Wake Scanning with a picnic
07 Apr 2021Monkey Knuts
Wake scanning can be quite a divisive topic and we all have our own opinions on it. I am no different and frankly it's an activity that I really have to be in the mood for to get the best out of the experience. Now I know that some Commanders will wax lyrical about the crash sites of those who came before us before clogging up the warehouses of the various material traders dotted among the stars but I find those tourist sites greatly unfulfilling. Lets be honest, the days where you came to pay your respects are long gone, now you might as well set up a gift shop and sell some mugs. The paths are worn down by the repeated trundle of SRV tyres, the materials come pre-packed for your collection and there doesn't seem to a limit on the amount of times you can ride this conveyor belt of shame. At least the theme parks of yesteryear had the good grace to close once in a while.
I too am guilty; I have my favourite Anaconda crash site, I can sit there all day, or at least until the SRV packs in from a lack of fuel. At least the view is nice...if I remember to look up from those itty bitty canisters rolling into the most awkward places.
You see, I don't think it's a bad thing to build up your reserves, far from it. Being an a Commander can be incredibly time consuming and frankly we could all do with a break once in while. No mean feat considering the recent developments with the NMLA and their sympathisers. I challenge you to ship Meta Alloys around the Pleiades without incurring the wrath of our friendly neighbourhood succulents and honestly who doesn't like trying to wrestle back control of a type 9 that got a little close to a White Dwarf fully laden?
I do digress somewhat though; you see I found a new way to burn some fuel and all of my time the other day and that is wake scanning.
It makes one glad to be sat alone in the cockpit of an Asp Explorer as you have no need to explain the appeal to a passenger or co-pilot. The irony of being alone in a star ship capable of taking you to the far reaches of the universe but then having to watch everyone else leave on their adventures whilst you sniff about their wakes is not lost me. The really tragic truth of the matter is that if you're really committed to a day of wake watching then you must first travel to a system full of people desperate to leave. You have to sit there, hanging in the black like a metallic spider in its web, watching as people jump in and out searching for salvation; before pouncing on their wakes like a ravenous predator that's trapped a juicy fly.
Which brings me nicely to this log.
Over the past few days I've settled in for a touch of wake scanning out in the black. It took me some time to find just the right way of collecting my scan data before I settled on the most consistent method of gaining results. I packed up my picnic, threw in a couple of mix tapes and filled a flask up to the brim with tea. I even installed a small bookshelf into the bulkhead behind my chair and I was ready to head out. A few jumps later and I'd found the system that I would call home for the next day or so. I settled myself into a stationary orbit above a lovely planet known for its heavy metal reserves and poured some tea. Not a bad view from my web either. A few distant nebulae out ahead and an incredible canvas of systems above me to pique the imagination. It didn't take long for the first few flies to appear. Usually in two's or three's they would come and go. I'd point my scanner in their general direction and that's about it. Every so often I might give the engines a little boost to manoeuvre a little closer but I suppose it breaks up the monotony.
So here I sit, reading my book, eating sandwiches and watching the galaxy go by...not a bad life really!
Did I mention the teeny tiny caveat?
You're sat at a famine distribution centre, those commanders that you're dreaming of following in their footsteps...they're busy cramming their little sidewinders with as much food as they can carry to stop their family from starving to death; and you brought a picnic...wow!