M.R.S.C. Mercator - Carrier Log, Apr 3307
15 May 2021FalconFly
Mining and Reconnaissance, Strategic Carrier
Mission II Time : 68 Days
02 Apr 3307 : Again, less time than expected - but still got progress out of it.
After a longer pause - credited to mostly revisiting already scanned Systems for clean-up Mapping - another Earth-like World went into the records.
The next Days will hopefully allow for more time, so the very slow progress can be accelerated back to normal speed.
The projected global Systems-to-ELW ratio has become a quite valid metric by now with 1730 Systems scanned in the AOR.
This figure currently reads a quite satisfactory 35.31 for the D-Mass Boxel.
Despite slowing things down for a longer period, definitely worth it and in line with the Road-to-Riches assessment I made in the last weeks counting all the unmapped Bodies I had left behind in the AOR.
Not a bad payout for a fairly low number of Systems done today alone - and there's no way of telling if or when the next SAR or Carrier Support Operation demands an expensive Tritium investment again.
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Mission II Time : 69 Days
03 Apr 3307 : Finally a day with few errands and solid progress...
However, the day started off with some confusion about a Distress Call, to which the Mercator was requested to respond.
Shortly after verifying that the CMDR in trouble was within SAR Range of the Carrier and entering active SAR state, contradicting Information and Details were received - stalling the Mercator's departure no less than two times in short succession.
Eventually a single jump was made, only to learn that the overall Situation had changed and another Carrier in a more suitable position was already enroute.
Shortly thereafter, the Mercator was able to return to its Exploration Anchor and stand down from its active SAR state again.
This just goes to confirm that the initial assessment and planning stage of any coordinated SAR Operation is by far the most important phase of any rescue
The remaining day proceeded calm and as planned. The clean-up Mapping is now 30% complete - and today alone yielded a total of 119.9M Cr worth of UC Data. Very nice!
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Mission II Time : 70 Days
04 Apr 3307 : Things moved forward again at a very solid speed.
Haven't done it in a while, so a broad strip-Mining run added more Metals & Minerals to the storage.
Afterwards, the Mapping clean-up was continued and reached System No. 291 completed, which added another 74M Cr to the bank.
Later during the day, CMDR oOky reported in and offered support in mapping Systems within the AOR and Myrierph IC-K d9 Boxel.
Since there's still thousands of Systems remaining and clearly more than enough valuable Bodies left behind, this offered an unexpected win-win Scenario.
As much as I like Credits rolling in on high gear, as time-consuming it is to perform or re-run the entire Mapping all alone while being distracted from the Mercator's Primary Mission : scan new Systems for Earth-like Worlds.
So the win-win Scenario essentially is me mapping almost nothing except ELWs & Bodies containing Biological Signals - and intentionally leaving behind a huge and extremely compressed Road-to-Riches opportunity for anyone interested.
Resulting UC Data Sales to the Carrier on Station - although of course fully optional - then have the potential to both allow quick cash-in for visitors, while also boosting the Carrier finances at the same time.
In an area eventually so densely packed with thousands of high-value bodies where basically even a D-Grade Sidewinder could make many hundreds of Millions of Credits in record time - seems like a possible and very plausible plan for both present and future AORs
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Mission II Time : 71 Days
05 Apr 3307 : After pausing the re-Mapping, focus went back into scanning new Systems in the AOR instead.
And as if the Boxel was trying to give me a hint, a ringed Earth-Like world went into the records shortly thereafter
With the scatter pattern quickly adding many Systems, the total amount of Systems scanned in the AOR has increased to 1872 as of today.
The global projected ELW ratio dropped further down to 37.44 though, despite the new find. Could be a dry phase, which is possible anytime.
As the numerical sequencing and its statistical effect on ELWs is also monitored and analyzed, it appears that an unexpectedly clear statistical pattern is building up; additionally, even a statistical anomaly is manifesting itself.
At 28.5% complete, too early to make a definite call on that. However, it's rather interesting to watch. Let's see if this data holds up when the AOR is 50% complete.
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Mission II Time : 73 Days
07 Apr 3307 : Although focus remained fully on Exploration, nothing to report.
1927 Systems done means that the AOR is 29% complete by now.
As the scatter pattern did not produce a new ELW in the AOR, the projected global ratio keeps degrading and now reads 38.54 (sample size : 1927).
So right now there's a surprising split between that figure and the ELW ratio projected by the numerical pattern, which sits at 31.81 (sample size : 826).
Should be interesting to see how that develops further.
Part of the lack of ELWs might be the pursuing of the statistical anomaly in the sequencing of Earth-like World Systems.
Quite a few new sample Systems of the affected type were scanned - but again, no luck finding an ELW in such a System, so that trend continues for the time being,
In lieu of a new ELW, an Ammonia World is a nice sight just as well.
The AOR so far offered a total of 39 Ammonia Worlds next to the discovered total of 52 Earth-like Worlds.
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Mission II Time : 75 Days
09 Apr 3307 : As CMDR oOky has departed the AOR again, the re-Mapping program was resumed.
That resulted in another nice cash inflow, with UC Data Sales clocking in at 108M Credits today.
Still, for the time being I'm playing catching up and the progress remains a bit fragmented.
Total Campaign progress in the AOR : 29.5% complete.
Numerical Pattern progress : 12.6% complete.
re-Mapping progress within the Numerical Pattern : 41% complete.
Mining has almost ceased for the time being, as only 3747t free Storage space remains.
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Mission II Time : 77 Days
11 Apr 3307 : Although steady progress was made, new Earth-like Worlds are currently hiding very successfully.
AOR is now 29.7% complete and the re-Mapping project reached 46.5% complete.
Despite a bunch of new Systems being fed into the records, no ELW has shown up.
This is now leading to an increasingly awkward split between numerical pattern projection (ratio 31.81) vs. global projection (ratio 39.18).
I naturally hope the numerical projection is the winner at the end.
At least the Mapping flushed in 107M+72M Credits during the last 48 hours again and there was even time for a small Musgravite run in a nearby collection of Core Hotspots I recently discovered.
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Mission II Time : 79 Days
13 Apr 3307 : Got in a nice mix of Mining and Exploration...
The recently discovered "a bit of everything" Asteroid Ring Hotspot collection yielded surprisingly good Core Mining results.
I'm not a big fan of Core Mining anymore... but that'll do nicely. As a Bonus, the high-value ores don't fill up the remaining Cargo space as fast as Platinum, so in terms of Carrier gross weight I get more "bang for the buck".
Resuming the Exploration part started off with a funny mistake, though :
What happens if the Fuel Scoop suddenly refuses to work? What if the Discovery Scanner doesn't seem part of any Fire Group anymore? And Jumprange seems to have suffered?
Well, of course SubSystems are checked - only to discover that the Fuel Scoop appears to be physically AWOL.
Discovery Scanner can be activated enabling the FSS, so the System can be scanned as usual.
A Minute later - and "the old man" discovers that... well, that the old man is maybe getting a bit "old".
That's just what happens when you accidentally take a fully kitted Combat Ship out for Exploration lol
Oh well, the very first System I fully scanned by a Carrier Defensive Support Vessel
After the Combat Krait Mk.II was swapped for the intended Exploration Krait Phantom... normal Exploration could be resumed.
The AOR is now 30% complete, a small but nice Milestone. New Earth-like Worlds though? None, they're still hiding.
Numerical Pattern reached 12.6% complete and the re-Mapping run sits at 53.3% complete. Takes its due time - but it's coming along.
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Mission II Time : 80 Days
14 Apr 3307 : A nice and calm day, everything running smooth.
The re-Mapping run is now 58.1% complete and keeps making solid progress.
As this keeps flushing a very solid amount of Credits, it was time to see how much income this Exploration Campaign so far produced.
And as it turns out, this figure just passed 3 Billion Credits. In that respect, extremely successful. My longest classic Ship-based Campaign topped off at approx. 1.3 Billion.
As the Odyssey Alpha is progressing and approaching Phase 3 now, I'm planning to move the Mercator back to the bubble at least a few days before official Release - whenever that occurs. Then, the Carrier will likely spend some time in the bubble to assemble (and if needed engineer) all of the new gear - meaning I fully expect additional time required for gathering of new Materials as well.
However, in any case this bubble visit will be temporary in nature and the Mercator shall return to this very position to complete its Mission out here.
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Mission II Time : 82 Days
16 Apr 3307 : Very slow days and lots of errands meant very little progress.
Clean-up Mapping run in the AOR is 61.5% done, so at least I got something done.
As Odyssey Testing has entered Phase 3 with focus on Exploration, additional Time was spent assessing everything.
Based on everything I've seen so far, a few conclusions can be drawn :
- to purchase the upcoming Personal Suits and Weapons, the Mercator will have to travel back to civilization; Engineering any of them naturally has the same requirements
- current shape of the Navigational Interfacing (System/Galaxy Map) seems to slow down Operations quite a bit, as they provide Data in a very fragmented way right now
- considerably more time can be spent on Planets, meaning pure System-to-System progress might become more time-consuming (assuming all Biological Signals are investigated)
In any case, the Mercator will have to return to the bubble in order to be ready. There is no decision yet on the Departure, though.
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Mission II Time : 84 Days
18 Apr 3307 : Slow days but still got something to show for it...
After a very long dry stretch, finally another Earth-like World went into the records.
This one was a bit special - as it was the one that broke the statistical Anomaly I've been watching since a while. This find represents the very first ELW System number that ended on a 0 in the D-Mass Boxel.
Additionally, as of today a nice Milestone was achieved : the total count in the AOR has reached a precise 2000 Systems scanned.
Thanks to a Core Mining run, the remaining free Cargo Space of the Mercator is now down to 3208t.
As time progresses towards Odyssey Release, I'm considering returning to the bubble.
As there are a few planned activities not related to Odyssey, I will want to be ahead of time.
Post-Odyssey, the Mercator is scheduled to return to this very Exploration Anchor in the shortest possible time.
For that reason, I might start the return trip in a few days already, so I can afford some considerable slack when back in the bubble.
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Mission II Time : 85 Days
19 Apr 3307 : The Mercator is now preparing for its RTB (Return to Base) trip back to the Bubble....
The AOR in the Myrierph Sector has reached the following Stats :
- Total Progress : 30.4% complete
- Numerical Pattern : 12.6% complete
- clean-up Mapping : 65.3% complete
However, instead of directly heading back to the Sol area, a demand for a Shuttle Carrier from SagA* back to the bubble was assessed.
And it turned out demand existed, while there were no other Carriers servicing that route for the time being.
For that reason, the Mercator was re-routed to SagA* to offer any interested Passengers a Shuttle trip back to the bubble, which will begin tomorrow on 20 Apr and is scheduled to take 2 days.
As usual, this opportunity comes free of charge.
(for safety reasons, all Passengers are advised to remain onboard during the active jump phases between approx. 1000 to 2300 In-Game Time/UTC)
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Mission II Time : 86 Days
20 Apr 3307 : The Mercator has successfully picked up all Passengers at SagA* and is enroute to the bubble.
With a distance of 10975LY covered today, the Galactic Core was left, the Empyrean Straits has been crossed and we reached the Norma Arm.
As a result, the ETA of 22 Apr is looking very solid.
This distance - being the result of 22 Carrier jumps - also indicates that the manual plotting seemed quite good, with each jump being 498.86LY average
For the night, the Mercator will rest in the Blae Phoe FU-Q a59-114 System.
Despite being RTB with Passengers, there was enough time to detect and scan two Earth-like Worlds. Not a bad trip so far
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Mission II Time : 87 Days
21 Apr 3307 : After a very (!) long day, the Mercator is about to make its final jump and arrive in the bubble.
Traversing 26000LY in less than 48hrs isn't something this Carrier does everyday - but calling it a day and parking just a few jumps from the Destination simply was no Option.
The Carrier will remain overnight after arrival in the CD-28 12950 System.
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SITREP 22 Apr 3307
The Mercator has begun its usual post-Mission Maintenance. Tritium entering the Storage has already increased Operational Range again considerably.
As a Result, the SAR Status has been switched back to Green.
The Carrier will RON (Remain over Night) in LHS 2687 for a scheduled Rendezvous with another Carrier tomorrow.
Afterwards, the post-Mission Tasks will continue.
Focus over the next weeks will be mostly on a mix of Trading, Bounty Hunting, Selling from Storage and performing remaining Engineering Tasks for a few Carrier Support Vessels.
It should be noted that Mission II is merely temporarily suspended and will be continued in the future.
Right now, the rough estimate aims for a Departure back into the Empyrean Straits somewhere around 25 May.
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SITREP 23 Apr 3307
After completing all tasks in LHS 2687 and attaining Allied Reputation with the Fleet Carrier Owners Club Faction, the Mercator moved to the Siren System.
The Civitas Dei Carrier Milanovo was found to offer excellent prices for Praseodymium and Osmium.
Thus, the Mercator moved into the System and was able to sell off its full storage volume of these ores.
The remaining amount of Metals and Minerals is still several thousand tons and will be sold off over the next Days.
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SITREP 24 Apr 3307
Sales of Metals/Minerals stored onboard the Mercator have continued throughout the day.
Turns out there's a surprising amount of very good Merchant Carriers, so the Mercator visited several Systems and made good use of the high prices.
With Refineries being visited alongside the sales, the Operational Range continued to climb nicely just as well.
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SITREP 25 Apr 3307
The Carrier has continued to sell off Metals and Minerals, a process which is now almost complete.
Apart from rolling in alot of fresh Credits, this made for a nice sightseeing tour all over the bubble. Haven't done that in a while.
For the night, I'm resting in Empire space.
I almost forgot how respectful Imperial space was - and how tidy & clean.
Although I never had long-term business in Empire space in the past, I do remember always being welcome there in a very civil manner. I might stick around for a while.
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SITREP 27 Apr 3307
The local area has been checked out to identify Opportunities in this region of the bubble and attain relevant System Map Data.
That already resulted in quite a bit of Trading and the Mercator is parked right next to a suitable Bounty Hunting location.
The nearby Cubeo System offered a few additional Opportunities on various other Carriers that are all over this System.
As a byproduct, alot of Materials were gathered as well and the Empire Control Space has already topped off Imperial Shielding.
The Mercator will likely remain in this area for quite a while, while Bounty Hunting, Trading and some Passenger runs will be conducted.
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SITREP 30 Apr 3307
Over the last days, alot of Trade and Passenger Missions were conducted.
Additionally, Bounty Hunting was a regular activity. Good opportunity to regain proficiency in several Ships of the Fleet and the Execution of different Tasks.
Looking ahead at Odyssey, it appears alot of changes are coming for the Firmware of all Ships - the Interfaces.
So far, the current assessment makes it seem like Exploration speed will degrade quite a bit with the new Interfaces.
Looking at the Suits for on-foot activities, I've decided that there does not seem to be any point in engineering them.
Same goes for the Weapons. This is best reserved for some future return to the bubble at a much later time.
Given the current timelines, the Mercator will remain in the general area for at least 2 more weeks.
[ note : log discontinued due to lack of public interest ]