CC14: Magellan Experience (Waypoints 10-11)
22 Jan 2022Scopelx
I didn't imagine I'd have to be adding an entry so soon. The stretch of space between WP10-11 held even more discoveries than I had hoped for. The official support carriers were refueled with locally mined tritium and it was time for the expeditionary fleet to get underway once again. Magellan's Star, the most easterly reachable star in the galaxy, was now less than 10,000 lys away. The darkness of the remote region of Tenebrae lay between us and our destination.
I crossed the border into Tenebrae shortly after leaving WP10. I knew that this was the home of the vacuum-dwelling Rhizome Pods, an NSP-based organism that I'd heard reports of from fellow explorers. The available data stated that most needed a Class A star to grow. So I manually selected the first Class A I could see on the Galmap once inside the region and decided to try my luck. My eyes lit up when I turned on the FSS. Two ringed water worlds, one ammonia world, an Earth-like, and three NSPs. Upon further investigation each NSP contained a distinct variety of Rhizome. Three-fifths of the total varieties present in the region, right here in the first system I checked. To say I was dumbstruck would be an understatement.
Candidum Rhizome Pod
System: Swauwry UY-S d3-5
Roseum Silicate Crystals
System: Swauwry UY-S d3-5
Cobalteum Rhizome Pods
System: Swauwry UY-S d3-5
Gypseeum Rhizome Pods
System: Swauwry UY-S d3-5
I diligently scanned everything of note in the system and immediately opened my references to find the nearest DSSA carrier. The Cheetah Labs was less than 500 lys away. Among the thousands of systems I've been through this one stood out, I wanted to get this data sold as soon as possible.
Cheetah Labs
System: Nuelou LX-A d1-0
I found the accommodations aboard the Cheetah Labs to be exemplary, especially this far from civilization. Top marks to her crew. I sold my data, ate a hot meal, and repaired my vessel in anticipation of the journey ahead. The first order of business was finding and performing scans for the last two varieties of Rhizomes. A couple dozen economically plotted jumps with the appropriate filters set and the remaining variety specific to Class A stars showed itself.
Purpureum Rhizome Pods
System: Droesps IG-Y d1
Purpureum Silicate Crystals
System: Swauwry CQ-P d5-5
Albidum Silicate Crystals
System: Swauwry UY-S d3-1
That left only Rubeum Rhizome Pods, which grow in the presence of ELWs in Class F systems. It only took 3 jumps to find a population of these, but something unexpected happened. I FSS'd the entire system until only the ELW remained. I zoomed in to view it and, to my amazement, I saw a cmdr tag. A Cmdr JohnnyFrost had visited this system before I had, presumably pre-FSS era. Given the number of systems he had uploaded to the galactic star map known as EDSM, he was quite prolific. It meant I'd have to find another system sporting these pods, but I always appreciate these moments. Unknowingly treading into a system visited long ago by another, you feel some sense of kinship with the person who traveled all this way as you did. I mapped his ELW, gave him a mental o7, and continued on my way. In any case, another several dozen jumps yielded an untouched system with the final Rhizome variety, and I felt comfortable moving along.
Rubeum Rhizome Pods
System: Swauwry SJ-I d9-7
With those composition scans taken care of, I chose to turn off all of the filters I typically use for routing and spent the rest of the trip to WP11 surveying atmospheric biology. My registered role with the Magellan Experience is as an expedition exobiologist, so it was time to start gathering more genetic samples. I put an emphasis on some of the more infrequently-visited star classes (L,T, Y, T Tauri, etc.) in hopes of logging variants of species that others might have overlooked. This strategy paid off and several of the organisms I scanned over the following few thousand light-years were firsts for the region, earning me additional official entries in the Codex. I'll be writing distinct reports covering scans of atmospheric life at a later date, as I still have a backlog of that data to analyze. All things considered I couldn't be happier with the voyage through Tenebrae. My passion for exobiology has kept me constantly busy and some of the celestial bodies are truly a sight to behold.
Ringed Water World
System: Swauwry UY-S d3-5
Ringed Ammonia World
System: Swauwry FB-O d6-0
I checked in at WP11, a system know to the GMP as "Fly By Ice," a few days ahead of schedule. A support carrier was in system and cmdrs were steadily filing in. This was our last stop before our final push to Magellan's, a mere 3300 lys away. Many of my expedition mates had already forged ahead with FSD injections at the ready. So that is our next step. Onwards towards the edge of the galaxy.