Never Say Never
13 Feb 2018Scubadog
Seems a might contrary, doesn't it? Say, "never say never"? I said over a year ago when I stocked up my Debbie, The Ceti Fox, for the stretch to Colonia that I'd stay there. And, truly, I have made it home. Heck, my I built my entire fleet, exceptin' the Debbie, there, all tucked away cozy-like at Colonia Dream. But, here I am, stretching my legs at Polo Harbour on my trip back to the Core Systems. As much as I'm beholden to my home in Colonia, there are just some things you can't get there--may never get there. 
A few days ago I loaded up The Ceti Azeria (my new Anaconda) and embarked on a return trip to the Core Systems. It's my hope that I will quickly acquire the class and rating of modules I need. The truth of it is that a grand jump range isn't a requirement for explorin' the black. But it is if you've got a mind to treading into edgy space where there's a lot more inkiness between stars. I've learned a lot in the past year out around Colonia, and I'm sure I'll be making this trip a might quicker than the trip out was.
My C-rated FSD means my jump range isn't too impressive with all the modules I'm hauling with me on this trip. Honestly, some of it's not necessary, but I decided this time I'm hedging my bets and bring along repair limpet capacity (which has already come in handy -- more on that in a minute) and a fighter for business and pleasure. I'm gonna gorram make sure I enjoy more of this trip! Some times you just have to get a little exercise and R&R during these long hauls, and I run against precious few planets with the right mix to be able to safely scuba dive on.
So, when I'm jumping into a system I normally throttle to idle on approach. You don't wanna go blastin' into a star the second you make it in-system. But, I'm here to tell ya, that's exactly what I did. I'm not sure why my ship's system didn't warn me about the malfunction, but one thing I knew for sure was that I was barreling in at full speed and a dead stick. I started jerking that stick around like I was in a rodeo, thinking all along that surely this thing is gonna respond. As the temp quickly began to threaten every system on The Ceti Azeria, I realized in short order there was nothing I could do but pray the automatic system would force an emergency FSD shutdown before I became just so much addition to the fuel for the glowing orb that now filled every window in the Anaconda. The momentary relief I felt as this beast violently shook its way out of witchy space vaporized under the heat of being so close to this gorram star that I could almost drop my SRV on it. In near-panic, still unable to drive the ship, I kicked off a reboot of the systems. Smoke filling the cockpit, and the taste of electricity in the air was thick. I waited to see if my ship would actually come back to life at all. Forever later the ship rebooted and I had control. I flashed tail to that star and burst repeatedly to gain distance while my FSD charged for supercruise. Once I had some breathing room to diag my ship, I saw just how close I came to getting an unplanned pod vacation. It was easier to count how many modules were functional than not. First thing, I dropped to normal space, fired off repair limpets to secure the hull. After that, I found a moon to set down on to let the AFMS do its thing while I went searching for materials to replenish my supplies. In the end, I may never know exactly what caused my controls to get locked out in the first place. I never wanna go through this again.
I'm getting ready to launch out from Polo Harbour on to the next waystation on the way to the Core systems. It's a little bit shorter drive on this leg since my nav computer indicates a few more neutron stars on the way. I've never visited any of these stations before. Not surprising, naturally, because I've only made one trip, from Core to Colonia, and I took the scenic route. That, and, well, space is BIG. I have to say, someone is going to make some serious credits if they can invent an upgrade to nav computers that let you plot a course across the entire galaxy at one time, neutron stars and all.