Log 14 - Colonia
19 Feb 2019Jaykay
I certainly smashed through the light years during the last week. After departing Clooku EW-Y C3-197 we stopped off at Gagarin Gate in Gru Hypue KS-T d3-31. A little planetary outpost inside the Vostok-1 nebula. It was good to have a stretch, sell some carto data, inspect the ship and restock on supplies. I must admit after my last experience at a Colonial Council station I was watching over my shoulder but needn’t have worried, the crews and staff were pleasant enough and my paranoia settled down somewhat. Onward from there we reached Blaa Phoe NC-D d12-230 and the “Death Spiral”. This system has been given its name due to a Class V gas giant’s demise being very much overdue. It is slowly but surely spiralling in towards a White Dwarf. There is also a Class M Red Dwarf mere light seconds away from this cosmic death dance which created some quite unique photos (see one HERE).
The route was then to take us out to a group of systems worth visiting, including Michell’s Legacy, the Clock work Rings and the Crayfish nebula. However, we were the closest we were going to get on the expedition to Colonia, so I decided to take a detour and make use of my new Neutron Jumping expertise. I should give some background to the significance to Colonia in case you have been living under a rock for the last 5 years. It is currently the most remote inhabited region of space, some 20,000 light years away from the bubble. The system itself has 2 stations, a planetary outpost which is the home of the Colonial Council and a megaship, the Dove Enigma. Here is a bit of history.
The Dove Enigma megaship is tribute to Commander DoveEnigma13 who, to this day, is battling on through 3 years of cancer. The ship was bought out to the system as part of the The Enigma Expedition at the start of 3304. The expedition ended in a touching ceremony involving 12 Anaconda ships lining up and firing their flak cannons and lasers in salute for the commander’s arrival. The Plater News Network covered the story HERE.
The main station in the system is Jaques Station which itself has a story. Owned and run by the cyborg Jaques, a Federation black ops veteran, the Orbis station has the ability to hyper jump and fly like a mega ship. Its purpose was for Jaques to fulfil his life long dream of heading out into the black and reaching the same destination as myself, Beagle Point. However, several dramatic twists of fate occurred, including a mis jump caused by the unknown artefacts which was rectified by community events to refuel and repair the station. It now resides in the newly named system of Colonia, as it has since 3302 at the centre of the region.
In the years since, the Colonia region has exponentially expanded and now consists of a massive 71 systems, 91 ports and an estimated population of over 9 million. With all that has been going on in the bubble, particularly the Thargoid incursions, it’s not hard to see why there is a mass exodus going on still.
Anyway, history lesson over, you can see why I wanted to visit. I felt like a tourist visiting all the sights and locations that have been so prevalent on Galnet in recent times. Outposts, stations, various settlements, a crashed type 9 and even the location of some infamous engineers. The latter was unfortunately a wasted trip as both Mel Brandon and Petra Olmanova required that I undertook some work for them before they would even see me, if I was staying in the area I would have gladly obliged. Sightseeing was over though, and I had to head back towards the fleet’s location.
I am now on a Neutron Star route to meet back up with my fellow explorers at Waypoint 5, Polo Harbour. I’m sad to leave after such a short visit but am sure I will be back. Yes it has had its problems and even a large conflict back at the end of 3303 but there is something exciting, new and hopeful about being out on the true frontier.
