Back in 3002, when the Jaunt to Jaques expedition originally set out to help the stranded barkeeper, a unifying goal created a great spirit of community amongst the participating pilots. This endured for months: there was only one Jaques out in Eol Prou. A singular haven amongst the stars, that had little to offer in terms of equipment and goods but much in terms of feeling like home. Politics had no place in Eol Prou at that time and unsavory elements rarely found their way this far out, while the jumpranges were low and ships could not be transferred for a few credits from the old world.

Times have changed, and as usual not really for the better. People with the wrong motives pushed for expansion into a new region to reap its riches. A few stations were errected by the original colonists at first, who had come to Eol Prou with the Jaunt to Jaques expedition. Then the CEI initiatives increased the toll to 91 stations in 70 systems and introduced 82 factions. Politics had found its way into what was once a haven for people looking to escape the same.

Not few of the factions that came with the CEI just did so to see if they could pull it off. Few on the other hand stayed or ever had the intention to stay and help develop the fledgling colonies. Empty executive offices in almost unvisited stations make up a portion of the Colonia infrastructure. The workforce of these stations and the small planetary communities are still there though - simple people who signed up for a great adventure that was merely a crazy idea for a group of independent pilots.

Recently I was approached by a group of colonists, who live in a small planetside setlement on Metztli 6, a planet that comes close to Earth. They were rather upset that their neck of the wood sees so few pilots bringing in much needed goods or carrying the fruits of their labour (or rather the fish, as Metztli 6 is the main producer of fish and algae in the region) to the workers of industrial colonies elsewhere. They had heard of famines raging in other systems and (rightfully) did not understand how this could be, as the colonists should work together to help develop the idea of Colonia.

They really made me think - I was originally planning to head out again quickly to further investigate an area near Colonia that I dubbed Elysian Fields for it's richness in otherwise rare star types, but now I am willing to spend a little more time in Colonia to help these forgotten people.

The colonies can only thrive if we look beyond affiliations and work together like we did when Colonia was only Eol Prou RS-T d3-94. Else it will end up being no more than a smaller version of the old world. And that would be sad indeed.

I made it to Colonia in three further days to get here in time to help with the construction of a scientific installation in Tir. On the way I stopped in Polo Harbor as I was already close. All in all I found a further 26 Water Worlds, 1 Ammonia World and 4 Earth-like Worlds.

Selling my gathered data earned me enough credits to buy a brandnew Krait Mk II, which was needed to gather the components required for the scientific installation (the sources in bigger stations had already dried up). Originally I wanted to buy a Python, but the dealer convinced me and gave me a free coffee machine on top! I have the nagging feeling that it comes with every ship though...

After ferrying quite a bunch of Lithium from Luchtaine to Tir I have settled in at Vitto Orbital again. I bought an appartment there when the Outpost was originally built. It offers a very nice view of the planet below and will be a good staging point.

13.800 lightyears to Colonia, Shinrarta Dezhra is 8.830 lightyears behind. Couldn't spend so much time on actually travelling as some map work for the Colonia Mapping Project (CMP) needs to be done. Currently the names of all stars in a radius of 55ly around Colonia are catalogued. The next step will then be to scan all those systems completely. A total nut job. Sounds fun!

odays headcount: Two previously uncharted ammonia worlds, nine water worlds (the maximum being three in one system).

15.400 lightyears to Colonia, Shinrarta Dezhra is 7.389 lightyears behind. Not much to report today. I got all excited over twin earth-like worlds that turned out to be twin water worlds after all. Radio Sidewinder and Hutton Orbital Radio are still coming in strong. The rest of the FTL radio chatter from the bubble is fading into a background chirp. That's how we like it!

Todays headcount: One previously uncharted earth-like world, eight water worlds (including the orbiting twin).

17.568 lightyears to Colonia, Shinrarta Dezhra is 5.300 lightyears behind. Thaileia is the name of the game. This area of space is still heavily trafficked as it is sort of close to the well used space lanes between the Colonia Outposts and near some small nebulas. From past trips I know, that I'll soon hit uncharted space. I might only have to travel a bit further below the galactic plane to find undiscovered country.

Todays headcount: One previously uncharted earth-like world, six water worlds. One pecurilarity was a water moon - unfortunately it had been discovered before. Nothing else of much interest so far. Lots of M class stars with frosty planets. Not very inviting.

Today's search for primitive life in the Colonia Nebula has turned into a search and rescue mission. I stumbled upon a crashed smuggler vessel that was guarded by skimmers. I suppose it was their own skimmers protecting the illegal cargo of narcotics and personal weapons. After disposing the skimmers and the cargo (we don't need that crap out here) I delivered the escape pods to Ratraii. They were lucky - I could carry exactly four tons of cargo.

More than half the way out to Colonia on a slightly coreward course - I had forgotten how beautiful the sky is out here with all the blue and white stars.