Distant Worlds II: Prologue
15 Jan 2019Chad VanGaalen
Marking fourteen hundred light years in to my second expedition out in to the black. It really does feel like my first, as it dwarfs any other deep space exploration I've ever done. Don't get me wrong, I've got the hours... but it's nice to make some new tracks in the road instead of dodging scans at every orbital between Iben Hub and Barnard's.
Am I nervous? Hardly. Life in the bubble has been slowly killing me for years, unassisted by humanity's obnoxious way of organizing in to frustrating forms of every nature. Governments. Corporations. Manifestations of greed and narcissism that I'm thrilled to leave behind. I'll come back one last time when this expedition is over - to sell off scans. I've no direct use for them anyway, but it'll be something to live off of, and means I won't have to... transport... perfectly legal cargo to keep a roof over my head. Then I'll be gone. Hopefully for forever.
As for the expedition - well, jury's still out on that one. Tonight we "landed" - I use that very generously - on a 3.3G rock in HP 6164. Turns out, we made it much more gracefully than some of the others.
They call it The View. Those who didn't burn up ramming straight in to the ground, anyway. Knuckleheads.
STRAYLIGHT SYSTEMS
EXPEDITION LOG
SYSTEM: HR 6164
ORBITAL BODY: ABC 1
DESTINATION: The View
ORIGIN: Human (Tourist Beacon)
ATTACHED: Imagery
Forward Unto Dawn has been immensely upgraded with a vast array of new equipment, and now outclasses many ships her size. She now pushes 40 LY fully laden in a single hop, and possesses shields ten times her previous strength. Enough anti-Thargoid tech to make an Interceptor think twice, as well as an XG9 I haven't had a chance to take out yet. Literal tons of fancy new scanners, too. Still figuring out how they all work. Tal's been getting a handle on the new camera drone, which means she'll be documenting much of this trip through telepresence. Girl has a mad eye for the right shot, so I'm excited to see what she comes up with.
We departed from Pallaeni with thousands of other vessels. Really an impressive sight - worth having to bear all the chatter leading up to it. It was nice to get some radio silence for a whole evening, and we racked up a decent amount of cash in the scans. Rendez-vous'd with CMDR Damian Lansing, who managed to duct tape together his Krait for the ride. He claims it gets over 50 LY. I'd like to seem him jump that far in a single hop without splitting her in half.
Tal and I landed on a backwater moon in Col 285 Sector YL-H b25-5 to test some of the new gear. 4 A, I think it was. She wanted to see what a geyser looked like up close. I thought that was pretty funny.
Shapley 1 was a bust - I've seen plenty of Wolf-Rayets - but The View really has been worth it. Two visible black holes and a white dwarf. Plus the entertainment since we've gotten down here has been incredible. Some chap in an Asp was lauding about how he'd never dreamed of doing bong hits on a pink planet before. I scanned his hull. Over half is armour had been vapourized. Pretty sure the guy hadn't even realized it until I asked him if he wanted repairs. He seemed thankful enough, anyway. Stoners are good like that.
All that aside, I feel much calmer being out here. Like I can feel the weight of humanity's grip slowly releasing from me. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling like this, and maybe that means I'm in good company.
And - I think Tal likes me.
Time will tell.