The Dash to Lave
10 Dec 2015Myshka
So while I was busily continuing my catalogue of the systems near the Pleiades Nebula I met up with a fellow explorer. This in itself is a bit of a rarity out here in the Black, but perhaps not quite as rare at the moment around the Pleiades - after all, this will be the new Explorers Hub one day!Apart from the usual gossip and warnings about which systems to avoid, he had another interesting tidbit of news - Lave was currently paying over-the-odds for exploration data! I know it's nearly 500 LY away, but.. if I just concentrate on getting there, surely I should be able to squeeze in just before the deadline!
Decision made, I fired up my computer and plotted a route back to Lave, adding a few detours here and there to ensure that I'd get a few more G-type stars enroute to scan. Then began one of the most hectic days yet since getting my Pilots License - jumping from system to system, performing only the most cursory of scans (except when there was a decent chance of finding a habitable planet, they are worth a mint to governments!) and barely giving the fuel scoops time to warm up before charing the Frame Shift Drive again to the next system.
All too soon I neared the Bubble again, and shocked me out of my relatively leisurely (even if speeded up at present) routine - interdiction! I have no idea what they were after, apart from a couple of rescued pilots and a data cache or two my holds were empty. Could they be after my exploration data? Regardless, boosting out of range, I wasn't about to engage a pirate with my somewhat rusty flight skills. Besides, I hadn't even powered up my weaponry yet! Something I vowed to do if I got out of here alive. Luckily I had stayed in the habit of keeping my shields charged - the first laser volleys were already screeching against the shields.
But the Courageous, even when not so courageous as right now, is a fast ship, certainly fast enough to get away from this miscreant, and soon I was able to charge the FSD for the jump into the next system.
The next System proved friendlier, and I was finally able to safely dock at an Outpost. Ahh, coffee never tasted so good, and stretching my legs was wonderful, even if it was only around a dingy old spaceport. I dropped the rescued pilots off and notified the station authorities; they should be able to sort them out with their rehabilitation and insurance and so on. Unfortunately I had no time to see them come to and find out their story for myself... maybe next time I'm in the area?
I then rushed the rest of the way to Lave, only to find the Cartographers there had run out of the special fund and were no longer paying out the exploration bonuses.. what a let-down after all that! Well, at least they still paid the normal prices for the data, and even credited me with a couple of firsts!