I blew through this leg, and I'll do the next one the same way. Then I should be caught up to the front quarter of the pack. Go go go!

I took it slow through this leg, scanning numerous water worlds, and even an earth-like world or two along the way. I found hundreds of planets rich in metal content, but in doing so I have fallen to the middle of the pack. Until I catch up, I will be blasting through the next few legs.

Happy New Year!

I've caught up to the front of the pack. There was just something about coming late to the party that bothered me. Now that I'm here, I'm going to cool my jets and get back to scanning and exploring.

I completed the first leg of the Minerva Centaurus Expedition. About halfway through this leg, I stopped doing detailed scans of stars. I took a break about halfway through this leg, so I'm quite a ways behind most of the other participants. I'm hoping to catch up soon!

I am presently at HIP 72043, and ready to embark on the Minerva Centaurus Expedition. It is a 100kly expedition, and the first I have ever had the privilege to join. It will take months, but I am looking forward to the adventure. There are many sights to see, and I plan to experience every one possible.

Ferrying tourists and businessmen around the bubble has financed the upgrades I wanted in preparation for the Minerva Centaurus Expedition. My Asp Explorer is specced out exactly the way I want it. I also have enough in the bank to cover a down payment in case of total loss. (Which let's be fair... on a 100k+ly expedition, is fairly likely.)

Upon returning to the bubble with exploration data from my trial expedition, I discover that I have enough funds to buy my Cobra Mk. III back from the pilot who bought her from me. He understood my predicament, and with some negotiation, we were able to come to an amiable agreement.

I have finally reached NGC 7822. I knew I must come here, when I saw the star cluster growing in my peripheral vision. It's everything I expected it to be. Enormous blue-white stars, arrayed mysteriously in a line. They look so ordinary from Sol, but from within, they boast of secrets long forgotten. Of a plan that nobody knows.

Oh the mysteries of the universe. One day I will reveal them.

It seems only appropriate that my first venture deep into the black would be to the Nebula named for my ancestral home. Though the stars here are ordinary, I feel a connection to them in a way that I do not feel to other places. Perhaps it is my longing for Sol, or maybe just the novelty of being so far from the bubble. Either way, I am starstruck with their beauty.

First, I sought out the North Star of Sol, Polaris. The shining beacon of hope and the star that gives us all direction. But Polaris is denied me. My place is not at Polaris, as I do not have adequate credentials to lock on to its signal. My place is beyond Polaris. Beyond the bubble. Beyond mankind's gilded seat of comfort. My place is forward. My place is in the darkness, illuminated by lights never before seen by human eyes.