Into the Black

The Felisan looked me over carefully as she considered my offer. I let her decide on her own time, and went about checking the notifications I’d gotten during our last big hunt. We’d been out in the wild for a while, so it was good to check up on things.

You are now Level 20.

You have 2 attribute points to distribute.

Shapeshift increased to 10/100.

+4 CHA

Mental Psy Mastery increased to 10/100.

+5 INT

Blades increased to 10/100.

+3 STR, +2 DEX

Clubs increased to 3/100.

+2 STR

Unarmed Attack increased to 3/100.

+2 STR

Pistols increased to 10/100.

+4 DEX

Automatics increased to 10/100.

+4 DEX

Longarms increased to 5/100.

+1 STR

Archery increased to 5/100.

+1 STR

Thrown Weapons increased to 5/100.

+1 DEX

Analyze increased to 15/100.

+4 INT

Stealth increased to 10/100.

+7 DEX

Survival increased to 10/100.

+9 WIS

Navigation increased to 10/100.

+9 WIS

Perception increased to 10/100.

+9 WIS

Climbing increased to 5/100.

+4 STR

First Aid increased to 5/100.

+4 WIS

Seduction increased to 15/100.

+3 CHA

Physical Psy Mastery increased to 5/100.

+3 INT

Energy Psy Mastery increased to 5/100.

+4 INT

Force Psy Mastery increased to 5/100.

+3 INT

Gambling increased to 12/100.

+4 CHA

Cooking has increased to 5/100.

+3 DEX, +2 WIS

Your recent actions have gained the following attribute increases:

+10 END, +10 CON, +10 STR

You have gained a new title!

Chef

Any idiot can program a food processing unit. It takes an artist to turn raw ingredients into something that not only tastes great, but won’t kill you horribly.

Cooking has increased to 6/100.

+1 WIS

Knowledge Skill (Plants) has increased to 21/100.

+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Animals) has increased to 21/100.

+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Chemistry) has increased to 21/100.

+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Biology) has increased to 21/100.

+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Nature) has increased to 21/100.

+1 INT

Not a bad haul, considering that we’d spent most of the time since we’d gotten into Confederate space on this dustball, hunting bandits and monsters. Thankfully, we’d managed to save a couple of the natives from a nasty as hell sandstorm while they were crossing the desert. That didn’t get us anything on its own, except an introduction to someplace where we could get desert suits like the ones the Freemen used.

Desert Dweller’s Stilsuit

Type

Armor

Rank

Uncommon

The Freemen of the kisArra dessert are known for their ability to survive weeks in the open desert. Part of this ability stems from their stilsuits, which trap 98% of the moisture released from the body as sweat or otherwise, and recycles it, allowing the wearer to stay hydrated enough to survive for extended periods. This suit was made by the Freemen, and not one of the more fashionable Keen-Arran copies used by the wealthy of kisArra. A simple analogy would be to compare gear made by hunters and outdoorsmen to that made by fashion companies selling to suburban males who wouldn’t dream of going out hiking. Thus, the suit is one of the better functioning models available, and is slightly armored to protect against attacks.

The suit covers the entire body, including a hood to cover the head and a detachable mask which helps to filter the air, keeping down the amount of sand one breathes in. Whether the mask is worn or not, proper use of the suit entails breathing in through the mouth and out through the nose (using the included plugs which route into the collection pouches) to minimize moisture loss.

Durability 50/50

+20 Physical Armor

+20 Energy Armor

Lightweight – Wearing any other armor over this suit other than a pair of bracers or specially designed gear negates its effectiveness as a desert survival aid.

Recycle – Allows the wearer to retain and recycle 98% of the moisture they take in, reducing the threat of thirst while crossing the desert. A wearer using a functioning stilsuit need only drink 0.5 liters of outside water every two days to remain at peak condition.

Desert Wraith’s Cloak

Type

Cloak

Rank

Uncommon

The Freemen are not the only beings in the desert, so when they wish to go unseen, they use these cloaks, specially designed to not impede the functioning of their stilsuits, to aid in stealth.

Durability 25/25

Desert Cloak – Stealth in desert environments increased by 20 ranks.

So they weren’t better at a straight up fight than what I had been using, but they were what the locals used to not die in the desert, which meant they’re what I got for my crew. See the whole ‘not dying in the desert’ thing. Sure, if I had some power armor, that’d do better, for a while. But that shit was expensive as all hell, had a battery life measured in hours, and had lots and lots of joints and seams to get sand in, all of which would have to be inspected and cleaned when you took it off, to keep from wearing things out.

That’s what I hate about desert planets. Sand gets everywhere, if you give it half a chance. Hell, the only reason we didn’t have sand all through our suits is because we kept them sealed at least until we were in contained environments, like the shuttle or someplace with actual doors. Which made finding a way to stave off the Empathic Unbalance debuff of my Power Booster a challenge all its own.

Finally, Kiki seemed to be coming to a decision. Leaning forward, she said, “Is the footage on the stream real? All those… those orgies? You aren’t looking for a piece of catgirl tail to add to your harem, right?”

I grinned, and said, “Well, Kiki, you’re a pretty lady, and while I’m not opposed to taking a spin, that’s not what the gig is about, and there’s no expectations either way. You want to join in, you can join in. You don’t, that’s fine too. Just don’t get all Southern Baptist and judgy, because that would just fuck things up for everyone, y’know?”

Seemingly convinced, she nodded, and said, “Not going to be going down for anyone that isn’t looking for a long-term commitment, and that means just me and him. Not my thing, you understand.”

I nodded. “Fair enough. I’m mostly interested in what kinds of wonders you can cook up for my crew. Having our own weapons designer is going to be a pretty big deal down the line, once people really start getting their crafting going. So far, everyone on ship has a crafting skill, except for Raven, unless you count her insane coding skills. I suggest letting her look at any of your gear that has a computer in it, to overhaul the software and make it harder to hack. And anything you build for us will definitely have her input on software issues.”

Kiki blinked. “Huh. Most people don’t give AIs that much leeway. Guess you’re not one of those people who get scared anytime someone tells them the Three Laws aren’t absolute?”

“The Three Laws are crap, outside of storytelling. And Raven’s a cut above most AI out there. Don’t know how, haven’t cared enough to ask, and she hasn’t seen a need to tell me, but she jumped the Singularity, to become one of the few true sentient AIs in this world. Way I see it, she’s a person, so I treat her as such. It is a good partnership so far.”

That got a laugh from the woman sitting next to Kiki. “You’re just trying to keep me from going Skynet on you and spacing your ass!”

Kiki’s eyes went wide as her head snapped to look at the woman next to her. “I’d heard about the drones that looked like people, but I hadn’t seen one before! How are you managing to stay functional on kisArra? I’ve had to keep all my babies locked in my bracers until I actually need them, because of all the sand!”

“Oh, that’s a right pain in the ass, let me tell you! You know the Nadeshiko line was originally developed as a sexbot, right? Well, even after they figured out that the line was good for more than just relaxing boners, that functionality was still kept. Otherwise, the flesh replica exterior is sealed, and keeps any sand from getting into my more delicate joints. Unfortunately, before we got the suits, there was a fight with a couple bandits, and one of them went and died trying to stab me, and only succeeding in making me take a tumble down a sand dune. I’ve been trying to get sand out of my—“

“That’ll be enough of that, Raven. I already promised you that you got the first shower when we got back to the ship, didn’t I?”

“Fine! Just reminding you.”

Kiki blinked. And blinked again. “Oookay. I’ll take your word on the sentient thing.” Slowly, she turned back to look at me. “So, what crafting skills does your group have?”

“Well, I’ve picked up cooking. Sure, the automatic systems make decent enough meals, but if you can get fresh ingredients, you can make some tasty dishes that actually give some temporary buffs. Shearah is a Machinist now, so if you need someone to run a machine shop for you, she’s your girl. Carissa decided to learn to be an Herbalist, since being able to use local goods to make healing items instead of relying on nanomeds is a good thing, and helps her other profession out. Cali picked up Leatherworking, because she likes the way my ass looks in leather pants.”

“You’re a jerk, Master!”

“Love you too. Jaynie picked up Psygraving, which is basically this world’s version of Enchanting. Doesn’t just have to be on wood or metal. You can use it to make tattoos and other such things, too. Anyways, Sheila already had some skill at needlepoint, doing all that pointless Princess crap, so she picked up the Tailor profession, because she misses having nice things to wear.”

“I told you not to go blabbing that around!”

“C’mon, it is too cute!”

“Now Cali, don’t tease Sheila like that. Anyways, you have an idea on what you might be up for, besides Armorer?”

“Well, I hadn’t actually thought much about it, but I was considering picking up something like Chemist. That would help with making new kinds of grenades, or explosive bullets, or other fun things. And I’ve heard that you can also use it to make some mean moonshine if you have a still set up.”

My eyes glinted at that. “Oh really?” Looking over to Shearah, I had barely opened my mouth, before she giggled.

“I’ll build it first thing when we get to the ship, Master.”

I beamed at Kiki. “It is always so nice to have subordinates that know just what you’re going to say before you say it. So, what’ll it be? You going to join our merry band of wandering traders? Like I said, I can’t promise you the lap of luxury, but I can definitely promise you that you’ll get to build whatever we can get the materials for, and get to see it in action.”

Kiki finally laughed, and said, “Well, how can a girl say no to that? Just so you know, I will probably be on more than most people, since I’m living on disability at the moment.”

I winced at that. “Makes you feel any better, I’m in the same boat. Always on, because I’m in a wheelchair back home, thanks to getting hit by a truck. What about you?”

“Shop accident. Lost an eye and partial function in one arm. Don’t like to talk about it. I was a gunsmith in real life, before coming here.”

I nodded, respecting her right not to talk about it, so long as it was something that would stay in the real world. “All right, then. You wanna talk, I’ll listen. Don’t need to, though, unless it starts impacting here. Anyways, let’s get to the ship, so we can start talking about what kind of goodies you can make us, and what you need to make it happen.”