Hey! Answers for you:
- Mutants are the base Mutant Alliance enemy for the faction. X would be 0 for the modifier.
- Roll for each column in Contract generation following the steps listed (Start Location [your current space], Size, Distance, Faction Target, Reward). I used cargo size (total cargo for the delivery) as the base reward value as more cargo to deliver gives more rewards, plus travelling further, etc. When you generate a contract it doesn't automatically get added to your current cargo or contracts, you choose if you want to take it at that time. That's why the Contract Table has so much info, you pick and choose if you want to take the contract right then and there. Contracts can be discarded to make room for more.
So, say you generate a contract with 5 cargo. The target is waaaaay on the other side of the map. You decide you cannot do it but you have no contract slots left on your Contract Table. You discard it, remove it from the table, and lose 1 reputation with the faction that gave it (the faction which space you were on when you generated it).
Hope that helps!