The Wandering Star is on the move again, filled to the brim with Tritium, including the 528 Tons carried by my mining Imperial Cutter.

Mining to refuel her took longer than expected, 29 days to be exact. Not all of them spent shooting at rocks, but almost. I'd still like to know who thought it would have been a good idea to refuel carriers just by mining, and then I would slap them in the face real hard.

Anyway, this is done, and it will keep me going for about 85000 light years.

That would be about enough to reach the DSSA Kitty Corner in Dryman's Point, almost close to the Meridian and before turning East to cross Hawking's Gap.

If I'm not wrong, that area should have been scanned thoroughly by the pilots of the Million Miners March, which makes me hopeful I'll find a nice Tritium hotspot to refuel for the final leg before I get back to the Bubble.

I really hope the DSSA Nest, around 45000 light years from my current position, will have some tritium left for me when I get there, because I'm not sure I made it clear but I fucking hate mining.

Anyway, I'm letting the Wandering Star fly my to my next destination, sitting in my cockpit while I do some housekeeping.

A few more DSSA Carriers have been deployed while I was shooting at rocks, and I have to update my flight plan to include those as well.

Next stop Beagle Point.

I've finally left the fascinating Formorian Frontier, and right past its border I docked by the DSSA Eleanor.

Sadly, the fuel she had left had been bought by a passing carrier just a couple of days before my arrival, so I was able to scrap together just something shy of 300 tons.

Well, every little bit helps, so thanks to Cmdr Snowymonk for it:)

About 4000 light years from the DSSA Eleanor I stopped by the DSSA Tartarus, which is parked in the orbit of one of the very few Black Holes of the Abyss.

Sadly the DSSA Tartarus was empty, but Cmdr Nou kindly pointed me out to a nice Tritium overlap.

I wasn't sure whether to stop or not, then I did some math and realized that the next carrier that I know for sure could refuel the Wandering Star is the DSSA Nest, some 50000 light years from my position.

I have about 12000 tons of fuel left, which won't be enough to get there, so I grudgingly decided to park at the hotspot and fill up my tanks before I go on with the expedition.

I think it will be another couple of weeks before I put together the missing 8000 tons. So, well, now we mine.

Crossing Netwon's Vault has been utterly and completely uneventful.

In the dozen of systems I've scanned I couldn't find anything more interesting than icy rocks and asteroid belts. I'm sure it must have been just a curious coincidence, but still.

The Formorian Frontier, on the other hand, was full of wonders, on average 8 systems out of 10 had a Water World, an Ammonia World or an Earth-like. I think I discovered 6 or 7 of those.

The only area of space I've found this bountiful was Dryman's Point.

Anyway, here are some of those finds.

The prettiest was this Ammonia World in my opinion. I have a thing for them.

I'm now right on the edge of the Abyss, Just one 500ly jump and the Wandering Star will reach the DSSA Eleanor, which is parked on the border with the Formorian Frontier.

Sadly, the little fuel she had available has just been snatched by a passing explorer, as CMDR Snowymonk just informed me.

The next DSSA Carrier with any fuel available, so far, will be the DSSA Nest in Mare Somnia, some 60000 light years away.

I'll have to stop to mine some tritium soon, I'm afraid.

It didn't take long to fly through Izanami, given that I'm crossing the area across its short side.

My first stop right on its Southern border was the beautiful Morphenniel Nebula. I had never seen a nebula with this vivid red, so much so that all stars seen from inside had a fiery tint.

I did take some time to have a look around and, unexpectedly, I made a few first discoveries, which is quite unlikely around important Points of Interest like named nebulas.

This, for example, is a ringed Water World I discovered orbiting an M Class star.

The nicest discovery was that of two ringed Gas Giants orbiting fairly close to each other, their ring systems laying on the same plane. They made for a nice shot.

I am now on the border with Newton's Vault. The stars have started being more sparse, the sky much darker. Even though I'm still a long distance away, it does feel like I'm heading towards the starless Abyss.

To be completely honest, I never found shockingly interesting stuff to look at in the Galactic Center.

Sure the sky is astounding with its billions of stars, and if you fly a few hundred light years above or below the galactic plane it's all crowded with Neutron Stars and Black holes.

But near the very galactic center - in my own personal experience - the discoveries are less than exciting. Not very many water worlds, or strange planets, really.

This changes as you cross into Ryker's hope, where I took my time scanning everything I found. This slowed me down a bit (the DSSA Eleanor has some fuel waiting for me in the Abyss, and I don't want to miss it), but hey, explorers explore.

So, I found quite a few ammonia worlds on my way from the Galactic Center to the far end of Ryker's Hope, here's one.

Every jump or so I also came across at least a Water World, which seem to be in good supply in this area of space.

What's lacking in this trip are Earth Like Worlds. I think I might have found just two or three, and I've been out for about 140000 light years already.

I've discovered one in Ryker's Hope though, look at this beauty.

The best feature of Ryker's hope was Vanishing Inferno, a nebula heated by fiery red gases that I took some time exploring. Quite unexpectedly, I even discovered an Ammonia World and a Water WOrld that no one had come across before.

So all in all, despite the fact that I was flying in a straight line and not really actively looking for interesting systems as I ususally do, Ryker's Hope was quite an eventful area of space to cross, and I quite enjoyed it.

I am now right on the border with Izanami, just a hop from the Morphenniel Nebula, and then a 21000 uninterrupted light years stretch to the Abyss.

I've now spent some considerable time in the Galactic Centre.

After the rendez-vous with the DSSA Buurian Anchorage I stopped in a system a mere 11 light years from Sagittarius A* to mine some more tritium, and that took me about five days, even if I had to top up only 5k tons.

After the excruciating process of mining for fuel I checked in at Explorer's Anchorage, because why not, and then I went on for the obligatory visit at goold old Sag A*.

In the meantime I had kept in touch with CMDR Silv3rDragon of the DSSA Ronin, which is deployed less than 3000 light years north of the Core.

At that point my Tritium Depot was still pretty much full, but in my worst case scenario it will be more than 90000 light years before I can enjoy any support from the DSSA Network, and every little bit counts.

So CMDR Silv3rDragon kindly opened the DSSA Ronin's depot for me, and I topped up again by about 700 tons to a full cargo.

The DSSA Ronin looks badass, by the way.

While I was waiting to refuel I nosed around the system a little bit, and I noticed that the DSSA Ronin orbits around two interesting planets.

One of them has an impossibly tall mountain visible from space, I believe it's about 6km tall. I tried to land on it, and then to climb to the top with my SRV, but it was impossible.

The surface of the second planet is instead crisscrossed by a network of deep canyons, so I took advantage of my carrier, switched my racing Viper and took her out for a spin.

Full disclosure, after several minutes of fun I actually crashed and I had to go through the rebuy screen:(

Anyway, I'm now headed north again towards Ryker's Hope, my next waypoint an area called Vanishing Inferno.

Flying through a sky packed with stars I finally reached the Empyrean Straits.

This one was a milestone I was looking for, as in the Empyrean Straits there was a Rendez Vous I had been planning for quite some time.

The meeting was in a system called Dryau Ausms KG-Y e3390, but everyone calls it The Dryau Awesomes because of its spectacular array of stellar objects.

You land by a Neutron Star eclypsed by a gas giant. Near the couple there's a Black Hole, and not far a bunch of planets orbiting very close to each other.

Sitting before these magnificent views is Commander Eagle 31's DSSA Buurian Anchorage, which had agreed to help refuel the Wandering Star.

The DSSA Buurian Anchorage sold me the highest amount of Tritium so far, almost 14000 tons despite the Tritpocalypse still ongoing. Thanks again guys. Here's the DSSA Buurian Anchorage surrounded by her Awesomes.

I couldn't manage to meet any of the pilots involved with her deployment, sadly, as they had departed for the Bubble a few days prior, but organizing the small operation was nonetheless a pleasant experience.

The Wandering Star is now full to the brim with Tritium, and ready to fly towards the Galactic Core. Cmdr Eagle 31 even gave me a list of Trit hotspots found by the Buurian Protectorate.

Despite the current abundance of fuel I'll stop right before Sagittarius A* to mine a bit more to top up. I'd rather spend a few days here and there to top up an almost-full tank than sit in an ice ring for two months to fill up my stranded carrier.

So, a few thousands light years and it'smining time.

During my last two expeditions I flew along the outermost arms first, and the inner arms later. Abyss, Void, Xibalba, those kinds of remote, dark, starless spots.

I had forgotten how densely packed with stars the Galaxy can be. As soon as you cross into the Norma Arm you're greeted by billions of shining stars, and every system you land in is a spectacle.

I mean, look at this random, unremarkable place, how cool is that.

The closer you get to the Core the more interesting stuff you find. Carbon Stars, exotic gas giants, black holes, neutron stars and more.

At the moment I'm scouting ahead of the Wandering Star, taking my time scanning and exploring. I usually keep within her jump range and move her closer once I get about 500 light years from her position.

That came handy the two times I crash landed and ended up shieldless and battered. I can't believe I mess up so many landings when I'm out exploring, compared to literally zero times when I'm in the Bubble.

Oh well.

While religiously following my route I took a small detour to peek into the BOEPP nebula, which also happened to be the first gathering point of our expedition.

I haven't heard a peep from the other pilots on board, so I'm not entirely sure they're still following, but still.

I'm now proceeding straight North towards the Empyrean Strait, where I'll rendez-vous with the DSSA Buurian Anchorage and refuel for the next leg of the journey.

Due to how the regions of the Galaxy are arbitrarily drawn, I made one single jump through the Norma Expanse while travelling from the Inner Scutum-Centaurus Arm to the Norma Arm.

Again, despite the heavily travelled route, I've been able to make a few first discoveries, among which a nice Water World and a ringed, giant Ammonia World.

The best part of the expedition so far has been the communication with the various DSSA comanders.

Commander Gnauty of the DSSA Callisto got in touch asking me to report whatever double or triple-hotspot we find, which I'll be happy to help with. In fact, I'm spending an insane amount of time scanning gas giants now, which I normally skip for more interesting finds.

Commander Guesswhat92 of the DSSA Sesame extended his welcome to the Wandering Star, despite being short of Tritium to sell himself.

I also got in touch with the nice Commander Buur of the Buur Pit, and Cmdr Eagle31 of the DSSA Buurian Anchorage, which will help us refuel once we get to the Core.

Not to mention Commander Scopelc of The DSSA Nest, who very kindly informed me that the deployment if his carrier into Mare Somnia has been completed, and that he'll be able refuel the Wandering Star once we leave the Abyss.

So, all in all it's quite a change from my solitary wanderings, but I'm really enjoying this new way.

The Wandering Star is now parked next to the DSSA Sesame, which is deployed in an extremely suggestive planetary nebula, at the center of which - probably remnant of a supernova explosion - sits an enraged Neutron Star.

It's now time to carry on. The next way point is the Kaw Nebula to rendez vous with the other passengers.

After the first part of the expedition, ended in Xibalba, I crossed Kepler's Crest and the Sanguineous Rim to get back to the Bubble, refuel, and depart for the second leg of the trip.

Unfortunately, right when I was about to set sail, news spread of an almost complete lack of Tritium all over the Galaxy, which forced me to delay my departure.

It was after almost two weeks that I decided I had had enough of waiting and that it was time to carry on anyway. Basically I'm hoping that the issue will be solved by the time I'll run out of fuel, but there is the very real risk that the Wandering Star will be dead in the water at some point.

Anyway, Commander Scoutg and Commander Cybodragon have joined the expedition, but since carrier captains have no way to know who's on board and who isn't - for some reason - I have no idea whether they're actually on board or following at some distance.

Our route now runs straight North towards the Core, then up to the Abyss, before turning East and South to follow the Sagittarius-Carina Arm back home.

While still in the Inner Orion Spur - basically still on out doorstep, I decided to take a brief detour to have a look at the large NGC 6537 Nebula, which for some reason or another I had never seen.

Suprisingly, despite following a VERY busy travel route, I'm making a good number of first discoveries, which include a good handful of Water Worlds and even an undiscovered Earth-like, this one right on the last system before the border with the Norma Expanse.

It looks like it also has a volcano.

The next stop on our route is by the DSSA Sesame, about halfway to the Core.