Strictly (Duke) Springer - Day 024

I posted this as a "the Demon Core", but it could just as easily
be a hypercharge.

We are on our way back to Regari. I am down to 2 charges at the end of today. I need to purchase 4 more hypercharges once I get there… If I get there. Palatek is really a bad place.

I’m approached by two ships, which heavily out gun me. I have the option to jump away, so I do that. I enter the Regari system and I am not detected. I descend to the planet. I spent two hours jumping and then 4 more landing. I have 4 hours of daylight left.

Let’s talk about economic cost of space travel. Hypercharges cannot be stored, the can only be installed in empty slots. I have four empty slots. Hypercharges have a standard cost of 500 secs. As a standard cost, they are not modified by wealth codes. This is so you can’t get stuck in a bad system for a want of 500 secs. times a ridiculous number. Another cost of installing hypercharges is, it takes the rest of the day, which WILL screw you an the most inopportune time.

In my last run, I made 4600 secs. I used up 7 skimmers, 20 RU and two hypercharges. The skimmers were free. The RU were not, but didn’t cost that much. The hypercharges cost 2000 secs. for four replacements, which I currently don’t have yet. I really spent several weeks digging in the dirt for less than 3000 secs. It would take forty, forty! runs like this to pay off the ship. That’s not a fun game.

I need those hypercharges and something else to sell. The ruins are right out. I’ve had weeks of that. The Industrial, Mining, Colony and Rural are secondary objectives as they have a lot of good opportunities. I need weapons and I need crew, so we are off to the Slums.

We are detected. We have a contact that wants to buy all kinds of illegal stuff I don’t have. It takes no time.

My very next roll yields something great, heavy hand weapons for 23 secs. each for Tech Level 5 weapon. They also take up 1 CU. My ship can hold me, plus 15 other people in cramped conditions. I want those heavy hand weapons, and a lot of them. I buy ten, one for every crewman, plus 4 extras.

My next roll, I get regular side arms. They cost 4 each, are tech level 4 and take up no space. I purchase 100 of them. Again, one for every crew member. I can’t get hypercharges here, so tomorrow, we will move on to the spaceport.

Our assets are:

1 Antelope starship, which I owe 118,300 secs. in principle.

1 Stasis pod 2 CU,

15 Fuel Units,

3 Repair units,

20 Life Support Units,

1 U-bot,

2 PS-bots,

7 U-suit,

10 Heavy Hand Weapons,\

100 Side Arms,

and the ship is fueled with 2 hypercharges.

I have 2,795 secs.