Entry 1 - Signs of Progress
01 Jul 2022miamijuggler
Preparations are underway. ...and some are more exhausting than anticipated.
The past few days have seen me gathering materials and modules for all the retrofitting and refurbishing on the Phantom that I'll need to do before setting out. Gathering materials can be dreadfully boring, but it needs to be done, so I threw myself at the task until I couldn't stand it any more, making good headway on my shopping lists for both manufactured and encoded materials. I'm woefully behind on raw materials though, so I think that's next on the agenda, but the rumor mill indicates that the best location for sourcing those materials lies 1500Ly outside of the bubble. Not an insurmountable distance, to be sure, but also not insignificant. Which gave me an idea:
The plan was always to include some smaller testing and shakedown voyages once the build was complete, to establish some familiarity with the platform, since I've never flown a deep-space exploration vessel. But also to work out any kinks in the design, make any necessary adjustments, and develop the requisite checklists and procedures specific to this craft. However, the build won't be complete without the raw materials that I need from 1500Ly away.
So I think I'll do this in phases.
- Phase One - Make It Go (Currently Underway)
This is what I'm working on currently. The goal here is to simply get the ship to a flyable configuration. My squadron leader was kind enough to grant me some workshop space on the carrier, so that's where the Phantom is now, with most of the body panels removed, and parts strewn all over the place. I've been in the process of working with the amazing ground crew here to pull out all of the stock modules and pack them up for sale. This past week has been particularly exciting. A few of the shiny new lightweight modules have shown up (such as the comparatively tiny power plant and power distributor; saved a lot of mass there), and we are working on installing those. Additionally. I've purchased some uprated life support and redundant AFMUs to be shipped here to the carrier, and installed over the next week. I even managed to get my hands on a Frame Shift Drive Booster based on Guardian technology. I'm still working on sourcing a top-of-the-line frame shift drive, though; it's the one part I can't afford to skimp on.
Once all that is done I'll have a ship that is most of the way towards my final configuration, but still quite capable for trips around and near the bubble with an estimated jump range around 58Ly. Which will open the way for Phase Two. - Phase Two - Make It Better
Using my freshly spaceworthy ship, I intend to continue gathering the parts and materials for the voyage, specifically making the 1500Ly trip out to gather those raw materials. This will serve as the first small-scale test voyage where I'll get my first taste of long distance flying. I think once I've returned from that, I'll know if I actually want to go through with this project or not. I'll also make the rounds to the various engineers to upgrade and optimize the parts and systems to maximize my jump range. This would include overcharging the power plant so that I can actually power the FSD Booster. - Phase Three - Make it Best
Getting the modifications and primary engineering sorted out in the Bubble, there will be a few optimizations left over which only the engineers in Colonia can accomplish. So this would be the second test voyage. 22,000Ly is nothing to sneeze at, so this would give me the opportunity to cry off and return to the Bubble afterward, if the voyage becomes too monotonous. If all goes well, though, I'll be doing the final modifications and mass-reduction in Colonia, as well as any final preparations before heading out into the black. - Phase Four - Time To Go
Will all preparations complete, final checklists will be ticked off, and there will be nothing left to do but actually depart. I don't have a finalized flight plan as of yet, but my current thinking is to leave Colonia and head for Sagittarius A*, via a path that would run roughly 1000Ly either above or below the galactic plane. The nearby Explorer's Anchorage station would be my last guaranteed opportunity to restock and repair. I know there are sometimes friendly carriers out there, but I don't want to count on those; it's nice if we happen to cross paths, but I'm planning the journey as if the carriers don't exist. From Sagittarius A*, I'll find my way across the stars and jump points in the direction of Beagle Point. If I make it there, I'll head over to Oevasy SG-Y d0 B 9 f (or Salome's Reach, if you prefer), and get some photographs as well as some peace and quiet for a bit before turning back and heading home.
So that 's the plan. Originally, I was going to include a breakdown of the design and configuration of the ship in this log entry, but I feel this log has gone on long enough, and so I'll do a separate entry for the ship itself. I'll write that in the coming days, as I have time in between crawling through claustrophobic maintenance ducts and pulling kilometers of greasy cabling out of the ship (to be replaced with the mass-reduced fiber-optic signaling chains, of course).
Progress is progress, so they say.