Success!
12 Apr 2021Netsteel
Captains log - Entry #4Star date 3307.04.12
Yesterday had been a long day, and the issues at the last Guardian site of the day was too much to deal with. So I called it a night, hoping a fresh start the next day would brighten things up.
And bright they were. Finally, I get a chance to see a Guardian site that's not shrouded in darkness. The sun is high in the sky, so I jump in the spare SRV and head out.
The layout is different, and it's not very large, but the feel is similar. I don't even bother to draw up a map this time, as I have a pretty good understanding of how the Guardians did things. I find quite a few artifacts and relics scattered about, but since I still have a cargo hold full of them I let them rest where they are.
Sentinels again. Only coming one or two at a time this time, so not too difficult to dispatch. I find the pylons and begin charging them up. I head up to the altar, only to find that there's only one solitary pylon standing guard. What?! Crap. I frantically spin around and search for the last remaining pylon. I find it at the bottom of the ramp, so I charge it up as well.
The altar activates and the energy orb emerges. I return to my ship and collect the ancient key I cleverly retrieved before heading this way. I deposit it at the altar. Nothing. Maybe I missed? I pick up the key and reposition. Again, nothing.
Crap.
So I guess it's not a skeleton key. Dread sinks in as I worry I now have to hunt down another beacon, one who's signal matches this site. But before I hang my head and depart, I decide to try a few other items just in case. I try a totem, no good. I try an orb, nothing. I decide to try one of the tower relics next. I shoot it down and scoop it up. I align with the X and drop.
The orb springs to life. Success! Once it is activated, I scan it and retrieve it's blueprint. A module blueprint, just what I was hoping for.
I return to my ship and begin preparing for the next leg of this journey. I still need to locate 8 HN Shock Mounts to complete constructions of the Guardian FSD Booster. I jump on the net to find the closest source. Over 400ly away, back in the Coalsack region.
Resigned to finish this, I set course and jump.
Along the way, I scour the net for any more useful information. It seems that in my travels to find the Guardians, I have collected enough raw materials to construct the pre-engineered FSD. That's a nice bonus. Once I have my shock mounts in hand, I look around for the tech brokers I need to finish construction.
There's a human tech broker stationed out here in the Coalsack region, just 28ly away. The nearest Guardian tech broker is about 450ly away, back toward the bubble. Figuring every bit helps, I jump to the neighboring sector to retrieve the FSD. I give the tech broker what he wants and he leaves me a shiny new FSD in storage. I quickly outfit it to get this journey back under way. It looks like it gives me an extra boost of about 5ly. I'll take it.
Once the ship is done with outfitting, I set back out again. I head out toward Kitchan Mu, the nearest sector I can find that has a Guardian Tech broker. It's situated on the edge of the bubble, 9 jumps away.
I dock and locate the tech broker. I'm so eager to hand him the supplies that I didn't notice he doesn't actually build it for you. I headed to the livery to look for a stored booster, but there's nothing there. I then realize that all he did was allow access to the tech. I still have to go purchase it to get it mounted.
I begin looking over my current outfitting. Something will have to go to make way for the new booster. I start by looking at replacing one of the vehicle bays. I suppose I can live with a single SRV, and just be a bit more careful. As I examine the changes, it seems I can get larger sized boosters with better range if I dedicate larger bays. This means further rethinking my outfitting.
The obvious best place for this would be in my AspX's size 6 bay. I can downsize the fuel scoop if needed. But I quickly find the largest booster size I can get is a size 5, so I figure I'll keep the fuel scoop for now. The next target is my cargo in the size 5 slot. I don't need to carry 32T cargo right now, so let's pull that. But I'm still carrying 13T of Guardian relics that I'm not quite ready to part with. So next up, I change one of the vehicle bays to a size 3 cargo rack, and replace the collector limpet controller with one as well. With 16T available cargo space, I drop the booster into the size 5 slot.
Max jump range 60ly! Now we're getting somewhere.
But I want more, so I begin looking at any other modules I can strip or downsize. I peel off a bit of weight, and end up with a max jump of 63.85ly. I think I can be happy with that for now.
It's funny. I just spent who knows how long zooming out in the black, travelling thousands of light years in different directions, to get to this point. And now that I'm here, with an incredible jump range, all I want is to head back into the bubble. I think I'll do a some trading for a while. Maybe I'll try to visit more stars around homebase. Maybe I'll try my hand at combat again.
But whatever way I go, I think I'll stay in the bubble for a while before venturing out again. I still have plenty of time for Guardian research. I've heard a few pilots talking about the Krait Phantom, and it's caught my attention. I think I may try to save up for one...