I'm having some problems with missions. I'm playing strict play which means I lose my ship a lot. I got the Uexpress mission early on when I was a shuttlecraft so I ignored it cause I wasn't strong enough to go to the fringe to deliver the package. Then a I noiticed it was gone a while later. Later I got the same mission and died trying to finish it. Now search as I might, I can't find the mission. Do missions only appear twice? It would be great to get the Uexpress jobs.

Also what's the deal with fleeing from a battle that you have to complete for mission? Like when I had to kill the pirates, and get help from the confeds, I fled becuase I was too weak. When you come back do your allies dissipear? Do enemy ships come back if you killed some of the fleet? Likewise if you land on a planet in the middle of a fight to heal do the all the ships come back? I'm just wondering what the cost of fleeing in battle is.

Thanks.

Quartex17

P.S. Totally unrelated, First time I tried major trading I hired two light cruisers and did the trading circuit from sol to plateau (buying luxury goods) and back to sol. The light cruisers gave me 350 space and good profits but for some reason I got hounded by defenders and rapiers. Or if I just had one light transport I would be hounded by 3 defenders. It was the first time I had seen pirates invade the sol system. Is nowhere safe? Do pirates automatically follow you if you have escorts? It makes trading very difficult.

1)hmm, i think that the missions should be available more then twice, however, it is a random chance that you will get a mission each time you jump into a system.(note, your never too weak to go to the fringe systems as long as you can move fast enough to get in out and on your way before the missiles hit ).
2) from my experience i know that the enemy ships seem to come back during a battle related mission if you leave the system or land, however, i also think your ally ships will come back as well when you return... unless they get blown up, which is usually often....
and ps3) if you have a trade party, ie some frieghter escorts, you attract pirates to you no matter where you are. if you have fighter escorts( lightening, rapier, etc) you only encounter the normal pirates.

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"it is better to be silent and be thought a fool, then to open ones mouth and prove it."

UGE:
If you mean the UGE mission where you help a guy escape from some pirates and meet him later, I only ever got that from the pirate controlled planets, and it is scarce there. If you mean the UGE recruitment mission from UGE headquarters on Tabletop, get a ship that has 20+ tons of cargo space and mass < 100 tons (courier, scout,), go to Tabletop (one of the planets a couple of jumps south of Sol, I forget which), and try it again. You may need to hyper out and back in to the system a few times to reset the mission offerings.

Mission special ships:
For ships you are required to destroy (as with a "defend planet from pirates" mission) if you destroy some, they stay destroyed. You can land, rearm, and destroy the remainder later. If you only disable some, the disabled ships will be restored to full health when you return to the battle.

Now, there are some non-important ships that always appear. For example, in the "hunt pirate" mission, the two lightning fighters that follow you around won't go away until you kill the pirate kestrel and collect payment.

If a mission gave you allies in the fight, then when the allies are destroyed, they stay dead. If you are too weak to win the fight, you can land and take off repeatedly until a helpful ship is created at random. In the "defend planet from pirates" mission, a helpful ship might be a rebel cruiser. The cruiser will kill the pirates for you, then you collect the pay.

Freighter Escorts:
I assume you ment light freighters, not light cruisers. Hired freighter escorts attract pirates. The strength of the pirates that attack increases with the total cargo space in your fleet. The toughest you will encounter from this effect is two lightnings and two rapiers. If you get mauled by a pirate corvette, that was bad luck, not for having a fleet.

To deal with the pirates, immediately tell your escorts to hold position (press C, or is it V?) whenever you enter a system or leave a planet. That way, the pirates will only attack you, not the escorts. If you want to land on a planet, lead the pirates away from the planet for 30 seconds or so, then fly around them and land. Use afterburners as needed (never go anywhere without the afterburner and ramscoop outfits). If you want to hyperjump, run from the pirates until they are off your radar, then start the hyperjump.

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If you're on Strict, then I don't recommend taking the UGE missions (or anything risky for that matter) until you have a ship worthy of fighting back with. I say that you need a Rapier, but I'm sure that some of you out there would say that a lightning will suffice. Whatever takes your fancy really. But the smart tactic is to stay within the core (confed) worlds, do the rush missions, get a rapier, then you can take out the corvettes, board 'em, steal one, modify it, take down kestrels, steal one, modify it, beat everyone, win the whole game.

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I choose to believe that the glass is half empty.

If you're on Strict, then I don't recommend taking the UGE missions (or anything risky for that matter) until you have a ship worthy of fighting back with. I say that you need a Rapier, but I'm sure that some of you out there would say that a lightning will suffice. Whatever takes your fancy really. But the smart tactic is to stay within the core (confed) worlds, do the rush missions, get a rapier, then you can take out the corvettes, board 'em, steal one, modify it, take down kestrels, steal one, modify it, beat everyone, win the whole game.

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"This lady needs to be taken to a hospital immediately"
"A hospital, what is it?"
"It's a big building with patients in, but that's not important right now"

Hmmm..... A broken record.

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Honk if you love peace and quiet!

Hmmm.... A broken record.

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Honk if you love peace and quiet!

Oh, and welcome to the boards, quartex and kortez!

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Honk if you love peace and quiet!

Oh, and welcome to the boards, quartex and kortez!

Okay, I'm done now.

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Honk if you love peace and quiet!

Ooooops, erm... don't you just hate slow internet questions and laptops that have a mind of their own?

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"This lady needs to be taken to a hospital immediately"
"A hospital, what is it?"
"It's a big building with patients in, but that's not important right now"