[b]Bowels of the Nava-Hoe[/b]

Aaron Gentles stood in his workshop, staring blankly at a screen. He had input the channel correctly. He had connected to the other party without issue. He was not being traced or wiretapped or any other form of being eavesdropped upon.

So why was he staring at a black wall after his signal had gotten through? And why was he continuing to look at it blankly like an idiot?

Several minutes ticked by, as the engineer contemplated ways he could be better spending his time. He had finally settled on [i]not[/i] purchasing the vintage toaster to satisfy his carnal urges, and had simply filled up a bathtub with loose bills to relax in instead.

Much healthier.

The blond reached to switch off the feed and return to his relaxing money bath, when an irritating, nasally voice came through the speakers.

"Ah, wait! Stop! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Gentles hesitated, weighed his options, and then shut off the feed. The man stood up, and then prepared to shuck off his suit after a long day of filling out paperwork. 

The viewscreen beeped, announcing a call waiting. Sighing, the Guild Tech returned to his seat, before answering the call. The image that appeared before him caused the man to narrow his eyes in distaste at the greasy figure in a cheap suit. It was not merely the fact that the man was blond and blue-eyed. It was not merely the fact that he had pasty white skin and an all too expressive face.

It was that all of the man's features accumulated to the point where Aaron realized that he was staring at his complete opposite in every way.

And that somehow, some day, the time would come when he would have to kill the man in front of him in as messy a manner as possible. 

For the balance of the universe and whatnot.

Future homicide set aside for the moment, the Engineer focused on his immediate task, which was to apparently negotiate with his would-be victim.

"Chairman Azrael, I presume?" The curled hair inquired, opening the discussion.

"You presume correctly, Mr. Gentles." The greaseball replied in kind, "As you may have no doubt noticed, we've come to offer you and your..." Azrael paused, looking to the side for the moment as if considering his choice of words, "Ship, I suppose, a rather lucrative job offer. I hear that even among the Junk Guild, you have a reputation for getting things done. And I am a man that needs things to get done." Azrael pauses, breathing in, "Mr. Gentles-"

"I understand, Chairman." The engineer interrupted the oncoming diatribe flatly, receiving a cool glare from the well-spoken Klansman, "I'm assuming that you are sending me into an at risk environment? What, exactly, does the head of Blue Cosmos require the services of a humble Junk Guild Tech such as myself for?"

Azrael stares at his opposite for a moment, arms folded over his chest in a childish pout, "Fine then, I [i]did[/i] say you could ask questions, didn't I? I'm acting as an intermediary for the Atlantic Federation, Mr. Gentles. And we have it on sensitive information that one of our prototype mobile suits has gone missing after the ship transporting it was attacked while in ZAFT held space."

"That sounds like a terrible place to hide a Federation mobile suit." Gentles deadpanned, receiving another glare from the blond opposite.

"Yes, well, it was a secret facility, and [i]I[/i] certainly don't make those kinds of decisions, now, do I?" The unrepentant racist replied scathingly, as if he had been expected to have a hand in such highly classified military matters, "Anyway, the job is to 'salvage' the area and recover whatever you can find. If you can find the ship, or any remains of it that had data on the suit, or even the suit itself, return it to us in whatever condition and we'll be sure to reward you [i]handsomely[/i]."

Aaron sighed, shaking his head as he extended a lanky arm, waving it to the side in a dismissive motion, "Mr. Azrael, I don't see why you don't just hire out a mercenary squad for it, or simply send out a retrieval team of your own to salvage whatevers left."

The politician simply stared at the engineer coldly for a moment, his expression finally taking a form befitting one of the most powerful men in the world, "I think you and I both know the answer to that."

The engineer nodded, "That sounds like a violation of the Non-Aggression Pact signed by the Three Powers."

"We can make it worth your time, Mr. Gentles. Should you succeed, some [i]very[/i] powerful men would be in your debt." 

"Still not interested, Mr. Chairman. I'm a Guild Tech first and-"

"You and I both know that you only pay those hippy bilaws of yours lip service at best, [i]Mr.[/i] Gentles." This time, it was Azrael's turn to cut off his opposite, and the smug grin plastered over his pasty face showed just how much he enjoyed it. "Now do we have a deal?"

The two men exchange heated glares in silence, measuring each other up for a few long moments before Aaron nods in answer.

"Just send me the details."

Azrael nods in response, satisfied, "I'll send you the last known coordinates. It's called 'Project X', by the way, and we need it taken care of as quickly as possible. That suit in the hands of a Coordinator is a scary thing, Mr. Gentles. I'd rather not risk it by having you dally."

"Of course." Aaron said, standing up from his seat as he took out his tablet, it having just received the information for this contract, "It's not like a Coordinator has ever used one of your prototype mobile suits against you before."

His back turned towards the screen, the Guild Tech never notices Azrael's face twist in fury at the barb. With an expression like biting into an extremely sour lemon, the leader of Blue Cosmos nods at the retreating figure of Aaron Gentles, eyes narrowed in dislike.

"...[i]Good luck[/i]."