M.R.S.C. Mercator - Carrier Log, Feb 3307
02 Mar 2021FalconFly
Mining and Reconnaissance, Strategic Carrier
Mission II Time : 9 Days
02 Feb 3307 : After receiving a Distress Call relayed by the Fuel Rats, the Mercator has embarked on another SAR Operation.
This time, however, quite a few things are different.
An unfortunate CMDR ended up stranded on the far side of the Galaxy on the DSSA Alvin's Rest in Blia Chraei QU-M c21-0 (Acheron) in a Cargo Ship - 55278 LY from Sol.
The initial Response System for the Mercator was its Exploration Anchor Myrierph IC-K d9-0 at a 29905 LY distance.
The Egress System is Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 (Explorer's Anchorage), adding 30781 LY.
The resulting distance of 60686 LY is pushing the Mercator's Fuel Reserves to their limits - consuming well over 95% of its total available Rmax.
This also means that the Carrier must blast by its calculated Joker Fuel and also significantly underfly its Bingo Fuel, leaving a remaining Rmax of maybe 3500-4000LY - barely enough to reach the original Exploration Anchor in the Empyrean Straits after the Operation concludes.
For that reason, CMDR sbf-2006 fueled up a Carrier in the bubble with the help of CMDR The-DemonWolf.
The Carrier The Katariah operated by CMDR sbf-2006 is scheduled to RV with the Mercator at the Egress System near SagA* on 18 Feb 3307.
Then, the SAR Client can board The Katariah and this Carrier will transfer Fuel to the Mercator - which will be low on Fuel, having consumed most of its Reserves during the SAR Operation.
While this tightly calculated SAR Operation is stretching the outermost capabilities of the Mercator, this Joint and Coordinated Operation to save a fellow CMDR is well worth it
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Mission II Time : 11 Days
04 Feb 3307 : Approx. 48hrs after entering active SAR state, the Carrier has traveled 29905 LY and arrived in the Blia Chraei QU-M c21-0 System.
With the pickup complete, the return travel is now in progress towards the Galactic Center for the drop-off.
The 30781 LY travel is expected to take 3 Days, so Explorer's Anchorage should be reached on 07 Feb 3307.
With the CSV Hanjin being retrofitted to hold 780t Tritium and the market closed - freeing another 70t - the fuel-saving procedures are paying off, as the Mercator is effectively jumping with a 850t reduced gross weight.
And once again, the various Equipment Packages the Mercator permanently carries onboard paid off. From Mining Equipment over highly specialized Weapon Packages - all the way to spare Cargo Racks of all sizes, it's all readily available.
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Mission II Time : 12 Days
05 Feb 3307 : The Carrier is now about 18500LY from the dropoff for SAR Client 1.
"SAR Client 1"... because enroute, an additional Distress Call was received. That means the Mercator now dealing with two Emergencies - however the second one at least somewhat conveniently located high above the Galactic Core but still adding 3000LY to an already tight fuel schedule.
Luckily, Client 2 soon reported being offline for a few days, meaning at least the original routing could be resumed.
Some additional Tritium was sourced from a passed System in order to defuse the projected, extremely tight Fuel Situation.
However, with SAR Client 2 now being delayed by about a week, the required detour has gone as well for now. With a straight line towards Explorer's Anchorage again, the Carrier is also looking good again in terms of Fuel - "good" under these circumstances literally meaning : it won't flame out enroute.
Despite being far away from the original Exploration Anchor and the related Earth-like World survey - a few new ELWs were picked up enroute and on-the-fly.
So in a sense, the Exploration campaign is (technically) still progressing despite being mostly busy with an active SAR state
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Mission II Time : 13 Days
06 Feb 3307 : The Mercator is now approx. 10000LY from SagA* and is scheduled to arrive there late tomorrow.
Enroute, another pristine ELW was picked up... this nicely follows the Rule #32 - Enjoy the little things!
Even when enroute, the Carrier always checks its Sensors for its immediate surroundings. Although there's exceedingly low chances, effectively I'm mainly checking for presence of a Green Gas Giant.
Fuel Reserves are very low at this time - but this is all working as planned.
After the SAR Client is positively transferred off the Carrier, focus will shift entirely on refueling after this 60686LY SAR round-trip.
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Mission II Time : 14 Days
07 Feb 3307 : After a 60686LY run, the SAR Operation has completed.
Carrier will remain In Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 next to Explorer's Anchorage overnight and then locate Tritium sources nearby. Long time no see, been a while since I've been at SagA*
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Mission II Time : 15 Days
08 Feb 3307 : The Mercator has relocated approx. 400LY from SagA* into a pristine area and opened up an interim Exploration Anchor.
As opposed to the normal routine which typically maps only Earth-like Worlds, everything valuable is now being tagged & mapped.
The recent SAR Operation wasn't only the longest range SAR Ops ever conducted by this Carrier - it was also by far the most expensive it ever conducted.
Clocking in at a total price tag of no less than 1.6 Billion Credits (!), it's clear the Mercator physically cannot engage in such massive Operations frequently.
Main driver of this massive price tag was the Fuel - after all, at the time of initial response in the Empyrean Straits, the Mercator held approx. 50% "premium" fuel obtained several thousand LY from Sol by a supply Carrier and only 50% was attained in the bubble for the usual 50k/ton.
Resupplying most of this at Explorer's Anchorage wasn't cheap either. Fuel is never cheap so far out from the nearest Refinery - and it was pure luck any was available at all.
In the light of the potentially huge cost of such special Operations , the SAR procedures came under scrutiny as well.
So far, the Mercator accepted civilian SAR procedures even for longrange Operations.
In the future, certain longrange Operations will only be performed involving components of military CSAR procedures, which will require specific Authentication and Credentials by Distress CMDRs in order to authorize a - potentially expensive - response by the Mercator.
While this should not affect SAR Operations in general, implementation of fundamental Authentication and ID procedures shall ensure and protect the integrity and fiscal feasibility of such Carrier Operations.
Although not preferred, Tritium resupply by mining in the respective local area will receive higher Priority than before.
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Mission II Time : 16 Days
09 Feb 3307 : Exploration around the new interim Anchor is progressing nicely, although nothing special appears to be to it.
Mining, however, is quite good.
So it's currently back to a mix of classic, oldschool Exploration and Metallic/Tritium Mining while the Mercator awaits the scheduled SAR Operation to begin.
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Mission II Time : 17 Days
10 Feb 3307 : Another ELW clocked in and more mining was performed while waiting for the scheduled events.
The nearby merchant Carriers have been evaluated in terms of pricing and it seems it's a good idea to lose some weight.
This will work nicely to Refi a part of the last SAR Operation while spending the time waiting on location....
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Mission II Time : 18 Days
11 Feb 3307 : After another good Mining Run, the Carrier relocated back to Explorer's Anchorage.
Reason : it's the only location to conduct some Bounty Hunting.
Rare opportunity for an Exploration & Mining Carrier, so I'm taking some Ships not flown in a long time and do some proficiency flights.
Pickings are rather slim but it still makes for a nice change of pacing while waiting.
Combined with small-scale sales of Minerals to a local merchant Carrier, it provides a small but satisfactory income.
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Mission II Time : 19 Days
12 Feb 3307 : More intensive Bounty Hunting was performed, thanks to the local Installation Event Horizon.
Not easy - but payout is far better with those Installation Scenarios, so the bigger gear could be put into action which otherwise collect dust on the Carrier.
Plus, Proficiency Training seemed in order with various Ships, after not having flown many of them for over half a year....
On another positive note, surprisingly a very generous Tritium Seller has appeared next to a conventional Tritium Seller.
Now with more Tritium on offer than the Mercator could possibly hold, the requirement for additional Fuel has literally ceased to exist overnight.
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Mission II Time : 20 Days
13 Feb 3307 : After having successfully rescued the scheduled SAR Client #2 , the Mercator is now enroute back to its original Exploration Anchor.
Fuel Reserves are solid, meaning the RV with a refuel Carrier which will also pick up SAR Client #1 that got dropped off there a few days ago is no longer needed.
The Mercator btw. was issued a SAR compatible paint scheme, which will be used anytime it enters active SAR state.
Let's see when the next emergency runs in, so far I've spent more time saving other CMDRs than performing Exploration this Campaign was originally intended for
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Mission II Time : 21 Days
14 Feb 3307 : New plan!
Instead of directly returning to the original Exploration Anchor that the Mercator left over a week ago after executing multiple SAR Missions, the Carrier has taken position in Hypiae Auscs AA-A h0.
This is a new RV point to meet with the Carrier Sword of Meridia operated by CMDR epic 6ig B, who during the early SAR Planning Phase for SAR Client 1 also offered to refuel the Mercator at Explorer's Anchorage.
Following the good old Air Force motto "Flexibility - Key to Airpower!", the Mercator will now provide fuel instead.
This was made possible by the Tritium supplies which the Mercator was able to source around Explorer's Anchorage.
Once this short-notice coordinated Fuel Transfer is complete, the Mercator will continue its transit to the intended Exploration Anchor in the Myrierph Sector.
In the meantime, another ELW was located nearby - meaning the Exploration Campaign keeps progressing despite all those routing changes just fine
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Mission II Time : 22 Days
15 Feb 3307 : After transferring 6000t of Tritium to the Carrier Sword of Meridia, the Mercator has finally returned to its original Exploration Anchor.
For two entire weeks, the Mercator has been away after its initial SAR Response on 02 Feb, meaning at this point the majority of its original Exploration Campaign was spent in active SAR state and rescuing or supporting other CMDRs.
As expected, the Tritium cost for these Operations reached (fittingly) astronomical figures - meaning the autonomous resupply with Tritium by Mining how holds a considerably higher Priority.
At this moment, the Mercator holds a max. theoretical Range of 39500LY again - but at 25662LY from Sol, this means its current maximum possible SAR radius is restricted to approx. 6900LY tops.
Increasing the Operational Range side-by-side with Exploration is and will be an ongoing process for the next days and weeks most probably.
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Mission II Time : 23 Days
16 Feb 3307 : Daily Tritium runs have further increased the Operational Range, while Exploration started delivering Earth-like Worlds as well.
At this pace, in about a week Exploration will be in the focus again, with only occasional Platinum/Osmium Mining filling the Cargo hold.
The retrofitted CSV Maersk has easily become the primary tool of choice for mass-mining. Having a complete 2nd Equipment Package onboard to utilize that Cutter in Deep Space as well has already seriously paid off.
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Mission II Time : 24 Days
17 Feb 3307 : Nothing interesting to report on the Exploration front of things - but the Tritium supplies are climbing steadily.
Although Tritium Mining has been part of the previous & current Campaigns, in the past it was mainly performed to assess feasibility and attain realistic performance Data on the possible progress.
Now, the Mercator is essentially running its first, live autonomous Refueling Program based on those metrics and the verdict is : doable....provided time is not a critical factor.
But with no current OpTask or Special Operation demanding attention, these prerequisites are met.
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Mission II Time : 27 Days
20 Feb 3307 : Although no new ELW showed up during the last days, the Exploration Campaign managed to pick up speed again.
Apart from slowly working a very large D-Mass Boxel, the immediate surrounding of the Carrier was investigated and a 100LY radius Neutron Survey is in progress as well.
More Mining also added Tritium to the Storage, so the Mercator enjoys a SAR radius of over 10000LY again.
But other than that, everything is very calm in the local area.
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Mission II Time : 28 Days
21 Feb 3307 : The Neutron Survey 100LY around the Mercator is now complete.
While offering no surprises, a few Black Holes were picked up along the way...
With that complete, it's back to finishing up the near-field Exploration directly around the Carrier, after which all attention will move back to progressing within the planned Boxel.
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Mission II Time : 30 Days
23 Feb 3307 : The ELW Campaign is progressing nicely now, smaller Tritium runs have increased the Carrier's Operational Range further.
In the not so distant future, the Mercator can relocate back to a local Platinum Hotspot to fill its Cargo hold with respective Metals instead.
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Mission II Time : 32 Days
25 Feb 3307 : Exploration is finally back into high gear while Tritium Mining has almost ceased.
After a dry phase, Earth-like Worlds are now coming in again as expected.
Scatter- and numerical Patterns are slowly filling the local D-Mass Boxel, which still holds sufficient Systems for months to come.
Although still entirely theoretical, the local Green Gas Giant "goldilocks zone" has been marked for this Sector and a first random sample plot has been completed.
I personally deem it exceedingly unlikely to stumble upon one - but occasionally I just feel it's still worth a shot.
It remains like playing a Galactic Lottery, except the Star Class selection technically can toss out an occasional ELW just as well, so in a sense nothing is lost.
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Mission II Time : 33 Days
26 Feb 3307 : Exploration progress within the area is very good, tons of Systems running by and ELWs keep clocking in.
Mission II so far has produced a total of 29 ELWs.
That's almost an ELW per Day despite a considerable amount of active SAR state interfering with the original Mission.
Not too shabby, nothing to complain about.
Sinuous Tubers seem almost everywhere in the Empyrean Straits and are a common sight. Just as common as the Composition Scanner/Codex spewing out bugs when scanning them.
Currently, it seems every size of their growth stage produces a different scan result....
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Mission II Time : 34 Days
27 Feb 3307 : Despite a few errands, another good day and another Earth-like World in the records....
However, the Exploration Campaign will have to take a short break. The reason is the Class 5 FSD v1 now available at Tech Brokers.
In the past, these Tech Brokers hardly ever held anything of interest - but this specific piece of Equipment is simply too good to ignore.
Despite sitting on a huge amount of Elements, Materials and Data... turns out for this one, I'm short on Tellurium and Datamined Wake Exceptions.
Tellurium is being worked on right now, after its top-off the TEV Maximon will embark on a 2x 14300LY round-robin.
The Colonia area has a Tech Broker, Mat Traders, Engineers - and Jaques was always good to attain plenty of Wake Scan Data.
So instead of moving the Carrier over this distance and wasting a large amount of Tritium, the Equipment Package will be purchased on-site in the Colonia region, engineered there and later transferred to the Mercator.
That seems the most logical course of action and should also afford the quickest execution.
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Mission II Time : 35 Days
28 Feb 3307 : The TEV Maximon has reached the Colonia area and arrived at the Tir System at the end of the Day.
Damn, it's been a long time. Old stomping grounds with alot of memories.
According to the records, I haven't docked here since... 19 Jan 3305. Used to live in that place for 1.5 years, involving tons of BGS drama and action.
Anyway, no point in getting sentimental - the Class 5 FSD v1 can come.
This Equipment should come in extremely handy right back at the Exploration anchor, as the distances of the numerical Scan Pattern often just narrowly exceed the JumpRange of the TEV Maximon.
Due to not being co-located on Station with the Mercator at the moment, its SAR Status has been changed to Black. Can't remotely feed the main Fuel tank from Storage after all, so no point in advertising a Service the Carrier currently cannot provide.
As it's the end of the month, time to recap on the Exploration totals for this Campaign so far :
- 30 Earth-like Worlds
- 834 Systems Visited
- 13753 L3 Detail Scans
- 3 successful SAR Operations, 1 other Carrier refueled
