After some distraction caused by my attempted rendezvous with a fleet carrier, I have arrived at the 'Roncevaux Crossing' at the system of Qautheia BA-A e0. This is where I will attempt to exit a spiral arm and cross over to the periphery of another. After that I will continue onwards to Beagle Point. So much for a straight run.

Following that incident with the fleet carrier (it was in May) I'd continued to head north. Around the area of 'Masefield's Ocean' was when I realised I could go no further. While the 'Abyss' beckoned, the 'Pavanatham' with her 35 light year jump range was not going to make it on a straight run.

Getting as far as I did, I did not really wish to turn back. It was a ball ache just to get this far and the thought of turning back just to get that itch to try again in a few years with a larger ship, nope. I owed it to the 'Pavanatham', she'd got me this far and she deserved to be retired with honours back at Shana Bei. She's gonna make it to Beagle Point.

So what did I do? Well, I travelled a few hundred jumps clockwise to where the Scutum-Centaurus Arm is thicker and parked the 'Pavanatham' on a planet at the start of the crossing. I'll continue the voyage soon but first I'll get into the SRV and do a visual inspection of the ship.

Fourty two jumps ago and at 39,260.26 light years from Sol I reached a personal milestone.

A couple of years ago I embarked on the 'Distant Worlds Expedition' to Beagle Point. I believe it was the second expedition of that name launched and one I wished to be part of. This journey would take me from Sol, to Colonia and then end at Beagle Point. For me it ended before I got to Beagle Point, at Gooreia FL-X d1-1.

Years back when I first arrived in the system of Gooreia FL-X d1-1, I decided to make planetfall on one of the moons of the gas-giant. Then unlike now, I would go out exploring sans shielding module to supplement my jump range by a couple of light years. That strategy went awry when I first tried to make planetfall in the star system of Gooreia FL-X d1-1.

Two days ago I returned there.

Yesterday I arrived in the Colonia system. It's taken a while, about a few months, but I'm finally here. This is the second time I've made the journey. The first was a few years back, around the same time of year as well if I remember correctly. Fleet Carriers dot this system in the dozen. Disregarding them though, I docked for a while at Colonia Orbital and did some repairs and sold the astronomical data I'd collected along the way. Afterwards and feeling thirsty, I undocked the Pavanatham and headed off to Jaques Station. I'm going to eventually continue along my way to Beagle Point but I'm going to stay here for a few days. Apparently there is indigenous life on one of the moons out here that I'd be negligent to not check out.

I got bored just over a month back and decided to just do it. I loaded up the 'Pavanatham' and headed out towards Colonia. The 'Pavanatham' is a Keelback, a ship based on the Lakon Type 6. I have a soft spot for those ships. My first explorer was a Type 6.

I think I've been travelling for about six weeks now. I've been stopping here and there for a day or two, if I find a landable planet I'll stay there for a little while and drive around in my SRV for a little bit.

My journey started with earnest, I was determined to colour the blank parts of the map with my discoveries. That idea soon lost its appeal after the first two and a half weeks. One thing I did discover is that our nearby stellar neighbourhood is quite well charted already. Well within 500ly of the bubble, Colonia-wards at least.

Anyhow, six weeks after my departure?, six is a good number. I have nothing profound to tell. I am going to Colonia by way of the attic, I'm trying to reach the galactic ceiling so I suppose calling it the attic isn't right. An attic is supposed to be above the ceiling so.... roof?. Anyhow, point is I'm not going directly to Colonia. I want to do a little sightseeing on the way.

I'll leave it here but I'll pick it up again soon. I did want to tell about the planet I'm currently on.
Quaternary star system. Innermost planet orbiting the red dwarf, heavy metal world, tidally locked and hot as buggery (508 kelvin). It's really quite beautiful. Lovely hues of red and with the dwarf sitting there in the sky it evokes memories of hot summer days and bushfires.
I've flown around to a couple of geological sites on it already and may stay for a little while longer.

I awoke today, loaded the 'Sweet Surrender' with limpets and undocked from the fleet carrier to be greeted by an unfamiliar sight. The rings of Shana Bei 13 had gone and I realised we had jumped to another system. Around 100 light years from our squadrons home star, this place seemed to be selling cheap tritium hence the reason for our jump. It seems that we aren't the only ones here though. Dozens upon dozens of other carriers appear to have already arrived in system. I considered briefly mining at a hotspot I found in the ring of Wathiparian 8 but decided instead to unberth 'Sweaty Betty' (my Type 9) and take her to nearby Kelleam City for a brief shopping trip. LTDs (which I had acquired as a byproduct of tritium mining) were sold and tritium was purchased, enough to sate the demand of our carrier. It was I feel a productive undertaking. I finished six million credits richer, my tritium purchase having been offset by my sale of LTDs.

Shana Bei, Planet 13. Seems to be a rocky world but truth be told I've never paid much attention to its surface. I'm here for the rings. Mining tritium, I'll occasionally glance at it as I zoom between the icy boulders. It's a grey, unremarkable planet and unlandable as far as I can tell. My squadron's fleet carrier is here, been here for a few weeks now. We're in the process of loading it up with fuel. The reserves are full and have been for the past week and a half or so. We're just stocking up on extra now so we have plenty, or enough, for wherever we may be going. In the meantime I'll keep bringing in those rocks.