Personal Log 105: 7th - 13th March, 3302 (Part Two)
12 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
7th - 13th March, 3302 (Part Two) I couldn't very well be in LHS 3447 without paying a visit to my mother and Barnes. Sam and I spent several hours at their secluded estate, Arcadia, during which mother told me some delightful news.
"Barnes and I have decided to make a return to showbusiness," she said, beaming a happy smile. "We've been in touch with our agent, and the feelers are out for some suitable projects." Mother said she would let me know when something came along.
On March 11th I returned to Worlidge Terminal to collect my payment for the metals appeal. This came to 3,037,500CR. I had been thinking of buying a Cobra IV for a little while, and this increase in my credit balance gave me the final push I needed.
The Worlidge Terminal shipyard salesman was a charming man of about 40, with bright yellow hair cut short on one side but long and braided on the other. This was a style made popular by the actor Atherton Hay, who seemed to be the only man in the galaxy who could actually pull it off with any degree of success.
I naturally registered my new ship under the name The Last Thing I Do. Once I had re-equipped her, my credit balance was down to 5,363,598CR. I had decided to forego installing an SRV hangar until another time, as I had no urgent need of one for now. I accepted a job to deliver some cobalt to Chamunda, and set off.
In Chamunda I had my first chance to see how the ship handled in combat, when I was interdicted by a Viper. Its pilot was Master-rated, and was soon reducing my shields with lightning-fast passes. I locked on and fired.
I was astonished to watch my new lasers track the target and fire all by themselves, without my having to pull the trigger! This was something I hadn't come across before, but it certainly made combat a little easier. All I had to do was make adjustments to power management. And try to avoid getting hit, of course. I won the battle, though my ship was down to 59%. The repairs at Gidzenko Ring came to 1400CR, easily covered by the 41500CR bounty I was paid.
Even better was the notification I received from the Pilot's Federation, confirming my combat-rating had been increased to 'Novice'.
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Galnet was carrying news of another appeal. The Federation had started construction of a new battleship, and was offering rewards to any pilots able to supply computer components to the construction site in Beta Hydri. I decided to sign up for this appeal, purely because Beta Hydri had become my second home since I had met Sam.
On my way to Beta Hydri I was hailed by a commander Casooch, another pilot I had said hello to on a social media site.
"Hey!" he said, after we had exchanged a greeting. "You wanna go bountying?"
I've never considered myself to be a bounty hunter, so I politely refused. Then I explained the reason for my trip to Beta Hydri, and asked Casooch if he had heard of the appeal.
"No," he replied, "I haven't. But maybe I'll go there myself and take a look."
My journey to Beta Hydri took me through Ngaliba, Chowei, Milscothatch, Tara, Santy; all now more and more familiar names to me. I loaded up the Galaxy Map on my navcom, and looked at the vastness of it all. The bubble was insignificant, and my exploration of it infinitely less so. Perhaps the time was approaching for me to follow in the FSD wakes of my friends, and see for myself what else was out there.
At Beta Hydri I sold 29,000CR of astrocartographical data, and signed up for the computer components appeal.
The next day, March 12th, I began my contribution to the appeal in earnest. I soon identified Kushen as a close source of computer components, and programmed my navcom with the coordinates for Blaylock Terminal.
During my second trip I received a k-cast from Nathalie Hudson. She was having no luck in winnning over Tatiana Vidrovka; in fact, Tatiana's gang were attacking Nath as we spoke! By the time I had returned to Stevenson Base, Nath had managed to evade her attackers and land somewhere safe. For the time being, at least.
A little later, Casooch hailed me. "I'm engaged in a battlezone over in Empire space," he told me. "I was doing some mining the other day. It was pretty relaxing, so I'm ready for the combat now!" I urged him to take good care of himself.
In between making runs to Kushen for computer components, I helped out at The Rose. With so many pilots in Beta Hydri for the appeal, all of the station bars were doing a roaring trade, and The Rose was no exception.
During a rare lull I received a k-cast from Argent Steel...
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OOC
Thank you to commanders Natalie Hudson and Casooch