We Already Have A Client
Linc chuckled when he saw my surprised face.
"Ahaha! Surprised? I've been keeping tabs on you, Tera!"
"That doesn't sound very assuring," I admitted.
He waved his hand in the air, "Oh don't worry, it's nothing that nefarious. I just have a job for you and I wanted to be your very first client!"
I blinked, "Huh? Is there no one else you could find to do this job? That doesn't sound like something we would want to do…"
"Oh look Midori~ She's still being cautious of me! Isn't that cute?"
I heard a soft moan and I realised that she was most likely sucking him off camera or something. Damn, this guy is really…
Whatever… I feel like if I react to this, I would be the one that lost.
He turned back to me, "Well, let's just say that I'm still interested in becoming your patron and if a gesture of goodwill could help me get that position, I don't mind doing that~"
"Right… I guess I could at least hear you out… What's the job?"
"Interested are we? Heh heh~ Well let me just make one thing clear before I start. This conversation never happened, alright?"
I understood what he meant so I nodded.
"Perfect! I knew I could count on you! Now it's a fairly simple problem I have, you see… Someone at a very specific place is meant to deliver some very specific things to me at very specific times, you get it?"
I raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess… The very specific person failed to deliver the very specific thing that you aren't going to tell us what exactly it is at the very specific time so you need someone to go and check out why it isn't being delivered?"
"Ahahaha! Look, look, Midori! Isn't it great when the people you work with are smart? It literally halves your workload!"
"Mnnggh… Slurp~"
I managed to keep my poker face when he turned back to grin at me.
"Well then, you got the gist of it. I'll be sending you the coordinates alongside what you should be looking for in a bit and I trust that you will delete that message after you get it. Remember, this conversation never happened. Help me with this and I will pay you very, very well."
"How much are we talking about here?"
"Oh, that would depend on how well you do this job for me~ If this problem is solved perfectly for me, I will make sure that you will be paid very, very well. But if not… I don't think I need to finish that sentence, do I?"
I would very much like to point out that he basically did not answer the question but I already know that he wouldn't answer it even if I press him on it anyway.
I looked at the rest of my crew and they all shrugged at the same time.
Fine… I guess as the Captain of this group, I should make the decisions anyway.
I turned back to Linc, "We'll do it."
"Excellent! Now remember… This conversation never happened~"
The call then ended and I turned to the girls, "Seems like he was keeping tabs on us huh…"
"Unsurprising. People like him tend to not want their investments to disappear after all," Amber commented.
A notification came on my Codex and I tapped on it to reveal that it was a message that was sent from an unknown contact.
The message contained the coordinates of a station that was within this system and attached was a picture of a black coloured reinforced box that looked like the size of a large suitcase.
I went to the navigation console that showed a map of this system and put in the coordinates into the console.
Looks like the station isn't even that far away and we could probably get there within a day or two from here.
"Should we head there directly?" I asked.
Amber shrugged, "Why not? It's not that far so we could just do this for him, return back there to deliver it and stock up before we head out for real."
Lea also agreed, "We might as well just deal with it while we're here."
Ries seemed a little unsure, "I still need to get some bots to help me maintain and work on the ship… But then again, I suppose a job would help me get more funds to get better equipment too. So why not?"
I tapped on my Codex, "This sounds like we have a couple of things that we still need to get before our ship is fully operational… What else do we need, actually?"
Ries was the first to raise her hand, "I need maintenance and repair bots. Also spare parts and some tools."
Lea also raised her hand, "I need gardening supplies and tools to make the hydroponics farm."
Amber also raised her hand with a big smile on her face, "I need myself some Teranium!"
I rolled my eyes but leaned forward and gave Amber a kiss on her lips.
She shuddered visibly , "Mnnn… That's nowhere near enough but that will have to do for now, ehehehe~ But on a serious note, I do want to get some living essentials since we have our own rooms now. I barely own anything since I haven't really had a permanent place of residence for a really, really long time."
I nodded and typed down everything that they had told me, "Mmm… Got it. I guess we'll need to head out to a station to get all this stuff once we're done with this job. Are we ready to head out yet?"
Amber tapped on her own personal terminal, "Mmm… Looks like they're still finishing up on painting the name on the side of the ship. Should be done in a minute or two."
I nodded, "In that case, we should prepare for departure. Meanwhile… I feel it's a little late to ask this but what armaments are present on this ship?"
Ries skipped forward with a sparkle in her eyes, "Oh! Me, me, boss! Let me give you a rundown on the guns!!"
"Mmhmm… Go ahead."
She gestured for me to take a seat at the Captain's chair and I did so, the Maochatte tapping on the console in front of me to show me a two dimensional diagram of the ship.
"We have five main batteries with two different types, one of which is the long range SN-one railgun! While it has a lower fire rate than most other railguns of the same calibre, it shoots further, faster and hits harder than them!"
As she said that, three of the turrets on the diagram lit up, specifically two on top and one below the ship.
"The other two are the long range Manifold High Intensity Lasers! Those are known for being able to deal high bursts of damage to shields and can also cut through armour plating! With these five weapons, we could even take on Frigates or even Cruisers if we have the drop on them!"
A turret on the top and bottom lit up on the diagram to show me where they were located.
Ries then swiped on the console and the two dimensional image was projected out to turn into a three dimensional hologram.
"Next is the six medium range Tatacon Autocannons! Those are strong enough to punch holes through any armour that you might find on C Class or even D Class ships!"
Four turrets above the ship image lit up while two below also lit up, the numbers divided equally on the left and right halves of the ship.
"After that, we have four medium range Porcupine Missile Launchers! They're admittedly better at tracking medium sized ships than smaller sized ones but the payload they can deliver is big! Plus, they have one of the fastest auto-loaders for this category of missile launchers!"
Two turrets on each side of the ship lit up to highlight their positions.
"And last but not least… We have six Shield Class Point Defense Lasers! They can deal with both small sized fighters and bombers while also being able to take down any missiles and torpedoes that might be launched at us! If anyone wants to get past that, they'd have to throw numbers at us before they can even penetrate those defences!"
Three turrets on each side of the ship lit up after she said that.
The Maochatte then shot me an excited grin, "And that's all the weapons this ship has, Boss! It's designed to be a broadside heavy ship so if you want to bring its full firepower to bear, you'd need to show the target your side but the ship is also able to be relatively effective at firing forwards. Although backwards would be… A little tough…"
Right… I guess I'll keep that in mind in case I have to fight some enemies using this ship.
Not gonna lie… I can see why this ship is so expensive now… This thing is basically a flying fortress…