I finally arrived at the Lagoon Nebula. The first planned stop on out expedition. As i arrive at Herschel 36, aka, the heart of the lagoon, found that a fleet carrier had parked around it's main star. I do have the modules for repairs myself, would be nice to dock for a while and save the materials. The fleet carrier didn't have the capacity to take on the patience in the escape pods i picked up, so i'll have to keep them on, and aim for colonia as i firt thought.

As CMDR Zondana trailed behind a bit, due to finding a lot some systems worth scanning for date, i took a trip around the nebula. I found some geological signals, mostly vents and geyser, and a planet with 7 different biological signals. From first setting out, it's the most vibrant planet i've ever set foot on.

When CMDR Zondana caught up, we manage to jump to next nebula we've plotted to, Omega, quite quickly, as there we're neutron stars between. Here we found more stallar phenomenon's, more vibrant that the lasts. There we're similar metallic prisms, but we also found strange seed pods. Neither of us has brought any equipment to open or break any of these. So we simply collected the data we could and soon set course to the next nebula.

So this is awkward. I spent the last couple of years in prison (no, not really, excuse for not playing for many years).

The dream of heading into deep space, Sagittarius A and beyond, still remains. My old fleet mate CMDR Zondana reached out and seem to share my ambition. We decided to take off together but we both had some engineering left to do.

But now we're done, and we are part way there. The plotted course is going to take us by some nebulas and other interesting parts.

We headed out from Ottoman Dock at LFT 1748, and headed first to BLEAE THUA IT-K C8-10 where we found a stellar phenomenon, metallic prisms, floating as a ring around of the gas giants there. Along the way, i set my foot on a ice body no one had ever set foot on before, and did my first biological survey and discovered a new form of bacteria. Several other system along the way also carried signs of biological organism. I brought samples, that might be interesting for the scientific community. Further out i came across a crashed ship with 5 escape pods. There seems to be signs of life inside, but unresponsive. I brought them aboard and plan on making a stop at Colonia where i can find them some medical attention.

From here we've plot a course to Herschel 36 in the Lagoon Nebula.

So i'm finally home!

I took a detour via the S171 Nebula. shortly after i gave up on planetary scanning and staring focusing on getting back home. The data was worth a nice sum of money and it was a truly rewarding expedition.

Now i'll be working on modifying my ship a bit more. Once the others make it back and get their own affairs in order we will start planning the next expedition. Seams like going out to the other two settlements of the dynasty project is high on the list.

End Transmission.

It took some time, and a crazy detour, but i finally made it to the asteroid base in the heart nebula. My ship needed some repair and i needed some supplies. Now for the last stretch with a sort detour to the S171 nebula.

After a quick stop at an amazing view of an Ammonia world that had a beautiful set of rings around it, I have finally arrived! Boy, what a trip! I was staring at the Zurara in awe. Yet there is something uncanny with it and i can't really put my finger on it. I scanned the ship and found bits and pieces of two different data logs. They are as follows.

Zurara Ship Log Entry

01/10/3270

RECORDING

We managed to overpower the invaders, but not before they took out the main reactor. We’re dead in space, with twenty minutes of life support left. Didn’t get nothing out of them before they died, but clearly it was all planned. They took a drug which killed them. Doc says it’s nicknamed ‘Hexedit’. First it kills your memories, then it kills you. Neat and tidy.

So we’re dead, just waiting for the end. This will be the last log from the Zurara. Some of the crew have already killed themselves. Others are praying to whatever deity they believe might help them. A few are drinking themselves into oblivion. I don’t know what will get us first, the lack of oxygen or the cold. Battery power is about to die.

Me? I’m leaving this log. This far out I doubt anyone will ever hear it, but well, what the hell? We all signed up for the promise of big payouts, a year of your life in exchange for enough to retire on. I guess I should have looked closer at it, but you would have probably done the same, right? No need to work again. What’s clear now is whoever was behind this mission never intended for any of us to come back.

Damn, it’s cold in here now.

The folks managing the cargo, jees, they were all psychos. The moment we completed the mission they just ‘snapped’. Killed the ship and killed themselves. Some kind of mental conditioning, Doc said. We tried to get word out to the other vessels when we found out. We got a signal out, but I don’t know if anyone received it. It will probably freak them out, I don’t think they know we’re here.

We dropped a series of beacons out here, all targeted around Earth-like or terraformable worlds. We prepped some of the terraforrn candidates with seeders and biofilters. No one can figure out why it was necessary, but that was the mission. Just as we were turning back… boom, those cargo-handlers went nuts.

So that’s it. We don’t even know why we’ve been killed. But someone out there knows, someone out there has blood on their hands, a lot of it. If you figure it out, give them a message from us. You know what l mean.

Funny. We were told there was something bad out here, that it was haunted by ghosts…

I just never figured it would be us doing the haunting…

END RECORDING

Zurara Ship Log – Additional Log Entry – 21/08/3273

FILE ACCESS ADDITIONAL

So this is what they were hiding. I’m leaving the old logs for reference. I might need to come back this way again and re-educate myself. Chances are my memory will get zapped again. If I don’t make it I’ll have to leave clues for others to follow. So, if you’re reading this and you’re not me, here’s the deal…

Found this ship. Took me years. This is the evidence. Nothing inside but void-frozen cadavers, perfectly preserved, some with drinks still in their hands. But the log. They sent these poor souls out here because they needed waypoints, all prepped for every eventuality. Three different zones it would seem.

There’s a conspiracy. Guess you figured that out already, but it goes way up, way beyond the Feds, the Imps and the Alliance. Something is coming, don’t know what it is, but it’s bad and it’s all being hidden. All this weird stuff far out in the void? It’s some kind of contingency plan. The answer to why and who is back in the core, not out here. That’s where l’m going next. Wish me luck.

R.

END RECORDING

Well, until now i couldn't wait to get here. And now i can't wait to get away from here. But the data logs did shed light on what had happened. I mean, sure, there already was a lot of data about the Zurara, but you can't always believe everything you read, right? Yet something so curious R mentioned, about something that was "coming". I wonder if they are referring to the Thargoids?

Either way, iv'e completed what i set out to do! Just a pit stop at the Soul Nebula and then a detour to the S171 Nebula and then straight home to Hyperion.

END TRANSMISSION

As i was about to depart for the other settlements i got a call from CMDR Dhin Somas. He had just landed at settlement Delta. Apparently the data package found there was identical to the one we found at settlement Beta. We are assuming that Alpha and Gamma also have the same packages so we decided to head directly to Zurara after CMDR Zondana caught up, which wasn't soon after.

Now i'm roughly 920 light years away from Zurara. It's exciting!

End Transmission.

As i was about to depart for the final stretch towards the Zurara Mega Ship, CMDR Dhin Somas caught up and landed at the abandoned settlement. He had apparently found a beacon and had gathered that there were 3 more settlements in this sector. And after looking closely at the data we had scanned from this abandon settlement he also found out that the data alone was worth 8 million credits!

Suddenly my curiosity to find the other 3 settlements peaked.

I had do dig though some old data, but i found an old canonn research document mentioned these settlements and their ordinates.

*Alpha () GalMap Ref: EAFOTS EU-R C4-1 | C2 | -34.20, -77.66

*Delta () GalMap Ref: EAFOTS GL-Y E2 | 6 | 21.2752, 19.066

*Gamma () GalMap Ref: EAFOTS RA-G B11-0 | 3 | -17.8731, -76.0522

We decided to move on with the expedition tomorrow. That way CMDR Zondana has some time to catch up and we can share the news.

End Transmission

Today we started heading towards the Formidine Rift Abandoned Settlement Beta, but a small detour via Salomé's World. Though once we got to EAFOTS LZ-H B10-0 D 1 where the settlement was supposed to be located i noticed that i got he coordinates wrong. I landed at -23.08, 174.89, but it was supposed to be -23.08, -174.89. I guess that is what i get for flying tired.

I'm powering down for the night and regrouping with the others tomorrow once i get my bearing straight. Soon we take our final stretch to the Zurara Mega ship!

End Transmission.

The morning began with me and CMDR Dhin Somas and CMDR Zondana departing from the disappointment that is IC 1848 Sector IS-T d3-29. Good thing for us that the Heart nebula was just roughly 300 light years away.

First we took a route to Farsight Expedition Base ,Heart Sector IR-V b2-0. I then pent most of the day going back and forth through the nebula and exploring. Then me and CMDR Dhin took a quick trip down to the Soul nebula and Base Camp at Soul Sector EL-Y d7. After that found a couple of Neutron stars which we used to supercharge our FSD drive and returned to the Heart nebula to park for the night.

We'll see what happens in the week. So much date to look though and we still have 4000 light years left to go to reach the Zurara mega ship. And after that we have a long way to go to get home.

End Transmission.

So i made it to Altera's Eye at IC 1805 Sector DQ-Y e3 with CMDR Zondana. And it was amazing. But the hype didn't last, when i arrived at the coordinates for COR Listening Post Alpha at IC 1848 Sector IS-T d3-29, it was gone.

On the bright side we made it to our first stop of our expedition and hoping we are not in for more surprises like this. Visiting the beta post on the way back has been cancelled, but we still have a lot to explore. The adventure has just begun.

End Transmission