Welcome to the Drift - Issue #1.

The bounty board flickers and changes randomly, but the few jobs that sound interesting are...

Ash to Ashes – Retrieval Contract
Location: Drahvax Prime
Contract Details:
A cET salvage team lost a prototype drilling AI core in Sector 9-B during a recent lava surge. Retrieve the core intact. Bonus if the drone is still functional.
Pay: 7,000 credits (10,000 if drone is active)
Complication: Seismic instability and corrupted facility AIs detected. Hazard bonus approved.
Contact: Overseer Krandell, cET Operations
Planet Summary:
Once a volcanic mining colony, Drahvax Prime is now a scorched husk plagued by unpredictable eruptions and ash storms. Automated mining drones still operate deep within lava-cracked facilities, guarded by malfunctioning defense systems.

Void Bloom – Exotic Cargo Escort
Location: Lunessa IV
Contract Details:
Escort a shipment of live Void Bloom flowers to the Verdari Customs Station in orbit. These plants are time-sensitive and unstable in transit.
Pay: 5,500 credits
Complication: Smugglers and pirates often target these routes. Cargo must not be jostled or exposed to open air.
Contact: Liral Meko, Verdari-Affiliated Botanist
Planet Summary:
Lunessa IV is a lush, bioluminescent jungle world with breathable atmosphere but a toxic ecosystem. The planet blooms with alien flora used in high-end stimulants and hallucinogens. The Verdari strictly regulate exports from here.

Gutter Star Blues – Bounty Hunt
Location: Strathorne Station (Orbiting Terrek-9)
Contract Details:
WANTED: Taz Vek, known conman and slicer. Last seen rigging gambling dens aboard Strathorne. Wanted alive for debt collection and hacking charges.
Pay: 4,200 credits (6,000 alive)
Bonus: Extra 1,000 if his stolen slicer rig is recovered intact.
Contact: Luda Thesk, freelance bounty broker
Planet Summary:
Terrek-9 is a dead world with a massive orbital junk belt—a scrapyard graveyard for broken ships and corporate failures. Strathorne Station is a crumbling outpost run by ex-pirates and mercenary tech crews.

Windswept Descent – Emergency Extraction
Location: Gryssalt
Contract Details:
Drop in and extract a Dreemari psychologist stranded during a failed humanitarian mission. Hostile locals and drone swarms active in the region.
Pay: 9,000 credits
Urgency: High. Dreemari contract will expire in 48 hours. Loss of life reflects poorly on Verdari.
Contact: Dreemari Coordination Bureau
Planet Summary:
A wind-ravaged world of jagged canyons and floating rock formations. Gryssalt is home to scavenger tribes and rogue drone colonies. The constant storm gales make landing—and escaping—a technical nightmare.

Ice and Iron – Mercenary Deterrent Op
Location: Cryden Reach
Contract Details:
A Pyroxi mercenary team has entered Crydan territory illegally. Locate, warn, or remove them before tensions escalate into full war.
Pay: 6,800 credits (negotiable if peaceful outcome reached)
Gear: Cold weather gear provided by local Crydan shamanic envoys.
Contact: Watcher-Hymn Thalron, Verdari-Arbitration Council
Planet Summary:
Cryden Reach is a moon-sized shardworld orbiting a dead star. Populated by Crydan tribes living in crystalline ice fortresses, it’s rumored to sit atop ancient Skorn relic tech. Temperatures regularly plunge below -100°C.

Grave Signals – Investigation Job
Location: Nixor-8
Contract Details:
Investigate the origin of unknown energy signatures. Survey team has gone dark after landing. Possible first-contact scenario or ancient tech discovery.
Pay: 7,200 credits
Bonus: 2,000 for retrieving black box from lost survey shuttle "Perseon"
Contact: Guild of Deep-Space Cartographers
Planet Summary:
A barren moon with no known settlements, Nixor-8 recently began emitting strange, rhythmic energy pulses from deep beneath its surface. The terrain is pitted and black, scattered with ancient wreckage and odd monoliths.


Milk Run My Ass – Missing Cargo Recovery
Location: Delvora VI
Contract Details:
Track and recover a shipment of volatile cryo-crystals from a crashed skimmer barge. Local fauna are hostile and attracted to the heat signature.
Pay: 6,000 credits
Hazards: Waterborne megafauna and unstable terrain
Contact: Hektri Saros, logistics rep for Crimson Loop Freight
Planet Summary:
Delvora is a semi-aquatic world with coral mountains, shallow seas, and immense predatory lifeforms. Light trade exists thanks to floating dock-cities built atop mobile reef-beasts.

The Crimson Tongue – VIP Escort / Protection
Location: Vashara-9
Contract Details:
Protect singer-prophet Liria Vanthe during her appearance at the Temple of Echoes. Known to provoke religious extremists.
Pay: 8,500 credits
Bonus: 1,500 for media-friendly footage of incident-free concert
Contact: Quella Karth, Manager / PR Agent
Planet Summary:
A decadent world once known for diplomacy, now infested with cults, criminal courts, and poison-laced politics. The cities glow red under thick smog clouds and ceremonial duels are legally binding.

Hollow Crown – Artifact Recovery
Location: Zenthros, the Hollow World
Contract Details:
Recover and extract an artifact known as the "Crown of the Last Sun." Believed located in a sunken cathedral below Core Spire 3.
Pay: 10,000 credits
Risk: Mental strain, hallucinations, possible Dreemari-level psychic events
Contact: Professor Tyren Zhul, Quarix Historical Coalition
Planet Summary:
An abandoned artificial planet with a crust made of gold-alloyed metal. Zenthros is believed to be a failed paradise project by the Oriborne or perhaps something far older. Strange whispers echo through its inner tunnels.

As she's taking her seat, Berk approaches and comments. "That I did. Berk, meet Regex Xil, slickest captain this side of the Divide. Regex, this is my partner, Berk. He and I own the new ship together." She motions for Berk to join the group, then continues.

"Gossip. Well, let's see. Since the last time we met, I got sold out, captured, put on trial, released on a technicality and spent almost a year scrounging from job to job. Then, I ran into a rich idiot who didn't know not to draw into an inside straight and split the pot with Berk here. We've taken some freight jobs - mostly low pay stuff that barely covers maintenance and fuel, and now we're here looking for something a bit less boring and a lot more lucrative." She takes another drink and winks in an exaggerated, amused fashion. "Being 'Queen of the Spaceways' is expensive!"

Agneya leans forward, "Emergency Extraction sounds interesting. Anytime the word 'Emergency' shows up, it's probably lucrative, assuming you can pull it off. Let me see the details."

She pauses to read the job posting, as Berk forwards it to her, then grins. "Oh, yeah. That sounds doable. Nasty weather conditions make it a challenge, but we're up for that."

Considering, she looks over at Berk. "What do you think? Personally, sounds like easy money, but I know you're not too up on shadier things, so I'll leave it to you. You say the word, we help out Regex or we head off to the 'emergency extraction.'"

"Great! Sounds like we're in. I assume you have recon of the area where you're meeting? If you can share it, it'd make the job a lot easier. When are you meeting?"

Nodding and looking serious for once as she listens to the plans outline, she sits up straight when the pirate captain finishes. "Right. So, we set up here." she points to the scaffold, "Then, when the deal is done, we tail him out to another location. There, we can recover the case however we like - larceny, bribery, seduction, whatever. As long as it doesn't get back to you and we get the case, you don't care."

Looking over at Berk, she asks "Any questions? Opinions on how best to liberate the goods from our Mark?"