March 26, 3307, Frog at Rochester station, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

I collected rewards for my efforts hauling medicines. The Alliance awarded me an engineered power plant and 6 million credits and an access permit to Sol. The Federation awarded a Type 6 freighter, 4 million credits, and a Alioth permit. I passed through Sol on my way from Duamata to He Bo. Don't tell Mom that I was in Sol without stopping for a visit. I was in a rush. I paused long enough to honk the system and found the Voyager signal. I remember doing that as an engineering class project in high school. I thought it would take me at least a few months to earn a Sol permit. I'll be back for a longer visit and a poke around. The solar system seems so small to me now.

I finished the few runs I've done in this wake period down in Frog. I'll probably run some more missions for them tomorrow.

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 25, 3307, Carmenta at Vernadsky Dock, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

When I first set my sites on a trip to Spica it seemed so far away. I took my time to get there exploring fully each jump along the way. I'm getting used to using the FSS. I spent a big chuck of the 23rd with the FSS manual and it took a while to get all the controls down. Now that I'm used to it, I find it super handy. On my trip I found an unmapped group of planets and moons and set the DSS on them. That brought in a nice bunch of credits and put my name on Galaxy map -- look Mom!! :) COL 285 Sector WL-P B21-3 A 1 is the first planet mapped in my name. That sure is a mouthful. Also, captured some selfies while at Spica, a little something for my photo book.

My exploring build for Audacibus Coeptis worked pretty well. I think I'll need to learn how to synthesize more heatsinks to keep my launchers full. On this very short trip I used two heatsinks and I don't want to be out in deep space and feel like I need to come home for a lousy disposable, heatsink.

I returned the Pirni system and almost hit planet AB1 at super cruise. That would've been an inglorious end.

The reason that I'm at the Carmenta system is that I met a CMDR in Deciat who is associated with a squadron out of 63 G. Capricorni. They're the Diamond Frogs. The squadron I've linked up with is FROG First Freelancers Foundation. I came to check the Diamond Frogs out. As long as they are not pirates, I'll run with them for a bit.

To celebrate my trip to Spica and the medicine runs, I bought a new paint job for Audacibus Coeptis. She looks good in tactical ice.

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 23, 3307, Oisi at Sheckley Station, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

After a long day of medicine transport, I'm ready for a change of scene. So far, I've made 24 trips to He Bo and 8 trips to Duamta. I finished the day with just about 45 million credits. Now, Audacibus Coeptis is back at Sheckley Station in Oisi and reoutfitted with her shields, fuel scoop, SRV hanger, and defensive hardpoints reinstalled. She also has a couple of new auto field-maitenance units installed. She's no longer stuffed to the gills with cargo racks and is ready to face a hard world on our way out to the bubble's edge. I plan to stop in the Pirni system and drop off all of the hardpoints and trim some of her power plant weight. From there we'll do a short shakedown cruise in explorer mode out to Spica and and (hopefully) back.

I'll be heading out in the morning. After all that trucking of medicines to He Bo, I think I'll enjoy one of these beers that I brought back with me ;)

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 23, 3307, Oisi at Sheckley Station, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

I did not anticipate that running advanced medicines into the relief centers would be so profitable. It is monotonous work punctuated by occasional super cruise interdiction fights with would be pirates. None of them have stopped me yet. I'm running at considerable risk with no shields and no weapons. Audacibus Coeptis is configured to carry 124 tonnes of cargo and run fast with 5D thrusters and a 5A FSD. I have made ten runs to He Bo and two runs to Duamata from Oisi in this configuration. All together I've made 19 runs. My credit balance is up over 30 million and with 124 tonnes of advance medicines, I'm clearing about 1.4 million on deliveries and making about 65k on my return trips loaded up with water, beer, wine, and grain typically.

I plan to make some more runs to Duamata today and then start up on delivering to He Bo again later.

Coffee break is over and time to get back to space trucking.

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 22, 3307, He Bo at Krylov Ring station, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

After four successful runs of basic medicine emergency supplies to Krylov Ring in He Bo that I sourced from Weil Station in Kunuvii, I have switched over to advanced medicines from Sheckley Station in Oisi. There are a lot of basic medicines coming in and there is more demand (and more profit) in the advance medicines and so I'm shifting my efforts.

So far, my fear of piracy seems to be misplaced. There are definitely many ships in the He Bo and perhaps there is safety in numbers. I have dropped all my hard points and in this last run I stored my shield generator too. On this last trip someone did try to interdict me in He Bo and I easily evaded the attempt. There would be a lot of effort to try to steal supplies in He Bo and there is not much profit in the payload. I'm going to keep running without the extra weight to see if I can maximize the impact of my trips in and out of He Bo.

Time to get back to making my cargo runs.

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 21, 3307, Sarugh at Yu Enterprise station, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

I've spent the last two days trying out my Asp Explorer build and getting used to the controls. I've done a few local missions and then stretched my legs a bit on some cargo runs. The fuel scoop is no longer a mystery to me and I am glad I went with the biggest, scoopiest star sipper I could fit onto Audacibus Coeptis. I've earned back a few million credits and bumped up my standing with the Feds and some of the factions local to Hyldeptu. I expect I'll be coming back to this station at times for outfitting and ship building needs.

I've signed up to run emergency supplies to the Alliance starport bombing survivors on He Bo. My plan is to run up to Weil Station in Kunuvii and fill my cargo hold with basic medicines. From there I'll go straight to He Bo. I hope to make a few runs like this. I've been so fortunate as I learn the ropes of commanding a star ship. I hope to give back. I'm leary of pirates looking to prey off of the ships pouring in to help the cause. If they're out there, I don't plan to be an easy target.

-- A. T. Mahan

March 19, 3307, Hyldeptu at Schroeder Gateway station, aboard Audacibus Coeptis (Asp Explorer)

Spent last evening and today running mostly passengers from point to point. I picked up a few missions including a Federal Navy job that has earned me the title of recruit. Hey Ma! Look at me in the Navy, who would've thought -- haha. I've bumped up my relationship with the Federation to allied and I am friendly with the Deciat Green Party. Last night I had a really close call with a pirate, CMDR ShadyBearPilot. I've been able to break most interdiction attempts and this one wasn't close. I got caught by surprise and I was quickly pulled out of super cruise after only a brief struggle. I had a 1.2 million credit, hull-damage-adverse passenger onboard and I was about 2,000ls away from our end port. So, I decided I'd run and run hard. I travel with my engines pipped up and I started boosting away from the attacker that wanted me to heave to and give up my cargo, which was only about 50 grand of rutile. If I trusted the knave to take my cargo and go, I would've yielded. I did not and so I ran. He was well behind me and took out my FSD almost right away. I don't know if it was a lucky shot or not, but it sure made running a non-option. Two authority ships came to my rescue and the pirate eliminated them. If I had my FSD up and running I could've jumped. Instead, he hunted me back down again and pulled up face to face for a short distance scan. I deployed my hardpoints and laid into him with my lasers and missiles. We tussled for a bit and he eventually gave up. I guess I was too much fuss for too little reward. There is no doubt he could've continued to pick away at me until I was floating in the wreckage of Viam Sub Rosa.

My pocketbook was up to about 25 million before I journeyed to Schroeder Gateway in the Hyldeptu system. I went there to buy and outfit a discounted Asp Explorer. I'm now piloting Audacibus Coeptis. I've tried to keep her light. I've kept lasers and missiles on her hardpoints. My thought is that I'll leave those at a station when I get to the edge of the bubble. While I'm traveling in the popular regions of the galaxy, it seems that it pays to be a prickly target. Dropping those off should let me peel away weight in my power plant and distribution also. I've kept Viam Sub Rosa and I figure I'll keep using her as a hardened freighter and passenger liner for inside the bubble. At least for now.

--Cmdr A. T. Mahan

March 18, 3307, Enayex at Watt Port station, aboard Viam Sub Rosa (Cobra III)

What a stupid I am. I got to Enayex easy enough and hit the tourist spot. While there I spotted a big, fat Beluga with a bounty on it. I couldn't resist. I pulled in behind her, deployed the one hard point beam laser I had, and pressed fire. Well I got a face full of defense missiles, that disrupted my shields, and took massive hull damage. I also lost comms. This upset my scarf-shopping passenger and his family enough that they demanded to be taken to the nearest station. I don't blame them. I did a stupid thing and put them at extreme risk. They trusted me to take them out into space and back safely. I missed out on an easy 3 million and I'll do better to stick to the task at hand when I've got others onboard.

I did my best to drown my sorrows last night. I'm back on my feet and I plan to continue to run pax around Deciat today.

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 17, 3307, Lalande 13198 at Bramah City station, aboard Viam Sub Rosa (Cobra III)

Dinner at Farseer, Inc. was not what I had in mind and the beer choice was painfully limited. I ate the synthetic meat rations availble and took my tour of the mining operations earlier than planned. I admire the incredible level of automation. I jokingly asked Felicity if she'd plan to replace even explorers with droids and she's already tried. Her response was that so far, she's been unable to program in a curiosity and desire to push outside of the envelope of the known. I'm glad to know I won't be automated out of a job. She needs to work on her automated food and beverage preparation line a bit more too if you ask me. I'm looking forward to my return, but I was feeling restless and decided to head to Garay Terminal for the night.

On my approach, Garay Terminal was aligned directly in front of Deciat 4. This is a situation I typically avoid in case I overshoot for some reason. I thought I'd be OK this time around since there was not much going on. Sure enough, some nimrod tried to interdict me moments before I got to the station. I started my dodging, picked up speed and clanged hard right into the surface of Deciat 4. Fortunately my shields were up and my hull took very little damage. Besides being shaken up a bit myself, Viam Sub Rosa was fine. Her docking computer had a few cards loose and that was easily put straight. When I got back to Garay Terminal, I was too jazzed up to settle in for the night and headed to the pax lounge. There was a tourist eager to see Ring Close Up in HR 1597 and was willing to pay 1.2 million credits for the privilege. Always happy to separate a wealthy sponsor from their money for such a short jaunt (~85LY). She was an easy passenger. I enjoyed the trip too. Ring Close Up really has to be seen to be believed. The tourist beacon is wedged between a large moon and the planet's dense rings. Tricky flying at FSD cruise and the views were spectacular. I picked up an extra hundred K on the exploration data too. I was able to rest easy in the much more comfortable Garay Terminal.

I spent the day traveling from system to system picking up transport and tour groups. I've earned a few more million credits. I'm on a break in a 3M sightseeing run right now. The guy paid me $64K extra for 3 loads of clothing. We're stopped here in Bramah City letting him shop to his heart's content before continuing on to Enayex and then LHS 2405.

Most of my trips were uneventful. I had one customer forget to tell me that what he really wanted to see was the ice geyser on He Qiong 6 A and not just the planet itself. That cost me some time getting him to be satisfied with the trip. In my last jump, I had a really close call at Toyony. The nav beacon dumps you in between two big stars and I struggled to get out before getting toasted.

For these tourist trips I've been dropping off most of my hardpoints. For the sightseeing tours if I only have one cabin full, I'll drop off any extra cabins too to save weight. I think I'll switch over my shields to a 4D also for these runs next time. I still keep one laser on me though. I can't quite get comfortable with the idea of facing this world without at least sidearm to keep the pirates at bay.

Well here comes my happy shopper with a whole lot of clothing. Who needs that many scarves!!! Better get started on my pre-flights.

-- CDR A. T. Mahan

March 16, 3307, Deciat at Fraseer Inc. on planet Deciat 6 a, aboard Viam Sub Rosa (Cobra III)

Success! It took a long time to do it and I quickly gave up trying to transport passengers and cargo along the way in favor of just progressing along a route to get me to Deciat with fuel stops where needed. I did not pick up a fuel scoop. Even the 4D Fuel Scoop that I found in the outfitters did not seem to have a very quick collection rate and stopping for fuel at select systems enabled me to collect exploration data. The stops did expose me to pirates along the way. I was able to dodge them all though. Even the meta-alloy pick up at Darniell's Progress in Maia was uneventful. I figured the area around that station would be crawling with pirates. I was able to engage my FSD just above the surface of Maia A 2 a and leave any potential interceptors behind.

It is clear that Viam Sub Rosa is too heavy for her current role as long distance jumper. I kept the passenger cabins aboard and did not downgrade any of my internals for lighter weight 'D' versions. Nor did I pull off any of my hardpoints. I did sell off one of my utility points. I took several of those systems offline to reduce power demand. I do not know if this impacted fuel consumption or not. This will be something I study. Certainly weight has a great deal to do with jump range and fuel consumption. Most of my jumps between fueling stops were using the most economical route. My thoughts were that even though there was considerably more quantity of jumps and effort, this would yield more exploration data to sell off upon arrival at Farseer, Inc.

At the end of the day, I made it to Deciat. I had to avoid an interdiction attempt on the way to Deciat 6 a. I took an off-axis route to try to avoid any pirates. One snuck in behind me though. After ducking that interception, I swooped straight into Farseer, Inc. I met Felicity Farseer and delivered the meta-alloy she asked for right away and this gave me access to the full facilities at Farseer, Inc. and also access to her Grade 1 modifications. I sold over 5.3 million credits of exploration data to Farseer, Inc. and that earned me access to Grade 4 modifications where applicable. In order to purchase these modifications I will need to return with some rare goods with recipes that depend on the modification desired. I want to modify an Asp Explorer and that carriers are larger FSD than my sturdy little Cobra III can handle.

Tomorrow I will set off to start earning credits toward purchasing and outfitting an Asp Explorer. I'll also need to find the rare goods I'll need to trade for the modifications. My credit balance is up over 13.5 million so I don't have too far to go to get a pretty good start on outfitting my next ship. Before I leave Deciat 6 a, I think I'll take a tour of Felicity's mining operations.

I covered over 390LY as the photon flies today in 68 little jumps. It is time for some chow and a beer or two. It was a good day.

--CDR A. T. Mahan