The Reason For My Return To The Bubble (Part 3 - And Now I Must Prepare)
06 Oct 2016IsraelZulu
So, here's where I stood, a little over a week ago (on 3302-09-28):- There was a group of people in Colonia that were planning a lovely expedition to the galaxy core, and I wanted to go.
- Expedition rendezvous points were going to be landed on planet surfaces, which meant they'd expect me to have an SRV - and I didn't.
- I'd been having a bit of a rough time with landings even on planets with just 1G or less, and I didn't know what sort of planets the expedition would be planning to land on (they were still TBD). So, shields would be advisable - another thing I didn't have.
- To get the full experience from the expedition, I'd need a jump range of 33 Ly. Extra credit for more. I had that then, but knew I wouldn't by the time I fit in shields, an SRV, and other gear I'd need for the trip.
- I was about a thousand light years on the far side of Colonia.
- Oh yeah, and all the gear for sale in Colonia sucks because none of the big vendors have cared to come out this far yet.
- To top it all off, the expedition was due to launch in just a little over a month.
Over 45,000 light years to run before the expedition, and hardly more than a month to do it. To put this a bit into perspective, that expedition was planning on taking nearly two months to travel 33,000 light years - and even that was twice as fast as the other expedition they'd be meeting up with!
But yeah, I can do this - right?
I scrapped the surface scan I was in the middle of, and set out for Jaques' Station. I needed to get my ship back to factory-fresh running shape if I wanted to make it through this trip as quickly as I was planning to.
I needed to make some money on my way to the bubble too. Sure, exploration near Colonia had been bringing in a good chunk of change. But the upgrades I needed weren't gonna come cheap - especially if I ended up having to seek the exclusive services of an Engineer (and I probably would).
While waiting on repairs in the docks, I considered my options. With an SRV and shields tacked on, I could maybe get close to that 33 Ly minimum range. But the real prize on the tour was going to need even more.
Before all this, my hope was that my next trip to the bubble would be for an Anaconda. Those things can get ridiculous amounts of jump range. But with this game plan, there wasn't enough room for me to scrape together anywhere near that many credits.
Yeah, an Engineer isn't an option anymore - it's a necessity.
I hadn't taken time to foster a lot of relationships with the Engineers in the bubble while I was there. Figured I could get by with stock parts and my own ingenuity well enough for now - I'd hold off on consulting the Engineers until I had my 'Conda.
Now, however, I knew I'd need an FSD specialist. And a good one. Only two people I'd heard of qualified: Elvira Martuuk and Felicity Farseer.
Word on the nets was that favor could be won from these folks with exploration data. Sell it directly to them, and they'll let you in on their drive tuning secrets.
I got a quote from Universal Cartographics for the data I'd brought back with me, but didn't sell it. Found out I had three million credits' worth of scans to bring to the Engineers. Knowing how relatively easily that could be come by though, I doubted it would impress them much.
I'll just have to scan as I go. That's gonna cost some time, but I can make it up on the way back with the boost I should get in jump range.
Rumor had it that, some hundreds of light-years "below" the central galactic plane, there were all kinds of dense neutron fields across the entire galaxy. If I went "down" there, and the rumors were true, I should be able to hit a neutron or black hole for most of the jumps between Colonia and the bubble. Yeah, that would add a kylie to the trip - maybe a few kylies, even - but it would boost the exploration data earnings substantially.
Scan data is great, and I was sure I'd get a fair amount on the way. But something told me I'd be a little better off if I was bringing something else with me to supplement that income.
I checked the local trade markets and found that Jaques had some special alcohol machines that were particularly highly valued - even more so in the bubble, since residents there didn't want to fly themselves out here just to buy an inebriation facilitator.
I had the maintenance crews un-install all the superfluous modules in my Asp - even the self-repair systems - to make room for the cargo. I didn't take that much damage on the way to Colonia from the bubble, so I figured I should be able to live with whatever dings I'd manage to pick up on the way out. In the end, we were able to fit 23 tons of Jaques' magic devices into the ship.
Once everything was in order, and I'd gotten me some wake-up juice, I strapped back into the pilot's seat. At oh-God-what-am-I-thinking hundred hours, I blasted out of Jaques' mail slot and on towards the bubble.
It's gonna be a long haul. And I'll be cutting it close on time. But I like a challenge.