Only Fools and Hyperspace: Exploring Elite Dangerous

I manage to evade them long enough that I can escape using SuperCruise. I need to find somewhere I can offload this booze, pronto. I could continue heading to Chango Dock and try selling it on the black market, but I've always considered myself more of a grey market person. I check the galaxy map. Ah, 'ere's something, system LP 658-2 has a space station named "Freeport." Free as in duty-free? I think we might 'ave a winner. Even better, the government is listed as "Anarchy," which I'm pretty sure is French for "really cheap prices". Consider me a 'appy chappie. Je suis un oeuf, and all that.

I make the jump to LP 658-2, which sounds an awful lot like you're reading the serial number off a television set. Talking of which, anyone want to buy a...naaaah only joking! Nobody say ol' Derek Carter doesn't have himself a sense of humour. Freeport orbits a browny-orange gas giant with huge yellow rings, not unlike those rings I sold at...aaaah got you again! Ain't I a card?

I'm only a few light-seconds out from Freeport when the Interdiction alarm sounds again. Not the rozzers again surely!

The good news is, it isn't the police.

The bad news is, it's pirates. Three of 'em. All flying Cobra Mark III 'eavy assault craft.

I'm brown bread.

They want me to drop my cargo. But I'm so close to Freeport, and there's no guarantee they won't fry me if I comply anyway. So I decide to make a run for it, and hit the SuperCruise. 'Ere goes nuthin'...

Another alert sparks up. The mass of the planet above me is affectin' the charge on my engines, slowing them by a factor of twelve.

All together now.

Yooooooooooooooouuuuu Plonkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The three cobras fire on me, cutting through my shields and into the ships 'ull, which quickly drops to eighty percent integrity. I weave and duck and dive with every punch, like a punter watching an illegal boxing match, only I'll lose far more than my bet if these bruisers knock out my ship. Fifty percent. Sparks fly across my dashboard as I switch all power to my engines and boost toward the mercs, trying to get amongst them so they can't all shoot me at the same time, but it's a stalling tactic at best. Twenty percent. The glass on my cockpit window cracks. The drive has charged, but there's a four second delay before it kicks in. Two percent...

Space goes white. At first I think it's game over. But then darkness returns, and I'm away. I quickly drop into the space around Freeport, and cruise to the safety of the dock. And yes, alcohol is legal to trade in this system. In the end, I make 250 credits of profit from this venture. Not bad for a first sale.

The only problem is, repairs to my ship will cost 1200 credits. Youuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

Wait a moment. If your ship is destroyed in Elite Dangerous, you get a choice, either you can buyback your outfit at a reduced rate, or you can get a free Sidewinder. And since I only 'ave the beginner's equipment anyway...

Well, a little insurance fraud never 'urt anyone...