The demi-human woman raised both eyebrows this time, clearly impressed.
"That's quite the shopping list."
"We're in the market for a full upgrade,"
Paul chimed in, a grin spreading across his face.
"Might as well do it right."
She flicked through the holographic display, rapidly entering our order.
"Your exoskeleton suits will be equipped with all the modifications you requested. The weapons, ammo, and gear will be loaded onto your ship once payment is confirmed."
I brought up my HUD, feeling the now-familiar pulse of data streams flickering in front of my vision.
Within moments, I authorized the payment, the confirmation flashing before me.
"It's done,"
I said, feeling the ease of the transaction settle in.
She smiled, her tail swishing slightly as she processed the payment.
"Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen. Your order will be delivered within the hour."
With that, we stumbled our way out of the shop, still adjusting to the augmentations but feeling the weight of our purchases settle in.
We had our exoskeletons on the way, our new gear locked and loaded, and our bodies upgraded enough to take on whatever the galaxy threw at us next.
"Well, schmuks,"
I said, glancing at my battle brothers.
"Looks like we're officially walking tanks now."
"And armed to the teeth,"
Julian added.
"Just the way I like it,"
Darius said, cracking his knuckles.
Paul smirked.
"I just hope those exoskeletons come with a manual."
"Don't worry,"
I replied.
"Well be grinding them both In RL and VR until we can do acrobatics with them"
I said flashing my trademark drill Instructors from hell smile which terrified my battlebrothers to their core.
Darius, shaking his head in disbelief, muttered,
"F*cking acrobatics… in exoskeleton armor? You've lost your damn mind, Drac."
Julian looked visibly paler, glancing at me with a hint of dread in his usually calm expression.
"I knew it was too good to be true. I could almost hear him gearing up for some twisted boot camp s*it."
Airid chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Why do I get the feeling we're going to regret all of this?"
Paul sighed, shoulders slumping.
"Man, we can't have one upgrade without you turning it into some torturous 'grind fest,' can we?"
I flashed my signature grin again, my 'drill instructor from hell' smile that sent a chill through them every single time.
"What can I say? Gotta make sure you schmucks are combat-ready. Exoskeletons aren't just for walking around like armored slugs"
Paul groaned, already bracing himself mentally for what was about to come.
"Yeah, we're definitely f*cked…"
As the unease settled into the group, we moved on toward our next destination still supporting each other like a group of drunkards.
Aegis Megacorp's shipyard shop the place where we bought Invicta.
We stepped inside, and there she was, the same impossibly attractive human attendant who had been there the last time.
Her sleek corporate outfit barely concealed her hourglass figure, and her eyes were sharp, always calculating.
"Welcome back to Aegis Megacorp,"
She said, her voice as smooth and professional as ever. Her eyes scanned us briefly before landing on me.
"I assume you're here for a new spaceship?"
"Absolutely,"
I said, stepping forward only to almost kiss the floor with my face only to grab the edge of the counter just In case, I could hear the thugs snicker at my misfortune only to shut It after I gave them the stink eye.
"Do you handle custom orders?"
I asked completely unfazed by my earlier folly after all I had a rather thick skin as for reason for asking that well the designs I had picked all lacked somenthing so I decided to see If they do custom orders.
The sales attendants expression didn't waver, and she nodded smoothly.
"Yes, we do. What exactly are you looking for?"
I pulled up the specs in my HUD, letting my vision swim with tactical data before laying it all out.
"I want a frigate, custom-made. One kilometer long, 250 meters wide, 220 meters high. It needs to be outfitted with Level 1 tech, nothing below that."
She raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.
"That's quite an ambitious request. And the specs?"
"Fission torpedoes with inbuilt energy disruptors,"
I began, pacing slightly as I rattled off the details.
"I want one barreled mass accelerator cannons as the main guns, flak batteries for anti-air and missile defense, and secondary double barrelled laser cannons for close-quarters combat. It should also have a hangar large enough to fit a full flight of fighters, bombers, interceptors, and at least sixteen squad-sized dropships and 6 orbital drop pods."
The attendant's fingers moved quickly across her holo-pad as she took notes, nodding occasionally but keeping her expression professionally neutral.
"Anything else?"
She asked, barely looking up.
"Yeah. I want it painted In black, red and white military camo painting as for the name It's going to be Invicta same as our old ship also Include anything we could possibly need for being able to be self sufficient for years out In the frontier from 3D printers to hidrophonic rooms"
She glanced up, meeting my eyes.
"That's an incredibly specialized order. It will take about three months to complete, assuming you're paying upfront."
"And how much is this going to run me?"
"2.2 trillion credits,"
She said smoothly, barely missing a beat.
"And that's just the bare cost Mr Von Death, our corporations higher ups Informed all of our branches and employees to do a favor to you If we have a chance"
The woman said with a knowing smile.
Well look at that, I guess It was worth It milking those corporate f*cks dry for those blueprints.
I thought only for my face to morph Into one that looked like I just ate s*it.
Wait a f*cking minute, If they're doing me a favor then It f*cking means that I sold those blueprints dirt cheap!
I cursed Inside my mind at the fact I could have milked them even more only for Darius to let out a low whistle from behind me.
"That's almost all of what we've got."
Paul muttered under his breath,
"We're really dropping nearly everything on this, huh?"
I didn't flinch. The cost was high, but this frigate was an investment, our future mobile fortress.
We were essentially building our very own slice of power, and I wasn't going to skimp on it.
"I'll take the deal,"
I said, pulling up the necessary payment interface in my HUD.
With a mere thought, the credits were transferred.
A notification flashed in my vision, confirming the transfer.
"Payment received,"
The attendant said, a glimmer of satisfaction crossing her face.
"Your frigate will be ready in three months, as agreed."
I gave a curt nod, already imagining the firepower and sheer presence of the ship once it was completed, my Inner edge lord jumping Inside my mind with a drool leaking from his mouth.
"Good, also do you rebuy used spaceships such as our corvette?"
I asked.
"Yes we do, we can buy It back at a lower cost than we sold It"
The woman explained professionally.
"Got It, see you around then"
With that, we made our exit, still adjusting to our new augmentations as we headed back to Invicta.
The feeling of leaving behind a massive chunk of our wealth was there, but the anticipation of what was to come far outweighed any sense of loss.
This ship, the exoskeletons, and the weapons would allow us to up our game.
As we stepped back into the docking bay where Invicta was parked, the familiar hum of the ship's systems greeted us.