It's been a while since I remembered to update the logbook. Note to self: stop being a lazy git.

Quick summary, because preparations.

• No luck with Sirius and Qwent. Guess they were too busy snapping stuff for the Thargoid hunters.

• Eurybia yielded more luck. Finally got enough favours with the mafia to get coords for Liz Ryder. Finding a system with enough landmines to win her favour, though, was tricky. I've scoured every damn station I could think of within fifty lightyears radius before caving and using the indep commander netsites and locating one a hundred and a few lightyears away. Weles served well, but I've learned that landmines are considered illegal in every system I'm crossing while having them on board. Go figure.

• I didn't exactly need her engineering, but after funding a few grades of random tinkering on a spare missile rack, Ryder felt generous enough to share the location of Hera Tani with me. Bingo. Power plant upgrade, here I come.

• Or so I thought. Having a rank with the Empire wasn't hard - I'm flying a clipper, after all - but finding fifty tons of Kamitra cigars was a tad more tricky, especially that these were sold in limited stocks in very few places. Took me a couple days of camping the markets, but I finally got it. How much can one person smoke, anyway? Are her lungs replaced with industrial quality pump filters?

• With the delivery done, I could start on engineering Digitus Impudicus. Fortunately I've had all I needed - leftovers from upping the FSD on the Judicator, as well as random junk I picked up just in case, served well enough to get me all the way to grade five access and a decent power plant capacity. Bit of a heat problem, but that's manageable.

• With the power, I could get my multicannons overcharged. Yeah, sure. First I've had to get some encoded data from the planetary outpost nodes, which I had to race against time in an SRV for. Few crashes and a tip from Baradoen later I've even learned to enjoy these puzzle runs. The rest was the usual torpedoing of ships, so nothing special there.

• Finally, with that done, I've overcharged the cannons on my gunship. Then I've decided to physically fly it to a system with a bounty hunting community goal, rather than have it transported. Be faster that way, I figured. While thinking that, I thought my fuel scooping will take just a moment each jump. Turns out smaller grade scoops are slow as hell. Also the power plant loves to overheat if I go too close. Lesson learned.

• Finally reached the system, went to test the ship, kicked ass. Damn that's a lot of firepower. Still gotta learn to manouever this fat bastard of a hull tanker, but that's part of the challenge. Plus, the firepower alone is more than making up for crap manoueverability. That, and I'm usually winged anyway so I can drift-strafe while others are shot at. It makes things easier.

Summary over. Now time to prepare for the expedition.

Spent the last few days in the bubble, killing time by bounty hunting. Tested Impudicus out a bit. It handles like shit, just like I was told, but the firepower more than makes up for it. Sadly I still can't use the ship to it's full potential due to the power plant capacity being exceeded if I power all of the systems, but I'm hoping to get rid of that problem as soon as I get a hold of someone that can overcharge these. Word is, Aegis or whatever bunch kept them so occupied is allowing these guys some time off, might be able to pester Sirius or the Blue Mafia enough to allow me access. Then I can do that and also overcharge the multicannons, potentially screw about with the shields and hull reinforcements some. Firepower comes first, though, this ship's value shines in that most of all.

I've noticed that the shutdown wave of the Thargoid cyclops screwed with my logbook entries some, the end of the one written prior to the hyperdiction is absolutely unreadable. Guess the logbook doesn't appreciate sudden shutdowns. I really need to upgrade the system on this ship.

Arriving in Procyon system now. No surprises on the way, other than the actual damn system. It has more earthlikes than I saw in over a year of galaxy exploration. Whatever lucky son of a bitch found this one first must be really rich and/or famous right now. Time to fix my ship (after an unfortunate collision at Avik) and see if Sirius feels generous about those permits today.

I've been hyperdicted by a Thargoid ship. In the bubble. Twenty or so lighyears off Sothis. Fortunately it just scanned me and buzzed off, and in the heat of the moment, I forgot to purge the databanks before I scanned the ship's wake. Dammit. That's a scan wasted.

I've got my gunship. Digitus Infamis has got itself a younger brother, Digitus Impudicus. Two middle fingers to the galaxy, sincerely, Alphadron. And to the thargoids as well. I've got to arm up against them, seeing those sods this close to the inhabited space is extremely worrying, especially that there were sightins of their ships near the Canonn base and the Maia station as well.

I hope these bloody engineers start sending off invites soon. I really need this ship engineered if I'm to stand a chance.

Few days of work for the Blue Mafia and still no word from the engineer. Elusive little shite. Suppose I might as well stop wasting my time here and set off to the federal systems, work for those bastards to get my gunship.I'll set off to Niu Hsing, to grab Skirnir and check how the governing factions fare job-wise. They have been less than generous with missions before, to put it mildly.

This new charting system is great. Allows me to input neutron star jet cones into the jump range achievable by my ship. Although it seems that also includes white dwarf jet cones - I was just sent into a system with one of those as a main star. No way in hell I'm jet boosting off that, the cones are tiny and the gravity on that thing too massive for me to risk a rebuy and potential incineration in the heart of a star just to shave one jump off the course. I'll replot normally.

Niu Hsing is disappointing as always. They have some courier missions now, but almost all of them are to Colonia and the neighbouring systems. Why the hell would they even need to chart expansion data there? Is there anyone in Centralis that gives a damn about where the feds will take over in the bubble? Damn well hope not, that place is supposed to be an independent home away from home, not a federal puppet. Sod that. I'm setting off to Sothis, heard there's expansion in there as well, might be data to haul around.

Sothis, day one. Plenty data hauling tasks, again, a lot of them to Colonia. Worrying. There is, however, a lot of couriering needed between here and rather close Ceos, that should get me enough favours - eventually - to get that faux rank of theirs and buy a gunship. Also piss off that federal officer who scoffed at me using an imperial ship to move data around. Eat throttle, pal, this ship can make thrice the speed of anything you're flying. On that note... busting through the mailslot at 730 m/s is great. I've got to do that more often. Never on the way in, though, I wouldn't be able to throttle down before hitting the rear end of the station.

One minor annoyance seems to be that Sirius corp is just as unwilling to disturb their engineer as the Blue Mafia is. Another is that it seems the federal navy no longer gives away sensitive data couriering tasks to rank up on their little rank ladder. I've got to hunt down a bunch of pirates for them instead... calling in Digitus Infamis should do the trick, I've hailed Baradoen over as well. I probably can take a few pirates on my own, but better safe than dead.

Minor annoyance three. This damnable system has no resource extraction sites and the nav beacon is absolutely overrun with the feds. TWo hours spent looking for the pirates and we've found four. Screw this, time to rest. I'll mount a FSD interdictor tomorrow and play hunt.

Sothis, day two. Begins annoyingly slow, decided to haul data for several hours before using the clipper to fly and shoot people up. I've made quite a progress towards the next few ranks I imagine, but now is the time to hunt. Interdictions are more annoying than I thought, especially that the only one available at Sothis is garbage grade and rank. Oh well, gotta do with what we have.

Pulling pirates off the hyperspace is oddly fun. Seems that most of them can't stand too long against the clipper's firepower. And I suck way less at steering this thing than I thought I do, I'm actually able to keep up with a few of the ships despite using flight assist. I've learned that shutting that thing off during turning can make it even easier, making me able to keep up with vultures. Those were my bane back in the day, now they're manageable, if still annoying to kill. I'm glad nobody else reads these logs, they'd laugh me to death for struggling to kill a vulture... and for using flight assist. I need an upgrade of my control mechanisms before turning that off, though.

A few hunting sessions later, turns out I've hauled so much data the next three ranks are clear and achievable. Now it's only one left for the gunship. Not bad. Few more hours of cruising the same systems... which is way more fun due to high speed mailslot breaching than it has any right to be. "Please control your speed" my arse. As long as I don't crash into anything, I'm good. And I'm clever enough to know that when there's ships queueing for exit, I don't just speed down the entry lane. That's how broken ships happen, especially with how many belugas cruise around here.

Finally, the gunship permit. I've charted the course to a system where the g͘unshi̸ps are҉ rat̵h̀ê̡̑ͮ͊̽̈́̀́r̎́͆ͦ̀̒ͭ ̍͗̊̈́̅̚͟c̷͐ͣ̃̓ͣͥ̒̐͆h͊̾ͮ̄ͮͨ̉̂͟͟e̷ͭͭ̀͟a̛͋̽̊͂ͪ͟͠pͣ̎̊̒̎̐̈́ͨ҉͏͏,̡̧̈́͆ͬ̄ͦ͟ ̢́̽ͣ͜d̷ͥ͂ͪͪ͊͊̂͒͞͏u̶̡͌̊̎ẽ̒́̒̉ͤ ͩ̒̔tͨ̓̓̅ŏ͑ͧ̆͋̌̏͡ ͩͥ͐͛̈̓ͩ͠a̧̓̄̋̚͡͞ ̌͝Y̢ͨ̓̋̏̉oͬ̓̈́͟ñ̡̀͠g̉͛̄̌͋͘-̵̔̑ͭͭRͦ̽̂̽͐͏̵̧̞̼̬͉̫͙̗͓͎ͅͅͅͅų̨̻͓͖̙̙̱̤̱̙̮̹̬̼̳͍̤͊̇̌ͩͯ͛̔̈́ͨ̈́̄̚͜͞i̮̱͙̼͈̾̿ͧ̊̔ͦ̐́̈́̍ͤ͊͡͝͡ ̧̭͔̜͎̤̱͇͉͇̥̬̪͓͑ͯ̀͊͒̂ͨ͝͝s̡͙̮̞͒̔̒̈́̑̔͛ͬ͂̚y̴̶̢̘̞͚͚͎̪̱̝̖͔̗̥̺ͪͤ͆̆̂̐ͣͨ̆ͧ͒s̡̨͈̝̠̮̒̆͛̀͌͗̏̇͂͆̈́̿͢͟t̷̨̢̛̞̙͎͔͓̩̟̬̳̜̙̼̯͈̥̮̺̍̑ͪͨͥ͑͑́ͥ̈́̐̈́̌͆ͅͅe̷͈̘̹̜ͭ̊ͧ͑m̴̛̙͍̱̫̭̖̙͎̬̥̠̭̣̞̜͓̲̖̹̆ͯ̔͛̒ͮͪ̑ͧͦ̎́ͥ̂̊̚̕͜͟ ̴̡̝̮̠͖͚̬̗͉͋̇̂̎̍̄ͪͬ͒̂̓ͬ͑̀͝ã̵̵̺͕̫͎͖̪͍̦̪̣̲̲̼̎̈́̓͐̒̉̎͋̋̆̇ͫ͟l̢̧̠̫͇͈̼̱̝͓̙̦̋̿͋̃͂̔́ͅļ̴̞̘̼̖̩̥̥͈̟̬̬̯͎̠͂̇̔̌̾̍͢ͅë̠̣̩̘͔͚̪͚͔̯̟̱̩̤̖̰̅̎͌̀̇͒ͨ̈́̿ͧ͒͐͛͑̍ͮ͡g̸̸ͯͭ̀̉̒ͯ̚͏̲̹͙̳̗̼̤̭̮̹̖́͡i̊̀̑͟͟͟͠҉̮̩̲̩a̸ͫ̅ͪͫ̄ͪ̈́̈ͯͯ̍̏ͩ͢҉̛̜͚͕͔̺n̶̵͎̩͔̺̲̜͒ͦͬͦͣ̉͛̿ͪ̈̎͗ͣ̐͆́̏̎̚̕͢͞c̨̫̘͕͇͒̈̋͌̅͌ͩ̽ͤ̃̌͆͛͂͌ͣ̄̍̒͟͠͡e̶̻̝̜̺͍̺̩͈̥͈̻̓̆ͪ̀ͩ̎̇͑

Ḥ̶̛̲̖̱͉̺ͥ̐ͥ̎ͦ̈́ͭ̃̌ͬ̚͘ọ̢̲͈̭͇̫̰̃ͬ͋̿͆́ͅl̅͆̎́ͦ̽̽͑͐̐ͭ͝͏̙̪͙͕̼̹̭̘̯̙̼͖̠̜̖͓ͅy̗̜͇̞̹̫̭̤̲̳̣̥͉̭͎̜̩ͤ̆̀̌͑ͥ̇ͫ̽ͦ̚͢͜͢͡ ̴̗̦̥͇͇ͧ̇͋̏͑̓͢ͅs̷̹̳̭̫̺͈̯̠̄͐̈̽̊͑̃̏̍͠͞ḩ̸̳̩̪̺̹͂̌̊̇̓̓̔̍͑̅̿͊ͥ̋̆̊͜͡ì̸̦̘̪͚̯͈͕͈̺̜̥̗̦̯̳͚̠̇͗ͮ͊̀̀ͣ͝ͅṫ̡͑̋͐ͣͤ͌̚҉̴̼̖̲̘͈ͅ.̡͙͕̠͍̞̘̰͋̃̂̾̊ͩ̾̉ͤ͊̄ͤ͘͡͞ͅ ̲̥͕̗͇̦ͪͩ͐̏̄ͦ̀͊ͫͩ̄͜͠͞T̵͔̜̠͙͇̖̭̖͖̮ͪ̉ͤ̈́͑͊̊̋̏̊͛̄̉͌́̆̃ͤ͠h̶̵̡̟̖̰̰̫ͩ̎̑̈ͤ́͢ͅa̧̡̱̜̯͚̽͂ͭ̆̂ͭͩ͛͑̓̓́͌ͮ͢r̷̨̤͖͚͙̯ͥ͂ͫ́̿ͫ̈́̒̎̌͆͑ͪ͌ͫͫ͒̚͘ͅg̣̣̻͍̗̥̼͎̟̺͇͎̭̫͈͛̊ͤ̓̎̔̊ͣ̋͊͗ͮ̌͐͊̅ͭ̆̀ǫ̸̼̱̯̫̬ͫ͐ͯ̾ͪ̓̊́̃i̸̡̪͚̳͙̲̪͉̫̰͔̜̗͎̻͈͑̑̆́̚͝ͅd̵͛̍̔͂ͬͩͨ́҉̛͔̗͕̮̟̲̙͇͔̹͇̯͚͈̘̤ͅs̸͇̝̳̟̖͚̘͎̓ͭ̅̆̄̈́ͭͩͮ̑͑̑̃̿̚̚͠.̵̛̬͔̦͕̠͍̹͋̐̆͊ͦ͂́ͧ̔͛ͮ̈́ͮͯ̽͗̑ͮ ̵̵̧̧̗͍̺͎̝̍͆ͫ͛͊̇̏ͩͧ̈̂̾̒ͮ͒̓̓́͢Į̵̨̳̩̣̖̹̹͚̿̐̎ͬ̐̔̀͟͝'̡̨͖̠̻̠̣͖͇͔͙̲̱̼̖͓̭̜̜̒̐͑̀ͅͅm̷̶͈̯̯̯̥͔̗̲͚̩̞̝̫͑ͥ͒ͤ͊̔ͫ̂̾ͯ͊ͮ̑̚͢͞ ̡̫͙͎͖̙̘͈̼̓͑̍͐̈́͋̍̾̀̏͡͞b̵̵̭̮̥͙͉͇͓̪͓͚͔̟͉̟̜̠͒̆͆ͯ͌̄͞ͅe̷̼̟̻̭̭̠̅́͒ͩ́͟͠iͧ͑͛ͤ̀͂̂͗͂̀̀̕҉͚̞̫͈͕̯̜̪̹̭̣͈̺̳̯̱̰͡ñ̛̦͙̯͎͙͈͈͖̿ͯ̌͌͐̾ͤͫ̔ͮͬ͡g̨̢͖̼͉͈̹̀ͭͭ̀̌͜͞ͅ ̵̯͙̳̻͔͉̱̗̮̤̙̘̬̄͛͂́̔̋̅͝p̛͌̀͐͋ͩ̏̅̋̋̎̿̑̉̓͑̈̾̈́͆҉̞͎͕͇͉̺̤͟ư͇̪͖̗͙̭̜̥̘̯ͥ̈́ͬͨ͗͑̾̐̕͝͞͠l̴̸̛̯͕͎̣̩̥̱͎̘̺̠̗͚̏́̉ͣ̍͊͒ͬ̅̈̃̒̑́͊̚͘͡l̘̙̗̗̫̰̇ͧͣͥ͗͐̃̉̀̚͘͜͝͞͠ẻ̶̵ͬ͐ͫ͘͞҉͓̗̮̤̰̰͓͚d͒̆̏̂̈́̔́̈͋ͨ̈̊͐̾҉̧̧̼͚̥͉́͜ͅ ̸̟̥̥͓̙͎͖͕͖̯͈̐ͣ͋ͤ̔̌̅̑͊ͣ̈́ͤ͒ͣͯ͘͞ǫ̷͇̻̦͓̻̮̓ͮͭ̂ͨ͊ͭ̚͞͞ͅf̸̡͍͚͈͉͗̐͊̅ͭ̏͊̈́̌̉̇̕̕͟f̷̵̢̙̳̞͇̘̫͖̼̈́ͫ͋̅ͦ̾̇ͪ̎̍ͦ̒̽͗͂͡͝ ̛̞̤̜̘̘̞̜̦̘͔͈̮̮̀̎͑̀̒͛̓ͬ͆̚͢͢͡t̨͎̺͖̻̗͓͚̟̖̺̙̮̳̯̆̔ͦ͆ͯͨ͌͛ͮ̊̈̂́͜h̢͔̦̳͙̺̠̗͓̝͇͓̖̰̙͙̖͍͖ͪ͛ͬ͑͆̓͆͆̀̾͛́͂͂͘ͅȩ̛̑̃̃ͦ͆ͮ̇̊̓̉ͣ̽͗̋̚͏͓̮̬̭͔̤͓̞̮̞̜̬͖͖̤̪̀ͅ ̧̻͕̝̬̻̱̳͓̲͕̳͖̤̗̱̿̔ͦͧ̑͞͞hͣ̾ͨ̇̓ͧ̽ͦͣͫ̽͗͆̚͏̛̱̟̫͇̻̹͎̙͙̀͢͝y͆̇ͭ̍̀͒͋͆̋͒͑҉̧͎͎̭̥̠̻͔̘̜̟͖͟p̧͕̩̭̻̝̩̼̤͔͎̪̹̫̩̤̘͉̟̍̓̃͗͐ͧ̾͗̃̇͛̓ͧ̎̾̑̽̚͝e̸̙̞̫̙͙͉̦̥̭̠̘͉͍̔͊ͣ̀̿̐͛ͫ̎̂́r̷̛̲̯̫̙̤̝̱̤͕ͪ̍̏́ͤ̓͌̇ͬ̌̑̚̕͜͡s̨̳̳̳̱̘̹͍̪̤͉͍̯͂̑̃̈ͫ͗̇̐ͫ̊̊̉͋̒̚̕͘͝p̛̩̬̮͚͍̝̥̯̟̼͐͊̏ͣ̈́̎̒ͨͥ̐ͤ͋͗̐̑͘a̱̖̥̯͕̓̏ͫͭ́̆͊ͬ̀̍̌ͣ͐͊͐̓̽̀̚ć̢͕̺̪̤̝̘̤̘̺͙̽̊̓́̀͟ę̡̡̄͑ͪ̓͋̎͢͏͉͈͚͓ ̵̨̱͉͇͉̗̜͎̼̖̤̞̱̮̥̻͌̐̇̄̊̂͌̆ͩ͐ͥb̢̜͍͉̪̆ͭ̅ͫ̊́͜͝͡ÿ̵̨̹̣̣͚̦̜́ͮ̅ͩ̆̈͗̓ͩ̑̾̅͊͊͊ͬ̐͆̀̚͟͞ ̸͉̙̯̥̖̰̣̪̳̭̠͉̲̟͌͆͐͆ͥ̂̆ͤ̍̀̓͌ͫ͗ͤ̂̈̕͜Ţ̵̵̗͕̝̠̜̲̺͆͆ͪ̌̔̆̒̐̆͌̃̉̇̋͗̎̐̽̕h̶̨̛̻͕̖̫̊͗ͧ͛̾ͨ̇ͤͭ̇̔̇ͨ͒ͧͧ̈́̔͡͠a̸̻̹͎̦̩̩̦̯̘͎̫͇͕͚̾̒͛͂ȑ̸͒ͧͬ͡͏̘̖̟̱̲̗̳̜̺̟̖̠͝ͅg̾̎̄͒҉̖̳͚̲̙͓̱̫̙ǫ̛̛̪͎̟͔͇̪̗̝̲̱̖̙̘̙̯͎̖ͧ͋ͮ͋ͫ̍̌́̐̆̀̔̈̈́ͤ̀̚i̧̤̥̮̙̲̣̥͛̇͌̈̾͑̐͂̈ͪ̇̍̆ͦ̆͆ͨ̇̉͜͞͡ͅd͛͑ͪ̔̈ͣ̃̋͆͑ͪ͛̃͗̓͐͏̙̱̪̦͍̖̜̲̜͍̭̜̦̪̜̠̬͓͘s̈́͑̇ͨ͐ͩͬ͂̊̾͊ͪͮ̂̇̀̉̕͏̸̭̝̟͕͜͡.̏̏̍̾ͨ͌̒ͤ̓ͤ̈́ͤͫ́̚͏҉̸̛̠̻̥̪͍̟̳̫͔̘̱͚ͅ ̨̡̪̬̲͎̗̖̯̹̩̊̓̽ͧ̃̀̀̒ͯ̄ͤ̕͜Ơ̱̝̲͉̤̭͖͙͖̞̺̤̖̜̦͐̒̐ͦ̃̊͢͢͜ṅ̸͍̪̜͎ͦ̽̅ͥ̐͟é̵̟̦̲͈̞̯̥͓͇̟̠̮͕͚̺̰̼̐̎̀ͦ̾̿̿̑ͨͩͨ̎̾̃͑̈͘ ̛̯̬͖̱͍̙̘͚̝̰̖͈̝ͥ̍̄͛̌͂ͪͤ̇̏̓͞m̷̧͕̞̭̯̳͖̉̔ͮͧ́̊̔͌̀ͅe̸̢̬͍̟͎͎ͫ̆̄̏̿́̇̅ͯ̐̂̈ͬͪ͛̂͢͟͞ͅd̶̬̭̗͙̪͗̉̾̾̃ͬ͟͞͡ͅî̵̢̧̞̰̰̻͉̯̺̲̖̳͉̦̝ͬ̎ͧͥ͆̚ͅȕ̷͔͉͈̤̞̘̝̝ͧ̃̂͛̎ͦͨ͑ͣͩͨ͑̕m̛͓̙͉̱̜̠̖͇̮͕͔͉̹̭̍̓̏͑ͨ͛ͬ̔̆ͦ̎̕͠ ̸̡ͭ͆͆͐̌ͫ̆̾ͯ̆́͢҉̲̟̜̱̗̤̼r̸̨̭̣̦̘͙͇̙̭̲͚̲̺͛ͩͥ̒͊̔̌a̸̡̧̼̝̫̟̬̺̭̠͕̪̯̪̩͚̠̰͍̓͌̄ͬ͆̏̄͌ͫͩ̌̔̃̃ͥņ͕͔̙̝̞͕̺̥̓̍ͯ̂̍͢g͂̈̊ͧ̿̈̎̎́ͣ̾̆͐̉̅̓ͮ҉̕͡͠͏̹̙̱̠̟ë̈́͌͆͌̃̚҉̵̸̵̼̗̫͓͈͉̪͚̲̱̟̦͈͈̜̲̯ͅ ̢̽̏̓͂ͤ̂ͮ̍̄͆ͮͪ͌͗҉̢̨̝̣̱̥͎̥͔͉̯̥̥̝͖̬j͐̌ͩͧͣ̾̏̀͏̢̧̭̥̦̣͙̣͇u̶̢̡̜̺̮͕͇͓͖̳̣̬̖̜̮̇̂̆͋̉ͨͬ̅ͥ̽͠m̑̑͋̆͆͌ͫ́͗̌͊҉̷̪͈̫̝̞̙ͅp̷̈͂̚҉̹̱̖̠̩̘̮͙̼ͅ ̶̧͚͚͎͖̹̫̟͕͐̿̄̑̊ͣ̋̐́ͣ̋̽ͥ̄͛̍̋́ͅo̐̓́̓͐ͮ͛͟҉҉͚̬̞͔͖̝̮͚̘̤̼̫̫͚͜ͅf̶̎ͧ̍͒͑̂͐͋̏́͏̶̡̨̱̱̲̩̞͓͇̭͈̰f̠̩̹̪̳͌ͦ̀̍͆̒ͮ̍̍͗̋̽̇͋̌̈͘͘͡ͅ ̴̛̝͉̤͔̩̭̼̟̟̯͙̹̑ͣ̈͑̈́͑̌͡͞F̴̧̮̬͕̣̝͎͓͈̠̲̰̽̿̑̎ͬ̾ͣͤͪ̅̂ͫ̐͋̎͑̂̃ͣ͟͡ͅę̧̢͔͙̗̪̬̘̘̱̩̬͇͖ͤ̑ͣ͆̐ͤ̐͐̉͒ͫͫ͒ͮ͒̐̓̄d̷̺̟͖̙͎͕̫̤̲̜͖̝̘̻͓̳͙̄̒̐ͯ͋ͦ͡e̸̹̠̖̜̭̤͙̥̯̟̗̻̽̿̈ͤ̃͗͂͂̿̋̂ͯ͊́̕ͅr̷̜͇̖̦̰̍̉̂̈̌̑̿̐ͣ̆ͦa̸̵͚̝̟̥̜̪̮̼̤̙̟̯̞̠̱̹͈͉̾̎̓̒ͩͪͭ̓ͨ̿͑͂̿͛̽̏͑̓͟͞l̶̨̲̙͈͙̫͈̱̩̻̬͍̞̻ͣ̓̈ͯ̅͌ͪ̋̀͟͠ ̷̟̞͓̥̞̮̗̭͍̳͕͈̱͕̠̪͓͌ͣ̏̌ͭͬͤͦ̌̀s̴͋ͪ̆ͯ̉ͦͭ́ͭͪ̒̐̓ͧ̎͗ͥ͏̴̞̺̱̥̥̲̮̰̠̭͈̝͙͖͙͖̲̳p̸̧̱̤̳͖̭̞͕̫̜̩̖̯̜̮͔̾̔̓ͫ̏ͥ̽͋͗͊͆̌̒́͊͌̐ͮ̚ą͖͓̩̳̥͈̹̩̬͔̞̥̮͖̣̲̓ͬ̆̃̋́͒͊̓̾͊̑̿ͣ̓̔ͫͥ̀́͘c̵̶̛̼̺͇̥̳̝̯̩̫̠̦̯̟̯̆̾̔̈̈e̴̙̖̤̮̦̅͐͐̏̊̿̇͋̈̓̽͡.̸͑̊̌̌͏͇̼̪̀ͅ ͣ͌ͥ͛̈́̄ͨ̓̐͛͏͇̤̭̮H̷̡̛͇͍͚̠͕͙̳̻̱̥͊͊̿͆̽̐́̈͋͜ǒ̷̢͍̯͈͔̱̱̥̻̰̝͕ͧ͋ͨ͆ͥ̅͆̒͂ͭ͋ͨ̊̚͘ͅŵ̴̟̣̤͇͙̦̰͎̯̼̗̞̾̅̄ͤ̎̎͗̀ ̵̢̮̠̙͖͓͎̫̺͕̞͎ͮ̅ͨͪͭ͠t̷̜̮͖͎͔̲̤͍͍̙̰͍̤̱͙̖̜̍̌̊ͯ̂̌̎͐ͮ̀̎ͯ͆̓̿̋̾ͯͤ̀͢hͨ͂͆̏͂͊ͫ̇̈́ͣ̕͢҉̵̺̺̞̲͔̕ē̶̝͇͈̬͚̣̺͉̤͌̽̇͐̈́̂͂̓̇̿̈ͪ̀̕͘͝ ̛̯̜̳̳͍̣̣̗͍͚͙̱̱͉͚ͦ͆̓͊ͤ̐̓ͧ͌̀͂̑͊ͨͤ̈͠ś̡͎̯̠̟̜̙̮̤͚̜̟̆ͩͥ̎ͫ̐ͯͣ̐̆͒ͯ͛̎ͨ͊ẖ̴̷̷̢̙͈̗͈̭͎̮͚̹̀̃́̆͐ͭͨ͒̏̿̏ͦ̿͘ī̛͖̱̟̊̑ͩ̽̾ͮ̔̀̍͛͆ͧ̐̒͋ͤ̀͝͞͞t̷͉͓̩̲̪͙͔̙̰̟̝̯̳̹̠̜̺͋̆ͥͨ͆́̀ ̧͇̩̭̥̬̗̪̪̘̤̭̺̫̙͉͒ͦ͆ͦ́͝ḁ̵̶̛̭̣̪̯͕̔̅̎̅͛̂ͪ̈ͮ͐͒ͣ́ͮ͑̄r̷̝͍̤̤̘͉̖̘͂̇̍ͨͦ̇ͧ͊͒̊͋ͩ̽̌ͬ̓͜͝e̓̈̏̐ͨ͂͛͟͏̧͚̻̰͓͍̜͜ ̴̵͈̫̲̰̽͌̽̆͛̊ͯ͊ͮͭ͢ť̤̳̦̰̻̲͈̥͍̪͇̻̺̉̓̿̾ͪ͝͝h̵̖̫͚̦̪̝̯̭̣͗ͦͭ̊̀͊ͧͦ́͘͟ͅͅê̵̛̖̼̪͎̠̞͓͊ͦ̿̐͒̾̉̔ͬͨͩͩ͛̾̓̀͟͝y̶̌̅̇̅ͥ̄͌̈́͐͗ͪ̎̈́͏̟̹̭̭̠̳̞ͅ ̃̃͑͛͌̆́҉̼̻̤̺͇͓͓̮̜͇̬̞͖̜͓́͡h̷͚̞̞̣̘̖͙̝̣̻͍͖̠͙̙ͭ̿ͫͣ͜͞ͅė̡̨̯͖̼̞̟͔̮͓͙̘̬̔̔͒ͣ̿̾͊ͅͅr̨̛̮̤̰̟̰͎̖̹̓͆͗̓́̍̌̆́͟ĕ̶̮̳̰̯͛̿́̾̓ͦ̈ͦͥ̉ͩ̂̓?̻̲͖̪̫͔̘͒͌̆͒̌̕͘!̃̎͑̉́̊ͣ̑̊͆ͥ̄̏̌̋ͩ̔҉̴̯̞̞̩͡ ̷̡̧̨̱͎͍̹̣̥̦̹̘̗͍͇͚͔ͤ̈͋ͫͨ̃ͯT͔̥͎͕͐̋̔̌ͦͦͤ̽̋ͮͬͣ͝͠h̨̧͙̻̘̠͙̙̪̝͉̺̭̖̮̙͍͓̤̭ͧ̂̊̒̍ͩͬͤ͋̍̀͡e̵̛͔̼̳̳̱̼̯̟̫͚̺͍̣͖ͦ͐ͥ̒̉̔̓͌̈́̔̀̈́ͥ̊̕ͅẏͫ͐̽ͨ̇̌ͪ̈͋͏̵̧͈̩̫̩͕̙͚̝̯̠̣̰̘͕͍̩̺͟͞ ̔̊̿̊̐́͏̷̶̙̝̪̰̺̼̬̮̠͠w̧̋̿͑̋ͤ͐̈́́ͬͬͤ̚͏̢̛̤̙̜̗͉̱̟͈̯͖̫̮̼͚̼e̿̑̓́̊̒ͥ̇̏ͨͩͨ͐͘͜҉̺͙̱͇͍̺̞͕̩͍̺̻̞̞̭̻̗͚͉r̲̖̞̹͎̻̘̥͖̥̠̜̘͎̜̉̒ͭͫ̑̔̃ͪ̚͟͜ȩ̨̠̙̗̼̙͕̝̫̱͈̻͙̇ͭͦ͌̃̊̃ͥ̿̿͑͂͐̓̓͋͒̇̚ ̢̢̯͇̪͎̰͉̖̮̝͖̦͙̫͕͍̐ͪ̉͗̈̑̄̍̂ͧ̑͘s̥̙̺͇̲̑ͣͬ̿̅̋̊͐̎̊́͂͋͊̇́̉̈́̚͜͢͝u̧̡̙̯̳̘̻̝̱̺̪̞̭͇͖̺͖͔ͤͯ͌͆͒͛͒̏ͨ́́ͭ́̀̚p̶̭͖̲̝̠̖̬̣̻̺̬̙͍͖̖̠̐͂̋ͫͫ́͘͟p̵ͮͭ̊̅͆̇̀͐͏̯̬̻͓̱̰̗͙̞ͅǫ̵͍̜̣̭̳͙̻̘̳̺̃ͫ̿͒̍ͫ̈́̆̈͋ͫ͐͛ͧ̾ͨͮ̚͝ş̛̳̳̝̗̘̟̥̬̲̯̩͔͍̙̌̓̋͆̊̓̌̆ͩ͑ͪ͝͝e̢̛̪͔̻͍̹̫̝̼̰͓̪̹̯̭̘̹̳ͣ̾̌̆ͪ͌ͫ̀̆́̚͟͡d̑͌̋̓҉͔͙̪̰͎̟̖̼̰͖̟͎̣͙ͅ ̵̗͔̫̳̟̯̪͔̪̱͖͉̞̼ͨ̒̏̈́̐͛ͥ̄ͤ͐́͗͐ͮ́̕͞ͅt̷̡̲̟͚̬̥̙̟̖̓ͦ͑͋͛͊ͪ́̋̓́̋́́̑̈́̆̏ͫ̀͢͞ơ̛̘̱̗͈͙͎̝̙̦̬͚̣̙ͭͥ̆ͯ̋̏̉̈́ͤ͛̽̒ͦͬ̒̎̊͜͝͝ͅ ̐́ͤ̆͗ͮ͛͑͊̅̉̓ͩ҉̨̺̦̰͖͈̥̗̦͉̯͎̮͉̤ͅͅͅh̵̝̣̩̬̯̩̖̬ͪ͊̆͑̕͟͡a̴̧ͣ̋͛̏͋̽ͦ͊̒͌̑̒̅͊̄̑͏̙͚̙͉͉̭͚̺̲̖̪̹̫̝̼̣̺uͩͩ͛ͩ͐͛̓͐ͬ̒ͪ҉̩̞̟̙͕͕̱͇̖̗͎̻̤̖̰̰̻̪ņ̵̬͍͓̗͇͙̺̻̑̀ͧ́̂̋̕t̢̟̩̙̜͙̖̯̖͓͍̂ͭ͆̌̉̓̒̉́̚͜͡͝ ̷̛̖̩̦̹͙̲̜̫̙͕̣̘̤͖̆̋̑ͧͨͥͭͦͧ͊̔͆̈̇P̵̢͎͖̱̰͍̥͇͖̦̟͍̻̜̜̽ͪ̋ͭ̔̊̉ͪ͊ͤͩͬ̐͟l̸̛̼̺̱̥͙̺̼̠͍̣̖̗ͩ̉͛ͫ̒͑ͦ͑ͦ̈̏͢e̜̝͙͇ͬͨ̓͊͒͌ͧ͂ͣͯ̄̔͐ͥ̀͡į̠̬̮̳̖͕̩͙̱̺̩͇̮̙͎̫͓̭́͊̽̒͒ͫͩ̽͂̕͘ą̢̲͙̰͈̲͔̳͚̝̬̠̯̪ͬ̌͊ͧ̔͗̐ͣ̆̽̀̚͘d̢̥̻̦̞̞̜̖̗̮̱̰ͤ̅ͯ̓͆̊̅ͨ́̕͟͢è͆̊̇̐͛́ͫ̂ͣ͋̅̃͗ͬͪ̓͗̚҉͕̱̮̫̤̞̬̮͚̗̘̪͔͝͝ͅͅs̷̵̡̖̻̻̞͚̞̝̬ͣ̋ͬ̔ͯ̅̔̍̍ͤͬͯ̈́͛ͭ͟,̛̬̬̳̯͍̦͈̘̪͔̞͇̬͐ͬ́́ͩ̈́ͮ̽̌̽ͦ̆ͨ͋ͨ̈̿̚͘ ̵̡̘͍̰̯̬̰̺̯͖̳͓͖̫̇̓ͥͬͫͧͭ̎͛ͥ̃̂̐ͧͮͩͧ́̚ͅṇ̵̡̮͎͇̮͇̯̣͉͖ͥ̍̐͋̀͜o̴̔̈́ͭ̑̒͂̚͏̸͠҉̤͉̘̞̖ͅt̛̟̤̪͚̜̗͖̤̦̲̦̑͂ͣ̉ͥ̀͘ͅ ̧̉ͮͨͪͥ̍͒̅͏̨̜͎̟͙̤͉̀͝tͤ̄͊̊͜͡͠͏̷̖̩͍͙͇̣̞͖̱̦͈͖̦͇̮̣͇͍h̴̢̘̠̘̘̭̼̰̮̘̙̩̋̏ͮ͗͐ͥ̎̽̇̆͂̋̀͢ẽ̡̛̜̤̫̜̠̫͚̑̊̑͊ͯ͛ͦ́ͬͫ̋͊͝ͅ ̴̡͚̼̯̈́̾͛̎ͤ̔̏̏͐̓̾ͧͫ͛̅̀̀͜ͅG̶̡͙̝̜̠͚̲̤̈̄ͬ͋̃̈́̓̒̑͒̇͋̀͊̆̐o̴̳̺̼̫̙̒̄͂́ͥͮͭ̏͋͘͜͞͠d̸̼͈̦̬͚̺̠̞̣̳̺͕̏ͩͨͥ̒̉ͣ͊̓̃̄̍̾ͦͯͥ̔̿̔͝ ̡̭̮̦̟̘̻̫̣̘̳̹̙̰̜͚̎̏̓͛ͤ͒̊̑̌̓́̚͢͟ͅd̷̛ͫ͒̔͋̍̇̓̔ͥͫͩ̈҉̺͉̼̤̤͔̤a̷̰̪͓̮̖̳͕̞ͤ̓ͩ͗̽̇̌ͭ͐ͪͤͬ̿̓ͮͭ́͝m̶ͫͣͨͮ̋ͮͮ͠҉̧̟̺̙̖̭̱͚̯̥͇̰̘̜͉͜n͙̰̘̗̙̠͔̮̺̫̘̝͖̤͗͗̇̂ͫ̈͗͂͊̚̕̕ ̵̧͕͕̠̣̹̻͇̝̖̊̃ͯͩ̓͗ͪ̒͛̇̀̚͞b̶̩͚̱̦͚̫̻ͬ̃͒̒̈́̐ͥ͋ͯ̒̆̽̃ͥ́̔͜͠û̴̧̥̪̺̤̞̜̟̜͓̺͎̲̣̦̮̖̫͐ͫ̇̔̾͒ͪ̐̀ͯ̏ͬ́͢b͙̯͍̻͖̞̭͍̠͔̱̫̟̱͙̝̥͔̖̾̀ͧ̑̍ͦ͂͋ͦ́̀͟͠b̷̨͓̹̻̪̟̦̓̄ͧ͋ͧ͑̓͑ͮ͋̔͆̊͛̈̄̈͠ͅĺ̶̸̫͍̫̞̤͖̼̙̯̱̬̗́ͯ̄̔ͦ͗̈̐ͨ͌͘͜͝eͯͨ͒͗̇̾̉ͭͥ͐̅͌ͭ͊͏̸̫͇̳͓̫̭͉̫̜͙̮̮̩̺͓̫͕͡!̸̡̛̼̫̫̗͓͓̯͚͖̣̤̻̰̮ͬ̒̉̈́̋ͤ̆ͪ͐͆̈̄͌͑̀͟͜ ̤͎̘͈͈̫̖̥̺͚̙̣̲̯̂͗̐̽̀͆̂̕͢͜͞ ̸̧̧̼̘̤̝̼͙͎̫̪ͭͬ̆̈́̈́́̽͆ͫ̾̃̑̽͆ͧ͟ͅͅL̷̡̳̙͈̤̩͇̼͓͓̘͎̰̉̒ͫ̍̃́̉͋͊͛̕e̛̬͉͚̰̻̔̈̉̀̔͗́ͫ͆̌́̒̀t̘̱̖̱̩͈̖̝͍̤̤̜̩̺ͯ̃̉ͧ̾͢͡͝'͊̈́̓̎̃̌̇̃̊ͪͦͣ̎̽̂̿̉̚͝͠͏̶̢̯̦̥̳s̢̨͈͇̖̪̺͉̤̰̹̳̞̿̍̓̈́̉̌̇́̇̽̎ͦͯ ̛͔̞̟͍̝̥͇̹̫̝̘̙̱̜ͨ͆̈́ͤͪ̅̓ͩ̋͆̎̓ͬ̋ͩ̓̕ͅh̨̪̟̘̺͑̽̊̓̔̃̌͢͟ơ͊ͩ̉̄͋́͠͏̥̫̪ͅp̔̂̈́̊ͯ̍̀ͮ͌̋͌̀͐ͮ͋͗͌́́҉̩͔̰̘̭͟ȅ̔̇ͤͮ̂ͨͩ̈́́ͮ͞͏͏̗̬̞͓̳̘̟́͟ͅ ̸̧̻͔͙̝͍͆ͦ̂̊͛̏͊̔ͫ̔ͪ͐ͯ̋̈́̍͘͝t̷̘̦͖͎͈͔͇̓̅̾́̄͌͛ͫ͆̌̇͆̄ͥ͟h͒̆ͯͨ̊ͣ̀҉̘̼͍̲͉͓͇̙͎̻͈͢ȩ͎̥͚̰̝͖͚͔̞̑ͨ̏̌͗́̐ͫ͑ͥͦ̓̀͜ͅy̤͍̣̝̬̯͉̻̤̬̬͔̟̜̳͊̊̌̊͗͟͝ͅ'̢̗̘̗̙̦̰͑̿̃̈́͌̽͐̌̈́̋͂̃̾̀ͅr̶̴̜̜͔̙̭̫̩͉̘̱̩̊ͣͮͩ̅̔̿ͭ͒̿̉̀̃̕ȩ̨̹͔̙͚̹͚̬͙̹̣͎͙̜ͥ̄̉̍̋ͤ̉͢ ̆̽ͯ̎ͤ̆̓͌ͦ̈́͒̍̂̒͏̗̺͚͓̙̗̹̥͚̟͚ņ̱̲̭̙̥̼̺͈͚̼̫̭͇̄͌̊͑̿ͬ̇͛͆̂͛́͛̕͢͞o̸̷͉̼̲̹̙͈̮̹̙̠̟͎̟͍̊ͨ̔ͥ͢͠͞t̔̍̈́ͪ́͆͊̓͑ͩͥ͆ͫ̍͏̴̟̣̟̭̳͞ͅ ̸͇̩͉̱̦̮͕͕̀ͦ̉̐ͦ͛͛ͮ̓́̚ͅp̡͋̑̋̉͒ͯ͌́͏͉͇̖̖̠́i̶̼̥̼̯̙̫̦ͧ͋ͪͥ͐ͨͮͩ͂ͪ̏͗̓ͅş̶̑̊̒ͪͦͫ̏̋ͤ͆̈͆̔̂̚҉͚̖͍̬̬̻͘͢ś̶͖͈̦̠̞̙̄͒ͫͫ͒͒́̕͡ȩ̷̴͚̬͈̭̞̱̰͎̯̪̖́ͩͥ̀͘d̛̀̌͋ͯ͊͒͏̵̥͎͎̗̙͎̙͟ ̧̘̯͚̝͗ͪ̋͊͊ͥ͆̅͑̐͗̂̓̀̈́̊̀̚͟͡o͕̘͉̩̫̪̙̘̠͓̫͓̙͖̖͇̟̫ͥ͊̃͐ͫ̆̔ͫͦ̅̄̓̄̏̔͟ͅf̨̺̰̤͇̠̙̹̺̖̠͕̀̈́͒͐ͪ͘fͧ̎ͪ̽̂̈̈́̄͆̇̚͟҉̼̝͇͇̮̘͕̮̻̲͎͕̜ ̸̡̰̣̬̘͕ͣ̌ͫ͆̉̽ͩ̓̀̀͊͂̒ͯͫ́ḛ̛̩̫̻͉̫͔̝ͣ̀̉̐̕̕͞n̶̹̱͖̰̞̹͇̮̭̳̦̝̣ͣ͌ͬ̆͊̔ͪ̈̿̂̎ͬ̇ͩ́̽̊ͧ͟ͅo̎ͯ͒ͩ͌̿̿̌͒ͦͮ͊͐ͮ̿̿̌͏͏̧͔͉̤̙͍̭̹͔u̸̷ͫ̉̐̑ͪͯ͆ͫ̎̎͒̆ͥ̾͂ͪ͂͊̚͏̛̣̜̙̠͓̰g̃ͤ̅̿̃͑҉̹̺̝̰̭͉̗̬̯̕͡ḧ̞̗̬̗̠̞̦̥̥̰̺̮̀̈́ͤ͗ͭ̅̀͡͠ ̨̋ͨ̀ͦͨͬ͆̇͑̓̇̆ͦͮͤ̆̌͑̿̀͝͏̭͇̳͍̰̹͈͓̜͔̹͇̰̱̗ţ̨͚̥̟̙̅ͭ̇͋̕͞ͅő̸ͬ͐̅ͥͦ͊͋͆ͫ͐͛̀̾͠҉̩̖͓̲͉̤͖͕ͅ ̶̶̨̛̣̻͕̙̝̘̹̓̿̀ͮͬ̆ͤ̈́ͩͭ̐ͭ͂̊̿ͪ̅̑͟ḳ̷̢̰̣̰̖̖̳̩̙̖̘̥̩ͫ̿̆̃̅̍̇̀i̶̗̹̹̤͙̗͉͔͇̎̔́ͬͤ͑ͯ͒͂̓̐̔ͨ̿̂̀̚͜͞lͯ̽̌ͩ́҉̻̰̯͇̱̦̞͍̰̻̥͎͔l̵͉͉͔̻̗͈̬͈̮̫̗̱̙̫̆̌ͯ̈́́͘͜͠ ͒̾̈́̓̽̔̄͆̀ͭͥ̐̑͗͆ͤ̏̀҉̵̛̣̝̗͍̳͍̝̬́͠m̷̸̨̹͍̞̠͓̮̙̆͋̓͂ͪ͋ͯ͑̐̌ͤ̓ͩ́̓̀̑̈̀̚ë̵̡̗̞͇̘̲̯̪̞̞͍̘̹́̔̿̌̐ͭ̽ͦ͗͒̀̏͗͗̎ͣ͜͞ͅͅ ̵̪̰̰͍̈́̑̒̓ͨ͑̀̔̋̒̇͆̋̌ͨ͞y̷̶̷̲̰͇̗̲̠̞̎ͧ̅͑̑ͤ̆̔̎e̓̍̐͂̌̅̈́ͧ͂̇ͪ́̾ͦ̚͡͏͞͞҉̗̳͎̼̯͚̼͔̟̼͍̳͓̺͉̮̜̞ṫ̎̽̈́ͣ̃ͦ͐͏̡̘̫͖̯̣̘̙̳͖͔̹̪̯̦͔ͅ

Home sweet home.

Well, not quite yet, there's still a couple thousand lightyears to the Sol bubble. I did, however, reach the more explored space. My system maps begin showing "first discovered by" prompts on planets and stars more frequently, meaning that people were here before me. Most oftenly some bloke called Trylos, either decided to explore this part of the galaxy proper, or I've unknowingly charted the same way home as he did an unknown time ago. Not all the time, other random names pop by occasionally, as well as stars not scanned at all, but I began to look out for this particular man's discoveries for the fun of it. I should start taking something to read on these expeditions, as interesting as finding new world is, pathing through the last hundred or so jumps is always a bore.

I'm starting to pick up transmissions from other explorers visiting neighbouring systems. Nothing beyond radio chatter, but some of them ramble about a route charting system being upgraded. Sounds like something to install immediately once I land. I've changed my course to Eurybia, planning to sell off my exploration data there. Dumping that much knowledge for a station to distribute always nets the ruling faction a hefty profit, and word is the Blue Mafia has connections to one of the thargoid researchers. Giving them this much potential income ought to get me a few friends - maybe even access to the engineer in question. Pallin is more widely known one, as well as a certainty, but getting a permit to Sirius is too much of a hassle for now.

Fifty jumps to go. No interesting discovieries except a couple neutron stars.

I might get Sirius permit eventually, most likely while working my arse off for the Feds to get an access to one of their gunships, but that's a plan for later. I have other plans for now - engineer my ship a little, try to squeeze a few more lightyears off of it's jump range. Perhaps install a low emission power plant to reduce overheating around the white stars, it should hold the power drain well enough. But the jump range is priority now, see if I can't squeeze fifty lightyears per jump before the new expedition I signed up for.

Fourty jumps to go. No notable finds.

Four solar months out in the galaxy with a bunch of other explorers sounds like fun. But before that, there's things in the bubble to take care of as well. Beef the Digitus up somewhat and see how well it fares against the Thargoids if they really are as hostile as the rumours go. I'll invite Baradoen along, he'll love it. He's a better pilot than me, so in case we do get attacked, he'll probably do more harm to them than me. Failing that, we can just bail and pray their witchspace interdictors won't get us. Or require some specific conditions to use.

Thirty jumps to go. Found a bunch of water worlds, including three in one system, two of them sharing orbit. Sadly someone's been here before. Swoiwns JY-G d11-32 in case anyone cares. Found a neutron star too, also claimed before. 180 ly jump off of it, new personal best.

I should see if I can't engineer some compartments of Skirnir to make it fly faster. It's only a courier ship, but I do like how fast the damn thing can go. Admittedly, landing on high gravity planet almost made me crash once already, but that's the pilot's fault, not the ship's. Just something to get used to. It's also great for racing and high wake scanning near orbital or coriolis stations, but it could be better. Maybe I should paint it red...

Twenty jumps. Found an earth-like next to a metal rich terraformable. Already discovered, go figure. It's almost the bubble now.

Maybe I should make a proper racing ship. Baradoen has an imp eagle with insane speed capacity, way beyond what Skirnir can achieve. Not to mention more manoueverable. Maybe I'll ask him for the build, get one, then we can spend thrice it's cost on rebuy, much to the joy of whoever owns the closest station, and utter hatred of people that need to fix that crap over and over again. Racing on over 900 m/s sounds like fun and I have to do that sometime.

Ten jumps. Found a system with three suns, all in my face on entry. That low emission power plant never looked so tempting before. Also a water world orbiting a dying K-class giant.

I need to think of what to do with Weles. Old, good Type-7 is still a solid thing, especially with the most recent bulking up it got, but the cargo space is not the best. A Type-9 could carry almost twice that much with the same shield size and one more booster, not to mention an infinitely tougher hull. Issue is, the damn thing costs twice as much credits as I currently have to properly outfit. Think I'll stick with T7 for now.

Eurybia reached. I've set course to Awyra Flirble (who came up with this name?) and landed. Time to process all of the exploration data and upgrade that damn navigation system. About time.

Credit balance before selling: 107 millions 820 trousands and thirty nine credits. Credit balance after selling: 172 millions 517 thousands three hundred and twenty four credits. Almost sixty five million credits income. Nice.

Database error encountered. Had to purge old ship logs to prevent compromising exploration data. Note to self: update the logging systems, it's long overdue.

In hindsight, I should've done that when the update pop-ups first started appearing. A lesson to learn from, for sure. Now I'll miss out on a huge chunk of my own ramblings to read back and cringe at. Actually... not much of a loss. Moving on.

Logged several water worlds, ammonnia worlds, one earth like planet and a handful of neutron stars. Loads upon loads of planets rich in metals, few of them exceptionally so, that data should sell well, especially if my hopes of these being undiscovered will turn out true. Should be, I doubt many people explore this low into the galaxy - I could see the dense clusters of the galactic arms above me for several thousands of lightyears, while underneath there was nothing but pitch black void. Quite a moving sight, that - hanging between everything and nothing, from my own point of view, and that of most of the human race. And yet, there's galaxies to be seen in the far distance of the galaxy map. Doubtful I'll ever reach one of these, unless suddenly a supermassive neutron star pops up somewhere reachable - but then again, the recently resurfaced generation vessels remind me often of how far space exploration went since they launched. Who knows what the future might bring, especially with the news of Thargoids returning.

Thargoids. The recent news of them shooting down a federal convoy. Assumedly unprovoked, but I know better than to trust those morons - it's a lot like them to torpedo an alien vessel the moment they learn how, then be surprised their ships turned into smouldering wrecks as a result. And of course blame everyone but themselves for that. Wasn't that long since they stole all of the Thargoid research data for themselves, then lost that Farragut to the aliens, successfully screwing up a chance to understand them and setting us back massively. Good job, Feds. Real smooth. And of course, it wasn't their fault at all. Pisses me off that I have to suck up to them to get the gunship, but oh well. A ship is a ship.

Be as may, something big will happen now that Thargoids started to be aggressive, no matter the reason. I hope I'll make it to the bubble before that blows up in my face. About four thousand lightyears off now, I'll resume after a solid rest. Hopefully I won't run into any trouble on the way. Explorers don't have much of interest to pirates, but there's some folk that prefer the galaxy to remain unknown, or at least their own little systems where they keep their bases of operations. Then there's those who shoot down anything that moves out of pure spite. I should install some weapons on the Judicator, but then again, I doubt this ship would ever take down anything more powerful than a stock Sidewinder, if that. That's what I have Digitus Infamis for - and something tells me, the moment I come back, I'll need it. Maybe I should set the course for the port I left it at, rather than IGER? Or get there, call the clipper, then finally start sucking up to the two engineers that research the damn aliens. Reports of their ships being invulnerable aren't overly reassuring, these two might have a trick up their sleeve to combat that. If they do, good for us. If not... I better pray that the thargoids won't target escape pods after the ships are torched.

We'll see soon.