LINE NOISE
News from Chez Diesel
13 September, 1988

     > launch missile at siko

Battle computer reports missile launched...
The battle computer reports a hit, and as you watch the main viewscreen you see your 
opponent's ship disintegrate. You press a button and a wreath is ejected from your ship 
while the tannoy plays the funeral march. Duty done you return to the task of running 
your spaceship and making a (nearly) honest living...

You may guess from the previous frame that fighting has finally hit Fed Data Space. 
Our Illustrious Leader has decided to introduce the different aspects of ship-to-ship 
fighting bit-by-bit, in order to make sure they work properly, so all that was available 
yesterday was the ability to launch missiles at other players. But this certainly provided 
a great deal of fun as ships dashed all over the Solar System, showing that actually 
finding a ship is very tricky, and once you've found it getting it to hold still long enough 
for you to shoot at it is even harder! 'Chase me, chase me!' is the latest catchphrase.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that ships which orbit and land are protected by 
the planetary defence systems, so it is no good lurking in orbit waiting for someone to 
take off because you just won't see them.

A spybeam is certainly going to be an essential item of equipment for locating your 
targets, unless you are devious enough to lure your victims to a certain location and 
then blast them to bits!

Despite these difficulties, several people found their hulls dented by unexpected 
missiles, including Commander Siko who became the first casualty of fighting when 
Pugwash fired on him - this is definitely part of her new tougher image. (She did offer to 
give him groats to renew his insurance, so there are no hard feelings.)

But fighting is not something to be undertaken lightly; it is an expesive business. With 
each missile costing 25K, and repairs to damaged ships soon mounting up, I think that 
after the novelty has worn off there will be less 'fighting for fun' and the battles will be 
confined to real vendettas.

Talking of vendettas, I predict that Omi and Zugger will soon be chasing each other 
over the system; also several Traders have indicated a desire to blow Maniac out of the 
spaceways. And although it will be difficult to kill someone completely (unless they are 
very unlucky they will be able to reinsure themselves before being caught again) you 
can certainly make it difficult for them to progress very far in the game, if all their cash 
has to go on repairs, and every time they try to do a job they are waylaid by their 
enemies. Just imagine what would have happened to Druid had he still been around 
yesterday!

As more aspects of fighting are introduced over the coming weeks, I'll be bringing you 
detailed reports, courtesy of Pegasus and Pugwash, who have promised to spare no 
expense in learning the ins and outs of fighting by blowing each other to bits! .