Freighter Quest
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You recently turned 21 and given that you had no real experience, you got by on menial jobs, odd jobs, simple work. You were a test subject a few times and that was fun, and you part-timed to test some vidcons, but you've never been off of Earth in your life.
The reason you're thinking about this is the recent inheritance you got from your mother's brother or some such: The Argent Gull. Not a particularly majestic ship, not really fast, or strong, agile, but she holds a crew and she holds cargo.
You really did thinking about selling it, but it's all you have from your parents, and it's all you have that reminds you of your family, AND it's way more interesting than your part-time life.
If you're going to do... whatever it is you're supposed to do, you'll need a crew. You can look among your childhood friends, your college friends, your online friends, neighbors, the homeless, really anyone would do, they would almost have to know more than you about making a life on a cargo carrier. So whom do you go to?
Side notes: Your appearance will largely be up to suggestion, so get that in now before I draw "you" I guess. Also, when I get sparse I may only post once a day, so I'll try to make sure my art "quality" and amount of story don't fall short per post.
He should look like
We should go to our best friends
>>148254
Damn we sad
Get the college peeps
>>148298
So this is what I have for looks so far. A bit generic, but I don't think it's all that bad for average white male youth.
Sure, the college friends are real smart, they could be a big help, and it's not like they could get jobs either, even if they did get their degrees. You'll ring up Jil and Foss tomorrow, they probably aren't up as late as you are.
>>148346
Its perfect.. :DD
add some stubble and we great.
No respectable 4channer shaves
>>148346
Chat with internet friends to see if they wanna join
How much money we got?
Can we drive said ship?
>>148226
It's all nice to immediately start to recruit but first we have to have a business plan.
And get a bank loan.
>>148356
>>148369
I'm gonna go with being too baby-faced to grow facial hair yet, but I don't mind getting overruled on that.
>>148431
You have a respectable savings of $46,000 on your bank stock card, which is less than you think. This is the future times, so dollars are worth about 1/9-1/10 what they were ca. 2016.
And you got a pilot's license last year because you were offered a job for orbital deliveries, but you declined because you'd be out of the house too much.
Anyway, you hit up Jasmine, Horus, Picklo, and Sammen in the group chat and they seem super excited and happy for you. Jasmine and Sammen seem like they would at least like to go along for the ride, Picklo is uncertain, but you can convince him of anything, and Horus is just happy for you, not really interested in joining.
PS: you own a firearm, it will almost definitely be coming with you.
>>148454
I want stubble damnit
I rate we look for delivery jobs. and get the crew together for a party.
>>148518
Fine sure, not as bad as I thought it'd be. I refuse to give him any neck stubble, it's cruel.
>>148603
Downright handsome
>>148518
Also, you have to fly around the world a bit to find your Internet friends, but it passes the time and the world looks gorgeous from above.
As soon as you pick them up, you can party a bit, show them around the ship, but for now you can put on cruise control and dick around a bit.
>>148691
Thank you
>>148711
What's the market like? Easy to pick up cheap goods and sell them for a slight profit elsewhere?
>>148726
Depends on where you're selling. The farther from Earth you get, the more you can sell stuff for.
May as well brush up on how the mail route works since the last time you even cared was in high school.
Anyway you finally end up picking the 3 willing friends and they are all handling meeting each other different, but it's going relatively well. They all seem to find this very diverting and charming. They wonder if you have any plans, they seem almost eager.
You could probably contact your college friends at this point if you wanted.
>>148956
Let's pick up some mail and get delivering it.
>>148980
You know that "the Mail Route" is just the colloquial name for the route between these systems, but you suggest picking up and delivering physical mail anyway.
Everyone gets a good laugh, but you can push this if you want, it's a noble profession.
>>149034
Lets try get a delivery contract and maybe a mercenary contract after getting money to buy weapons
>>149034
fuck it we are the united space postal service.
>>149034
Actually deliver some mail.
We Futurama now.
>>149034
Fuckit, yes. It's mail or pizza delivery, desu. And we can't cook pizza.
>>149034
We can tack on cheap delivery of cosplay goods and snack foods. For people on the way of dropping mail off.
![flag_of_the_space_pirates_by_laz0rbear-d6vtt0i[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/MbBEsLh.jpg "flag_of_the_space_pirates_by_laz0rbear-d6vtt0i[1].jpg")
>>149034
How sure are we that we picked up the right dude at Picklo's house? I only ask because that guy looks like Krillin from DBZ.
Anyway, plans.
>Check the ship's navigational data, the Captain's Log, or look under the biggest bed in the cabins for an actual, physically hand written journal (I know, right?). Uncle so-and so must have been doing something with this heap. Maybe it was a productive something we can also pick up.
>To FutureCraigsList! If some dweeb from the 21st century can use that site to trade up from a cell phone to a phorche (eventually) someone, somewhere must want to ship something somewhere else in a hurry. Or maybe Seller from Sol has a thing Buyer from Posc wants really, really badly.
>Check the Future Cops website for a bounty board / missing persons info. Maybe while we're slumming it in space we can find a missing space princess and save her for a cool million space bucks.
>Also check for notices of Pirate activiy. Because if a nerd has taught us anything about space, it's that there will always be Space Pirates.
>If there are no Space Pirates, then shit son, we know what we're doing.
Capcha states: Private Fourth. I think we better promote one of our buds to First Mate.
>>150028
Sounds good except for taking up space pirating. We're kinda in a crappy freighter with a bunch of future-neets
>>150041
this
I still think we should do space mail.
>>150028
Image is for you
>>149712
>>149740
>>149775
>>149993
>>150028
>>150041
>>150884
The more you talk about delivering mail and selling goods, the more your friends seem on board. Maybe they're not hard to motivate, maybe they have a lot of potential, maybe they have a lot of their own skills that will help out. No matter what you're glad they're so receptive, you figured they'd be a bit more skeptical.
Seems like NEETs are uniting here, and it's going well so far. If you wanted to start your own legitimate mail delivery and general store business, there are plenty of ways to licenses and advice and such. Or you could just stay indie. Either way, you can't wait to start flying again, although it seems Sammen might be better at it than you.
>>153259
find contracts
>>153259
Let's pick up some perfectly respectable cargo, like some mail or observatory equipment or furniture or something.
Check a large mail office to see if they need anything transported quickly.
>>153259
How fast is our ship? Both warpspeed and physical speed. And is our ship manoverable, thrust effective, ect? I know we're just riding a civilian ship, but some specific info about the ship could be nice. Maybe future internet could help you out?
How is future weapons like? Because we could use things like faster engines(normal/warp) shields, point defence, ect just in case we get in trouble.
>>153516
We should post an advert online for light cargo hauling, too.
>>155416
This
>>153512
>>153516
>>153574
>>154202
>>155416
So you look on Spacelist for some cheap goods, and find some over-the-counter medicines which people will really need on Senera, they seem to have weaker immune systems for some reason. Point is they need it and they'll pay well. You only had to pay $3,500 for this, and could easily make thrice that.
You can hold more than that though, so you also sign on as a contractor with Mailer Damon Inc to deliver parcels to the backwoods settlements of Chor. They give you a receipt to redeem with their Chor office once you're done.
So you aren't that fast in general, but you are fast for the size of your ship. Your three engine setup is better than the traditional one-big-engine setup. Also, through the wormholes all ships move at relatively the same speed.
For weapons, lazers are the mode du jour, with missiles and bombs still being relatively conventional. Shielding against lazers isstill rudimentary in that it is effective, but the apparatus is too large for anything but cities and cityships. The one above the quarters on the Argent Gull is enough to pick through smaller ships, and you seem to have found a point-defense program that the turret can use on its own.
Lastly, you make a website and set up some adds so you might have work when you get back. That cost you $1,250, so you're at $41,250.
>>155951
Let's buy those medicines and transport them. Buy first look up the name of the drugs on the internet and have a look at what that sort of drug looks like. Hopefully, we can mitigate the (small) chance of accidentally transporting illegal narcotics.
>>156044
You find that no, nothing you're transporting is illegal, but the guy that sold them to you may have got them by illegal means, seeing as it cost so little.
>>156070
That's nothing to do with us. As long as they're genuine and legal meds, we'll transport them.
>>155951
Alright, let's do it. Choo choo to the Posc system!
Are there other colonized planets in the Sol system? How about Ganser or Posc systems? Are the listed planets the only colonies, or just the major ones?
>>156213
Agreed. Let's hit up Serena and sell those meds off first, because other people will probably be trying to exploit the market like us.
Then we'll go to Posc.
>>156350
Mars is still in the process of terraforming, but has a sizable colony and research station. Titan and Europa are in about the same spot, but both are farther behind. Every planet has at least one habitable space station above it, enough room for up to dozens of thousands each, and they all have ideas for expansion.
Senera is the satellite of Halloron, a gas giant. Senera itself came pre-terraformed, but it seems like something about the satellite makes it easier for people to get common sicknesses. Senera and Halloron are the only things orbiting
Ganser beside an asteroid belt or two.
Chor is the smallest planet in the Posc system, all the others are larger, 4 gas giants - one with a solid form inside - and an asteroid belt between all of them. Posc is also a binary star system.
Neither the Posc nor Ganser systems have the space stations the Solar system has. Only one in each to help regulate traffic and house people that prefer station life.
Anyway, you head to the Ganser system.
>>156492
While we're cruising, chat with the crew. See what they'd like to get up to in the long term.
>friendly peer bonding time
>>156547
Let's get those S-links going fellas
>>156547
I was just going to ask what you do while you fly to Senera since the it isn't close to the hole this time of year.
So you have Jasmine, Sammen, and Picklo. Jasmine is more excited than you thought she'd be, she's usually very ironic and bitter online, but who isn't? Sammen loves flying the frieghter, and is happy to be around you guys. Seems like it's helping him get over something. Picklo is wandering around the ship, looking at stuff, trying to figure out how he works. He was into mechanics a lot but this seems like a different scale for he, and he's curious about it.
You are all happy to be together, and there's no shortage of handheld gaming.
Anything you want to know or say specifically?
>>156618
Oh shit I entirely forgot the shade layer. Whatever it's fine
>>156618
Let's go look at mechanic things with Picklo
>>156655
Picklo seems to be learning quite a bit, and seeing as you're on the inside, it's mostly computer bits and wires, the mechanics are mostly on the outside. He has yet to check on the engines, but for the most part he's taken a great look at the ship and could fix mechanical, physical problems, but he won't be much help beyond the wiring for computer problems.
She's wired well, taken care of, and doesn't seem like she'll push back against you any time soon.
>>156853
Jasmine is the next person you'll talk to, give me some minutes.
>>156864
Take all the time you need, OP. Loving this quest so far.
>>156853
>>156864
Jasmine figures she could be of some help in a pinch, maybe out of one too, but she's really just unwinding while you guys have nothing to do, relaxing. You aren't necessarily lacking in personality, but meeting all of your online friends seems to be getting to you at this point. You're the slightest bit awkward, but Jas was always good with filling for time.
For crew reasons, you figure she'll be good with the computers on-board, and can work the turret fairly well; she almost always kicked your ass at shooters.
She mentions that the bed's are plenty comfy so she hasn't lacked for relaxation, and everyone brought a lot of stuff with them since you told them you'd be flying interstellar, so everyone is pretty happy. You're all NEETs so it's not like any of you are missing much back home. In fact, you might be missing the most.
>>157019
Well, let's not forget to check in on how Sammen is doing.
We should play some combat sims with Jasmine. Y'know, just in case.
>>157228
You make plans with Jasmine to play some combat sims the next time you both have free time.
Sammen likes getting to learn the feel of the ship, plus this is mostly autopilot right now, there are no dangers in this system really, and it's quite a way across the system.
He seems so happy to be out here, he's super thankful and just glad to be around. He almost hasn't stopped gawking since you let him be the pilot.He hasn't really gotten a chance to show off any skills he may or may not have because your run has been fairly boring so far, but he showed that he could easily do a flip, which is nice, you guess. He also seems to be showering and eating better than you remember him to on Earth.
In the little bit of time before arriving in orbit around Senera, you go for a shooting competition with Jasmine. She is obviously beating you. Her cannon has only been hit 3 times, yours 8. She has 14 kills, you have 11, but hey, you have more assists than her. It's all in good fun, because you're both getting better at it as it goes along.
No one has responded yet, but for now I'll just continue on my own.
You and the gang park the ship in a free lot and lock it all tight, so you can look around Senera City (creative, I know). It's nice enough. You're downtown right now, but there are still parks and trees around. You hear this place is really lively, lots of musicians here, some traditional artists, it's really nice like that.
Anyway, you should see about finding buyers for the medicines you have, local small business pharmacies would be a good idea. There are always criminal elements too, but the choice is yours, and quite variable.
>>157905
I suggest we avoid the illegal stuff. We should check around the local pharmacies for what they'd be willing to pay for our stuff, to find the best deal.
>>157905
Let's hit up the pharmacies. I dunno how the crew would feel about running in with the law.
>>158031
This
Agreeing to check out the pharmacies.
>>158031
>>158070
>>159101
>>159156
So you guys try to look for a small-time but good-looking pharmacy and find one within a couple of hours, eating some kebabs along the way.
You and Jasmine go in, you'll probably be the best with negotiations for now, and you happened to luck out, you find someone with a bunch of money just looking for supplies. The store is actually kinda sparse, at least for a convenience store/pharmacy set up, so it might just be a new store needing inventory. Either way, you haggle enough to get thrice what you paid for the goods, which is actually just what you expected. The owner of the store tells you to come back around 6 PM when the "CFO" will get there - you figure it's just a friend that's good with money.
So you have some time to kill on Senera, the sickly, beautiful moon. Roughly 4 hours. Any ideas?
>>160016
What are the local space-future tourist traps?
>>160016
Go to a cafe.
>>160137
Yes, hit up a cafe with the gang and talk about things.
Like... where to kill 3 hours.
>>160137
>>160416
You guys sit and chat and drink some energy juice at one of the less busy cafes nearby. You figure you could go to a local museum, go to a park, there's probably a tiny concert or two going on at this time of day. Luckily it's the perfect time of year for Senera in that it syncs up perfectly to Earth's, probably won't this time next Senera year, but point is that it's late spring/early summer on both Earth and Senera. It's nice out, even for you and your friends, who aren't usually out.
You could always go to some dentists and get a check up, I guess, but everyone looks at Picklo weird for suggesting it.
If you really wanted to spend money you could just go shopping for random junk.
>>160649
A concert might be cool.
I wonder what music is popular in the future-th century.
>>160649
I ain't looking at picklo wierd; my teeth need cleaning. TO THE DENTIST!
>>160649
Any gun stores? Lets go there..
we need weapons
Also lets flirt with Jasmine :D
subtle flirting not autism
>>160649
Let's buy and eat some sandwiches then look for a public bathhouse.
>>163329
Nothing to apologise for.
>>163329
Doing good mang, be proud of your creativity and drawfaggotry.
>>163329
I'm also going to affirm your goodness and my enjoyment.
>>163329
good job op
>>163329
I think we're in autosage, so you should make a new thread. Don't forget to link it here.