Lotus Rose wrote:For your reading pleasure
~ An hour in the life of a mining rorqual.
Undock in an ungodly expensive space brick with drones which cost more than a carrier, each.
Align and warp somewhere with rocks to mine.
Eventually arrive.
Realise that the closest unmined rock is 30k away, start to move in that direction.
Sigh and warp back to a place you can actually dock your space brick and fit some kind of module which makes you go faster.
Eventually arrive back in the busy place that rocks go to die.
Find a free space rock, start the journey in the direction.
Try to start slowing the brick, frantically pressing control space.
Bounce off the looming space rock.
Sigh and reposition. Launch the scary expensive drones.
Manically check local and intel channels for the 20th time, finger hovering over the indy core.
Tell yourself that it is all going to be ok.
Push the button. Briefly wonder if you are bad because you clicked it. A clicker. Going to hell now.
Watch the slowest drones in the universe as they bumble to the selected rock.
Check intel again.
Rats spawn. Look to see who is getting the business. Realise that no one is going to kill them.Pull in the slow mining buddies, sigh, kill the rats.
Watch as someone loots the faction spawn.
Heart races as you read about the command destroyers coming to steal the carrier priced peanut sized little miners that are finally arriving at the rock.
Decycle the indy core... just in case.
The threat is close, pull the drones back into the nest.
Wait a while, with much checking that the coast is clear.
Notice that another mining behemoth has drifted close to you and has cheekily started mining the rock you spent an age approaching with murder in your heart.
Sigh and approach another rock. Decide to activate indy core as you decelerate. Realise that your mining brick is slowing, well, very slowly.
Bounce off the rock and wait out the rest of the indy core timer as you drift further and further away.
Watch as your little drones take a painfully long time to make it back to you to deposit their goodness as you float into the distance.
Sigh, wait out the timer and reposition.
Scratch head wondering why all the little barges are approaching you. Get reproached for not making your fleet hangar open so that they can use you to reprocess their ores. Hide all your things in the cargo bay. Don't want people touching your stuff.
Stare at the screen blankly as the rock pops and the drones return to you, dancing about in glee. Realise that the rock had been mined almost to death and left to linger.
Sigh. Warp back to that place, you know, where you can get a rock scanner. Refit.
Make it back to the place where rorquals go to die.
Look around, attempt to use the rock scanner and accidently press the cyno. Short lived relief that it wasn't the panic module followed by horror due to the reaction of everyone around you. Reassure everyone. Resolve to never make that mistake again. Until next time.
Sigh. Wait out the timer. See some space rocks around you popping.
See the cyno finally decycle and feel proud that at least it didn't go into the humiliating second cycle.
Look for a rock to mine, realise that there are only mercoxit rocks left.
Launch yourself at the closest one, wondering where all the other mining rorquals went.
Position. Indy core. Can't mine that mercoxit with these here drones.
Sigh. Wait out timer. Pick finger nails. Check intel for the 131st time.
Head to a place where you can park your fat bottomed mining goddess and get into a procurer to mine the mercoxit after being berated for not cleaning mercoxit up.
Well folks, that's the end of the tale now as clearly, there isn't a rorqual to discuss anymore. Thanks for bearing with me.
These may or may not be actual events related to actual miners with actual miner rage.