All those years invested in learning and earning, I've put in the paperwork for both the business start of 'Interstellar Transit' as well as a ride to get me started: a beaut of a Camara I was able to secure for a steal of a deal from a used vendor just looking to get it off their lot.
These ship dealers, I swear they don't see the value hidden under a few years of ship 'experience'! I had that engine running in top form in no time flat and with a few trial runs I'm sure those electrical quirks will work their way out of the systems (or I'll reroute to nicely remove them from client observation...).
With everything going on getting the initial venture started, I've been delayed in getting words to journey files, so I'll keep the summary very brief to get it up to date!
I managed to start off Denver with some passengers interested in a trip to Cold Bay in Hudson, so with the shake-down passes over with, I took our organization's first paid contract out to Hudson on what ended up being a fairly routine run. From there, I was able to find some crew that were interested in taking their leave on Manhattan, which was fortunately a destination I was eager to entertain, as I'd been scoping out offices on the planet for a better potential 'first impression' of our operations with respect to client relations. We left immediately after the station's maintenance crew fueled us up and I did the pre-launch.
Landing on Manhattan, I was able to look around at a few locations in the commercial districts and gather some data for later review. There's a lot to consider and every option has a price!
The next few trips blew by quick:
Some passengers to Allentown,
some crew to Planet Pittsburgh,
a passenger trip to the California system at San Diego
then crew to Cali Minor.
A group on Cali Minor wanted flight out to Vespucci, to a liner ran by OS&C they'd heard great things about. It was not a system I was very familiar with, but I had the navs on the route, and they had the credits... off we went.
Despite a liner being out in this system, it still displayed a lot of signs of past traumas... the wrecks throughout, the minefield we carefully traversed after jumping in from Magellan, the random debris... parts of it could still have been a Junkers' paradise! We made it to the liner intact, though, and I was able to secure some stocks of Liberty Ale in addition to a new set of departing passengers going to Manhattan.
Second time around through the mines and jumphole to Magellan was now almost routine, the first trip having shaken any jitters out or hesitations away. The rest of the way to Manhattan went smoothly, allowing for some future thinking on plans ahead for the enterprise...
The amount of service hours placed on the Mercury really totaled up quickly and planning seems to show now we can support improving our offering by increasing the capacity of our ship and taking on a great volume of passengers! Growth!
Having decided this step, I took our ship into Pennsylvania and managed to find a suitable 'next budget friendly step' of a ship at Interspace's Valley Forge Flight School - a larger 1000 cargo unit ship called the 'Gull'! (There was a slight issue with docking but aside from the weird look after disembarking from the bay crew, no fines were issued...)
I decommissioned the ol' Camara to afford this 'new' vessel and re-assigned the =IT=Mercury to its transponder.
Our first run: A Cabin full of passengers out to the capital of Rheinland - Planet New Berlin!
The ship performed quite well - aside from a couple of tuning items that probably only would be a bother or even noticed by me - and our clients arrived safe and sound in Rheinland in short order!
Brief summary of trip:
Still in Rheinland following the departing of passengers from Liberty during our last voyage, I decided we'd try and find enough fares to visit a few of the more populated planets as well as get us back to Liberty space again.
Our first group picked up at Rheinland needed to go to Bretonia, where we dropped them off at the Interspace station of Waterloo, then proceeded ourselves to the Planet New London in that same system. It wasn't long before we had another fare to our next destination: Planet New Toyko.
The trip through the Taus and into Kusari had its moments of worrying activity (especially in Leeds where the Mollys seemed to let us pass, probably given the new tag and still undecided on our treatment) but we managed unscathed to the capital and our passengers were grateful. 5 star reviews - fingers crossed!
Finally, after some brief sightseeing (it was my first foray into that region), we located another group wanting a deal on travel to Planet Houston in Texas - helping us achieve our return trip goal. We signed them up and proceeded to head back.
In the next system, however, many guests expressed a desire to briefly land on Planet Junyo, having heard about the ocean conditions - sightseeing side-trip scheduled on the spot - let's call it value-added (even with the low cost already keeping profits thin!).
We took this quick detour - landed at the base and resumed our trip to Texas - which we were able to do without further delay.
Brief summary of trip:
After our passengers departed on Texas, and seeing no further takers for our services, I decided it was time to fall back on some light cargo deliveries to get us back to busier ports. We managed a load of Mining Machinery bound for Planet Pittsburgh, and made our way back to New York.
The short trip netted a bit of profit for our troubles, as well as a score of passengers seeking to reach their vacation destination in Newcastle, the Luxury Liner Shetland. We gladly accepted their credits for the ride and got them squared away for the flight.
The trip through California, Magellan, and Manchester was fairly routine - no disruptions or irregular lane traffic.
Upon arrival at Newcastle, we proceeded to the OS&C Liner and the passengers gleefully departed to enjoy their new environment. I was sure to take a quick walk around to take in what the Liner was offering... it's quite the beautiful ship!
One day, perhaps, we may get to a position to acquire such a vessel, with some persistence... one day!
Brief summary of trip:
Returning to the ship after a brief layover on the Shetland, we secured some vacationers who wished to depart but not end their vacation. A large number of them were gamblers who had heard about the big games at a freeport in Shikoku called Noshima. I hadn't the privilege of visiting this station yet, but knew it by navmaps and... reputation.
However, it was a good fare and they tipped for immediate departure, so off we went!
Our passengers seemed to enjoy the view as we passed through the rather scenic systems in the Taus, and Kyushu.
I made a mental note to try and stop by the Planets of Harris in Tau-31 and Planet Kyushu in that same named system to explore market potential for our service. Shikoku itself has its share of points of interest beyond our Noshima Freeport destination: we again passed Planet Junyo and also Golden Dragon Casino - sporting an interesting and booming raceway.
As if trying to live up to every story I'd heard of this place, I found the Freeport deep in the Shiun Cloud, almost out of sight out of mind of anyone who would think to object to their presence.
The clients got off and thanked us for our assistance and fast flight. I made sure to let them know praise from them to their friends and colleagues is all the thanks we need! Spread the word!
Our arrival at the Noshima Freeport did not go unnoticed by some weary gamblers looking for another getaway venue. The group of them decided to book our charter together with a distant destination in mind - a resort on Planet Blois in the New Orleanais system. As unfamiliar as I was with Gallic space, I took the fare as a way to expand my horizons and knowledge (and star charts) of this region. We left immediately.
Given current state of law between the Gallia and the governments of Kusari / Bretonia / Crayter Republic, the only viable route at present was through Rheinland space and Cologne's Alsace Passage.
Our journey took us through the New Tokyo and Honshu systems of Kusari, then briefly into the Sigma-13 system as we transitioned to Rheinland space.
The entry into Frankfurt was quiet but only at the first lane intersection. At Mannheim Station, we arrived and were briefly forced to watch a battle between government / corporate forces and local rebellious factions. The gunfire knocked out the first ring in the lanes ahead - so while the hardware restarted we held our breath and hoped stray gunfire would steer clear of our neutral vessel.
Thankfully, we managed without a scratch and zipped through the restored lane to relative safety - although rear turrets reported some explosions behind us indicating that others in the fight did not have such luck...
New Berlin, Stuttgart, Cologne, and Zurich systems went by without a hitch, aside from the occasional checkpoint scan by local security forces. With the jump from Zurich's gate, we were in Gallia!
I'll say one thing for the Gallic territories - they are incredibly scenic - just the view from our ship we could immediately see distant nebula, several planets, and numerous asteroid fields - I smiled when I noted several of the passengers working their cameras to capture some images for record of this journey.
In the Champagne system, relays managed to update my local nav data enough to plot the remainder of the course - through the Ile-de-France system then finally the Orleanais system. Quite simple as I'd figured starting out it would be.
One point of note was the rather increased security presence in the Ile-de-France system when we exited the jump gate sequence - local authorities broadcasting to remind local traffic that failure to stop at a checkpoint would result in 'lethal force' being used. My guess is it was a crackdown on either dissidents or smuggling activities - possibly both! Our ship passed through all scans without any problems and our trip continued onward to Orleanais.
Once we reached Planet Blois in the next system, we were cleared to land and our passengers made their way through the spaceport, glad to reach their new adventure destination. Counting on some 5 star reviews again with this group!
The interest in our charter was limited after our last fare's departure on Planet Blois, so we stocked up with some available wine shipments and proceeded to Versailles Station in Ile-de-France, where we knew the commuter demand would be more significant.
Smooth sailing with this cargo and easy transaction at the sale point. We proceeded to Planet New Paris and staked out some space at the landing pad, looking for some interested clientele.
After not so long, we had our catch - a group interested in going to Liberty - wanting to see what all the excitement was about in the famed Planet Manhattan! Contract signed, and we were on our way!
From IDF through Zurich and Cologne, even Stuttgart, quiet lanes, patrols were civil, cake walk of a trip. Then we hit turbulence in New Berlin.
After taking the lane entry near Bonn Station, we were approaching Essen Station and the space around the intersection was already lit up with weapons fire of all kinds. It appears the hostiles were being engaged by the station and some security craft. We managed to edge around the combat, giving my passengers a show but at a somewhat safe distance.
It didn't calm down after that - Alster Shipyard in Hamburg was also under attack, by Unioner forces, according to the chatter picked up. That one was a little closer... we managed to trigger and enter the tradelane just before it was hit by fire and disabled... leaving another transport that was attempting to flee with us behind. Hopefully the security forces were able to keep the attackers at bay and everyone alive.
Past that, Bering, Texas, and New York were a breeze. We landed on Planet Manhattan and our passengers scattered amongst the crowds.
After some short down-time organizing records in the office on Manhattan, I decided it was time to again upgrade our vessel to allow for more flexibility and increased profits made each contract we took.
The "Grouse" I'd been checking out lately that was also sold on Valley Forge was 50% more cargo - not really enough for greater passengers at the moment, but we could start speculating in some different packed cargo types such as Consumer Goods. Buy low, sell high! We grabbed a short haul passenger contract from the board that was waiting for next available craft and we headed to Pennsylvania for another profitable run and a new ship!
As the last passengers departed the ship at Interspace's Flight School, we headed over to their ship sales area and eyed up one of the floor models of the CT-100 - taking a few minutes to open every hatch and panel, pointing out even working systems to the salesperson as evidence that this wasn't the greatest deal... eventually settling on a more reasonable price than their posted. They even allowed a higher trade in for my current Gull even with the hours I'd logged on it and the asteroid impact marks. Never pay retail if you can help it!
Once the trade was complete and all paperwork signed - keeping the same ship name, of course - I thought a bit of a shake down was in order, so we checked out some of the nearby bases in Pennsylvania for merchandise and customer availability - Philadelphia Station, Harrisburg Station, and Planet Erie. Just as the last ship, I was able to find a few items to tweak to my liking... I guess not ALL the items noted during the sales negotiation were fiction!
There were several groups of Bretonian refugees on Erie looking to leave the system - they had their eyes set on Texas, possibly for work reasons but I didn't dig too deeply into the story - preferring to keep conversation light. Contracted signed, paid for, and off to Houston we went.
The passengers were pretty quiet and hushed - almost just thankful for my acceptance of their contract offer. It can't be easy constantly moving around looking for a new anchor point after being dislodged due to circumstances beyond your control. Hopefully better days ahead on Planet Houston for this group.
Texas and then Houston arrived before us and upon landing the passengers left for pre-determined locations.
Planet Houston is always full of arrivals and departures at the terminal - it wasn't long better a work group looking to go to the Hamburg Gate Reconstruction Site in Bering, just one hop over. It seemed simple enough, so I accepted and we went ahead on the trip.
It wasn't until arrival at the station that my heart sank - and I realized my mistake. The smaller station didn't have the mooring to accommodate our larger vessel, and my 'Camara' freighter thinking didn't take this into account, like I would have the border stations. My mentor on Denver said there would be days like this!
They turned us away and I had to think on my feet a bit - our only option was to keep going to Planet Hamburg and I would take it upon myself to find a freighter willing to take them back - my mistake, my expense. This helped with the frustration factor, at least a little bit, after they were told of the circumstances.
Once at Planet Hamburg, I made sure the passengers were squared away somewhere comfortable and set forth to find myself a freelancing freighter captain to undertake my obligation. Luckily I found several, who even bid down against each other a bit, eager for the simple contract. I settled with one, and made sure the passengers made the connection.
I watched their freighter depart from the terminal observation deck, then hit the bar with a few of the crew - to relax a bit before we sought our next adventure.
Cutting short our pause to keep our momentum strong, we secured another fare with a group seeking passage to Planet Sprague in Omega-3 system. We got them loaded up and secure, and we were underway!
Rheinland still showing signs of wrestling with rogue factions when we arrived, only one lane into our journey, at Alster Shipyard. The last ring of the lane was disabled and security forces were just in the final minute of handling their quarry.
As we continued and arrived at the Jump Gate to New Berlin, there were some ALG ships that we followed through the lane from Alster, that took an abrupt hard right towards Planet Hanover. It struck me as odd when I noted it, but thinking back, there's probably a logical explanation, such as assessing the Vierlande Prison wreck for possible salvage.
Aside from these points of interest, and a brief local battle witnessed near the freeport in Omega-3 involving Corsairs (we managed to avoid), the rest of the flight was relatively painless and our passengers were excited to reach their destination. Netted a few positive reviews, all in a day's work!
Planet Sprague proved interesting, albeit a bit disheartening.
After the last passengers departed, I was performing a routine pre-check and walk-around of the ship before scouting for any fares looking to head off-world, when it seemed some of the flight deck maintenance crew were oddly, I don't know, 'off'?
I couldn't put my finger on it, until I asked one of them for supplies, and noticed his co-worker inhaling deeply nearby in an alcove. After retrieving my items, the staff member noted my observation, and mentioned rough days mean 'slogging' it a bit. He had a source if I was interested. I politely declined, thinking thankfully I do most of my maintenance firsthand... I'd hate to see what checklist items get left off in the state they seemed to be enjoying.
Back in the terminal, an eager cluster of tourists were seeking to head out to the independent system of Provence, to attend Monte Carlo's casino and raceway destination. I was pleased - visiting that system and in fact that Freelancer station was on my list of activities to simulate some further business. I signed them up and they proceeded to get established in the nearby cabin.
Thankfully, our journey was only scenic, and not dramatic. No passenger issues or ship systems emergencies - even the minor fluctuations kept in order. I could use more trips like that!
The navmap directed us to the Provence gate coordinates in IDF, and we made it to the system surrounded by the nebula they call 'Mer Méditerranée'. As the passengers partook in the popular cloud watching, I was able to plot a course to Monte Carlo Freeport through the haze.
After securing the ship upon landing, the crew and myself took to exploring the station, and getting some details on the raceway nearby. Being well versed on these tourist attractions can only help convince clients they are making the right decision on their destination choices - the knowledge we provide for planning trips comes at no charge!
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