Commander Marco Santos Space Odissey Log

[Marco Santos]

I all!

So i am starting another post around here...
Yup!

This is gonna be my log for all that i do in Elite dangerous, this will have an account of what i am doing, of all my finds (if any of note), and of all that its going on daily that might be of interest to share with you all.

A little bit about me for the ones that dont know me:

I am from Azores Islands, Portugal, 44 years old, started playing ED last january.

I did alot, got as far as having most of the ships in the game and trying them out, only part i didnt try was the Empire ships. I went to Colonia, SAGI A, was all over the areas around the bubble up to about 9k from it, and learned alot.

Them i decided to reset my account and restart the game, with this commander (last one had a callsign this one uses my real name), started off with an Eagle and went to Colonia and back in that, switched to a Imperial Eagle for combat and grinding the Imperial rank and got the Imperial Courier with wich i went as far as 11k from the bubble and spend some time flying around and discovering stuff.
Then finally i went back to the bubble after almost destroying it on a pair of suns, got me a DBX and went about unlocking the guardian FSD booster, getting materials, unlocking engenieers and getting my current ship ready for the void.

And here i am, starting off this adventures in the Phantom Menace!

A Krait Phantom, geared for exploration with a max jump range of 65Ly.

And so it begins!

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

23 August 3305

As i get all the supplies on the ship and i get her ready for her mayden voyage, i recall all i did in other ships before her, all that i have acomplished and all i can still do.
Doing some last minute systems checks, making sure all the limpets are onboard, the ship is fueled and ready to go and the modules are all has they need to be so i can endure the harsh cold void out there, far away from civilization and any help.

So as i look at the ship, my "Phantom Menace", (i really need to stop spending all my time seing classics from the XX and XXI century), i wonder if i didnt went too overboard with the color and add-ons that i putt on the ship, but i do like the looks and feel of it.

Its probably too weak of a ship if i ran into some of those less advisable ppl that roam in space, but since i am a explorer, i do need to squeeze as much jump range as i can from this ship and have all the modules to repair it and deal with the rigors of space, so best thing to do is putt all that out of my mind and focuse on the task in hand, but always be vigilant out there, especially until i leave the "bubble" as ppl like to call this area of space were we have most of our settlements.

My bank account is around 80 million credits atm, i thing im in the green and can cope with any surprises that may appear, that reminds me, i have to go see my insurance representive here at the station before i leave, to be sure it is all good, dont want to be caught out there without a "rebuy", now do we?!

So all checks done, all green across the board, all thinks stored, everything fine, im off!
Getting quickly out of range from the station so i can make its first jump into another system, set my destination slightly above and to the right of the bubble, at around 5k out.

Shes a beauty!
I love her so much! Its me and you babe, just you and me and no one else for a long, long, long time...

Some will not like its lines, some will hate its looks, some will even want to destroy her, but ill do all i can to keep her safe!

Funny!

Didnt took long to get her "baptized" in the rigors and dangers of space, this jump was a "hot" one, but i got out of there pretty quick safely and without the need to waste a heatsink, she is performing well so far.

So what else to say or to report for this 1st day?!

Well!
I got on the way!
I already got me 5k away from the bubble and have found some systems that werent visited by no one before and got that data in my ships nav computer.
Ill just stay and relax a bit here, till im ready for some more jumping tomorrow, now is time to rest and get my stamina and concentration levels up.

Rest my dear, you had a nice run today, tomorrow we will see places together you and i!

Cya all in the void commanders, or not...

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

24 August 3305

Today im entering this log to keep tabs on what i am doing, and to leave the record that the space above the bubble is largely undiscovered when u go around 10k from it, not that i have seen remarkable stuff, ill say that 99% of what i saw so far is the standard, star, gas giant, ice body routine, but once in a while u see a water world, metal rich body and that gives u some more stamina to continue.
Most of the times one is gonna be bored, repeting things over and over, and getting nothing out of the ordinary, but once u get one, it makes it all worth it!

So many new discoveries, good think this ships nav computer is well stock as space goes for new data! Even doe, most of this wont be getting me alot of credits or advancements in the rank for sure.
I am in the mindset to acomplish some goals 1st, that require me to head at a steady and quick pace towards those objectives and not stay lingering in an area mapping it all, so i am moving despite i see all i could do and get, but i have to restrain myself and keep moving foward, getting just the basic data in the places that are new and i stumble upon, rather than doing massive jumps around that area to get as much data as possible leaving my main goal for later on...
A bookmark for now is suficient, it will indicate to me later on the areas of interest that i should go and explore later on in detail.

So i am cruising around, from one system to another, discovering stuff, but always moving foward towards the objective i set for me.
the void calls me, the void is my friend, the void is ever present, im enveloped in its madness!
But out here i feel at home! I feel good, i feel alive!

Gotta say its a welcome change to go from limited jump range to a big one, feels even better, and u enjoy it even more after u done about the same distance but taking alot more time, get bored the same, but do twice the distance before that happens, ke ke ke.
I stopped to acess how my ship is, see if all is ok before moving on, dont wanna overlook a problem that can become alot worst later on when you are deeper in the void do you?! I also take this time to rest and replunish my strength for the next leg of the voyage.

The Phantom Menace is a wonderfull ship, there may be better ones out there, but this one is mine and its my home, my companion, my... "lover"... We dance in the stars, we share our finds, our fears, our adventures...

Well! I digress!
Time to get back to work, there is still plenty to do!

Fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

27 August 3305

So it turns out that the last jumps around have revealed nothing of note to write home about, just your standard exploration trip that gets into a boredom area when it becomes a jump, fss, find lots of ice bodies, move on, repeat...

So i do have found some water worlds, but nothing much really!
Lots of data, mind me, but not the wow factor, not the really profitable ones, but i am going in the general direction i want to, so all is good.

So if i manage to find anything worth of note, or get some cool screenshots along the way ill putt it here.

Fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

28 August 3305

Oh my!

When u open your mouth sometimes...

Well!

What u now?
Hell with this in a good way!
So i was complaining about the boredom, and i just crossed into another region of space and bamm! There u go!
interesting stuff all in one go!
Water worlds, terraformable worlds, amonia worlds, earth like worlds, planets with water based life, etc...

So as soon as i was getting kinda bored and feeling i needed a small break, this happens, and its xmas all over again and im liking it!
Taking some time to do progress towards my current goal, since with system after system with 40+ bodies, takes a while to sort all that out!

But heck!
Lets do it!

I decided to end for the night in a small moon, that was flying away from me at an interesting speed, but not such that i couldnt catch it, was fun to do that!

So has i am landed on it and seing the sun coming up and down really fast, cause this thing is going around its planet as crazy, i will rest a little, call it a day and wait for tomorrow to continue.

I got an amonia worlds, a water world, a gas giant with amonia based life and a metal rich planet to map still before i leave this system, gotta remember to do those before i move on!

Fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders Log

31 August 3305

So i have been making some progress across the stars.
After leaving the moon and having it basically chasing me, wich made me have to change the angle of exit from it, if not i would be stuck on it for a while trying to leave (laugh) i headed to the amonia world in the system and mapped that.

Then i set out to do 100 jumps in total for the day, and i did, every single one was a new discovery, so yup, i did sidetrack alot to map some goodies, so it took me a couple of hours to do this objective, next time i wont do such a huge number of jumps.
But hey, its done, there were some strange and funny systems out there, from 6 stars in one place, to systems fully comprised of just metal worlds, to another that seemed strange to me since i basically got 2 stars and in the middle 2 water worlds?!...

Well goes to show, it may be boredom for the most of the time, but once in a while... Once in a while u are amazed at what u find out there.

And i passed the next days flying towards my goal, did around 120 jumps combined and got me alot more data in the process.

So tonight i plan on continuing foward, towards my ultimate goal at this moment, and i can now say what it is:
I want to get my rank up to Elite status as exploration goes, and this trip is definatly helping alot on that, the data that i have will surely when turned in catapult me to that, and also i want to reach SAGI A, when i do that ill see what i do next, but for now is heading in that general direction, slow and steady, im in no hurry to get there.

Fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

4 September 3305

So my journey into the core continues on...
I made some progress, but it has been slow, so much to see, so much to test, so much data to collect...

Along the way one wonders, is it worth it, am i willing and able to continue on, to so far, for so long... Those are the questions, but the views u see, the silence of space, the cheer size of the area you are travelling threw and the knowledge that you are achieving something, keeps you going!

The Phantom Menace is a resilient ship, has taken me here and keeps on ticking, i had one close encounter with a star, a timely heat sink and get away prevented further problems, but take it from me, never fly while you are tired or sleepy, stop and recover your strengh before u go flying to avoid encounters of the 1st degree with a star.

So much to see, so much to do, such beautiful views and places!

As i fly around and keep marvelling at what i find and see, im hitching to get to SAGI A, i want to achieve that, to putt it in the codex, so i can move on to the next challenge...

Fly safe commanders, take care out there, cya all!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

9 September 3305

So i made it!
I am at the center, in SAGI A!!!
Hurra!!!

So satisfying to finally arrive at the destination i set my goal at.

After this i headed to Explorers Anchorage for some R&R, selling data, claiming my 1st discoveries and credits, and along the way i took some sight seing, like checking some of these:

Ah!...
So good to finally rest on a station...

The way here was full of alot of diferent things.

Some places i visited were amazing and dangerous...

Others simply funny...

So i am here! I made it!
Now i need to plan my next move, im gonna be around here for a while, my plans include alot of jumps at economic rate around this stations system, make it my temporary base from wich to go and get more discoveries and check areas that havent been mapped yet.

Stay safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

23 September 3305

So, i´ve not said a word for a while...
That is because i hadnt had the time to fly much and have been ocuppied with other stuff and that takes the needed allocation to fly and explore in the Phantom Menace, but i did do some, but nothing that special or out of the ordinary has been popping up so i didnt see a point on updating with old boring stuff...

But... But i did found alot of 1st discoveries and my codex has gone into overdrive since i am at a new sector so anything not in the codex as seen by me in this area will give me warnings and i have had plenty.

Now, for the "fun" stuff and weird things, i did ran yesterday across a very particular planet that i do have to share the photos of it cause it is really cool!

Now this has to be the most "cooked" planet i´ve seen so far out there!
Looks like pure coal!
Someone has been out in the sun for too long...

I lost more than 15 minutes just staring at this thing and lookin into the surface and orbiting it to see all the tiny details, such a cool planet!
(and with all that, i forgot to map it! Facepalm!)

Such a good place to take some "selfies"...

And after that it was time to move on, and find something else...

Jump! Jump! Jump!
Another system, another FSS run, more mapping if anything worth while pops up and keep moving and repeating, at jumps so small that would range from a little more than 1Ly to little less than 3Ly...

Funny doe, alot of systems in the center are well "populated" with bodies, so many 20+ and 40+ out here...

And some breathtaking views as well!

And so my journey continues!
Alot more to do, more than 650 jumps to go a little over 1000Ly out here, one good thing about this, i dont go that far, i explore alot and when its time to get back to Explorers Anchorage to turn in the data, will be pretty quick in fast jumps!

Fly safe commanders and have fun out there!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders Log

25 September 3305

So i have returned to Explorers Anchorage once again to sell my data, refit and rest some.
Will go R&R tomorrow around the station and wont be flying.

I took the opportunity to change the ship kit the Phantom Menace has and i do like it!

The last days ive been out there exploring the center of the galaxy with the ship and finally stumbled upon a system with a Earth Like World!

Besides that ive seen alot and alot of diferent bodies and systems for a fat payday.

So yup there is alot to see and do in the center for those with the patience to do it!

Fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

08 October 3305

So...

I am back!
Back to posting an update to the voyage of this commander in our galaxy, been a while, cause ive been making my way to the bubble with nothing remarkable to show you guys, so i kept quiet all this time.

But well!...
This commander as decided once in the bubble that it was time to get serious and go big, and when i say "big" im refering both ship and goal...
So i got me a new ship with new gear for this long, long trip im about to undertake.

I bet that some of you have guessed it just from the picture above that it is a Anaconda (yup went from unique to just another one in the crowd), but this has a point to it, not only the jump range, but the gear i can take with me, and that is the big point here for the long trip i am planning to do.

So i got a figther bay on this, to cruise around fast and have fun in the planets surfaces, to investigate stuff without putting the main ship in danger, amfu, repair limpets, collecting limpets, etc... So much stuff!

So ill be setting off tonight on this journey lets see if it goes well!

Stay safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

Commanders log

20 October 3305

So commanders, i came back to the bubble.

I got myself to Elite in exploration, and i decided to attempt another diferent idea.

So ive switched ships, i am now flying a T9, with wich i am going on my "long" trip, already took it out for a spin into the Pleiadis Region where i ran into all sort of encounters with thargoids, seens they didnt liked the idea i was there...
The ship is named after a well knowned comedy about space "Spaceballs".

So i will be posting pictures of that trip, of the ship, and all later on.
This was just to keep you updated!

Fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[Marco Santos]

31 October 3305

My oh my how some things can change quickly...

Some stuff happened to me in my personal life that made me stop flying, i totally left my trip and headed back to the bubble and parked the T9 for a while.
When i came back... Well... Roleplay was in my mind, to give a meaning to the gameplay, to keep this interesting.

So my pilot has changed, my pilot now has its face and not just a faceless guy in a helmet that hides who he his.

I have been recruited to the (what for me is the weakest power in the galaxy) Alliance, and since i love being the underdog and to keep the roleplay i will be flying from now on just Alliance ships, that is right, the Chieftain, the Crusader, the Challenger and T-10...

So i comissioned myself 2 ships to start things off:

The Challenger is my go to ship for combat, this was down to the equipment i can add to the ships to make a viable exploration ship and that led me to choose this one as the combat one, in wich i did had previous experience in that and i loved it.
It is not engenieered alot, but enough to be effective at PVE, and it performs.

The Chieftain was the one i picked for exploration, was to be the combat one, but due to the slots u get on these ships this was the only one that met my criteria as equipment goes vs jump range, so this is my go to exploration ship.

There was some engenieering done to the ships off course, mostly in the FSD department and engines.

For now this are the 2 ships i will be using.

I plan in owning the Crusader too later on, and i will set it as a thargoid hunter probrably leaving the T-10 later on as a cargo hauler or something of the sort, but not working that angle of the game for now so no need to spend the credits.

ATM i took the chieftain on a shakedown cruise towards the bottom of the galaxy, to the darker side and further reaches of it, i will continue on if i feel like it.

Will be stopping for a few days in a planet and taking some R&R, my "real" machine is being replaced by a brand new PC system (gaming) and the old thrusty Thrustmaster T-Flight hotas been swapped out for a Logitech X-56 Pro Hotas, until then ill refrain from continuing on.

 

[Marco Santos]

05 November 3305


So it is time to return to duty.

I got my new setup and i cant wait to try it out!

Here is some pictures of the new rig:

So i got me a AMD Rayzen 3 3,2ghz with 16 gb ram computer with dual SSD drives, full with goodies like a RADEON RX 570 4GB...
And to control the ships a Logitech X56 Pro Hotas...

So i am ready and i know i have now quite the time to set all those keys to pick up my Chieftain and continue its journey of discovery...

Stay safe, fly safe commanders!

o7

 

[schlowi123]

Myself flying on a Playstation had this emotion right now: envy … awesome setup.

What are you using the 2nd PC for?

 

[Marco Santos]

Myself flying on a Playstation had this emotion right now: envy … awesome setup.

What are you using the 2nd PC for?

That second one is my older kids old pc, gonna sell it now, since i got 3 setups like this all at same time, one for me, one for my older kid and the other for the younger one.