Scrambled Thoughts, Backlogged Edition
05 Apr 2018Gmanharmon
01 APR 330415:17
Here I am, docked in Lalande 6320, in the seat of my plucky little Diamondback, looking for planets to harvest.
Ever since the memo from the Pilots Federation came down the pipe that said the engineers cut a deal to streamline their manufacturing best practices, there has been a mad dash to collect as much encoded data, manufactured commodities, and raw materials as one can. Several independent entrepreneurs have set up shop around the bubble and deal in these commodities, calling themselves material traders, providing like-kind bartering at dubious rates for these engineering ingredients.
I like these new traders, as it means the endless hunt for such items as Pharmaceutical Isolators and Datamined Wake Exceptions can be solved by shifting assets one way or another. I used these traders to great effect when modifying the thrusters of the Constitution at Professor Palin’s little hideaway out near Maia.
Speaking of Maia, I’ve since concluded my business in the Pleiades for the forseeable future. The Thargoids have made themselves known, and seem to be on the warpath towards the bubble. To what end? I’ll let the eggheads decide that. Hudson and Patreus are rattling their sabers as always, but they’ll sooner blow themselves up than offer an effective defense against a xeno threat like the Thargoids. I saw what they did at Obsidian Orbital.
Saw the bodies in the docking bay. Arms and legs missing… frozen from vacuum… mothers hugging children, locked in an eternal embrace amid the wreckage…
I don’t want to think about it anymore.
It’s been a few months since I last reported on my daily life here. Around the time I got back from my exploration trip in November, I sought refuge from trading slaves in Torval space to let my hair down a bit and made a trek to a small world near Kamadhenu. There, I was guided by a musical troupe to a remote mountaintop village, where resided a shaman who claimed to provide a view of the universe beyond our own understanding. I was skeptical, but kept an open mind.
To make a long story short, I spent the better part of two weeks in a psychedelic wonderland of hedonism and self-expression, fueled by equal parts of alcohol, onionhead, testosterone, and hallucinogens. When I eventually returned to myself, I was laying underneath my Diamondback, naked as the day I was born, clutching a mag-boot that wasn’t mine, and resting my head on an empty bottle of Achenar Blue. One of the musicians left their guitar in my cabin aboard the ship, as well as a pair of womens’ underwear.
As far as the debauchery was concerned, I remember very little. However, the chemical cocktails I was plied with drug up something far worse: who I used to be. During my vision quest, the darkest depths of my brain were rent asunder and I was forced to relive a former life, in excruciating detail. What I did remember was hastily put together and immortalized in a series of missives I published over a long period of time. These revelations also caused me to seek out my birthplace and find what was left of my clan, which I will chronicle in the future.
You may remember, kind reader, the USS Arleigh Burke II, my venerable trading Anaconda. Armed to the gills with beam lasers and missile racks, heavy shielding, and capable of hauling 448 tons of cargo further and faster than any Type-9 flying. Well, as it turns out, Lakon have recalled all Type-7 and Type-9 vessels for an extensive upgrade and retrofit program, and the TNT Express II was returned to me with a second Class 8 internal module bay, allowing the vessel to be stuffed with 756 tons of cargo. The Gutamaya Cutter was previously the points leader in sheer volume, but Lakon has taken the title, it seems. Whether or not the module change will entice more traders to fly the Lakon over the Gutamaya remains to be seen.
My last milestone to report on will be the recent events regarding certain galactic factions getting caught up with cooking their books, with respect to reputation gain with their superpowers. I decided to take advantage of the unique situation by sending Wakarimasen out to Ngalinn to perform some horse-trading for the Empire, then a long and arduous trek out to Sothis to pad my Federal naval rank.
Suffice it to say, I will not be needing to deal with them again.
I told you those two stories to tell you this story. With the increased reputation gain fiasco came backdoor deals and some extra money changing hands, completely under the table. With this sudden windfall in my bank account, I returned home to LHS 20 and negotiated the largest horse trade of my life. In the end, I lost a ship, but I gained a fortress.
I now submit, for your viewing pleasure, the Core Dynamics Federal Corvette, hull number CVN-80, hereby christened USS Nimitz II.
The Constitution will now remain a dedicated exploration vessel, with a jump range near sixty light-years and still managing to be properly apportioned with exploration tools and defensive equipment. The Nimitz will now take the role of ship of the line; using select modules retained from the sale of the Arleigh Burke, she will be fitted with cannon and seeker missiles, heavy hull plating and massive shields, and a double-capacity fighter bay. I’ve consulted with several established combat pilots with experience in large-ship warfare, and have received constructive advice in outfitting and modifying the Nimitz to unlock her full potential. For the moment, she will remain mothballed in LHS 20 while I acquire more revenue to see my vision through.
I think Lalande 6320 is dry. Let’s make a quick trip to 10 Tauri, have a peek there, and then shoot down to Asellus Primus to see an old friend...