Galactic Pathways 7: Lonely Encounter
02 Apr 2017Tarm Wallunga
Little in the way of action, though I managed to score a few good screenshots, had a random encounter with another explorer, and crossed the 50Kly milestone this past week. Considering my options for the continuation of Ties that Bind; my main, leading, thought is to have the next installment around about the time Tarm makes it back towards the Galactic Core, possibly with an installment prior to that. Haven't put a LOT of thought into it just yet, but I am thinking about having something for that story line sometime in the next week or two, real life permitting. In the meantime, here's this week's "journal".--------------------------------------------------------------------
24th March, 3303
Region: Styx
Enroute to BP-30, 700 light years distant. During this section of the journey I encountered another explorer, CMDR Decembrance. After a few attempts to actually pin each other down we finally managed to "meet" in real time/space. Shortly thereafter, of course, we were both back on our merry, and separate, ways through the void: He towards Colonia, and I towards the Point.
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26th March, 3303
Region: Styx
Enroute to BP-31 at about 700 light years distant. Took readings from start points and present destination:
Distance to Sol: 49,301
Distance to Colonia: 29,862
Distance to Beagle Point: 16,382
Slowly getting closer. Sadly, also running precariously low on beer. Should have asked for some from that CMDR I met up with several jumps back. Maybe he would have been kind enough to donate a few to the cause.
Also, crossed the 50,000 light year line somewhere along the way in the last 24 hours. Again, as before, not a major accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, and frankly its just a check block towards the almighty 65K+ group, but still, an accomplish in either way.
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27th March, 3303
Region: Galactic Aphelion
Enroute to BP-33, about 800 light years distant. Only thing of note at this point is that I am now in the region of space that occupies the galactic rim in about the same distance from the Core that Sol and the human bubble is. Thus, the name: Galactic Aphelion. There are a few things of note out here, but none that are directly on my flight path. Coming up soon, and one that I will be closely keeping an eye out for, is the Abyss - that region of space beyond the Scutum-Centaurus Arm (that contains the Galactic Aphelion) and the very tip of Sagittarius-Carina Arm, in which lies Beagle Point. This is going to be a rough crossing, I think, but with the data gleaned by previous explorers (and one specific route, aptly named "Smuggler's Route", in particular) I am sure I will be able to cross the Abyss. What may slow me down, however, is the amount of backtracking I may need to do depending on the specific stellar density in the area I will be passing through. I won't know for sure until I get there, but am confident that Wayfarer will see me through. Speaking of my lovely ship, here's an image I took during orbital ascent from a planet upon which I had rested for the night. Starting to take some wear from the stellar voids, but beyond a few percentage points in losses to various components, she is holding up rather nicely. Sadly, such is not the case for my beer...or my smokes.
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28th March, 3303
Region: GAP (Galactic Aphelion)
En route to BP-34, about 900 light years distant. Picked up some technetium from a 2g world; beyond that, nothing significant to report.
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29th March, 3303
Region: GAP
Enroute to BP-35, about 860 light years distance. Once more, nothing significant to report; just fly, jump, scan, repeat. Taken to being a bit less thorough in my scans in order to accelerate this process and get to Beagle Point already. By accelerate, I mean I'm lucky if I have really made progress with how much time I'm in a given system. Truth is, if there are no planets, I don't even bother running a detailed scan on the star. If there are planets, I scan the local sun, and if any appear to be potential ELWs, then I head out to check them out. Unless I am looking for a specific mineral or need a place with at least a modicum of gravity for a night's rest, that is. Beyond that, in, scan and out again, on to the next system.
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30th March, 3303
Region: GAP
En-route to BP-37. Again, NSTR - crossed about two thousand light years in this period, exhausted and ready for rest, however. Will continue this again later, after much rest, a few drinks and a smoke or two. Finally found an ELW, though - first one in at least several thousand light years. Granted, as mentioned previously, I haven't been looking as hard as I could be, in the interest of making distance. However, will be looking regardless in the future; they're out there. Just have to find them. Not that I'm expecting any colonial efforts in the near future this far out into the middle of fucking nowhere.
