THE QUEST FOR 1,000,000LY - LOG #8
25 Nov 2020Stellas Incola
On the way out along the edge of the Sagittarius-Carina Arm I contemplated taking a detour from my circumnavigation to the Eoc Prau Nebula as I would come within 3500ly of it, just for a change of scenery and to do a little photography, but ultimately the thought of adding another 7000ly to my journey going there and then back to my route again felt like too much of an addition to an already long journey. I soldiered on instead. During my trip back from Beagle Point after Distant Worlds 2, I took a path roughly through the centre of the Sagittarius-Carina Arm and remember encountering a high number of Notable Stellar Phenomena once more or less past the galactic centre line. On my way back up this time it was no different, even though I was much closer to the edge. They were all, without exception, a variant of Peduncle Tree. Massive multi-limbed structures emanating from a spiked, central core. The limbs ended either with or without a huge seed pod, similar in shape to the tiny acorn from Earth I'd seen on the holofac, but with a defined ridge separating the pod into five or so sections. I looked them up in the Codex and they apparently contain seeds or spores. In one NSP I visited, some were detached and in a small cluster nearby. I scanned one then left it well alone. The last thing I wanted was for it to deposit its contents all over the ship. Who knows what damage that might do? Especially after that last incident I had with those leathery eggs I'd picked up from Ridley Scott station in Zaonce. I took me ages to get all the corroded panels and wiring fixed in my Phantom after that episode. My Remlok suit and the airlock came in handy that day...
As I ventured on and was plotting my route I noticed on one of the charts that there was an area in my general direction that seemed to be devoid of any previous exploration. It was around a hundred and fifty light years across and about four hundred long. I checked the Galmap and there were plenty of stars in the area, but apparently nobody had ever been there. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to blaze a pioneering trail through it so I set a course directly to its edge. Once there I changed my routing to 'Economical' and plotted my way through it. I laughed when I saw that 379ly was going to take me 33 jumps. It's remarkable how used to the high jump ranges of exploration ships I've become over the last couple of years, and how a range of 15ly was once a big leap forward from where I started in my father's beaten up old Sidewinder. I traversed the region finding little of note apart from a couple of Water Worlds that do seem to be persistently common in the Sagittarius-Carina Arm. Shortly after coming out of that area I happened to look at my Total Distance Travelled stat, wondering what the current tally was. It was just short of 900kly. Only a couple of standard range jumps away in fact.
Those two jumps later, I was in Flimbaei FL-Y B55-0 with 38ly over 900,000 on the clock. Another milestone down and the rendezvous with my friend and fellow CMDR at Beagle Point was drawing ever closer.
The fleet carrier 'Mandy's Rest' is en-route, close to the edge of the rim and about two-thirds of my remaining distance to BP from me. Given I already have around 220m credits worth of exploration data stored, I think it would be a good idea to pass by there to cash it in first and pay my respects to the memory of the carrier's namesake, before the final 'northern' leg to Beagle Point.
Time and date of journey start: 13:10 UTC, September 27th 3306.
Total hyperspace distance travelled at journey start: ~749,000ly
Total hyperspace distance travelled to date: 902,431ly