Cargo

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History and Timeline

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Future subpages style PLEASE SEE THIS FOR EXAMPLES

• Cargo:Grains
• Cargo:Atmospheric Gases

Natural products

• Foodstuffs
• Libations
• Live goods
• Renewable resources

Raw materials

• Bulk Gases
• Commodity Minerals
• Hydrocarbons
• Ores

Refined materials

• Cargo:Recycled products
• Synthetics
• Composites & Alloys
• Purified & Enhanced Materials
• Industrial Chemicals

Industrial manufactured goods

• Agricultural Equipment
• Construction
• Electronics
• Manufacturing Equipment
• Mining Equipment
• Modular Upgrades
• Utilities & Power
• Vehicles, Satellites & Drones
• Weapons & Ammo
• Xenoforming

Consumer & commercial goods

• Business
• Domestic
• Electronics
• Luxury
• Personal

Specialty goods

• Pharmecutical
• Augmentation
• Art
• Entertainment

Research

• Cargo:Electronics:Research
• Cargo:Environmental
• Cargo:Industrial
• Cargo:Medical:Research
• Prototypes
• Intellectual Property

Contraband

• Permit-Infraction
• Citation
• Misdemeanor
• Felony
• KOS

Cargo Converted

Grains

Common foodstuffs grown including wheat, oats, barley and so on. While grains can be eaten in this form, they are usually refined to make other products such as breads, cereals and liquor.

Produce

Fruits and vegetables ranging from the humble citrus fruit and salad vegetables to those exotic items found only in the most out of the way locations.

Animal Meat

Ranging from beef, chicken and pork to more exotic fare, such food still provides the primary source of protein to omnivorous species. ALT: Though no food movement has ever managed to persuade diners away from their omnivorous roots, as range animals are too resource intensive, nearly all meat is vat grown.

Animal Products

Typically dairy, eggs, caviar and other products of various animal internal organs, they remain a food source of high nutritional value, and some diners derive a twisted pleasure from eating foods originating from such a source.

Seafood

This product range includes water dwelling creatures and their by-products. Typically it includes fish, crustaceans, and other such creatures from which all species can obtain nutritional value.

Ration Mealpacks

Owing to the generally high danger of radiation deterioration, most foods consumed in space by humans are mealpacks. These compact mealpacks contain energy bars and an energy liquid drink. Highly nutritious, and absolutely tasteless to the eye and palate.

Standard Mealpacks

Standard Mealpacks are designed for regular people who want a halfway decent meal without a lot of trouble. Self heating, these mealpacks are hermetically sealed packs of cheap and satisfying foodstuffs. A great alternative to the staple foods on many developed worlds: vat grown meats, algae sludge and tofu bars.

Luxury Mealpacks

Oriented towards the human digestive system, such packs typically contain actual game meat, exotic fruits, vegetables and other rarest of rare foods. Despite repeated denials, rumours persist that meat from other sentient beings are included for the palates of those most decadent of the rich and famous.

Concentrates

Containing utilitarian dehydrated meal bars with jerky for dessert, the Aera ration is human edible, but prolonged human consumption will result in eventual sickness and death due to high alkaloid content.

Jhurlon

A native of the Bzbr world, the Jhurlon most closely resembles a boulder sized land dwelling abalone. While well protected against native predators, modern technology has made cutting through their shell somewhat easier.

Salted Thok

Though the Aera destroyed their jungle forests, the seas fared better, and continue to produce this tasty fish-like creature.

Sustipacks

Containing the bare minimum in ammonia based concentrates and a carb syrup, these packs provide a Rlaan with absolute minimum sustenance. Strangely enough, these packs aid Rlaan fitness, as they will make every effort to avoid eating one.

Nutripacks

Containing a protein brick, carb glop and gels in ammonia solutions stored at such temperatures that ammonia is a liquid. An unprepared human would have a fatal experience opening, let alone eating, this pack.

Ultrapacks

These Rlaan foodpacks are factory processed and hermetically sealed biofoods somewhat more tasteworthy to the Rlaan palate. Typically used as an addition to Nutripacks.

Space Grog

This is the stuff guarranteed to knock a drinker out cold after a couple of glasses have burned down their throat. Known in previous ages as moonshine, hooch, rough gut and so on, this is the liquor with no quality control for ingredients, made in those out of the way places where alcohol is drunk for its kick, not its taste.

Beer

Incorporating alcohols such as beer, ale and mead, such drink is usually made from fermented grains, barley and hops, but not necessarily limited to this. Served cold in warm climes, and warm in cold climes.

Spirits

Consisting in the main of hard alcohols distilled from whatever was handy at the time and usually aged in wood barrels to disguise the aftertaste. One of the prime sources of battle causes and maudlin singing.

Wine

The fermented juices of fruit, typically grapes, crushed under the feet of whoever was passing by, hence the various distinctive tastes. After aging and bottling, wine is sold to the mass market in the mistaken belief that it provides refined social graces.

Tripezian Premium

Taste the flavour of the Frontier! Tripezian Ale is the product of fermented tripezian berries, an alien fruit lethal when eaten, but whose fermented juices have an intense and exotic flavour. Tripezian berries are produced on only a few worlds, andin limited quantities. This makes Tripezian Ale one of the most expensive and sought after beverages in all of known space.

Sarakan Tears

Distilled from the sap of the Sarak bush, this spirit defines the old adage 'Whatever doesn't kill you, will numb the mouth, burn the throat, upset the stomach, tear you a new one, and leave you with a nice rosey outlook towards the universe!

Arkturian Wines

Finely crafted wines from carefully cultivated vinyards. Unlike the cheap wines from farm planets devoted to wine production, every bottle contains liquid craftsmanship and the potential for culinary exploration.

Yylt Nectar

Will add desc later - PeteyG

Yorack Ale

Will add desc later - PeteyG

Triseed Juice

Will add desc later - PeteyG

Incense

Consisting of compressed fragrant plantlife, oils and the occasional recreational drug, incense is used for both religious purposes, and by the mass market for relaxation.

Spices

Useful as a preservative and in general food preparation. Traders often use spices to disguise the taste of rancid meat after transport. Many human travellers use spices to add (disguise) the flavour in standard mealpacks.

Narcotics

Typically, the cured product of various plants burnt to produce an aromatic smoke and inhaled through a respiratory system. The most common variety used is the Nicotiana (nicotine) leaf. Other plant products include cannabis, hashish, and dried opium juice.

Krystal

Typically a small tube filled with a crystalline substance used to produce an euphoric effect. Commonly absorbed into the bloodstream via the respiratory system, or injected directly into the bloodstream via hyposyringes.

Khaisalantimin F62

Produced by a genetically engineered hybrid of Terran and Xeno flora, the F62 variant of the extract of the seeds of the Khaisal plant induces a prolonged state of euphoria in humans. While the extract is not intrinisically toxic and withdrawal is remarkably mild, problems arise due to rapidly increasing tolerance and lost productivity due to excessive use.

Fresh Water

The main building block of life. Fresh water is required by most animalistic species to maintain bodily function. A body will normally use water to carry nutrients to all cells of the body, and remove toxic wastes to avoid poisoning and death.

Cotton

Used in the main as a fabric in clothing, textiles and home furnishings, cotton remains one of the best natural fibres in use today.

Lumber

The stripped down trunks of larger plantlife, still finding use in construction, religious ceremonies, artwork, furnishings and primitive heating.

Rubber

An elastic substance that is obtained by coagulating the milky juice of various tropical plants, prepared as sheets then dried and cut. Basic uses are in correspondence, manufacturing, clothing and sexual activities.

Atasan Furs

These furs maintain prime quality after Atasan merchants developed a storage method to ensure these products did not deteriorate during transit. The recent deaths of animal activists after throwing paint on the leather jackets of the Rebel Flyers may also have contributed to fur's rising popularity.

Bonsai

The ancient art of Bonsai (crudely: Tree Pruning) creates easily transportable plant shapes of all exotic shape and bent. In high demand for their aesthetic appearance, they are often used to complete landscaped visual surrounds. A secondary use is their calming effect while caring for your Bonsai.

Londegal Silks

The highest quality silks are obtained from Londegal silkworms, long kept under monopoly by one clan. The recent successful smuggling of live silkworms has caused an increase in production, servicing the mass market rather than selected individuals.

Cargo/Goods Descriptions all cargo types

comment

Things that are similar to cargo, but best handled via missions or other script-oriented approaches: Transport: Passengers of various forms, or, as courier, data Technological advances: While one imagines research institutions to be able to advance the general state of the art, this doesn't make much sense to buy and sell as cargo. While supporting research institutions should affect tech advancement, buying and selling of some sort of large scale tech advancement is an odd concept. Much simpler to limit the trading of non-material goods to the purchase and resale of various future equivalents to the patent and the copyright.

Construction Stone

When advanced contruction materials are unavailable, or not usable in a particular environment, large stone blocks (typically granite or basalt) are used. Used mainly as foundation stone, water planets in particular use stone as a sea barrier, creating artificial islands.

Facing Stone

The finer, better textured stone (of which marble is famous) is used as a decorative covering on buildings, and for stonework. Possessing a building with stone facing, rather than standard materials is a sign of status and wealth.

Natural Sculptures

Originally considered waste, stone that has been carved by nature is now considered both decoration and art. Large slabs are used as wall decoration, while small pieces are used in artwork, or are works of art themselves.

Alleyne Sheathing

Originally found in the Alleyne asteroid mines, this stone sheathing has a hardness similar to many advanced metal alloys; fractures into large rectangular plates for ease of use in construction work; and is highly resistant to non-particle weaponry. In appearance, it is a midnight blue colour with vivid red streaks, reminiscent of veins.

Atmospheric Gases

Consisting primarily of those gases required to support life such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. These and other gases are mixed according to individual species' requirements. Without these gases, existence in space would be impossible.

Noble Gases

Otherwise known as the inert gases. Commonly used in refining, medical applications, general manufacturing as well as nuclear energy production and laser weapon production and research.

Halogen Gases

Halogen gases are characterized as salt forming (hence sodium chloride or common table salt) They are used primarily in the production of various nuclear, chemical and petrochemical fuels, as well as general manufacturing and the purification of water.

Astral Gases

Astral gases are the highly valuable and rare products of uncommon reactions in nebulas and gas giants. Comprized of complex structures of fused gaseous elements, Astral gases have a wide range of applications in modern industry and manufacturing.

Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons refer to molecules where hydrogen surrounds the carbon atoms. Examples of such are oil and coal. Used to produce fuels in pre-spaceflight times. Usually extracted from the ground.

Natural Gas

A combustible mixture of gases, usable as both a fuel and a raw material in production. A secondary source of such gas is the by-product of animal bio-waste.

Chemical Mix

Original sources of chemicals used in the creation of gases, liquids and solids that form chemical fuel.

Heavy Water

While not a fuel in itself, it is a key component in several types of advanced fuels. It is a water molecule where the hydrogen atom contains an additional neutron. Heavy Water has extensive use in both nuclear fission and fusion, and is used in water dynamo batteries.

Base

Composing most elements discovered to date, it includes titanium, iron, nickel, copper to name a few common metals. These base metals are usually blended both with each other and the other remaing periodic elements. The resulting alloys have application across the full spectrum of general manufacturing, from steel to nuclear applications to medicine, lighting and painting.

Alkali

Alkali metals and earths are primarily used in alloys with other metals. As such, alkali derivatives can be found in structural materials, fuel sources, nuclear applications and general manufacturing. Common characteristics include igniting spontaneously in air and violent reactions with water.

Precious

These metals include silver, gold and the platinum group of metals. They have a lustrous, rich appearance and can be obtained with little effort. While used in manufacturing of all types, their best known use is in the production of jewelry and as a form of wealth in and of themselves.

Radioactives

Otherwise known as actinoids or the actinide series, the atoms of these elements split (fission) into smaller elements, releasing neutrons, heat and radiation. Useful as a power source, weapon warheads and as armor.

Rare Earths

Otherwise known as lanthanoids or the lanthanide series of metals that are highly reactive in air. Rare Earths are used in almost all advanced product manufacturing, particularly lighting and nuclear applications.

Industrial Gemstones

Lesser quality and flawed gemstones are more often used in industrial processes rather than for personal adornment. They form part of the manufacturing process itself, but occasionally are used as part of the end product.

Pearls

Pearls are formed from the concentric nacre secretions of a mollusc around an impurity. They are usually of one color, but individual pearls of varying colors have been known to exist.

Jewels

Formed by high planetary pressure and heat, jewels are brilliantly colored gemstones usually used for personal adornment. Rubies, sapphires and emeralds are the most popularly known jewels. Some jewels also find use in weapons research.

Diamonds

As one of the hardest known natural substances, diamonds are a rarity among gemstones. They find use in most industrial processes, usually for cutting, weapons research, and are also highly valued for their appearance alone.

Sorir Lightstones

Researchers are still undecided if this stone is a live being, or a chemically reactant mineral. Either way, when immersed in water, these stones provide a bright light in ruby, sapphire and emerald hues. Aside from their beauty, these stones are commonly used as emergency lighting where alternative power is unavailable.

Dyes

Dyes are colored substances obtained from various chemical compounds and used to give products such as food, textiles and suchlike a coloration different to their original form.

Acids

Acids are substances that taste sour in water solution, react with some metals to release hydrogen, react with a base to form salts, and enact certain chemical reactions known as acid catalysis. Used extensively in the manufacturing process.

Catalysts

Catalysts are substances that enable a chemical reaction to occur at a faster rate, lower temperature or in conditions altered from what would normally occur. Used extensively in industrial processes.

Esters

Any of a class of often fragrant compounds that can be represented by the formula RCOOR' and that are usually formed by the reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water. Typically used for aromatic purposes.

Rare Catalysts

Corporations have made fortunes by perfecting a single chemical reaction for maximum efficiency. One of the best ways of doing this is to use the best catalysts to move the reaction faster and with less waste. The most valuable catalysts are often very difficult and expensive to obtain.

Reinforced Rubber

Natural or synthetic rubber modified by chemical treatment to increase its useful properties such as toughness and resistance to wear. Used especially in airlocks, electrical insulation, and for waterproofing materials.

Wood Boards

While wood is no longer required for its structural aspects on developed worlds, lesser developed planets still use it as a primary construction material. It does maintain, however, an aesthetic preference for its appearance.

Plastics

Any of various organic compounds artificially produced by polymerization and capable of being molded, extruded, cast into various shapes and films, or drawn into filaments.

Computer Fibres

The most common component of modern electronics and computers is the Computer Fibre. Fibers act as carriers of data between different computer subunits in modern systems, and also as small dynamic logic processors in everyday objects.

Transparent Aluminum

The most important advance in the past century of computer useability has been the invention of transparent aluminum. This durable and dynamic material allows computers to essentially display information any way that they choose. From three dimensional holotanks to pinpoint eye-screens to the standard two dimensional HUD overlays on starships, Transparent Aluminum is one of the most common computer manufacturing materials.

Steel

While surpassed by more highly advanced alloy combinations, steel remains a low cost version for general and machinery construction. Steel consists of an iron ore base with a mixture of sundry metals to vary melting points, tensile strength, brittleness and hardness.

Plasglass

An alloy of metals, plastics and silica glass, this alloy has a transparency slightly less than glass, but with the hardness of metals and is shatterproof. Commonly used for windows in buildings, and where solid walls will detract from visual appearance.

Plasteel

An alloy of metals and carbon nanotubes has resulted in a lightweight metal with high strength and durability. Commonly used in aerospace framework and to a small extent as exterior armor.

Tritanium

An alloy based on titanium and forming interlinking molecules of three metallic atoms, this metal is exceedingly strong. Commonly used in bulkhead construction and armor plating.

Bipolite

A polysteel mix variable alloy doped to produce electromagnetic regions, which, when activated, assist in diverting particles from impact paths and rippling kinetic energy from the impact point.

Duranium

Sacrificing increased mass for increased protection, massive slabs of depleted uranium are mixed with osmium and encased in an ablative coating of tantalum carbide.

Obsidisteel

A combination of metals and silicate oxides, this dark, hard substance is actually secreted from living silicon based organisms.

Carbonium

This alloy is generated from the bio-waste of the Rlaan biogenerator energy system. This bio-waste is melded at high temperature with assorted metals to form an odd appearing, flexible yet hard alloy.

Isometal

A generic term for any metal alloy which has been strengthened via a slow thermal reduction cycle. As a result these alloys have a high ability to dissipate energy and are frequently used for armor plating.

Ethanol

Explosive fuel liquid used as a basic fuel source for powering primitive combustion motors. The motor ignites the fuel, which expands on ignition. The pressure of the explosion drives a piston, in turn driving a power shaft.

Petrochems

Refined hydrocarbon fuels. Used to power lower tech combustion equipment and vehicles. Having seen use for centuries, petrochem power plants have been developed to a high degree of efficiency in converting petrochems to energy. Plus, almost all waste emission is now recycled for industrial usage. Strongly desired for its high power to mass ratio on developing worlds with low technological infrastructure.

Chemical Fuels

Gases, liquids and solids that when superheated, explode, providing heat and thrust when directed out of a nozzle. Typically used as a propellant in solid weaponry, and in space vehicles where other power sources are unavailable or unnecessary.

Water Dynamo

A fuel cell using the hydrogen+oxygen=water chemical reaction. Conversion of the gases to water produces direct current electricity, with the water produced being collected in a secondary chamber for conversion back into constituent gases via external electrolysis. Waste heat is captured thermoelectrically as an additional power supply. Highly durable and environment-friendly, but eventual failure through heat loss and filament decay, plus a comparatively low power output, means such cells are used only in portable electronic devices and for backup power.

Nuclear Pods

These pods hold fissionable fuel within dense radiation shielding. As advanced fission techniques allow energy generation from both the original fuel and the primary waste material, this fuel is greatly reduced in radioactivity. The pods then contain the final waste product for shipment and disposal in solar cores.

Fusion Injectors

Fusion Injectors are designed to hold the heavy water required for the fusion process. When required, it then injects the heavy water into the plasma core at the centre of the power source.

AM Magcells

The Magcell is a storage container and injector that stores charged matter and antimatter inside separate electro-magnetic fields. The magcell injects fuel through injector fields directly into the reactor core to ignite a fusion reaction.

Baakgah

An Aeran fuel cell material that releases hydrogen in an easily controlled manner. Highly efficient energy generation used in all applications barring spaceflight.

Vibronium

An Aeran substance that provides an essentially unlimited supply of small amounts of power. Extensively used in small starship components and personal equipment.

Biogenerators

Rlaan technology evolved along the bio-energy path. Living organisms generate additional energy surplus to life requirements. A biogenerator captures and stores this energy, providing Rlaan cities with a clean, green source of energy.

Biocell

Rlaan technology evolved along the bio-energy path. Living organisms provide additional energy surplus to life requirements. A biocell is capable of storing this energy when captured, and provides sufficient energy to power most Rlaan needs.

CCBB

An incredibly large, incredibly complex, and incredibly unstable hydrocarbon, CCBB is used in applications where fusion reactors are too large, antimatter cells are too expensive, and fission reactors are impractical. This tends to limit its use to power-tools and personal transport units.

Personal Hygienics

As advanced as the sentient races have become, they have not escaped the need for a good scrubbing up every once and a while. Creams and balms promise to use the latest advances in nanoscale chemical transport to remove wrinkles and provide superior skin tone, anti-esthers seek out and destroy unpleasant scent particles, and lastly orifice specific probes to prevent or clean up awkward bodily excretions.

Clothing

Clothing of all manner of make and manufacture can be sold in almost any region of inhabited space. Ranging from military unitards influenced by ancient holovids, to the current trends of haute couture, to apparel derived from animals on lesser developed worlds.

Home Furnishings

Whether filling a multi-room dwelling with creature comforts, or just a rug to avoid standing on cold metal in a stateroom, all sentients prefer furnishings to make a house their home.

Home Appliances

From the esoteric hover-masseuse to the ubiquitous Insta-Nuker, these are the champions of eternal consumerism. All these products are designed to simplify the life of the buyer, or so the sales pitch goes.

Robot Servants

Trained in the nuances of absolute servility, and having the abilities of a bodyservant and portable data storage unit, these machines are valued accessories for those too poor or too ethical to use human servants.

Personal Transport

Whether dropping down to the local dispensary, or travelling around the planet to visit friends, these wheeled, hover and flight conveyances serve every requirement of the average traveler.

Aromatic Scents

Scented oils, perfumes and fragrances derived from various plants and minerals that are pleasing to the senses. Often used for their effect on sentient biochemistry - whether for relaxation, stimulation or eroticism. Commonly mixed with water and delivered by evaporation, though some are applied directly to the body.

Classical Instruments

Typically, those musical instruments designed and built before the age of industrialization. Usually percussion and acoustic instruments, most of which were built by those regarded as masters in their musical fields.

Pleasure Borgs

With the rise in dangerous transmitted diseases, self-cleansing pleasure borgs were developed to serve as the oldest profession in known history. Highly trained and able to perform duties ranging from the gentlest of touches, to the wildest imaginings of S and M, these borgs are an expensive but pleasurable pastime.

Jewelry

All sentients enjoy personal adornment. Both for the visual appearance alone, as well as to serve as a measurement of personal success. Usually consisting of precious metals and gems worked into fantasic pieces of work by master jewellers. The most famous was Xilothee's Dress, consisting of several ropes of gold and three large gemstones, strategically placed and worn with no other stitch of material.

Rare Artwork

In the age of plasprints and holvids, the creations of the hand hold an especial value to today's connoiseur. There is just something about wood, canvas and oil paints that appeals. The more famous the artwork, or the artist, the more valuable the piece. Most famous of all is the 'Moaning Lisa', itself apparently a derivative of an older, lost work of art.

Books

A well told tale still remains one of the chief forms of entertainment. Only the delivery of the tale changes. While books of the past consisted of large tomes filled with biodegradable paper, today's versions consist of plasfilm storage to be inserted into your PAD for projection.

Music

Being entertainment consisting of sound, music takes many forms ranging from classical melodies, to heavy beat music, to today's synthetic muzo. Strangely, music from bands with bug names features highly in music culture, and one fellow known only as 'The King' has been generating music for several centuries.

Holovids

Mindless 3D visual entertainment for the masses. Especially popular among those with no noticeable social life. This year's top seller on the Confederation frontier: 'Who's your Dgn?: Interspecies Fantasies XXIV'. And, as always, the top seller in High Born space: 'Birth of a Nation II.'

Erotica

Consisting of a meld of most forms of entertainment (holovid, aromatic oil, music, and the odd pleasure borg), erotica is a sensual feast wherein the purveyor is immersed in all the forms of sensation known to their race.

Games

Providing near endless possibility for gameplay and maximizing entertainment return, interactive computer games are a market fueled by the hard labors of underfunded dreamers. Despite their lack of fiscal resources they still manage to produce high quality products and garner wide fan bases. These these fan bases could theoretically provide support for the poor, downtrodden programmers and content providers, but strangely they never seem to.

IntaTouch

A tactile simulator that provides an Aera with relaxing sensations.

VirtuArea

A wall hanging that projects the illusion of open space.

Standard PADs

Personal Assistant Devices incorporate functions such as planetary communications, data storage and retrieval, and electronic diary, all in one small, usually hand sized and hand held package.

Consoles

Popular descriptive name for a Central Entertainment System. These systems include wall mounted 2D video screens, holographic projectors, recording and playback devices for audio and visual, planetary communications and the ability to play games over virtual networks.

Musical Instruments

Collective description of contempory music generation equipment. Commonly consisting of sound synthesizers, they also include modern forms of the percussion and acoustic instruments of older times.

PAI Wetware

Pseudo-Artificial Intelligence. PAIs are wet-ware embedded in hardware - genetically engineered brain-in-boxes that distribute the tasks of thinking between the organic and inorganic components. Commercial PAIs are almost universally designed as idiot-savant systems, capable of limited self-motivation and direction, easy to manipulate, but capable of extraordinary problem solving power for the problems they were designed for and trained to assault. PAIs tend to be able to present more natural user interfaces than the expert systems they compete with, tending to be at least vaguely self-aware, and much more responsive to and on emotional levels. In particular, niche market and custom built models are limited only by legislation requiring that entities surpassing a specified set of standardized metrics cannot be considered property, and must be registered as either custom children or custom dependent employees. While the difference is clear for low end models, standards aside, most will agree that the line between a high-end PAI and a designer cyborg human is exceptionally blurry.

Premium PADs

While costly, advanced developments in electronics now permit PADs that can be strapped to a wrist or similar appendage, rather than be carried in hand. A holographic projection provides the interface device, rather than hard wiring in the PAD itself.

AI Cores

An outgrowth of cybernetics, AI Cores approach true artificial intelligence. AI Core development and usage is limited, with the development of expert systems and SuSim? cyborgs. For dry computational tasks and rule interpretation the expert systems' lack of self-awareness was a blessing rather than a burden. For physically manifested tasks considered too menial, too dangerous, or too monotonous, the SuSims? and SuSimCys? proved cheaper, more reliable, and, through advancements in genetics, easy to dominate. Only for those applications where it is difficult to keep cyborg organics alive; or more than computational processing is required are AI Cores employed.

Light Alls

There are few things more terrifying to an asteroid miner than the classic scene from the holovid movie 'The Dark Rock', wherein a group of asteroid miners' standard light droid loses power, and they are attacked by a hideous alien awoken by their mining. While no voracious aliens have ever actually been found in an asteroid mine, reality has never been been a particularly key component of marketing strategy.

Explosives

Things that go BOOM are always required to obtain materials from rock strata. Whether removing surface materials to get to the mining beneath, breaking up large amounts of materials for processing, or rough access work, explosives will do the job every time. Made for vacuum as well as atmospheric use, they have few usage limitations.

Laser Drills

While the precise nature of the cuts produced by this drill certainly add to its usefulness, the fact that laser drills never go blunt or snag on dense ore deposits has caused the laser drill to replace all other competitors. With a detachable powerpack for low power usage, or with cable attachments to a high power source, drilling depth, operating time and area of operation can vary immensely.

Material Processors

On site initial processing and refining of raw materials are performed by material processors. From autoloading of materials, to extraction of useful products and packaging of waste for disposal, look no further than these monsters to do the job.

Boring Droids

Construction of mine shafts has never been so easy. Just feed your tunnel plans to these babies, and come back a few days later to find huge mounds of debris and delightfully polished passageways.

Bulk Seeds

As most seed crops develop sterile adult forms when growing in alien soils, only a select few planets have the ability to generate seed supplies. Hence, all non-native crops must still be brought in through interstellar shipping, and most agricultural colonies tend to lack the genetic research facilities to produce their own variants.

Engineered Seeds

Genetically enhanced or varied cropseed developed to remain fertile in alien soils, to produce more from a given amount or to produce more quickly. Environmental terrorists still protest the use of such products, despite acceptance by the population at large.

Pesticides

No matter where one goes, it seems that every world capable of supporting life supports at least one species that is exceptionally annoying to whatever civilization attempts to colonize it. The age-old solution to this problem is to kill said species. Admittedly, doing so in a fashion that doesn't manage to hurt the colonists is still a subject of intense research. However, any pesticide producer will proudly claim that having a few babies born with the wrong number of legs is surely a small price to pay for not having disfiguring holes in all of the world's crops.

Synthetic Fertilizer

Since the smell of organic fertilizer is impossible to get out of one's cargo hold, most transport haulers will only allow synthetic fertilizer through their bay doors. Synthentic fertilizer consists of those compounds needed to place nutrients in planetary soils, without those added extras to get on the nose.

Distillators

While mainly consisting of tubing and pumps, distillators will extract fresh water from any water source via a process of evaporation, chemical reaction, sedimentation and other arcane processes. Used to avoid the 'water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink' problem.

Livestock Equipment

Whether you need to collect the products of an animals intestines for food, ensure the care of said animals or fatten them up for slaughter to make sure they produce the most, you need the right equipment for the job.

Hull Patches

As hull leaks are frequent due to general use (let alone battle), various products have been developed to maintain hull integrity. They range from liquid spray canisters with QuickFast? Sealant (tm), to diskcaps to full sized metal plates. Most are used in automated repair systems, while others need to be applied in spacedock.

Atmospheric Scrubbers

Atmostpheric scrubbers consist of a series of screens, containers and filters to remove toxic wastes from an artificial atmosphere. As few if any spaceborn craft have an effective contained ecology, they require such artifical means of providing a sustained breathable atmosphere.

Waste Recyclers

Waste Recyclers will filter all shipboard waste, recycling usable matter. Such includes fresh water, and a limited amount of nutrients to be added to food. The remainder is stored and dumped into a local sun or added to a planetary ecology.

Hydroponics

Growing plants in a liquid solution offers flexibility in placement relative to soil planting. Especially useful in environments that do not actually have soil such as spacecraft and stations, or used where planetary soil is not sufficient for the growing of food crops.

Welding Lasers

There are government projects in every colony that primarily consist of tearing up infrastructure and welding big metal plates over the holes, though no-one knows why. This remains until some second agency comes by a few years later to replace whatever was ripped out. There's also the whole starship construction buisness, but one wonders which is the bigger market. Either way, effective workers require effective tools.

Factory Equipment

All hardwired equipment needed for a factory to commence operations. Whether food processing or product manufacture, all you need is supplied in a do it yourself construction kit. Press Start to continue.

Robot Workers

Tireless laborers that will attempt to do nearly any task you can require of them. Unfortunately, in order to keep costs down, their ability to comprehend instructions is somewhat limited. NOTE: Certain aberrations with this particular model have been noticed in conjunction with the request 'lend me a hand'. Please refrain from issuing this command.

Factory Constructors

Self constructing factories in a large box. These constructors need only be placed in location, and on the press of the Start button they will unfold, construct the prefab buildings and install the necessary factory equipment. Pressing the Start button a second time will cancel the operation.

Assembly Tools

To do any job where something needs to be put together, ripped apart or combined with other things, you need the right tools. This packaged set contains everything the happy worker needs to perform their duties. Buy now and receive a free set of socket wrenches.

Prefab Buildings

Prefabricated modular buildings are used for all bar the most costly or esoteric of construction. Easy to construct, seal and furnish, these buildings find use in both residential, industrial and commercial operations. Often used as a structural base with additions made to suit taste.

Landscaping Equipment

For when that hill is blocking your view, you want to recreate your garden surrounds in the latest style, or just want to cover up that unsightly nuclear waste dump. Whenever you are altering the appearance of your surrounds, you need this equipment.

Construction Vehicles

The ability to lift large masses and manipulate them dextrously in three dimensions is essential for construction and lacking in all known sentient beings. These machines make up for the shortcomings of biology.

BioApplicator

Essentially a vat full of genetically engineered organisms or their biowaste, with some valves and a spray nozzle. This device is used to create and apply the complex proteins that the Rlaan use as a basic construction material. When the goop sprayed out of the nozzle reacts with the methane atmosphere present on nearly all Rlaan worlds, the required building material denatures into the desired solid form.

BioRemodeler

This device applies a set of enzymes that sufficiently liquify the organics used in most Rlaan construction. The organics become gel-like, and can be remodeled into the desired forms with little effort.

Enhanced Limbs

When the limbs of a sentient being are just not up to the job, fiber enhancements, neuro drivers and bone reinforcing increases function by several orders of magnitude.

Enhanced Organs

Sometimes genecrafting alone cannot provide the benefits desired. Whether organs are failing from age or ill health, or the host requires increased function because of adverse operating conditions, these enhancements will both strengthen the organ and incrase performance.

Artificial Limbs

Whether a limb is lost, or a sentient needs performance over and above enhancements, these limbs, made from advanced alloys are connected directly to a body's neural network and function with equal proficiency. Reports of limbs attacking the host body are unsubstantiated.

Artificial Organs

Where conditions are so dangerous that natural body organs wither and die, replacement artificial organs will keep functioning. Originally touted as replacement organs, artificial organs are now popular with those engaged in dangerous jobs and pursuits.

Neural Interface

The true pulse of an Andolian is not the calm beating of her heart, but the rampaging datastream of her mind. Neural Interfaces connect a sentient being directly into any computerized network. Brain signals are converted to electronic impulses which in turn are read as operational commands by the network. Interfaces allow the operator to perform actions at a vastly superior speed in comparison to manual input.

Neural Computer

A development of neural interfaces, the neural computer acts as a secondary brain, often controlling sentient actions when the primary intelligence is incapable. Such functions reflect the ability of pilots to function under high inertia, and explain the reports of zombie mercenaries.

Full Body Augmentation

The full body package involves the replacement of all applicable limbs and organs with artificial versions, the enhancement of remaining body parts, neural interfacing, and a neural computer. As the process is irreversible, only those in highly dangerous fields such as mercenaries or asteroid miners will opt for this.

Simple Medicines

Common herbs, bandages and mixtures have use in a wide variety of applications. As life provides the normal knocks, a sentient being needs the occassional help to keep going.

Vaccines

With interstellar trade and war, the risk of infection from dangerous diseases and biological weapons requires vaccinations against every conceivable threat.

Advanced Medicines

Artificially created or derived treatments used in the fight against all problems that occur while leading a modern life. Whether treating cancers, diseases, or the common cold, there is something for everyone.

Longevity Drugs

The term longevity is a misnomer. While not extending life as such, these drugs DO ensure that one's body and mind remain fully capable until the very end. They provide a trade off between slow deterioration of body tissue, and fully functional tissue followed by extremely rapid decay to cellular matter in minutes. Brings new meaning to the phrase 'melting pot'.

Blood Plasma

Each sentient species requires its own supply of interchangeable bodily fluids. Blood plasma is useful in restoring lost fluids from accidents or injury. Compatible with all types within one sentient species. Without blood plasma advanced medical technology would be useless.

Robotic Surgeons

While robotic assistance has long been the norm for medical procedures, generating an AI capable of reacting to operating room conditions without guidance has been an ongoing research project. This is the latest, and most promising, result.

Regen Tank

With advances in DNA and cellular research, the medical establishment is now able to restore lost or damaged cellular material. Unfortunately, cellular reconstruction takes several months to regrow a digit, let alone any other bodypart, thus limiting usage to necessary body regeneration therapy only. Lastly, they have not figured out how to stop the replacement part from itching the entire time it's growing back...

Cryogenic Pods

For the last thousand years humans have been freezing themselves (or their heads) in the hope that they will one day be revived. While the oddsmakers on New Vegas tend to see the survival rate ever breaking fifty/fifty as too close to call one way or the other, it is clear that our ability to freeze things has advanced rather more rapidly than our ability to defrost them.

Hyposyringes

After the medical lawsuits of last century, something was needed to stop certain segments of the medical community from gaining some perverse pleasure by jamming large hollow needles into their fellow beings. The hyposyringe uses an explosive blast of air to insert the required dosage, and vacuum to extract bodily tissue.

First Aid Kits

While the contents have changed countless times, these kits can be found in every public transport and in every overprotective mother's travel bags. Typically containing everything to required to heal a papercut to amputating a limb, use of the advanced items is recommended only by those with a medical license or suffering psychopathy.

Medical Kit

Given their somewhat similar chemical makeup, the Aera medical kit contains many items similar or analogous to those found in human first aid. Of noteworthy exception, however, is the standard issue in all Aera packs of a suicide pill marked 'Treatment for Terminal Trauma'.

Pseudotherms

The Aera originated on a warm world, and are subject to episodes of reduced functionality if caught unprepared in a frigid environment. These coveralls are packed with shielded isotopes and spectral converters that are guaranteed to warm an Aera back up to body temperature within a few minutes.

DNA Resequencer

This portable device can take any DNA sample and transcribe it into the more familiar Rlaan analogs so that it may be more conveniently analyzed.

Cellular Accelerant

A gel pack of complex organic muck that when applied to the site of an injury, will greatly increase the rate of a Rlaan's healing process.

Frozen Colonist

Colonists are delivered to a colony encased in Cryogenic Pods allowing the colony to increase its population only when required and as resources allow. While true colonials exist, the usual colonist is often a debt defaulter or light criminal sentenced to colonial service for a period of years or until they can earn passage away from the colony.

Steerage Class

Passengers who can afford a price of passage and little else. This class offers communal quarters, what little food available offers bare minimum sustenance, and personal space is at a premium. Travel in Steerage can be highly dangerous. Often called Cattle Class.

Economy Class

This class offers passengers a tube sleeper bunk, luggage storage and a communal area for socialization, entertainment and meals. Meal standards are adequate but tasteless, so expect any trip to be a long trip.

Luxury Class

The ONLY way to travel. Luxurious private four sleeper bunk cabins, personal attendant, and the delicacies of universe served with every meal. Central communal area offering the latest in entertainment to while away those hours in transit.

Heavy Personnel Weapons

While it may seem odd, given the loose nature of the laws governing what armaments may be placed on civilian ships, certain weapons, such as thermonuclear mortars, hunter-killer drones, and Anchadaen wrestling worms, are not allowed to be carried around by the civilians of any known political entity deserving of the title. This does not prevent groups and individuals from desiring the aquisition of such devices.

Slaves

Illegal due to fears of interspecies domination. Notwithstanding, many borderworlds and lesser developed areas still consider slave labour as cheapest; among a plethora of other reasons, economic inefficiencies looming largest of all.

Pilot

Much as you may hate the pilot of the ship that attempted to destroy yours, destroying that pilot's ship does not grant one, under interstellar law, the right to sell said pilot into slavery. That being said, many have been known to justify such actions by claiming it to be an entirely proper form of remuneration.

Ancient Artifacts

Few artifacts remain of the Ancients, let alone their predecessors. While the primary source of such artifacts is the Uln homeworld, others lie scattered in asteroid belts, slagged planets or (rarely) hidden on viable worlds. This technology, even when completely non-functional, fetches a fair price at any research facility or university planet. A find of functioning technology would be of enormous value, but has yet to occur.

Cyborg Mercs

As mercenary troops are illegal in any conflict, the transport of such troops constitutes a Class One felony.

Black Market Organs

A faster alternative to waiting around for a medical center to enhance your own ailing organs, for those willing to pay the additional price and to not ask about the nature of the donation.

Resistant Biologics

While of potential use for research, given their high rate of mutation and resistance to treatment, these pathogens are deemed too dangerous for civilian transport, if only because someone willing to use them might intercept them.

Biological Weapons

Weapons grade pathogens have been found to be sufficiently fear inducing that all governments deny any willingness to use them and many terrorists hope for an opportunity to do just that.

Biomimetic Gel

This is a mimicry gel. By tapping into an entity's bioelectrical field, this gel will function as pseudo body tissue, matching exactly the body tissue to which it is attached until it decomposes. With the ability to be manipulated as desired, this gel is extensively used in entertainment. Valuable for use in espionage, this gel has been listed as contraband except in limited circumstances.

Socialist Worker Journal

The Socialist Worker Journal is a bi-monthly electronic publication believed to have its origins on Berkeley in the Trotsky system. The SWJ highlights the importance of advancing socialism, and features artwork and music produced by workers, for workers. This product has been officially deemed 'unworthy for use even in the task of wiping one's rear.'

Luddite Religious Texts

Carrying ISO propaganda will get one arrested. Carrying luddite propaganda, outside of the more sympathetic Purist regions, is likely to get one summarily shot.

ISO Party Member

Anyone in Confederation space willing to openly declare their membership in the ISO either has great fortitude or suffers from great idiocy. The same however, must be said of those willing to transport them through said space.

Escaped Political Prisoners

Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the ISO?

Captured Confed Prisoners

Humans always sympathize when one of their own is being held against his will by hostile forces. In most situations, every effort is made to secure their release. However in the depths of space, the only way to free a prisoner of war is to destroy the offending ship and hope that their cargo pod is properly ejected.

Aeres Bane

Aeran genetic labs were responsible for creating dangerous drugs to undermine the Rlaan military, but they did not count of the same being done to them. The Rlaan, masters of genetic manipulation, have created a highly addictive drug that has no initial negative side effects. After approximately two months of medium use of Aeres Bane, an Aera's neural pathways will start to rapidly break down, leaving them a vegetable. The Aera Ascendancy has banned this drug outright, but there is still a demand for it among the Aera population.

Retrified Salt

Salted crematory remains. Illegal in Aeran space due to the combination of a cultural disdain for such and an unwillingness to remove an ancient law from the books.

Aera Nerve Stimulators

Ever watched an Aera spasm in something that looks like a cross between an epileptic fit and an orgasm? Give them some of this and sit back. Way back. Preferably behind a barrier, because when the Aera in question starts to go into withdrawal induced fits of berserker rage, you might want to live to tell the tale.

Captured Aera Prisoners

The Aera do not consider single Aera to be of any great consequence in war, though they do attack when discovering a ship that is carrying imprisoned Aera. This is because the Aera consider parading around their prisoners to be an extreme insult that can only be apologized for with the destruction of the offending party.

ICBINF

Originally designed as a cheap, renewable, and environmentally friendly refrigerant, it was found to induce exceptionally terminal cancers in Rlaan.

Zhollus

A plant-like lifeform that, while exceptionally tasty to a Rlaan, is exceptionally devestating to a Rlaan friendly ecosystem.

Captured Rlaan Prisoners

The Rlaan take a particularly dim view of any entity that restrains their citizens. Ships that are carrying captured Rlaan should avoid Rlaan ships, at the risk of making a permanent enemy of the Rlaan.

Immunological Data

With the variable stresses placed on sentient health because of space travel, research continues into the various health effects, both positive and negative, that changing environments have. The intention is to find mitigative options to the dangers of space travel, and reduction of dangers from the exploration of new worlds. Such research will also have a flow through effect on existing health data.

Surgical Techniques

As the medical professions strive to deliver pain free services for maximum cost and minimum effort, the development of surgical techniques is critical. This research examines the usefulness of different invasive techniques, as well as the application of technologies to focus on the problem at hand, without causing further damage and harming a surgeon's GOD complex.

Engineered Bacteria

The uses of bacteria in various processes has been known for millenia. The intention here is to tailor bacteria to deal with specific problems - whether medical, industrial, pollution or military.

Experimental Drugs

With the advent of space travel, access to other planetary plantlife has greatly expanded. Research into the effects of various plant derived compounds continues to produce experimental drugs which have varying efficiency on solving problems that have plagued sentient life for millennia.

Neural Integration

This research incorporates the bionic Full Body Augmentation. The theorized intention is the ability to upload the sentient mind into a neural computer, effectively replacing the organic body with an artificial body. While the end cannot be seen, developments in carbon based computing show promise.

Altered Strains

While the Rlaan are masters of genetic manipulation, the Aera are decided amateurs, and are behind most of humanity in this area of research. In particular, they have only recently taken measures to artificially expand the gene pool of their own species.

Implant Tolerance

Although tending to be more physically gifted than the other dominant species, the Aera suffer from high rejection rates of mechanical implants due to their overzealous immune systems.

Bio Adapters

The Rlaan are more skilled than any other known species at the production of altered organisms, but are still working on perfecting organo-mechanical interface units so sentient beings can serve as bio-power sources. One tends to believe success at the first has hindered funding towards the second.

Bio Splicers

Hand-held retro-viral incubation and insertion device. Testing still in the beta stage - namely, not on Rlaan.

Planetary Stripmining

As always the case, corporate greed drives this type of research. Research into the extraction of raw materials and natural products has combined into investigations on how to strip a whole planet of all useful material. Examples include blowing the planet into asteroidal debris and the removal of atmospheric gases and water via huge transport motherships.

Thermal Boreholes

These boreholes are wide - fifty kilometer - holes bored into the planetary crust. The deeper they get, easier it becomes to extract heat and liquified materials. Problems still arise, however, as at a certain depth pressure and temperature combine and treat these boreholes as open volcanoes.

Deep Core Mining

For those rarer elements that require great pressure or heat to produce. These are commonly found within the cores of asteroids, or planetary mantles. Deep core mining involves multistage operations removing the requisite ores in high pressure and temperature, and maintaining the ores until conversion into a more readily usable material.

Cold Transmutation

Since the days of the ancient alchemists, humans have been searching for a process to transmute common elements into rarer ones. Although theoretically possible, the massive amounts of energy required to reconfigure the atomic cores of common elements makes it impractical on any scale. Research on cheap processes to transform elements is advanced through a highly competitive race between corporations. The first one to discover the process will make a massive profit.

Automated Factories

As general production involves - in the main - mindless repetition, it is expected that most spaceborn factories will become automated. This is expected to save countless billions in both wages and sentient life maintenance. AI Cores will fully operate such factories, with the only likely sentient contact being oversight and production program changes.

Recycling Tanks

Highly advanced civilizations produce a great deal of waste products. Discarded electronics, empty mealpacks, and old starships contain a wealth of raw and rare materials. Recycling tanks are designed to help break down waste into simple materials that can be reused. This item promises to revolutionize how trash is handled everywhere, from space stations to superdeveloped worlds.

Self Repairing Metal

The goal of this type of research is the ability to make a metallic 'skin'. Such a skin is intended to repair itself, resealing and reforming over a period of time. This research has military, industrial and damage control applications.

Automated Farms

Throughout history, the productivity of food sources has always been labor intensive. The intention of this research is twofold. Firstly, the ability to automate all farm activity, rendering sentient interaction unnecessary. Secondly, the ability to deposit a farming module in a suitable location, which will convert to an operating farm with no further interaction.

Soil Fortification

Improvements to any soil used for food growth will return a greater benefit in production of food. As such, research continues into maximizing the productive value of growing soil in different regions via different soil combinations, fertilizers and environmental reactions.

Weather Control

Even after several centuries, the prediction of weather is still an unreliable practice. As such, scientists decided that rather than predicting weather, they would control it. The benefits of such would include ensuring rainfall and sunshine in doses for maximum production.

Alien Food Plants

With the discovery of viable biospheres on other planets, research into the use of alien plantlife started. This research examines nutritional value of such plants, as well as exotic tastes and commercial viability of alien food crops.

Atmospheric Processors

Whether it be because of overindustrialization or innate unpleasantness, if a planetary atmosphere is not to one's liking, deploying a few of these will ensure the atmosphere can support sentient life. WARNING: do not fire weaponry beneath these things, as you will likely cause a thermonuclear explosion.

Ozone Replacement

Many electronic devices naturally produce ozone. However, as most of these devices tend to be grounded, they do not contribute to the accretion of an ozone layer at high altitude. A recently arrived at solution: move lots of electronic devices out to the ozone layer on high efficiency flying platforms. These are the platforms.

Forest Regenerators

While many civilized races, with the notable exception of the Aera, would love to see their ancestral forests of old regrown, nearly all are disinclined to do much work towards this goal. Therefore, some effort has been made into producing autonomous forestry units that can oversee the regrowth of an ecosystem without anyone having to get their manipulator appendages dirty.

Xenoforming Units

Incorporating atmospheric processing, development of a viable biosphere of plantlife and creation of surface water, terraforming units are automated monstrocities that can be landed on a hostile planets surface. Over the course of decades or centuries, these units slowly convert a non-livable planet into a functioning ecosystem.

Quantum Deductor

The ever so polite name for the class of devices being developed to attack quantum cryptosystems.Should such a device by designed and implemented, no encrypted data security system will be safe and communications will become unreliable. Society will be reduced to isolated data storage and implant couriers for communication.

Biparticle Transistor

Nanotechnology continues to be refined. The reduction of functioning electronics has reached its current pinacle in the biparticle transistor. While it doesn't work very well, it's top notch on the smallness scale and bodes well for the future of communications.

Virtual Communications

The next step in communications is expected to be virtual. It is expected that both sender and receiver, while in separate planetary systems or even sectors, will be able to meet, sit down and dicuss their concerns in a full virtual reality matrix.

Quantum Foam Processor

Harnessing one of the most basic structures of the universe, the tiny quantum bubbles that exist in the very fabric of space, promises an unlimited frontier of processing power and speed. A computer that conducts its processes in the intricate networks within the quantum foam will be able to outperform all previous computers ever made. The positive and negative consequences of such an advance are staggering.

See also

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Weapons

Database

History and Timeline