Well That Was Embarassing....
14 Jul 2019Dragon_Fire613
So, I'm writing this quite refreshed and after several days rest and good sleep and good company at Explorer's Anchorage just outside of Sagittarius A*. I made quite the stir upon my arrival to the center of the galaxy, I must say. I'm sure I gave some tourists a story to tell when they return home from their cruise. I jumped into A* unsure of what was waiting for me, but whatever it was, I was convinced it wasn't good and came ready to fight. Only, I jumped into the system to find my scanners empty. With the continuous sensor echos and The Signal, I was certain that at minimum a violent confrontation was awaiting me at A*. Finding nothing, I jumped into the tourist beacon to find several Beluga LIners and Dolphins on routine cruise... but I was convinced they were there for me. I immediately deployed my hardpoints and locked my missles onto the nearest ship, much to the alarm of everyone. Luckily, primarily for myself, the captains of said liners were experienced and quickly jumped out of range, all the while insisting that I stand down and that they meant me no harm. Finally, when I was alone again in the system, in my paranoid state, I considered that perhaps my ambushers had delayed the plot and were then waiting for me at Explorer's Anchorage.
I cautiously jumped into the system and slowly approached the station, squeezing every inch I could out of my long range sensors. Everything seemed normal. After requesting docking and abandoning several times, traffic control convinced me that I needed to actually come in and dock and perhaps speak to the doctors on site. After unknown days of little to no sleep, I was still unsure of what to do, but finally docked my ship and allowed the staff to escort me to the infirmary. As soon as I laid down on the table, I was out.
Several days later, I awoke well rested, and apparently this type of episode isn't all that uncommon for them at the station. Isolation and lack of sleep can do strange things with the human mind. Talking with some fellow explorers at the bar, we decided to go over "The Signal" echo that had so consumed my thoughts for the latter part of the journey. It turns out the "echo" in this case, was the echo of my own ship. The code itself, just random inverted data from the hyperspace hump into each system, created by my frame shift drive.
We can all sit back and laugh about it now... but so very easily things could have taken a very dastardly turn, and not for my benefit.
Well rested and (hopefully) better mentally prepared, I have now began the long journey home. I spent a few days hanging around the local systems, scanning undiscovered black holes and neutron stars, as well as several more enjoyable trips to the A* system. Now I've set my routes back towards the bubble. I was able to do some modifications to the Defiant while at station and squeeze another 8ly out of my FSD, helping me get back home just a bit faster.
I owe my squad-mates an apology for ignoring their pleas to try to help me from so far away. Perhaps I'll have to gift them some void opals and painite to make amends upon my return.
Until next time... Dragon out.