The Last 9 Months
25 May 2020Eronion
I’ve never done one of these before, but I figure a lot’s happened recently so I might as well record it all for posterity. Or something. Whatever.It’s been about 9 months now since I left the Bubble on this little excursion in the Stardrifter and it’s been interesting. It all started with a desire to just get away and see what was out there. I’d already travelled a couple thousand light years in my DBX in one direction seeking out Guardian relics that, with the right expertise, helped me boost the range on my FSD. But I wanted to see more, so I took some time to properly outfit the Stardrifter for a long trip. The AspX just offered more room and felt less cramped. I suppose if I wanted more room, I could’ve just taken my Anaconda, but I didn’t have nearly enough credits to get that beast outfitted for far-flung exploration and at that point in time if I’d made another mining run for void opals, I would have spaced myself. So, the AspX it was.
Where was I? Oh, right. I pointed my ship towards the galactic core and set out. So. Many. Icy. Bodies. But I did find other things. Metallic planets black as the space around them, even with the star shining bright on them. Brown dwarfs with vast ring systems. A system with *six* stars and planets everywhere. One of the biggest sights, though, is often called the “Collection of Wonders” by other pilots. There’s even a tourist beacon there saying so, despite it being a good 11,000 light years from Sol. This system had it all. Not one, but two black holes. A M-class star with rings. I’ve never seen a start that large with rings before. It also had a neutron star and a white dwarf, both with their own ring systems. There were more rings in this system than a pawn shop.
After hitting the Collection of Wonders, I took a turn and headed for the nearby Skaude nebula. It was a rather beautiful nebula in a vibrant shade of red. It was also where I found my first taste of civilization in several months. It was a little planetary outpost in the middle of the nebula. I can’t even remember the name of it now, but I discovered while I was there that it was a stop along the Colonia Connection. “Well, since I’m already here,” I thought to myself and set a course for the next stop on the Connection. Might as well go see what the farthest flung bastion of humanity looks like.
For some reason, this leg of the trip seemed to go more quickly than the first one. Maybe it was because I had actual stations and outposts to stop at every 2,000-3,000 light years or because I had joined a squadron called Ordo Corona Stellarum that gave me another connection to humanity besides the little outposts and stations I stopped at, I don’t know. Maybe it was because I knew I was getting close to that coveted Elite ranking so I kept pushing harder and harder to get to it. Which I did, by the way. About 4,000 light years before reaching Colonia. I had to take a picture of the message telling me about the promotion and had the rank logo repainted on my ship before I left the station. Then I got my permit to enter the Shinrarta Dezhra system. Somewhat ironic that I got that long-awaited permit and I can’t even visit Jameson Memorial because I’m 17,000 light years from the Bubble. Laughed until I cried that night, let me tell you.
And then came Colonia. Humanity’s bastion of civilization in the dark reaches of space. It’s like its own little mini-Bubble out here. There are several inhabited systems surrounding Colonia and lots to do it seems. I even broke down and bought a brand-new Python *and* a Fer-de-Lance with the riches I acquired exploring the last 9 months. Even managed to outfit them both the way I wanted. Whenever I make it back to the Bubble, I’ll probably sell my Keelback and FAS since I won’t be needing them anymore.
I’ve been in Colonia for about 2 weeks now. I’ve mixed things up a bit. Run some courier missions, done some bounty hunting, even mined some low temperature diamonds. But I’ve also explored and, man, have I checked off some things in the Codex. There are these crystalline mineral structures. They’re massive. At least five times the size of the Stardrifter, if not more. They form these multi-pointed star structures and I’ve found different types in both Lagrange clouds and in planetary rings. Other crystalline mineral structures formed clusters of multi-faceted spheres, both solid and lattice. I tried to cut some pieces off for study with my mining lasers, but they seemed impervious to them. I didn’t want to risk destroying them with my pulse lasers, so I let them be. But they were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The real excitement came with the lifeforms. Spaceborne lifeforms. I had seen brain trees and bark mounds and things on planetary surfaces before, but these. Lived. In. Space.
There were two different species, or maybe subspecies. They had nearly identical appearances, but had different behaviors and environments. The first was found in a planetary ring system. There were several of the crystalline structures I mentioned before in the area as well. They looked like a sort of cross between a mushroom and a jellyfish, except the “cap” was about the size of the Stardrifter. I approached with my flood lights on at first for a better view, but when I turned the lights off the thing almost immediately started emitting spores! I’m glad they didn’t clog my fuel scoop or something. The second one I encountered was found in a Lagrange cloud orbiting a blue star. Its appearance was nearly identical the one from the rings and there were also other crystalline structures nearby. I noticed immediately that this particular specimen had its “cap” oriented towards the distant star. I got close and turned on my flood lights and the creature immediately began to orient in my direction. I gave the ship a little nudge on the starboard thrusters and the creature turned with me. As soon as I turned off my lights, however, it turned back towards the star. It was all rather fascinating.
I don’t know yet what’s next on my agenda. Some members of the squadron are either already on their way to Colonia or have expressed interest in coming this way. It would be nice to meet up with them in person for once. But the call of the void is strong and Sagittarius A* isn’t too terribly far away by galactic standards. Only time will tell…
