Occurs immediately after returning to Bob's from Mission 4.

Now Bob wants you to get him some Trigger and Matter. They are separate items. Both are very valuable derivitives from Alien technology. Bob needs one piece each of Trigger and Matter. You usually find them in three's and almost never at the same spot.

Matter, Trigger, and Fusion Parts start showing up right after you get a message from Hardwarp FM stating that "nuclear ships" are out. This is only a couple of days after you run the *Klamp Decoy* mission. You can collect Matter and Trigger early, hold it in your hangar, and run it to Bob when he needs it. Getting these items early saves a lot of time.

There are four ways of obtaining these items:

METHOD #1: Attack the gang transports at the Downtown/Port tunnel. You'll get on the gangs bad side, but you can always get amnesty later. In the unpatched versions of the game, you'll be in trouble with the major factions, too. Laz is allied with Skinners and Klamp-G is allied with Scrubbers. Attacking the gangs' transports gets you on the Enemies List of the allied faction as well. This does not occur in the patched game. If you pirate the gangs heavily, they will send out an Enforcer to kill you. This Enforcer flies a Death's Head. Attacking gang transports does not get you in trouble with the Police.

TIPS: Don't worry about amnesty until you've gotten all of the Matter, Trigger, and Fusion Parts you want. I usually only get one load of each.

Once you get some Fusion Parts, sell them to Downtown Components and put everything else on hold while you trade with Downtown Components to get them to make you a Fusion Cell. Then return to collecting Matter and Trigger.

The gangs send their transports out after a specific alien item. If you kill the transport, they'll keep sending others out after that item. If you want to get all three quickly, do not continue to pirate gang transports carrying items you already have. In fact, it pays to guard them from other pirates. When the gang gets the item they need, they'll send transports out for other items -- which you need, too. Rule of thumb -- don't pirate a gang transport carrying something you already have until you've got Matter, Trigger, and Fusion Parts collected.

Dirty Trick From Zero Cool: If you use a Devastator to kill a gang transport, you won't be put on anyone's Enemy List. This is because the game's AI pilots consider one single hit as "friendly fire". This gives you one "free" hit. If that hit is a Devastator, that's all it takes. This is sort of a cheat, but it works great if you don't want to bother with getting amnesty.

METHOD #2: Scavenge the stuff. Look in the Port tunnel leading from the Downtown Crater. Fly by the two munitions plants Bob has locked into your Buildings Menu. You may find them for free. You're not as likely to have quick success with this method, but heck, you can't beat free. And you don't make any unwanted enemies, either.

TIPS: The key here is patience and keeping an eye (and ear) open for the sound of dogfights. Pirates hit the transports near the entrance of the Downtown/Port tunnel and at the munition plant hangars. Just wait around for the pirates to do their job and grab the goods the second they're dropped. You may even want to help the pirate finish off the transport and then turn around and kill the pirate for immediate amnesty.

METHOD #3: Just break down and buy it. Yeah, it costs money, but you don't have to make any enemies. Matter and Trigger cost $3000 per unit. You'll need one of each right now and one of either later in the game. You probably won't find both in one place, so just get what you can and fly it to your hangar until you've got one of each.

TIPS: Matter and Trigger don't always show up on "Sales Lists". Check regularly with Trade Central, Gamma Trading Post, and the Alpha Trading Post. These are the most likely places to find them for sale.

METHOD #4: Attack pirates and independent traders carrying the items. Pirates carrying Matter, Trigger, Fusion Parts, and Bodyparts are almost always wanted by at least one faction and one gang, as well as the Police. Lots of bounty money to be made here. Remember this throughout the game. The biggest problem with this method is finding the pirates. Check around the Downtown/Port tunnel and the munitions plants just like a Scavenger. Be patient.

I almost always get Matter and Trigger early in the game (around day 4-6). This gives me plenty of time to get amnesty and to pirate some Fusion Parts to get a Fusion Cell made.

After you get your Trigger and Matter, load up one unit of each and make a mad run to Psycho Bob's 1. You will attract pirates. Consider Holograms and carry plenty of flares. You may want to make a clearing run before loading your cargo for Bob's. This requires experience as you have to be able to recognize a potential pirate by his name alone. You'll have quite a few days to get caught up after your delivery.

NOW WHAT?

It's a good idea to get amnesty from all of the factions. Don't worry about getting gang amnesty. Just get amnesty from Laz and Klamp.

Consider getting a second hangar and keeping it private. You can use this to store booty you want to keep like weapons. You can keep your Moths here leaving more bays open for repair in your public hangar. I like to get other Moths to play with during this time if I can afford it.

Get a Fusion Cell if you don't already have one. It's also a good time to begin trading with Downtown Moths to get them to make you a Death's Head, Police Moth, or Swallow.