A Speedy Delivery

There was another unique ship on offer back at the scientific base; a Rapid Housing design that increased engine performance by another 100 units. I had seen a variant of this before, but with a meagre 218 tonne hull it was virtually a toy. With a 258 tonne hull this one was more functional and could easily fit all of my current equipment on board and have a comfortable 30 tonne spare in the hold. It would be perfect to negotiate a faster delivery schedule for more pay and prestige.

First up was a delivery of VR games to Venus, a fad that's catching on through the Humans. From there it was another quick run taking an unknown substance to Deneb. On the way I dropped off a probe at an unexplored planet in Altair, but picked up more than I bargained for with a Mysterious case of Luatanza spreading over me.


Although not lethal, it pacifies the brain making combat an abhorrent thought. On the flip side, it somehow enhances trustworthiness in the eyes of an employer making it much more likely to negotiate a great deal for completing tasks. Must be less risky giving precious cargo to someone you know won't take it for a ride into battle.

Luatanza only strengthened my resolve to press hard on the delivery schedule, and turned over another desirable run into new territory; Shedire. I had recently bought some additional starmaps to extend the boundaries of where I could travel as I may as well see the galaxy if I'm not fighting. This system had a Maloq planets, which certainly was an eye opener. They didn't trust me at first, but money greases anyones attitude.


The delivery to Shedire was a toothbrush that the Human ambassador had "left behind". Sometimes it's best not to get into the politics and just do what is asked of you. Poor naiive Faeyans.

Hometown Upgrade

One good thing was that the helmets were destined for Eyron. I would be able to check out the new scientific base that I forked out for. Hopefully they feel gracious enough to upgrade my ship a level or two.

Unfortunately it was me that upgraded THEIR ship .. err, base. One of the reasons to put a new base in this sector is to prevent Dominator attacks as well as having a close point to drop off both Dominator equipment (to the science centre) and nodes (to the ranger base). They didn't seem to have any weapons to defend themselves, so since I still had money to burn I helped upgrade their defenses with a couple of Lezkas from the trade quarter. Why didn't they just commandeer them? *shrug*


Word reached us that an attack was planned on the Mencar system, leaving in 30 days from here at Eyron. Too short a time to make a trade jump, so I tooled around hunting asteroids for pleasure.

We jumped as one to the occupied Mencar system. 10 ships in all with me as the only Ranger. We managed to down a couple with my personal tally increasing by 2, but as the urguats game way to capital ships the table had turned. I managed to down another tiny one, but the static on the airwaves indicated I was the last man standing. I made it to the waypoint for a hasty exit leaving a trail of angry hornets buzzing in displeasure at our "poking the nest".


I'd picked up about 50 nodes, but no alien equipment to proffer to the Science Centre. We lacked firepower and may have blown our aggressive stance for the time being, so I looked once again to delivery quests to advance my budget and experience.

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!

Regrouping at Hese

The closest jumpgate led to Hese and my hull barely held up to get me there. I was glad to see the other side of hyperspace and floored it to the closest habitable platform in case they followed.

The staff at Scientific Base "Quantum" were non-plussed with my report, and chided my escape without any Dominator components. They were mildly interested in the nodes, but mentioned that they had been sending all their nodes to the Ranger's Base. Sold off the lone component I managed to snaffle, a deflector from a destroyed human battleship. That and a score of minerals that made their way into my hold.

With a bit more cash in hand, I looked into their upgrade services for equipment. The scanner had let me down being unable to penetrate the Dominator's shields, so it was the first target for improvement. 1200cr to get it ramped up to 14% penetration, but that should do for now. Unfortuately that's all I can afford at the moment.

After reflecting on my performance against the Dominators, I definitely need more forepower and possibly a bigger ship. I'm super impressed with the repair droids and the extra tunnels through the ship. They saved my bacon through that fight. I need money though, and deliveries are sounding pretty good right now.