fldaddyo, this happened to me as well when I had installed the server patch (I run a server for me and my brother on my notebook). But I was forewarned and made copies of all files replaced by the patch, and so I could remove the patch quickly without reinstalling. After reverting to the unpatched game the problem went away.
I also accumulated several millions during the campaign. Once during the fun run (see thread
Plan for a maximum-fun campaign), and later I wanted to give the Dagger a spin and so I started a new campaign and took the Dagger for a grand tour of Sirius right after mission 4. I skipped the Omicrons and three other high-radiation/high-danger systems (Omega-11/41, Tau-37) but I went everywhere else and took a mission from every base that would give me one. I also hit every lucrative wreck on the way and so I had not only about 100 missions and 1500 kills but also $2 million in the bank before I went to mission 5.
Being rich during the campaign has the advantage that the enemies drop a lot of high-level weapons. Got plenty of class 6 Stealthblades from the story enemies, but also kit that was higher than class 6 (like Hornvipers from the Rheinlanders). The story Nomads never dropped anything else than nanos/batts but during the free time after mission 7 I got a Nomad Energy Cannon when I fetched the Ripper mines in Omicron Alpha (in a 'cuda, not the Dagger!).
EDIT - had forgotten to paste the URL.
Edited by - Sherlog on 14-09-2003 00:36:45