Colonial Cutter #1
12 Sep 2017LongDistanceClara
After ricocheting off a few canyon walls in the Jackrabbit, blowing the bank on some upgrades and desperately wishing these stations had casinos, I started getting itchy feet again. Wanted to try something a little different this time however...In the early days I'd made most of my money through trading. As soon as I could afford it (and the Empire would let me), I got myself a Cutter, the pride of the Imperial Navy - and promptly did what a lot of Cutter owners do, strip it down and fill it with cargo holds. I'd ram its' 720 ton holds with everything I could find and trade/smuggle it left right and center and in all fairness, it generated a pretty decent income. Once I had the capital to tart up my other toys though, it pretty much just sat in the shipyard gathering dust, apart from the odd combat fit jolly.
Since coming back after hiatus and finding that exploration data had gone through the roof, it was pretty much curtains for the Cutter; there's a lot it can do, but just not as well as other boats in my barn. After seeing that lightweight sensors were now a thing however and after spending a lot of time in the Clair over the last couple of weeks, I started wondering if an exploration fit for the Cutter that didn't have me reaching for the self-destruct button was possible? Time to grab some engineering mats!
(Insert montage of shooting rocks/looting bases/explodifying compromised nav beacons/USS hunting with 1000-mile stare)
Long story short, I ended up with a 37+ light year range on the Cassandra (my explorer refit Cutter).
Decided what the hell and bought it a ridiculous present - an 8A fuel scoop, capable of inhaling small suns in one pass, along with my wallet. 250mill for a fuel scoop where an 80mill 7A will suffice is the definition of extravagance/stupidity/saw-you-coming but why the hell not eh. Anyhow - hot to trot, now for a destination. No tourists on this trip so the galaxy is my oyster...
I was initially tempted by the tip of the Scutum Centaurus arm; it's somewhere I hadn't been out to yet and would finish off the "four corners" of the galactic rim on my bucket list. Only downside is that despite getting a good buff, the jump range on the Cassandra wouldn't be able to cope out on the rim where the stars can be over 100ly apart. There's also rumors of some big announcement in a few days' time that I don't want to miss out on. Maybe a quick run out to Colonia to see how the migration out there is going, as it's been a while and I'd like to see the progress.
Done deal! Quick test flight in system with a couple of landings on high g planets just to get my eye back in - the Cutter's a big beastie! - and we're good to go.
I have to admit, I didn't really notice the hit to the jump range until I was out of the bubble and heading across the gap between the Sagittarius and Scutum arms. The Cassandra gives up about 24 light years per jump to the Clair and knowing how long Colonia used to take me, I could feel every lost light year. That having been said, the Cutter was sooo much nicer to fly
Don't get me wrong, I love the 'conda to bits, but sometimes it feels like sheets of tin held together by duct tape and rivets. I know Gutamaya come in for a lot of flak, seeming to be more about form than function, but the Cassandra feels reassuringly big and solid - a smooth, slow-turning space whale that just cruises through the jumps like a grand-tourer. Bask your heart out(Not getting paid by Gutamaya, honest.)
Didn't take long to settle into long-distance "autopilot" mode, at which point the jump range became more or less irrelevant. If they could ever get this hull down to being competitive with the Anaconda though - they could name their price, I'd pay it with a smile, leave the bubble and never come back
Anyhow - time was getting on and a likely candidate popped up for an overnight stop; quick scan, mooch around for a good spot and the Cassandra was settled and powered down for the night. Went for a quick scuffle around in the SRV and the sunset was pretty special at an orbit of about 20ls.
Time to turn in. Tomorrow - Colonia!
(Footnote: I realise I've done that thing of taking photos of self/ship rather than vistas - however today was more about seeing how the Cass got on jump after jump. The route was less than thrilling to be honest - mostly straight along the Colonia highway, so already heavily explored and system after system of:
Thrilling stuff.
So I plan on hitting Colonia, skewing up above the galactic plane, then heading back and hopefully finding some snapshot-worthy virgin systems.)