Omega Nebula - Where to from here?
07 Nov 2017Faarken
OROne Man's Addiction to Exploration: A Cautionary Tale.
Omega Mining Operation
Asteroid Base
Omega Sector BE-Q b5-15
07 Nov 3033.
I forgot about comms chatter.
Nearly shat myself when it started coming in over the bridge speakers again.
Banged my head on the access panel I was working in.
Requested clearance at the asteroid base and throttled back and waited for the DC to kick in.
Then I remembered it was turned off to conserve fuel (actually it beat me in chess so I had the shits with it.). Swearing I turned it back on.
So as the DC reproachfully took me in I thought about my trip.
I looked it up and it is exactly 5555.66 Light Years to my home base in Eurybia from here.
In this moment in time.
Chapter One
Until I made enough money to buy the Anaconda and outfit it right I never dreamed of seeing much of the galaxy.
But when I got the Duck I caught the wanderlust.
I had travelled quite extensively before in my AspX but had always kept to the bubble. Seen most of it in fact.
Then I got my Python and spent a lot of time trading.
Then came the 3 Chapterhouse appeals. I made so much money carting precious metals and bounty hunting in those 3 weeks that I could finally afford to buy an Anaconda.
Once I had the ship I outfitted it as best I could then took it on a grand tour of all the engineers I knew to soup it up.
For it's first trip outside the bubble I went out to the Guardian Ruins and did a mission for Ram Tah. Made me over 100 million credits on that trip.
Then the Thargoids turned up. I was carrying Guardian Relics at the time and had to offload them quick in case I ran into a 'goid out there in the black. The 'goids don't like Guardian Relics let me tell you. Sets them right off.
After participating in a few CG's over the next few weeks I began to get the wanderlust again.
I tried to keep it in the bubble by taking a tour of the (as then) 6 abandoned INRA base sites around the outer edge in my ASPX - that baby gets nearly 50 ly per jump these days and is good for fast tours and stuff.
(Seriously what has been going on while I'm out here - you guys have found two more INRA bases? That's nuts.)
I took my Anaconda to the CG for the next week - The apple bobbing one. Shipping Fruit and Veg got a bit boring so I switched my config and went bounty hunting in the RES sites in the system - coming in the top 10% for both CG's that week.
But I was bored as hell.
I heard about this Abandoned Anaconda that had been converted into a shelter and decided to go and see it. I told myself that it was a shake down trip for my 2 new A-rated Class 6 AFM's that I had installed in my exploring config, but really it was an excuse to take the Duck out for an extended trip, although this wasn't a conscious thought at the time.
I set off for a short 400ly trip to the derelict Anaconda in HR 5906.
On the way I stopped at a few places to have a look around because what is the use of going anywhere if you don't get out and have a look at stuff?
When I got to HR 5906 I followed the directions I had tracked down and found the derelict.
So I hung around on that planet for a while, did some driving in one of my SRV's, collected reloads for the AFM's, saw the sites.
I was watching the Galactic Geographic channel on Galnet bored shitless after being out in the SRV for 10 hours straight staring at a peepersweeper. There was a doco on the Veil Nebula West and it looked so cool that I thought "that would be something to see". I checked how far it was away on the charts and it came in at about 1300 light years from where I was. I'd never been that far out but the Bigfoot's Duck (long story) had handled this shake down trip really well so I was confident I could make the trip. I had also fitted a class 6 fuel tank before I left so I had plenty of fuel.
Lets do it I decided and set off.
I flew all the way to Veil Nebula West. It was an adventure but as I went I learnt a lot about my ship and myself. I did some stupid stuff - like nearly driving my SRV off a cliff ...
... and flying too close to stars ...
... but I made it there.
I poked around for a while in the nebula but was still unsatisfied.
Chapter Two
The wanderlust had me bad.
I remembered that a long time ago Professor Palin had asked me to fly 5000 light years out so I could call myself a proper explorer. Said he'd show me a few things to make my ship a better explorer.
I thought - this is a perfect chance to cross that task off your list.
While I was checking my mail at a listening post (free wifi) I noticed a banner ad for Omega Mining Operation. It said they were based in the Omega Nebula and to come mine some pristine 'roids. I looked them up on the galactic charts and they were just over 5000 light years away from my current location (Veil Nebula West). So - was it fate that it was 5000 ly's away?
I don't know but I started plotting a course there.
I looked for any bases that may be on the way so I could stop and fix my power plant and hull if I needed (they were showing some wear and tear from my journey so far.) About 1500 light years away in the general direction was the colony Hillary Depot that I marked in my bookmarks.
Powered up the ship and headed out.
Flew all the way to Hillary Depot from Veil Nebula West and only dropped into one star. One heatsink in 1500 light years is some kind of record I reckon. It was a good trip didn't even have to really look for fuel stars. I can see why Hillary Depot is on the Colonia Connection Highway list of stops.
After resting and repairing at Hillary Depot I set off for the second more exhausting part of my journey. 3500 light years to Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15. The Omega Nebula.
And so I am here
At Omega Mining Operation
My trip here was documented in https://inara.cz/galaxy-logbooks/23865/
Chapter Three
Which leads me to the question posed in the title of this logbook entry - Where to from here?
Last night in the bar I heard a story I haven't heard before. A story about a mega ship that just disappeared. The Zurara.
They say that she has reappeared in the Formidine Rift.
I have decided to return to the bubble - only to restock for an even greater expedition. I intend to attempt to travel to the Formidine Rift and see the Zurara with my own eye.
I have over 5000 light years to research and plot a route so we will see.
I intend to return to the bubble via the Lagoon Nebula visiting Amundsen Terminal in Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10 .
I will keep any interested readers posted as to my adventures.
Commander Faarken
Omega Sector BE-Q b5-15
07 Nov 3033.