Home Sweet Home
13 Nov 2020Tobias Von Brandt
First time writing one of these log entries, but I've got some downtime before I depart on my next trip, so here goes...It's been a few months since I first ventured beyond the Pilots' Federation District, and I've been trying to find my place in the galaxy. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up. That sort of thing. At first I was poking around in my loaner Sidewinder, trying to scrape together some credits to buy something I could call my own. Something with a little more punch, a little more speed, a little more cargo space, a little more fuel. Something more.
Then two Commanders I had worked a job with invited me to join their wing for hunting some pirates in LFT 133. I wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited me on that first jump into the system: a white dwarf. First time I'd ever seen one in person. Damn. But once I got done admiring the view, it was time to blow some stuff up. A very pleasant two hours and many exploded pirates later, I followed my wingmates back to their home port of vo Dock in neighboring LHS 142 to collect our mission payout and bounties. Suddenly finding myself 25 million Cr richer, it was time to head to the nearest Li Yong-Rui system to trade in the Sidewinder for my new baby, a Cobra Mk III that I fully outfitted on the spot and christened the Neheb Ka. I also overheard two guys in the shipyard talking about canyon racing, which sounded amazing, so I snagged a stripped-down Viper Mk III chassis while I was at it, dubbed her the Velos, and flew back to vo Dock to start making some money to support my newfound hobby.
The next few weeks fell into a bit of a pattern, running back and forth to LFT 133 to kill more pirates and collect the bounties, with occasional jaunts out to Ohm City to tweak the Neheb Ka (an insanely enjoyable ship to fly) as I learned her abilities and practiced my piloting skills. With a little trading on the side for some bonus cash too, of course. I earned enough to add a Diamondback Explorer, the Chelone, to my young fleet as well. I bought her for two reasons: it sounded like it would be fun to venture a little further out of my neighborhood and see what I find out there, and also I wanted to meet up with some of these elusive engineers I had heard about, to make the Neheb Ka tougher and the Velos faster. And those two things meant I needed a ship built for distance, so there she was.
I had literally just released the docking clamps at vo Dock and turned towards the Access Corridor to set out on the Chelone's maiden voyage to the Pleiades and maybe swing by Maia to see the black hole and pick up some meta-alloys, when a buddy from my days in the Academy hailed me. She had just bought a Diamondback Scout and wanted me to come help break in her new ship by taking down some pirates in Cocijo with her and her boyfriend. Sure, I thought, it'd be fun to see her again and catch up, and it wouldn't hurt to pad my bank account either after how much I'd been spending in the shipyards, so I hopped back into the Neheb Ka and plotted a course to join my friends.
Well Cocijo turned out to be a longer venture than we had anticipated. Those pirates were hard to ferret out, had a couple narrow escapes when we were outgunned or some jerk got a lucky shot off too, but we finally got enough to go collect our reward in Mamaragan, and another few million in bounties to boot. We decided to ride the adrenaline high of our successful mission and hop into a conflict zone to further add to our earnings. It was going great until that damn Fed Corvette showed up. Those things can dish out some pain, and he handed our asses to us good. Oh well, can't win 'em all I suppose. But we lived to fight another day, and maybe the next time I encounter a Corvette I'll be flying something a bit more formidable. (Still love my speedy little Cobra though!) It was still a good time flying and fighting with some good company.
But they had other business to attend to after we departed Wolf Platform, so I left them to it, filled my cargo hold with something profitable, and picked out a few waypoints that would steer the Neheb Ka back to LHS 142. (Including a stop to swap out some modules based on the lessons learned in Cocijo and Mamaragan.) It was an uneventful journey, only had one attempted interdiction even. (I decided to let him live.) But I was surprised by the feeling I had when I jumped back into LHS 142:
Home Sweet Home.
It was palpable. I hadn't expected it, but it felt good to see my familiar star and skim the gravity wells of the twin planets vo Dock is nestled between to bleed off speed before gliding in for landing.
Now I'm prepping again to head out and put some miles on the Chelone. Really want to try out the Scarab I equipped it with too. There's a lot of galaxy out there, and I haven't entirely decided where I'm headed or how far I'll go, but I know where to call home when I come back.
First encounter with a white dwarf in LFT 133
Neheb Ka arrives home at vo Dock