In support of Ross 310 Natural Services (& ahem my addiction for new ship decals), I returned to combat this last week. Must be well over a year since I have had more than a small skirmish, but dusted off the FDL, gave it a service & fresh outfitting and headed out. Some hairy moments, but Cracka Jax held strong. Competition was stiff, with the added incentives on offer, but I managed to sneak into the top 10% of contributors by the end. Earning my fresh Gold Espionage CG Decal. Was great to do something different.

My mad material collection has continued as well. Stocks have started to fill, but much more to collect. I have enough that I have started re-engineering my treasured Asp Explorer, Ghost Digger, with max stats. I am almost finished, expecting well over 50lys! Hoping for a final build similar to this:

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=B0g4,,,9p3Hp44v7iAkPcEkPcIkPcA3wHo40sPc50pD8phXEphXAN8Io56r7i8r7TEoPcGuUkMypDAdsGp40upD6s_U8qpDGyvMAsOHf22_006wPcB2QIp6IqpDMkPcOypDSx2aYqpDcqpDBNCHp32_Pc6y00Iu00Bcg1,,522Jh214pD4_PcBcg10KUGh214pD4_Pc7Q4Io52yPc6u00AwPcIlhXKqpD1IM42jwHs21000D4002UI1

Its been a quiet couple of months since my return from the Formidine Rift. I have got back into the routine of bubble life, slowly chipping away at my longer term goals. Along with some lucrative skimmer missions boosting the credit balance keeping me busy, my chipping away has yielded results this week. I have finally become ally with Brotherhood of Terra Mater acquiring the last permit I needed for Terra Mater system (well.. excluding the final known permit obtained via CQC) & achieved the rank of King in the Empire, while also sneaking in a couple of Federation rank increases unlocking the Corvette & reaching Vice Admiral. All the mission running has been good for the credit balance too!

I also bought an Alliance Chieftain but have yet to configure it up with Engineers. Nice little ship, although I have yet to test it out in proper combat, but now I have access to the Corvette I feel it may draw my attention...

I'm not sure how I managed to keep on schedule to make it home before the end of 3303, but I did! The final stretch home was good seeing the stars glow in the sky after all the time out in the blackness. Seeing it fade in slowly as you approach was inspiring. I reached the Monkey Head Nebula after hitting the core systems again, then headed back east towards the planetary nebulae in the region. I had not seen a planetary nebula before, most were average but there were a few impressive ones. The final leg home took me past Barnards loop/Horsehead nebula (although I visited in 3301, this is now region locked :() and then finally the Eskimo nebula. The icing on the cake, a place only 20 or so jumps from home but never visited. Such a beautiful place full of colour.

Docking safely, after being out in the black since 14th Oct, the 10 week journey was highly enjoyable. Saw the Formidine Rift region & mysteries, reached the limits out past the rift heading towards the void, headed east along the Outer Vacuus Arm to traverse Livingstone's Trail to the southern meridian outer limits before making my way home. Was going to be a quick 20k ly trip to Formidine Rift and back, but turned into a 100k ly trip across the southern region. Estimate around 3k systems visited, and made it home with 71% hull.

Time to see what the exploration data will reward.

Knuckled down & pushed through on my trip home. It was a long session, backtracking is never fun, but 332 jumps (my new session record!) & many hours I made it back to the core limits resting up in my first visit to a planetary nebula. A neutron star no less, with a beautiful green glow! Also, took a slight detour to see the Monkey Head nebula, which was rather uninspired, but another off the bucket list. Today, I have but 6k or so lys to go back to the bubble. Easy going. Will be good to see civilisation again after 10 weeks out in the blackest regions of the galaxy.

My hopes of making it home before the new year were dashed today, as I realised that I spent the last 6,000lys heading towards an abyss I am unable to navigate through. After spending a few hours checking for routes, it became clear there was not a return path visible through to the core systems. My only way forward seems to be backwards. Demoralised, I have plotted a route back west towards the Formidine Rift bridge from Groech AA-A d0. 300+ jumps and likely to add another 15-20k lys to the journey. There was a faint silver lining as I discovered a neutron star and also a 'jackpot' system with 5x teraformable worlds, 4x water worlds, 1x earth-like & 1x ammonia world. The best find so far for the expedition. Trip home has become slow & painful, but I soldier on...

It's dark, so dark out here! I replenished my jumponium and made my final jump to Livingstone Point, a massive -16,097 south of Sol. My new record, and another goal off the bucket list. I am now on my final leg back home. The stars are starting to appear again, and jumps are easy going. My first way point is around 3,000lys north at the first Neutron Star I have found in weeks. Should make good time.

I knew it was all or nothing once I hit the point of no return. Too far out to turn back and the path ahead was still unclear, my stress levels started to rise. I had some jumponium in reserve but was starting to get low, and all I could see was black, but then I saw the bridge across I needed! A small backtrack but calculated I could make it pushing the limits of my Asp jumping 94lys. Few more jumps and I was there, Star's End Depot, the only spot around to replenish jumponium for the return trip & one jump from Livingstone Point (Southern most accessible system along the meridian). Descending slowly, I've parked my Asp to rest my wary space legs.

Livingstone's Trail:

- Hypuae Euq CC-D d12-0  9.99 Ly (Start)
- Hypuae Euq ZK-P e5-0   55.11 Ly
- Hypuae Euq TP-G d10-1  40.91 Ly
- Hypuae Euq UP-G d10-1  60.78 Ly
- Hypuae Euq UP-G d10-0  27.23 Ly
- Hypuae Euq QJ-I d9-0   73 Ly
- Hypuae Euq MD-K d8-0   85.97 Ly
- Hypuae Euq GC-M d7-0   93.17 Ly
- Hypuae Euq HX-L d7-0   47.65 Ly
- Hypuae Euq LD-K d8-0   94.07 Ly
- Isheau DT-O d7-0       60.82 Ly
- Isheau CT-O d7-0       62.52 Ly
- Hypuae Euq DR-N d6-0   74.92 Ly
- Hypuae Euq ZK-P d5-0   88.5 Ly  (Notus - The 'Southern' Meridian)
- Hypuae Euq AL-P d5-0   76.38 Ly
- Hypuae Euq WE-R d4-0   79.05 Ly (Star's End Depot)
- Hypuae Euq SY-S d3-0   ??       (Livingstone Point)

Close to 3000 lys East & I am nearing the entry points to reach the Southern most star of the galaxy reachable by CMDRs. Not a lot of interesting systems en-route, but were a few water worlds & teraformable planets. Not a lot discovered out here. I've managed to replenish the Cadmium, Vanadium I needed, but still need a bit more Polonium before attempting the trip further South. Another 3-4 nodes should about do it! Hoping to make it before the end of the year and be on my way home in the new year.

I was unable to find any further southern points to jump to south of the Formidine Rift. After reviewing the map, I decided I will traverse the Outer Arm Vacuus region to the east towards the Southern Meridian & the most southern point known to be accessible to date. Stars remain sparse, but I have moved inwards to the core slightly to make travel a bit easier till I get to my destination about 6-7k lys to the east. I am keeping an eye out for some more materials for the jumponium needed for the trip. So far no signs of good Polonium but I am confident I will find some before I reach my destination. Another 100 or so jumps till I reach the entry point.

I might have to hunt a bit further, but I have hit the outer southern limit in the area at Phloiws YA-U d4-0 at around -14700lys. Going to try to reach -15000 tomorrow if I can find a path a little further out, and then make my return.