There is no justice among men.

Tsar Nicholas II, the last rightful ruler of pre-WW3 Russia and my many-times-great-uncle


This is something my family have learned many centuries ago. We are Romanovs, We are one of the very few remnants of ancient Earth aristocracy. But let us start at the beginning, shall we?

I am Grand Duke Victor Antonio Carl Alexander Edward Romanov of Russia, by right of succession Tsesarevich Victor VIII of Russia, a country nowadays no longer existing, as it went to the dogs after the Bolshevik scum executed my many-times-great-uncle Nicholas II's family, including my many-times-great-grandfather Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, during their vaunted Revolution. Luckily, his son - my one-less-time-great-grandfather - survived to carry on Our glorious and long-standing legacy.

Although he died in France, his family moved to the United States of America, the country - as every self-respecting member of society knows - that survived the Third World War between 2044 and 2055 relatively unscathed. As such, we persevered. When the first colonies on Mars were created, we were one of the first families to send some of Our members (it so happened that some members of Our extended family had already moved to the United States before Us) to Mars to secure Us a piece of land as great as possible and to invest in its development. This land, though greatly expanded, still exists in a prime location of what is now known as Olympus Village, the capital of the Federation.

Throughout the centuries of human expansion we have been primarily traders, explorers, lawyers and diplomats, thus expanding Our wealth and knowledge greatly. Sadly, it was more often than we liked that Our explorers disappeared without returning to us with the data they collected. We have yet to discover even one shipwreck of one of Our people.

After the formation of the Empire we managed to gain a foothold in their aristocracy, although we never defined Ourselves as part of the Empire. Our family seat - shortly after - was moved to Lave, and it remains so until today. Each successor of the main Romanov line is born on Lave. Each. No exceptions. None. Also, as an homage to Our great history, every Romanov is required to converse fluently in Russian; as a dead language it is a great tool to converse amongst the Family, as the knowledge of Russian in modern times is rather rare, thus also making Russian another part of Our knowledge.

Sadly, we have never managed to regain Our former glory, although we are definitely no strangers amongst the nobles of the Empire and the high society of the Federation.

Now, myself.

As already stated, I am Grand Duke Victor Antonio Carl Alexander Edward Romanov of Russia.

I was born on Lave, on March 15, 3280.

Due to my Family's history, I despise communists.

As expected from the Heir Romanov, I am educated in the matters of law and diplomacy, in fact, I finished my International Law degree with honours several years ago. Also, I am now on permanent retainer for the squadron named "Turian Hierarchy", hired by their Primarch himself.
Becoming a lawyer, or a diplomat - or both, in my case - is just the first stage of the traditional Rite of Passage in the Romanov family. The second one is far more difficult and intense, but far more manageable if one passed the first stage: As explorers by tradition every member of the Family has to embark on a long journey to a distant location in the galaxy. Many choose Colonia, some choose Sagittarius A*, some even decide upon Beagle Point. The ship and the money for the modules and any preparation for the trip has to be acquired and done without any help from the Family - we need to prove Our independence and especially Our ability to fend and think for Ourselves, like Our ancestors after the loss of Russia to the Bolshevik animals.

For my trip, I chose something different. It is Apr 9, 3307 now. I am writing my autobiography already because I do not know whether or when I will return to the human-inhabited "bubble" again.

I chose Sagittarius A* as my destination. Nothing extraordinary there.

I chose the Sidewinder Mk. I as my vessel of choice. Now, that is different.

I, Grand Duke Victor A. C. A. E. Romanov intended to prove that one does not need some special vessel or an extraordinary amount of money to be able to travel to distant stars.
All money I used was made from trading commonly available commodities, although exporting Lavian Brandy from my home system might have sped the process up a bit.
I would use a commonly available Sidewinder Mk. I by Faulcon DeLacy to complete the journey, something no Romanov has done before, thus carving my name into Our Family history forever.

On April 09, 3307, I left the colonized space known as "The Bubble." On April 23, 3307, after fourteen days of travel, I arrived at Sagittarius A* in my Sidewinder, the OSS DAUNTLESS V, without my paint job, but with excitement and elation, though also with a sense of relief. Even for one hailing from a Family of seasoned explorers, travelling such a distance in a Sidewinder was quite... I would like to say different, for doubts and fear had no place in the DAUNTLESS. The return trip was quite uneventful, although I was quite elated to set foot on Human soil again, for my only true contact with Humanity during my travel was a stop at Explorer's Anchorage in Stuemeae FG-Y d7561. A beautiful piece of Humanity in the depths of cold, unforgiving space, but still separate from true civilization.

My second Rite of Passage, for all its different approach, I passed with flying colors.

I learned quite a lot during this journey, although nothing stands out more than the deep love, fascination and admiration for the deep, black Space I developed while sitting in my Sidewinder, a minuscule capsule of reinforced metals and polymers, being separated from almost-certain death by sometimes nothing but a few centimetres of said materials. It is therefore unsurprising that after passing the Family's third Rite of Passage, I decided to head out again, into the same Black I had only recently returned from.

If one were to think about it, the contents of said third Rite of Passage are very unsurprising. If the first was to prove Our ability to support Ourselves without depending of the coffers of the Romanov Family, and the second to prove Our ability to strategize, develop and execute Our plans, then the third Rite is about safety, about Us always having a safe, uncompromisable, independent and secure location to fall back to, to never be as exposed and vulnerable as Our ancestors during the fall of our Motherland have been, to be almost unstoppable, uncapturable, unconquerable in Our travels, movements and endeavours.

Thus, I passed my third Rite of Passage by acquiring a Fleet Carrier from the Brewer Corporation, a Fortune-class carrier which I have named the OSS DERZHAVA.

Is it not fascinating, what some hope, a catchy name and some mystery can accomplish? Is it not fascinating, how one mysterious entity, one - as we now know - old man seeking glory can cause a significant portion of Humanity to forget all reason? To solely place their desperate hope on one unknown entity, one which appears more and more sinister with each new discovery about their past? To act impulsively, to surrender all independence they have left, to cater to the whims of what might have been an enemy of epic influence and power?

I must confess, were it not for a few select individuals, people who I have forged a very close bond with, people who I can truly consider allies, friends even, I would have completely lost any faith in Humanity I have ever had. To remain unaffected by the fervour experienced by humans at the time, and all the thus-affected decisions by those influencing legislation, I decided to venture into the Black again, and, to continue my trend, use a Sidewinder to travel to Beagle Point, even Ishum's Reach, if possible.

I left colonized space on December 5, 3307, towards Colonia in my new Sidewinder, the OSS CALIGO AETERNA, specifically designed and engineered for this journey. Utilizing the Neutron Highway, then breaking off into unexplored space past the ninth Colonia Bridge megaship placed en route by the Brewer Corporation, I reentered the charted route at Colonia Bridge way point 53. Arriving at Colonia on Jan 4, 3308, I had the final components of the CALIGO AETERNA engineered by the local engineers (note to future explorers: some specific engineering services, especially at higher grades, are only available around Colonia, so building rapport with the local engineering experts is advisable) and left the last Human bastion before Explorer's Anchorage on January 15, 3308. Thus, I began my journey across uncharted space.

Ten galactic regions and more than one hundred thousand light years later, I arrived at Beagle Point on March 27, 3308. I have found traversing the Abyss up to this point far easier than I had believed it to be, but I still had to wait until May 15, 3308 to continue my journey towards Ishum's Reach, as I had the CALIGO completely inspected and repaired before continuing the venture. There, during my wait, I also encountered CMDR Raugharr, a member of the Turian Hierarchy, and thus one of my close compatriots, who had also travelled to Beagle Point and intended to continue towards Ishum's Reach. I still believe my choice of the Sidewinder vessel outshone his chosen Anaconda by several magnitudes.

A day later, on March 16, 3308, I arrived in the most distant system from Sol, Oevasy SG-Y d0, also known as "Ishum's Reach", "Salome's Reach" or "Semotus Beacon". It was an enlightening and quite enjoyable journey, which I will surely never regret. Also, quite the magnificent - slightly belated - birthday present from and to myself.

Currently, I have returned to the Bubble to help the Thargoid War efforts, though I am always on the lookout for new notable phenomena, systems, stellar bodies and other discoveries one can only experience in the deep, dark, unforgiving and yet so fascinating Black.

O7, CMDR Victor acae Romanov, out.