Wanton use of nukes and the path to galactic conquest!

[Megamolanius]

Read ... aaah .... reread .... aaah no way .... reading again ... no way

Full scores for inventiveness, dare and audacity

[Nanook]

Just wondering why ol' Steve hasn't docked at the PTNI shipyard and gotten some of those dings out. Would give that old Boron rustbucket a major speed increase, and for not much cash, really.

[Trigger1112]

His second pass proves fatal tho, he hasn't appreciated the danger of the situation and with IRE lancing around my Octopus there's a loud bang and the fire tracking towards me is abruptly cut off.

Who says the police are stupid.

[xdxforever]

I have come to really appreciate those ships for sale, as my new start contained a mako vanguard for 16k that was a real deal, it was going to be hard going to get out of a disco into an m4 until that bit of luck.

[nitromethane]

hard? point ire at said m4 "accidentaly" shoot it till the pilot falls out. rinse and repeat as nessesary

[Lancefighter]

Are you allowing yourself to use combat autopilot while in the pilots seat?

[Knetter_Gek]

Are you allowing yourself to use combat autopilot while in the pilots seat?

Would you, in a DID game, trust the autopilot with your life in combat? I mean, I don't trust it to fly me to the next trading station let alone into the fray and back out again.

[NUKLEAR-SLUG]

Is there a name for this tactic? Like Rozzer Wrecking or Police Pancaking or Cop Crunching?

There wasn't, but perhaps there should be..

Just wondering why ol' Steve hasn't docked at the PTNI shipyard and gotten some of those dings out. Would give that old Boron rustbucket a major speed increase, and for not much cash, really.

More cash than seemed worthwhile at the time as I wasn't intending to hold onto it, and it would have cost a lot to get it to a point where it could actually outrun another fast M5.

Are you allowing yourself to use combat autopilot while in the pilots seat?

Perhaps, but not in an unshielded M5!


Prev chapter<->Next chapter
12 - Trader


I think I need to find out how much this Octopus is currently worth. It's only got 41% hull, but it does have the Mineral Scanner installed, it's also had a few speed upgrades and the cargo hold maxed out so you never know. Parking it up in the shipyard then it turns out it's actually worth a fair bit more than I was expecting..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/12-1.gif

.. Seems I can afford it after all and still have a bit of spare change to upgrade it with. It would mean sacrificing the Octopus and it's equipment, but a freighter would give me much more scope to generate some cash as a trader than hoping for viable missions to crop up I can actually manage in the M5.

Transaction done then and I'm the new owner of a battered and beaten old Demeter. It's not much, but it does have 2800 units of cargo space and that's what matters. A slow trip to the Equipment dock and I use my remaining cash to upgrade it from a glacial 47m/s to a slightly more reasonable 94m/s, as well as adding a Duplex scanner and a Boost Extension, all of which leaves me with just 2506cr to my name. As seed capital for trading that's pretty minimal, but with some smart trading I should be able to multiply that figure quite effectively as my only limitation for the time being will we be what I can afford, not what I can carry.

First port of call then, Scale Place Green and the Flower farms down there. Currently they represent the greatest per unit profit opportunity if I can get a good price, but it seems upon arrival that while I've been elsewhere others have been stealing my profits from me and the market price for Sunrise Flowers isn't as lucrative as it was. I'm still able to make a profit for a while with a few runs but that exhausts the market and I'm soon forced to look elsewhere for opportunities. The refineries are selling for too high a price, but there's Nostrop Oil available from the Trading station. Trading stations always sell for average price and while buying for average price is not going to give me the best profit at least buying from here guaruntees a steady price. No opportunites for offloading in this sector tho so it means trekking back and forth to PTNI to offload at one of the tech fabs there.

It's a little time consuming but the profits are quite good as the PTNI tech fabs are a little short of Nostrop, but it's not long before I've exhausted supplies in both the Scale Plate Green and PTNI trading stations so have to go looking elsewhere. Profit Centre Alpha is the next sector over and it's pretty clear upon arriving that this sector is in dire need of Nostrop Oil and I'm able to make a big return from what I can find in the Trading station. I only get to make the one run tho and that's the trading station cleaned out, but there's a significant Ore overproduction here too which I pick up for rock-bottom price so I make what trades I can here before heading back to PTNI with a full load to top up the tech fabs there.

Trade runs done and my cash balance is looking a lot healthier, 146,469cr, a pretty good result from where I was before. It also means I'm now in the position to be able to afford a new ship, specifically one of the new Teladi Kestrel M5's. I like the look of the Kestrel, it combines speed with the most important feature, M-class cargo capacity. That would make it an ideal ship for doing some of those lucrative taxi-runs I keep seeing but have had to ignore up to now.

Tempting..


Assets
1x Demeter 'Wonky Donkey'

Time: 09:56:18
Credits: 146,469

[Dragoongfa]

Hmm, the Kestrel is a nice idea, the taxi missions should cover its cost very quickly but a Kestrel needs its upgrades before its any use (life support and engine tunings coming to my mind first), after thats done, a jumpdrive for the demeter should be in order.

[Knetter_Gek]

Hmm, the Kestrel is a nice idea, the taxi missions should cover its cost very quickly but a Kestrel needs its upgrades before its any use.

Considering the investment, would this even bring in cash faster then just haulin' goods with the Demeter? Kestrels are fun to fly, sure, but I don't remember any very highly paying taxi missions utnill your rank goes up a good deal.
Still, there's a kick you get out of painting "Suicide Taxi Services" on the side and zipping around the galaxy.

[paulhamm]

Actually a second ship is a great strategic move. With so little cash to setup a nav-sat system for best buy/sell the m5 is a good alternative. It can get places fast enough to give you a good idea of what kind of trades you can do. Doing the taxi missions will also net him cash as he looks for lucrative trade deals. A few of those deliver radioactive/medical/entertainment chip runs would be great. Jump in the ts grab an go. When not needed it can ship e-cells or ore or whatever.

[Lancefighter]

lol guys, you dont get it... he is getting a kestrel simply because thats his favorite ship ^^

but yea, any ship would be a good investment, especally if you can afford to put a trading system extension on it... taxi and remote trade... maybe some jumpdrives later

[Venarti]

Don't get too far ahead. Overconfidence will get everyone killed. Let N-S figure out what he will use the Kestral for, and the risk it represents. IIRC, the sectors he has frequented - I'm thinking SPG - border Xenon sectors.

Of course, this is probably a secondary consideration to the posibility of Big Cash Payoffs.

[Seleucius]

Considering the investment, would this even bring in cash faster then just haulin' goods with the Demeter? Kestrels are fun to fly, sure, but I don't remember any very highly paying taxi missions utnill your rank goes up a good deal.

I remember getting 20k+ taxi missions at the first few trade ranks early on. Admittedly nothing in the face of 10M taxis at Mogul, but four of five of those and he's paid off the Kestrel and its upgrades/equipment. And just imagine how horrible it had to be EVAing through those Terran/Argon sectors... think Steve deserves some four-on-the-floor quality time in the fastest ship he can get his grubbies on.

But the real question: Once he has some working capital and a stable operation... what then?

[paulhamm]

Considering the investment, would this even bring in cash faster then just haulin' goods with the Demeter? Kestrels are fun to fly, sure, but I don't remember any very highly paying taxi missions utnill your rank goes up a good deal.

I remember getting 20k+ taxi missions at the first few trade ranks early on. Admittedly nothing in the face of 10M taxis at Mogul, but four of five of those and he's paid off the Kestrel and its upgrades/equipment. And just imagine how horrible it had to be EVAing through those Terran/Argon sectors... think Steve deserves some four-on-the-floor quality time in the fastest ship he can get his grubbies on.

But the real question: Once he has some working capital and a stable operation... what then?

You did read the thread title right? I foresee many hammerheads in our protagonists future. Assuming he survives of course.

[Evildudeness]

Considering the investment, would this even bring in cash faster then just haulin' goods with the Demeter? Kestrels are fun to fly, sure, but I don't remember any very highly paying taxi missions utnill your rank goes up a good deal.

I remember getting 20k+ taxi missions at the first few trade ranks early on. Admittedly nothing in the face of 10M taxis at Mogul, but four of five of those and he's paid off the Kestrel and its upgrades/equipment. And just imagine how horrible it had to be EVAing through those Terran/Argon sectors... think Steve deserves some four-on-the-floor quality time in the fastest ship he can get his grubbies on.

But the real question: Once he has some working capital and a stable operation... what then?

You did read the thread title right? I foresee many hammerheads in our protagonists future. Assuming he survives of course.

Yes but, if I've read the rules for this story correctly, the AI will be doing the fighting and launching of hammerheads.

[chelo_boga]

Yes but, if I've read the rules for this story correctly, the AI will be doing the fighting and launching of hammerheads.

Not a problem. Change the missile probability to 100% and watch the fireworks!

[chelo_boga]

One question though. He cant launch missiles, but surely he can launch boarding pods, right?

[Knetter_Gek]

One question though. He cant launch missiles, but surely he can launch boarding pods, right?

I think he needed some kind of "combat training" first for spaceships.
I guess that means "no" o your question.
As a short answer anyway. The long answer could be "yessish - eventually"

[NUKLEAR-SLUG]

Yes but, if I've read the rules for this story correctly, the AI will be doing the fighting and launching of hammerheads.

Should be exciting!


Prev chapter<->Next chapter
13 - Deal 'O' The Week


Tempting.. but I'll pass for now. While I've got enough to purchase the actual ship I don't have enough funds to be able to buy and equip it without exhausting my cash and putting me right back to square one. I think I'll be better off doing a couple more trade runs and building up a cash surplus, that way I'll be able to kit it out and still have enough left over in free cash to allow my freighter to trade remotely. Nostrop seems to be in very high demand over in Profit Centre Alpha so I'm aiming to head back down to Scale Plate Green and pick up as much as I can.

Dropping thru the north gate and checking prices on the Flower Farms and it seems I'll be able to make a small profit this time doing a Sunrise run and then a much bigger one on the return Nostrop run. Possibly not as much as I might be able to as I've spotted a couple pilots passing by that are advertising their ships for sale..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/13-1.gif
http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/13-2.gif

.. and I'm thinking I might take them up on that one.

Now the Buzzard I'm taking a slight gamble on. I know roughly how much they cost normally, but I'm not sure how much that value will depreciate with half the hull missing, although I think I should be able to at least break even on it. For under 10,000cr tho I'm pretty sure the Mako is an absolute killer bargain and I can make a good profit on that. While they head back to PTNI shipyard for assessment I'm doing the long haul to Profit Centre Alpha with half a holdfull of Nostrop. Purchased for 65cr/unit I'm certain I can offload that for at least 116-117cr which will nearly double my outlay. On the way back with another batch of Ore on the cheap I spot another ship for sale at one of the Ore mines, this time a freighter..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/13-3.gif

.. Looks like another bargain to me so I snap that one up too. I'm thinking maybe using this one, with it's greater cargo capacity, over in Nyanas Hideout shuttling Delexian Wheat around.

My concerns over the Buzzard turn out to have been unwarranted..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/13-4.gif

.. Despite costing nearly 90kcr it's got a scrap value of well over 200kcr. The Mako is the same story with an effective scrap value over 10x what I paid for it, looks like second hand ship trading might be another lucrative avenue for investment, I'll have to keep an eye out for more bargains in future!. Having reviewed both ships tho I've amended my original plan of selling the Mako and keeping the Buzzard as a combat ship, I think with a top speed of 111m/s the Buzzard is just too slow even tho it does pack a quite impressive 25Mj of shielding. The Mako might have much less shielding, only 10Mj, but it has about twice the speed and a very generous 208 unit freight capacity so might make for a decent Tech-trader.

I reckon I'll sell the Buzzard and buy myself a shiny new Kestrel..



Assets
1x Demeter 'Wonky Donkey'
1x Mako
1x Buzzard Sentinel
1x Vulture SF

Time: 10:45:49
Credits: 29,153