EXPEDITION TACO 2 9-13-3305
13 Sep 2019Rokkotaco
System: Dryao Chrea LW-E d11-1684CMDR Rokkotaco
Commanding Officer: TFAS-EX Pitter Patter
Status: All Conditions Normal
It was pointed out today, by Crewman Vega, that I should make an effort to record essential performance data on this ship during our journey. He had several good points.
First, our jump data is incredibly valuable. The Thargoids have achieved hyperdrive technology far superior to our own, and even Guardian augments on our existing tech nology have only provided a 10 Light year boost. We have no idea how they lock onto individual planets and stations, but one of the reasons we're losing this war is due to their ability to appear instantly at one of our stations or colonies, from origins unknown. All data on existing jump drives, especially with experimental features like ours, will eventually help further our technological advancements.
Second, Lakon has had a bit of an image issue lately, having their Diamondback Explorer being beaten out in sales by Faulcon DeLacy's Python and Anaconda in sales by novice explorers. This is silly. The DBX has everything you need, and is much easier to fly. Our journey, if successful, may only take a few months, and may be the quickest half-circumnavigation of the galaxy ever performed by a human. It's not even a goal, We're just trying to blaze a practical trail for people to follow through the Western Rim. To our knowledge, there is no existing route mapped, so it seems like an easy target for some trail blazing.
Third. It was pointed out by Crewman Astra that our flight recording data may hold answers to inconceivable questions.
We all joked about finding Raxxla, but if it does exist, it's not going to be found by collecting less data. So here it is. We're about 3-4,000 Light Years Galactic North of Explorers Anchorage, where we last underwent repairs, and everything is performing normally. We've taken no damage, encountered no weird witchspace anomalies. We're on the border of the galactic center, and nothing, mechanically speaking, has changed.
We're all a bit emotionally exhausted after the tribunal I called yesterday. Astra was hesitant to respond to my commands all day, but, I gave her a pass on a lot of it. She feels partially responsible for those men, but that's why I called the tribunal in the first place. I wanted her to have a chance to voice her dissent, and then have the decision made by a person we both respect.
I fear, it's cost us all a lot of respect. So, I decided that, should we find any, we'd map a few water worlds if we found them. Before we left she was working on a paper about the viability of water worlds for colonization. In her opinion, with careful population control, human's could live, not only in comfort, but experience overwhelming prosperity on the small islands often found on these worlds. She believes that the ocean floors would provide the colonization effort with much needed, fertile soil, a desperately needed resource.
If you've never been to this region of space, you need to come. The stars out here form a variety of planets so diverse, the entirety of humanity would have no trouble surviving here. I doubt the Empire and Federation would even need to fight, it'd be more profitable just to go in opposite directions. Screw the "bubble." let the goids keep it and rot. And when they're done seeding our old, shabby bit of space, We'd be ready.
Whatever, let the politicians figure it out. I just hope our families are okay.
Anyway, we found a few water worlds for Astra to take a look at. I think it really helped. It reminded her that yesterday's encounter wasn't our primary goal, but an unfortunate necessity. Plus, she's going to have a lot of brand new data for her research when we get home.
I'm pretty bummed that I didn't find an Earthlike world yet. A lot of Commanders talk about how common they are in this portion of space, but we're not doing a detailed survey of the Galactic Center. At 55 Light years per jump, we're hauling ass out of here. Tomorrow, We'll be crossing into the Far 3kpc arm. This region appears even more densely populated by stars, so maybe I'll have luck there.