Well, the datapads are pretty much just a more concise written version of Kotori's spoken briefing, with tables, more technical terms, bullet list and more details that - frankly - I'm too lazy to add; especially if it'll just be glossed over.
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Kai can easily spend most of his time helping the technicians outfit the power armors for the mission, use a Daisy to help carry torpedoes and other cargo around (and change the torpedo loadout of the rollbar launcher - that requires EVA activity).
That goes for most of the other armor pilots too.
Bear in mind, I expect most player characters leaving Miharu to be in power armor instead of operating a shuttle or a fightercraft. I was leaving the latter for sprites, so that no players would have to miss out on the Eveian supply base. Most PCs will probably in Daisy armors
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For the Daisy C, well, it's a variant of the Daisy B, who's in turn a variant of the Daisy A. It shouldn't require building new suits so much as tinkering over one to change a power supply, weapon loadout and program in preferred setting for trans-atmospheric combat.
So, mechanics tinkering on a Daisy for an hour or so with the proper tools can probably change its variant. Pilots are assumed to be able to tinker on their machines, but it might take a little longer for them due to the lack of familiarity and expertise (2-3 hours). Ideally, teaming a technician with a pilot is the best way to go about it, since it's faster and allows the pilot to pick up a few pointers to learn power armor mechanics overtime (the more you do it, the better you get at it, after all).
Well, I assume so because the Daisy was made in the same 'power armor generation' the Mindy II was made. Even if it doesn't share the Mindy II's modularity, it must be plug-and-play to a degree... likely requiring the swapping of existing components for quickly synthesized, smaller pieces.
Personally, I thought having the two Daisy Cs serving as commander units ought to have been fine. If Nyton wants more, well, I suppose that can be arranged.
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Readying the shuttles is probably a simpler deal than it sounds. Again, get power armored technicians and the proper synthesized materials and swapping the guns of the Cougar's for T4 Fox-style weaponry ought to be relatively simple. A few adjustments here and there afterwards and the job is pretty much done.
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ST backups is a matter of course and doesn't really need to be taken into account, except that most characters took them before entering Bowhordia (except Kotori and perhaps Sora).
Sprite-making is fairly straightforward. With the addition of Kyoki's sprite character, Rin, the ship has 27 crewmembers our of the standard maximum for the ship - 34. So, things can be as simple as just making up japanese names in the vein of the other already existing sprites. Unless the people playing the medical personnel/Yukari feel like it... you people don't really have to detail the new sprites left. There's a chance they'll end up dead in the mission, which would make detailing them sad if they just end up dead. *shrugs*
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Nyton was supposed to teach Miyoko how to handle the tactical console in the monitor room of Miharu's main hull. If he takes long enough with her, Miyoko should be up to the task (Nyton operated the tactical console with even less training on Miharu's first battle - she'll actually be better off than Nyton).
I also recall hearing from Doshii that Kel would have liked giving Miyoko the chance to shine a bit in an analyst/tactical fashion. It's one of the big reasons why she ends up rounding up her starship operator experience. =P
By the way, anyone heard of Kel lately? Feels like its been awhile and it'd be a shame for him to miss out on something he might have wanted.
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One thing that I had at the back of my mind was Kotori grabbing Yukari, Nyton, Miyoko (perhaps Kôsuka too) and giving the mysterious "hemosynthetic container" in their ship's cargo bay a look. That could be JP material if we can make it happen.
That's all which crops up to my mind right now. If there's anything you guys want to cover during the downtime, we can OoCly discuss it here and resolve it if that's the preference to avoid dragging things out. just let me know.