“Hunter, please plot a course to WP7. We are done here.”

“Yes Commander.”

We did not find any more SVG’s or moons which are around a gas giant which is in a HZ.

So, we left the Flying Flea nebula.

Hunter plotted the course so that we first go up about 1200 Ly so that we have a higher chance of finding an ELW. Most ELW’s were found between -99Z and 100Z. The plot filter is set for KGFABO class stars.

And after 30-40 jumps we found our 40th ELW. We now need another 8 to make it to a total of 100 ELW’s.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

ELW #40

Perseverance is one ingredient for finding geysers and fumaroles. The other is Imperial stubbornness and luck. We are in the 'Flying Flea' Nebula in a system which has a gas giant in the HZ. The GG has 7 moons. From which one is a moon of a moon. Several of those moons are supposed to hav SVG’s. But most of them are rather large, between 700 and 1,200 Km. The smallest is the companion moon. It is just 400 Km, which should make it ‘easier’ to find SVG. Should !

Yesterday we tried to find any but we did not. We even went to one of the larger moons and did not find any there either. Today we went back to the smaller moon and after several hours we finally found our SVG field. Since we are in a nebula we hopped to find some Bark Mounds or even Brain trees. Although this SVG field are not Bark Mounds but Silicate Vapor Fumaroles, we are not disappointed. It is always great to find fumaroles or geysers.

We stayed until it was dark, then we could see the beautiful campfires all over the place.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

SVG from 4.5 Km above.

Silicate Vapor Fumaroles Field

Silicate Vapor Fumaroles

SVG at 'Night'.

SVG at 'Night'.

After almost 7,000 Ly we finally found ELW #38. In a system with a class F1 star. This system has an Ammonia world as well. We now scan the surrounding F and A stars to see if there is a pattern.

There seams to be no pattern, at least none we could find. About 400 Ly later we found ELW #39 in a class F2/K0 system. That is how it goes. Long stretch of nothingness and then 2 in a row, more or less.

Our next target is the 'Flying Flea' Nebula (Flyai Flyuae XJ-A c2). Its a tiny nebula at about -1201Z. We don’t know if we can make it with the Ex Astris, but we most certainly try.

Short statistics

Travelled: 76,361.85 Ly

Jumps: 2,664

Discovered :

• Earth like World: 39
• Ammonia World: 36
• Water World: 173
• Geysers/Fumaroles: 11 (2 with Baron Rory Clague)

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

ELW #38 seen from its companion moon.

I have not found any ELW for the past 5,500 Ly. I am jinxed ! How can that be? I crossed 3 sectors and nothing. I must be jinxed.

Today I tried to make sense of the HZ (Habitable Zone). I have an old sheet, a trader gave me a long time ago. But the data on that sheet are just ballpark figures. That means there are just one entry per star class but not every class F1 has the HZ in the same area. There are so many variables and we just don’t have all the information we need. Here too, we just need the right tools. Until we have them it is all about experience.

We are crossing the Assaipy sector. And I am getting tired. Its about time to find a nice moon for the night. We entered a system with a class F star and a few gas giants. The first gas giant is in the HZ. We scanned the moons but the temperature was just 250 K, a little bit to cold. Besides the 2 of moons had only minor iron magma. We then went to the second gas giant and scanned the moons there. One of the moons has iron magma and the second has major SVG. We decided to land on the moon with the SVG. And I thought it would be nice to find some. And after just 10 minutes we found our 9th SVG field on this expedition. The field is in a small ravine. At first I was not sure whether my Cutter would fit in there. But everything worked out nicely.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Ex Astris landed safely in the ravine.

SVG field

DRYAEA BRE sector must be the most boring and uninteresting sector in the whole galaxy. We are jumping for hundreds of lightyears and there is just nothing.

Hunter doesn’t care anymore. “I am in CQC before I loose my mind”, she said.

Well, that’s one part of being an explorer. 95% boredom, 4% excitement and 1% panic.

Balls of fire, one after another.

Try do break the monotony. Going 100 Ly down on the galactic plane.

The galaxy sucks me in, keeps me in suspends, and spits me out again. Over and over and over again. And while in suspension I see the strangest things. Ghosts, Monsters, Goblins, Thargoids. Witches Brew !

My mind plays tricks on me. I have to stay sane. Not giving in.

Another sector, LOIJAI, new hope. And the first system? Balls of fire ! 5 of them ! Nothing else.

Hope. At this point its the only thing which keeps me going.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

“Hunter, would you please get me a coffee? Thanks.”

“Yes of course, Commander. Do you think you find any SVG’s on that moon?”

“I don’t know yet. If not here then perhaps on the neighbor moon.”

Hunter went into the galley to get me a coffee. In the meanwhile I was scanning, with my eyes and the help of the external camera drone, the surface of the moon. It is incomprehensible that we still don’t have better tools to scan for geysers and fumaroles. It is a tedious work and one can only hope that Sirius or Gutamaya or Core Dynamics come up with a better way.

When she came back I already was in Super-cruise and leaving the moon behind me. Lets try the other one.

“Here is you coffee Commander.”

“Thanks Hunter.”

“Do you want to try the companion moon?”

“Yes. After an hour or so you should leave and try something else or you go crazy.”

So we went to the neighbor moon to try our luck there. While we were approaching that moon Hunter said :

“Do you see that flickering over there?”

“What flickering?”

“You can see it right to the holofac of the altitude meter !”

“Yeah I see it.”, little dots, 4 or 5 of them, jumping left and right.

“But that can’t be. We are in glide mode 50 Km away from the surface. You can’t see SVG’s from that far. Lets check it out.”

After we approached the canyon and came out of glide mode I turned the ship 90 degree starboard and followed the length of the canyon. After a few minutes we came to the site with the flickering we saw before and lo and behold there where SVG’s. I could not believe it. Does that mean I can spot SVG’s from 50 Km out? I don’t know yet. But that is a possibility I have to keep in mind.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Silicate Vapor Geysers

Piceous Cobble

Crystalline Cluster

Silicate Vapor Geysers

Today we met on a rather dull moon. It was the usual come together. The usual tale telling. How we just got away from a binary star, how we searched for hours to find geysers and fumaroles, how we traveled for thousands of lightyears to a Supergiant just to find out that it was already tagged. And then there were those three brave commanders who got caught in the exclusion zone of a Neutron Star and never got out. Of course they survived in their ever-present escape pods, which transports the commander back to the last station that they docked at. Two of those commanders are already back to the expedition. And one commander, Kel Solaar, arrived at WP#5 in a brand new Lakon Type 10 defender.

Then we gathered together in normal space, close, about 470 Km, to the moon where we met before. 15-20 commanders. Sitting in their ships and preparing for the mass jump into one and the same system. This is an event which we do at the end of every meet-up.

The expedition captain, Commander Yanick, counts down from 10,9,8 ... Everyone spools up their FSD ... 7,6,5 ... A quick look to the sides, to make sure I am not touching any ship ... 4,3,2,1 ... Boost !!! The class 6A thrusters pushes the Ex Astris with an enormous power from a standstill to its top speed of 415 m/s in a mere seconds. 13 Breathtaking (literally) G’s are forced upon the pilot. And wouldn’t there be the magic of the Remlok Suit the pilot would be squished to death in its seat. The ships computer internal voice counts down:

“4,3,2,1. Engage.”

And yet another chapter of the MCE has begun.

Ab Imo Pectore

Steyla Lucius Maxentius Yaroklis, Duke of Yaroklis

Mass jump from WP#5 (Created by Commander Helitony)

Finding SVG on a Rocky Ice Moon seams to be an impossible task. Today I searched for hours but there are just to many deep canyons. I could not find anything. Although a Rocky Ice World is one of the most beautiful bodies. The surface is brown as on any other Rocky World, but the canyons are glowing turquoise. It is as someone switched the light on in those deep canyons.

Suddenly the door of the ready room opens and Commander Steyla enters the bridge.

"Commander!", he looked exhausted.

"Is everything alright?" I asked

"Yeah...yes. Everything is fine. Listen Hunter, I owe you an apology."

"Nah Commander. You...", "Please let me finish.", he interrupted.

"I shouldn't have kept you in the dark in the last few days. You are a valuable crew member and you deserve to know what's going on.", he paused for a few seconds an then continued.

"For the last few days I was with my sister, Admiral Oma Desala, tele-presented in the Deciat system."

"You have a sister? And she is an Admiral?", I asked.

"Yes. This was a difficult thing for me and I always kept it a secret."

"Why?"

"Because I am a Duke of the Empire and she is an Admiral in the Federal Navy."

"So what is the problem then?", I asked.

"I was raised by imperial standards, you are from Zaonce you would not understand. And, as you are well aware, the Empire does not like the Federation very much. Some would even go so far to say that they are Enemies. And... I was just embarrassed to admit that I have a relative in the Federation. And I was afraid that my credibility would suffer."

"So, and you are not anymore?"

"No. Because there are much bigger issues at stake here. Like the Thargoids, which are right at our doorsteps. And they are already destroyed several of our space stations in the Pleiades. So, we have to find a common ground and bury our petty differences. After all we are all humans. We have to stick together at those times. And we as Explorers are a part of this. We have to find earth like and terra formable worlds. Worlds on which we can live in case we have to leave the bubble. And yes, geysers and fumaroles are important too. Because sometimes you can find ancient guardian ruins near geyser fields. Which lead us to more knowledge and technological advancement in the fight against the Thargoids.", he leant forward over the ship console and looked at the stars.

"How is your sister doing?", I asked.

"Splendid. She just bought a new ship she wanted to demonstrate. A Lakon Type 10 Defender. It is a nice ship. And it is big. But I am not certain that it will help against the Thargoids."

"Why?"

"It just seams so bulky. And the hardpoints are not at the right place. And it is to slow. No comparison to the Imperial Cutter. I am not certain that Lakon is the right company to build war ships. Core Dynamics or Gutamaya, yes. But Lakon? We will see." he said and then he continued.

"We went to Sol. And she invited the Baron into her ship. Did you know that the Baron has a federal past?"

"No! Really?"

"Yeah, I didn't either. Anyways, we flew to a moon with odd geysers on it. Was quite interesting. And the Baron asked my sister for help. She an Admiral and all. Aleyda, his crew member, has some problems in the Federation. I did not get all of that. Hope it turns out right. By the way, how was the geyser hunt?"

"Not so good. Lots and lots of canyons. I searched for hours. I even went to the neighbor moon to look for Water Geyser. But in vane."

"Don't worry about it, you'll find you field eventually. Lets turn in for the night. Tomorrow we meet at WP5 and then the journey continues."

"Good idea. I am tired from all those canyons."

"I can imagine."

Hunter Bowers - Personal Log Dec, 22 3303

From left. Commanders Steyla, Oma Desala and Rory Clague in the new Lakon Type 10 Defender.

We are still landed on WP5. The Commander has not left his ready room yet. I use the time to check on the modules. Our hull is at 98%. So is the Power Plant and the AFMU. We could have asked another commander for a repair limpet, but Commander Steyla said 'Why bother. 98% is fine.'. The Power Plant can only be repaired in a station and since we don't have a second AFMU we can not repair that either. All other modules are still at 100%. Not so bad after over 63,000 Ly.

The door of the ready room opened and Commander Steyla entered the bridge. Perhaps now I get to know what is going on.

"Report."

"We traveled 5,076 Ly. Scanned 17 HMC, 2 ELW's, 1 AW and 2 WW. Estimated value is 5,509,668 Cr, Commander"

"For 5,000 Ly? Seriously? We going to get lazy, don't we?", the Commander frowned.

"Yes, well..."

"Never mind. There is a system close to here, its name is Oob Chrea NC-M d7-12. It has a Rocky Ice Moon which is 2a. And it has major SVG's. It is not easy to find them, unless your name is Baron Rory Clague." he said with a loud laughter.

"And I am supposed to find SVG's?"

"Yes, you have to start somewhere. I'll be in my ready room if anything important comes up."

"Yes Commander."

And of he went into the ready room and locked the door behind him.

He still hasn't told me what is going on. Anyways, I plotted a route to Oob Chrea NC-M d7-12, which is just one jump away, and spooled up the FSD. The moon is about 2,231 Ls from the main star. And it has a lot of deep canyons. Some of those go almost around the planet. But it is beautiful.

After 3 hours of tedious searching I have not found any SVG's. I don't know how Commander Steyla does it. He always says 'Perseverance Hunter, just perseverance.', right. I don't have perseverance, dammit! Perhaps I should just enjoy the view and the SVG's come to me. I will land in one of the canyons and close up for today. We will see how it goes tomorrow.

Hunter Bowers - Personal Log December, 21 3303

Canyon on Rocky Ice Moon

Landing site for the night.

Good night.

"Hunter."

"Yes Commander."

"Plot a course to WP5 and get us there. You've got the bridge."

"But Com..."

"Make it so!"

"Yes Commander."

"And Hunter."

"Yes."

"I don't want to be disturbed under any circumstances."

"Yes Commander."

This was at this morning. I have not seen the Commander since.

I plotted a course which first took us up to -100Z. I hope it will give us a better chance of the desirable objects, like ELW/AW/WW. And from there we fly straight to WP5.

We arrived at WP5 at 0438h. We traveled a little more than 5,000 Ly in 168 jumps. I discovered 2 ELW/1 AW and 2 WW. Which means the journey was rather boring. No enemies of course. And the Commander is still locked up in its ready room.

I wonder what he does in there ?

Hunter Bowers - Personal Log December, 20 3303

ELW #35