Newcomer / Intro No pilots license for me . . .

[Cohen the Worrior]

Panic.

I wake up in a panic. Somebody has his hand over my mouth.

Panic.

Can't see anything. I struggle but the man pins me down with ease.

"sssshhh, ssssshhhh, it's me. Don't shout."
His voice sounds familiar but . . .
I calm down a bit, it's probably a prank by the other cadets.
"I felt a great disturbance in the force".
That's code the cadets use. The voice however is our flight instructor. He removes his hand and I can breath.
"Follow me, bad news".
Minutes later we're in the principles office, none of us in uniform.
"We have a problem cadet, there's money on your head. Lot's of money."
Who? Why?
"You probably can guess why. But that's not important. They plan to kill you as soon as you leave the sandbox. They'll be waiting for you after this class graduates next week."
I'll trade up my ship, I'll meet them head one with a Cobra Mk III, no a Viper.
"That's no match for an FdL, besides you're a terrible shot."
An FdL? I never considered they would sent an FdL after me. I'm dead.
"The plan is you leave the district now. You will not graduate but you get a very convincing license. Take one of the Sideys and we will forget to report it missing.
Head for Maia, go to the listening posts there. Use anarchy and low security systems only to plot your route. Only stop to refuel.
Off you go cadet and good luck."

And with that I am in a Sidewinder. Ditched the srv. A nod from the flight instructor and I take off.
As I am clearing Coelho station I plot the route.
This fuel will not get me far, should have taken a fuel scoop.

 

[Para Handy]

I believe the general consensus is that one should not eat toasted cheese before sleep.

 

[Yingnei Gasua]

Just head over to the nearest Interstellar Factors and pay off the bounty. Taught during the 1st week in the Academy.

 

[Slange Lands]

Rp is fun!
But I am a terrible writer.
So I will throw out suggestions instead.
So first, why the large bounty?
1. Mistaken Identity?
2. Could protagonist actually have been someone significant but whose consciousness was transplanted in the cadet's body for safety, but was then found out?
3. Could the story just be a drug induced hallucination or dream?
4. Is the situation actually a training exercise that needs to be completed successfully for say a black ops progtam?

FDLs have mega terrible jump range. No single ship based bounty hunter would use a FDL, right?

Well I hope Commander Cohen finds some nice pirate friends who just won't sell him off as a slave.

I wonder if Commander Cohen is good at pole dancing?

Good luck, Commander Cohen!

o7

 

[aRJay]

I believe the general consensus is that one should not eat toasted cheese before sleep.

Or if you do counteract the effect by consuming extra alcohol.

 

[WreckRoot]

Let me fix that last paragraph of yours...

And with that I am in a Sidewinder. Ditched the srv. A nod from the flight instructor and I take off.
As I am clearing Coelho station I plot the route.
This fuel will not get me far, should have taken a fuel scoop.
A quick glance on my scanner before I enter hyperspace, I can see my instructor undocking from the station for his regular routine...
... in an FDL...

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

Punched the hyper button on leaving the protected area. Dizzy. Will I ever get used to the hyper jumps? They say some commanders never do.
Honk the system, scan for ships. Nothing. Round the star still scanning. Jump immediately on clearing the target.
Dizzy, honk, scan, nothing, round the star and ju... Hold it, calm down.
Looks like I got out without being followed. Got only two jumps left in the tank, and the plotted route doesn't allow for refueling.
Think think. Need an inhabited system, either to refuel or to get a fuel scoop.
Poring over the map I find a low security barely populated system just in reach and it's in the general direction of Maia.
Perfect, plot the route. Jump, dizzy, can't throw up, honk, scan, some ships but they don't seem a threat. Jump again.
The dizziness is getting worse. Main fuel tank is empty. Honk, scan. Some ships, but they look like miners and traders.
Damn the system has just one outpost and it is far far out. Let's hope the Sidey will get me there.
Twenty minutes later I land on fumes only.
Waiting for the ship to be refueled, I finally get to eat something. The cook isn't half bad either, but anything is better than food cartridges right?
The outpost is basic, not even the simplest outfitting.
Half an hour later I take off again, plot the next leg of the route and make sure to end up at some outpost again.
This time I have more luck, they do have outfitting but not much. I settle for a 1E fuel scoop. It's not much, but it's something.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

While the fuel scoop is a safety net, it doesn't make the flight to Maia more comfortable. The Sidey hugs the exclusion zone before the scoop kicks in and I'm being boiled in the cockpit every time. The ship takes damage and it lasts forever to fill up the tank even half way. Half a tank allows for a longer jump.

When the Sidey got an FSD, it didn't a shower.

Got an Invitation from Elvira Martuuk, was relieved to finally reach Maia and headed for an outpost out back. It's rather well stocked and after a shower and a decent meal I repaired the ship and started to equip it. Damage was extensive and the engineer wanted to know if I flew it all the way from Matet.
Budget is limited as I only hand in one explored system. I don't want them to backtrack my route. Still got promoted to scout.
So a B-rated FSD it is. I head out, looking for the listening post, find it and it points me to two other posts.
But first I went to take a look at the black hole.

not impressed.

 

[Chris Simon]

While the fuel scoop is a safety net, it doesn't make the flight to Maia more comfortable. The Sidey hugs the exclusion zone before the scoop kicks in and I'm being boiled in the cockpit every time. The ship takes damage and it lasts forever to fill up the tank even half way. Half a tank allows for a longer jump.

When the Sidey got an FSD, it didn't a shower.

Got an Invitation from Elvira Martuuk, was relieved to finally reach Maia and headed for an outpost out back. It's rather well stocked and after a shower and a decent meal I repaired the ship and started to equip it. Damage was extensive and the engineer wanted to know if I flew it all the way from Matet.
Budget is limited as I only hand in one explored system. I don't want them to backtrack my route. Still got promoted to scout.
So a B-rated FSD it is. I head out, looking for the listening post, find it and it points me to two other posts.
But first I went to take a look at the black hole.

View attachment 238772
not impressed.

Judging by the glowing heat vents on your Sidey, she was definitely more impressed than you.

Also, just curious, what fuel scoop do you have. When you're about to do something that requires a lot of scooping, a good quality scoop is a must. I usually sacrifice the largest optional compartment and buy a really good one (A or B, depending on what I'm able to find locally). It's a world of difference and Sidey's tank is tiny - it should take just a couple of seconds to fill her up with a decent enough scoop.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

The information from the listening posts pointed me to a base. But I couldn't find it on the galaxy map. Where the coordinates wrong?
Then it struck me, what if the system was not inhabited. Correction, no longer inhabited. Removed the population filter and there it was.
Headed over to the base and a couple of ships were overhead. Scanned them but they didn't seam a threat.
One of them contacted me. She had a message for me, told me to get a Meta Alloy from Maia and take it to Elvira Martuuk.
Went in to investigate the base and then I saw the ships scurry off in a hurry. Should have jumped with them but I didn't.

I didn't notice it until I got hit ! ! ! As I scrambled to get out, the Thargoid pressed on his attack.

Wouldn't have made it out without the upgraded shields.
Threw up again. Was it the jump or the near death experience?
So now I've got the pirates, the law and the Thargoids on my back.
Anyway, got the meta alloy and on my way to the Engineer. Let's hope I get there without trouble.

I probably won't. Not without trouble.

 

[Chris Simon]

I probably won't. Not without trouble.

In this galaxy, you get in trouble for just sitting on the landing pad too long. Of course there will be trouble.
Have you installed an RTG on your ship? The Random Trouble Generator.

 

[Cohen the Worrior]

In this galaxy, you get in trouble for just sitting on the landing pad too long. Of course there will be trouble.
Have you installed an RTG on your ship? The Random Trouble Generator.

Naah, I went all in with the Guaranteed Trouble Generator.
It's a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Anyway, on my way to the engineer I picked up a second hand Hauler in a low security system. These are the ships I'm familiar with, Sideys and Haulers, we used to fly those. With some modifications but still. The Hauler has great jump range even with an SRV.
Landed on a couple of planets for some surface mining. That got the Hauler worn in nicely.
When I put her down at the Engineers pad, she looked rather shabby between the Cobras, Dolphins most of them with fancy paint jobs. But not a single DBX. Also, the landing wasn't really flawless. But any landing you can walk away from right?
Staff was not very friendly, they demanded I show them the meta-alloy before allowing me off the pad.
When we got everything sorted out, and as the technician was about to upgrade the range on the Hauler a crackling voice over the tannoy "these are not the upgrades you want". He stopped immediately and turned towards me: "You're in trouble kid, that was the big boss".

Now what?

Another announcement over the tannoy ", go get a Cobra first and upgrade that". So I took off went to Garay Terminal, shopping for a Cobra Mk III. I was totally expecting to turn in all my exploration data, but it turned out only a small fraction was needed to buy the ship and the 4A fsd. This much money for exploring?
We have been busting our chops for years mining in those old Sideys and Haulers for chump change . . . Dangerous work too with the pd always on the edge of burning out.
Will I ever see them again?

The Cobra Mk III is the first ship that has a real solid feel to it. It feels like it will get your there and back. The Sidey and Hauler felt like toys in comparison.

Anyway, back to the engineer to get the upgrade done.