"Very well, consult together and determine a plan of action, but remember time is essential in this matter," Jessica said, already growing bored with the tawdry affair that was so far beneath her station as to defy description.
Varis turns to Lola. "Well, I can't figure out our trading style without knowing what we have to trade, so: take an inventory, please."
"It's all common sense. Like this job is THAT hard." Lola rolled her eyes as she seemingly began pressing random buttons on her dataslate. "Oh, look at me. I'M SOOOO important. Who else could crunch slightly high numbers or know the location of boxes? DURR." Lola glanced at her device for a seconds before stopping, feeling confident that she could get by with basic reasoning skills.
Cassandra let the conversation wash over her. Trade was not something she knew much about, however what she did know about was the value of gunpowder and explosives and so she began to cast her eye around, looking for any likely looking crates that might contain a supply of grenades or maybe some of the more "exotic" ammo types the traitors seemed to have.
Regretfully, there are no real supplies here, for that you'd have to check the armory or with the quartermaster. Most of the stuff in this bay is under repair or being broken down for spare parts. However, with the inventory in hand the group now has some "free time" until they're summoned to the embarkation deck.
"PEW. PEW. I've got a laser! They totally have those. And junk metal. But freaking lasers!" Lola made a firing gesture with her hands before stopping and looking at the other Heretek. "But what if I can't go grab stuff in person? Can I remote access your stuff?"
"Yes, yes, I know all that: what we need from you, Miss Moreau, is the finer details of quality and quantity of goods available that cannot be gleaned by a layman's appraisal," Jessica explained, a touch crossly. Her beak-helmed face turned to the more senior Heritech. "Adept Locus, while somewhat off-topic Miss Moreau's query regarding the accessibility of these goods does have some merit: how are we to bargain with nothing to show those we bargain with and no certainty that what they are bargaining for will materialize in a timely manner? Are we expected to choose a cargo from ship's stores which will be loaded into one of the ship's Halo Barges and transported to the surface with us, or to negotiate for future considerations with nothing tangible to show?" Jessica asked.
Varis Kar looks around the chamber. With all of his questions asked by the marine, there was nothing to do except wait for an answer... and hope the Heretek stopped being quite so... insane, unpredictable, and generally annoying.
The adept paused for a moment before answering Jessica's question. "Astartes Captain, designation: Mortus, has instructed a small shipment of supplies to be shipped with the visiting organics to the planet. These are designated as samples and are to be used to showcase value to native organics. Designated samples are being loaded onto shuttle vessel fifteen minutes before your arrival in these chambers."
"Thank you: and for your future reference, I am also Astartes, Battle-Sister, designation: Jessica," Jessica informed the Heritech Adept, her voice conveying the wry smirk that didn't show through her helmet.
"ALRIGHT. OKAY. First off, Fuerhen, would be better." With that out of the way, Lola decided to do something that probably would have made more sense to do before getting her. Think about everything she knew about Hereteks and namely how the "normal" ones worked while in ships and who they typically took answers from.
Adept Locus stands motionless staring at Jessica for a moment before an audible 'click' sound is heard from the machine-man. "Recorded, Astartes 3.3.5 requested designation: Jessica." He then turned to the other members of the party, "Do any of you require desired address by this unit? If not, you are dismissed. Instruction files list that embarkation occurs in one hour, twenty-three minutes, fifty-eight seconds."
Lola debated it but eventually ruled to do something exceedingly rare. Actually try to be helpful to someone else. She took a look at the other Heretek, internally judging the design flaws of his body but at least knowing enough not to point them out. "You know, if you want? I can probably help prepare the whole shipment thing so you don't need to bother."
Jessica, meanwhile, was heading off to the armory, planning to see about getting some items she and the others might need for their mission...
Adept Locus regards Lola after her question, and if he still had features on his face they would certainly display confusion. "Unnecessary and impossible. The shipment has already been prepared and, as previously stated, started loading onto your shuttle fifteen minutes before you entered this chamber." With that he turned back to what he was doing, and it was apparent that was the end of the conversation. The trip to the armoury was, relatively, short for such a big ship. Upon entering, Jessica found the room divided into two sections separated by a bulkhead with a small station set up behind a transparent section of the wall. While there was nothing in the entrance, the sound of servitors and heavy machinery could be heard from behind the bulkhead. The armoury was clearly abuzz. Sitting in the greeting station, looking over some dataslate readout was an older human man: Winston Blayne the quartermaster. From his appearance, one would guess he was around sixty standard Terran years. He had two bionic replacements, his left arm and right leg, and while the bionics were not the highest quality the mere fact that he had them was a statement of either his competence or importance. After all, bionic replacements weren't given to just anyone on the Deceitful Truth. As the door opened into the area, the old man looked up from his dataslate and, upon seeing Jessica enter, immediately stood up and gave a respectful bow. "My lady." He began "this is an unexpected pleasure. To what do we owe the honour?"
"Our impending recruitment efforts on the planet we are approaching, I'm being sent to the surface with a small team and was hoping you could outfit us with a small set of needful supplies," Jessica informed him. "Firstly, six poles with spikes at each end, sharpness strictly optional: secondly three tarps, color immaterial but must measure at least 8 feet x 8 feet each, larger is better as long as easily man-portable, and they must be largely waterproof, no large holes except about the edges, where they. should be grommeted to affix them to the ground. 44 or so foot long pieces of thin steel rebar, about 2 gauge, would be good but as long as they'll go through the holes in the edge of the tarps easily and not snap or pull out of the ground I'll take what you have. Five medium framing hammers or similar. One hundred feet of thin rope, type irrelevant as long as it's sturdy. About twenty days worth of low-quality non-perishable rations. And Lastly, some human size packs or bags to carry it all in." She said in her sweetest tones...
