The ship landed, and the first thing we had to do was deliver the dark goods. With the ship entering the Dry dock, we needed to ensure that there was nothing there just in case someone's hand ‘slipped’ and took our stuff. Or even worse, Report us to the authorities.
I didn't expect how professional the legitimate and criminal organizations were in coming to pick up the goods. It barely took any time, and I didn't even have to try and intimidate someone. It made me realize that this game could be quite enjoyable to those who wanted to become traders. Keep to the professional side, and you could enjoy making a merchant enterprise or something.
As someone here for the combat, though, I felt a little disappointed as the ship rose back up and we landed in a Dry dock for repairs. Emily was over the moon happy to be able to strip out the slipstream drive.
“Ura, It was worse than I thought,” Emily said as she dug into the drive while it wasn't on, “The power manifold is on the backup. You are running on the spare, it seems. There was max one more journey on this thing before the Power manifold blew, and it could have been in the slipstream. Without a backup drive,” Emily shrugged, “We could have been stuck light centuries from a planet,” Emily adopted a grave look, and I watched Ura nod.
“Good thing we are dry docking and getting it fixed,” Ura said, “I will be on the net making an insurance claim for it since pirates took us over. They have a clause to protect damage from retaken assets from Pirates as long as it was logged with authority. Well, it was logged with that Bounty office Sleepy Wonder was from, so I should be good. If not, this is coming out of pocket. We made some good credits, so I should be able to pay if that happens,” Ura walked away, and I followed her.
We sat down in the bridge, and Ura sighed, “I made a report already before we left the planet after you freed me. I should have Dry docked myself after that, so we will have to get an Insurance investigator out here to ask the dry dock workers bullshit. Some hands are going to need to be greased, or I am taking this out of pocket,” Ura groaned. She looked me in the eye. “I will get the process started, but I still want to go out with you,” She demanded.
“Then we can go out,” I replied.
Ura shook her head. “Nope, The date will probably be delayed. Go ahead and pick up the supplies that you need, and I will make my claim. The question of if I have time now or it will be later will be the response of the Insurance company,” Ura said with a sigh, “I will get started now,” Ura turned in her chair back to the console, “I hate paperwork.” She sighed.
I didn't feel the need to watch her as she got her shit together, and I hoped that we could go on that date. But for now, I walked out of the bridge and headed to gather my things. I ensured I had everything before I set out of the spaceship and walked out of the dry dock company, which took some time. The Dry dock was massive, and I took a shuttle in order to get to the exit, as some spaceships were up to a kilometer long. It seems that any larger ships were taken care of in space.
A kilometer was still considered a smaller ship, though, and it made me realize just how small our little ship was. I knew there were a bunch of things that I couldn't see, but the fact that there were starships twice the size that were still considered small was a humbling comparison. Imagine a twenty-kilometer capital ship. I could not help but wonder if there were City ships and other things in this universe.
Gabin Corporation has outdone themselves this time as I found an AI Taxi and told it to head to a place where I could purchase equipment for hunting bounties. The AI Taxi started to drive immediately, and the name of a shop showed up, and I smiled. Bounty Hunter One Stop Shop. It was a simple name with a clear focus on what they wanted to sell. I appreciated the simplicity of it, and as the Taxi traveled, I realized it was not that far away. It was no more than ten minutes when the Taxi simply pulled off the road and deposited me in front of a large store with another armed person entering.
I shrugged and walked forward, and the doors opened for me. Inside was a greeter with a smile, taking the person who walked in before me. “Welcome, Would you like me to help you find what you need?” A bright pink-looking woman said.
“No, Thank you, I know what I am getting,” The man before me said, walking by.
In contrast to him, I walked up and smiled at the bright pink woman standing at the entrance. “I would love your help finding some things. I am a bounty hunter, and I am new to this planet. My ship is in the dry dock, and I have some time to do a little hunting while my ship is getting fixed. The forest I plan on going to is Saint's Forest, so I can get my toes wet,” I told her, and the woman smiled. Without meaning to, I looked down and noticed that she had C-cup breasts, but I instantly looked up, realizing what I had done.
The woman did not show a single sign of caring. Her smile got a little larger, and she repeated what I had done. “Okay,” She said, “We have several things to get for you. Saints Forest is not a tourist destination, but it seems you already know that. The first question I must ask is if you are looking for Capture gear?”
“Yes, I am,” I replied, and she motioned for me to follow her, “Do you mind if I grab your name? So I am not calling you, you,” I finished with an explanation, and the woman smiled.
“I am Tifa, An imp,” She said with a grin, “Well, a mixed Breed Imp. I am half Human, half imp, and I turned a lovely shade of Pink. Now those two commonly asked questions have been answered, I will ask the same.”
I smiled at Tifa’s little humor and grinned. “Sleepy Wonder. I am a Rish’an Locktor,” I replied, “Looking forward to working with you to find the right gear.”
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“Perfect, Now, what type of Capture gear are you looking for? Trap style? Collar? Restraints?” Tifa asked a moment later.
“Honestly, I am more used to going for dead over alive. I want to challenge myself with Capture gear, but I never have done it in the past. Mind showing me around?” I asked.
“No problem,” Tifa replied and brought me to an aisle a moment later, which was some distance away. It was two long aisles, and she grinned as I looked at the two empty Aisle. “Capture gear, Assortment,” Tifa suddenly said, and suddenly the Aisles went black, and a soft noise was heard, and suddenly they lit up with organized gear of various types. I was surprised at the system they had, and I realized this might be more common among larger stores.
Tifa reached out and grinned, “This is a trap Capture device,” Tifa said. She picked up a bracelet-looking device, and Tifa grinned, “This electric shock bracelet can fit to any wrist or ankle. It tightens into itself, and once it is attached, it will link through a previous link to whatever device you attached it to. It will notify you that you captured someone and where. Now, By the standards of the federation. If you do not collect your capture target within a day, they will automatically be released since they can live. What it will do, though, is that it will shock them for twenty-four hours into immobility if they try to leave a five-foot radius of the capture point. It will auto-lock to that area.” Tifa finished, “Unfortunately, ever since the incident with a bounty hunter using the auto capture feature and making Criminals and innocents that were captured run headlong into a pit that killed them, we no longer provide or are able to sell the auto travel feature on capture devices. So you will need to head out to them if you trap them. That is just how it is,” Tifa finished showing me the device.
“So how does it capture?” I asked.
“Glad you asked,” Tifa said with a grin, “There are a number of ways, but what this has is a great sensor to auto-clasp on things, and there is a band version,” She turned and picked up a softer; more flexible version, “This version of the trap bracelet can be used to almost like a more primitive trap on people. Just insert something into an area, and it will tighten up and lock to them. The flexible versions, though, are slightly weaker. So do be careful about that.” She said, and I nodded.
“The other versions?” I asked.
What I started to get was a variety of different Trap devices that, for a maximum time, would keep someone trapped. It seemed that the Federation banned auto deliveries because of an asshole in the past. I could live with that, but it made me question why Gaben Corporation made such a robust background to the world. But then I realized why; it was that there was the black market. Just because I couldn't get them legitimately did not mean that I couldn't get them illegally, and so they existed.
That was an interesting thought, but anyone I captured illegally probably would need to be killed. I wonder if killing them execution-style worked for the Bounty office. Have them walk to me, then shoot them or use them as target practice. It was one of the most inhumane things I thought up, but this was a virtual reality.
Then there were the other devices I could use to hold those I captured to free up the trap devices. I could then reset them, and the final version was restraints which were more or less very strong cuffs and by far the cheapest. They were shackles and neck braces and various things like that. It was something that I found in the spaceship.
The price of the capture traps and the collars was about a thousand credits each, and I took four of each. Eight captures would pay for this easily, but I needed to make sure. “Now I need some supplies,” I told Tifa. Tifa nodded, and we started to search the store while standing still. I got wire and various things to cut and new tools. I started to think up things on the spot for ideas I had, and I got more and more things added to my cart. It got a bit excessive, but food was also important, and I got Emergency supply rations from the local planetary military.
My cart got full of various things and camping supplies, and I realized I would need a big bag for it all. Tifa seemed perfectly happy to show me an assortment and I found a large military bag that had attachments for my guns. I knew that I would need to prioritize some things and soon I was in the clothing department. I stopped here, though, and shook my head. I promised Ura I would do this shopping with her and shook my head.
“I think it is time for me to check out and take all these supplies back to my ship,” I told her, and Tifa nodded.
“Okay,” Tifa said and showed me her hand, “Do you have a device I can contact you with?” Tifa asked.
“Yes,” I said, my voice questioning, and Tifa smiled.
“I will give you my comms ID. Call me for some entertainment when you are back. I am interested in you,” Tifa said, bringing me to the register later.
I was a little shocked at the upfrontness of this woman, but she was upfront about everything previously, so it conformed to her personality. I nodded, paid, and winced at the fall in my credits. I needed some bounties to make up for this, and I knew it. Still, you need to spend money to make money.
—-
Current Balance:
Federation Credits:169830
—-
I winced at the fall in my credit account but still had plenty of credits left. It left me wondering why I was being paid so much from that initial job. Then I remembered the Manufacturing secrets that I was still learning, and I was sure that bounty was less than a drop in the bucket for that job.
“Thank you, Tifa,” I said genuinely, looking her up and down with a smile, “I will see about calling you later; you look delicious,” I told her, licking my lips.
Tifa smiled and handed me a bag full of the things that I purchased after it came out. It looked like they somehow packed everything I ordered into the large bag and held it out to me. “Please, if anything is missing, call me. I will fix it and have it shipped within an hour or, if it is nighttime, the next day. I do need my sleep after all.” She finished with a wink.
I took the heavy backpack, put it down to the ground, and attached my assault rifle and Sniper rifle to either side. The bag took the load with no problem, and I lifted it onto my back with a grunt. I stood tall and smiled at Tifa, who now looked at me with a much more interested look. “Thanks for packing the bag. I will be going now,” I told her and left the store.
New associates at the front were talking with new customers, and I walked out without issue getting into the taxi. I put my stuff in before sitting down and told the AI Taxi to take me back to the drydock. I would meet up with Ura and hoped to pick up some nice clothing with her. It would be a fun date.
I didn't have much time before I stepped back out and headed back to ship with my supplies.