Makeovers

[tomcat]

It had taken Sam almost an hour to get back to the Aegis with his indirect route - approximately thirty minutes since his companions return.

Caden heard the heavier thump of Sam's gait as he walked onto the ship. The droid swept off his jacket and coat, and the three living beings smiled to themselves at the sight of the B2's manner. Did the droid want to be more like his biological companions? Did it just hide itself under the garb to ensure there was no ill interactions - perhaps some sort of camouflage? Maybe Sam desired to be more alive? Was that possible?

The questions would just have to go unanswered.

Sam strode into the lounge and saw Britton stretched on the couch near the chessboard; Brim sitting opposite him in a chair; and Caden leaning against the wall with a strong cup of caf in his hand.

[sdrotar]

"What'cha find out?" Caden asked Sam.
He had been pondering how to go about giving the Aegis a facelift, but despite his rare smuggling runs, Caden didn't have much experience in any serious criminal activities. Hiding crates in his ship and fast-talking his way past the authorities was one thing, but illegally modifying a vessel's registration was another. He hoped that the droid may have discovered a less... savory part of the city; one that might be home to the type of people that could help them.

[BrianM]

Brim stared at the table, lost in thought. He was sure that the Hutt would be able to provide them with useful information, but was the risk too great? They would have to be very careful on this hunt, especially on the home ground of their quarry.

The Rodian looked up from his reverie as the others were returning. "What is your favourite color, Caden? If we are able to find a new identity for the Aegis, perhaps a new paint job should go with it."

[sdrotar]

Brim stared at the table, lost in thought. He was sure that the Hutt would be able to provide them with useful information, but was the risk too great? They would have to be very careful on this hunt, especially on the home ground of their quarry.

The Rodian looked up from his reverie as the others were returning. "What is your favourite color, Caden? If we are able to find a new identity for the Aegis, perhaps a new paint job should go with it."

Caden chuckled. Brim was right - the less the ship looked like it used to, the better off they'd be.
It made the most sense for the ship to have a common color, one that would blend in at any given spaceport. Of course, the problem there was that Caden had already thought of that, which is why the Aegis was a bland, gray color already.

He knew that Corellians tended to be a bit more flashy with their ships, often painting them with colors signifying a clan; perhaps they should ask Kara if she knew of any patterns. In truth, Caden didn't want to encourage his new co-pilot too much - he liked her well enough, and she was clearly handy to have around, but he didn't completely trust her yet. Nevertheless, making the Aegis look like a Corellian vessel might be enough of a change to help, and he figured he could explain things away easily enough if need be.

Caden shot Brim a sideways glance, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Perhaps we should look at some swatches?"

[donimator]

Sam leaned against the wall and picked up a trinket to spin around in his hand as if he hadn't already calculated its volume to the nearest cubic micrometer and evaluated four ways it could be used as a weapon. "I found a source who should be able to dig deep into Varta's activities. I'll soon find out how useful it will be and took every precaution to hide who was asking the questions. This place runs on illegal barter and trade. There should be no problem getting the mods you need. Just need to know where to ask and be willing to pay the price..." He couldn't feign interest in the trinket any longer. He put it down and stood rigid against the wall.

[BrianM]

Caden shot Brim a sideways glance, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Perhaps we should look at some swatches?"

Brim chuckled, "Hmmmm ... I've always been partial to shades of green ..."

[ZehnWaters]

"We could go with pink," Britton suggested dryly.  "Who'd expect vicious assassins to have pink upholstery?"

[sdrotar]

"We could go with pink," Britton suggested dryly.  "Who'd expect vicious assassins to have pink upholstery?"

Caden grumbled something unintelligible and shook his head before retreating to the cockpit with his coffee.

[tomcat]

With Caden's departure, it was the sign that things needed to start happening.

Sam left the room and began to move throughout both decks of the ship taking electronic measurements of compartments and unused space. In his processor, the droid was assigning work time to changes that he could see being done. From weapon installation to hidden compartments, Sam knew that the Aegis could be armored and armed much better than she was and would make a more formidable vessel. He also began the tally of what it would all cost.

Brim had walked into the long main hall of the ship and sat down at a computer station. The Rodian brought up the current Galaxy chart and had the three-dimensional image zoom into the solar plane of Teth where the Hutt was said to be residing. It was a six planet system that orbited a single star. Teth was the third planet from the sun and it was orbited by two moons. The planet was temperate - ideal for the giant slug-like Hutts. There were multiple abandoned structures on Teth that had once been monastaries of the B'omarr monks. It was quite possible that Varta may have made one of these old fortresses his palace. They would have to look.

Caden sat in the cockpit drinking his caf, feet up on the console. It was not quiet on his ship. There were noises coming from the three other passengers, but still he felt alone. Outside, the sky over Cloud City began to darken in an orange-pink shade that caused the huge, white floating city to take on the hue. He drank the rest of his drink and began to wonder where Kara was.

[BrianM]

Brim read the computer screen for a time, but realized his skills weren't up to the task of locating the Hutt on Teth. That would likely have to wait until they were on-planet, and Sam was probably the best bet for sifting through all the data.

Instead, he relaxed and let his mind drift, contemplating the upcoming hunt they were preparing for. Diplomacy would not work with a Hutt, certainly not in their current predicament. As fugitives, Varta would hold more sway over them as they would over him. So that left a stealthy approach to the problem. They would have to find a way into Varta's stronghold and obtain the information they needed, hopefully coming out again intact.

Again it seemed odd to Brim that he could be so relaxed considering all they had been through, and yet he felt so intensely ... alive. All of this had started after the encounter with the Dark Jedi.

Later, the Rodian made his way to the bridge, where he found Caden in a similar state of contemplation. "Has Kara checked in? I worry about that one. There is much more about her than she lets on."

Brim looked out the canopy at the darkening sky. "If she's out much later we should look for her. One wrong word spoken in the wrong place could jeopardize us all."

[sdrotar]

Later, the Rodian made his way to the bridge, where he found Caden in a similar state of contemplation. "Has Kara checked in? I worry about that one. There is much more about her than she lets on."

"I'm with you there. But she's put herself on the line for us a few times already. We all have some... baggage."

Brim looked out the canopy at the darkening sky. "If she's out much later we should look for her. One wrong word spoken in the wrong place could jeopardize us all."

"Yeah, but Kara seems like the type that's not easily found, if she doesn't want to be. Besides, where would we even start looking?"

[donimator]

Sam finished up some initial calculations and was not surprised at the numbers. The extent of the mods, their remote location, and the nature of what they were looking for all conspired to drive up the price. It was substantial and something they would have to find a way to fund beyond their present means.

He tabulated the numbers and sent a message with options to Caden's datapad. Solutions, unfortunately, escaped him at this time.

OOC: Doug, I'll leave the specifics or vagueness of Sam's estimates to you. Hopefully Caden doesn't spit-take his caf all over the control board.

[ZehnWaters]

Britton shrugged, smiling, while Caden stomped off.  Sitting down at a table he pulled out a deck of cards and started to shuffle them.

[tomcat]

OOC: Doug, I'll leave the specifics or vagueness of Sam's estimates to you. Hopefully Caden doesn't spit-take his caf all over the control board.

Sam ran through the numbers and wondered if any of the things he thought would be beneficial could happen. First, the droid knew that speed in real space would benefit the Aegis, but the craft already had a top of the line sub-light drive. To upgrade would mean military hardware and that could only be found on the blackmarket and would be extremely expensive - in the hundreds of thousands. Sam also believed that a jamming suite would be of aid, and the Aegis had room for one. This hardware was available to anyone. It would just be the cost factor which he estimated at twenty-five thousand credits.

Second, the droid thought of added weaponry. The Aegis had two laser cannons, but certainly had both the need and the room for more. Looking at the ventral hull, Sam saw where he could adapt the forward cargo area inserting a proton torpedo rack and launcher. The ship could easily hold a magazine of nine torpedoes. Again, the hardware was military grade and Sam knew that they would not be able to get any working system for under fifty-thousand credits.

He downloaded all of his speculative and actual data into a datapad and then walked back into the ship. Sam strode quietly to the cockpit and held out the information for Caden to peruse.

[sdrotar]

OOC: Doug, I'll leave the specifics or vagueness of Sam's estimates to you. Hopefully Caden doesn't spit-take his caf all over the control board.

Sam ran through the numbers and wondered if any of the things he thought would be beneficial could happen. First, the droid knew that speed in real space would benefit the Aegis, but the craft already had a top of the line sub-light drive. To upgrade would mean military hardware and that could only be found on the blackmarket and would be extremely expensive - in the hundreds of thousands. Sam also believed that a jamming suite would be of aid, and the Aegis had room for one. This hardware was available to anyone. It would just be the cost factor which he estimated at twenty-five thousand credits.

Second, the droid thought of added weaponry. The Aegis had two laser cannons, but certainly had both the need and the room for more. Looking at the ventral hull, Sam saw where he could adapt the forward cargo area inserting a proton torpedo rack and launcher. The ship could easily hold a magazine of nine torpedoes. Again, the hardware was military grade and Sam knew that they would not be able to get any working system for under fifty-thousand credits.

He downloaded all of his speculative and actual data into a datapad and then walked back into the ship. Sam strode quietly to the cockpit and held out the information for Caden to peruse.

"Great work, Sam," Caden said, "but we're not going to be able to afford this stuff. At least, not without getting pretty... creative. And with a price on our heads, that's going to be tough."

He thought about it for a moment, though, and realized that they could perhaps start moving forward nevertheless.

"Let's prioritize, though. We're going to get this ship re-registered and re-painted, so let's take a look at procuring a jamming suite first. We're already fast, thanks those engines we picked up on Bakura. Besides, in any real scrap with Imperials, bounty hunters - or whatever that character with the lightsaber was - we're probably better off running than fighting right now."