I am, without question, the Tardy Traveller. I am currently on the Autumn Odyssey, having just passed Way Point #12 – Eok Gree EG-Y G1846. The astute among you will recognise that autumn has long gone, even out here in the Black, where seasons have no meaning! Indeed, the Odyssey itself began way back in September, and completed on 25 November 3304. So why am I still on the Odyssey?
Well, I was there at the start. I lined up with the other commanders for the mass jump, though missed-out on the final coordinates for the jumping-off point as I could not get audio on Discord. My trusty AspX is getting a little long in the tooth, and overdue for a little TLC. I did eventually make that first jump, only a few minutes behind, but it is surprisingly easy to lose time and here I am – over 6 months behind on an expedition that only ran for 3 months anyway! Tardy indeed. At first, the delays were down to RL and a short jump range, so I slipped behind by a week from the off and pretty much stayed there for way point after way point. I managed to gain ground gradually and at one stage thought that I was actually in with a chance of catching-up, but the opportunity slipped from my grasp.
Then, a few jumps beyond Way Point #12, everything went pear-shaped. The mandatory upgrade imposed by the Pilot’s Federation just did not sit well with my aging Asp and un-noticed by yours truly a gremlin crept -in to my control mapping. Coming in to land on Umbairrs GA-X c15-174, a high-G planet, my vertical thrusters were set to full downward thrust and it was only on my final approach that I realised that something was up and that my approach was out of control. Too late I attempted a stern down attitude and full thrust to abort the landing, but my vertical thrusters just drove me into the side of a cliff. Everything went crazy, and it is only analysing my system logs that I see that I was driven into the terrain a total of three times before the hull gave way and I was in re-buy.
The nature of the glitch only became clear when I was attempting to take off at the re-buy station. The thrusters were still locked full-on and did not make lifting-off at all easy. I eventually managed, and once outside the station was quickly able to identify what was happening. Erasing my control configs and re-building from scratch eventually had me flight ready again, but the amount of survey data lost was hard to stomach. I decided, ‘what the hell’ and headed back into the Black and resumed the Odysssey.
So now, just a few jumps from the scene of my misfortune, I wonder if, when I attempt a landing at the site – will my wrecked ship still be there..?
Well, I was there at the start. I lined up with the other commanders for the mass jump, though missed-out on the final coordinates for the jumping-off point as I could not get audio on Discord. My trusty AspX is getting a little long in the tooth, and overdue for a little TLC. I did eventually make that first jump, only a few minutes behind, but it is surprisingly easy to lose time and here I am – over 6 months behind on an expedition that only ran for 3 months anyway! Tardy indeed. At first, the delays were down to RL and a short jump range, so I slipped behind by a week from the off and pretty much stayed there for way point after way point. I managed to gain ground gradually and at one stage thought that I was actually in with a chance of catching-up, but the opportunity slipped from my grasp.
Then, a few jumps beyond Way Point #12, everything went pear-shaped. The mandatory upgrade imposed by the Pilot’s Federation just did not sit well with my aging Asp and un-noticed by yours truly a gremlin crept -in to my control mapping. Coming in to land on Umbairrs GA-X c15-174, a high-G planet, my vertical thrusters were set to full downward thrust and it was only on my final approach that I realised that something was up and that my approach was out of control. Too late I attempted a stern down attitude and full thrust to abort the landing, but my vertical thrusters just drove me into the side of a cliff. Everything went crazy, and it is only analysing my system logs that I see that I was driven into the terrain a total of three times before the hull gave way and I was in re-buy.
The nature of the glitch only became clear when I was attempting to take off at the re-buy station. The thrusters were still locked full-on and did not make lifting-off at all easy. I eventually managed, and once outside the station was quickly able to identify what was happening. Erasing my control configs and re-building from scratch eventually had me flight ready again, but the amount of survey data lost was hard to stomach. I decided, ‘what the hell’ and headed back into the Black and resumed the Odysssey.
So now, just a few jumps from the scene of my misfortune, I wonder if, when I attempt a landing at the site – will my wrecked ship still be there..?
)