Captain's Log: The First Expedition
06 Dec 2021Pon Pon
Well, I'm 2500ly and counting out in the black again. Though, this time I'm not anywhere near alone. Guess I gotta keep this one short, the commanders with the same sleep schedule as me are calling me out for supper.The Sidewinder Syndicate has, as per tradition, started a large scale expedition. With the launch of the Scouting Initiative, it isn't as courageous as in previous years, but it is certainly still a large event. CMDR Ikerz, whom I met only a few months ago in Robor, is leading the expedition.
Our departure was on December 2nd, only a few days ago. About half of the expedition gathered just before midnight of the third (universal time), and engaged in the revelries of the start of something grand. We gathered at the SWS//Bebop, the personal fleet carrier of CMDR Ikerz. At around 15 past, we lined up to synchronize our jump, and the expedition had begun.
While many of the commanders were launching symbolically, and planned to catch up later that day or land on the SWS//Bebop or SWS//Frostseeker, the two official fleet carriers for this expedition, to catch a ride, I decided to forge ahead on my own. I plotted a course, and made my way to V337 Carinae, AKA "Satan's Kingdom." A friendly carrier, the SWS//Zero Hour, has been tagging along and had arrived in system already, and so I docked there for the night.
On the 4th, a number of us gathered on planet 2 for some SRV racing. We gathered on the surface, guided in by CMDR Novahunter's "Safety Beluga," and planned our route. A test run found that, well, the mountain in the distance was a bit further away than we expected. We abandoned the initial plan--to race down the side of a crater, then to the top of the mountain in the middle--and instead did a simple hill-climb, starting from the base of the mountain. After around two races, white-knuckling the controls up the incline and praying that the wheels didn't slip or the SRV flip, I was knackered and turned in for the night. I can't say I won both races, but I also didn't lose both.
After that, well, I actually slept in and missed our departure from the planet. That's left me playing catch up for a little but, but I've passed the Zero Hour and Frostseeker and am now safely aboard the Bebop for the next leg of the journey. We're currently stationed in Bleae Thua YE-H d10-29, but by the end of the day we'll have jumped to CD-33 12935, and she'll be leisurely making her way from there to Traikaae CH-Y c10 over the course of the week. After I finish my post-flight check, I'll be checking into one of the cabins and settling in for the cruise.
What a time to be alive, eh? I wonder what's cooking in the canteen. Gotta go!