CC16: At the Eldritch Gate
22 Aug 2022Scopelx
It has been several months since my last entry, there's a lot to catch up on. I had not even finished limping back to civilization from the Magellan Experience before one of the expedition leads mentioned another fascinating trip. Previously unknown intelligence had been uncovered regarding the very first known Glowing Green Gas Giant. Currently these giants are extraordinarily rare, with fewer than 40 documented examples. Cmdr Kelly Eldridge sent long-range communications through a now-defunct mechanism while voyaging out from the core in 3301. One such message contained a photo of the famous lost wonder. But upon her return to human space she, and all knowledge of the system's location, was mysteriously lost. The missing GGG has captivated wanderers' imaginations ever since. The Independent Explorer's Association had come into possession of copies of these messages. A targeted search was being planned, bringing together of host of skilled squadrons in order to rediscover this piece of exploration history. At the Eldritch Gate was born. Obviously I had to participate.Preparation and Tune-Up
I set to designing a new ship immediately, settling on the Viper Mk. IV platform for now other reason than it wasn't usually a popular choice and I wanted to try something different. I cobbled together the materials and got her together, definitely not perfect but it was different. Some kinks needed to be worked out. I decided on a little tune-up trip to the Trifid Nebula, home to the fabled collared pods, for my new ship's maiden voyage. A short 5200 light-year trek through mostly mapped systems would uncover any lingering issues with the build.
Albidum Collared Pod
System: Trifid Sector DL-Y d157
Lividum Collared Pod
System: Trifid Sector FW-W d1-233
Blatteum Collared Pod
System: Trifid Sector BQ-Y d244
Rubicundum Collared Pod
System: Trifid Sector DL-Y d157
My Viper, the Entekhi, performed well enough. Not my usual first choice of ship, but I suppose that was the entire point. The range left quite a lot to be desired and the space for internals was limited but I'd make do. I am still heavily engaging in exobiology and the ship's size was appropriate. And a new expedition required a new ship.
Launch
Before I knew it the expedition was underway. Her contemporary files indicated that it was likely somewhere level with the galactic plane in the Vulcan's Gate region. That still left an astronomical amount of systems to search. I set off from LAWD 26 a fair bit behind the pack and set a course to the system where the expedition truly began: Thraikoo PS-U e2-4. It is a stellar remnant, a picturesque system and notably the anchorage of the DSSA Inverness.
From there, squadrons had designated their own survey areas covering the region up to the Perseus Arm. The journey to the nebula for over 20k light-years, and already I was regretting my choice of ship. Covering a lot of space in a hurry was clearly not one of its strength, and I should've shuttled with one of the numerous fleet carriers engaging with the expedition. But eventually I caught up, scanning systems and surface organics as I went.
Vulcan's Gate
I continued up the arm, planning to survey the northern border of the region. My first detour was toward the Ovomly sector. Ovomly is one of only a few known homes to the Torus Molluscs, a species that only grows around white dwarfs. The diligent cmdrs of the Banana Nebula Expedition had previously done a thorough sweep of the area, so I settled for scanning the populations already present in the database.
Caeruleum Torus Mollusc
System: Ovomly DA-Q d5-0
Viride Torus Mollusc
System: Ovomly SS-K d8-8
Blatteum Torus Mollusc
Luteolum Calcite Plates
System: Ovomly HG-O d6-0
Rubellum Torus Mollusc
System: Ovomly DA-Q d5-16
Flavum Torus Mollusc
Ovomly YE-H d10-3
My next rest stop on my voyage northward was the DSSA Deep Space 27 on the very southern tip of the outer arm where I could properly repair and finalize my plans to search Vulcan's.
On the way, I split time search for the GGG and surveying various star classes looking for organics. Included in these were a number of O Class stars, one of which contained a species I have sought since I began the Canonn Challenge. Puniceum Anenomes are dizzyingly tricky to come by as biological lifeforms go. Canonn has record of 35 total populations in its entire database. I was ecstatic to make it 36.
Puniceum Anenome
System: Phoadeae CL-Y g1
Disaster
I decided I would swing back by the length of the of the region, casting a very wide net. This brought me the way of the DSSA Ijon Tichy which was more than accommodating for a short while.
A week's worth of exploring followed, and one day I was careless while coming in for a landing and went down hard. My shield absorbed most of the impact but I'd lost 30% of my hull. Not ideal. I had neglected to bring a repair limpet controller. This should have been a warning to me that I would need to be careful until the next time I could dock with a carrier. It wasn't. The next day a careless thruster boost while exiting a canyon caused my ship to clip a wall, popping my shield. The subsequent tumble sent my Viper into boulder and shattered my already damaged hull. I barely made it into an escape pod. It wasn't long before rescue staff for the Inverness recovered me, but I was beyond demoralized. I had never lost a ship on expedition before, to say nothing of the thousands of light-years I'd covered and the organic and navigational data that was now destroyed. I couldn't fly that ship again. Not right now. Even though I could easily pay to have it rebuilt. My heart just wasn't behind that ship anymore.
New Beginning
The expedition still had ample time remaining so I boarded ultra-fast transport to the Bubble and began building a new ship. No offbeat, odd choices this time. I was building one of the preeminent vessels in the field, a Diamondback Explorer, and tailoring it to my needs.Namely, ample shielding by way of a prismatic generator and shield boosters. I would not have a repeat of my previous mistake.
I only needed a handful of high-grade raw materials and heard rumor of an Anaconda that went down fighting Thargoids carrying containers of the same mats I needed. I asked around and eventually learned where the cmdr met his end. I searched the wreckage and plundered what I required.
I was horrified when I saw a Thargoid interceptor appeared on the horizon. I was in no position to run or defend myself. It flew directly toward me, scanning my ship and the wreck. Thankfully, it left without incident. Their behavior has been growing bolder and bolder. Some worrying reports were coming from across the Bubble about growing Thargoid presence. Makes me glad I'm rarely in their part of space.
Materials gathered, I finished work on my DBX in record time and it was honestly exactly what I had in mind.
The Erebus was ready to rejoin the search.
An expedition member, Cmdr Orange, was serendipitously in the Bubble at the same time and was graciously offered to ferry me to Hyponia that very day.
All this time he and others had been refining the search area and picking up in Kelly Eldridge's trail, finding the systems she'd passed through and comparing them with her known communicatiobs. It seems that the GGG was more likely well north into the Perseus Arm. I docked and spent a day or so being chauffeured before becoming too anxious and needing to do some flying. I threw myself overboard in the middle of the Orion-Cygnus Arm, fully intending to eventually rejoin the carrier. But there were areas in the region I wanted to see along the way and I'm easily sidetracked.
I stopped by and surveyed the Passion Nebula in the Dryo Aob Sector for Electricae, visited the nearby stellar remnant at Dryo Aob DW-N e6-9, working my way northwest until I reached a planetary nebula which I knew I couldn't avoid. It contained the only anomaly in the region, and one of ten total known L-types.
L03 Anomaly
System: Wembeau KM-V e2-12
Satisfied, I moved westward and discovered a trove of systems I found interesting below the plane. I had a heading but I followed it loosely. Usually, I'd manually choose a new system each jump while moving in the rough direction of the Perseus Arm. I could not imagine how little time there was before the objective of the expedition would be complete.
Finale
Suddenly, just as I was about to cross into the Perseus Arm, an urgent alert came across all expedition channels. The GGG had been found. I was dumbstruck. I had never truly thought it would be rediscovered, even given the effort put into it. The intrepid Cmdr Orange, the very same Cmdr Orange who was kind enough to carry me 20k light-years, used remarkable ability and the collective support of the participating squadrons to locate the GGG in Shaulai DL-P d5-274. A mystery years in the making had been solved. I am linking Cmdr Orange's personal account of the find for the details of how exactly it happened. Truly an awe-inspiring piece of work. Overnight, the entire galaxy with abuzz with the news. I made for the system at best possible speed.
And when I arrived. By the gods was she beautiful.
A celebration was announced. Everyone was to gather on the GGG's first moon in two day's time. With everyone making their way into the system I decided to fly a couple thousand light-years north. A single anomaly exists in the region and I had yet to scan it. The anomalies I've had experience with usually taken up residence places like nebula, storm lagrange clouds, or black holes. When I arrived at system the Codex pointed me to, it was curiously unremarkable. I was not sure what to make of it but there they were.
Q01 Anomaly
Lindigoticum Calcite Plates
Viride Calcite Plates
System: Dryu Chraea FH-D d12-49
I spent my entire remaining free day trying my hand surveying white dwarfs for their unique surface organics. This in retrospect was a mistake. Some Fumerola, Electricae, and two WD-specific Fonticulua was all I had to show for a couple hundred systems. Searching through WDs is a bleak affair. DA-type in conjunction with a close orbiting binary is all that really has a hope of supporting some of the diverse atmospheres. And even on the couple of occasions where I found those I still came up empty. The view from deeper below the plane almost made up for all the barren systems I slogged through. Almost.
Then came time for the expedition members to celebrate, and many gathered on the surface to commemorate the occassion. This success is a testament to the ingenuity of the entire community of explorers. The odds were absolutely absurd. All credit to the expedition organizers, the squadrons have worked to refine the search, and especially Cmdr Orange for bringing it all home. I'm honored just to have been present. Well done lads, this is one for the books.
And with that, most turned their ships toward the Bubble and the conclusion of our expedition. I lingered, this being only the second time I've really gotten over to the western side of the galaxy. I bid farewell to my comrades and set my sights on the core.