CMDR Rikk Checking Back In

After returning from my last exploration voyage I took a break and spent a few months planetside. It was pleasant after an extended trip among the stars to refuel my own batteries and wait until I was drawn back out again. Having my ship brought down to the planet helped.

I have been in the the commanders chair a few times recently and the draw to the stars is growing again. So much so I have signed up to a mission with hundreds of other commanders to cross the entire galaxy, reaching the furthest know point from populate space, Beagle Point. This is a journey of some 80,000 light years or more just to get there, and the final few jumps require a ship range of 33 light years in order to reach the destination. Mighty as my Imperial Clipper is, she simply cannot jump that far even fully stripped down and running on fumes.

I chose, in my complete lack of infinite wisdom, to save up and purchase an Anaconda for the trip. Not wanting to risk the integrity of my Imperial Clipper I picked up a Python and loaded it out with cargo racks, granting me a full 284 tonnes of cargo capacity while retaining shields and weapons. Over the following few days I ran cargo all over the civilised bubble as I slowly watched my available funds rise. After I sold my Imperial Courier and also the fuel scoop from my Clipper, I had enough credits for a basic cargo equipped Anaconda and insurance. With a few more trade runs I could also fill the hold, taking trading to the next level.

The Anaconda, when kitted as an exploration vessel, can reach in excess of 37ly range. As I cruised between starports, making up to one million credits per stop, I dreamt of how the Anaconda would ease the long journey to Beagle Point. Compared to the Clipper I can get an extra 50% range per jump and nearly double the range per fuel tank, which is phenomenal.

After a while I stopped noticing the fact that the turn rate in supercruise is abysmal, and the view out the front is quite limited. Don't get me wrong, I love where the bridge is positioned on the Anaconda, but the hull obscures a huge amount of space in front. It didn't matter, 37 light years! I kept telling myself that.

Even after landing the Anaconda carefully on a planet I was confident in my choice, that was the ship to take. Despite my first landing on a higher gravity world being a little 'rough' I was undeterred. I could do this. Six plus months in this ship will be easy.

That is when it hit me. I was planning to take a ship that had lots of small things that irritate me a little bit on a journey of up to six months. Six Months. This ship would be my home and while very capable, she was no Imperial Clipper to live in.

I decided to take my Clipper for a trip out and remembered what it was like to really fly again. For a big ship she is nimble in supercruise and remarkably well mannered down on the surface too.

I made my decision. She may be lacking in range, but the Imperial Clipper is the perfect ship for me to spend so many months in.

Her name is Alice, and she is going to Beagle Point.