Formidine Expedition: Entry 001
27 Apr 2016Alexia Zyxx
This begins the journey of the PFS Minerva.In truth her journey began approximately one week ago, but a glitch in the shipboard computers dumped our logs from the first few days. Engineering tells me they've rooted out the cause of the data loss and are working night and day to repair the damaged systems. As far as the data goes, we're lucky; the engineers were able to pull our systems and navigational data from our scanners' built-in black boxes. It's not exactly legal -- these high-end military grade scanners have a back-up storage ensconced in nearly indestructible composite polymers and covered in miles of red tape, designed to only be accessed in the specific event of catastrophic ship destruction -- but we're not exactly a Federal Navy Ship. Things aren't always above board in deep space, and I'm not going to lose sleep over a few voided warranties if it means I don't lose my data.
Preparation for this expedition began even earlier, with the Minerva stretching her legs on a number of small journeys around civilized space and the surrounding emission nebulae before docking at Obsidian Orbital in the heart of the Pleiades Nebula. There we remained docked for a fortnight, giving the small crew a last chance for shore leave with all the comforts that an orbital station at the very edge of the frontier can provide.
Obsidian Orbital -- an Ocellus class star port at the edge of nowhere, far from the little bubble of space that humanity calls home. In spite of, or maybe because of, the remote qualities of the station, it is a surprising hotbed of activity. Professor Ishmael Palin's research into the strange alien artifacts over the last months meant that dozens, if not hundreds, of the gods-forsaken things have been ferried to Obsidian O, and their penchant for screwing with any and all things electronic has transformed the starport into a dim, groaning husk resembling one of the old sci-fi horror flicks from the years before space travel became mundane. It's hardly a surprise that we picked up some kind of bug while docked. I'm just glad we seem to be rid of it -- I knew setting out from Obsidian was a mistake.
The Expedition's destination is The Formidine Rift, a vast expanse of space situated along the Reorte/Riedquat Line in the lower 2nd Quadrant, between the Perseus Arm and the New Outer Arm. Rumor has it that something is out there, beyond the rift. If it's the Thargoids, or Raxxla, or some other entity behind the unknown artifacts...well...I plan on finding out.
It's no Beagle Point, but the journey will be a long one. Our route starts from the Pleiades Nebula. From there, we take a somewhat meandering route to the edge of the Perseus Arm, using nebulae as waypoints to mark our route. We travel to the California Nebula, then meander along the underside of the Galactic Disk until we reach the Little Dumbbell emission nebula. From there, we'll detour up to the Cave Nebula, and move on the the final stop on the first leg of our journey - the NGC 7822 Nebula, where we will sit at the edge of the Orio-Persean Gap. There we will spend a short time to rest and resupply, gathering materials from various sources throughout the cloud and it's local space in preparation for the hardships we face ahead.
Embarking from NGC 7822, we'll cross the Gap at NGC 1502, the The Orio-Persean String. This small string of glittering, luminous stars should help guide our way across the Orio-Persean gap and bring us into the Perseus Arm, where we will hopefully find easy travelling to the IC 1805 Open Cluster, and then move on to the Heart and Soul Nebulae. These serve as our second resting point, where we plan to rendezvous with other Formidine explorers and resupply one last time before entering into the Formidine Rift.
Here we face a choice. We can skirt around the edge of the rift, taking the Formidine Bridge or the Far Bridge into the New Outer Arm, where we will hook back to begin our mapping of the systems behind the rift. Or we can be bold, and take the Minerva directly into the Rift, an option most ships do not consider. Of those that do, many do not survive. This would be the quickest and most direct, but also the most difficult and dangerous route available. It brings us directly against the Poseidal Wall: a wide swath of empty space so devoid of stars that plotting a journey in any ship bearing a sub-30 Frameshift Drive is impossible. Luckily, the Minerva is well endowed -- she boasts a jump range of over thirty five light years and still retains her capacity for a full science crew and multiple planetary landers. We are in good hands.
At the Poseidal Wall, Minerva will seek out the Heisenberg Crossing -- a narrow passage through the wall deep within the Rift, culminating in the Welcome Badlands. The 'Welcome' Scheau-Hypue Badlands is a small area of space within the rift littered with a great number of brown dwarves. While we will be unable to gather fuel here, the higher star density in this region will allow us to plot an easier, more fuel-economic route to bring us to Vig's Beacon. There we will be 14,000 light years from Sol -- from home -- and will begin our mapping of the systems beyond the Formidine Rift. What we will find there is anybody's guess.
This is CMDR Alexia Zyxx of the PFS Minerva, signing off.