Barnacle Blaster

The Barnacle Blaster is one of the curbside services in Cosmo's Quickstop. Like all curbside services, it can be installed in any of the outer docking bays. In campaign mode, the Barnacle Blaster becomes available from after obtaining the 8 dock layout.

Using the Barnacle Blaster
Like all curbside services, you must use the Barnacle Blaster that corresponds to the customer's dock. Once at the Barnacle Blaster, you must press the assigned input to start the blasting procedure. Once started, the screen will display the customer's ship covered in space-barnacles. You must move the targeting reticle over the barnacles to destroy them. Once all the barnacles are eliminated the task is completed.

After upgrading the Barnacle Blaster, you can choose to use a red or yellow laser to destroy the barnacles. Any barnacles destroyed with the red laser will increase the profit earned for that barnacle while sacrificing a small amount of the customer's patience. Using the yellow laser will refill a small amount of the customer's patience, but will make little profit for each barnacle it destroys. The green default laser provides standard profit and no modification to the customer's patience. The final upgrade will make this task complete automatically if the customer's patience gets too low. However, any barnacles destroyed this way will not earn any profit.

Barnacle Blaster Upgrades
Upgrades can be purchased with a Gold Star Sticker once the task has leveled up to an upgrade's corresponding number. Higher level upgrades often require a previous upgrade to be purchased as a prerequisite. Bonus Barnacles - Upgrading the blaster's sensors will let you see more barnacles, giving you more opportunities to make profit! Luxurious Laser - Tweaking the laser’s frequency lets you toggle on a fancy red beam. While it earns more profit per blast, it will reduce the customer’s patience. Budget Blaster - Tweaking the frequency again lets you toggle on a cheap yellow beam. While it earns less profit per blast, it will raise the customer’s patience. Auto-Targeting Sequence - Installing auto-aim software will destroy all barnacles automatically if the customer's patience gets low. However, you won't make any profit.

Barnacle Blaster Lore
An unfortunate side effect of traveling vast distances in space is the unavoidable accumulation of space-barnacles on star ship hulls. These pesky creatures live in the gap between dimensions, clinging to anything that travels at velocities high enough to distort the fabric of space-time. Slowly leeching their host ship's power systems, if left unchecked, the barnacles will eventually render even the most well equipped vessel useless and stranded. Because of their trans-dimensional nature, these invisible creatures were thought to be a myth, with their power leeching effects being blamed on poor engineering. Once multi-dimensional spectral imaging was invented, it became obvious that these cryptids were real creatures that can cause real problems for space travel. Many service stations are now equipped with a laser removal system, using multi-dimensional imaging to find and eliminate the tenacious critters.