CC15: Magellan Experience (Waypoints 11-14)
28 Jan 2022Scopelx
So the moment was finally upon us. The final push to the very edge of the galaxy began. We left our makeshift basecamp at Fly By Ice and made our way eastwards. My onboard navigation computer performed admirably as the star field thinned out, but ultimately failed entirely about 1k light-years from my destination. I had prepared for this moment, having learnt some harsh lessons in Xibalba, and was stocked to the gills with raw materials to produce FSD injections. I will admit, with some shame, that this made me an incredibly lazy navigator. I took as straight a line as I could from the system where my nav computer stopped being able to automate a way forward all the way to Magellan's. I won't be publishing a route because in all honesty it was terrible. Even in the Makara with a respectable 61 ly range I still used three J1s, six J2s, and five J3s. I basically brute-forced my way to Ood Fleau ZJ-I d9-0 through the sheer power of repeated jumponium injections. A fellow Canonneer, Cmdr JJGoldberg, had painstakingly devised a route to this star requiring a base range of 42.006 lys. Thank the gods for cmdrs with that level of patience and navigational skill.I do not possess them. But I'm also averse to utilizing published routes, so I tend to stumble forward as best I can. Along the way, I saw the tags of the famous explorers who first charted these areas without the benefit of the modern, range-enhancing amenities I now enjoy. When I had the inclination and opportunity I'd land and step out onto a random planet and add my tags to those that had come before me, more as an homage than anything.
Then at last, it was time for the final FSD injection and the final manual plot. The FSD charged, I dropped into the system, and I spent a moment to take in the view. To one side of me lay the entire Milky Way Galaxy. To the other, the crushing blackness of intergalactic space. It gave me a similar detached, remote feeling to when I visited Semotus Beacon in my earlier days as a young explorer. I was alone then with barely a friend in the galaxy, so the solitude was more pronounced. But Magellan's took more effort and preparation to reach. Regardless, there's nothing quite floating in a system at the very edge of galaxy knowing that there's nothing out there past this point for millions and millions of light-years. I tore myself away from staring into the void long enough to land on the local independent fleet carrier, the Magellan's Pub, where I had several celebratory drinks with some my expedition mates who'd also made it into the system.
System: Magellan's Star
After the frivolity had died down, there was an item on my agenda that I absolutely had to address before leaving the system. I knew from my time spent scouring the Codex that the galaxy's only known population of L08 anomalies resided in this system. Somehow I'm not surprised, anomalies always seem to pop up in the oddest of places.
L08 Anomaly
System: Ood Fleau ZJ-I d9-0 (Magellan's Star)
I dropped out of low wake to scan it and apparently I strayed too close and made it uncomfortable. And boy did it let me know it. The anomaly started to pulse violently, my shields started dropping, and my ship sensors and onboard HUD went haywire. I fired the Makara's reverse thrusters to give the anomaly some space and it calmed down quickly enough. It had drained my shield down to ~60%. I hadn't done any proper research on the L08s and was a bit concerned it was one of the varieties that did something more drastic like melting your internals or eating away at your hull. I was a little too careless considering the value of the exploration data and genetic samples I had aboard. I will not take such unnecessary risks again.
L08 Anomaly
Exhibiting Trait: Interferes With Ship Systems And Drains Shields If Approached
And with that, it was time for me to go. My pilgrimage was complete. It was bittersweet leaving the system that had been my destination for previous 40k lys, but I was eager to get away from the comparatively well-mapped fringes and back toward the denser areas of the Perseus Arm. The next stop on our tour was Pamplemousse. A system that, were it in the core, I probably wouldn't glance twice at. But the 36 solar radii K-type Giant lording over the system is a real rarity way out here. After giving everything a once over with my scanners, I noticed several worlds that no one had ever walked on so i decided it'd be a nice planet to rest and stretch my legs. I had put a fair amount of stress on my ship with the journey to Magellan's and this would make a pleasant spot for some running repairs.
WP13: Pamplemousse
I spent the night running diagnostics to make sure all my systems were in working order and using some down time to optimize my route to Waypoint 14. We were heading back into Lyra's Song, and I decided to make the most of the remaining light-years in Tenebrae. I employed the same strategy I had on the way in, emphasizing A/F/Brown Dwarf systems to gather more data on Rhizome Pods and atmospheric life. Luckily, in one of the numerous NSPs I scanned, I was able to find the final variety of silicate crystal that had been eluding me. The Perseus Arm had truly been good to me.
Rubeum Silicate Crystals
System: Graae Phroo QU-V d3-6
Eventually, I made the 8200 ly journey from Pamplemousse to WP14. This system earned GMP recognition for one particular celestial body, a large ringed Ammonia World dubbed King Midas. At 152 Earth masses, this AW contained enough mass to hold a gas giant as a moon in its gravitational embrace.
WP14: King Midas
I set down on a local moon that had yet to register a first footfall tag to plan out the next leg of our voyage. Our expedition would be crossing the large, dark void between galactic arms and would require some thorough route plotting to not become trapped in a system without the materials necessary to jump out. I have no intention of becoming one of those stories of stranded cmdrs, lost in the void far from home. I'm still well-provisioned with jump mats, and I'm no stranger to navigating through sparse star fields. So hopefully the next correspondence you hear from me isn't a frantic distress call begging any nearby fleet carriers to divert course to rescue me.