JOBS

---

Rock Gopher:
    Often enough a risky business, there is no way to get hired for these.  Leads received for these are only a few minutes to an hour old.  This means the Rigger heard it themselves.  They hear a rock has crashed in the system they are in.  If they have the right equipment (a dedicated Gopher or an adapter attachment), it is a race against time to get there before any-one else does.  Stray meteorites are the last natural rich supplies of materials in the Territory.  The only time they can be seen is when they crash (and survive).  All the large ones in space are either still out there, or already stripped.  All that's left are the tiny ones.  Lucky people stumble on them in deep space, where regular towing applies.  When a rock is on a planet, Gophers come into play.  It is usually dependent on skill, getting in below a planet's detection and lift it out before anyone else can.  At that point, it is a free for all, selling pieces or the whole thing to whoever wants it, since the materials that make it to the surface are heavy metals that are treasured.  Selling it to the colony on the planet you lifted it from is not a good idea.  Corporations all pay differently.  The scale is for size and type of material recovered.  Once recovered, the Mule crew have to just take a core sample for report purposes and just leave the rock alone otherwise.  "Range" is given in 10 000s.
    Type:  They will give bonus upward of fifty thousand for extra as:
U--Uranium,     T--Titanium,     O--Oxygen,     G--Gold,     A--Aluminum,
Th--Thorium,     Ac--Actinium,     P--Protactinium.
    All of these WILL receive a bonus (Around $10-15 000)  but the type/s mentioned will give an additional reward.

ROCK RANGE:

Ice Drive:
    Not very lucrative but very safe, Ice Drive hardly ever get attacked and the money is guaranteed.  Also, an Ice Driver never has to deal with Syndicates since the Ice is transported from Berg Park directly to the Colony planets. Payment is given on delivery and it is based on the mass of the berg.  As a result, payment will run from $10 000 to $80 000 but a full $80 000 payment can only be done by one souped up Outrigger or Crab or several smaller mules since the Bergs at this price are over 20-30 kilometers in length and weigh upward of 300 000 tons.  Stumbling on a stray Berg in space is very profitable.  Core sam-ples must be taken to discern its purity.  Pure Bergs (80% or more H2O) are very valuable.  They can then be sent to Berg Park, for processing.  Payment can be anywhere from $10 to $40 000... then that same Mule is asked to transport the refined Berg to a colony planet, adding another $10 000 to $80 000 bonus. Refining takes a while and bergs are always being found and trans-ported.  Refined Bergs never stay long in the Park, but the supply is not expected to run out for at least another 100 years.  Even still, new parks are being sought.  There must be another one...somewhere.

Staking a Claim:
    Staking claim means a mineral deposit has been found.  The person staking it places a radio fence around the area warning off intruders.  Breaking of this fence by unauthorized personnel invites prosecution from the FPA.  A claim area costs $100 per square mile (includes perimeter radio fence).  Larger areas will cost a lot but the rewards are plenty.  Per square mile, calculate 20% of the amount of money on the Rock graph above.  If the claimer/s mine the area themselves alone, then it is 40% of above.  A fallen rock can be claimed but the person/s has to get there before the Gophers do.

Syndicates on Contract:
    This is the commission on craft found by Mules under contract by a Syndicate.

NOTE:  Only Syndicates are allowed to pay Commission.  All other sales must circulate through a military contractor.
 

Authority Syndicates:	Assault	Defense	Survey	Probe	Public
Avery Astronautics	5%	35%	35%	35%	30%
Trans-Galactic Spacelines	5%	15%	25%	45%	60%
Consolidated Aerospace	15%	25%	40%	35%	35%
TMA	50%	40%	30%	20%	10%

Bloc Syndicates	Assault	Defense	Survey	Probe	Public
Aerospace Hulls	35%	35%	25%	15%	40%
Badger Engineering	5%	5%	25%	45%	70%
R. Frost Engineering	40%	15%	35%	30%	30%
Fastcore	40%	50%	40%	10%	10%

Neutral Syndicates	Assault	Defense	Survey	Probe	Public
NTA	30%	30%	30%	30%	30%
UniRig	10%	20%	50%	40%	30%

Syndicates off Contract:
    This is the commission on craft found by Mules no connected to a Syndicate.
 
 

Authority Syndicates	Assault	Defense	Survey	Probe	Public
Avery Astronautics	25%	45%	45%	45%	40%
Trans-Galactic Spacelines	15%	25%	35%	55%	70%
Consolidated Aerospace	15%	45%	40%	45%	55%
TMA	60%	60%	30%	30%	20%

Bloc Syndicates:	Assault	Defense	Survey	Probe	Public
Aerospace Hulls	45%	45%	35%	25%	50%
Badger Engineering	15%	15%	35%	55%	80%
R. Frost Engineering	50%	25%	45%	40%	40%
Fastcore	50%	70%	30%	20%	30%

Neutral Syndicates:	Assault	Defense	Survey	Probe	Public
NTA	40%	40%	40%	40%	40%
UniRig	10%	20%	50%	60%	60%

    LEADS:
     Buying your own:  Lead cost will depend of which corporation you buy them from as well as the type of lead. Copper leads are relatively cheap but Golds can sometimes cost as much as a small mule.  Relative costs follow:
    Copper:  $10 000 - $25 000
    Bronze:  $25 000 - $50 000
    Silver:  $50 000 - $100 000
    Gold:    $100 000 - $200 000
    Freelance sellers can charge any amount, and the risks are very high.  But sometimes, they are the richest finds. Freelancers could have received them from Public Domain, but most acquire them from word of mouth (namely leads than come from scanners not found on a Burner...a passing ship for example).  Riggers can also purchase leads from Public Domain.  Costs follow:
    The Authority:  $80 000
    The Bloc:      $95 000
    Rumors hold that the Bloc's leads are more reliable. All leads purchased give the Riggers FULL control over what the find.  They can sell it, outfit their own ship with its parts...or they can give it away...yeah, right.

    Getting hired:  Sometimes leads are not slips of paper or a disk of computer information.  Sometimes, they are people, looking for something.  These can be lucrative... very lucrative.  The only drawback is that they are usually difficult...and a lot of time, unscrupulous.  There have been rumors that a lot of these hired leads are for theft of already found ships, rather than finding new ones.

    Being an Entrepreneur:  Some really aggressive Riggers never buy leads...they go out on rumor and hearsay to find wrecks for themselves.  The famous "Calypso" found a K34 Bee while scanning around the heavily trafficked Lalande 21185.

    Contracting to a Syndicate:  Although risky, it is also the quickest way to stabilize a flourishing Rigger career, or the quickest way to destroy it.  This requires signing up to one of the many syndicates offering fees for wrecks.  It also means sighing to several leads (between 6 and 8).  At first, only Copper or Bronze leads are given, but if the Riggers proves skilled, Silver and Gold might be issued.  The advantage of this procedure is that the Riggers do not need to put any money forward, They just needs to sign their lives away.  If, at the end of the contract, the corporation does not renew, the Riggers have to pay up all the leads they received during the contract (if the mule found a wreck even once, this is easy), if this is not possible then the Mule is confiscated.  If the syndicate hands a Rigger a Gold lead, and it works out...that mule WILL be renewed.  Payment for finding the wrecks works on commission, which is a percentage of the cost of the wreck.  These are lower than ships not on contract.  Contracting a whole firm is safer but the rewards are less.  Getting a lead from one corporation and selling it to another is very hazardous and could get you blacklisted.

    Joining a Firm:  Firms are safe.  You can join and leave anytime.  They are like getting a job...don't toss them needlessly.  The commission is lower because a percentage of the commission goes to the firm.  On the other hand, Firms do all the buying of leads, leaving the mules to do the finding. Some firms compete internally for leads and salvages.  Some others cooperate.  This is far more valuable, especially when a prime Gold lead comes across.  To prevent loosing it, all the mules would team up to find it and split the commission. Most firms are held by loyalty.  Some others by necessity.  Some firms hook up to syndicates.  A bit less risky than joining individually, the rewards come more frequent, but the actual reward is small.  Sometimes the firm hands over all rights of its operation to the syndicate allowing it to run the firm.  Syndicates prefer it that way and usually give more benefits if they do.