Entry 15: Trading Around Meliae
17 Feb 2020Worldbuilder92
Current System: Dahan, Dahan GatewayI've been hauling cargo around Meliae and the neighboring systems for around 3 days now; so far, it's been fun! I've reconnected with some old friends as well as new ones, and together with them I've gotten myself situated in the area to build up my funds and upgrade my ships for the long trek ahead.
I've been learning some of the profitable trade routes around the area, albeit slowly. Yamazaki Hub seems to be one of the prime trading ports in this region of space, but I'm having trouble finding a stable looped trading route to and from that station. Dahan Gateway is a great place to sell materials, but it doesn't seem to offer anything to buy back for trading - it's just a sink in the trade network, albeit a profitable one. The built-in Galactic Market feeds are surprisingly helpful, and my shipboard AI Eden (the docs at Carthage got a specially-programmed VI personality to keep me supported after...y'know...) has enjoyed the back and forth.
I'm seriously grateful for Eden watching my back; we got interdicted by a lone pirate looking to grab our cargo, and we had no way of defending ourselves. But Eden kicked in some autopilot functions, and managed to outrun and dodge the incoming fire long enough for us to escape. I may take the time to invest in some form of self-defense for us, in case it happens again...
Also, I've been doing some research for my future trip to the Colonia Region, to get a better idea of what I'll be getting myself into; I've been researching news archives, star charts and station maps, even first-hand accounts of travelers to the region. So far, my researching has confirmed my earlier suspicion: Colonia is a frontier space with all the makings of a future second Bubble. Shipyards, local engineers, fascinating astronomical phenomena, over 100 stations and colonies in the area, none of the crazy power play between governmental leaders... it seems like the perfect place to make your name!
The only problem seems to be the sheer distance to get there. Transporting a ship from the Bubble to Colonia without flying it yourself looks to cost upwards of 200,000,000 per ship. And that... is simply too great a price to pay to move my operations there. Just imagine if I'd bought a shiny new Python, and had to pay almost 3x the cost of the ship just to transport it out to where I'm gonna use it! 0.0
As such, my current gameplan is to run trading missions with the Mobula until I can upgrade it for proper long-distance exploration. After I've properly upgraded and engineered the ship, then I'll leave for the frontier while I still have very little to leave behind; the Junebug will stay behind in the Bubble, in the event that I need a ship to come back to. Once I arrive in Colonia, I'll be buying ships from local shipyards to set up permanent life out in the frontier, and if I'm fortunate, I'll not need to come back at all...