There is difference between autopiloted jump and manual jump: the autopilot stops the ship while the jumpdrive is charging, but if you start jump manually, then you can keep moving and turning to the end. Lets make it two differences: the autopilot refuses to activate if you are still next to a Station.Joe McCracken wrote:LOL! I have done that SO many times!! Got to be fast and use that jump drive!Aaaaaaand there I am docked at the pirate base, having autodocked myself into range of the laser towers.
You can thus choose between (A) fly to the open and be sitting duck for several seconds, (B) initiate jump the moment the clamps detach, or (C) just dash out, preferably keep the Station as cover and use the Strafe Drive for extra dodging and velocity. (Every ship and spacesuit has Strafe Drive.)
There is also (D) sufficient number of Tomahawks, but that is for later game.
The name of the sector that has the Pirate Base ...
The race military hates Pirates. They hunt and destroy all that they find. That includes Pirate stations, even when the stations are in Pirate sectors. As result, Pirate Bases are frequently demolished. Those Bases do respawn after a while, but in random sector. In other words, Bases do "move around".
That said, my X3AP game has two suspicious "situations":
Very early on I did build a weapon Forge for a Pirate client. The Station is in Pirate sector and is clearly owned by a Pirate. As said, the race military does take interest. For several ingame weeks now Argon Cerberus, two Paranid Deimos, and their escorts have been camping around that Forge. The Forges shield is down, and it has taken some hull damage, but no further.
I have made deliveries to that Forge, but frankly, being in sector is unnerving.
The second case is more recent. A Pirate Base has "moved" into a Pirate sector. Lone Argon Cerberus was attacking it. Shields of Base down, hull at exactly 93%. Book example of an object set to be indestructible (a feature that is used to protect plot objects), but this Base is not part of any plot.
A lone M7 stuck in Pirate sector. Was there a book titled "How to train your Marines"?