Star One
21 Jun 2023Taneth
Day 40 | 36,551LY from Sol | Errant Marches | Flyeia Eaewsy SectorNot a ton to report, but it's been over a week since my last recording so I figured I was due. The most notable thing I have seen in that week would have to be the fabled Byaa Thoi GC-D d12-0, or "Star One" as it is colloquially known. It's the Milky Way's closest stellar neighbor to the Andromeda Galaxy. Close is pretty subjective, though, as the former is still over 2 million light years away.
I've gotten pretty used to staring off into the void, so looking towards Andromeda itself wasn't the most impressive thing for me there. It still looks incredibly tiny that far away, but deep down I know it's incomprehensibly immense. I feel like I've travelled so far to get to this last stop of the Milky Way, and it's nothing compared to the distance that remains between our two spirals.
That awe-inspiring thought notwithstanding, the more impressive sight was still when I turned the Ecco around to head back towards our own galaxy. This is what the ship's exterior cams caught:
Just... beautiful. I've heard of feeling 'on top of the world' but this is something else. I guess it's 'on top of the galaxy.' Was definitely a sight to behold.
So now I've turned my ship spinward along the edge and I've been heading that direction for a little over a hundred jumps so far. I'm about a third of the way to the edge of the Errant Marches, at which point I plan on making a turn coreward towards Colonia. As much as I like it out here, it will be nice to visit civilization again for a little while and do some tinkering on the Ecco. I'm certain I can get a few more light years out of this FSD.
It's interesting, though... when I think about visiting Colonia. I feel like heading back to the bubble and Sol would also be visiting. I've only been out a bit over a month, but I guess this isn't my first trip in the black. I dunno... so-called civilization doesn't feel like home, anymore. Being out here does. I'm surrounded by indeterminable blackness and emptiness interspersed only sporadically with wonder and beauty. Yet I feel more alive than I ever have before.
This is where I belong. In the pilot's seat. In the black. In the void.
Eventually, I'll run out of brandy though. Maybe I should learn how to distill the stuff myself.