The Zombie Wasp

Just a quick update today! I had the good fortune to meet CMDR Olivia Vespera and the flagship of the fleet, Zombie Wasp III today!

There is no question that Olivia is possibly the hardiest of the fleet as she is piloting the behemoth mass of a Type 9 freighter full of rare goods to the other side of the galaxy.

Not having any Hutton Orbital mugs I met up with her to donate some. On a blue/brown moon orbiting a class one gas giant an illicit transfer of Hutton Orbital Mugs took place.

Following a brew in style from a sparkling silver mug, I then helped Olivia with some of her photos by 'posing' in the Clipper. One of the benefits of being in an unusual ship!

Here is the last shot Olivia took of me departing for the Eagle nebula.

Rikk

Be Right Back...

I decided to write a little about my distant worlds 'Be Right Back' story. There will be pictures further down.

My last two posts on the blog are a small rollercoaster in their own right. I made a last minute change to the Anaconda in one, and crashed it in the next. I didn't mention the fact that just before waypoint one I returned to civilisation because I had failed to notice a little bit of hull damage and couldn't bear setting out with it.

I was on nearly double distance by the time I reached waypoint 2. The journey to waypoint three was fairly quick and uneventful, almost tiring. She may have legs but the Anaconda is something of a slouch in supercruise, quite a tiresome slouch. And the seat is hard.

And when I arrived at the Omega nebula I parked up alongside six other Anacondas, just another wedge shaped boat that looks entirely boring in my photo diaries.

I realised I could not continue.

It was a 4800 light year trip back home, I set off immediately. 200 light years in I stopped to make a brew and reflect on my decision. The flew the remaining 4600 light years back home in a single session. I flew hard, I scooped fast, accidents happened but I didn't care. I was going home.

But this is not the end. I didn't give up, but I needed my comfy seat. She's like a good pair of trousers, others might be better in every way, but she just fits 'right'.

The following day I set out for Distant Worlds a third time in Alice. I had her painted a tactical version of my original mission colours, and set course back to Waypoint 3.

It may have been a longer 4800 light years to get back, she does after all have a single jump range that is 11 light years less, but that didn't matter.

With a 7A fuel scoop and a 16t tank I was filling up before the frameshift drive had cooled down. Turning to my new destination took no time at all. I was flying not enduring. I landed back at waypoint 3 later that evening.

It feels good to bring some Imperial Beauty to the distant worlds I am visiting.

And there is something else. I mentioned it earlier, and this photograph from the approach to the Omega nebula I believe represents exactly what I mean.

Deep space is beautiful. The Imperial Clipper 'fits' well.

I am happier than ever and each extra jump I have to do is a joy.

Being a Clipper pilot is more than just sitting at the controls. They become part of your soul. Alice is the first Clipper I bought, she has travelled a very long way already, she is home.

Rikk

Quite possibly the first Distant Worlds casualty.

That's me.

I have travelled over 70,000 light years and seen thousands of solar systems. I have smuggled my way back and forth in alliance space. I have traded in pirate infested systems and fought my way through numerous interdictions.

Today, for the first time in over a year, I lost my ship.

I died to the most merciless of foes.

A planet.

The first planet in 46 Upsilon Sagittarii has a gravity of 3.91x what is found on Earth. This is fairly high, especially when you are not expecting it. The first bounce decimated my shields and left me at 53% hull. Then an oversight on my part saw me go from 6km and gaining altitude to seeing Lucretia hit the planet surface at over 600 meters per second.

It was a sad moment, recorded and catalogued by my cameras.

 

I have since returned to the system, and I set down without incident. So system in this galaxy will beat me. A minor setback, and one which taught me to respect my surroundings.

 

While we are here, a nice shot of the first waypoint, Shapely 1

A wise commander told me the most dangerous thing to happen to Explorers wout be the availability of the Planetary Approach Suites. Heed those words.

Last Minute Change

On 14-01-3302 I departed from Planet A1 in the Pallaeni for the first leg of Distant Worlds.

I arrived in my Imperial Clipper some 26 hours beforehand and started chatting to other explorers, and it was during these conversations that I had a good hard look at my decision to take the Clipper. She certainly is a fine ship to fly, but there is another drawback I had not considered, complacency.

There is no question, I am a bold pilot at the controls of the Clipper, very bold. I have been flying in the Plaedes Nebula for the past few days with a full A specified combat loadout and she is an absolute dream to fly with the highest quality equipment fitted. Even with the lower class thrusters she is smooth, and this builds confidence, which is not something an Explorer should have with a 400 tonne vessel on worlds of more than 1g. 400 tonnes doesn't change direction as swiftly with lower class D rated thrusters, not at all.

After a short proving mission to Ariel and Hutton Orbital I departed from Pallaeni in Lucretia, my recently repainted and refurbished Anaconda. Taking to the skies alongside hundreds of other commanders I set course and headed out to the Fine Ring Sector for the first waypoint.

Some 300 light years in I noticed a problem, my hull was showing damage. I could recall no place where I took an impact, which means this needed investigating. There was nothing I could do but peel off from the main fleet and head back to a starport.

It turned out there were no problems with my vessel, and the indication of a problem was a computer glitch. However this needed to be confirmed by an external visual inspection of a starport so while I added 700ly onto my journey I did not need to, I am still glad I did.

Plus that starport was massive. The bar near pad 11 serves some of the best beer I have come across in the entire galaxy so far, and I have seen a few. When I retrieve the name of the place from my logs I will be sure to post it because I can assure you, it is phenominal.

Fortunatly I have plenty of beer onboard. And a few tonnes of Hutton Orbital Mugs in order to share it around. ForTheMug.

Half an hour after depeature number two, and I come up on the destination system, the first waypoint. My landing is fairly uneventful and there are a few commanders dotted around already. It is my understanding the brave Imperial Cutter pilot decided against continuing in such a stalwart vessel, it seems I am not the only Imperial pilot who had a change of heart.

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.

That First Docking Was Tricky

Not since I was a cadet flying a beat up old sidewinder have I followed a docking checklist. Two days ago I did exactly that.

I dropped out of supercruise some 9 kilometres from my first entry point back into the civilised world, Haldeman II Enterprise in HIP 101760. Being out in the black for so long, I forget how quickly I can close that gap, and how fast the station grows in my vision.

1. Shield engaged with full pips

2. Contact station and request docking permission

3. Slow down to under 100 m/s

Whut?! Blinked twice at this new entry in the docking procedures. Speed limits now? Anyway, I will quiz the station management another time. I lined up on the docking slot from approximately 3km out and slowed down.

4. Lower landing gear at 2km

6. Match station rotation

Right now 100m/s felt too fast. I've not been doing anything as accurate as docking for some time, gear down and throttle in the blue zone put me at a more agreeable 75 m/s as I passed through into the station. My pad straight ahead I did a final systems check and fired my landing thrusters.

Missing the centre of the pad by a fair margin. Twice.

On the third occasion I docked successfully. The journey is over.

I will leave one picture here

 I landed here as it is a high technology system that allowed me to refit my vessel for the final journey to Lembava where I sold my data. The journey is only 8 jumps, but reports suggested there would be heavy piracy in my destination system.

My Imperial Clipper can fight her way out of many a situation, but while loaded down with exploration data I decided I would use her party trick if interdicted. Nothing that can catch her can kill her.

As it happened there was no situation, and my second docking since arriving back in populated space saw me right on the centre first time in.

Eight hours later, I had sold all my data. My rank is now 'Pioneer'

My Imperial Clipper may look a little rough around the edges, but she is a fine exploration vessel and we shall be venturing out again in the not too distant future.

Commander Rikk, stocking up on coffee and ale.

Nearly Home!

I am now mere footstep from being home, in explorers terms at least. I am currently under 4000 light years from Sol.

From taking the decision to head directly home, from only a few thousand light years along the Sagittarius Arm, travelling has been harsh. I have had more emergency stops from taking fuel onboard quickly in the past 10 days than my entire journey prior to this. But I have still seen some wonderful sights.

Multiple pretty and untouched Earth Like worlds

A few black holes. You can see here just how much of a battering my ship has taken on her maiden exploration voyage.

Ammonia worlds a plenty, and these made me very nervous. I always got the feeling I was being observed, yet there was nothing on sensors.

I will write separately about that time when I nearly ran into a planet while fuel scooping. Yes you read that right. For now, there are really two views that are important to the explorer.

Where we have been. I have for months been out in the black, and one thing that has been ever present on my journey is the galactic ring. It has been all around me. Strong in one direction, not so in the other, but ever present. As I left the Sagittarius Arm behind and skipped over to the Orion spur I took a moment to reflect.

The bright bit, that's the centre of the galaxy. I've been there. I've been beyond there.

And ahead

And then I look the other way, for the first time I can see one of our 'local' landmarks. Barnards Loop. This tells me I am very close to home, and also makes me think.

When I set out I was a tourist. A galactic photographer. Yet I have never really looked beyond the next star while bumbling around our little corner of the galaxy. I have never noticed Barnards Loop. Yet now I see it as a shining beacon lighting my way home.

I left as an tourist. I will return as an Explorer.

Commander Rikk, Signing Off.