4 NOV 3307 - NGC 7822 BQ-Y D12

Been a while, hasn't it? Thought it was about time for another trip. Made it to Elite soon after the first major expedition, so let's really earn it, shall we?

I've already made the first leg of the journey- 2.6 klys out of the Bubble to a little asteroid station in the NGC 7822 Nebula. Still not all that far out, in the grand scheme of things. I'm hoping to snag a bunch of first discoveries this time around, so hopefully as I get farther from home I'll start passing through more obscure systems.

Here's the plan: from here I'm going 900 ly to GM Cephei to stop at another asteroid base, then 2.8 kly to another base in the Crecent Nebula. That'll be the last station for a while. Next is 1.9 kly to the "Planet of Slightly Lesser Death" (no idea what that is, but I wanna find out!), then 2.9 kly to Goliath's Rest Stop (which unfortunately isn't the kind with snacks). Then comes a 1.2 kly hop to the Traikeou Wolf-Rayet, followed by 3.6 kly to the "Paradox Destiny", a DSSA fleet carrier. Around here is where I should hopefully be seeing a bunch of unexplored systems. After restocking, 2.6 kly to Flyua Eaec CG-F d11-10 to see the "Beacon Worlds", whatever those are, and then the longest leg of the journey: 5.9 kly to Elmo's Highway in Boesky AA-A g89. From there just 2.6 kly to Kashyapa, a station along the path to Colonia, then follow the bridge for 2.5 kly to our destination. Factoring in the distance already traveled, that's about 30 kly total. A little longer than our last trip, but this is still just one way.

After that, well... I do kinda want to throw this Hutton mug I'm still lugging around into the center of the galaxy. Seems a fitting end for it.

For now, let's just get there.

4 NOV 3307 - GM Cephei

This morning the Brewer Corporation announced they're gathering resources for more megaships on the bridge to Colonia. Contributors will be given an enchanced FSD, and I'm definitely interested in that. It ends in a week, so looks like our timeline to Colonia just got a lot shorter. Might end up cutting a few stops, but for now, we press on.

5 NOV 3307 - Crescent Sector GW-W c1-8

The flight plan has changed. I'm cutting out a bunch of stops to make effectively a straight line towards Colonia. The plan as it stands is 3.6 kly further to Goliath's Rest Stop, then 4.5 kly to the DSSA carrier, 7.8 kly to Elmo's Highway, and then 2.6 kly to Kashyapa, where I'll purchase some thermal cooling units to deliver to Colonia, another 2.5 kly away. This should cut out about 6 kly by my count, but still it's a long way to go. It might be a close one.

The good news is that I've encountered a bunch of previously undiscovered systems on the way here, and am expecting even more as I go further out. The other side of that is it all takes time to scan. I may end up forgoing scans entirely at some point, there just isn't enough time to be thorough.

5 NOV 3307 - Prai Hypoo TX-B D4

The view from Giant's Rest Stop in Traikeou OR-W 85-O

Sleep schedules are a bit of a strange thing when you're way out here, but suffice it to say that I should've been asleep hours ago. However, I made it to the the Paradox Destiny DSSA carrier, and am docking here for the night. This roughly marks the half-way point from the Bubble to Colonia. It's still a long ways to go, but the progress made so far is encouraging.

I'm still keeping an eye on the community project, and we might have a new issue- looks like the others have been busy, and it's already past tier 3. I just hope they don't finish it before I can contribute, especially since it might take a bit for me to reach the 75th percentile. The timing of this trip is both convenient and terrifying, thanks to this project. That enhanced FSD would be really nice to have going forward, so that's going to be a strong motivator.

6 NOV 3307 - Zejiae HL-D C7

Currently about a third of the way to Elmo's Highway, and it seems I underestimated the productivity of the other commanders. I just watched as the community project in Colonia reached tier 5, officially ending it. The one back in the Bubble already ended earlier today. Gave it my best, but not a big deal. It just means the rest of the trip can be a little more relaxed.

6 NOV 3307 - Boesky AA-A GB9 B

The Jetsam II at Elmo's Highway.

I don't really know what I expected to be at a place called Elmo's Highway, but it did not disappoint. Four neutron stars and a black hole in one system. A pretty magnificent sight. Anyways, we're nearing the end of our journey now, just need to head to Kashyapa and then to Colonia. And yeah, I technically could skip Kashyapa and go straight there, but I feel like we've come this far, might as well.

The Jetsam II docked at Hutton Orbital.

25 NOV 3306 - BARNARD'S LOOP SECTOR KH-V C2-3

I've finally done it. At long last, the Jetsam II is fully engineered and ready for its true maiden voyage. Well, there was that first trip to the Witch Head Nebula, but we've already gone much farther than that.

Here's the flight plan: start from Deciat, then move down through Barnard's Loop and on to the Seagull Nebula. From there, a turn towards the Jellyfish Nebula, then finally a stop at the California Nebula on the way back to the Bubble. Some quick calculations put the trip at about 12KLY.

Right now I'm just past Barnard's Loop. I was planning on moving straight on to Seagull, but I got stopped by the Col 70 sector. The shape of this region is rather strange, seeming to envelop Barnard's Loop, forming a sort of tunnel. Regardless, I'll have to make a detour to get out of here. Won't be too bad, but may add a couple hundred ly to the trip. Nothing the Jetsam can't handle.

That too- while gathering some resources for Farseer, I had a bit of a, uh, hard landing in the Jetsam I. It's a good thing I have insurance, because that ship is starting to get valuable. But turns out, there's actually some pretty good money in the exploration business. I brought in about 2 million credits just from selling the data I got from Deciate to PMD2009 48. That'll be the last contact with civilization for a while, though. Won't reach another inhabited system until California.

Well, not inhabited by humans, at least.

26 NOV 3306 - SEAGULL SECTOR KC-V C2-3

Jetsam II, scooping from the dual class-A stars of Oochorrs VP-M d8-3

We've just made it to the Seagull Nebula, 2.2 klys from the previous log. Since getting past the restricted sectors its been fairly smooth sailing. I've been scanning systems as I go along, and the map data I have at this point seems to be worth quite a bit, likely in the range of 26 million credits. But I still have a long ways to go, that number could be much larger by the time I get back.

Had a slight scare when I drifted into the exclusion zone of a star briefly while scanning. Took a bit of damage, but nothing the AFM can't fix. I traded up for a better one before leaving PMD2009 48, likely a good call. Though, in my travels so far I think there's a few more modifications I'd like to make. A supercruist assist module could be handy, makes planetary mapping that much easier. I'll probably trade out the auto docking module- not many places to dock out here. I'm also thinking about replacing the cargo bay with a larger fuel scoop. It's great for trading, but when exploring it isn't nearly as useful. And besides, with the amount of cash I'll have once I return, I might as well just buy a new ship for trading.

During some of the downtime I've been reading up on the Fuel Rats. Seems like an interesting bunch, though haven't had need of their services quite yet. Well, I probably should have called them for the Lagan I. Ah well, that ship wasn't worth anything anyways. I might look into joining in the future, the Jetsam could be a good ratting vessel if I installed a fuel limpit controller. I think I would prefer specializing in deep space rescues, as opposed to just running around the Bubble.

Speaking of, I timed myself on the last stretch here to Seagull. 376 ly in 16:15, with FSS along the way. That would be about 1,388 ly per hour- not too shabby.

I'm considering making an adjustment to the flight plan- instead of going directly to the Jellyfish Nebula, I might go towards the Rosette Nebula first. Turns out, there's a single inhabited system there. There's another in Jellyfish, actually- seems I missed it during my initial planning. Still, we've made it this far, right? Let's give Rosette a shot.

26 NOV 3306 - ROSETTE SECTOR EB-X C1-1

Greetings from the Rosette Nebula! I am currently docked at New Beginning, the local station. I sold off my exploration data- didn't recieve quite as much as I anticipated, but still a decent sum. I've also ranked up to Ranger, thanks to that. While here I made a few upgrades to the ship: a larger fuel scoop, a fuel limpet controller, and a supercruise assist. Had to downsize cargo to 32 tons instead of 64, which is still more than enough. Also had to take a smaller shield generator, but if all goes well I shouldn't be needing it. I've heard word of a FSD booster built on Guardian technology, which would be quite useful for my endeavors. However, that will require me to downsize cargo even further. Once I get back I'll probably buy a new ship specifically for hauling and mining, then maybe turn the Flotsam III into a combat vessel? We'll see.

Next stop is the Jellyfish Nebula. I'm hoping that with the new fuel scoop and supercruise assist, it should be a bit easier to get there.

26 NOV 3306 - JELLYFISH SECTOR FB-X C1-5 SYSTEM

Another nebula, another log. The new modifications have been working quite nicely, the fuel scoop especially is making it much easier to get through systems. That does leave less time for scanning, but I'm not on any particular schedule anyway. It looks like I passed through a few systems that were previously undiscovered, which is rather exciting! While this is considered deep space, this journey seems to be one a lot of commanders have taken in the past. The first discoveries of many, I hope.

The next leg of the trip will be the longest: 4.2 klys to the California Nebula. But from that point, it's not much farther to the Bubble. Well, not much at this scale, at least. Not too long ago, just going out to Maia was a trek. Honestly, part of me wants to make another detour to the Heart and Soul Nebulas, but that would probably add somewhere in the range of 8 kly to the trip. Maybe a bit much for this particular trip, but I'm still considering it. I do want to add one additional stop regardless though: Slegi DH-J D10-27. Apparently there's a glowing green gas giant there, at least according to the Astrometrics map. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'm curious. It's not too far out of the way, so might as well.

So far we've covered 7,572 light years to get here, and currently at 5,015 ly away from Sol. Running the numbers, returning to Lesheima via the giant and California will be 6,455 ly, so we're past the half-way point. But if I instead went to Heart and Soul, then returned via the giant and California, that would be 13,987 ly, which is a detour of 7,532 ly. If I decide to go that route, I'm about a third of the way done with the journey. Frankly, it's tempting. But it's been a long trip just to get here, and for now I'll appreciate the rest.

29 NOV 3306 - HEART SECTOR IR-V B2-0

Jetsam II above Heart Sector IR-V B2-0 A 1, in front of the Soul Nebula.

Well, I ended up going out to the Heart and Soul Nebulas. Already passed through Soul, and I'm docked in Heart now. The Jetsam has been working wonderfully, no issues over the last few klys. Farsight Expedition Base is unfortunately on lockdown at the moment. I noted as I approached that there seems to be a lot of pirate activity in the system. Not something I really expected, for such a remote place. Regardless, I doubt they'll bother me. I won't be around much longer anyways.

I've elected to not sell my navigation data until I get back to the Bubble. I checked in Soul, and it's already worth around 60 million credits or so. I still have about 8 klys to go, so I'll have even more to sell once I get back. I figured that if I sold it to the Federation, it would increase my standing with them by a fair margin. Perhaps eventually they'd let me travel to Sol, even.

Our next stop is Slegi DH-J d10-27, 4.5 klys away. From there, just another 3 klys back home.

30 NOV 3306 - SLEGI DH-J D10-27

The Jetsam II's SRV Scarab parked on the moon of the gas giant Slegi DH-J D10-27 5.

I'll be honest. It isn't as green as I expected.

30 NOV 3306 - CALIFORNIA SECTOR BV-Y C7

Very nearly back now, only 23 jumps away from Lesheima. No more detours, I'm ready to head back to the Bubble. But I'm already starting to think about my next expedition. I noticed a line of bright stars off in the distance, after some research I found out these are part of the nebula NGC 7822. I hear it's an interesting place, with lots of black holes. Might have to give it a visit, and perhaps a trip to Colonia? Taking an indirect route up there could be an interesting voyage.

Before that though, I think I'd like to spend a bit of time in civilization. Might even try to join the Fuel Rats. At some point I'll also need to get that Guardian tech I keep hearing about, to increase my jump range even further. We'll see, I suppose.

30 NOV 3306 - LESHEIMA

After 5 days, I have finally returned to the Bubble. The expedition was a resounding success! I've been promoted to Pioneer, only one rank away from Elite. Not too bad for my first attempt!

EXPEDITION COMPLETE

Duration: 25 Nov 3306 - 30 Nov 3306

Distance Traveled: 22,881LY

Systems Visted: 457

Profit Made: 144,907,061 CR

Final route of Into The Black.