CMND LOG: 048 Asterope
31 Jan 2022Switch Killington
1/30:Set down on a planet for the night. Don't like staying on a Fleet Carrier that ain't my own, seems like a good way to find yourself mining diamonds in deep space. Took the AX-Ship, Boo Boo Kitty, out against some goid scouts yesterday. I wanted to get some planet rust off my flight stick before going against the Interceptors. It went ok. The Anaconda is too big to really out fly the smaller ships, and the weapons had a hard time hitting them, but BBK was designed to fight larger targets, so that tracks. She is a tank, that's for sure, absorbing everything thrown at her. She doesn't even blink when she gets infected with that Thargoid corrosive substance, she can afford to keep flying until a convenient time to burn it off shows up.
Why I didn't foresee was the cut I take from the bonds out here. A fighter pilot taking 10, a fleet carrier taking another cut, and then the cost to repair these guardian modules, it all starts to add up. Still coming out green though, at least for now.
1/31:
First contact with interceptor. Didn't go according to plan. Goid approached me, we "touched gloves" with our mutual scans, then I let loose with my shard cannons. Had a heart down very easily, but then it popped shields and I moved to evade it's attacks BBK was just too slow. It hit me with a nullification field, and its attacks tore apart my internal components. They were still damaged from the other fights with scouts, but nothing was less than 80 percent, I thought it would be enough. It wasn't, I had multiple malfunctions and I limped away with a malfunctioning FSD. Got lucky, and now I'm sitting with more than a half mill repair bill.
I think if I'm going to keep at it with BBK I'm going to have to alter my plan. She's just too thick to evade. I can either try fighting in sprawl, just staying in reverse and keeping them in front of me. That way I can manage the swarm, and have the Goid in front of me to be picked off with the Gauss. OR I can just lean into my strengths. I did so much damage If I can just stay in the pocket with it I might can just burn it down before its burns me down.
Found a nearby station to dock for repairs. Less convenient but cheaper than using random fleet carriers. They don't take a cut of my profits, either. I'll see about picking up some work to mitigate the repairs, and head back out there.
2/2:
Its tough knowing that you are the problem. I'm fairly, well, very experienced flying. Thousands of flight hours, hundreds of confirmed kills, bounty hunting, etc. Boo Boo Kitty I designed to fight Thargoids, designed to take the hits, designed to do the damage, and it performs well. It is slow, sure, but time and time again I go out and the problem just is I can't score the hits. It can stay in the fight, it takes the hits well, it deals out damage well, I just can't seal the deal. Me.
It's ironic, because I tend to name my ships after ex-lovers, and the one I chose to name BBK after was someone that we really hit off together, had lots of dates, really gelled with on the personal level, until it came to the bedroom. We made love once, and we just didn't gel well in the sheets. It was awkward, and soon after we ghosted each other. Which is what I'm doing to BBK.
I'm stripping her engineered parts and decommissioning her. I feel like other pilots could do well with her, but it's just not me. And I can't afford the learning curve with her, paying out dozens of millions in insurance. That's assuming the Thargoids don't scoop up my escape pod. I heard they drink your blood like it's beer or something. I don't want to end up being some bugs version of a long neck.
With the creds I got back from BBK I got into a Fer De Lance and geared it up. I streamlined its build a bit more, the hardpoint locations seem pretty good for gauss cannons, so I loaded them up. (as opposed to BBK's 2/2 Gauss to Shards. Her speed will let me engage at will, hopefully. She's currently in the shop in Kuk getting her armor thickened up. While waiting I'm enlisting in some merc work to pad my pockets for the inevitable learning curve insurance premiums.
Maybe I can pick up another knotch on my bedpost to name a ship after while in the downtime. Starting to run low.