Despite warnings from my dear mentor, I decided to do what I was thinking since I entered pilot school: I would commemorate my graduation, and newly attained rank of Commander, by jumping into the unknown all alone, with nothing but the ship that my dear mentor gifted me. I knew he was right. I knew I was unprepared, and I knew that my equipment was sorely lacking. But that was part of my goal, I wanted to see just how far I could go. After selling all my non essential equipment, and with nothing but a basic discovery scanner, a shield generator, a scanner, and a basic fuel scoop (and other essentials) I set out from Veach Hub. I would be lying if I said I remember which way I went, since I trusted my Sidewinder logs to keep track of this. If I succeeded, I could retrieve the information from my ship. If I failed, then it would all be lost.
The first few jumps were uneventful. Occasionally, I would see other fellow commanders flying nearby, and while I kept my distance, unarmed as I was... some of them actually hailed me and even asked what I was doing... I simply replied "a mission", and kept going about my way.
On my 8th jump, my ship suddenly dropped out of Supercruise. It took me only a moment to realize that I was under attack. Unarmed as I was, I quickly cut my engines completely, diverted all power to engines, and the remaining to shields. Then, I throttled up all the way, and made generous use of the afterburner, so that I could get a safe distance away from the aggressor. Flying in a zig zag pattern, always forward, of course, and rolling from side to side, I dodged most of the shots. As soon as I was able, I activated supercruise, and darted away to safety. I managed to get away with most of my shields intact!
As I went further and further, I saw less, and less ships... until I was all alone. I stopped by a Dwarf start to resupply my fuel, and continued on. I had no idea how far I had gone, or how far I would go yet... I only knew, that I wanted to reach places where no soul had been before, I wanted to see things, that I could bring back with me as testament of my achievement.
A few jumps into my journey, my FSD malfunctioned. I panicked for a moment, but then remembered training... Run a self diagnostic and it should fix itself. After doing so... effectivelly, my FSD was back online. Being a novice, I didn't quite scoop fuel too well, taking some heat damage here and there... which I blamed for my FSD troubles.
Eventually, I was rewarded. I found a lone K type star, the biggest one I had come across. I checked my star logs... and it was not there! It was not on any map that I could find in the database. Quickly, I fired up my scanners, and then searched for every other celestial body in the system, carefully mapping it as accurately as I could.
Then, I found another system, and another. I had finally reached my goal, and had gone where no man had been before. I meticulously scanned and studied everything I could find, and ended up discovering five new systems. At the fifth one, I decided it was time to turn back... and was dumbfounded to realize that I was more than 600 light years from civilization. Well, if I made it this far, I can make it back. I carefully plotted a route, and started heading home.
For the most part, the rest was uneventful. I stopped on a few systems to resupply fuel, and continued on, making sure to scan anything on my way back. (my return route was different than the route I used to go there). I was just ten jumps away, and I thought to myself, I made it. I am almost there. Just another 100 light years to go, and I'll be home to tell the tale.
Then, the impossible happened. Possibly from lack of practice scooping fuel, and taking excessive heat to ship systems, the computer suddenly tells me that my fuel scoop is inoperable. Despair settled in... I jumped out of Supercruise, and shut down the ship completely.
I open the map, and feverishly searched for a civilized system within the reach of my fuel tank. I had about 3/4ths left... but, no matter how much I looked, I found nothing. I looked again and again, and nothing. Veach Hub was as close as it would get, at least from the direction I was coming...
With all ship systems off, it slowly started to drift in the blackness of space. I told myself, it's over. I don't have enough fuel to get anywhere, I don't have any ways to call for help...
But then, an idea sparked in my mind. It was risky, and possibly stupid, but the alternative was not much better... I got up from the seat, secured my helmet, made sure my space suit was properly sealed... and opened the hatch of the ship to come outside. It was risky, if I let go of the ship at any moment, I'd simply drift away... and die.
Slowly, using my hands and feet to move along the outside of the ship, to where the fuel scoop was installed. The thing, was warped and some parts were melted due to the excessive heat it was subjected to... I carefully took off the shell around it, and discovered that a wire had fried completely. Carefully, I mended the wire, cutting off the melted part and tying together the rest... If this worked, at least once, I might be able to get home. Without its protective shell, though... this thing might just melt completely. But it was worth a shot.
I got back to the ship. Turned everything on, and mapped a route to the furthest star I could reach from which I could obtain fuel. I didn't scan anything from now on: time was precious, and any unnecessarily spent fuel could cost my life. Once I made it to the aforementioned star, I approached it slowly, until the scoop activated. At minimum gain, I waited patiently, expecting it to break at any moment.
But it didn't. It took ages, possibly hours, but my fuel tank was refilled. Opening the map revealed that I would have to refuel one more time to get home, but I was confident that lady luck would favor me a second time.
And she did, I refueled, and after jumping nonstop through a few systems, I found myself in front of the station. I requested docking, as a Federal vessel scanned my ship, and another pilot hailed me and commented on the horrid state of the vessel, to which I let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
(Finished)
Fellow commanders, especially those new to exploring. IF the above happens to you (your Fuel Scoop goes inoperable and you are in the middle of nowhere):
-Open your system panel (right side)
-Go to the Functions tab
-Click "Reboot/Repair"
Your ship will turn off, and your oxygen counter will begin. This process will give your Fuel Scoop 1% health back.
Which in my case... Was enough to get back to station and sell the data I had gathered.
Wasn't much money (200k), since I have the basic scanners, but... it was fun as hell
The first few jumps were uneventful. Occasionally, I would see other fellow commanders flying nearby, and while I kept my distance, unarmed as I was... some of them actually hailed me and even asked what I was doing... I simply replied "a mission", and kept going about my way.
On my 8th jump, my ship suddenly dropped out of Supercruise. It took me only a moment to realize that I was under attack. Unarmed as I was, I quickly cut my engines completely, diverted all power to engines, and the remaining to shields. Then, I throttled up all the way, and made generous use of the afterburner, so that I could get a safe distance away from the aggressor. Flying in a zig zag pattern, always forward, of course, and rolling from side to side, I dodged most of the shots. As soon as I was able, I activated supercruise, and darted away to safety. I managed to get away with most of my shields intact!
As I went further and further, I saw less, and less ships... until I was all alone. I stopped by a Dwarf start to resupply my fuel, and continued on. I had no idea how far I had gone, or how far I would go yet... I only knew, that I wanted to reach places where no soul had been before, I wanted to see things, that I could bring back with me as testament of my achievement.
A few jumps into my journey, my FSD malfunctioned. I panicked for a moment, but then remembered training... Run a self diagnostic and it should fix itself. After doing so... effectivelly, my FSD was back online. Being a novice, I didn't quite scoop fuel too well, taking some heat damage here and there... which I blamed for my FSD troubles.
Eventually, I was rewarded. I found a lone K type star, the biggest one I had come across. I checked my star logs... and it was not there! It was not on any map that I could find in the database. Quickly, I fired up my scanners, and then searched for every other celestial body in the system, carefully mapping it as accurately as I could.
Then, I found another system, and another. I had finally reached my goal, and had gone where no man had been before. I meticulously scanned and studied everything I could find, and ended up discovering five new systems. At the fifth one, I decided it was time to turn back... and was dumbfounded to realize that I was more than 600 light years from civilization. Well, if I made it this far, I can make it back. I carefully plotted a route, and started heading home.
For the most part, the rest was uneventful. I stopped on a few systems to resupply fuel, and continued on, making sure to scan anything on my way back. (my return route was different than the route I used to go there). I was just ten jumps away, and I thought to myself, I made it. I am almost there. Just another 100 light years to go, and I'll be home to tell the tale.
Then, the impossible happened. Possibly from lack of practice scooping fuel, and taking excessive heat to ship systems, the computer suddenly tells me that my fuel scoop is inoperable. Despair settled in... I jumped out of Supercruise, and shut down the ship completely.
I open the map, and feverishly searched for a civilized system within the reach of my fuel tank. I had about 3/4ths left... but, no matter how much I looked, I found nothing. I looked again and again, and nothing. Veach Hub was as close as it would get, at least from the direction I was coming...
With all ship systems off, it slowly started to drift in the blackness of space. I told myself, it's over. I don't have enough fuel to get anywhere, I don't have any ways to call for help...
But then, an idea sparked in my mind. It was risky, and possibly stupid, but the alternative was not much better... I got up from the seat, secured my helmet, made sure my space suit was properly sealed... and opened the hatch of the ship to come outside. It was risky, if I let go of the ship at any moment, I'd simply drift away... and die.
Slowly, using my hands and feet to move along the outside of the ship, to where the fuel scoop was installed. The thing, was warped and some parts were melted due to the excessive heat it was subjected to... I carefully took off the shell around it, and discovered that a wire had fried completely. Carefully, I mended the wire, cutting off the melted part and tying together the rest... If this worked, at least once, I might be able to get home. Without its protective shell, though... this thing might just melt completely. But it was worth a shot.
I got back to the ship. Turned everything on, and mapped a route to the furthest star I could reach from which I could obtain fuel. I didn't scan anything from now on: time was precious, and any unnecessarily spent fuel could cost my life. Once I made it to the aforementioned star, I approached it slowly, until the scoop activated. At minimum gain, I waited patiently, expecting it to break at any moment.
But it didn't. It took ages, possibly hours, but my fuel tank was refilled. Opening the map revealed that I would have to refuel one more time to get home, but I was confident that lady luck would favor me a second time.
And she did, I refueled, and after jumping nonstop through a few systems, I found myself in front of the station. I requested docking, as a Federal vessel scanned my ship, and another pilot hailed me and commented on the horrid state of the vessel, to which I let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
(Finished)
Fellow commanders, especially those new to exploring. IF the above happens to you (your Fuel Scoop goes inoperable and you are in the middle of nowhere):
-Open your system panel (right side)
-Go to the Functions tab
-Click "Reboot/Repair"
Your ship will turn off, and your oxygen counter will begin. This process will give your Fuel Scoop 1% health back.
Which in my case... Was enough to get back to station and sell the data I had gathered.
Wasn't much money (200k), since I have the basic scanners, but... it was fun as hell
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