WP12: Beagle Point Pt. 1
24 Apr 2019J.Bauer
Beagle Point. The final stop on our journey across the galaxy. The commanders I met at Luna's Shadow stayed up late trading stories of the strangest things they've ever seen, stories of death narrowly avoided time and time again. All were extremely seasoned explorers sporting some of the most advanced ships in the galaxy. Every one a different color with paint scratched and scraped from the journey.It was a very different crowd from that at Pallaeni and Omega Mining. There, thousands of under-equipped Asp Explorers clustered to take part in the most challenging expedition in the known universe. The attrition rate has been notable. EDSM reports that only a third of the participants who started at Pallaeni have made it to Luna's Shadow. The final mass jump saw some of the highest participation rates of the expedition, but soon afterward it was reported that ships had been attacked within FleetComm. An investigation is underway, but the perpetrators have not yet been identified.
We're now 51,800 Ly from Sol. The last leg to Beagle Point is a mere 13,500 Ly, but it's still the longest leg of the expedition. The star density here is so low the navigation computer is having trouble plotting a direct route to our final destination. We were warned that crossing The Abyss along the Grand Rings waypoint would be challenging. As an alternative, two navigation options are offered. The original path taken to Beagle Point was about 500 Ly "east" of Grand Rings. According to the route itinerary:
Historical Note: In the early days of deep space exploration (circa Dec 3300 - Feb 3301) before the automatic route plotter was introduced, or engineered FSD’s, Guardian Boosters, or Jumponium; the DSS Beagle (a stock 34 LY Asp Explorer) crossed the Abyss approximately 500 LYs 'east' of the Grand Rings Waypoint. Navigation was done manually - one star at a time. It is therefore possible to cross using a similar ranged starship if careful forward planning and manual plotting of your route is undertaken.
The second is a "western" route called Route 33. It was discovered by an enterprising Commander who found a time-saving route through the Abyss for ships with ~33 LY range and an interesting POI, The Distant View in Blue. It is one of the most distant planetary nebula discovered in the Abyss. The USNS Chicago has a minimum jump range of 43.87 and 50.48 Ly at bingo fuel. That should make her successful taking either path, but we may end up taking the western path for expediency. Given the unknowns, taking the most well documented path should be the least risky. This time there is no set arrival date. So long as we arrive anytime between April 22nd and June 13th, we will be counted among the Commanders who persevered.
Route 33 was originally discovered as a way back from the outer rim, but we will end up taking it in reverse to reach Beagle Point. First we will head toward the edge of the Formorian Frontier, CHO THUA SF-W B29-0 at -302 / 36 / 58,462. Once there, we should be able to plot a route through The Abyss to SYRIAE THAA PJ-I D9-1 at -2,543 / 13 / 63,807. There's no knowing if our navigation computer will successfully plot the second half of our trip until once we get there. Expect a second update in approximately two weeks time.
CMDR J.Bauer signing off.