An Uncomfortable Situation
17 Nov 2020AdrianTP
I've had my Anaconda (Don't Want None) for a week now. After a few runs of Painite mining with my Python, I bought an Anaconda. I took her on one mining run with her stock modules, then used the money to upgrade her to the best mass-market modules money can buy, with enough credits left over that I won't need to do any serious work for a while. With no pressing tasks remaining for me in the immediate future, I decided it was finally time to take Felicity Farseer up on her invitation.I set out on the longest journey I had made so far. I made the trip to Deciat -- I almost got stranded with no fuel, but luckily I learned how to get the Galaxy Map to limit waypoints on my route to scoopable stars just before I ran out of fuel -- but in my haste I forgot to pick up the unit of Meta-Alloys she requested. On my way to Darnielle's Progress in Maia, I took some minor damage for a single unit of Meta-Alloys, , so and had to trek all the way to Darnielle's Progress in Maia. I took some minor damage along the way, so I hopped over to Obsidian Orbital for repairs.
As soon as I touched down, I received a direct message from Professor Ishmael Palin's office requesting a delivery of 4 units of Thargoid Biological Matter. I wasn't planning on yet another distraction from my original task, but I've always been intrigued by Thargoids and I decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about them. I refitted my 'Conda with an SRV bay and a DSS, then proceeded to HIP 17125 A 3 a, where, if the rumours were accurate, a Thargoid crash site could be located. I scanned the surface, and sure enough, a crashed Thargoid Scout Ship was located at -65.8228, 48.8618. I landed a few hundred metres from the site and hopped in an SRV. I had never driven an SRV before, so I prepared myself for some excitement (and some mishaps -- I brought 4 SRVs, just in case).
Collecting the components I needed was relatively easy, and gave me a chance to get used to the controls and the handling on my SRV. Those things are spry -- I took the opportunity to experiment and did some jumps and drifts. I might need to get into SRV racing someday...
As I loaded the goods onto my 'Conda, I began to receive intermittent notifications of system malfunctions and damage back on the ship. I hurried to locate and collect the rest of the matter required by my contract, and returned to the ship to have a look -- imagine my shock and awe when I witnessed the melted conduit, severed cables, and other corrosive damage originating from my cargo hold!
By the time I took off and broke orbit, my canopy shattered, exploding into space before me (and leaving me wholly dependent upon the emergency life support in my flight suit. Seven minutes of life support remained. Luckily I had plenty of iron and nickel in my materials bins, but stopping to replenish my oxygen every few minutes would prove rather taxing on my attention, and even hazardous to my chances of survival!
The following hour was a harrowing one, consisting largely of frantic searches for somewhere to repair the damage to my craft. I was being pursued by two pirates -- my FSD, thrusters, and cargo hatch had all taken significant damage due to the corrosive effects of the Thargoid matter in my hold -- so I held on for dear life as I narrowly avoided a few interdiction attempts, and failed to evade others, boosting away from my attackers, almost ramming into one as they dropped out of Supercruise. I finally decided to risk jumping to another system -- at least it would put a few lightyears between me and my attackers. The system I entered was inhabited, but I had no bearing on a station within the system, nor a HUD to guide me. I decided to try the Nav Beacon.
Big Mistake. At least half a dozen opportunists scanned me and descended on me like starving hyenas, firing Hatch Breaker Limpets at me as fast as they could. I avoided most of them, but three made contact, skipping my shields and stealing one unit of cargo each. Luckily, all they managed to steal was three of my own limpets, and I escaped back into Supercruise with Professor Palin's Thargoid cargo and the unit of Meta-Alloys earmarked for Felicity Farseer remaining safe and secure in my hold. I finally decided to brave the handful of jumps back to Maia. Supercruise Assist does not function when the canopy is missing. Navigating in Supercruise is extremely complicated without a HUD; I had to rely entirely on my compass and the distance-to-target display, which was quite new for me.
I finally found my way to Darnielle's Progress to drop off my mission cargo. Unfortunately my ship was in desperate need of repair, so I had to make one final hop back to Obsidian Orbital. My relief was immediate as I passed through the airlock at the orbital -- my life support timer was no longer counting down. I settled in on my assigned landing pad, repaired my ship (to the tune of several million credits -- I don't remember exactly how much, but I believe it was more than I got paid for the mission. Unfortunately I could not locate a seller for my remaining Thargoid cargo, so I destroyed it, then I finally continued on my way to make Felicity Farseer's acquaintance.
Around 25 uneventful jumps and a few minutes in Supercruise later, I arrived safely at Farseer, Inc. in the Deciat system, and proceeded to begin my foray into the wide world of custom ship system tuning.
What a sidetrack.
What a day.