A Jump Beyond [08.04.3302]
18 Aug 2016Milwaki
The trip back to Sol from Martuuk's Long Sight base was a shorter one; the improved jump range effectively halved the number of stops along the way. I then docked the Corvette at Galileo, putting the ship in storage and headed across the docking yard to get my Cutter. Verity successfully migrated and adapted to the different systems, and after a brief moment, had everything under control.We headed back to Kuhn, letting Elvira work her magic once again, using similar schematics to the Corvette on the Cutters FSD. It was successful; improving the unladen jump range to a more impressive 36 light years, and an even more impressive 25 light years while freighting 728 tons of cargo, making the previously arduous trade runs from Sothis a significantly shorter affair.
In fact, inspired once again by the massive increase in range, that's exactly what I did. Taking a break from the module engineering, I went to Sothis, a now potent system ripe with all sorts of folk from all over the bubble; wannabe traders and bounty hunters, pirates, and some of the shadiest pieces of shit the galaxy has ever seen. Luckily, myself and the massive Cutter slipped through the cracks. Maybe it's the matte black paint that makes it hard to spot with the backdrop of space. Honestly I just wanted something different than the standard issue Gutamaya glossy white pearl. Apparently though, it makes one of the largest, most valuable, trade ships you can get your hands on invisible.
I loaded up the Cutter with as much cargo as the hull could manage; brimming with canisters marked with tight deadlines, goods for smuggling, data export and regular boring haul. Over 600 tons worth of crap to haul 400 and some odd light years back to the main cluster of human space. Why only 600 tons? The other 128 worth of available space were replaced with a phenomenal fuel scoop for skimming along the way. As it stands, my Cutter only has 32 tons of fuel on board, which it consumes rather quickly on a laden 400 light year trek, so quick refueling became a necessity.
The trip back didn't take that long, however; dropping everything off to all the damn stations did. Some how I always forget that part. Hard to complain though when a few hours of work sees over 90 million credits in profits, and these days I have Verity to keep me company. She seems to have taken a liking to the Cutter, not sure I blame her. It certainly cost a hell of a lot, but it's paid for itself ten times over by now.
After all the deliveries were made, we headed back to Galileo, got a few hours of shut-eye, and then headed back out again, restocking first on bare essentials; food, bog roll and the like. This time though, we took the old Anaconda. The old girl hasn't seen much action as of late. She's primarily an exploration vessel these days, and I've spent the last 7 months in the bubble.
Dusting off the old console, the systems fired up just like the day I bought her. You wouldn't say she'd gone unattended for so long, perhaps the dock hands at Galileo did a bit of maintenance while I was away. I'd never say they owe me anything but I've done my share of improving what was looking to be an economic downturn early in the cycle, not because I felt obligated, but you could say I have connections to Sol, I think all of us do.
The materials in storage were loaded on to the Anaconda, enough for Elvira do her thing a third time. The jump range in the Anaconda was already fairly high; nigh on 35 light years while carrying a trek worth of equipment from my last voyage to the Horsehead Nebula.
We flew to Khun and docked at Long Sight. Martuuk spent some time with the ship and managed to churn out an extra 49.8% range, which, with a little micro managing, became 51 light years in total, with another potential 4 by stripping the ship down to it's skin. Testing has proven to be reliable, which has me giddy for another adventure, but where?