Scientific Probe

I'd almost forgotten that I had left a survey probe on Neptune. Being almost a year since I dropped it off, I was expecting it to have completed scanning the entire planet, but it had broken down 2/3's the way through. Nothing too interesting, a particle cannon, some minerals, empty fuel cannisters and a hidden stash of narcotics.

Trekked over to the Scientific Base to repair the probe and a general repair all-round. After the repairs the scientists offered a deal on upgrades to my ship, and with a stuffed wallet it seemed like a good idea. I could afford the best guys they had to tinker with my 2 Lezkas and was delighted with the results. Both Lezkas now have the same range as my rethone cannon and do another 1/3 more damage. Now I have the ability to fight effectively at 350 clicks, plus keep the enemy there with liberal use of the rethone. The gripper also got the high tech treatment to take its capacity to 60 units. There were a couple of things I had passed up because the size was greater than my previous 40 tonne capacity, but the upgrade was more an impulse buy. I guess I'm not too good with saving ...


Mars offered a return to focused missions with an urgent delivery Eryon on the other side of the Dominator's encroachments. That sounds like the right direction, let's go!

Back Home

The tasks on offer weren't that appealing in the Tallot system. It's right next door to Dominator fighting, but I'd rather still wait for better firepower. Through a scan of the records it seems Mars has a similarly small Lezka as the one I have, so a trip home might be on the cards.

With no time-based tasks to set the pace, I took my time getting back to the Sun by picking up flotsam and intercepting asteroids. There was a welcome surprise when planet Astron in Betelgeize gave me a reward for cleaning up asteroids on a collision course with that planet. Nice!



Arriving at Sol I popped back into Oldy Ranger Centre to check up on our progress and donate the nodes that had been clogging up my hold. Mars was next to sell off minerals, refuel, and pick up the Lezka that was still available (luckily, the last trip based on looked up prices turn into a disaster).

Mars also had an oversupply of luxuries, so if I can string together a couple of runs to Earth I could make a substantial amount of money.


2 trips netted another 5k, bringing my current total to 18,539cr. With 2 Lezkas and a full bank I'm happy heading back to the front lines. Maybe I can hook up a delivery going that way?

Childrens Books

The chancellor had another task waiting for me when I got back, along with a sob story about the Gaalian's child rearing inadequacies. They would be a lot better if they had a whole heap of our children's books, so they are sending 3 tonne of dusty leatherbacks over to get chewed on by an entirely different race. They are offering 2900 credits, so that's enough to spur me into action.

Looking at the star map it will be a 2 hop trip, refuel at Minnaver and then on to Regulus. Should be painless.

I'm finding the information search to be a godsend in more and more ways. First it had helped isolate the gripper I wanted, and now I've found out it lists the prices at far away planets! Digging up Redea (the final destination) and comparing back to local Mars prices it looked like luxuries would net a profit of around 20 cr each. It's a pity I'm still relatively poor, but the bonuses from the ground assault means I can take 23 tonne with me. Might at least cover the repair bills.

Ground Offensive

I actually did pick up one of those research droids. Felt like something to do while no-one was asking me to do stuff. Dropped it off a Neptune and it indicated over 300 days to finish a full scan of the system. I won't be waiting around for that.

Mars is next in line as a potential revenue source and the Chancellor obliged by requesting help in a ground offensive. I hadn't tried being a General before, but as an avid strategy fan back on Earth I felt confident it was something I'd like to learn.

The ground offensive started slowly with the enemy happy to sit back while I built up an invading force. The robots in use were the best-of-breed components for long range warfare, with mobility and healing thrown in for good measure.

The ground offensive went well with only 3 droids isolated and destroyed. All 3 bases were captured in just over 7 minutes, gaining almost 4000 credits and a wealth of ground experience. They looked impressed at the ease of which I finished the task. I just gave them a wink and said: "Computer games, mate. Pew pew!"