I Am, As They Say, House-Poor
23 Jan 2018Scubadog
There's an term from Earth-that-was called house-poor. Essentially, it describes someone who has quite a bit in assets but not much in actual expendable cash. I finally pushed the button on buying an Anaconda. I have to admit to some fair waggling between adding this monster to my fleet or making the long haul back to the Core Systems and buying the Defender. That ship just intrigues the dickens out of me. But, proximity and an itchy trigger finger won the day. So, here I am, slowly digging myself out of the cash hole I've dug for myself. I finally earned enough credits to cover the insurance and do a few of the upgrades I ultimately intended to make to it. I took it out for a spin around the Colonia Bubble for the first time. So far, I'm disappointed. Buyer's remorse? Possibly. The first thing that doesn't tickle my fancy is the horrible visibility from the bridge. One thing I'll say about the Lakon ships is you have about as much eyes as you can reasonably expect. But even my Python isn't too hobbled for range of view. But the Anaconda is positively abysmal. Now, the bridge is huge. In fact, with only three stations in the bridge, it's way too big. I can't keep the damned place heated enough to be comfortable! Flying the Anaconda is like driving an apartment building using sails. I'm hoping once I can afford to upgrade the thrusters this will improve, but I just can't see it improving that much. And to say I've scuffed The Ceti Azeria a few times trying to squeeze through the mail slot just doesn't paint a full picture. This is going to take some getting used to, that's for sure. But the question I have to ask myself is whether or not I'm willing to have the patience to fully upgrade this ship and fly it. One advantage I see in the Defender is the fact that it has the trademark high-visibility cockpit of the Lakon ships. After just a few days in The Ceti Azeria, that visibility is profoundly more attractive to me, even given what some are reporting are the shortcomings of the Defender. As I build a bigger cash buffer, I'll have to make a decision.
Speaking of that, I've found a new respect for the Sidewinder of late. Because I had virtually no insurance blanket for any of my fleet after acquiring the Anaconda, I modified the configuration of The Ceti Volpe to pick up the salvage missions I had been using The Ceti Raposa for. Of course, the beauty of the Vulture is the thing can easily rigged to handle its own in a fight with larger ships or get away quick if needed. You don't have room for much in the way of multi-mission capability--the Diamondback Explorer is better for that--but throw a cargo rack in it and it's perfect for these quick salvage trips. The Sidewinder has similar limitations but without nearly the firepower or defensive capability. But as long as you throw the best shields you can on it, the ship is agile enough to swoop in, grab the salvage, avoid getting hit and dash out to safety. And, if you do take a fatal hit, it's practically a free replacement. My Vulture costs me nearly a mil any time I've lost it.
Have I mentioned how much I hate bounties? Okay, sure, I know some commanders wear those as some sort of badge of accomplishment, but I don't go actively seeking them. Sometimes, though, I get handed an offer of a job that seems on the up-and-up, but when I get the job done I find I've now got a big ol' Wanted tattoo on me. There's just no way to shake those things, even after someone takes my ship out. Waiting a couple of weeks at a time for even dormant bounties to turn is just ridiculous. I sure wish there was some enterprising lawyer who could come up with a way to make these things go away. Oh, well, I guess that's the risk you take working for people you don't know all that well. I'll have to be more cautious in the future.
I've got some spare time at the moment, so I'm going to pop down to the storage facility in Colonia Dream to see if my latest fenderbender with The Ceti Azeria did any real damage to the skin, aside from the character-building missing paint. Yup, a flying apartment building.