The soft hiss of air would be heard coming from the quarian as she'd have to stop herself from hurling insults back at the volus, her body stiff as she'd weigh the pros and cons of what she could do, her hand unintentionally hovering over her predator pistol, before she'd eventually just let out a soft, agitated sigh as she'd mutter something under her breath.
"Damned greedy mole, bosh'tet.."
His words stung harder than he knew. She was trying her best to avoid thieving, even with her dire finances.
Though listening to the merchant, she'd lighten up a little bit, pausing momentarily as she'd see the Mandalorian creep into the store, but deciding to ignore him for the moment as she'd listen to the offer, raising a hand to start browsing through the omni-tool upgrades. She didn't have the time or resources to work on a droid, and she didn't want to risk losing it when she was off doing a mission when money was already so hard to come by, though the allure of technology would help take her mind of things.
Dardall looks between the mining suit and the lightly armored but more modular system. He bounces a few ideas. Buying the cheaper one and some modifications, buying the more expensive one and making do with the armored system, or buying both for greater versatility. Versatility had merit, but a simple fact flashed through his mind. The priorities for safety were very simple.
Don't be there. Don't be detected. Don't be identified. Don't be hit. Don't be penetrated. Don't be killed. Like it or not armor was the last thing that would be utilized. That doesn't mean he should skimp on it, but prioritizing the inner segments when there was so much that had to go wrong before then was madness. If he was being shot at, it means that he failed to avoid detection, it means he failed to avoid being acquired, and it means he got hit. He was far better off ensuring that he was never hit in the first place. If for whatever reason the outside of the onion wasn't an option he could armor it up anyway.
The question was what augments he could get. Going with the theme, investing in longer range hacking capabilities and detection mitigation would be a good idea. He chose his next words carefully, making sure to sound perfectly legal.
"I'll take the lightly armored suit for thousand. What's your pricing for detection mitigation and remote connection/communication tech for this suit? Armor pricing would be nice to have as well."
R3 was quick a response back, giving a set of excited beeps.
Sukarma pats R3 on the top, then stands back up and flexes the hand she secured the snap on to ensure it is comfortable and secure again. Well, as much as it had been, at least. She stood up and looked to Dardall, "One of the cheap ones that support comms multiplexing protocols is a good option, even if it's short-range. I've got one, and as long as the nic uses at least 128-bit addressing, the node wrangler is cheap to set up."
A widespread solution for corps with work crews was mesh networking topologies, individual devices that only shouted loud enough to be heard hundreds of meters away. That made them different animals to surveil at long range when chattering over each other, even if not encrypted, than those that reached tens of kilometers. Less power, less complicated antenna, and notably for the corporations, cheaper. Sold in crates at volume, they had a massive used market if one knew how to reset and configure them. It required a multiplexer server as a mesh herder though the biomechanoid could muster that fine even if she were asleep. More critical to Sukarma was that if she was going to bring them to her body, it was a network her mind navigated more readily to defend subconsciously.
She wasn't sure about the random individuals except that there were two engineers. What seemed decent ones and the Quarian, who she thought might empathize with a living ship. Someone had to figure out what the fuck was wrong with her hyperdrive, and she didn't trust anyone at the station she was on when she felt something was redacting thoughts in her head as it was. Point defense already fired earlier as someone tried to sneak through the ducts when memories stapled into her consciousness' timeline from very, very far away. A few low-energy rounds to the chest plate convinced them to leave, but it meant the ingress she used to get to her body unseen had been compromised, probably by whoever had to get around the bay to mine those fuel lines. Things would worsen there before they got better. This meant taking a chance to alter the situation when she was already discovered by someone who could and probably would sell the expendable one off once they were done with her. Something deep in her mind whispered that the shadow broker knew precisely who they were sending and what they were orchestrating. Sukarma just couldn't see the end goal, and that uncertain future terrified her.
"I can fill you in on our way to fix the cruiser. I'm going to check on the Quarian engineer. I heard shouting." She felt Dardall would be acute enough to discern some of the shadow operative's mention that 'Suki' had ship weapons, establish context for her body, and relate it to the others with only shuttles. Even if she hadn't told anyone her name, much less the nickname though that was the obvious shortened form, it wasn't the childhood nickname she liked. At least for as long as it took for Cerberus to discover a reason that the creator fell out of an airlock where she couldn't save them. No connections, no affection, just like all her pets. A damaged cruiser was probably a good reason to buy heavy-duty welding armor for a noise-heavy comms environment. If there was anything she learned from Cerberus, it was plausible deathability and to say as little as possible to set them off.
The expressionless mask turned away, leaving them with clumps of her boots as heavy as her thoughts. She parsed back to find where the Quarian had gone, though along the way looked to Vilkas over with the cargo caller. If he looked her way, she gave him a thumbs up as she logged his location, then turned to approach Ami and Headarche as she clumped behind a Volus as he left the store. She watched him glare at Ami and returned a low growl as he turned around, then scurried away. A slow pan about the shop told her that it was just a bunch of hot air in the yelling, so she peered to see what the merchant offered rather than interrupting them.
Tanya continued to stare the volus down the entire conversation until he left the store, glancing towards the quarian and then back at the volus when she arrived. She was quiet for a few moments as the merchant explained the regularity of the volus's appearances. Tanya simply shook her head at the annoying little bowling ball's behavior before replying. "Honestly been a long time since I've seen one of those guys, this whole thing made me remember why I don't like people like that," She said with a chuckle, limply gesturing at the door where the volus had left the store.
Her gaze looked back at the quarian once more, seemingly having sensed a momentary shift and idea in her thoughts that had been tossed off to the side. Tanya seemed to have been inspecting the quarian for one moment and then finally looked back at the mandalorian who had entered the store with them. The former inquisitor seemed to shrug off an idea for later, shelving it for a better location and situation. "Nice job," She simply said to Ami. The words seemed to have hidden a secret beneath them, having some other meaning and complimenting some other aspect of the situation besides giving the quarian a sense of comfort. The feeling itself didn't dwell too much as Tanya turned to the merchant. "Do you sell anything that would upgrade a VI in some ways? The current one I have is only good for glossary research information and was wondering what other things you'd have. My price range is around 700 credits if that helps put things into context," She explained, getting off the counter and standing more straight.
The VI would then chip in, the blue omni-tool on Tanya's wrist coming to life and explaining something in a synthetic and jumbled voice. It sounded somewhat like that of an old butler, having a slight British accent that came along with the information in a chipper tone.
"VI! Otherwise known as a virtual intelligence is a type of electronic service assistant that helps in various situations. Typically given restrictions as to avoid the catastrophes of things such as the geth. This model is able to provide a large array of information from the net and is great for analysis of minerals and strategic advise! Please let me know when-" "Gabriel, please mute" "Yes ma'am!"
and with that a click was heard as the omnitool was quickly shut off. "My apologies" Tanya concluded with an awkward chuckle.
Indeed Vilkas noticed the terror in the Rodian's eyes. The bounty hunter knew it more than he wished to. Besides, despite not being much off businessman, he knew this kind of deal was 'too convenient'. The alien wanted someone, anybody to get it off her hands.
What makes her frightened? There is more to her tale than she has shared.
His dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. One of the things he absolutely hated was being deceived. Lies were commonly practiced in this so-called modern society as they call it.
"Do not insult me with falsehoods! Why do you really want to get rid of these parts? What are they truly?"
If he is not satisfied with her answer Vilkas will leave without another word.
The anemic merchant would nod at Ami as she browsed the Omnitool upgrades portion of the kiosk though he'd step in and press a few buttons to show off some off-table upgrades and completely making the cost zero credits. The unspoken 'You get a freebie.' While what he had wasn't quite top of the line, they were impressive pieces of tech regardless. One upgrade would allow Ami to bypass security systems via looping security cameras or messing with droids' systems while keeping the user completely safe from detection. The next upgrade was a lot more combat focused with its systems being more tuned to override the controls of turrets, droids or shields and certain weapons. If Ami was imaginative, she could even use it to make some gear overheat and explode outright.
The rest of the Omnitool upgrades were a lot less specialized and more general upgrades like faster connect times or range and so on. The Merchant would turn to Tanya to speak to her about her request. His brow furrowed as he scratched his chin, deep in thought. "I don't really have anything great in regards to upgrading your VI. I can look and see if I got something along the lines of expanding the VI's ability to connect to local databases and copy 'em. And I wouldn't worry 'bout the cost today. I would if you visit again but even then, I'll probably throw in a discount." He said with a chuckle as he went to a terminal on the back wall, flipping through his stock for a couple of minutes before he'd nod at something on the screen before he'd bend down to open a compartment. Pulling out a small device, he'd limp back over to Tanya's position near his counter and hand the device to her. "It's not great but should fix your VI and give it a nice 'oompf' to being more informative. Now where you get said information is on you." He did clarify with an apologetic look on his pale face.
When Suki walked in, he'd point to the unoccupied kiosk. "If you don't mind me asking but I gotta say I haven't seen you around here before. I recognize her and the fella in the back from that little incident a couple of years back." He was very obviously referring to Otto and Ami.
The former would obviously shift awkwardly at being mentioned. The Mandalorian would walk out of the shop and stand near the entrance. "Lively one, ain't he?" The merchant would joke.
@Noble Scion@Wiggin@littlekreen
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The Krogan would let out a noise of acknowledgement as he put away the other two suits, leaving what Dardell wanted. The Veteran listening keenly to his request. "I should have something for the armor, but for tech you may want to visit that kid across the way. He's more into that tech mumbo jumbo." He'd comment before he got out armor segments, stuff that could easily be slotted in on the suit. "The thicker the armor, the more pricer, but going off your look. I'd assume you want to be sneaky and not be in the thick of it but want a good thing to fall back on." So he'd leave a medium set of armor segments on the counter. "This can hold against a fair bit of weapons but keeping just light enough to avoid making too much noise or limiting you. This can cover your chest, thighs and forearms. Independant pieces will run you for about a hundred. Complete set is just four-hundred. I'll toss in a voucher for the tech so you don't have to spend much and this." He'd put a power unit on the counter next to an electronic pad.
"For that lady that walked in here, she's packin' at least sixty pounds of armor that could be made lighter with this. From a warrior to another."
@PolyesterH
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The Rodian would look at Vilkas with concern and apprehension.
"I....Look, I made a purchase for someone in hopes of seeming like I can take the initiative and well. They can't be sold here due to a surplus. I.....Basically I bought a lot of items in bulk but I can't sell them for a profit here since there is already a bunch of stuff being sold here similar to this. It's like selling bread next to a bunch of bakeries." She was telegraphing way too hard that she was indeed telling the truth.
"So I just need someone to find somewhere to sell these and make a profit so my boss doesn't fire me, I can't afford to lose this job...As for what the items are, they're droid parts. Salvaged but good parts. That Volus said so." She'd pause before speaking the truth as to what the parts are. "And....Yes they are Battle Droid units with their combat modules removed and replaced with servant ones but they can still make a profit. Just not here unfortunately."
It was pretty cut and dry in regards to the situation. A foolish employee trying to seem like they were dependable to higher ups but ended up making an innocent mistake.
Sukarma looked at the Mandalorian as he turned and left after being acknowledged. However, this was likely why she'd also gotten the Mandalorian moniker back at the station. Things had changed now as the dark nebulae of uncharted territory loomed all around her. She moved to the console and checked the omnitool expansion modules as with the apparent ability to build custom things came the possibility he had one thing she might need. She looked at her arc pistols as she momentarily considered, then promptly discarded, the urge to use them as additional eyeballs to read with.
The faceplate looked to the other two, then to the merchant, though pointedly did not introduce herself as the faintly melodic singsong accent came through, "Well, I'm usually on a station a long way from here. You can't find some things too far out in dark sectors, and if you do, someone will probably shoot at you for it. Fell through, though. I just met the three of them."
She thumbs to Ami, "Maybe an engineer will be able to fix things if there's a minute to go back with one, but I'm more a... " She paused at how to phrase it without seeming unusual, "sysadmin. I kinda patch what I can."
The edging paranoia of the crowded station ebbed for a moment by talking about something abstract she understood with people who weren't very clear psychopaths and mercenaries. A small cube made with two pairs of her fingers says to Tanya and the seller, "A custom-built VM, maybe? You can block out space so two dissimilar systems don't intersect and can share processing. VI are... little glass cranes. They're small but full of hollow fragile edges and need a safer environment. I've VMed off Geth threads, but that's an entirely different environment. That VM would shake your butler apart."
Her gloved finger points to Ami's omni-tool and decides to just ask the seller, "Though, does that model omni-tool have an aux intake port? Or do you have an expansion module to handle an aux intake? I don't need it to do much."
The fact the shop owner conveniently had a voucher for the complimentary shop across the way wasn't lost on him. Stores cooperating with customers like him was nothing odd and certainly nothing to get upset about. If anything, it suggested competence between the two. He opens his mouth to speak. He speaks firmly and sincerely.
"I'll take the complete set. Thank you for the voucher. I'm sure they will appreciate the power unit."
He places the total amount of credits he needed, for both the suit and the armor set, on the counter. More than anything he was glad he could just take the pieces with him, seeing as they weren't weapons. He waited for the Krogan to take the money and authenticate the purchase before grabbing the suit's and armors cases. Far more interesting was the power unit. She walked up and bought something, not even for him, but for the droid. Then she got something for free because of it. Of course, it wasn't really free. She bought it by being kind.
The only question was if this was a random sporadic moment of communal kindness or some orchestration by the woman. Either way, there was no point in breaking the chain and taking the unit for himself. A more agile ally would be more valuable to him than anything he could do with it immediately. Coldness was useful, but cruelty was just going to hurt everyone.
Ami would almost choke at the merchant's words as she'd see the credit prices turn to zero, her initially surprised eyes turning to disbelief, and then sadness as the quarian would stand still, processing the kindness of the man before a soft sniffle could be heard from mask.
".. Th-thanks-.. *hic*"
The simple idea of good will having long disappeared in the quarian's eyes, having recieved nothing but debt and harsh words since she'd left the fleet as she'd sullenly go back to browsing, her body language much more reserved as she'd ignore Sukarma's mention of her name. Apparently not quite ready to show such a vulnerable side to her new crew mates quite yet.
Tanya gave the merchant a nod with his mentioning of "not worrying about the price" of the upgrades. Her head tilted slightly to the side as if to ask him if he was sure, an eyebrow raising in question along with the movement. She then shrugged and spoke up in reply to his offering of an upgrade. "That would be much appreciated, being able to copy data and replicate it will be of nice use," She mentioned, leaving out the fact that it sounded eerily similar to giving a VI adaptive capabilities similar to an AI. She then flicked her hand across the holographic menu in front of her, accepting the upgrade and uploading it to her Omnitool.
Her eyes narrowed at the sudden approach of a strange ringing in her head similar to that of tinnitus. Turning her head, it appeared as though the source was that of Sukarma as the android spoke up in turn. "So don't make the VI get intimate with the geth, got it," She said simply, rubbing her temple with a finger to get the ringing to stop.
Her eyes glanced over to the quarian huddled in on herself as she sat there in silence. She could hear a slight sniffle from the girl, perhaps she was grateful about the drop in price? From Tanya's knowledge of quarians they weren't generally liked by the citadel's people, mainly due to their scavenging nature so getting this type of kindness from someone was a welcome change. Although considering that quarians kept to themselves, this Ami might've been trying to hide that fact. It probably would be best for Tanya to leave then before she makes it harder on the quarian. With that thought, Tanya offered a wave of thanks as she left the store and waited on a bench outside the store for both Sukarma and Ami to finish their dealings.
Vilkas titled his head, in further examination. A brief but noticeable saddened expression surfaced from him, feeling a bit guilty. He didn't understand all the details the Rodian mentioned but enough to realize she just made an honest mistake and was trying to fix it. One could still say that this wasn't his problem. He was no merchant to begin with.
There was a great task as well. Others would just brush this lady off and move on. Yet Vilkas stood there. With a stoic like expression he nodded in understanding.
"I agree to your terms. You will receive your share in credits once I find someone to buy these parts."
He meant every word of it, relating about wanting to undo mistakes. Besides, a few extra credits and a grateful merchant could be a benefit. Activating a cheap Omni-tool Vilkas next said.
Sukarma looked at the Mandalorian as he turned and left after being acknowledged. However, this was likely why she'd also gotten the Mandalorian moniker back at the station. Things had changed now as the dark nebulae of uncharted territory loomed all around her. She moved to the console and checked the omnitool expansion modules as with the apparent ability to build custom things came the possibility he had one thing she might need. She looked at her arc pistols as she momentarily considered, then promptly discarded, the urge to use them as additional eyeballs to read with.
The faceplate looked to the other two, then to the merchant, though pointedly did not introduce herself as the faintly melodic singsong accent came through, "Well, I'm usually on a station a long way from here. You can't find some things too far out in dark sectors, and if you do, someone will probably shoot at you for it. Fell through, though. I just met the three of them."
She thumbs to Ami, "Maybe an engineer will be able to fix things if there's a minute to go back with one, but I'm more a... " She paused at how to phrase it without seeming unusual, "sysadmin. I kinda patch what I can."
The edging paranoia of the crowded station ebbed for a moment by talking about something abstract she understood with people who weren't very clear psychopaths and mercenaries. A small cube made with two pairs of her fingers says to Tanya and the seller, "A custom-built VM, maybe? You can block out space so two dissimilar systems don't intersect and can share processing. VI are... little glass cranes. They're small but full of hollow fragile edges and need a safer environment. I've VMed off Geth threads, but that's an entirely different environment. That VM would shake your butler apart."
Her gloved finger points to Ami's omni-tool and decides to just ask the seller, "Though, does that model omni-tool have an aux intake port? Or do you have an expansion module to handle an aux intake? I don't need it to do much."
The fact the shop owner conveniently had a voucher for the complimentary shop across the way wasn't lost on him. Stores cooperating with customers like him was nothing odd and certainly nothing to get upset about. If anything, it suggested competence between the two. He opens his mouth to speak. He speaks firmly and sincerely.
"I'll take the complete set. Thank you for the voucher. I'm sure they will appreciate the power unit."
He places the total amount of credits he needed, for both the suit and the armor set, on the counter. More than anything he was glad he could just take the pieces with him, seeing as they weren't weapons. He waited for the Krogan to take the money and authenticate the purchase before grabbing the suit's and armors cases. Far more interesting was the power unit. She walked up and bought something, not even for him, but for the droid. Then she got something for free because of it. Of course, it wasn't really free. She bought it by being kind.
The only question was if this was a random sporadic moment of communal kindness or some orchestration by the woman. Either way, there was no point in breaking the chain and taking the unit for himself. A more agile ally would be more valuable to him than anything he could do with it immediately. Coldness was useful, but cruelty was just going to hurt everyone.
Ami would almost choke at the merchant's words as she'd see the credit prices turn to zero, her initially surprised eyes turning to disbelief, and then sadness as the quarian would stand still, processing the kindness of the man before a soft sniffle could be heard from mask.
".. Th-thanks-.. *hic*"
The simple idea of good will having long disappeared in the quarian's eyes, having recieved nothing but debt and harsh words since she'd left the fleet as she'd sullenly go back to browsing, her body language much more reserved as she'd ignore Sukarma's mention of her name. Apparently not quite ready to show such a vulnerable side to her new crew mates quite yet.
Tanya gave the merchant a nod with his mentioning of "not worrying about the price" of the upgrades. Her head tilted slightly to the side as if to ask him if he was sure, an eyebrow raising in question along with the movement. She then shrugged and spoke up in reply to his offering of an upgrade. "That would be much appreciated, being able to copy data and replicate it will be of nice use," She mentioned, leaving out the fact that it sounded eerily similar to giving a VI adaptive capabilities similar to an AI. She then flicked her hand across the holographic menu in front of her, accepting the upgrade and uploading it to her Omnitool.
Her eyes narrowed at the sudden approach of a strange ringing in her head similar to that of tinnitus. Turning her head, it appeared as though the source was that of Sukarma as the android spoke up in turn. "So don't make the VI get intimate with the geth, got it," She said simply, rubbing her temple with a finger to get the ringing to stop.
Her eyes glanced over to the quarian huddled in on herself as she sat there in silence. She could hear a slight sniffle from the girl, perhaps she was grateful about the drop in price? From Tanya's knowledge of quarians they weren't generally liked by the citadel's people, mainly due to their scavenging nature so getting this type of kindness from someone was a welcome change. Although considering that quarians kept to themselves, this Ami might've been trying to hide that fact. It probably would be best for Tanya to leave then before she makes it harder on the quarian. With that thought, Tanya offered a wave of thanks as she left the store and waited on a bench outside the store for both Sukarma and Ami to finish their dealings.
Vilkas titled his head, in further examination. A brief but noticeable saddened expression surfaced from him, feeling a bit guilty. He didn't understand all the details the Rodian mentioned but enough to realize she just made an honest mistake and was trying to fix it. One could still say that this wasn't his problem. He was no merchant to begin with.
There was a great task as well. Others would just brush this lady off and move on. Yet Vilkas stood there. With a stoic like expression he nodded in understanding.
"I agree to your terms. You will receive your share in credits once I find someone to buy these parts."
He meant every word of it, relating about wanting to undo mistakes. Besides, a few extra credits and a grateful merchant could be a benefit. Activating a cheap Omni-tool Vilkas next said.
The Krogan took the credits and authenticated the purchase before nodding his large head at Dardell as he picked up the cases and power unit. "If you require any more weapons or armor, you know where to find me." He said in that gravelly voice as he walked into the back, no doubt to restock the counter with gear once more. Of course when Dardell left the shop, the door locked up automatically. No doubt to make sure that no one would dare attempt to fiddle with things when the shopkeep was away from the counter.
And of course, the electronic tech shop was lively with his fellow comrades milling around it. The Mandalorian in the poncho was loitering around the entrance, He would turn his head at Dardell's approach and barely move his head in greeting as he resumed looking out at passerby and at the obvious tails sent to keep an eye on them. @PolyesterH
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Inside of the shop, the merchant would offer a kindly reassuring smile to Ami as she sniffled. "No problem, Ma'am. Take your time." He would raise a hand to pat her on the shoulder but he'd lower it back down since he didn't want to potentially aggravate her by touching her. He would turn towards Tanya and nod along to her headtilt.
"Indeed, I hope it'll help you out. And maybe you can find someone who's more skilled at VIs than me." He'd rub the back of his head awkwardly before thankfully turning his attention proper to Suki. His eyes running over her form, not in a flirting way but in a way that someone who was interested in the design of her suit and gear. "Your friend there has some interesting tech." He'd comment before Suki spoke and for a minute he mulled over her words.
"I think I can find something along those lines. Wireless is often the way to go but I can see if I can hook you up with a port system." He'd go over the kiosk to type in some words, leaving the trio to talk amongst themselves. @Noble Scion@littlekreen@Wiggin
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The Rodian let out a sigh of relief, tears on the edge on her big eyes as she fumbled for her pad. "Ali'ska. Number is Five-Oh-Six-Seven-Delta-One." She would hand over the pad to Vilkas. The device controlled the grav-lifts that had the crates on them. When he had taken the pad, he would get a sudden hug from her before pulling back awkwardly.
"S-sorry, I just....Thank you so much. Once it gets done, I'll owe you one." She said, voice cracking as she spoke.
She'd pat his shoulder before walking off, leaving him with the grav-lift cargo carts and the boxes.
Sukarma chuckles under the suit and raps on a shoulder as it gives a loose metallic clank from layered metal shards then, "The suit is improvised synthmesh/armorplast brigandine no tech in it. I'm not an armor smith but it helps keep the slug throwers out. The rest are custom builds."
She points at her wrist where an armorplast cuff bore no omni-tool bangle, "I can't use an omni-tool directly. Hmm... think of it as something like an allergy. The aux port needs to be capable of Omni-gel transfer at least. Minimum system amperage, phase, or resistance isn't a constraint as long as I have the specs ahead of time."
She looks toward Ami, "The engineers are my omni-tools."
The attempt at levity was a little dry but a faceless mask did imply some with a muscle pose using one arm, "The mandalorian and I are their guns."
There was still some worry over the future in her mind but it was less pronounced in station that was not entirely full of violent psychopaths, thugs, and batarians. Her tone was little off after being afraid to talk for so long.
Dardell doesn't pay visible attention to the conversation between Sukaram and Ami. It pays, after all, to look like you're minding your own buisness and to listen rather than see what you aren't part of directly. That said, its strenuous to do so when you're approaching one of them. Although he certainly wasn't taking the same kindness that she showed his droid earlier, he had a chance to be selfish. Granted, there'd be no gain to acting as such. Fostering a sense of cohesion was far more valuable. He outstretches the power unit.
"You're packing a lot of heavy gear. I can make it a lot lighter on you with this."
He hated the fact he was making a clear connection between the two, but this was explainable to being repaying for the droid upgrade.
