The Diary of a Space Scoundrel: Treasure Hunt
26 Feb 2020Seth Bradwell
13 February 3306, 09:21 local time"...so there are your options with us. Whilst security will be required as and when we need it, our systems incorporate a fine array of deposits which include rhodplumsite, alexandrite, low temperature diamonds and even void opals, just waiting to be tapped. Furthermore, there will be specific contract work for mining more mundane materials, such as water, liquid oxygen, and the more common metals and minerals out here. Now has never been a better time to get into mining!" said the representative of the Social '931 Partnership, really trying to make mining sound like the most thrill-seeking activity a pilot can do.
"Fine then. Where's my pickaxe?" I reply nonchalantly.
"Just get up into the rings, and you'll see for yourself how rewarding mining can be. Just don't forget your limpets!" smiled the representative.
21:30, that evening
Well this was a tough day. Firstly I nearly got ambushed by pirates who wanted the precious osmium that I had worked so hard for after finding nothing but lepidolite and uraninite for ages, and since my mining equipment leaves me no room for actual weapons I was forced to boost away to safety, thankfully with its engineered drives the Edge of Sanity will outrun all but similarly souped-up ships, and the Camorra of '931 thankfully does not have the resources for such luxuries, so as I said to the pimply-faced punk as I boosted out of weapons range: "You can pry it from my cold dead cargo rack!" Authority turned up an hour later, by which time he had long gone. For ten hours I was only able to find three asteroids I could crack open, and with two I overdid the charges and got far less goods than I could have done, and with the third I finally managed to get it to read optimum yield only to say yield was exceeded on detonation - however I still got enough rhodplumsite to sell for the equivalent of 2-3 hours of plying a good trade route in a T9. I am in Moon Camp's only bar, the Low Temp Diamond Moon, hearing fellow miners discussing the differing virtues of mining ice rings over metallic ones. In the past, I hear, metallic rings were the way to go, but improved mining techniques mean that one can crack open asteroids, and it's the ice rings that supposedly hold the most asteroids with fissures - and indeed has the most valuable minerals contained within. I keep myself to myself as always, watching and learning about the culture here, not wanting to start on the wrong foot, and also looking out to see who can be trusted, and who to watch out for. There are plenty of people who infiltrate mining communities only to try and rob miners of their hard gotten wares, or will result to murder in order to claim a newly-discovered hotspot for themselves. At present I have seen no problems other than the incompetent pirates who make up the Camorra of '931, who end up being more of a threat to themselves, one miner told everyone how he dealt with one pirate giving chase in a Cobra by manoeuvring away from collision course with a asteroid with a split second to spare, the perusing pirate running right smack into the asteroid, losing his shields and over half his hull in a moment - not to mention having a whole array of damaged modules - needless to say he had to limp back home, facing the prospect of explaining another failure to his bosses. However, with pristine reserves abound in these parts, it does not take much for greed to bring out the worst of human nature in people. I must be cautious, and I am considering swapping one of my mining lasers for a proper beam laser, just in case.
15 February
Well that was a slow start, but I did manage to swat a few Camorra flies whist picking out the osmium from the lepidolite. It's not the repetition (hell, I used to fly a T9 before I properly went into the assassination business) but the frustration, seeing a promising asteroid with the pulse scanner only to find it's full of junk. I may check out the ice rings tomorrow. I did find the odd bit of rhodplumsite, but one has to be really patient to stand any chance of finding any.
16 February, 14:30
Frustration is the enemy of the miner, it causes mistakes, accidents, and wasted limpets. After one dud after another I just decide to go and fly above the ring, taking in the view of space, and trying my luck in another part of the ring system...
18:30
Oh yeah, really getting into the swing of this now! It's not that ice rings have more asteroids with fissures, but the goodies contained within are hot stuff if you know where to find the right places to sell them. The downsides is the duds really are duds, whilst metallic rings usually will have a fair supply of decent material such as gold, silver, osmium, and rare earths, the most you'll get from ice is bromellite or methanol monohydrate crystals, and even then I seldom bother - my luck is improving enough to not need to. Needless to say I got a nice load of alexandrite in my hold, plus the odd sprinkling of low temp diamonds and the gem that's all the rage across the galaxy at present, void opals. Where am I getting these from, may you ask? Well a good miner never gives away such secrets, although it's close enough it will soon be common knowledge across both the Partnership and Blue Vision Services. I will be buying a customary round in to celebrate down at the diamond, a rite for every miner who has discovered their first opals, or have had a haul worth more than 50 million credits - I have both, so drinks will be on me for at least two rounds tonight at the Diamond Moon. I will leave you, dear diary, with this image of an asteroid being blown apart to reveal its treasures:
18 February
Wrote off yesterday after a night of celebrating, made a few close acquaintances (I avoid words like 'friends' at this stage, been backstabbed too many times and this isn't a place where those that trust too much last long) and got some advice, such as keep your wits about you - the Camorra may be a joke now but ten miners fell victim to pirates during a single month last year - 'Bloody April' it was called, and there are several notorious figures both inside and outside of the Camorra that every miner here dreads an encounter with. When that time comes, my mining loadout can be swapped out for a combat one, and they will rue the day they tried to pick a fight with Seth Bradwell. Indeed, to add some variety to my life I might start patrolling the resource extraction sites, there is usually someone there trying to gain something they didn't work for, and it does pay a princely sum, especially if you have a kill warrant scanner with you. Indeed, it was patrolling extraction sites that enabled me to graduate from my initial Sidewinder to a Cobra Mk. III. I do miss my Cobra, but as versatile as they are they are not too great at taking on the big game. I am now back off to find some more opals, and other gems that will net me a few more tens of millions by the day's end.