A year later.....
04 May 2017vinnieboJ
Current location: Sol, Galileo Station.So, it’s been about a year since my last log entry. Been a busy bee this past year. Lot has happened too! I don’t really know where to begin actually.
So I shortly after my last log entry the issues with the Core Dynamics Navicomp and the Planetary Approach Suite got sorted out and after getting clearance from Galileo station to depart I set out to the nearest land-able body, turned out to be Mercury, to check out the brand spanking new SRV-bay and SRV I bought. Fitted it on my Viper MK IV, the Defiance, and took it out for a spin. Amazing little rover it is. Got 2 ton cargo space, wake scanner, radar, turret and a ‘jump’ system. Basically two small RCS thrusters on either side near the center of mass enabling the SRV to jump up and forward into the air. Comes in quite handy when driving around on a planet and encountering a small canyon or so. Just press the button at speed and you jump right across! Furthermore it has 6 very small RCS thrusters. One on each wheel, witch keep you on the ground on low G planets, and make sure the body of the SRV doesn’t get squashed against the surface on high G planets. It’s truly a little master piece of engineering.
Speaking of engineers, I have made contact with several Engineers since first hearing about them. Took a while to find their bases, and even longer to fulfill the initial contracts. Then I could start with the engineering of several internal modules of my fleet. I mostly use the dirty drive tuning to get more jump range out of my ships. I actually acquired a few new ships as a result of a few very lucrative CG’s and missions. Since my last log I am the proud owner of 6 new ships, Asp Explorer, Cobra Mk IV, Python, Keelback, Imperial Eagle, and a Dolphin. I first got the upgraded Cobra not too long after my last log. It was available for a limited time so I dished out the credits and got one. Nice little versatile ship. Could do with better utility slot placement though (no use in having Point Defense when there’s an engine part blocking the rearview). The Asp I bought so I could have a dedicated exploration ship. It has a good jump range and is capable to defend itself (my T-6 is not too bad when fitted for exploration, just lacks defense capabilities). Then after doing several missions and CG’s to fill up my credits I bought myself a Python. It’s one of the most versatile ships out in the Void if you ask me. And after a visit or two to the engineers it got even better. Very happy to have it! Wanted it ever since I first flew out of my home system in a Sidewinder and saw one zooming by when docking at my first station. Not much later after that I bought a Keelback for no other purpose than to fit it with a fighter bay and see what all the commotion about them is. The Keelback is the smallest and cheapest ship that can fit one.
Before only the big capital ships and specially constructed military anaconda’s where capable of having a fighter bay and the accompanying ship launched fighter. But after some recent breakthroughs in micro-construction and Nano-placement and a whole lot of other high tech and sciency stuff, ship launched fighters are no longer restricted to capital ships and the like. Not every ship is capable of holding a fighter bay. The ships that are capable are as follows: Keelback, Federal Gunship, Type 9 Heavy, Anaconda, Federal Corvette, Imperial Cutter, and the Beluga Liner.
Those are some pricey ships, except for the Keelback. Most ships are only capable of fitting a hangar bay with one fighter, but the Anaconda and a few of the biggest ships are capable of holding a fighter bay with 2 different fighter load-outs. The standard class 5 fighter bay can hold 1 fighter loadout and gives you 6 rebuilds. That is due to another great development made; Telepresence.
In order to be able to fly a fighter you need to hire a crewmember, which can be done at almost every station and a select number of outposts and stuff. Once you have hired one you can either order him to fly the fighter, or take over the helm so you can fly the fighter yourself. No need to leave your ship as you pilot the fighter through telepresence. It’s a special station in your ship that provides some kind of neural link to the fighter, with a 30 KM range. It’s an impressive feat of engineering and science if you ask me.
Anyway after fooling around with it for a little while near a Nav Beacon I had my fill, cashed in any acquired bounties and set out to get myself an imperial eagle also known as the Eagle Mk II. It’s a beauty I must say, very elegant. And rather quick as well. And the medium hard-point on top is also a nice addition vs the small hard-point on the normal eagle. Fitted it for bounty hunting and took it out for a spin. Quite the nice combat ship.
After that I got myself the newly released Dolphin. The smallest luxury liner there is. Got to be honest flying such a luxurious ship is weird after flying Sidey’s, cobra’s, eagle’s and the like for most of my life. Nontheless a nice little ship the dolphin is, but so far I haven’t really flown it much, besides getting it from the station that I bought it to my home station. That is another additional service provided through the galaxy, the shipping of your ships form station to station. Before If you wanted all your ships in 1 location you had to get out to where you last parked it in a cheap Sidey, sell it, and fly your ship to your system/station of choice. Nowadays you can let your ships be delivered, for a price, to any station you want, provided you are docked there while sending in the request. Same goes for modules, you can store them now at any station or outpost that has outfitting capabilities, and even let them be shipped around! Things got so much easier since Galcorp started to provide that service to all pilots in the galaxy!
So yeah, a lot has happened in a year. A lot more than I can put in this log. Aliens, ruins, probes, lost ships, Salomé, the Rift. Too much to get into in just one log. I’ll save that stuff for another log as I hear there’s a barstool with my name on it.
CMDR vinnieboJ signing off….
See you out in the Void CMDR’s!