00:45 15 October 3303

The scoop was a success. With the FSD supercharged our next destination is Flyooe Eohn dm-e b44-0, a system 172 light years away. This is the longest jump any of the crew have ever made. I have been informed that there is a tray filled with mugs of Centauri Mega Gin waiting in the lounge for the celebration of this event.

00:40 15 October 3303

We have entered the FLYOOE OOHN NJ-D D12-5 system, which contains the first neutron star of the journey. Neither La Grande Hermine nor the bulk of the crew have scooped a neutron star before. It is a dangerous maneuver, but I have faith in them and this ship. I know we will pull this off without issue. Provided our new bar steward stays in the observation lounge.

14 October 3303

While heading from Basecamp 0 to the rally point we came across an escape pod. In it was a strange man, smelling of gin, saying that he was on an expedition, but that he "seems to have misplaced [his] Python. Have you seen it, old boy? It's purple. No bother, I'm sure we'll find it on this journey. I'll be in the bar." this is going to be an interesting journey.

I have never seen so many ships in one spot before. Mostly Anacondas, Asps, and Diamondbacks, with a handful of Orcas and Cutters. I swear I even saw a Sidewinder!

It was not the smoothest start. With so many ships in such tight quarters a few ended up trading a bit of paint. And a single bounty hunter jumped in after one of the other commanders. Very few of the assembled ships were outfitted for combat, but the lone hunter was chased off in short order. The initial launch was delayed until 16:05, and even then not all of the ships were able to get out at once, I blame it on the large section of space the Pilot Federation has restricted between here and Crab Sector DL-Y d9, our next meeting point. Due to this large no fly zone, we are unable to plot a direct route, instead we shall be plotting shorter routes to the following systems.

Flyooe Eohn NJ-F d12-5

Pyult VF-M d8-22

Qiedeau MP-D d13-8

Qiedeau MY-P d6-45

Crab Pulsar

These systems all contain neutron stars, which will shave several jumps from our trip.

06:15 14 October 3303

La Grande Hermine safely made planet fall on HIP 23759 1 at 06:00. We have 8 hours until the start of the Dead End's Circumnavigation Expedition; Tactical Officer Vega, has volunteered to stand watch while the rest of the crew rest until it is time to depart.

01:30 UTC 14 October 3303

The repairs are complete, La Grande Hermine is ready. We are scheduled to depart the Witch Head Science Centre at 04:30. We will then proceed to HIP 23759 1 where we will join the rest of the Dead End's Expedition. We had a stroke of luck, while the boffins were repairing the hull, Eli, our Engineering officer, was inspecting our SRVs when he discovered a small, black cat prowling the hanger bay. The crew have taken a shine to our new passenger; Astra, our science officer, has named him Jones.

After yesterday's mishap this bit of good fortune has been the morale boost the crew needed before setting out on this journey.

La Grande Hermine is once again docked at the Witch Head Science Centre. We arrived in HIP 23759 late yesterday night. We proceeded to dock at the science centre for final repairs and checks before we leave on the Dead End's Circumnavigation Expedition. Once we were satisfied she was ready for our one year journey we departed the station and made way for the first planet, where we would await the other expedition members. As we approached HIP 23759 1 we failed to adjust our approach for its stronger gravity; we came in too hot, fired our vertical thrusters too late, and la Grande Hermine slammed her nose into the planet. The force of the impact caused the nose to shoot up again, and our aft impacted the ground before we finally came to a stop. The crew is fine, a few bruises, nothing more. We surveyed the damage in SRVs, Hull plates have buckled on the bow, and the starboard aft, and hull integrity was down to 60%.

We were in no shape to continue the expedition. Fortunately We were able to patch her up enough to get us back to the Witch Head Science Centre where La Grande Hermine is currently under going full repairs. The boffins should be finished their work in the next few hours, but we will wait until morning, we've had enough bad omens and will not pile on more by starting this voyage on a Friday.