We are searching this moon for the last 2 hours. Even though it is supposed to have major SVG, we have yet to find any.

The holofac system indicated a connection was coming up.

"o7 Baron. You made it to the nebula. How was your journey?"

"o7 Your Grace. Never mind the journey. I am here in a system which has the right moon for SVG and organic structures. Care to join?"

"Yes, of course. My search here was rather fruitless anyways."

The Twin Paradox was just 2 jumps away. When we arrived in the system the Baron was already on the hunt for geysers. We agreed that it would be best to separate and look at different spots on that moon.

I just entered glide mode when the holofac system came up once again.

"Heureka !!! I found something ! Looks like Bark Mounds !", the Baron yelled.

"Magnificent ! I'll be right there."

The good Baron did it again. First those beautiful fumaroles on that rocky icy moon and now Bark Mounds.

I landed on the Bark Mounds site, and it was stunning. I never saw those before. There were mounds all over the place. Some of them had fungal life growing on them. Which the scanner identified as Polyporus Growth, Cordyceps Growth, Mussidae Seed Pod and Phloem Excretion.

Baron Rory told me that CMDR Mack Winston is going to join us shortly. When he arrived we had a mini meet-up on a beautiful Bark Mound site.

Later on, CMDR Mack Winston already left, the Baron and I came together and we searched for Iron Magma Fumaroles on another moon. But that moon had so many canyons that after 1 1/2 hours we gave up. The Baron found a very nice ravine on the dark side of that moon where he landed, later I joined him.

We had a little race to the end of that ravine, which I lost because I had to prospect a mesosiderite while racing, I just couldn't resist. After that we prospected a little more, and did actually find a nice metallic meteorite with quite some Niobium.

Hunter did not care for all of that. She stayed in her bunk and did what she always does. CQC.

Tomorrow we will see that we find some more interesting moons in that nebula.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Bark Mounds

Polyporus Growth

Cordyceps Growth

Mussidae Seed Pod

Phloem Excretion

After 72 jumps and 2,188 Ly we reached the outer edge of the nebula EOCK BLUAE AA-A H36. The journey was rather boring and we did not find any interesting systems. I am glad we are here, now the search for geysers can begin.

We found a system with a few gas giants and a moon with SVG. We skimmed the surface for a short time and landed somewhere on that moon. Time to turn in for a well deserved rest.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

The Ex Astris after over 58,000 Ly

We just visited WP4 shortly. There was no time for the meet up. We will meet with the other commanders at WP5.

The distance from WP4 to WP5 is about 4,700 Ly. But there is a nebula (EOCK BLUAE AA-A H36) which I like to visit. Which is about 4,500 Ly of the path, towards the core, to WP5. The Nebula is about at the same plane (about -800 ly ) as WP4. We decided to go up to about 100 Ly above the galactic plane and travel from there straight to the nebula until we are about above the nebula and from there we go direct down to the nebula. There are 2 reasons why we do that. 1. Most commanders travel at the lower plane. 2. The star density at 100 Ly above the plane is higher, which means that the possibility to find an ELW is higher.

There are not much nebulae in this region of the galaxy. I wanted to use the opportunity to find some geyser/fumaroles. Even though there are not many stars in that nebula.

On the way to it we will not only look out for ELW/AW/WW but for rocky-icy moons as well. Which are comparatively seldom.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Waypoint 4

This morning when I woke up my neck was hurting. I must have slept in the wrong position. Tomorrow we have our 4th meet up. I might not participate since I like to go to a nearby Nebula. Nearby might not be the correct term, it is about 4,500 Ly away.

When I arrived at the galley Hunter was already sitting there and sipping her Coffee.

"Good morning, how are you today?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. I don't feel so good."

"Why don't you take the day off and do whatever you do. What are you doing in your of time anyways?"

"CQC."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I have to stay in shape. Those geysers are not much of a help here. But today I think I go back to bed."

"OK, do that. In the meanwhile I will take a look at some moon. Perhaps I find another geyser."

"Yeah, whatever. See you later."

"Sweet dreams."

I went into the cockpit, plotted a course towards WP4 and spooled up the FSD. After some jumps I found another moon which I liked to investigate for geysers. The interesting part is that there are almost no canyons. There are just some icy patches. I thought it might be easier to find Geysers.

"Hunter ! You scared the hell out of my ! Don't do that again.", Hunter was hovering behind me. She did not use the mag-boots so that I could hear her.

"Any luck with finding geysers?"

"Nope. Not yet."

Then after a few minutes she pointed to the left window.

"What are those yellow spots over there?"

"Those are ... SVG's ! Good job Hunter."

Those spots were the yellow plumes of SVG's. And they are on a plane, instead in a canyon or on ice patches. I assume because there are not many canyons the geysers build up on the plane. Never the less that was a great find.

Later I received a holofac from Baron Rory. He found something quite interesting. SVG's on a rocky-icy moon with very deep canyons. I right away tele-presented to his ship to check those SVG's out. I reckon the canyons are about 4-5 km deep. And there was a mist in those canyons. A really stunning place. I would liked to check it out in person, but Baron Rory was about 7,000 Ly away.

Another great day for the Empire.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Silicate Vapor Geysers with yellow vapor plumes

"So, tell me. What is it that makes you search for geysers ? I don't understand." asks Hunter while chewing her breakfast cereal.

"Let me answer your question with another question. What is it that makes you fight another commander?"

"Thrill !"

"C'mon Hunter, there has to be more to it."

"The challenge, I suppose. Being better than your opponent. Have a better strategy."

"You see."

"What are you saying? Geyser hunting is challenging? Yeah, in a matter of speaking you could be right. But who is your opponent?"

"It's the moon, which tries to hide the geysers from me. And I want to find them. When I've succeeded ... Victory !"

"Mmmh..interesting. I haven't seen it like that."

"C'mon let's go and find some geysers. And stop eating that federal crap ! It'll kill you one day."

"I like it."

And so we went to take another look at the moon, on which we stayed over night. We are now on the dark side and can try to find some geysers on the bright side. One hour went bye and we didn't find anything. And the same happened with the other moon.

We decided to continue our way towards WP4. And here it was again. The Void. None of the desired objects. No ELW,AW or WW. No small moon. Lots of bodiless systems. Then we found a moon of a moon with major SVG and about 470 km radius. I charged the shields, which are in space off, and flew towards the moon. When the moon filled my canopy window I throttled down and checked if I can see any canyons or other distinctive markings or coloring. Then I descended to this particular spot. At about 4 km altitude we finished the glide mode and flew over the canyon. An hour passed and nothing. Looks like we are jinxed today. We tried it on another system and another moon but it was as fruitless as the one before.

And back into super cruise and continue towards WP4. And then finally, an ELW. So, we are not jinxed as it seams. There is one thing I've learned in space, you can not force your will upon the Galaxy. You have to ride the wave and take what you get.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

ELW #33

MCE, Day 26. Distance to Sol: 27,233.63 ly. Distance to Colonia: 25,697.40 ly. So far we travelled 50,427 Ly. Discovered 31 ELW, 22 Ammonia Worlds, 130 Water Worlds and 6 Geyser/Fumarole sites. The moral is good. Even so Hunters ranting about geyser searching starts to annoy me. I have to remind her why we do what we do. Other then that, we are golden.

After breakfast, and the usual preparation, we started our journey to WP4, albeit a little bit late. We can afford it. After all we are just 2,500 Ly away from WP4. And Hunter finally found her mag-boots.

After just 2 jumps we found an ELW, No. 32. It looked like we had a good start. I thought that it would be perhaps smart to switch the route plotter to economic. So that we even the odds to find more ELW's. Well, it turned out that this was not such a good idea. Out of 30 jumps, 80% of the systems where just a single star or a multi star system. But no bodies. And the ones which had bodies where totally irrelevant. To mix things up we started looked for a moon with geysers. The best moons, in my experience, is a moon of a moon with about 500 Km radius.

And after some jumps we found a moon with Iron/Metallic Magma Fumaroles. The moon was neither minor nor major. So far we have only found SVG (Silicate Vapor Geysers) fields. This time we try to find an IMF field.

We flew over the surface of the moon, mainly through canyons, in an altitude of about 4 Km. We used the external cameras to look for fumaroles. After about 45 minutes I saw a small blue dot on the radar. Which indicated that there is a POI. And lo and behold there it was. A beautiful Iron Magma Field. That was a first. Usually we can see the clouds from 10-14 km away and find the fields with the external camera. But this field was not very active. Just 1 or 2 fumaroles were active. I think without the radar we would not have found it.

Finally we have found an Iron Magma Fumaroles field. This is now the 7th field we have found and we are quite happy, even Hunter likes it. It seams that she gets the hang of it.

Later, a few hundred Ly away, we tried to find SVG on two different moons. Both were major. But after 2 hours of exhausted searching we have not found any geysers. We will try tomorrow again before we leave for the final leg to WP4. Its just another 1,400 Ly.

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Iron Magma Fumaroles

Iron Magma Fumarole. Closeup.

150 jumps to WP4. What is that, 150 jumps? With the Ex Astris this means about another 4,500 Light years. Its all ship dependent. With my trusty Anaconda, the 'Morgan le Fay', it would properly cut the jumps in half. Speaking of ships. When I come back to Achenar I have to talk to the CEO of Gutamaya. He is a good friend of my father. The paint of the Imperial Cutter wears way to fast.

I was in the cockpit preparing the route towards WP4. Soon we will leave for another MCE day.

"Hunter ! Get ready, we are about to leave."

"Have you seen my mag-boots?" echoed it from the back of the ship.

Jeez, here we go again. "Keep your stuff together, then you don't have to look for it all the time!" I yelled back.

"Yeah,yeah, I don't find those damn things." she replayed, now hovering next to the co pilot seat.

"Whatever. Buckle up. We are going to find some nice things today."

"Yes, Daddy." Was her saucy remark.

I'll let that slide. Out here in the void the imperial etiquette does not make a lot of sense anyways. Besides Hunter has proven to be an excellent Pilot. And she is a better fighter then I will ever be. She once took a Dangerous pirate in a Python single handily down, with a GU-97, while I was busy with an Elite Anaconda.

I don't know if I am in the mood to look for geysers today. Lets just jump and see what happens. After just a few jumps we found our first ELW, No. 29. That was fast.

Then later I received a holofac from CMDR RUKUS, she told me about a statistic where the most ELW's can be found in the range of -98 to 100 Z axes of the galactic plane. I told her that I want to try it out. I plotted a 1,000 ly course at about -98Z. I spooled the FSD up and we jumped to the first system of the route. Lo and behold there was an ELW, No 30. What a nice coincident. But after that there was not one system with an ELW for the next 35 jumps. This of course does not prove anything. It all depends on in which sector you search. I will try this little trick later again. There is still a long way to go on the MCE.

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Paint deterioration of the Imperial Cutter after 50,000 Ly

ELW reflection on the canopy window.

ELW No.30

After breakfast we took off and tried to find some Iron Magma. After an hour or so we decided to continue with our Journey towards WP4. Lets find some ELW's.

We did not route right a way towards WP4. First we went towards the galactic core. Just to be of the path. I selected a Black Hole, some 1,500 Ly away. When we arrived we found out that the BH was already tagged by another commander. Not a problem, I don't like BH anyways. It was merely a WP so that we get of the trail.

After a few jumps toward WP4 we found our first ELW (#26) with an orbiting moon. Hunter said it reminded her of earth, when she was there shortly. Another few jumps further we found another ELW. Looks like we are of to a great start today.

And then came the void, that is what I would call it. One bodiless star after another. Jump, honk, scoop, jump, honk, scoop, jump and so on. That's how it was for the rest of the day. At the end, I would estimate after 1,500-2,000 Ly, there it was. A system which did not look special at first. But at a closer look there was a Water World, a Earth like world and a ringed Ammonia World with 3 moons. I could not believe it. All the bodies which we are looking for in one system. That's a first. After we finished the scan of the whole system we found 3 TF-HMC as well. And then there is a icy moon with major Water Magma. I know, icy moon with water magma, major, minor or otherwise. It is very difficult to find geysers on those moons. At least in my experience. We tried it anyways and after some 2 hours we gave up. There were just to many grooves on that moon.

We decided to move on. After some 5-10 jumps we recognized that we forgot to take some images of the Ammonia World. Ya, well... what can you do. And after a few more jumps we found another ringed Ammonia World. And it was as beautiful as the other one. There where just no moons.

Hunter liked the Ammonia World so much that we decided to stay in orbit over night.

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

1 Water World, 1 Earth like World and 1 ringed Ammonia World Ringed Ammonia World without moons. Good night.

The moon where we stayed overnight has standard Iron Magma fumaroles. We tried to find them, but no luck. We then went to the companion moon, which has Major SVG. After about 10 min flying over a canyon Hunter could make out some clouds in the distance. Sure thing they are SVG's. Easy to spot, since the moon's surface has a sand brown color. So, we found our 4th SVG field.

This one is different than the other SVG's which we have found previously. First of all the geysers are not on ice, they are on brown desert sand. As a matter of fact there are no ice anywhere on that moon. Then the vapor plumes, which erupt from the vents, are much more pronounced. After we marveled over the geysers we decided to head off into the void. We still have to scan the whole system. Which took some time, especially because the companion star was about 415,000 Ls away.

After the scan was finished we continued our journey towards WP4. There was nothing noteworthy for the next 500 ly. We found a system with 4 gas giants and a lot of moons. We scanned the system and then selected one moon which supposedly has Iron magma. After some time scouting the moon we decided to stay for the night. Tomorrow we will try again to find Icon Magma. If not there is another moon in that system with SVG. Maybe again a different one.

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

SVG field SVG field with Ex Astris in the background. Lots of vapor

Today we meet on WP3. We are just one system away, that is 6 Ly, from WP3. We spent the last night on the SVG site.

Today I made the first miss approach to the potato planet for quite some time. I came in to fast for a glide and was thrown out of SC. Which damaged all of my modules down to 98%. Not a big deal one would say, for me it is. I wanted to have a perfect 100% hull at the end of the expedition. Well, now it is 98%. I could repair all the modules but 2. Since I have only one AFMU I can not repair it. And the Power Plant can only be repaired in a station. I could ask a commander with repair limpets to repair my hull, but I refuse to do that. Its just part of an expedition.

The meet up was the usual gathering of commanders. The site was rather dull. Nothing interesting. After we told our stories and shared our experiences, we gathered together in space, close to the potato planet where we met, for the mass jump.

After the mass jump every commander took its own route to WP4.

We went towards the core. I saw a small cloud in the Universal Cartography and I was wondering wether this is a planetary nebula. The star formation was interesting. 2 class O and 2 class B stars. About 1500 Ly away. Turns out is was a rather uninteresting system. Besides of the 4 stars there were class IV gas giant and a average HMC. From there we went to another system which looked promising. On the way we found ELW #24. But here too, not much to see. 2 class O stars and a Ae/Be Herbig. Which was over 355,000 Ls away. After the scan of the Herbig I set the route towards WP4. We found another ELW n a class A7 system which brings it to 25 ELW which we have found on the MCE.

Hunter got tired and asked if we can land somewhere and call it a night. I was done for the day too. We found a gas giant with some moons, landed on one and went to our quarters.

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Hunter & I preparing to leave the SVG site for WP3