The Good Ship Advantageous
25 Nov 2015Myshka
It's only been a few days in my new career, and I've already amassed a small fortune. Well, by my standards, anyway. Sufficient to consider upgrading my ship. Not that there's anything wrong with the Serendipity, per se, but the cargo hold is a touch on the small side.While idly browsing the shipyard in Eravate I did spot a rather handsome Adder class ship, and within my budget too! On the spur of the moment I decided to give her a test drive and, while not quite as nimble as my Sidey, she handled well enough. The ship trader also convinced me that I could refit the layout to further increase the cargo capacity, an option which just isn't possible in the Sidewinder class. The temptation proved too much, and I shelled out my hard-earned Credits for the Adder, which I appropriately named the Advantageous.
Soon I was launching out of Cleve Hub's mailslot with a cargo hold of Domestic Appliances, bound back to LHS 3447, a trade run I had done a few times before. It proved profitable, as always, and over the next few days I got to know the Advantageous inside and out. Soon I was able to afford the much-coveted extra cargo hold capacity and could expand my trade runs. But this also proved troublesome as pirates were now more likely to take an interest in me.
Despite my earlier combat successes in the Serenditpity, I found that not only was I attracting more pirates, but also better equipped ones now. On top of this the Adder class just isn't as nimble as the Sidewinder class, and I found myself outgunned more often than not, and having to run away after dropping some of my cargo. My earlier cockiness evaporated completely when I was finally cornered, in my home system no less, by one particular individual who apparently decided that it was easier to extract the cargo from my ships' wreckage instead of engaging in dialogue to make demands. Unfortunately the Advantageous did not live up to her name this time. After a short but fierce fight I finally had no option but to eject, spinning away only moments before my beautiful ship exploded noiselessly, adding a temporary supernovae against the ever-present backdrop of glittering stars.
By then the pirate was already busy scanning the wreckage for any surviving cargo containers and thankfully ignored my escape pod. After I ensured the automatic systems were set up to get me safely back to Dalton Gateway I activated the SuspAn module and sank into oblivion.
In no subjective time at all I woke up in a MedBay and after the all-clear from the AutoDoc had the "fun" of filling out the various forms and paperwork at the insurance broker. Luckily the ship and loadout was covered, and Dalton Gateway being the large place it is did have some Adder class ships in stock, but somehow the Advantageous II just doesn't feel quite the same. The Galaxy feels a lot more dangerous now, so even before my first run I commissioned the outfitters to add a Chaff launcher to the loadout. Yes, it'll eat into my profits, but I'm not going through all this again if I can help it!
Soon I was off again, recouping my losses, when I heard the call for Computer Components at Kaushpoos system. Smelling decent profits, I added a Fuel Scoop to my ship and headed further from home than I'd ever done before..