Answering the Call
09 Jan 2020Mavrecon
After getting comfortable mopping up the Thargoid incursions, they stopped. Almost all at once they disappeared. Many pilots, myself included didn't feel any sense of relief from this but instead felt that something else was coming. After about three weeks of calm I decided that perhaps the bubble was safe for now. I had long been desiring to go out and visit Colonia and this pause in attacks felt like the right time. I reconfigured Gungnir, my corvette's official name, and began planning for a stint on the neutron super highway. I know what you're thinking. This guy is crazy taking a heavy combat cruiser out into the black. Having spent a fair amount of time exploring the Guardian ruins I was able to get my jump range up to 34ly with a Guardian FSD booster equipped. I don't know how that tech works but it gets the job done and I'm grateful for the extra range. I'd already bounced out a fair distance past the bubble once, but after several days of nothing but hopping along this highway it became apparent that the galaxy was far larger than I was giving it credit. I stopped once at a lone outpost to refuel and repair my hull. Neutron stars require a carefully practiced technique and I on more than one occasion early on found myself close to death.
These little outposts are nothing special, but then again are extremely special. Think of them like little gas stations, the only sign of civilization on a road trip through an unrelenting abyss, and they offer shelter and supplies. I'll be damned if I can remember the name of the outpost I stopped at but I spent a day cruising around in my Scarab checking out the local sites. A beautiful ringed world adorned the sky while I ate a passing meal from the local pub. It was here that I was given the idea that would define the next 3 months of my life. The bartender here talked it up with everyone visiting and quickly got total strangers to chat like friends. I met a group that was coming back from beyond Colonia. They had just finished up a community goal outside the galaxy center. A new space station had been constructed for scientific research and as a sort of rest and refuel point for diehard explorers. Aptly named Explorers Anchorage they talked about how amazing the star field was there and pushed me to add it to the journey. I was resistant at first, since that wasn't a simple detour. It was almost the same distance from Colonia as Sol was which would make my return double the distance!
Maybe it was the beer, or perhaps the view, but something clicked and I decided at that point to go even further. I was going to Colonia, and then I was going beyond.