Tour Del Sol - Day 3
23 Jan 2016Tuts
*** Sol System, Galileo (orbital), StarDate 1.21.3302 ***In a sentence: Finally got the Lucky Strike up to par, did a little sightseeing, got shot at, bought the t-shirt.
I finally found a decent ship outfitters on Abraham Lincoln in Earth orbit. I spent the morning kitting out Lucky Strike with mostly Class A fittings. The only upgrades they couldn't provide me was a good military-grade armor plating, because they aren't set up to work on the new Viper chassis yet. However, the station next door (Li Qing Jao) had Viper Mk. 4's available, which meant they COULD sell me & install the upgraded armor plating. By the time I was finished, I'd sunk about 6 million credits into this "free" ship. I'm now confident, however, that I can handle any new challenges the universe dishes out again. I've been uncomfortable flying in a ship I know to be poorly kitted.
I was extremely disappointed to discover that all visits to both Earth AND the Moon are prohibited at this time without a permit. When I inquired about obtaining such a permit, I was shuffled from one bureaucratic department to another until being "accidentally" disconnected. After the third attempt at this I gave it up as not worth the effort. Maybe it is for the best, as my credit balance is now uncomfortably low. On a whim I checked the local boards for job openings, thinking I could sightsee and make some funds at the same time, but there's not much available and what IS there pays poorly. Clearly the locals are used to cherry-picking from a glut of available pilots.
It was during this period of searching that I received a slightly unusual vid message; I say unusual, because it was addressed to me personally even though I have no rep or local contacts here. Sure, I'm not exactly off the grid, but nobody in Sol should know me or care that I'm here. Anyway, it's from some mercenary outfit I think I've heard about before, and they want to HIRE me: not a one-off job, but a permanent gig. I'm wondering where they got MY name, and why they'd want to hire on a "mostly harmless" rank pilot? I start to 86 the message, but mild curiosity makes me click 'save' instead. I'll do some digging on them soon.
Later that day, I undocked with a couple of milk runs stowed in my hold. I plotted a polar orbit over Earth on the way out:
I soon spotted an immense ship hovering in geosync position over the African continent:
My scanners inform me it is a Farragut class battlecruiser. Maybe they're checking for permits. I decide to take a closer look:
The fighter escort was not impressed by my flying, and they proceeded to fire on me. On the plus side, I now know that my new Class A shields work great! I decided it might be a good time to plot a course for the Moon:
Just another airless rock, but as a history buff I am disappointed not to be able to visit the old 20th century whaling station / theme park. However, my final stop of the day turns out to be almost as good! Galileo station ended up being a great place to schedule some R&R:
