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DW2 (PART 5) – THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW POSSIBLE POINT OF INTEREST

DISTANT WORLDS 2 (PART 5) – THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW POSSIBLE POINT OF INTEREST

04 FEB 3305 Conflux Delta Site (PRU AESCS NC-M D7-192)

I was way out of schedule. The fleet had departed eighteen hours ago. I was delayed because of my discovery of an Earth like planet in system Pyramoe XW-Y c2-7. I spent a lot of time mapping the whole system. FleetComm had marked some interesting points off route and I did not want to miss them, so I took off and locked system CD-28 14266 on the nav com. I wanted to see the planetary nebula known as NGC 6565. Upon my departure, I received a message saying that my recent efforts had awarded me the rank of Pioneer of the Pilots Federation. Just one step more and I would be Elite and have access to Shinrarta Dezhra.

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The planetary nebula of NGC 6565 in Sagittarius constellation, with its greenish halo, was discovered by Earth astronomer Edward Pickering on the nineteenth century. It remained relatively obscure among cosmologists until twentieth century optics technology allowed for first detailed fully-color images of its bright eye-shaped gas cloud. NGC 6565's dying Wolf-Rayet star is orbited by a binary pair of Class V gas giants with beautiful rings and two volcanic high metal content worlds.

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The next stop, off-route, was The Arkgamanon Mountain Range, in system Pyramoe PM-X b33-6, a very striking geological feature created by some towering mountains that peak over twenty five kilometres in altitude erecting from a very flat valley. The system was first surveyed by Commander Isaiah Evanson and Lyrae Cursorius in early 3303 during a scouting mission to uncover some of the mysteries of the Sagittarius Conflux. That was a perfect campsite for the fleet, alas, no commanders remained there, so I spent the night alone, enjoying the view.

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I got up some hours later and took the time to enjoy a coffee in a real mug thanks to the gravity before departing. The sight of the mountains on fly with daylight was even more impressive than from the ground.

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The next stop was the first step of the itinerary, the nebula NGC 6229. Located in the Sagittarius constellation, it was discovered by Earth astronomer William Herschel in the eighteenth century. The nebula's white core is a Wolf-Rayet star that is surrounded by a halo of blue and purple nebular gas. There, I made a happy finding. Flying around the Wolf Rayet star I found another member of the Distant Worlds squadron, Commander Issengrim, flying his shiny Anaconda, The Second Dream. I wonder how exploration must be flying one of those. It seems that I was not so delayed after all.

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Very close to there was system NGC 6629 SECTOR SU-O B6-3, which contained a stellar phenomena consisting in Solid Mineral Spheres floating in a yellowish Lagrange Cloud. It was worth a visit.

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There, I had to decide if it would be worth doing a really big detour, more than two thousand five hundred light years to visit another nebula. But on this occasion, this one was way above the galactic plane. I have never seen the galaxy from the top, so I headed to system BD-21 4483, to the nebula known as IC 4634.

Star systems became scarcer as I rose and, when I was about to reach the nebula, I jumped into a system, Ploi Aerb UX-L d7-2, that contained an Earth like world. And this one was huge, almost double of Earth. It was a beautiful sight, such a big blue planet, with its clear skies there, floating above the galaxy.

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I was tired, and there was no place to land in the system, so I decided to continue the trip and land at the first chance possible. After a couple of jumps I arrived to Ploi Aerb JK-Y c-14-0 A, a system discovered by Commander Kleckerklotz, with a landable high metal content world with a comfortable gravity. I stopped there for the night.

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The following day I finally reached BD-21 4483. The Nebula IC 4634 was discovered in the nineteenth century. It floats around a Wolf-Rayet star that cast a brilliant purple hue across the three planets within the system, creating incredible sights.

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Time to return to the official itinerary and head for the Eagle Nebula. I had a lot of exploration data to deliver to Universal Cartographics. The trip went without incidents, I explored several systems on the way with no significant findings and arrived to Eagle’s Landing hours later. Eagle’s Landing is one of the outposts constructed in 3302 to connect Colonia with the Bubble. Its name is because it is situated in the Eagle Nebula, and it pays homage to the lunar module used on the Apollo 11, the mission by which the first humans landed on Earth’s moon.

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The Hyperion was the only ship of the Distant Worlds 2 expedition there. The whole fleet had already departed. Thanks to that, I could find accommodation in the station and rest in a proper bed instead of my bunk. I also collected more than forty five millions credits from my exploration data.

The following stop on the itinerary was Eudaemon Anchorage in the Rohini system, but I decided to make another detour to visit the Phantom Streak Nebula. Anyway, I was delayed already. I found some interesting things on the way, like a system with sixty eight stellar bodies: Pyraleau YK-V d3-46. But the most striking finding of everything I had discover on this trip was in system Pyraleau YL-Z c2-5, I quite anodyne system that, according to the Galactic Mapping Initiative, was discovered by Commander Thonya, but never explored.

The Discovery Scanner revealed twelve stellar bodies, and the Full Spectrum System Scanner showed nothing interesting, but I decided to identify the bodies because there were not so many of them. I had localized ten of the bodies with no problems when I heard the signal source of an icy body. They had to be the last ones. But, to my surprise, the scanner was able to see them, but it could not magnify to identify them. They seemed to be moving very fast on the screen. I tried several times with no success, so I decided to pay a closer look and try a visual identification. I wanted to see what the problem was. They had to be the moons of the fourth planet, a small class I gas giant, so I headed there.

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And there they were. Two astonishing beautiful icy moons, one yellow and the other blue, sharing an orbit so tight, that the scanner was unable to identify them. An approximated measure showed that they were less than 3MM one from the other.

They deserved to be named. Their official names did not make justice to them. So, I started to think about couples of lovers of the ancient legends of Earth and the story of Tristan and Isolde came to my mind. A tragedy about the adulterous love between one knight, Tristan, and a princess Isolde in the twelfth century. If I remember correctly, they were from two different enemy kingdoms, thus their love was impossible. I guess their story came to my mind because Isolde was described always as the blonde, and the yellowish of Pyraleau YL-Z c2-5 4 b reminded me of that. Pyraleau YL-Z c2-5 4 a, on the contrary, is blue with beautiful red canyons, that reminded me of the reddish hair of many of the habitants of the original English kingdoms back in old Earth. That was it. It was decided. I was going to call them Tristan and Isolde. Both orbiting together as close as possible for the eternity.

The yellow one, Isolde, is the tiniest, with just 721 Km radio and a gravity of 0.04 G. It has geological activity and many water geysers.

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The blue one, Tristan, is bigger, with 1.015 km radio and a gravity of 0.06 G. It has great geological activity with major water geysers.

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And these geysers can be very violent. I run over one with my scarab and almost was expelled spiralling out of the planet to the void. The weak gravity force did not help either. I barely survived.

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After the fright with the scarab and the geyser I decided to stop for the day. So I headed for Isolde looking for a place to land and rest with a striking view of the Tristan and the gas giant.

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The following day I flew around both moons exploring their surface. They have a striking beauty, both with lots of geological activity and their proximity generates astonishing views. I think they have the potential to become a Point of Interest. I have decided that I will report this discovery to the Galactic Mapping Project and they will decide.

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I resumed the trip and some jumps later I finally arrived to the NGC 6741 Nebula, also knowns as the Phantom Streak Nebula probably because its blue-purple halo. Its discoverer, Edward Charles Pickering, back in the nineteenth century did not put that name to it. The central star is a standard Wolf-Rayet which is rapidly blowing off outer layers to form the nebula. Other than a companion M-class star, no other bodies are found inside the nebula.

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From there, I headed to the Rohini system but, on the way, I found a system, Phantom Streak Sector JH-V c2-19, that contained seven stars and an ELW quite similar in size to the Earth. I had to stop and map the place. The sky over the planet was incredibly clear, and I tried to imagine how a sunset there could be with so many stars shining on the horizon.

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But that was not the only finding I did on the way to Rohini. Some jumps later I found something I have heard about but never found before. A ringed ammonia world in system Pyraleau PE-X d2-170. The rings were huge compared to the size of the planet, so I decided to take a closer look. They had hotspots of Serendibite and Musgravite.

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And when I was about to arrive to Rohini, I found another tiny ELW. This one was very close to a transited route, so I guess it has chances of being colonized one day. As usual, I did the compulsory reconnaissance fly.

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I was exhausted when I finally made it to Eudaemon Anchorage in Rohini. It felt so nice to be in a proper Ocellus spaceport again with its comforting variable gravity. The place was established in 3303 and it is run by the Patrons of the Conflux. I cashed my exploration data and made close to fifty five million credits. I also informed about my discovery of “Tristan and Isolde”. Still shocked by the fortune I was gathering, I run to a bar to celebrate and hired me the most expensive accommodations that Eudaemon Anchorage could offer. I wanted to have a real shower with its falling water.

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I departed Eudaemon Anchorage with very high moral and headed to the system Flyiedgiae QN-T d3-17, where I expected to visit the planet known as the Quantum World, one of the smallest known worlds in the Galaxy so far discovered, with a radius of just 137 km. The world has interesting geological features, with a variety of colours ranging from sandy yellow, to beige, orange, and brown. I landed to enjoy the view and discovered that the gravity of the planet is also very weak, like in “Isolde”, making quite dangerous to use the thrusters of the SRV.

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I resumed course and finally made it to PRU AESCS NC-M D7-192. I scanned the system upon arrival and saw two interesting things. The first one was a stellar phenomena located in the ice rings. There were several flavum and purpureum metallic crystals floating among the asteroids.

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The second one was something the scanner identified as an unregistered comms beacon. That was intriguing. I decided to make an inspection and found two members of the expedition there: Commander Junagu, flying in his Pyhton the Mine Botallack Crown, and Commander Jaw, flying his Krait Phantom the Void Wanderer. It seemed that beacon transmitted a message every hour. We waited together to hear it.

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After the several minutes, the beacon transmitted the following message two times:

DYJEPQY UWLUDCQCKJ XUEOKJ DJPQY P6 UNL 002 NEHHY LKCJQE 3E OKJFHRW LNR EUPOP JOID7192 IKDUPQEJDXY

Intriguing! It must be cyphered. I am going to need to research this.

Even with all the detours and exploration I did on this stage of the itinerary, on this occasion I managed to arrive to the final destination several hours before the release of the next waypoint, so I headed to the designated campsite, the Conflux Delta Site, and landed there for a sleep. It was close night and several commanders were joining around the installation.

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When I wake up there was daylight. The nearby ringed star was casting its light over the site, so I decided to explore the place.

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Scattered around the camp, there were many comms log uplinks, and I was able to unlock four extracts of the registers of the settlement:

CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 1/4 Expedition Log: 30/08/3270 “I’m just the engineer on this particular jaunt. I was advised to prep the ship for a seriously long haul into the void, so I’m loaded up with as many hyperdrive spares as I can cram in. When I asked why, the captain just responded with ‘Don’t ask’.”

CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 2/4 Expedition Log: 12/09/3270 “It’s putting a strain on the ship, that I can tell you. I’ve asked for some downtime so I can run some maintenance, but the captain says we have to hit a schedule. What can be quite so important a thousand light years from the nearest inhabited planet I can’t say, but we’re in a mighty rush.”

CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 3/4 Expedition Log: 18/09/3270 “I warned ’em. We blew the hyperdrive initiator coil jumping in today. Caused a right mess down here. Lots of collateral damage. Scanners are offline and the main generator is running hot. Can’t figure out why, looks like we’re in empty space, but the heat is fierce!”

CONFLUX DELTA MISSION 4/4 Expedition Log: 01/10/3270 “We figured it out. Gravity. We’ve dropped out near a neutron star. Can’t see it, but we can feel it. The ship is cooking around us. No way we can jump out before it gets us. We’re being pulled in. Odds are even as to whether the heat, gravity or magnetism kills us first. We’re jettisoning the logs, if anyone ever finds this… save yourselves! Beware the neutron star.”

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Who were this people? What were they doing here? Why so much secrecy? And, the most important, why Erimus Kamzel and Dr. Kaii had chosen this place as the campsite for the expedition.

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So many questions. What was the point of luring so many commanders here? What do they want to expose?

This is commander Jav Marlo, recording this log at the Conflux Delta Site, in system PRU AESCS NC-M D7-192. The next part of the itinerary of the Distant Worlds 2 expedition has just been released. It seems that we are going to the Llyn Tegid Nebula. I better come back to my ship and depart with the rest of the fleet.

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The next stop is more than one thousand five hundred light years away. That gives me plenty of time to search the GalNet along the way looking for clues about the Conflux Delta Site. I want to know what all this is about.

Jav Marlo signing out.

DW2 (PART 4) – A WEEK OF AMAZING DISCOVERIES

DISTANT WORLDS 2 (PART 4) – A WEEK OF AMAZING DISCOVERIES

28 JAN 3305 Omega Mining Operation (Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15)

It has been a very exciting week. First of all, more than five thousand commanders signed for the Distant Worlds Mining Initiative community goal. With these numbers, the original goal of mining 1.500.000 tonnes of Cobalt, Indite, Galite and Praseodymium was early reached. In fact, the tier was risen up and, before the end of the week, 3.000.000 tonnes were delivered to the asteroid base of Omega Mining Operation.

It has been a privilege to work with such dedicated commanders towards a common goal. Everyone participated according to the measures of their possibilities adapting their exploring ships for the task ahead. I even saw a commander mining in a Dolphin around the Omega station. Such a luxury vessel adapted for the occasion for such a dusty task. Remarkable! It reminded me of my first exploration trip onboard the Ariadne.

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There were other commanders with more resources that were able to turn their ships into super efficient miners. I could behold an Anaconda equipped with five powerful mining beams that depleted the asteroids within seconds. It was surrounded by a swarm of collector limpets buzzing around tirelessly. I wonder how many tonnes could this commander collect in an hour.

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Me, on my part, I did my humble contribution to the common goal. I expended the first days of the week exploring the surrounding systems looking for a nice spot for mining, probing the rings I found in hope of finding life signals, as commander Dr. Kaii has demanded. Alas, I had no luck, so I decided to focus in mining and came back to the Omega station looking for the Ponos II, an old Type 6 Transporter that I had bought and equipped with the obsolete modules I could find there. With such a defenseless ship I decided to venture into one of the mining spots in the rings of Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15 7. Once I arrived, I could not see any sign of ships. There were no miners there. That was weird. Nonetheless, I decided to head towards the planet and start mining. Bad decision! I had mined about twenty tonnes when a Vulture appeared out of nowhere and demanded that I dropped my cargo. I turned around and run as fast as my poor rated thrusters allowed me in the hope of finding the system security forces while checking that my ships computer was programmed to report the crimes against me. But after some seconds of useless run I was surprised of not being receiving fire. I wondered what kind of pirate this was. Then I heard and alarm: “Warning! Incoming limpets. Warning! Foreign body attached!”. That was my answer. The pirate was going to syphon my cargo out. My cargo rack was overridden and started to expel my hard earned cargo to the void. Mostly the limpets I was carrying for mining, but also some of the minerals I had collected and the Lavian Brandy I was carrying to celebrate when we will reach Beagle Point. Damn pirate! I resigned myself and headed outside the asteroid ring in hope of jumping to supercruise and praying for the pirate not to be equipped with an interdictor when, lucky for me, two Vipers of the local security forces appeared and engaged the pirate. I took advantage of the distraction of the dogfight and try to recover part of the cargo, specially the minerals and the Lavian Brandy, but in my precipitation for running out of there I crashed with one of the crates. I was able to save three of them. I guess I will not be able to invite to a drink so many people as I would like once we reach Beagle Point.

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For the rest of the week I decided to stick to mine just around the station. Anyhow, there were plenty of Indite, Cobalt and Galite in the rocks there. No need to risk going further. After a lot of hard work, I was able to deliver near five hundred tonnes of minerals, placing me above the fifty percent of commanders with contributed more to the goal. Not bad having in mind that I was using an obsolete Type 6 equipped with just a small mining laser. I was awarded with twenty three million credits for my efforts and, guess what, Selene Jean finally invited me to her base. Sadly, I am headed on the opposite direction.

We had made it. Thanks to this incredible collaborative effort, there was going to be a new Orbis station in the galactic core. With the satisfaction of a work well done I decided to focus on exploration before Erimus Kamzel revealed the next waypoint of the expedition. I sold the Ponos II and recovered my Diamondback Explorer, the Hyperion. It was time to pay attention to the new Codex.

I saw that there were reports of life forms in the near Trifid Nebula, a nebula probably called that because it has three visible dust lanes, so I headed there. And then I had an incredible stroke of luck. Halfway to the nebula I jumped into the only unexplored system I found on this path and, guess what, a quick glance to the Full Spectrum System Scanner revealed that there were a water world and an Earth-like planet. There! Unexplored! Just five thousand light years away from Sol and very close to the Omega Mining Operation. The Galactic Mapping Project Initiative database shows that this system, Bleia Dryiae FE-E D13-244, was discovered by Commander Doppeleins, but the star and all its bodies remained unexplored. I thoroughly scanned the full system and found two high metal content worlds, three icy bodies, one water world and one Earth-like world, all orbiting a single scoopable F white star. There were no gas giants or asteroid rings, and none of the planets had a landable moon, but I think this was a remarkable finding, so close to the Bubble and in the middle of a heavy traffic route. A tiny blue pearl with half the mass of the Earth and a comfortable gravity orbiting together with a water world not too far to the fringe of civilized space, I guess it is a great candidate for colonization. I already can see the cities with my name in the centuries to come. Before leaving the system, I decided to take a closer look to the planet. It seems it has a big main continent with many lakes and peninsulas, surrounded by a huge ocean. Huge storms seemed to be forming over the water, but the sky over the land looked clear.

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Happy and excited, I resumed course to the Trifid Nebula, to the system Trifid Sector DL-Y D157, to be more precise, were the biological signals were reported. Once there, the Discovery Scanner showed three notable stellar phenomena, so I headed to the closest. What I found left me speechless. There was an intense green cloud, a Lagrange Cloud they call it, but the first one I ever found, a dense accumulation of gas fixed in place at a Lagrange point where the combined gravitational forces of multiple bodies create a stable region. And there was life within it. Lots of plant-like collared organism with multiple bioluminescent spots on either side of their bodies. They had to be alive. Wherever I moved they altered their position so that one of their sides were constantly facing my ship. The scanner identified them as Rubicundum Collared Pods.

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But the collared pods were not the only things floating in the cloud. Silhouetted against the light I could see some strange spiked structures, so I decided to approach one of them.

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The scanner identified the strange structure as a Purperum Metallic Crystal. Very close I could see another one but with a different color, it was a Prasimum Metallic Crystal, according to the Codex. It seems that they are some short of crystalline structures with a metallic lustre on their outer surface that are created by huge number of primordial microorganisms.

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And they are huge.

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There were other Lagrange clouds in the system. The next one I visited was purple. And among the same Metallic Crystals and Collared Pods that were in the other cloud, I made a singular discovery: Solid Mineral Spheres created by spacefaring microorganism. That was unexpected. The Codex did not mention them on this system. I guess some commander skipped over them.

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The last Lagrange Cloud in the system was reddish, and it was crowded with Prasimum Metallic Crystal and some Rubicundum Collared Pods floating among them. It was quite a sight!

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Before departing, I rechecked the Codex and saw that there were signs of more notable stellar phenomena in the Trifid Sector FW-W D1-233, just one jump away. I headed there and scanned the system upon arrival. On this occasion, the signals appeared located in the rings of the third planet of the system, a gas giant with water-based life. That was new! What I found was a small group of Rubicundum Collared Pods floating among the asteroids. That must be what commander Dr. Kaii was thinking when he asked the fleet to search for signs of life forms in the asteroid rings. A pity this one was so far from the Omega base. I rested there a while, scanning the pods and watching how they aligned with me when I was near.

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Before leaving the Trifid Nebula, I still took the time to explore one last system, Trifid Sector BQ-Y D244, where I found Flavum Metallic Crystals and Blateunm Collared pods, floating in a green Lagrange Cloud. Overwhelmed by all the discoveries of this trip, I decided to come back to Omega Mining Operation to report about them and collect my rewards.

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Things were not going good in Omega Mining Operation. I guess it was part our fault. Such a small base hosting a fleet of thirteen thousand ships. Their population duplicated for two weeks. FleetComm stablished a surface camp on a nearby icy moon, in order to not collapse the asteroid base, but I fear that the impact of our operations has driven the system to a civil war between the Omega Mining Corporation and the Workers Union. Omega Mining Corporation was hired to build the Orbis base in the galactic core and, in order to do that, they demanded a large quantity of minerals. The Distant Worlds Fleet mined them around the station, dropping the prices and harming the activities of the local miners. Now, the Workers Union has risen arms against the corporation. Poor wretches! Many pilots of The Fleet have signed against the workers in order to protect the project of the construction of the base. The situation within the station is very tense. It is almost impossible to find supplies. Every ship with combat capabilities that was for sale in the shipyard has been commissioned for the war effort of one of the two sides. I do not want to take part on this, so I decided to leave the system and do more exploration before the next waypoint was released.

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The news coming from the Bubble were not very soothing too. Nova Imperium has fallen and Senator Patreus himself executed Kaeso Mordanticus in the senate, without a trial. Many other supporters of his cause were gunned down at the same time watering with blood the floor of the senate. It seems that there is going to be a purge. Turbulent times are coming. And meanwhile, I am putting more and more distance between myself and the Bubble. Better to focus in something useful, so I plot a course around the Omega Nebula in hope of finding some interesting and unexplored systems. The benefits from my last exploration discoveries has risen my credits balance dramatically. If I have had the time and this money one month ago, maybe I would have tried to build a bigger and more proper exploring ship. The living quarters of the Diamondback Explorer are exiguous, and I guess they were not designed for such a long exploration trip. I was thinking about how to invest my recent fortune on a bigger ship once I am back to the Bubble when I jumped into system Pyramoe WZ-X d1-3 A and, suddenly, I found myself in front of yellow-orange giant star. That was when the Hyperion showed its true value. Temperature quickly increased but stabilized at eighty percent, and I was able to dive around the massive star fuel scooping for a minute without toasting. I could be roasted now if flying another ship. Well, the Hyperion can be small, but it is the hell of a ship.

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My second exploration tour around the Omega Nebula was very profitable too. I discovered some water worlds and an ammonia world. And very close to the Nebula I found a new system, Pyramoe XW-Y c2-7, that contained a metal rich body, seven high metal content worlds and an Earth-like planet. And on this occasion I was the first commander to ever fly there. I approached the ELP to map it. It was much smaller than Earth but, nonetheless, quite a discovery there, so close to the Omega Nebula. I did a close flight and enjoyed the view of one big storm forming in the coast of one of the continents.

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I was in a rush to come back to Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15 for the release of the next waypoint, but I could not let the system unmapped. Several of the planets were landable and rich on minerals, so I delayed my arrival to Omega Mining Operation. It was clear I was not going to be on time for the next massive jump, so I decided to indulge myself and land in the second planet. The asteroid base in Omega has no gravity and, after so many days I thought it would be nice, for a change, to really drink a coffee from a cup instead of sipping it from a bag. 0.79 gravity force allowed the miracle. I enjoyed a nice sunset and even drove around collecting some vanadium in case I will need some jumponium later in the expedition. Gravity felt so well!

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When I finally made it back to the Omega base it was hours after The Fleet had departed. The place looked so empty after two weeks of feverish activity. And the war was still going on, so I informed Universal Cartographics of my discoveries and left the station as soon as possible. My exploits made win me another thirty five million credits. At this rhythm I will be rich by the time I come back. Maybe I even will be able to afford one Anaconda. I headed to the surface camp of the expedition in hope of finding other delayed commanders, but I had no luck. Everybody had departed. It was curious to see that place so empty after the frenetic activity of the last two weeks.

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This is Commander Jav Marlo, recording this log in the Distant Worlds 2 base camp of Roald Landing, in Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15. The next waypoint is at 3.700 lightyears distance. The meeting point is someplace called Conflux Delta Site. Never heard of it. I better do some research to know where I am heading. I am exhausted. I think I will rest here for the night and resume the expedition tomorrow.

Jav Marlo signing out.

DW2 (PART 3) – STAGE 1: PALLAENI TO OMEGA NEBULA

DISTANT WORLDS 2 (PART 3) – STAGE 1: PALLAENI TO OMEGA NEBULA

21 JAN 3305 Omega Mining Operation (Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15)

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(Heavy Breathing)

SO COLD… IS IT WORKING?... THANK GOODNESS... IS THIS THING STILL RECORDING?


This is Commander Jav Marlo, on board the Hyperion, and I am recording this log somewhere between the Pallaeni system and Praea Euq FP-A b7. I was at the Distant Worlds Nav Bouy, waiting for the signal to start the expedition. A message from Erimus Kamzel came through the FlettComm channel indicating the coordinates of the first waypoint of Distant Worlds 2. Minutes later I started the sequence for the synchronized jump. I activated the frame shift drive. Something went wrong. I entered the hyperspace and heard a warning indicating a total system failure. Something I have never experienced before. Then the ship started to shake heavily and I lost consciousness. I guess that the ship dropped back to normal space and remained adrift for several minutes. The survival mask of my Remlok Suit automatically deployed and saved my life. Blessed technology! When I regained consciousness the ship was dead in space, all systems disconnected, ice starting to form in the canopy. I initiated a diagnostic repair sequence and, lucky for me, it worked. I asked Archer, the COVAS, about the reasons for the failure and it said that all systems were nominal. I have not a clue of what could have happened. Well, it is too soon to surrender. I have decided to proceed to the first waypoint and then decide if I will continue with the expedition.


Resuming log. The first waypoint of the expedition is the Omega Mining Operation, an asteroid base six thousand light years away from the Bubble, but FleetComm has provided us with a list of many interesting places to see along the way, and there is plenty of time to arrive to the Omega Nebula, so I decide to head to Shapley 1.

The Fine Ring Nebula, also known as Shapley 1, is a planetary nebula with a unique ring structure. Unlike most planetary nebula, the Fine Ring Nebula is non-bipolar and torus-shaped with a distinct blue color. It was probably formed by the expulsion of the outer layers of the host star that probably had a particularly violent expulsion event at a period of high rotational velocity. And this star, Shapley 1 A, is a Wolf-Rayet star, the hottest stellar object, up to 200,000 degrees kelvin. These incredible stars put out so much power that they usually blast off much of their outer layers to form nebulas. They represent a late stage in the evolution of highly massive stars, usually O-type. Their massive power comes from either helium fusion or sometimes carbon-nitrogen-oxygen fusion. And this is the first one I behold.

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The trip to Shapley 1 went without incidents, but I was still uncomfortable after the total system failure, so I decided to land and take a look to the Hyperion from the outside. Laika’s Rest, the first waypoint in the Distant Worlds expedition of 3302 was just one jump away, in Fine Ring Sector JH-V C2-4, so I headed there. I landed and deployed the SRV. Laika’s Rest is in the bottom of a huge crater within an even bigger crater. From the scarab I could see the nebula on the horizon, right over the Hyperion.

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Laika’s Rest, a curious name, I guess it is related with the dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. If I recall correctly, Laika, a stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow in Earth, was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on the 20th century, more than a thousand years ago.

I did a visual check of the vessel from every angle and found nothing out of place, so I decided to depart and head to the notorious tourist destination known as “The View”.

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On my way to system HR 6164 I jump into Fine Ring Sector EL-Y D35, where there is a neutron star, so I take my chances and surf the cone trying to overcharge the frame shift drive. The Hyperion has been behaving so far, so let’s see what it can do under heavy stress. The already impressive jump range of the Hyperion increments in three hundred percent and I am able to perform a jump of two hundred eighteen light years. Wow! I have heard that the Galactic Mapping Project initiative gives you a badge for that.

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A couple of hours later I arrive to HR 6164, one thousand and four hundred light years from Sol and one of the most popular destinations for tourist cruisers. The system contains a bright O-class star, a neutron star and two black holes.

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The O-class star and the neutron star are visible from the first planet, along with an excellent view of the planet’s ring. The location has such a beautiful view that Universal Cartographic has established a beacon there and had labeled the place simply as “The View”. But there is a danger in visiting “The View” that pilots should be aware of, and it is that the planet’s gravity is 3.3 times bigger than Earth’s, and it has taken the lives of many novice pilots. The Hyperion is a very light ship with improved thrusters but, nevertheless I do my final approach to the planet very carefully. It seems that many commanders, such as myself, have decided to visit the place. I land the Hyperion as smooth as I can.

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I can feel the overwhelming gravity, blood pressure diminishes and all my muscles ache. My body has accustomed to the comfort of low gravity and now it can barely suffer such a stress. But there is a long journey in front, the bones and muscles weakens in low gravity, and there are not many chances to exercise, so I decide to endure the pain and rest there for a while. FleetComm channel warns the commanders of the expedition about the perils of landing in “The View”, and GalNet informs that several commanders of Distant Worlds 2 have perished trying to land in the planet. The remains of their ships scattered around the place. These are sad news. So close from the beginning! I am tired and becoming dizzy, so I decide to stay there for a while resting and feeling the weight of my own body. Other commanders come and go, and you can see by the way they land and depart in these conditions how experienced they are.

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Resuming log. I must have felt asleep. All my body is aching. I guess that is good. I check for the nearest interesting point on the way to the Omega Nebula. There it is! Cycladia, a visually spectacular earth-like world with a double ring in the Blu Thua GI-B b55-2 system. They say that the inner rings are orbiting so fast that it is visible to the naked eye. There I go. Just a couple of hours trip.

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The view is spectacular, as promised, and I decide to indulge myself and fly a while over the rings.

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That was fun, but I must continue my journey. The next point to see in the way is the first moon of the first planet in system Traikaae CH-Y c10, also known as Labirinto. A rocky ice world with a surface so rugged that it has canyons with walls several kilometers deep forming an incredibly intricate maze.

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As I get closer to the planet, I decide to check on the surface scanner, and launch some probes to map it. Several geological signals appear on the scanner, so I choose the closest one and head there to investigate. It seems that it is in the middle of one great canyon. I dive deeper and deeper and soon I see various fumaroles in one of the walls expelling gas. Impossible to land here, and I do not dare to go further below, but I can see that the canyon widens on the horizon and there is another geological signal there.

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More fumaroles, but it seems that there are some interesting minerals too, and I can land here, so I decide to deploy the SRV and collect some rocks. The place looks like a nice camping spot.

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Resuming log. This place is amazing. So full of mystery. There are lots of strange signals coming from the bottom of the canyons. Before departing, I promise myself that I will came back some day equipped with one of these nimble ship deployed fighters and explore this planet thoroughly. I activate the vertical thrusters and boost over the valley I was camped when, suddenly, after a bend, a huge wall several kilometers tall appear in front of me. I am flying too fast. I pull the stick and take the Hyperion to a ninety degrees angle to avoid the collision. That was close!

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The next stop in the itinerary is very close, the system simply known as Thor’s Eye. I guess that the name is a reference to the Norse God Thor, son of Odin, because it contains a massive O-class star and a black hole, resembling the sight of a god blind in one eye but, if I recall correctly, it was Odin the one-eyed, not Thor. In any case, the system also contains a lonely single class V gas giant with a beautiful ring that, when illuminated by its star, projects beautiful colors.

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Thor’s Eye is situated in the middle of an open cluster called NGC 6530, composed mainly of class-A and class-B stars and some neutron stars and black holes; and it is a common waypoint heading to the Lagoon Nebula, which is just two hundred fifty light years away. After some ring surfing, I decide to head for the next point of the route.

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Next stop is Herschel 36, the Lagoon Nebula, a distinctive green and orange nebula situated on the near rim of the Norma Arm, approximately 4.500 light years from Sol, in the constellation Sagittarius. They say it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from Earth. Herschel 36 is the primary star of the Lagoon Nebula. This hot O-type star emanates ultraviolet light, heating and ionizing gases on the surface of the nebula. Due to its convenient location just on the other side of the Sagittarius-Gap, the Lagoon Nebula has been used as a waypoint for many explorers travelling towards the galactic core regions. There is a nearby system, NGC 6530 WFI 16706, that was used as a basecamp on the Distant Worlds 3302 Expedition. The place is called Tinné's Endevour, I guess in honour of Alexandrine Tinné, the Dutch explorer in Africa that was the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara, and its coordinates are known. It could be a good place to rest and recheck the Hyperion from the outside.

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Resuming log. I have rested for several hours and now I feel ready to continue with the itinerary. The next recommended stop is the Cinnabar Moth Nebula, a red and black nebula resembling a moth or butterfly from certain angles. Well, certainly not from this side. It resembles more a monster about to eat me.

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I jump into system Traikaae VM-F C-13-O and notice that there are two landable planets aligned orbiting very close to the main star.

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I guess that they will create a beautiful eclipse with the nebula behind, so I head there.

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I have found a very inviting crater and stopped to enjoy the sunset and sip a cup of coffee from the crate I bought in Lave before departing.

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The last stop before arriving to the Omega Nebula is the PW2010 Supercluster (NGC 6618), a cluster of young stars of stellar types B and A, lying in the vicinity of the Omega Nebula, from which it evolved a mere million years ago. The cluster holds more than 800 solar masses and is responsible for burning away a good portion of the surrounding gas. Several black holes and neutron stars can be found as binaries, bearing witness to the violent nature of the cluster's birth. It is also a one of the favourite places to visit for emerging explorers so, after jumping into dozens of systems within the cluster, I am unable to find a single system that has not been explored before. Good bye to my hopes of discovering an unknown blackhole. Disappointed I head for the Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15.

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After five days, more than six thousand light years travelled and a catastrophic total system failure that almost kill me, I have made it to Omega Mining Operation in the Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15.

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First thing I do upon arrival is coming to the Universal Cartographics office and claim the reward for my exploration data. More than ten million credits despite not have being able to discover any new system. Too many commanders flying the same route! I have told the mechanics of the station about the system failure and asked them to do a full check of the Hyperion. They have found nothing out of the ordinary. Well, I must admit that the Hyperion has behaved exemplary, after its system failure. The ship runs very smooth, and ice cold. I can fly around stars fuel scooping for minutes without warming too much. I am very satisfied of the way I engineered it. But I have a final test in mind before deciding if I will carry on with the expedition.

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Resuming log. I was very frustrated for not being able to discover any system on my way to the Omega Nebula, so I have designed a trip around the place to do some exploration and put to the test the Hyperion and its new exploring tools. I have spent the last twenty four hours jumping, scooping and honking from system to system. The new Discovery Scanner is amazing; combined with the Detailed Surface Scanner and the Full Spectrum System Scanner, it allows to identify all astronomical objects and signal sources within a system without the necessity to fly close. Thanks to these new tools, I have been able to discover several ammonia worlds, many water worlds and a lot of terraformable planets. Alas, no Earth-like planets. I also used probes to map the bodies that were suitable for terraformation.

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Satisfied with the overall performance of the Hyperion, I headed back to the Omega Mining Operation base and, on the way, I found a quite agreeable surprise. The Cinnabar Moth Nebula truly resembles a butterfly from this angle. That reminded me that years ago, even before Erimus Kamzel did his trip to Beagle Point, Nebulas were very important for space travellers. The navigation computers of that time were not able to calculate long routes, like today, so nebulas were like milestones used to keep the orientation in space.

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The moment I jumped back to Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15 system I was interdicted by a Federal Dropship of the Camorra of Rajie. Lucky for me, I could avoid it. I guess it was attracted by the Lavian Brandy I am carrying. That pirate will never know that the exploration data I am carrying must be more valuable than his ship.

I was correct, Universal Cartographics has payed me more than forty five million credits for the exploration data I collected. For the first time since I got my Pilots Federation license, I am starting to feel like a true explorer, like my father was.

Commander Dr. Kaii has made a call for the pilots of the fleet to participate in a mining initiative. Raw materials are needed for the construction of a new Orbis starport in the heart of the galaxy. I think this is an important community goal and it is my intention, as part of this fleet, to collaborate.

Alas, the Hyperion is very fine tuned and engineered for exploration and not suitable for mining duties, so I have invested part of my recent earnings and bought an old Type-6 transporter. This base, far out of the rims of civilised space, has just the basic modules and equipment, but enough to build a proper miner. I have called my new ship the Ponos II, in honour of my original mining Keelback. It is my intention to sell it as soon as the expedition continues but, before that, I have a lot of Cobalt, Indite and Gallite to mine.

This is Jav Marlo, recording this log on board the Ponos II, mining the asteroid field around the Omega Mining Operation base, and wishing good luck and a safe flight to all the commanders of the Distant Worlds 2 expedition. I will see you in the void!

Jav Marlo signing out.

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DW2 (PART 2) – GATHERING THE FLEET

DISTANT WORLDS 2 (PART 2) – GATHERING THE FLEET

13 JAN 3305 Distant Worlds Nav Buoy (Pallaeni)

My name is Commander Jav Marlo, on board the Hyperion, and I am recording this log at the Distant Worlds Nav Buoy in the Paellani System. Time for launch of the expedition: T minus 20. I must confess I am excited. More than ten thousand commanders travelling together through the unknown with the same mission. The biggest collaboration expedition in history. I just expect to be up to this endeavour.

These last two days have been quite remarkable. After loading four crates of Lavian Brandy and one crate of coffee for the trip, I can stand ten months of food cartridges but I will not survive without a proper coffee, I outfitted my Diamondback Explorer, the Hyperion, with everything I could figure out for the expedition. An Auto Field-Maintenance Unit and Surface Scanner were mandatory, plus some fins here and there. Now it looks like a proper long range exploration ship. Or that I thought.

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I felt ready, so I headed for the Pallaeni system one day prior to the launching. There were rumours of pirates, mercenaries and bounty hunters harassing the vulnerable explorer ships of the expedition. Somebody wanted to sabotage the event, so I doubled my precautions when jumping to the system. Once in Pallaeni, I checked the ships visible, there were so many of them, and some were heavy armed vessels, wanted by the authorities. I flew around ready to jump to other system at the first sing of danger, but no one bothered me, so I decided to take a look to Brooks Point, the surface gathering site for the expedition. What I saw was very intriguing. I was expecting other commanders, but once I ended my planetary approach sequence I just could see a big white ship in the distance, probably an imperial cutter or clipper. I was about to establish contact and greet the commander when he jumped to supercruise. I could not identify him. There was no one else there but, on the surface of the planetoid, there were the remains of several ships that looked like they were recently destroyed. That gave me the creeps and I headed as soon as I could to the nearest outpost.

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Pallaeni is an unremarkable star system in the northern border of the bubble just hosting two outposts but, due it being the launch site of the original Distant Worlds expedition and its current edition, the system is crowded with ships, and the nearby Bakewell Point outpost is full, it cannot accommodate more ships, so I head to my second option, Eyharts Depot outpost, hoping that I can land there.

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The next day I got up early. I wanted to go to Brooks Point and take part on the rally of commanders. I would have preferred to pass my last night before the trip ahead in someplace with gravity, but Eyharts Depot was the nearest place available. I checked that everything was correct aboard the Hyperion and readied for departure.

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Organizing an expedition with more than ten thousand commanders it is not an easy task. It is virtually impossible to put such a large number of ships in the same place, so there are many different groups and squadrons with different launch windows. I headed for Brooks Point again and, this time, I knew I was going to find many commanders there. I could barely see on my approach to the planetoid due to all the supercruise trails heading on the same direction. Once on the surface, I could see that there were many commanders earlier risers than me. Damn! All their ships were huge. My humble Diamondback Explorer looked ridiculous compared to their vessels.

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I landed aligning my ship with theirs and greeted the commanders with the preceptive o7. They all responded in return. More and more commanders kept coming and going, and I decided to take a ride on my SRV to check their ships. They all looked heavily modified for long range exploration. I felt quite helpless with my tiny ship.

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Many commanders had deployed their SRVs too and, some of them, had launched their ship deployed fighters and were exhibiting their acrobatics abilities. And then I saw it. I had heard of them, but never had the chance to observe one in action. An incredibly fast and nimble fighter passed right over my scarab. Its three fins were not connected to the main hull, but tied by some short of energy laces, and it expelled an anti-natural and beautiful blue trail. That must be one of the new guardian fighters, hybrid alien ships retro engineered by the engineer known as Ram Tah. I took mental note to get my hands in one of these as soon as I return from the expedition.

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Time passed and the sun set on the horizon. It was almost time. I lifted from the surface and pointed to the Distant Worlds Nav Bouy.

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I dropped out of supercruise and saw tens of ships, huge all of them too, gathered around the beacon. There were several beluga liners too, probably filled with tourists that wanted to behold the spectacle.

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All of us were waiting for the last instructions by commanders Erimus Kamzel and Dr. Kaii. We did not knew the route yet, and were eager to know the first waypoint, where we should gather in one week time. Bets were that it would be in the Omega Nebula. Everything was running smooth and quiet, until a wing of pirates appeared and demanded that the ships that were holding cargo, such as myself, dropped some crates. Most of us were unarmed, but luckily the system security forces appeared and dealt with the pirates.

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A message from Erimus Kamzel just came through the FlettComm channel. Next waypoint is in the Omega Nebula, as expected. About five thousand light years to cover in one week. There is plenty of time and many interesting points to visit along the way, so I mark Shapley 1 on the nav map. I want to see the Nebula there, and my first Wolf-Rayet star too. All the ships around me start to point to the same direction. All waiting for the order to jump. IT IS TIME. My group must depart. All synchronized. Activating frame shift drive. Objective: Praea Euq FP-A b7. 3, 2, 1… ENGAGE.

EH! WHAT THE HELL! WHAT DOES IT MEAN TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE? OH MY…

(Static)

DW2 (PART 1) - PREPARATIONS

DISTANT WORLDS 2 (PART 1) - PREPARATIONS

11 JAN 3305 Lave Station (Lave)

I have been in Hind Mine asteroid base for the last ten days, trying to become a proper miner. My mining Keelback, the Ponos, despite its tiny size, has demonstrated to be quite an able miner with space for everything necessary. My main objective was to master the different mining tools: lasers, abrasion blasters, displacement missiles and seismic charges; so my benefits were meagre, but I cracked some asteroids nonetheless and made some million collecting the valuable mineral deposits of the core. After my encounter with Commander James Barrett, and his later disappearance, I had the hope of finding him alive back in Hind Mine, being this one of the closest bases to the place where I lost track of him. The base records say that he was here not a long time ago, but there is no news of him so far. I am still wondering what happened.

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Hind Mine is a curious place. The asteroid base was constructed in 3303 by Taurus Ventures. It is placed on the ring of the first planet of T Tauri system, a Class III gas giant orbiting the G White-Yellow star of T Tauri. The star illuminates also a variable nebula that envelops the system like a shell with its orange halo, creating astonishly beautiful images. The place has just ten thousand habitants, but it boils with activity. The miners tell me that the base was even used as a supply depot for the Premonition Allied Coordination two years ago, during the events that lead to the death of Kahina Tijana Loren, also known as Salomé. The Premonition Allied Coordination was one of the fleets of independent pilots that gathered to protect Salomé on her trip back to The Bubble from the Col 70 sector. It seems that members of a notorious band of mercenaries and bounty hunters, the Smiling Dog Crew, were able to infiltrate the group and utterly caused the demise of Salomé. Salomé, that name again. And, like in Darnielle’s Progress, just the mention of her seems to inspire an almost religious devotion. They said that more than a thousand ships rallied to protect her and the secrets she was carrying on her trip back to civilization. A pity she did not made it. Conspiracies and more conspiracies.

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And talking about conspiracies. My utterly reason for being in T Tauri was to find a way to reach Selene Jean, the Alliance engineer. I want her to recommend me to Bill Turner. Professor Palin told me that Turner may know about my father’s motives to be in the Merope system before his disappearance. He also warned me not to trust him. Conspiracies again. Well, after days of hard work and mingling with miners, I still have been unable to get an invitation to Selene Jean’s base. I am starting to think that this is a waste of time. Professor Palin also mentioned Lori Jameson, an engineer even more secluded that Bill Turner. She is in Shinrarta Dhezra, headquarters of the Pilots Federation; and only the elite pilots get a permit to fly there. To become Elite. These are serious words. It is the Pilots Federation who decides the ranks of the Commanders based on their exploits in combat, trade and exploration. It takes years of dedication to achieve the rank of Elite, these commanders get all sorts of lucrative offers, are considered to be the most trustworthy and confidentiality assured pilots in the galaxy, and take their reputation very seriously. Far way out of the reach of an emerging commander such as myself.

I was in the Ponos, returning to Hind Mine with my cargo bay full of minerals, thinking about giving up and returning to Hamilton Gateway, when I switched on GalNet News and heard about Distant Worlds 2, the mass expedition across the galaxy that was beginning in two days. A journey of more than two hundred thousand light years beyond Sagittarius A to Beagle Point, in the far corner of the galaxy. That could be it. The opportunity I was looking for. I remember that Peter Mays, the seasoned explorer I took on a sixteen thousand light years roundtrip to Flyeia Hypai FH-X c17-16, used to say that a visit to Beagle Point usually grants the rank of Elite to the explorer that manages to get there. But, am I ready for such an endeavour?

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The original Distant Worlds Expedition in 3302 was a huge event that featured thousands of independent pilots that followed the path traced by legendary Commander Erimus Kamzel to Beagle Point, surveying and exploring the worlds along the way. One year before, a long range ASP Explorer, the DSS Beagle, piloted by Commander Erimus Kamzel, had left the Pallaeni system to try the first galactic crossing. The codename of his mission was Distant Suns. Five weeks later, Erimus Kamzel reached system Ceeckia ZQ-L c24-0 on the edge of the far galactic rim, pass the region known as the Abbys, 65.279 light years from Sol. The farthest a human being had ever been. The system subsequently become known as Beagle Point. Now, with the aid of other legendary explorers like Commander Dr. Kaii, Erimus Kamzel is leading another expedition involving more than eight thousand Commanders with the mission of mapping new sectors of the galaxy, and to discover, catalogue and name spatial anomalies and geological features thanks to the recent advances in exploration technologies. The plan is also to support the construction of an starport in Saggitarius A and a surface port in Beagle Point. Quite an inspiring enterprise.

Lucky for me, I have a fully able exploring ship, the Hyperion. A Diamondback Explorer that has been modified by Felicity Farseer to jump more than fifty light years, enough to cross the dreaded Abbys region and, thanks to Professor Palin, it is very fast too. I used it to explore the Thargoid sites in the Pleiades and I have been able to outrun Thargoid ships on it. I can mount an Auto Field-Maintenance Unit and it will suffice. On the other side, eight thousand light years is the farthest I have ever been from the Bubble. And my exploring experience is limited to just one trip. But I did it in a Dolphin with a much shorter jump range and managed myself quite well, to the point that Universal Cartographics payed me more than thirty million credits for my exploration data on my return. I was even able to discover an Earth-like world and an ammonia world. I am going to miss the luxury cabins of the Dolphin, the Hyperion crew quarters are not as comfortable, but they are functional. I will not be alone, so I hope I will not suffer from space madness. I have signed in and chose the role of explorer and astrophotographer. I must run if I want to be in the Pallaeni system in two days for the launching of the expedition. But first, there is something else that could be useful for the trip, and the place to find it is the Lave system.

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On my way back to the Bubble I find myself thinking again about Salomé. I must admit that I have been captivated by her too. I did some digging before departing Hind Mine, and it seems that the mercenary that killed her, the notorious Commander Besieger, was a member of the Alliance Elite Diplomatic Corps for a short period of time, years ago. Interesting! I am a member myself and never heard about that. I have been very busy with my quest, but I should get more involved with the activities of the AEDC once I come back from the Distant Worlds 2 expedition. I have heard that the Premonition Allied Coordination was a coalition of several allied fleets that rallied to protect Salomé and disbanded after her demise in Anumclaw system, but the real faction coordinating the return of Salomé to the Bubble was a group known as the Children of Raxxla. Little is known about this Children of Raxxla. They are very secretive. They claimed Salomé to be their leader, but she is gone now. They are not aligned to any of the existing factions or powers and their goals remain unclear, but they claim to fight for peace and freedom. Nobody seems to know who are its members or how many of them there are, but it is believed that many famous explorers belong to the Children of Raxxla, and that even Salomé herself was present in the original Distant Worlds. I wonder if the Children of Raxxla will be present on this occasion too. As I said, conspiracies and more conspiracies.

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I am recording this log in the Hyperion, landed on Lave Station. I have just received notice from Fleet Comm confirming my inclusion in the Distant Worlds 2 roster. My ship ID will be 5A5-DW. I will have it painted on the Hyperion. I have applied to be in the squadron led by Erimus Kamzel. I recall watching his video log years ago, when I was stuck in Baker’s Prospect. He is one of the reasons for my application to the Asellus Primus Academy for Novitiate Pilots, and I would like to get to know the man. It is my intention to be in the Pallaeni system in two days for the launching of the expedition. But first, I am going to buy some crates of Lavian Brandy. I know I should not carry extra weight on this trip, but it is a long journey, and I would like to make some friends along the way.

Jav Marlo signing out.

IT IS A SMALL GALAXY

IT IS A SMALL GALAXY

01 DEC 3305 Hind Mine (T Tauri)

The Hyperion’s jump range is over fifty light years and I made it back to Hamilton Gateway in Wolf 406 before the end of the year. I do not have any relatives alive, that I know, but since I started to trait with the Alliance Elite Diplomatic Corps, I have come to consider this place my new home. My relationship with Wolf 406 Transport & CO could not be better, and they have many links with other factions in Alioth, so I asked them about how to reach Bill Turner. As usual, they asked for some favours in return. I had to run a couple transport missions for them, so I transferred my Type 6 Transport, the Pallas, to Hamilton. After all, they are a transport company. But no complains, these companies really keep the profitable contracts for their allies. I was able to win eight million credits just finding for them some gold and insulating membranes. When getting supplies is an emergency, these companies pay way over the price of the merchandise. I even got a promotion to Broker of the Pilots Federation.

Just after two missions, my contact in Wolf 406 Transport & CO called me and told me that Bill Turner is difficult to meet. That, I knew. But there is a person who could recommend me. Her name is Selene Jean, a former miner now working for the Alliance as an engineer. They said she is quite eccentric, growing her own food, and only wants to have deals with miners. I have never given a thought about mining. But if this was the way to get to Bill Turner, I may give it a try. I invested my recent earnings in a second hand Keelback and outfitted it as best as I could for the mining business. Now I just needed to learn how to do mining. I asked around and heard about Hind Mine in T Tauri system. An Asteroid Base build one year ago by Taurus Mining Ventures to exploit the pristine mineral reserves there. Miner’s Paradise, they said. And quite far from the Bubble too. So, I ordered my keelback to be transferred there and did the trip with the Hyperion. I feel much safer in my Diamondback Explorer.

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Once in Hind mine I tried to mingle with the locals and learn about the mining business. I learned that the usual is to scratch the asteroids with mining lasers for the ore, but the real profitable minerals are on the inside. Some asteroids have diamonds and other precious rocks on their cores, and you can crack them to reach them, But that is a dangerous procedure, and needs special equipment. They also warned me about the pirates. They like to follow the miners to the asteroid rings and rob them. I knew that too. What the miners recommend is to find a good mining spot in one unoccupied system and keep the secret for yourself. I do not know how to find a good spot for mining, so I asked, and nobody told me anything, so I bribed a miner with one million credits, and he told me about Hind Sector EB-W b2-0. And that is where I headed once I painted my Keelback in yellow and renamed it as the Ponos, god of hard labour.

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In three jumps I was in Hind Sector EB-W b2-0, and not alone, as I expected to be. A Krait Mk II, a ship far superior than my humble Keelback, was flying around the system’s main star, probably fuel scooping. It was piloted by Commander James Barrett, and I could see that he had a bounty on his head. I thought about jumping again the moment I saw the “Wanted” tag, but there was something familiar about the name. He asked what I was doing there, and I said that I was just miner an did not want troubles while checking his ship’s equipment. After a rather long and tense silence, he said that this was his secret mining spot and offered me to join him and split the gains. I hesitated. Maybe he wanted to lure me to a trap. His ship, the Lepricon III, was equipped like a legitimate miner, but for a menacing plasma accelerator. No interdictor. I have learned some engineering tricks from professor Palin and was able to tinker with the thrusters of the Ponos before departing making it faster. But Kraits are fast too. He said it was a bloody long flight to the asteroid belt and accelerated. I followed him with a nearby system locked in the nav com and the finger on the frame shift drive button.

I wanted to know more about Barrett. I knew I have seen him before, so I asked if we had crossed paths in the past. He avoided the question and asked me about my origins. -Dublin Citadel- I said. Another silence. -Same place- he said. -Maybe we have met there-. No. I was too young when I left Dublin Citadel. It must be somewhere else. Silence again. -What brought you to this remote corner of the galaxy? - I asked. And that is when it got interesting. Barrett told me that his former employer tried to kill him after discovering some secrets. -Which employer was that? – I asked. -The bastards of Asellus Primus Gold Legal Ind- he said. That was it! Damn! James Barrett. I remembered now. He got rogue almost two years ago. He stole from the company, they said. And attacked some of their ships. They placed a big bounty on his head. I was working for Asellus Primus Gold Legal Ind at the same time. I was merely a mechanic and SRV driver, but I recall it was a big scandal there. I remember reading the official version and it stank. The security got very tight when he left. I was tempted to turn around and leave him. But I wanted to hear his version. I dared to say: -I worked for them too. Left them three months ago- and waited for a reaction. This silence was the tensest of all. Finally, he said that a friend of him, one of the accountants of the company, discovered something and they killed him. He started to investigate and they tried to get rid of him too. I did not dare to dig more. And we were arriving to the ice ring. Before jumping out of supercruise I told Barrett that my involvement with the company was merely circumstantial and that I had no allegiance with them. I wanted him to relax if we were going to blow up asteroids together.

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Once out of supercruise I took the chance to face my ship to his and take a closer look. And there was him: James Barrett. Now, watching his face, the memories come back to my head. I remember he used to spend a lot of time in the canteen of Baker’s Prospect when not flying. Tough guy. Rude manners. The man liked whisky. Yes, he liked whisky a lot. I think he used to fly an Adder on those times. I recall patching his ship once or twice. And now we have meet again. In this forsaken system. Miners both of us. I do not buy it. He is no miner, neither I am. There must be more. But I do not want to piss him off.

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So, I play the rookie that I really am and ask some advice about how to crack asteroids. He says that we are looking for low temperature diamonds and takes the lead.

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Thanks to Barrett’s tutoring, we spend the following hours cracking rocks and collecting low temperature diamonds and void opals. Barret skilfully flies trough the pieces of the asteroids and collects the valuable minerals of their cores. I try to imitate his technique to the best of my ability. He is more relaxed now. He talks about his quarrels with Asellus Primus Legal Gold Ind, his personal crusade against the slavers of Arbuda and how they captured him, and how he met her first officer, Shioban, and got involved with a scholar called Goldstein who wanted to uncover a mystery regarding the Thargoids and another alien species long time extinct called the Guardians. We have that in common. We both have seen what the bugs can do. Barrett says that he was recently in the Werapana system rescuing people from Bethke Ring after a bug attack. His ultimate reason to be there is that his first officer, Siobhan, has contracted a rare condition, some kind of xeno-infection after manipulatin Thargoid samples, and he is trying to help her. He sounds pretty sincere to me.

On my side, I told him everything that has happened to me since I become a pilot myself. I talked about my quest looking for clues about my father’s disappearance and recommended him to look for professor Ismail Palin in Maia. If Siobhan’s condition has something to do with the Thargoids, he may know how to help her.

I guess I got distracted. I saw Barrett gaining distance to inspect a promising asteroid while I focused myself in the one in front of me that had a core full of void opals. I used seismic charges and cracked it open. BOOM! That was so satisfying.

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After the explosion, a white mist surrounded me. I manoeuvred among the pieces and collected the void opals. When I finished, Barrett was no longer in my sensors. I called him through the comm. Silence. I flew in circles for one hour trying to find him, but the temperature of the asteroids interfered. It is very difficult to get a heat signal when you are surrounded by ice rocks. Finally, I gave up and returned to Hind Mine.

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I do not know what happened. Maybe he just decided to leave. Weird, without saying anything, but with his past, who knows? Maybe he just lost track of me. I was tempted to inform the authorities of his disappearance, but with the bounty on him I decided that better not. Besides, he looks quite able of taking care of himself. I liked him and hope to see him again. May our paths cross again in the future. After all, it is a small galaxy.

Jav Marlo signing out.

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DECIPHERING A THARGOID MYSTERY

DECIPHERING A THARGOID MYSTERY

30 DEC 3304 The Hyperion. Landed at the Thargoid Complex in HIP 14909

After my secretive encounter with professor Palin, I came back to Darnielle’s Progress in order to decide what to do next. Without noticing, I walked around the planetary outpost and ended back in the same canteen I have been in my last visit, drinking the same horrible synthetized whisky. This time I mixed it with the local ale. Palin had given me a totally new perspective to my quest. He implied that my father’s disappearance in Merope may not be linked to the Thargoids. That the corrosion marks they found on his ship may be misleading. He suggested that I should investigate what was his mission. What was he doing in Merope. And he gave me two names: Lori Jameson and Bill Turner.

Jameson and Turner. These were not common names. Lori Jameson is the great granddaughter of Commander John Jameson, the most famous member of the Pilots Federation that ever existed. But she is secluded in her own base in the Shirarta Dezhra system. Headquarters of the Pilots Federation. The main Orbis Starport there is named on her notorious ancestor. And only the Elite pilots have a permit to go. It is one of the most restricted places of this galaxy. Way out of my reach. Bill Turner, on the other side, is from the Alliance and based in Alioth, where I have a permit to fly. Bill Turner claims to be the son of Mic Turner, the legendary explorer, one of the leaders of the revolt against the Federation and founder of the Alliance of Independent Systems. The Capital of the Alliance, Garden City, is in Turner’s World, in Alioth, named in honour of Mic Turner. But the most intriguing thing about the idea of getting to meet Bill Turner is the warning that professor Palin gave me: -Mark my words. Do not believe everything that Bill Turner tells you, if he tells you anything at all. He is more than he seems-.

Well, the first step is finding him, so it is time to come back to Wolf 406 and ask around how to get to Bill Turner. Anyhow, I would not like to end the year in this forsaken place in the middle of the war. But before that, there is one last thing I want to do.

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Since my visit to the Thargoid Complex in Pleiades Sector MX-U D2-63 I can only think of getting inside of it. There must be a way to open the door I found last time, and if somebody knows how he must be in Donar’s Oak in Delphi, headquarters of Aegis Research. Aegis is a multinational research initiative that is financed by the Federation, the Empire and the Alliance. Its goal is to gather intelligence on the Thargoids and coordinating humanity’s defence against them. The base of their research division is in Donar’s Oak, and I have worked for them before.

As Maia, Delphi is a hotbed of Thargoid activity. Almost every installation there has been attacked. Most civilians were evacuated long ago. If you are in Delphi now is because you are a Xeno-Hunter, a trader doing dangerous supply routes, or a pirate taking profit of the mayhem. First thing I catch on my sensors when I arrive to the system is a huge SOS signal coming from the orbit of Delphi 6, an ammonia world. I head on that direction and, when I arrive, I cannot believe what I see. I have seen the Thargoids attacking megaships and small fleets destroyed by them. But this time they have managed to destroy a full Federation Task Force. I can see the remnants of several Corvettes and Assault Ships scattered around and, in the middle of them, the wreck of a Farragut Battle Cruiser, the most powerful and heavily armed ship ever build. Its two kilometres of hull adrift expelling green smoke in the places where it was pierced by the corrosive weapons. And there was not a single signal of survivors. Not a damn single scape pod. The SOS message was in a loop. I just hope someone managed to scape from this inferno.

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A scientist of Aegis Research in Donar’s Oak has told me that nobody has been able to penetrate the Thargoid Complex in Pleiades Sector MX-U D2-63, but there is a complex in HIP 14909 which interior has been explored. Inside, there is a big chamber containing a device that appears alive. When activated it generates a holographic star map marking different systems across the galaxy. It also emits a sound signal with a map embedded that can be seen with a spectrograph analysis. This map has not yet been deciphered. And few pilots have been able to behold these phenomena due to, that in order to enter the structure and activate the device, a Thargoid probe, sensor and link are needed.

Thargoid probes and sensors are found in non-human signal sources. The problem with them is that there are little chances of finding one, and a lot of chances of finding a hostile Thargoid ship on the process. Lucky for me, the dirty drives thruster enhancements that professor Palin installed in the Hyperion allows me to outrun most dangers. Time to put them to test.

I spent the next twelve hours visiting the leftovers of Thargoid attacks, looking among the wreckage of fleets from the Empire and the Federation for any sign of a Thargoid probe or sensor. Sometimes I find survivors in scape pods and collect them. On most occasions, I find Thargoids and have to run for my life.

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It seems that the megaships in Delphi have been attacked too. I received the SOS signal of a Hercules Class Bulk Cargo Ship and came to help. The ship had been severely damaged and was expelling cargo to the void. The rescue party arrived seconds after me and managed to complete the rescue of the survivors in minutes. They were not attacked by the Thargoids on this occasion. I could not help but I watched the whole operation with great satisfaction.

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I was able to find a Thargoid Sensor among the remnants of an Anaconda that was obliterated, probably, trying to retrieve the same sensor. These things are worth more than three hundred thousand credits. And, finally, my sensors captured the signal of a Thargoid probe floating between the wrecks of an Imperial fleet. That was it. Just when I thought I could not stand more shipwrecks and deaths. I opened the cargo hatch and lined my ship to collect the device.

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I approached my objective carefully at one quarter impulse when, suddenly, the HUD of the Hyperion buzzed, the whole ship trembled and I heard a horrible guttural sound resonating inside my head. I checked the sensors and saw an unidentified signal. But this time it was different. I controlled my nerves and collected the sensor crate and then turn around in order to leave the green gas cloud and run out of there as soon as possible. And right in front of me, blocking the path I saw a huge and menacing Thargoid ship. It was different that every Thargoid I have ever seen. Its petals ended in vibrant red spikes, and it was surrounded by an incredible dense swarm of remote drones. It attacked me without a warning. I pulled the stick and boosted out of there hoping to avoid the mass lock and jump, but the critter was almost as fast as my super modified Diamondback Explorer. And it kept firing. By the time I gained enough distance to activate the supercruise my hull was down to less than thirty percent.

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I did a last stop in Donar’s Oak to repair and refuel before my trip to HIP 14909. I also proudly delivered to the search and rescue division five scape pods with survivors inside and some black boxes from the derelict ships I have been exploring. I got ready for my trip.

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From the sky, the Thargoid site in HIP 14909 looked similar to the one in Pleiades Sector MX-U D2-63. My Aegis Research contact says that more than two hundred of these complexes have been discovered in the last year and a half, but few of them still operative. The function and purpose of these sites is still unknown. I landed as close as possible to the central structure and transferred the sensor and the probe to the scarab. They rapidly started to corrode the systems. I had little time. The tunnel and the door were right in front of me.

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On this occasion, the door at the end of the tunnel detected my SRV and opened. Some light electromagnetic interference disrupted my HUD, but it quickly passed. I found myself in an organic-like corridor that leaded to a huge chamber with a strange device in the middle. That must be it. There were what looked like eggs lying on the ground and several remote drones seemed to be nourishing them. Very unsettling. The drones ignored me, like the last time. I approached the middle of the chamber and dropped the sensor and the probe close to the central device. Some energy laces picked them up and kept them floating in front of the device. I still was missing the Link, but the scientist researcher said that there are usually plenty of them inside the structures. I scanned the place and found them in a nearby chamber. They were attached to some kind of pod, so I had to use my plasma repeaters to detach them. But the drones in the installation did not like it and became hostile. It is clear that these things were not engineered with a defensive purpose. They shoot some kind of corrosive liquid but pose no real threat. They are more annoying than dangerous, and very easy to destroy. I came back to the main chamber and dropped the link. According with the scientist in Donar’s Oak the device should be ready to work.

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I scanned the device and, something that I can only describe as incredibly beautiful happened. The device projected a starmap, with thousands of stars spiralling around the chamber.

After all the deaths, all the wreckages and all the mayhem, I was beholding what only few explorers have seen. This is the last clue in the mystery of the Thargoids. Its message, the last piece of the puzzle, unsolved yet. The ultimate milestone. For now. There are rumours of entire sectors of the galaxy blocked by the Pilots Federation. They exist, but the navigation systems of the ships can not lock them to jump there. Secrets and conspiracies. Always secrets and conspiracies. And I still have one of my own to solve. I left the structure as fast as I could trying to avoid destroying more drones.

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I am Commander Jav Marlo, recording this log in the Hyperion, landed in the first moon of the second planet of system HIP 14909. My father disappeared in the system Merope four years ago. His ship was found adrift, but there were no signs of him. Given for dead. Since the Thargoids started to invade the Pleiades, one year ago, I have been thinking that they were responsible of the lost of my father. I even thought that they had abducted him. Now I am not so sure of that. Since I got my Pilots Federation license, I have been trying to figure out what happened. I sought for answers in Alioth, but the Council of Admirals would not receive me. I have spent weeks in the Pleiades, looking for clues and studying the Thargoids. Now these clues lead me again to the Alliance. To Bill Turner. I am coming back. To Wolf 406. To my new home in Hamilton Gateway. To seek for answers.

Jav Marlo signing out.

THARGOID MAYHEM IN MAIA

THARGOID MAYHEM IN MAIA

28 DEC 3304 Palin Research Centre (Maia)

I must admit that Professor Ismail Palin has quite an operation running here in Maia. He tells me that he used to work for the Federation, but when his research programme was abruptly terminated, he decided to establish by himself to study alien artefacts, meta-alloys and anything related with the Thargoids. He was able to set his base of operations in Maia, far from human space and regulations, thanks to the contribution of an anonymous benefactor. And quite a benefactor that might be, because Palin Research Centre lacks nothing. Professor Palin is devoted now to the development of new defence technologies against the Thargoids, and to help the pilots that can afford his services with the thrusters of their ships.

We talked. I told him that my true reason for being there, besides improving the thrusters of the Hyperion, was to ask him about the Thargoids, and their interest in collecting the scape pods of the ships they destroy. I explained him that my father disappeared in Merope four years ago, that his ship was found adrift with no life signs on board and no scape pods. That I had seek for answers in the Alliance Defence Force with no success. Professor Palin said that, despite our efforts, we still know almost nothing about the Thargoids and their motivations. The first reported encounter with a Thargoid ship in the Pleiades after the first Thargoid war was one year ago, but there have been finding Thargoid sensors since three years ago. Nobody knows what the Thargoids do with the bodies they retrieve. That is the nightmare of the xeno-hunters. The Thargoids have existed for millions of years and their hyperspace capabilities are well beyond ours. The could even be from another galaxy. Professor Palin says that maybe my father found by chance a Thargoid ship before anyone else and, if that was the case and the Thargoids abducted him, I should abandon all hope.

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And that was it. After all these misadventures, I gained an enhancing in my thrusters and the losing of my hope. I departed Palin Research Centre feeling very depressed, with no idea of where to go from there.

Meanwhile, Maia system is a mess. Mayhem reigns. The war with the Thargoids is rampaging and one could say that there is no safe place in the Pleiades. There are non-human signals everywhere. It looks like the Thargoids are taking over the whole sector. Right after my departure from Palin Research Centre, I caught an SOS. It came from a nearby Sanchez Class Science Vessel. They were being attacked by the Thargoids. I head there and jump out of super cruise and what I saw was devastating. The megaship was orbiting out of control in the dark side of Maia A 4. Green fumaroles everywhere, unmistakable sign of the outrageous Thargoid attack. I can hear the evacuations signals and, then, an explosion in the main deck contrasts with its red fire against the green smoke caused by the Thargoids corrosive weapons. Several other ships must have heard the SOS and come to dock with the vessel and help with the evacuation. I fly around looking for any scape pod that I might rescue. Suddenly, my HUD gets blurry and I hear the taking damage warning. I turn around and find myself facing a Thargoid. From the Thargoid emerges some short of swarm of autonomous attack drones that start to fire at me. Damn, these things can trespass shields. I boost towards the cloud of drones and engage the frame shift drive. The drones are super agile and avoid me. 3,2,1… engage. I leave the megaship and its rescuers to their fate.

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I fly in supercruise with no aim, thinking in the doom of the ships that were docking with the megaship. And they say that the Thargoids are getting closer and closer to the core worlds in the Bubble. I detect another SOS signal, but this time it poses no threat. I drop out of supercruise and find the remnants of another battle. This time the Thargoids have destroyed a Beluga Liner. A cruise ship here. Probably it was evacuating civilians to safer places. I search among the debris and find a damaged scape pod. I collect it and decide to take to the nearest port. If I am fast enough, maybe there is a chance to save to the life of the poor soul in the pod.

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The search and rescue official in Darnielle’s Progress told me, as soon as I landed, that the passenger of the scape pod was death. It seems that the pod was corroded. No wonder, I found it floating in the green cloud that the Thargoids leave after their attacks. This day is getting even worst. I aim for the nearest canteen in hope of finding some Lavian Brandy. No way with this war and the supply lines compromised. Well, any whisky will suffice.

Darnielle’s progress is a planetary outpost with nothing particular except for the fact that is the only place in the galaxy where you can legally buy meta-alloys. Its commerce is legal but heavily restricted. Darnielle’s Progress recently gained even more public attention because of the theft of a great amount of meta-alloys. The perpetrator was said to be the notorious former senator of the Empire, and now terrorist, Kahina Tajina Loren, also known as Salomé. They said that this Salomé also crossed admiral Denton Patreus, almighty commander of the Imperial Fleet, and even tried to assassinate him. In the end, she found her demise at the hands of one of the most dangerous dreaded bounty hunters in the galaxy in very strange circumstances. I never bought the official version. That young girl is considered to be some kind of messianic figure by many explorers. I have heard pilots talking about her with true devotion. The Empire, the Federation and their conspiracies. Who may know what really happened. And talking about conspiracies. I have just come back to my ship after drowning my despair in some horrible synthetized whisky when I saw I had a message from professor Palin in my console. He wants me to go to a Thargoid installation and retrieve some Alien materials. If I comply with his request, he promised that he will release some sensible information he has found about my father’s disappearance.

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A Thargoid Complex. I am travelling to a Thargoid complex. I have heard about them. Pilots talk in the canteens. But I did not know about their emplacement. I had to visit Palin Research Centre again before departing in order to get the coordinates and to equip the Hyperion with a corrosion resistant cargo hold. And now I am about to land in what looks like a huge planetary outpost build by these critters. I have been in barnacle sites before, but this is totally different. The place is huge, and its core seems very alive, pulsing with lights at more than 10 km height. This is very unsettling.

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I landed as close as possible to the core of the structure and could see what looked like some kind of drones, not clear if mechanical or biological in nature, roaming around and collecting materials. They were not hostile. Indeed, they ignored me. The place gave me the creeps. In the middle of the structure there was like a small hill, crowned with petals and looking biological in nature that seemed the centre of the activity. It was not a good idea to land here at night. Maybe I should have waited. I remained seated in the cockpit of the Hyperion watching the drones coming and going while scanning the place looking for the samples Palin wanted. I did not want to run around in the SRV among these drones more time than the necessary. Soon I found what I was looking for. Two kilometres away, behind one huge tentacle structure that I would have to surround. Damn luck. No way to land close. I decided to risk with the scarab.

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As soon as I collected the samples with the SRV they started to corrode the systems. I could not lose them, so I ran to the Hyperion jumping between the tentacles of the structure. The low gravity helped. I parked under the ship and transferred the cargo to the new corrosion resistant rack. All systems nominal. My ship was not corroding and the SRV had just taken minor corrosion damage. I was about to embark when I saw what looked like an entrance to the core of the complex. There was a way to come inside. I approached slowly and carefully with the scarab. There was a tunnel coming inside the structure, but it was blockaded. At the bottom there was some short of door, but it looked like heavy damaged. Like if the ceiling behind had collapsed destroying it. If only I could find the way to penetrate this structure. Who knows what lies in the interior. Frustrated, I returned to the Hyperion and departed heading straight to Maia again.

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I was coming back to Maia as fast as I could, jumping from system to system without even scooping, and checking the cargo hold every five minutes when, in the last jump, I experienced something that definitely killed the little morale I was holding. In the middle of the jump the controls went crazy and I was pulled out of hyperspace. And right after that, all my systems shut down leaving me floating defenceless in the middle of nowhere. Alone in the void. I was punching every console and screaming to the COVAS with no success when I realized what has happened. In front of my inert ship there was a Thargoid scanning me. This damn thing was able to interdict me out of hyperspace. How can they do that? I thought that was impossible. And after the interdiction it had disabled me with some kind of energy pulse. For a moment I thought that I was going to share the destiny of my father. I prepared to die but, suddenly, all systems came back to life. I boosted reaching more than 450 meters per second thanks to the enhancements in the thrusters made for Palin and activated the frames shift drive. I was mass locked by the Thargoid, but gaining distance. 3,2,1, engage.

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I landed again in Darnielle’s Progress as instructed and delivered the Thargoid samples. As soon as I collected my payment, Palin contacted me and asked to visit him in his base. I landed in Palin Research Centre and was surprised when I saw the professor himself waiting for me in the landing pad. He asked to come inside my ship. That was weird. He said that the walls have ears and what he had to said was just for me. It seems that after my first visit, he checked the logs about the incident of my father and discovered something. According to the report, the ship was found adrift intact, but a more thorough analysis conducted later shown corrosion marks.

FOTO The Hyperion approaching Darnielle’s Progress in Maia

Palin said that, if I wanted to know the truth, maybe I was asking the wrong question. That maybe it was not about what happened to my father, but about what was he doing there. What was his mission. He suggested that I should talk with two persons: Lori Jameson and Bill Turner. They both will not be easy to reach. Before he departed me with no more explanations, he said something more: -Mark my words. Do not believe everything that Bill Turner tells you, if he tells you anything at all. He is more than he seems-.

THE QUEST FOR PROFESSOR PALIN

THE QUEST FOR PROFESSOR PALIN

26 DEC 3304 Palin Research Centre (Maia)

Once I got the permit for Sirius, I jumped to the system and headed for Patterson Enterprise, a Coriolis Starport orbiting the gas giant known as Waypoint. Meeting Marco Qwent was not going to be so easy. I still had to perform one last mission for Sirius Corporation in order to be invited to Qwent Research Base and, on this occasion, I had to spy a surface base in the neighbour system of Epsilon Eridani, Federation’s favourite tourist resort, but my mission was no tourism. I had to infiltrate Klimuk Market, a base owned by the Epsilon Eridani Future faction. I flew over the base and checked that there were no ships patrolling the perimeter, so I decided to give it a try with the SRV. Security was not tight, but I had to find a way to penetrate into de base, which entrance was protected with an energy wall. I drove around the base until I found an unprotected power generator and blew it up with the plasma repeater turret of my scarab. Suddenly the quiet base came to life with alarms, defensive turrets fire skimmers and chaos. I ran to the now open entrance zigzagging to avoid the fire and managed to locate the communications tower. I scanned it under heavy fire and had to use the booster jets to jump out of the base avoiding this way the skimmers. I made it back to my ship with less than fifty percent of my hull, but the mission was accomplished.

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Marco Qwent requested some Modular Terminals in order to meet him, so I still had to fly some missions to get them, but that was easy. Finally, I made it to Qwent Research Base and the engineer tinkered a little bit with my power distributor to enhance its charge performance. And what is most important, he recommended me to Professor Palin, the Federation scientist and engineer and the maximum authority in the research of the Thargoids. I know professor Palin is very fond of explorers and I wanted to cause a good impression, so I decided to come back to Hamilton Gateway in Wolf 406 in invest my money in a new exploring dedicated ship. My previous experience with exploration was in a luxury Dolphin where I was able to reach Flyeia Hypai FH-X c17-16, a round trip of more than 16.000 light years where I discovered many stellar bodies including Earth like worlds and ammonia planets.Not bad for sucha ship, but this time I wanted to look like a true seasoned explorer, not a luxury tourist ferry, so I chosed to buy a Diamondback Explorer. I painted it red and called it the Hyperion, honouring the titan of watchfulness, wisdom and light. I payed a visit to Felicity Farseer, who dramatically increased the Hyperion’s jump range to more than 50 light years and then, properly equipped, I headed to the Pleiades.

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My first trip to the Pleiades from the Bubble took me more than twenty jumps in my first exploring ship, an unmodified Adder that I called the Hesperides. The Hyperion did the same trip in less than ten jumps. I came to the Pleiades the first time because I wanted to know what happened to my father, who disappeared in the Merope system four years ago. His Asp Explorer was found adrift with no signals of life aboard and no scape pod. In my first trip here, I could observe the Thargoids for the first time, and I witnessed how they syphoned the scape pods of the ships they destroyed. Now I am back with a more able ship and an invitation to meet the biggest specialist in Thargoids in the galaxy. I hope professor Palin can seed some light to the mystery of my father’s dissapearance.

The first thing I do when I arrive to Maia system is contacting Palin Research Centre to inform them of my arrival. The only answer I receive is that professor Palin will agree to meet me upon the delivery of some fragments of Thargoid sensors. I was not counting on that. I do not even know what these things are, so I decide to go to Donar’s Oak, the headquarters of Aegis Research in the Nearby Delphi system, one of the hotbeds of Thargoid activity and a place where I gained some reputation time ago hunting pirates with the local authorities.

According to Aegis Research, Thargoid Sensors are devices that have the ability to self-repair themselves by extracting materials from their environment. This mechanism can severely damage starships and other machinery when nearby. A number high enough of these devices can even shut down a space station, and they haven been used for that in several occasions. They are known to scan nearby vessels and celestial bodies, and transmit this information encrypted with unknown purposes. And, on top of that, they are corrosive and can destroy the systems of a ship in minutes when collected. I am not sure If I want to put one of this things into my ship. Lucky for me, professor Palin just want them in pieces.

Now I need to know where to find them. According to Aegis Research, Thargoid Sensors sometimes can be found in Non-Human Signal Sources in the systems surrounding Merope, but the Xeno Hunters in one of the canteens in Donar’s Oak gave me a better idea. I gave them some Kamitra Cigars I was keeping from my visit to Hera Tani, and they told me about the fourth planet of system Hip 17403 and its moon, where in its surface I can find the shipwreck of a Thargoid Interceptor. The Xeno Hunters say that the place has a bad reputation among the pilots, because several ships have disappeared in the system and the place is surrounded with the wreckages of human vessels. But, despite that, the place is periodically scavenged by the few pilots desperate enough to get Thargoid technology from there. Well, I need those sensors so, I guess I will have to do some Thargoid scavenging myself.

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I arrived to Hip 17403 and explored the system with the ship’s scanner. The HONK showed all the celestial bodies and I headed towards the fourth planet. No way to get lost. It has just one moon where I could land, an uninteresting rocky body… apparently. I decided to try the new surface scanner and launched some probes to map the body. Eight signals detected, but just one Thargoid. I lock the coordinates and started the landing approach. This side of the moon was at night and the darkness was pitch black, contributing to make the situation even more unsettling. I landed among the pieces of a ship, clearly alien in origin, that were scattered among the wreckage of several human vessels. I could clearly distinguish an Anaconda. The alien ship looked like the ones I have seen before in Merope, but it is said to be more than one hundred years old. It looked inert. I jumped into the SRV and drove around the pieces. There were crates with beer and narcotics lying around. And they looked new. That was weird. I wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. I drove towards what looked like the core of the alien vessel and the scans soon detected the fragments of a Thargoid sensor. They were around the remains of a scarab SRV. And this one looked like if it has been there for a while. Very creepy!

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I collected the fragments, checked that they were not corrosive and headed back to the Hyperion. I hope professor Palin likes what I got for him. I would not like to come here again.

I have just arrived to the Maia system again and I am recording this log in the Palin Research Centre. Professor Palin has finally agreed to talk with me. I hope he can help me with my quest.

Jav Marlo signing out.

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THE HUTTON RUN

THE HUTTON RUN

23 DEC 3304 Hutton Orbital (Alpha Centaury)

I hate mega corporations, and Sirius Corporation is the biggest and oldest of them. It is even bigger than Faulcon DeLacy, the ships manufacturer. Their only allegiance is greed. Sirius Corporation fuelled for years the war between the Federation and the Empire, prolonging the conflict with the result of millions of deaths. Nowadays, they monopolize the new Frame Shift Drive technology, which means vast amounts of wealth and influence, to the point that their CEO, Li Yong-Rui, is one of the most powerful men in the galaxy. Sirius Corporation is a power that controls its own space in The Bubble, but they do not need to conquer systems by force, they just buy them.

I have been in that forsaken outpost of Bruce Prospect in the Avik system for a week, working for the Sirius Corporation in order to get a permit to Sirius system, where I want to meet the engineer known as Marco Qwent. Getting the Alioth permit was easy. Sirius Corporation made me pay the price. After the usual petty transport missions, soon they started to charge me with illegal infiltration missions in surface installations. I barely survived one of those. The plan was to travel to system YZ Ceti to spy one base of the Sublime Order of Van Maneen’s Star, a religious sect with origins in the Federation that believes in maximum hardship and likes to live underground. It sounded pretty easy, but once I arrived to the planet YZ Ceti A 10 b I flew over the compound and observed that it was no base, but a big planetary settlement with lots of buildings and a tight security. A strange place for a group of theocrats that likes to live underground. The night was dark, so I decided to give it a try with my SRV. I landed in a crater far from the settlement and headed there on the Scarab. To the city shining in the dark. But as soon as I trespassed the perimeter, a couple of Eagles took off from the settlement and started to pursue me firing missiles. I ran zigzagging back to my ship avoiding most of the explosions and was able to take off and boost out of the planet losing my shields and most of my hull integrity in the process. Damn zealots!

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I had to fly many more transport missions for the Sirius Corporation to compensate for my failure in my last surface mission. And things were not going good in Bruce Prospect. Conflict within the system was rampaging and it was getting very difficult to keep the supply lines. I was interdicted every time I flew with something in my cargo hold. Lucky for me, the Electra is incredibly fast and can scape most situations. The scalation was so big that even the station got damaged in one of the skirmishes. I was so eager to leave this forsaken system that I even bribed the Sirius Corporation representative with some million credits in order to accelerate my permit delivery. As I said before, I hate these greedy mega corporations.

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The last mission I got before obtaining my permit to Sirius was a curious one. I had to deliver some critical data to Hutton Orbital outpost in Alpha Centaury, a notorious place for being extremely far from the system’s hyperspace jump arrival point. Hutton Orbital orbits Eden, the only planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri, and the first planet on which liquid water was detected by spectroscopic methods back in 2038. Coming to Hutton Orbital is considered to be some short of pilgrimage for emerging explorers, because it takes ages to fly the 0,22 light years of distance in super cruise and you can reach speeds of more than 1.800 c. I had to go there.

I make myself ready for the long hours flying straight and depart Bruce Prospect. Upon arrival to Alpha Centaury, I scan the system and head straight to Hutton Orbital. Estimated time of arrival more than 5 days, but it will get shorter as I accelerate. Soon I notice that I was being followed by a Fer De-Lance. They said there was a chance that I will be pursued, but I am not worried. The Fer De-Lance is not close enough to interdict me, and as the Electra leaves the influence of the gravity of Alpha Centaury the acceleration will rise more and more. It is a long trip before the gravity of Proxima Centaury makes us decelerate again. The Fer De-Lance can not keep the track and soon it disappears from my HUD.

The rest of the trip goes without incidents. Just me in the Electra alone in the void. A lot of time to think. I am not really interested in meeting Marco Qwent, but he can help me reach professor Palin, the biggest expert in the Thargoids in the galaxy. Maybe he could help me understand what happened to my father when he disappeared in Merope four years ago and, besides, he is also an engineer with unmatched expertise in thrusters systems. Still a while to go. Halfway, I cross my path with a Hauler of the Hutton Orbital Truckers Co-operative, a faction committed to keeping the supply lines of Hutton Orbital, do not mistake with the Hutton Orbital Truckers, the association of independent Commanders that do to crazy transport missions and defended Hutton Orbital from the blockade of The Code and the Smiling Dog Crew three years ago.

I finally make it to my destination. Upon arrival to Hutton Orbital I detect a signal with the remains of a combat, so I decide to take a look. I do not know if it is because they never found my father’s scape pod, but I am very sensible to the idea of leaving someone floating in space on their own. I find two intact scape pods. I collect them and land in Hutton Orbital. The search and rescue contact of the station pays me for my efforts and informs me that the passengers of the scape pods are still alive. I hope they have a good insurance, other way is going to cost them a lot a transport out of this place. Satisfied, I deliver the data I was carrying and run to the gift shop of the station to get my Hutton Mug. Hutton Mugs are made from the salvaged frame shift drives plates of ships that run out of fuel before reaching the station, and they are only sold to Commanders who make the painfully long journey to Hutton Orbital. You can buy fake Hutton Mugs in many places but, for the real one, you have to come here.

I am recording this log at the canteen in Hutton Orbital, sipping tea from a bag in zero gravity. I wish I could use my new Hutton Mug, but I guess I will have to wait until I can enjoy gravity again. It is said that it feels like if there were latent frame shift energies keeping your drink warm when you use it. And now, here in this remote place, I look out of the window and can see the planet Eden while I think what a milestone in space exploration was the discovery of water there, centuries ago, when the humanity was still confined to the Sol system. Before the Federation, the Empire, the Alliance or the Thargoids. And suddenly I realize that I have never been there. In Sol system. I have never set foot on Earth or Mars and never give it a thought before. I guess is the influence of being in Alpha Centaury. So close. Maybe one day. But first, I must go to Sirius and find Marco Qwent.

Jav Marlo signing out.

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