COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Eock Bluae QL-X c1-1/DSSA BOUGAINVILLE (CMDR NOZDUS)/Trojan Belt/32kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Pixel Perfect

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

My journey to the EOCK BLUAE AA-A H36 nebula went faster than expected, thanks to the number of neutron stars along the way. A lot of them weren't even catalogued by other explorers yet. The carrier "DSSA Bougainville" was orbiting a nice little earth-like world in one of the systems. It had all the basic services up and running, but sadly no genomics department. This was due to the fact that the research they were conducting was of a completely different kind. It was all about trying to find answers as to why everything seemed so pixelated when you look at it up close. One of the possible solutions under consideration was that this universe is just a simulation. They even set up a citizen-science center to generate additional funds. You could go on a holiday to relax on the planet below, take part in lectures explaining the related topics, and even help in the research by collecting data. Still, I found it a little strange, seeing all the tourist groups staring at the walls with their magnifying-equipment. But hey, it's science! I bought a picture of a black hole at the shop near the tourist beacon "Potential In Secret" and headed off to thoroughly explore the nebula and its surroundings for some days.

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Oob Aoscs BW-E d11-52/DSSA GLOMAR EXPLORER (CMDR INGRIN)/Norma Expanse/25kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Kitchen Nightmares

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

The fleet carrier beacon I was heading to belonged to the DSSA "Glomar Explorer". Parked deep within the Norma Expanse I was surprised to find such a busy place. Some wear and tear was visible throughout, but all services were up and running. What struck me though was that the crew seemed slightly malnourished, despite there being enough food available. The prices they charged me to stock up on provisions were actually lower than what you would expect at such a remote place. Everyone was very polite, but something seemed slightly off, and being the only visitor at the time I felt somewhat uneasy. It was later that day, I was sitting alone at the bar drinking and pondering on where to head next, when I felt a strange sensation at my right leg. It was the bartender, who had snuck up and started nibbling at my thigh. My suspicions had been confirmed, for they were indeed cannibals. Surprised that I noticed him, the bartender, whose name was Steve, immediately stopped and backed away. He looked frightened and disturbed. I sat down and had a chat with him.

Steve told me about their sad situation. Shunned and outcast from society they had to live a life of hardships and loneliness out here in space, just for being different. He pleaded me not to tell the commander about the attempted bite, since they were not supposed to eat explorers. See, us explorers bring at least some resources and trade opportunities to the carrier, enough to keep it maintained. But the profits are rarely large enough for them to be able to afford human meat, for it is quite expensive. Deeply moved by their plight I made a decision... I sold all my exploration data, which was quite a lot, and gave them a good share. This should enable them to send out a transporter or two back to some anarchy system at the outer rim of "The Bubble" to buy some fresh and juicy slaves. Rarely have I seen happier faces, except maybe at my divorce.

In the meantime I had made up my mind to head to the EOCK BLUAE AA-A H36 nebula, some 9kly away in the Trojan Belt region. As I was departing some of the crew even stood on the carrier deck in their space suits and waved me goodbye, what a nice bunch of people...

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Byoo Aim VY-S e3-6/Deep Space/Norma Expanse/25kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/No, the eagles cannot carry the ring... read the lore!!!

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

During this leg of the journey I treated myself to a neat little show called "The Rings of Power" on GalNet's streaming service. It was one of those historical reenactment dramas, set in the second middle ages. To spice things up, they subtly but masterfully injected commentary on modern day issues into the story. That's what I call escapism at it's finest! It much reminded me of another show called "The Sopranos", where we follow a narcissistic, sociopathic mobster, his family, and his associates, living a life of crime. What keeps us glued to the screen for 6 seasons is not the fact that we particularly like the main protagonists, they are awful people for the most part, but rather we are fascinated by the realistic depiction of how people navigate the criminal world, as well as the mindset they are operating in... a mindset completely alien to normal people like us (this logbook entry is obviously not about exploration, but at least I managed to sneak the word alien in). Critics and audience universally agree that it's one of the best shows out there.

"The Rings of Power" is much the same, and how could it not be, since it draws so much inspiration from "The Sopranos". It's a portray of a narcissistic, sociopathic, highly unlikable women, meandering her way through medieval times, with the show staying historically accurate to a high degree at the same time. A recipe for success!

I rate it 5 Black Holes out of 5 Black Holes. And as a bonus award I present it with a picture of a planetary "ring to rule them all"... in the appropriate color. I will send it to the show-runners right away.

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Pueliae WN-N c21-1/PUELIAE AA-A H0 nebula/Hawking's Gap/23kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Hooray, and up she rises!

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

Well, it turns out this nebula is a bit of a disappointment. I mean, it's beautiful and all.. from a distance. Up close it only consists of a handful of systems which have already been thoroughly catalogued by other explorers... I HATE you! I should have expected as much ever since those pesky NPCs back at "The Inflated Whale" pointed me in this direction, while laughing behind my back. I'm fully aware I fabricated this chain of events myself, for immersions sake, but still... I wag my finger at you NPCs, frantically! Anyway, with some persistence I managed to find three planets inside the nebula to make first footfall.

Originally I planned to head out further left into space, but I damaged my trusty Asps hull by accidentally boosting into a planets surface. REMINDER TO SELF: Never explore a planet completely loaded, swaying from left to right, while listening to your favorite Shanty's!

There's an active fleet carrier beacon some 4kly northeast and towards the galactic center, so I will head there first to do some repairs.

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Synookoae EG-Y g1/Deep Space/Hawking's Gap/23kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Three quarks for Muster Mark!

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

I'm getting closer and closer to my destination, the little nebula with the sweet name PUELIAE AA-A H0. If I stand tiptoe on the ships console it's already visible on the horizon. With little imagination the shape of its gas clouds look like a 7 1/2 legged giraffe, standing on top of a turned over bowl of liver sausage soup, surrounded by a swarm of pinkishpurplebrown nail-clippings.

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Synookiae IF-R d4-20/DSSA NAMELESS MIST (CMDR RUNNING_WILD)/Hawking's Gap/22kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Intergalactic, Planetray, Planetary, Intergalactic

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

While on the road I came across this lone fleet carrier DSSA NAMELESS MIST registered to CMDR RUNNING_WILD. There were no people on board (probably abducted by aliens while going for cigarettes), except for one lonely security guard near the elevator to the bridge. I told her my best mom and dad jokes but she didn't flinch. At least the automated services worked alright. After basic repairs and refueling had been done, I also opted to let the R2DTools refresh the paint-job... I caught them drawing naughty pictures on the stabilizers. Time to get out of here!

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Slehoea KO-Z d13-10/Deep Space/Hawking's Gap/20kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/BINGO every Friday night!

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

Many a explorer can probably relate to, when I say, that traveling through space for weeks, months, or even light-years on end, can be quite stressful to the mind. Your brain gets all floompy from all the scanning, and jumping, and scanning, and jumping... I recently noticed it on myself, when I had a lengthy discussion with the holes in my socks, whether navel lint should be considered an invasive alien species or not. I realized that I have to distract myself with something different once in a while, to make the synapses connect in new and interesting ways. So, what about writing a story?... Science Fiction seems nice... Classic "Heroes Journey"... Of an explorer perhaps... Roaming through space, discovering things... I already thought of a beginning... "It was a dark and stormy night!"... Yes! This will draw the reader right in!

But Alas! After perusing the interwebs for a bit, I found out that this line apparently is one of the archetypical examples of bad writing. I am confused! What if it really was a dark and stormy night? It's not that unlikely, after all. Should you lie to your audience? Seems a bit rude to me. Screw that! I better go back to just consuming media. It's much easier and more fun. Let others do the work... George? ...George? Are you still out there?

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Prungoa VM-W c1-33/Deep Space/Hawking's Gap/18kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Free Cookies

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

There was a minor emergency today which forced me to shut down all systems and carefully restart them again one by one. I won't go into the details, but this incident got me thinking... So, I heard of an organization called the "Fuel Rats" who help you out when you run out of fuel in the depths of space. One really should start setting up a similar service, only that it's specialized in delivering toilet paper... I think this really could be a viable business model. First It would need a catchy name. Hmm... The "Turd Turtles" sure rolls off the tongue nicely...

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Thailuae DM-J d10-31/Deep Space/Hawking's Gap/16kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/18 Hole Golf Course

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

I had a strange dream today. A few hours ago, when I was scanning a promising planet for bio-signs, I indeed happened upon a rare species of fungoidea I had never seen before. Back at the ship I carefully analyzed the samples using the recommended standard scientific procedure for this type of organism, licking it. Soon after, I felt tired and somewhat woozy... it had been a busy day after all. Resting my head on the floor under the waste-disposal unit I fell fast asleep.

In the dream I found myself on a desert planet much like the one I was just exploring, only that the ground was covered by many different types of fungoidea, big and small. The Scientist in me kicked in, but just as I was about to lick them all I noticed a strange looking outcrop. Curious I went to investigate. Soon enough I discovered a skeleton dressed in a sun bleached hooded robe leaning against the rock. A stone tablet and a strange looking object, something like a handle or a grip, lying right next to it. Examining the object it showed signs of heavy corrosion and upon turning it around some green crystal dust poured out of a hole in its side. The stone tablet, on the other hand, was well preserved. It had an inscription carved into it...

Somehow, Palpatine returned...

A sudden feeling of emptiness and sadness gripped my heart and I stumbled backwards, for dramatic reasons obviously. Losing grip of the tablet it fell down and crushed the poor skeletons head. Looking around nervously if anyone had noticed I quickly buried the skeleton, resting the strange object at its side. Then I smashed the stone tablet to pieces with a rock, it had done enough damage already...

I woke up.

Well, whatever! I will not give it any more thought. There are whole other galaxies to explore, and lots of them. Feeling refreshed I took a deep breath, wondering where this journey would take me next.

Polaroids:

COMMANDERS LOG:

Location: Smoju PY-W b42-0/Fleet Carrier THE INFLATED WHALE (CMDR ADM INFWHALE)/NGC 3199 Nebula/Outer Orion Spur/15kly from SOL

Vessel: AspX/47ly Jump Range/Fuel Scoop/Fuel Tank/Shields/Armor/Scanner/Vehicle Bay/Landing Gear/Marble Restroom/Velvet Toilet Seat

Mission Statement: To go where seemingly everyone else has gone before/Putting my name-tag on things before you do/Find a girl, settle down... Nah, who am I fooling...

Personal Notes:

Went to this other fleet carrier parked at a system close to the nebula. The service was much better than on the last one, but there was no Haggis on the menu either. Some guy at the bar told me he could prepare something similar real quick, for a price of course. I declined and he went straight to the restrooms. I saw him again a little later and asked for a picture... he didn't object. I even met some fellow explorers. After discussing our craft for a while they pointed me to a nebula called PUELIAE AA-A H0, some 10kly further out in the Hawking's Gap. They said the weather is nice there at this time of the year. I think I'll go there. I heard them snickering when I turned to leave.

Polaroids: