2023.07.04 BLAE FLYUAE REGION

After some time recovering, I'm back in action.
Resumed my journey and stopped by the DRYIQUAE NEBULA. There were surprisingly few stars in this nebula, the ones present were sparse and quite spread out. I didn't come across any Lagrange clouds in the systems that I visited, either. Star formation here must have been long done. This nebula's location is interesting to note: it lies at the very edge of Izanami, literally a light year or two from Newton's Vault. The Dryiquae OI-b D13-0 system housed a fleet carrier for me to repair my hull and cash in on 17M in exploration credits, more than enough to pay off my ship's salvage and repair operation.

Continuing on through Newton's Vault. Other notable discoveries:

• Prae Pruae Yp-p E5-0 - body 1 is a HMC world with silicate magma volcanism. I got 3 geological signals from this world: geysers, lava spouts, and fumaroles. Drove around in the SRV and collected a lot of rare materials, including Tin, Antimony, and Zinc.
• Bleia Flyuae bf-a E0 - B-type star with two A-types.

I've arrived at Blae Flyuae Ze-a g2, an O-type star that I confirmed within the Codex. My route from my last stop had only 1 or 2 neutron stars. We're starting to run into more M-type systems with icy bodies.

Looking ahead, I'm trying to think about my approach to Beagle Point. There is the well-travelled approach, which would be head on from the galactic center. There is also a side approach, crossing into the Formorian Frontier from Hieronymous Delta. I see a sector 15k ly away from me that is densely packed with type B stars. No Fleet carrier in the area, but would be cool to visit the numerous B-type stars, perhaps maybe make 1 of them my own. Target for future reference: Proxee SS-U E2-2.

I located a fleet carrier in EDSM about 8 jumps away from - my hull is 77% so I could use the repair and discovery submission. However I found that the EDSM data was stale - the fleet carrier had moved on. I assume it was parked next to the ELW in this system, I assume Cyoagaea VV-C c29-23 A6. The next fleet carrier system candidate is about 2k ly away (30 jumps), but that data may be old too. Maybe for now I will just wander aimlessly in the darkness

2023.7.01 PREIA FLYI SECTOR (PREIA FLYI FC-C B13-1)

I have crashed the Dana Walker while trying to land on PREIA FLYI FC-C B13-1 B 7, a 0.4g terraformable high-metal content world.

After dropping from orbital cruise, I was orienting the ship towards the galactic center, when I paused to admire the vertical line contrasting the bright milky way's center with the stark blackness of the Izanami abyss. The ground came up on me so fast I barely had time to react. I grabbed the yoke and pitched the nose up to avoid a full-on collision, however I still ended up grazing the surface. CRASH. The impact slammed me violently in my seat, but then I felt like I was in the air again. Glancing up, the horizon was spinning through my broken canopy. My ship must be bouncing... and here comes another impact. I weakly reached my hand forward to activate the SOS beacon. CRASH. That was the impact that did me in. I blacked out.

some time later...

Support services dispatched from a fleet carrier stationed in the VEGNUE sector 2,600 ly away have responded to my SOS and will be arriving to rescue me.

My ship is a total loss. The black box report from my crashed Krait Phantom indicates the following losses:

• 407,500 cr in codex discoveries
• 5,719,242 cr in cartographic data

I have much time to contemplate things as I wait to be rescued. Frustration, disappointment, and gratitude simultaneously flood the emotion centers of my brain. "I'm such an idiot." "It could have been worse." Those emotions I can handle, they are temporary thoughts. Then the most despairing thoughts set in: "I'm not cut out for this. maybe leaving the bubble was a mistake. maybe I prefer the company of life to the company of blackness and the void..."

No, I can't listen to it. I belong out here. Despair is a symptom of space madness, and I must employ objectivity so that I can keep my barriers up. I'll figure out what I'm going to do and where I'm going to go later. Let me just concentrate on being rescued and having my brief progress reset.

2023.7.01 VEGNUE SECTOR (VEGNUE WK-E D12-545)

I'm now aboard the USS Ballistic, the fleet carrier stationed idiotically close to a neutron star.

I shake my head, which hurts. I'm in a medical ward aboard the fleet carrier. I'm hooked to anesthesia and essential nutrition. At a cost of 3.7M credits, I've commissioned the repair and redeployment of the Dana Walker. It will take time for the repairs to complete. That's fine, my own body will need time for R&R anyway before I'm fit for flight command.

I turn my head painfully to stare out the window of my med-bay. I can see the jet cone of the spinning neutron star making washed circles against the black canvas. The radiating jets emit a constant hum that is soothing to my ears. I drift into slumber.

2023.6.22 - PHROI BLUAE SECTOR

I've arrived at the Phroi Bluae sector within RYKER's HOPE. This whole area to a distance of around 800ly is ripe with unclaimed neutron stars. I discovered Phroi Bluae DM-M d7-607, an 11b year old MS class star that has progressed beyond main sequence. 1 solar mass but very large solar radius... took me a good bit of flying to progress beyond its grasp to a distance that would allow me to jump without overheating.

Visited Phroi Bluae QI-T e3-3454, a neutron star system that comprises a single-system nebula with a localized deep blue cloud. I had bookmarked this location but could not recall why - maybe this is the Dust 2 Nebula that I referenced in my last post? It's been so long and the time alone has surely gotten to my memory.

When scanning with my FSS I noticed a unique low-grade signal - a fleet carrier! Out here! It was the HSRC Limpet’s Call, stationed as a relief point for Distant World 2 travelers. Docked with fleet carrier, repaired my hull, and sold my exploration data. I will do some more local exploring and then decide on my next "stop".

2023.6.24 - SPLOJOEA SECTOR

I've entered the IZANAMI region of the Milky Way.

SPLOJOEA IS-I C23-85 has 3 terraformable bodies, A1 (hmc), A2 (hmc), and A3 (water). EDDB estimates the cartographics value of this system to be just shy of 10M credits. Whew!

2023.6.25 - VEGNUE SECTOR

Arrived in the Vegnue AA-A1 H7 nebula in the Izanami region of the galaxy. I've claimed first discovery on a dozens of neutron stars on the path here from the last sector.

Did some exploring in a few systems in this sector. On one planet, I took my SRV to gather Germanium and Niobium (which I couldn't find) so that I could be prepared for FSD injections (+25% and +50% boost respectively). Discovered a strange green bacterium on another planet's surface. And for the first time I experienced a few different lagrange clouds. There was one system that had an extremely thick amber cloud which swirled around my ship as I boosted through. Damn, I came into contact with a "mollusc" object within the cloud and damaged the Dana Walker's hull.

Finally, I detected a fleet carrier present nearby, so jumped to that system. Much to my surprise, I found the fleet carrier, the USS Ballistic, parked literally 3,280 km's in front of an effing neutron star, with large swirling jet cones. Navigating to it was both awe-inspiring panic-inducing.
I docked and performed repairs to the ship. I do not intend to spend a lot of time docked. Should the neutron star turn on its axis, this fleet carrier will be decimated by the jet cone. If nothing else, long exposure to the residual radiation being given off by the star will likely cause serious damage to my ship (and likely even my body). Going to head down onto the concourse and interact with the crew and sell my organics data.

• Exploration update: Universal Cartographics quoted by 58M cr for my data. After fleet cmdr and crew fees, I made a net gain of 55M.
• Exobiology update: Vista Genomics quoting me 22.3M cr for my bio-sampling data taken from the surface of two worlds. One of them, a stratum species, is worth 19M on its own. Estimated transaction value: 20.7M cr. With first-discovery bonuses (76M alone for the stratum), I'm to got paid 103.5M. Actual after fees: 96M cr (about 7.5M, or 7.3%). This is quite lucrative - I should spend more time surface-side!

For my next stop - the Codex is showing a reported but unconfirmed O-type star in this region of the Milky Way. Apparently it lies in a system with a wolf-rayett star as primary. That system should be a nice site to visit. It'd be nice to be the first Elite Dangerous CMDR to confirm an O-type sighting in this galactic region, so will have to keep my eyes open for one on the Galaxy map, as they are bound to get extremely rarer the further out I go.

2023.7.01 - BLEETHAI, PREIA FLYI SECTORS

I left the VEGNUE sector, swinging by a Wolf-Rayet system with an O-type giant and a standard O-type star. WR stars are interesting - large-mass late-stage non-sequence stars that have stopped burning hydrogen. They're also significantly hotter and burn bluer than primary O/B/A stars.

On boosting my FSD:

• Jet cone boosting on a Neutron Star has the most bang-for-the-buck, with a ~4.2x extension to FSD jump range. Each jump results in about 1-2pt wear on my FSD module integrity.
• Jet cone boosting on a White Dwarf is not as easy to pull off due to the relatively larger exclusion zone. The range extension is less and the FSD wear, I imagine, is also less than a Neutron star.
• FSD injection. I have yet to try this so I'm unclear on impact to my FSD. Materials needed for 1.25x boost (82ly): [C, Ge, V], 1.5x boost (97ly): [C, Ge, Nb, V, Cd]; for 2x boost (130ly): [C, Ge, Nb, As, Y, Polonium].

I've set a course for a fleet carrier parked in a system in the DRYIQUAE nebula. My path is primarily jet cone-boost jumps utilizing undiscovered neutron stars, so at least I get to make exploration cash while my FSD takes a major beating.

A few notable discoveries I've made along the way:

• Vegnue TD-T e3-3155 - B-type star
• Phrio Byoe HN-Q d6-1578 - a Neutron star system with three water worlds, 2 of which are terraformables orbiting within the habitable zone.
• Phrio Byoe AV-Y f2092 - an O-type star, whose discovery allowed me to confirm the O-type star reported for this region in the codex (which consequently was in the wolf-rayet system I had just visited).
• PHRIO BYOE AA-A h15 - the aforementioned Wolf-Rayet star with two O-types (not first-discovered)
• Phrio Pyoe ZE-R e4-131 - a Neutron star system with two white dwarfs of type DA and DC.
• Flyeia Flyi AC-D d12-129 - a high-spin Neutron star (mass 0.7sm, surface temp 1.5M degK)

2022.4.7 - GALACTIC CENTRE

CMDR zmatter of the Dana Walker checking-in prior to departing for a trip to and around the outer arms, with Beagle Point being the first "destination".

The Dana Walker is a Krait Phantom in exploration loadout, engineered with cool-running engines and grade 5 frame shift drive for up to 65ly standard jump range and up to 262ly with neutron star boost.

I've left my Anaconda on board a fleet carrier near Sagittarius A*. I expect that I won't be returning to the center very soon, and it is very likely that the carrier's CMDR will relocate it elsewhere else at some point. So who knows where/when I'll see my Anaconda again. I laugh thinking about having to chase my ship around the galaxy. With any luck they'll relocate to the Bubble.

First stop is the Dust 2 Nebula.

2022.1.17 - BUBBLE

I am going to do it, going to see Beagle Point, and then God willing, will head to the far reaches of the outer rim of the galaxy to explore. I have prepped a few additional ships back at Shinrarta - a DBX, AspX, and a 65ly Krait Phantom - for potential remote transport out in the black.

I depart Shinrarta in the Anaconda (callsign: Alisra') and say good riddance to the Bubble. I don't think I'm going to return for a very long time, as I intend to make a new life in the abyss.

2022.2.1 - LAGOON NEBULA

I have arrived at Thor's Eye system. The type O star is beautiful. I made it out to Thor's Rings and also ventured out to Thor's Eye B. I set supercruise assist to orbit the black hole. As my ship went round, I observed the gravitational lensing effect as I passed the galactic center backdrop. Definitely cool experience.

From there, I hit Amundsen Terminal. Cashed in 9million credits selling my exploration data. Taking off now in the direction of CL PISMIS 16 and NGC 6***.

I've started encountering unvisited systems and have begun getting my exploration on. Discovered several water worlds and terraformable high metal content worlds. Also did some SRV'ing to investigate geological signals as well as to take biological samples.

2022.2.3 - NGC 6357

I have arrived at NGC 6357. Last time I was here, I made a brief stop at an O-type star. I'm now noticing the "PISMIS" stars, all of which are O-type. One even has two black holes. A short few jumps just beyond the PISMIS stars, right outside of NGC 6357, I enter the Prieluian sector, where I stop by a system that I had previously discvoered, Prieluia MU-O B33-13, an M-star which harbors one of the first ELW I have ever discovered. I've dubbed it as "my system". It's a beautiful system, with a terraformable metal content world next door and a suite of landable bodies for mineral gathering.

I'm flying a route less traveled outbound from "my system". In the galactic map, I'm flying "up" along the z-axis, and then charting a route to the galactic center. The Prieluia-n space is a great area for Exploration. Nearly every jump along my route is resulting in new discoveries. This is a goldmine for exploration data. To the extent that I could get lost here for months.

2022.2.20

I'm coming up on the galactic center, with under 20 jumps to go to Explorer's Anchorage. I'm carrying a wealth of exploration data. Many terraformable bodies found, amongst which a handful of Water worlds and a couple of Earth-likes. I've made some discoveries of xenobiology: tubers- in the empyrian straits.

2022.2.20 - GALACTIC CENTRE arrival

Arrived at Explorer's Anchorage. Repaired the Anaconda. No shipyard here, so utilized the services at one of the Fleet Carriers to arrange transport of my Krait Phantom Explorer at a cost of 65Million credits. Pricey, but at least I'll be able to fly another craft. At Universal Cartographics I cashed in pages and pages of precious exploration data, netting me close to 300 million credits. A great haul :) Yeah, I'm ready to make my life out here!

I Visited SagA* and explored a little bit around the center. I discovered my first O-Type star! On the Galaxy map I've mapped out a bunch of O-Type stars off to the east of the galactic centre - many of them I'm sure are unexplored.

I'm going to unpack my bags and stretch my legs here at Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 for a minute while I wait for the transport to deliver my Krait.

=======================================================================

CMDR ZMATTER - Explorer rank: Elite, Combat rank: Dangerous

2022.1.11 - MOHAN

With the new Odyssey expansion out, I understand there is now demand for CMDRs planet-side. I don't know exactly what kind of work I'll find, but it apparently involves settlement installations.

I decide to take a leisurely stroll through the galactic neighborhood in my stripped-down explorer Anaconda, callsign Starcruiser, looking for the right system with employment opportunities. I don't have much of a plan; I think I'll head for the PELICAN / NORTH AMERICA NEBULA and see what I find. Maybe do some exploration along the way. It's been some time since my last exploration trip and my heart yearns for the beyond once again. Not all who wander are lost, right?

2022.1.15 - SADR REGION

Arrived in the SADR REGION and landed at the local asteroid station orbiting the ringed gas giant body and made money selling my charts. Didn't come across much in terms of newly charted bodies, but I did perform surface scans on a few planets, netting me a few million credits at Universal Cartographics.

Despite this being an inhabited system, there's nothing happening in this station - no outfitting equipment to buy, no local system missions, and nobody on the concourse with anything interesting to say. Gonna head back out. There are a cluster of stars in the galactic distance that are extremely bright, white. I'm interested in checking it out. Along the way, I want to make my mark on the galaxy by exploring out undiscovered systems, planets, and moons. My heart beats with anxiety and excitement; being an Elite Explorer, I've done quite a bit of exploration, however it's different when you're living by the seat of your pants and removing that anchor reference that you call home and committing yourself to the black.

Next I'm seeking to explore systems in finer detail on the way to the Pelican / North America nebulae; will be interested to find any Earth-like and water-worlds that are unvisited. After that region, the Iris Nebula is a good next stop with its inhabited system a good spot to sell charts and take a breather to decide where in the galaxy I really want to go. Sometimes planning before you depart isn't such a bad idea.

2022.1.15 - PELICAN/NORTH AMERICA NEBULAE

Found a system that had some undiscovered planets on the way, including one with a distress signal. I cruised through the system towards the planet and dropped probes to scan the surface, making first discovery of the body. My sensors revealed the distress signal to be emanating from a ship beacon somewhere on the surface. I adjusted my navigation vectors for orbital entry and proceeded to enter atmosphere. While making planetary landing I observed the crash site more closely from the air: I made out the broken remains of a crashed ship, either Vulture or Cobra would be my guess.

I land Starcruiser successfully one click from the site and proceed in my ship's SRV rover. Upon arriving, I find some canisters of precious metals and resources near the wreckage. There are also three intact occupied escape pods. Now this is a first for me... I have no idea what the payout is for returning occupied pods, but given the extreme odds of finding a distress signal out here, I feel obligated to rescue them. I don't understand the circumstances of the ship crash, but I'm grateful for this opportunity of selflessness on this cold, isolated planet.

Selflessness aside, I'll need to plan to swing by the Search and Rescue contact to drop off the pods in the next inhabited system. With me getting a first footfall reward, this planet will surely be a lucrative stop. Should I search this system for more goods? Starcruiser's cargo capacity in its stripped-down form is limited to 16, so it'll do me no good looking for more salvage and booty. The SRV's coming in handy hauling the cargo back to the ship. With the escape pods and canisters loaded up, I fire up the thrusters and take off. Hope there aren't pirates out here in the black...

2022.1.15 - IRIS NEBULA / FW CEPHEI

Arrived at Iris Vacations asteroid station. I refuel, sell my salvage, and repair my ship. Search and Rescue relieve my cargo hold of the occupied escape pods I've rescued. As I shut the cargo hold's access doors, I send my thoughts towards the occupants of those pods I had found in the wreckage. I hope they are reunited with their loved ones. After hitting up Universal Cartographics and selling more charts, I've made 6 million or so on this trip.

I see a lot of activity in this system and may stay here a bit and do some foot missions to earn cash. Apex Interstellar has a taxi service that can take me to on-planet settlements, so I don't need to lug ol' Starcruiser around for planetary landings. I take three settlement missions from the Iris Vacations system-controlling faction. The missions agent issues me a Combat Loadout to complement my standard flight gear, complete with a high powered rifle, ballistic pistol, grenades, bulky armor, and ammunition. "Just in case" the agent tells me. Is there a facility where I can train on the use of this equipment? No, I'm told. Need to get on with it.

CMDR Erasmus, an Adder pilot for Apex Interstellar, taxis me from the asteroid station to FW CEPEHI A 4 A for my first on-foot settlement mission, a simple package drop. No sweat, mission complete. I radio Apex Interstellar and CMDR Erasmus promptly picks me up from the settlement landing pad. One down.

I am dropped off at the next planetary settlement. There, I need to retrieve some data from one of the settlement labs. When attempting to access my data retrieval gizmo, I suffer an equipment malfunction while accessing the door interface for the lab. One of my weapons goes off by accident, and a civilian in close proximity is killed. Security forces come after me, with hostiles swarming the base. I run. I book it out of the settlement, having to murder an armed civilian with my rifle guarding the periphery of the base.

Half a kilometer away, after getting clear of pursuing forces, I radio Apex Interstellar for a pickup and transport back to my ship's dock at the asteroid station. Once again, my boy Erasmus picks me up. He flies me back promptly with neither a word nor so much as a glance in my direction. I appreciate the man's discretion and professionalism.

Presently, back at IRIS VACATIONS asteroid station, I sit in my pilot's seat on Starcruiser, contemplating my next move. Do I make a break for it now, or turn myself in? I still have one mission to go, maybe the faction could help me out. Or at least get paid for the work I've completed so far.

But it turns out that it doesn't matter. By coming on board Starcruiser, I've made the ship an accessory to my crimes and now it's 'hot'. Great, now I'm gonna have bounty hunters chasing me out there in a ship with no defenses.

With no choice but to try and pay off my bounty, I leave my ship to see if I can settle "under the table" with a station contact. Not realizing that I still have notoriety and that I've made a grave error in not waiting it out and finding a low-security facility, I am greeted in the hangar by Iris Vacations station guards with guns drawn at me. I raise my hands to turn myself in.

2022.1.16 - THE QUARRY

I'm incarcerated at "The Quarry" detention facility in the California Sector, some 1300+ly's away from where I was in the IRIS REGION. There's no one here but the extremely harsh station security staff. No one was willing to hear my case. Innocent or not, I am a convict now. I do my time for the two murder charges and wait for release.

(Some time later)

I pay off my ship bounties during processing. But then to add insult to injury, I'm told that I have an outstanding 40k fine from the Iris Vacations faction for the missions I took from them that I was forced to cancel when I was arrested. Can I pay the fine off here? It would seem that the guards are happy to take my money for themselves or keep me imprisoned. There's no faction rep that I can meet with at this detention center, which means I would have to travel back to the Iris Nebula and pay it off in person. No way am I doing that. Guess I have to live with the fine for the rest of my flight career.

As I board my ship, I reflect on this brief journey. All anybody ever does out here in this corner of the galaxy is struggle to make a living. I tried my hand at an honest living and got punished for misusing combat equipment that I was issued but never trained to use. I am a reliable pilot and navigator, and I'll be damned if my income source is trudging around settlements with bulky armor and weapons at the behest of indifferent faction agents. I was a bit aimless starting this journey out, but with a little more planning and preparation, I could explore comfortably and stay out in the black indefinitely. Starcruiser is well set up with 73.5ly of jump range, and I could sacrifice a tiny amount of that range for a few luxuries.

Who am I? Yes, I'm a criminal, one who has literally paid for his crimes. But I am also an explorer and my home is the black. Not amongst humanity. Not even amongst the stars, truthfully. But in the void between them, glimpsing the occasional wonder.