I finally found a sponsor in, Lalande 28607 Future. They are an independent government looking to expand with under 50 systems under their control. They are looking to expand. It took a little persuasion but they bought in. They provided me with a beacon to call the colony ship to get setup. I’ll do that ASAP, as I’m eager to get started on this project.

A few contacts I have were able to source about 95% of the materials I need within one jump. Its making this build very convenient. The system is called COL 285 Sector DE-K B24-0, it was founded by another commander. It has it all! The best news is we're within 31 ly. We do not need to make a connecting jump. We can make one jump to get loaded up and jump back.

This Panther is such a giant of a transport ship. This thing is hauling 25% more than my Cutter. It’s not that much slower in maneuvering than the Cutter either. For such a large ship I suspected that it would be infinitely more unwieldy. Zorg Peterson really knew what they were doing when they designed this beauty. Flying this makes me so much more attached to that SCO… I did put a 4E rated Sco on the Mudskipper to see how it handled, and it was flailing all over the place when I activated it. It was like strapping a rocket to an RC car. I was unable to keep it on course, which promptly caused an emergency shut down for being too close to a planet’s ring. Lesson learned... We are going to need a ship that can handle that monster.

I found a modest system. It starts with a Class K star. It has 36 bodies total, several gas giants with rings, and an asteroid belt. The good news is, its within a few systems that have all the materials we need to start building. I’ve managed to get the Panther to 31+ly while fully loaded. That means we only need one jump. Extra jumps really add the amount of time we need to devote to transporting materials. I should have materials needed for a Tier 2 Coriolis within a week or two.

The sights of the system are beautiful. I have one Gas Giant that I just fell in love with the rings. Rings with dark gaps in-between the reflective rows. With its Purple Gas Giant host serving as the backdrop.

There’s also a Gas Giant that is completely surrounded by moons that have an atmosphere of methane. Two of them have quite high atmospheric pressures. We will have to take a closer look if any microbial life exists, or if we have lakes beneath the surface. Though it will be some time before we uncover any secrets. For now, we need to get sponsored. If we don’t move fast, someone else might.

I forgot how much I missed this. Constantly searching each system to see what secrets it holds. Time consuming sure, but you don’t realize how much time just disappears. Time doesn’t really have much meaning out in the middle of nowhere. I don’t have a schedule to keep, I don’t have a clock in time, complete freedom.
I have been seeing a few systems that have popped up. I only have 2 candidates right now. I need a few more systems to really settle on a system. Once I figure that out, I’ll get sponsored and lay a claim to the system and start building. The Sponsor orders the Construction Ship, I just have to supply the raw materials. With the Panther it will make that job much easier. There are some amazing systems I’m finding. I jump into this system, I have 2 gas giant and a starwithin 200 light seconds of each other.

I will say this, it does feel like the Dolphin is showing its age. Some of the quality of life features I have in the Panther, I do not have at all in Mudskipper. We have a FSD (SCO) version in the Panther. It has a feature called Super Cruise Overdrive

In Search of a Home -- I decided take the plunge. I jumped into my Dolphin, Mudskipper. This ship I have been everywhere with. From Sol to Oevasy SG-Y d0 (farthest point from Sol). You can say I have about 130,000 Lys worth of history with it. Its just an amazing ship for exploration. She’s small, fast, maneuverable, and runs extremely cool. I hop into the cockpit, COVAS greets me with the last time that I’ve boarded “...4/30/3308”. Damn has it been that long, I know I’ve been trading for years, just didn’t realize. I ask COVAS to double up the preflight checks. Everything should be OK, I still pay techs to maintain the ship.

Shes certainly more cramped than the Panther… I say that jokingly, after all the Dolphin is a passenger ship. It looks like passenger ship, but with a heart of an explorer. I remember when I bought it, I told the techs to strip out everything out of it. I put in a 5 Alpha fuel scoop which lets Mudskipper refill in less than 6 seconds from an empty tank. I placed a 4H FSD booster, that allows us to hit almost 58LY per jump. We have an SRV hanger with 2 Recon Vehicles. I also have repair equipment on board, we can survive whatever the black throws at us. After the drastic internal modifications, The techs asked me, “Why don’t you just buy an Asp Explorer?”, I just smiled. “It’s not a Dolphin.”

Now we just need to find a system that checks all the boxes. We’re looking for numerous amount of bodies, an asteroid belt, a few gas giants… and of course, unpopulated. I’m not hard to please am I? Haha.

I can't believe I've already amassed 1.5 billion from Brewer company, just from deliveries. What in the world am I going to spend these credits on? I could keep delivering and get a fleet carrier, but they run about 10 billion. Sure, 10 billion gets you the ship. But what they don’t tell you are the hidden costs—the upkeep, the logistics, the constant drain. During my delivery runs a lead took me into a system that another commander colonized. The system has everything you need. Need to outfit a ship? Need supplies to start a colony? Need items to trade? This place has it all. This is really giving me an idea... I think I really should start scouting around for a system that I could place my own little mark. There isn't anything wrong with securing my own little corner of the galaxy. I have the most terrific hauler in the galaxy right now, I might as well use it for my own purpose, as opposed to making money for someone else. There really isn't a better time than now.

Here's where I need to mention the downsides of cruising around back water planets. The security of said systems aren't great. Pirates will have scouts stationed planet side to see what you pick up and how much. They will radio that information to the interceptor with the intention of taking you down.

I get hailed while traveling en route to the Minerva System. Its a low level pirate piloting a Federal Assault Ship. The usual threats, "your cargo or your corpse" etc. I wish these guys would get more creative. At least surprise me, maybe sing to me before you attempt to take my life. I spin up the shields and the shield boosters and our point defenses. You can hear the Power Distributor start to whine as we commit 30% of the ships power grid to the shields. COVAS tells me that the interdiction initiated, the ship flails about as the warp bubble is disrupted. The warp bubble collapses, and the ship violently spins, lurches to starboard and promptly snaps back into place. I center the ship, dump what's left in the capacitor into the engine. The pirate gets in right behind me, and opens fire with everything they have. The shield doesn't need to last long, just long enough for the FSD to recover. Torpedoes flood the sensor map, the point defenses are OK but not perfect. I'm certainly not worried, they aren't going to punch through this shield. THUNK ahhhh thats the comforting sound of readiness. I know she's ready to go. COVAS confirms the FSD is GO. I punch it and it starts charging. As COVAS casually reports "shield at 75%". Then I'm back in Super Cruise. No Damage. No Drama.

The beauty of bouncing around backwater planets? You hear whispers about other backwater systems—each looking to move goods, legal and not. I'm not here to judge. I am focused on the legal kind, CMM Composites. Brewer CO has created an artificial demand for it, and I plan to capitalize on it. I'm sure these quiet systems that would normally never get traffic are lighting up. The dock workers do not seem to mind,

I was informed of a system Piscium Sector PT-Q A5-5. That name rolls right of the tongue doesn't it? A system just shy of 7 million people in total. The Star, if we can even call it that, is a lifeless Class Y Sub Brown Dwarf. I'm not going to talk about how cold it is. There is a point where it doesn't matter. Anything under -103°C and the suit starts burning energy to keep warm. Just how cold is it? We're on the 5th planet from the star, and roughly 3100 light seconds out. Bulleid Platform is a massive settlement. Well beyond the size of anything I would have expected out here. I've made 11 trips already back and forth, the loaders and I know each other on a first name basis.

There are some systems out here that are quite unforgiving. I visited a system called Piscium Sector LN-S A4-2... A system of 29 Million people. The Star? A brown dwarf

An old buddy that works the hydroponics garden on the settlement called Pollards Sanctuary, called me and they had CMM Composites they needed to get rid of. Works for me, Brewer has a huge demand for them, and the settlement gets to make some money. A win win.

It takes a different breed of person to live out here. Its below -245°C on my ships computer, and we're about 150ish LS from the brown dwarf. When you think its bad, there's a war on top of it. Rocks, vacuum and war to keep you company.

Finally decided to get the Panther Clipper and damn its big... Doesn't feel that much slower than my old Type 9 / Type 10. What is different is the cargo. I'm still feeling out the ship but so far so good. It's giving me almost 31 LY of jumping while fully fueled & 1072 tons of cargo. Of course that's after taking the Class 7 FSD to Felicity, and a FSD Booster. Slap a shield generator, a few boosters and you're right as rain. Add a 128ton fuel tank, and you can leave the fuel scoop at home.

To me though.... it looks more like a frog than a panther.

No sooner than I bought this beast, Brewer is asking help to replenish the colonization ships, and they are paying out BIG money while doing it. This looks like a perfect time to give the Panther is shakedown run. Keystone... I think it's a fitting name for a ship like this. This ship will be the backbone of trading moving forward. Commerce will love this design by Zorgen Peterson.