Black Market

The Black Market is the only way through which the player may obtain new Squad Leaders and Pilots, as well as directly acquire specific or rare Equipment. Similar to much of the trade in the Wayback System, it works on a barter basis[1] - sufficient looted and earned miscellanea can be exchanged for any item within a select stock, which itself rotates at the end of every Operation.

The Black Market Stock is split into three "sections", the manpower offerings - which includes the Small Recruitment Effort and the SL/Pilot Dossiers, that can be obtained once and twice per operation, respectively; the regular equipment stock - which has a wide range of progression-appropriate weapons, vehicles and accessories; and the Rare Items section - which will always offer rare or "further-than-progression" items, albeit at double the standard price.

For better prospects when trading, tools such as the Fixer OCI and Jean Sy's Trinketing perk may be of interest.

Rare Items & Progression-Dynamic Stock

Much like how Operation rewards improve over time, the Black Market will also offer stronger and rarer items more commonly as you progress. For example, one might have seen the Medium Walker stocked in the Rare Items section only once or twice coming up on their 10th Operation, but will start seeing it every other rotation within the Vehicles section when nearing their 30th.

Black Market stock at Operation 1	Black market stock at Operation ~30

The Monitor

According to TCRN intelligence, the Black Market is run by an individual known as Manidhar The Monitor. It is through him that The Major, or Lieutenant Hayflick, arranges the trades and pickups that happen between the TCRN Impetus and the Wayback's criminal underworld.

According to Hayflick, it would ordinarily be unacceptable for a TCR vessel to engage in these dealings, but due to the Impetus ' dire condition, bending the rules was the only option for survival.

The introductory message on the Black Market

Trading Commodities

These are highly prized, rare or exotic items that can be bartered alongside salvaged or unwanted equipment. Some items can also be used at the Workshop to create unique weapons and equipment.

Item	Value	Description	Source
Civilian Supplies	35	An assortment of food, spare parts, tools and materials.
Advanced Alloys	30	Samples of unknown metal alloys taken from construct husks. These offer novel and baffling characteristics and can not yet be synthesised by any means.	Construct Drone, Construct Soldier, Gun Crawler
Bioprocessor	50	An amalgamation of biological and electronic components creating a highly advanced bioprocessor.	Construct Skirmisher
Cybernetic Optics	50	The constructs employ high powered advanced optical devices that can be put to use in weapon enhancements, vehicle sensors and more.	Gun Crawler, Construct Skirmisher
Fusion Power Cells	60	High energy power cells widely used by construct entities to fuel their advanced devices, mechanisms and bodies.	Gun Crawler, Construct Carrier
Mutated Tissue 50px	40	Mutated and wildly grown tissue with unique physical and chemical properties.	Construct Shambler, Construct Carrier, Construct Soldier
Volatile Reagents	35	Highly volatile reagents extracted from construct innards as well as weapon systems and power units. These have to be handled with extreme care and are highly explosive.	Construct Shambler, Construct Carrier
Construct Weapon Parts	25	Salvaged and deconstruced parts of various construct weapons or weaponized devices.	Construct Drone, Construct Soldier, Gun Crawler
Core World Commodities	50	A collection of valuable commodities from the Core Worlds. Highly sought after by the Wayback people, these items can be traded for basic equipment and essential supplies.
Core World Memorabilia	65	A collection of rare memorabilia from the core worlds. Very valuable when finding the right buyer.
Counterfeit Money	50	They look real enough under bad lighting. Pass these off quick and quiet before someone checks the watermark.
Lost Cargo	45	Boxes with lost cargo, contains valuable electronics and materials.
Moonshine Crates	60	Crates filled with Moonshine bottles. A highly desireable trading commodity in the Wayback
Salvaged Parts	20	Salvaged electronics, weapons and other vehicle parts from destroyed hardware.
Single Moonshine Crate	20	A crate filled with a couple of Moonshine bottles. A highly desireable trading commodity in the Wayback
Spare Parts	5	A small batch of spare parts, always useful in the Wayback. Ideal to smooth out trades on the blackmarket.
Synthetic Drugs	25	Tightly packed boxes of valuable synthetic drugs.
Valuable Minerals	80	Crates of valuable minerals, highly sought after in the wayback.
Alien Eggs	40	A few intact alien eggs. The right person will give a lot to get their hands on this.	Alien Bombardier, Alien Queen
Chitin Plates	15	A collection of intact chitin plates. Used as a medical ingredient in the Wayback.	Alien Dragonfly, Alien Harpy, Young Alien Warrior, Alien Warrior, Blaster Bug, Alien Queen
Razor Claw	25	A well preserved razor claw. These claws are highly valued as trophies among hunters and collectors.	Young Alien Warrior, Alien Warrior, Blaster Bug, Alien Queen
Xenos Glands	10	Xeno glands harvested from local critters. The substances produced by it are sought after for chemical and medicinal laboratories.	Alien Spiderling, Alien Stinger, Alien Dragonfly, Alien Harpy, Young Alien Warrior, Alien Warrior, Alien Bombardier, Blaster Bug, Alien Queen
Large Trinkets	20	A haul of large valuables like memorabilia, jewelry and art pieces.	Flame Truck, EMP Turret
Looted Supplies	15	Supplies looted by the pirates and stashed away to trade or sell later.
Small Trinkets	10	A selection of small valuables, the pirates usually call trinkets.
Stolen Trade Goods	30	Crates of stolen trade goods like spare parts, electronics, and chemicals that have a high value in the Wayback.
Intelligence Folder	40	A digital intelligence folder saved on a physical medium. Contains classified military documents.
Military Comms Devices	30	A set of military grade comms devices. Hard to come by and essential for any military operation.	Heavy Tank
Repair Tools	20	A box of repair tools that is needed for any general maintenance task.	Artillery
Weapon Parts	10	A small set of weapon parts that can be used to repair and maintain firearms.	Artillery