CMDR PAUSANIAS - THE SHIP OF THE MIND EXPEDITION - DAY 59
07 Oct 2020Pausanias
Hi Cmdrs,After posting that image of my Sidewinder with Voyager last night I got a bit nostalgic and went down to the hangar where she is kept and had a sit in her for a while. I've put her on the Carrier for sentimental reasons only really, she has little fire power, medium shields and no cargo space, but, she does have a damn good jump range of over 38 ltyrs, which for a ship of her size is pretty respectable.
She's called 'Suicide Jockey', mainly because every time I use the ship I'm putting my life in jeopardy from being attacked, she is pretty defenceless and would be an easy target. The main use for her is to get around. If I fly a big ship somewhere and I want to leave it there I'll call the Sidewinder over to get back as it's a cheap ship to move around between stations and the good jump range then becomes very useful.
I have had this ship since day one, she was my first ship from six years ago (also exactly as I write this). I made my first transaction in her all that time ago and haven't looked back. Now I own at least one of every ship currently available in the Galaxy and The Carl Sagan. I think I've done quite well in the past six years since leaving the confines of Earth.
I will never sell my Sidewinder, she means a lot to me and reminds me of my roots.
I only have 6 ships of my fleet on the Carrier:-
The Sidewinder
My Cutter which I use for all the mining and jumping.
The Python which the crew currently have, they should be back tomorrow, this is also mainly a mining vessel but on a smaller scale to the Cutter.
Then I have my T9 on board, my huge trading ship capable of shifting goods in great volume when I need to, this is the T9 practically taking up the whole hangar . . .
I have my 'JUMPACONDA' on board. I used this to get back to the Bubble when my Squadron needed me earlier in this trip and should I need to get somewhere quickly I could use it again with its 84 ltyr jump range and super fuel scoop. Everything about this ship is designed for maximum jump distance.
Finally there is my Asp. 'Per Adua Ad Astra', to 'Strive for the Stars', this is really my exploration ship with a jump range of 64 ltyrs, but it cannot mine so I'm using the Cutter instead to find and mine the Tritium required. It's worth saying though that if I used this the 500 ltyr jumps the Carrier makes would make catching it up take about 8-10 jumps whereas the Cutter takes 22-26, I'm out here to explore not get places quickly!
That said I think I need a bit flexibility in my ship choice.
Currently the Carrier is totally full of Tritium, most times I return to the Carrier my Cutter is also full so there is nowhere to store the Cutters Tritium. This means I'm stuck in the Cutter all the time. I have an idea!
When the crew come back I'll take the Cutter out as usual BUT I will not be looking for any Tritium, instead I'm going to use it up AND use up some of the Carriers reserves. This should give me the option to store Tritium that's in the Cutter on the Carrier allowing me to change ships and have a bit of variety in the ship I use between Carrier jumps. I think it should work well. I'll give it a try.
I'm looking forward to having the crew back tomorrow and getting out exploring again, I hope they've enjoyed the change of scenery too . . .
Total Carrier jump distance since 10th August: 17,000 ltyrs - (Personal note: 34 jumps on 2 Oct)
Total Ship jump so far: 36,775
Total planets Level 3 scanned: 13,552
Total exploration data: 343,500,000 credits
Total systems with my name on: 2663
The Cutter is now 13,012 ltyrs away from Sol!
TRA X-1, approximately 3,750 to go . . .
P
A BIG NOTE - My congratulations go out to 0bi-wan, my friend and fellow squadron member, who achieved QUADRUPLE ELITE last night when he got to 100% ELITE in CQC, damn well done mate I know how much effort that took.