Food orders...
 

Your server arrives at the table with a platter of ice water and menus. They await your orders.

"Will you want cream and sugar with that?"

"Roast beef, cold or hot? Gravy or none? We have a variety of local and some imported cheeses, what sort of flavor or flavors are you looking for? Something strong, if so might I suggest a local version of Y_Fenni. Or maybe something mellow like a feta? And for bread there are a couple wheat breads and a local variant of both sourdough and injera."

"Sorry, berries are out of season but we do have tart apple pie, would that be okay?"

Frank ordered large coffee black, specifying the local brew that Julius had mentioned. When it arrived, he added ice cubes from his water tumbler. :coffeesip:
"Well, if I'm to specify that level of detail, please bring me two whole wheat tortillas, fajita-sized," (Frank spread his thumb and little finger to show the size that he meant) "with a nice pile of shredded roast beef, cold," (again he used his hand to indicate what he meant by a nice pile) "four slices of sharp cheddar cheese, and a ripe red tomato; I'll slice that up myself."
"Apple is fine, thanks."

Frank nodded affirmation. "Yes, that's the one. I haven't been there yet, but it was suggested to me by the InfoKiosk. I'll need to stop in there after we eat."
Frank smiled. "That's Great! Since we're all headed to the same destination, I suggest we grab a taxi together. I believe the InfoKiosk said that the trip to the ranch would be a few hours by grav transport, so that'll give us time to catch up and tell tales about where we've been and so forth."
Frank looked surprised. "Hey, Cub, you should have said something to me while we were still at the Highport! I would have gotten you strapped out of Clever's locker. But don't worry, I'm not going to leave a brother Scout bare-naked in a strange place. You can have one of my knives, and I'll buy you some kind of legal stunner from this Joe's place. So, hey, relax and enjoy your meal!"

Frank reached into one of his belt pouches and produced what appeared to be a standard Scout-issue snack-sized field ration. He laid it carefully on the table beside Dabi's plate. "That's not an appetizer, nor dessert. Inside the wrapper is a chunk of memory plastic that looks kinda like a bar of soap. But if you rap it sharply against a hard surface, presto, it changes into a combat knife, sharp enough to shave with (if you've run out of depil gel)! You don't even need to take it out of the wrapper when you change it; just make sure that red end isn't pointed against anything you don't want stabbed. If you want to turn it back into a plastic bar again, just microwave it."
Frank shrugged. "What mission? You must have heard more with your invitation than I did."

He looked toward Julius. "Do you know what he's talking about? "

"Okay..."
 

"Excellent. And you, sirs?" your server waits for the others to put in their orders.

For Areal Steak Joint it's not quite the franchise look and feel compared to those you see on world with higher class starports. The place is off the beaten starlanes and so they're much more oriented to the local products than say an industrial or high pop world. While a lot of the franchise's places go for the Terran or Colonial "rustic" look, here what there is of it feels more viscerally real, organic (for example the leather in the chairs and booths is real and not a synthetic) yet the underlying and most of the overlying feeling is more fine dining for the locals with the "local" aspect being added for your obviously off-world selves. You get the feeling that the imported stuff sees more trade from the locals. Also as noted by Frank, they're much more flexible in the orders.

[Oops, I see that my edit to add responses to Dabi and Julius overlapped in time w Magnus's response. I hope that doesn't confuse anyone. Sorry, I was taking medicine and fell asleep in mid-post - after the bit responding to Magnus w Frank's food order, but before editing in the bits w Dabi and Julius.]

'Do you have any coffee grown here on Bohen?' Julius asks the server. 'As for food, I'd prefer a light salad, preferably of local produce.'

'Okay, that's fine.'

Julius nodded. 'Yes, that sounds good to me. I was actually on my way to the grav-taxi stand just outside the starport when I ran into you guys.'

While Frank and Dabi discussed their weapons, Julius checked his taser was in place in Boxer's toolbox.

'No, I don't. My invitation was just for the Holiday celebrations. Granted, I already suspected the Banner had some ulterior motivation for inviting me, but this is the first I've heard of a "mission".'

[Assuming that Dabi has put in his order for "areal" steak and whatever sides he wants, and that our group has been served and begun eating and drinking...]

Frank reaches to slide the "snack bar" (memory plastic combat knife) closer to Dabi's hand. "You might want to put that away before some busboy tries to remove it." Frank reflects on Dabi's "flat broke" comment together with the substantial meal that Dabi is now digging into, and tries to recall the last time he has seen Dabi actually eating... and he really doesn't want to be an accomplice to a possible Pathfinder Dine n Dash!

"Hey, guys, this meal is on me. The Emperor was pretty generous with my Mustering Out benefits, or else the pay office had my back-pay invested well, or something. But anyway, please let me treat you both."

Frank expands the holoscreen of his comm, in a field visible only to him, and his fingers dart and dash at invisible controls. At one point he holds it up for a retinal scan, then lays it flat for a biometric scan of his hand. He reaches again, to tap his comm against Dabi's. "There," he says to Dabi with a smile, "that's a few CrImps to get you along past this 'flat broke' period and let you choose a weapon to rent or buy at Joe's." [OOC: transferred CrImps 1000 in cash directly to Dabi's comm, so he can keep it as cash or start an account or whatever he wants.]

Frank times his completion of his food to coincide with that of his companions; he'll linger over his coffee and accept refills for as long as discussion continues, and will pay all three checks and add a generous tip when the bill is presented.

Then: "I need to visit Hunter Joe's for legal armament, and recommend the same for you, Dabi. You with us, Julius? "

"I already have a taser, so I don't strictly need to go there, but I may as well tag along since we all want a grav-taxi to the same location anyway. Plus, you two probably know more about hand-held weapons than I do, so I may learn some useful knowledge."

[Can't really write much more yet without Dabi's side of the conversation...]

"Thanks, Frank. I owe ya."

Dabi tries to be not obvious about pocketing the 'snack bar,' as he tells the waiter what he would like to have.

"A steak, of course, medium. Steak fries. The coffee should not stop."


Dabi smiles to lessen the sting.


"A bowl of salad. Ketchup. Steak sauce. Dressing... I think that's it for me."

Frank times his completion of his food to coincide with that of his companions; he'll linger over his coffee and accept refills for as long as discussion continues, and will pay all three checks and add a generous tip when the bill is presented.

Then: "I need to visit Hunter Joe's for legal armament, and recommend the same for you, Dabi. You with us, Julius? "

When all have finished eating and enjoying their coffee and dessert, Frank again consults the InfoKiosk and instructs Chives, his Interface Assistant, to mark the location of Hunter Joe's and then project a standard "follow me" symbol, visible also to Dabi and Julius, to lead them to this fabled emporium of weaponry.

To save some time, Frank instructs Chives to call the shop and tell the shopkeeper/IA/whatever that he'd like to see a fine quality mil-spec Neural stun pistol, fine quality fast-draw holster fitted for same if his current holster (specs provided) don't match in all respects for usage, one power pack for the pistol and two spares, electronic interface needed to connect to HUD systems (Imperial law enforcement) in his helmet and contact lenses. For a backup, he'd also like to see their selection of body pistol sonic stunners, and will need a custom hideaway holster for same, depending on the model chosen, and possibly fitted for a "riverboat" sleeve-draw if available. Finally, he'd like to review their available stock for refreshing his supply of non-lethal crowd-control options without having to return to his ship, preferably some Tranq gas, Tangler, and Banana-Glue, all in mini grenades, with hand launcher to improve range and accuracy if available.

Maybe they'll have some of that pulled from stock and ready to look at by the time they reach the shop.

HUNTER JOE'S ARMS EMPORIUM!
 

Y'all finish your meal, get your leftovers if any packed up, and head off to Hunter Joe's.

When you arrive you find an Edendextu behind a counter toward the back of a shop full of displays housing weapons. The cases are rather fine and a close up examination will show their manufacturing and security systems are most definitely of a higher TL than local. The armor glass doesn't have the thickness one sees in TL-8 materials and it's more optically perfect. Clear enough that you can all the weapons are unloaded and unpowered. Also the locks are indicating a secure status.

The counters form the traditional shop U shape around the sides and back of the shop with a couple of gates. The counters are much like the display cases on the floor and contain hand weapons whereas the floor cases are long arms.

When you enter a small metal chime rings and the Edendextu looks up from a hand tablet.

"Are you the party from the starship Something Clever who paged me with a request for a variety of possible non-lethal armaments for local use?"

It waves toward the selection of pistols, holsters, and snap-draw devices.