So this wasn't my best idea

[Timsup2nothin]

It started out at 43%

I was just so excited to have it so early in the game that I kept it...but from a practical standpoint it definitely should have been sold off. It was, no kidding, my very first ship recovery mission.

[RAVEN.myst]

...but from a practical standpoint it definitely should have been sold off.

Sure, perhaps from a purely mathematical perspective - but if you're enjoying a game with a different spin, I'd say what you did was the better call

[Timsup2nothin]

Practical=/= better.

I just equipped everything with docking computers, so I am feeling pretty good about things right now.

[Timsup2nothin]

Update: This is actually going really well.

My little Teladi minion is en route to the heavy shield fab that she has been supplying to pick up my four 1GJ shields at average price. I just checked her CLS info and her current profits are about a hundred thousand credits short of the cost of the shields. With 2000 e-cells and 250 ore on board that's very close to a break even, so free shields for all! Well, actually just for me, but you get the point I'm sure. What to do next with a Vulture Hauler and a pilot that is close to busting the logistician barrier is an open question.

I've collected all the goods for the Beryl. One of my CLS apprentice minions has them loaded on the Centaur and docked at their place. All I have to do is fly out there in a fast ship and take command of the delivery. In a masterpiece of timing, while the Centaur was making the long trudge I was doing a patrol mission and managed to disable one of the Xenon.

I'm *not* just keeping it because I know the plot, it is a valuable and unique relic that I would have kept anyway. While that may sound like BS, the first time I ever did the plot I actually did have the necessary ship just sitting around at a military outpost, so I always feel justified.

Once I get out to Beryl-ville and wrap up that business I will be sinking all my credits into hull repairs...the gift that keeps on giving...or maybe the drain that keeps on leaking...whatever. I'm still not well or fully armed, but my fight rank hasn't even reached the point where my current "hard" patrol is even generating corvettes so the banged up Cerberus has been way more than sufficient for the tasks.

Oh...and even with the financial distraction my gang of really crappy plot supplied marines is coming along. I gave them enough training that they could successfully breach a hull and hack a core, and enough engineering to avoid complete destruction, then snatchad a couple of traitorous corporate TMs that were hauling Argon technology into Paranid space. Emphasis on avoiding "complete" destruction. My total take was one PAC that got ejected before the fight even started and two shattered hulls worth a total of about 350,000 credits. My boarding crew got a good bump in their fighting skills and I dumped them at a military outpost for another million credits worth of engineering training, so hopefully their next mission will pay me back.

[RAVEN.myst]

What to do next with a Vulture Hauler and a pilot that is close to busting the logistician barrier is an open question.

I'll sleep on that and maybe dream an inspiration

In a masterpiece of timing, while the Centaur was making the long trudge I was doing a patrol mission and managed to disable one of the Xenon.

Lucky timing!

I'm *not* just keeping it because I know the plot, it is a valuable and unique relic that I would have kept anyway. While that may sound like BS, the first time I ever did the plot I actually did have the necessary ship just sitting around at a military outpost, so I always feel justified.

No need to convince me - whenever I capture a Xenon ship that I don't yet have, I keep it for later research, so on those rare occasions that I have one before I need it for Beryl, I have it on hand. (The analogous situation when playing as Terran doesn't hold true - I sell off any early Novas, as I in fact did in my current game, even though I know that I will hurt from it later - but my roleplay dictates that I turn over captured Argon ships to the Mars shipyard for their forensics to go through the GPS data and the like for the intelligence boys. At least the high command offer bonuses for such useful finds...)

Sounds like you're having fun And here's a thought to use/not use: you have yourself a pretty decent carrier for the early game, so you could also opt to play as a wing commander, if you so choose (this option would likely both mitigate the damaged-hull mobility AND prolong it, of course...) This also leads to another possibility - leisurely, moderate-volume smuggling of contraband without having to run blockades at breakneck speeds... Mobile homes/recreational vehicles are so versatile!

[Timsup2nothin]

Sounds like you're having fun And here's a thought to use/not use: you have yourself a pretty decent carrier for the early game, so you could also opt to play as a wing commander, if you so choose (this option would likely both mitigate the damaged-hull mobility AND prolong it, of course...) This also leads to another possibility - leisurely, moderate-volume smuggling of contraband without having to run blockades at breakneck speeds... Mobile homes/recreational vehicles are so versatile!

I will definitely put my rewards from the Beryl to better use than I usually do. Of course that expands my somewhat annoying shortage of weaponry.