I've made up another route that makes the smuggler 90 credits per unit/minute.
It takes about 55 minutes altogether and uses only jump holes with a single exception - a gate from Cortez to California, and in the said direction
only. It's almost in the end of the whole run. (Cardamine to Rochester).
Here are the details:
Rochester Base (NY) Counterfeit Software > Arranmore Base (Dublin)
Arranmore Base (Dublin) Gold > Montezuma Base (Cortez)
Montezuma Base (Cortez) Light Arms > Planet Malta (Omicron Alpha)
Planet Malta (Omicron Alpha) Cardamine > Rochester Base (NY)
I'm posting this because shipping Cardi to Rochester is way better than having to cross the whole California system unnoticed.
And it's faster. The price differences on Beaumont and Rochester are negligible. And there's also another, a lot more daring route.
If you've got the guts, burn your way theough California From the Cortez gate straight to the NY gate and on to (oh yeah) Virginia.
Just make sure you can outrun the Avengers in your transport and have strong enough shields to survive St. Petersburg's turret fire.
The platforms are relatively harmless. A Border Worlds Transport or Pirate Train work well, because they won't have their cruise engines
disrupted by ordinary CD missiles fired from the rear.
---end-of-update---
From my personal log:
I've also tried getting from Rochester to Malta with Light Arms through Kusari space, but it's either slow or very unsafe. Using a hole from Shikoku to
Kyushu and then to Tau-23 may be cool, but the journey through those systems just takes all day if you want to avoid the lanes.
For you ignorants that have never been to Leiden's Bar:
There are quite a few rumors regarding dealings with the Golden Chrysanthemums and the Hogosha. Sometimes you can even meet
a GC girl sitting at one of the tables. It's quite about Artifact trade there. Smuggling Artifacts from Kagoshima Depot in Kyushu
through the hole to Shikoku, then Galileo, Colorado and NY (Rochester) - using jump holes all the time - does also make a modest amount.
The problem is what to take back, cause Light Arms on Kagoshima (~$680) are even cheaper than on Leiden ($700). If you take your chances
and use trade lanes all the way from Shikoku to NY gate, then cruise to Rochester after jump, this one-way run does make $90 per minute/unit.
So if you end up in Kusari somehow, this may be an option. Although, I admit, it stinks. Kagoshima is run by the Farmers Alliance.
From what I've heard they're used as puppets of Samura Heavy Industries ... and the Hogosha.
So I'd like to scrap the Artifact smuggling idea, because it ain't worth a shot (of Cardi).
Instead, I'm going to explore further interactions with the GC and their cardamine supply depot in hokkaido. Stay tuned for more!
(Photographs of hot cardamine-ladden girls at $10,000 each)
use Vespucci, Humboldt and Puerto Rico to reach the destination,
interdict trade lanes to Hudson and (preferably) Bering - the traders know it's quicker
and travel through Bering more frequently
There are Cruiser & Gunboat patrols at the Jump Gate to Bering ... selling Gunboat and Cruiser Captains
at Fortaleza is very profitable (known better prices on Malta only)
Information regarding Bretonian authorities and the Golden Chrysanthemums:
There was a meeting in orbit around Planet Leeds, this is what one of out smuggling ships returning from Arranmore overheard: (yes, they were using a mixture of non-secure frequencies)
I understand that it's sketchy, but at least we know there's something going on. Whether or not should we contact the GC and ask for details is up to the Directors to decide, I think.
For your amusement until the dark matter storm passes - a free snapshot from Leiden:
The use of l3GS-1 Lane Hacker Gunships - surveillance data:
It looks like forcing all pilots who bought our gunship to obtain proper papers or lose the gunship is going to meet some disappointment among the Outcasts who are using them rather a lot.
Given the situation, I suggest that the Lane Hackers should stop selling the Gunships at Mactan Base, which is sometimes visited by civilians, Junkers and independent pirates and make the shipyards in Vespucci the exclusive selling point. I have envountered 10+ improperly used gunships so far, one even with a trader ID. Our gunship is sure well sculpted which raises its popularity, however even the most basic inernal equipment should not be used by some patty thieves, vutthroats and traitors. The l3GS-1 is after all the pinnacle of our ship development.
Quote:The Lane Hacker Gunship was developed as a vessel capable of disrupting trade lanes and extracting valuable data from trans-lane communication packages.
Well, that is of no use to those who can't hack USI.
Quote:The Gunship's power array is adapted for supplying the multi-processor servers located inside the ship and capable of accumulating and processing many petabytes of information. Although this ship is mostly used for covert operations, its heavy armor and strong anti-fighter weaponry will allow to fight back occasional patrols of the lawful military forces.
In other words, it's high-tech stuff for covert ops, not for fooling around enemy bases or openly engaging the Liberty Navy.
Selling the gunship to incapable hands will most likely lead to its destruction and that is a waste of resources indeed. I say the mere pirates should not be tempted at Mactan by the pretty looks of the ship. don't you agree? The Slipstream is built well enough for anyone who expressly wants to buy a Hacker ship ... but we just can't allow the gunships being stolen and then wreak havoc bear Freeport 4, which is supposed to be a safe zone for obtaining supplies for Mactan!
So if you ever encounter (for instance) a gunship that identifies itself as "Tusk", you can dismantle it withou hesitation ... the pilot has demonstrated hostile attitude and did not respond to any communications.
last seen: Pirate ID, Hacker IFF.
Believe it or not, a Xeno in a Valkyrie:shok:managed to get within a few K from Mactan...
I had to quickly compensate for this abnormality.
Spyglass encounter:
Scans of Nomad ships in Omicron Alpha that are tolerated by the Outcasts:
Outcast fleet preparing for an assault:
Hacker Trade Lane mastery: can you mimic this?
Leiden Base, Galileo
A Blood Dragon Gunboat is making a pit stop and loading supplies for its journey home:
I wonder how why we are still tolerating these Corsair-corrupt freaks threatening us in our own bar (Hogosha):
Killboard
In the last week, these ships were unlucky enough to get under my targeting reticle:
Remains of these four ships are now a part of the North Dallas Debris Field in the Texas system: [LN]-Sam.Watts Avenger
[LN]-Ryan.MacTavish Avenger
[LN]-Joe.Mctyre. Havoc MkII
[LN]-Mike.Ypsilantis. Havoc MkII
May the scrap be collected soon...
It has been some time since I last reported in, my flying time has been somewhat reduced recently.
I had been hearing rumours for some time about a wreck in the Oita system, which may possibly contain valuable weaponry, vital for Lane Hacker R&D efforts. I ventured to the Illinois sector, where I was assaulted by more Liberator fighters than I could count. After dispensing enough countermeasures to fool any sensors for kilometers, I managed to make it to Cruise speed, and safely passed through the Oita jump hole.
Upon entering the system, I searched long and hard for the wreck. Eventually, i found it in the orbit of an unknown planet. A quick burst of fire from my Hellflurries loosened the weapons from the wreck of the fighter, and I successfully recovered a codename ARCHANGEL weapon. It was brought back to America base and submitted to the Lane Hackers R&D Vessel. ARCHANGEL
After moving back to Mactan, I switched to my Scimitar, and proceeded to go on our assigned recon mission. Nomad technology is infiltrating Liberty, and my assignment was to see how bad the situation has gone.
Naturally, the best place to start would be the weapon merchants. All sorts of vessels make use of these weapon dealers, from Civilians to Military. If the weapon dealers were carrying Nomad tech, surely it wouldn't be long before it was everywhere in Liberty.
The first target - [Wellington]Weaponry, a Bretonian Royal Cruise Liner, bearing a BMM IFF and trader ID. It was found in orbit of Houston, a scant 200m away from the Battleship Mississipi. Wellington Wellington Wellington
As you can see, the vessel not only contained a Nomad Power Cell, but multiple Nomad weapons.
The Wellington taunted me as I was leaving, evidently believing that I was attempting to attack it, however I quickly explained that my mission had been a complete success.
Not being content with merely finding one instance of Nomad technology in Liberty, I proceeded to Manhattan, where my sources indicated that there was another weapons dealer in orbit.
[Arms_Dealer]JaGuAr, another Bretonian Royal Cruise Liner, with no IFF and a Trader ID. It was found in orbit of Newark station. Jaguar Jaguar Jaguar
As clearly shown, yet another instance of vast amounts of Nomad technology in Liberty. This vessel was carrying enough Nomad Energy Cannons to start a small war!
Clearly, Nomad technology is becoming a problem in Liberty. I'm somewhat surprised that we aren't already encountering police and naval vessels with Nomad weaponry.
Last night on long range scanners, I detected several vessels, tagged as [Lane Security] Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie.
I did not get close enough to confirm, however I don't think it is too much of a stretch of the imagination to assume that they are from the Ageira Lane Security branch. In any case, it looks like there are a few more corporate lapdogs out there trying to hinder our operations.
What a day. I meant to report in last night, but I hit my bunk as soon as I touched down at Mactan.
First, I launched from Mactan, looking for trading vessels.
My efforts were quickly rewarded as I came across the Advanced Train, Bad_001, tagged with a Police IFF and Trader ID. After some initial communications difficulties, and a few blasts from my Debilitators, he was quickly persuaded to donate a sum of 1 Million credits to the Hackers. Shortly after, I came across the M/S Serenity, a Firefly class transport, bearing a Universal IFF and a Trader ID. Surprisingly, the pilot of the Serenity seemed to be quite a friendly fellow. In other circumstances, such as him not working for Universal, I may even have grown to like him. As it was, I reduced the amount I demanded from him to a mere 500 000 credits, which he paid. Bad_001Serenity
After moving through to the Cortez system, I encountered a Junker vessel carrying Cardamine. In exchange for a few units of Cardamine, I offered to escort the vessel to Rochester Base in New York. After we arrived, the Junker Pilot decided to see if docking at Manhattan was an option. Seeing as though it coincides with our goals of spreading Cardamine use throughout Liberty, in exchange for a full load of Cardamine I quickly offered to draw away the Manhattan defenders so our Junker friend could slip through. All of Manhattan's defense forces, including a naval Battleship, chased me as I buzzed Manhattan, and our Junker friend slipped through unnoticed. Approximately 4500 tons of Cardamine are now flooding the streets of Manhattan. Charles Monroe
I then moved to the Colorado system, where I encountered the vessel [Lane Security]Alpha. Despite the name, he didn't seem interested in Lane Security at all, as he let me roam free. After a brief conversation, the Lane Security vessel docked on the Battleship Rio Grande, beyond my reach. As I was preparing to leave Colorado, I had the misfortune of encountering LPI-Matt.Myers[L]. After he refused my generous bribe of five donuts, I was forced to engage him. As much as it pains me to admit it, Myers was the better pilot, and I was forced to flee. I'll be working on my dogfighting skills in the near future. Lane Security Matt Myers Matt Myers Matt Myers
Some time later, in the New York system, I heard that several rogue vessels were under attack. Thanks to the LPI broadcasting the coordinates of the engagement, I was able to quickly proceed there. Suffice it to say, the engagement was huge. I wasn't able to even count the number of fighter craft. After asking if the Rogues needed assistance, I dove in. The Liberty fighters were slowly dropping, when a Bounty Hunter gunboat came into range. It was an impressive sight as dozens of guns converged on it at once, the pilot was atomically discombobulated in well under 30 seconds. Another Bounty Hunter gunship showed up, and shared the same fate as the first. Eventually, the Liberty fighters fell to our guns. LPI-Jack.Bauer and LPI-Matt.Myers were the last to fall. Liberty Ship deaths
Returning to Magellan, I encountered one last trader, Tobias_Vaughn, a Liberty Mammoth with a Trader ID. After ignoring my initial requests, I was forced to extract some credits out of his hull. About the time when he must have been mentally tallying repair costs, the vessel finally stopped. I only demanded 250 000 credits from him, as it appears that we had some communications difficulties. Finally, I managed to safely return to Mactan, and hit my bunk for some well deserved rest.
Total Tally:
1750 000 Credits
92 Tons of Cardamine
Assisted in the destruction of:
2 BH Gunships
1 Liberty Navy Guardian
3 LPI Fighters
1 Freelancer, assisting the Liberty Forces.
I encountered a new recruit, LH~Kamal.Khan in space near Mactan yesterday. I figured this would be a great opportunity to demonstrate some of our trade interdiction techniques, so we started on patrol. Soon, we encountered the Transport Missing_Mercury. Having a second set of guns was quite useful, we convinced the Mercury that Kamal.Khan had quite the itchy trigger finger, and he was more than happy to pay us. Unfortunately, he transmitted the credits to the wrong account, to my Slipstream that I keep based at Leiden base. Being unable to verify that he transmitted the credits until I had the opportunity to return to Leiden, I made sure that he understood the consequences for crossing us. I then let the trader go and transferred Kamal.Khan his half of the payment.
Later, after an Ion storm disrupted our operations, I chased down a transport named Kathir. Kamal.Khan was a bit too far from my location to assist, and unfortunately the trader escaped as I was making my demand. Overall, exemplary preformance from our new recruit, I look forward to flying with him again.
On a brighter note: When I checked my ship transaction log at Leiden base, the Missing Mercury had indeed transferred payment.
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