Headscratchers / Freelancer

• All financial transactions, all news, all everything goes through the Neural Net. The neural net serves every faction, regardless of legality or even states of war. So who runs the Neural Net???
  • I heard it's all maintained by Interspace Commerce.
  • Think of the Neural Net as the Internet. That might help.
• After visiting Malta, two facts become readily apparent: 1) the Outcasts are in fact a sovereign nation, and 2) Cardamine is actually beneficial to your health. Given this, why do the Outcasts continue to operate like a drug cartel? It's profitable, but it also costs lives. Why couldn't they just 1) publish scientific research proving the health benefits of Cardamine, 2) use their incredible wealth to fund enough lobbyists to get Cardamine legalized throughout the colonies, 3) negotiate a peace treaty with the major governments (who would probably be happy to get the Outcasts off their back) and 4) trade openly with the colonies?
  • Because a) it actually is implied to cause a decrease in fertility, above and beyond the "lethally addictive" thing, while b) it is lethally addictive, and c) the only faction that can provide it is the Outcasts. No sane government would permit that kind of dependence on another government if they can avoid it.
• It wouldn't be strange for the Liberty authorities to have mug shots of Trent and Juni, but the photo they publicize in their "Wanted" bulletin is of the two of them smiling together in the same frame, as though they visited a mall photo booth together.
  • Maybe it's just a really poor photoshop of the only two photos the LSF could easily find of the two of them. Bear in mind that Juni is essentially a semi-secret federal agent, while Trent at that point was a complete nobody from Bretonia who had only recently set foot on planet Manhattan for the first time in his life.
• Why exactly are the Xenos and Zoners relative allies? They would seem like polar opposites in terms of their respective attitudes to outsiders, but destroying boatloads of Xenos generally makes most other factions friendly to the player, while in contrast, it tanks the player's relations with the Zoners (and pretty much only them). Maybe the Zoners are the only people who can tolerate the Xenos and give them safe harbor?
  • Some background text and rumours indicate that the Xenos buy supplies from the Zoners, since that's about the only faction left who will let the Xenos land and trade with them. It's also possible that the Xenos sell much of the Light Arms that are traded on Zoner bases and Freeports, at least around Liberty and the adjacent independent systems.
• Why is the Bundschuh, who are easily the most insignificant rebel movement in the whole of Sirius, the only faction that sells the Sunslayer torpedo launcher, the most destructive weapon a ship can carry? The gameplay reason is obvious - hide the thing where few players would look for it - but you'll have to do some serious mental gymnastics to justify this from a story point of view. Could've been averted by just sticking the thing on some wreck like all the other top-tier weapons.
  • It wouldn't be the first time a rinky dink rebel faction got their hands on some advanced weapons, either by looting army storages or through foreign backers. Just think of the Afghan or Syrian rebels with stinger missiles. It is possible that other factions besides Bundschuh have access to Sunslayers, but Bundschuh are the only people willing to sell them because they are so cash strapped. And maybe they want to avoid the Too Awesome to Use trope.