Venturing Into the Void
25 Feb 2018Noah Millea
The last week has been full of preparations for the maiden voyage of the Iron Minotaur. I decided to name the Anaconda this because of the stories I've heard about a culture long ago that believed there were creatures that were larger than humans, terrifyingly ferocious, and able to find their way through labyrinths without getting lost. I decided that there was no better name for a ship such as the Anaconda than that. Now that the vessel has a name, the real hard work can begin. I contracted with a drydock in Gamow Orbital to outfit the Iron Minotaur to be the best exploration vessel they can build. I have lost the taste for killing and therefore just want to delve into deep space and see what I can find. As a result I made the decision not to fit any weapons onto my vessel. This was a controversial opinion among my newly-hired crew. I found a co-pilot/executive officer, a chief engineer, and a head scientist as well as three more engineering crew and two other scientists. The scientists didn't seem to even take notice of my announcement that we would be going out unarmed, being so wrapped up with their preparations of all their scientific equipment. The engineers and my co-pilot, however, made their opinions on the matter known. Loudly. In the end I told them that it is my vessel and they are replaceable. That seemed to quiet them down, but maybe I should have been more willing to discuss the matter. I don't want to run this vessel like I'm a dictator after all. It may be a large ship but if the crew aren't fond of me, the bulkheads will seem to get smaller and smaller. Maybe I'll pick up some liquor and tobacco to help smooth things out.------
The outfitting of the Iron Minotaur is complete and we are ready to depart. We leave first thing in the morning. The liquor and tobacco ended up not being needed as the XO, Iain Franchitti, came and found me working on the navigation computer on the bridge and asked if we could talk. I was on my guard at first but it turned out he just wanted to discuss my relationship with the crew. He rightly pointed out that while I was in command of the vessel I would have to rely on the crew to help maintain it and keep it functioning. He just wanted to make sure that I didn't start off the voyage on the wrong foot with them. We discussed the matter of weaponry and I decided his advice was sound so I arranged to have the defenses of the ship upgraded. I'm done with killing for the time being but I don't want my crew put in danger either. I seem to have lucked out with my choice of XO. Iain was respectful but made sure that I saw the bigger picture. He'll be invaluable on the vorage ahead.
Other than that news I have arranged to have the faulty transmitter on this ship replaced so I can hopefully transmit the logs I've been recording. I have a bit of a back-log. They say it may take a week but I'll see if I can expedite that a bit.
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We set off today. We are officially on our way into deep space. I have a mixed feeling I have not felt in a long time in my gut. A mixture of fear, excitement, and a hunger for the unknown. We'll have to see which of those wins out I suppose. Regardless we have made dozens of jumps and are almost halfway to our first stop on our trip to Colonia; Hillary Depot in Blu Thua AI-A C14-10. I'm gonna have to practice my typing skills. Writing out those deep-space systems names doesn't get easier I hear.
The crew's spirits are high, both because of the excitement of this new adventure and because I decided to go through with the liquor and tobacco I had thought about buying them. Iain was right, this would be impossible without them and I need them to know that I appreciate their work. I made sure to be clear on my expectations of sobriety when on duty and hopefully that won't be a problem. I also limited the smoking to the planetary vehicle hangar. The SRVs are sealed up tight and I don't want the whole ship smelling like smoke.
I've been keeping the science team busy. We're pinging every system we jump through looking for useful (and valuable) data. So far they're keeping up and seem genuinely happy with their work. We've only found a few high-metal content planets so far but we're all holding out hope that we may be able to find a terraformable water world or even an earth-like. Only time will tell.