Shore Leave and Space Suit Upgrades
14 Feb 2022Lance Ducatillon
We're docked and secured. Most of the ships for the expedition are at the Carrier already. Last minute I decided to buy and outfit an Alliance Crusader. I've been wanting a ship with a fighter bay and think the Alliance ships look cool. I don't do what that ship is intended to do, but as I get more into trying to upgrade my suits, it may be perfect. For now, I am turning it into a rescue ship to take along on the Monkey Head Expedition. I like to think that we can be self-sufficient on these Squadron outings. Having a rescue ship may save us a call to the Hull Seals or Fuel Rats.Life in the bubble is routine, which is to say boring as hell, usually. I gave the crew shore leave for a few days to blow off some steam. I need to take some myself, though for a different reason. I want to upgrade my space suits. I need night vision for one. It would be great to have a larger or at least more efficient power supply. A larger backpack would be great as well. I haven't even really started to dig into all the possibilities.
The problem is that the tech in these suits is so new that the parts and supply chain are still being established. You can't just waltz into a shop and say hey, I wanna buy this and have it put on please and thanks. In order to even have the ability to modify the suits you first have to find the parts needed so that Pioneer Supply can put on the needed modification mounts. These parts are on back order or not available yet for months. I am starting to see some customized suits come onto the market, so hopefully it will be getting easier. For now, you're on your own to get the parts you need.
Once the modification attachments are in place you then gotta find an Engineer who can do what you need doing. That's not an easy task either. It's basically black water station dealings on the fringes of the bubble. These Engineers are some weird individuals, but they know what they are doing. I don't mind weird people. I figure we all have a weirdness about us to someone else, it's what makes the galaxy spin, I guess. If nothing else, it adds color to the monochromatic, corporately sterilized view of the world that the powers that be want you to see.
So long story short, if you want to upgrade your suit you gotta steal what you need from the planetary settlements. Even then you never really know if you're going to find what you need at a particular settlement. I would trade or buy for what I need, it's just not possible at this time.
I'm a good guy at heart, I don't want to hurt anyone. Live and let live is my motto. I will stay on the right side of the law as long as the law provides a lawful means of getting what I need. In this case it doesn't. That's why I've been trying to take jobs 'retrieving' items of need for the folks who need them. This means taking them from the people who have them, they don't take too kindly to that.
Now don't get me wrong, these are not the most upright of companies and citizens here. They hire wanted killers as security and the types of "science" and "research" these companies are doing is ethically challenging at best. That's how I justify it at least.
It's also how I've managed to make several thousands of credits in bounties. Though it pales compared to the number of fines I racked up. Now I on the lamb for some so-called murders. They drew first, I was just looking around. My uncle Mal always said, if someone tries to kill you, you try to kill em right back. Well, I did.
That's also how I find myself sitting here at Jameson Station waiting for my notoriety do fade a bit so I can see my Interstellar Faction Lawyer, pay my fines, take care of the bounty on my head, and move on.
I still need the upgrades though. As soon as I can, I need to go back to a planet and look for what I need, again.