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Nom du commandant :
Vaisseau actuel :
FRUITY GERBIL [PTA#86]
(Anaconda)
 
Membre depuis le :
21 oct. 2017
 
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Systèmes visités :
9 114
Systèmes découverts en premier :
4 718
 
Solde :
1 215 992 763 Cr
Passage to Andromeda - Day #2

Day two of Passage to Andromeda. After making a reasonable start yesterday and putting in about 100 jumps I have decided to explore the route a little more and take in a couple of the POIs along the way.

First on the list if The Traikeou Goliaths (Traikeou AA-A h4), a system with a Wolf-Rayet star at it’s centre and orbited by a truly massive supergiant. Certainly not something you come across every day in the Elite universe.

After that I will zig-zag my way to the second waypoint via The Green Pentagon (Lysoovsky BH-L d8-26). Leaving for Colonia there is the chance to pass through some more interesting systems which I look forward to.

The Traikeou Goliaths

Passage to Andromeda - Day #1

Last night saw the start of the Passage to Andromeda Expedition. At around 2215 GMT+1 well over 100 Commanders made a mass jump to, in my group's case, Orrere signalling the start of the expedition.

My ship, The Fruity Gerbil, is the same build that I flew on my recent trip to Beale Point and back around through the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm. It's been engineered to provide a 70LY range with it's current fit which I am hoping will get me through this expedition. I'm carrying Jumponium elements just in case I need a little extra help, not that I've had to do that once so far. We'll see!

So now I will settle into the well worn sequence of jump, honk, scan anything of value, rinse and repeat as I cross the large distance to our first waypoint at Prai Hypoo GF-E c10, a mere 11.7k LY away!

Ready to Leave

Almost time to leave

After hours and hours of jumping I finally made it back to my home system and station, Garay Terminal in Deciat. After a few small ship tweaks and mods and a spanking new paintjob, I am now ready for the Passage to Andromeda Expedition which is due to leave Lave later this evening.

This will be my first time playing in 'Open Play' and my first EDSM Expedition. I am really looking forward to it despite the fact it's tracing a similar path to my recent journey and I am even going back to Beagle Point..... not something I expected to do again so soon. Looking forward to seeing some interesting sights along the way and meeting some of the other Commanders.

A new look.....

Still grinding away....

It's been a couple of months since my last entry. I haven't disappeared into a wormhole or been abducted by a Thargoid kindnap fleet. I've been grinding away in the background making steady progress initially passing through the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm before finally turning toward Colonia and starting to make my way back home.

I signed up for the Passage to Andromeda Expedition which departs from the Lave system on September 18th and realised that I wasn't actually going to make it unless I hurried as during August I took a few weeks away meaning I wasn't making any progress whatsoever. So over the last week I've been pushing hard to get back home to get my ship ready for the expedition before heading across to Lave to start.

During the expedition, I plan on trying to record a daily log for everyday that I make any jumps. It should make a nice record of the whole event.

Something a little different...

Something a little different...

Way Away

It's been a while since my last log entry. I've been busy crossing systems however nothing to really report. Life out in the black can be monotonous and dare I say even boring at times? I'm just a little over 28k ly from Beagle Point and have been following a south westerly route after departure. After crossing The Abyss I turned my Anaconda and started following along the Scutum Centaurus Arm in a westerly direction. I'm a little unsure just quite how far I will travel along this route however, I have seen the DSSA Hope Dempsey sitting at the end of the arm and it feels like a nice target to aim for before crossing back over the Mare Desperationis and heading for Colonia. Again I started off using a mixture of the Neutron Highway and fuel stars but I find I get so bored flying this way and far prefer the slower fuel star - fuel star way of routing. This way I don't miss out on potential new discoveries and some of the stunning systems that are out there. I made the mistake of not bringing along a vehicle bay on this expedition and am beginning to regret that. It would have been nice to take a spin out at Beagle Point and to explore some of these outer systems a little more thoroughly. I will be refitting one into my ship at the first opportunity.

As I enter each system I am honking before throttling back and using the FSS to identify any Water, Ammonia or Earth-like worlds. If I am lucky enough to find one of these I will fly out to it and run a probe scan before continuing my journey to the next system. I maybe ping one of these valuable planets every 8-10 systems or so. I know I'm probably losing a fortune in credits by not scanning the high metal content worlds but for this expedition I just thought I'd make some extra money as I went, it wasn't meant as a credit generating trip.

I battle with my conscience at times over using the DSSA carriers to repair and restock. I have read that true Elite purists never use them as they were not part of the original game and their introduction has actually made the game easier and safer when exploring The Black. For now I chose to use them, however on future expeditions I may well decide that I will give them a wide berth. I have decided that I will not sell my data at any DSSA FC though. I will only trade that in once I reach a recognised station back in toward to bubble.

Out in the black

This makes me sooooooo twitchy

When you're looking for a fuel star and suddenly three come along at once...

Alone Again Or

It's a little overwhelming leaving Beagle Point knowing just how much space is between me and home...... not that I'm heading home quite yet. As I planned, after leaving Beagle Point and turned right and started crossing of The Abyss heading back toward The Abyssal Plain. I want to stay out here, as remote as I can be and spend time exploring, proper deep exploring. I am looking for the high-value worlds as I cross space but I'm also hunting for the elusive systems yet to be recorded on The Codex. I figure my best chance is to stay as far out on the edges of the outmost spiral arms as I can. Look to head toward the top or bottom stars, the ones at the extremes where they really thin out and make it hard to make progress. I figure if I am to find something unique and special, it'll be in a system orbiting one of these sparse stars.

I'm already around 2000ly from BP, a mix of Neutron Stars and Fuel Stars has helped me cross a large section of The Abyss and having my Anaconda capable of 71ly jumps really helps too. Still in Open Play, I've yet to meet a fellow commander out here, even at BP where I would have expected to find someone else, but no, nobody is out here. Looking on the EDSM Commander Map there are about eleven other Commanders within 3kly of me so maybe I'll meet another one soon! I'm a little wary of contact however if they are all the way out here then they are less likely to be pirates!

Out in the black

Beagle Point

Eighteen days after leaving my home station of Garay Terminal in the Decial system, I made my last jump into Beagle Point. It was never my intention to fly this far out into the galaxy however after reaching Sag A* the draw of Beagle Point was just too much and I knew I had to see it with my own eyes.

It was a first for me to use the Neutron Highway and although I got here in only about 230 jumps from the centre, it felt a slow and cumbersome process, not to mention the worry about dumping out of super-cruise every time I dropped into the cone. In fact, I actually looked forwards to the portions of the journey where I reverted back to jumping from fuel star to fuel star only gaining 71ly each time. It was however, a very efficient way to cross some of those void areas of space where stars were sparse and at the end of the day it was a means to an end; it got me here from the centre in seven days, so I really can't complain and certainly will use it in the future to cover some of the larger distances.

So, where to next? Well, I have got a ship load of exploration data which I'd like to cash in but want to wait until I hit a proper station rather than lose 25% of the value by trading it in at a DSSA Carrier. I'd also like to visit Colonia on my way back in too. So right now I am thinking about crossing back across The Abyss to the northern edge of the Scutum-Centaurus Arm and then following an anti-clockwise route until I get bored and head back toward 'The Bubble'. I am hunting new systems, systems not yet listed on the Codex and anything of any interest. I need to be back in the Bubble by mid September as I have signed up for the Passage to Andromeda Expedition and so for now I am temped to stay out here in the black and continue to enjoy the solitude and experience of being this far from home.

Approaching Beagle Point

Alone in The Black

Looking back home It's not quite Voyager One's Pale Blue Dot.... but looking back at Sol really brings home just quite how far away I am right now.....

The long plunge into the Abyss.....

Another day on the Neutron Highway. The route I initially plotted from just outside the galactic centre all the way out to Beagle Point ended up with about 200 jumps if I used a combination of the Neutron Highway and fuel stars. I thought I would use this to reach Beagle Point and then follow a more leisurely route to Colonia maximising system scans along the way.

Today I pulled another 20 or so jumps allowing me to nibble another 7300ly off my journey. I'm currently half way across the Styx void which sits between the northern fringe of the Norma arm and the Scutum-Centaurus arm. Crossing Styx requires a ship with a good jump range and even using the NH, the route across twists and turns between Neutron Stars and large fuel stars. It's hard route but allows me to cross the void and avoid what would be a significant detour to the east.

Left with about 23k ly left to Beagle Point, I'd like to cover 8-10k ly daily over the next few days to reach Beagle Point by the weekend. Once I've explored that system I will start thinking about a return route. I need to get back into the habit of 'honking'. For some reason, I have been neglecting this task since I started this leg of the journey and am missing out on free credits!

Oh, all those heatsinks....? Yeah, unfortunately I'm not the best at avoiding overheating while refuelling. They are there to save my behind.....

Following the Neutron Highway

Scootin' along the Neutron Highway

I'm now 10k ly past Sag A* and after around a hundred normal jumps or so as I aimlessly head back out into the black, I decided I should pick a destination and commit to reaching it. As I am this far out there is really only one place I should be heading for, Beagle Point.... the farthest point in the galaxy from Sol and at a little over 65k ly it sits about 30k ly from my current position crossing The Perseus Stem. I figured that if I was going to go back out into the black, I should make it worth it and a trip to Beagle Point is something that you don't get to do every day. I think it was a fitting destination that will take time and skill to reach. Having a 71ly jump range on my Anaconda should prove invaluable as I attempt to cross the great abysses that lie between me and Beagle Point.

Something I've not utilised much thus far are neutron stars to boost my FSD however, as I chose to bring along a 6A rated AMFU on this trip, I will now use a Neutron Highway to quadruple my jump range.... so each jump gives me up to 284ly range meaning Beagle Point is now just under 200 jumps away if I continue to use this method. I'm happy to use a mix of neutron stars and normal fuel stars to reach my goal as the risks increase considerably by dropping into a neutron star cone each time I jump!! Over the next week I shall make my way steadily toward the edge of the galaxy and once there I will decide where to go next. Colonia is still one waypoint for my return leg but it would be good to take in some more important locations along the way.

Hold on tight

Hello darkness my old friend......

I made it to Sagitarius A* and it was worth every jump to get there; a huge sense of achievement and I finally collected my 'Centre of the Galaxy' badge. I decided to take advantage of a Fleet Carrier docked in the system to restock on heatsinks & carry out some minor repairs to make sure my ship was fit for the next leg of my adventure.

As I've said previously I was planning on turning left and heading to Colonia before making the long run back to Deciat & my home at Garay Terminal however, when I woke up this morning I thought to myself "Why? Why am I going back there only to immediately set off again on another journey. Why not just carry on from here". So that's my plan, I have flown through Sag A* and out the other side and am currently heading toward the remote outpost of DSSA HSRC Limpet's Call which sits about 7500ly from Sag A* in the Perseus Stem. At the moment I plan on flying all the way out into The Solitude Void.... but I will keep other options in mind as my journey unfolds. Fly safe and see you out in the black Commanders.

Sagittarius A* in all her glory Quick coffee break at Pyro's Fun House K4N-TTF