The ExploRacer Project
23 Aug 2024Rawnu
Chapter 1: The Unlikely PartnershipI’ve met a lot of people in my travels, but there are few who leave an impression like Tanya Blaine. I was nursing a drink at the bar in Jameson Memorial, feeling that familiar restlessness tugging at me. I’m a bit of a wanderer—always have been. Born on Earth, raised in a little commune in the European Alps, I was surrounded by mountains and endless skies. It was beautiful, sure, but I wanted more. I wanted the stars. And maybe it’s that hunger for the unknown that led me to this point in my life, sitting at a bar, pondering my next move.
Tanya wasn’t hard to spot. She has this presence about her—calm, collected, but with an intensity in her eyes that tells you she’s been through the kind of battles that change a person. She’s not one to talk much about her past, but I knew enough. A decorated mercenary, she’s seen the worst the galaxy has to offer and come out on top every time. But like me, she was looking for something different, something more.
“What if we took a Mamba,” she said, her voice steady, “and turned it into the fastest exploration ship the galaxy has ever seen?”
The idea struck me like a bolt of lightning. I’ve always been drawn to speed—there’s something about it that makes me feel alive, like I’m outrunning everything that ever tried to hold me back. And exploration? Well, that’s been my escape, my way of dealing with the loss, the regrets. The idea of combining those two things, of creating something that could take us to the farthest reaches of space faster than anyone else… I was in.
Chapter 2: The Vision and the First Setback
We started with Bris Dekker. I’d heard about his work—he’s a genius when it comes to lightweight alloys and optimizing ship performance. Bris has this sharp mind, always calculating, always thinking ten steps ahead. He’s spent most of his life in the depths of engineering, and he’s got a reputation for making ships do things they were never meant to do.
Tanya and I made our way to his base in Sol, my old home. Bris was all business, diving right into the project with the kind of focus I’d only seen in the best pilots and engineers. He stripped the Mamba down to its bones, replacing heavy components with ultra-light alloys, tweaking the power distribution to squeeze every bit of efficiency out of it.
But as the project went on, things started to go wrong. The Mamba wasn’t responding well to the extreme weight reductions. We had structural integrity issues, and the ship started acting up at high speeds—instability, heat problems, you name it. Bris was good, no doubt about it, but even he couldn’t get the ship to where we needed it to be.
I remember standing there, watching the latest test flight fail, feeling that familiar knot in my stomach. We were so close, but it wasn’t enough. Tanya and I exchanged a look—one that said we needed to find another way. That’s when we decided to reach out to Elvira Martuuk.
Chapter 3: Turning to Elvira Martuuk
Elvira Martuuk. Now there’s a name that carries a bit of mystery with it. I’d heard of her, of course—who hasn’t? She’s got this reputation, not just as an engineer, but as someone who dabbles in the ancient and the alien. There’s a depth to her knowledge that goes beyond mere technology; it’s almost like she’s got one foot in the past and one in the future.
When we reached out to her, I wasn’t sure if she’d even take on our project. But Tanya, with her calm persistence, managed to pique Elvira’s interest. Maybe it was the challenge, or maybe she saw something in us that reminded her of her own thirst for discovery. Either way, she agreed to help—on the condition that we helped her with some research of her own.
We spent weeks gathering the rare materials she needed, exploring uncharted systems and getting our hands on data that was as obscure as it was valuable. It wasn’t easy, but by then, we were committed. When we finally brought everything back to her base at Khun, Elvira got to work.
Watching her work was something else. She didn’t just fix the problems Bris couldn’t solve—she reimagined the ship entirely. She started by reducing the hardpoints and utility mounts. We lost the Huge hardpoint and two small ones, but in return, she added an extra Class 6 internal and upgraded a Class 2 internal to Class 3. We kept the two Large hardpoints for defense, which was more than enough for our needs.
Next, she overhauled the core internals. The heart of the ship, the Frame Shift Drive, was replaced with a custom-engineered Class 5 FSD with overdrive capability, designed for both increased range and durability. The fuel tank was scaled up to Class 4, balancing capacity with the new lightweight design.
The optional internals got a serious upgrade too. We ended up with a Class 6 Fuel Scoop for rapid refueling, a Class 5 Guardian FSD Booster, and everything else we needed to turn the Mamba into the ultimate exploration vessel. It was like Elvira had taken the ship apart and rebuilt it to match the vision Tanya and I had in our heads.
Chapter 4: The Maiden Voyage
The first time I sat in the pilot’s seat of the ExploRacer, I knew we had something special. Tanya and I had planned out the maiden voyage carefully—no point in having a ship like this and not putting it through its paces.
We launched from Jameson Memorial, the engines humming beneath us, the FSD ready to stretch its legs. The first leg of our journey was to Colonia, all the way to Jacques Station, and we weren’t going to take the neutron highway. No, we wanted to see what this ship could do on its own, without the shortcuts.
The journey to Colonia was smooth—no, it was more than smooth. The ExploRacer handled like a dream, its upgraded FSD pushing us across light-years like it was nothing. Tanya sat beside me, as calm and collected as ever, but I could see the satisfaction in her eyes every time we made a jump. This was a ship built for the long haul, but it was fast—faster than anything I’d ever flown before.
When we finally dropped out of supercruise at Jacques Station, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Jacques Station, a lonely outpost in the middle of nowhere, always had a special place in my heart. It wasn’t just the remoteness or the fact that it was an oddity—a space station intended to be somewhere else, but now serving as a beacon for those seeking something different. No, for me, Jacques Station was about the people.
I’d been to Colonia before, back when I was still trying to figure out what I wanted from life. I remember meeting Jacques himself—a gruff old bartender with a penchant for bourbon and stories. He told me tales of his time as a starport operator and how he’d tried to take his station across the galaxy only to end up stranded here. He had a way of making you feel like you were part of something bigger, even when you were just sitting at the bar, sipping on something that burned as it went down.
As Tanya and I walked into the bar, I half-expected to see Jacques behind the counter. But the station had changed since then, busier, more people, more noise. I couldn’t help but smile, remembering how I’d once sat here, wondering if I’d ever find my place in the galaxy. And now, here I was, back again, but this time with a purpose and a ship that could take me anywhere.
After a quick rest and a toast to our journey so far, we set off for Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. But this time, we took it slow, making planetfalls on worlds that had never seen a human footstep, conducting exobiology studies, and sprinting within systems using the ExploRacer’s incredible FSD overdrive capabilities.
The ship was everything we’d hoped for. Even in the intense gravitational fields near Sagittarius A*, the ExploRacer held together, its systems performing flawlessly. We mapped the surrounding systems, collected data, and marveled at the beauty of the galaxy’s heart.
The final leg was the true test—the neutron highway back to the bubble. We pushed the ExploRacer hard, chaining neutron star jumps back to back, the ship charging its FSD while fuel scooping without breaking a sweat. The ship was built to handle this kind of intensity, and it did so with grace.
Chapter 5: Legacy of the ExploRacer
When we finally returned to Jameson Memorial, it was like waking up from a dream. The journey had been everything I’d hoped for and more. Tanya and I were hailed as pioneers, but honestly, it felt like the real star was the ExploRacer itself.
Bris Dekker, to his credit, was gracious about the whole thing. He knew that sometimes, even the best engineers hit a wall. But he respected what Elvira had done and admired how we’d seen the project through. As for Elvira, she was pleased, in her own enigmatic way. She didn’t need praise—she had the satisfaction of knowing she’d created something extraordinary.
For me, though, this was personal. The ExploRacer was more than just a ship. It was a culmination of everything I’d ever wanted out of life—freedom, speed, and the chance to explore the galaxy on my own terms. It felt like all the pieces of my life, from the commune in the Alps to the deep space missions with the Firehawks, had led to this moment.
Tanya and I stayed in touch after that, but we both knew that our paths were leading us in different directions. She had her own journeys to make, her own battles to fight, and I had the galaxy to explore.
The ExploRacer was more than just a ship—it was a legacy. A testament to what could be achieved when you pushed the boundaries, when you refused to accept limits. It was the ship that proved you could have speed, range, agility, and sheer beauty all in one package. And for me, it was a reminder that no matter how far I go, there’s always something new to discover out there in the stars.
ExploRacer Technical Specifications Summary
Core Modifications:
Reduced Hardpoints:
- No Huge hardpoint (replaced by additional Class 6 internal).
- Retained 2 Large hardpoints for defense.
- No Small hardpoints (enables upgrade of one Class 2 internal to Class 3).
Reduced Utility Mounts:
- 4 Utility Mounts (reduced from 6), allowing for a larger Frame Shift Drive (FSD) and an upgrade of one Class 3 internal to Class 4.
Core Internals:
- Power Plant: 4A, Enhanced Low Power, and Stripped Down.
- Frame Shift Drive (FSD) with supercruise overcharge cability (SCO): Custom-engineered Class 5, shielded and optimized for increased range an able to overcharge fuel-efficiently in supercruise.
- Thrusters: 4D, Dirty Tuning, and Stripped Down.
- Life Support: 4D, Lightweight.
- Power Distributor: 4D, Charge Enhanced and Stripped Down.
- Sensors: 4D, Lightweight.
- Fuel Tank: 4C, suitable for extended journeys.
Optional Internals:
- Class 6: Fuel Scoop (for rapid refueling).
- Class 5: FSD Booster (to extend jump range).
- Class 4: Auto Field Maintenance Unit (AFMU) and Planetary Vehicle Hangar.
- Class 4: Planetary Vehicle Hangar (for maiden flight only Class 2 was used)
- Class 3: Shield Generator (for essential protection).
- Class 2: Additional AFMU (for redundancy).
- Class 1: Detailed Surface Scanner (DSS) for mapping and exploration.
Performance Metrics:
- Maximum Single Jump: 65.01 Light-years.
- Maximum Total Range: 244.2 Light-years (on a full tank with maximum jump efficiency).
- Thermal Efficiency: The ExploRacer is the coolest running medium-sized ship, second only to the Dolphin, allowing for safe FSD charging while fuel scooping without overheating.
- Speed and Agility: Approximately 10% slower than the original Mamba (top boost speed in this build 538m/s), but by far the fastest and most agile exploration ship both in supercruise and normal space (in normal space agility is actually up 10% from the original Mamba).
The ExploRacer is a purpose-built exploration vessel, optimized for long-range travel, efficient resource management, and exceptional agility. While some combat capabilities were sacrificed, the ship excels in its combination of speed, jump range, and thermal management, making it the ultimate choice for commanders seeking to explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy in the most beautiful ship ever built.
