Entry 57 - 07.30.3303
30 Jul 2017MBaldelli
Current System: Oochost CN-D c15-2With one more system survey and one more jump, I called it a night early last night; as I wanted to get in contact with friends and family instead of receiving a "mission accomplished" feeling that I was done the second leg of this survey expedition. Instead of going to bunk with a feeling of peace and tranquility, I instead hit it with a feeling of tenseness and anticipation. Family being family tried to downplay the stress and tenseness of the population by stating their faith in the duly-elected officers in government. Friends on the other hand were a lot more forthcoming about the alien threat and panic stewing on the homefront.
Overall, people are scared. And when people are scared, they lash out indiscriminately. Between the politicans and the media and the unsurprising lack of information on the aliens -- it's turning into the circus that causes conflicts, wars and needless bloodshed. While I hope that cooler heads will persevere, the more manipulative of the politicians in office are using that panic and fear to their benefit to attempt to keep their voting public from realizing that not all the moves these politicians are going to be true to the public good. With that in mind I think I'll keep to a business as usual attitude until an official declaration of conflict -- or war -- is issued by the local governments.
I didn't realize just how tense things were since I last left the Bubble.
Back to the here and now out in the Deep Black, I've plotted my next leg of this survey expedition -- aiming deeper into the Oochorrs Sector and circumventing Barnard's Loop and the Horsehead Nebula. I'm hoping that this leg coupled with the fact tha I'm continuing to stay below the galactic plane will yield more unexplored systems to piss my name into... I know, I know... My ego can be a bit much, but it's that ego that maintains my sanity with the long hours sitting in the pilot's seat as I plow my way through space so far away from civilization.
I'm currently in the Oochost BN-D c15-3 system and I'm noticing a pattern in the landable moons that have all the necessary materials for all sort of quality synthesis for jump and AMFU reloads. While it would be nice to get out and stretch my legs on a gravity well, I'm seeing hundredths of a gravity on all of them. I know I'm perfectly capable of driving .04 g is not the sort of experience I'm looking to expand on. I'm aiming for something more in the .5 to 1 g range during this leg of of the mission. If I cannot find such a rock in the next 5 jumps, I'll continue mining on lower gravity planets and moons.
During my downtime, I've been eyeing the Soccer Mom SUV once again. Since it's been proven that the updated materials used for structural integrity are more reliable than they were a few months ago, it might be more worthwhile to have a ship capable to being properly armed and running with an AFMU without having to worry about having distributing/disabling systems to running at peak efficiency. It will also allow me to get a taste of asteroid mining as I recall seeing instructional videos from Commander CTop doing just that (along with Bounty Hunting, Cargo Hauling qand Deep Space Exploration). While I can do the same with my DBX, I feel that it might not have the sort of slot capacity of also containing an remote refinery and mining limpets and defenses against possible pirate activity. When I have downtime later today, I'll do some more number juggling and crunching to check to see the possibilities.
Time for me to run. Looks like the current system I'm in requires my undivided attention.
Update: After doing some serious number crunching as well as comparing the various build types for turning the AspExplorer into an all-purpose vehicle for the assignments that I can/want to do it would appear that I can afford the ship, decking it out and then building it out based on the purpose I want to try out on it. Even though it will put a serious dent in my pocketbook for aiming for the Python (and ultimately the Anaconda), I'll be able to pull it off and have enough for at least 4 rebuys if things go terribly wrong with the ship. I might be able to forego the purchase of the Python and instead aim directly for the Anaconda in a couple of years.
Further, I was looking through the various component databases and it would appear that other than the AMFU, I can purchse what I want to deck the ASPX while in Sol. Good thing too as I hate having having galavant all over the bubble to equip the ship properly. Especially given I sometimes forget where to pick up what and then end up having less quality components in the ship.
Now I have something to aim for... Well other than increasing my ranks with the Pilot's Guild.