That ancient saying still stands, 'seek and ye shall find'. I persisted and I finally found what I have been recently been looking for, an undiscovered Wolf-Rayet star, in all it's glory. It was magnificent. I know, I know, most people don't give two credits but to many explorers, including myself, it means something. An H type star. A rare star. A very rare star, up close and personal.. OK, enough about all of that, I just wanted to get that one under my belt and into the log so, that's done.

For the next leg of this journey, I think I'll make a bee line for the remote carrier DSSA Enigma out in the Inner Orion-Perseus Conflux. If their Cartographics and Vista Genomics are open and they aren't charging a whopping tariff, I'll sell my data. If they are charging a tariff, I'll just turn around and head to either Tir or Explorer's Anchorage. Maybe I'll sell a couple of cheap ass bacteriums or stinky Tussock samples so as not to upset the local mob boss.. After all, they've been drifting out here in deep space for years now and probably don't see new faces too often, eh? A few samples should give em something to do..

My poor little Mandalay is taking a beating out here and so are my SRV's. I'm putting both to good use but the Scarab takes the brunt of the abuse. The Scorpion sure comes in handy on those really extreme vertical mountainous worlds. I'm so glad I brought one of each. It was worth the effort to obtain the Scorpion. I would highly recommend any explorer to consider doing the same when planning your next expedition loadout.

That's it for this log entry. Time to crack open a beer and watch a few videos before I rest for the night on this alien world..

if you aren't familiar with DSSA carriers checkout edastro.com interactive galaxy map, upper right pull down menu, check DSSA carriers

CMDR Bullet out.

I was elated to have discovered a Wolf-Rayet star, let me tell you.. I was not elated to discover that it had been previously discovered by another CMDR.. A quick check of the galaxy map showed several in the area so I raced to another only to find that it had been discovered by the same pilot. It seems as if there is a Wolf-Rayet hunter out here spoiling the hunting grounds for other explorers.. Oh well, the galaxy is big, bigger than us. I'll keep looking as I head toward the 3kpc arm.

I didn't make much progress in the "westward" direction as I am still descending from the top of the galaxy. It feels like I am descending from a mountain. The feeling is surreal. If you really want a thrill and a unique feeling, head to the top or bottom of the galaxy, it's an experience you'll never forget.

Alright, a new sector is approaching, time to plug in Wolf-Rayet again and see what comes up..

CMDR Bullet out..

Well, I couldn't leave you hanging like that.. It's really no secret where I was and you can just take a look at my flight journal to see exactly where I went. I camped out at nearly the top of the galaxy.. Oh what a view I had from up there. It was even a little frightening. A feeling like you're going to fall, forever.. It's hard to describe. You'll just have to go there to experience the feeling for yourself. I took a picture, maybe I can add it in the near future to show you what I mean.

I have been slowly collecting exobiology along the way as well. I am going to have a ton of data when I get to a Vista Genomics desk. I just have to make it in one piece. I'll be checking the next DSSA carrier I get close to see if they have one available and if so, if there is no 25% tariff, I'll turn in the data.

The ship is still running top notch and the two SRVs are doing alright but I sure am beating the hell out of the Scarab. Good thing I have plenty of materials to repair that thing on board! Plus, I can always scoop up materials when I am planet side any time..

OK, that's about it for this one..

CMDR Bullet out..

Today, I took a little detour. I'm not sure why.. Maybe because I am looking for the elusive wolf-rayet star. I'll tell you what I did find, a whole sea of neutron stars hundreds of light years across and top to bottom. A bubble of them if you will. I'll bet you there is a wolf-rayet or two in there somewhere too. This area is kind of a secret spot so I won't be revealing this location soon either. I think I've left enough bread crumbs for any exploring CMDR to find their way here..

The camp spot I chose is top notch. That's all I'll say about that. The view from the top of this mountain is breath taking to put it mildly. Tomorrow I need to get back to my regular route and stop with the detours although, they are a nice distraction. Getting back to my regular route will take several jumps though. It is what it is..

Alright that will do it for this entry.

CMDR Bullet out..

I am moving toward my goal, the 3kpc arm. But in an unusual way.. I may explain later on down the logs. It's a little experiment I wanted to try and I may or may not share it with you later. It all depends on a few factors that need to be examined first.. I'm sure a few CMDRs know but I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

I found a Neutron star late in the day yesterday and I was hoping it had a landable moon or planet close enough to see the tails but once again, no dice.. At least it was undiscovered so when I turn in this batch of data, I will get "First to Discover" on that one.

Did I mention I cleared almost 1.2 billion credits at Explorer's Anchorage in my last logbook entry? Not bad for a couple days work..

I am stacking up the exobiological data already.. It feels like I have nearly a page worth but I doubt I do. I would really like to have my own carrier out here right about now but 500 LY jumps seem so trivial when my Mandalay can do that in 6 jumps and in less than 10 minutes with no stops.. And then there is the grind of mining tritium to keep the carrier fed. It seems off putting but, I don't dislike mining, I just haven't done it in quite a while. How much tritium does it take to move a carrier 500 LY, 150 tons of tritium? If that is the case, that isn't really very much. A few hours of mining can yield several hundred tons of tritium I would think..

I am starting to ramble, if I think of anything else I'll add it here.

CMDR Bullet out..

I have left Explorer's Anchorage. I am heading to area's unknown to me. I have been to Beagle Point from the bubble through Sag. A then back to Sag. A. From there to Tir and then back to Sag. A. But I have never been from one side to the other so I am heading westward basically. I will be moving through the 3kpc arm so let's see how that goes, shall we? I may try some new travel tactics as well that I will share in later log entries, it depends whether they work or not. Only time will tell.

The first planet I camped out at after I left Explorer's Anchorage, I had a really rough landing and I lost 1% of my hull. That irritated me to say the least but, I'm not going to lose any sleep or activate my AFMU over it. What I need to do is stop boosting a second time when approaching planets when going in for exobiology runs.. I'm NOT in a hurry. It's a stupid habit that I need to break before it breaks me. I don't know why I always seem to be in a hurry to get to the surface when I approach a new planet.

Something that has recently come to my attention is the Wolf-Rayet star. I just today put it in my active search list. I never realized the rarity of this star type. I would really like to discover one out in the black and put my name on it just as much as a green gas giant now.

OK, I think I'll have a beer and relax before I turn in for the night. I have a few more jumps ahead of me tomorrow and hopefully more exobiology to discover and catalog.

CMDR Bullet out.

I have almost made it to Explorer's Anchorage. I was going to make the journey all the way on this go but I decided not to push it. I'm not in a hurry and I am trying to get in as much exobiology as possible. Fortunately this planet had one life sign so I stopped here for the night. I quickly found three samples and called it quits. I generally won't stop at a planet with only one biological life sign unless I plan to camp there for the night. My unwritten rule is, I stop only for three or more life signs.

So, tomorrow I have roughly 25 or so more jumps to Explorer's Anchorage. I am looking forward to seeing how much data I have collected. I won't speculate to heavily but I am hoping for somewhere between half a billion and one billion credits. If that is the case I believe I can justify the lease price of a carrier and simply maintain and upkeep it by doing monthly exploration runs. I will then discover a tritium rich system somewhere and park the carrier there, get the new mining vessel and fill the hold with tritium over time. Then transfer my fleet to the carrier and be done with the Bubble. Long term, I think a system colony with station will be my ultimate goal eventually. I'll need a Panther Clipper for that task but I'm not there yet.

Sorry to say there is no beautiful vista on this planet for my viewing pleasure so, a quick meal with a bottle of beer and some videos, then some much needed shut eye. Until tomorrow..

CMDR Bullet out..

I'd rather not do that again as twice was just about enough. The first time was intriguing but doing it a second time was nerve racking. I will only do it again if someone pays me to or if I absolutely have to.. And what do you know someone DOES pay me, VISTA GENOMICS. And they pay pretty good too. They don't even have to twist my arm so I guess I'll be doing it again. Universal Cartographics is kind of icing on the cake, the system data pays for the little things like ship damages, internal repairs, keeping the paint fresh. The small stuff. A guy could make an honest living doing this stuff..

When surveying non-sequence stars, I'd have to say that white dwarf stars are the worst because of their huge exclusion zones. If you aren't paying attention, you'll cross it and then you're screwed.. Sure you can spend ten minutes or so boosting to get far enough away from the star for your heat to drop enough so as not to damage your FSD but most pilots don't want to waste their time doing that, no.. They want to get the hell outa there. So, hit the FSD and fry everything.. And if you survive, you can limp back to a station or a carrier for repairs, if you're lucky.

Neutron stars and white dwarfs sure look nice though. I dropped out of supercruise for 5 minutes just to have some coffee and to admire the long, slow whispy tail of a neutron star I had just discovered. It looked so tranquil and serene yet it is so deadly in nature. Quite the contrast. I was hoping to find a planet with a moon close to a neutron star so I could camp for the night and watch it but no luck there. I'm sure there are several out there, somewhere, just waiting to be found, just not by me this time..

Tomorrow I will continue my journey to Explorer's Anchorage with these new data banks of exobiology and cartography. Maybe I will make another billion, who knows? There will be many stops along the way before I get there.

CMDR Bullet out.

I have made it to the Tir system finally. I made it a point to not fly directly to Colonia before turning in my data just to be different. On my way here from the Huginn, I passed through an area extremely rich in undiscovered neutron stars and white dwarfs. To be honest, it was a little un-nerving.. This area may need to be surveyed by yours truly.

This log entry will be quick with an addendum to follow after a good night of rest. I am looking forward to turning in this new batch of exploration/exobiology data in the morning.

Addendum: Well, after a good night of rest and a hearty breakfast, I visited Vista Genomics and turned in all my cartographic data. All told I pocketed almost 1.43 billion CR total with the majority of that coming from the exobiology data. Let me tell you, exploration pays AND I got my Elite V in Explorer rank.

So now, I am heading back out to that area with the neutron stars and white dwarfs AND quite a few black holes as well.. Let's see what this will bring.

CMDR Bullet out..

I have left Explorer's Anchorage. I have sold all my exploration data and what little exobiology data I had. All my data banks are empty. I honestly thought I had more but it turns out I didn't. In any event the total earned credits came to what I had figured it would which was about a billion credits. My next stop will be at the DSS carrier Huginn on my way to Colonia. I should reach it today or tomorrow. I am also stopping more frequently to collect exobiology samples as they do accumulate quite a few credits for 'First Footfall' worlds, which is all I am encountering.

I have veered off the beaten path by several hundred LY on my way to Colonia so as not to visit any previously visited worlds. I think that was a good move as so far I have done alright. I suspect the closer I get to Colonia, that will change however.

I have also been thinking about Distant Worlds Three.. I would like to go but there will be an awful lot of Commanders going. I can't see how it won't turn out to be a giant cluster phuck.. I also suspect that some commanders will sneak their carriers along when that is strictly forbidden in the rules for DW3. The DW3 project will be providing no less than 4 carriers to support the mission as it is so there is absolutely no need for any DW3 participant to bring their own carrier on this expedition. Oh well, I still have some time to ponder attending the expedition, we'll see.

Alright, that is about it for now. I'd like to make it to the Huginn.

Addendum: Well, I made it to the DSS Huginn about 2 hours after this original log entry. Like the rest of the DSS carriers I have visited, their services have all been closed save one or two except for the very basics like refuel/repair/rearm, including a hefty tariff. It's well worth it though. I'll be getting another good night's rest tonight before the slog to Colonia tomorrow. I may streatch the trip into two days however just to get a bit more exobiological data.. Still thinking about a carrier.

CMDR Bullet out.