With the UE cargo safely stored in the Prism's cargo hold, Thunder touched down on the independant world of Iothe Prime. He was amazed at the Prism's handling and speed with the UE's upgrades; the arada handled almost as well as a crescent fighter and was probably a little bit faster.
Walking through the spaceport, Thunder found who he was looking for. A man in the outfitters shop who two merchants in the bar had said could sell him the piece of equipment he needed. Thunder walked up to the man and took up the matter.
"Hi. I'm looking for a scan blocker and I understand you can sell me one."
"Scan blocker, eh? You're not a renegade, are you? I could have the militia here in seconds!"
"Of course not!" Thunder replied, a bit shocked. "I'm a merchant pilot with important cargo that I can't let certain parties find out about..."
"Say no more." The man said. "Just wanted to make sure you were the kind of person I'd be willing to do buisness with. I can make the adjustments to your ship myself, but it'll cost you 15,000 credits."
"Deal." Thunder replied.
Within half an hour, the man had completed his work, and Thunder handed him a credstick for his efforts. He knew the people on Iothe would be able to sell him a scan blocker. They had to keep their cargo safe in renegade infested territory all the time; they were experienced with this kind of thing.
"Okay," the man began, "There's three settings to the scan blocker: off, passive, and active. Use passive to disguise your cargo or make it look like something it's not. The active setting will make your ship impenetrable to scanners, but it'll light your ship up like a beacon to customs agents and renegades. In fact, using a scan block on active setting is grounds for attack by renegades and UE customs. If you keep it set on passive, the only way anyone will be able to detect your scan block is if they directly target your ship with a deep level scan."
"Thanks for the advice." Thunder replied. With that, he set off toward the outfitters shop where he bought a second fuel scoop for his ship, which would be useful if he needed to use the cloak the UE had provided him with.
Returning to the Prism, Thunder set a course toward Miranu space, and ultimately toward Hrekka. Clearing the spaceport and leaving orbit, the Prism set off into hyperspace...
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Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you.
Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch to be sure.