Quests

Quests in Rebel Galaxy Outlaw are collections of related, story-driven missions.

Main Questline:
The main questline starts in the Texas system. The opening movie sequence shows Juno Markev pursuing someone in a bar. After only grazing her target, she barely escapes with her life to her ship, only to be shot down. She has to beg for a ship off of a friend, but in exchange owes him a favor. The game follows her paying off this favor, her continued pursuit of the man she shot, and the consequences of both. The Main-line quests operate in a sort of "stage" system, where you must complete a series of missions to progress the storyline.

Stage I
Stage I consists of the first set of main-line quests, featuring the small-time heist of a certain weapons system.

Juno Markev is asked to picked up a package at Nacogdoches by Orzu and deliver it to him at his home in Nevada. However, it turns out that the contact in Nacogdoches -- Richter Brust -- doesn't have the package, yet. Richter insists the package can be picked up without issue, but to pick it up requires one battle against both mercenaries and turret stations to acquire the location of the weapon system and the "codes," which ultimately proves ineffective when the codes are ignored. Instead, the player must again fight a battle against mercenaries in order to "convince" the freighter to drop the package. After picking up the package, Juno flies to Nevada for delivery.

By order of progression, stage one consists of the following missions:


 * A Little Favor (Head to Nacogdoches and meet Richter)
 * Smooth Sailing (Collect the codes)
 * Ass-Kicking (Go back to Nacogdoches and confront Richter about the mess he's gotten you into)
 * Hijackin' (After Richter talks you out of mangling him, the two of you must collect the weapon system)
 * Ass-Kicking (2) (After the battle that takes place when Richter's scheme with the codes goes wrong, go back to Nacogdoches and once again confront him). Completing this unlocks Richter as a Buddy.
 * Nevada-Bound (Head to Nevada and deliver the system to Orzu)

At that point, Stage I is effectively complete.

Stage II
After delivering the weapons system to Orzu, he gives Juno a tip about a mercenary named Satchel who knows something about Ruthless, the man Juno believes has murdered her husband. Initially, Satchel doesn't have time -- he is in pursuit of a particular bounty -- but once you help him capture that bounty, he is willing to set up a detection network to find him.

By order of progression, stage two consists of the following missions:


 * Satchel (Meet Satchel at Hobbes station in the New Mexico system)
 * Snipe Hunt (meet Satchel at New Mexico's jump gate into Louisiana for a mission briefing)
 * Snipe Hunt II (fly to the Merlin system and head to the Juarez jump gate. Wait there until Sandar appears.  After a bit of dialog, Juno has a battle against Sandar and a small squadron of his guards in the form of Red Devil fighters)
 * Satchel (2) (Return to Hobbes station and talk to Satchel again)
 * Spider's Web (Launch to get your mission briefing, then proceed to the Colorado system. Meet Satchel at the jump gate for Montana and wait there for him to complete his modifications  (I've played this mission four times and never had a fight at this stage, but I suppose a random encounter is possible).  Once complete, move on to the gate for Arizona in the Mississippi system and wait for Satchel again... but this time you will have to clear out some Inviolate fighters while he works.  Go once more to the Arizona system's Dakota jump gate for Satchel's third set of modifications.  You will be attacked by Dodge Patrol partway through; you can try hailing them and bribing them to let you go (it may be a static number of 4,000 credits, but I have yet to confirm), or else you will have to take out the Dodge Patrol ships.  Either way, this will not affect your long-term relationship with the Commonwealth or the Dodge Patrol at all)

Upon wiping out the last attackers, you and Satchel will go your separate ways for a while -- it will take time to track down Ruthless. In the meantime, you will still have to wait for Stage III to begin.

Stage III
Juno Markev is contacted by her old friend from her days in the DoubleJacks, Marla, who wants her help in changing the DoubleJack leadership. While somewhat reluctant, Juno agrees to re-join the DoubleJacks on a temporary basis (for old time's sake). Please note that while the DoubleJacks are a pirate faction and you do attack Dodge Patrol and other Commonwealth ships during the course of this stage, there are no lasting consequences to your reputation among either pirates (other than DoubleJacks, who will remain friendly\neutral to you) or Commonwealth upon completion (as long as you stick to the assigned missions).

By order of progression, stage three consists of the following missions:


 * Meet Marla (travel to Loreto in the Juarez system and talk to Marla)
 * Visit Jesse's Den (after talking with Marla, fly over to Jesse's Den, also in the Juarez system. Here you will encounter Durgan for the first time)
 * Doctor's Without Borders (the DoubleJacks are low on medical supplies, so you will be hijacking a medical convoy. The convoy has mercenaries and a couple light frigates guarding it, but you will have a large number of DoubleJack fighters accompanying you to help).  There is a "High Road" and a "Low Road" path.  Choosing the High Road allows the medical transports to escape after they've dumped their cargo; chosing the "Low Road" path you will have to destroy them.  The storyline makes the most sense choosing the High Road path, but the option is given to you.  The choice is logged (probably for some planned future DLC, but nothing is confirmed yet), but there are no lasting consequences to either choice.  Note also that there are far more containers of "medical supplies" than you need  -- tractoring in just one will complete the mission, and tractoring in any more than four will just result in those supplies being "destroyed")
 * Visit Jesse's Den (2) (Return to Jesse's Den and talk to Marla again)
 * Jailbreak (fly to the Montana system and help Marla break Ansel out of jail. Note that you do not have to destroy the entire Dodge Patrol defense fleet present -- you just need to survive and remain near the prison long enough for Marla and Ansel to escape.  Once Jailbreak is complete, the Dodge Patrol and the prison will resume your previously established alignment with you)
 * Visit Jesse's Den (3) (After escaping, you may need to wait briefly before Marla contacts you again, asking you to return to Jesse's Den. There, you will again talk to Durgan)
 * Retribution (Fly to Pellinore Station in Merlin and, after waiting through some dialog, kill Durgan. Tip:  It might be a good idea to use the various communications markers, before the DoubleJacks split and the battle begins, to identify where Durgan is)
 * Visit Jesse's Den (4) (After killing Durgan and surviving long enough for a couple lines of dialog to end the battle, return to Jesse's Den to speak to Ansel and Marla.

This completes Stage III and recruits Marla as your Buddy. You will then need to wait for a time before a communication summons you to begin stage IV.

Stage IV
Stage IV is almost a mini-stage. At some point, Satchel will contact Juno Markev (unlocking himself as a Buddy) and lets her know that his efforts to track Ruthless down had borne fruit -- he was somewhere in the Louisiana system. He directs Juno to one of his contacts, who (eventually) directs her to Ruth. The problem is that Ruth insists he's innocent, and he wants a chance to prove it....

By order of progression, stage four consists of the following missions:


 * Find Sharky (Travel to Lafitte Tech, in the Louisiana system, and locate Sharky. She will challenge you to a game of 8-ball.  If you win, you advance to the "Locate Ruth" mission.  Otherwise, she asks you to join her for the Life on Mars mission, first)
 * Life on Mars (Optional)(Travel to the Robeline asteroid belt, still in Louisiana, and help Sharky take down a bounty by the name of Mars Canto. Then return to Lafitte Tech, where Sharky will give you the same info as if you beat her in pool)
 * Locate Ruth (travel across system to Tallulah, where Ruth is sitting in the bar waiting for you. You talk with him, and he insists that he didn't kill Brace.  He says that she was a poor judge of character if she was relying on information coming from someone called The Catholic, and that he would be willing to help her shake the truth out of him if she wanted.  Juno leaves with the promise that he will contact her with the Catholic's location, soon)

And that ends Stage IV, with a wait before Stage V begins.

Stage V
Another shorter stage. Juno Markev and Ruthless pursue the Catholic to Montana. Juno questions some bar-goers to learn that the Catholic was just released from prison... and is about to get himself into a mess that will send him right back there, if she and Ruthless don't rescue him from his own gold heist. Once they save him and "convince" him to return to port with them, the Catholic reveals that the reason Juno came out of retirement is moot. It was all a lie -- not only did Ruthless not kill Brace, but Brace isn't even dead. He bribed the Catholic to make up that story. Juno leaves, not knowing what to think. (And, for some reason, this unlocks the Catholic as a Buddy)

By order of progression, stage five consists of the following missions:


 * Belgrade (Juno travels to Port Belgrade in Montana and questions some local barflies, learning that The Catholic -- aka Connor McCarthy -- is planning a gold heist)
 * Catholic Guild (Juno calls Ruthless and lets him know about Connor's plan. Together, they travel to the Superior Belt -- still in Montana -- and rescue Connor from his poorly thought out plan)
 * Penitence (Juno and Ruthless convince Connor to meet them in Belgrade. There, he reveals the secret that Brace is still alive)

Juno needs a bit of a break from the husband hunt. Fortunately (well, maybe), she has a distraction in the form of Stage VI.

Stage VI
Xander Brust has decided to call in his marker. Brust convoys are going missing in apparent Inviolate attacks, but there's something strange about them. He wants Juno Markev to accompany one of these convoys. Your priority is not to defend the convoy -- though he wants you to do so if possible (hint: it's not!) -- but to survive and get word out as to what attacked them. When the convoy is attacked, Juno tries to defend them until a capital ship shows up -- very strange, as the Inviolate aren't known to have any capital ships, nor are the Inviolate fighters acting like Inviolates; none of the expected radio chatter from them at all. Juno sticks around briefly, but when that cap-ship deploys some sort of superweapon that wipes the entire convoy out in one shot, she has to flee for her life.

By order of progression, stage six consists of:


 * Xander (meet Xander in the Sexton system at the Crow's Nest)
 * Canary (join the convoy in the Derringer system and pair autopilot with them. You are first stopped by a Dodge Patrol contraband scan -- something Juno finds odd, but the convoy pilot notes is just routine.  Pair up again and fly until attacked by what appear to be Inviolate fighters... though they are acting oddly.  Survive the battle long enough and a capital ship will warp in and wipe out the entire convoy in one shot.  At that point, the mission parameter changes to "flee," and you need to get the hell out of there.  Once you've escaped, you'll contact Xander and let him know what happened.  Juno hopes that this means she's done her job and can get out, but he insists that she's still in debt to him.

Stage VII
Before Xander tells you about his next move, you get a comm from, of all people, Brace! Definitely not dead. He wants you to meet up with him at Saguaro station in Laredo. Fly over there and talk with him. It seems he thinks you were stagnating after going honest, and needed some motivation to go back into the field. Well, actually, it appears Tatiana (or is it Tatania? I've seen both, in-game) put him up to it. Punch him in the face and leave. This is the only stage that involves no actual combat.

By order of progression, stage seven consists of a single mission:


 * Brace (fly to Sagero and punch your husband in the nose)

Stage VIII
Shortly after your dust-up with Brace, Xander Brust contacts you again regarding the results of the Canary mission. The superweapon appears to be based on jump gate technology, which he agrees means that it probably isn't the Inviolates, but thinks that someone should go to the Inviolate headquarters and talk with their leader about it... and you are that someone. He has negotiated safe passage for you, but warns you that it would not be a good idea to miss the appointment (this appears to just be color text, as there does not appear to be any timer regarding this meeting). With great reluctance, you agree, and fly to the Inviolate Chapel in Sweetland. The Inviolate fighters surrounding the Chapel appear not to have heard about this ceasefire, at first, but you are eventually granted access to the Chapel. You talk with Father Beauregard, who denies involvement in these particular attacks, though he notes that several Inviolate fighters had been stolen (he says a dozen, but you fight far more than a dozen Inviolate fighters in the various Brust storyline missions). Xander has a plan, involving another convoy (using dummy ships, this time) to set up as bait. He wants you to catch one of the fighter pilots alive in order to interrogate them. With even more reluctance, you accept the necessity of attempting this. The convoy is attacked, as expected, but the capital ship with the superweapon bugs out before firing. You need to scramble to pick off as many fighters as you can before they can escape (note: I saw no attempt from them to flee, so this may, again, just be color text) and hope that one of them drops a pilot. You eventually find a pilot and take it back to Xander. He interrogates said pilot and finds a certain name attached to these attackers: Tatiana Markev, mother of Juno.

By order of progression, stage eight consists of:


 * Beauregard (Note: Currently, there is a typo in the mission listing, where Beauregard's name is spelled "Bearegard."  It has been reported and may be fixed in the next patch) (Travel to the Chapel in the Sweetland system.  Survive the horde of inviolate fighters long enough for them to get the news that you're allowed in, then dock with the station.  Talk to Beauregard.  Listen to his rambling speech for a bit, and when it's over, leave)
 * Xander (Meet Xander at Hedren base in the Hitchcock system)
 * Bait and Switch (shortly after you take off, Xander will contact you again with his plan to fly a dummy convoy as bait, hoping for these ships to appear, which will allow you to capture one of their pilots. The fighters and cap ship do show up, but the cap ship leaves as quickly as it arrived.  Destroy the Inviolate fighters, and eventually (barring some bug) one of them will drop a "Mystery Pilot" you can tractor in.  Make sure you have a tractor beam and enough space in your hold for them, or at least that you can make said space, because you will have to re-do the mission if you leave without picking the pilot up).
 * Xander (2) (Meet Xander at Cordell in Hampton. Drop off the mystery pilot with him and leave.  He will shortly contact you to let you know the results of his interrogation -- that Tatiana Markev is behind the attacks)

This has certainly all been a whirlwind for Juno. She doesn't take long before she decides to take some initiative for the final stage.

Final Stage
Reeling from her dust-up with Brace and hearing about her mother, Juno Markev decides it's time she finally took some initiative in this mess and calls up Ruthless for some help. She needs a contact to find her mother for her, and she hopes Ruth will be able to help. While he doesn't know how to contact Tatiana Markev himself, Ruth knows someone who does -- Sandar D'Truz, the small-time smuggler whose bounty Juno helped Satchel pick up some time earlier. Turns out that he was let go or escaped from prison (exactly how does he keep getting away from all this?), and is available for you to talk to. Upon meeting him, he's a bit upset at Juno for shooting him down earlier, but he's still willing to help her if she'll do a favor for him -- there's a rival scag dealer whose operation is messing with Sandar's, and if Juno helps take him down, Sandar will put her in touch with her mother. After taking down the base, he (remarkably) stays true to his word and guides you to a contact point, where the massive capital ship Juno saw earlier shows up. She's asked to board the ship, and when on board meets with Tatiana. Juno's mother reveals she's building a large business empire just for Juno, using tried and true organized crime tactics that have worked for as long as organized crime has been a thing. Juno is not exactly happy about this, and storms off the ship hoping to never hear from her mother again. Unfortunately, she's soon arrested by the Dodge Patrol for her role in Ansel's escape, and her only way out is to cut a deal for them -- set up Tatiana, and she'll get to go free. Juno must choose whether to betray her mother or betray the Dodge Patrol, and then fights the corresponding battle. After one last post-battle reunion with her mother, Juno sets off for another confrontation with her husband. The quest concludes with her decision as to whether to dump Brace or to give him one last chance.

By order of progression, the final stage consists of:


 * Meet Ruth (travel to Tallulah in the Louisiana system to talk to Ruth)
 * Sandar (go meet Sandar in the Backbone system)
 * Prinz of Thieves (help Sandar destroy his rival, Prinz. Sandar will bring a small fleet of his own fighters, but you'll be facing multiple fighters, turrets, and capital ships.  To complete the mission, you must destroy all three shield generators and then tackle Prinz's base)
 * Sandar (2) (return to base to meet Sandar, again. He will agree to show you where you can meet Tatiana)
 * Tatiana (Follow Sandar to the meeting point. He will leave, and Tatiana will arrive shortly.  Meet and argue with her and then leave)
 * Knife in the Dark (at some point shortly after leaving Tatiana, you will be arrested by Dodge Patrol and taken to their headquarters (you can't resist; you can't even finish a battle you're in the middle of, if they get in touch with you, so I would recommend avoiding any mission-related actions until this happens). You'll be allowed to leave only if you agree to help them capture Tatiana, and so you reluctantly agree.  They give you a code you're supposed to transmit.  After leaving their base, travel very briefly (like through the nearest jump) and you'll be given the opportunity to contact Tatiana and arrange a meeting.  It is at this point you must decide whether to help Tatiana or betray her; I have not tested whether there is a change to the mission name depending on this choice, but there may be one.  Either way, travel to the agreed upon meeting point in Backbone and get ready for the endgame battle, Dodge Patrol vs. Tatiana and the Red Devils)
 * Tatiana (2) (Once the mission name changes, travel to Ridley in the Backbone system and have one last talk with your mother (the conversation is likely different depending on your earlier choice as to whether to save or betray her). It's just a talk, regardless)
 * Brace (After leaving Ridley, travel for a jump or two and you'll contact Brace asking for another chat. You'll travel to Lubbock in the Texas system (why all the way back there?  The first place you met Brace was much closer!  I guess the idea is to end the game where it began, but it still feels like an unnecessarily long trip) and meet him for a talk.  You have to decide whether you'll dump Brace or attempt a reconciliation.  Either way, once the conversation is over you'll leave the bar.  "Rebel Galaxy Outlaw" will flash on the screen, and the main quest is completed)

It should be noted that neither of the two choices you make in this stage have a significant effect on the game. However, they are logged away for proposed future game content (such as DLCs, which are loosely planned but -- according to the developers -- nothing solid has been decided for them).

Bountiful Vista Questline:
This questline begins when Juno Markev follows rumors (either from the bartender, paying attention to the radio, or, well, you know, reading the "Getting Started" tipsheet for the game) to a station for sale in the Eureka system. See the Bountiful Vista page for additional details.

As with the main questline, the Bountiful Vista quests come in stages.

Stage I
Stage one is a single mission, received once you talk to Spanner. It unlocks Bountiful Vista's mission computer. That mission is Cold Dish, wherein you must travel to a certain waypoint and allow Spanner to upload a program that will restore mission computer service to the station. Before the upload is complete, however, you are attacked by Red Devil pirates. Once the upload is complete, ensure that ALL of the remaining Red Devil ships are destroyed, or the mission will be recorded as a failure and you will have to repeat it. Destroying all the Red Devils will complete the mission, and you can return to Bountiful Vista and talk to Spanner for the next task.

Stage II
Stage II is Spanner's first attempt to make Bountiful Vista more useful by setting up an equipment bay, allowing you to repair cheaper than normal and purchase gear (including some variant weapons found nowhere else). This stage consists of two parts, which can be completed simultaneously or one after the other.

--- Part I
By the Bay (a simple fetch-quest; collect 4 tons of steel and 4 tons of components. Note that these do not have to be delivered all at the same time, so this mission is possible to complete even if your ship's hold is only six tons.

--- Part II
This part takes place over two missions in sequence.


 * Leeds (Meet Leeds in the Mississippi system. She will offer to supply your new equipment bay if you'll investigate several disappearances along one of her trade routes)
 * Watchful Eye (Escort Leeds' transports across space in the Taggart system. You will be attacked by a large number of fighters.  Failing to protect the transport will fail the mission, and you will have to go back to Leeds and talk to her again to start over)

Upon completion of both parts, you will have to return to Spanner and he will begin construction of the Equipment Bay.

Upon the completion of the construction bay, there will be a randomly timed delay before he begins the process of Stage III.

Stage III
Stage III consists of three parts, and begins when Spanner requests you return to Bountiful Vista to discuss livening the place up. He wants you to recruit a bartender, and to source the alcohol supply to begin bar operations.


 * A Little Bustle is the name of the quest which draws you to Bountiful Vista to talk with Spanner in the first place.
 * Lounge Lizard is a fetch quest to obtain ten Greel Whiskeys.
 * MixMaster requires you to travel to the Velos Casino in Discouragement and bribe Veder Franks into moving to Bountiful Vista.

After completing both Lounge Lizard and MixMaster, you will need to leave for a random amount of time for Spanner to complete the bar. Once the bar is completed, you must wait again for him to contact you so you can continue with Stage IV.

Stage IV
Stage IV consists of a single mission -- On the Yard. It is completed by obtaining ten Robot Modules and paying a franchise fee of 50,000 Credits.

Upon completing On the Yard, you must again wait some time for the shipyard to be complete, and then again wait even longer before you can continue with Stage V.

Stage V
Stage V consists of the singular mission Roll the Bones, where Spanner sends you to 3 different Dice poker players, each in a different system. You must travel to Flagstaff in the Arizona system (4410 Cr), 872-D in the 1167-C system (1780 Cr), and Backfire in the Derringer system (1650 Cr). In each station, you must beat an opponent at the game of dice. (None of these stations normally have Dice poker games -- these players are present only for this one mission). Shortly after beating the third dice player, Spanner will contact Juno and let her know that he'll be setting up the Dice Poker games. Shortly after that, he will invite you back to the base to play a few rounds, but that is entirely optional. You do need to wait a while before Stage VI begins.

Stage VI
Stage VI, under the mission name Slotted In, is a simple fetch quest where you fly to Sparks Casino in Nevada and spend 3000 credits on a slot machine, which you buy from Orzu. You must then return said machine to Eureka and talk to Spanner. Please note that if you are supposed to talk to Orzu for anything else (either to turn in Nevada-Bound or to meet him for one of his personal missions) that other mission will take priority; you must first discuss those missions with him before you can talk to him again and buy the slot machine. Then you have another waiting game for Stage VII.

Stage VII
Stage VII, containing the mission Rack 'Em, is where Spanner wants you to acquire a pool table. You can buy one from the Sparks Casino for 20,000 credits, or Spanner offers the suggestion that a particular freighter may have one on board. The Freighter can be found inside a dense minefield, escorted by a Mercenary Destroyer and eight (or more!) Mercenary fighters. Either way, you must return to Bountiful Vista without losing your cargo to complete the mission.

Stage VIII
Soon after dropping off the pool table in Bountiful Vista, Spanner will call you with another idea, leading to the mission All the Rage. He thinks a StarVenger game would be ideal to acquire, and while they seem impossible to buy he knows a freighter transporting one. You can either destroy the freighter and capture the cargo, or you can bribe the Freighter Captain (for 20,000 credits) to "drop it off the back of the truck."

Completing Stage VIII completes the Bountiful Vista questline (at least until any DLC is released), but there is no notification that it is completed. Yes, this means you have no guilds or commodity market in Bountiful Vista, as of now.

Buddy and Friend Questlines:
Buddy and Friend quests are optional side-quests that occur at random points in the game. While the quest is ongoing, the buddy is unavailable to fly as your wingman. Currently, there is no option to abandon a buddy quest (there is some talk in the Discord of allowing it, but it hasn't been added yet), so from the moment it is given to you the quest must be completed to make the buddy available again.

Connor & Ruthless Do not have optional side-quests available to them. Ruthless however can join you as a wingman once you've gotten near the end of the main questline.

Richter

 * Meet Richter (Just go to Nacogdoches and talk to Richter)

At some point, Richter will contact you with a "business opportunity" in which he is attempting to open his own facility to compete with his brother.


 * Richtertronics (Go and fight the Infected)

He even has a facility in mind to purchase, cheap... but he needs you to clear out some Infected before he can open up shop.


 * Supply and Demand

Richter has another mission for you, some time later. Richtertronics is doing well (or so he claims), but his brother can't stand the competition -- he's buying up several vital materials that Richter needs. Richter wants you to collect four gold ore and four ceramics. He suggests a nearby asteroid field to find the material, but you could always just buy it. It should be noted that gold ore can be found throughout the Texas system (so the idea that Xander is buying it all up doesn't seem to be true), and Ceramics can be found for sale in the neighboring Kansas system at the Iola Refinery. However, the asteroid field Xander sends you to is unique in that it is quite full of more expensive materials, and in that you can mine Steel (not something usually mineable), so it may be worth it to try mining.


 * Unfriendly Competition

Xander Brust is preventing Richter from doing any mining! Juno thinks Richter should just establish his own mining claim, but Richter doesn't think he has time for that. Instead, he wants your help in disrupting his brother's mining facility. (Didn't messing with Xander get you in trouble once before?) Just destroy a certain number of mining ships at the waypoint and the mission will be a success. Oh, but there are Brust mercenaries who come in to try and stop you... but at this point in the game, it is unlikely they're much of a threat. Note that there is a LOT of valuable loot left floating around after the battle; make sure your cargo hold is clear, if you want to take advantage of that.

Orzu
While not a buddy, Orzu has companion quests for you just like your buddies do.


 * Meet Orzu

First, he calls you over to ask if you want the piece of equipment that you delivered to him from the main quest missions -- all you have to do is help him out (and he insists on talking to you in person).


 * Warning Shot.

It seems he's having trouble with his shipping fleet being harrassed by Dodge Patrol, and he wants it to stop... but killing cops is bad for business, so all he wants you to do is disable them. Where is where that piece of equipment comes in.


 * Meet Orzu (yes, again)
 * Funny Business

His next companion quest has to do with someone cheating at his casino. He needs you to track down Trenton Marsh, who has some sort of system that is allowing him to win an improbably percent of the time. Trenton runs, and you must investigate several possible spots he flees to in order to corner him. The three possible locations all have a random enemy to fight -- sometimes a larger force with multiple capital ships with large support fleets, sometimes just a few Hellconeys. He is at one of them, though, and while you engage him in battle he'll surrender before he's shot down. He reveals that he's winning because a casino employee named Danvers was helping him cheat. You let Orzu know, and he says that Danvers had already fled the casino and was on the run. But you've done enough that he pays you, and the mission is over.


 * Absconded

Turns out that Danvers did more than just flee the scene -- he stole a sizeable amount of Orzu's gold in the process! Orzu asks you to track him down in the Wyoming system and re-capture the gold. He knows Danvers is in one of two locations, so you have to guess which one it is... and when you do track him down, he has a small fleet of Steel Rats on his side to back him up. (And once he's dead and you've retrieved the gold, a quick trip back to Nevada to give Orzu his gold back)

Satchel

 * Innoculation

The Infected are a plague on robot-kind... literally! Satchel, being a robot, has a personal stake in their destruction, and he knows where a convoy of them are going to be! It won't be an easy fight, as you'll be in a nebula that can knock your shields down without warning, and there are a lot of capital ships, but at least Satchel will be there to help you.


 * Tennessee Raiders

The Tennessee Mining Company is experiencing heavy attacks by bandits. Satchel hopes Juno Markev can help out. This is a massive battle -- possibly the largest in-game battles at this point in the game -- and involves two waves of Steel Rats fighters and a fleet of three or four capital ships. Satchel will be fighting with you, as will some of the miners, but you might still want to bring along another buddy, as well.


 * Kasha

Satchel's third Buddy quest is a "simple" bounty run, for a target named Kasha. You will find the target in a minefield in the Dakota system, but they flee to theGore system and another minefield... and a lot of reinforcements. No capital ships, but a massive fleet, and the mines can be difficult to deal with.

Marla

 * Meet Marla
 * War Rats

Marla calls you in, letting you know that with Durgan out of the picture, the DoubleJacks are back to their "normal" routine. Which, in this case, means fighting off those who think the DoubleJacks are weak. You're asked to join her when a fleet of Steel Rats comes into the system, hoping to muscle in on a DoubleJack fleet in turmoil after the loss of Durgan. You'll have the help of Marla and a few other DoubleJack fighters for this mission, but it won't be easy -- the battle is in a nebula which might knock down your shields without warning, and the Steel Rats brought three destroyers with them, in addition to a large fleet of fighters! (Seriously, Marla, where are those Warfrigates you had during the battle with Durgan? They'd be really helpful right now!)  Be careful not to leave the battlefield until the mission is listed as complete, even if Marla and everyone else has left you alone already, or the computer will regard it as a mission failure and you'll have to do it all over again.


 * Ear at the Door

The Dodge Patrol is setting up a little too much surveillance in DoubleJack territory -- especially in the Juarez system. Marla wants your help in clearing out some of their listening posts. There are three you'll want to hit -- the first defended by turrets and a few fighters, the second by fighters, a dense minefield, and a nebula which will interfere with your sensors (which can interfere with missile locks -- I've missed stationary targets after a solid lock-on because of these sorts of nebula), and more fighters, and the third with even more fighters as well as a pair of Dodge Patrol capital ships.

Sharky

 * Junkyard Dog

Even before you recruit her as a buddy, Sharky may have a mission for you -- there's a bounty on Tanis Drake, in the Nimpoo system, for you to find. She thinks you're old and need the exercise to keep fresh, so she thinks you might want to tag along. Tanis might be in one of two locations, and the first you scout out is filled with Infected fighters, who you need to fight off. Then she takes you to a junkyard minefield, where Tanis is hiding in a ship disguised as a piece of junk. You need to seek him out, using your scanner, and hope you don't set off too many mines along the way... and when you do find him, out comes a fleet of Steel Rats to attack you. Oh, and Sharky wants him alive, so don't shoot him after he ejects from his ship, or you fail the mission. Also, be careful not to leave the battlefield before the mission accomplished sounds, or you'll fail the mission and have to start over.


 * Naughty List

The Dodge Patrol is on the lookout for Sharky, and it's interfering in her business. She needs someone to help distract them while she hacks their database and removes her name from it, and she thinks Juno Markev is perfect for the job. This battle starts off against turret stations, but then a wave of fighters joins in, and finally a wave of capital ships. You do not have to defeat all of the Dodge Patrol ships to complete the mission -- you just have to survive until Sharky is done. You will be able to leave without failing the mission once the mission waypoint changes to Lafitte Tech


 * Matter of Honor

Sharky won an 8-ball tournament! (Hey, why wasn't Juno invited?) However, the officials of the tournament think their trophy shouldn't go to someone with Sharky's background, so they're invalidating the results and holding a new tournament. Sharky earned that trophy, dammit, and it's a matter of honor that she gets it! Because they're re-starting the tournament, the officials have to transport the trophy from Loreto to Derringer, and Sharky thinks this is the perfect chance to get what is rightfully hers. Juno thinks this is a lot of trouble to go through for a lump of plastic, especially when the destroyer shows up, but Sharky is insistent. Upon completion of this mission, Sharky is (finally) able to be used as a Buddy.