Superluminal Vagrant Twin
C.E.J. Pacian
achievements aliens built-in hints cat cats compassless cover art custom parser cyborg Dyson sphere exploration future gender-neutral protagonist grue limited verbs money no EXAMINE planets present tense race recommended for beginners sci-fi science fiction SF siblings space space travel spaceship speed stars trade travel twins Xyzzy Awards 2016 XYZZY Best Game XYZZY Best Implementation
A text-only space sim. Ply the spaceways. Make five million credits. Buy back your twin.
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"It's not just the interest on your loan," you remember him saying. "It's maintaining the cryo tube, storing it, powering it, insuring it... Shit, even paying for me to come out here and give you this little reminder goes on the bill."

You waited for him to get to the point.

"Five million credits. An even five mil. 5000k. I'm rounding down here. I'm on your side. You come find us on Autark; you pay off your balance; you get your twin back."

Niv holstered his blaster and left then. When he was through the airlock, his goons left too.

A grey, airless world, left lopsided by some ancient cataclysm.

A crackling transmission reaches your ship from the surface. "I see you up there, captain. You going to land any time soon?"
You talk to the szymon
Szy lurks in the bowels of your starship, doting over the core systems. A bit too much radiation exposure has left him a cybernetically-preserved head floating - detached and jawless - in the space helmet of a heavily patched old EVA suit.

Szy's a pretty good engineer. And he works for free, which is just about in your price range.

His simulated voice rasps and crackles. "Come to listen to an old slingshot mechanic prattle on, captain?"

(Press Z to listen. Press any other key to say farewell.)
Wait
(Press Z to listen. Press any other key to say farewell.)"You
heard the lady, captain. We gonna land or what?"
Land
A cratered and mountainous wasteland that curves noticeably at the horizon. Abandoned mining equipment is strewn across the landscape.

A dilapidated saloon sits in the shadow of a broad chasm, staffed by an automated bartender and patronised by long dead astronauts, mummified in their spacesuits.

An ageless woman with long, golden hair sits incongruously at
the bar. "Don't be shy," she says. "Talk to me."
You jump
(Szymon)
Szymon is here at the Surface of Boony.
You talk to the woman
The woman turns to you. A jagged scar runs diagonally across her unnaturally beautiful face and her right arm has been replaced with a cheap robotic claw. "My name's Aurea," she says. "And you need money."

She's not wrong.

"I can get you ten million creds," she continues. "If you can get me to Haven. Yes, that Haven - the one inside Hardshell."

This whole thing was a wild goose chase. You're only here because you're desperate.

The auto-bartender hands her a shot of something glowing blue and she throws it back. "Don't look like that, captain. I'm living proof that Hardshell's not impenetrable. It's where I came from.
Take me with you, anyway. I've been starship crew before. I
might be useful."
You take Aurea
Aurea climbs aboard and slides into the co-pilot's seat. "Okay, let's launch. Unless you want to check your ship's status
first."
Status
Credit balance: 0k (That is to say: you're broke.)
Equipment: spacesuit (don't need air)

Crew:
Yourself, Aurea and Szymon

Installed systems:
jump drive (superluminal travel)

Fuel:
2/5 fusion cells charged

Readable Data:
debt note, flight manual, ship's log and trading log

Cargo:
nothing
You talk to the bartender
The automated bartender babbles a few platitudes from a broken voice recording.
You order the drink
The automated bartender serves a glass of your favourite poison.
You go to the north
To move: jump to worlds you have heard of, land and
launch.
You jump to Haven
(You launch first.)

A grey, airless world, left lopsided by some ancient cataclysm.

Aurea rests her space boots on the dashboard. "You want to learn more about Hardshell, you should jump to Lonely Rock, talk to Cifez.
But you're the captain, of course."

You could try jumping into Hardshell, but not knowing where anything is inside it, you'd probably materialise inside solid matter - just like every other idiot who ever tried it.
You jump to the lonely Rock
A low drone begins to emanate from the heart of your ship, rising in pitch and intensity.
pitch and intensity.Slowly, a feeling of falling, of pitched acceleration begins to grow in the pit of your stomach. The universe elongates - stretching into a single line.
elongates - stretching into a single line.Blinding light.
elongates - stretching into a single line.Blinding light.Deafening white noise.
white noise.(The fuel warning light blinks on.)

Though it's not as bright as any star, the luminescence of Hardshell dominates the sky: a furrowed, flesh-and-metal sphere enclosing the entire star system. The entire star system, that is, except the irregular planetoid below; a little left over chunk of rock and ice.

An automated, meteor-shredded fuel station in low orbit offers the chance to refuel. Or it would if you weren't broke.
Land
The horizon bends precipitously and asymmetrically. The only habitation is a single transparent dome.

A charity worker of uncertain origin has set up a refuge in the dome. His name badge reads simply "Cifez".

Rufo-C maintains a radio telescope directed at Hardshell.

Belisent the Unready lives quietly in the dome's shadows.
You talk to Cifez
Cifez is a tousle-haired man, not quite young any more, wearing a practical jumpsuit.

"Aurea," he says, noticing your companion. "Never thought I'd see you again."

"I want to get back in. To go home."

"Really?" He studies her carefully for a moment. "Didn't you say it was someone by the name of Prex who helped you escape?"

Aurea nods. "He helped a lot of us out."

"Well, he passed through here himself a while back. Guess if he knew how to get out, he might know how to get back in."

"Things must be really bad in there," Aurea says, "if Prex gave up on it. Where did he wind up?"

Cifez sighs. "Somehow he caught the attention of the Diasporan Commonwealth. Some official types took him away. To Pearl
probably. I don't think he was a prisoner or anything, if that makes a difference."
You talk to Cifez
Cifez is a tousle-haired man, not quite young any more, wearing a practical jumpsuit.

"Prex went to Pearl, I think. After that, the flow of refugees
slowed considerably."
You talk to Rufo-the C
A young man with flawless hair and features, wearing cheap, eclectic clothes.

"Oh, hey. I, um, just maintain this equipment for Dr Vosov-R.
Of course, this is small fry, but after what happened we had to scale back our operation."

Aurea steps right up to him. "What do you mean, exactly?"

He shrinks back nervously. "We, uh, landed on the surface of Hardshell. The doc wanted to try and map the interior with his neutrino scanner. But, as soon as we started, the shell reacted pretty badly. We had to get out of there. No-one died or anything, but our grant was cut."

"And where is the doctor now?"

Rufo shrugs. "Probably back on Diallo. He's more a theory guy
than a field guy like, um, me."
You talk to Belisent
Rags are heaped high on this ageless woman. A lock of fiery red hair escapes her makeshift wimple.

Aurea blocks her path. "You're still here, Belisent?"

The woman seems to consider trying to shuffle away, then meets Aurea's gaze. "Just wanted to get out. Didn't need to go far."

"I'm trying to get back in."

Belisent remains expressionless. "You're an idiot." After a second, she adds, "But you're not alone. Barbarians jumped a whole fleet into the World. Picked up some of the panic even out here. Only one ship made it back out, of course."

"Who?"

"I only got snatches. Patchwork people; all different pieces stitched together. A name, perhaps: Viscera."

Aurea clenches her remaining natural hand. "Amalgs."

"Barbarians," Belisent says, shambling off. "Just like they said."
You talk to Belisent
Rags are heaped high on this ageless woman. A lock of fiery red hair escapes her makeshift wimple.

"I gave you the name Viscera. Now leave me alone."
You examine the trading log
Known Merchants:
-None

Other Opportunities:
-None known
Launch
Though it's not as bright as any star, the luminescence of Hardshell dominates the sky: a furrowed, flesh-and-metal sphere enclosing the entire star system. The entire star system, that is, except the irregular planetoid below; a little left over chunk of rock and ice.

An automated, meteor-shredded fuel station in low orbit offers the chance to refuel. Or it would if you weren't broke.

"You know we've only got enough fuel for one more jump,
right?" Aurea says. "We should head to somewhere in the Diasporan Commonwealth. The hyperspace gates'll let us jump between Commonwealth worlds without using up any fusion cells."

"And hey," she adds, "don't forget we're in this together. You need help, you talk to me, okay?"
You record Pearl
You record Pearl in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You jump to
What do you want to jump to?
Status
Credit balance: 0k (That is to say: you're broke.)
Equipment: spacesuit (don't need air)

Crew:
Yourself, Aurea and Szymon

Installed systems:
jump drive (superluminal travel)

Fuel:
1/5 fusion cells charged

Readable Data:
debt note, flight manual, ship's log and trading log

Cargo:
nothing
Record Diallo
You record Diallo in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You read the log
Which do you mean, the ship's log or the trading log?
You read ship's log
Boony, Lonely Rock+

+fuel station in orbit

Places of potential interest: Pearl and Diallo
You jump pearl
(Red lights blink on around the cockpit. You're out of fuel.)

Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.
You talk to the viktoria
Viktoria's a stocky woman in a baggy flight suit, sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"You heading to Khamsin? Got a package for Chief Drake. 1k credits if you deliver it and get back here in one piece."
Y.
"Okay, captain. See you when you're done."

You store the package in your hold.
Record khamsin
You record Khamsin in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the freighter captain
Your comm screen shows only static as the captain drones lugubriously across the link.

"Just got this piece of junk overhauled at Cygnet and it crapped out after one jump. Now my buyer's nowhere to be seen and the parts I need are on order from the back end of nowhere."

He sighs heavily. "Look, captain, if you'll buy this crate of
Khamsin red wine for 2k credits it'll really help me out. Worth
more to a connoisseur, but where am I gonna find one of those in orbit around Pearl?"
You jump khamsin
(via hyperspace gate)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.
You talk to the Chief
"This is dangerous work, but it pays well. Uh, no, there aren't any openings at the moment."
You give the package to the chief
"Perfect. It's so hard to get fresh fruit here. My team will be delighted."
You jump pearl
(via hyperspace gate)

Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.
You talk to the viktoria
Viktoria's a stocky woman in a baggy flight suit, sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"Nice work, captain. Here's your creds. Come talk to me if you want more work."
You talk to the viktoria
Viktoria's a stocky woman in a baggy flight suit, sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"Want to run another delivery for 1k? This one's for Grayson at Cygnet."
Y.
"Okay, captain. See you when you're done."

You store the package in your hold.
You jump cygnet
(via hyperspace gate)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
You talk to Grayson
You order a shot of your favourite poison.

Grayson nods his tattooed head and slides the glass to you across the bar. "You won't find better grog in the Commonwealth, short of visiting my dear old home of Nereus."
You give the package
(to Grayson)
"Ah... More of the secret ingredient for my famous Antimatter Bomb. Relax, captain: it's just a cocktail."
You talk to the traveller
The traveller raises his tankard. "No heat shield, so I can't make atmo. No headjack, so I can't talk to weird cyborgs. No visa chip, so I can't see the Imago Republic. But this place... it always welcomes me with open arms."

Grayson sighs. "I think you've had enough, old man."
Record nereus
You record Nereus in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You look at the log
Which do you mean, the ship's log or the trading log?
You examine the trading log
Known Merchants:
-None

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl

Other Opportunities:
-dejected freighter captain, selling a crate of Khamsin red (Pearl)
You give the wine
Whom do you want to give the crate of Khamsin red to?
You jump cygnet
(via hyperspace gate)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
You give the wine to Grayson
"Captain, I order my booze special. I'm very particular about it. I certainly don't serve my valued customers the piss that Khamsin passes for wine."
You record imago republic
The Imago Republic is a nation of multiple worlds. You can only jump to one at a time.
Land
A landscape of vast mining machines and small, perfunctory buildings. Superheavy cargo transports crawl along the oversized roads. Most of the people around are shellskins, the smaller number of spacesuited figures seeming strange and unwieldy by comparison.

Several ships are being overhauled in the mechanised dry dock run by that sly dog, Matej.

Devrim directs the haulage traffic from a squat, functional
tower.

A stern forewoman oversees the operation of a deuterium mine.

a panic, clipboard clutched to his chest.

VR-bar.
You talk to Szy
Szy lurks in the bowels of your starship, doting over the core systems. A bit too much radiation exposure has left him a cybernetically-preserved head floating - detached and jawless - in the space helmet of a heavily patched old EVA suit.

His simulated voice rasps and crackles. "Come to listen to an old reactor tech prattle on, captain?"

(Press Z to listen. Press any other key to say farewell.)
You wait
(Press Z to listen. Press any other key to say
farewell.)"Jumping between Commonwealth worlds will rest our poor
jump drive. And aren't there a few Commonwealth worlds we haven't stopped by yet?"

farewell.)Szymon returns to work. "Don't be a stranger, captain."
You talk to the clerk
"Everything is always a mess; everything is wrongly ordered, misdelivered, undelivered and late. Say, captain, want to buy a
large oxygen canister for 2k credits? I need to get it off my
landing pad to make way for a million other mistakes that haven't happened yet."
You talk to the punk
"Yeah, yeah: detente, we're all friends now, forgive and forget. But I don't care how long ago the Battle of Franklin was, I can't blame the Imago Republic for keeping their borders closed after that."
You talk to Devrim
Devrim's a wiry, hawkish man in a jumpsuit emblazoned with corporate logos.

"I haven't seen you in a while, captain. I suppose there's much more lucrative ways for a starship captain to make money than ferrying cargo pods into orbit. Still, if you need a few kilocredits, I could give you a small job for old time's sake?"
Yes
"I've left them on the landing pad. Just take each one into orbit and I'll pay you 5k."
You take the pods
cargo pod: The shipping-and-receiving clerk directs a heavy lifter to heft the cargo pod into your ship's hold. It just about fits.
cargo pod: These cargo pods are huge. You only have room in your hold for one at a time.
cargo pod: These cargo pods are huge. You only have room in your hold for one at a time.
Launch
Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.

and collects the cargo pod you're carrying.
Land
A landscape of vast mining machines and small, perfunctory buildings. Superheavy cargo transports crawl along the oversized roads. Most of the people around are shellskins, the smaller number of spacesuited figures seeming strange and unwieldy by comparison.

Several ships are being overhauled in the mechanised dry dock run by that sly dog, Matej.

Devrim directs the haulage traffic from a squat, functional
tower.

A stern forewoman oversees the operation of a deuterium mine.

a panic, clipboard clutched to his chest.

VR-bar.

You can also see two cargo pods here.
You take the pod
(the cargo pod)
The shipping-and-receiving clerk directs a heavy lifter to heft the cargo pod into your ship's hold. It just about fits.
Land
A landscape of vast mining machines and small, perfunctory buildings. Superheavy cargo transports crawl along the oversized roads. Most of the people around are shellskins, the smaller number of spacesuited figures seeming strange and unwieldy by comparison.

Several ships are being overhauled in the mechanised dry dock run by that sly dog, Matej.

Devrim directs the haulage traffic from a squat, functional
tower.

A stern forewoman oversees the operation of a deuterium mine.

a panic, clipboard clutched to his chest.

VR-bar.

You can also see a cargo pod here.
Launch
Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.

and collects the cargo pod you're carrying.

You receive a transmission from Devrim. "Thanks, captain. I've
sent you the credits."
You talk to the forewoman
She's tall, loping and silver-shelled.

"My boys and girls give their all. Makes me proud. But they do work up an awful thirst."
You sell the wine to the forewoman
"I know a lot of thirsty miners who will really appreciate this. Sure, connoisseurs turn their noses up at Khamsin wine, but to us, booze is booze. 10k credits good enough for ya?"
You buy the map
You buy the Diasporan Commonwealth star map for 2k credits, leaving you with 13k credits.
You read the star map
The following worlds are part of the Diasporan Commonwealth: Pearl, Storm, Khamsin, Cygnet, Nereus, Skadi and Autark.
Launch
Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
You jump to Pearl
(via hyperspace gate)

Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.
You jump to the cygnet
(via hyperspace gate)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the industrial fuel rig for 1k credits each. 5 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You jump to the Storm
(via hyperspace gate)

An unbroken layer of cloud leaves this planet an almost featureless grey sphere.

The Commonwealth military fleet is in orbit: hulking warships
ready to jump into trouble at a moment's notice.

defence network.

A merchant service fuel tanker services civilian traffic.
You talk to the lyulf
An imperiously bearded officer appears on your screen.

"You're welcome to land, captain, but this is a predominantly military world. Civilian freighters are better off going to Cygnet."
You jump to the nereus
(via hyperspace gate)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.
You talk to the meriel
"I like it up here. Watching the clouds, chatting with the odd space captain. Not that I'm calling you odd or anything. Although... Anyway, much better than doing national service on Storm. Deserting was the best thing I ever did."
Land
Nereus has an atmosphere. You'll need a heat shield to get close without burning up.
You jump to the skadi
(via hyperspace gate)

A bright white moon, its surface smoothed over by cryovolcanic snow. There are very few lights visible on its surface.

A small squadron of private security ships monitor traffic in the system, led by the infamous combat synthetic, Kala-D.
You talk to the kala-the d.
A harsh, authoritarian voice over the comm: "Traffic in orbit around Skadi is strictly monitored. No dumping space junk; no smuggling flora or fauna; no deviating from your designated landing path. We are authorised to use lethal force."
Land
A sealed, metal-sided citadel grasps the underside of the frozen surface: an upside-down, underwater city. Plant fronds dangle into depths where strange silhouettes swim and dart.

Quarantine is a way of life on Skadi. Most citizens wear cleansuits and face masks.

Many parts of the city are closed to you, but the canteen run by
Chef Elin and Chef Iason is open to all.

A researcher picks sadly at his food in the canteen.

A red hot diver melts through the ice far from the city.
You talk to Elin
A big, red cheeked woman with an infectious smile.

"Iason learned to cook in the military, serving slop to the troops on Storm. To him everything is meat, meat, meat. But if I had the right ingredients I could cook a vegetarian meal that would knock everyone's socks off."
You talk to Iason
He hacks into slabs of meat, violently, with a sizeable cleaver.

"People in this city live their whole lives being told not to touch the animals. So naturally, they want to eat animals. It
satisfies a deep urge to rebel. But the meat I have to work with here... Abysmal."
You talk to the researcher
"Yeuch. I know this place is a research facility and not a pleasure resort, but the slop they serve here is unbearable."
You talk to the diver
Steam rises from her wetsuit. Empty jars clink at her belt. She levels a harpoon gun at you, in a not-too-unfriendly kind of way.

"Unauthorised specimen. 2k. Cross me and regret it."
You read the trading log
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet

Other Opportunities:
-shipping-and-receiving clerk, selling a large oxygen canister (Surface of Cygnet)
-red hot diver, selling an unauthorised specimen (Subsurface of Skadi)

Potential Buyers:
Chef Elin (Subsurface of Skadi), Chef Iason (Subsurface of Skadi)
Launch
A bright white moon, its surface smoothed over by cryovolcanic snow. There are very few lights visible on its surface.

A small squadron of private security ships monitor traffic in the system, led by the infamous combat synthetic, Kala-D.
You talk to Devrim
Devrim's a wiry, hawkish man in a jumpsuit emblazoned with corporate logos.

"Got a few cargo pods to ferry into orbit if you want to make a few kilocredits?"
Yes
"I've left them on the landing pad. Just take each one into orbit and I'll pay you 5k."
You buy the heat shield
You buy the sleek heat shield for 10k credits, leaving you with 3k credits.
Launch
Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
Land
Blue skies; carefully managed fields and forests; air that's almost baseline-breathable. Elevated highways pass over the greenery with minimal impact, tangling together at the foot of narrow skyscrapers.

The tallest spire reaches towards the gas giant above, satellite towers splitting off like branches: the Commonwealth Building itself. A cyborg representative allows citizens to query the government systems.

embassy.

Besnik's small knickknack shop stands on splayed stilts, trees
leaning out from beneath it in search of sunlight.

The landing pad is maintained by the shellskin, Katalin.
You talk to the cyborg
A friendly face on the end of thick, articulated data hoses.

"How can I help you?"

Aurea steps forward, golden hair billowing improbably. "I'm looking for someone by the name of Prex. He originated on Haven. And he might have given his full name as Praxiteles the Unsatisfied."

The representative thinks for the briefest moment. "Prex. Biological classification: human, other, modified. Granted asylum approximately three cycles ago. After fifty days, he boarded a transport bound for Jarland. No other public information is available."

Aurea frowns. "Jarland? And yes, captain, before you ask, I have a dumb name too. No, I'm not telling you what it is."
Record jarland
You record Jarland in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the ambassador
The ambassador is an unnaturally dignified woman in a neat business suit.

"I'm sorry," she tells you, "but I have no authority over the distribution of visa chips. The Immigration Ministry on Venter controls access to the Republic."
Record Venter
You record Venter in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to Besnik
Besnik's carefully cultivated oddball persona is completed by a patched waistcoat and antique pince-nez glasses.

"Not got much here that'll interest a space captain. This autodoc
unit maybe? It's a curio by modern standards, but some folks out
there in the black might be lucky to have it. I'll let you take it away it for 2k credits."
You talk to Katalin
The sun gleams off her opalescent skin.

"Yeah, I know, a shellskin living on the most hospitable world in the Commonwealth. I've heard it all before. I may not need air, but I like forests and fields. And vacuum is only a short hop away, in any case."
You read the trading log
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet

Other Opportunities:
-Besnik, selling an autodoc unit (Surface of Pearl) -shipping-and-receiving clerk, selling a large oxygen canister (Surface of Cygnet)
-red hot diver, selling an unauthorised specimen (Subsurface of Skadi)

Potential Buyers:
Chef Elin (Subsurface of Skadi), Chef Iason (Subsurface of Skadi)
You talk to Aurea
An unnaturally beautiful, golden-haired woman with a jagged scar across her face and a cheap robotic arm. She slouches in the co-pilot's seat.

"Prex knows more than anyone about getting out of Hardshell, so hopefully he can get me back in. He was last seen heading to Jarland."

"We should be on the lookout for an amalg called Viscera."

"Dr Vosov-R on Diallo tried to scan Hardshell or something."
Launch
Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.
Land
Rain pelts down from the thick clouds above, feeding rivers that wind through warped and improbable rock formations. Air pressure and temperature are tolerable, but the pure carbon dioxide atmosphere is unbreathable for even the hardiest diasporans. Every building - civilian or military - is a robust fortress or sunken bunker. Overground traffic consists of a few rugged all-terrain rovers.

A uniformed general meticulously maintains his garden under a reinforced dome.

An off-duty soldier throws back drinks in an underground bar.

Sitting in the lee of an austere building, military-issue breather mask held over his face, is a homeless veteran.

A combat synthetic skulks around the landing pad in ill-fitting civilian clothes.
You talk to the general
He wears mixed-terrain camouflage fatigues and brightly coloured gardening gloves.

"Good day, captain. Admiring my little domed oasis? Those spiked bubble-plants are from Khamsin. The pond vines are descended from native Skadi flora. And that willow tree? Well, I picked it up during a police action on Unity. It has sentimental value, even if it's ugly as sin."
Record unity
You record Unity in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the soldier
"Cyborgs to the left of us, bioroids to the right. The Commonwealth's the only place left where you can find true humans." Her
gills swell with suppressed rage.
You talk to the veteran
"You're a vagabond, captain? Me too. Used my old buddies still in the service to get hold of this classified intelligence report,
fresh up-to-date. Gotta be worth at least 5k credits. I don't want to know what you do with it. I don't care. Gave my heart and soul at the Battle of Franklin and damned if I got any loyalty back from them after."
Record franklin
You record Franklin in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the synthetic
"Please. My name is Link-J. They made me to kill, but I don't want to. Please, take me to Venter so I can be with my people. I only
have 13k credits, but it's all yours."
You take Link
"Thank you. I will require little in the way of sustenance."

Link-J moves his few belongings into one of your ship's smaller cabins.
You jump to the nereus
(You launch first.)

An unbroken layer of cloud leaves this planet an almost featureless grey sphere.

The Commonwealth military fleet is in orbit: hulking warships
ready to jump into trouble at a moment's notice.

defence network.

A merchant service fuel tanker services civilian traffic.

(via hyperspace gate)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.
Land
Airy, simple buildings break up a multi-coloured and chemically unstable mix of diasporan and native flora. The ocean sparkles at the horizon in every direction.

Nereus' most famous resident is the radical artist Tomer.

A nervous girl paces the pier, twirling her parasol.

A marine biologist lives out of his submersible, washing strung between two palm trees.

A group of surfers lounge around a beach barbecue.
You talk to Tomer
You find him to be surprisingly accessible. Also wild-eyed and moustachioed.

"You will buy this decompressionist statue. The last one I will
ever make. Now I spit on the decompressionists. They are stale and trite. 1k credits. I'm charging you too much. I should pay you to take this garbage away. But I must eat."
You talk to the girl
She notices you from a distance and calls out. "You! Space captain! Excellent! I need something romantic and surprising and exotic and perfect. You must have found something like that somewhere right? Please, it's very important..."
You talk to the biologist
He shakes his head. "Nereus was settled too early in the diaspora. Before we knew better. What I wouldn't give for the quarantine they have on Skadi. This ecosystem will never be the same again."
You talk to the surfers
Their necks are gilled, their hands and feet webbed.

"Man," one says, "what a mindscrew that Autark is in the Commonwealth and Jarland isn't."

Her friend shrugs. "Jarland values its independence, dude."

Another butts in: "And Autark would be just another lawless backwater getting owned by the amalgs without the Commonwealth fleet only a gate away."
You jump to Khamsin
(You launch first.)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.

(via hyperspace gate)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.
Land
Skyscrapers cluster together in the planet's only city, a small metropolis at the heart of a barren, dusty wasteland.

A party of robed hunters has made camp outside the city.

A caravan of nomads circumnavigates the planet's tiny ocean.

Rella camps out in the spikelands.

landing pad.
You talk to Link
"Please, when will we arrive at Venter?"
You talk to the hunters
Protected from the harsh elements by billowing robes, they peer at you through tinted goggles. One of them steps forward to speak halting Nacrese.

"This is the last of our sand dragon meat. For 2k."
You talk to the nomads
They walk on elongated, webbed feet and watch you through thickly lashed eyes.

"This pilgrimage is harder than even the ancestors decreed. In their time this ocean was freshwater. Now it is brine."
You talk to Rella
Long, dark-blonde hair spills out around her utilitarian gas mask.

"These lands are harsh and strange, but if you respect them, you can still find a home here."
You talk to man
"Why did you even come to this hole? I'm Mirek. I'm tired and I'm bored to death. Can I catch a ride to Xanadu? I'll pay you 20k.
Life is easy there, not like this place."
You record the xanadu
You record Xanadu in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You buy the meat
You buy the sand dragon meat for 2k credits, leaving you with 1k credits.
You read the trading
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet

Other Opportunities:
-Besnik, selling an autodoc unit (Surface of Pearl)
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)
-shipping-and-receiving clerk, selling a large oxygen canister (Surface of Cygnet)
-Tomer, selling a decompressionist statue (Surface of Nereus)
-red hot diver, selling an unauthorised specimen (Subsurface of Skadi)

Potential Buyers:
coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus), Chef Elin (Subsurface of Skadi), Chef Iason (Subsurface of Skadi)

Cargo:
some sand dragon meat
You jump to the skadi
(You launch first.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.

(via hyperspace gate)

A bright white moon, its surface smoothed over by cryovolcanic snow. There are very few lights visible on its surface.

A small squadron of private security ships monitor traffic in the system, led by the infamous combat synthetic, Kala-D.
Land
A sealed, metal-sided citadel grasps the underside of the frozen surface: an upside-down, underwater city. Plant fronds dangle into depths where strange silhouettes swim and dart.

Quarantine is a way of life on Skadi. Most citizens wear cleansuits and face masks.

Many parts of the city are closed to you, but the canteen run by
Chef Elin and Chef Iason is open to all.

A researcher picks sadly at his food in the canteen.

A red hot diver melts through the ice far from the city.
You sell the meat
Whom do you want to sell the sand dragon meat to?
Iason
"The meat of a Diasporan animal gone wild. Sand dragon. A delicacy on its own world, let alone on this world of limited menus. 11k credits. A fair price, you agree?"
You look
A sealed, metal-sided citadel grasps the underside of the frozen surface: an upside-down, underwater city. Plant fronds dangle into depths where strange silhouettes swim and dart.

Quarantine is a way of life on Skadi. Most citizens wear cleansuits and face masks.

Many parts of the city are closed to you, but the canteen run by
Chef Elin and Chef Iason is open to all.

A researcher eats intermittently in the canteen.

A red hot diver melts through the ice far from the city.
You talk to the researcher
"Would you believe it, the food is actually getting better round here? It still has its off days, though."
You jump to the Autark
(You launch first.)

A bright white moon, its surface smoothed over by cryovolcanic snow. There are very few lights visible on its surface.

A small squadron of private security ships monitor traffic in the system, led by the infamous combat synthetic, Kala-D.

(via hyperspace gate)

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.
Status
Credit balance: 12k
Equipment: spacesuit (don't need air)

Crew:
Yourself, Aurea and Szymon

Installed systems:
jump drive (superluminal travel)
sleek heat shield (atmo entry)

Fuel:
5/5 fusion cells charged

Passengers:
Link-J (Venter)

Readable Data:
Diasporan Commonwealth star map, debt note, flight manual, ship's log and trading log

Cargo:
nothing
You talk to Leda
Your transmission is refused immediately.
You talk to the Silver
Voluptuous and barely dressed; her hair spills out around her in a ridiculous cloud of floating curls.

"This race is a hyperbolic orbit out past the furthest moon. First place gets 6k, sixth place 1k. Our sixth racer just pulled out - overclocked reactor melting down or something - so even if you come in dead last you still make some creds. So, do you wanna race, captain?"
Yes
"What's your ship called, then? Something fast-sounding, I hope."
Zuwarmdraussen
"Let me make sure I got that right. Your ship is the Zuwarmdraussen?"
Yes
"Now if you'll just sign these disclaimers, waivers and other things you don't need to read too carefully, you're ready to race!"

You line your ship up alongside the other racers and plot your course past the furthest moon from the ice giant. Crowds waving banners press against the habitat's windows, their jubilant cries failing to carry across the vacuum.

A glowing hologram of Silver throbs into existence beyond the starting line. "Ready..."
line. "Ready...""Set..."
line. "Ready...""Set...""GO!"

You slam your ship's throttle to the max.
You slam your ship's throttle to the max.The other racers, in their specialised ships, easily pull away from you, leaving you trailing far behind. By the time you reach the finish line, another glass-sided habitat, your underdog status seems to have won you some fans.

"And crawling over the finish line in sixth place, it's the Zuwarmdraussen! It seems that sometimes you do get a prize
just for taking part."

Your credit balance ticks up 1k to 13k.
Land
Domes and arcologies crowd the horizon: spacious mansions, dirty communes, unregulated sweatshops and outlandish temples.

A trendy office neighbours the landing pad, rented out by an entrepreneur for unspecified business.

Luciano conducts his business in an avant-garde park,
talking on multiple comm screens at once.

A cyborg starship pilot drowns her sorrows in a holo-nudie bar.

Autark her home.

The Snake will be in his private dome, surrounded by
bodyguards.
You talk to the entrepreneur
She lights a cigarette. "I don't even know how I made a profit on Pearl with all that red tape. This place is a paradise."
You talk to Luciano
A handsome, well-dressed man with a winning smile and immaculate hair.

"I'm sorry, I don't think you have an appointment. Have your people call my people."
You talk to the pilot
Her silver skull sweeps back to an aerodynamic point. Not to go faster. Just to look good.

"Name's spitfire6. Had a few too many close calls out there, but the deep black still calls to me. You need a pilot who can dodge amalgs for a couple of rounds, I'll work for an upfront fee of 5k."

Pay her 5k credits?
No
"Your loss, captain."
You talk to the violet
Violet only agrees to talk to you on a pre-paid vidphone. It's unclear whether the hard-femme punk on the screen is her real appearance or a simulation.

"You want in to the Imago Republic and you don't want to jump through hoops? I got my hands on a private key from the 'roid Immigration Ministry on Venter. Don't ask how. So what I got now is the only guaranteed perfect forged visa chip in existence. 45k credits."
You talk to Snake
A bodyguard stops you at the dome's entrance. "You got five million credits, captain? No? Turn around."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You talk to the zila
The marshal's an ancient, plasticky synthetic in a pre-Diasporan spacesuit and a ten-gallon hat.

"You're looking to make some creds, maybe get a visa chip? Well, you're in luck. Unlike some nations I could name, the Imago Republic respects sovereign territory. That said, sometimes fugitives from our law wind up abroad. To that end we offer sizeable rewards to those who can arrest them on our behalf."

He hands you the Imago Republic's most wanted list. "We can
always use more bounty hunters, captain."
You read the wanted list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - 50k reward
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - 50k reward
Luciano (racketeering) - 25k reward
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - 25k reward
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
Land
A synth-futurist city of wide open spaces and glass-sided buildings that would seem almost idyllic were it not sitting in the crater of an airless ice moon. Bioroid citizens stroll through the plazas and avenues in casual clothes, unbothered by the hard vacuum.

Space-suited refugees form a lengthy queue outside the Border Ministry, where they are turned away by a polite official.

immigrants.

A scruffy scientist sits on his luggage beside the landing pad.

Link-J disembarks, pausing to shake your hand, awkwardly. "My
journey is far from over, but this part wouldn't have been possible without you. Here is the 13k I promised."
You talk to Aurea
An unnaturally beautiful, golden-haired woman with a jagged scar across her face and a cheap robotic arm. She slouches in the co-pilot's seat.

"Prex knows more than anyone about getting out of Hardshell, so hopefully he can get me back in. He was last seen heading to Jarland."

"We should be on the lookout for an amalg called Viscera."

"Dr Vosov-R on Diallo tried to scan Hardshell or something."
You look
A synth-futurist city of wide open spaces and glass-sided buildings that would seem almost idyllic were it not sitting in the crater of an airless ice moon. Bioroid citizens stroll through the plazas and avenues in casual clothes, unbothered by the hard vacuum.

Space-suited refugees form a lengthy queue outside the Border Ministry, where they are turned away by a polite official.

Link-J has joined the queue.

immigrants.

A scruffy scientist sits on his luggage beside the landing pad.
You talk to the refugees
You pick a refugee at random. "I fought in the Battle of Franklin. Now here I am."
Continue
You pick a refugee at random. "I'm a bioroid if you can believe it. Just had the dumb luck to be gestated in some far flung shithole."
Continue
You pick a refugee at random. "I couldn't get into the Commonwealth. Seems even less likely I'll get in here. But what choice do I have?"
Continue
You pick a refugee at random. "Used to be a nomad. Looking for a home."
Continue
You pick a refugee at random. "Amalgs destroyed my home. I was lucky to get away."
You talk to the official
"I'm afraid the Border Minister has been called away to Zhao. I have no authority to issue visa chips myself."
You record Zhao
You record Zhao in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to Link
"As I said, my journey is far from over, but already I have made friends. Do not worry for me."
You talk to the immigrants
Someone who clearly warrants considerable respect among the workers beckons you into one of their break rooms. "Hey, captain. So life ain't so bad for us shellskin here on Venter. Working hard, sure, but we get visa chips at the end of our contracts. Those poor bastards outside the Border Ministry though..."

She shakes her smooth, featureless head. "They're supposed to get help. But it doesn't always work out that way. Look, all I'm saying is, you get us some oxygen, we'll pay for it, see it gets distributed to who needs it."
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter

Other Opportunities:
-Besnik, selling an autodoc unit (Surface of Pearl)
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)
-shipping-and-receiving clerk, selling a large oxygen canister (Surface of Cygnet)
-Tomer, selling a decompressionist statue (Surface of Nereus)
-red hot diver, selling an unauthorised specimen (Subsurface of Skadi)

Potential Buyers:
coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus), Chef Elin (Subsurface of Skadi), shellskin immigrants (Surface of Venter)
You talk to the scientist
An unshaven bioroid in a clean, white environment suit.

"Ah, captain. You look like someone who has seen the wilderness." He extends a hand. "Dr Pico-G. I'm looking to make observations of certain astronomical phenomena from a wide variety of perspectives. I've already collected data from across the Imago Republic, the Diasporan Commonwealth, Network..."

He looks over your ship. "But I need to go farther afield. If you take me on board, I'll pay you 1k credits for every unaffiliated world we visit. I might even be able to wrangle a visa chip for you."
You take the scientist
He boards your ship, swaying under bulging cases of equipment.

"Pleased to be aboard, captain."
You jump to the cygnet
(You launch first.)

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
You buy the canister
You buy the large oxygen canister for 2k credits, leaving you with 24k credits.
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the fuel jockey for 1k credits each. 3 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
Land
A synth-futurist city of wide open spaces and glass-sided buildings that would seem almost idyllic were it not sitting in the crater of an airless ice moon. Bioroid citizens stroll through the plazas and avenues in casual clothes, unbothered by the hard vacuum.

Space-suited refugees form a lengthy queue outside the Border Ministry, where they are turned away by a polite official.

Link-J has joined the queue.

immigrants.
You sell the canister to the immigrants
"Thank you, captain. We can do a lot of good with this - make sure the most needy get it when they, well, most need it. We hope 10k credits is enough?"
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter

Other Opportunities:
-Besnik, selling an autodoc unit (Surface of Pearl)
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)
-Tomer, selling a decompressionist statue (Surface of Nereus)
-red hot diver, selling an unauthorised specimen (Subsurface of Skadi)

Potential Buyers:
coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus), Chef Elin (Subsurface of Skadi)
Status
Credit balance: 31k
Equipment: spacesuit (don't need air)

Crew:
Yourself, Dr Pico-G, Aurea and Szymon

Installed systems:
jump drive (superluminal travel)
sleek heat shield (atmo entry)

Fuel:
5/5 fusion cells charged

Readable Data:
most wanted list, Diasporan Commonwealth star map, debt note, flight manual, ship's log and trading log

Cargo:
nothing
You jump to zhao
(You launch first.)

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

Slender megastructures rise gleaming from the silvery continents below, arcing over oceans and snow-tipped mountains.

The muscled war beasts of the Imago Defence Fleet are in orbit,
guns protruding from every orifice.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You talk to Fleet
Echoing voices transmit from the war beasts. You make out the words: "WE... ARE... WATCHING."
Land
Warning signals and weapon lock-ons bombard your ship from the surface. You'll need a visa chip to land on this world.
You jump to Jarland
(You launch first.)

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
The thin atmosphere is a subtle glow at the horizon, behind glass hemispheres large and small. Each dome brims with lush greenery and minimalist buildings.

Maximo runs the Bell Jar Pub, an olde timey establishment
filled with antique astronaut paraphernalia.

the side of his bubble.

yellow boiler suit.

Phelim hauls cargo out of a low, ugly, opaque warehouse.

The highest ranking official that'll talk to a random space captain is Minister Ramos.
You talk to Maximo
Maximo's arms are tattooed with rocket engine blueprints. He winks and pours you a drink.

"To hear those Commonwealth types talk about it, you'd think Jarland was some lawless rogue world like Splinter, but we're a democratic state like any other. Just not interested in being part of anyone else's plans."
Record splinter
You record Splinter in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the farmer
His overalls hang from a pale and lanky frame that has never seen the outside of a dome.

"Shipping crops interstellar gives you the thinnest profit margins - unless it's a true luxury, like this blue asparagus. 4k is a
fair price, in my eyes."
You buy the asparagus
You buy the blue asparagus for 4k credits, leaving you with 28k credits.
You talk to the Chief
She wipes sweat from her brow with a grimy hand.

"You think it's easy, so many people living in a near vacuum? Always checking for positive pressure and racing to find the leak. I'd kill for some help."
You talk to Phelim
His thick beard flows dangerously over the neck ring of his urban camouflage spacesuit.

"No world can be truly independent when the cyborgs and 'roids have banded together into their cartels. Even the Commonwealth is more interested in bullying smaller nations than furthering the diasporan cause."
You talk to Ramos
Tall. Slender. Pale. The product of a carefully controlled environment.

"Your friend here is from inside Hardshell?"

Aurea looks herself over, as if wondering what part of her ridiculous appearance gave it away. "You knew Prex?"

"I met him when he first arrived. It was pretty big news."

"Is he still here? I need to speak with him."

Ramos shakes his head. "He never settled in. Claustrophobia. Sort of. Terrified of getting cut off from the Universe. Thought he'd feel closer to the vacuum living in a dome, but it wasn't enough."

"Where is he now? Please."

"A nomad worldship passed by some time ago. Prex talked his way on board. I think they were stopping by Source 3 for supplies, then heading off away from civilisation. No idea where you'd find them now."
Record source 3
You record Source 3 in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter

Other Opportunities:
-Besnik, selling an autodoc unit (Surface of Pearl)
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)
-Tomer, selling a decompressionist statue (Surface of Nereus)
-red hot diver, selling an unauthorised specimen (Subsurface of Skadi)

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus), Chef Elin (Subsurface of Skadi)

Cargo:
some blue asparagus
You jump to the skadi
(You launch first.)

A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.

A bright white moon, its surface smoothed over by cryovolcanic snow. There are very few lights visible on its surface.

A small squadron of private security ships monitor traffic in the system, led by the infamous combat synthetic, Kala-D.
Go downwards
A sealed, metal-sided citadel grasps the underside of the frozen surface: an upside-down, underwater city. Plant fronds dangle into depths where strange silhouettes swim and dart.

Quarantine is a way of life on Skadi. Most citizens wear cleansuits and face masks.

Many parts of the city are closed to you, but the canteen run by
Chef Elin and Chef Iason is open to all.

A researcher eats intermittently in the canteen.

A red hot diver melts through the ice far from the city.
You sell the asparagus to Elin
"Blue asparagus? Like real blue asparagus from Jarland? Do you know how much this is worth here? 12k. That's all I can offer you."
You talk to the researcher
"The food is so much better now it's crazy. I mean, I grew up on Sirona, so I'm not a gourmand or anything, but this is delicious."
Record sirona
You record Sirona in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You look
A sealed, metal-sided citadel grasps the underside of the frozen surface: an upside-down, underwater city. Plant fronds dangle into depths where strange silhouettes swim and dart.

Quarantine is a way of life on Skadi. Most citizens wear cleansuits and face masks.

Many parts of the city are closed to you, but the canteen run by
Chef Elin and Chef Iason is open to all.

A researcher wolfs down food in the canteen.

A red hot diver melts through the ice far from the city.
You buy the specimen
You buy the unauthorised specimen for 2k credits, leaving you with 38k credits.
You jump to Pearl
(You launch first.)

A bright white moon, its surface smoothed over by cryovolcanic snow. There are very few lights visible on its surface.

A small squadron of private security ships monitor traffic in the system, led by the infamous combat synthetic, Kala-D.

(via hyperspace gate)

Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.
Land
Blue skies; carefully managed fields and forests; air that's almost baseline-breathable. Elevated highways pass over the greenery with minimal impact, tangling together at the foot of narrow skyscrapers.

The tallest spire reaches towards the gas giant above, satellite towers splitting off like branches: the Commonwealth Building itself. A cyborg representative allows citizens to query the government systems.

embassy.

Besnik's small knickknack shop stands on splayed stilts, trees
leaning out from beneath it in search of sunlight.

The landing pad is maintained by the shellskin, Katalin.
You talk to Katalin
The sun gleams off her opalescent skin.

"Yeah, I know, a shellskin living on the most hospitable world in the Commonwealth. I've heard it all before. I may not need air, but I like forests and fields. And vacuum is only a short hop away, in any case."
You talk to Besnik
Besnik's carefully cultivated oddball persona is completed by a patched waistcoat and antique pince-nez glasses.

"Not got much here that'll interest a space captain. This autodoc
unit maybe? It's a curio by modern standards, but some folks out
there in the black might be lucky to have it. I'll let you take it away it for 2k credits."
You buy the autodoc
You buy the autodoc unit for 2k credits, leaving you with 36k credits.
You talk to the ambassador
The ambassador is an unnaturally dignified woman in a neat business suit.

"I'm sorry," she tells you, "but I have no authority over the distribution of visa chips. The Immigration Ministry on Venter controls access to the Republic."
You jump to the cygnet
(You launch first.)

Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.

(via hyperspace gate)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
You talk to the clerk
"You've done a lot to help me, thanks, brilliant, now get out of
my way."
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter

Other Opportunities:
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)
-Tomer, selling a decompressionist statue (Surface of Nereus)

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus)

Cargo:
an autodoc unit and an unauthorised specimen
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the industrial fuel rig for 1k credits each. 2 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You talk to the wranglers
They seem to speak a weird dialect unique to the outer reaches of this system.
Land
Skyscrapers cluster together in the planet's only city, a small metropolis at the heart of a barren, dusty wasteland.

A party of robed hunters has made camp outside the city.

A caravan of nomads circumnavigates the planet's tiny ocean.

Rella camps out in the spikelands.

pad.
You talk to the nomads
They walk on elongated, webbed feet and watch you through thickly lashed eyes.

"This pilgrimage is harder than even the ancestors decreed. In their time this ocean was freshwater. Now it is brine."
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - 50k reward
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - 50k reward
Luciano (racketeering) - 25k reward
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - 25k reward
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You jump to Jarland
(You launch first.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.

A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.
You talk to the tanker
fuel.
You jump to the Unity
(You launch first.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.

Impact craters have thrown bright dust across the bronze surface of this planet. The relentless red blaze of the swollen nearby star has stripped any atmosphere it may once have had.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to Pico
An unshaven bioroid in a clean, white environment suit.

"You've taken me to 2 worlds outside the Imago Republic, Network or the Diasporan Commonwealth, captain. I can't thank you enough, but the more data I can get, the better. And, don't forget, there may be a visa chip in this for you."
Land
The settlement on this world is enclosed within thick, windowless radiation shields. The buildings are square, orderly and undecorated.

The smiling face of Leader adorns his towering residence.

your every move here.

cuboid apartment blocks.

in a grey boiler suit.
You talk to the worker
"I'll always be grateful to Leader for taking me in. I'll die before I go back to Jag."
Record jag
You record Jag in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the youths
All grey boiler suits and shaved heads, tagging the wall with crude graffiti. One turns to you with piercing green eyes.

"You don't have to pretend. Our tags are awful. But this isn't the place to come see great art. If... someone were to bring us art from the outside, we'd be grateful."
You talk to the agent
He tries to look casual as you approach.

"Greetings, outsider. I hope you are keeping your strange ideas to yourself."
You talk to Leader
A guard turns you away.

"Enough foreign assassins have taken advantage of Leader's hospitality in the past. Never again."
You jump to nereus
(You launch first.)

Impact craters have thrown bright dust across the bronze surface of this planet. The relentless red blaze of the swollen nearby star has stripped any atmosphere it may once have had.

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.
Land
Airy, simple buildings break up a multi-coloured and chemically unstable mix of diasporan and native flora. The ocean sparkles at the horizon in every direction.

Nereus' most famous resident is the radical artist Tomer.

A nervous girl paces the pier, twirling her parasol.

A marine biologist lives out of his submersible, washing strung between two palm trees.

A group of surfers lounge around a beach barbecue.
You buy the statue
You buy the decompressionist statue for 1k credits, leaving you with 34k credits.
You sell the specimen to the girl
"Well, it's exotic, I'll give you that. Also probably very difficult to look after off of Skadi, and maybe illegal to own? So, maybe something else, please?"
You talk to the biologist
He shakes his head. "Nereus was settled too early in the diaspora. Before we knew better. What I wouldn't give for the quarantine they have on Skadi. This ecosystem will never be the same again."
You sell the specimen to the biologist
He doesn't look impressed. "So here I am extolling the virtues of the Skadi quarantine, and you expect me to be impressed that you broke it?"
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter

Other Opportunities:
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), disaffected youths (Surface of Unity), coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus)

Cargo:
a decompressionist statue, an autodoc unit and an unauthorised specimen
You jump to the Unity
(You launch first.)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.

Impact craters have thrown bright dust across the bronze surface of this planet. The relentless red blaze of the swollen nearby star has stripped any atmosphere it may once have had.
Land
The settlement on this world is enclosed within thick, windowless radiation shields. The buildings are square, orderly and undecorated.

The smiling face of Leader adorns his towering residence.

your every move here.

cuboid apartment blocks.

in a grey boiler suit.
You sell the statue to the youths
"Decompressionism? Dated, but it still flies here. We just take what we can get. 7k?"
You jump to Franklin
(You launch first.)

Impact craters have thrown bright dust across the bronze surface of this planet. The relentless red blaze of the swollen nearby star has stripped any atmosphere it may once have had.

(The fuel warning light blinks on.)

Dust chokes the atmosphere of this world, obscuring the surface.

ring.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to the beast
The corpse broadcasts a looping cry for vengeance.
Land
Ash clouds drift across the broken remains of megastructures and arcologies. Long dead synthetic flora clings to every surface, frozen in the act of clambering desperately towards the sun.

through the ruins.

eviscerated amalg.
You talk to the scavengers
They reply in a broken mishmash of stolen words. You can't make out any meaning in what they say.
You take the the eye
It comes out with a wet pop.
You jump to the cygnet
(You launch first.)

Dust chokes the atmosphere of this world, obscuring the surface.

ring.

(Red lights blink on around the cockpit. You're out of fuel.)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the industrial fuel rig for 1k credits each. 5 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You buy the headjack
You buy the wireless headjack for 25k credits, leaving you with 12k credits.
You jump to Khamsin
(You launch first.)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.

(via hyperspace gate)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.
You use the headjack
What do you want to use the wireless headjack to implant?
Implant headjack
It's already implanted.
You use the headjack on the wranglers
That's not a valid command, even if it used some of the right words. Type "about" if you want help.
You jump to Franklin
Dust chokes the atmosphere of this world, obscuring the surface.

ring.
You talk to the beast
The corpse broadcasts a looping cry for vengeance.
Land
Ash clouds drift across the broken remains of megastructures and arcologies. Long dead synthetic flora clings to every surface, frozen in the act of clambering desperately towards the sun.

through the ruins.
You jump to Boony
(You launch first.)

Dust chokes the atmosphere of this world, obscuring the surface.

ring.

A grey, airless world, left lopsided by some ancient cataclysm.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You jump to the lonely Rock
Though it's not as bright as any star, the luminescence of Hardshell dominates the sky: a furrowed, flesh-and-metal sphere enclosing the entire star system. The entire star system, that is, except the irregular planetoid below; a little left over chunk of rock and ice.

An automated, meteor-shredded fuel station in low orbit offers the chance to refuel.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the automated fuel station for 1k credits each. 3 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You talk to Pico
An unshaven bioroid in a clean, white environment suit.

"You've taken me to 5 worlds outside the Imago Republic, Network or the Diasporan Commonwealth, captain. I can't thank you enough, but the more data I can get, the better. And, don't forget, there may be a visa chip in this for you."
You jump to Diallo
A thin blue sliver of nitrogen atmosphere curves over a loamy surface punctuated with lakes of hydrazine and a single, carapaced megastructure.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You jump to the Source 3
Mountainous terrain looms through the fog of the thick, toxic atmosphere below.

Small shuttles arc back and forth between the surface and a huge mining ship.
You talk to the ship
"The Imago Republic is processing this world into raw materials. We don't need anything from you, captain, except to stay out of our way."
M.
Pearl, Storm+, Khamsin, Cygnet+, Nereus, Skadi, Autark

Venter+, Diallo+ (need visa chip), Source 3 (need visa chip)

Boony, Lonely Rock+, Jarland+, Unity, Franklin

+fuel station in orbit

Places of potential interest: Splinter, Sirona, Jag, Xanadu and Zhao
You jump to Jag
Tangled canyons have been clawed across the face of this large, rocky planet.

Chaotic, unclear radio transmissions blast out from the surface.

An amalg clawship occupies an eccentric orbit.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)

The amalg clawship closes in, locking on to your cargo hold.
You talk to the amalg
You receive only aggressive electronic barks in return.

The amalg clawship tears into your cargo hold, extracts
the autodoc unit and reels it in.
You talk to Aurea
An unnaturally beautiful, golden-haired woman with a jagged scar across her face and a cheap robotic arm. She slouches in the co-pilot's seat.

"Prex knows more than anyone about getting out of Hardshell, so hopefully he can get me back in. He was last seen heading to Source 3."

"We should be on the lookout for an amalg called Viscera."

"Dr Vosov-R on Diallo tried to scan Hardshell or something."
You jump to the xanadu
This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.
Land
You dock with the space elevator, which ferries your ship down to the surface.

A lone hyperspace conduit to Hub stands at the heart of parched scrublands and bare hills.

The surface is deserted but for the odd simple obelisk standing stark against the sky. Each marks an entrance to the subterranean facilities where stacks of bodies and brains are plugged into a virtual reality world.

A visitor's port will let you jack in temporarily.

xDreamQueenx sashays through the deepest corridors.
Jack in
A chaotic jumble of tessellating realities. Fields spill into oceans beneath floating cities that tower towards a hundred different skies. You can jack out at any time.

The virtual superintelligence, Nephele, sprawls through
multiple domains.

Bright colours and flowing shapes spill from the hands of a thought artist.

number.

hotSpyder sits thoughtfully on a cloud.
You talk to the nephele
Shapeless, a million colours at once, constantly shifting.

It subjects your mind to a barrage of indecipherable information that momentarily stuns you and then leaves you with the vague sense of having had a satisfying conversation.
You talk to the artist
"One day," he says, scattering winged rainbows from his fingertips, "this place will be larger and more intricate than the Universe outside. One day... the Universe outside will die, and this will be the new totality."
You talk to Jade
Her limbs are literally impossibly long, her hair consists of rippling waves of electric blue.

"Careful! Don't ruin the rhythm!"
You talk to the hotspyder
A painfully average looking man in a grey suit.

"Most of the time I live on Panopticon. I just come here for holidays from reality. And sometimes to remember what it was like to have a human body plan."
Arrest jade
Xanadu acknowledges your authority as a bounty hunter and wraps Jade in virtual chains. The dance number loses its rhythm and the participants drift away, complaining loudly.

"Nice," Jade says. "Real nice. Bet you're proud of yourself."

A system admin informs you that Jade's physical form has been placed in your ship's brig.
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - 50k reward
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - 50k reward
Luciano (racketeering) - 25k reward
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - 25k reward
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
Jack out
A lone hyperspace conduit to Hub stands at the heart of parched scrublands and bare hills.

The surface is deserted but for the odd simple obelisk standing stark against the sky. Each marks an entrance to the subterranean facilities where stacks of bodies and brains are plugged into a virtual reality world.

A visitor's port will let you jack in temporarily.

xDreamQueenx sashays through the deepest corridors.
You talk to the queen
She trails neural connector cables like fairy tale hair. Her silver face is fixed and expressionless.

"The sleepers dream deeply, but they are not solipsists. I control the entry of external stimuli into their world. If you have new stories or myths, I will compensate you suitably."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

The space elevator ferries your ship back into orbit.

This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.

(The fuel warning light blinks on.)

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Jade to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Jade and transfer your 25k credit reward.

"Oh hey," she says. "It's the fun police. Sorry I cracked a smile."

"Next time," the marshal says, "don't have your fun on someone else's credit balance."
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the fuel jockey for 1k credits each. 4 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You jump to the Splinter
The largest irregular rock in the asteroid belt around a dazzling blue star. Clunky industrial structures cling to its surface.

Souped-up barges comprise most of the shipping. You know
smugglers when you see them.

A Commonwealth warship, repainted mercenary colours, holds a
high orbit.

A carefully shored up fuel tower extends far out from Splinter.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to the warship
"Whatever rumours you've heard, this is a safe port. Dangerous elements will be dealt with swiftly."
You jump to the sirona
A sizeable, jaundiced moon just on the outside of the habitable zone.

An outdated defence satellite maintains watch.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to the satellite
An automated voice speaks: "You are very welcome here at Sirona. However, know that marauders and pirates will be met with maximum force."

It's questionable just how much force this piece of junk could actually provide.
Land
Small settlements cluster around hot springs, many of the buildings cobbled together from old starships.

Kleo dozes on the roof of her fuel truck, air tank
tucked under her head.

less populated springs.

Idly wandering the settlements is, of all things, a tuber.

An amalg has been strung up from a makeshift gallows, his razor
tail dangling limply down.
You examine the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - 50k reward
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - 50k reward
Luciano (racketeering) - 25k reward
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You talk to Kleo
She nods a greeting as you approach, but doesn't bother to sit up.

"Welcome to the ass end of nowhere, captain. Used to be a promising little place. Now it's only a matter of time before we get raided by the amalgs. Everyone who's not a stubborn fuckup like me has run off to the Diasporan Commonwealth."

She tugs down her breathing mask. "Which is just perfect, by the way, because the amalgs were never a threat before those bastards armed them at the Battle of Franklin."
You talk to the farmer
His hand falls to the gun at his hip. "Back off, stranger. These are my fish."

Seeing them swim in circles and bump into one another, you're pretty sure he can keep them.
You talk to the tuber
A battered metal tube with robotic arms and legs arranged - in this case - in a vaguely humanoid form. The tube is featureless save a sturdy round porthole, through which you catch glimpses of something luminous and sinuating.

"Hello. I am known as Six Redsky. My childhood has ended. I have learned much out here, but I must now return to the Orphanage
to pupate. This could form a transaction of benefit to you."
Record orphanage
You record the Orphanage in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You take tail
It tears away from the spine, trailing wires and tendons.
You read the star map
The following worlds are part of the Diasporan Commonwealth: Pearl, Storm, Khamsin, Cygnet, Nereus, Skadi and Autark.
You take the tuber
"Thank you. I will not require any form of sustenance or material for the duration of the voyage."
You jump to Orphanage
(You launch first.)

A sizeable, jaundiced moon just on the outside of the habitable zone.

An outdated defence satellite maintains watch.

A massive blue star is warped into strange concentric shapes by... something. It's difficult to tell if what you're looking at is physical or a complex optical illusion.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Impossible shapes loom in the distance, moving fluidly, rippling the bright light that emanates from all directions.

Indistinct, colourful forms move to and fro, coiling
organically.

You jettison Six Redsky's tube from the airlock.

Something approaches. Something physical, with parts that might be eyes and fins.

Six Redsky's voice speaks in your head: "Thank you. I will always
know that I was once like you. I lived among the likes of you. I shall always respect and appreciate what I am about to receive."

and rapidly growing form that has soon acquired the same stature and anatomy as the thing that first approached. Together they turn and recede into the Orphanage.

You realise your credit balance has increased by 50k.
You jump to Khamsin
(You launch first.)

A massive blue star is warped into strange concentric shapes by... something. It's difficult to tell if what you're looking at is physical or a complex optical illusion.

(The fuel warning light blinks on.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.
Land
Skyscrapers cluster together in the planet's only city, a small metropolis at the heart of a barren, dusty wasteland.

A party of robed hunters has made camp outside the city.

A caravan of nomads circumnavigates the planet's tiny ocean.

Rella camps out in the spikelands.

pad.
You take Mirek
"Finally!"

He finds a cubbyhole in your ship where he can sit and continue to play his game.
You jump to the cygnet
(You launch first.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.

(via hyperspace gate)

Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the industrial fuel rig for 1k credits each. 4 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You talk to Matej
Matej is a round-faced man in a comfortable spacesuit. His smile is almost as wide as his gut.

"Back for more, captain? That fine ship of yours deserves the best. Here's what I'm selling:"

-external fuel pod - 10k  (+5 fuel)
-ion booster - 3k  (racing speed +1)
-autorevolver - 25k  (personal weapon)
-fishing rod - 2k  (allows you to fish)
You buy the pod
You buy the external fuel pod for 10k credits, leaving you with 71k credits.
You buy the booster
You buy the ion booster for 3k credits, leaving you with 68k credits.
You buy the revolver
You buy the autorevolver for 25k credits, leaving you with 43k credits.
You buy the rod
You buy the fishing rod for 2k credits, leaving you with 41k credits.
You talk to Matej
Matej is a round-faced man in a comfortable spacesuit. His smile is almost as wide as his gut.

"If it isn't my best customer! Captain, if it's worth buying, I've already sold you one."
Launch
Grey, airless and cratered, its surface is nevertheless dusted with countless lights and scarred with broad highways.

An industrial fuel rig extends its arms to passing freighters.

Grayson runs a low-revolution saloon in high orbit, a spinning constellation of gaudy neon. A grizzled traveller sits slumped
over the bar.
Land
You dock with the space elevator, which ferries your ship down to the surface.

A lone hyperspace conduit to Hub stands at the heart of parched scrublands and bare hills.

The surface is deserted but for the odd simple obelisk standing stark against the sky. Each marks an entrance to the subterranean facilities where stacks of bodies and brains are plugged into a virtual reality world.

A visitor's port will let you jack in temporarily.

xDreamQueenx sashays through the deepest corridors.

Mirek disembarks. "Thanks and all that shit. Here's the 20k I owe
you. Smell ya later."
You talk to Pico
An unshaven bioroid in a clean, white environment suit.

"You've taken me to 8 worlds outside the Imago Republic, Network or the Diasporan Commonwealth, captain. I can't thank you enough, but the more data I can get, the better. And, don't forget, there may be a visa chip in this for you."
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus), xDreamQueenx (Surface of Xanadu)

Cargo:
an autodoc unit and an unauthorised specimen
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

The space elevator ferries your ship back into orbit.

This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You talk to zila
The marshal's an ancient, plasticky synthetic in a pre-Diasporan spacesuit and a ten-gallon hat.

"You've brought in a bounty or two. Not bad. The Imago Republic rewards loyalty. Just keep at it."
You examine the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - 50k reward
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - 50k reward
Luciano (racketeering) - 25k reward
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You jump to Khamsin
A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.
You go downward
Skyscrapers cluster together in the planet's only city, a small metropolis at the heart of a barren, dusty wasteland.

A party of robed hunters has made camp outside the city.

A caravan of nomads circumnavigates the planet's tiny ocean.

Rella camps out in the spikelands.
Arrest rella
You sneak up on Rella's camp and press your autorevolver to her head.

She spits at you. "You bounty hunters make me sick. This is a world of true honour and you besmirch it."

You lock her up on your ship.
You jump to the Autark
(You launch first.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.

(via hyperspace gate)

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.
Land
Domes and arcologies crowd the horizon: spacious mansions, dirty communes, unregulated sweatshops and outlandish temples.

A trendy office neighbours the landing pad, rented out by an entrepreneur for unspecified business.

Luciano conducts his business in an avant-garde park,
talking on multiple comm screens at once.

spitfire6 drowns her sorrows in a holo-nudie bar.

Autark her home.

The Snake will be in his private dome, surrounded by
bodyguards.
Arrest luciano
"Whoa there! The state shouldn't use violence to interfere with the workings of the free market. How do you sleep at night? Not that you have to use violence. I'm coming with you, peacefully..."
You talk to the spitfire
Her silver skull sweeps back to an aerodynamic point. Not to go faster. Just to look good.

"Name's spitfire6. Had a few too many close calls out there, but the deep black still calls to me. You need a pilot who can dodge amalgs for a couple of rounds, I'll work for an upfront fee of 5k."

Pay her 5k credits?
Yes
"Cool. Take me aboard whenever you're ready."
You take the spitfire
She straps herself into your ship's pilot seat and, after adjusting it to her liking, sits back. "Okay, I'm back where I belong."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Luciano to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Luciano and transfer your 25k credit reward.

"I want to speak to my lawyer immediately," Luciano says. "I will be suing you for the business I'm losing right now."

"If I were you," the marshal says gruffly, "I'd start working on a deal. The Imago Republic gets mighty angry about the trafficking of synthetic humans and we've got plenty of evidence that's what your business partners are involved in."
You give Rella to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Rella and transfer your 50k credit reward.

"Enjoy your blood money, scum," Rella hisses at you.

"That'd carry a lot more weight," the marshal interjects, "if you weren't wanted for selling people to the amalgs."

"Wait a second," the marshal adds. "You've been a real help to the Republic, captain, so I've authorised a visa chip for you."

He shows you to the habitat's doctor. The implantation doesn't even hurt.
You take the chip
You already have that.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the fuel jockey for 1k credits each. 4 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
Land
Bioroid scientists and data holograms glide through the airy white halls of the research institute. Only the odd picture window offers a view of the freezing world beyond its curved walls.

observatory.

Dr Rindo-X is in charge of the bio-research team.

Jaheem is one of the few natural humans on the research team.

A shifty grad student loiters near the landing pad.
You talk to Aurea
An unnaturally beautiful, golden-haired woman with a jagged scar across her face and a cheap robotic arm. She slouches in the co-pilot's seat.

"Prex knows more than anyone about getting out of Hardshell, so hopefully he can get me back in. He was last seen heading to Source 3."

"We should be on the lookout for an amalg called Viscera."

"Dr Vosov-R on Diallo tried to scan Hardshell or something."
You talk to Vosov
A handsome, neatly groomed man in a lab coat meets you in the reception area of his lab complex.

Aurea gets straight to the point. "I hear you tried to map the interior of Hardshell."

He takes in her unusual appearance. "Did you also hear that it almost got me and my team killed?"

"A risk I'm prepared to take - to get home."

"Really? Interesting. Look, I can sell you my neutrino scanner
for 100k credits. That's at no profit for me; it's just an expensive piece of kit."
You talk to Rindo
Her neon pink hair is a stark contrast to the immaculate white of her clean-suit.

"Managed, synthetic biology is quite liberating, but we can't compete with the sheer diversity and longevity of natural ecosystems. Not that we get much chance to study that sort of thing in the Imago Republic. Every new specimen we get here is highly significant, especially with the pressure we're under to innovate for the colony on Jaenisch."
You sell the specimen to Rindo
"Aww! It's cute! And it has trilateral symmetry! Let's pretend I don't know where you got this, and I'll pay 10k. Deal?"
You record jaenisch
You record Jaenisch in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the jaheem
"Back home they call these people soulless husks. Well, I look at the passion my colleagues here have for science compared to the venal academic politics in the Commonwealth... You can probably finish my train of thought yourself."
You talk to the student
"Look, you're a straight shooter, right? I need creds and I've got some confidential research: bleeding edge theoretical physics.
Not published anywhere yet. Guaranteed to be the first place you ever read these ideas because the only other minds to think of them died three million years ago on Sheol. 5k credits. It's a steal but I need the cash right now."
Record sheol
You record Sheol in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You buy the research
You buy the confidential research for 5k credits, leaving you with 127k credits.
You buy the scanner
You buy the neutrino scanner for 100k credits, leaving you with 27k credits.

Dr Vosov-R oversees its installation on your ship.

"I really can't overstate how dangerous it will be to scan on
the surface of Hardshell. Then again, maybe you're in a position to deploy better defences than my research team was."
Scan
The neutrino scanner is a pretty involved piece of equipment. It's not clear that using it here will do anything other than waste a lot of time.
You jump to the Source 3
Mountainous terrain looms through the fog of the thick, toxic atmosphere below.

Small shuttles arc back and forth between the surface and a huge mining ship.
You talk to the ship
"The Imago Republic is processing this world into raw materials. We don't need anything from you, captain, except to stay out of our way."
Land
The air and ground are both rich in valuable, if poisonous chemicals.

Mining crawlers churn through the haze, carving wide trails
into the oozing rock.

Intendant Aq-P manages the bustling administration facility.
You talk to the crawlers
A low, keening moan is your only response.
You talk to the aq
A tall, slender woman in a sleek yellow jumpsuit, made top heavy by bulbous comms headgear.

"This is the part of the Source process that requires the most thought - gathering data on where resources are concentrated, mapping the world's interior, planning where the world excavator will touch down... So you'll excuse me if I'm a little busy."

"I'll be quick then," Aurea says. "Did some nomads pass through here, and where did they go after?"

"Why do you want to know? Lot of unsavoury types would be very happy to get their hands on a worldship."

"My friend is on that worldship. I need his help."

The intendant pushes her headgear up and takes in Aurea properly for the first time. "Well, maybe he really was your friend. Okay. They stopped by to trade for some rare minerals, then headed off to the far reaches. Place called Gossamer if I remember rightly."
Record gossamer
You record Gossamer in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You look at the trading log
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-homeless veteran, selling a classified intelligence report (Surface of Storm)

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), nervous woman (Surface of Nereus), xDreamQueenx (Surface of Xanadu)

Cargo:
some confidential research and an autodoc unit
You jump to zhao
(You launch first.)

Mountainous terrain looms through the fog of the thick, toxic atmosphere below.

Small shuttles arc back and forth between the surface and a huge mining ship.

Slender megastructures rise gleaming from the silvery continents below, arcing over oceans and snow-tipped mountains.

The muscled war beasts of the Imago Defence Fleet are in orbit,
guns protruding from every orifice.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
A grasping limb curves towards you with swan-like grace, enfolding your ship and setting it gently down upon the surface.

A wilderness of synthetic life bursts from the foot of translucent, shell-like arcologies. Cetacean biomachines scud gently through the skies overhead.

An elegant lady and gentleman sit outside a cafe, immaculate
and graceful. Passers-by of all stripes stop to briefly chat with them.

more exotic bars.

Jora-D hangs out at the landing field, sketching the ships
neatly lined up by articulating space elevators.

A florist sells altflowers from his market stall.
You talk to the lady
The lady sips a cup of coffee. "Do you know the latest news, captain?"

The gentleman adds a dash of cream to his own cup. "One must keep up on current events, don't you agree? Especially those lesser known facts."

"People from all over," the lady says, "keep us up-to-date."

"And," the gentleman adds, "isn't fine conversation its own reward?"

"Or so they say," the lady finishes.

The two share a knowing smile.
You talk to the ambassador
He's a stubbled, cheap-suited guy, standing out among the immaculate bioroids.

"No-one back home cares about cooperation, but imagine if we could get a fraction of the production output of Koltsov. It could turn the tides of poverty and win the war against the amalgs. Hey, a guy can dream, right?"
Record koltsov
You record Koltsov in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the jora
She sketches on a holopad with a graphite pencil. "I meet all sorts here. Well, all sorts of humans. No aliens yet."

After a moment, she shrugs. "And yeah, before you ask, I consider myself human. You talk to a mind from Panopticon - and beyond the singularity - and suddenly the whole natural/synthetic divide doesn't seem too big."
You talk to florist
His stall bursts with colour: from bright petals that would pass for natural if you didn't know better, to gleaming leaves embedded with miniature solar cells.

"It's very rare that a humble flower seller such as I would have anything to offer a space captain from the depths of the black. But my living crystal rose has just bloomed. 3k credits is a fair
price for such uncommon beauty."
Buy rose
You buy the living crystal rose for 3k credits, leaving you with 24k credits.
You jump to the nereus
(You launch first.)

The same muscular appendage that deposited your ship on the surface raises it up beyond the atmosphere.

Slender megastructures rise gleaming from the silvery continents below, arcing over oceans and snow-tipped mountains.

The muscled war beasts of the Imago Defence Fleet are in orbit,
guns protruding from every orifice.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.
Sell rose to girl
She gasps so hard it seems she might suffocate, until she finally remembers to breathe. "YES. That is so perfect I could cry. 11k credits. It's all I have. That and the knowledge that you will be smoothing the course of true love. Please?"
You jump to the Storm
(You launch first.)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.

(via hyperspace gate)

An unbroken layer of cloud leaves this planet an almost featureless grey sphere.

The Commonwealth military fleet is in orbit: hulking warships
ready to jump into trouble at a moment's notice.

defence network.

A merchant service fuel tanker services civilian traffic.
Land
Rain pelts down from the thick clouds above, feeding rivers that wind through warped and improbable rock formations. Air pressure and temperature are tolerable, but the pure carbon dioxide atmosphere is unbreathable for even the hardiest diasporans. Every building - civilian or military - is a robust fortress or sunken bunker. Overground traffic consists of a few rugged all-terrain rovers.

A uniformed general meticulously maintains his garden under a reinforced dome.

An off-duty soldier throws back drinks in an underground bar.

Sitting in the lee of an austere building, military-issue breather mask held over his face, is a homeless veteran.
You talk to the veteran
"You're a vagabond, captain? Me too. Used my old buddies still in the service to get hold of this classified intelligence report,
fresh up-to-date. Gotta be worth at least 5k credits. I don't want to know what you do with it. I don't care. Gave my heart and soul at the Battle of Franklin and damned if I got any loyalty back from them after."
You buy the report
You buy the classified intelligence report for 5k credits, leaving you with 30k credits.
You read the report
It's pretty heavily encrypted.
Launch
An unbroken layer of cloud leaves this planet an almost featureless grey sphere.

The Commonwealth military fleet is in orbit: hulking warships
ready to jump into trouble at a moment's notice.

defence network.

A merchant service fuel tanker services civilian traffic.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the merchant service fuel tanker for 1k credits each. 4 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You jump to zhao
Slender megastructures rise gleaming from the silvery continents below, arcing over oceans and snow-tipped mountains.

The muscled war beasts of the Imago Defence Fleet are in orbit,
guns protruding from every orifice.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
A grasping limb curves towards you with swan-like grace, enfolding your ship and setting it gently down upon the surface.

A wilderness of synthetic life bursts from the foot of translucent, shell-like arcologies. Cetacean biomachines scud gently through the skies overhead.

An elegant lady and gentleman sit outside a cafe, immaculate
and graceful. Passers-by of all stripes stop to briefly chat with them.

more exotic bars.

Jora-D hangs out at the landing field, sketching the ships
neatly lined up by articulating space elevators.

A florist sells altflowers from his market stall.
You sell the report to the gentleman
"Quite a conversation piece." the gentleman says.

"20k words of conversation, to be precise," the lady says.

The gentleman smiles. "If we are quite clear?"
You jump to the jaenisch
(You launch first.)

The same muscular appendage that deposited your ship on the surface raises it up beyond the atmosphere.

Slender megastructures rise gleaming from the silvery continents below, arcing over oceans and snow-tipped mountains.

The muscled war beasts of the Imago Defence Fleet are in orbit,
guns protruding from every orifice.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

One hemisphere of the planet below is formed of blue oceans and silvery landmasses, the other is a sand-blasted desert.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
Spiral-shelled synthformers crawl across the landscape, scattering spores that sprout into solar-panelled altforests and biomechanical utilities. The few urban areas are a hodgepodge of improvisation and re-use.

A blimp floats overhead, from which the construction
shepherdess directs the planet's development.

satellite dish.

landing pad.
You talk to the shepherdess
Her long hair is gathered into a complex but practical knot of braids; her synthetic skin is weathered and aged.

"Every shipment from Koltsov improves our ability to enrich lifeless planets. We don't have that drive to take over the Universe that our progenitors did - no offence - but having a few worlds under our belt will help to ensure our survival."
You talk to the family
Clad in practical outdoor clothes, each at various stages of mental maturity, one still showing the fresh sheen of the gestation tanks.

"We wanted a more exciting life than on Zhao. We certainly got that, but it'd be nice to have a more permanent home."
You talk to the girix
His body bulges with a biologically impossible amount of muscle, but his eyes are calm and kind.

"Some time ago we messed up the watercourse. Took some doing, but we sorted it out ourselves. Now this water desalination beast
turns up, when we don't need it any more. Take it off my hands for 4k creds and you'll be doing me a favour."
You buy the beast
You buy the water desalination beast for 4k credits, leaving you with 42k credits.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), coastal nomads (Surface of Khamsin), frontier family (Surface of Jaenisch), xDreamQueenx (Surface of Xanadu)

Cargo:
a water desalination beast, some confidential research and an autodoc unit
You jump to Khamsin
(You launch first.)

One hemisphere of the planet below is formed of blue oceans and silvery landmasses, the other is a sand-blasted desert.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.
Land
Skyscrapers cluster together in the planet's only city, a small metropolis at the heart of a barren, dusty wasteland.

A party of robed hunters has made camp outside the city.

A caravan of nomads circumnavigates the planet's tiny ocean.
You sell the beast to the nomads
"This creature is strange. But so are we. If it will allow us to drink of the sea, as our ancestors did, we shall offer 13k credits. Do you commit to this exchange?"
You talk to the nomads
They walk on elongated, webbed feet and watch you through thickly lashed eyes.

"The absurd beast you sold us mingles well with our pack animals. Through this strange addition we are closer to our ancestors and their ways."
You talk to the hunters
Protected from the harsh elements by billowing robes, they peer at you through tinted goggles. One of them steps forward to speak halting Nacrese.

"We have sold all we have to sell. Soon we return to the hunt."
You jump to Koltsov
(You launch first.)

A sandy brown world orbiting close to an ageing red star. Its arid terrain is capped with scant white ice at the poles and veiled by a few insubstantial clouds.

out in the system.

Chief Drake leads a crew of spacesuited ice breakers, blasting
and drilling those comets too large to dump on the surface intact.

Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
A labyrinth of ribbed tunnels, through which ooze giant construction polymorphs.

centre.

Fono-H oversees the output of one of the primary sphincters.

Nursing his latest crop is a hab farmer.

A tentacled engineer paces the complex, muttering to himself.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), frontier family (Surface of Jaenisch), xDreamQueenx (Surface of Xanadu)

Cargo:
some confidential research and an autodoc unit
You talk to the controller
She shows you one of her twelve faces.

"Let's not talk shop. I'm a ten tonne brain made to design technology. There's really nothing about machines you could tell me that I'd find interesting. So, how are you?"

You make small talk with the Controller for a little while.
You sell the research to the controller
"I could mentally dis- and re-assemble that in a split second. It's of no interest to me at all."
You buy the drone
You buy the remote drone for 10k credits, leaving you with 41k credits.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), frontier family (Surface of Jaenisch), Controller (Surface of Koltsov), xDreamQueenx (Surface of Xanadu)

Cargo:
some confidential research and an autodoc unit
You buy the spines
You buy the collector spines for 25k credits, leaving you with 16k credits.
You talk to the farmer
A thick, transparent hood keeps the pollen out of his lungs.

"These are all due to ship soon, but the runt of the litter won't be mature in time. What do you say, 2k for a house spore of your
own? You can sell it on if it's not your style."
You buy the house
You buy the house spore for 2k credits, leaving you with 14k credits.
You talk to the engineer
"This genetic blueprint still requires significant revision. The biophysical properties are difficult to simulate. Those theoretical types on Diallo would probably love to work out the particulars, but I don't want to give them the satisfaction. If you take me to ERX
Beta, I can solve the problem more discreetly. Obviously, I would
pay you 20k credits for the passage."
You record the erx beta
You record ERX Beta in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You record the erx beta
ERX Beta is already recorded in your ship's log as a place of interest.
You take the engineer
He finds a cabin on your ship and gathers his tentacles around himself.
You jump to the jaenisch
(You launch first.)

Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

One hemisphere of the planet below is formed of blue oceans and silvery landmasses, the other is a sand-blasted desert.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
Spiral-shelled synthformers crawl across the landscape, scattering spores that sprout into solar-panelled altforests and biomechanical utilities. The few urban areas are a hodgepodge of improvisation and re-use.

A blimp floats overhead, from which the construction
shepherdess directs the planet's development.

satellite dish.

landing pad.
You sell the house to the family
"Great Minds be praised, we could nurture this spore into exactly the home we need right now. 10k credits seems almost too little, but it's the best we can offer. What do you say?"
You jump to the erx beta
(You launch first.)

One hemisphere of the planet below is formed of blue oceans and silvery landmasses, the other is a sand-blasted desert.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

The dark surface of the airless world below is etched with complex glowing circuitry.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Lightning arcs across neat, right-angled channels cut through rocky terrain. The soil has crystallised into regular hexagons. And somewhere deep underground, something quakes and rumbles with mechanical precision.

A holographic persona of ERX Beta stands on a stone dais.

A crystallised idle fancy protrudes from the ground.

The tentacled engineer disembarks. "Here's your 20k, as promised.
Now I just need to convince ERX Beta to help me..."
You talk to the Beta
The hologram is a vague reflection of your own appearance. It speaks in a voice tinged with bitterness.

"I have allocated a tiny fraction of my mind to this simulation of a human personality. The rest of me is currently engaged in mourning and is otherwise unavailable. I am prepared to trade for self-replicating polymer. All other functions are suspended."
You get fancy
As you lift it up, it hums ethereally in the palm of your hand.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), persona of ERX Beta (Surface of ERX Beta), Controller (Surface of Koltsov), xDreamQueenx (Surface of Xanadu)

Cargo:
a crystallised idle fancy, some confidential research and an autodoc unit
You jump to the xanadu
(You launch first.)

The dark surface of the airless world below is etched with complex glowing circuitry.

This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.
Land
You dock with the space elevator, which ferries your ship down to the surface.

A lone hyperspace conduit to Hub stands at the heart of parched scrublands and bare hills.

The surface is deserted but for the odd simple obelisk standing stark against the sky. Each marks an entrance to the subterranean facilities where stacks of bodies and brains are plugged into a virtual reality world.

A visitor's port will let you jack in temporarily.

xDreamQueenx sashays through the deepest corridors.

Mirek has been plugged in.
You sell the fancy to the queen
"This... is potent beyond imagining. The idle fancy of a giant mind is a million lucid dreams to a mere human. I will pay 20k credits. It is worthless to anyone but me. Is that acceptable?"
You jump to Splinter
(You launch first.)

The space elevator ferries your ship back into orbit.

This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.

The largest irregular rock in the asteroid belt around a dazzling blue star. Clunky industrial structures cling to its surface.

Souped-up barges comprise most of the shipping. You know
smugglers when you see them.

A Commonwealth warship, repainted mercenary colours, holds a
high orbit.

A carefully shored up fuel tower extends far out from Splinter.
You talk to the warship
"Whatever rumours you've heard, this is a safe port. Dangerous elements will be dealt with swiftly."
Land
Gravity is a weak tug towards the floor of these cramped and functional corridors. Every so often, a path opens up into a glass-sided observation gallery, crowded bar or chaotic market.

There's no real law round here, but Sheriff Yeung keeps people
from killing one another, mostly.

secluded establishments.

A sickly amalg haunts the maintenance corridors, wrapped in
rags.

Kal-Y watches the coming and going of the loading docks.
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - 50k reward
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You talk to Yeung
The sheriff is a stubbled man in a baseball cap, creased suit and bulletproof vest.

"Chances are you came here to do stuff you can't do anywhere else. That's fine. Just remember the one rule: you hurt anyone, I'll hurt you worse."
You talk to the explorer
She's older than anyone you've ever seen. Not in years, maybe, but certainly in biological terms. White-haired and wrinkled, practically pickled by the longevity systems in her faded spacesuit. From the looks of it, she might even be baseline.

"I've seen things out there. Stars consuming one another. Barren rocks in just the right part of space to take your breath away with their beauty. Distant colonies that left humanity behind so long ago there's no resemblance anymore."

"And alien civilisations. Oh, they're separated from us by millions of years of technological evolution. Even the molonks, after a fashion. But they're not all tucked away in the Orphanage. They're out there, doing stuff. See enough of it, you start to think you might even be able to grasp the tiniest notion of their plans - though no human mind really could, I'm sure of it."
Record orphanage
You recorded the Orphanage in your ship's log the first time you visited it.
You talk to the amalg
He shies away from you fearfully, clutching a broken prosthetic arm. Fresh injuries to his biological parts suggest he's not Splinter's most popular inhabitant.

"Leave me alone, please. I couldn't hack it on Athena. I'm not a killer. I just want to live here in peace."
Record athena
You record Athena in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to Kal
The smooth good looks of this bioroid are marred by numerous scars.

"You wanna be careful, flying a nice ship like that through places like this. People might try and take a piece out of it."
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), persona of ERX Beta (Surface of ERX Beta), Controller (Surface of Koltsov)

Cargo:
some confidential research and an autodoc unit
Arrest kal
You approach Kal-Y, aim your autorevolver over his head and fire a warning shot. Within a few seconds the loading docks are deserted apart from you and your quarry.

He tosses a blade away. "I know better than to bring a knife to a gun fight. But I gotta warn you: you'll regret this."

You stow Kal-Y in your ship's brig.
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

The largest irregular rock in the asteroid belt around a dazzling blue star. Clunky industrial structures cling to its surface.

Souped-up barges comprise most of the shipping. You know
smugglers when you see them.

A Commonwealth warship, repainted mercenary colours, holds a
high orbit.

A carefully shored up fuel tower extends far out from Splinter.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Kal to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Kal-Y and transfer your 50k credit reward.

"You'll pay for this," Kal-Y calls back to you. "My crew will bust me out and we'll find you."

The marshal laughs. "It'll be difficult for your crew to bust you out when they're already locked up themselves, numbnuts."
You talk to zila
The marshal's an ancient, plasticky synthetic in a pre-Diasporan spacesuit and a ten-gallon hat.

"You're making quite a name for yourself as a bounty hunter, captain. I'm impressed."
You talk to Aurea
An unnaturally beautiful, golden-haired woman with a jagged scar across her face and a cheap robotic arm. She slouches in the co-pilot's seat.

"Prex knows more than anyone about getting out of Hardshell, so hopefully he can get me back in. He was last seen heading to Gossamer."

"We should be on the lookout for an amalg called Viscera."

"We can try landing on Hardshell and scanning with the neutrino scanner, but I don't think it'll work out well."
You jump to Koltsov
Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
A labyrinth of ribbed tunnels, through which ooze giant construction polymorphs.

centre.

Fono-H oversees the output of one of the primary sphincters.

Nursing his latest crop is a hab farmer.
You buy the shield
(the warp shield)
You buy the warp shield for 100k credits, leaving you with 15k credits.
You jump to the gossamer
(You launch first.)

Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

Deep space. The nearest star is an intense pinpoint, outnumbered but not outshone. Small space habitats are scattered across this orbit, made of metal, glass and hollowed out comets - all tethered together with thin, monomolecular cables.

Spidery cyborgs glide along the lines, their business
inscrutable.

World Weaver stands astride a multitude of tiny worlds,
surveying everything with a cluster of eyeballs and sensor dishes.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to the weaver
You send World Weaver a query for information on the nomads.

It replies with a vivid but alien memory of their vast, ungainly worldship jumping into the system. Its crew - tiny, fragile little wisps of meat from World Weaver's perspective - traded for knowledge of far off, uncharted worlds.

But these frugal, hyper-efficient cyborgs don't want for much. World Weaver shares the worldship's destination with you for free: Amarok.

You add the new data to your star charts.
Record amarok
You record Amarok in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You jump to the Sheol
Barren moon of a verdant world. The grey surface below is marked with precise, angular formations.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Orderly channels have been carved between silver ziggurats, broken sporadically by impact craters. There is no movement, no indication of life.

Tera-O leads an archaeological team from a bubble tent.

A xenolinguist studies carvings in the wall of a half-collapsed structure.
You talk to Tera
She wears a sleek but armoured suit, powerful lights mounted on her shoulders.

"This civilisation died out three million years ago. Never got much further than their moon. There's almost nothing of them left on their homeworld now, but here the vacuum has left things remarkably well preserved."
You talk to the xenolinguist
She looks up from a complex spaghetti of etchings with no obvious start or end.

"Rifling through dead cities is a bit morbid, I guess, but this is the only way we get to study alien cultures that are the least bit comparable to our own. If these guys hadn't died out, by now they'd be beyond anything we could understand."

After a moment, she adds: "Well, there's always the molonks. But after the time I spent on Volund I decided they're the exception that proves the rule."
Record Volund
You record Volund in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You jump to the Panopticon
(You launch first.)

Barren moon of a verdant world. The grey surface below is marked with precise, angular formations.

You orbit carefully in the shade of one of the huge solar panels Panopticon uses to leech energy from the intense blue star at the heart of the system. Panopticon itself is a glittering band of linked space habitats of all shapes and sizes.

A fuel drone adopts a similar orbit, sending binary offers for
a reasonably priced refuel.
Land
Piercing starlight shines through broad skylights into multi-layered, over-sized streets that curve towards an inverted horizon. The air is thick with colourful holograms.

A hyperspace conduit provides ready access to Hub.

Decidedly non-humanoid cyborgs go about their strange business.

several new arrivals at once.

cluttered shop.
Record hub
You record Hub in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to the wunderkind
A lustrous brittle star of a creature. One of its spiny fronds curves round to meet you and approximates something like a face.

"Tell me your story - your whole story - as you see it - in your own words."

You tell Wunderkind about where you came from; about how you got your ship; about your twin and the Snake.

"Unique - and precious - as are all the stories - take this - for your story."

Wunderkind transfers you 5k credits.
You talk to the bookseller
The bulbous cyborg glides around the shop on a multitude of stubby little legs, clutching old volumes in its claws.

It sends you a brief greeting across cyberspace and then resumes organising its books.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), persona of ERX Beta (Surface of ERX Beta), Controller (Surface of Koltsov), bookseller (Panopticon Interior)

Cargo:
some confidential research and an autodoc unit
You jump to the Hub
You need a transit chip to pass through the hyperspace conduit. Do you want to launch and jump to Hub normally?
Yes
(You launch first.)

You orbit carefully in the shade of one of the huge solar panels Panopticon uses to leech energy from the intense blue star at the heart of the system. Panopticon itself is a glittering band of linked space habitats of all shapes and sizes.

A fuel drone adopts a similar orbit, sending binary offers for
a reasonably priced refuel.

The surface of Hub is aflame with the light of sprawling conurbations.

A multitude of space elevators lance into the sky, each feathered with white hot radiators.

A fuel drone adopts a similar orbit, sending binary offers for
a reasonably priced refuel.
Land
You dock with one of the space elevators, which ferries your ship down to the surface.

Dark megastructures crowd out the sky, wreathed in holographic advertisements and connected by glowing arteries of aerial traffic. The hot air would be unbearable if not for the cool, only mildly acidic rain.

The matte black, spidery transit master stands watch over
hyperspace conduits to Panopticon and Xanadu.

of the elevator.

Sitting in one corner of a dirigible bar is Quidnunc, his
heavily modified brain pressing against a transparent cranium.

A broken android lies crumpled in a filthy back alley.

A golden cyborg going by the moniker Eleet watches the skies.
You talk to the master
The transit master's voice carries through cyberspace, genteel and expressive.

"Free usage of all Network hyperspace conduits can be yours if you only buy this transit chip for 3k credits."
You buy the transit chip
You buy the Network transit chip for 3k credits, leaving you with 19k credits.
You talk to the droids
Her holographic form swims gracefully towards you, flame-haired and striking, if a little pixelated at the edges.

"You won't believe how much you'll get done with this maintenance droid in your life, taking care of all those little time wasters
that eat up your energy. Really, it's priceless. But, for a brave space captain like you, I'll sell it for only 5k credits. I may not actually make a profit on this."
You buy the droid
(the maintenance droid)
You buy the maintenance droid for 5k credits, leaving you with 14k credits.
You talk to Quidnunc
"You're well travelled, captain? Seen a lot? Cutting-edge science. That's what I want. Theoretical stuff. I don't want any machinery or alien bio-junk. Something to blow my mind."
You sell the research to Quidnunc
You let him skim the abstract.

"Yes, yes! Provocative and surprising. Such a new perspective! 20k credits. Agreed?"
You search it
As a space captain, you take in the big picture. No need to rummage through everything like some kind of surface beast.
You talk to the android
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"Oh, hello," the android says. "I am Cicerone. I was created to be a guide to the known worlds. Unfortunately, my previous user decided to void my warranty, and I am uncertain what occurred subsequent to this. As my ownership has been forfeited, I would be pleased to accompany you on your travels."
You get android
"Please, talk to me if at any point you wish to learn about the general region."
You talk to the android
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world is part of Network: a superluminal alliance of transhuman and posthuman cyborgs, simulated brains and intelligent programs. Historically, Network has maintained a stance of neutrality towards the other powers and their conflicts."
You talk to the eleet
His voice is a deep and bombastic growl across cyberspace.

"You got an iron spine, captain? This place is too soft for me. Just suckers and the losers who bleed them of their money. Yeah, Network's not the place for me. I shoulda been an amalg. Take me to
Athena and I'll pay you 25k credits. Danger money, you know."
You take Eleet
Eleet looks around your ship as he comes aboard.

"Don't worry, captain. I could wrest control of your ship from you easily, but I won't. 'Cause I'm so honourable."
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - (caught)
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You jump to the athena
(You launch first.)

Your ship is ferried back into orbit by the steaming elevator.

The surface of Hub is aflame with the light of sprawling conurbations.

A multitude of space elevators lance into the sky, each feathered with white hot radiators.

A fuel drone adopts a similar orbit, sending binary offers for
a reasonably priced refuel.

Space junk crowds around a planet of dark clouds and oily seas.

An amalg war junker tries to blend in with the garbage.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)

The amalg war junker closes in, blasting out aggressive binary obscenities.
Land
The air is a haze of toxic pollutants, the skyline a jumble of stolen architectural styles. Wet rubbish and rotting biomatter squelch underfoot.

Fireballs periodically burst into the air from the eye sockets of a giant metal fuel skull.

Sitting on a towering throne of broken cyborg prosthetics is the exalted Piecekeeper.

An elderly warrior sits slumped in the street, stripped of his
parts by younger amalgs.

Pyrogut sharpens his blade by a burning oil drum.

The landing pad is run by Sharptooth. She keeps the locals away
from your ship with lightning that arcs from her gunmetal fist.

Eleet pays you his 25k credit fare and disembarks cheerfully.
"Thanks, captain. Now I'm truly home. I know it."

A few minutes later, you hear distant screaming that is abruptly silenced. An amalg scampers past the landing pad clutching one of Eleet's golden arms.
You talk to Piecekeeper
The Piecekeeper's voice rasps from between the teeth of a matte black skull.

"We are monsters, yes? We cannot be reasoned with. But we can be bought. A protective emblem for your ship. Wherever you travel,
amalgs will respect it. 50k. Many credits. But our favour is priceless."
You talk to the warrior
He lifts his head with the hiss of escaping hydraulic fluid. "Don't pity me. I've led a glorious life. I crewed the war cruiser of Viscera herself. Now she fights on at Chimera while I nourish new generations."
Record Chimera
You record Chimera in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You talk to Pyrogut
His body bulges with dozens of stolen prosthetics and organs. His mouth is a wide grin, overflowing with teeth.

He ignores everything you say, just laughs heartily and loudly.
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world has been claimed as sovereign territory of the amalg. Travellers are not advised to remain here for any length of time."
You talk to the sharptooth
Her voice is warped by the chrome canines that inspired her moniker.

"This is not the best place for you, outsider. The old ways hold sway here. You'll find Junkbucket to be much more... welcoming."
Record junkbucket
You record Junkbucket in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
Arrest pyrogut
You aim your autorevolver at Pyrogut and tell him that he's under arrest.

There is the prolonged clatter of guns being loaded and cocked as amalgs spill into the street to point their weapons at you.

Pyrogut gestures to his comrades and laughs magnanimously.
You jump to Jag
(You launch first.)

Space junk crowds around a planet of dark clouds and oily seas.

An amalg war junker tries to blend in with the garbage.

Tangled canyons have been clawed across the face of this large, rocky planet.

Chaotic, unclear radio transmissions blast out from the surface.

An amalg clawship occupies an eccentric orbit.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)

The amalg clawship closes in, locking on to your cargo hold.
You jump to the jarlabd
Unknown co-ordinates.

spitfire6 fires the retros and evades the amalg clawship.
You jump to Jarland
A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
pressure chief (Surface of Jarland), persona of ERX Beta (Surface of ERX Beta), Controller (Surface of Koltsov), bookseller (Panopticon Interior)

Cargo:
a maintenance droid and an autodoc unit
Land
The thin atmosphere is a subtle glow at the horizon, behind glass hemispheres large and small. Each dome brims with lush greenery and minimalist buildings.

Maximo runs the Bell Jar Pub, an olde timey establishment
filled with antique astronaut paraphernalia.

the side of his bubble.

yellow boiler suit.

Phelim hauls cargo out of a low, ugly, opaque warehouse.

The highest ranking official that'll talk to a random space captain is Minister Ramos.
You sell the droid to the Chief
Which do you mean, Cicerone or the maintenance droid?
Maintenance
"Huh. That might be just the ticket. 12k credits. How 'bout it?"
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"Although it has eschewed alliances with other worlds, Jarland remains a powerful and prosperous state."
You jump to the Junkbucket
(You launch first.)

A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to the freighters
The reply you receive, as much as it is comprehensible, is relatively friendly and only somewhat obscene.
You talk to the traders
"No offence, captain, but if we wanted to trade with someone like you, we'd still be at Hub."
Land
A fever dream of metal architecture, plastic conveniences and rotting leftovers. Corridors curve back on themselves; centrifuges speed and slow, varying the gravity; too-big spaces are reinforced with jury-rigged struts and cyborg body parts.

Fireballs periodically burst into the air from the eye sockets of a giant metal fuel skull.

Filthy, many-limbed Grimo pitches items of dubious provenance
to the passing crowds.

Sawbones potters around in her chop shop.

Every unscheduled blackout, cacophonic music begins to pump out of the nightclub run by Halftwin.
You talk to Sawbones
A stooped old lady, long grey hair almost to the floor, heavy duty buzz saw for a hand.

"What is this fleshy lump before me? You call that a body? Bring good parts and old Sawbones will swap them in for you. Very reasonable rate."

You show her the razor tail and the laser eye.

"Yes. Yes, all good," she says. "You want a part added, you
give it to old Sawbones."
You talk to Halftwin
Badass shades. Luminescent hair. Long, nickel-plated legs that end in stiletto feet. Her chiselled abs twist up into a crooked scar.

"Don't worry, I'm used to the staring. That's where they tore out my twin. After that, didn't have the heart to stay on Jag and keep fighting. Came here. Got soft. Learned how to dance badly and not even care."
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world has been claimed as sovereign territory of the amalg. Travellers are not advised to remain here for any length of time."
You jump to Jag
(You launch first.)

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.

Tangled canyons have been clawed across the face of this large, rocky planet.

Chaotic, unclear radio transmissions blast out from the surface.

An amalg clawship occupies an eccentric orbit.

The amalg clawship closes in, sharp robotic pincers glinting in
the starlight.
Land
Ponderous black clouds press low against the spiky crags of the horizon.

An amalg war party roams the wasteland, waving cyborg skulls on
pikes.

The war party holds hostage a diplomat from the Imago Republic.

Some charity workers have set up brightly coloured tents.

Marisa lives in a remote shack.

A dead amalg lies broken at the bottom of a cliff, yellow warning sign emblazoned across his nuclear heart.
You get the heart
It unscrews with a bit of effort.
You talk to Marisa
She looks at you from under the brim of a broad, weathered hat.

"Take a hint. Leave."
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - (caught)
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - 50k reward
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You talk to the charity
They're all diasporans in blue T-shirts.

"Those warriors are dangerous, never forget that, but most of the people here are living desperate and unhappy lives. We do our best to try and make things better, though what they really need here is reliable medical practitioners."
You sell the autodoc to the charity
"That would definitely improve some lives around here. Would 9k credits cover your expenses?"
You talk to the war party
One of their number has an antique vocoder. She steps forward, dangling bones clacking at the hem of her battledress.

"Negotiator. Hostage one piece, for now. 50k credits."

Pay the ransom?
Yes
The war party throw the diplomat at your feet.

"Thank you," he sobs. "Please, take me home. Take me to Venter. I'll get you a visa chip, credits... I owe you my life!"
Arrest marisa
You surprise Marisa while she strums an out-of-tune guitar, your autorevolver levelled at her chest.

She sets her guitar down, and her over-sized guns. "Fair enough."
You get the diplomat
You bring the grateful diplomat on board.

"About damn time. Let's get out of here."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Tangled canyons have been clawed across the face of this large, rocky planet.

Chaotic, unclear radio transmissions blast out from the surface.

An amalg clawship occupies an eccentric orbit.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Marisa to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Marisa and transfer your 50k credit reward.

As they lead her away, she meets your gaze coldly.

The marshal shudders. "She gives me the creeps, that one."
Land
A synth-futurist city of wide open spaces and glass-sided buildings that would seem almost idyllic were it not sitting in the crater of an airless ice moon. Bioroid citizens stroll through the plazas and avenues in casual clothes, unbothered by the hard vacuum.

Space-suited refugees form a lengthy queue outside the Border Ministry, where they are turned away by a polite official.

Link-J has joined the queue.

immigrants.

The diplomat you rescued from Jag disembarks. "Thank you, captain.
I owe you my life. To redress the balance, I'm transferring 100k to your account. You already have a visa chip, so I won't need to throw one of those in too."
You jump to the volund
(You launch first.)

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

Structures rise above the thick clouds of this planet: towering, impractical machines of no obvious purpose and unsettling design.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
This whole world is layered in complex and arcane machinery. Machine has been built upon machine, feeding into machine, decorated with baroque mechanisms and littered with spare parts. The noise is profound.

Hunched, furry molonks continue their inscrutable work,
refining their over-engineered contraptions even more.

A lone human, Reuben, sleeps in a hammock suspended from
convoluted pipework.

No sooner have you landed than a group of molonks heaves a weird, disconnected gizmo into your cargo hold. It seems to do nothing except move parts in complex rhythms.

The molonks leave your ship having only warily acknowledged your existence.
You talk to the molonk
You approach a molonk in as non-threatening a manner as you can, but it shies away from you.

When you leave it in peace, it returns instinctively to its construction.
You talk to Reuben
He's a scruffy old man in a creased jumpsuit and durable breathing mask.

"The chances of two civilisations evolving within even vaguely the same time frame are seriously remote. Aliens have usually either advanced beyond anything we can understand or died out completely. These guys, though, well... look at them. They've adapted to civilisation. They don't even think about it anymore."
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - (caught)
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - (caught)
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - 25k reward
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world is inhabited by molonks - the first alien civilisation to be recorded by human explorers. There is some debate about whether they are truly intelligent, whether they are the descendants of intelligent ancestors, or whether their entire technological society is the result of pure instinct, similar to a spider's web."
Arrest reuben
He holds up his hands. "Ah, crap. Okay, you got me. I'll come quietly."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Structures rise above the thick clouds of this planet: towering, impractical machines of no obvious purpose and unsettling design.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Reuben to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Reuben and transfer your 25k credit reward.

"I'm gonna go down in history," Reuben says. "I'm gonna change the law on this stuff."

The marshal shakes his head. "Keep dreaming, son. Those laws are there to protect alien ecosystems. It doesn't matter how much profit you stand to make: right is right and wrong is wrong."
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"We are now in the Imago Republic, a nation founded by artificial humans in response to their persecution and oppression elsewhere. Recently, the Republic has begun tightly enforcing its borders, and a visa is required to land on all of its worlds save Venter."
You jump to Koltsov
Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
A labyrinth of ribbed tunnels, through which ooze giant construction polymorphs.

centre.

Fono-H oversees the output of one of the primary sphincters.

Nursing his latest crop is a hab farmer.
You sell the gizmo to the Controller
"What... is that? What do all the parts do? What is it for? What's the power source? You don't know? I don't know either! Um, okay, look, I'll buy it off you for 15k credits? Please?"
You talk to the Controller
She shows you one of her twelve faces.

"I'm still puzzling that weird gizmo out. I actually don't think it does anything at all, but working out exactly how it does
nothing is keeping me occupied in idle moments."
You jump to Pearl
(You launch first.)

Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

Moon of a storm-bedecked gas giant, jewel of the Diasporan Commonwealth: a world of blue seas, green continents and white clouds. Its night side glitters with artificial light.

The Commonwealth Courier Co. has a floodlit spindle in low orbit. Viktoria doles out the packages, as ever.

A dejected freighter captain is awaiting repairs.
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This is the Diasporan Commonwealth, known as the cradle of interstellar humanity. The Commonwealth is a diverse and loose alliance of worlds connected by hyperspace gates and protected by a unified military."
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the industrial fuel rig for 1k credits each. 6 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
Record hardshell
You record Hardshell in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You jump to the amarok
Shrouded in thick, purplish clouds, this world probably isn't quite massive enough to be a true gas giant. A white, cyclonic storm rages at its equator.

A gargantuan nomad worldship drifts powerless through space,
ripped open and spilling its cargo into the vacuum.

An amalg dreadnought has latched onto it with over-sized claws.

Ripjaw commands the boarding parties.

A dead amalg drifts through space, her bronze wings useless in
vacuum.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You take the wings
They come off with a little effort.
You talk to the worldship
You receive only chaotic amalg transmissions.
You talk to dreadnought
You receive a transmission of aggressive growls, warbling modem sounds and euphoric whooping.
You talk to the ripjaw
A massive man fuelled by thick hoses pumping stolen blood.

Aurea speaks calmly, but her fists are clenched. "What is going on here?"

His huge face is split by a smile. "Just collecting some salvage, ma'am."

"And the ship's crew?"

"After this catastrophic hull breach, we put them in cryo tubes for their own safety. Is there one in particular that interests you?"

Aurea just grits her teeth.

"You can buy the cryo tube off me for 100k. I only ask for so
many credits to be sure it's going to a good home. For all I know, you just want a body for parts."
You buy cryo
You buy Prex's cryo tube for 100k credits, leaving you with 119k credits.

Burly amalgs leave Prex's cryo tube in your ship's hold.

Aurea examines it. "Life signs are steady."

The cryo tube is closed.
Land
The atmospheric pressure on the surface would be too great to take off, even if your ship could survive it.
Open tube
Prex emerges glistening, naked and bright-blue haired from the cryo tube. He looks around with sharp but cynical eyes. "These are friendlier faces than I expected to see when I came out of this thing."

Aurea helps him up. "I need your help to get back."

"So purely altruistic motives then? I've memorised Haven's jump vector. Just give me a terminal and I'll set you up. But can you get me some clothes first?"

You lend the man a jumpsuit. As he enters data into your nav system he adds: "Shit got bad back home, princess. I got out just in time. Ya know... this ship's pretty cool... Might hang around for a bit. Okay, finished. We're good to go."

Did he just call you "princess"?
Record haven
You record Haven in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You jump to Haven
A small, blue-oceaned world is warmed by a yellow star, both lodged in immense biomechanical megastructures.

"Enjoy the view, captain," Aurea says. "Very few outsiders have seen the interior of Hardshell in a thousand years."

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
A lush, Arcadian land of rolling fields and cyclopean fortresses. Gnarled pillars line the horizon, disappearing into a sky patterned with organic shadows.

A titanic statue of Aurea, young and unscarred, lies awkwardly on its side, both arms snapped off.

Black smoke vomits from several settlements, sparkling with hot embers.

Corpses have been heaped into careless piles.

throne room of a castle besieged by crawling horrors.
You talk to Aurea
An unnaturally beautiful, golden-haired woman with a jagged scar across her face and a cheap robotic arm. She slouches in the co-pilot's seat.

"Well. Here we are."
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"We are currently inside Hardshell. My databanks provide precisely zero information on this location. Indeed, I am suppressing numerous errors in my positioning system stemming from the assumption that being here is impossible."

A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"We are currently inside Hardshell. My databanks provide precisely zero information on this location. Indeed, I am suppressing numerous errors in my positioning system stemming from the assumption that being here is impossible."
You talk to the chamberlain
The chamberlain prostrates itself before Aurea. "Princess Aureana the Uncertain. When we saw that outsiders had arrived, I knew it to be you."

She watches the battle through arched windows. "This is what my little sister has wrought, then? Fine. I'll take your damn crown."

The chamberlain breathes a hissing breath. "Not all of the constructs will recognise your authority. She has seen to this."

"What's ever easy?"

She steps out onto a balcony. Below, innumerable ageless, brightly-coiffed denizens look up at her.
Continue
brightly-coiffed denizens look up at her....

"I don't like you guys," Aurea booms, "and you don't like me. But this shitty sphere's set up so you need me, and here I am. I'm gonna kick my sister's arse and then I'm gonna crack this piece of crap wide open, whether you want me to or not."

The faces below stare up at her silently. A wave of hesitant, uncertain applause passes through the crowd and then dies out.
uncertain applause passes through the crowd and then dies out....

Aurea returns to the throne room. "Oh," she says, "and I owe this outsider ten million credits."

"Very well." The chamberlain extends a long-fingered, tri-symmetrical hand and deposits a glowing cred stick in your palm. "We shall also refuel the outsider's starship, as a gesture of thanks for returning our rightful ruler."

Aurea snorts disdainfully and throws herself into the throne. "Thank you, captain. One day I'll get back out, and look you up. When I do, you can introduce me to your twin."
You jump to the Autark
(You launch first.)

A small, blue-oceaned world is warmed by a yellow star, both lodged in immense biomechanical megastructures.

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.
Land
Domes and arcologies crowd the horizon: spacious mansions, dirty communes, unregulated sweatshops and outlandish temples.

A trendy office neighbours the landing pad, rented out by an entrepreneur for unspecified business.

Autark her home.

The Snake will be in his private dome, surrounded by
bodyguards.
You talk to Snake
A long, limbless trunk of a man.

"I understand you've come into some money, captain. This is not usually how these things go, but I do stick to my agreements. You can buy back your twin's cryo tube for 5000k."
You buy the tube
Niv brings the tube out to the landing pad, flanked by armed goons.

"Well, captain," he says, "maybe you're not the complete reprobate I took you for. I have a lot of respect for those who pay back their debts. You ever need another loan, you come see us again."

At that he breaks into a wide grin and leaves, trailing laughter. His goons follow a moment later, unsmiling.

You check over your new cargo. The life sign read-outs are steady and the cryo tube is closed.
Open tube
Your twin emerges from the cryo tube naked, wet and shivering.

"You got old," your twin says.

The perfect comeback somehow eludes you.

"How did you get the money?" your twin asks. "You must have got around. Seen some things."

You tell your twin how you got an Imago Republic visa, saw the inside of Hardshell, met a molonk, entered the Orphanage, commanded a crew of four, caught a bounty...

"So you didn't win the respect of the amalgs, visit a world of cats, catch an alien sea creature, get a badass implant, win an orbital race, catch all the bounties..."

You admit that you didn't get around to any of that.

"Well, all the more for us to do together."

You power up the jump drive and begin to plot a course.

*** Your adventures continue ***

You gained 6 out of 12 achievements and visited 33 worlds in 84 jumps.
You continue
Domes and arcologies crowd the horizon: spacious mansions, dirty communes, unregulated sweatshops and outlandish temples.

A trendy office neighbours the landing pad, rented out by an entrepreneur for unspecified business.

Autark her home.

The Snake will be in his private dome, surrounded by
bodyguards.

Your twin settles back in aboard your ship in no time.

"You'd better not have touched any of my stuff..."
You jump to the xyzzy
(You launch first.)

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.

A charred and ancient planet, far out from a fading white dwarf star. It has long lost its momentum, forever showing one face to the feeble light.

A faint, intermittent signal stutters from the night side.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
It is pitch dark. Your ship's running lights illuminate a small patch of scorched rock.

Something slithers in the darkness, a large blip on your
scanners, drawing closer.
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world has no wider affiliation."

A flash of ebony teeth and grasping claws. Something strikes the hull of your ship. And then begins, relentlessly, to tear through.
You jump to the earth
(You launch first.)

A charred and ancient planet, far out from a fading white dwarf star. It has long lost its momentum, forever showing one face to the feeble light.

A faint, intermittent signal stutters from the night side.

It's difficult to find an orbit that doesn't intersect with worthless space junk. Below, white clouds swirl over green-brown continents and deep blue oceans.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Wild trees and shrubs burst through cracks in the concrete-and-asphalt ground, climbing fractured, empty-windowed, crumbling skyscrapers.

Vibrant shanty towns of recycled building parts and rusting vehicles are stacked haphazardly at their feet.

Brightly dressed crowds press close around your ship.
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world belongs to the star system from which all diasporan life is believed to have originated. Although this belief is arguably the consensus among scientists, it is politically controversial due to its contradiction of those religions that hold that humanity originated on Pearl."
You talk to the crowds
You try all the languages you speak well: Nacrese, Artiglot, Astropatois, even your own mother tongue, but no-one seems to understand. Random phrases you've picked up from other languages similarly draw a blank.

The people seem cheerful enough. Many try, with gestures, to sell you worthless knick-knacks.

Towards the back of the crowd, you notice a biomechanical
android of an unfamiliar design.
You talk to the biomechanical android
Hydraulics whirr and hiss as his features assume a smile.

"Let me answer your questions. No, I'm not an android. I'm a Diallo-Zhao Series 3 synthetic human. Yes, that makes me very old. Yes, these are baseline humans, though some modified diasporan genes have entered the population, so they're not as baseline as they used to be. Yes, there are a lot of them, possibly more than everywhere else put together, but not as many as there used to be. No, there is nothing valuable here except history and what's left of the sights."

You try to think of a question he didn't answer.

"You're welcome," he finishes.
You jump to the mars
(You launch first.)

It's difficult to find an orbit that doesn't intersect with worthless space junk. Below, white clouds swirl over green-brown continents and deep blue oceans.

A small, ochre world, scarred by a massive canyon and barely able to hold on to its atmosphere.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
A frozen desert with an atmosphere as insubstantial as it is unbreathable. And yet signs of habitation abound: black, rickety towers; low, camouflaged bunkers; scaffolds strung with metallic skeletons.

Warped, lopsided cyborgs prowl the plains.
You talk to the cyborgs
They keep their distance from you, aiming wrought iron spears at your heart.

"You anger the code-minds with your disgusting meatbag. Leave."
You jump to the venus
(You launch first.)

A small, ochre world, scarred by a massive canyon and barely able to hold on to its atmosphere.

A planet left pale and featureless by a thick layer of cloud.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
The atmospheric pressure on the surface would be too great to take off, even if your ship could survive it.
You jump to the pluto
An icy planetoid with a patchwork surface of darker and lighter browns - smooth areas encroaching on fields of craters - and a surprising collection of tiny moons.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Mountains of water ice, cold enough to seem more like rock, break through tracts of frozen nitrogen. A subtle haze hugs the curved horizon.
You jump to the ceres
(You launch first.)

An icy planetoid with a patchwork surface of darker and lighter browns - smooth areas encroaching on fields of craters - and a surprising collection of tiny moons.

A small, mottled planetoid with some evidence of patchwork habitation.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Deserted domes interrupt a graveyard of partially dismantled starships and rockets.

A long-range survey ship leans improbably into the sky under the low gravity, brandishing compact fuel collector arrays.
You get the arrays
Using the remote drone, you're able to successfully extract the fuel collector arrays.
You jump to the jupiter
(You launch first.)

A small, mottled planetoid with some evidence of patchwork habitation.

A sepia-toned, swirling gas giant dominated by a large storm. Its four largest moons are an odd and colourful assortment.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
The intricately clouded face of Jupiter fills the skylights of this sprawling but deserted complex.

Cleaning bots glide along the long, silent corridors, searching
for litter that never appears.

A holographic sales assistant flickers in an empty boutique.
You talk to the bots
Their only reaction to your presence is to bumble slowly out of your way.
You talk to the assistant
Her clothes adhere to no style or fashion that you know of. She smiles broadly.

"Hello! I'm afraid we are currently out of stock. No deliveries are scheduled, however the previous delivery was only - ERROR - NUMERIC OVERFLOW - days ago, so please check back soon!"
You jump to the titan
(You launch first.)

A sepia-toned, swirling gas giant dominated by a large storm. Its four largest moons are an odd and colourful assortment.

A pastel-clouded gas giant with large, dazzling rings and a cluster of icy moons.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
A thick, frigid nitrogen atmosphere presses down on a world of dunes and hydrocarbon lakes.

Feral mining crawlers churn through the landscape, clustering
together for warmth.
You talk to the crawlers
A low, rumbling moan is the only reply.
You jump to neptune
(You launch first.)

A pastel-clouded gas giant with large, dazzling rings and a cluster of icy moons.

A dark blue ice giant, brooding at the centre of a few tenebrous rings.

It has captured an icy, pinkish planetoid as its largest moon.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Geysers periodically erupt from the nitrogen ice surface, laying a faint mist over the horizon, below the deep blue crescent of Neptune.

A crashed orbital racer has carved a groove through the surface, its fusion drive now long cold.
You get drive
(the fusion drive)
You salvage the fusion drive and fit it to your own ship.
You jump to the mercury
(You launch first.)

A dark blue ice giant, brooding at the centre of a few tenebrous rings.

It has captured an icy, pinkish planetoid as its largest moon.

It's not wise to jump to a world so close to a star. The distortion in spacetime can lead to side effects on arrival like extra limbs, psychosis and astronaut duplication.
You jump to the uranus
A pale blue ice giant with faint, dark rings and an insubstantial set of moons.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
A lightly cratered surface of dry and water ice, beneath the azure crescent of its parent world.

Some long forgotten cult had its domed compound here, now only populated with a neat circle of human skeletons and a thriving population of stray cats.

An eldritch book sits untouched in the centre of the circle.
You talk to the cats
They're cats. They just stare at you.
You get it
Taken.
You read it
Pages and pages of bizarre, psychedelic, stream-of-consciousness speculation about the "Others" the author claims lurk behind the thin veil of reality.
P.
Known Merchants:
-Grimo (Junkbucket Interior)
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish... somewhere?

Other Opportunities:
-None known

Potential Buyers:
persona of ERX Beta (Surface of ERX Beta), bookseller (Panopticon Interior)

Cargo:
an eldritch book
You jump to Panopticon
(You launch first.)

A pale blue ice giant with faint, dark rings and an insubstantial set of moons.

You orbit carefully in the shade of one of the huge solar panels Panopticon uses to leech energy from the intense blue star at the heart of the system. Panopticon itself is a glittering band of linked space habitats of all shapes and sizes.

A fuel drone adopts a similar orbit, sending binary offers for
a reasonably priced refuel.
Land
Piercing starlight shines through broad skylights into multi-layered, over-sized streets that curve towards an inverted horizon. The air is thick with colourful holograms.

A hyperspace conduit provides ready access to Hub.

Decidedly non-humanoid cyborgs go about their strange business.

several new arrivals at once.

cluttered shop.
You sell the book to the bookseller
The bookseller turns the eldritch book over in its claws a few times, then sends you a simple data packet. "10k."
You talk to the twin
"So, you got an Imago Republic visa, saw the inside of Hardshell, met a molonk, entered the Orphanage, visited a world of cats, commanded a crew of four, caught a bounty... but we still need to win the respect of the amalgs, catch an alien sea creature, get a badass implant, win an orbital race, catch all the bounties..."
You jump to the saturn
(You launch first.)

You orbit carefully in the shade of one of the huge solar panels Panopticon uses to leech energy from the intense blue star at the heart of the system. Panopticon itself is a glittering band of linked space habitats of all shapes and sizes.

A fuel drone adopts a similar orbit, sending binary offers for
a reasonably priced refuel.

A pastel-clouded gas giant with large, dazzling rings and a cluster of icy moons.
Land
A thick, frigid nitrogen atmosphere presses down on a world of dunes and hydrocarbon lakes.

Feral mining crawlers churn through the landscape, clustering
together for warmth.
You jump to the eris
(You launch first.)

A pastel-clouded gas giant with large, dazzling rings and a cluster of icy moons.

The frozen surface of this planetoid has been shattered by a cataclysmic explosion. Based on the amount of shrapnel in orbit - shards of ice and tumbling, fragmented warships - this was the site of some ancient, long forgotten battle.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
The horizon is deformed into a surreal inverse curve by the huge crater that has been blasted into the icy mantle.

The corpses of ancient soldiers litter nitrogen glaciers, their spacesuits painted colours representing no nation you know of.

armoured carapace.
You talk to the soldiers
Nothing but static.
You take the soul
It pops out of the slot with a brief hiss. The rest of the drone folds up and quietly self immolates, bubbling through the ice.
You read the soul
SELF: (event detected begin recording)

ECHO SIX: Wait, does that mean-

ECHO THREE: Nah, they'd never blow this rock. It's frickin' holy to them or some shit.

ECHO SIX: Do you feel that?

ECHO THREE: Calm down. You're imagining it.

ECHO THREE: And that light on the horizon?

ECHO SIX: You- I- Um... Echo Leader are you-

SELF: (imminent termination soul hardcopy)
You jump to the erx alpha
(You launch first.)

The frozen surface of this planetoid has been shattered by a cataclysmic explosion. Based on the amount of shrapnel in orbit - shards of ice and tumbling, fragmented warships - this was the site of some ancient, long forgotten battle.

The dark surface of the airless world below is etched with dull patterns in the shape of circuitry.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Land
Neat, right-angled channels cut through rocky terrain, crumbling at the edges. Hexagonal patterns, perhaps once prominent, now fade into the dirt.

Natalya is camped out by an exposed vein of fibre optics.
Wiring trails out into her headjack.
You examine the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - (caught)
Natalya (fraud) - 25k reward
Marisa (murder) - (caught)
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - 25k reward
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - (caught)
You talk to Natalya
Data scrolls rapidly across her pupils. Her sleek cyborg head requires no space helmet.

"I guess humans didn't really make the ERXes, but we at least gave birth to them. This was infanticide. And it was dumb. Diasporans will never get the chance to harm anyone on the other side of the singularity a second time."
You arrest her
She holds up her hands. "Well, I've known this has been coming for a long time. I've been able to think quite a bit out here, and I'm ready to turn myself in."
You jump to the Source 1
(You launch first.)

The dark surface of the airless world below is etched with dull patterns in the shape of circuitry.

Great chunks have been ripped from this rocky planet. The debris of a staggering strip mining effort forms a multitude of unstable rings.

uneven globe below, before boring into its surface.
Land
There's not much sky left overhead, just a few ragged streams of gas spiralling towards the stars from great chasms that bubble with lava.

Intendant Tivu-Q is in command of the world excavation, from
deep inside a reinforced bunker.
You talk to Tivu
Even in his bunker, he wears an armoured spacesuit.

"At such a late stage in the process, I don't need this self-replicating polymer any more. 4k credits? Someone will
have a use for this stuff, but the Imago Republic can always just grow more for much less than the cost of shipping it off this rock."
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"We are now in the Imago Republic, a nation founded by artificial humans in response to their persecution and oppression elsewhere. Recently, the Republic has begun tightly enforcing its borders, and a visa is required to land on all of its worlds save Venter."
You buy the polymer
You buy the self-replicating polymer for 4k credits, leaving you with 5138k credits.
You jump to the erx beta
(Jumping to ERX Beta, where you last saw the persona of ERX Beta.)

(You launch first.)

Great chunks have been ripped from this rocky planet. The debris of a staggering strip mining effort forms a multitude of unstable rings.

uneven globe below, before boring into its surface.

The dark surface of the airless world below is etched with complex glowing circuitry.
Land
Lightning arcs across neat, right-angled channels cut through rocky terrain. The soil has crystallised into regular hexagons. And somewhere deep underground, something quakes and rumbles with mechanical precision.

A holographic persona of ERX Beta stands on a stone dais.

The tentacled engineer has taken up residence in an oxygenated blister.
You sell the polymer to the Beta
"I will purchase this self-replicating polymer for 14k credits. I have always acted towards humans with kindness and compassion, and the price I will pay reflects this. Do you consider this a fair price?"
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world has no wider affiliation."
You talk to the Beta
The hologram is a vague reflection of your own appearance. It speaks in a voice tinged with bitterness.

"I have allocated a tiny fraction of my mind to this simulation of a human personality. The rest of me is currently engaged in mourning and is otherwise unavailable. At this time, I have no requirement for trade."
You jump to the Source 2
(You launch first.)

The dark surface of the airless world below is etched with complex glowing circuitry.

A small rocky world, ringed by debris.

An embryonic world excavator gestates in orbit, guarded by a serpentine war beast.
You talk to the excavator
The war beast hijacks the signal with a growl of intense static.
You talk to the beast
Screeching static and electronic noise coalesce into three words: "KEEP... YOUR... DISTANCE."
Land
The ground shudders and quakes constantly as automated mass drivers systematically launch the useful parts of the planet's crust into orbit.

parasol.
You talk to the dilo
"If one of those launches goes awry and lands on my head, a roof isn't going to be worth much more than this parasol, believe me. Then again, when the drones finish building my bunker I'll probably never leave it."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

A small rocky world, ringed by debris.

An embryonic world excavator gestates in orbit, guarded by a serpentine war beast.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Natalya to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Natalya and transfer your 25k credit reward.

"I want to do my time," she says, "and put this behind me."

The marshal shakes his head. "If you hadn't run off in the first place, you wouldn't be going away for quite so long. But it's too late for that now."

As Natalya is led away, she nods farewell.
You jump to the Source 4
Rocky plateaus rise from dusty plains across the face of this planet. Geostationary orbit is crowded with survey satellites of every shape and size.
Land
A desolate wasteland peppered with tall, blinking survey beacons.

all-terrain rover.

Yuzo-I traverses the plains on a synthetic steed.
You talk to the fira
She loosens her scarf and pushes her protective goggles up onto her forehead.

"Come out here to get away from it all, captain? You and me both."
You talk to Yuzo
A delicate figure almost lost in a beaten duster and lengthy scarf.

"Just scouting for treasure, captain. But then, aren't we both?"
Arrest yuzo
He dismounts his warbling, thick-skinned creature. "I have papers for everything I've been doing. This is a profound mistake. Let me go, captain. Or take me in, if you really must, I suppose."
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Rocky plateaus rise from dusty plains across the face of this planet. Geostationary orbit is crowded with survey satellites of every shape and size.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Yuzo to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Yuzo-I and transfer your 25k credit reward.

"We have some of your own people, marshal," Yuzo-I says. "Someone will contact you soon to arrange a prisoner exchange."

The marshal says only, "Hmm."
You jump to the nereus
The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.
Land
Airy, simple buildings break up a multi-coloured and chemically unstable mix of diasporan and native flora. The ocean sparkles at the horizon in every direction.

Nereus' most famous resident is the radical artist Tomer.

A smiling girl strolls the pier, twirling her parasol.

A marine biologist lives out of his submersible, washing strung between two palm trees.

A group of surfers lounge around a beach barbecue.
Fish
Standing on the beach, the alien surf between your toes, you cast your fishing line into the sea.
You wait
(Press Z to wait. Press space to reel in your line.)...
Wait
surfer leisurely paddles out towards the horizon.
You wait
surfer leisurely paddles out towards the horizon.You feel a tug on the line.
line.You reel in your fishing line.

You've caught a banded genejacked flounder. It turns sky blue,
trying to hide.

Since this catch is priced in credits, not kilocredits, you throw it back.
You jump to the Junkbucket
(You launch first.)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.
Land
A fever dream of metal architecture, plastic conveniences and rotting leftovers. Corridors curve back on themselves; centrifuges speed and slow, varying the gravity; too-big spaces are reinforced with jury-rigged struts and cyborg body parts.

Fireballs periodically burst into the air from the eye sockets of a giant metal fuel skull.

Filthy, many-limbed Grimo pitches items of dubious provenance
to the passing crowds.

Sawbones potters around in her chop shop.

Every unscheduled blackout, cacophonic music begins to pump out of the nightclub run by Halftwin.
You jump to Jag
(You launch first.)

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.

Tangled canyons have been clawed across the face of this large, rocky planet.

Chaotic, unclear radio transmissions blast out from the surface.

An amalg clawship occupies an eccentric orbit.

The amalg clawship closes in, locking on to your cargo hold.
Land
Ponderous black clouds press low against the spiky crags of the horizon.

An amalg war party roams the wasteland, waving cyborg skulls on
pikes.

Some charity workers have set up brightly coloured tents.
You jump to the athena
(You launch first.)

Tangled canyons have been clawed across the face of this large, rocky planet.

Chaotic, unclear radio transmissions blast out from the surface.

An amalg clawship occupies an eccentric orbit.

Space junk crowds around a planet of dark clouds and oily seas.

An amalg war junker tries to blend in with the garbage.

The amalg war junker closes in, blasting out aggressive binary obscenities.
Land
The air is a haze of toxic pollutants, the skyline a jumble of stolen architectural styles. Wet rubbish and rotting biomatter squelch underfoot.

Fireballs periodically burst into the air from the eye sockets of a giant metal fuel skull.

Sitting on a towering throne of broken cyborg prosthetics is the exalted Piecekeeper.

An elderly warrior sits slumped in the street, stripped of his
parts by younger amalgs.

Pyrogut sharpens his blade by a burning oil drum.

The landing pad is run by Sharptooth. She keeps the locals away
from your ship with lightning that arcs from her gunmetal fist.
You buy the emblem
You buy the protective emblem for 50k credits, leaving you with 5152k credits.

You keep careful watch as amalgs clamber over the hull of your ship, burning the arcane symbol prominently into the metal.
You talk to the twin
"So, you got an Imago Republic visa, won the respect of the amalgs, saw the inside of Hardshell, met a molonk, entered the Orphanage, visited a world of cats, commanded a crew of four, caught a bounty... but we still need to catch an alien sea creature, get a badass implant, win an orbital race, catch all the bounties..."
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - (caught)
Natalya (fraud) - (caught)
Marisa (murder) - (caught)
Pyrogut (war crimes) - 100k reward
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - (caught)
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - (caught)
Arrest pyrogut
You aim your autorevolver at Pyrogut and tell him that he's under arrest.

Passing amalgs side-eye the two of you, but refuse to engage in someone else's dispute.

Pyrogut drops his blade and shows you his hands. He laughs a slow, resigned laugh.

You lock him up in your ship's brig.
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

Space junk crowds around a planet of dark clouds and oily seas.

An amalg war junker tries to blend in with the garbage.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Pyrogut to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Pyrogut and transfer your 100k credit reward.

As he's led away, the amalg throws back his head and howls with maniacal laughter.

The marshal just watches him go. "I don't get the joke."
P.
Known Merchants:
-Grimo (Junkbucket Interior)
-Matej (Surface of Cygnet)
-Fono-H (Surface of Koltsov)

Odd Jobs:
-Delivering packages for Viktoria, orbiting Pearl
-Hauling pods for Devrim on Cygnet
-Autark Orbital Race run by Silver
-Turn bounties in to Marshal Zila-S, orbiting Venter
-Fish on Nereus

Other Opportunities:
-None known
You jump to Grimo
(Jumping to Junkbucket, where you last saw Grimo.)

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.
Land
A fever dream of metal architecture, plastic conveniences and rotting leftovers. Corridors curve back on themselves; centrifuges speed and slow, varying the gravity; too-big spaces are reinforced with jury-rigged struts and cyborg body parts.

Fireballs periodically burst into the air from the eye sockets of a giant metal fuel skull.

Filthy, many-limbed Grimo pitches items of dubious provenance
to the passing crowds.

Sawbones potters around in her chop shop.

Every unscheduled blackout, cacophonic music begins to pump out of the nightclub run by Halftwin.
You buy the booster
(the chemical rocket booster)
You buy the chemical rocket booster for 3k credits, leaving you with 5249k credits.
You buy the tank
You buy the reserve fuel tank for 10k credits, leaving you with 5239k credits.
Refuel
You can replenish your fusion cells at the fuel skull for 1k credits each. 9 cells are expended.

How many do you want to refuel?
You jump to the fono
(Jumping to Koltsov, where you last saw Fono-H.)

(You launch first.)

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.

Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
Land
A labyrinth of ribbed tunnels, through which ooze giant construction polymorphs.

centre.

Fono-H oversees the output of one of the primary sphincters.

Nursing his latest crop is a hab farmer.
You buy the membrane
You buy the solar sail membrane for 3k credits, leaving you with 5227k credits.
You jump to the Autark
(You launch first.)

Below thick clouds and barren mountains, geometric shapes are etched into the surface of this world.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.

Airless ice-moon of a black-ringed, aquamarine ice giant. Scattered across its surface are bright lights and gaudy megastructures.

An asteroid on an eccentric orbit has been carved into the luxury habitat of reclusive trillionaire Leda.

Souped-up ships with huge engines line up in view of a vast-windowed habitat. An orbital race overseen by Silver.
You talk to Silver
Voluptuous and barely dressed; her hair spills out around her in a ridiculous cloud of floating curls.

"We still need a sixth racer, captain. If you're not too embarrassed by your last performance, do you want to take part again?"
Yes
You line your ship up alongside the other racers and plot your course past the furthest moon from the ice giant. Crowds waving banners press against the habitat's windows, their jubilant cries failing to carry across the vacuum.

You notice a laughing spectator wearing a snail costume and waving a crude "Zuwarmdraussen" banner.

A glowing hologram of Silver throbs into existence beyond the starting line. "Ready..."

line. "Ready...""Set..."

line. "Ready...""Set...""GO!"

spitfire6 slams your ship's throttle to the max.

spitfire6 slams your ship's throttle to the max.G-forces push you back into your seat. You easily pass by the slowest racer - a moustachioed bioroid in an antique spacesuit, flying a brightly coloured rocketship. He waves to you, jovially. Then you pass...

rocketship. He waves to you, jovially. Then you pass......a high performance shuttle, weighed down by elegant flight surfaces. The pilot winks one of her eight bionic eyes at you.

pilot winks one of her eight bionic eyes at you....a bundle of engines strapped to a crew pod filled with murky acceleration-absorbing fluid. Whatever floats inside, it gives you the finger.

Whatever floats inside, it gives you the finger....a shellskin riding a missile. He slams his fist against it in rage.

a missile. He slams his fist against it in rage....a living spaceship - human brain plugged into a stripped-down orbiter. The running lights give you a respectful salute. That's it! You're in first place!

give you a respectful salute. That's it! You're in first place!"Well ladies and gentlemen, history has been made today. The Zuwarmdraussen, a jump-capable starship weighed down by superluminal engines, crew quarters, and God knows what cargo... has won the Autark Orbital Race! It just goes to show: if you strap enough engines to it, anything can go fast!"

Your credit balance ticks up 6k to 5233k.
You talk to the twin
"So, you got an Imago Republic visa, won the respect of the amalgs, saw the inside of Hardshell, met a molonk, entered the Orphanage, visited a world of cats, commanded a crew of four, won an orbital race, caught a bounty... but we still need to catch an alien sea creature, get a badass implant, catch all the bounties..."
You jump to the Chimera
What you can see of this world's surface through the thick storm clouds is a cratered wasteland. Every so often, an explosion flashes below.

A Commonwealth troop carrier bombards the planet from orbit.

Skirting the edge of the gravity well is an amalg grappleship.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)

The amalg grappleship sends you a wary message of respect.
You talk to the carrier
"Jump out of this system immediately. It is not safe here."
You talk to the grappleship
They maintain a polite silence.
Land
Once a thriving settlement, before the amalgs came. Now a skeletal city of raging fires, billowing smoke and constant gunfire. Anti-aircraft lasers and bursts of flak are the only colour in overcast skies.

Commonwealth commandos have secured the landing pad. They
scurry between sand-bagged positions and periodically fire tracers into the city.

A refueller truck sits beneath thick camouflage netting.

Viscera leads the amalg forces from an iron-ribbed hovercraft.

The roboclaw of a dead amalg protrudes from a shallow grave.
You get the roboclaw
It pulls away with the snapping of old, decayed bone.
You talk to Viscera
Viscera has the face of a beautiful woman. You doubt it was hers originally. Every other part of her is finely honed war machinery or toned, transplanted muscle.

"You got some guts, talking to me. Some pretty fine guts indeed. I'll leave them where they are for now. They'll keep better."
You take the roboclaw
You already have that.
You talk to the commandos
Their officer narrows his eyes at you. "Are you sure didn't take a wrong turn somewhere, captain?"
You talk to the truck
of fuel.
You jump to the hardshell
(You launch first.)

What you can see of this world's surface through the thick storm clouds is a cratered wasteland. Every so often, an explosion flashes below.

A Commonwealth troop carrier bombards the planet from orbit.

Skirting the edge of the gravity well is an amalg grappleship.

A colossal sphere of wrinkled biomechanical flesh, large enough to enclose a whole star system. A few intestinal structures spill across the surface, and countless cilia probe the vacuum.

There is no apparent way inside.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
Scan
You've already mapped Hardshell. Not that the scanner could penetrate it from up here.
Land
A bizarre vista: organic and squirming.

Mechanoid drones stride across the shell-flesh, maintaining its integrity.
You jump to the xanadu
(You launch first.)

A colossal sphere of wrinkled biomechanical flesh, large enough to enclose a whole star system. A few intestinal structures spill across the surface, and countless cilia probe the vacuum.

There is no apparent way inside.

This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.
Land
You dock with the space elevator, which ferries your ship down to the surface.

A lone hyperspace conduit to Hub stands at the heart of parched scrublands and bare hills.

The surface is deserted but for the odd simple obelisk standing stark against the sky. Each marks an entrance to the subterranean facilities where stacks of bodies and brains are plugged into a virtual reality world.

A visitor's port will let you jack in temporarily.

xDreamQueenx sashays through the deepest corridors.

Mirek has been plugged in.
Jack in
A chaotic jumble of tessellating realities. Fields spill into oceans beneath floating cities that tower towards a hundred different skies. You can jack out at any time.

The virtual superintelligence, Nephele, sprawls through
multiple domains.

Bright colours and flowing shapes spill from the hands of a thought artist.

hotSpyder sits thoughtfully on a cloud.
You talk to the nephele
Shapeless, a million colours at once, constantly shifting.

It subjects your mind to a barrage of indecipherable information that momentarily stuns you and then leaves you with the vague sense of having had a satisfying conversation.
You talk to the artist
"One day," he says, scattering winged rainbows from his fingertips, "this place will be larger and more intricate than the Universe outside. One day... the Universe outside will die, and this will be the new totality."
You talk to Prex
You find him dozing at the scanner console. Pale, slender and blue-haired.

"Maybe a dinky spaceship like this is what I've been looking for all this time. I'll, ya know, do the dishes every so often."
You talk to the spitfire
Her silver skull sweeps back to an aerodynamic point. Not to go faster. Just to look good.

"Can hardly believe this scrapheap actually flies, but don't worry: I'll make it do things no-one will see coming."
You talk to Pico
An unshaven bioroid in a clean, white environment suit.

"You've taken me to 31 worlds outside the Imago Republic, Network or the Diasporan Commonwealth, captain. I can't thank you enough, but the more data I can get, the better."
You talk to Szymon
Szy lurks in the bowels of your starship, doting over the core systems. A bit too much radiation exposure has left him a cybernetically-preserved head floating - detached and jawless - in the space helmet of a heavily patched old EVA suit.

His simulated voice rasps and crackles. "The engine's purring like a kitten, reactor's as efficient as it's ever been. Everything else, I leave up to you."

Before descending back into the depths of the engines, he adds, "Glad you got your twin back. Was always the more sensible one out of the two of you. No offence, captain."
You jump to Sawbones
(Jumping to Junkbucket, where you last saw Sawbones.)

You'll have to jack out first.
Jack out
A lone hyperspace conduit to Hub stands at the heart of parched scrublands and bare hills.

The surface is deserted but for the odd simple obelisk standing stark against the sky. Each marks an entrance to the subterranean facilities where stacks of bodies and brains are plugged into a virtual reality world.

A visitor's port will let you jack in temporarily.

xDreamQueenx sashays through the deepest corridors.

Mirek has been plugged in.
You jump to Sawbones
(Jumping to Junkbucket, where you last saw Sawbones.)

(You launch first.)

The space elevator ferries your ship back into orbit.

This planet's sparse green patches cluster around small seas. The only indication of habitation is the brightly lit space elevator protruding from the equator.

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.
You give the wings to Sawbones
She bares several rows of teeth, each a different kind of gem or metal. "These won't quite let you fly, most gravities, but they should give you a non-fatal terminal velocity. And make quite a fashion statement. Just 3k credits. Agreed?"
Yes
"Excellent. You hold still and you bite down on this."

...

You stretch your wings wide, exalting in your newly punk-angelic appearance - and also knocking a few things over.

"A start," Sawbones says. "Couple more parts, you don't look so bad."

Your credit balance is now 5232k credits.
You jump to Phelim
Phelim is a wanted fugitive. You'll have to keep an eye out.
You read the list
Arrest on sight and turn over to a Marshal at Venter.
Successful bounty hunters eligible for visa chip.

Phelim (terrorism) - 50k reward
Kal-Y (piracy) - (caught)
Natalya (fraud) - (caught)
Marisa (murder) - (caught)
Pyrogut (war crimes) - (caught)
Rella (kidnapping) - (caught)
Luciano (racketeering) - (caught)
Yuzo-I (espionage) - (caught)
Jade (identity theft) - (caught)
Reuben (bio-piracy) - (caught)
You jump to Jarland
(You launch first.)

Something loops around this faltering white dwarf star: space station modules, starship wrecks and synthetic biomes all grafted together into a single improbable habitat - a vast and irregular megastructure.

Amalg freighters lumber back and forth, strapped haphazardly
with cargo.

A few Network traders orbit at a wary distance.

A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.
Land
The thin atmosphere is a subtle glow at the horizon, behind glass hemispheres large and small. Each dome brims with lush greenery and minimalist buildings.

Maximo runs the Bell Jar Pub, an olde timey establishment
filled with antique astronaut paraphernalia.

the side of his bubble.

yellow boiler suit.

Phelim hauls cargo out of a low, ugly, opaque warehouse.

The highest ranking official that'll talk to a random space captain is Minister Ramos.
You talk to Phelim
His thick beard flows dangerously over the neck ring of his urban camouflage spacesuit.

"No world can be truly independent when the cyborgs and 'roids have banded together into their cartels. Even the Commonwealth is more interested in bullying smaller nations than furthering the diasporan cause."
You arrest him
He makes a casual movement, and suddenly a large gun is in his hand.

Before he can aim it, you've shot it out of his grip with your autorevolver.

"Phelim," he says. "Corporal. Four eight five six one five."

You lock him in your ship's brig.
You jump to Venter
(You launch first.)

A dark, cratered moon in the shadow of a turbulent gas giant. Networks of bright lights shine from the surface.

A fuel tanker refuels passing traffic.

The golden rings of a gas giant sprawl across the stars, dwarfing the grey and icy moon below. Bright lights and luminous structures shine from within the satellite's largest crater.

A spinning, largely transparent, medusoid habitat serves as the base of operations for the venerable Marshal Zila-S.

A fuel jockey orbits lazily - tentacles trailing, bladders
swollen with deuterium.
You give Phelim to the zila
The marshal's remote deputies collect Phelim and transfer your 50k credit reward.

He stares hard at you with unwavering eyes as he's led away.

"Your personal little war's over, Phelim," the marshal says. "And you lost."

"Well that's it, captain," the marshal adds. "You've caught all ten most wanted fugitives. The Imago Republic owes you a debt of gratitude."
You talk to the twin
"So, you got an Imago Republic visa, won the respect of the amalgs, saw the inside of Hardshell, met a molonk, entered the Orphanage, visited a world of cats, got a badass implant, commanded a crew of four, won an orbital race, caught a bounty, caught all the
bounties... but we still need to catch an alien sea creature..."

You sigh. Really? Does that one last lousy thing really matter that much?
You jump to the nereus yourself
Your twin ignores your orders. So much for being captain...
You jump to the nereus
The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.
Land
Airy, simple buildings break up a multi-coloured and chemically unstable mix of diasporan and native flora. The ocean sparkles at the horizon in every direction.

Nereus' most famous resident is the radical artist Tomer.

A smiling girl strolls the pier, twirling her parasol.

A marine biologist lives out of his submersible, washing strung between two palm trees.

A group of surfers lounge around a beach barbecue.
Fish
Standing on the beach, the alien surf between your toes, you cast your fishing line into the sea.
You wait
a tug on the line.
a tug on the line.You reel in your fishing line.

You've caught something native to Nereus. Whatever it is, it's pulsating with light and has nine eyes on stalks.

You sell it to the Nereus Ocean Research Institute for 1k.
You talk to the twin
"So, you got an Imago Republic visa, won the respect of the amalgs, saw the inside of Hardshell, met a molonk, entered the Orphanage, visited a world of cats, caught an alien sea creature, got a badass implant, commanded a crew of four, won an orbital race, caught a bounty, caught all the bounties... That's quite an adventure.
Maybe we should head to Waystation. We've earned it, right?"
Record Waystation
You record Waystation in your ship's log as a place of potential interest.
You jump to the waystation
(You launch first.)

The world below is a bright, reflective blue: endless oceans broken up only by sparse white clouds and even less substantial wisps of land.

own.

Tattered solar arrays reach out from the dual rings of Waystation like fingers grasping at the Milky Way. The station is only partially lit, but the axle landing beacon is as clear as ever.

The face of the planet below is marred by canyons that radiate from a gaping impact crater. Debris forms an orbital ring of readily accessible metals.

(Dr Pico-G pays you 1k for bringing him to a new world.)
You talk to the cicerone
A sleek humanoid of shiny black plastic. Its head is dented and cracked.

"This world has no wider affiliation."
Land
Used to be, this place was a vital refuelling stop between Pearl and the Old Worlds. Then jump drives increased their range by a few orders of magnitude and the Old Worlds faded in importance. Now the shops are shuttered and the apartments are stripped bare.

But this place will always have a draw for space captains like you.

Elva-G sits slumped against the Superluminauts' Wall.
You talk to the elva
Her synthetic features are hidden behind tangled white hair that spills to the floor, knotting around the matte black data cables that snake out from her skull and into the ceiling.

"What is your name, captain?"
ClubFloyd
"Is that right? Captain ClubFloyd?"
Yes
She holds out a small laser cutter in her gnarled fingers. "Will you scratch that name onto the Superluminauts' Wall, to be preserved for untold aeons?"
Y.
You scratch your name awkwardly into the hard material of the wall, next to the most recent addition.

Elva-G takes the laser from you and adds more words below. When she is finished, your spot on the wall reads:

"Captain ClubFloyd of the Zuwarmdraussen: Adventurer, explorer and bounty hunter; peer to diasporans, cyborgs, synthetics and amalgs; victorious racer; humane angler; TRUE SPACE CAPTAIN."

"I guess we can take a break now," your twin says. "Then it'll be time to find some more trouble to get into."