First week in the deep
12 Jun 2016Asagao
Just over a week into the black. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this. Boredom. Resentment. Existential angst.
Only have myself to blame, too - it's not like I didn't have enough self-knowledge to know I bore easily and have a tendency to impulsiveness. This is the result of running from instead of to, and without due care, attention and preparation.
(Note: always Read The Fine Manual. Preferably before you leave dock. It tells you useful things, like what the different HUD details represent, and how you can't refuel an SRV from a ship. That kind of thing.)
Still, the ship has enough rations that I won't starve (although I might gnaw off my own foot for a bit of variety on an extended voyage - must pay more attention to victualling next time) and I've only run into a star once, and only lost 3% which was lucky, although the FSD hasn't sounded the same since. There was one day - day 5? - when I nearly lost it and just used medkit drugs to knock myself out, and another day I spent just relaxing and thinking. There has certainly been an unexpected learning curve.
Not seen much that was interesting so far - a couple of earth-like worlds (both already claimed); a gas giant with ammonia-based life; a system in M27 sector with 6 suns, mostly close together; and some interesting meteors on a metal-rich world, although scanning them took the last of the SRV's fuel and I limped back to the ship on emergency oxygen.
At best guess, I'm about two thirds of the way there; possibly about another 40 or 50 jumps? Might take a while though, as I'm scanning as I go and a majority of systems are showing up as unclaimed now. In the last few systems - in Smojue sector - I've noticed a surprisingly regular, pentagonal patch of darkness showing up against the brightness of the galactic edge. Wondering if that's where I'm heading - but tracking down visible objects via the galaxy map is a skill I haven't yet acquired.