The wonder. The awe.. The strange finds... The eerie sights....

The drudgery.

I swear, icy bodies feel like they outnumber any other type in this galaxy, including stars! And I have lost count how many times I thought I found an Earth-like, just to realize it's on this side of that line. GAH!

That's nothing compared to the sheer beauty I keep seeing out here. The Omega Nebula is gorgeous, and the local star supercluster provides the most amazing addition to the sight!

And the loneliness? Nonexistent. Everybody has pulled together in one way or another, be it meetups and mini-treks around the local sector or otherwise, I have not been for want of company anywhere. And people are going out to save others too! Just the other day I helped an SRV back up to his ship, which was unfortunately 2km up the very steep cliff he tumbled off of. I signed up as a Hull Seal, and patched a few needing it. Hell, I even got dispatched 600ly to fix a 'Conda sitting at 68% hull....

I admit, I was scared, a little.

Coming out here that is.. Didn't know what the trek would be like, didn't know how rough it would be. Didn't know if i would have to slog through hundreds of jumps for each waypoint. Didn't know what I would miss back home....

Turns out having an Anaconda with 70ly of jump range makes most of those, if not all, not as much of a concern. I went back to the bubble when I realized it was a sprint away, and finally heavy duty'd my bulkheads, instead of that useless lightweight I had on (still can't believe that guy swindled me like that. Shoulda seen it too, no way prices were that high for real...), and now I'm sitting over 1k hull, which is nice. Said hi to some old friends, and said goodbye to my dear 'Vette with a final flight I didn't get to do before I left.

And then made it back to Omega in 37 jumps.... would'a been 36, but I had 5 neutrons in a row on a tank that hold 4 jumps.

And now I'm here, biding time until station construction starts, usually it seems by either teaching new pilots how to use neutrons, repairing hulls, or picking a random place to take a jaunt to.

This experience is amazing, and I can't wait for more!

That's how long I have.

17 days. 17 days to finish my prep.
17 days to collect the last of my materials.
17 days to ready any last accommodations I might need...

17 days to collect myself.
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Was I insane? Lonely? Unsure? Was I bored? What? What madness would drive me to sign up for such a thing? For madness it surely was, to fling ourselves across the galaxy, all near-5000 of us.

Over 65,000 light-years...
Nearly 600 billion in credits invested, ships, modules... Close to 30 trillion in old 20th century Earth Dollars..

5000
65,000
600 billion

Astronomical numbers.. Just seeing them makes my head spin. Do I really want this? To be gone so long... and so far out! To be away from all I've known, away from friends and weekend meetups? And what of the Thargoid threat? I've only just cut my teeth, and these new incursions worry me. What will be left when I return? What are we not being told?

Do I really want this? To leave behind ones I might be able to help? To step away from the tiresome politics pushed by a bunch of self-centered, hypocritical "false prophets"? To rocket out into the great unknown? To help others on the journey? To see things no-one else has seen. To be the first, somewhere. To find the first something! To lay claim to the adventure of a lifetime!

What am I saying!?
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Of course I do...
But I'm not without doubts.
Never have I undertaken such an endeavor, never have I laid such a course for so far, for so long...
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Systems...Check.
Engines...Check.
Gear......Check.

Launch