14/06/3310 How we got here. FC Shadow Dancer advertised that it was planning a journey for Cmdr Rogue Roxy to return to Beagle Point, and this time to go beyond to explore Semotus Beacon & Salomé's Reach. The trip would take several weeks and include several stops for exploration and exobiology. A few weeks into the trip, Cmdr LaTasha made it known that she would have loved to join in, but was stick in Colonia at the moment. Cmdr Nocti, of the FC HCS Astra was in the vicinity of Colonia at the time, and offered to pick up CMDR LaTasha and bring her to Beagle Point to meet up with HiPS Shadow Dancer.

They did eventually get together, and both carriers went on to the farthest point in the Galaxy from the Bubble, to add their names to the list of explorers to reach that point. The journey did take it’s toll, however, as Tritium is rare in that part of the galaxy, and there were only a small number of mining ships to be found between the two carriers. After some debate, it was decided that the Shadow Dancer, having passengers aboard with more than one ship in its shipyard, would collect the Tritium reserves from both carriers in order to make the return trip to the Bubble, restock Tritium, ships, and supplies for those willing, and return to rescue the stranded HCS Astra, which had made it to Iorant XW-J c22-0 at this point. That system has a single Tritium hotspot, and would serve to allow the Astra to collect a good amount of fuel to at least start its way to meet up with Shadow Dancer. Once Shadow Dancer was around 44 more jumps to the Bubble, she signaled to Squadron members to inform them of the current events. Cmdrs Oddy-B and Smiler volunteered immediately to scramble their carriers to meet with Cmdr Rogue Roxy on her way. At one point, Cmdr Oddy had an ide, and suggested they meet in Shrogaei IF-H c10-3113 where there were a few Tritium hotspots, saving a few days off Shadow Dancer’s journey.

The Fleet Carrier Shadow Dancer was finally purchased on July 4, 3309. After 24 days of service, she's proven to be a good investment. Still working on collecting and storing some Tritium for the upcoming trip to the Rainbow Bridge, but have had help from the Squadron, as well as extra special help from Cmdr Noctivagus of the carrier HCS Astra [HUTT].

Exobiology has been more than fruitful in the Colonia area, and many first discoveries have been made here, along with First Footfalls. It would seem that many pilots use Colonia as a simple jumping off point, and have forsaken much exploration. One's loss is another's gain. Who am I to complain? Profits here are excellent.

I regret to inform the community that pilot Sam Achasse was pronounced DOA after crashing into an unknown object. She had been collecting Meta Alloys for engineer Felicity Farseer, and had left orbit of the planet in order to jump to hyperspace. It never happened. Her last communications were as follows:

roocxy tpi rppd fell cocops thatfuel tifu erm fuel gfibe cra rooooooooooodzy 31 h8mos hups?

Cryptologists are on the job, and we hope to have new information soon.

Heh. Turns out that Commander Dreubaud had fallen asleep at the helm, without having the docking computer set.

Regardless, we made it. As the others had already left, we did our own toast before heading out to explore this end of the system.

We found a field of wreckage... Must have been several ships destroyed in the area, judging by the debris. Very tough to navigate. We found five samples that were good enough to take back to the station for identification. I hope it helps to identify the victims, and tell their story.

Having found very little else of interest, we visited a nearby megaship before heading home, and deciding where we can profit the most.

Going through the galley made me realise that we hadn't been to Hutton Orbital in Aloha Centauri yet. So, I gathered up three of the squadron members to see if the tales were true about the Hutton Mugs. Of course,their Mega Gin is renowned,so it wouldn't be a waste of time either way.

After only three jumps, we'd all gathered at the star, and filled our fuel tanks to the brim. It was a very long haul to the station, and I have no idea why anyone would ever want to willingly trade, or even live, this far away.

We passed the time chatting about our latest adventures, what we expected to see at Hutton, and what we were going to do with our trade profits once we sold our goods.

We landed without incident. Well, most of us did. Cmdr Dreubaud passed by the station for some reason. Perhaps to scout the far reaches. The rest of us met at the station bar for a quick salute, and proceeded to load up on cargo. We toasted our trip him a shot of Mega Gin, in Hutton Orbital mugs, of course.

I wonder where Drolly went off to...

I should apologise for neglecting my logbook. So much has happened, and very quickly. At least to me. I'll try to recap.

I'm now Triple Elite!

Yeah, that's not helping is it? Well, it's been hectic, let me tell you. Where to start?

After the last expedition, the crew and I decided to check out several ways to make credits. Some were very profitable. We've managed to make great friends with both the Empire, and the Federation! One even made me a Queen. Well, King; they're still sexist.

Meanwhile, using the credits to our advantage, we've increased our fleet, done further exploration (and have several discoveries under our belts!), and even managed to start up our own Squadron to help others who may need it!I've called it Hide in Plain Sight, and we have 16 members now! Why HiPS? Because we're all here, and we've learned the hard way. Now, we are prepared for pirates, and attackers. We're ready. And it's not just one of us who'll be retaliating....

Heh, not really. It's because we're like the old Friends of Red Jenny of ancient lore. We're going to help eachother out. Make sure no one gets bullied. Help out the ones who need it most. That sort of thing. Still, though, don't dismiss us easily. Just... look over your shoulder once in awhile.. ;)

Finally arrived at ! It's beautiful out here!

It was close. The crew began fighting over what to watch next. D.O.R.I.S. wanted the cat to share some of its catch. Had to point out that we had plenty of food in stock. I managed to calm them now by playing some old music I'd stored in the library for myself. Complaints were made, but they eventually settled back and started to watch old episodes of Stargate SG1, and no one even complained, or even mentioned again what a 'tard Dr. Smith had been from last night's vid comms. Might have been the vodka I added to their morning coffee. shrug

Oh! And Commander Dreubaud came by with fuel and doughnuts this morning. That was very kind of him since we were almost out of power. I figured the vodka would help us deal with the fact that we were about to die soon. Thankfully, THAT didn't happen. Also turns out that it wasn't 'Fool Rats', but 'Fuel Rats'. After I get the ship's hold cleaned up, I'll contact someone to retrieve the ships that got left behind. Wonder if there's a salvage reward for that. And, of course, I'll send condolences out and all that.

Now, onto our destination. Looks pretty awesome from the cockpit. Won't be long now. I have Commander Dreubaud's ship in tow, since he spent all night preparing for our rescue. He's asleep now, and I didn't even have to slip him any vodka. Bless his heart.

Entry for 3304-04-13 (supplemental)

Finally got most of the crew settled in until rescue. Needed to turn off some of the ship's life support where it wasn't needed. Eden and Kate are on watch, but enjoying reruns of an old Earth show called "Lost in Space'. Might be counter productive, but at least they're amused.

Somehow, Shadow has some rats cornered. At least according to ALIX. Seems odd, though, because we never encountered any for ages. Even Colonia didn't have rats. When I asked ALIX about it, before she shut down, she said D.O.R.I.S. had mentioned that they were 'fool rats', or something similar. In any case, I trust that Shadow is taking care of them. And us.

I'm headed for bed while we wait on Commander Dreubaud tomorrow. I hope he fares better than we did.

Entry for 3304-04-13 Having explored outside the Bubble for several weeks, I've finally got a destination in mind. Going to check it out. It's been very quiet, yet exciting. I've uploaded pictures of my findings along the way. Even managed to meet up with my friend Commander Dreubaud a couple of times. Seems we like the same views. No other contact so far, though. I miss that, I guess. Yet, I do enjoy the solitude at times. The crew keeps me company, and, Shadow, our cat, is happy to play with us. He's incredibly good at keeping the vermin down to a dull roar in the hold. But, really, what else would you expect of a cat?

Interestingly, I'm suddenly getting contact from old friends several light years away. I'll check into those.

Leaving the crew in charge while I'm away from the cockpit. Should be fine. We're in a stable system, no one around, and no enemy contacts on the scanner. GalNet has no knowledge of Thargoids in this sector, which is always a good thing. We're far enough away from the Neutron Star we took advantage of, and only eight more jumps before we need to change direction. Going to take advantage of the lull, and get some needed rest. Besides, my butt hurts from sitting at the Con for so long.

Entry for 3304-04-13 (supplemental)

Maybe I overestimated my crew. We are now locked in a Neutron Star system with no fuel. Down to 0.7 t and nothing close enough to acquire materials, or fuel from. Apparently the crew may have taken advantage of my absence to do other things. No one had even a thought to monitor the systems, fuel, scanners. Ultimately my own fault, but this is basic stuff. I understand. It's been months since last contact, or shore leave, but we're now in a serous situation. Once I figure out how to deal with the situation, I'll have to rectify the lack of professionalism which brought us to this. A crew rotation sounds like a good idea, as long as I can find a competent one. Maybe an example of sending one of them out of the airlock would help. (Scratch that entry. It's not professional) Of course, that's IF we make it out of this dilemma. Meanwhile, I've shut down all non essential systems to give us more time as we look at other options. I refuse to believe that there isn't hope. We always seem to come up with a plan, plus, I have my fingers crossed.

I've sent out a Mayday, and I hope to get a friendly response. Soon. Very soon.

Entry for 3304-04-13 (supplemental)

Message received from Commander Dreubaud. Thankfully, he's still within communications. Transmitted our data, and he's going to attempt a trip to Colonia for supplies for us before our systems shut down. If all goes well, we should see him in about 20 hours. I believe our supplies will last a week, but it remains that the ship's power may not last as long. I've set up a crew rotation to look after systems, and minimize use of our remaining atmosphere. I've also asked Shadow to keep an eye on the crew. Hey, can't hurt. My fingers are still crossed. Just hope it's enough.