Tuesday, 082-1114:
A Morning Overload!
The morning of the 82nd day broke with all of the crew sleeping in bedrooms in the suite they'd rented on the Ghandi system high port. In two days, Mikah needed to choose an assistant and move back to the ship to decant Rol's clone. So, she had that day and the next to enjoy herself before getting to that work. Jocelynn, Sekea and Aali had their own plans to visit InstellArms, and knew the others would happily join in. Jocelynn also planned to check in with the broker she'd hired the day before.
While most of the crew hadn't, Aiden, Fesic and Sekea had set alarms to wake them at 9 am. Zimzod had set his for 9:30. Jocelynn had hoped to sleep in, but she woke to an insisting beeping sound in her bedroom. When she moaned and demanded "What?" in a slurred voice, a perky androgynous recording announced, "You have a message incoming!". Disgusted, Jocelynn growled, "Of course" while checking the clock, then sneered at the room's automated systems.
Setting the room's comms to 'audio-only', Jocelynn snarled at the suite's AI and answered the call only to hear a male voice say, "Delivery for Dame Jocelynn Guerrek from InstellArms?" If she were being honest with herself, the man at the door sounded like he was just interested in getting this delivery done and would, himself, prefer to be asleep too. But Jocelynn was confused because she had no idea what InstellArms would be delivering to her? Getting past that, she stuttered out that she'd be right to the door, and grabbed for clothes to throw on.
At the portal, Jocelynn hit a control which showed the view outside the door on a display screen for her. Looking at the display, Jocelynn saw a man at the door, and a woman behind him, carrying a box. She guessed the box was two-foot by two-foot and most of a foot tall. Using the video controls, Jocelynn could see a label on the box, reading, 'To Dame Guerrek, from InstellArms - Ghandi.' Jocelynn could see they were both dressed in InstellArms uniforms, and the box was an InstellArms box. Another control activated the "doorstep scanner", which told Jocelynn the two were unarmed.
When she opened the door, the man reacted as if he'd been educated on Jocelynn's appearance. Seeing her face, he jumped right into a speech, saying, "Good morning Dame Jocelynn. This is from InstellArms with our compliments." He then stepped aside to let the woman move up with the box. Watching her, Jocelynn could tell the box didn't seem very heavy. Still, the woman had to move carefully because of its size. Jocelynn checked the label and saw she'd read it right in the video.
Stepping back and letting the woman come into the suite, Jocelynn guided her to a table while the man with her followed them both. After the box was set down, the two workers seemed to wait for Jocelynn to either check the box or dismiss them. Not sure why they didn't just leave, Jocelynn decided to tip and thank them, then gestured for them to leave. The tip she bumped them was Cr 10 each. Thanking Jocelynn politely for the tips, the two left and Jocelynn closed the door after them.
Alone, and with the door closed, Jocelynn stepped up to the box, and lifted the top. Whatever was in the box had been covered by a smooth sheet of "packing cover". That was a plasticized sheet of near-paper that was most often a "protective covering" for goods to prevent any kind of dirt, dust or other debris from being packed in. On top of that was a message that looked artistically written and read, "We hope these meet with your approval. Please accept our gift. We look forward to helping with your battledress augmentation and ammunition needs." The note continued: We have available for your grenade launcher the following ammunition stocks: 1) Crowd Dispersal: "CS"(pepper) or "Morph Gas" 2) Simple Blast Concussion 3) Concussion-Anti-Personnel(CAP): Concussion packed with rubber bullets for crowd dispersal 4) High Explosive(HE) 5) High Explosive - Anti-Personnel(HEAP) 6) Shaped-Charge Hatch/Bulkhead Breakers 7) Smoke (In a variety of colors) 8) Chaff: To block or confuse laser fire and sensor detection
Setting the note aside, Jocelynn pulled the cover packing away and saw what looked like the top of a set of executive armor! Carefully digging a hand between the armor and the side of the box, Jocelynn did her best to explore beneath what felt like a stack of fabric. Reaching the box bottom, she lifted the stack from the bottom of the box and found it contained ten sets of executive armor tops and bottoms! Based on the last price she'd seen listed in Denotam, each set sold for Cr 2,500. So, the stack of armor were worth Cr 25,000! And, the note said they were a gift! Shock and surprise warred in Jocelynn's mind as she tried to understand the moment.
Thinking back on her recent history with InstellArms, Jocelynn remembered she's said that she would be shopping to upgrade her battledress in the x-mail she'd sent from Denotam. With that as the only hook her mind could find, Jocelynn realized this had to be a lure or advertisement! They knew they could make the money back and more, if they convinced her to buy the battledress augments from them. Settling on that, she admitted to herself the 'advertisement' was effective, because the armor sets were worth nearly one tenth of all the cash she had in her accounts!
In her bedroom, Aali woke on her own, stretched and climbed out of bed into her morning routine. After she'd done her workouts, showering and all, Aali came out of her bedroom dressed for the day. Stepping into the dining room, Aali could see the android chef working on their breakfast. At an angle ahead of her and to her left, she could see Jocelynn folding what looked like a number of sets of what looked like long johns into an InstellArms box. Moving up towards Jocelynn, Aali asked, "New toys?" in a curious tone.
Jocelynn answered, "Yes. InstellArms just had these dropped off for me." in a very pleased tone while lifting the box to stow the armor in her bedroom. Surprised, Aali asked, "Really?" and Jocelynn said she believed her x-mail may have triggered the "gift". Nodding, Aali joked, "See? Getting perks for being an employee already." with a smile. That referred to Jocelynn having been asked to "buy" the weapons from pirates aboard the ship Rumen in the Denotam system. Both Jocelynn and Aali shared a laugh at that. Aali doubled down then, saying, "Yup! Ride her as long as you can!
Jocelynn nodded and said she wanted to go to InstellArms later in the day, or on the next day. Hearing that, Aali said she'd paid for the pickup and evaluation of the semi-assembled pell 'droid they'd bought. And, they still had to set up the 'droid's pick up with InstellArms. The payment had been Cr 1,050, and the Cr 1,000 would be folded into any re-assembly cost. Or, into the cost to buy a new android, if the existing parts were so damaged that parts replacement would cost them so much that reassembly wasn't reasonable.
One of the reasons Aali had hired InstellArms was that they'd disassemble all the components she and Sekea had re-assembled, and stress test each component testing them for undetected damage. Electronics could be damaged by sudden heavy charges they'd been subjected to along with on-off-o shifts in power flow. That meant any electronic part in the system could have suffered damage that could then lead to failures in the coming weeks, months or even years. So, it was better to have them all isolated and tested to be certain they would work again, and keep working for the rest of its expected lifetime.
Of course, if a main component like the 'droid's brain was dead or dying, that could present a situation where the repairs might cost nearly as much as a brand-new unit. In that case, there'd be no value spending the money on an old rebuild that might have limited capabilities and remaining lifetime. They could do better spending just a bit more on a new unit. Those may even be able to do things the unit they had couldn't, or were not designed to do. So, Aali knew they had to get with an InstellArms team because they hadn't moved the 'droid parts to their shop. And time spent not moving it was just wasted. Aali knew it would come down to herself or Sekea to do that, so she had to wait until Sekea woke and talk with him.
While Jocelynn was in her bedroom stowing the armor and changing to put a set on, Mikah joined Aali in the dining space. She left Zimzod to sleep because she knew he still needed it, and more physical therapy to help his continuing recovery. Walking into the space, Mikah saw the 'droid chef was just about to serve breakfast and Aali had turned on the main vid, to check the local news. Much of that was based on station activities, including the sorts of stories Aali expected for a "city in space". Finally, the stories wound their way to the interstellar news.
Rhylanor(A434934-F 2 Hi Cp G 810 Im M2 VI) Date: 047-1114
Having noted an increased number of naval transports and officers booking berths on out-going commercial vessels, media agents
have begun asking about the increased activity. Responses to the requests led to an announcement the Command Collage convened on
Rhylanor in the early months of 1113 had been concluded. Most theater and Imperial Fleet and senior officers had returned to
their posts months ago, including all the most senior officers. Still, many instructors and administrative personnel had
remained, to complete the meetings or documentation work. So, a large number of administrative and junior officers had only
just begun leaving the Rhylanor system to resume their previous posts or take up new assignments. 
Rhylanor(A434934-F 2 Hi Cp G 810 Im M2 VI) Date: 047-1114
An update was provided today by the Office of Leonard, Duke of Rhylanor, regarding the forced colonization attempt from the
Kegina system against the world of Bevey. The Duke's Seneschalate have announced that a new provisional government serving
the legitimate population of Bevey has become stable and effective. Work has succeeded in separating and confining much of
the illegal population sent from Kegina. Work between the Duke's forces and Imperial ministries in the Spinward Marches have
prepared to transfer the illegal settlers to sites in the Marches where active settlement is still i progress. As a result,
the settlers would get a chance to create new lives, if not under the favorable conditions available on Bevey.
Of course, wherever such actions are taken, there were often opposing positions. Because of these actions, legal authorities
from Rhylanor and other systems have filed complaints against removing the settlers. Such claims ran from 'evidence the settlers
themselves were forced onto transports' to 'claims against the open and unsettled regions of Bevey'. There were even petitions
to balkanize the world so undeveloped territories could be opened up to allow the settlers from Kegina space to create their
futures. Legal experts predict this will certainly end up argued before the Subsector Senate if not the Sector Senate.
Anonymous comments from the Duke's Seneschalate suggest a resistance to creating another Porozlo.
Jewell(A777999-C 2 Hi In Cp G 623 Im G7 V) Date: 042-1114
An announcement was released by Countess Josephine's Seneschalate that the last units of the Zhodani Tinzhqlianzstibr Pizia
Zhdeanzh have left the Esalin system. Following years under the armistice, Imperial oversight allowed Zhodani authorities
to investigate all now-former Zhodani citizens on Esalin to confirm their choice to stay on-world was genuine. Some
Imperial offices have admitted there will be continued investigations of the remaining "former" Zhodani populations to insure
no moles or agents remain under the cover of proclaimed preferences. Comments recorded as the Zhodani Ambassador to the
system complained of the unfortunate conditions on-world. He pointed out that even during the Consulate's brief tenure
managing the world, no Imperial citizens suffered a cessation of their cultural rights. He then ominously said he hoped
things would work well for those left behind, and for the future of Zhodani - Imperial cooperation.
Mikah joined Aali and chose a place to sit while the 'droid began placing dishes on the table from which they could serve themselves. Using a "more expensive at the beginning" strategy, the 'droid cooked what appeared to be enough to serve the crew three full meals. One was a "baked carbohydrates and proteins" meal, a second was an "egg-based" meal and the final, a "meat-based" meal. Using this, the 'droid expected to see how much of each type of meal was eaten, and narrow down the crew's preferences.
When Aali greeted, "Hey Captain." and Mikah answered "good morning" without energy. Aali reacted, joking, "Good? Now, you're going too far." Having half heard the story regarding Esalin, Mikah asked, "What was that about the Zhodani?" Aali summarized a bit of the story finishing up with, "So, I guess everybody is as happy as they can be about that." Aali then dryly commented on the flux of travel in the Rhylanor system, and asked if Mikah was interested in rushing there to try and make credits hauling naval officers? Mikah snarked that they were "a bit far" from Rhylanor, given they were five jumps out. Even if they skipped regular maintenance, it would take them over a month to reach that port and the glut of outbound officers would be gone by then.
Aali joked back, "Just tell them to hold on for a bit. We'll get there next year." Mikah asked, "Do you really want to be hauling tight-assed officers?" As she said that, Jocelynn came back and heard Aali say, "We can fleece the officers. How many poker games can we set up?" Mikah and Jocelynn laughed at what was obviously a joke. Not sure what they had to do, Jocelynn asked about checking on Maur in her stateroom? Mikah said Her Ladyship was 'on her own Credit' while they were on the station. So, the crew didn't have to check on her much until they got back on the ship and left. Still, Mikah had been told Maur had access to her own accounts and resources now, so she could care for her own needs in Ghandi.
As they finished talking about Maur, Jocelynn joked that they only had to make sure they didn't forget her when they left. That got a laugh from Mikah and Aali, and led to jokes about Maur standing alone on the docks with her luggage wondering where the ship was after they flew off? Those got laughs as they went back and forth. In the chatter, the ladies themselves plates and were eating when Sekea joined them. The first thing Sekea noticed was that the 'droid certainly prepared more food than he felt the crew would eat! Still, he took a seat and made himself a plate from the spread as he joined in.
Having mixed some of the meat and egg offerings, Sekea also saw one of the system's news broadcasts running in the background. Jocelynn had scooped a bit from all three servings on her plate. Aali got Sekea's attention and said they had to talk to the people at InstellArms, and get them to pick up the pell 'droid parts to start work on them. Especially since the parts were still on the ship, and they had to meet with the InstellArms people then go to the ship to recover the parts.
Sekea agreed, having already planned to visit them to shop for executive armor and a suit of combat armor. Sekea admitted buying those could be done later in their visit to Ghandi, but the 'droid work had to be get moving very soon. They both agreed the pickup had to be set up and that only one of them had to work with the InstellArms team. They both then volunteered to do the work and save each other time. Eventually, they decided Sekea would handle that. Sekea looked forward to checking out the 'droid's capabilities if they could get it working.
Sekea also suggested they check on the spec's and limits for the 'droid they had, to see if there were possible upgrades? He hoped to know what was possible, so they could ask the techs about any updates that might be available for the 'droid. In saying that, he ignored the fact the InstellArms people would certainly see those as a selling point to get more cash from the crew. So, he and Aali didn't have to worry about looking for the information themselves. When he asked Aali to research that, she said they'd visit InstellArms later, and could ask then. Sekea agreed to that, and reminded Aali he'd sent the x-mail request to have them line up the 'droids they had in stock. He added that buying a new android could be much more expensive.
Aali joked about getting a heavy work arm with a cattle prod added to their android and the others laughed. They then joked about 'shock-destruct' arms and more. Deciding it might not be bad to check out what she could reach, to get information, Aali also figured it might be good to try and connect to the local network using her stent. To see how much she could get? While she got ready to do that, Sekea called InstellArms to set up their meeting. Sekea connected and was switched to his concierge, who asked him how he wanted to handle the transport? She said they could send a port-car to pick him up, along with any other members of his crew. Then, they could bring them to the ship to recover the 'droid parts. Especially since the station was between three to four miles long.
Realizing the distances involved in moving through the station, Sekea was pleased at the offer to help them get to the ship and the InstellArms workshops. The concierge also said they'd be available for the job at the crew's convenience. When Sekea said he'd prefer they came to get him at the hotel, he was asked how many, if any, of the crew would want to come with him? Realizing half the crew were still asleep, Sekea said he'd call them when he knew how many others wanted to come along. So, Sekea only had to call after he spoke to the others.
Overhearing Sekea, Jocelynn said she had to visit InstellArms too, but wanted to connect with the broker she'd hired first. Sekea nodded and she turned to call the man and check in with him. Let him know she'd be available on comms during her business on-port that and the coming days. But, when he answered her call, the broker cut her off, saying, "Dame Jocelynn! I'm glad you called!" in a very excited voice.
The man surprised Jocelynn when he added, "I've got a bidding war going on here!" After a nervous giggle, Jocelynn answered, "We like that." She then asked, "Over what? The Crystals?" The broker surprised her, saying, "No! The radioactives!" That got Jocelynn excited because the rad's were their 'big ticket cargo'! Any jump in those percentages could mean a massive profit, and Jocelynn could only imagine doubling what they'd paid. Her realistic hopes were a profit of thirty to forty percent or so, and she doubted the man could get much better.
Muting her side of the conversation, Jocelynn told Mikah the broker was in the middle of a bidding war. So, she guessed their profits might be well into the millions. Hearing that, Aali exclaimed, "Why did we wait so long? You're a GREAT cargo master!" Jocelynn laughed and looked towards Fesic's bedroom door. Seeing it closed, she called out, "Suck on that!" All four of the crew in the room laughed at that. Jocelynn thanked Aali for the compliment before returning to her call. She did that just before doors opened and Fesic and Aiden joined them from their bedrooms.
Having heard some of Aali's compliment, Aiden asked, "Good news?" Regardless what he heard or didn't, Fesic was making a beeline to the table to check out the food. Hearing Aiden, Jocelynn told him, "Yeah. I just got some good news from the broker. That's all." She continued, "There's a bidding war going on for our radioactives." Aiden grunted in approval and joked, "That means we'll be able to afford some of the personal plasma shields we've been eyeing." The others saw Aiden was making up terms again and laughed, because such devices were certainly science fiction. Jocelynn only snarked, "You'll have to discuss that with Mikah."
After looking over the food, Fesic asked, "So, you've had some good luck Jocelynn?" She said she did, but suggested they had to keep their fingers crossed still. She explained, "We're in a bidding war for our radioactives, hopefully we might make a minimum of several million Credits. So, SUCK IT!" The last part was delivered with a smile and tone of voice that said she was joking. Hearing that, Jocelynn saw Fesic give Mikah a bit of a side-eye and said, "Well, someone never let me buy radioactives." in an aggrieved tone.
Hearing that, Mikah snapped back, "You never gave me a good enough argument." When Fesic ignored her and began serving himself food, Mikah told him he should go back and work on his lock picking. That got laughs from the others. At the same time, having finished with the broker, Jocelynn turned to pay more attention to the news. Mikah decided to look into the station's cultural side and see what there was to experience over the few coming days? Especially festivals or fairs. There were, of course many kinds of museums and other art offerings. Sekea decided to socialize until the rest of the crew woke up and he could talk with them about visiting InstellArms. Aali also relaxed to socialized.
While those in the room relaxed or went about their searches, and Aiden and Fesic ate, Zimzod walked into the room to join them. Seeing those in the room and the platters from which they'd served themselves, he stepped over to see what was left? While the Android had returned to its storage, the platters kept everything appetizing and fresh enough. Seeing him, Aali said, "Try the eggs. They're pretty good." Of course, she had no idea what kind of animal laid them, or from which system they'd come?
While Zimzod prepared a plate for himself, Jocelynn said, "Zimzod, we're going to InstellArms later. Do you want to come along?" Zimzod said he did, and asked about how he'd move his battledress? Jocelynn admitted that was a good question, because she had to bring her armor too. All the armor was still aboard the ship because of the station's restrictions against military equipment. Sekea said he'd spoken to the people at InstellArms, and planned to coordinate transferring the pell 'droid parts. He figured they could move the armor suits and the same time.
While they waited for Colinne to wake, they guessed she'd likely want to go to InstellArms with them, because she needed combat armor and other gear. They also guessed they'd need a small bus to move the whole crew along with InstellArms porters. They'd also need a small cargo hauler to carry the 'droid parts and various armor suits. While they talked, everyone in the room heard chimes from their comms at the same moment! Turning to check, they each found a personalized copy of the same message. In his message, Sekea saw:
Dear Sir Sekea, We welcome you to the Ghandi system and would like to offer you the unique services of Morder Arms! Based in the Vland Sector, close to the home of the Vilani Empire, we have served to provide arms and combat systems or equipment to Imperial citizens for centuries. While we are still expanding to venues within the Spinward Marches sector, we have quite a reputation in the Deneb sector. Though we are certain you have dealt with other dealers in the past, we assure you our ability to provide for your needs can and will outshine those. As such, we invite you to visit our facility here on the station in the Ghandi system. We look forward to assisting you with your armory needs. Our fully trained and educated staff look forward to answering any questions you have regarding combat systems and equipment. With a sector headquarters in Deneb sector's Dunmag subsector, Mordor Arms assures you they can serve your needs in most of the major systems in the Spinward Marches sector.
Looking up from his comms, Zimzod joked, "Hey Mikah. Do you wanna go to an AA meeting with me?" When she asked what the hell he was talking about, Zimzod smiled and explained, "Alcohol and Ammunition!" with a huge smile on his face. She just laughed and waved him off. While they laughed, Aali could sense the network link embedded in the image with her stent, and then connected to it. As normal, she could "feel" the connection with her stent, and then to the local router. She then tried to reach the link using that connection. Suddenly, in her mind, Aali managed to connect to the Morder Arms website through the station's network system!
Despite his education, Sekea never needed to look into arms sellers and had never come across anything more than passing references to Morder Arms and others. Especially since InstellArms had dominated the market in the Spinward Marches. So, he knew very little about them, and had to rely on what he could find about them from his crew or from any data on the station's network. When he asked the others, Mikah was the first to say, "Never heard of them." Beyond that, everyone said they'd all gotten the same message so they figured some advertising agent had paid off the right people in the station administration.
Fesic said he'd learned of Morder Arms, but hadn't bought anything from them. Still, their data had been in some of the Sword World databases he'd had brief access to, before the war started. They also provided weapons systems to Imperial forces in a number of sectors, but had never beaten InstellArms in the Spinward Marches. As far as he knew. Off to the side, Aali had gone quiet, with her eyes glazed over while she concentrated on her stent.
In her mind, Aali was experiencing mental access to a network site for the first time. Her concentration was so deep, she could barely hear when Sekea asked if she was alright? It took her quite a bit of effort to concentrate on both the site and what the others were saying. Still, she was able to explain herself soon enough. Hearing that, Sekea said that was great and asked her to let them know what she learned. Jocelynn heard Aali and wondered what she'd see if she tried to connect to the site? With her newly augmented skills, Jocelynn concentrated on the same link in the advertisement, and suddenly felt the network open in her mind! And, just as suddenly, she was sucked into a mental maelstrom of data!
Like Aali, Jocelynn's eyes glazed over and the local network opened to her mind. Unfortunately, that happened without any of the controls or filters someone who'd worked their way up would have built out. It was also more powerful than Aali had experienced because Aali had only opened a faucet. Jocelynn had shattered a massive pipe! Suddenly, many sites and applications opened in her mind and a tsunami of data flooded her awareness! The main paths Jocelynn had been drawn into were arms manufacturers and sellers. So, dominant mental streams opened data for Mordor Arms, InstellArms and more. Unheard of yet specialized arms dealers like "the Famille Spofulam Catalogue", also came, showing specific warnings against over-riding limits for one "Lady Dizamer Spofulam", referred to as "Ditzie", who appeared to be an eight-year-old girl!
Somehow, the fact "Lady Dizamer" was, or had been, an eight-year-old girl yanked part of Jocelynn's mind down that information rail. Some of the random facts popped regarding the 'Famille Spofulam', like them being distantly related to both Arch Duke Norris AND the Emperor!! So, nothing to fear there! The descent line most recently was connected to the Aella family, though a distaff line. Even more bothersome, from the fragments streaming through Jocelynn thoughts, was that none of them had heard of that family at all. Despite the power of the weapons systems available to them. And, certain custom designed warships.
Suddenly, Jocelynn became aware she was accessing restricted network locations assigned to Imperial military. Those locations also covered access to vendors selling warships! A fragment of thought caught on to the cost of what was referred to as a "Cruiser", but was more of a 400 ton patrol ship. At MCr 197.73, their ship's funds could buy two such ships. All this was a full-bore flood of data that pinned Jocelynn's awareness and over-topped her mind until she found a way to fight her way back to control of her mental processes.
In her bedroom and deep in sleep, Colinne suddenly came bolt upright and fully aware of a level of distress coming from Jocelynn. That affected Colinne more than Zimzod and Mikah because they knew what was happening and were less trained to "hear it" in their minds. All Colinne knew was that Jocelynn was in a state of massive mental distress, and she snatched up her comms to ask what was wrong? While Zimzod and Mikah got a "wiff" the maelstrom that caught up Jocelynn, they couldn't sense more than a fragment. Colinne was a fully trained psion and could.
Jocelynn was just about getting control of her mental gestalt when her comms started buzzing madly! That gave her just the extra control needed to focus on the comms and reign in her mind. She then set about trapping down the flood of thought processes to get control of her data streams. Fairly certain Jocelynn had done "something unadvised" with her stent, Mikah stepped forward to grab Jocelynn's shoulders. She then tried to shake her a bit and snap her out of it. What she couldn't know was that her actions were hurting Jocelynn's concentration while she tried to lock down the data streams.
On a positive note, shutting down that many streams while in a constant flood gave Jocelynn a growing understanding of what to seek out in the data, and how to terminate the open data flows. So, the more control she got, the better she understood how to shut things down. That and concentrating on the comms helped her get past the shaking and climb out of the flood. Finally, her eyes unglazed and Jocelynn muttered, "What happened? Mikah stopped shaking her and answered, "That's what we should be asking you! I think you need to go to your bedroom and lay down." With that, she grabbed Jocelynn's comms and started leading the younger woman to her bedroom.
While they walked, and before leaving the public space, Mikah chastised, "Don't ever try to use your stent like that again!" That was because she was betting it was the stent, but wanted to be sure the non-psi members of the crew thought so too. Nodding at Mikah's words, Jocelynn took her comms back and answered it, to hear Colinne demanding what the hell was happening? Jocelynn drew a breath and said that she'd made a mistake using her stent. Taking a mental step back, Jocelynn then said, "I was trying to look up information on a company and got an information overload." Colinne asked if Jocelynn was OK or still needed help, and Jocelynn said she was good, and going to lay down for a bit.
After Colinne nodded to Jocelynn and cut the connection, she rode an adrenalin high while making her way through a shortened morning routine and striding back out into the suite's lounge. By that time, Mikah had helped settle Jocelynn and also rejoined the others. While Colinne served herself from the leftover food, she started catching up on anything she might've missed from earlier in the morning. When Sekea told her about the trip to InstellArms, she said she certainly wanted to go. She also suggested they wait to give Jocelynn a chance to rest and recover before they called InstellArms for their ride.
Accepting Colinne's comments, Sekea figured he'd have to ask InstellArms to bring a mini-bus sized vehicle to load up all the crew. He also saw he had to warn InstellArms there would be suits of armor and weapons in transit, because he and Colinne wanted to buy armor to which their weapons would have to be integrated. And Zimzod and Jocelynn wanted to add gear to their battledress. That meant they'd need a secure transport and porters to help load up and move everything. Figuring the numbers and giving Jocelynn a chance to relax and recover, Sekea called his concierge and told her about the numbers and gear while setting the pick up for 1 pm that afternoon.
Plans, Plates And Purchases By half past ten in the morning, the crew had as much excitement as they wanted, and hoped to be able to relax until lunch. They also hoped to have a nice relaxing and luxurious lunch before their 'class trip' to InstellArms. Still, having time to burn, Aali started to take a more detailed look at the many items in the Morder Arms catalog. What she saw, by and large, were the same weapons and combat systems that InstellArms sold. Where she could, Aali spot checked items and sometimes found the same manufactured gear in both MA and IA catalogs. Many of the differences were in variations of a weapon. Where she looked at shotguns, there were over a thousand such weapons in the InstellArms listings and under 900 in the Morder Catalogue. The real question was if the weapons on both sides were from higher quality manufacturers or not? So, there was a lot to investigate.
One thing all those who checked into Mordor Arms saw was that MA was more of a strict military supplier, where InstellArms had a much broader sales wedge. They sold to sports users and more mercenary and para-military organizations. That meant that their crew would more likely get "big punch" items from InstellArms then Morder Arms. Still, if you wanted to spend the time on it, Aali was sure there would be chances to pay less for a quality weapon by pricing IA, MA or even third party local sellers. Added to that, one could possibly save more hitting military base thrift shops. Another issue was that Mordor arms only had venues in the major systems in the Marches.
Searching through different categories of combat devices and systems, Aali spotted a hand-hold sized multi-drone control unit! Aali had four types of drones in her gear and all had programmable or AI-manageable electronics. Because of that, she could buy the unit Mordor advertised and create a profile for each class of drone. She could then either use the device to choose a profile and "finger-draw" (or sensor-pin) a drone in that profile to carry then mission out. She could also connect it to her HUD, using a commdot. So, she'd have to have a hand free to assign missions, or use voice commands, to potentially control all her drones with one device. She then decided to ask her InstellArms concierge if they had the same, or a similar, device?
Hand-Held Integrated Multi-Drone Control Interface: An 18 x 9 x 3.5 cm Hand-held device with a complete carbon-enhanced composite shell and transparent composite screen allowing multi-drone control in a hand-holdable unit. The device casing allows the unit to be stored in a pocket or Battledress/Combat armor compartment. The casing also has a bar to which a D-ring can be connected, to hang from a belt or web-gear. The intuitive software lets any user log in and create profiles for the drones in their collection which have in-built programmable or AI-manageable electronics for each class of drone in use. The device lets a user select a profile then "finger-draw", voice program or sensor-pin a target then select any drone in that profile to carry out a mission. Users can also connect feeds from the device to a HUD, and can use hand-free or use voice commands to assign missions to drones, The unit came with a battery giving 24 hours of constant use, that was rechargeable from connections to any standard fusion appliance power source, or other sources with the proper adaptor. The unit's range is 10 miles in open or suburban regions, 5 miles in urban settings and two miles in hardened settings The software AI monitors the feed from all active drones being controlled and highlights combat related activity detected over other drone feeds. Device connectivity limit: 100 drones The unit costs Cr 35,000
Interested in the device, Aali made a note to ask her concierge if InstellArms had a similar unit, or even the same unit, to compare prices. She also told the others about the device because there were certainly a number of perks for combatants with flocks of drones. Outside seeking through the weapons catalogs, Aali had another project in mind, and set aside time to look through ship material and design materials too.
Interested in seeing more of what Mordor Arms offers, Sekea logged into one of the suite's terminals and checked out their catalog. Aiden decided to try the same trick Aali did on his stent, and didn't fail as spectacularly as Jocelynn did. Still, he decided to take a break and rest after an hour, because he'd only succeeded in giving himself a headache. He had to admit his skills with his stent were nothing near Aali's, and not even on the same planet as Jocelynn's.
After settling Jocelynn, Mikah went back to her cultural event search and found quite a long list of upcoming things to do. Those included musical, sports, stage, cinema, racing and regional cultural festivals in various sections of the station. The station was even large enough to have cultural regions. After researching for a list of what was coming up, Mikah shifted to researching "uniforms" for her crew. Still, she'd found a list of events in the coming days. Given that most people lived entirely on the station, there were "Escape the Shell" play days where people could gear up into owned or rented vacc suits, or even transparent bubbles, and "play" in open space (which was enclosed in webbing).
Several galleries on a number of levels were cleared and open for seasonal displays. In the coming week, the staff of those concourses would turn them into a display of flowering plants. Fesic was interested in that, and the blizzard of color that would be displayed. Also, on several concourses, running tracks were set up so those who chose to could take part in, or compete in one of the station's semi-annual running marathons. In two days' time, there would be a laser light show and musical event in an empty cargo warehouse.
After compiling a list, Mikah then turned to her "uniform" research. While she'd not told them what she had in mind, Mikah had firm plans on what she wanted. And, Mikah had set herself a deadline she wanted to beat. To be sure no one could look over her shoulder and see what she was doing Mikah moved into her bedroom to use a terminal there. She spent time either making selections or tracking search prompts that led her to promising sellers.
Zimzod saw be spending much of his afternoon at InstellArms, and spent the spare time he had doing his physical therapy. Aiden spent his time going over his gear and looking at what he might be interested in? Not long ago, on Denotam, he'd had that group of InstellArms techs customize his weapons and the only thing he wanted was come groin protection. Especially since it seemed Mikah and Jocelynn were taking up kneeing him in the crotch when meeting out punishments. Sadly, what Aiden didn't know was that groin cups didn't really help much against the pain of compression attacks to the groin. Still, he was dead set on placing the order anyway. He was also interested in whatever else he saw along the way.
Fesic took some time to sign into one of the suite's terminals and set up a search for green spaces on the station which were close to their hotel. He was pleased with the link Mikah set him. He also went through his own gear to see what it might be that he wanted? What Fesic "really wanted were more covert weapons than what he'd been able to afford after he'd gotten his discharge from the military. His 'sword in the cane' was really a joke. He ignored the fact it could very easily be detected using x-rays or metal sensors. So, he had no idea if he was ever sneaking it anywhere, or if they just ignored it? What he really needed was a blade that wasn't detectable by scanners. And which fit so snugly that it wouldn't be detected as material separate from the actual cane. Soon, everyone had a list of what they'd be shopping for?
While Sekea worked through the Morder catalog on the suite's terminal, he constantly got counter-advertising pop-ups and had to laugh when he saw one from InstellArms. It claimed "their weapon" was of a much higher quality than Morder's. Only, the weapons and brands were exactly the same! So, there couldn't even "be" a difference between the two, except for the sellers. When he showed that to the others, everyone laughed. Sekea did get one ad which came free and clear from InstellArms. It offered, on top of any other offer or deal, ten percent off on five classes of gear. And one of those was combat armor! So, Sekea printed that out for both himself and Colinne to use, since he knew she was buying a suit too.
Just before lunch, Mikah called the crew together for an announcement. With their attention, Mikah reminded them all Fesic still had penance to work off, thanks to his little trick with the toaster. So, while that wasn't his entire punishment, Fesic would spend his time on and off the ship wearing a new uniform she'd ordered for him. She then signed into a terminal and showed them an image of the "uniform" she ordered for Fesic. When they saw it, everyone but Fesic broke out laughing.
Fesic was firm that he'd never be seen in that get up, and there was nothing Mikah could do to make him wear it. Mikah didn't threaten him, but firmly made her expectations clear. Her attitude was blunt too. In the meantime, the others snickered or made wise cracks. Sekea asked if she expected him to dye his face orange too? Zimzod was a bit disappointed Mikah hadn't consulted him on the design of the costume. When Zimzod said he'd have preferred a fool's outfit, Mikah said she wanted the Oompa Loompa.
Zimzod then told the entire crew that they'd have to wear that get up if they screwed up. At first, he said it would be worn on the ship. Mikah reminded him she said, 'both on and off' the ship. Zimzod then said, it would be worn whenever they weren't in a combat situation. Then changed his mind and said they could wear it, and be combat distractions. That conversation wound down as the 'droid served up three lunch menus, and they all ate. They then cleaned up and relaxed until they were ready for InstellArms to pick them up. Soon enough, they got a message the InstellArms vehicle had arrived for them.
Stepping out of their suite, they were met by Sekea's concierge, who told them the gravBus was waiting for them to board. She also said that the cargo hauler and porters were waiting for them at the port segment where their ship was berthed. Getting on the bus, the crew were surprised to find a concierge for each of them, waiting to start talking about how they could help each crew member? Fesic snarked, "They're certainly not leaving any time open when they can advertise." A scan of their faces showed the most eager were Jocelynn's and Zimzod's reps. That was because Jocelynn had already said she wanted to augment her battledress and all the concierges knew Zimzod would get jealous if he couldn't keep up with Jocelynn.
When Aali's concierge asked if there was anything he could help her with, Aali said she'd been exploring how to manage her drones more efficiently? She was wondering if they had any controllers that optimized handling multiple drones? Nodding, her concierge leapt into a speech Aali could have sworn was pre-written and rehearsed. She even figured it could have been, since the concierges had a good idea what gear her crew were packing and had likely had sales strategists advising them on what to push to the crew. Still, the answer laid down a base of general capabilities before he asked specifically what features and capabilities Aali was interested in?
Aali described what she wanted, which both gave him a target to 'over-shoot', to impress her, and suggested the financial neighborhood she was shopping in. That let him tailor what he offered her while not going overboard on prices, which would end up killing her interest. Aali started with devices that were voice activated and managed. She also wanted units that could network the drone feeds. Nodding back to Aali, her concierge knew "networking" could mean a great many things, and was willing to bet she was being vague to make him work. He figured he could pull a "dump truck" maneuver, burying her in different models until she saw what she wanted. Or, until he had her so 'out in space' that she simply chose a model.
The man then started laying out many models, starting with hand-portable units like the one she saw in the Mordor Arms Catalogue. He then moved to units that could be installed into armor or travel gear. He covered add-on devices that could be installed on a portable computer, or vehicle. Aware of who he was selling to, every unit he offered allowed connections to the HUD inside a vacc or armor suit. And all were near a price point that was dictated by the features she'd mentioned. So, even if she had some other device in mind, that unit would be priced similar to everything he offered her.
Some of them more specialized, and more expensive, were actually software-based, and could be installed in a computer, or the electronics of a suit. In order to install those into a device, suit or vehicle, the techs had to investigate where the software had to be installed? They could then confirm the hardware the programs needed was installed? If not, there would be extra costs to bring the device to be augmented up to specifications. Because of the many hoops "As a Service" software had to jump through, those solutions were more expensive than purely hardware units. Added to that, the more features the software had, and more routines it would constantly run, the more it might load down any given computer being used. Letting the man finish, Aali didn't buy anything right up front but thanked him for the information.
Colinne had come to InstellArms planning to buy a suit of combat armor. Added to that, she knew she didn't have a great deal of 'battlefield experience'. That meant she'd need anything that might help her survive in open combat. Accepting that, Colinne started with a 'Basic' suit of combat armor. Starting that conversation, Colinne wanted to confirm what types of suit were 'Base' suits? She asked about suits with a chameleon surface, or that were self-sealing? Because of pricing in the system, her concierge said she could get a suit with a chameleon surface for Cr 20,000. And, Self-Sealing suits would add to that cost. Sekea butted in then, asking about updating the files for the vacc suit he'd bought on Denotam?
His concierge answered, saying that InstellArms site would sell them "As many files as your suit could handle" for Cr 5,000. She also said they'd sell an "everything we have" file to upload to their ship's computer for Cr 100,000. Hearing that, both Jocelynn and Zimzod jumped in, asking if the files included Battledress camouflage? The woman said it included all files, with some flagged "Vacc suit only", "Battledress only" and "Generic" - meaning any suit can use it. The concierge also said 'combat armor' was so similar to battledress that battledress files covered both. Zimzod nodded and said they should buy the KCr 100 deal, and pay with ship's funds. When everyone agreed, Sekea's concierge smiled smugly while Zimzod signed the order and she stole that bit of commission from Zimzod's or anyone else's concierges.
During those discussions, the transport made its way to the port, and it looked to the crew like InstellArms had a deal with the port. They passed very quickly to the berth in which the ship sat with little traffic. Aali's first action was to lead her concierge into the cargo bay to move the 'droid parts. When they saw the 'droid had been partly assembled, Aali was told that would be undone, which she'd been told when the up-front fee was paid. She'd then get the first report on the 'droid after they did that and stress tested all the components. While they got out of the gravbus, Jocelynn meant to keep pace with the others, but suddenly heard a very static-filled "Help me". Surprised, Jocelynn worked to figure out where it came from until she realized it came from her stent! Not sure how to react, she looked around but could see no one, and kept it to herself while considering it.
Some of the crew had to lead porters into their staterooms to collect the armor suits they planned to upgrade or modify. Mikah, Aali and Aiden brought in their combat armor suits, to see what they could augment? That was outside the camouflage they could select and apply on their own. Jocelynn and Zimzod brought only their battledress, though Zimzod also brought Rol's combat armor. Sekea brought his vacc suit and the combat armor he'd been trying to use, left behind by Sir Terin, for whatever value that would bring. Fesic decided he'd go along to see what he might want to buy, but chose not to bring his armor. He did bring his vacc suit, because he needed a HUD for the suit.
After they loaded all the items in the cargo gravTruck and boarded the bus again, the concierges got back to work. Zimzod's concierge offered him a stent-based "neural class" on mechanical skills. Basically trained on mechanical work, Zimzod had helped with damage control on the ship over the years. So, he could see it was worth increasing his skills that way. The concierge offered the class for Cr 40,000, and said it would take one and a half years to master. She added that the time required was three hours, three times a week to complete the course over that time. She also said the user might have to buy tools and supplies if he didn't have them available. When she made a move to get Zimzod to buy all the supplies up front, Zimzod only said he'd check his ship's engineering tools and supplies first.
Sekea's concierge was very willing to show off how much the corporation had dug into the crew's interests. Her opening gambit was to tell him they had 'Neural Stent' Kits on offer! Those were the hardware needed to implant a neural stent in his skull and connect it to his brain. That reminded him he'd been considering having a stent implanted, and he wondered just how deep InstellArms' files on them went? Of course, his concierge said he'd have to have it medically implanted by a qualified med-team. So, there would be costs for the medical facilities and staff he hired to do that if he chose to buy a kit. When he asked, he was told the kit cost Cr 1,250.
Overhearing that, Mikah reminded Sekea she was a fully certified neurosurgeon, and qualified to handle the implant surgery. She also said she'd assisted in the implant surgeries for Aali, Zimzod, Rol and Aiden's stents. She joked that she'd taken part in Zach and Terin's implants too, but they died because they were stupid. When Sekea asked about options, he was told the local hospitals would charge, in some cases, up to KCr 20. Aiden pointed out Mikah could do it in their ship's medbay for free. Fesic then piped up, "She might charge you anyway, because she's a asshole." and Mikah gave him a broad, winning smile and happily answered, "Yup!" She was already imagining him in his oompah lumpa uniform.
Still uncertain, Sekea asked about the recovery time for the surgery and was told it would be a handful of days. Fesic even said Terin had gone from his surgery in the afternoon to an after dinner diplomatic party that was "suddenly announced". Aiden grumped that Terin had then been arrested and held over-night by Imperial authorities after he'd been framed for espionage. All without anything more than a headache from the less-than-24-hour old surgical wound. After his questions had been addressed, Sekea decided to buy the kit and talk to Mikah about implanting it when she had to go back to the ship to decant Rol.
Mikah's concierge had taken a good look at her combat armor while they'd loaded it onto the cargo truck, and saw it was sprouting cables like the many tentacles of a squid. Each cable had to mate to a specific cable from her HUD. To solve that, he showed Mikah an "Integration adaptor" they sold for Cr 3,000. Guessing her vacc suit also had the same issue, he suggested that, for Cr 6,000 and a small technical fee, they could install the adaptors. Those would be a single-body device to which each of her integrating devices and weapons could attach. That way, the feeds and applications for all her integrated devices and weapons would be streamlined. Cutting down the number of cables would reduce any chance her gear might get caught on something in the environment.
Cable-HUD Integration Adaptor : Cost: Cr 3,000 A single-body device to which twelve integrating devices and weapons could attach, which hung from a belt connector. A lone connector led to the HUD The shell of the device was a hardened composite unit which had been combat tested.
While all those weapons had been integrated to her HUDS, now through the single point device, she ordered a second comm dot set, so she could integrate everything to her dot network. Mikah was also disappointed she'd have to make another trip to the ship to get her vacc suit and the weapons to do the work needed. Mikah also decided she wanted the stealth and chameleon kits retrofitted to her combat armor, and asked if they could be retrofitted to her vacc suit too? She was told they couldn't "retro-fit" the chameleon or stealth kits and suggested she replace the suits with new ones having the augments. So, she edned up spending Cr 6,000 for the integration adaptors, Cr 40,000 for combat armor with chameleon and stealth and Cr 25,000 for a vacc suit with a chameleon kit.
Mikah also agreed to a Cr 1,500/each upgrade on all the team's comms units. That would mean she'd have to collect and turn in all their units, including her spares. During a three-day period, the team would have to use back up comms, or have no comms. That was a total of Cr 22,500. Mikah paid that from the ship's funds. Those would be returned to the crew on the 84th day of the year. The same day Rol was to be decanted. So, Zimzod would have to step in and recover those at the time.
When Jocelynn returned to her seat with her concierge, the man confirmed they'd received her x-mail, which also explained the executive armor suit gift box. Thinking of that, Jocelynn thanked her concierge for the gift. Nodding, Jocelynn's concierge invited Zimzod and his concierge over so neither agent had to explain anything twice or separately. They also hoped they could use the desires of each Knight to drive the other into more buys than they'd drive alone. Moving over to talk, Zimzod tried to finagle some free sets of executive armor for himself, but failed.
While that happened Jocelynn took a breath, relaxed and connected to her stent to send a thought to Colinne. She told Colinne she'd gotten a weird message on her stent, from someone calling for help. She said she didn't want to answer because she didn't know what it was about, nor could she shield herself. With Colinne's help, Jocelynn captured the file from her stent and sent her the message. Listening to it, Colinne found it was just what Jocelynn said. A very static-ridden instant of contact with the words "Help me." The static was so bad, the words could hardly be made out.
Fesic mostly wanted a HUD for his vacc suit, because he wanted the enhanced visability when working in space. His concierge was happy to tell him what they had, and eventually pushed the holographic HUD Colinne and Sekea would buy. That was a KCr 20 unit, but he seemed to be more pleased with the expense. Like the others did, Fesic also wanted the PRIS mode, telescopic option and the ability to control or program the behavior of visual tabs from other feeds. Agreeing to pay for that, Fesic had to leave his vacc suit for two days. InstellArms was also happy to connect one of his comm dots to the helmet.
Fesic next told his concierge he'd been studying the sorts of mechanical locks which used tumblers or pins which were mass produced industrially, to fine standards. Because of that, she offered him a device that scanned those classes of locks and extruded a 'key form'. That should open any lock he could scan. She was offering it because it was legal to own 'in the Ghandi system', where locks were largely electronic. Asking more questions about the device, Fesic was warned it would be considered illegal in many systems where it defeated a majority of their locks. But, she felt he might use it for "more legal purposes" as a Knight. She also said that if a key failed, the scanning system could evaluate the failure and extrude a second key from which might correct the problem.
When Fesic asked how much it would cost, she said they sold it to out-system law enforcement groups for Cr 17,000. Fesic especially liked the tool because it didn't look like it would be very noticeable. So, he felt he could carry it around and use it while he continued the class he was working on. He didn't want to give up the class for a tool that could be lost. But he felt that would help him. Especially on worlds where they didn't recognize the technology or the tool. So, Fesic bought the tool. Along with the others, Fesic also "topped up" his executive armor buying four more sets for Cr 6,000.
The next thing Fesic wanted was an improved version of his sword cane. When he explained the issues he had with the cane, she nodded and looked into her available merchandise. Soon, the concierge offered him a replacement cane for Cr 10,000, which had a blade microscopically fitted to the cane. That wouldn't show up on density scans. And, the blade material was a heavy-gravity compressed carbon-cerramic micro-tube structure which was both entirely non-metallic and also capable of withstanding the forces encountered in blade combat on a battlefield.
Colinne wanted a number of things from her concierge. She wanted more comm-dots because she already had a set of ten and only had three left unused. And, where her main desire was to buy combat armor, she knew she'd need more than three more dots, where a new set would cost her Cr 1,500. Colinne also wanted six more sets of executive armor, that would cost her Cr 9,000. She had to know what those would cost before buying and kitting out a suit of combat armor. She wanted to start with a 'base suit' that had 'self-sealing' and 'camouflage' capabilities, that was modified to support their team's comms. When she started that conversation, her concierge offered a flood of suggestions.
First was a HUD that would help with visibility and integrate data from add-on devices. The concierge said Colinne could buy two types of HUDs. The first, costing Cr 3,500, was a basic HUD that gave the user access to, and more control of, their sensors and other installed devices. The concierge next started selling Colinne on the "Holographic" HUD. That modified her 'point of view' with situational virtual augmentation, adding to what her eyes could see. It also gave a "depth of presentation", letting the user better manage pop-ups and video feeds from her installed devices or team members.
Standard HUDs only blocked in video feed in a "side by side" montage, semi-transparent over the user's forward view. And, with those ghost-like images over what was "actually being seen, there was a greater chance of visual confusion or missing details. The Holo-HUD let layers and priority conditions be configured, to help keep her point of view clear. On the down side, the Holo-HUD was expensive, and Colinne was watching her funds. She 'wanted' the Holo-HUD, but it cost Cr 20,000. Still, she bit the bullet to help prevent confusion in battle.
Holographic HUD: Cr 20,000 An augmented HUD providing a modified 'Point of View' and 'Improved Depth of Vision'. 'Situational Virtual Augmentation' adds to what the eye can see. The "Depth of Presentation" lets a user stack video tabs broadcast from other devices. The unit's AI allows the user to prioritize received video feeds to better organize them and reduce visual confusion.
Other things the concierge offered that Colinne thought were "nice to have", included a stealth package. They were expensive enough to be considered only when she had more money. To prevent a proliferation of cables, Colinne's concierge offered her a pair of Cable-HUD Integration Adaptor's, at Cr 3,000 each, for her armor and vacc suit. Worried about her cash, Colinne only bought one unit, for the combat armor she was buying. She'd consider updating her vacc suit down the road, when she had more cash. Colinne next asked about modes of vision and detection, and found she had a lot of options. Still, the "PRIS" vision systems seemed to have most of the modes covered, so she spent Cr 3,500 to have that installed in her HUD, along with 100x telescopic vision. That was another Cr 2,000.
Aali began talking about ideas that would provide for rescue and recovery of team mates. She specifically remembered events where they 'could have' found missing teammates if there had been GPS-integrated systems to use. But, many worlds either didn't have GPS satellite constellations or didn't permit access to those. And, any team-based locator system demanded units distributed to each team member with enough range to tie into each other. Hearing that, Aali's concierge suggested a very inexpensive "tag" unit called a "Loca-Tag". The "Loca-Tag" devices were either small physical signal broadcaster/receivers or software to carry out the same role when programmed into devices which had the antennae and broadcast speakers needed.
For navigation and rescue, Colinne ordered an inertial locator and had a software "Loca-Tag" version programmed into the suit's limited electronics. That would give her a functional path back from wherever she'd activated it. The Loca-Tag was something Mikah had overheard Aali's concierge talking about and immediately jumped on. That device would passively let any team equipped with them locate a missing or non-responding team member. The capability was something Mikah and the crew had been looking for a solution to since the first missions when her crew originally coalesced. That was when Mikah had jumped in.
They had to be connected to a base comms system(like that on a vehicle, ship or station) and remain within a 20-mile range. The unit could 'Call Home' to that base when activated, to find the azimuth and range from the base. It let other units connected to the same base become a "third point". That let the team triangulate as long as the signal wasn't blocked by infrastructure or thick stone formations. In action, the tag remained dormant unless it was activated by the user carrying it, or the unit received a command to respond from the central comms base. When Mikah jumped in, she drew Aali and her concierge into the conversation Colinne was having. Mikah then said they'd order tags for everyone, and an additional five spares at Cr 5,000 each.
Mikah ordered the tags to be software based, and programmed into all their comms units, including the spares. That work was also charged to the ship's funds. Adding that into the workorders, the concierge said they could add in "bone induction tabs to the comms units, free of charge. The concierge said the bone conduction devices bypassed a user's eardrums and decoded sound waves. They converted the waves into vibrations that were received directly by the user's cochlea, so the eardrums were never involved. That gave users improved hearing with increased clarity and a reduced risk of hearing damage.
Aali next asked if there were any features which could be in-built to check and monitor the health of a person in combat armor? Right off, one of the concierges said that only existed with battledress, but they could modify different devices to do that job. Jocelynn immediately remembered the devices Terin had when they rescued street people on Regina. But, those devices still demanded some level of medical training. The concierges started to offer a small number of devices, like an arm-band and in-helmet scanner to be installed in the armor and be connected to a mounted electronic/computer package also mounted into the armor.
The whole suite would be powered by a battery added to the armor suit, feeding to the wearer's HUD and comms. That let an authorized team medic connect to it if the user was unconscious. After some work on their sales pads, the cost of that came to Cr 25,000. When Colinne heard that, she became very concerned because the cost of her armor was overwhelming her cash on hand. Mikah and Zimzod both pointed out that she could take a loan from them to get the device. That bothered Colinne, because she wanted "what she needed", and felt she was being fitted into a luxury unit while driving her into debt and taking away her control. So, she didn' buy that item.
Mikah did remind her they were looking at a significant pay day, based on the news from Jocelynn's broker. Colinne recognized that but still didn't trust money she didn't have in her hand at the moment. Still rolling forward, Aali also asked about some kind of limited "rear view" vision? She was told they could add a camera feeding to "yet another" semi-opaque tab on a HUD. Colinne heard that and worried about being able to see what she needed through a curtain of half-visible displays from other devices. So, she didn't order that either. With Mikah eventually paying for all the loca-tags, and the "ten percent off" coupon Sekea had bounced her, her combat armor ended up costing KCr 54.
Thrilling his concierge, and giving back Terin's ill-fitting combat armor, Sekea ordered a set of combat armor matching what Colinne ordered. He also wanted his new combat armor to also have a psi shield built in. His concierge explained the retrofit would be more expensive than installing new, but the total cost for both was Cr 15,000, which was added to his cost. So, adding Cr 15,000 with 10% off led to a final cost of Cr 67,500.
Asking about updating her combat armor, Aali realized it'd be easier to simply buy a replacement suit. Based on the suit Colinne had ordered, Aali also wanted a camera to add a rear view. She also wanted a psi-blocking system added to the suit along with the bio-sensor system. To cut the price, Aali offered her existing combat armor. That brought the KCr 90 price down to KCr 70. After taking her measurements, they said her new combat armor would be ready in a week, like the other suits.
That meant Mikah could sell Terin's old suit back to InstellArms for what they'd pay. That suit was Sealed Combat Armor with Chameleon skin, an integrated HUD with Light Intensifier/Infrared and Telescopic vision along with an Inertial locator. After watching the breathtaking cost rise for Colinne's combat armor, they were surprised to hear InstellArms offer a measly Cr 30,000. Annoyed, but not willing to be insulted 'yet', Mikah tried to haggle, but only got them to up the bid to Cr 35,000. At that, she accepted the offer and signed the suit away. She was at least happy they were clearing space from the ship's locker.
After-Market Bio-sensor System - Combat Armor: Cr 25,000 A set of separate arm and leg band sensor devices working with sensors in the helmet sending data to a third-party AI Medi-comp mounted in the suit. All the devices were then tied to a battery and comms system also mounted to the armor suit. The combined weight of the devices, distributed across the armor suit, would average 1.5 Kg. The sensors would be able to monitor the general health of the suit user and could activate a distress beacon on a user-specified frequency if the user became incapacitated or killed.
Loca-Tag : Physical: Cr 1,500 Software as a Service: Cr 5,000 When connected to a base comms system(such as that within a starship), and within a range of 20 miles, the unit can 'Call Home', when activated, to that base to determine the azimuth and range to that site. This allows other tagged units connected to that network to act as a "third point" for triangulation so long as the signal is not blocked. The device remains dormant unless it is activated or receives a command to respond from the central comms base
Aiden and Fesic both ordered a Cable-HUD Integration adaptor for their vacc suits and combat armor. Added to the things Mikah bought for the crew, she wanted integration kits for the weapons she'd not paid to have updated on Denotam. Those included her second laser carbine and UAC-21 gauss rifle(both of which she had integration kits for), her submachinegun, auto-pistol, 6-shooter snub pistol and pulse taser. That would cost her Cr 6,500. Along with his combat armor, Sekea bought another set of comm dots, and returned the dot he owed to Fesic. Both Colinne and Sekea had to sit down to re-design their comm-dot networks during the next week in port.
With the minor work done, Jocelynn and Zimzod's battledress augments were expected to be the "big buys". Zimzod's main interest was a shoulder-mount with a heavy machinegun, despite the issues he'd have moving through small portals and spaces. He also wanted it tied into his HUD, which wasn't really an ask. Any weapon integrated into the suit would be tied to his battle computer and HUD. Before addressing that, one of the concierges suggested they had a sapper/infiltrator suit of battledress they would sell him for MCr 6, along with the trade in of his existing suit. They also said they'd transfer all the recent modifications from his suit to the infiltrator.
Zimzod shook his head and said he wasn't interested and only wanted the heavy gun mount. He added that he wanted it mounted to his left shoulder, to use for suppressing fire or to double down against a pinned target group when suppression wasn't needed. Checking her datapad, Zimzod's concierge said the cost would be Cr 20,000, and would take eleven days to install. The price didn't count the heavy machinegun and ammunition, which would be sold separately, at a cost of Cr 500. They also threw in 500 rounds of chain-linked ammo for free.
After marking down what she had to for that order, Zimzod's concierge asked if he, and Jocelynn, would like an EMP battery for their suits? She said it was designed to survive if the suit it was installed in was effected by an EMP detonation. She added that it provided for restarting that suit of battledress. Both Zimzod and Jocelynn were excited, and wanted to order those installed. The cost was Cr 5,000. The concierge made it clear the battery would do little more than make it possible for the trooper to get clear of the battlefield and seek pickup, repair and/or medical services. No more than that and little in the way of combat capabilities past movement.
Considering his weapons profile, Zimzod said he wanted to copy Jocelynn, and asked about installing a grenade launcher on his battledress. His concierge said she could have that unit installed, with a five-round ammo hopper, for Cr 2,500. Because Zimzod already had a laser pistol added to his right forearm, that would be added to his left forearm. After that, Zimzod went over the configuration of his armor before he said he'd listen to any systems she offered and consider them. He did listen when she told him of a high-speed targeting anti-air system, but didn't feel the crew needed that.
Jocelynn's first "ask" was a hand-held multi-drone controller like the one Aali had seen in the Mordor Arms catalog. Of course, she didn't mention the company name when asking if InstellArms could offer anything like that? The concierge checked her data and said they sold a device with those specs. But she noted it had differences from the Morder unit. Their unit, measured 15 x 15 x 4 cm, so it was a pocket-sized/hand-held unit. The software let users create profiles for any drones with in-built programmable or AI-driven electronics for all classes of drone. The unit allowed touch management, voice programming or sensor-pinning a target and assignment of any drone in that profile to carry out each mission.
The software AI monitored the feed from all active drones it was controlling, and highlighted combat related activity detected over other drone feeds. The device could also connect to a HUD for hands-free or voice use, with a battery supporting 24 hours of constant use. The unit's range was 10 miles in open or suburban regions, 5 miles in urban settings and two miles in hardened settings. It was also rechargeable from any standard fusion appliance power source. Adaptors were sold for other sources. The unit provided constant connectivity to 50 drones, and was sold for Cr 30,000.
Next, Jocelynn said she wanted the warblades augment added to her armor. When the concierge checked the configuration of Jocelynn's battledress, there was a problem. They demanded the blades be installed in the forearms. But, she already had the arms redesigned in Denotam to support the mounted laser pistol and grenade launcher. So, those would have to be moved, and Jocelynn didn't like the idea of putting them on her upper arms. Overhearing, Aiden plaintively said, "But, you can call yourself the 'Bicep Blaster'!" in a tone that didn't say if he supported her or was mocking the blades? But, in the end, Jocelynn gave up that idea and Zimzod never considered it for the same reason.
Still wanting to add more "punch" to her weapon systems, Jocelynn eventually ordered a gun mount just like the one Zimzod bought, except she had it installed on her right shoulder. Next, Jocelynn wanted a psi-blocker installed into her battledress. That was a mod her concierge was very happy to help with. A standard psionic helmet could be had, in the current economy, for Cr 5,000 to 10,000. Of course, modification of the helmet in her battledress would be more expensive. The concierge told Jocelynn the mod would cost her Cr 15,000. That wasn't an issue for Jocelynn and she placed the order. Moving past the psi-shield in her armor, Jocelynn asked, her concierge about fashon-friendly civilian shields. He nodded and started to tell her about various models including obvious and 'fashion-brutal' shields or jeweled, fashionable units.
Suddenly making a joke, Jocelynn gushed, "Do they come as tiaras? Put it on me! Put it on me!" Before her concierge could react, Zimzod blasted, "Dammit woman! There are no tiaras in the Army!" After the laughter died down, the concierge told her the shields had to cover the skull. So they didn't come fashioned into tiaras. Still, he did say Jocelynn could buy a tiara to go with any shield she bought, if she wanted? Jocelynn waved that off and ordered a comm dots set and mux, since she owed Aiden four dots. She'd return his dots then find uses for her new spares.
After that, Jocelynn recalled that each new system she added to her armor drew power from the suit's batteries, and might slow down the critically fast battle computer in her armor. So, she decided she was done adding weapon systems and she and Zimzod said they want to buy grenades for their launchers. That also brought her back to the message she'd gotten with the executive armor suits that morning. In that, she had a list of what the local InstellArms had for immediate sale.
Considering the list, Jocelynn bought five "Morph gas" grenades for Cr 10 each, which put people to sleep. She also got five CAP(Concussion, Anti-personnel) grenades for Cr 25 each. Those were concussion grenades packed with rubber bullets causing minor wounds for crowd dispersal. She also got ten HEAP grenades for Cr 50 each, ten "Shaped-Charge" Hatch/Bulkhead Breakers for Cr 100 each, and five chaff grenades for Cr 20 each. Her bill for grenades for her launcher came to Cr 1,775. Zimzod bought 20 HEAP grenades at Cr 50 each, 5 Shaped-Charge Hatch/Bulkhead Breakers for Cr 100 each and 5 Chaff grenades for Cr 20 each. His total was Cr 1,600.
Aiden's concierge had been watching others in his crew spend credits like they were on fire. Jocelynn and Zimzod were buying battledress augments. Sekea and Colinne had not only bought combat armor, but kitted out their new suits. Damn near everyone in the crew had bought some kind of expensive thing and, she was doing her best to hide her 'commission lust' from Aiden. But, when she asked Aiden how she could help him, he only said he wanted to order an athletic supporter and the most protective cup InstellArms sold. Standing there working to control her thoughts and reaction, she would have kicked him in the nutz herself if she could.
She took solace in the fact the cup wouldn't protect him very much after all. It would likely only prevent organ damage, while he'd still be doubled over in pain any time he'd gotten kicked. So, she'd take the chump change a commission on his Cr 50 jock strap and cup provided, and look for the next score. She also convinced him to order six supporters, because that would keep him from doig onerous extra laundry. While he waited for her to get his order moving, Aiden overheard the recommendation every crew member should have ten executive armor suits. Especially since he only had four suits, and would lose one any time he got wounded. So, Aiden bit the bullet and ordered six sets of executive armor. Especially after he heard they were getting a deal on them at Cr 1,500 each. By then, Aiden's bill came to Cr 9,075.
After that, Aiden showed an interest in enhanced sensor systems for his combat armor, and any additional ammunition types for his snub pistol. Aiden also decided to pay to have the integration kit for his vacc suit installed, which he'd not had done on Denotam. That cost him Cr 50. He also looked into a sensor suite mounted using a design similar to the "Halo" comm's system for battledress. That gave environmental chem and bio "sniffers", audio, electronic, 360-degree vis-light, limited radar and radiation detection at a much lesser level than Battledress. The kit also demanded the suit be mounted with a battery and electronic controls that could be incorporated into a HUD. That unit would cost Cr 25,000 to buy and another Cr 5,000 to install. Despite the rising hopes of his concierge, Aiden said he'd consider it. Continuing to crush her hopes, the ammunition didn't lure Aiden to make any more purchases. His final bill was Cr 9,100.
After finishing with his combat armor and vacc suit, Sekea also asked about "detectors" that could both be used as "general sniffers" or as pre-programmed "bloodhound-type" detectors? Because any sniffer was more effective if no one had to risk their lives entering questionable spaces, Sekea pulled up a list of the drones the crew had on his hand computer. He asked if they could add sniffer capabilities to the drones. Sekea also highlighted those drones that were anti-grav, because drones with fan-based flight would push the air away and prevent the sensors from detecting anything.
Sekea wanted to start by adding a "reference library" of signatures from chemical to biologic to a list of other items. That data would support the visual, audio and "scent-based" detectors the drones already had installed. He also wanted the selected drones to be programmed to "sniff a sample" and hunt it, using either pre-programmed or AI-designed search patterns. Those would be created after scanning a specified space for area parameters. Sekea also hoped to be able to permanently add entries to the reference library when that was needed. Sekea's concierge said she expected her technical people could convert some of the anti-grav drones they had and they only had to turn those over to the techs.
The drones the crew owned which could be upgraded in the way Sekea asked were: Two "sensor ball" drones Aali owned Four "floating ball" drones Jocelynn owned One high end surveillance drone in Rol's box of gear The rest of the drones owned by the crew were either fan-propeller driven, or had electronics which were too "dumb" to handle the upgrades. Trying to augment those would be more expensive than simply replacing them with new units which could do the job if needed. When that data was handed to Mikah, she was doubtful the crew would need a "bloodhound". But she was willing to ask for either Aali or Jocelynn to volunteer some of their drones. If neither of them stepped up, Mikah would "volun-tell" Rol, after he was decanted, his drone had been selected because the ship had paid for it anyway. When she asked, Aali volunteered to have her two drones worked on, and also volunteered to pay the cost.
Ironic Timing With the datasheets filled out and the orders filed, the crew were in the InstellArms mini-gravBus on the way to the ship. They had to pick up Mikah and Sekea's vacc suits to complete the ordered upgrades. They also had to pick up the two drones Aali volunteered for bloodhound duty. The InstellArms techs provided the crew with temporary comms and collected the team's main comms to update. Mikah still had to collect the five spare comms from the ship too. Ironically, while that was happening, Jocelynn's comms began to buzz. When she answered it, she found it was the broker.
Jocelynn asked what was up and the man said the bidding war for the radioactives had ended and that cargo had finally sold for MCr 18! Hearing that, Jocelynn was initially stunned at the massive amount being paid! Her surprise was so great that she didn't even catch the fact that the profit shares meant the entire crew were almost all millionaires! When she could, she thanked the broker despite the huge chunk he had gotten in commission and shot Mikah a look and said, "Eighteen Mil!" By the time Jocelynn got off the phone, Mikah had let out a "whoop!" and the whole crew were either still in shock or celebrating.
Before she'd broken the line, Jocelynn had asked the broker what he thought had caused the bidding war? He said that his best guess was that an out-system buyer had sent a large buy order to the system for radioactives. When that news broke, a number of merchant captains began playing a game which might well have been called 'liar's poker'. Only, in this case, the lie was that no matter how much they paid to buy the cargo, they'd get the customer to pay even more. Still. they just might pull into the buyer's system to find someone had gotten there first. Or, they might arrive in time to compete with other ships in a war that forced the sale price there down. The best news was that they didn't have to travel to the end system. Or worry about the risk of losing their shirts if someone else beat them there. Being the middleman was the best part of that deal.
Punching the numbers into her hand computer, Jocelynn found the gross payment of MCr 18 meant they would net MCr 16.2 after the broker's commission. So, they'd made that broker a millionaire too, if he wasn't already one. Then, she totaled the ship's expenses buying, carrying and selling the cargo in Ghandi, which was Cr 5,810,508. So, their actual profit was Cr 10,389,492. Based on the formula they'd set up to build up the ship's funds, the ship would get Cr 3,116,848 before they got their shares. And, their shares of the radioactives were Cr 808,072 each! And, that didn't include what they might get from the crystal and gemstone lot.
Now, they had to set up the pickup and have someone at the ship to supervise it. And Jocelynn knew she'd have to start looking to refill the cargo bay again soon enough. While she took a mental break from that, because it wasn't pressing, Jocelynn relaxed and enjoyed the ride. They were getting close to the port and the ship when Mikah's comms buzzed! Knowing the broker wouldn't call her, everyone wondered if they should be concerned while Mikah answered the call? That turned out to be from Maur. Mikah announced that to the others and asked how she could help Her ladyship?
Maur was smiling and apparently relaxing when she asked how Mikah's crew were settling in, and were they able to come out and have some fun? When Mikah answered, "Absolutely!" with a tone still infused with the celebrations of her crew's good fortune. Maur said that she wanted to take the crew to dinner in over-due thanks for helping rescue her and the others from the pirates. Maur admitted she'd finally recovered access to her personal funds and begun rebuilding her lost wardrobe. So, she wanted to thank them all directly. When Mikah was about to say that wasn't necessary, Maur said she wanted to take them all to dinner that night.
Mikah thanked Maur and said that would be nice, then muted her phone and said, "Everyone scrub up, we're going out for a nice dinner." Maur then told Mikah she planned to buy them reservations at "Astral Ambrosia", the most high-end restaurant on the station. They'd even seen the lights from the dome atop the main civilian sector of the station during their landing approach. A number of images they'd already seen showed the amphitheater-like bowl of high-end hotel facilities the restaurant's diners could look down into if they were not looking out at the many ships berthed or transiting near the station's safety zones.
When Sekea jokingly asked if Fesic would have to wear his new 'uniform', the others laughed while Fesic said he had a suit classy enough for the dinner. Mikah first said, "Yeah, he will." and laughed. She then reversed that, saying she expected everyone to dress up fancy and be properly decked out for the meal. When Jocelynn asked, Mikah made it clear this would be evening or "respectable party" wear, not Court garb. She added that it was only three in the afternoon. So, with all the money they were earning, they could all afford to go out to get a new outfit that suited the occasion.
Mikah said she had enough clothing and planned to wear her black party dress. Colinne was concerned because she only had the one court gown. She knew she could wear one of her business suits, but wondered what impression that would get from Maur? When she mentioned her wardrobe to the others, Mikah and Jocelynn agreed they needed to take Colinne shopping. Again. Because, they'd had to take her shopping to get the court gown she now had in her clothing collection in Denotam. That decided, the crew began talking about her "best colors" for a dress and Zimzod suggested teal. Jocelynn suggested emerald green, but agreed with teal or Turquoise.
When Zimzod jokingly asked what he should wear, there were jokes flying in every direction. Zimzod then said that asking anyone else about what to wear in a civilian situation was just setting yourself up for failure. Mikah told him to wear his black suit. Sekea said he felt he could wear his blue casual suit and the others agreed. Fesic said he'd wear the outfit he'd been given by Duke Luis on Lunion. That was a simple but stylish Solomani suit with a broad black and brown color scheme highlighted by light tans. Aiden said he'd wear his high-end charcoal grey suit.
After they recovered the last items from the ship, the concierges rode along while bringing them back to their hotel. Mikah and Zimzod were told the 'droid component stress testing report would likely come back in two to three days. So, they'd know what could be done by 085-1114. Also, along the ride, Sekea's concierge brought up his x-mail from Denotam, asking them to line up the pell 'droids they had on sale locally. While she admitted, they might not need a new 'droid, given the outcome of their unit's rebuild, they did have three models they wanted to make him aware of.
The first unit came in two models. The first seemed disappointing because it looked like it couldn't move, and they were told it swiveled. But that version of the device not only had a base instead of legs, but couldn't attack. It would be fine to train for facing opponents in fixed positions, but that never happened in the real world. Still, one could improve their basic attack and defense moves. The second variation of the device replaced the swivel with a gravUnit, so the device could freely move around. Still, a major drawback was that it didn't provide for attacks below the hips, nor did it force a trainee to respond to an opponent's footwork.
The next unit was a fully humanoid design allowing for full mobility. Additional costs included mobility software, allowing the android to move, act and react increasingly realistically as the programming and software bought by the client improved. Of course, trying to load both extreme-level mobility "And" extreme-level blade fighting skills often left limited space to load weapon compatibilities. So, there could be lengthy delays when a 'droid had to have "sword skill" programming removed so "pole axe skill" could be uploaded. That also meant, the more spent on that type unit, the more realistic the training results.
Finally, the "Uber-Advanced" unit had an appearance which was visually brutal. It had to have been voted 'most likely to go rogue and kill as many users as possible' on the design room floor. A drawback it had, despite the cost, was that it also had no legs, and relyed on its gravUnit. It was also designed to be a devastating blade combat unit, and could likely be hijacked as a blade combat battle-'droid by the nefarious. The unit's main selling points were that its systems were designed for extreme speed and high-density storage. So, it could cover every element of as many weapons possible at the same time. And to also have the same capability with tactics and maneuvers.
In every case, any android was purchased "dumb" and one of the major expenses was the skill level and software bought to install in the unit's brain. The more one wanted from an android, the more one had to pay to have it programmed, unless they wanted to hire a dedicated 'droid software programmer for their staff. Especially if and when a programming bug was identified. Perhaps, after having a funeral for the crew person who discovered the bug. In the end, what could be loaded was also limited by the capabilities of the 'droid brain. And brains with increased storage capabilities required increasing physical space, which would affect the physical design of any android.
One thing a number of the crew saw was that the very expensive unit they were showed was also rated to carry out training with laser foils and swords! While strikes against the unit would demand "shielding repairs", the metal coverings of every part were thick enough that they could eat the damage for any strikes that were not direct and sustained. Of course, that also meant they'd have to buy a stockpile of spare shielding elements to do repairs with. And, they'd be tied to buying replacements of those parts along their trail of travel, assuming they could find them offered in remote or isolated systems.
Back at the suite, Colinne had decided she needed a dress. Those not going out shopping with her had the afternoon to relax. Even Colinne, Mikah and Jocelynn had some time, because they could go to scan-printer garment shops. Though expensive on the station in the Ghandi system, they were all aware they each had much more cash to spend based on the payments coming from the radioactives sale. So, the ladies discussed again what Colinne 'wanted' before they had the hotel's concierge call them a gravTaxi. It was while they were loading into the taxi that Jocelynn got another call from her broker.
When she answered, he told Jocelynn that the cargo shipment of crystals and gems had been bought! Surprised, Jocelynn could only get out a surprised "OK!" before he continued. The man said the gross sale value was Cr 600,000! Listening while he continued, she heard the crew's net from that was Cr 540,000. According to Jocelynn's numbers app, that meant the ship would get an additional Cr 162,000 after the radioactives, and each of the crew would get Cr 42,000 more. With the cargo sales settled, Mikah was free to release the cash as soon as the buyers settled their payments. So, in a single day, and for work in which few in the crew had a hand, they'd each earned Cr 850,071!
Thanking the man, Jocelynn asked if he'd be available to help them with possible cargoes from Ghandi to the Lanth system in a week's time? The man was certainly willing to work with Jocelynn and their ship again, and told her to call him back when they were ready to work on possible cargoes. He also said he'd reach out to Jocelynn if he felt he'd spotted any specific deals which could be stored in a cargo bay before then. Jocelynn thanked him, cut the line, then let everyone know about the final sales.
Hearing "only" KCr 42 after the earlier sale near a million Credits for each of them, Mikah comedically demanded, "What the hell happened?" Her tone was one of disappointment and distress, suggesting Jocelynn had seemed to be at the top of her game and then come crashing down. Mikah continued to complain, despite the fact the KCr 42 was quite a good pay out, until she couldn't keep her laughter in any more. Jocelynn first snarked, "They weren't radioactives." and Mikah nodded saying, "Oh. OK." The others first laughed at her then laughed with her as those in the taxi cheered their luck with the last run. Shadows of future trades where luck might turn against them were ignored for the time being.
Tuesday, 082-1114: 3:30pm Where everyone is at the end of the session: Mikah and Jocelynn: Taking Colinne out to buy a dress for the coming dinner with Maur Colinne: Going out with Mikah and Jocelynn to buy a dress for the coming dinner with Maur Aali: Working on a personal project in her bedroom in the suite Aiden, Fesic, Sekea, Zimzod: Relaxing in the suit's living room watching vids Rol: Nearing decant on 084-1114
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