Preparations

By the time the sun reached the highest point on the sky, the ship was once again hidden in a familiar forest, although a large distance away from the crash site.

The crew's time between waking up and arriving was taken up by preparing themselves to visit the nearby city. This was thier final briefing before thier first offical operation on foreign soil. This day had multiple objectives:

First they needed to retrieve Erina's belongings from her home. Secondly, Erina would leave her job, then re-register as an adventurer alongside with Helena. At the same time the captain would do some basic reconnaissance in the city, signing up with the Guild near the evening hours. They initially offered a place to Dr. Ming as well, since a simple cloak could hide her from prying eyes, however the good doctor wanted to survey the local flora and fauna more closely, so she was left in charge of the ship for the time being. The only thing missing was thier equipment, so they decided to make some using the nano assemblers of the ship, and materials found on the Storage Deck, based on designs provided by the Central Military Network of the Selenian Empire.

The form fitting armor of Helena was made out of a lightweight but durable iridium-adamantite alloy. Instead of a helmet, she had a visor covering one of her eyes, providing real-time feedback on battlefield conditions, making video calls, while also connecting to the ship, allowing the request and upload of any information. The armorpieces covering the arms came with servos for a strength boost. The chest piece was double-reinforced, and came equipped with a stealth generator and heat regulator, allowing the commander to hide from naked eyes or creatures using thermal vision. This was supported by a shield, an invisible barrier covering her entire body. Besides normal strength upgrades, the leg pieces also recieved kinetic boosters, allowing her faster speed and acceleration while running, while also optimising stamina usage making so that she can run longer. Finally after some begging, she also recieved a jet boosting system allowing limited flight.

Another question was the armament. Weapons used by the Empiere could be divided into two categories: laser and ion. There were also some ballistic weapons, although they used rail-technology, and were phased out by the end of the Domination War. Ion based armaments boosted high damage and precision at the cost of speed, and the fact that the weapons themselves were very heavy. In contrast lasers were lightweight, but were less reliable accuracy and damage wise. The only exception to this rule were the Precision Laser Rifles, boosting incrased damage and pinpoint accuracy, created specifically for snipers, after ion weapons were proven to be too heavy for thier expected mobility.

The rifle Commander Kryolis choose was this same model, and even though it's ion counterpart was still superior damage wise, the question of weight ultimately landed her confidence with the Precision Laser. It could fire either high powered precision bolts, or a a sustained beam. For secondary armaments she went with an automata rail rifle, very effective against light and unarmored targets thanks to it's boosted fire rate, and triangle shaped shredder rounds with edges similar to sharpened knife blades, making it akin to a ranged chainsaw. As a final piece, she used a full-auto laser machinepistol. Besides weapons, she also packed five stungrenades, a compact tranquilizer rifle alongside a box of darts, and a medkit containing everything needed to patch up any injury on the field.

In contrast to these, the captain's equipment focused mostly on close encounters. His dark-gray power armor came with extra servos for a greater strenght bonus, and leg enhancers for increased speed and sustainability. In addition to this, his energy shield was capable of whitsdanding high amounts of damage, while barely draining any power. Completing the defense was the kinetic foam padding inside the armor, coushining any impact recieved. The helmet was equipped with a standard automap system, two way video and voice communication, plus movement and thermal sensors.

The close range arsenal consisted of a pair of retractable masterwork power claws placed on the top of each each gauntlet, being both effective and intimidating. Of course this wasn't the end of the arsenal, since the captain managed to find a place for his standard issue heavy ion pistol serving as a sidearm and symbol of rank.

Alongside this he was the one carrying most of the essential items including another field medical kit, a master control unit for the ship mounted on his wrist, and a modest amount of provisions in the form of dried rations and purified water. In order to generate some funds should they need it, he also retrieved a small gold bar from the cargo hold, so it can be sold to a merchant or blacksmith in order to generate some local currency.

The gear Erina received seemed ordinary compared to them. Being a mage she wasn't trained in wearing heavy equipment, instead preferring to wear light clothing, that did not restrict her movements. To this end, she was provided with a very light recon armor offering minimal protection alongside with a minor increase to strength and speed, and a hooded robe which according to her was very popular with mages. The same visor given to Helena was also provided to her, although she was very clumsy while using it. She wasn't lucky from the perspective of armament either. Originally Dr. Ming wanted to offer her an older psionic enhancer, however tests showed that this had no effect on Erina's powers. In the end she was given an adamantite short sword, in case the enemy managed to get the drop on her.

Thier destination was a long walk away from thier current position. According to Erina, there was a dirt road not far from here, that would directly lead to the town. Another option was to cut through the forest to conceal themselves, however since half of the day was already gone, it was decided that they would use the road. If they are lucky, they could hitch a ride on carriage or wagon, drastically cutting down thier travel time.

An hour later Erina an Kryolis were eating dust on thier way to the fortress city of Danamar. The captain left to the settlement as soon as possible with the agreement, that they are going to rendezvous at the adventurer's guild near the evening. Half an hour later they were picked up by a wagon. At the late evening, they arrived to Danamar.