Log # 29 : Musing on 3304
29 Dec 2018(Wettoast) Wanda Fersegi
Musing on 3304
Well, another 12 months in this crazy sh**show of a galaxy have gone by . I remember being quite optimistic this time last year, but I guess I'm used to being wrong ... Extended trips into the black , strange space phenomena, a slew of new ships, and neverending thargoid attacks . Not a great year for my mental health but a very exciting nonetheless. I'll be eager to get on with the next year and catch the distant worlds 2 happy train to the other side of the galaxy, god knows I need a break from those bastard bugs.....
Alien/human hybrid technology
Just another member of the pilot's federation approached to do more blue glowing rock pushing to get my hands on the new fangled guardian ship designs and ship mountable guardian weapons . Like countless others, I shoved rocks into certain looking openings and got shot at by probably multi-century old robots angry at our prescence there . Watched someone get flipped over so many times that they hurled on their controls. After I had finished my poking around the guardian ruins with the help of a few other commanders, we made for Jameson Memorial and turned in our gathered data and collected materials for a model of guardian ship launched fighter craft and the new plasma-centric ship hardpoints, guardian inspired in design.
At this time a big bug hunt was scheduled , I and a few other commanders headed to the Maia nebula to show some of the xenos that humanity is not to be messed with. Even though I only helped squish 5 of them, I felt I was doing my part in defending humanity . I was never a great anti xeno pilot, my nerves kept getting the best of me everytime I got into a fight with these things, hearing them screech at you while their drones render your shields useless, the possibility of being abducted in the case of ejection being really high. There is no possible way I'll ever miss the insect menace.
Diving into deep space, seeing the absolutely strange
What was just recently rumors and speculation became the talk of the pilot's world, these would be the strange life forms and space borne anomalies seemingly existing in clouds that act as nourishment. While I haven't seen any of those space borne energy anomalies yet in person, I've seen plenty of strange crystal-like and almost sea creature like looking life forms. They're so captivating yet repulsive you can't look away, some of them even have some sort of awareness to your presence. One of the strangest being a gourd mollusc variant as according to the fancy new codex, propelling itself towards the canopy with some sort of gas jet seemingly curious of the headlights .
In terms of surface life forms, things only got weirder. Glowing pumpkin like life forms were being reported on airless planetary surfaces, seemingly spitting in the face of extreme odds . Under crushing gravity and the extreme heat of a B class star, the pumpkins just sat there merrily glowing the color blue. With every new encounter, the universe just becomes stranger and stranger ......
Can't wait to get back out there in January, there's probably an infinite number of these things waiting to be found on the far side of the galaxy .
New hardware
This year, the galaxy's shipyards threw plenty of new toys our way, some of the best to ever grace the spaceways in my humble opinion. The earliest of the releases being Lakon's chieftain, quickly becoming my new favourite nimble medium ship . Plenty of armor to soak up thargoid toxic spit and fast enough for a clean getaway. Best of all, while what can be seen as a bit of a flaw due to its driftyness, I no longer black out when doing tight maneuvering . A sort of idiot proof mechanism.
While I skipped the Lakon upgrades to the chieftain in the challenger and crusader, I was in no way missing Delacy's offerings in the krait mk2 and phantom. I had spent most of my early days exploring in the cobra mk3, and more of the same kind of ship except larger seemed impossible to ignore . While the mk2 was an impressive offering no doubt about it, the phantom soon became a new favourite of the exploration community, boasting near 70 light years in jump range when upgraded with engineer enhanced frame shift drives and guardian frame shift boosters . I could see myself selling my asp explorer. While the price point of an asp keeps it competitive, the krait phantom is just a step above .
Lastly, I believe Zorgon sold me case study number 1 for why quality control in Zorgon's ship building is no longer existent. The mamba . I couldn't believe it took a mass outcry and recall for Zorgon to realize their mistake of selling pilots a stovetop disguised as a ship. Powerplants modified with the engineer's most efficient running of components still cooked when just thinking about boosting. Thankfully, the intense storm of complaints and returns caused them to fix the problem, leaving it as a bit of a novelty but still an amazing speedster.
I used it to try a speedbowl attempt , where one uses the gravity of a planet to accelerate to hypersonic non frame shift speed, and try not to crash into Bombelli prospect. I chickened out on all my tries , but it was quite the ride regardless. Since recall and implementation of more cooler running components, I didn't bother to buy a new one , but at least now with its monster speed I can see it appealing to others .
Rescue operations in the pleiades
It was near the beginning of 3304 where thargoid attacks really ramped up in the Maia nebula. Thousands of refugees fleeing and possibly thousands dead . Running rescue operations with fellow pilots took up a significant time behind the stick near the beginning of the year, I've seen more escape pods and screaming , fleeing people than I would like to say I'm used to . As straining as it was to fly in and out of ruin and destruction again and again, it was worth it seeing the galactic community come together for a while to aid those in peril .
Considering the attacks and thargoid presence has reached our corner of space, it might be the case that I'll just be forced to go back to flying rescue ops . It seems like a miracle that the only thing they are interested in at the moment are systems with ammonia worlds. To this day I'm absolutely lost for words that the thargoids haven't caused a breakdown in society and sheer panic across the bubble.
Final preparations for distant worlds 2 : Pallaeni system
What seemed like forever waiting will be over soon, two years of waiting finally over ! In just two weeks time distant worlds 2 will take off on a close to year long trek for the other side of the galaxy. Ever since seeing the article on galnet earlier this year, all my time not spent in deep space or elsewhere had been preparing my trusty old Lakon diamondback for the trek . I had also managed to convince some associates from my time hunting bugs in the Maia nebula to go as well, turns out they had seen just about enough of the thargoids as well . I'm pretty sure they've done their own tweaking and preparations, and are probably as psyched as I am for this trip.
I'll be joining the other two goobers I convinced to go with me in the Pallaeni system in just 2 weeks time, but first we will be doing new years in the Sol system. The perfect sendoff for the longest journey known to man.
Can hardly wait for 3305 ! Wanda N. Fersegi , out.