They hit the inner airlock at 0340 and the engineer was already at the breach point with a hull patch in each hand, not because she had been warned but because she had been awake, which was different. The patch kit was rated for external EVA repair. She used it from the inside, leaning into the breach, the vacuum pulling at her suit while she worked. Afterward someone asked if she had been scared. "Of the breach?" she said. "No. Of not having the patch kit? Yes. Always."

Shipboard Gear and Cargo

A ship is a system for keeping people alive in an environment that is actively trying to kill them, and the gear in this chapter is how the people inside that system do their jobs, protect their ship, and move things from one place to another without dying.

Crew station gear makes operators better at their stations. Boarding and security equipment is what a fight in a corridor actually looks like. Cargo handling covers the practical machinery of moving freight. Life support and emergency gear is what you reach for when everything else has failed. None of it is glamorous in the way weapons are; most of it is bought, stored, and never touched until it becomes the most important thing on the ship.

All prices are baseline credits at a mid-sized independent station. Items tagged /R are Restricted. Items tagged /I are Illegal in all major power jurisdictions.

Crew Station Gear

The operator at a station is only as good as the equipment that connects them to the ship. Pilot interfaces, targeting rigs, diagnostic suites, and tactical displays do not make a mediocre operator excellent, but they make the difference between an excellent operator performing at their best and that same operator fighting their own equipment while trying to do their job.

Pilot's Interface Harness

A full-torso haptic harness that connects to the pilot's seat and creates a physical feedback loop between the pilot's body and the ship's flight systems. Where a standard interface gives a pilot control inputs and instrument readings, the harness adds proprioceptive data: the pilot feels the ship's acceleration, rotation, and stress through the harness rather than reading it on a display. Under normal conditions this is a comfort upgrade, interesting but not essential. Under extreme maneuver conditions — evasive action, atmospheric entry, or the kind of emergency handling where the wrong decision is terminal — the proprioceptive feedback allows faster and more accurate corrections than visual instruments alone. The Passive quality removes 1 Bane Die from extreme maneuver checks. Most professional pilots who have used one for a month will not fly without it afterward.

Gunner's Targeting Rig

A dedicated targeting assistance system that connects a gunner's seat to the ship's weapon systems through a direct interface overlaying fire control data on the gunner's field of view. The rig processes sensor data into targeting solutions, tracks moving targets predictively, and presents the gunner with continuously updated firing solutions rather than raw sensor returns they have to interpret themselves. The gunner still makes the decisions; the rig makes the information needed for those decisions immediately available rather than requiring active calculation. The Passive quality adds 1 Boon Die to all Gunnery checks made while using the rig. Uncommon because quality targeting rigs require calibration to specific weapon systems and installation that takes more than slotting in a component; a rig that is not properly calibrated to its ship's weapons is not worth the credits.

Engineer's Diagnostic Suite

A comprehensive hardware and software system that connects an engineer to every monitored system on the ship simultaneously. Standard ship diagnostics require an engineer to query systems sequentially or read from fixed-location panels; the diagnostic suite creates a personal mobile interface that shows the engineer the current state of all monitored systems in an integrated view, with fault alerts, predictive failure warnings, and repair guidance for identified problems. Active: the engineer can pull detailed system telemetry from anywhere on the ship without walking to a panel. Passive: the comprehensive diagnostic capability adds 1 Boon Die to ship repair checks because the engineer always has the full picture. Engineers who have used a diagnostic suite routinely will feel blind working without one.

Navigator's Chart Table

A portable flat-panel display system that creates a three-dimensional holographic display of navigational data, integrating with the ship's astrogation computer to show current position, plotted course, hazard data, and jump point calculations in a format that a navigator can walk around and examine from multiple angles. The chart table does not replace the ship's astrogation computer; it is an interface layer that makes that computer's data accessible in a more useful form. Portable enough to be moved between stations or taken off-ship for mission planning purposes. Navigators doing complex route planning or briefing a crew on an upcoming transit find the chart table significantly more useful than working from a standard console display.

Captain's Tactical Display

A scaled-up tactical situational awareness system designed for commanding officers who need to see the whole picture rather than any individual operational domain. The display integrates pilot sensor data, weapon system status, communications, and where available, data from other vessels operating in coordination, into a single comprehensive situational display. In a multi-ship operation, it gives a commander the information needed to direct the formation rather than manage their own vessel. In a solo-ship situation, it gives the captain an overview that complements what the individual station operators see in their own domains. Can be installed as bridge furniture or configured for portable deployment. The "fleet-scale situational awareness" description is aspirational for most independent crews: in practice it shows you what your own ship and your immediate sensor picture reveal, which is still substantially more than having nothing.

Boarding and Security

A ship corridor is not a large space. Standard interior passages run between one and two meters wide, enough for one person comfortably and two people uncomfortably, with conduit runs, equipment mounts, and pipe chases reducing that further at irregular intervals. Fights in ship corridors are close, fast, and final. The items below are designed for the reality of that environment: for getting through doors that do not want to be opened, for controlling access points that need to be held, and for fighting in spaces where mistakes cannot be taken back.

Magnetic Grapple Line

A powered launcher that fires a dense magnetic grapple head on a high-tensile composite line, designed to attach to a ship's hull at range and provide a physical connection for crossing open space. At 20 meters this covers the gap between docked ships or the distance between an airlock and an exterior attachment point with room to spare. The grapple head carries sufficient magnetic force to hold on standard hull material even under EVA suit tether stress, and the line motor can reel the operator across once the grapple is attached. In combat boardings the magnetic grapple line is the item that gets personnel across open space before the shooting starts; after the shooting starts, it becomes evidence that the approach was not well planned. Common because the same equipment is used in standard EVA operations, docking procedures, and emergency recovery.

Breach Charge

A shaped demolitions charge designed specifically for cutting through standard airlock door assemblies. Where a general-purpose demolitions charge blasts outward, the breach charge focuses its energy forward through the surface it is attached to, cutting through the door material in a controlled pattern that creates an entry point rather than a debris field. The cut does not destroy the door frame and leaves the surrounding hull undamaged; this is intentional, because a boarding team that blows the frame has made re-sealing the breach significantly more difficult. Takes approximately 30 seconds to set (1 action in structured time) and detonates by timer or remote trigger. Restricted because "cuts through airlock doors" is not a capability that any port authority wants to see in civilian cargo. Standard issue for Antaean boarding specialists, Directorate enforcement teams, and anyone doing professional hostile entry work.

Airlock Override Kit

A hardware and software intrusion package that connects to an airlock's external control panel and bypasses its authorization requirements to trigger open. Standard airlock controls can be locked from the inside against external requests; the override kit does not ask the internal control to open the door, it talks to the door's hardware directly. The Electronic Access talent is not a formality: without the technical understanding to navigate the override interface, an operator will be staring at an error message while the situation evolves around them. Illegal everywhere because an airlock that can be opened from outside without authorization is a ship that can be entered by anyone with one of these kits. Directorate and Caliphate inspectors specifically look for these during searches; possession without a documented security contractor or authorized investigation context is a serious charge.

Hull Patch Kit

A kit of pre-formed composite patch materials, adhesive compounds rated for vacuum exposure, and a portable application tool for setting emergency external hull repairs. External hull damage that does not breach the ship immediately will breach it eventually; a hull patch kit applied during EVA allows a crew to seal breaches that the ship's internal systems cannot reach. The patches are not permanent structural repairs: they are sufficient to maintain atmosphere and prevent further ingress until the ship reaches a facility capable of proper hull work. The kit includes patches sized for standard breach classifications up to half a meter diameter; larger breaches require multiple kits or improvised solutions. This is on the Common gear list of every professional crew operating beyond easy rescue range, because hull breaches do not schedule themselves and the time to discover you do not have a patch kit is not during an emergency.

Boarding Shield

A heavy polycarbonate and composite ballistic shield sized for corridor work, with a reinforced edge and a vision port cut into the upper panel. In an open engagement the boarding shield is not especially useful; the weight (Enc 4) and size make mobility difficult. In a corridor, the shield occupies the full width and turns the operator into a moving barrier. The mechanical bonus is to Melee Defense: the shield adds 2 to the carrier's Melee Defense characteristic while held, representing the difficulty of getting a hit past the barrier in a space where flanking is essentially impossible. Boarding teams that expect to push through a defended corridor against armed resistance put their heaviest person with the highest Might at the front carrying one of these, and make the other team fight past it. Effective, heavy, and exhausting after any significant distance.

Anti-Boarding System

A deployable automated deterrent system designed to cover access points against hostile entry. The system consists of a sensor array, a central controller, and two to four deterrent units that can be configured as concussive discharge, directed stun, or obstacle projection depending on which modules the operator installs. Once deployed and activated, the system monitors its coverage zone and triggers deterrent responses to unauthorized entry without requiring an operator to watch the point. The system includes a friend-or-foe transponder that exempts designated crew members from its response parameters; anyone without a recognized transponder entering the zone gets the deterrent. Restricted because an automated deterrent that operates without human monitoring is exactly the kind of system that produces civilian casualties in scenarios where the operator's friend-or-foe setup was not thorough. Security contractors use these to hold access points with minimal personnel; the liability implications are significant.

Cargo Handling

Moving freight in a ship environment is a specific skill set. Standard gravity assists when it is present and actively hinders when cargo needs to go somewhere that gravity is pushing against. Zero-g environments eliminate weight but not mass or momentum, which means a one-tonne crate in microgravity will take an unprotected crew member's arm off with the same enthusiasm as it would in full gravity. The equipment below exists to put the cargo where it needs to go without injuring the crew or losing the freight.

Cargo Lifter Exo-Frame

A powered exoskeleton worn over standard clothing or a light suit, designed to amplify the carrier's physical strength for freight handling work. The frame reads the operator's movement intentions through pressure sensors and motor coupling, and adds powered actuator force to match and extend whatever the operator's own muscles are doing. The practical effect is that loads up to Enc 10 are handled without penalty: the Enc penalty that would normally apply to carrying or moving a heavy load does not apply to a carrier in the exo-frame. Loads above Enc 10 still require checks, but the frame's baseline contribution means that threshold is substantially higher than unassisted. In zero-g operations the frame's grip actuators prevent cargo momentum transfer to the operator, allowing controlled movement of heavy loads that would be dangerous to handle unassisted. Dhoran crew members often choose not to bother with exo-frames because their natural Might makes them unnecessary for most tasks; when they use one, the combined output is substantial.

Cargo Scanner

A hand-held device that uses penetrating scan technology to image the contents of sealed containers without opening them. Returns a density map and mass distribution reading that an experienced operator can interpret to identify the general nature of what is inside: electronics, biological material, liquid, metal, composite. Does not provide chemical analysis or identification at a molecular level, just structure and mass. Legal for purchase in most jurisdictions. The Restricted flag in some jurisdictions is a function of politics rather than the device itself: in Directorate space, unauthorized cargo scanning of sealed commercial containers is considered interference with commerce and is regulated; in fringe systems, nobody cares. Customs officials and security contractors use these constantly; so do crews who want to know what they are actually carrying before a problem reveals it.

Stasis Crate

A container system that maintains its contents in a suspended metabolic state, holding temperature, atmosphere, and elapsed time effectively constant inside the crate relative to outside it. Biological cargo, from live animals to organ transport to high-value perishables, arrives in the same condition it was loaded in regardless of transit time. The stasis field is power-dependent; a crate that loses power does not fail catastrophically but its contents begin aging at normal rate from that point. High-value cargo often ships in stasis crates as insurance against transit delays. Rare because the stasis field technology requires precision components and the crate's internal systems require calibration at manufacture; budget alternatives exist but their reliability is variable in ways that tend to reveal themselves at the worst moments.

Smuggler's Cache

A concealed cargo space built into standard ship furnishing or existing cargo volume, with an outer surface that defeats standard scanning at the density and return-signature levels used by most commercial and inspection-grade cargo scanners. The cache is not foolproof: it will not defeat military-grade deep scan, dedicated customs sweep, or physical inspection. What it defeats is the level of scanning that most checkpoint inspections involve, the passive sweep run on declared cargo looking for discrepancies between the manifest and what the scan shows. The cache reads as the surrounding structure rather than a cavity, which means the scan returns match the manifest. Illegal because the only reason to have a cargo space specifically designed to defeat inspection systems is to hide something from inspection. Every authority in the Verge classifies this as a smuggling device and treats finding one as confirmation that the crew knows exactly what they are doing with it.

Cargo Drone

An autonomous floating carrier drone that follows its designated operator through a ship or station, carrying loads up to Enc 6 without requiring the operator to carry them. The drone uses short-range sensors to navigate around obstacles and maintain following distance without instruction; the operator directs it by moving, and it follows. Can be given simple movement commands through a control slate. In zero-g, the drone uses attitude thrusters to maintain position relative to its operator. Widely used in warehouse and cargo facility operations at scale; individual purchase for ship crew use is common because the convenience of not carrying your own gear through a three-hour loading operation compounds quickly. The drone's autonomous systems are simple enough that it does not require specialist maintenance and standard replacement parts are available at most stations.

Life Support and Emergency

The items in this section are the ones you never want to need and cannot afford to not have. They exist in a category of gear where the margin between sufficient and insufficient is measured in minutes and the cost of getting it wrong is measured in lives. Every crew has a relationship with their emergency gear: the careful crews check it on schedule, replace cells before they run out, and know exactly where every item is. The other crews find out.

Emergency Oxygen Canister

A compact pressurized canister containing enough breathable atmosphere for two hours of personal use, interfacing with standard EVA suit emergency feeds or a simple face mask for use outside a suit. Designed to be worn on a belt or kept in a carry pouch, the canister is the minimum personal life support backup that any crew member working in a potentially compromised atmosphere should carry. In a decompression event or atmosphere processor failure, two hours is enough time to seal a breach, relocate to a safe compartment, or reach a rescue point from most standard station or ship emergencies. It is not enough time for a long EVA, a slow rescue, or an emergency that goes sideways. Most experienced crew members carry two.

Atmosphere Processor

A portable environmental system that draws in ambient atmosphere, filters it through catalyst beds and scrubber packs, and returns breathable air. The processor handles carbon dioxide scrubbing, particulate filtering, and basic chemical contaminant removal sufficient for standard industrial and biological contamination events. It is not rated for extreme chemical environments or biological weapon exposures. In a sealed compartment of roughly four by four meters, the processor maintains viable atmosphere for up to eight people with a standard cell; the 8 hours per cell estimate assumes that group and decreases with larger numbers. After a cell is exhausted it can be replaced with a standard replacement pack. Used by crews establishing temporary shelters, working in damaged compartments, or doing extended work in spaces with compromised atmospheric systems.

Radiation Shield Tent

A deployable shelter formed from multilayer radiation-absorbing and reflecting fabric, rated to reduce ionizing radiation exposure to safe levels for up to four occupants. The tent takes approximately ten minutes to set up properly and is not a permanent installation; it is a temporary shelter for situations where crew members must remain in a radiation environment for longer than their suits alone can protect them. Situations where this becomes relevant include debris field rescue operations, derelict ship boarding in ships with damaged drive cores, and certain planetside environments. The tent does not provide atmosphere; occupants still need suits or an atmosphere processor inside. The tent is rated for several hundred hours of continuous use before its shielding effectiveness begins to degrade.

Emergency Beacon

A FTL-capable distress transmitter that broadcasts on standard emergency frequencies across multiple communication bands including the deep-band frequencies monitored by all major powers' search and rescue infrastructure. Activating the beacon sends a signal that can be received and located by ships within approximately one jump of the signal source, depending on current traffic and monitoring density. Response time varies enormously by location: in well-traveled Directorate core space, a beacon activation typically draws a response within hours. In the deep fringe, the beacon may be the only thing a crew can do, and the response may be measured in weeks. Every ship is required to carry at least one emergency beacon by most major power regulations. Most experienced crews carry several: one for the ship, one per EVA suit, and a spare.

Survival Ration Pack

A 30-day supply of dense nutrient blocks, protein concentrates, and vitamin supplements calibrated for the metabolic requirements of all five species, with species-specific supplemental packs available separately. The rations have essentially no sensory appeal; they are designed for caloric density and shelf life, not palatability. Most crew members who have eaten survival rations for more than three days develop strong opinions about the experience, all of them negative. The rations are nonetheless on this list because the alternative in an emergency is starvation, and starvation is less comfortable than nutrition blocks that taste like seasoned cardboard. Compact enough to fit a 30-day supply per person in a single pack small enough for a bag. Legal, available everywhere, and purchased with varying degrees of reluctance by crews who know they need them.

Emergency Stasis Pod

A single-person suspension pod that places its occupant in medical stasis, slowing their metabolism to a fraction of normal and preserving their condition essentially unchanged for the pod's operational duration. The legitimate applications are two: extended transit for wounded crew members who need medical care that is not available on the ship, and personal survival in a situation where rescue is possible but the timeline is longer than survival without stasis would allow. Rare because the pods are expensive, bulky, and require someone with medical training to initiate and terminate stasis safely; an improperly initiated stasis can cause systemic complications on emergence, and a pod terminated incorrectly can cause organ trauma in the occupant. The "requires trained medic" note is not advisory. It is a statement about outcomes.

Faction Shipboard Items

The major powers produce specialized shipboard equipment that integrates with their proprietary technologies. These items are not simply high-quality versions of generic gear; they represent capabilities specific to each power's technology base, and they carry the legal, logistical, and political implications of their origins.

Funtari Grav-Cargo Platform

An anti-gravity cargo platform built on Funtari drive technology, capable of lifting and transporting freight loads up to Enc 20 without any mechanical effort from its operator. The platform uses a control wand that allows the operator to direct its movement with simple gestural inputs; the anti-grav system handles the load entirely. In zero-g the platform remains functional, using attitude thrusters to maintain position and controlled movement. The platform's anti-grav system is Funtari proprietary: maintenance and component replacement require Funtari-trained technicians or parts sourced from Funtari commercial channels. An independent crew operating in the fringe may find these difficult to service if anything goes wrong. In Funtari commercial space they are as common as industrial forklifts.

Irnan Transit Lock

A specialized container coupling system required for including cargo in an Irnan teleportation transit manifest. Standard freight containers cannot be teleported; the wormhole aperture's tolerances require the cargo to be in a format that the transit system can register and include in the aperture without fragmentation. The transit lock creates the geometric markers and position registration that the transit system needs to include the container in a transit event. Required for commercial shipping contracts with Irnan carriers, and for anyone attempting to use Irnan transit infrastructure for legitimate freight movement. The lock itself is not technologically complex; it is an interface certification device. Rare outside Irnan space because the demand for it only exists where Irnan transit infrastructure operates, which is to say: not on the fringe.

Shoiyan Memory Manifold

A recording and transmission system that logs all shipboard events, communications, and environmental data and uploads them continuously to the Shoiyan collective network. The Shoiyan install these in facilities they own and ships they operate as a matter of standard practice; the collective record of events is considered valuable independent of any individual event's importance. For non-Shoiyan crews, the manifold raises an obvious question that the Shoiyan find tedious to answer: who has access to the recordings? The Shoiyan network answer is that the recordings are part of the collective record and are available to Shoiyan network administrators for purposes consistent with collective management, which is technically accurate and explains exactly nothing about what that means in practice. Non-Shoiyan crew members aboard ships with memory manifolds installed typically develop a heightened awareness that their behavior is on record, which the Shoiyan consider appropriate and salutary.

Antaean Stealth Cargo Pod

A cargo container equipped with an Antaean cloaking system that renders the container and its contents undetectable to visual inspection and defeats most commercial and inspection-grade sensor scanning. The pod is not efficient as a freight container: its cloaking hardware takes up roughly a third of its volume. What it excels at is carrying things that do not exist on a cargo manifest without being found by standard checkpoint inspection. Restricted in all major power jurisdictions because the legitimate applications of a container specifically designed to hide its contents from inspection are extremely limited and the illegitimate ones are extensive. Illegal in Directorate space outright, where possession is treated as preparation to commit a serious customs offense regardless of what is inside the pod.

Species-Specific Shipboard Gear

Ships designed for mixed-species crews require accommodation for the physical realities of those species. Standard human-specification stations, bunks, and working spaces are uncomfortable for Dhoran crew (too small), thermally wrong for Ssarathi (too cold), and atmospheric-environment wrong for Ilyari (too variable). The items below address the most common species-specific shipboard comfort and performance requirements. All items below are installed rather than carried; installation requires a shipyard or equivalently equipped maintenance facility.

Dhoran Reinforced Station

A bridge or engine room operator station built to Dhoran physical specification: wider console clearances, reinforced mounting for equipment a Dhoran-scale operator will lean on, controls spaced for Dhoran hand width, and displays positioned at Dhoran eye height. Standard human-specification stations are not merely uncomfortable for Dhoran crew; the physical mismatch between Dhoran reach and standard control placement means that a Dhoran operating at a standard station has to work around the equipment constantly, adding fatigue and subtly degrading precision on extended operations. A properly fitted Dhoran station removes this friction: add 1 Boon Die to extended operations checks requiring sustained focus over multiple hours for Dhoran crew at properly fitted stations. A ship carrying Dhoran crew that does not have at least one Dhoran-fitted station is a ship where someone has decided the Dhoran crew member's comfort is not a priority, and Dhoran crew members notice.

Ssarathi Heated Bunk Module

A sleeping module equipped with variable temperature control calibrated for Ssarathi thermal requirements. Ssarathi are cold-blooded; ambient shipboard temperatures that other species find comfortable sit at the low end of the Ssarathi comfortable range and below it during active cooling cycles. Sustained time in cold environments costs Ssarathi performance and eventually becomes a health issue. The heated bunk module maintains a temperature-regulated microenvironment for sleeping Ssarathi, ensuring that rest period temperature does not degrade their operational capacity. A Ssarathi crew member sleeping in an unmodified standard bunk is technically resting but not effectively recovering. Some Ssarathi crew members supplement with heated suit liners during active ship duty; see Chapter 7 for personal environmental gear.

Ilyari Climate-Sealed Quarters

A full cabin environment module for Ilyari crew, creating a sealed micro-climate environment with precisely controlled temperature, humidity, light spectrum, and atmospheric chemistry. Ilyari physiology adapted over millennia to stable, controlled environments; the variable temperature swings, humidity shifts, and light conditions of a standard working ship are not dangerous to Ilyari but represent a constant low-level environmental stress that compounds over time. A climate-sealed quarter eliminates this stress during rest periods, preserving Ilyari operational performance on extended missions. The module seals against the ship's general atmosphere, maintaining its internal conditions regardless of what is happening to the ship's general environment. The installation is a not insignificant commitment: the module requires dedicated power, atmospheric management connections, and hull real estate. Ships that routinely crew Ilyari typically install these as a matter of course.

A Note on Shipboard Gear and Crew Culture

A ship's gear inventory is as much a document of its crew's history as anything else on record. The stasis pod that has been used twice and shows it. The cargo lifter exo-frame that a previous crew member modified with a third-party grip because the standard grip did not fit their hands. The boarding shields with identifier marks scratched into the edge indicating which boarding action each one was present for. The emergency beacons with test-date stickers in four different crew members' handwriting over eight years.

Experienced crews treat their shipboard gear the way they treat their weapons: with practical respect and regular maintenance, because gear that fails at the wrong moment is a casualty event. The items in this chapter are not exciting on a shelf. They become exciting in exactly the situations where excitement is the wrong emotional response.

Check the cells. Replace the ration packs before the expiry. Test the beacon. Know where the patch kit is.