For the next 3-4 weeks, this Commander has a lot going on on Planet Earth, or as some call it: The real life!

But please check back next month for more (mis-)adventures of CMDR Mystifur.

Finally having caught up with the fleet at WP4 was a relief, and the tomfoolery at the makeshift planetary basecamp was refreshing. The party did cut into my supplies drastically though and made a small detour to Gru Hypue KS-T d3-31 neccessary. This System was a well established advance base for travellers to Colonia.

As expected, I found a Gordon-Class cargo carrier waiting there. These guys carry enough food and goods to supply a large city for months.

The magentic docking clamps had just synced, when a dozen unregistered ships dropped in on the carrier. Within seconds we were swarmed by renegades and their lasers. Against the high pitched weapon noises, a wave of deep grumbling vibrations started to shake my Anaconda. The unambiguous sign that the carrier was spooling up its giant Frame Shift Drives for an emergency jump out of the system; leaving me only seconds to undock and evade if I didn't want to be torn to pieces in the space distortion field.

Since I had no intention myself to discuss the matter at hand with these pirates over a cup of tea, I hit supercruise as well and fled to the nearest signal on my nav computer: The equally impressive Naphta-Class Tanker MAL-086.

Upon approaching the ship, I was horrified to see it on fire and readied my repair limpet equipment in an attempt to prevent an explosion cascade on the tanker.

But again, the moment I got close enough, pirates dropped in on us and I was under heavy fire. My Jumpdrive malfunctioned and all I could do was to send all remaining energy to the conventional thrusters, boost as fast and long as I could and hope for the best.

Two of them were chasing after me, guns blazing. Hadn't I paid the engineers back home extra to install the experiemental deep plating into my lightweight armor, I wouldn't be here to write this.

It was bad enough as it was. By the time they gave up and turned their attention back to the carrier, my hull was down below 20%, my defensive systems busted, and I was getting alerts from everywhere. Once I was sure the pirates were out of sensor range and not coming back, I cut the engine, powered down what I could and activated what little repair limpets and system maintenance Nanites I had left.

Time for a status inspection.

From the cockpit I could see that the starboard side was dottet with projectile holes and a beam laser tore a line through the hull. Port side was worse. The orientation control thrusters were gone, the heat exchangers blocked and stuck in closed position.

On the lower decks was a 20 meters long hull breach and both, fighter and SRV hangar were exposed to vacuum.

Most worrying was stern. The Power plant was leaking plasma, burning a hole through the keel. One of the main thrusters was inoperational and with the control thrusters to compensate gone as well, there's no way to get the fat lady on the groud in one piece.

... It took me half a day of work, a dozen limpets on the hull and all the maintenance equipment I could find on the ship to get the main thruster back online. I reconfigured the shields to stabilize the torn sections of the hull for a planetary deceleration and landing, then limped my way to Gagarin Gate - The only place in this system capable of further repairs for large ships.

It was a close call. But I made it.

I arrived at the Skaudai Guardian System the next day and was lucky to have gotten some diretions on the expedition radio. This system has 74 stellar objects and trying to map those alone, even worse finding specific remnants on the surface of one of them, would have been a live task on its own.

Fortunately I knew where to go: "Three guardian ruin sites on Skaudai AM-B d14-138 planet AB7" the note said. There was a Lagrange cloud nearby that I dropped into. A nice blue glow engulfed me. Probably ionised xenon. I fly by a few of those by now familiar metal crystals and was already on my way out when the motion sensor came to life.

There was no other spaceship on my radar, but something was moving towards me. A moment later my shields lit up from impact on my 10 o'clock. A mollusc! Then a second one and a third. Half a dozen space molluscs surrounded my ship.

I heard of them. A relatively newly discovered lifeform drifting in space inside these clouds. Hard shell of similar composition as the metal crystals, and an opening with a bunch of small tentacle-like appendages on one end. My electromagnetic signature must have attracted them. Curisity got the better of me, so I tried to feed them some chaff. No reaction. They don't seem to like energy bursts though. I aimed my mining laser at one of them and he backed off quickly. I also tried to lure one into my cargo scoop, but that didn't work out either.

Well, on to the guardian planet then..

This planet was littered with diversity. And geological phenomena like geysers, vents and crustations were the least interesting among them. There were forests of biological treelike life with bioluminescent fruit or blossoms, alien seedpods.. All remnants of a once thriving living world.

The main feature of course: The ruins. Millions of years old, errected by an interplanetary civilisation, with some of their technology still active and sort of working. Makes you wonder what will be left of us, in another era in the distant future.

In the present though, I ran into a few other commanders here, who stayed behind to complete science projects and collect more data for our scientists back home. Namely the Commanders Nizz, Galandir, and Glomet.

Now, guardian technology conserves energy by only activating once someone or something gets close enough to it. There seemed to be luminescent data inscription at one of their tech masts.. but it was too far up to get a decent viewing angle, and if I moved away for a better sight, the inscription faded.

Soo... we resolved to unconventional methods.

I want to make it very clear that the scratched paint near my cockpit and any possible damages at the archeological guardian site are in no way related, and we have no idea how said potential damage occurred. Our speedy departure is as well absolutely unrelated to any destructions on site!

CMDR BM5K took us a few jumps out to FLYIEDGIAE FN-I C26-134. Again a trinary system. Again several ringed giants with life. Again.. an anomaly. But not as strong this time. We found a Proto-Lagrange cloud. Younger, not as dense, but already sporting a fair amount of Mineral Spheres, and those metallic Crystals again.

Much like sailships on the ocean hundreds of years ago on earth, spaceship commanders form alliances of convenience. They stumble upon each other, travel together for a while, and then part ways. Again, a time to part had come and while BM5K took on his journey, I went on to catch up with the expedition fleet. The next major stop was quite unique, but halfway there, 7 jumps out, I passed through the Rusty Net Nebula first. And its central neutron star Skaude AL-X e1-28 conveniently slung me out again just as quick.

Just another 6 and there it was: The Collection of Wonders, Skaude AA-A h294

If you're ever looking for some unlikely stellar object.. here is where you will find it.

Its core is a pair of binary black holes, that happily distort your orientation when you're trying to navigate in this system. Orbiting those you will find a ringed red supergiant, a ringed white dwarf, and a ringed neutron star. Each of them comes with its own set of water- or gas giants, landables, phenomenae.. you name it..

A unique system and wonderful sightseeing spot, but alas I had to move on. And the next stop promised to be just as exiting: A guardian system

PRU AESCS NC-M D7-192

This System is eerie. I can't pinpoint it, but something is off. Maybe it's the odd gravitational field of the Trinary, maybe it's something else. The quick system scan revealed half a dozen Gas- and Water-Giants, most of them ringed and inhabited with life. A ringed brown dwarf. There was an unregisted comms beacon...

I kept the decoder online until something came in. DYNASTY EXPEDITION BEACON - DNSTY S6 ERP 002 - RALLY POINT A 3A - CONFLUX - PRU AESCS NCMD7192 - MODESTANDBY..

Moon A3A it is then. I fired the Supercruise Drive and once close enough, sent the mapping drones on their way. Finding something on a planet is so much more convenient since we have these cheap dispensible probes.

A human signal. Definately a settlemet that was wedged between mountains and covered in darkness. Carefully landing wasn't too much of a hassle, but investigating this place in the dark was futile.

I decided to check on a few other readings I got on the way and return here later. First to be an active magma field. Scanners showed an ample amount of materials on the surface, so I drove out harvesting. I was drawn to the magma vents a lot. They felt like camp fires back home, and the natural light was soothing.

All the materials I could find were now in my ship, but it was still night at the Settlement. I had this unconclusive signal from another Planet further out. It lead me directly into a planetary ring, but what i found had nothing to do with the ordinary rocks we used to mine...

These were giant monocrystaline metal spikes, that claimed their own patch in this ring, probably grinding everything else down, that came too close. But there was something else.. the energy source of that strange reading, and probably the source of my uneasy feeling since I had entered this system: A P-Type anomaly. Like a ball lightening, these tiny things channel incredible amounts of energy from, as far as we can tell, pocket dimensions or plain witchspace, if you ask me. If you get too close, they'll f*ck up all your electrical systems and eat your shields for breakfast. And if you don't get the hint in time, they'll make your hull the 2nd course.

I got dangerously close to get some scanning done and lost systems for a moment there..

As luck would have it, another Commander showed up in the same place, also wondering about the strange readings. It sure felt good to see another human face on the intercom. Decision was made to travel together for a bit and I made myself wingman to CMDR BM5K , Roster Code 40M-DW.

But first I had to finish a thing: Go back to Conflux Delta by day and see what this Place was about.

Arrived in Rohini and man, this place is busy. I barely dropped out of hyperspace, scooping some fuel, when several patrol and cargo ships boosted by. I hurled the Hydra around and found myself next to 'Orange Vista', their industrial Solar Hub. That thing is almost as massive as the Imperial Naval shipyards back home. I could easily hide the Anaconda in one of its tiny nooks, when a group of combat ships arrived that seemed to have some sort of disagreement with the station admisitration.

When things had settled down, and the station fires were under control, I paid a curious visit to the attackers station Eudoxus Hithe over their water world. They seemed friendly enough, but I wasn't too disappointed they din't have a landing pad my size..

So I docked at Eudaemon Anchorage near the earthlike instead, thereby missing the superfreighter, that was in the system at the same time..

The Rohinians were quite happy to buy all that scanning data I collected on my way here ..and I was more than happy to take their money. I spent some of it on repairs and a decent stock of fresh planetary food, before taking off to the next waypoint: Quantum World. 12 space-hops away.

On my way there I passed a sulfuric Desert World. Smells bad, but loos pretty.

Not much later Flyiedgiae QN-T d3-17 showed up. The Quantum World is not much more than a gloryfied asteroid. Some 200km in diameter, and barely 0.03G . It's pretty non the less and somehow low gravity always induces silliness in People.
...then again, on a Planet this small space is scarce, so parking on my ship is.. reasonable ?

Given I was already out here now, there was no point in returning to Omega. I still had a lot of catching up to do, so I fed my spansh-Co jump computer with a few coordinates and took off to what kind of felt like a japanese visit-europe-in-6-days trip.

10 jumps to the wolf-rajet CD-28 14266 for a few snapshots. Somewhat disappointed with the sight, I made up for it with a decent barbeque. Nothing beats a freshly grilled roast.

4 more to Pyramoe PM-X b33-6 to visit the well known Arkgamanon Mountain Range on A2A. This actually makes for quite a nice camp ground and I should bring friends next time.

After a small 15j detour for another fuel distress, the ship went to CD-23 14350 and, more importantly the neighbouring NGC 6629 SECTOR SU-O B6-3 with its solid mineral spheres, clustered in a lagrange cloud.

Next up: Eagle Nebula. 9 jumps.

Eagle's Landing Planetary Port can be found on Eagle Sector IR-W d1-117. The name is quite fitting. This place will very much remind you of the Earth Moon. I'm not sure though why this Commander set his Beluga down on its rear end. Maybe in honour of those old time space rockets ?

The planet base was a nice change, and a welcome opportunity to have my hull and systems checked before moving on. We are now 7000 lightyears from sol. Just as far as my trip over the Formidine Rift a few years back. But the way technology improved after we found the Thargoids and Guardians recently, it is quite different. Back then, it took me weeks and hundreds of jumps. Today ? ..you can do that in a day, if you really needed to.

Rohini is another 1.5k LY from here, a mere 8 jumps. One of the must-see Points on the road, and quite well populated aslready.

Omega Mining base is neither a day spa nor grandpa's cottage. It's a hastely cobbled together network of containers and hallways drilled into a massive floating rock. And yet, I was immensely enjoying my stay here. Humans chatting, going about their business, various noises everywhere, actually real cooked food..

I was having a late dinner at the mining canteen when the emergency call came through on the fuelrats dispatch channel. A commander stranded in GRIA DRYE GD-C A40-13, some 500 lightyears away from this place, and I seemed to be the only one relatively close by.

Alright, no dessert for me today then...

The Hydra was already refueled and I sent the engine-warm-up signal remotely, while making my way to the docking bay. No time for good-byes or souveniers... Jumped into the cockpit and onto the neutron highway as quickly as I could.

5 jumps later I found the poor fellow, slowly roasting in the solar exclusion zone. "Just got overconfident and didn't check the map against my fuel reserves" he said. So I towed him out of there and, once in normal space again, shot him a few cans of fuel to send him back on his way.

I tarried there for a while.. thinking. Pondering the things I did in the past that got me where I am now. I slaved away to pay off loans, I traded food for money from people in need. I smuggled drugs, weapons, even people. I've killed. Sometimes in self defence, sometimes for profit as a mercenary. I've shot at good guys who were just doing their duty or protecting what they thought was right.

But today.. Today I flew out there not for profit, not for glory, not for reputation. Today I saved a mans life in a universe that doesn't care. Noone would have noticed that mans vanishing from existance out here. His death wouldn't have mattered. But now his life does - because it gave a new purpose to mine: Keeping them alife!         This is who I am now

I am a Fuelrat.

And so it begins..

Nostalgia commanded that I, despite being two weeks late to the party, paid Brooks Point at Pallaeni a visit to begin my exploration journey. The famous launch site for Distant Worlds 1, some years ago.

Unfortunately the local residents seem to have grown unfavorable to the constant stream of tourists and set up a 2km DO-NOT-ENTER perimeter. Well, what can you do..

The first recommended stop would be Shapley 1, the fine ring nebula. 14 jumps.

Maybe not worth the trip on it's own, but it was just 5 jumps from "The View". This System has a lot to offer: A large, ultra fast spinning neutron star with a giant tourist installation and resort. Two black holes. A bright O-Star that illuminates the planets rings like a 1980s glowing neon sign.

And you better be careful with landing. Over 3Gs are no joke.

Time to collect some flight miles now. 20 jumps to Cycladia, the ringed earthlike. (Blu Thua GI-B b55-2)

Once we settle here, it'll be grand - a beautiful place with endless resources.

More miles.. 19 jumps to Labirinto, Planet 1A of the System Traikaae CH-Y c10. Picture, if you will, a fruit that you left out in the dry heat for too long. While the fruit is shrinking, the skin stays the same and starts to wrinkle and fold. The magnetic forces that moved the soil across the planet while it was cooling down must have been unbelievable. I maneuvered down into the canyons in fascination... Steep walls inches from the ships hull, raising up for several kilometers. Landed on one of the oddly bright green monolithic mountains to stretch my legs a bit before heading on.

Just a few hops now, 10 in total, to Thor's Eye (wonder where the rest of Thor is..), the Lagoon Nebula at Herschel 36, and Tinné's Endevour at NGC 6530 WFI 16706 ...by that time I realized I shouldn't have eaten that expired mushroom meal.. I started seeing the ground move below me. Reasoned to not take any chances and forgo a landing.

I stopped on the way to investigate some crystaline lifeforms on Lagoon Sector BV-Y C5 B4. After all, this is a research expidition. ...plus it turns out they a quite mineral rich in composition. I farmed a few for..err, science.

Another 20 jumps got me from here to the Trifid Nebula and into the PW2010 Super Cluster. Not far from this legs target.

Just two more Jumps.. Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15 .. I made it. The Omega Mining Asteroid Base was easy enough to find, and no matter how well your ship is built: Finding a safe haven to dock your ship and relax with a fresh coffee is priceless no matter where you are.

I'm ready to go. The engineers have installed all requested upgrades into the Hydra and the dock team put the hull back together. Pressure and stress tests were good. But no matter how well she is outfitted now, I am painfully aware that this voyage is long and dangerous, and I may very well not return alife.

This may be my last adventure and, as most men, I want to leave a footprint in history and see my legacy continue. Having no children of my own, I hope for my nephew to take this role. We haven't been close in the past. In fact I'm not even sure he knew I existed until yesterday. His mother and I... we didn't see eye to eye very well. Given I had to bend a few laws here and there when I was starting my trade business and needing to hide from the authorities for a time, I don't blame her. She was always the law-abiding humble mother for her family.

But I've kept an eye on him. Stubborn fellow he is. Admirable dedication to get what he wants, without sucking up to higher-ups. He finished pilot training at the company he was working for recently, and now goes by the name CMDR TheKitty. The time for me to intervene has come. I've sent a message to Bakers Management, along with a decent credit check. Basically, I've bought an insane amount of hightech equipment from them for triple the market price, on the condition that they consider my nephews contract obligations fulfilled, let him keep whatever small service ship he is currently in, and send him to ROSS 1057 to meet me for a final delivery contract.

Not a day later he arrived at Wang Estate Station, fairly surprised to see me. He was even more surprised when he heard my offer: "The sidewinder you came in is yours to keep. Your dues with your old employer have been taken care of, and your contract with them is fulfilled as far as they are concerned. You are now a free Commander and you can fly wherever your heart leads you. I'm leaving the bubble for good now, but before I go, I have one final proposal for you: If you agree to join the rats, get trained, and to always answer the call for help from other Commanders in need, I will make sure that you will always have the ship you need to do it." The expression in his face was incredulous: He likely G-netted my background when he got my comms earlier, and wondered wether what I was offering was independance or slavery. Eventually he agreed. I knew this kid would stand to his word, and that's all that mattered to me. I paid for the dinner, shook his hand, and with the push of a button on my PDA transfered my cargo and ownership to a storage compartment I had rented in his name. "Check this compartment later today. And good luck." I left.

Little did he know, that this storage room now held 100 tons of voids opals, worth 170 million at this station.