Our current profit factor is 37, then - 40 once Jason Harlock (I still think he should be renamed to have the initials H.S.H.) joins us. This assumes only Cortez, Arkhah, Boromir, and Sarah participate in the shopping expedition.<br/><br/>Okay, brainstorming so far:<br/><br/>In our previous rolls, Boromir managed to obtain 10 empty orbital platforms. We want one of those to have the Extended Repair Facilities he found but failed to purchase, which will then give us a further +10 bonus to acquire any other components, including weapons.<br/><br/>Expanded Repair Facilities are base 27/100. Cortez can improve that by a flat +10% to 34/100, and Sarah pitching in makes it 44/100. With Boromir, Deliah, and Arkhah attempting to haggle, we can almost certainly get the facilities and install them on one platform.<br/><br/>Next, we need the Salvage systems for the Everest, and Ship's Stores. Those are both Structural components, and so have a -0 modifier, giving us a base 37/100. With Cortez and Tagan, plus the new Repair Facilities, that improves to 67/100 before Haggling. Assuming we find them both, Arkhah suffers 1d5 wounds of his effective 18, and we suffer no test penalties. No rest needed.<br/><br/>Now, let's buy guns. Unless there's a better option, I'd suggest getting 3 macrocannon batteries, 3 torpedo tube arrays, and 3 escort/fighter bays. All have a modifier of -30, so we're starting at 17/100. Cortez+Sarah+Repairs improve our odds to 47/100, or 62/100 if we want Poor-grade defenses (I'd go for it, we can pay to replace them later). Then haggling to improve odds further.<br/><br/>First gun: Arkhah suffers 1d5+2 wounds out of 18, potentially dropping to 11. One full day of bed rest needed.<br/>Second gun: Arkhah suffers 1d5+4 wounds, potentially dropping to 9. One full day of bed rest needed.<br/>Third gun: Arkhah suffers 1d5+6 wounds, potentially dropping to 7. Two full days of bed rest needed.<br/>Fourth gun: Arkah suffers 1d5+8 wounds, potentially dropping to 5. At max damage, he is Heavily wounded, and needs a week and a day of bed rest to recover, taking him out of the shopping expeditions.<br/>Fifth gun: Arkhah suffers 1d5+10 wounds, almost guaranteeing Heavy damage and removal from the acquisition stage for a week.<br/>Sixth gun: If he stays up this far, or we take long enough, 1d5+12 wounds, requiring a little over two weeks of recovery time.<br/>Seventh gun: Now we start taking penalties, 52/100 for a Poor-grade component.<br/>Eighth gun: 42/100.<br/>Ninth gun: 32/100.<br/><br/>So it's theoretically possible for us to get all 9 guns in one flurry of purchasing and complete 550 points towards Fortress World Ares, particularly since we have 12 fate points to spend between all 4 of us, and the combination of Cortez's extended purchasing and Arkah's wound soaking to maximize attempts. If we take the time to let Arkhah recover after each attempt, it'll take a little over a month total, during which Thraxius can make himself useful by purchasing the stuff everyone else wants - Arkhah's power axe, the incoming Captain's armor and pistol, etc.<br/><br/>Alternatively, we badger TGT into letting each purchase of an orbital weapon count as an increase towards Fortress World Ares, netting us 1300 points. ;D<br/>