The player is a privateer, or a freelancer space pilot. She/he was born on Basin, in the Loye system (Crimson Quadrant). According to the .pdf manual included in the game:
- Growing up on the agricultural planet of Basin in the Loye system, you always dreamed of leaving your home planet and exploring the universe. Working to realize that dream, you saved every penny you earned and finally managed to buy your own ship after seven years of hard labor in the crop fields. It's an old worn, and battered ship, but it's yours and it's your ticket off the planet...
The player appears as a flashing green dot on the screen, starting next to her/his just-bought Tarsus with nothing but 3,500 credits. S/he can interact with people and terminals, as well as engage in character combat. And of course pilot her/his ship to far away systems and planets, to ascii go where no green dot has gone before.