001: The Beginning is a Very Delicate -- and Dangerous! Time
01 Mar 2021Piratescribe
Date: 1-3-3307Locn: Michelson Port [Ehecatl]
Call me Commander. All the base flight controllers do, so I suppose that's my rank, now. I had the rank of "grunt" and "maggot" back in the militia; I never thought I'd become a commander! But I may be getting ahead of myself....
I qualified for and received my first ship, a Sidewinder! Loaned to me by the Pilot's Federation. (More on the story on that another time.) And what did I do not one standard day (SED) after finally taking it out? I get myself shot up by station security, grounded, impounded and arrested! I kid you not!
Long story short: Don't frack with station flight controllers!
Longer story: So I'll be honest, I barely passed my PF certification. I had basic ship ops training in the militia, and I studied with some VRs before the exam, but I'm no whiz-bang pilot. So after passing my cert and getting my Sidewinder, I thought I'd just do courier jobs for a while, until I got myself real comfortable behind the stick. And all's going well, until I take this job to Aitkins Hub on the Dromi System.
Now, I'm no stranger to planetside living, I'm no spaceshoe who's born, lived, and died on a station and never stepped foot on ground. Hells, I've fought battles in the dirt. But, I've never had to land a frackin ship on a planet! All my training and experience, meager as it is to this point, has been using auto-assist to dock me on oribitals and stations. I had no idea when I took the job that Aitkins was on a planet!
So I'm using my flight assist to get me there, right? No problem. I see it in the HUD, and I assume it's just past the big-frackin planet. I zip past and my nav alerts me that I'd passed it! What? So I spin around and try again, and . . . okay, long story not quite as long, I freakin orbit this dang planet like 4 times before it dawns on me Aitkins is ON the frackin thing! Okay, honestly, I'm laughing about it! I mean belly laughing at myself. So glad Sarge wasn't there!
Anyway, so I make my approach, and get this, I'd never landed before! I mean, I'd read the instructions and passed the written to get my cert, but no experience, none. So while I've got my Sidewinder gliding across the surface, I'm literally watching a Pilots Fed training video! Kid you not, brother!
Evidently, I'm not a bad study under pressure. It took me a LONG, careful, nerve-wracking process, but I did it! I landed that glorious Sidewinder on the rock as easy and sweet as you please! If I could, I'd have jumped for joy in my cockpit. As it was, I smacked the lid and shouted! ...and waited. And nothing. I kept waiting for some kind of sync and connection with Control so I could get into station services, drop my cargo, but nothing.
Until a message comes through, warning me of trespassing! What the frack?! I doublecheck that it was a beam for me and I wasn't getting some crosschatter, and yep, I was the target! I get another warning! Oh hells, I think, I need to be on an actual landing pad in the perimeter! (Hey, I never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the Crayon box!)
Okay, so I thrust back up in the air and try to pitch over the fence, and as gentle and slow and careful as I was landing it the first time (like 2 meters outside the actual facility), I was the exact opposite this time trying to get over one of the landing pads and settle down. Pitching and yawing all over the freakin place in a panic because now I'm getting these warning about pad vagrancy or something. And now is the time I'm noticing the countdown timer on my HUD!
I say, "Frackit!" and start leaning on the thruster, pitching up, trying to get to escape velocity and get the frack out of there . . . too late. I barely get 100 meters in the air they're laying into my ship, punching holes in it, til I hit the dirt and eject, and that's the last thing I remember....
Til I wake up in Wolfsegen Detention Centre medical ward! Yeah, fortunately just some bumps and bruises, nothing too serious. They brought in a warrant officer and I explained my heart out. Fortunately, between their records, my ship's records, my lack of any record (up to then), they were convinced I just made a Huge Mistake and all they did was fine me Cr600. Can you believe it?! I perform some dying bird routine over a mining base, clipping a building and other ships, and I get off with just Cr600 fine! I'm pretty certain that the fact I was still within Pilot Federation protected space is what saved my can. I think if I had been anywhere else, well, I might not be here!
You bet your left foot I paid that fine post haste and with all the proper shamefacedness I could -- which was no act. They poured me back into my patched-up Sidewinder and sent me on my merry!
Now you're probably reading this and pounding the screen yelling, "You idiot! You didn't--" and I don't blame you! But like I said, I'm not the quickest on the uptake, so it wasn't until I got on the wires with other Pilots to meekly ask what went wrong, that they clued me in (and brother, I tell you what, Pilot's are the best people! Because any laughter that was had was WITH me not AT me, as they gave me the clue-by-four) . . . I failed to get landing clearance! That's it! And not only that, but if I had, they would have enabled auto-docking assist (which I up til then was always using, docking in stations), and wouldn't have even needed to do that loooonnnngggg tedious landing!
But you know what, I don't mind that part. And I got some virtual back-pats from fellow Pilots for having had the moxie to give it a go on my own like I did, and as well as I did! (Until the panicked freakout, of course.) In fact, I played the landing for my Pilot Fed agent (up to the freak-out) and she complimented me, and agreed that landings needed to be trained better for certifications.
I was feeling pretty happy and contented about my place and role in the Pilot's Fed for the next couple jobs I ran, that I failed to pay attention to the job that sent me out to HR 8061. Sure the job went well, but then when I tried to head back to Dromi, I couldn't get permission to land anywhere! My act of docking at Bowen Dock revoked my Pilots Federation license! Ah man, that hit hard. And evidently, once you lose it, there's no getting it back.
So there I was, in the inky black without a home! I don't mind telling you I just about had a cry, there's little more depressing than drifting without a place to call home base. At least, for the likes of me. I'm an explorer, a ranger, but only because I always knew where to call home and could go back there.
Well, I put my big boy britches on and started scanning the maps and charts for a new home. Visited a few places, but eventually came upon Michelson Port in Ehecatl System. Decent security, no real trouble nearby (trust me, I plan on getting into trouble eventually! But right now I'm still looking to get that comfort behind the stick!) Decent facilities and availability of parts . . . I grabbed myself some chow in the public access ring, and had a pretty good feeling about the place. So, looks like this is my new home, at least while I train up, earn some creds, get some bounties under my belt.
I do miss having access to SO many jobs that the Pilots Fed had afforded me, but the last couple SED, I've done pretty well for myself. In fact, as I write this log, I have a brand new Cobra Mk III in the hanger with a bunch of upgraded modules, AND the insurance deductible in the bank (should I experience another major mishap)! Got some side-gig work to do this morning, then I'm taking the "Mechphisto II" out for a bit of bounty hunting!
Wish me luck!
Cmdr Keyton "Piratescribe" Magnusson