Captain's log: Chamaeleon Sector PD-S b4-2, 18 JUNE 3305

Aside from the nice dark clouds, a pretty uneventful A to B journey.

Itinerary

Musca Dark Region ZB-I a11-0
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-43
Musca Dark Region JH-V c2-2
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-15
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-20
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-32
Musca Dark Region LS-T c3-30
Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-3
Musca Dark Region IM-V c2-36
Musca Dark Region IM-V c2-43
Musca Dark Region UE-P b6-10
Musca Dark Region PJ-P b6-1
Musca Dark Region KS-T c3-14
Musca Dark Region NN-T c3-8
Musca Dark Region CW-M b7-11
Musca Dark Region HX-K b8-4
Musca Dark Region NN-T c3-7
Musca Dark Region UJ-Q b5-6
Musca Dark Region ZP-O b6-7
Chamaeleon Sector HM-V c2-33
Chamaeleon Sector GM-V c2-25
Chamaeleon Sector RO-Q b5-0
Chamaeleon Sector PD-S b4-2

Captain's log: log: Musca Dark Region ZB-I a11-0, drop-in point, 9 JUNE 3305

Right after leaving the previous waypoint, I happened to come upon this site: camp CNO4, mystery POI

From what I could read in the logs and gather from the materials in their base, they were contracted to scan for life on the planet (likely by Caine Massey, given all of the marked crates) and then one of their scouts/miners/scientists wandered off in his SRV. He found something big that crashed on the planet, which was giving off radiation and interfered with their comms systems. The crew mentioned tyre tracks suddenly stopping and that Perry must have been somewhere around sector 26. The base itself is most likely situated on sector 5, as they cleared it before setting up the habitat. Since I have no idea how to draw the sectors on the planet map, I have no way to pin down the location of sector 26. So I went out in my drone first, looking up through the canopy, flying upside down, to cover a lot of ground quick around the C-NO4 base. I think I managed to cover at least a 150km radius around the base and then I followed the big trench (go outside the base through the gate, then through the mountain range to the left). The only things I found were a crashed satellite and a deserted broken down SRV. Initially, I thought this could have been Perry's, but there were canisters just lying around it and there was no sign of something big having crashed nearby. I assume it must have been a pirate dropping his stolen goods or maybe a failed attempt at exploration by another party. Not related, in my view.

So, after some fruitless scouting, I went back to the base to see if I missed something. I analysed the sound from the data point inside the base, just in case:

I couldn't figure out if the markings made up the data I received or were part of an additional hidden layer of information. I totally forgot to check the comms links, which is kinda stupid in hindsight, considering that's where the interference was...

Anyway, I was starting to get bored and losing hope to find anything here, so I did one last tour towards the mountainside in my SRV. At full speed. Drive assist off. You can guess what happened next. At first I thought the SRV would survive the fall off a very surprising valley, especially since this was only a 0.06G planet, but the valley seemed to be deep enough and with drive assist off, I tumbled more than once. The SRV got wrecked. My suit and ship, fortunately, got me back in my seat safely.

Since I didn't prep for losing an SRV, I had to take a detour to the neirest sign of civilisation to restock: Blaauw City

Better to have encountered this now than somewhere deep in the void. I'll be more careful in my SRV now.

The remainder of the trip, including the end waypoint, consisted of fairly bland scenery and celestials. I did, however, encounter my first unmapped system fairly close to the bubble and took the liberty of scanning and mapping the planets that held some geological sites.

Itinerary:

HIP 63835
Synuefe JB-G b58-6
HIP 87414
Wregoe IY-A B55-1
Wregoe ZB-V b57-0
Wregoe AX-U b57-2
Wregoe DI-T b58-7
Wregoe TM-Z c27-23
Wregoe UM-Z c27-7
Wregoe WH-Z c27-21
Wregoe DM-W b56-9
Wregoe UW-A c27-11
Wregoe XC-Z c27-17
Synuefe AZ-J b56-8
Synuefe NZ-E c28-2
Wregoe LO-Z d13-130
Praea Euq QA-A b12
Praea Euq JA-A c17
Coalsack Sector GC-U b3-7
Coalsack Sector GC-U b3-5
Coalsack Sector HH-V c2-25
Wregoe CO-X c28-12
Musca Dark Region XZ-Y c19
IC 2602 Sector CB-X d1-50
Wregoe DJ-X c28-40
Wregoe BC-V b57-4
Wregoe CJ-X c28-36
Praea Euq WG-Y b4
Musca Dark Region ZU-Y c21
Musca Dark Region GM-V c2-28
Musca Dark Region SP-N b7-4
Musca Dark Region CG-X c1-8
Musca Dark Region DG-X c1-4
Musca Dark Region ZB-I a11-0

Captain's log: HIP 63835, ABCD 1, 9 JUNE 3305

A pretty profitable, but uneventful start to the journey, since I'm still in the bubble. I did find some potato planets, like planet 'Col 285 Sector AL-E c12-4 B 2', it had some crystal formations on it.

I'm now in HIP 63835 and the sights are great. Apparently, the upgrades they made everyone install in their ships a while ago allow for a much more closer look near wormholes. I was only ~70 km away to take a snap of one of the wormholes here! The marvels of 34th century engineering!

Chapter I - waypoint 2 itinerary:

Pomeche
Hydrae Sector LH-V b2-4
Col 285 Sector ID-N b22-1
Col 285 Sector ZP-O d6-65
Col 285 Sector ZP-E c12-10
Wregoe PU-Y b55-6
Wregoe TM-Z c27-17
Col 285 Sector MY-M b22-0
Col 285 Sector WF-J b24-4
Col 285 Sector WU-E c12-27
Col 285 Sector EC-H b25-2
Col 285 Sector AL-E c12-4
HIP 66693
Col 285 Sector TJ-G c11-9
Col 285 Sector HM-R b19-8
Col 285 Sector QY-N b21-10
Col 285 Sector OO-M b22-6
Col 285 Sector UJ-G c11-7
Col 285 Sector SY-N b21-5
HIP 57285
HIP 57285
Col 285 Sector RD-I c10-18
Col 285 Sector SY-N b21-11
Col 285 Sector XE-G c11-1
Col 285 Sector YZ-F c11-17
Col 285 Sector ND-O b21-2
Col 285 Sector MD-O b21-3
Col 285 Sector QD-I c10-8
Antliae Sector WZ-P b5-2
Antliae Sector IR-W c1-8
HIP 58384
Col 285 Sector XE-G c11-39
HIP 63835

Captain's log: Tannhauser Gate, Aztlan, 8 JUN 3305

initializing IO calibration
... Done!
START: system checks

The start of my Pilgrimage. I've been preparing for this journey for almost a year now and the time has come to launch. The Bishop 'conda is humming beautifully. With parts from all over the bubble and top of the line modifications from not just one, but five of the best engineers around, I feel pretty confident in her ability to make the estimated 1.5MLy journey. For added hygiene, comfort and exploration in style, I also purchased a new suit, some dashboard trinkets and I've stocked a decent amount of materials to synthesize AFM refills, heatsinks, repair limpets, FSD boosts and SRV repair/refeuls mid journey. You can never be too careful or too prepared when it comes to such a long journey. And I've had some high-gravity mishaps with this 'conda in the past, Considering I'll be landing at least a thousand times over the course of the journey, redundancy is key.

Loading fighter
... Done!
Loading SRV
... Done!

I made a last minute decision to sacrifice 2Ly in jump range for a fighter bay. The fighter doesn't really serve a practical purpose, aside from the occasional scouting of POI's (which I could do in the SRV anyway), but the greatest benefit is a psychological one. I've learned from experience that on these long journeys, you need some heterogeneity, some change of pace, some variety, to combat the space madness.

"Space madness can be best described as a particular paradoxical mixture of claustrophobia and abyssophobia (https://www.brian-eckert.com/abyssophobia), with some tablespoons of loneliness, a pinch of doubt and desperation, presented on a bed of hallucinations." — The Pilgrim's Handbook

crewman boarded

The decision to have a fighter available for some more 'out of ship' fun was an easy one. I also recruited Roy Hernandez as Chief Mate. He's a relatively inexperienced but eager and cheap search & rescue pilot. His talents could come in handy, especially when I'm out in the fighter or the SRV. Having some company on this pilgrimage is beneficial too. Again, the space madness...

re-assigning module priorities
... Done!
calibrating Galaxy Map
... Done!

Anyway, the 430 waypoint route has been planned very thoroughly. I've even got a 27500 body list of discovered scannables, uploaded to the "G0-Og73 5hEET-s" board computer. I've been contracted by Empire, Alliance AND Federation to supply them with more in-depth analysis of them. I think they must all be looking for something very specific, because they want me to map and pay closer attention to ELW, WW, Ammonia Worlds and high-value HMC worlds. Of course, I'll have plenty of 'spacetime' for more personal and/or low value exploration and I'll deviate more than a bit between waypoints. There's also plenty of undiscovered terrain to cover in between the already discovered scannables and waypoints. The waypoints themselves are basically the most popular or more aesthetically pleasing spots in the galaxy. Nebulae, Anomalies, Record-holding stars and planets. Stuff like that, which should make this jou...

all system checks performed, all systems nominal 

Thanks Archer!

There, everything checks out. the final preparations are complete. I'm all set to go. You, too, Roy? Orion? All set?

"Yes, captain. We're green!"

Galaxy map, please.

Orion: "Opening Galaxy Map."

Alright, launching! Let's give these probes a spin... There's an Epic mountain range on Pomeche 2 C that needs closer examination.

Chapter I, waypoint 1 itinerary:

Aztlan
Shui Wei Sector ZE-Z b3
ICZ EQ-Y c6
ICZ EQ-Y c6
LFT 37
ICZ EB-X c1-29
HIP 40359
Col 285 Sector IC-Z b15-0
HIP 55014
HIP 52954
Ross 467
Ross 467
Ross 467
Pomeche

I've commissioned an imperial engineer to prep and mod a Cutter for me and baptize it as 'Bishop', for the pilgrimage to come. I've become used to my faithful Asp and I already have an Anaconda for 10 to 20 thou' runs, but for longer expeditions I should allow myself some more comfort and luxury. Having a crewmate should help with the space madness too. I couldn't get around the paperwork, so I had to run some courier jobs for the Empire. I just hope my fed pals don't get word of that. There's rumours of a new and independent (read: black market) comms network of spies and criminals, tipping off various organisations and commanders on the whereabouts and cargo of certain pilots. Since I've gained Elite status, I'm sure I'm on the list too. Maybe not long enough to call their attention to me... Anyway, I quickly gained the rank of Duke in the Empire and fearing repercussions from my fed connections, I decided to rank up to Admiral in the federal navy as well. The problem is the 'market' for courier missions is pretty saturated. I can't seem to find a good enough connection. It sure takes a lot longer than running those courier missions for the Empire. Back to the search...

Rift Ricochet

I made my way towards the EAFOTS sector and took a detour in the direction of the southernmost point of Galactis. When I turned around and wanted to plot a straight line back to the Sol system, I noticed a very obvious strip of stars below the California nebula. Curious, I made my way to its outermost system from Sol and decided to explore the strip fully. I dubbed it the Sub-Californian Strip for personal reference. However, I imagine others already gave it another name, since the systems I've discovered so far have all been labeled by Universal Cartographics as already discovered by other pilots. Most notable are the pilots known as "Dastardly Devine" and "Meerkat", who've has tagged 99% of the bodies in the strip I've surveyed so far.

Except for the highly unusual form of clustered stars in strip-form, the sub-cali strip itself is severely lacking in interesting features. There's nothing special about the types of stars to be found here. There's not much in terms of aesthetically pleasing backdrops. A very low count of valuable or pretty worlds and even less terraformables. Of course, I'm not even halfway there, but that's the impression so far. If not for credits or fame, I will still explore the strip fully for the sake of interest and to mark its systems at least as visited on my galmap.

Open invitation to add Raxxla related locations and share them with everyone who wants to explore them or help find Raxxla: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TYoWVaEJlbBAByYPcqvtFgGq8KVWp4g-i-BNPVmKWkg/edit?usp=sharing

I've been planting flags across the Orion Spur Shallows as part of a modest 20kLY first discovery roam. At first I was all about making credits. I optimized my itinerary for a higher chance of encountering valuable celestial bodies. But then, when I got bored and encountered less interesting bodies for a while, it sort of evolved (devolved?) into more of an adventurous pilgrimage. I dropped on some planets that had interesting geological features. I scooped some rocks here and there. I hopped some neutron stars for the sake of variety, but really infrequently, because I like to keep my hull intact and my power supply stable... And I, ... what was I thinking about?

I have to admit, the prolonged exposure to uninhabited space is getting to me. I start hearing things, seeing things... At one point, I was cruisin' towards a water world 300kLY away and what I assume was a speck of space dust bouncing off my shields became the glimmer of an intimidating shadowy presence. At the time, I thought I glimpsed one of those fabled cloaked DBX's or a rogue cloaked tharg... or something else. Something unknown, something really scary. When you've been by yourself for this long, your mind tends to go places it otherwise wouldn't. Your dreams and nightmares and your waking hours, they start seeping into each other. I also feel homesick, but... I'm not a quitter or easily frightened. It's just... a weird feeling I can't shake... I'm getting goosebumps all over, just thinking about that fleeting dark spot on my canopy.

Anyway, now that I've gotten this far, I want to take a detour via Sagittarius A and Colonia. Might as well make it a short pilgrimage. I've only encountered two black holes and a handful of neutrons so far and I'm anxious to see the supermassive black hole at the centre. Home can wait. The prospect of seeing Sag A* and Colonia will have to suffice for numbing that itch. I assume Colonians will be just as happy to receive the data I've gathered so far. I've heard about some quality engineers settling in the sector too. I'm curious as to what they're offering. All in all, it's gonna be a fun trip. I do hope I'm gonna be back home by the end of the week, so I can join the Dist.... See!! See that!? Another one of those glimmers! Computer, repl--Log interrupted--

::FTL-Packet Intercept #-- ORIGIN --##FLYUE HYPA KT-O D7-77 B##--# #

: :Defragmenting... #

:loading: #

: :Checksum matched #

:loading: #

: :Rendering...

What a great excercise for The Great Pilgrimage I have planned and the Distant Worlds II expedition I'm enlisted for. I'm racing 65k LY from Sirius to Byeia Bre EU-N b8-0, because there's a few percentage chance that Raxxla is there. Wish me luck. Oh, I'm also passing the Lagoon Nebula, SagA* and whatever else I find interesting along the way. Parts will be neutron hopping, other parts will be casually finding valuable bodies, yet other parts will be default jump and scoop as fast as possible. I hope to get this done by this sunday, 23:59.

My first neutron star hop.