Exploration - 2.1 - Week 31 3307
08 Aug 2021Sumurai8
[05 08 3307 | Inferred location: Swoilz QF-Q c21-6]I am tired of the politics, tired of the constant positioning of factions within the sphere of influence of various superpowers. Tired of the scam artists on the Pilot's Federation rescue vessel that took a stack of twenty escape pods and paid me for four. Tired of the fact that they failed to even put a rescue vessel around another station in the first place. I tend to visit Synuefe GC-R B51-2 when that happens - just hop into a ship with a nice big jump range and you are there within minutes. It has nice Roseum brain trees that grow various minerals that you can harvest. It seemed... different... than I remember. Less big patches of trees, and more sole trees scattered around the surface. The minerals also don't dislodge like they used to, so I am not sure what happened.
On a whim I decided to choose a direction and keep flying into the void. I've got sufficient food and supplies with me, and the AFMU is topped up. Now I find myself at Swoilz QF-Q c21-6. Despite the number of explorers before me, the unexplored black is always just a few jumps away. I already encountered several unexplored systems before this one, but this is the first one on this trip to contain a valuable planet to humanity. And to top it off: 65 planets. I better get to scanning all of them.
[06 08 3307 | Location: Drojaea VT-P d6-5]
It is times like these that I understand why I still scan systems that I know others have been before. The navigation computer notified me that the star system I arrived at had already been submitted to the Independant Pilot's Federation and downloaded on the ships computers with a previous firmware update. This system is a relatively high value system with two terraformable high metal worlds, and one earth-like world and it looks like at least two commanders came here before me. Surprisingly enough they only scanned all systems, but failed to map two of the three planets for future human expansion and research purposes. Their loss I guess, but good money for me when I get back.
[06 08 3307 | Inferred location: Drojaea CU-X B19-0]
The navigation computer found signs of life on an icy body in what appeared to be a non-assuming system. How anything can survive on an icy body like this one is beyond me, but I am sure that the people at Vista Genomics would love to get their hands on genetic data of the species that lives here. It's my first time encountering an Osseus Pumice. This variant is gold coloured and looks nice and warm in the sunlight on this otherwise cold surface. It is particularly interesting how the plant is a lattice structure of interconnected cells, that allows it to grow taller than what you would expect it to be. I decided to take a picture of me standing behind one. I love the little cracks in the lattice structure, and the rough inner surface of each of the cells.
A TINY HUMAN in Inara gallery
[07 08 3307 | Inferred location: Flyeia Hypai VU-B b15-0]
I like the shape of Fonticulua Lapidae. The variant on this moon is amathyst coloured and fits quite nicely. As this moon has rings I decided to take the opportunity to stage a nice photo. My SRV is parked behind a patch of Fonticulua Lapidae, with one of the plants particularly close to the camera so you can really see the details. Overhead you can see the rings of the planet and a bit of the sun peeking through the atmosphere. It feels... peaceful.
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW in Inara gallery
[07 08 3307 | Inferred location: Preia Hypai JV-J B37-0]
I am making good progress today. This particular system is interesting. It has 5 stars, all orbiting around each other. I have encountered such systems before, but this particular system has planets orbiting everywhere, including the center of mass of all 5 stars.
[07 08 3307 | Inferred location: Preia Hypai WY-G c24-1]
It's getting late, so I have decided to set down on a planet with live. According to the scanners there are 5 different species on this planet, which is particularly high if I look at the past 500 systems I visited. Vista Genomics is going to be happy when they receive this data and more importantly, I am going to be happy to be able to stretch my legs a bit.
[08 08 3307 | Inferred location: Blaa Hypua XJ-U c5-0]
Getting closer to my waypoint. I encountered a system with 4 valuable planets, and at least one appears to contain life. I better get to it and scan them all.
[08 08 3307 | Inferred location: Lyookoi SB-J d10-0]
Waypoint reached. At the last second I decided to switch course and go to a system with a neutron star and a secondary star, because I couldn't quite figure out how to read the data. Turns out it was just a regular M-class star.
The system turned out not to be a total loss though. Within the few bodies that circle through this system I found two terraformable high metal planets. The band of stars denoting the core systems get brighter every moment.
I have looked through my options for a next waypoint, and identified a system that deep space scanners identify as a black hole, but that doesn't seem to be discovered yet. It could of course be that my nav computer just hasn't downloaded this data yet, but it gives me high hopes of being the first to discover a rare astronomical object such as this. It's a risk, but the prospect of being the first to lay my eyes on this thing is too tempting. A little over 50 jumps to go.
[08 08 3307 | Inferred location: Aisail VI-Q b10-1]
Fatigue is setting in. There was a moon with 4 biological signals several systems ago, but I forgot about them in the time it took me to scan a HMC. Too late to turn back. I suppose someone else can always take samples if they really want to know what is on that planet. Just 17 more jumps to go. I can do this.
[08 08 3307 | Inferred location: Aisail IX-F c13-1]
Some say the grass is greener at the neighbours. I say the universe is a lot brighter near the core. Took the opportunity to take a picture of the core systems, pockmarked by numerous nebula from the cockpit. A truly amazing view.
POCKMARKED WITH NEBULAS in Inara gallery
[08 08 3307 | Inferred location: Greae Phrooe XO-A f0
I made it. I made it to the black hole. It's... not particularly big. Just 3 solar masses, and apparently 10.5 billion years old if I have to believe the data coming in. The distortion is similar to what I saw in that system with 3 black holes that I visited a couple months back. Still, this system is special. I am the first one to lay eyes on it. Now I just need to get back in one piece.
A BLACK HOLE TO CALL MY OWN in Inara gallery
