My Journey to Colonia and Elite
20 Jun 2020Arucane
If you told me a week ago that I would be ranked an Elite Explorer in just a few short days, I honestly would have just laughed. I didn't come out here for the rank. I didn't even come out here for the sights of planets and stars, never before seen. To be brutally honest, I came out here for the credits. I had overheard a bunch of pilots back home at Dublin Citadel talking about the profits they dragged in after spending weeks out in the dark. I didn't believe them at first...Scanning a bunch of lonely rocks out in space and getting paid *that* much? It all sounded too good to be true. Up to that point I had just been running cargo back and forth from station to station. Getting chased down by pirate after pirate, all wanting whatever crap was in my cargo hold at the time. All that work just to get enough credits to hold me over until the next job came. Don't get me wrong, the jobs had their moments of being exciting and fun, but it just wasn't for me...I knew that the moment I finished the first job. So when I heard these loudmouths talking about their insane profits, while also not having to deal with being interdicted every 5 minutes...I had to try it out, and am I glad I did. I saved up just enough credits to buy myself a Diamondback Explorer and get it outfitted with all the right equipment. After a couple test runs barely outside of the bubble I finally got the hang of things. It was a great learning experience for me, but I knew if I wanted to make real money I would have to go much farther out. That's when I settled on Colonia. An Explorers benchmark (from what I had heard), reaching it would prove I had what it takes and, I hoped, would prove just as profitable. I spent a day plotting out the route, marking checkpoints along the way where I could sell data and rest up a bit, outside the rather cramped cockpit of this DBX. 22,000LY... "that's not too bad"..."It'll be a quick trip". I could already tell I was trying to convince myself of that more than anyone else. I was terrified. I had never been that far outside of the bubble. What if I run into trouble? What if I take a rough landing on a planet and get trapped out there? What if I have to break the streak and finally call the fuel rats while I sit in a dark cockpit, full of embarrassment? "No...too much thinking, not enough flying". I knew I had to set out right then and there or I may have never left, trapped in my own fears and worries. I set the route in my onboard computer and made the first jump, "no looking back now".
I spent the first few days focusing more on forward progress rather than stopping to scan for valuables. I think I was worried that if the distance back home was too small, I still may just turn around and head back. What I wasn't expecting was the counter-argument...from the galaxy. It all started with something so small, well...small in the grand scheme of things. I jumped into a system with two massive stars orbiting each other. It was something veteran explorers wouldn't bat an eye at I'm sure, but I had never seen anything like it before. It was at that moment that I knew I just had to go on. What else could be out there, waiting for me to discover it? What wonders would I miss out on if I turned back now? I had to press on.
The galaxy was quick to answer my question. As I began again towards my next checkpoint, I noticed far off in the distance the most beautiful red nebula I had ever seen. I was all the more excited when I realized I would be flying into that nebula later that day. It sat and waited patiently for me all day while I bounced around from system to system, scanning different planets that had never been seen before. I grew more and more excited as each jump I made caused the nebula to grow larger and brighter through my tiny side windows of the DBX. Finally, I had only one jump left on the first stretch of my journey, and it was a beautiful one.
The next few days each brought their own surprises and wonders. From undiscovered Earth-Like worlds, to ringed stars and everything in between. The days were long and tiresome, but I found great help from the commanders of my squadron. Not only did they help me learn things to make my trip more profitable, but they helped me pass the time between jumps by talking over future plans, possible business ventures, and how *not* to cool off the cockpit in the event that you find yourself between two giant stars (make sure to hold on to your coffee). All the while I tried my best to bring them along with me by sharing the discoveries of the day. And while a picture will never do some of these sights justice, I think they do a pretty damn good job of catching the highlights.
I could go on for hours about all the different things I've seen over the past few days. Or I could tell you this: Discover it for yourself. I came out here wanting nothing more than enough credits to buy a fancy new ship and maybe a few rounds of drinks. But I'm sitting here in the cockpit of my DBX, resting up in Colonia some 22,000LY away from home, and...I don't care about the credits in my account. Sure I'm excited to get home and finally get my own anaconda, but the past few days have shown me so much more than any amount of credits ever would. The galaxy has opened itself up to be seen, to show off, to be discovered. I could be out here for the rest of my life and not even come close to discovering a fraction of what it has to offer. Which means that I will always get to have that amazing feeling of "what else could be out there?" "What could I be missing?", and I know that the galaxy will always have an answer for me.
Life is about the journey, not the destination.
For now ... CMDR Arucane, signing off.
