3308-02-20-05:05 | Sol
20 Feb 2022Riptokus
February 20th, 3308, 05:05. I'm in orbit of Earth. Sweet terra herself. The homeworld. The cradle of humanity. It is from here I launch my expedition. It's not much of an expedition, for all of the preparation I have made for it. It's going to be a long one though. It's a chaotic time to be leaving the bubble. The president is trying to throw out more than 1500 years of tradition in a mindless power grab. The Emperor was kidnapped by terrorists. The Colona bridge is nearing completion, and the Thargoids are ramping up their pressure on us. That's why I'm leaving. I'm not running away, just like I am not here for Earth. I would never pass up seeing it, no human should. But I'm here for Mars. Or rather the object that was once found here. I was not permitted to see it, but I came out anyway. Many humans forget, there isn't two space faring aliens we are aware of, but three. Not three counting the elusive AI that destroyed the guardians. No, I refer to the hidden ones. The first ones.Our explorers have combed the galaxy. Our modern frame shift drive is a wonder. Who could forget the stories of Commander Kamzel's expedition to Beagle Point in 3301? Do you know what we haven't found yet? Any other active ships. Sure, there are the Thargoids, but where are the Guardians? Dead. And what of that first group? The ones we don't know of? I posit they are dead too. And if they are, what does that say? The Guardians fought the Thargoids too. The Thargoids remain. We've found Thargoid signs everywhere, and yet, never found anybody else flying the stars with us. Even as we went to the edge of the galaxy. Even as we went to the center of the galaxy. Are we the only ones interested in what is in the middle? I refuse to believe that curiosity is uniquely Human. So, it is my belief that our fellow star travelers are dead. We sit amongst their corpses, and our own doom is fast approaching. You think Salvation will live up to his namesake? No! He is going to kick the anthill, and we'll see what the Guardians learned. Aegis worked to increase our knowledge, but more and more, our species degenerates into chaos. Just like the Guardians before us. Is it coincidence? Is it coincidence that our president disappears, and her successor decided not to respect 1500 years of history? Maybe. The answer can only be found in the bones of those who should be out there. The answer to the Colona Fermi paradox. Our bridge is out there, and isn't seeing aliens visit. Where are they?
If I'm right, we'll find their ruins, and hear of how they fell fighting Thargoids. Guardian technology is helping us in our survival. Did Salvation find another galactic grave? Is that where his weapons come from? Maybe he is one of the Guardian AIs. The answer to that question might come too late for us.
I'm traveling to the space between the Heart and Soul nebulas. Once I am there, I will begin a determined systematic effort to find evidence of destroyed alien life. If I find it, I dread what that says about our future, but hopefully it will hold seeds by which we can fight back.
Call me Ahab if you wish. Label me mad. I'd rather be mad than right. I hope my expedition is pointless, and that it only produces data for colonization fleets far in the future, and not the evidence I fear.
But as the famous blue marble rotates so far below me, I set aside these negative thoughts.
I have my good ship, the Rising Dawn, to carry me on my folly. She's equipped with a class 6 alpha frame shift drive, tuned in the Farseer labs for optimum performance. Attached is a piece of guardian technology, capable of boosting the output of the drive to unprecedented levels. With a balance of firepower and exploration tools, I should be able to handle anything I find out there. It's time to set course to my best guess of the space between the two nebulas. A binary system of red dwarves labeled Eafots YL-K b36-0 in my star charts. I'll be stopping in HIP 10792, which I believe to be the last bastion of mankind before I enter the deep unknown.
For any who choose to follow me, leave no planet unscanned when you get out here. The goal is to find alien ruins, and get archeologists investigating them as soon as possible. I will be moving in a spiral slowly moving out from Eafots YL-K b36-0 until i have reached the edges of Heart and Soul nebulas.
For humanity, I depart.