Space Quest
You are currently reading a thread in /qst/ - Quests
You've finally saved up enough money from your menial desk job to put the down payment on your very own spaceship.
Unfortunately, war breaks out on your homeworld and public sale of spacecraft is temporarily banned. But...you've waited too long and worked too hard to die on some hill for a cause you don't believe in. You take your money to a black market dealer, the interest is higher, the ship is shittier, and the seller very very likely to hurt (kill) you if you don't make payments on time, but the down payment is lower.
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 10C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -2904C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
(Pic related, your ship)
Price of the other modules provided upon request
What do you do?
>>148815
Check how much fuel we have.
>>148833
Your ship is fully fueled. Your tank has enough capacity for 10 jumps. Your ship AI is Turing Class II, upper bound for jump calculations are 3 days.
Try to see if anyone in the black market wants something delivered
>>148947
What are our most appealing destinations?
>>148959
Large cargo cannot be transported as you don't have a cargo bay. Black market deals have inherent risk if you get caught by the authorities (obviously) but generally higher payoff. Unfortunately, small cargo jobs are given to trusted members of the black market, as small cargo tends to be more valuable.
You may roll 1d20, however, if you still wish to try for a black market job (be warned, rolling <6 will result in a critical fail)
>>148968
Pic related are the nearby star systems. Systems with actual names (e.g Betelgeuse, Rigel, etc) are part of the Interplanetary Free Trade Agreement (IFTA) and have tighter protection (and therefore a higher level of cargo monitoring). Pirates and the like seldom venture in to IFTA territory, but then, profits margins are thinner too.
Unlabeled systems (which are still connect by segments) are "loose systems", they are not part of the IFTA and as such do not enjoy the benefits of protected trade lanes. However, profit margins are significant higher, along with risk.
Finally, unconnected systems (those not connected by segments) are "free systems", systems which have had radio silence for more than 2 years. Jump calculations take significantly longer to get to these systems, and you never know what you might find there...
Each segment between nodes represents 1 unit of computational load for jump calculations, e.g a jump to a system 3 segments away takes 3 times as long to calculate (upper bound 9 days with Turing Class II).
Details on any of the systems provided on request.
>>149064
Whoops forgot the image
Rolled 10 (1d20)
Rolling for black market job
>>149957
>~$ Query system -f 22
>System 22-Orionis
>Last known radio contact: 2.2Y ago
>This system has no known habitable planets
>This system has no known terraforming efforts
>This system is not owned by any entity
>Details (view? Y/N)
>~$ Y
>2990: Significant amounts of raw aluminum and iridium detected
>2999: Nexus Mining Co. establishes a mining outpost to harvest asteroids
>3000: Formal trade lane petition filed; Denied, estimated profit margins too low
>3001: Breakout of Miner's Lung Disease (MLD), temporary suspension of operations
>3003: Pockets of Uranium and Lithium discovered
>3005: Hallek Corp. competes with Nexus over mining rights
>3006: Gas explosion in a Nexus facility, Nexus relinquishes mining rights to Hallek
>3008: Formal trade lane petition filed; Denied, danger classification: Severe
>3012: Pirate raids on mining vessels, temporary suspension of operations
>3014: New management in Hallek, cuts off funding to Orionis-22 mining colony
>3016-Present: Radio silence
>>149964
Scouring the darknet for several days, you find the following (suitable) jobs:
>TRANSPORT NEEDED: I need help transporting my collection of exotic fish to Betelgeuse. 3kC up front, 8kC additional if you can get me there in under a week
>LOOKING FOR PASSAGE: I need passage to
Bellatrix. Must be discreet. 30kC, payment upon arrival.
>LOOKING FOR TRANSPORT TO CARRY MEDS TO DELTA-ORIONIS. PAYMENT NEGOTIABLE
>>150065
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 10C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -2904C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
>>150073
Recruit?
>>150091
(I'm not sure what you mean by this post)
>>150065
Investigate
>LOOKING FOR TRANSPORT TO CARRY MEDS TO DELTA-ORIONIS. PAYMENT NEGOTIABLE
>>150099
Get more more people to go with us
>>150116
You send the poster a message, he replies:
>Cargo will be at Sightik Spaceport until 0600 tomorrow
>UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CAN THE CARGO OR THE VESSEL BE PICKED UP BY PATROL
>Upfront payment: 6kC, final payment determined at arrival
You also know that, because of the war, medical supplies have been forbidden as exports from the planet.
>>150121
Your ship's living quarters can hold 6 people (including yourself). Recruits must be payed monthly. Do you want to see the current classifieds? (Y/N)
>>150157
Check over the ship for any obvious problems.
>>150157
Yes, let see
Rolled 8 (1d10)
>>150157
If roll is above 7, we hire the first attractive female we see.
>>150274
WINRAR
>>150192
Your ship is a 3016 SpaceR "Camel". It is actually a fairly recent model (only ~2 years old) but all the extraneous modules have been stripped. It seems to be in working condition, although the engine could probably use a tune-up (decreases fuel consumption).
It has a Turing Class II AI, which is above average for its model.
>>150219
>>150274
>~$ Query 'Classifieds'
>34.3M results (prune? Y/N)
>~$ Y
>Pruning...please wait...
>13 Matches found, displaying in order of probabilistic preference...
>Sarah Tanner, Age 24, Engineer
>Kormick O'Toole, Age 45, Weapons Specialist
>A18RJ "Jay", Age 1,General Service Droid
>Jimmy Rownes, Age 33, Pilot
>Jone Tersand, Age 11, Engineer/Doctor/Researcher
>Licia Mooray, Age 19, Doctor
>...7 more matches (view? Y/N), please select a name to view more information
>>150491
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 10C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -2904C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
>>150491
>Licia Mooray, Age 19, Doctor
>Sarah Tanner, Age 24, Engineer
>Jimmy Rownes, Age 33, Pilot
See these
>>150491
View the other 7 matches.
If we're gonna pick up a crewmember, we should probably do the engineer, because apparently our engines could be tuned slightly.
Plus the engineer is female.
Also, do we want to jump right into black market contracts? How about we check for legally-posted transport jobs?
>>150546
The advert to transport exotic fish was probably legal.
>>150556
Hey, we did find it on the darknet. Who knows what laws might apply to exotic fish.
>>150503
>~$ Select 'Licia Mooray', Sarah Tanner', 'Jimmy Rownes'
>Licia Mooray
>Graduated Ceani Medical Institute 3015, Top 20% of class
>Resident at Ceani National Hospital from 3015 -17
>Trauma Surgeon Specialist, minor specialty in genetic disorders
>Speaks three languages
>Plays the Synth-Flute
>Monthly payment foregoes in place of joint-stock on all ship enterprises (min. 8%)
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Sarah Tanner
>No formal accreditation
>Built the winning speeder for the 3016 SpaceR Racer
>Worked as ship mechanic for Lugs'n'Bolts since 3000
>Payment negotiable
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Jimmy Rownes
>Graduate of Ceani Military Aviation Institute, top 0.01% of graduating class
>Light Assault Fighter (LAF) pilot, 3000-3016
>32 Confirmed kills
>Honorably Discharged on 3016, on account of flight accident, lost left arm
>Min. requested payment: 2.5kC/mo, 10kC signing fee
>>150531
>Loading...
>Jacquel Milley, Age 65, Diplomat
>Amin Jonels, Age 23, Bounty Hunter
>Joel Price, Age 12, Pilot
>Parker Windsor, Age 3, Combat Droid
>Lou Way-Lu, Age 45, Gunner
>Cha She-Mo, Age 22, Merchant
>Jacy York, Age 457, Seer
>>150556
The pictures of the fish indicate invasive species, meaning their transport is most certainly illegal.
>>150576
Hire the first two
>>150582
>>150589
You send them a message, they respond:
>FROM: Licia
>Sounds good. I want 10% of all business we make on any venture in place of a monthly paycheck.
>FROM: Sarah Tanner
>Your ship isn't much too look at, but alright at this point, I'll take anything. Fixer-uppers are cute too :). I'll need 3kC signing (have some debts to pay before I leave), and 1.5kC/mo Let me know where to meet you.
>>150610
>~$ Select 'Jone Tersand'
>Jone Tersand
>Graduated the prestigious Melni Research University, Magna Cum Laude, age 6
>Did theoretical research on the physics of n-dimensional gravity warping
>13 Publications as first author, 237 publications as collaborator
>3013, graduated from Ceani Medical College (honorary degree from test-out practical exam)
>Specialty: Genetic Engineering and Horticulture
>3014-Present, working with SpaceR as a consulting supervisor (classified research)
>I'd like to spend some time traveling and seeing the stars while I'm still young
>300kC starting or 50/50 split on all enterprises
Boys, I suggest this.
We hire on the first two females and pay them, and see if we can negotiate with Jimmy. We'll find some illegal drugs and knock the girls out so the guy can have his way with them in lieu of payment.
>>150666
Aaaand, it looks like I'll have to institute a roll for every action.
Everyone please roll 1d20, highest roll will be chosen
>>150666
Good idea Satan
Rolled 3661 (1d10020)
>>150678
But can't you accept my satanic trips, sir?
Rolled 1 (1d20)
>>150666
Rolled 18 (1d20)
>>150684
Oh fuck. My bad.
>>150684
I'll let you roll 3 times for your trips, I'll take the highest of the three
>>150666
That's all fine and dandy, satan, until the girls wake up and we go to jail.
fuck's sake yo.
>>150698
In space no one can hear you screamrape
Rolled 1 (1d20)
>>150698
I̗̯̩̠̩͇̪t͕̩̤̤̳̟̜'̝̫͖̦s͕̤̘͉͙̼ ̀s̻̠͚̦͞ͅim͜pl͔̫̘͙ḛ̴.̴̤ ͉̜̟M̭͕̠̺͘e̻͘m̗̪̯̘͟o͎͙̰̮͎͟r͏̝̩̮̫̦ͅy̠̠̺̩̤̻ ͏̻͓w̶̩̺̫̞̠̘i̺p̠̜̭̼i̪̦̰̦̠̯̮n͈̠̼̖͞g̜̘̯̦͈̲ ̷̗̣d̗̰͖r̨̰̯͓̼͖u͚̙̦̮̯g̠̠͎͕͞s̻̫̜͚̜̪̤.̕
...We're not actually going to do this, are we?
It'd be such a waste of a good quest.
Rolled 6 (1d20)
>>150715
>>150718
Right? I'd appreciate less lolsorandom shit.
>>150689
>>150666
You message Jimmy with this offer.
>FROM: Jimmy
>Are you fucking kidding me man? I'm a retired government officer you fucking idiot. I've already notified the authorities, I hope you enjoy prison rape you sick fuck.
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 10C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -2904C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
What do you do?
>>150718
Not really, it was a jokeright?
>>150727
TELL YOU WERE DRUNK
>>150727
We were drunk.
Rolled 15 (1d20)
>>150727
This is simple, my friends. We turn to the dark side of the law. Contact someone who works in the black market and ask if they need someone they need to be rid of.
Rolled 4 (1d20)
>>150747
No, no we don't do that.
>>150727
"...that was just a test of whether you were a morally upright person."
Rolled 16 (1d20)
>>150747
NO
>>150773
Curses. Who let you out of the dungeon, Reek?
>>150771
Roll please
>>150771
I still think the drunk cry is more plausable. This dude seems pretty sick of our shit.
also, do we really need to roll for this? I feel like we can come to a decision we're all happy with.
>>150737
Alright, boys. We tell him this.
We were threatened with our lives by the local black market dealers. They wanted us to try to whore them out to him. We give him our location once we return to the dealers and have the law do the rest.
Rolled 16 (1d20)
>>150803
Also, roll for success.
>>150803
You don't know the location of any black market dealer, you're only a working class peon.
>>150737
>>150746
>>150795
You reply back to Jimmy, telling him you were drunk. He messages you the next morning:
>FROM: Jimmy
>I don't know what to tell you man, you fucked up. Well, the cops'll probably just search your place, I'll tell my buddy to lay off. Next time, don't get so drunk.
The cops do in fact search your house, thankfully finding nothing of note. However you are detained 1 week for paperwork processing related to the search. You have 3 weeks remaining till your first interest payment is due.
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 10C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -2904C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
What do you do?
>>150833
Hire Licia and Sarah.
>>150843
+1
>>150843
Gah, fine. Still not 100% on the doctor, but she doesn't have a signing fee.
We should get serious about a job. 3k for the engineer, and then an upcoming 2.4k for our loan.
Check local job postings that our ship can fulfill (on the clearnet).
>>150843
>>150868
You message Licia and Sarah. They confirm the hire, you sign the necessary paperwork. You pay Sarah 3kC upfront.
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 6.60C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5407C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-8kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
>>150869
~$ Query 'open jobs'
>6.4M results (prune? Y/N)
~$ Y
>Pruning...please wait...
>5 matches found, displaying in order of probabilistic preference...
>MCC HIRING NOW! Haul freight for the prestigious Massive Cargo Company! Steady Pay! Paid vacations! Commissions! *Ships with Cargo Bays only
>Looking for passage to Orionis-Chi-1 (8 nodes away), payment on arrival
>Need someone to bring back biological samples from Planet Orionis-Eta-A. 20kC/sample (+10kC if samples are living)
>Looking for a ship escort to Orionis-Delta *Ships with turrets only
>Need someone to tow wreckage at Orionis-Kappa to Orinonis-Rigel. 3.5kC upon completion
You may also engage in commodities trading (though you will need a cargo bay for bulk cargo)
..or we could just do a black market job. Like the shipment to Bellatrix that pays 30k. Do we ask the crew about how they feel on doing a job taken from the black market?
>>151053
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 6.60C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5407C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-8kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
>>151053
Well, I'm gonna go ahead and inquire about the biological samples job. Licia knows some sciencey stuff, maybe she can make herself useful.
Message the poster of the job about what kind of samples, where to find them, and if they need some special sort of containment.
>>151053
>Need someone to bring back biological samples from Planet Orionis-Eta-A. 20kC/sample (+10kC if samples are living)
>>151104
You message the poster, he replies:
>FROM: Chu's Lab
>I need biological tissue samples of any organism you might happen to find on the surface. Obviously basic refrigeration will be necessary to preserve the samples. I also need some dirt and water samples.
>If you can get me a living organism, an additional 10kC will be awarded per unique organism/sex
>P.S I'd wear HazMat suits as well; there's reason to believe the planet was under a biochemical attack before the radio silence
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 6.60C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5407C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-8kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88kC
>>151057
Sarah isn't bothered by it at all, but Licia wants +5% (15%) of all illegal ventures as a compensation for the risk.
>>152346
We can do that
>>152384
Licia is on board.
(I'm going to start using prompts to speed things up)
You:
>Follow up on one of the black market jobs
>Take the bio-sample job
>Try some private commodities trading
>Other
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 6.60C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5407C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-8kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -91kC
>>152433
>Follow up on one of the black market jobs (transporting the collection of exotic fish)
>>152433
>Take the bio-sample job
Rolled 14 (1d20)
>>153582
>>153591
>>153289
We'll go with this then.You meet up with the client at the designated space port. He will not be coming with you. The cargo is a medium size fish tank containing several invasive species of fish (pic-related)
3kC are transferred to your PlanetVault Savings Acct. (-15% for Licia). You will receive another 3kC upon arrival with intact cargo. If you get there within a week you'll receive 8kC
You:
>Set course for Betelgeuse
>Look for some more jobs
>Buy some modules for your ship
>Have Sarah perform a tune-up on the engine
>Other (write-in)
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 8.8C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5407C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-10.55kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -88.45kC
Rolled 3 (1d20)
>>154275
>Have Sarah perform a tune-up on the engine
Then
>Set course for Betelgeuse
>>154624
Sarah tells you the tune up will cost 700C as certain parts need to be replaced. You pay. The fuel efficiency of your engine increases. You can now do 12 jumps (up from 10) with a full tank.
You set course for Betelgeuse. The AI calculates an ETA of 9 days for jump calculations due to heavy traffic on the trade lanes.
You set off for Orionis-Kappa. The trip goes well. You are now on Orionis-Betelgeuse-C-1, a moon orbiting Orionis-Betelgeuse-C, a gas giant.
You send out a pick up request for the fish. It is picked up without a hitch. 3kC are deposited into your account (-15% for Licia). "This is pretty easy!" You think. You could get used to this lifestyle.
You:
>Inquire about some legit jobs
>Inquire about some black market jobs
>Get some info about the moon you're on
>Get some quotes on the commodities market
>Get some quotes on the stock market
>Other
>Ship
You have enough fuel for 9 more jumps
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
-Interest from Savings: 1%/yr, 10.9C
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5407C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-13.1kC in PlanetVault Savings Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -85.9kC
There are 12 days till the end of the month.
>>154821
>Inquire about some legit
>Get some quotes on the commodities market
>>154927
Seconding this.
>>154927
Thirding
>>154927
>>155191
>>155401
~$ Query 'open jobs'
>6.5M results, pruning...please wait...
>Displaying 3 matches in order of probabilistic preference...
>MCC HIRING NOW! Haul freight for the prestigious Massive Cargo Company! Steady Pay! Paid vacations! Commissions! *Ships with Cargo Bays only
>Looking for passage to Orionis-Delta (3 nodes away), payment on arrival
>REQUESTING TRANSPORT TO ORIONIS-CHI-1, 5kC upon delivery.
>3M results excluded: MISSING SHIP MODULES
~$ Query 'Commodities Market'
>300.5M results (prune? Y/N)
~$ Y
>Pruning...please wait...
>Please select an option:
>a) Commodities derivatives market (Futures, Options, and Spots)
>b) Soft Commodities (agricultural products, raw foodstuffs)
>c) Hard Commodities (Ores, Oil, etc)
>>155547
We've got space to take on both those transport jobs, right?
>>155547
>Looking for passage to Orionis-Delta (3 nodes away), payment on arrival
>refil the shipalso we need a jacuzzi
>>155566
Checked. And yes, you do. You can house 3 additional people in the living quarters module of your ship.
>>155576
Fuel costs 300C/unit here (very cheap). It will cost you 900C to refuel.
>MESSAGE FROM PlanetVault Savings:
>Dear valued customer,
>We noticed that you have withdrawn money from your savings account more than the number of times allowed for this month. As you know, PlanetVault savings accounts have a limit to the number of withdrawals in any given monthly period. As a courtesy we have transferred your funds to a PlanetVault checking account. If you wish to keep funds in a savings account please ensure that you remain within our terms and agreements.
>Thank you and have a nice day!
You message the clients. They are on-board. The one going to ORIONIS-CHI-1, Melisa Van Graff, is a business-woman and she tells you she needs to get to her destination within 1 week (7 days) or she loses one of her clients. She will not pay if this happens. Orionis-Chi-1 is 4 nodes away.
The other has no preference, He agrees to pay you 1kC upfront (-15% for Licia).
You:
>Take on both clients
>Take on one client (which one?)
>Refuse both clients and do something else
>Ship
You have enough fuel for 12 more jumps
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5415C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12.2kC in PlanetVault Checking Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -86.8kC
There are 12 days till the end of the month.
>>155697
Please roll 1d20 to see how long the jump calculations take
Rolled 1 (1d20)
>>155697
>Take on both clients
>>155714
>1
I bet the ship doesn't even take off.
Rolled 7 (1d20)
>>155697
>Take Melisa first
Is it possible to buy expansions for the ship like a cargo bay?
>>155724
Yes, ships have "modules" which can added and removed. Your ship originally had several other modules (1 Large Cargo Bay, 1 Small Cargo Bay, and a Passenger Quarters module) , but they were stripped down when it was sold to you. Check the OP pic for some of the modules. I'll provide prices on request. You can also upgrade existing modules (e.g your ship AI)
>>155724
>Rolled 7 (1d20)
Unfortunately the AI takes 7.8 days to make the jump. Melisa misses her meeting, loses her client and consequently refuses to pay you. You spend 4 units of fuel.
You currently on Orionis-Chi-1-a, a commercial space station.
>Ship
You have enough fuel for 8 more jumps
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5415C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12.2kC in PlanetVault Checking Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -86.8kC
There are 4 days till the end of the month.
You:
>>155791
Buy a cargo bay
>>155791
See if anyone wants cheap local ferrying or mail transportation from this space station.
Wait... we didn't pick up the other guy? The one who had NO requirement to his arrival and negotiable payment?
nice work guys.
Yeah, this: >>156034
I don't think we need a cargo bay yet.
>>155823
~$ Query 'Cargo bay price'
>Current average prices for a cargo bay in your area:
>Small: 7k
>Medium: 12k
>Large: 20k
>XLarge: 50k
>Tanker: 100k
>>156034
>>156376
~$ Query 'ferry jobs'
>Welcome to SpaceR Taxi Service!
>Using our innovative AI algorithm we connect you with clients that need transport around the system. All it costs you is a flat 20C/mo for this service, do you wish to sign up for an account?
~$ Query 'profit margins'
>Calculating average profit margins for ferry jobs...
>120C/day, 1000C/week, 30kC/year
>*Note average are calculated based on past 10 years data and maybe prone to fluctuation
>Rolled 7 (1d20)
Unfortunately the AI takes 7.8 days to make the jump. Melisa misses her meeting, loses her client and consequently refuses to pay you. You spend 4 units of fuel.
You currently on Orionis-Chi-1-a, a commercial space station.
>Ship
You have enough fuel for 8 more jumps
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5415C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-12.2kC in PlanetVault Checking Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.2MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -86.8kC
There are 4 days till the end of the month.
You:
>>158208
Let's do some ferry jobs and whilst we transport our clients, ask them if they know about any transport jobs. Give each of the passengers a one-use-only 10% discount password after we ferry them to encourage repeat business.
Transporting equipment or mail, for instance.
>>158757
But by password, I mean a set of ever-changing passwords where once a password is used, it becomes invalid.
>>158757
>>158764
Thanks to your discount offers you make above average business (+20%). However you have spent the whole week, ferrying, before the discount shows a return. On the bright side, ferrying doesn't cost any fuel since you're just running on the auxiliary boosters (which are fusion powered)
You make sure to converse with all your clients and make them feel comfortable. You meet all sorts of people, but this isn't the kind of work you quit your original job for. One your clients, a man named Kurt, is a commodities speculator. You overhear a vidphone conversation of his: "The war on Rigel-A isn't going to end anytime soon...because I just know! Now listen...go long on oil and uranium and short any stock positions we have in their market. No not the food companies, the small cap research ones, yeah, right, alright good..."
Mail is an obsolete concept because of instantaneous vidphone technology. Transport jobs are numerous, but no one is willing to hire anyone without at least a small cargo bay (the margins are just too low otherwise).
You make 1200C at the end of the week (-15% for Licia). Your loan payment is withdrawn automatically from your account and you also have to pay your monthly wages to Sarah. Licia complains that she isn't making enough money to justify staying with you. She tells you she might leave next month if profits don't pick up.
>Ship
You have enough fuel for 8 more jumps
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
-SpaceR Taxi Service Account: 20C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5435C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-7.87kC in PlanetVault Checking Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.197586MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -89.716C
You have 27 days till the end of the month.
You:
>>159024
Profits for the month: -1.7k
>>159024
Remind Licia that she hasn't done any work at all for us yet and has just been slacking all day and consuming money from our business.
Make it politely clear that we can't justify paying her as much as she requests and that we understand if she would rather crew on another ship.
>>159177
She retorts that the jobs you've thus far done have not required the services you hired her for. She's not complaining about the 15% (which you've been diligently paying) but rather about the low pay jobs you've been taking. She tells you, she's *is* going to crew on a another ship if the situation doesn't improve, or just go back to practicing medicine.
>>159196
Ask her for her suggestions as to getting highly-paid jobs. Does she have contacts in the pharmaceutical industry? Or perhaps she knows some popular spa planets that people will want to be ferried to?
>>159221
"I do have one job. Its not strictly speaking "legal", but you've already shown a disdain for the law before so..."
"Let's hear it."
"Do you know what Chemcule is?"
"Sure, drug company right?"
"Correct. They control 30% of the market and 93% of the sale of a drug called Blunefil."
"Never heard of it."
"It treats Leukemia as well as autoimmune diseases and it was specially made to treat children under the age of 15 that suffer from these disorders"
"Ok..."
"No one knows how Chemcule manufactures Blunefil, its a closely guarded patent. And because the drug has a 98% success rate It allows them to monopolize the market and charge whatever they want for the drug...200 million children, across the galaxy die from autoimmune or leukemia each year. Only 1/100 of 1% can afford Blunefil...and no other treatment even comes close..."
"Its a real tragedy, but what's that got to do with us?"
"I know someone who works for Chemcule, a transporter. Her child died from a fatal autoimmune disease, an reaction during pregnancy - anyway, she petitioned Chemcule for the drug, hoping to access it through the company provided insurance policy. Long story short, they denied her claim and her child died. She no longer works for them, but she knows their routes in and out. That's our in."
"You're joking right?" You shake your head. Getting caught for something like this isn't just jail time, the corporation will find a way to skin you alive.
"Just--listen! Look, 1 crate of Blunefil is enough to treat 20 thousand children. My contact also knows a fence...by a conservative estimate, 1 crate will net us around 300kC. Each shipment usually has around 3000 crates." You do the math. 5 crates (allowing for the 15%). 5 crates pays off your ship and still leaves some extra credits for yourself.
"What do we need?"
"A crew. Tools. Some pay offs. All told, around 100k initial investment."
Well, your credit is good, you could probably get a loan for that much.
What do you do?
P.SI made a mistake on assets in the previous post. I accidentally subtracted the interest payment from the principal. I'm not going to change it, but in the future I'll keep the principle the same. If you want to chip away at the principle you must pay more than the interest.
>>159383
200 billion children*
>>159383
LETS DO THIS
>>159383
Tell her that if we do this heist, we'll all be in danger, so we'll need to consult Sarah to see if she wants to take the risk.
>>159409
Sarah is most definitely not on board.
"You do know what happens to idiots that try to steal from corporations don't you? This is a suicide mission. Count me out. Just drop me off at the nearest space port and we never knew each other."
>>159422
Tell Licia we're thankful for her suggestion and we'll look into it, but we'll need to research it before making any commitments.
Then search our database and the darknet for ' Chemcule ', ' Blunefil ' and the name of the planet Chemcule's on.
>>159467
~$ Query 'Chemcule'
>Chemcule (CMC)
>Chemcule is a pharmaceutical conglomerate specializing in over-the-counter recreational drugs and anti-virals. It was established after the First Plague, in the year 2046. It rose to prominence with the mood-enchancer "Florisepam" which remains their flagship product today. Their estimated net worth is over 130MMC (million-million credits).
>There are 300 pages more, load?
~$ Filter 'Blunefil'
>Blunefil is a drug patented in 2085. It is a engineered retrovirus (Class-3N). It is used to treat autoimmune diseases as well as Leukemia. It primarily targets B-cells and out competes the production of normally produced antibodies with those which recognize the body's own cells as "self".
>It's high stability and low mutation-ratio allow for its use primarily in children. Last quarter, it accounted for 1% of Chemcule's net profits. Chemcule is the sole manufacturer and distributor of the drug. As of yet, Chemcule maintains a patent on the manufacturing process which will expire in the year 3025.
~$ Filter 'manufactory planet'
>WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS!
>Exiting...
~$ Query 'Chemcule' -n darknet
>No results found
>~$ Query 'Blunefil' -n darknet
>No results found
>>159536
I vote we do this heist.
>>159558
I'm gonna vote against this an engineer is more valuable than a doctor given how we just started let's get some legit shit going on to calm the doc and get some credits flowing to upgrade our ship
>>159746
>>159558
Maybe it's better to put the heist off until we're more experienced. We don't want to fuck up and get shot.
What sort of legit stuff did you have in mind? Maybe we could find work as an external maintenance ship and crew on a space station, as we have an engineer. We could also investigate System 22 and see if we can loot some abandoned mining equipment.
>>160026
I think either if those sound good but we might wanna wait till we have weapons to loot
>>160053
Another idea is a job scouting ahead of travelling merchant vessels and reporting obstacles like asteroids, pirates or dust clouds.
>>160071
This is actually what your AI does when it calculates jumps. Unless you meant for speculative purposes, in which case yes, interest parties are always willing to pay for the coordinates of ore-rich asteroids, dust clouds, moons, planets, or the location of pirate bases or pirate ships.
>>160095
Prospecting sounds fun. I'll wait to see what another anon thinks.
>>160113
I like it
>>160113
>>160130
>>160172
Alright, prospecting it is.
~$ Query 'Prospecting'
>Prospecting the is exploration of unknown systems for the purposes of future commercial enterprise. Most prospectors look for ore-rich areas, such as asteroid belts, moons or entire planets. Some prospectors engage in the business of mining their finds, while others sell the coordinates of their find to third parties. Profit margins for prospectors can be quite high, but the risk often dissuades all but the most bold to the trade.
>There are three primary ways to prospect:
>Freelancing - The practice of selling finds directly to a third party at negotiated price
>Guild Contracts - Potential coordinates are posted on a guild site and a predetermined price paid to anyone who adequately explores the coordinates. Rights to any valubles in the find are reliquinshed to the guild, but members of the guild usually get a small royalty for any valuables.
>Private Enterprise - Finds are not sold. Instead, the find is mined privately and the valuables sold on the open market. Initial investment for a large scale mining operation usually tops 100MC, however smaller scale operations can be quite profitable (albeit risky without the proper equipment). A common practice is to extract the surface resources (those which are most easily mined), sell them on the open market, then sell the coordinates directly to a third party. N.B Guild contracts cannot be privately mined.
>Income Statement (per month)
>Income
>Expenses
-General Living Expenses: 500C
-Interest on Ship Loan: 9%/yr Adjustable (will drop to 4%/yr in 6 months if no payments are missed) = 2414C
-Monthly Wages Paid: 1.5kC
-SpaceR Taxi Service Account: 20C
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashflow: -5435C
>Balance Sheet
>Assets
-3016 SpaceR "Camel": ~1.1MC (real value), 2% paid off (24kC)
-7.87kC in PlanetVault Checking Acct
>Liablities
-Black Market Loan: 1.197586MC at 9% Adj.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity: -89.716C
You have 27 days till the end of the month.
Rolled 2 (1d100)
>>160246
Let's try freelancing.
The dice says what number system we research first.
>>160263
~$ Query system -f 2
>System 2-Orionis (aka 2-Monoceros)
>Last known radio contact: 15.3Y ago
>This system has no known habitable planets
>This system has no known terraforming efforts
>This system is not owned by any entity
>Details (view? Y/N)
~$ Y
>3003: Pirate Lee Wojack apprehended
>3003-present: Radio silence
Roll if you want to jump there.
Rolled 89 (1d100)
>>160310
>>160597
It takes you 10.68 days to get to Orionis-2. You expend 2 units of fuel.
You:
>Scan the area (what are you looking for?)
>Check the radio frequencies for any short-wave signals
>Other (write-in)
>>161418
>Check the radio frequencies for any short-wave signals
>>161728
Roll 1d100 to see what you find
Rolled 19 (1d100)
Rolled 60 (1d100)
>>161418
Scan the area
>>162061
~$ Scan -r -s
>Scanning short-wave frequencies
>........
>1 Channel found!
>Message:
>SOSSOSSOSSOSSOS
>Coordinates: 123.4, 234.3, 24.7
~$ Scan -a
>Scanning area
>1.2M results
>Please enter a filter keyword (e.g Asteroids, Dust clouds, Planets, Moons, Ore-rich, etc.)
>>162299
Investigate the SOS signal.
While we're travelling, scan the area for spaceships.
>>162299
Get as far from SOS as you can!
>>162299
How long has that SOS been active for? Up to 2 years probably.
>>162789
Impossible to know since its a short wave signal.
>>162579
~$ Filter 'spaceships'
>Searching...
>Radiation signature found!
>Ship ID: 1972EF56IOL
>Ship Class: Industrial Mining Vessel
>SOS signal matched!
You change course towards the SOS signal. It is, indeed a mining vessel or at least the remains of one. Its about 3000 times the size of your ship. There are hull breaches all along side of the ship, which means you'll have to use spacesuits to board and that the passengers are either dead or in suspensleep.
What do you do?
>>162834
Do a lap of the ship and take a look at the outside.
Would you write us our inventory, QM?
>>162834
Do we have weapons onboard? Like personal weapons?
>>162855
Inventory (except in the case of cargo) is handled abstractly, since the focus of this quest is more on economic management. You generally have the things you'd expect to have (e.g Spacesuits). For things which are a bit more far fetched you'll either have to purchase them or just roll to see if you have them tucked away somewhere.
Now if you guys want inventory management I am happy to oblige, but I feel its not necessary.
>>162855
The ship is elongated, shaped like a sword with the hilt as a solid cube. The "blade" of the sword has multiple hull breaches which penetrate through to the other side. Some of the breaches are actually larger than your ship and you could probably use them to get inside without difficulty. Closer inspection through your magnescopes shows numerous small crates along the surface of the ship, indicating its shield systems are offline, rendering it vulnerable to debris impact.
You:
>Set course for one of the hull breaches
>Leave the ship alone
>Other
>>162897
This you'll have to roll for (1d100) since there strict gun control laws were passed in your homeworld once war broke out
>>162905
>numerous small crates
*craters
Rolled 36 (1d100)
>>162905
Do a run around the system, and scan everything, look for things man made, or have difficulty being penetrated by scanners, or anything on all bands and frequencies for anything being emitted or power sources for like say a listening device or beacon that will activate when a ship come into system.
Rolling for a crate of military surplus weapons we are "collecting".
I just think that SOS is a trap.
Let's try to set up a passive scanner and reciever that we can tether to the ship and connect with via radio. I expect if we don't have one, we could get Sarah to put one together ad hoc.
>>162978
>the ship
I mean the mining spaceship
>>162961
You find a plasgun tucked away beneath one of the bunks in the living quarters. It seems to still be operational. Sarah has a electric cutter which can serve as a weapon, but Licia refuses to even leave the ship.
>>162961
You do a quick sweep of the system. You find nothing of interest, except for an distant asteroid belt revolving around a gas giant.
>>162978
You have shortwave radios built into your space suits for easy communication (unless I'm misunderstanding you, this is the purpose of that action?)
>>163014
Is this diagram okay?
It's a warning system.
>>163014
K, lets put together a game plan, we stick together and maintain constant 5-10 minute communications with Licia on the ship. Make sure she can't steal our ship.
>>163158
And we work to waking up the computer to access info.
Please guys tell me we are not going to investigate the further
>>164756
We're prospectors at the moment; this whole quest is going to be investigations of dodgy stuff with corpses inside.
>>163071
Ah I understand. This isn't necessary since Licia is staying in the ship and can warn you through your spacesuit comms of any incoming danger
>>163158
>>163158
>>163375
Licia waits in the ship while you and Sarah explore the mining vessel.
You enter through one of the hull breaches. The ship is enormous and running on emergency power. It is dark and silent. The internal pressure and atmosphere of the ship has been broken, the thin barrier of your spacesuit is all that keeps you from the empty cold of space.
You have 99% of your oxygen remaining.
Roll 1d100 to see what you encounter.
Rolled 24 (1d100)
>>170179
Rolling
