Frozen Soul, and other works: June 2017

Friday, June 30, 2017

Chapter 27 - Poker Night Denied

The Smuggler’s Reach All Station Poker Tournament is held monthly, and is one of the main highlights of life aboard the station. It is, of course, purely coincidental that there is a regular monthly event happening each week on the station. The cycle, for those who didn’t know, went as follows: the All Station Poker Tournament, the Centauri General Slave Auction, the Gladiator’s Arena, and the Centauri Stakes, a race made with ‘small ships’ (because no one could see that they were clearly fighters).

Anyways, there was a purely coincidental circuit of events that kept money and influence constantly circulating through the station, which was, in general, a good thing for everyone. For me, that meant that I had a nice, convenient way to score some serious credits. Oh, not at the tables. It was one thing to play cardsharp in a single game, cheating the whole time. Doing it in a tournament on a station of mobsters was something else. When said mobsters were very open about the fact that they had Psy-detectors, and had no qualms about showing cheaters to the nearest airlock, whether a ship was there or not, it became a rather foolish idea.

So no, I wasn’t going to try and cheat my way through the tournament. Which isn’t to say I wouldn’t be participating (it was still fun to gamble, after all). But my money-making scheme for the evening had less to do with winning the tournament, and more to do with going home with the tournament’s winner, or at least one of the high rollers. Away from the psy-detectors, and with the help of a couple drugged drinks, I hoped to ‘convince’ some of the big fish to hire an ‘escort’.

In other words, I wanted to catfish them and rob them blind, like Lord Kickass. In honor of that thought, I brought back an old friend.

Hope Walters

Human Female

Level 10

Faction: Terran Empire

Titles: Companion

OK, so I improved on her ID from last time, but bringing back the identity I used to get the Raven seemed poetic. There shouldn’t have been a problem. After all, no one on this station knew ‘Hope’.

Except for the one idiot who did.

Lord Kickass

Level 15 Human

Titles: Hotshot, Disgraced, Foolish, Indenture, Addict

Don’t know how he got to Alpha Centauri, but when I was approaching the tournament hall to register, I saw none other than Lord Kickass himself, in stuff that was barely better than beginner gear, also trying to get into the tournament. Looked like he had had a few changes since I rolled him. He’d lost his faction level, and was no longer a captain, clearly.

Unfortunately, the dumbass spotted me as I turned to walk away from the hall. I couldn’t play under this name, with Lord Kickass there, naturally. But having spotted me, he recognized ‘Hope’ as the cause of all his troubles. With a yell, he ran after me, and the chase was on.

OK, so it wasn’t really a ‘chase’. I got him to follow me into a back passage into the more private areas of the station, and was waiting for him when he turned the corner to follow me. A Psybreaker round to the face brought him up short, and I quickly closed to put a Stunning Grasp on him. The one-two combo worked like a charm. I had just over a minute to figure out what to do with this foolish man.

I used the Prison Bracers I still carried from when I was in the lab to lock his hands behind his back, and stripped him of his weapons and armor, before diving into his head with Mindread. First, the idiot wasn’t here looking for me. After the chaos involved in the coup, he’d been kicked out of Sol System, and was tricked into buying passage out of the system to Alpha Centauri. Tricked, because he’d signed a contract indenturing him to the Bratva until he could pay the debt. It was like slavery, except you still had rights.

And he got utterly fucked on the cost of travel to Alpha Centauri. I’d charged the Princess 100K. The Bratva had Lord Kickass on the line for 250K, though part of that seemed to be for the ‘generous’ offer of equipping him with new gear. And without a ship, he had no way of paying that money back anytime soon.

I honestly almost felt sorry for him. But he was an immature jackass that named himself ‘Lord Kickass’, so that feeling went away before it even got started. The idiot had already ruined my plans for the evening, which made me want to get a bit of revenge.

Searching his gear showed that while the armor he had may have only looked like it wasn’t any better than newbie rags, it definitely was a cut above the average. Not as good as what I had, but still better than what I started with. Same with his weapons. That fact made it easier for me to resist that urge to steal them all. Wouldn’t do to have him suddenly show up naked again.

My search of his mind did show two lovely things, however. First, Lord Kickass was acting as a courier at the moment, carrying a supply of certain illicit substances bound for Primo. The sale of these substances on the station would easily make me a clean 80k credits. If I could move them. Fortunately, I’d done some networking the last couple weeks, and had the perfect place to sell them.

The second bit of good news is that Kicky had been forcibly addicted to a cocktail of drugs in order for the bratva to better keep him on their leash. Among the drugs he was addicted to was ‘Pixie Dust’, a mixture of cocaine, XtC, Jovian Fly, and Venusian Pollen (the same as Jovian Fly, but designed to work on women). Besides giving the user an incredible high and making them insanely horny, it also had the lovely effect of screwing with their short-term memory.

Even better, I’d ‘acquired’ several doses of the stuff when I was in the process of getting some of the funds I’ve been spending this week. Injecting him with it was simple. Rewriting his memories to remove me from the equation was even simpler. I did, however, take great pleasure in crafting a memory for Lord Kickass where he met a dealer for his ‘fix’, and ended up paying for it by getting on his knees and very enthusiastically ‘servicing’ the man with his mouth. For kicks, I also wrote into the memory that he really enjoyed it, especially when the dealer made him deepthroat and swallow.

As a last bit of fun, I used one of the Profession guides on him, before I left him to enjoy his high. His reaction when he found out he now had Companion training was probably going to be priceless.

Anyways, I changed my look so that I looked like Kicky when I sold the stuff he was supposed to deliver for the Bratva to a shady merchant. The Bratva was probably going to be pissed at Kicky. But hey, he only had to survive their displeasure for another two RL months before he could change characters. Maybe next time he would be less of a douche?

I waited until I was alone to regain my ‘Riku’ guise. I didn’t want any other names attached to the ‘Azeroth’s Call’, after all. And where I was going next, I couldn’t help but be attached to my ship.

Kimura Gempachi

Human Male

Level 35

Titles: Shopowner, Slaver, Sadist

“Welcome to Kimura Arms!” Greeting me as I entered was a Japanese man, the ‘Kimura’ of Kimura Arms. He was a fairly normal-looking guy, but that was a mask for the fools or the unwary, if I had to guess. But then, anyone who looked ‘average’ on a station full of gangsters and rogues was probably not someone you wanted to mess with.

Trying to make this meeting go better than it did with the last Japanese guy I met, I offered a short bow. “Thank you, Kimura-dono. I would like to inquire if you have any weapons suitable for a Type I-23 Striker Shuttle? I recently acquired one that had been retired from service, but I’d sleep better if my pilot could defend himself when he’s flying me about.”

“Ah, such manners! So hard to find these days! Now, a Type I-23, you say? Haven’t seen one of those since the last war! Still, I have a few toys you might be able to use on your new shuttle. Come and look!”

Weapon Systems (Assault Shuttle)
Name	Price	Description
Mk III Ion Cannon	5000	Ion cannon on a center-mount facing forward. Ion cannons deal relatively little damage to shields, but can be used to disable unshielded craft. Effects are unpredictable in atmosphere.
Tyberius Arms Dual-Lance	10000	Standard multipurpose blasters for use in space or in atmosphere. The standard weaponry for armed shuttles throughout the Empire.
Makarov Cluster Missile Launchers	25000	Twin cluster missile launchers, mounted on ‘pop-up’ bays. These missile turrets can hold up to 20 cluster missiles each, which can be fired singly or in rapid fire modes.
Thunderbolt Torpedo Launcher	50000	Internal launch bay large enough to hold four standard-sized torpedoes.

Thankfully, the ‘disarming’ process for the shuttle had only included stripping the weapons out. The actual weapon mounts were still intact (I’d made sure to check that), which meant that installing these weapons would largely be a matter of ‘plug and play’. And boy did I want to play!

Of course, I also had to buy ammo for my missile and torpedo launchers, and replace the missiles I’d fired at the pirates and destroyer. That cost another 50K, bringing my entire bill up to 140k credits. Not too bad. Of course, I had to engage in a bit of negotiations to try and bring the price down. The shopkeeper, however, didn’t realize that the negotiations started when I used Influence to make the man notice my ass as I bent over to examine his wares.

While I had played female characters in other RPGs, and even roleplayed some while doing it, the fact that VR felt real was something I hadn’t expected. I was in a body that was (at least for now) female, and as I began to close the deal on getting the discounts I wanted, I was surprised once again at how the Pod technology allowed you to literally feel things you normally wouldn’t be able to. I had, naturally, played around with my girls in this form, but I hadn’t done anything with a man.

It was… mildly disappointing, to be honest. The shopkeeper was not interested in anyone’s pleasure but his own, and it had evidently been a while for him, because he was done fairly quickly, before I had a chance to build to anything but frustration. But then, in retrospect I guess it should have been obvious that things would end up like that. After all, I was basically whoring out for discounts, and the shopkeeper wasn’t my lover. Or maybe I had just been spoiled by my harem?

Regardless, the deed was quickly done, and while the shopkeeper didn’t reduce the total any, he did throw in a lovely armor set that should help keep me protected even when a tactical vest isn’t appropriate.

Forceful Psyleather Pants
Type	Pants	Rank	Uncommon
Created from the hide of a creature with Psy abilities, and infused with Psy by the creator, Psyleather garments offer an excellent way for those just starting out to increase their affinities and resistances until they can afford genetic mods, or for more established wearers to further boost their abilities past their mods. The type and strength of the effect depends on the creature the hide came from, and the skill of the creator. This set has been crafted to fit itself to the wearer’s form for best effect. Requires: Level 10 +10 Energy Armor +10% Force Affinity +10% Force Resistance +10 CHA

Resilient Psycloth Shirt
Type	Shirt	Rank	Uncommon
Created from the silk, fur, or fiber of a creature with Psy abilities, and infused with Psy by the creator, Psycloth garments offer an excellent way for those just starting out to increase their affinities and resistances until they can afford genetic mods, or for more established wearers to further boost their abilities past their mods. The type and strength of the effect depends on the creature the hide came from, and the skill of the creator. This set has been crafted to fit itself to the wearer’s form for best effect. Requires: Level 10 +10 Physical Armor +10% Physical Affinity +10% Physical Resistance +10 CHA

OK, maybe I could forgive the lackluster performance. The outfit definitely looked good with my coat, after all. And now I could have my nanosuit look like my skin, instead of a skinsuit. Might not be much, but having people underestimate me is always good.

Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter

Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):

Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT

Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):

Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/

Volume 3 - Wyrmwood https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072QKVBYV

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):

Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL

Book II - Choson Ring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X3LL9D

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

LitRPG facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGGroup/

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Chapter 85 - The Door in the Mountain

SCHUNK!

That was not the sound one normally heard when a person’s fist met the head of a giant wolf, but when you have a monk around, and their fists can harden to the point where steel is no match for them, then you should expect some irregularities. Like the slim, toned arm of a drowess getting buried to the elbow in a wolf’s skull.

Jastra Sylrya

Drow Female

Level 41 Dirgesinger (Bard) / Monk

Titles: Beautiful One, Cunning One, Stonefist, Manslayer, Slave

Dire Wolf Alpha

Level 40 Wolf

I’d summoned my Stewardess from the castle as we left the Tribeslands for three reasons. First, I wasn’t at the castle, so she didn’t have anything better to be doing. Second, if she was going to be protecting my body while I slept in the castle, she’d need to be high enough level to make a good showing of it, so the weaker monsters in this area would make for a good training ground for her. Third, I had that quest I’d picked up to try and satisfy her desire so I could advance my profession.

The creatures in this area averaged in the high 20s, but that downside of my eating the eggs was having us meeting creatures in the low to mid 40s. Still child’s play to my group, now that we had all gone past level 50, but for Jastra they were a challeng, and one that would help level her up. And I enjoyed watching her work.

With this battle finished, I affectionately patted Jastra on the rear as she returned to my side. “Well done, Jastra. You’ve earned a reward when we camp for the night.” The Drowess shuddered, but said nothing. She still resented her enslavement, no doubt, but was starting to see some benefits to her situation. There were a lot fewer death threats against her these days, for instance. Drow politics can get cutthroat, literally.

We (ok, mostly Jastra) fought several more groups of wolves as we continued our journey out of the Tribeslands. When it came time to camp for the evening, she had leveled up to 43, making it a boost of five levels in the day and a half since I’d summoned her here with my Slaver’s Ring. Not a bad haul, especially considering that all these wolves brought in some extra coin, and plenty of crafting materials.

I was busy giving Jastra her reward, a task which, naturally, required us to both be naked and for her to be bouncing repeatedly up and down on my lap while I used my tongue to see if there were any problems with her tonsils, when I heard the sounds of people approaching our camp. Della, Yukiko, and Kylana, who were nearby, heard it too, but gave no outward sign. Hrozne was too busy reading the latest in a set of tomes shi had hidden in hir bag, each devoted to different fields of knowledge, it seemed.

Hekoir Bronzemaster

Dwarf Male

Level 60 Bulwark (Fighter) / Trapsmith (Rogue)

Titles: Sentinel, Wolfsbane

Brudrinen ‘Toll Collector’

Dwarf Male

Level 50 Bulwark (Fighter) / Rogue

Our ‘visitors’ stepped into our ring of firelight, in formation. There were five of them, all dwarves, and all armed and armored, with heavy armor and shields nearly their height. That they were able to move with any kind of stealth given all of that was… impressive. It hadn’t worked on our group, obviously, since they hadn’t noticed the three of our party who were hiding from view, but it was impressive in its own right.

Still, I didn’t care to play by their rules, so I just ignored them, and kept rewarding my slave. This did not seem to sit well with the leader of the five shorties. He growled, and stepped forward. “Get the hell up, you stinking nutsack spunk-bubble professor!”

I didn’t even look at him. “Nithroel, there’s a nail here.” The dwarf leader didn’t know what to make of that, at least, not until Nithroel’s hammer came down on his head as she came swooping down as fast as she could without hurting herself on the hard landing. The dwarf must have had one hell of a defense rating, since he wasn’t dead, but having your bell rung that hard is going to send pretty much anyone sprawling to the ground, at least for a bit.

The other four, seeing this sudden violence, started forward. Unfortunately for them, Severa and Kamla made their presence known at that point, stabbing each of them through the throat. I nodded my approval as the four fell, never seeing the face of their killers. Damn, but I loved watching my team work. Gripping Jastra’s waist, I slammed her down hard, and grunted as I released, the drowess slumping against me. “Good work, girls. Let’s see what we have here.”

Antique Mithril Warden
Type	Shield	Rank	Uncommon
This shield is forged from Mithril, so even though the style predates the Scourge, the shield still looks like it was new. Such shields are rarely seen outside of the dwarven lands, and are thus prized by many who live on the surface for their rarity, especially as many examples in non-dwarven hands have been lost to time as their weilders fell in battle. The device on the shield changes to display the chosen diety of the wielder. +200 CON, +200 STR +375 Defense +10% to all Resistances Enchanted: Repairing – Shield recovers lost durability over time. Cannot be destroyed by normal means.

Bloodcursed Skeletal Crusher
Type	Warhammer	Rank	Uncommon
Damage	340 – 455	Damage Type	Bludgeoning
This grisly weapon is forged from Adamantine, but the unknown artisan who crafted it showed both great artistic skill and great lack of taste, designing the haft of the hammer to appear as a human spine, while the head is a pair of human skulls. The grim enchantments placed upon this weapon has turned the hammer a blood red color. Requires: Level 50 Requires: STR 200 +200 Attack +250 STR, +250 CON Bloodcursed – Any creature damaged by this weapon takes 50% more damage from this weapon and has their defense against this weapon reduced by 50% for 24 hours. (Additional hits do not stack, but replace the old duration with the new one.) Enchanted: Vampiric – Heal 25% of the damage done by this weapon.

Gaze of Courage
Type	Helmet	Rank	Rare
This dwarven helm is styled with silver wings, making one wearing it easily noticeable on the battlefield. However, the enchantments upon it help to protect the wearer from harm, including an enchantment that saves one from instant death, giving this helmet the additional nickname of “Assassin’s Bane”. Requires: Level 50 +100 CON, +100 WIS +100 Defense Sturdy – The maximum damage any attack can do to you is (your Max HP - 1). Aura of Courage – You and all allies within 30 feet gain +10% Morale bonus to all actions. (Stacks with other bonuses.) Enchanted: Mental Fortitude – Gain +25% resistance against mind-affecting spells and effects.

Ebon Breastplate of Dismay
Type	Breastplate	Rank	Rare
This breastplate is forged of Mithril, and turned black as obsidian through magic. The design and the devices upon the armor change with each wearer. The only common element is that they are all designed to inspire dismay and dread in the wearer’s enemies. Requires: Level 50 +200 CON +600 Defense +40% Resistance against Piercing, Bludgeoning, and Slashing Aura of Dismay – All Enemies within line of sight suffer a 10% morale penalty on all actions, and deal 10% less damage. No effect on blind or sightless creatures, or mindless creatures (simple undead or constructs, most oozes and plants). Enchanted: Holy Ward – Wearer counts as Neutral for spells and effects that deal additional damage to evil creatures. Undead wearing this armor take no additional damage from holy spells and effects.

The dwarves all had copies of the shield, and which was nice, so I gave one each to Yukiko and Nithroel. Nithroel was our only hammer user, so she got the hammer. Della was our best healer, so I shoved the helmet on her head. And Hrozne was surprised when he got the Breastplate. But he could wear it because of his death knight class, and this would add yet another debuff to his arsenal.

By this point, the lone surviving dwarf, namely the asshole who tried to ruin my fun, was beginning to stir. Before he could say anything, I stepped on the dwarf’s throat. “Now, be a good boy, and tell me what you want.”

“Geh! We’re the toll collectors, see? You wanna pass the road to get to the Empire, then you gotta pay the toll. And you lot are dead! The Black Hand will kill you all for crossing them.”

I chuckled at them, and said, “Oh, really? Well, they’ll have to be better than you lot.” And with that, I stepped down, crushing the dwarf’s throat enough to deal a point of damage, and kill him.

Looking to the rest of the group, I smiled. “Well, if we’ve met the bandits, then we should be fairly close to the entrance. Tomorrow, we’ll go see what these dwarves have in store for us.” And with that, we broke back up into our watch structure.

The rest of the journey to the mountain was uneventful. Evidently, the local thieves only kept one group of well armed and armored bandits on the road. They probably relied on their sturdy stature and sneaking up on people while they were sleeping in order to collect their ‘tolls’. Maybe sending a runner to get more guys when a caravan was coming through.

Either way, we made it to the entrance to the dwarven lands without trouble. The door was twenty feet tall, and wide enough for two carts to pass eachother with room to spare. Carved into the stone of the mountain itself, I had a feeling that when they were closed, they would be all but invisible to the eye, based on the level of craftsmanship alone, to say nothing of what magic could do.

Lodwegret Warsong

Stone Dwarf Female

Level 60 Lightbearer (Paladin) / Hammerblessed (Fighter)

Titles: Sentinel, Undead Bane, Wolfsbane, Demonbane, Captain

The doors were open, fortunately, and ten dwarves, arrayed in plate armor and carrying shields and axes bearing the mark of the kingdom stood watch over them. I did not doubt that there were some who were less conspicuous hiding to cover these guards with ranged weapons or magic. The leader of this group stepped forward, and said, “Hail, travelers! Where might ye be headed, and what is your business?”

She was a dwarf that seemed to be carved out of solid marble. Guess that dwarves who ascend often get mineral or metal forms. Goes with their toughness and connection to the earth, I guess. Not my personal fave, though. Still, she would have been cute, for a dwarf, if she wasn’t uncanny valley statuesque.

“I am Zayn Darkmore, Knight and Lord of Wyrmwood. My companions and I are on errantry, and seek entrance to the Brudrinen Empire so we might find the residence of the Hardbottle Clan, where we have business to resolve.”

“And what business would an Incubus be having with the Hardbottle Clan?”

“That is a matter of my own accord, and no business of yours. But I shall say that, in their need, a member of Clan Hardbottle who was waylaid abroad asked for us to find and recover certain items, and bring them to the Clan holdings.”

The guard captain laughed at that. “And will the former owners of these items be coming to question about their whereabouts?”

“Oh, I seriously doubt that. Not in this life, at the least. And their afterlife promises to be no picnic, if their conditions prior to death are any indication.”

“So, ye killed them, then?”

“Well, the ones who had the items felt a certain attachment to them, and were none too pleased to hear that I had come to collect them to complete my quest. I did, however, attempt to gather the items with as little trouble as possible.”

“Hah! I like you, incubus. Go on into the city. But be warned, if ye be causing trouble, then no amount of silver tongued chatter will save you from the golems.”

“Well, it is a good thing I’m not here to cause trouble. You wouldn’t be able to give me directions to Clan Hardbottle’s holdings, would you?”

“Well, there aren’t many of them here at the border. Monwihr is too rural for their tastes. If you have business with the main family, your best bet would be to take a transfer portal to Vag Todur, where they have their main holdings.”

“Thank you much.”

“No problem. You really want to thank me, though, then you can meet me at the Golden Nug Tavern in an hour when my shift is up and buy me a drink.”

I laughed, and said, “You know, I just might be thirsty, myself.”

Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter

Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):

Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT

Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):

Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/

Volume 3 - Wyrmwood https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072QKVBYV

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):

Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL

Book II - Choson Ring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X3LL9D

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

LitRPG facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGGroup/

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Chapter 26 - Smuggler's Reach

To say that Don Veta was pleased to see us was only partly true. He was, of course, very happy to see his daughter again. He was less pleased to see Jackson still drawing breath, instead of having his accident. That changed when I informed him of how I found his daughter, and what had been done to her. When I told him that I brought Jackson to him for a father’s retribution, he smiled at me, just barely covering his rage. “You have done well. Whenever you are on Primo, come and see me. Do you know where you will be going next?”

“Well, I’m looking for a quiet yard where I can have some improvements made to my ship, and maybe another I ‘found’. After that, I’ll be heading through the Gate, probably out of Imperial space.”

The Don nodded, and said, “Well, as thanks for bringing this scum to me, I will do two things for you. First, here are the coordinates of an outpost where you can get the work you need done. My name will allow you into the shipyards, since they usually only work with trusted clients. Second, I will give you a letter of recommendation. Take it to Elnaril Triswynn on the knelfi world of Diymia, and he will know you are a trustworthy sort. He may also have work for you, should you be interested.”

I bowed my head to the Don, and said, “Thank you, sir, and may your ‘discussion’ with Mr. Jackson bring you everything you wish to hear.” The Don laughed at that, and had one of his men bring us a bottle of wine on our way out. Just so he could say to his men that he gave us something for our trouble. The real rewards were, of course, the stuff we’d stolen, and a place to get our ships modded, if I decided to keep Jackson’s ship.

Said ship, when we found it, was a pretty sweet little thing. As the title said, it was a light shuttle, but that hardly did it justice. This little beauty had been put together for the sole purpose of moving about as quietly as possible, and then making a loud noise when you got there. It was as much a ‘light shuttle’ as a battleship was a ‘large boat’. This was an Imperial Navy assault shuttle. Checking the files I had access to, it seemed that this was an old surplus model that had been sold, unarmed, after the last war, twenty years ago. I don’t know where Jackson got his hands on it, but he’d updated the shields and engines to current military specs, and he’d gotten a full stealth setup on it. The little thing wouldn’t carry much, but it was small enough to fit within the Raven’s cargo bay.

We’d stopped by the Raven before heading this way to unload the goodies (and the new slaves) and pick up the package for the Sunside bigwig. I put the package in the shuttle, and told the others to head back to the ship, except for Shearah. A We’d meet them in orbit, after flying the shuttle, which I named Stiletto (instead of the Willing Wench, as it had been named), to make the delivery.

Mail Order Delivery Samantha Hart, of the Hart Trading Company on Primo has purchased a ‘special’ package through an agent at the Choson Ring. Now, she just needs her new toy delivered to her residence on Primo so she can enjoy the Sunside’s heat. Discretion preferred.
Difficulty	D
Task	Deliver the stasis pod (unopened) to Samantha Hart’s residence.
Payment	50000 Credits (Bonus of 50000 Credits if delivery is not noted on local news networks. Bonus of 50000 credits if package delivered within 7 days.)

We got the full payment, since there was no news about Ms. Hart getting her new ‘pool boy’, who happened to look a lot like the new Emperor, and we beat the seven day timeframe. Pretty clear where that doppleganger sold at the slave auction back on Choson Ring went now. But the kinks of rich business women didn’t concern me, so long as I got paid for helping to service them.

The shuttle flew like a dream, and soon were were docking with Raven in orbit. While I was gone, the crew had taken the initiative to lock the two gravcars we ‘appropriated’ to the ceiling, leaving plenty of space clear for the shuttle to land. Because it was so small, it only took up a quarter of our cargo space. According to Shearah, the shuttle was fully functional, and hyperspace capable, so I just had to find some weapons and install them.

Once we broke orbit, we made our way to the outpost given to us by the Don. Smuggler’s Reach was, as the name suggested, a haven for smugglers, cutthroats, and ne’er-do-wells. Not the kind of place you’d want to take your family for a vacation, unless your vacations included the possibility of getting stabbed for your wallet, but it was a sight better than some of the places you might end up when you needed to find contacts on the less than legal side of things.

The outpost was based in a series of hollowed out asteroids, linked by several permanent walkways. From what I had been told, the authorities knew about it, and so long as things didn’t get out of hand, they were content to let it remain. The reason, of course, was because it served to concentrate anyone they probably wished to keep an eye on in one area, so if there was a time where they did need to intervene, they’d have a target to hit. Kindof like how RL cops know which clubs the local Mob owns, but they don’t do anything to rock the boat unless mob violence is getting out of hand.

Anyways, we docked in the shipyard, which they let us into once we gave Don Veta’s name as a reference. That was the easy part. The hard part was getting all the upgrades I wanted to both Raven and Stiletto. And let me tell you, it was one hell of a price tag. Even stretching my Negotiation skill as much as I could, I still ended up draining most of the money out of not only my account, but also the ship and corporate accounts! No one complained, though, since I was in charge of the Corporation, and it was going to make our ship the nastiest smuggler around. Did manage to get them to chop almost 20k off the final price, though.

Ship Upgrades
Mk VII Armor Plating (Concealed)	25000	Using advanced materials to replace the hull plating with composites that have greater strength than the original. Repairing hull damage becomes more expensive as a result. Requires 2 weeks in a shipyard.
NullScan Hull Paint	4300	Replace the standard black paint job with a ‘darker-than-black’ scheme that disguises the ship’s lines, and passively absorbs sensor radiation, making the ship much harder to detect while not using gravitic engines. Requires 4 hours in a shipyard.
Mk IV Reactor	200000	Provides a 25% better power output at 13% better efficiency than the current Mk III reactor. Useful for keeping weapons, engines, shields, and life support all working at peak levels simultaneously. Requires 48 hours in a shipyard.
Military-grade shields	125000	An upgrade to the shield emitters allowing for military-strength shielding from attacks and impacts. An improvement of 125% over current civilian model. Requires 12 hours in a shipyard.
Enhanced Thrusters	3000	Minor physical adjustments to thrusters, combined with enhanced control software, giving a 10% better performance rating, with 40% better efficiency. Requires 4 hours in a shipyard.
Mk V Gravitic Engines	400000	Replaces the current Mk IV Gravitic engines with the Mk V model, giving 25% greater range, and sublight speeds up to .5c. Requires 96 hours in shipyard.

Shuttle Upgrades
Mk VII Armor Plating (Concealed)	2500	Using advanced materials to replace the hull plating with composites that have greater strength than the original. Repairing hull damage becomes more expensive as a result. Requires 2 weeks in a shipyard.
NullScan Hull Paint	2000	Replace the standard black paint job with a ‘darker-than-black’ scheme that disguises the ship’s lines, and passively absorbs sensor radiation, making the ship much harder to detect while not using gravitic engines. Requires 4 hours in a shipyard.
Mk IV Reactor	25000	Provides a 25% better power output at 13% better efficiency than the current Mk III reactor. Useful for keeping weapons, engines, shields, and life support all working at peak levels simultaneously. Requires 48 hours in a shipyard.
ID Spoofer	1500	Special device allows for switching between real and false vehicle identification signals. Quality of fake depends on Forgery skill.
Military-grade shields	100000	An upgrade to the shield emitters allowing for military-strength shielding from attacks and impacts. An improvement of 125% over current civilian model. Requires 12 hours in a shipyard.
Enhanced Thrusters	1500	Minor physical adjustments to thrusters, combined with enhanced control software, giving a 10% better performance rating, with 40% better efficiency. Requires 4 hours in a shipyard.
Mk V Gravitic Engines	40000	Replaces the current Mk IV Gravitic engines with the Mk V model, giving 25% greater range, and sublight speeds up to .5c. Requires 96 hours in shipyard.

Since both the Shuttle and the Ship were getting worked on, and they were doing multiple upgrades at the same time, that meant we only had to wait on the longest upgrade, the two week armor replacement. That was to be expected, since they were literally taking the hull apart.

That meant we had two weeks on station, with nothing to do. Fortunately, that drone body we stole from Jackson was one of those really high end models, that were almost impossible to tell from a normal person. OK, so it was a sexbot body, crafted in the likeness of one of the hottest women in the world. And it was Raven’s brand new physical avatar.

This meant we had Raven actually with us, instead of just talking through our bracers. I shared the cost with the ship account to get her equipped with weapons and armor, so she could go ‘have fun’ with the rest of us. Seems she really didn’t like that she had to remain behind when everyone else got to go get into exciting gunfights and the like. I also ‘invested’ 10k on two copies of a hacking suite so she and I could get into enemy systems if when we needed to.

The slaves we picked up from the gambling hall were all pretty much worthless, as far as a ship’s crew went. None of them had any marketable skills, other than serving drinks or fucking clients. And I didn’t want to settle down and start a brothel, at least not at this time. Even if my debuff let me, I couldn’t free them in Imperial space, since they were all non-humans, and would get enslaved again immediately. This left me with seven extra mouths to feed while we stayed at one of the local hotels, which was draining my account further, and I hadn’t even armed the shuttle yet!

That, of course, meant that I would have to make some money, somehow. Fortunately, when you’re on a station with a bunch of underworld types and spacers, there’s always a few things you can count on to be present, no matter what: alcohol, hookers, and gambling. I had my girls, so I didn’t really care about the other two, the gambling was a profitable venture. If I could win.

OK, so I might have cheated a bit. And maybe hacked a few systems to get free booze. Or a few other minor things. And seduced a few people while convincing them to make stupid investments in a mine on Ganymede. And maybe I practiced forging IDs. But is that a crime, really? 66000 credits in profit isn’t THAT much.

Analyze has increased to 12/100.

+1 WIS

Seduction has increased to 12/100.

+1 CHA

Con has increased to 10/100.

+2 CHA

Computers has increased to 4/100.

+3 WIS

Software has increased to 4/100.

+3 INT

Hardware has increased to 4/100.

+2 DEX, +1 WIS