A Hobbits Tale: There and Back Again

[Ziggy Stardust]

I love how there seems to have been an explosion on Beagle Point that scattered all the green tags all over the place.

Set myself on making the 10,000Ly trip back to WP22 and from there cross the abyss before I take a break. Wondering when I know I have that ahead of me if I feel like logging in.

 

[Traveller_GG]

A bump for this thread as many DWE commanders have made it back now (and more are getting close)

Could you post your feelings on returning to the bubble?

 

[CMDR-AD]

I made my return to the bubble from DW last night. I wanted to get home ahead of the 2.1 patch arrival for a few reasons. Yesterday I had planned on making just 7k or 8k LY, leaving me about 2k LY for the final leg. But anticipation got the better, and I flew the entire 10k LY yesterday.

My route back was as near direct as possible. To avoid problems with route planning near the core, I arced above it and slightly aside, keeping in a sweet spot of star density. The closest I came to Sagittarius A* on the way back was 7k LY or so.

For my point of arrival, I filtered for democracy systems with populations above 1 billion, to help highlight systems with "High" security ratings. A few were found near the bubble's fringe. I settled on Gunawa, which offered a ring station just 37Ls in. I selected an unpopulated system about 50LY away from Gunawa, which was far enough away to fall just outside the bubble. I made this system my steer point. Upon arrival there, I used a 100% FSD boost injection, and took the final 50LY step into my target system, the first inhabited system I had seen since leaving. Well... "officially" inhabited. The Beagle Point base camp had a decent population when I was there!

Before making that final jump, I went over so many things I had not done in months. How to dock, what to do if interdicted by pirates, by police or military, and where my fuel tank level needed to be in such cases.

My arrival in-system was uneventful. Nobody knew I was there, or cared. Just another Asp Explorer. The station was so close to the arrival that I nearly overshot it. Clean drop and docking on pad 3. Like so many times before. It was only then, after I sat there with my ship stored down in the station hanger, that I felt a moment of my hand shaking. So much I had been concerned about getting safely home, and none of it had materialized. My ship had not even been scanned by the circling Federation police as I approached the station.

Sagittarius A* is now listed as the highest payout in my Exploration stats. The DW trip had taken me across just over 5,000 systems, the scans of which sold for $70 million. Total mileage is listed around 175,000LY or so, IIRC. Ranked from Surveyor to Pioneer. What a trip.

Using the station services I tanked out the Asp hull, painted it gold, and flew it 200LY to "IX", where I often trade ships and modules. Sold the Asp and bought a new Python. Fitted a few key parts, but it'll probably sit there until after 2.1 goes live. If I get one of those DW decals, I'll probably put it on the Python.

 

[Traveller_GG]

Anyone else who's recently made it back want to add their thoughts and feelings?

 

[Brother Sabathius]

It's been a hell of a journey. And an unexpected one for CMDR Halcyone. He's had a busy time of it in his short career.

He began in January in a Sidewinder, then heard that Olivia needed a couple of Rares, so earned himself enough for a long range Hauler and flew out to WP3. He flew with the fleet until WP5 and then flew back, earning himself a couple of million. He then dabbled in smuggling and quickly raised enough to buy and equip a Type-7 for exploration.

He went for a shakedown trip to Shapley 1, and just kept going, rejoining the fleet at WP7. Intending to turn around at Sag A, he still kept on going all the way to Beagle.

The trip back was lonely after all the fun of the waypoint meetups, now there was nothing and it looked an awfully long way back. Once back across the Abyss, the distance dropped much faster and I even had a quick meetup with CMDR Felix Macedonica (still on his way out). I figured I'd better do a bit of scanning rather than buckyballing, so the trip past the core was a bit more leisurely. I was soon rewarded with Halcyones first, second, third and fourth Earth-like Worlds.

I wasn't aiming for the bubble though, I was carrying the Solitude Legacy and I was hoping to hand it to one of the CNE pilots on their Meet-and-Greet trip. A trip around their little route and I was ready to hand over, but there was nobody with cargo racks handy Instead I entrusted it to Brother Sabathius, so I could finally get the T7 back to a dock.

I think this was the most nervous I'd ever been. Full power to shields, plot course for Eleu, and sprint hard. Bouncing across systems as fast as I could, and soon jumped into Eleu for the short flight to the nearest station, watching the radar like a hawk. Then came one of the most careful dockings I've ever done, and that was it. Mission Accomplished. I had got there and back and Halcyone was 75 million richer.

I enjoyed exploration before, but now I have become more comfortable out in the black than I am in the bubble. Flying to Beagle in a ship that really doesn't have any business being out that far, somehow made the whole thing even better. It struggled in places, it wasn't easy, it brought home the sheer enormity of the playground we have been given. It had taken 3 weeks of flying almost every day to get back, and I would do it all again without hesitation.

Brother Sabathius is even now preparing himself for this pilgrimage, whatever ship he can afford to take... could be interesting!