Signing in Cmdr Scholten.

Going through the new list of messages that seem to be part of commanding a fleetcarrier there was one that stood out.

A personal message from a certain cmdr. A Green. I know that one, just haven't heard from her in a while, and nor has she from me.

I opened the message, and besides the how are you's and I am fine it gave a short description of how she has begun to make a name for herself organising parties.

There is an attachment to the message. As I check it, it is an invitation to celebrate the new years evening in a big wild style at her partyship. As I read on, she has made all reservations and gave me two special free vip tickets as I am to bring my partner to the party. As by now I certainly would have one, she types on. Well, to be honest, no. I haven't. Made it passed the breakup with her and been very busy with a lot, but not exactly finding me a partner again.

Wow, like two days to go to the party, I don't know. Could ofcourse hire a professional escort for a day or two. I'll see.

For now I'll confirm the invitation and think of a form of company to go with me.

Signing off Cmdr Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten.

Becoming part of Ace Exploration Squadron sure has been giving me some more possibilities. A wide variety of missions to be undertaken with our without a wing. And the fun of being part of a bigger group with a more 'common' cause than being out almost alone as a fully independent cmdr.

I setup a first homebase at McKay Gateway, but quickly moved on to the headquarters. Wallace city, a Coriolis starport in the LHS 3097 system. With all the vibrant energy of such a big port. Always something going on and something to do.

I extended my fleet with a new fighter, An Alliance Challenger called 'Justified Anger' A well engineered fighter ship to aid in the battles we face.

But there has been an even bigger ship added to my fleet, well actually, I can park my whole fleet there.

I am owner and cmdr. of the Fleetcarrier called 'Keep A Fist Raised Up.' As our tasks spread out more and more the limited range of the fighter ships became more and more of an issue. And so does the sometimes unavailability of refueling, restocking and repair. Near the combat zones.

With plenty of credits at this point in my career, I decided to move on up and have my own carrier build.

I can tell, the first time your drop from supercruise to meet your carrier is a special moment. All kind of emotions flying through you as you are greeted by your flightcontrol tower welcoming you to the carrier and giving you clearance to land on pad o7. A symbolic salute in the docking lights.

Than ofcourse meeting all the staff and getting acquinted with all facilities and the ship layout. And finally going through the red doors up to the command deck. Where a liaison of the brewer company officially hands over the carrier and it's command to you. The proud new owner.

That night after a nice reception I went up to the command tower. Up to the commanddeck and enjoyed the view over the carrier deck where ships are now coming and going to refuel and maybe some repairs. As those are the first services made available by me. I went into the cmdrs quarters. Took one more look at the management console. All was good. See you all tomorrow.

Signing off cmdr Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten.

Here's a special log on the new chapter in the life of my, well used to be co-pilot Amanda Green. For years she has been my co-pilot, trusted friend, party organiser and hell, maybe even partner on these long exploration trips. Charting the galaxy, sampling plants and bacteria in the most harsh conditions.

Ofcourse there was a big change after the event with the maelstrom and the ill effect on her health. And that got her thinking about her life as an explorer and exobiologist. Whilst interesting, it doesn't have much to do with any other human interaction. Something she really likes.

Just after we got back I remember her running into my quarters and shoving her tablet under my face. There was a small Galnet article about the 'Party crasher' An old type 10 defender wich had been modified to hold illustrous parties on small moons for those lucky enough to get a ticket. (See We'll have our own party log entry). Apparantly some Omnipol agents raided a party arrested a lot of wanted partygoers and confiscated the ship. And the ship was now for sale. And you guessed it, Amanda wanted to buy it as a start for her business. I told her, it probably needed more than it's worth in repairs to get it properly flying and working again. But it was the well known 'Party crasher', not just any defender... I decided to accompany her to the auction and try to prevent her from getting in trouble.

At the auction, I briefly got the idea this was another honeytrap by omnipol to get more wanted cmdrs together. Man what a group of pirates and other criminals this ship pulled towards itself. Together we checked the auction description of the lot and bam, there it was. The pilots federation had withdrawn the registration for this particular ship in await of total repairs and check by one of their agents. With all the mods been made, and repairs needed it would never pass again.

Amanda was very dissapointed at this stage, she had a dream of flying and partying and making a living out of it. Well, not with this one. And eventhough this legend wasn't going to be hers, onboard I asked her what she wanted now.

And than she cried out, the first ship I have ever flown in, a f*cking defender. Yes, that's right, you 'saving' me in the docking bay as I got expelled from my station. That is my kind of flight. Big strong and feeling of being safe. That was my first ever flight you know. I even passed my exam around the carrier in yours as I recovered and you were away. I was baffled, I never knew. I mean I was flying sidewinders as a teenager and she had never flown before that incident.

As she calmed down, I got this idea. I asked how much were you thinking of spending on that ship? She looked at me confused and uncertain. She didn't have an idea. I mean she made 100's of millions on the trips and the carrier. And a legend can be worth more than any other vessel. But no idea.

I asked her is she had time to go shopping for her own vessel, ofcourse she had. So cutting to the end here, I shared a big part in a brand new bare type 10 Defender. At the nearest dealer we could find. No, I am not being scroogy here, as she specifically asked for the bare minimum so she could build her own party ship. Lot of emotions went through me as I watched her take off with her new ship from the lounge, a place where I met her and said goodbey to her. I am sure one day I'll receive a ticket for the grand opening of the party ship.

signing off Cmdr Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten

We returned home, well for as long as it will last. We finished the research into the Dynasty project, got the ranking of Exobiologist up to elite with the last 16 kly trip.

And what to do now. Things on the carrier are quiet, struggling to keep the upkeep for an ever getting smaller squadron. And frankly it no longer brings me what it used to. So even as a veteran and at my age, I am going to change my career once more. I have been reading into a big squadron and all the good and bad it could bring. Sure I'll have to get used to being in ranks again. And a structural hierarchy. But I'll manage, so I applied and got a new position and a new career as part of something bigger.

And my co-pilot Amanda? Well she has decided to go on for herself as well. During the time she was working on the carrier she gave her options a good thinking over and she has decided to become an independent pilot herself. The next log will be about that btw.

For now, I have taken up residency in the McKay station, have some of my fleet transported there and sold some off as I didn't fly them anymore.

I have taken care of any loose ends here on the carier, whished my old comrades goodluck and so did they wish me.

So off for a new start.

Sighning off Cmdr Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten.

We did it, we visited all abandoned bases of the Dynasty Project.

This time we went to the Conflux region. We found the abandoned bases, read the logs and downloaded the data and files on the old but functional datapoints.

Alpha site,

The crew is unloading beacons between the bubble and the conflux region. Soon enough they find out that the beacons are unloaded in the vicinity of Earth Like Worlds. After the last one has been placed they head back home. Mission has been succesful, not known wether they actually make it back.

Beta site,

On the way to their location, this crew tells about getting hyperdicted. They can't understand the how and why, but it happened. After the hyperdicted event they write about lights chasing their ship and color and shapeshifting clouds. They don't seem to be sure wether it is all real, or that they are slowly loosing their minds.

Gamma site,

A bit of the same story as the Alpha site, drop beacons at certain locations and head back home after they are done. Unknown wether they make it back.

Delta site,

Found a log of the navigator. Apparantly the ship is pushed beyond it's limits. The FSD fails and they are stranded in space. They try to fix the ship, but it dropped too close to a neutron star. The ship and crew are being pulled into the star and no one has survived the ordeal.

Note: in the Delta site system we discovered a Stellar Phenomena, not just the usual metallic crystals but also a P-type phenomena. A small group of green plasma like balls following our ship. Disturbing the systems as we got too close to them. They didn't seem aggresive, but the disturbance of our systems could damage them. So we left them behind quickly.

Signing off Cmdr Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten,

As of today we are on another exploration trip.

In the past we visited the abandoned sites and bases of the Dynasty project. In both the Formidine rift and Hawking's Gap. But there was another discovery trip set out at the time. In the direction of the Scutum Sagitarri Conflux region. And that's where we are heading this time.

Got the Anaconda refitted at Jameson Memorial for another long exploration trip and with Amanda back in the cockpit all things are looking good for another adventure.

And ofcourse on the way we shall be exploring, scanning and sampling bio signals to add to the general knowledge of the galaxy.

Signing off Cmdr Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten.

The original plan was to visit the abandoned bases in Hawkings Gap and travel on to explore the region further out away from the bubble. Than return through Norma's Expanse back to the bubble.

Yet last night we received a message from the carrier. Since we left it seems a lot of cmdrs have left on explorationtrips. Too many at the same time wich means too little revenue coming in to keep the account balanced the right way.

And since we are not just cmdrs using this carrier but also active members of the squadron based on it we are to come back and help out so the carrier stays our base.

Glad we got to explore the sites we initially wanted, now the nose of the Anaconda is facing the bubble again. Only 173 jumps to go as I type this log.

Hold on guys, help is on the way.

Signing off Cmdr Scholten

Signing in Cmdr Scholten.

We have arrived and explored the four abandoned settlements in the Hawkin's Gap region.

Not as much mystery as the ones in the Formidine rift, but still impressive to visit and scan the old comm logs and data points.

The Alpha site, The logs speak of boredom and lack of clear purpose as to why they are there. Rumours about the expedition to the Formidine Rift and people killing themselves on those missions have reached this settlement. Though left behind long ago, the site still had some nice engineering materials lying around.

The Beta site, The logs show a mission with of a lot of secrecy as to why they are there and what the cargo is they took with them. The crews fullfill their duties and head back to the bubble. No way of telling wether they actually made it back. The datapoint is still active and we managed to download the software from the old base. Good credits and interesting for historical research.

The Gamma site, The logs are about the crew not knowing what cargo they are dropping off in space. The cargo looks like a kind of satelites. The guards hired by the unknown company giving the orders are hostile towards anyone asking questions. One crew who accidently saw one 'satelite' being switched on is having an accident in an airlock later that day, killing them all. The datapoint is also still active and we downloaded what was stored on it. We have found in the past that the empire uses old datapoints to store software and files. Funny thing about this one, there are files for each main power in the galaxy stored. Emperial, Federal and Alliance files all stored on the same datapoint...

The Delta site, The logs are much the same, an unknown organisation having crews taking 'satelites' as far out as Hawkin's Gap. Not knowing what they are for or why they are so far out. No active datapoint here but quite a lot of engineering materials.

Signing out Cmdr. Scholten.

Signing in Cmdr Scholten

And now, after what seems like months hanging around the carrier in the bubble. We are back in the black. Sure, the time was needed to recover from our adventures with the maelstrom and the thargoids after that.

But once again, Amanda and I are out exploring systems and taking exo-biology samples.

I spend a lot of credits, getting us a big ship, a new Anaconda. Our trusty old Python has been safely parked inside the carrier and we moved on to a bigger one. Even more fitted for long exploration than the Python.

Away from the bubble, and the Thargoids. This time we travel another direction. First we went into the Outer Orion Spur, visited the Eta Carina Nebula and the Guardian ruins. Found some more non-human sensorfragments on planets near the nebula. The guardian ruins held a lot of active obelisks that gave us a lot of data.

Now we travel to Hawkings Gap, to visit some abandoned bases and stations from a long time ago. Hoping to learn a bit more about those early explorers and travellers.

Signing off Cmdr Scholten

Signing in Cmdr Scholten

After the recent event with the Thargoid attacks and our narrow escape. I have taken up time in my quarters and transporting some risky cargo trying what to think of what to do next.

I don't feel like joining in the Thargoid war rightaway again. Amanda has recovered, but she has probably a lasting effect of the corrosive vapors she inhaled in her damaged escapepod. She is slowly recovering but on her feet again. And she has made it quite clear she doesn't want to leave the safety of the carrier for now.

Her voice has become raspy sounding, and her respitorysystem hasn't completely healed yet. So she sounds raspy and as if she is in very hard physical work. As for now she is working short shifts as a traffic controller on the carrier.

Quite a surprise for unsuspecting pilots to hear her 'special' voice over the comms.

I am filling my days with some risky cargo runs for the E.G Union. Things I can do alone. And takes my mind of the recent events.

Signing out Cmdr Scholten