Duly noted and log corrected accordingly. o7Hate to correct you @Alec Turner - It was my business partner "Ratkatcher" doing the hospitality...
Going to Colonia
- Thread starter Alec Turner
- Start date
Well... He's the 'odd' one of the family... We don't talk about him much
I really should thank you for getting me interested enough to come out to 'have a go' and experience the Planet of Death first-hand!
If you get really at a loose end in the bubble when you return, this account will be scouring an area about 12k away for more brain trees (in an area where there has yet to be a Guardian base found) in a month or so
This is of course late now, but observing the planet slingshot around its star out from space is a worthy sight to behold, as well.
As long as one keeps out of the exclusion zone and the jet cones.
By the way @Alec Turner , the 11G planet [ KYLOALL CL-Y G1518 D1] is not too far from Colonia if you're feeling adventurous in your SRV shenanigans
As long as one keeps out of the exclusion zone and the jet cones.
By the way @Alec Turner , the 11G planet [ KYLOALL CL-Y G1518 D1] is not too far from Colonia if you're feeling adventurous in your SRV shenanigans
Hmmm... That could be funThis is of course late now, but observing the planet slingshot around its star out from space is a worthy sight to behold, as well.
As long as one keeps out of the exclusion zone and the jet cones.
By the way @Alec Turner , the 11G planet [ KYLOALL CL-Y G1518 D1] is not too far from Colonia if you're feeling adventurous in your SRV shenanigans
Day 25 - 13.01.3307
BUCKYBALL PREPARATIONS
I wake with a start ... oh crap, I've slept through an entire day! White Dwarf ejecta cone radiation can do that apparently.
Anyway, I'm parked on some random planet in the Dryooe Flyou GD-Y C28-57 system. What I should now do is explore this region which is apparently really nice but all the news I'm receiving from the bubble about the latest Buckyball Race has me in the mood for some race action myself so I decide it's time to take a crack at the Colonia Trophy Dash. This is a time trial race which starts at the Dove Enigma, finishes at Jaques, and passes through the following stations along the way:
The first thing I need to do is bookmark all the waypoints, visiting the systems I've not yet been to so I can open the system map and get access to the stations themselves. First stop is Eol Procul Centauri for Fort Mug. Alas I get stuck at the first Neutron I encounter where I pass through the cone about 5 times trying to supercharge before I realise my mistake, which I then share with @sgurr (who I've been in constant communication with while he attempts the impossible - an SRV circumnavigation of Pomeche 2C).
That sorted it's on to Fort Mug, the Hutton Truckers Colonial residence (thankfully easier to get to than Hutton Orbital!).
Next to tick off the list and bookmark is Mortimer's Charm in the Kinesi system. What I hadn't expected to see on arrival tho' was this!
What an extraordinary station! I've never seen anything quite like it before.
Third on my list is the system of Mobia. When I get there however I'm once again distracted by the lure of another notable stellar phenomena and a whole school of Umbrella Molluscs.
Wonderful! Anyway, onwards to Pedersen's Legacy, a planetary base sat right in the middle of a crater within a crater on a tiny little potato planet.
This moon (with a radius of 332km and some nice views and terrain) is actually a prime candidate for an SRV circumnavigation. I don't have time for that now but I do go for a 15 minute drive to the outer rim of the outer crater.
And finally, Brazilian Dream in Santos Dumont.
That's it - bookmarks all sorted and we are ready to rock and roll.
I return to the Dove Enigma, strip off all surplus modules and then have time for one quick practice lap where I soon discover that the main problem with this race is going to be obscured jumps. I finish with a time of 37 minutes and 46 seconds which would place me 13th. Errr, yeah - looks like I'll be spending the next few days trying to get that down to something a bit more respectable before submitting an official run.
BUCKYBALL PREPARATIONS
I wake with a start ... oh crap, I've slept through an entire day! White Dwarf ejecta cone radiation can do that apparently.
Anyway, I'm parked on some random planet in the Dryooe Flyou GD-Y C28-57 system. What I should now do is explore this region which is apparently really nice but all the news I'm receiving from the bubble about the latest Buckyball Race has me in the mood for some race action myself so I decide it's time to take a crack at the Colonia Trophy Dash. This is a time trial race which starts at the Dove Enigma, finishes at Jaques, and passes through the following stations along the way:
- Colonia Dream, Ratraii. (Coriolis)
- Moore's Charm, Luchtaine. (Asteroid Base)
- Brazilian Dream, Santos Dumont. (Plantery Port)
- Vera Rubin Complex, Garuda. (Planetary Port)
- Pedersen's Legacy, Mobia. (Planetary Port)
- Fort Mug, Eol Procul Centauri. (Planetary Port)
- Mortimer's Charm, Kinesi. (Orbis)
The first thing I need to do is bookmark all the waypoints, visiting the systems I've not yet been to so I can open the system map and get access to the stations themselves. First stop is Eol Procul Centauri for Fort Mug. Alas I get stuck at the first Neutron I encounter where I pass through the cone about 5 times trying to supercharge before I realise my mistake, which I then share with @sgurr (who I've been in constant communication with while he attempts the impossible - an SRV circumnavigation of Pomeche 2C).
That sorted it's on to Fort Mug, the Hutton Truckers Colonial residence (thankfully easier to get to than Hutton Orbital!).
Next to tick off the list and bookmark is Mortimer's Charm in the Kinesi system. What I hadn't expected to see on arrival tho' was this!
What an extraordinary station! I've never seen anything quite like it before.
Third on my list is the system of Mobia. When I get there however I'm once again distracted by the lure of another notable stellar phenomena and a whole school of Umbrella Molluscs.
Wonderful! Anyway, onwards to Pedersen's Legacy, a planetary base sat right in the middle of a crater within a crater on a tiny little potato planet.
This moon (with a radius of 332km and some nice views and terrain) is actually a prime candidate for an SRV circumnavigation. I don't have time for that now but I do go for a 15 minute drive to the outer rim of the outer crater.
And finally, Brazilian Dream in Santos Dumont.
That's it - bookmarks all sorted and we are ready to rock and roll.
I return to the Dove Enigma, strip off all surplus modules and then have time for one quick practice lap where I soon discover that the main problem with this race is going to be obscured jumps. I finish with a time of 37 minutes and 46 seconds which would place me 13th. Errr, yeah - looks like I'll be spending the next few days trying to get that down to something a bit more respectable before submitting an official run.
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I wanted to do this buckyball thing for quite a while now...I should start with it...
If you're out in Colonia this is a great one to try as it follows a fairly classic Buckyball formula of zipping around a bunch of nice stations as fast as you can. The only added complexity here is that several of the stations are planetary (a couple between 1g and 2g). This means you'll need to work on not-only improving your supercruise approaches but also on perfecting fast surface approaches, and it also means you'll run into obscured jumps which (especially on the higher g worlds) can cost you many minutes. Tomorrow I'll be looking at some ideas about how to try and minimise the cost of those. From the scoreboard it also looks like a wide variety of different ships have the possibility of being competitive.
Day 26 - 14.01.3307
BUCKYBALL RACING AND AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION
Before I make my morrning attempt at the Trophy Dash I pay a quick visit to the two high-gravity worlds on the course to see how the planetary alignments are favouring those obscured jumps today. Not good is the answer so I insert a couple of extra waypoints into my route who's targets are directly above each of the two planetary ports, thus giving me a fast way to escape their gravity wells at the expense of two extra jumps. Then it's back to the Dove Enigma, racing goggles on and ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
First real attempt should place me 8th on the leaderboard with a time of 35:30, not a bad start. I don't have time for another run this morning and am just about to quit for the day when I notice this on the mission board.
Well that I do have time for, Ogmar here I come!
Now I see why the station is called "Whirling Station"!
I drop off the data and get the invitation to go and visit Mel Brandon.
That's another one for the todo list. Before I head back to the race start line tho' just enough time for one last photo of this place.
BUCKYBALL RACING AND AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION
Before I make my morrning attempt at the Trophy Dash I pay a quick visit to the two high-gravity worlds on the course to see how the planetary alignments are favouring those obscured jumps today. Not good is the answer so I insert a couple of extra waypoints into my route who's targets are directly above each of the two planetary ports, thus giving me a fast way to escape their gravity wells at the expense of two extra jumps. Then it's back to the Dove Enigma, racing goggles on and ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
First real attempt should place me 8th on the leaderboard with a time of 35:30, not a bad start. I don't have time for another run this morning and am just about to quit for the day when I notice this on the mission board.
Well that I do have time for, Ogmar here I come!
Now I see why the station is called "Whirling Station"!
I drop off the data and get the invitation to go and visit Mel Brandon.
That's another one for the todo list. Before I head back to the race start line tho' just enough time for one last photo of this place.
So you didn't stop for a game of "Space Golf" at Whirling Station then, Alec?
(and, naughty you forgot the succinctly named Dervish Platform!)
(and, naughty you forgot the succinctly named Dervish Platform!)
You also discovered that the Brazilian Dream seem to be faceplanting next to the landing pad?
I think mine was more of a belly flop and bounce
I think mine was more of a belly flop and bounce
Day 27 - 15.01.3307
BUCKYBALLING BRANDON'S BOUNTIES
The day starts with another attempt at the Colonia Trophy Dash but more obscured jumps than yesterday plus a loop of actual shame at Jaques result in a time 2 minutes slower than my previous attempt. I don't really have time for a second attempt today (not much point either with the planets aligned the way they currently are) so I have a look at the requirements for that new engineer invite from Mel Brandon. Hmmm, 100,000 credits worth of bounty vouchers? piece of cake.
Before starting my Buckyball runs I'd put most of Outworn Dalliances' modules into storage so currently she's just an engine on a hull with some weak anti-collision shields. I swap the shields for something a bit tougher, wack some big no-brainer guns on (combination of beams and multi-cannons) and head off to Luchtaine where I find a convenient RES site.
With the ship reconfigued for brute force combat ..
.. I now justkill steal from assist the local security forces in bringing to justice a handful of WANTED targets ..
.. and then head on down to The Brig to give Mel his payment.
Job done and a quick spot of engineering later that's our next Colonia engineer up to grade 5 access.
Incidentally, I gather via a recent broadcast from Lave Radio that grade 5 access is now available at all the Colonia engineers so it seems I'm out here at a fairly significant moment in Colonia history.
Anyway, last remaining task today is to return to the Dove Enigma start line, sell back the guns (which don't sit well on a racing build) and swap out the now inappropriate christmas decorations for a more classic dashboard arrangement.
o7 until tomorrow's race attempt commanders!
BUCKYBALLING BRANDON'S BOUNTIES
The day starts with another attempt at the Colonia Trophy Dash but more obscured jumps than yesterday plus a loop of actual shame at Jaques result in a time 2 minutes slower than my previous attempt. I don't really have time for a second attempt today (not much point either with the planets aligned the way they currently are) so I have a look at the requirements for that new engineer invite from Mel Brandon. Hmmm, 100,000 credits worth of bounty vouchers? piece of cake.
Before starting my Buckyball runs I'd put most of Outworn Dalliances' modules into storage so currently she's just an engine on a hull with some weak anti-collision shields. I swap the shields for something a bit tougher, wack some big no-brainer guns on (combination of beams and multi-cannons) and head off to Luchtaine where I find a convenient RES site.
With the ship reconfigued for brute force combat ..
.. I now just
.. and then head on down to The Brig to give Mel his payment.
Job done and a quick spot of engineering later that's our next Colonia engineer up to grade 5 access.
Incidentally, I gather via a recent broadcast from Lave Radio that grade 5 access is now available at all the Colonia engineers so it seems I'm out here at a fairly significant moment in Colonia history.
Anyway, last remaining task today is to return to the Dove Enigma start line, sell back the guns (which don't sit well on a racing build) and swap out the now inappropriate christmas decorations for a more classic dashboard arrangement.
o7 until tomorrow's race attempt commanders!
Day 28 - 16.01.3307
MINING FOR MARSHA
I make a few more attempts at the Trophy Dash, some go reasonably well ..
.. others not so much ..
.. but all in all, although I get some nice views ..
.. and find something weird on a planet ..
.. I'm basically just waiting for the galaxy to favour me with better planetary alignment. I decide it's time to get Marsha Hicks her Osmium. First I head back to Jaques to give the Outworn Dalliances another facelift, this time as a mining ship - which means I have a fairly long shopping list!
Then I head out to one of the rings right there in the Colonia system (I could have started looking up the best places to mine Osmium I suppose but instead I just wing it).
Although I'm fairly sure I won't find any Osmium motherlodes I can't resist the temptation to try out the recently fixed Pulse Wave Analyser so I do just crack open a few cores for fun ..
.. picking up a bunch of Platinum ..
.. and Painite ..
.. which I'll sell later for profit. Then it's time to get the mining laser out ..
.. and start collecting ..
.. and refining that Osmium.
Before long I've got the required 10 tons for Marsha as well as a bunch of other stuff that'll easily cover my Jaques bar tab (which has become considerable).
Next stop - The Watchtower in Tir. Uh oh, someone's spotted my big haul!
Luckily I make it to Marsha's without incident, hand over the rocks ..
.. and do a spot of lightweight limpet engineering to get that grade 5 access.
I stop briefly to admire the view ..
.. and then head off in search of a good price for the rest of this stuff. The galaxy map suggests that good old Kremmen's Respite is importing Rhodplumsite ..
.. but when I get there it becomes apparent that I can do considerably better if I sell this stuff at Bolden's Enterprise in Tir (hang on, wasn't I just there?).
Anyway, from there I follow another lead which suggests that a privately owned fleet carrier back in Colonia is the best place to sell the Painite.
My last stop today sends me to the HMS Angus Young. And then? Well I reckon it must be nearly beer-o-clock!
MINING FOR MARSHA
I make a few more attempts at the Trophy Dash, some go reasonably well ..
.. others not so much ..
.. but all in all, although I get some nice views ..
.. and find something weird on a planet ..
.. I'm basically just waiting for the galaxy to favour me with better planetary alignment. I decide it's time to get Marsha Hicks her Osmium. First I head back to Jaques to give the Outworn Dalliances another facelift, this time as a mining ship - which means I have a fairly long shopping list!
- detailed surface scanner
- refinery
- cargo racks
- pulse wave analyser
- collector limpets
- prospector limpets
- mining laser
- sub-surface displacement missile
- seismic charge launcher
- abrasion blaster
Then I head out to one of the rings right there in the Colonia system (I could have started looking up the best places to mine Osmium I suppose but instead I just wing it).
Although I'm fairly sure I won't find any Osmium motherlodes I can't resist the temptation to try out the recently fixed Pulse Wave Analyser so I do just crack open a few cores for fun ..
.. picking up a bunch of Platinum ..
.. and Painite ..
.. which I'll sell later for profit. Then it's time to get the mining laser out ..
.. and start collecting ..
.. and refining that Osmium.
Before long I've got the required 10 tons for Marsha as well as a bunch of other stuff that'll easily cover my Jaques bar tab (which has become considerable).
Next stop - The Watchtower in Tir. Uh oh, someone's spotted my big haul!
Luckily I make it to Marsha's without incident, hand over the rocks ..
.. and do a spot of lightweight limpet engineering to get that grade 5 access.
I stop briefly to admire the view ..
.. and then head off in search of a good price for the rest of this stuff. The galaxy map suggests that good old Kremmen's Respite is importing Rhodplumsite ..
.. but when I get there it becomes apparent that I can do considerably better if I sell this stuff at Bolden's Enterprise in Tir (hang on, wasn't I just there?).
Anyway, from there I follow another lead which suggests that a privately owned fleet carrier back in Colonia is the best place to sell the Painite.
My last stop today sends me to the HMS Angus Young. And then? Well I reckon it must be nearly beer-o-clock!
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Day 28 - 16.01.3307 (continued)
BUCKYBALL UPDATE
I forgot to mention earlier but the Colonia Trophy Dash leaderboard currently stands as follows:
So a respectable 8th place thanks to Thursday's 35:30 run. More on this in a second but first let's get back to the HMS Angus Young.
Having sold the Painite I took off again as I didn't want to come back later and find myself 500ly away (or worse). When I do return to the cockpit the lighting has improved so I take the opportunity to photograph the carrier before returning to the Dove Enigma where I sell the rest of the minerals and strip all the mining equipmment back off again.
It's time for another crack at the race!
The first run goes well ..
.. the second not so well ..
This view out of the side window being a common occurence as you boost (or supercruise) upwards and wait for your target to crawl into view so you can make the jump.
Alignments are changing all the time and I also make plenty of mistakes so it's only afterwards when I check back over the evidence that I get an unexpected surprise.
TIME: 34:30
I submit the run. That should put me in 5th place now and there's still plenty of room for improvement.
BUCKYBALL UPDATE
I forgot to mention earlier but the Colonia Trophy Dash leaderboard currently stands as follows:
So a respectable 8th place thanks to Thursday's 35:30 run. More on this in a second but first let's get back to the HMS Angus Young.
Having sold the Painite I took off again as I didn't want to come back later and find myself 500ly away (or worse). When I do return to the cockpit the lighting has improved so I take the opportunity to photograph the carrier before returning to the Dove Enigma where I sell the rest of the minerals and strip all the mining equipmment back off again.
It's time for another crack at the race!
The first run goes well ..
.. the second not so well ..
This view out of the side window being a common occurence as you boost (or supercruise) upwards and wait for your target to crawl into view so you can make the jump.
Alignments are changing all the time and I also make plenty of mistakes so it's only afterwards when I check back over the evidence that I get an unexpected surprise.
TIME: 34:30
I submit the run. That should put me in 5th place now and there's still plenty of room for improvement.
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Day 29 - 17.01.3307
TOO FAST TOO OBSCURED
Five words that every racer fears when planetary waypoints are involved ..
And just to really let me know that today is not destined to be a race day ..
The good news however is that Edelgard Von Rhein has approved yesterday's submission so it's official, I'm now in 5th place and just 30 seconds behind Ozric's Asp Explorer.
Other than that not much to report. I went back to Kraken's Retreat to see if Etienne's ridge was in daylight (I'm half wondering if it might make for a Colonia counterpart to the Pomeche Ridge Challenge) but sadly it was still dark.
TOO FAST TOO OBSCURED
Five words that every racer fears when planetary waypoints are involved ..
And just to really let me know that today is not destined to be a race day ..
The good news however is that Edelgard Von Rhein has approved yesterday's submission so it's official, I'm now in 5th place and just 30 seconds behind Ozric's Asp Explorer.
Other than that not much to report. I went back to Kraken's Retreat to see if Etienne's ridge was in daylight (I'm half wondering if it might make for a Colonia counterpart to the Pomeche Ridge Challenge) but sadly it was still dark.
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Day 30 - 19.01.3307
REPUTATION TARNISHED
This was bound to happen, I've become obsessed with trying to get a better time on the Colonia Trophy Dash. Two further days of racing have passed by and all I have to show for it is a run that's 2 seconds faster (not yet submitted). I may have hit a plateau. It's time to take a break and do something else. I've heard rumour of a mysterious crash site in the Colonia system so I return to the Dove Enigma where I stored all my gear, refit the detailed surface scanner, SRVs and cargo racks and then open up the system map.
It's hard to see with all these darn fleet carriers in the way but eventually I spot that "OTHER (1)" on Colonia 5 e a, well that's got to be worth checking out.
Just a single probe later (thanks to the highly engineered DSS I got from that CG before leaving) and I've discovered the rumoured crash site is actually a cache site.
Intriguing, definitely worth a closer look.
From up here I can already see cargo containers and wreckage strewn all down the mountainside. It's tricky finding a landing spot but eventually we're down.
SRV deployed I head on up the slope. There's a large trespass zone here and no real way to investigate further without entering it. I'll just have to pay the fines later. Actually, scratch that, in less than a minute I'm already WANTED by Jaques. Somebody seriously wants to keep this place under wraps!
There's a huge amount of wreckage up here, something really big must have crashed further up the slope.
Considering the tight security it's strangely quiet tho'.
Too quiet!
With no warning two skimmers and a flippin' Goliath rise up from behind a ridge. The skimmers I could handle easily but that Goliath is a brute. I hastily dismiss the ship (which has already come under fire) and run for cover.
While I'm sat here wondering what to do I get a ping from my inbox.
Well crap, this whole Hyford situation has gone South real fast. Nothing for it ... I'm gonna have to fight my way out of here!
TO BE CONTINUED
REPUTATION TARNISHED
This was bound to happen, I've become obsessed with trying to get a better time on the Colonia Trophy Dash. Two further days of racing have passed by and all I have to show for it is a run that's 2 seconds faster (not yet submitted). I may have hit a plateau. It's time to take a break and do something else. I've heard rumour of a mysterious crash site in the Colonia system so I return to the Dove Enigma where I stored all my gear, refit the detailed surface scanner, SRVs and cargo racks and then open up the system map.
It's hard to see with all these darn fleet carriers in the way but eventually I spot that "OTHER (1)" on Colonia 5 e a, well that's got to be worth checking out.
Just a single probe later (thanks to the highly engineered DSS I got from that CG before leaving) and I've discovered the rumoured crash site is actually a cache site.
Intriguing, definitely worth a closer look.
From up here I can already see cargo containers and wreckage strewn all down the mountainside. It's tricky finding a landing spot but eventually we're down.
SRV deployed I head on up the slope. There's a large trespass zone here and no real way to investigate further without entering it. I'll just have to pay the fines later. Actually, scratch that, in less than a minute I'm already WANTED by Jaques. Somebody seriously wants to keep this place under wraps!
There's a huge amount of wreckage up here, something really big must have crashed further up the slope.
Considering the tight security it's strangely quiet tho'.
Too quiet!
With no warning two skimmers and a flippin' Goliath rise up from behind a ridge. The skimmers I could handle easily but that Goliath is a brute. I hastily dismiss the ship (which has already come under fire) and run for cover.
While I'm sat here wondering what to do I get a ping from my inbox.
Well crap, this whole Hyford situation has gone South real fast. Nothing for it ... I'm gonna have to fight my way out of here!
TO BE CONTINUED
Criminal Scum!!11!one!1Day 30 - 19.01.3307
REPUTATION TARNISHED
This was bound to happen, I've become obsessed with trying to get a better time on the Colonia Trophy Dash. Two further days of racing have passed by and all I have to show for it is a run that's 2 seconds faster (not yet submitted). I may have hit a plateau. It's time to take a break and do something else. I've heard rumour of a mysterious crash site in the Colonia system so I return to the Dove Enigma where I stored all my gear, refit the detailed surface scanner, SRVs and cargo racks and then open up the system map.
It's hard to see with all these darn fleet carriers in the way but eventually I spot that "OTHER (1)" on Colonia 5 e a, well that's got to be worth checking out.
Just a single probe later (thanks to the highly engineered DSS I got from that CG before leaving) and I've discovered the rumoured crash site is actually a cache site.
Intriguing, definitely worth a closer look.
From up here I can already see cargo containers and wreckage strewn all down the mountainside. It's tricky finding a landing spot but eventually we're down.
SRV deployed I head on up the slope. There's a large trespass zone here and no real way to investigate further without entering it. I'll just have to pay the fines later. Actually, scratch that, in less than a minute I'm already WANTED by Jaques. Somebody seriously wants to keep this place under wraps!
There's a huge amount of wreckage up here, something really big must have crashed further up the slope.
Considering the tight security it's strangely quiet tho'.
Too quiet!
With no warning two skimmers and a flippin' Goliath rise up from behind a ridge. The skimmers I could handle easily but that Goliath is a brute. I hastily dismiss the ship (which has already come under fire) and run for cover.
While I'm sat here wondering what to do I get a ping from my inbox.
Well crap, this whole Hyford situation has gone South real fast. Nothing for it ... I'm gonna have to fight my way out of here!
TO BE CONTINUED
Welcome to the dark side
Now I'll have to visit there...
still you have to get a beer (old german recipe) at Helgoland, Home of the Likedeeler of Colonia. Be welcomed...
Prost & o9
Prost & o9