark Kent gave up trying to disguise himself and sounded vaguely like the Punisher.
"So you're the one looking to try your luck as a bounty hunter, eh?" The man asked, somewhat rhetorically. The name tag on his desk read 'J. Norberg', upon closer inspection.
Dante closed the door behind him, dropped his sword case between the two chairs in front of the desk, and held out a hand to shake. "Tony Redgrave. And yes, I am." Mr. Norberg didn't respond, turning back down to the papers strewn across his desk in subtle refused of the handshake. At this, Dante pouted a bit before taking a seat.
"I'm sure you got the point earlier that we don't let just any Prime fresh through the Gate become an bounty hunter here," Norberg spoke again, after a bated moment of silence. "And I hope you can understand exactly why."
The demon hunter shrugged, and took a stab in the dark. "You want to make sure the hunters are still loyal to the cause, right?"
"It's more than that," Norberg retorted. "The Empire has a quite powerful law enforcement and boasts a substantial standing military for most any operation. But there are just some things beyond the Empire's reach of power. The kind of criminals that Stormtroopers just aren't equipped to deal with, the ones that stay silent and well out of Imperial range," The man explained, arms crossed and leaning forward to stare Dante right in his burning eyes.
"Those are the kinds of filth that get on the hit list, Tony. They wouldn't be there if they didn't require the likes of only another Prime to take them down. And what should happen if such a Prime decided they don't want to hand the sap over?"
"Then we have two rampant Primes on the bounty list," Dante declared, his head bobbing in understanding nods.
Norberg gave a single nod of his own, and flashed a finger point at Redgrave. "You get it. So now, lemme tell you this: it's completely possible to hunt down a bounty without even getting a license or registration. But when it comes down to getting a payment out of it, don't expect us to just fork over a reward just because you killed a certain someone."
"Oh, actually," Dante piped up, looking to lay down the reason he came here in the first place, "I'm actually looking to solve something more of a personal matter." With a questioning grunt from Norberg, the demon hunter continued:
"You see, I caught wind of there being a certain someone out there who looks somewhat like performing terrorist actions. And, obviously, I wouldn't want to be mistaken for that specific person whenever I walk around Imperial territory, right?"
"Right," Norberg stated, a little absent, as he was clacking away on his desktop computer in search of some sort of records.
"And I mean, call me barbaric, but I just want to take care of this guy myself. The way I see it, it's two birds with one stone - I get reputation as a good guy, I bring this other guy to justice, and I can actually display the difference between him and I," Dante explained heartily. There was a brief pause, and then, "Okay, three birds, but you get the idea."
"Sure," Norberg said, still facing his terminal but no longer clacking away at his keyboard. "Is this the man you're looking for? 'Ragna the Bloodedge'?" He pulled his monitor on a swivel to show Dante.
There were a couple of blurry, zoomed-in pictures from various security footage of a figure with spiky white hair, a big red coat, and a massive sword. The records stated he managed to slaughter an entire squad of Imperial Stormtroopers, among various other casualties. However, he had not been seen since he entered the freight elevator for Coruscant's lower tiers. So there was lower levels after all...
"That seems like the one," Dante hesitantly declared, putting up an act to cover his intrigue over the supposed lower levels of Coruscant. That was something he'd definitely have a look at himself. He furthered his act with a genuine sneer and a chuckle, "'Ragna the Bloodedge'... what kind of a name is that?"
"Don't ask me- it's what the man called himself," Norberg shrugged, seeming to sympathize with Dante for a moment. "Still sure you wanna try hunting this guy down?"
"Why not?" The Son of Sparda chuckled again, "I say it makes a good challenge. It's not like I'm gonna die, right?"
"About that," Norberg interjected, and Dante whipped back around to listen. "You see, Primes aren't exactly exempt from death here in the Omniverse. But, unlike Secondaries, they don't stay dead forever. About 72 hours after you die, you'll come back again in the Nexus, next to the Fountain. Exactly where you first emerged here."
Dante took a couple of moments to process that, then resumed with, "Oh, so like a three-day respawn period. I get it."
"Yeah. Of course, if you can help it, you wouldn't die in the first place. Because that's painful."
"Uh-huh," Dante agreed. "So, anything else? Should I still have a license or card or something-?"
"Actually," Norberg held up a finger in a 'hold on' gesture, and scooted his chair back to open a drawer and root through his desk. He came back with two objects - a pair of electronics that looked like two different PDAs. One was smaller, looking something like a smartphone, and the other was larger and thicker, like a data pad.
"A Communicator, and a Mobile Dataverse Device," Norberg pointed out the objects respectively. "The latter connects you to the Dataverse, where you can get most any files or documents you could want, as well as connect with anyone else on the Dataverse. The Communcator is basically a phone, if you've heard of those." Dante nodded in confirmation.
"There's a hotline number listed on your Communicator's contacts. Call it when you've finished the job, and you can arrange a pickup if you've managed to get him alive. Either way, you'll still need to come to the office to claim your reward, if you still want it."
"Thanks," the demon hunter said, pocketing the two items and picking up his sword case. "Thanks for the info, too. I'll see if I can't find this 'Ragna' and give him a piece of my mind."
"Just be careful," Norberg insisted, "Coruscant's lower Tiers aren't exactly known for being savory places to stay."
After walking up to the receptionist's desk and communicating his intention to apply for being a bounty hunter, Dante's quest got notably more complicated. At first he was outright rejected, with the claim that Dante was to be registered as not just a qualified citizen but as a military-capable individual, which was some complicated stuff that he'd really rather avoid getting into. His next idea was to simply lobby for the position, to try and convince someone that he was a capable individual for this kind of job. It was met with skepticism, but Dante was nevertheless pointed towards a specific office.
After some searching (it's like they somehow make these buildings non-euclidean, sometimes), the demon hunter approached what looked to be the correct door, D-203A. He had been told that he currently shouldn't be occupied with any others meetings, but that kind of vague statement didn't retract Dante's skepticism. He raised a knuckle and tapped hard on the door several times, getting a gruffly "come in" in response. Dante obliged, opening the door.
The office was a bit cozy, to put it lightly, but there was still enough room for everything that needed to be there - desk in the middle, a couple of chairs opposite, a single ceiling lamp to give more light than a noir firm, and a single large potted plant off in the corner. Oh, and of course the person sitting behind the desk: a short-haired square-jawed man who looked like Clark Kent gave up trying to disguise himself and sounded vaguely like the Punisher.
"So you're the one looking to try your luck as a bounty hunter, eh?" The man asked, somewhat rhetorically. The name tag on his desk read 'J. Norberg', upon closer inspection.
Dante closed the door behind him, dropped his sword case between the two chairs in front of the desk, and held out a hand to shake. "Tony Redgrave. And yes, I am." Mr. Norberg didn't respond, turning back down to the papers strewn across his desk in subtle refused of the handshake. At this, Dante pouted a bit before taking a seat.
"I'm sure you got the point earlier that we don't let just any Prime fresh through the Gate become an bounty hunter here," Norberg spoke again, after a bated moment of silence. "And I hope you can understand exactly why."
The demon hunter shrugged, and took a stab in the dark. "You want to make sure the hunters are still loyal to the cause, right?"
"It's more than that," Norberg retorted. "The Empire has a quite powerful law enforcement and boasts a substantial standing military for most any operation. But there are just some things beyond the Empire's reach of power. The kind of criminals that Stormtroopers just aren't equipped to deal with, the ones that stay silent and well out of Imperial range," The man explained, arms crossed and leaning forward to stare Dante right in his burning eyes.
"Those are the kinds of filth that get on the hit list, Tony. They wouldn't be there if they didn't require the likes of only another Prime to take them down. And what should happen if such a Prime decided they don't want to hand the sap over?"
"Then we have two rampant Primes on the bounty list," Dante declared, his head bobbing in understanding nods.
Norberg gave a single nod of his own, and flashed a finger point at Redgrave. "You get it. So now, lemme tell you this: it's completely possible to hunt down a bounty without even getting a license or registration. But when it comes down to getting a payment out of it, don't expect us to just fork over a reward just because you killed a certain someone."
"Oh, actually," Dante piped up, looking to lay down the reason he came here in the first place, "I'm actually looking to solve something more of a personal matter." With a questioning grunt from Norberg, the demon hunter continued:
"You see, I caught wind of there being a certain someone out there who looks somewhat like performing terrorist actions. And, obviously, I wouldn't want to be mistaken for that specific person whenever I walk around Imperial territory, right?"
"Right," Norberg stated, a little absent, as he was clacking away on his desktop computer in search of some sort of records.
"And I mean, call me barbaric, but I just want to take care of this guy myself. The way I see it, it's two birds with one stone - I get reputation as a good guy, I bring this other guy to justice, and I can actually display the difference between him and I," Dante explained heartily. There was a brief pause, and then, "Okay, three birds, but you get the idea."
"Sure," Norberg said, still facing his terminal but no longer clacking away at his keyboard. "Is this the man you're looking for? 'Ragna the Bloodedge'?" He pulled his monitor on a swivel to show Dante.
There were a couple of blurry, zoomed-in pictures from various security footage of a figure with spiky white hair, a big red coat, and a massive sword. The records stated he managed to slaughter an entire squad of Imperial Stormtroopers, among various other casualties. However, he had not been seen since he entered the freight elevator for Coruscant's lower tiers. So there was lower levels after all...
"That seems like the one," Dante hesitantly declared, putting up an act to cover his intrigue over the supposed lower levels of Coruscant. That was something he'd definitely have a look at himself. He furthered his act with a genuine sneer and a chuckle, "'Ragna the Bloodedge'... what kind of a name is that?"
"Don't ask me- it's what the man called himself," Norberg shrugged, seeming to sympathize with Dante for a moment. "Still sure you wanna try hunting this guy down?"
"Why not?" The Son of Sparda chuckled again, "I say it makes a good challenge. It's not like I'm gonna die, right?"
"About that," Norberg interjected, and Dante whipped back around to listen. "You see, Primes aren't exactly exempt from death here in the Omniverse. But, unlike Secondaries, they don't stay dead forever. About 72 hours after you die, you'll come back again in the Nexus, next to the Fountain. Exactly where you first emerged here."
Dante took a couple of moments to process that, then resumed with, "Oh, so like a three-day respawn period. I get it."
"Yeah. Of course, if you can help it, you wouldn't die in the first place. Because that's painful."
"Uh-huh," Dante agreed. "So, anything else? Should I still have a license or card or something-?"
"Actually," Norberg held up a finger in a 'hold on' gesture, and scooted his chair back to open a drawer and root through his desk. He came back with two objects - a pair of electronics that looked like two different PDAs. One was smaller, looking something like a smartphone, and the other was larger and thicker, like a data pad.
"A Communicator, and a Mobile Dataverse Device," Norberg pointed out the objects respectively. "The latter connects you to the Dataverse, where you can get most any files or documents you could want, as well as connect with anyone else on the Dataverse. The Communcator is basically a phone, if you've heard of those." Dante nodded in confirmation.
"There's a hotline number listed on your Communicator's contacts. Call it when you've finished the job, and you can arrange a pickup if you've managed to get him alive. Either way, you'll still need to come to the office to claim your reward, if you still want it."
"Thanks," the demon hunter said, pocketing the two items and picking up his sword case. "Thanks for the info, too. I'll see if I can't find this 'Ragna' and give him a piece of my mind."
"Just be careful," Norberg insisted, "Coruscant's lower Tiers aren't exactly known for being savory places to stay."