DISTANT WORLDS 2 - DAY 1 - THERE AND BACK AGAIN
13 Jan 2019Zak Starfall
Galactic stardate 13JAN3305Dear diary....!
This isn't my first trip out in the black, nor my first expedition, but it will certainly be the longest, both in distance and time. So I've decided to keep a record of the journey for anyone who might stumble across these ramblings in the future.
Distant Worlds 2 (DW2) is going to be the greatest gathering of independent pilots the galaxy has seen for quite some time. The galactic grapevine speaks of 10,000+ commanders committing to the long trek to Beagle Point. I wonder how many of us will make it?
Now that Liana has grown up and flown the nest, heading out in her own ship to run the Colonia arm of our business, there are less ties to keep me rooted to Bao Orbital and Eleu's neighbouring systems. Seemed like perfect timing - DW2, time on my hands, and a need to get away from old routines, at least for a while
Spent the last week, prepping Star Reaper, getting her serviced and specced out for a long voyage. Hired on a new crew member too so I can make use of the newly installed fighter bay occasionally. Cathy Sheppard - she's inexperienced but keen, and her CV ticks all the right boxes. Wonder how she'll cope when we're weeks away from civilisation? Guess we'll find out soon enough!
A short shakedown flight this morning, a quick loop out to VY Canis Majoris and Betelgeuse to run through the usual system checks and check the heat exchangers were running efficiently during fuel scooping. If I shut off the shield gen then the temps stay within limits during scooping. Must remember to turn the shields back on before any landing attempts! Then headed to Pallaeni and a meet up with the rest of SEPP squadron ahead of DW launch time.
Squadron meetup went well.
Our first attempt at a coordinated vertical planetary departure resulted in my scraping the main thruster cowlings against the planet surface (I wondered what that loud scuffing sound was!) and a failed boost due to forgetting to retract the landing gear! Never mind, I don't think anyone was watching anyway! Must practice before the next waypoint.
The orbital meet was a success. We managed to get the whole squadron together using wing beacons, and we all launched successfully towards HR 5413, and then...
The hyperspace tunnel went on, and on, and on...
Finally, we dropped at HR 5413. Lots of radio noise and static, but it sounded like others had the same scare. Spacer humour referring to thargoids and witchspace hid everyone's anxiety.
Plot the course for the next jump, Frameshift Drive Charging...4...3...2...1... nothing.
Try again... nothing. Can't access Galmap. Can't access Sysmap. What's going on?
Has Star Reaper broken already?
Seems that the unprecedented number of simultaneous jumps by the expedition has caused the pilots Federation Galatic Mapping servers to crash and route plotting is failing galaxy wide! No-one is going anywhere at the moment!
Looks like we're going to be here for a while.
Not the best start to a journey to the far side of the galaxy.
Still, it can only get better!
o7