Colonia and Back
14 Jul 2020Vizz Curio
::CMDR Vizz Curio on Balrog Boogie, at Jameson Memorial, Shinrarta Dehzra::::personal log::
::back dated 03.06.3306::
For a long time I've been interested in the idea, the concept, of Colonia -- a mis-jumped space station lost and then found, sparking creation of a second human "Bubble" of colonization. But it always seemed so far, requiring more time just travelling than I ever wanted to dedicate, and fearful of missing out of some exciting event at home or at my second home, the Pleiades.
But months went by, and nothing exciting happened.
Nothing.
Even the Thargoids have been on holiday for a year now, hanging around the Pleiades but not doing anything aggressive.
Bitten by the bug of exploration, true exploration far from home because of my 5,000ly journey a few months prior, I scoffed at my former reservations and hatched a plan.
I would build a new ship (to hype myself up for this) for long-distance travel & exploration, and spent some time plotting courses & detours on a general path toward Colonia, then set out on an adventure. And maybe I'd push the last rank to finally get Elite in exploration.
I built a Krait mk.II and named her Hellbound Paradox. I wasn't going for maximum possible jump range, just decent, and got an acceptable 54ly. I really wanted the SLF hangar so I could take a break from flying this heavy ship that's moderately agile and hot-dog around and explore things up-close. That worked out well for my sanity indeed. I slapped on a few extra antennae and cargo pods on the exterior, and some stylin' spikes.
I left the Bubble by way of a few recommended neutron stars to get a fast 1,000ly distance behind me. I generally aimed toward Colonia and also "up" from the galactic plane. Then I cleared my nav computer's suggestions and started scoping out the galaxy map to find my own neutron stars and interesting star types to travel through. I flew most of the journey to Colonia this way: hand-locating neutron stars and small nebulae, even found a couple of black holes, the first of which was a surprise and a trippy experience when you're not expecting its lensing effect in a nebula! "What is that? What are my eyes seeing? Why is my heat level spiking? Ohhhhhhh...!"
I was lazy doing scans on my trip. Sometimes I'd scan a system and then detail every body in it, other times I'd dismiss a system "eh, mostly icy bodies whatever" and jump on. In the end I didn't hit Elite in exploration, but close.
The last night of the journey I got impatient. The destination was so close! I knew that would happen. So I eschewed all exploration scanning and plotted a direct neutron highway course to the Colonia system.
I made it and was satisfied. The views out in this part of the galaxy are spectacular and more awe-some than the boring old Bubble. We really do live in the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm back in the Bubble.
My friend CMDR Delco set out on his own journey at the same time to Colonia, hand-picking his own path and different from mine. It was great fun to chat with someone else as we simultaneously voyaged through deep space far from home. Certainly kept the space madness away.
I stuck around Colonia for some time, exploring the neighborhood and the local scene. Eventually, of course, I got homesick. Serendipitously, there was an "information broker" at a bar who said he "knew a guy" who was headed back to the Bubble and doing so in "record time". For a nominal amount of credits, he gave me a keyword "suicidewinder" and told me where I could go.
The journey back to ShinDez was quick and uneventful.
I left the Hellbound Paradox docked at Jacques Station in Colonia, somewhat as a proof I went there and to have something familiar of mine there should I ever return.
Overall, it was absolutely worth the trip and I wish I had done it years ago.
::end transmission::