Games Unbalanced !

[Sunrayn]

Comms Unit crackles

Mel's voice comes through the static "Sunrayn? Hey boss, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you"

"where are you at, boss?"

"I'm" I suck in a gasp of air as the sound of metal to metal goes out over the comm unit. "Dammit, another shield gone" I fight to regain control of the rustbucket Buster I am piloting. "Stupid Boron"

I hear Mel's impatient sigh.

"Damn Dolphin ignored the gate traffic lights" I say.

"Him?..or you?"

Cant fool Mel. "Coulda been me"

Leaving Mel's comm channel open, I open a channel to the Dolphin pilot "Apologies Captain, I had an equipment malfunction" The Boron pilot accepts my 'sorry' He doesnt quite catch the few choice words I muttered after that but, Mel does.

"Dont ruin your reputation with the Boron again. It took more than a few bribes to repair it last time and at this point, we need them more than they need us"

"Yeah, yeah"

Mel seems to think we need to be on good terms with every race.

Piloting the Buster I have dubbed 'Rustbucket' toward Argon Prime, I wonder how I got here. By 'here', I mean going from a small but successful salvage corporation to flying the salvage we once collected. Actually, it wasnt that difficult, it just took a war torn, greedy government to exercise it's right to confiscate property and mandatory taxes to confiscate credits to rebuild the economy and defense. I was left with only the Headquarters and a couple of junk ships that were slated for scrapping.

My reverie is interupted by Mel's voice "Try not to damage that Buster anymore, you dont have the credits to repair it...now"

"Huh?!?" I know I'm almost broke but, not that broke.

"After the purchase we have 18,000cr, give or take a hundred"

WHAT?!? Keeping my voice to a dull roar, I casually ask Mel "What purchase?"

"A new fleet"

Why does it sound like Mel is pulling my leg? "..what...new...fleet?"

"Apricot Mapping.."

I cut Mel off mid-sentence. "Apri-who?"

Mel is very patient "John Slice's corporation, Apricot Mapping Service"

Oh yeah, him. Another successful company 'sliced' up by the government after the war. I have to remember that pun.

"what's so funny?"

I start to tell Mel "..never mind" Mel doesnt have much of a sense of humor, he wont get it anyway. "Ok, whats this fleet you're going on about?"

"AMS..Apricot Mapping Service, has found a way to really upgrade some standard ships. They go far beyond anything that is manufactured for the public, hell, even beyond military ships."

I will humor Mel "That good, huh?"

"Nothing in this universe can touch them"

Ok, not much impresses my chief engineer and he is obviously impressed. "How many ships and what kind?" I am expecting to hear about a couple M3's, Maybe an M6, not much more than that.

"A few M3's, a couple of M6's"

Yeah, thats what I thought.

"An M1, an M2, a TL, an M7...Well, you will see the fleet when you get into Argon Prime"

Did I just hear Mel grin?

"Whats the catch?"

"Not much. We just cant reverse engineer them and what we got is what we got, so dont blow one up"

I can live with that.

Ok dammit, Mel IS grinning now. I can hear it clear from The Hole.

"Spit it out Mel, youre holding out on me"

Mel mumbles something.

"What? Say again"

"Em..Se(mumble)..Em"

"Mel, if you dont speak clearly, I will ram this rustbucket into a 'roid and fly into Argon Prime in my spacesuit"

That got him.

"We got an M7M"

[Sunrayn]

Mods and Scripts I am using:

MARS
NPC Bailing Addon
No Civilians
Super Tractor
Force NPC Undocking
Player Workshop
Marine Manager v.3
Complex Cleaner
Cycrow's Plugin Manager and Community Script Plugin
Enhanced Sector Traders (EST)

***********

A Missile Frigate. We have a Missile Frigate. Trying to coax every bit of speed out of the 'Rustbucket' the gate to Argon Prime comes into sight. No point in slowing down, my top speed is 62m/s after the accident with the Dolphin. I give the gate lights a cursory glance before shooting into Argon Prime.

Looking at the Gravidar, I can see a whole lotta ships clustered around the Argon Shipyard. Traffic is diverting around the cluster in a diamond pattern. Seems fitting as that cluster of ships is mine.

I dock with the TL which is our Mobile Base it seems. HQ is packed into about a third of the hold. Wow, this ship has storage. Mel launches into a lecture on the ships and the upgrades they have but, I listen with only one ear as my attention is drawn by the familiar outline of an Argon Missile Frigate. The Minotaur.

Waving Mel off, I step onto the transporter pad and instantly appear on the bridge of the Minotaur. It has that new ship smell and I drink it in. Sitting in the cushioned pilot's seat, I bring the computers online and punch up the missile banks. What the hell?, this thing will fire every missile in the known universe and a few that arent known. Grinning, I glance over the rest of the ship specs. I have to tell Mel at that point he had better go over the systems as the top speed readout is wrong along with the shield banks. Mel is on the bridge next to me in a few seconds still carrying on his lecture. Stopping long enough to say 'you werent listening' he assures me that everything is correct.

Checking the cargo hold tells me I have no missiles on board. The date I have with this ship will have to wait. A frigate with no ammo is just a battering ram and Mel hates it when I dent one. I punch up the Fleet Ops screen and take a look at what I have for ships. A Buster? Guess Mr. Apricot has a sense of humor. I want to jump into one of the two M6s but, I have different plans for them. I settle on the Argon Eclipse parked not too far away and in a moment, I am in the cockpit.

Full banks of PBE's, heavily modified and a full set of modified PPCs. 16 E-Cells pack out the remainder of the cargo. I wont need the PPCs and can get by with only half the PBEs and I doubt I will be towing anything so I transfer them over to the M2 Battleship. Now I can fit 615 E-Cells.

We need money so I turn the two M6s into sector traders. Apparently real traders wont work for a novice so I promote two of my own employees to temporary pilots and send one off to The Wall and the other to Emperor Mines.

Punching up Fleet Ops again, I see a speedy little M5 that will make a perfect remote exploration ship. It will have to be remote controlled as there is no way I would strap a pilot into something that does 1000m/s. Sending it to a new Superstore that has apparently opened in Argon Prime, I have Explorer software installed and then send it on its way.

I have Mel load the remaining ships into the M2 and hang tight in Argon Prime. I am looking for a new base of operations and I remember a pilot telling me about an unexplored sector behind Boron territory, which is perfect given my innate dislike of the Boron. Nobody would look for us there.

[Sunrayn]

Sunrayn Inc. is a salvage company and this new fleet compliments the business nicely. It has remote computer hacking capability for abandoned ship claiming and teleporter based software for collecting cargo floating in space. My plan was to link into the Remote Explorer's gravidar and use it to locate good salvage opportunity while I search out information on that unknown sector. I can then call in the M2 Battlecruiser to secure the area and jump across in the Eclipse. The M2 has the ability to carry 50 ships and plenty of cargo space.

I found a quiet little corner of space in Akeela's Beacon and shut down the thrusters while I punched up the Explorer on the Fleet Ops. I decided to have it scan for high yield asteroids since I had modified software controlling the tractor beam. I could tow asteroids even using the Jumpdrive, provided I had a big enough ship and enough E-Cells onboard.

Fleet Ops informs me that Remote Explorer is in Pirate Alley, Splitfire, and is bound for a sector called Montalaar. I'm not worried about pirate attacks on the little M5 as they have nothing that can catch it anyway. I know there is an unknown sector between Argon and Teladi space that would make a perfect Sunrayn Inc public distribution center. It is centrally located so I can use it as a resupply depot and sell a bit of Spaceweed and Liquor to the pirate factions without the cops showing up to shut down operations. My rookie traders are doing well and soon I will be at Trader rank which will allow me to hire professional transport pilots and expand trading capability.

I pick up a tip from a pilot in Grand Exchange about the unknown sector I am looking for. I have never been in this part of the universe before and he says I am just a few sectors from Boron territory. I decide to call in the Remote Explorer and have it map out the sectors I know nothing about.

Pulling up Fleet Ops once again, I look for Explorer. It is in Eighteen Billion and headed for a gate to Xenon territory. Xenon Sector 347.

It slips through the gate before I have a chance to cancel orders and I scramble to link up to Explorer's gravidar. The first thing I see is a thick blue line of blips moving to the north gate. There arent many red dots, about a dozen scattered along the trade route but, there is a Xenon Shipyard in the center of the sector.

Pausing Explorer's commands, I look over the list of ships it is reporting. Over half of that thick blue rope is empty ships! And then I see a lone blue dot about 50km off the west gate. It shows as an M2. Looking over at the ship list, I see a ship entry that has only a single letter in the friendly list. K

I switch back to Fleet Ops and give the order for the battlecruiser to jump to Xenon 347 to secure the area. I set the MARS program to offense and when it arrives in sector, order it to the K's position. I jump my Eclipse in the west gate and pull with 5km of the battlecruiser and teleport over to it, beamdocking the eclipse as soon as I hit the bridge.

Red blips are already turning toward me and within a minute or so the MARS klaxon is sounding and PBE fire is lancing through Xenon ships dusting them in seconds. Pulling up the gravidar, I try out the new cargo collection command and abandoned containers are finding a new home in my cargo bay.

Now for the ships. The prize is the K. There are no red blips within 40km of it now so I use the remote hacking capability onboard the battlecruiser to transfer ownership to me. The blue blip on the gravidar turns green within a couple seconds. The K is mine. Tapping into the K's computer, I can see it has no shields, hull is 52%. No weapons in the banks and no installed software. But it is only 50km from the safety of the Eighteen Billion gate. I order it to the military outpost there and watch it limp off at 32m/s

Keeping the gravidar open, I turn my attention to the multitude of pilotless ships littering the trade lane. Nothing bigger than a TP. money is money though and I want to reverse engineer one of every ship in the universe. By the time I have transferred ownership of 48 ships and docked them in the M2, the K was nearly at the west gate. This was going to be a profitible outing.

[X1000]

Kewl, good jop! I like how you included AMS in your story. Mind if i mention you in mine?
_________________
CEO-
InterStellar Combat and Trading Corp

[Sunrayn]

10km.

Seems like a such a small distance. insignificant really.

Thats how far from the West gate the K was. I had been keeping the area clear of Xenon while loading ships aboard the Battlecruiser and now I swing around to follow the K out.

There are three bright flashes of light right on the K. An L and two M's. Immediately they are hammering the defenseless K. I am nearly in range and the MARS klaxon blares in my ears. A fourth flash of light and a Xenon Q pops in off the K's port bow.

The MARS controlled PBE's are firing in a continous stream and the L and both M's are dusted. The Q's shields are down and PBE fire is eating into the hull but, it's PPC rounds are having no trouble hitting the nearly dead in the water K.

The Q finally explodes in a rainstorm of metal but, I cant stop those 3 glowing white plasma orbs of PPC fire already enroute to the K. Oh Hell No. Time seems to slow down as the K slowly erupts in an outwardly expanding ball of metal and shrapnel.

Still swearing under my breath, I slide through the gate to Eighteen Billion and beam the Eclipse off, transfer to it and send the Battlecruiser back to Argon Prime loaded with ships and goods.

[Sunrayn]

My impromptu trading fleet has done well enough to boost my reputation to Trader so time to get some real wheelers and dealers piloting the three converted M6 haulers and expand my territory. I figure at the same time, they could plaster flyers everywhere they dock; advertising our salvage operation.

Convincing three experienced pilots to fly the converted M6s and set up trade routes wasnt as hard as I thought it would be. They did stick to one sector until they got the hang of things and were comfortable piloting a hauler going 450+ m/s but soon, were even trading in Pirate Alley.

I have docked the Eclipse with the M1 and currently fly one of the converted Discoverers. The Eclipse just didnt have the needed space for E-Cells now that I am continously jumping from sector to sector claiming salvage ships and containers. The M1, M2 and TL are quickly filling with ships to reverse engineer and I have still not found that unknown sector where I want to set up homebase.

I did have to send the M8 bomber back to Apricot Mapping Service as they had installed the wrong type of turret. Some poor guy might lose their job if too many of those ships went out with front lasers instead of torpedo tubes. I grin, thinking of some poor commander calling in his bomber strike force and they go pew-pew instead of launching heavy torpedoes at that enemy base or capital ship.

I have found a number of high yield silicon 'roids that my M2 can tow to the unknown sector by Montalaar. I decide to start with two my remote explorer found in Cho's Defeat. Both 70 yield. Ordering the battlecruiser to Cho's, I wait in Akeela's Beacon for it to get close to the 'roid before jumping in. Being InSector with an M2 on autopilot going nearly 500m/s in an asteroid crowded sector is a recipe for disaster. Once the battlecruiser is in position close to the 'roid, I jump in the south gate and turn east to get out of the traffic lane.

I target the first silicon 'roid and use the new tractor beam software to link up with the battlecruiser's tractor beam. Look mom, I caught an asteroid! Ordering the M2 to jump to the unknown sector, hereafter known as Sunrayn Inc. Field Distribution Center or, It's Mine for short, I sit quietly watching a swarm of spaceflies fly past my ship. This sector seems to be loaded with them.

Damn. Message recieved 'Jumpdrive destroyed'. Apparently hauling asteroids around the universe is going to cost me credits. On the other hand, the software works and means I can set up complexes where I want to whether there silicon and ore already there or not. I transfer the jumpdrive from the parked TM to the battlecruiser and, smartly, if I do say so myself, send the M2 back to Argon Prime to pick up another spare for the TM before calling it back to Cho's for the second 'roid.

I fully expect the Jumpdrive Destroyed message this time and I'm not dissapointed.

I now have just over 7 million credits from my sector traders and can begin building a self sufficient complex. Now to find that unknown sector and set up my homebase.

[X1000]

Ewww. Ouch. My tactor was once destroyed when i use using it! gah.
_________________
CEO-
InterStellar Combat and Trading Corp

[Sunrayn]

Busy. Thats what I have been. Headquarters is now established in the far southeastern reaches of the universe behind Boron territory and I have been feeding it salvaged ships. 59 have been RE'd, including a Teladi Phoenix. Countless others have been scrapped.

Finding a steady supply of abandoned ships means trips into Xenon territory. X-347 and X-598 are trade traffic lanes and offer the very best salvaging opportunities. Of course, every salvage run through those sectors is a kamikaze run. I never know what is waiting just inside the gate. Xenon like to keep their secrets so every satellite I have deployed in those sectors has been found and executed.

Surprisingly enough, the Boron seem to like me. So much so that one actually commed my ship in Queens Retribution. Seems this Boron actually wants me to fly into a Xenon core sector and find his two friends. And people wonder why I dont like Boron? I tell him he is nuts but, If I am ever close to the Xenon core sector I will be sure to look for his buddies.

Sunrayn Inc. Central Distribution Center is up and running in the sector between Montalaar and New Income. Spacefuel and Spaceweed are huge sellers there and I have added BoGas and Cloth Rimes. E-Cells and silicon wafers are over-produced so I have opened up sales of them. There is a steady flow of traffic coming and going and stock is near empty at all times.

I am on friendly terms with all races and even pirate and Dukes traders stop and fill up on alchahol and weed. I am too far from Yaki territory so I will investigate the possibilities of a trade center closer to their home.

[Sunrayn]

Administrative work has filled the last couple of weeks for the most part.

Headquarters is set up and I have built a self-sufficient complex to supply the ship building facilities. All public trading is shut off at both the HQ and complex so visitors are rare.

The only weapons built at the Home Complex are flail missiles and hammer torpedoes to feed the Minotaur. I made the decision early on that no ship, weapon, shield or ammunition that I salvage would ever return to service for any government. Every ship I cant reverse engineer gets scrapped for parts. Weapons, shields, ammo and missiles get stored at HQ until I can figure out what to do with them.

Oh yeah, remember that silly Boron? The one who wanted me to find his buddies deep in Xenon territory? Well, I found them. Rather I found what was left of the ship they were piloting...Get this, I found the ship in what appears to be some sort of Dyson Sphere. I went back to break the bad news to Mahi (thats the Boron's name) and he immediately formed a business partnership with me. I dont remember at any point volunteering to be his partner but, I guess in Boron language, if you hang around one for more than a minute after they are done talking, it means 'yes'. I took him back to the sphere and left him there to play with the new toy. Good riddance to bad Boron I always say.

the jumpdrive hadnt even warmed up when Mahi's voice came over the comms promoting me to Gopher. I am thinking this is just a few promotions below Vice-President. He needs me to secure him a 'few things', starting with Computer components.

Oooh, I get it now...Gopher..Go fer this, Go fer that. Damn tricky Borons. Jokes on him though as I am already producing computer components as I need them to build ships. I jump back to HQ to set up delivery of them. Delivery pilot returns with a note after dropping off the computer parts. Seems my 'partner' needs microchips now. What the hell? How does he seem to know what my complex manufactures? If he asks me for Raster Oil next, I will gut him like a Chelt.

Nope, now he wants me to fly all the way back there and repair some capacitors. All right, I have a repair laser fitted to an M6. I can do this. After fixing the capacitors, Mahi comms me and says ok, you can realign the gate now.

I can realign what?

The gate, you can realign it now with any sector you choose. It will place a gate between gates effectively making this sphere a hub.

No way.

I tap into the 'Hub' computer and 'realign' the gate between Ceo's Sprite and Blue Profit. Within minutes, Teladi ships are popping through gates inside the 'Hub'.

Ok, maybe this business partnership can work out afterall. I am hoping for another promotion when Mahi's voice interrupts me again.

I am going to need some more things...

[X1000]

That cant be good.

hehhe. 'Go fer' hehe...
_________________
CEO-
InterStellar Combat and Trading Corp

[J4Boaz]

Sunrayn Inc

Greetings from J4B Corp, yes im still playing. Though not with that many
scripts/mods.

J Boaz in the J4B FFG-01 Vindicator A 'not TOO beefed up' Apricot Gunbus
Cruising for L class pickups and caps with my CVL barge the 'Lying Bastard' in backup
.. love the design [the L & Lx]
[i run the model viewer, nice little app]

Joachim Alexander Boaz
_________________
The 2 greatest discoveries made by mankind.
Special relativity and chocolate.