As I landed my DBX on a lonely world just outside the outer edge of the Lagoon Nebula, I set myself up with a real nice view of mountains reaching up into a setting sun. I powered down the external lights and took some quick screenshots before preparing to log off for the evening. This would be my last deep-space landing - next stop: Federation space where my other ships had been gathering dust for awhile.
As I did a quick review of my mapped route and pondered what my cartographics would be paying this time, like many times before I began to reminisce about my real life as a camper (I'm quite fond of both weekend camping as well as backpacking) and some of my experiences as a young explorer.
There are so many opportunities available to Elite: Dangerous when it comes to deep-space exploration, many of which can be completed solo or with groups. Below are varying ideas placed into the context of a story. A number of features existing (and not existing) are present as the story progresses. Read at your leisure and comment on features that you like the idea of. I tried to envision what a day in the black COULD be like and incorporated feature ideas I have read about in these forums or developed on my own. Enjoy!
This story follows me chasing a lead from Catrographics about a lost explorer.
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Day 87: 2,365 Lightyears from SagA*
Got into system, no signals detected. Cartographics' lost and found indicated Mr. Stalls had last communicated low fuel from here - if he had a wreck nearby, it was in this system or within 10ly. Only one planet suitable for landing, decided to do some extra surveying while I thought on my next move. That and, if I was flying a broken Beluga, I'd probably land.
Had a rough landing, the magnetosphere on this world is playing havoc with the landing software. Had to do a visual check twice to make sure the landing gear deployed and stayed deployed. Altimeter and compass are on the fritz - up is down about as often as left is right. Top it off with high gravity from the dense metallic core and you have a recipe for a...well, I already said it once.
Once down I got the SRV deployed and began surveying for an outcrop. Dense metal worlds aren't rare, but the surface scanner couldn't even read the makeup of this world it was bouncing the signal so hard. Surface was relatively smooth, very dusty, and with few craters. Along the way I started synthesizing a surface probe and deep-core sampler.
After about 5 kilometers, and nothing on scanner, I decided to switch modes - magnetic was, of course, useless and read 100% in all directions (including up, oddly). Thermal didn't read anything besides my ship in the distance. Light, however, came back positive. Typically don't use it except for icy worlds, but I figured it was worth investigating. Sure enough, an outcrop had formed with a rather smooth metallic surface reflecting the local star's light - put me about 6 kilometers out from landing.
Probe went in like a champ - the metals easily melted under such pressure. Got about 10m in and there was pushback. Gave the engines another pip, cycled the SRV auxiliary motor and it broke through. Rest was cake to 25m, max depth. Lots of goodies, particularly arsenic in above average quantities - 12% content! Quite a lot of iron though - deep-core sampling was not going to be easy.
Repositioned the SRV so the solar panels got a little extra juice in preparation for the fuel about to be spent. Attached the deep-core sampler to the probe and initiated its descent. Held firm 1m/minute until 67m, then full-stop. Screech was so loud I didn't even hear the auxiliary motor burn up instantaneously. Few minutes of wiring and a healthy dose of Sulphur-based soldering, I was back in business. Adjusted to four pips on the engines and let it rip - screech was horrendous, but two meters later and it broke though again. Got the full 250m out of it before it stopped. 10% fuel, but battery backup was 100% - more than enough to get back to ship.
After calibrating the micro-refinery for Arsenic, I threw the sampler in reverse and gave it four pips in system. Cores came out orderly into the refinery without a problem. I was getting a 1 to 3 yield until core sample 38, then nothing. Got two more units out of the remaining 212m of cores - crazy amounts of iron. I guess the good stuff was relatively superficial - made a note to seek out other outcrops before departing and set drill depths to 50m or less.
Returned to find ship had auto-launched and was nowhere to be found. So much for safety settings. Prayed for an hour before I recalled it. Religion is real, it came down without a hitch.
Just kidding, belly flopped. Badly. At least it didn't land upside-down. Got out of the SRV and made my way to rear hatch - got in with no problems. Landing gear completely smashed. Verticals all came back clean, if only a little dirty and dust-filled. So...I could take off, just wouldn't be able to land clean...let alone load up the SRV with all that shiny arsenic. Good news: I had plenty of iron and data chips. Bad news, iron wasn't on the ship...it was in the planet.
More bad news: I didn't have enough data chips to fix the landing gear AND synthesize another deep-core sampler.
Deactivated thrusters and verticals to prevent (another) auto-launch, exited ship and got back into SRV. Vented the arsenic and drove off before I could see it break down from the stellar radiation. Set sensors to light and found another outcrop. Cursed the whole 4 kilometers or so. Squeezed the trigger so hard I cracked the spring. Added trigger spring to shopping list next to gun for the ship salesman that lied to me about the safety distance launch. Two hours later, had the 200 iron units needed for the ship.
Got back to the ship, fired up the synthesis, and twiddled my thumbs for two more hours while it manufactured new coils for the landing gear. Installation was a breeze - like they say, "Easy On with Lakon". Powered up thrusters, launched, landed. Quick trot to the SRV and the family was all back together again...less a few hours and a lot of arsenic. Pulled up the deep-core sampler blueprint and hoped a data chip was mistakenly not catalogued. Nope, short just one.
Got an idea and pulled up Cartograhics' lost and found again - Stalls had reported several malfunctions. Beluga's are awful big - with gravity this high, he probably didn't even bother trying to land. If I could find that Beluga, dead or alive there would be data chips. Alive - arsenic wouldn't be the only prize I'd be going home with.
Launched, pointed towards the black sky, got into orbit and began searching for signal traces again. 58Ls off the planet I finally got a ping...degraded emissions. Beluga was torn to shreds, no combat wear and tear that I could see. Recovered the black box and several pods - Stalls, amazingly, was alive. After feeling like a hero, I got my business cap back on and began scanning the wreckage - came up with four data chips, more than enough. Stalls and company weren't in a hurry - frozen in pods and all - so I opted to get my arsenic back.
Landed (smoothly this time) and began preparing SRV. Shut down the thrusters for 'safety' - still ticked about that - and deployed SRV. Light scanner worked great again. A few hours later, I trundle back with 55 units of arsenic. Tried to make talk with Stalls and his passengers but, you know, cryogenics. Decided to never tell him I wasn't exactly in a hurry to get him home.
Realized I never logged the cores for cartographics - do so. System might be a ball of fire and a few rocks, but this geo-data will be pricey with a rare material rate in the double digits. Turn on the radio to listen for alien music while I finish transferring the arsenic off the SRV to the ship. Low hiss, like always. Sounds like nothing because it is nothing. It's a whole lot of nothing. That's what I tell myself anyways.
Pop off the external lights, power down the modules so I burn less fuel while I sleep - keeps the reactor quiet, too. Plot my route to the nearest station...near being relative, as always. Head to quarters and go to sleep. Another day in the bag.
As I did a quick review of my mapped route and pondered what my cartographics would be paying this time, like many times before I began to reminisce about my real life as a camper (I'm quite fond of both weekend camping as well as backpacking) and some of my experiences as a young explorer.
There are so many opportunities available to Elite: Dangerous when it comes to deep-space exploration, many of which can be completed solo or with groups. Below are varying ideas placed into the context of a story. A number of features existing (and not existing) are present as the story progresses. Read at your leisure and comment on features that you like the idea of. I tried to envision what a day in the black COULD be like and incorporated feature ideas I have read about in these forums or developed on my own. Enjoy!
This story follows me chasing a lead from Catrographics about a lost explorer.
---
Day 87: 2,365 Lightyears from SagA*
Got into system, no signals detected. Cartographics' lost and found indicated Mr. Stalls had last communicated low fuel from here - if he had a wreck nearby, it was in this system or within 10ly. Only one planet suitable for landing, decided to do some extra surveying while I thought on my next move. That and, if I was flying a broken Beluga, I'd probably land.
Had a rough landing, the magnetosphere on this world is playing havoc with the landing software. Had to do a visual check twice to make sure the landing gear deployed and stayed deployed. Altimeter and compass are on the fritz - up is down about as often as left is right. Top it off with high gravity from the dense metallic core and you have a recipe for a...well, I already said it once.
Once down I got the SRV deployed and began surveying for an outcrop. Dense metal worlds aren't rare, but the surface scanner couldn't even read the makeup of this world it was bouncing the signal so hard. Surface was relatively smooth, very dusty, and with few craters. Along the way I started synthesizing a surface probe and deep-core sampler.
After about 5 kilometers, and nothing on scanner, I decided to switch modes - magnetic was, of course, useless and read 100% in all directions (including up, oddly). Thermal didn't read anything besides my ship in the distance. Light, however, came back positive. Typically don't use it except for icy worlds, but I figured it was worth investigating. Sure enough, an outcrop had formed with a rather smooth metallic surface reflecting the local star's light - put me about 6 kilometers out from landing.
Probe went in like a champ - the metals easily melted under such pressure. Got about 10m in and there was pushback. Gave the engines another pip, cycled the SRV auxiliary motor and it broke through. Rest was cake to 25m, max depth. Lots of goodies, particularly arsenic in above average quantities - 12% content! Quite a lot of iron though - deep-core sampling was not going to be easy.
Repositioned the SRV so the solar panels got a little extra juice in preparation for the fuel about to be spent. Attached the deep-core sampler to the probe and initiated its descent. Held firm 1m/minute until 67m, then full-stop. Screech was so loud I didn't even hear the auxiliary motor burn up instantaneously. Few minutes of wiring and a healthy dose of Sulphur-based soldering, I was back in business. Adjusted to four pips on the engines and let it rip - screech was horrendous, but two meters later and it broke though again. Got the full 250m out of it before it stopped. 10% fuel, but battery backup was 100% - more than enough to get back to ship.
After calibrating the micro-refinery for Arsenic, I threw the sampler in reverse and gave it four pips in system. Cores came out orderly into the refinery without a problem. I was getting a 1 to 3 yield until core sample 38, then nothing. Got two more units out of the remaining 212m of cores - crazy amounts of iron. I guess the good stuff was relatively superficial - made a note to seek out other outcrops before departing and set drill depths to 50m or less.
Returned to find ship had auto-launched and was nowhere to be found. So much for safety settings. Prayed for an hour before I recalled it. Religion is real, it came down without a hitch.
Just kidding, belly flopped. Badly. At least it didn't land upside-down. Got out of the SRV and made my way to rear hatch - got in with no problems. Landing gear completely smashed. Verticals all came back clean, if only a little dirty and dust-filled. So...I could take off, just wouldn't be able to land clean...let alone load up the SRV with all that shiny arsenic. Good news: I had plenty of iron and data chips. Bad news, iron wasn't on the ship...it was in the planet.
More bad news: I didn't have enough data chips to fix the landing gear AND synthesize another deep-core sampler.
Deactivated thrusters and verticals to prevent (another) auto-launch, exited ship and got back into SRV. Vented the arsenic and drove off before I could see it break down from the stellar radiation. Set sensors to light and found another outcrop. Cursed the whole 4 kilometers or so. Squeezed the trigger so hard I cracked the spring. Added trigger spring to shopping list next to gun for the ship salesman that lied to me about the safety distance launch. Two hours later, had the 200 iron units needed for the ship.
Got back to the ship, fired up the synthesis, and twiddled my thumbs for two more hours while it manufactured new coils for the landing gear. Installation was a breeze - like they say, "Easy On with Lakon". Powered up thrusters, launched, landed. Quick trot to the SRV and the family was all back together again...less a few hours and a lot of arsenic. Pulled up the deep-core sampler blueprint and hoped a data chip was mistakenly not catalogued. Nope, short just one.
Got an idea and pulled up Cartograhics' lost and found again - Stalls had reported several malfunctions. Beluga's are awful big - with gravity this high, he probably didn't even bother trying to land. If I could find that Beluga, dead or alive there would be data chips. Alive - arsenic wouldn't be the only prize I'd be going home with.
Launched, pointed towards the black sky, got into orbit and began searching for signal traces again. 58Ls off the planet I finally got a ping...degraded emissions. Beluga was torn to shreds, no combat wear and tear that I could see. Recovered the black box and several pods - Stalls, amazingly, was alive. After feeling like a hero, I got my business cap back on and began scanning the wreckage - came up with four data chips, more than enough. Stalls and company weren't in a hurry - frozen in pods and all - so I opted to get my arsenic back.
Landed (smoothly this time) and began preparing SRV. Shut down the thrusters for 'safety' - still ticked about that - and deployed SRV. Light scanner worked great again. A few hours later, I trundle back with 55 units of arsenic. Tried to make talk with Stalls and his passengers but, you know, cryogenics. Decided to never tell him I wasn't exactly in a hurry to get him home.
Realized I never logged the cores for cartographics - do so. System might be a ball of fire and a few rocks, but this geo-data will be pricey with a rare material rate in the double digits. Turn on the radio to listen for alien music while I finish transferring the arsenic off the SRV to the ship. Low hiss, like always. Sounds like nothing because it is nothing. It's a whole lot of nothing. That's what I tell myself anyways.
Pop off the external lights, power down the modules so I burn less fuel while I sleep - keeps the reactor quiet, too. Plot my route to the nearest station...near being relative, as always. Head to quarters and go to sleep. Another day in the bag.