Jan's Vacc Suit Shop currently carries five different models of vacc suits:
Quasar X Jump - This suit was designed for travel. It can travel to interplanetary destinations and interstellar destinations, courtesy of a Jump-1 fusion engine. Retail price is Cr970,250
Quasar Roustabout - A good work suit. It has a rugged exterior and force field generator. It's air, water and food supplies are rated for 4 days. It has a good sized fuel cell but a drawback of the suit is that the fusion generator cannot keep up with fuel needs if you run it full out for any length of time (i.e., moving at maximum flight speed). The battery is large enough that you can go at full speed for a short time, but must then stop to allow the generator to resupply the fuel cells. Retail cost of the suit is Cr6993. Quasar offers an upgrade to the fusion generator to allow it to handle max flight. The cost of the upgrade is Cr200 (Vamperina had this upgrade installed on the one she bought). Rumour has it that the next release of the Roustabout will have it installed by default since so many people complained about it.
Deneri Light - Rated for 2 days of food, water and air, the Deneri Light is designed for a tourist who wants his own vacc suit but doesn't plan to use it very often. It has no force field generator and it's movement capacity is limited to short trips. Retail price is Cr2085.
Deneri Mustang - The Mustang is Deneri's answer to the Quasar Roustabout. It is not as rugged as the Roustabout, but it is faster. The air supply is rated for 4 days, while food and water supplies are rated for 3 days. Retail price is Cr8270.
Quintek Yugo - Literally the Yugo of vacc suits. It is only one step up from a disposable vacc suit. It is rated for 1 day of air, and has no food, water or waste handling capability. It has minimal manuevering that will allow for slow movement around a space station but would not be good for getting to other objects in space. Retail price is Cr485.
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CURT: Curt will order himself up one of those Quasar Roustabout with the Upgrade. After paying for Vacc Suit school, I can chip in another 4000cr towards the suit. So if the group fund could chip in another 3193, that would be great.
JACK: Well as this is the second suit bought this year my discount still applies, so I'm marking off only Cr1395 from the group account to cover the Cr5395 total cost of the discounted suit.
CURT: Curt thanks Jack for the discount on the suit. He also makes the comment that when it gets time to leave and if we are going to need suits for most people, keep in mind someone else can use this suit as I don't really need one to operate in space (other than perhaps for the jumping ability of the suit which I could see a definite use for). The only reason I'm buying it is because it might cause a bit of a stir if I show up in a Vacuum without a suit and start working :-)
MAX: Then curt should shift into a similar form as someone else in the party so the fitting would be better for them. Since Curt can shape-shift...
NOBODY: The old man points out that he has the same considerations as Curt. Eli has flight, a forcefield, and immunity to the extremes of space. Still, with the cash the mining should bring in, hopefully, we could still afford one for each person, just in case.
CURT: Good point. If the mining does bring in the money we hope it does, then I think a suit for everyone might be a good idea. Especally if we end up finding the ship. Actually even more so if we don't.
NOBODY: "I would also like a Roustabout with the power boost mod. I can put 4000Cr towards it if the group can cover the rest. Also, is there a way to test out on the vacc suit training? No, scratch that. I'll take the training as it adds to my cover. The group would have to cover my training as well.
NOBODY: Between the union and my new boss, I'm not too happy at work. Plus, I really would like to get back out into space, and that also gives me a chance to work on Curt's tough block."
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MAX: During the month of May will have came home very happy one day. He has found an cash card with 10K on it. Thus he is thinking of spending his good fortune on a vacc suit and training. Now that he has the up front cash (even though it will be full price). What are the other options on the Roustabout, other then the fusion reactor upgrade. (I believe nobody mention a science pack and or an onboard computer, and Vamprina though about getting an entertainment module...
MAX: Max is very interested in the mining job, as He would like the higher pay... Also to explore the crater Nobody spoke of. However getting our butts out of this damn system is my highest priority...
MAX: Note: Max makes about 415 Cr a month at what he does. After Living expenses doesn't leave much. That's why he hasn't really been adding to the fund.
NOBODY: "The only thing of decent tech level that I found was the EVA suit. I'll have to wait until we get to someplace a little more advanced before I can pick up anything useful. Tech level seems to be about level 7 (1970's), with a few advances only in necessary areas, like space equipment.
NOBODY: Max, I recommend that you let Surge look at that card. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but it may be some sort of locator/trap. The more important thing is that it may actually belong to someone and have their imprint info on it. Personally, I would hate the idea that we may have taken away a large sum of money from someone who really needed it. We may be escaped convicts, but that doesn't mean that we have to act like criminals.
NOBODY: Of course, if it comes up as free cash, then enjoy your luck."
SURGE: He will also look over Max's credit stick if he allows to learn more about it. I'll verify that it doesn't have some person's account information on it nor that it's trackable or such.
GM: It is not a credit stick, it is a cash card. Anyone can buy one by going to a bank and plunking down cash in the amount that they want for the cash card. It can then be used the same as cash. You confirm that the card that Max found is exactly that. It has the bank's name (Circle City Financial) and logo on it.
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NOBODY: " If we don't need a certificate of training, or we can test out of the class for a lesser fee, say Cr150, then Eli will just do that and go apply for the job as well with Vana and Curt. Is there someway that we can apply as a team?
MAX: Since Max has the money and time for the Vacc suit and the training. He's really wants to go for the job, and if the party has no objections will do just that. Although he wants to see what add-ons are available for the suit. He hasn't had much time to study or really do anything but work, sleep and mindblocks. He figures the Asteroid mining will give him more money (a lot more), and thus the ability to get a few things. Although he does wonder how much the mining operation charges for food and air or is it included. He's worried about the concept of financial slavery (think beholding to the company by being charged more then you make for basic needs). Although this really isn't a point, because were hopefully leaving on the ship when we find it.
JACK: We currently have about Cr19000 in the treasury. This won't get us all decent suits, AND training, so we need to prioritize. Remember also that some of us can get along with Yugo suits for appearances sake if needed someday. Jack is staying here for now. Which of you really thinks it's a high enough priority to push for it now, vs 3 months from now. Max, if you truly want to check out that crater it won't be while mining, it will be here on the surface, probably with no income too. The only other option I can think of would be to acquire a vehicle instead of separate suits, one that could support a group of 4 people going out to the crater.
JACK: I'm useless at the crater except as a strongman who can work without a suit, so unless you come up with a plan, I guess I'll just keep schlepping suits.
NOBODY: "I would be interested in going to see the crater. I might be interested in delaying my foray into space just for a peek. I just threw this out there to see if anyone was interested, but I wasn't expecting to actually hook anyone. Heh."
NOBODY: I don't recall if I got a response from you, but did Jack purchase the EVA suit that Eli wanted?
JACK: If you are referring to a Vacc Suit, the Roustabout with propulsion upgrade, no, I haven't bought it yet because there was still some confusion about who was getting one and in what order. I also didn't know of any other options you needed, and was waiting to hear the answers to Max's questions in that vein as well.
JACK: I think at this time the smart thing to do would be to take the training class, which we'll all need eventually anyway, and which we can afford for everyone, first.
JACK: I was under the impression that the idea of Surge getting a suit to navigate his way to the alien ship and find it was our next priority for a suit, but we can probably afford to get Nobody's as well. That puts Vana, Surge, Nobody, and Curt all up in space one way or another, leaving Chase (who is still trying to get the money), Jack, and Max still on Black Moon working.
JACK: Noone ever responded to my idea of getting a few Yugo suits so that we can all get up there, either. We can swap suits around a bit to show them the Roustabout at the job interview, if that's a concern, I'm sure a few people try to get away with a Yugo to get up there mining, it won't look that suspicious.
JACK: There's also the idea of going on the excursion to that crater. Not sure it's worth it, but you and Max (the archaeologist) are the ones most likely to be interested. If you guys want to go check it out, I'll cover your living expenses for a month... If you think you've found something I'll even take a week off from work to join you or something.
JACK (OOC): All in all I'm not ready to move forward on this because everything I've heard has been piecemeal and we haven't heard from Marty in a little while, whether Surge is indeed placing a priority on getting up in space, or what.
VAMPERINA: "The only problem I see with getting the Yugos, and swapping suits at the interview is that, when that person shows up to head up to the asteroid belt and all they have is a Yugo, that person will probably be fired on the spot."
VAMPERINA: "The options that I got in my Roustabout are as follows: power upgrade (Cr200), entertainment system (Cr354), navigation system (Cr278), and a paraglide option (Cr500). Like Nobody, I've spent a lot of time in a vacc suit in space and I consider these options to be necessary additions. I would go batty without an entertainment system and a navigation system is nice to have it if you get lost out there. The paraglide option allows the suit to make a planetary landing.
NOBODY: "I already said that I had Cr4K of my own to put towards a Roustabout, and all that I wanted, for now, was the powerpack booster mod for 200Cr. I'm sorry if I didn't speak up so that you heard me, Jack. Of course, I can work another month or two and just buy it straight up. Would that be better?
NOBODY: As far as an expedition to the crater is concerned, I don't think that it would be too safe to just have Max and I go. I would feel better with a bit of muscle along. I also wouldn't like the idea of going out there unarmed."
NOBODY: Eli nods. "Good points, Vana. Okay, that decided me, I'm going to work at the repair shop another three months, then just outright buy my own suit with all of these mods. Jack, I'll give you the Cr4k to put as a down payment so I don't have to wait for the suit when I get the full cash amount.
NOBODY: Now, who's block am I going to work on for the next three months. Mine are almost all gone."
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NOBODY: Eli will look into seeing if he can test out of the EVA course so that he can get a vacc suit certification without having to spend as much money.
GM: You go to the vacc suit school one day with Curt and Max and ask about it. You learn that you can take the certification test for Cr500.
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CURT: Oops, I missed those other upgrades when Steve mentioned them. If Vamp is giving out advice, I would like to upgrade as well to the same as her suit. Also, do they do custom graphics on suits Jack? If so, a cool paint job might be nice as well to help me stick out so all of you will be able to spot me at a glance when we're mining.
GM: Since you were one of the two that got to take advantage of Jack's discount, that would bring the total cost of your suit to Cr6243. For a paint job, you could pay anywhere from Cr50 to Cr500, depending on how elaborate you want it.
CURT: I'll go with a 500cr job. I will paint my suit to look like a giant Snake to go with my name.
CURT: The total the group fund will need to chip in for now is 2743 (minus any type of discount I might get on the paint job). This includes my training.
JACK: This is actually the first we got prices for those options.
JACK (OOC): As for the custom graphic with all the options, just remember this is for Curt, a person who's trying to BLEND IN with a population, not Gemel, or Jason ;)
CURT: Yea I know, I thought of that, but this is literally the first time in his life that Curt has had more than enough money to just get by, and he wanted to splurge just once.
JACK: Jack isn't comfortable spending group funds on a paint job without the others' input, and a top-of-the-line paint job seems a bit over the top. You can always have it painted later when you're making more money.
CURT: Curt says he will pay it back with his first check. If not, he can chip in another 350cr now and it will only cost the fund 150. He'll be broke then but hopefully it will only be for a month.
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SURGE: Surge replies in general to the discussions, "I agree that once we have a good opportunity we should seek out the spaceship. I will wait until you guys get the job and can report back on it. I am doubtful about my skills with mining but we'll see. Clearly if any of you can get the job it will pay way better than anything we can get in Circle City. I also caution against going in as a huge group. The last thing we want to do is raise any suspicions about our past. I'll just keep up the mechanics job for now until we see some opportunities to get into space."
JACK: This is pretty much what I was waiting to hear. Nobody, if you still want to go up into space now, I have no further objection, and would encourage you to do so. Curt is up there, and he's the one with the need for your mind-block work, so it makes sense. I just didn't want to be put in the position of trying to afford suits for 3 of you all at once.
SURGE: "As for this crater, I am not so sure. I think we should keep our focus on our mission of getting off this planet. If we have downtime and have to wait and want to check it out, I'm okay with that. Now that my 'combat' powers are unblocked I should be useful if we run into trouble."
JACK: Jack grins and says, "If you're worried about skiggies or worse out there, I can handle that. Remember that 90% of what would cause you trouble out there is likely land-bound, and you can fly. I can even leap far enough with my current blocks to give most creatures pause in trying to chase me. I was kinda hoping for a short vacation from schlepping suits, but if noone else is keen on going that's ok too.
SURGE: Surge pauses then grins at the others, "On second thought, maybe a daytrip to this crater may be in order. I'd love to look around. Nobody, is there anything else you can tell us about this crater?"
NOBODY: "You have what I found. I can research more specifically for another month if you so desire."
SURGE: Surge will also put 3000 credits into the party fund for the last three months.
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SURGE: "I'm doing fairly well with my mindblocks. I know Curt needs the assistance next. I can eventually wear down my remaining blocks. If you run out of blocks to work on I do have a power that needs some nudging but it's not something I need to work on soon though."
JACK: Agreed, let's get you up there with Curt, Nobody.
SURGE: "Concerning the vacc suits, I believe we will have to buy decent ones just for getting the job. Of course, several of us could get by on the yugos after the fact but not for employment. However, I believe we will all want decent suits that allow us other skills. The Roustabout seems like the best choice. Jack, what are the specs on the movement of these suits?"
JACK: Vana's point is well taken, they'd probably fire someone who tricked them into hiring them and then showed up in a Yugo.
SURGE (OOC): I would like to compare their movement rate to my flight. :)
JACK: In the end you are far more maneuverable than a machine, because of your SPD. Its advantages are more for those who can't fly themselves ;)
JACK: Obviously a suit with Jump capability is far different, but I don't see us paying nearly a million for a single-seat Ferrari any time soon ;)
GM: I'll use Champions movement rates for the sake of simplicity. The Roustabout has a speed of 10" and a non-combat multiple of x5. The Deneri Light is 5"/x0. The X Jump is 30"/x20. The Mustang is 13"/x7. The Yugo is 2"/x0. In general, the movement rate is sustainable at a "per turn" rate. Thus, the Roustabout can move at a combat speed of 10" per turn (20 meters per 12 seconds or 100 meters per minute or 30 kph) indefinitely without draining the battery. The suits can actually go faster but the extra endurance usage comes out of the battery and will eventually run out, at which time you would have to stop and let it recharge.
GM: I haven't made any definite decisions on what powers the suit yet, but it will probably be some sort of generator whose power source will need to be replaced every so often for a reasonable cost. Also, I'm inclined to use the non-combat multiple as an acceleration/decceleration rate in space. Thus, the Roustabout could accelerate at a rate of 5" every turn. I'll wait to see how things play out in space before making any final decisions about this. I also welcome any input on this. I'm looking for ideas that are playable as opposed to ideas that are technically correct from a physics standpoint (I have no problem ignoring physics). :)
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NOBODY: Eli will test out for the vacc suit certification. That costs the party Cr500. Just a reminder to Jack, Eli put up Cr4000 for his suit, but got all of the mods that Steve had mentioned. Still, we should get Jack's discount on the cost of the suit.
GM: I'm pretty sure Keith already realizes this, but you will NOT get Jack's discount on the suit. He can only buy 2 discounted suits per year and he has already done that. The cost for the Roustabout with all of the same options that Vamperina got, plus the Cr100 paint job, will cost Cr8425.
JACK: Ok, since Eli put up Cr4000, I've marked off the other 4425. This didn't include the Cr500 testing fee so I marked that off as well.
JACK: Also, we seemed to have glossed over Max's suit, even though he's applying for the mining job. Which did he get, with which options, and how much did we spend on it? We still are doing fairly well with these last minute additions (Surge's 3000, Max's 10000 windfall, and Nobody's 4000 toward the suit) so if Surge decides he's ready to go up after all, he can join them. Current balance is 17739 without the cash card, and I have some money I could throw in if needed, too. This is before Max's suit, so it's probably more like 10,000+cash card, and before the zero-G training for Max and possibly Surge, as well. In the end if we get 2 more suits with medium quality paint jobs (Cr100) and the same options Vamperina got we'll still have about Cr7500 left after using up the cash card. I'll still have my nest egg and we can cover living expenses well enough. Leaves me all by my lonesome selling suits down here while you guys go gallivanting off into space, though :P If I wasn't so concerned about being spotted going up as a group I would go up with you, and take my chances on mining being a better income/excuse to search for the ship.
CURT: This brings up a good point. I thought we weren't all going to go up together because it would look very suspicious. Initially I though it was going to be Vamp, me and Eli, somehow almost the entire group now went up together.
SURGE: "I think it is best that we stagger our applications for the mining job. Jack, I think that if the mining job turns out to be beneficial for us all that you should join them. However, I am a bit concerned about how much free time we would have to go to the spaceship. For this reason, I do not anticipate becoming a miner. I think it is beneficial for all the good miners to get this as a job as compared to low level surface jobs. While I probably will eventually need to buy a vacc suit for appearance's sake, I will do so only at the last minute. I have little interest in operating in space with a suit for now."
SURGE: "One more thought is maintaining our house. If most of the group gets jobs mining they will not need space here. This is quite a big house for just 1-2 people. But we can discuss this and other details once you all return from the interview."
NOBODY: "Is everyone but Jack going up? I thought that Surge was staying behind as well. I don't recall him being at the interview. This could work out for the best. Jack could wrap things up for us down here, sell off the left over stuff from the escape, and join us later. Since we're not sure how long we might be searching, it might be handy to have someone on the surface. Also, checking out that crater might be done easier if we use a ship's sensors from space, then fly on down to check it out. That is, if we are even close to this moon. Vana, you still remember the information that Gray Mantra told to you? Is Surge the only one that can make use of it? Would you share it with the rest of us (If she hasn't already) just in case there's a problem?"
SURGE: With a confused look Surge responds clearly, "I am not going to the interview. I will wait to see what comes of your job before I decide what to do next. We can speculate but until we know the details it's just guesses. That said my guess is that I will not apply for the mining job ever and when we are ready to have me find the spaceship I will simply fly there on my own power, with Vamperina getting me as close as she can with her ship. If the rumors about Chase's apartment are true we might slim down once you all depart. No reason for such a large, empty house. Jack may be best to stay on the surface as I would be surprised if we don't need to buy things to get the ship fixed up. But it's too early to tell."
SURGE: With a mildly irritated tone Surge replies to Nobody, "As for the crater, once we have the ship operational I want to get the heck out of this system. The last thing I would want to do is come within sensor range of the starport and scan some crater. We have no idea if the ship's sensors are even useful for such a scan. If this crater is so important we should go there before your mining job so you can get it out of your system."
NOBODY: The old man cringes away from Surge. "N-no! I didn't mean that ship. I meant the possibility of using the ship that we might be using for mining. I'm only allowing for that possibility. I agree with you totally about getting the hell out of here as soon as we get Ray's ship ready to go."
SURGE: Surge nods matter-of-factly. "I see. Well, I'd leave that up to Vamperina. If she feels comfortable scanning the crater while on her return trip that may be worthwhile though I am doubtful that her ship would have scanners so precise."
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GM: Concerning the need for housing, you might want to talk to Chase about taking over his place since he is going for the mining job. It's also in Startown and is smaller and cheaper.
JACK: Worth a shot, assuming we put 2 and 2 together and figure out it's actually available. Did he take the zero-G training with Curt and Max? That would give us reason to know that he'll be applying along with them.
GM: No he didn't. Max can tell you that he already knows how to use a vacc suit. Max can also tell you that he is planning to apply at the same time we do.
JACK: It's hard to imagine Surge just taking off from the ground and taking a month to fly up to Ray's spaceship, but I guess it's possible, assuming he doesn't want any further help with his mind blocks from Nobody. You'd have to be careful to get well away from the spaceport before flying up into their sensor range and flight paths. You could wear just one of our disposable vacc suits in case of an emergency and just not turn on the air, which would save us the expense of another Roustabout that we don't really need...
GM: By my calculations, it will take him 217 days to reach the asteroid belt.
JACK: I guess that truly would leave me alone as the group's ground contact, but as long as communications aren't difficult I have no problem with that. |