The Ordo Corona Stellarum Veil West Expedition
07 Apr 2020Nirakoji
28 March 3306Unity Station, New Yembo
Pilots Lounge, Landing Pad 40
Atlas' Log
“This round’s on me, folks!” I cheered above the din. Many fine faces were roaring in good conversation as we sat around the lounge table, bay window looking out over the C.S.V. Antioch toward the station docking portal. The Antioch gleamed in the soft station light with a hefty metallic lustre, newly refurbished. After many months in the dry docks, she’d been repaired, rebuilt, and refitted. A bit of heat distortion shimmered from her thrusters as she was slowly cooling down from the trot into New Yembo from her final circuit of the engineers that I had built rapport with over the past months. A warm feeling of pride and joy swelled in my chest like the warmth of a sunrise. The Antioch was a resplendent and purpose-built exploration platform before my eyes.
The intervening months since the incident in the mining fields of the Hyades Sector had been good to us both, and the long list of changes the Antioch had been through seem like a pretty good analogue for the changes I’d been through as well. Our vessels are in many ways our loves and an extension of ourselves. The psychology of the link between man and machine is a peculiar thing. Antioch showed herself to have no lack of personality, that’s for sure.
“C’mon Nira, set yourself down and enjoy the feast - this is the nicest food we’ll see in a dozen days,” piped up Atlas. Selewi grinned widely as he chewed on the delicacies before him and BKJ slammed his shoulder with camaraderie as the two dug into their plates. One of our newer recruits, Path Ow-Ogen, was busy sharing some jokes that they had recently come across. Siara stood by the window, plate in hand, and a small smile in her face as she took in the revelry.
“A toast to you, Nira!” Kilovian raised a mug, carefree as it sloshed into the air and back down. A deeper, warmer pride took hold of me. The black can be a cold and lonely place. Ordo Corona Stellarum has been bringing out the best in us, and this expedition with my crew is a way of celebrating that. Too bad Mercer was on assignment, and many of the newer faces weren’t here to join us either. No less, these folks were here, and it was time to enjoy the trip that lay before us!
After the food was finished and flight checks were completed, we met to review coordinates for the first checkpoint, reviewed our timelines, grabbed our bags out of the lockers and cheered each other on as we parted to our respective ship bays. With my expedition gear stowed on board, I looked up at the Antioch once more, and grinned. She was a proper flagship, in my eyes. This was going to be a lot of fun.
28-29 March 3306
The Bridge, C.S.V. Antioch
“I’ve been this way before, Nira, months ago. With a small diversion, we can pass through a minor nebula on our way to the Veil West Nebula - what are your thoughts?” Siara’s voice crackled over the deep-space intercom. I walked over to my cartography station and punched in the coordinates she provided. Scanning out, I saw that it indeed was in the right general direction, and it also allowed for us to have a somewhat eccentric approach to the Veil.
“I like it, Siara. Takes us off the beaten path. A better chance that we’ll be able to cash in on some unique finds for Universal Cartographics along the way - and a guarantee that we’ll see something nice well before we hit the Veil.” Any effective leader in history knows how important it is to have diverse and knowledgeable counselors at hand, and to take them seriously when they offer from their experience. I noted the information down in the cartography system and pushed the new coordinates out through the deep space network to the squadron.”
“Coordinates are updated, OCS. Siara’s found us the scenic route.”
Before long, the stars stretched into streaks around me, and the clouds of hyperspace coalesced and effervesced before me. I almost thought I heard something whisper as the Antioch creaked and groaned like a leaf in a cosmic hurricane.
30 March 3306
LBN 623 Sector
The Bridge, C.S.V. Antioch
Atlas' Log
Lightyears have a way of blurring together, and vistas melding from one into another on an extended trip. BKJ and Selewi both ventured off into their own paths, and by this point, Commander Path also realized that their Imperial Eagle wasn’t quite up to the journey, and they had headed back to begin modifying their fleet. It’s an odd thing reflecting back on the great time of togetherness two days ago, and now being quite isolated in the black with the occasional comms chatter.
The LBN 623 Nebula was before me in no time. Fresh into this journey, and the optimism was like jumponium in my soul. This nebula, darker than some, was still awesome to behold. A dash of cosmic artwork, and something so variable depending what star you chose to rest at. Exquisite. And it made me feel quite small.
30 March 3306
LBN 623 Sector
Surface prospecting in the SRV
“Nira, I’ve told you before - these are plants not fungus, despite what the reports say! Just look at their biological features!” Atlas was worked up and excited. She had stumbled across bark mounds and was doing some field analysis of them. The reports from the frontier by other pilots aren’t always accurate - that’s part of what makes the Black so exciting. Do we actually know what we think we know? That’s a question that has been rolling around my head like a wrecking ball over the past months, several ways over. Do I really know what I think I know?
“Atlas, log that location, get the geological, biological, chemical, and astronomical variables for it, and once we have a format down, I’ll help you write up a report. Science is made to be constantly improved; theories give way to theories. Let’s go! I’ll meet you there shortly, friend.” From as far back as I can remember, it’s been one of my biggest thrills to join people in what gets them excited. If I had a thousand lives to live, and I did something exclusively different with each one, I’m still not sure that I would have exhausted the wonder in the cosmos around me. I once again felt really small, and simultaneously very alone in the black, and also, somehow, not alone.
31 March 3306
LBN 623 Sector
The Bridge, C.S.V. Antioch
Do I really know what I think I know? I put the book down, and got up from my helm’s lounge. I had installed a custom leather reader’s chair in there as part of the quality of life improvements on the Antioch during her extended dry-dock. I didn’t earn my pilot’s license by feel alone, and though my ship is an adept explorer, I’m not merely a cosmonaut tossed by the waves of the deep in the black; I reckon myself a psychonaut as well, an explorer of the depths of the only soul I can dare to know, my own. It’s own depths are proving to be just as uncharted as the milky way which we are ploughing through right now. And in some ways, I get the sense that the terrain is even less comprehensible...
A chill rolls through me and my head aches. A stark flash strikes across my mind’s eye, and the horizon before me melds with my interoception - for a moment, I’m both in LBN 623 Nebula, and back in Celaeno aboard the Jericho. Everything washes with laserlight.
“... Nira…” My head aches. My feet sway under me as I’m only part-way to the captain’s chair from my reading lounge. The Nebula before me appears to be swirling and swilling about. I squint and pant as I try to catch my breath; I recognize that I’m propped up on my knees now. I look out the main navigation bay window. A circle of effervescent light appears to shimmer in the corner of my eyes, but it evades direct line of sight.
“Who… what… are…” I gasp out. I’m seeing stars at this point, and not the cosmic kind.
Do I really know what I think I know? I feebly try to mutter an old prayer on the way down. The Black rushes up to meet me.
01 April 3306
Synuefai AQ-N c23-9
The Bridge, C.S.V. Antioch
Atlas' Log
The comms crackle and pop as I roll through the charged radiation bands of another star en-route to a find that BKJ snagged on the way to our next checkpoint. I listen closely, and they fizzle into a semblance of chat. I run a clean-up algorithm on the signal, and the sound chops into recognition.
“Capt… -koji… Koba-sh- is under …. -te attack! Repeat, -yashi is- pira-...”
Ah heck! Leave for a few days, and the world flips upside down. I closed my eyes hard and furrowed my brows until my head hurt. I relaxed my hands, realizing they were clenched over my flight controls, and straightened out the Antioch’s course. The folks back home had already waded through two regretful wars and come out on top, these pirates are undoubtedly less organized than both Gamma Hydri Industry and Purple Allied PLC were - but I grieved for the shipping lanes and our people being harrassed by pirates.
The part of my heart that poured itself out into Ordo Corona Stellarum was aching for this very reason. Veil West seemed farther away after that news, and my hands seemed to keep wanting to turn this ship around. Rather, let me take ownership of my hands; I wanted to turn my ship around at once. I chose to stay the course, however, knowing that by the time I’d get home, it’d likely be resolved.
My navigation system targeted the notable stellar phenomenon in the system, and I cruised straight to it once having scanned all the orbital bodies in the system. I shook my head a bit to clear my mind, and rolled my shoulders back as if to unweight the burden that rested on them. The sight that greeted me when I dropped into normal space was astounding. Organically grown crystal structures that dwarfed the mighty Antioch, with sharp spires shooting in all directions. I wondered, for a moment, if this is what a kidney stone would look like to an amoeba. I grimaced a little as I recalled some pain from a few years ago; the body keeps the score. The other objects floating around me in abundance looked like root beer bubbles frozen in amber. Impressive in size, if not in aesthetics. I tuned the composition scanners to the objects before me, and got some shots with the EVA camera drone. Parking myself nearby, I left the cabin and set down for a nap before reviewing the data.
Later that day, Atlas arrived at the same checkpoint, and we got to meet up. She had discovered more Bark Mounds, and was quite excited about more data points for our research project. While she left her command seat to document the data of both the Bark Mounds and the Notable Stellar Phenomenon, I took my Condor out for some test flying. I recently discovered how to bypass the flight assist, and this has opened up a whole new avenue for maneuvering. If all goes to plan, I have an Alliance Chieftain back in the Bubble that is completing an engineering circuit, and is properly outfitted for Thargoid Interceptor combat. I, however, feel much less outfitted as a pilot - and this exercise was indicative of that. I fly like a drunk toddler without that assist. But even toddlers learn how to walk only with time, and so I persisted.
04 April 3306
The Bridge, C.S.V. Antioch
Atlas' Log
Our agreement to arrive at the final checkpoint for Veil West on Saturday had me rerouting from my exploration plans. Having reconfigured my route plotter, the Antioch was put through her paces properly to showcase her outfitting. She sailed through space like a dream, and the final light-years felt like a stroll through the block. I tried not to think about all the missed opportunities for first discoveries along the way - priorities are what priorities are, and if I went down that track, I’d go mad considering how many stars I will never set my eyes upon in our home galaxy. Not for the first time during this trip, I felt quite small once again. Set against the Veil, and accompanied before long by Atlas, the two of us finished together the one-way trip that the seven of us started on.
That’s the pace of our shared life and my pilots know that I value their personal priorities as part of their respective dignity and dominion. In that way, this trip went exactly as I expected it to. That’s part of what makes us work as a group, and what has grown such a culture of appreciation and honor. At the end of the day, we’re all pretty small anyhow - so we take those moments we get to appreciate each other and extend gratitude for each time our paths cross.
06 April 3306
The Bridge, C.S.V. Antioch
"Barnard Station tower control, this is DeLacy November-India-Romeo requesting landing. It's good to be back, boys."
"Roger DeLacy November-India-Romeo, we read you loud and clear. Proceed to landing pad 40. It's good to have you back, commander. Heard your folks have been having an issue next door with pirates."
"Have the ground crew ready the C.S.V. Ephesus - I'm one jump from home, and I want to attend to that immediately."
"Ground crew is notified, commander. Best of luck, Nirakoji--and godspeed. Your Order has been good neighbours to us."
I didn't want to waste a moment. The transfer crew was waiting for me as I hit the ground running, boots raining heavy upon the landing platform.
