CMDR Marxanthius was the first to complete the Canonn Challenge in its orginal form, a voyage of 500,000 light years. He has kindly shared his diary with us. Now the Canonn Challenge has a few more things to see and we have managed to cut down the route by 80,000 lightyears. So it will be even more challenging.

Will you take the Canonn Challenge?

DIARY

It seems the scientists over at Cannon have put together some sort of challenge. Just a short jaunt across the galaxy to see everything they have catalogued so far. Seems like an afternoon task, with only 500,000 Ly of jumps to go. My ship, the “FarOutDude!” seems more than up to the challenge, especially after we kicked those guardian robot’s ass and took that jump boost tech.

Also outfitted a research limpet in case we find anything interesting, along with a laser, cause you know if something needs “probing”. Have the maintenance field units stocked up, and the repair unit installed too. After that incident, where I was at less than 500km above the surface before realizing it was a 2.6 G planet, well lets just say that the repair unit needed to fix the seat of my spacesuit I clenched it so hard. In any case, it all looks like it’s prepped to go….. 

Dangit, that crew mate, Mikayla didn’t restock the hold like I told her to. I’ve paid her over 3 Billion in credits and still doesn’t follow my orders. Still better than being in the deep dark alone I guess. Means I need to make a quick pit stop before I can get this show on the road….. 

Need to jump in the run about and pick up supplies……

So back when we went to that crazy Farseer about getting the most out of the FSD, she said she could definitely make improvements to the FarOutDude!.  I left it with her for a few days as Mikayla and I enjoyed a couple of days of leave at her base.  Once complete, Farseer took us for spin in the ship to show us the improvements, and they were truly impressive.  We settled our business happy with the results and left for our next job.   It wasn’t until a few days later we truly started to understand some of the changes Farseer had made to the ship.  Ya, somewhere simple tweaks to the plasma injectors or tuning the onboard computer code that controls the pressure of the diamond compactor, but it was extra’s she had done to squeeze out that last bit.  Crew quarters had been rearranged into a single room.  Bulk heads have been removed where they weren’t for structural support. Any secondary systems had been removed, like the secondary lavatory was removed along with all of the plumbing and the remaining one was moved to a central location along with the kitchen, something about all that heavy H2O being balanced properly.  Really though I thought I could handle all of that, but when it comes down to it, it really is the small things… like when I went to put my mug into the dishwasher.  I opened the door, and the inside had been stripped to make room for a power conduit.  So much for washing dishes.

So here I am making a trip to Hutton Orbital to pick up a ton of mugs for this trip.  On a positive note, Mikayla and I won’t be fighting over loading and unloading the dishwasher on this trip.

And bonus, Hutton had a sale on Centauri Mega Gin.

Picked up that ton of mugs, and got a good deal on that gin.  Apparently Mikayla doesn’t like Gin, so we need to make one more stop before we get this show on the road!

So Mikayla has a preference for Lavian brandy, and since we are about to spend a bunch of time in the deep, it’s worth keeping the crew happy when it’s that easy.  So we took a quick stop at the Lave Station to pick up some brandy, and well since we were here, they had craft beer as well.  Not sure of the quality of it yet, given that it comes in one ton increments, but hey at least it’s in cans, so I don’t need to worry about using more mugs.

The dock crew finished loading our cargo, so it’s back to the Dire Straits carrier to transfer this off of DeepDive and all over to the FarOutDude! and we can get underway!

Here we are taking off from the Dire Straits in the FarOutDude!.   Completely stocked and ready to rock.  Totally going to crush this site seeing tour in just a short couple of hops.

“So Mikayla, what is the first system coordinate?”

“Whadya mean I was supposed to get the map?  I thought you applied for the Cannon challenge?”

“Fine fine, you lay in a course for Varati, while I go and see if I can get the shrink wrap off some of that beer.”

Arrived at Varati without incident, at least no pirates after our goods.  We set an in system course for Thompson Dock, primary headquarters of the Cannon group.  Nice station, we received permission to land and did so with minimal incident.  I mean it was Mikayla who talked them out of fining us when I sort of rubbed the cage at the entrance to the dock.  Nothing a sidewinder won’t be able to bang back into place I’m sure.

That docking incident must have red flagged us.  I mean we went to the Cannon exploration offices and picked up a number to be seen.  They said they would be with us shortly, and now it’s been 6 hours.  Been wandering around their station for a while now, wondering when we are going to get the call so that we can get through the paperwork, might as well hit up the local cantina while we wait.

Sitting there having a drink, laying out my problems to the bartender, when someone must have overheard my dilemma.

“Hey buddy, sounds like you got the bureaucratic blues, hehe.  Hope you are comfy, cause it’s gonna be a while.”    “Now, if you got a few extra credits,  you can buy me a drink and we can see if we can’t get you out of that funk.”  Well it’s better than drinking alone, so I bought the next round and discussed options.

So now I’m heading to the third support offices of Cannon on the lower decks, looking for an Azalea Barton.  Didn’t take long to get directions, seems more than a few people have gone this route in the past.  “I hear you can help get me on my way Azalea, what sort of paper work do you need?”

“I just need you to fill out this form 293-54a, sign forms 912-1f and 993-1, and donate 1,000,000 credits to this account, and thumbprint on this NDA with Cannon.”

I gave her a stern look. She didn’t bat an eye, crack a smile, or give any other indication of care.  She just held out the stylus until I took it and signed.  Then she simply said

“Good job, Commander!”

She took the stylus back and a few moments later over the station comms “Will the commander of the FarOutDude! please return to the exploration offices”.  I turned to glare at Azalea, but she had already turned away back to her work, as if I didn’t exist.”

I met with Mikayla at the exploration office and things went so smoothly, that she gave me a jab in the ribs on the way back to the ship, and asked what I had done.  I replied, “Nothing more than just a simple donation to the cause.”

So after getting back to the ship, we busted open the package from the exploration office.  In it we found a rough map, and list of sites to visit, along with a lot of propaganda about something called Raxxla, but we threw all that in the bin and got down to business of planning out the route.

Mikayla looked at the map, then looked at me and said “This looks like one of your maps after you’ve been into the sauce, look at all these loops and retraces, like they couldn’t decide where to go next.”  We discussed options, and I remembered that job we did a few years ago.  We had delivered the cargo, but the shady contact didn’t have the credits to pay us out right.  You can’t squeeze credits from a stone, so I did take his credentials to an underground system route planner contact called Spansh.  I’ve used it infrequently, but it does come in handy in these situations.

We booted up the connection across the galnet, and input the list of systems.  Dang that’s a finicky system, one wrong click and the system detects you as an intruder and you have to start all over again.  It’s worth the time though because it has an immense processing power, and eventually we got through the list of systems and it shot back a list for us to use.  We stored that list in a safe space on the galnet

So after a little clean up, Mikayla came up with this as the route plan.  I asked her about the fact that it didn’t have a return path at the end, she replied, “No operation extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main body of the enemy.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll see how it goes by that point” she replied.

And with that, we were off to our first location: Alaunus

“Simple 4 jumps to Alaunus” said Mikayla after punching in the coordinates into the nav computer.

“Excuse me, All Anus?”

“Sigh, engage the frame shift drive already and let’s get going before I need to start in on the Lavian Brandy.”

An uneventful flight to the Alaunus system.  We jumped in and fuel scooped to top off the tanks, before scanning the system.  Mikayla did the scans while I went for another beer.

“Seems like two stellar phenomenon in the system sir that we should investigate.  I’ve also detected a generation ship that might be worth a look, since we are in the system.”  “Let’s check out those phenomenon first, and then we will see about that ship.” I replied. As I set the course for those two points, I couldn’t help but mumble that tune “Something like a phenomenon…..”

We dropped out of supercruise and came upon some crystalline type structures, which we scanned.  Rubeum, Purpurpeum, and my new favorite Flavum.  And yes we scanned, probed, shot and nudged these crystals to no effect, although I wonder if that Flavum crystal will make the ship taste nicer to Thargoids?

“Anything else on the scanners there Mikayla?”

“Well sir, I see we have some solid mineral spheres” informed Mikayla.

“Those look like space poop!” I exclaimed…. ” I don’t want to meet the creature that has poop that big!”

“Anything else on the scanners?”

“There is some sort of anomalous reading from the edge to that crystal field, let’s investigate that” reported Mikayla.

We travelled closer to that area and discovered little green balls of light.  “Awww they look so cute” cooed Mikayla.  The computer identified them as a “Q09-Type Anomaly”, with little other information about them.  “Can’t we take one with us” asked Mikayla, “I am sure we can cargo scoop one up! Let’s try!”

So we flew close to it, and prepared to open the cargo scoop to pick it up.  “I don’t think it likes us being this close” I said, as it seemed to emit some sort of electric field.  “Nah it’s fine, we can calm it down once it’s on board I am sure” replied Mikayla.

We tried with the cargo scoop. I had it all lined up as we drifted in, and then the system started to go crazy, and it dodged out of the way at the last moment, eating a good chunk of our shields in that single pass. ” Sorry Mikayla, that one doesn’t want to be a pet, but if you want a pet rock, i mean space poop, it might be less opposed to coming on board.” “hmph, fine, let’s go check out that generation ship, maybe the next life form may make a better pet.” pouted Mikayla.

So we looked up the signal source for what appeared to be an ancient generation ship in the system.  We SC’d out that way for a bit and dropped in.

“Let me get a picture of that without the HUD spoiling the view” asked Mikayla.  “What an amazing ship.  Just imagine trying to reach the stars knowing that you and your children, and your children’s children won’t be the ones to finally land there.  The effort and commitment to such an endeavor in past times is just magnificent.” imagined Mikayla.

“Hey, they have some open com ports we can tap into and we can see what happened!”

I took the ship in closers scanning the old derelict ship and put together the 5 logs we could recover.

Mikayla and I each grabbed a Hutton Orbital mug, filled it with our choice of drink, Lavian brandy for her and Mega gin for me. “Cheers to the exploration of the deep” as I raised my mug to Mikayla in a toast who responded likewise as I pressed play on the recordings.

That was a mistake.

The logs were from a physician, whose ship caught some sort of space born plague, whose flock succumbed to the disease and was wiped out.  It explains at least the very dark ship with no activity.

“I feel cold, let’s leave this system” said Mikayla in a monotone voice.

I couldn’t agree more.  “Setting a course for HIP 15310”, I replied in a hurry without setting my mug down.  “We’ll be there in 2 jumps”……..

So our next jump was to NLTT 9032, the one stop on the way to Hip 15310.  We dropped into the system and Mikayla started the usual system scan to locate anything of interest.  She was nearly done when suddenly there was a jerk on the steering column, as we were being interdicted. Some scum sucker named Zed started blaring across the coms that he had come for our cargo.  I yelled back into the coms, “You can suck it Zed, you aren’t getting my beer and brandy!”.  After a drawn out interdiction we managed to escape, and Mikayla was able to complete her scan.

She said she saw something promising, so we headed in that direction…….

Mikayla had picked up the signal from the Keats Remembrance Park, and so we headed in that direction.  “I’m sorry Marx, I need a moment of respite after that encounter with the derelict ship.”

I responded with “you and me both.  That isn’t the future anyone wants out there in the deep.  Let’s take a few days at the park and then we can look at the next system…..”

We entered the HIP 15320 system, and there were two notable stellar phenomenon ( something like a phenomenon hehe), and so we locked on to the first and SC’d into it.

Turned out to have the same crystals we had seen before, but this time the computer identified a Q04 type anomaly.  “That’s a nice colour mauve I commented, lets go in and see if there is more to learn.”

Oh boy, was this anomaly hostile, it blew right through the shields and straight into the hull.  “Sorry Mikayla, this one definitely doesn’t want to be petted”.  Let’s go check that other site in the system, perhaps it will be a little more friendly”

We dropped out close to this unidentified source, and again we say a fair number of crystalline structures.  In amongst them though as we flew through we came across another interesting oddity.

“They are so pretty with their luminescent ring” remarked Mikayla, “maybe we can take one of these home!”

So we opened the cargo scoop and flew close…..

This particular entity caused lighting to flash across our interface as we attempted to pick it up in the cargo scoop.  ” Nope, Nope, Nope, this is eating our shields” I cried, as I hit the boosters to get us out of there.  “Don’t worry Mikayla, I am sure there is something out there for us to collect!”

“What’s that next system?”

“Col 285 Sector GG-N c7-34, well that’s a mouthful for sure!”

“Commander, there appears to be another type of crystal in this sector, Prasnium.  Seems to have a nice colour about it.”  “I also seem to be picking up some sort of life form flitting about amongst those crystal structures….”

“Targeted that life form… aww isn’t hat cute a little mollusc!”

“Scanning it now, it doesn’t appear harmful.  It’s nudging up against the hull, in a non hostile way.”

We tried to probe it, but the recon limpets failed to attach, and the creature just played cat and mouse with the ship dodging towards and away from the ship.  We decided to move on towards the next site in the system.

“So this particular system seems to have the same at both locations” remarked Mikayla. “You know when we jumped into the system, it was a double star, which reminds me of the years gone by when you used to run that dolphin cruise ship.” “I remember that time when we all used to jump in the ship and just head out to the double sun, and let it warm the pool in the back of the dolphin. Ahh the good ol hot tubbin weekends with the whole gang”

So we dropped into 1116 Tauri, and it’s 110K+ to the D star, so we strapped in for a long ride to a tertiary star.  Time to relax and crack into that ton of beer. Time to talk.

“Ya those were the simple days, just working and having fun on weekends”.  “didn’t matter what happened, as long as you showed up to work before the starting clock clicked.”  “haha, I remember my good buddy having a hauler, painted up like some old school empire genera Lee.  Certainly wouldn’t fly in today’s hoity toity world, but we were just federation kids who didn’t know any better, and there certainly wasn’t any hint of malice in us unknowing kids.  Anyway, we hit up this system for a party which was a blast, but I had a contract the next day.  My buddy said no problem, I’m gonna be there before you need to, just crash in my ship and I’ll make sure you get there. So I did.”

“Except when I woke we were heading in the wrong direction 8 systems away, with a party girl in the navigators seat.”

“Apparently my buddy had offered a ride, but was a little misled on the distance to get her home.”

“We were getting close to dropping her off at her parents space dock, when she said, drop the thrusters and come in slow and quiet.”

“we did come in slow, but as soon as she was off the ship, the exterior hatch slammed shut, and my buddy hit the boost, causing a thunderous racquet guaranteed to wake the entire station with its rumble.  Screw that chick were his words as we blasted out of that station.”

“Now we were not in a good position to get back to our contracts, and I remember climbing into the navigator seat.  He pushed that hauler way past its limits, hazard lights coming on in a number of systems.  He made his contract appointment, and I caught a few hours of zzz’s before I had to make mine”

“ahh yes, the days of youth…..”

So after a long trip to D1, we landed, carefully mind you on this 1.6+ G world and checked out Geology site 1, which turned out to be a Sulphur Dioxide Fumarole

So D1 in this system also has some gas vents.  What a pain in the ass to try and scan though, cause they are so low to the ground.  Must be the higher G value on this planet.

The geologic signal on the planet turned out to be a Blatteum Bioluminescent organism.  Or as I like to call em, glowing pumpkins.   Mikayla thought they were really neat, especially the glow. She had me pick up a couple of samples for her, and she has started a greenhouse in one of the cargo bays.  I told her she could keep them, as long as they don’t cause the beer to sour.  Onto the next planet in this system.  Seems like we might be here for a bit.

So planet D2 in this system turned out to have a different breed of pumpkins.  The computer identified it as Rubeum.  The colours were amazing, and one quick look and I knew Mikayla was going to want to add it to her collection.  I have a feeling that the cargo hold is going to be major fungus farm by the time we complete this trip.

On my way back, when I looked over the hill, it was just a field of these Rubeum pumpkins.  I certainly hope they don’t spread like that in the ship.

Looks like more space pumpkins on D8A, comes up as Croceum on the scanners.

Luteolum was also found about 400 KM away.  I hope Mikayla knows how to make pumpkin pie, cause I wonder how these space fruits are going to taste.

With that big ringed planet in the background it turned out for a great picture.  Mikayla and I took a little hike and grabbed this shot.  Seems like we have completed this system, and will be moving on shortly.

So heading to Wredguia XD-K d8-24, we had a slight mishap at the last star we were supposed to fuel scoop at.  Apparently I didn’t fill the tanks all the way and luckily Mikayla realized our flight plan would have left us stranded at our destination.  She definitely let me have it for such a lazy mistake, her final comment being that she’d be leaving with the fuel rat that came to fill the tank.

These molluscs were located amongst a bunch of crystals.  They were much more docile than some of the other anomalies we have encountered.  We poked and prodded them, but not much to report.

So tell me Mikayla, how did the B star keep the Y star from leaving?  It put a ring on it! HIP 115991 has a ringed star which is a little unusual.

All I got was a dirty look for my poor joke, but we landed on 6B and found the life signs, and landed.  Roseum pumpkins this time, and so we added them to the mix.  Quite the colour collection of gourds we have going on.

 We dropped in on HIP 98182 and its a pretty big system, with 61 bodies.  Turns out the secondary star is actually a black hole, except that its 300K Ls away from the main body.  Well time to make some breakfast while the autocruise takes care of it.

So after a long trek out to the blackhole, there was a signal for a lifeform.  We dropped out of SC and saw the usual cluster of crystals, maybe these molluscs eat them, or have some sort of symbiosis with them.  In any case we found these little Rufum types, and boy are they spicy.  They appeared to actually be aggressive, charging our ship and using some sort of static energy charge.  Luckily we had our shields up, which soaked the damage and didn’t get through to the hull.

Punice is what they called these dark pumpkins. in the HIP 139 system.  It took us quite a while to jump out here. Seems like the close ones are complete and we are starting to get out into the deep away from the bubble.

Speaking of being in the dark, Mikayla took this shot while I was trying to scan the local flora.  She said it was pretty dark and depressing, and with that it was time to get rolling again, hopefully the next site is in the warm sun!

Mikayla plotted the route to Oochorrs NF-L d9-12,  “28  jumps to the next system”.

“Surely there must be some way to squeeze out a few more light years and reduce that jump count”.

Mikayla replied, “Well I heard rumors back in flight school about using neutron stars as FSD boosts.  One particular cadet claimed a 4 times distance increase.  I don’t know if its true or not, but it sounds dangerous”

“Let’s give it a try, anything that shaves off time is worth the risk.  See if we plot in those 2 neutron stars in our path, and use that 4x distance as a guide, there that drops the jump count down to 22.”

So we dropped into the cone of that first neutron star, and boy it was like riding a Talaxxian Bronco, pitching and rolling all over the place, too some skill to keep it pointed in the right direction, you know, away from the neutron star!  Our systems definitely didn’t like the radiation, and it doesn’t look like there was any permanent damage, but the jump metered did read almost 4x further.

When we hit the button for hyperjump, boy did it punch you back into your seat.

Worked so well, we used it on the second neutron star as well, and that time it was a little easier now that we knew what to expect…..

Little did we know what it was doing to the paint job on the ship!

We dropped out in Oochorrs NF-L d9-12, and scanned the planets, and indeed planet B4B did have bio life signs so we set out for that planet.  Once we got close, we scanned the planet and chose a landing site, basically at random.  Site 12 is what we settled upon.

“The ship isn’t going to fit in there” she said.  “It’ll fit, see right over there”

It still wasn’t really close, and driving the SRV in the mountains wasn’t a lot of fun, at least I didn’t roll it.

We scanned these crystals, and it seemed they contained Tellerium.  We filled our hold with as much as we could.

So  BD012 1172 turned out to be something special, which Mikayla absolutely loved.  I’m pretty sure it is due to the colours, but even I was feeling better after having been at some rather dark and dreary planets.  This system seemed so bright, warm and full of life.

Here you can see just the greatest colours.

Even on the ground, the rings are still so bright.

just such a colourful scene when close the rings around one of the planets.

We took a look at the landing site for this particular bio signature, and decided we would take it really slow.  Took nearly quadruple the time to get down to the surface, as we had to take it really slow due to the 2.2G on this particular planet.  This ship is made for jumping, not surface dogfighting.  We still managed to land  it without crushing the landing gear.  Driving the SRV was a treat, well all except for that drop out of the ship, that was a bit harsh.  So here is the Prasinum bioluminescent signature.

Taking off, I wasn’t sure we were going to make it, it took the engines a good amount of time to get enough power to lift off.

It appeared that these biosignatures were all to be found in the rings around the planet.  We found these cute little guys called Virides.  They were definitely docile.  We accidentally nudged one while trying to get close enough to take a picture, and we could hear it make some noise, but otherwise seemed to ignore us.

We saw a science vessel investigating one of the phenomenon, so we stopped by to see what was happening.  We scanned their public logs but I’m not sure that even these guys knew what they were up to.

I mean look at that log, looks like a crazy person just keeps writing the same thing over and over!  I guess they aren’t going anywhere fast anytime soon.

We managed to find “holey space poop”.  ok ok, the technical term i guess is lattice mineral spheres, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue as easy now does it?

Mikayla wanted one more exterior shot of the holey space p…. lattice mineral spheres……

So far, this was one of the nicest systems we have visited, and Mikayla wanted to stay for a few more days to see more.  She nicknamed this place “Rainbow’s Edge” which I think has a nice ring to it.  I told her we needed to get back on the road if we are to finish this endeavour (and get paid)

The next system is Col 135 Sector DR-V c2-16, and when we laid in a course the computer couldn’t figure it out.  Apparently there is a whole swath of permit locked systems.  I don’t know what someone is hiding out here, but dang does it make routing a PITA, that reminds me i need lunch…..

So after jumping manually to avoid permit locked systems, we eventually were able to plot a route to Col 135 Sector DR-V c2-16.  Landed on planet 3 b, and headed to the bio signature. We looked for one on the sunny side of the planet, but it either wasn’t the right time or these things don’t like the light.  Viride Brain Trees is what the computer has labelled them as.

Had a fight with Mikayla about system HD 63276.  When we re-routed the plan, it didn’t change the order of any of the items, so there are “more” things to investigate here, but I suspect they may already be later on the list. Keeping it simple we eventually agreed to stick with just the list, cause we didn’t want to miss anything!

So in this system, we picked up some snippets of the Lindigoticum Brain Tree.  Mikayla really doesn’t like these trees, she says they kinda freak her out.  Especially that odd pattern in the soil around them.  She’s glad to be gone from them.  Didn’t have the heart to tell her there were still more on the list, but we will cross that bridge when we need to.

A few more jumps and we made it to HD 81946.  This system had another stellar phenomenon where we found this cute little Albulum Gourd.  It seemed to like to play with the ship.  It would move away and then come back over and over again.

Next we landed on planet 4, and there we found some more BRAIN trees.  They don’t look that smart to me in all honesty, but then I’m not the biologist.  The readings said these were Ostrinum in type.

Mikayla wasn’t sure about this next site, give that it was going to be on the dark side of the planet, she said we were looking for Roseum Anemone.  “Didn’t we pick those up like 2 or 3 systems ago?” I asked.

She responded that we were looking for sparkly ones, and as we crested the hill we weren’t disappointed.

Here is us taking a sample close up

So our next stop is Eta Carina Sector JH-V c2-9, when Mikayla punched those in, wow 7,649 LY to go. They weren’t kidding around, I guess we are just going to have to buckle in and start jumping.

Mikayla got a sly look on her face, “You remember those credentials you had for that Spansh site?  I did some more digging around after our Neutron star test, and apparently some people have been using those jumps as roads or highways.  We could maybe try that and see if it cuts down on time?”

So we dug out those credentials, logged in and punched in the coordinates of the systems.  Hit the calculate button, and then waited.  Then we waited some more.  Then we got a drink and waited.  “Beep, Boop”  It completed, and look at that it took the 128 jumps and dropped it down to 54.  That’s a nice savings.

I told Mikayla that I would take the first shift if she wanted to get some shut eye, as my plan was to beeline it for the next system.

It was about the 50th jump when I noticed that the FSD was taking a little longer to spool up.  I figured I had been pushing it a little hard with all of these jumps plus  the neutron star scooping.  Figured it would get a rest when we got to the next system and we did our investigations.  We arrived in Eta Carina Sector JH-V c2-9 without incident, although i thought I heard an odd ticking sound on that last jump.  Something must have rattled loose I’m sure, Maybe one of those hutton mugs has a cracked handle.

So as we dropped into this biosignature, the computer told us we had a Croceum Lagrange (A haw, haw, haw, haw, a haw) Cloud.  I got that dark look from Mikayla for that one.

After a bit of hunting around, we did find the mollusc we were looking for.  The Luteolum Bell Mollusc.  This little fellow did like to follow and play with the ship like some of the others.

We decided to celebrate with a drink, but lo and behold, all that Neutron star jumping had caused our ship to really soak up the heat…. and warmed up the cargo!  No one wants a warm drink.

“Hey Mikayla, weren’t those ice crystals in that cloud?”

We boosted on over to take a look at them, and as we approached I could see the temperature drop on the hull. “It seems sir, that those crystals absorb heat as some sort of metabolic process that I don’t understand”.  “Let’s use the research limpet and collect a sample, I have an idea” I quipped.

The research limpet returned with a sample, dropped it on the cargo deck, and then fell over frozen.  “What I wouldn’t give for a decent limpet”, I remarked as I pushed it out the cargo door.  Turning back to the crystal on the cargo deck,  I could already see it was frosting up the metal plating it was lying on, forming little ice crystals.

” Mikayla, help me get it up onto the workbench using those remote controlled calipers over there.  We need to trim this down a little for my idea to work”

We tried the saw, but it didn’t really seem to leave much of a mark on the crystal.  “I think we need to crack it instead, let me see that Ghaddang chisel and the rubber mallet”.  Setting that precise cut chisel and a few whacks with the hammer, I was able to chip off a piece.  As I looked at the piece, it slowly reformed itself into a solid crystal with exact dimensions 0.5cmx1cmx2cm.  “Wow, that’s remarkable!” said Mikayla excitedly. We made a couple more just to see if it was repeatable, and it was.

Perfect, I thought, “Mikayla run that scan on them now on the smaller pieces, do they still like eating the heat?”  “Yes, although the amount it eats seems to be dependent on the size, the larger remaining crystal is still too large to handle by hand, but the smaller pieces should be safe if a bit chilly” stated Mikayla.

“Excellent”, I picked up one of the small cubes and dropped it directly into my cup of gin, and was greeted with a “shhhh” sound as a little water vapor formed over cup.   ” uh sir, are you s….”  Too late, already took a swig. “It’s great, chilled just nicely, like over the rocks back home!  I’m sure the alcohol sanitized it, but it does seem to have a little something extra, still better than a warm drink.”

We caged the remaining crystal piece, and hung it in the cargo rack with our liquids, making sure to keep the right distance from the cargo to ensure we didn’t accidentally freeze anything.

After a few more drinks, which were much more nice being chilled and with whatever extra spice it added. “Mikayla, what did the computer say that crystal was?”  “Apparently the limpet brought back the Flavum Ice Crystal, but apparently there is another type out there as well called Lindigoticum” she replied.  “Well, then let’s called these Fice Cubes.” I slurred.  “What about the Lindigoticum ice sir?” asked Mikayla.

“What? hic, No one is going to want Lice Cubes”, I said over my shoulder as I headed for bed.

Log entry by Mikayla.  Seems the commander may have enjoyed a little too much “Ficed” gin.  While he sleeps that off I continued to scan the system and detected two more crystal structures, and even though they aren’t on the list for this system, I can’t sleep.

The first appears to be a Flavum version, in silicate crystal form.

The second appeared to be Rubeum Metallic Crystals.  Sorry, they are the spiky ones in this picture, I must have let the camera drift.  Seems I just have a lot on my mind lately, so much going on, actually kinda glad to be on this trip.  Get away from the bubble business and get a chance to think.  Oops is this log still recording……. Click

“Alright Mikayla, time to get back at this, what’s the information from Cannon about this particular system, Eta Carina Sector EL-Y d19”

“Eleven bio signatures in this system sir, an awful lot of scanning, guess we should get started. How about the Stellar phenomenon before we go planet hopping?  I’ll leave those icky brain trees to you to scan.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Just about to drop out on the first signal, Whoah, it looks like this place is on fire!”

“That would be the Luteolum Lagrange Cloud sir, seems like there is a bunch of life forms.  Fly in closer and I will use the scanner.”

“Solid Mineral Spheres, or space poop as you like to put it, ugh” said Mikayla with disgust.

“Lindigoticum Silicate Crystals, logged and stored commander, onto the next one” reported Mikayla

“A slightly different Crystal structure, this one appears to be based on Roseum.  It too is now logged and stored.”

“Get a little closer to that last crystal, I’m going to use the remote camera and get a picture for size comparison.  I don’t know how many people are going to believe just how big these crystal formations are in comparison to the FarOutDude!

“Awww another cute mollusc” soothed Mikayla.  “The computer is identifying it as an Albulus Bell Mollusc.  That is odd, the document from Cannon has it listed as an Albens Bell Mollusc.  Must be some sort of typo.  We will have to report that back to them when we get back to a station.”

“That’s odd” pondered Mikayla, “there was supposed to also be a Viride Lagrange Cloud in this system, but it doesn’t show up on any scans. Another bug with this system perhaps?”

From here we dropped into a few of the planets, looking for brain trees.  It was up to me to do the scanning because Mikayla found these to be too weird, something about giving her nightmares.  This Lividum patch was on the dark side of the planet, in the shadow of a dark mountain, along with a dark moon.  All that darkness and that blue glow, even I was getting a little creeped out

Coming into this bio signal, I could already tell this was going to be trouble.  This large ship and mountains don’t mix.  I told Mikalya I might need her help up here.

I gave her the option to drive or scan, she instantly chose to drive nearly pushing me out of the pilot seat as she jumped in.

“Ok, just get in as close as you can, nose first and hold it there while I scan” I asked her.

“Like this” she said, as she expertly glided the ship over the mountain, putting the nose of the ship nearly into the brain tree itself.  I stared in amazement, I was always a little in awe of her piloting skills.

“You know you should scan that thing with the scanner, it works better than your eyes” she said dryly as she worked to maintain the position of the ship.

“Right, Right, getting on it!”

“This is a Gypseeum Brain Tree, slightly less ugly than the others” I called to her from the scanner.

“Great, we’re off this rock at least, I’ve driving to the next one!”

Mikayla landed the ship easily on the next body, and I took the rover out to scan the trees.  These ones turned out to be Roseum Brain Trees.  She still doesn’t like them, even if they are pink.

On the next biosignature, we found the infamous Bark Mound.  Apparently these are scattered throughout the galaxy so much that explorers really don’t like them.  I don’t know what’s not to like even though they are a little stubby.

“Alright, we seem to be done with this system!” I said.  Mikayla piped up and replied “Wait, we seem to be missing another item, Aureum Brain Trees are supposed to be on this planet at bio site #3.”

“We were there, there was nothing but Lividum Trees, not a Aureum in site.” I replied.

“Another issue with this system, I’m starting to think that perhaps the information on this particular system became corrupted for it to have so many issues.”  We should take a look around in nearby systems and see if we can’t find those missing elements, perhaps they are just miss reported?”

So we checked Eta Carina Sector EL-Y d18, and we did indeed find a Viride Lagrange Cloud. It contained some Roseum Silicate Crystals and a few Albulus Bell Molluscs which we had previously seen.

We also found some Prasinum Metallic Crystals, but I know they are further down the list somewhere, but just in case we snagged a shot.

a hop over to Eta Carina Sector GB-X c1-10 and we were able to find the missing Aureum Brain Tree.  The next system on the list is some 40 jumps away, so it seems like its time to get jumping again.

“You know those notes about Eta Carina Sector EL-Y d19 we sent into Cannon? We got a response back from somewhere there with more details about where those locations are supposed to be, specifically a set of Lat and Long coordinates.  Looks like you might have to dust off that coordinate display and go hunting old school” said Mikayla enthusiastically.  “Alright, well if we can clean up a little corrupt data, I’m sure it will help someone else in the long run, karma and all that right?” I replied.  “They would also like a FSS of the system for their records, which would help track down the issue with the Notable Stellar Phenomenon.” added Mikayla.  “Sure, not a problem, just need to finish scanning this system, and we can turn this tub around.  At least going back isn’t completely in the wrong direction.”

Thaile HW-V e2-7:  On our last jump before landing in the system, there was definitely going to be something special going on there.  It isn’t every day you can “see” from the next system over.

We dropped into the NSP (Notable Stellar Phenomenon) and what a show.  I can only describe this as a storm, and so did the computer: Croceum Lagrange Storm.  Lightning flashing, hearing crashes and bangs.  Large scale activity really stands out when you’ve been jumping through the cold dark of space for such a long time. 

“I hope that shielding holds, cause that is some huge  electrical discharges” warned Mikayla.

“I see some life forms, if they can stand it, the shields should hold long enough for us to get a scan at least.  I’m taking us in.  Maybe get that vid cam out and see if we can capture a shot?” I told her

.

“Albidum Peduncle Trees” shouted Mikayla over the crashing sound of the lagrange storm.  “That’s what the computer calls them.  Reminds me of the Honanath kids game pieces, the one with the anti-grav ball.”

“There is another bio signature in deeper in the storm, looks like it might get bumpy” she warned.

“Get that camera ready” I told her.

“I got the camera working, but it’s acting up, I don’t know how long it will run before it shuts down again, this storm seems to be really interfering with it” Mikayla cried out over the storm.  “We might get a few seconds of footage at least… dang it there it goes out again”

We really didn’t have a lot of time to play with this anomaly, with the storm and all, it really was just a drive by scanning.  Luckily the still camera didn’t short out like the vid cam.

As we blasted out, there definitely were some more concentrated parts of the storm with some intense lighting which really played havoc with the ship.  One strike caused the ship to roll over, and I don’t think it was our thrusters that caused it to be fast, way faster than this tub has moved since it was stripped down for long distances.  On a good note, this shouldn’t affect our cargo cooling systems and that I like mine shaken, not stirred.

“Mikayla, boot up on the net and see if the Spansh site can get us a neutron route back the way we came. Let’s see if we can save some more time and get back on track here”

After some time, we were able to come up with a new route back saving a few jumps, and we started out.  After a couple of jumps, that ticking noise started to get worse.  Mikayla had gone into the back of the ship to see if she could figure out what was making that noise, because the computer couldn’t track it down.  After the 5th jump, we had a problem….

I dropped us back into normal space, learned the hard way once to not try and repair an FSD while in operation, don’t ask.

I met up with Mikayla in the engine room, she had already started to disassemble the wall panel and open up the power conduits.  “I definitely heard the ticking sounds coming from this section, so I really think our problem is going to be in here.”  She was right, we opened up the conduit and it was clearly obvious that the inner ceramic coating had been corroded and eaten away.  “Those ceramics are meant to last at least a million light years of travel, I’ve never seen ones in such a sad state.” said Mikayla in a concerned voice.  “I don’t even know if the ship has spares of those, because they aren’t supposed to even remotely wear out!”

“I think it’s the neutron boosting, it must be eating the conduits with the overcharge. Ugh it’s going to be a long trip back with a faulty FSD”  I bemoaned.  “Give me an hour or two, I have an idea” replied Mikayla.

So I went and made myself a drink… and planned out the next section of the journey.

Just shy of two hours later, Mikayla came up to the bridge, covered in grime, yet also a lot of ceramic dust.  “I think I have a fix sir, not sure how long it will hold, but it is at least a repeatable fix” she reported.

“Oh you found a way to get more out of those ceramics?” I asked.

“No, I ended up replacing them because they were shot”

“I thought you said there weren’t any replacements”

“Well it turns out that the diameter of the conduit actually matches up pretty well with the diameter of the Hutton Mug.”

“What?”

“I used your Ghaddang chisel and took the bottoms out of a few mugs, placed them end to end with a little filler and voila new conduit.  I was able to actually program the methods into the Auto Field-Maintenance Unit and add a sensor to monitor it.  We should be able to track how bad it is and have the Unit auto repair when needed.  I don’t know if you just knew to bring that ton of mugs, or was it just a fluke?”

“It’s better to be lucky than good!  Onwards! to the next system.  Well actually back to the other system, then onwards!”

So back at Eta Carina Sector EL-Y d19, we were asked to check out coordinates -50|82.  It had been a while since I had used to bearings compass to look up lat and long, and quickly remember why using this method was dumb when we have computers that can just put a marker on the HUD.  In any case we did find the location

We were able to confirm that we were scanning Lividum trees.  Apparently some ship computers get confused about which to report, Lividum or Aureum.  I don’t know about this tech some days, maybe this is like the blue vs gold dress thing that was all the rage on the galatic webs a few years back.

The FSS scan went well, and was passed along to Cannon.  It clearly showed two NSP’s and we did confirm that we were unable to find a viride, and that both appeared Orange in colour.

Summarizing the communication with Cannon on the issues with Eta Carina Sector EL-Y d19:

1. The mollusc is a naming issue, same thing called by different names.

2. The Veride Lagrange cloud, it appears to fluctuate between commanders

3. Aureum Brain Trees, it appears to fluctuate between commanders

Apparently there was a little bit of a reporting problem, and now there are correct forms ( ID:d/e/1 ) to fill out and report issues such as these.  Such a friendly and efficient group.  They thanked us for the submissions and wished us safe travels.

So now we can continue on with our journey.

In the GCRV 6493 system, we found a Roseum Lagrange cloud.  It was very colourful shades of mauve and pink.

While not precisely on our list, we did find some Flavum Metallic Crystals floating about.

There was a little more lively bio signature in this system, P04-Type.  It didn’t mind being scanned from a distance, we went to try and go in for a closer look and picture, but it turned hostile, blasting straight through the shields and directly into the hull!.  We quickly backed off with only minor damages, which the repair limpets should be able to take care of.  Makes me wonder if the engineers could study some of these anomalies, and make use of their odd properties.

So the next system is marked as 325 jumps on our route, and after putting it into the neutron highway calculator, it’s down to 253, but that is still a lot of jumping.  I guess when you need to go 22K Light years, it’s just going to take a while.

Ya, those 253 jumps ended up being a lot more tedious than previous runs.  You see when you are close to the galactic core and you have a decent jump range, the choices of routes are laid in plenty at your feet for your choosing.  When you start to get nearer the outer rim and specifically the outer arms of the galaxy, the options dry up, if not all together disappear.

In the end though, we managed to “Jump the Gap” on our route.  It took a lot of manual plotting, system to system with specific boost injections to get us to the next star, without those we never would have made it.  Lady luck must be riding with us, because we didn’t have to back track at all, and always managed to find a route moving forward.  Even our destination systems were outside of normal jump range.

Well time to scan these systems, and move forward.  I think the next set of jumps actually take us further out, think we may need to do some extra planning on this one. At least for we are going with the arm of the galaxy, not across it.

System: Lyed XJ-I d9-0 A Proto-Lagrange Cloud.  The colours here were very difficult to see due to the lack of luminosity.  It’s dark out here at the edge of the galaxy.

Within that cloud though, we saw the most amazing pinwheels.  Viride Gyre Trees. They majestically spin in place.  We couldn’t see a safe way to “nudge” them, so we avoided that incase they caused serious damage to the ship.

Amongst those pinwheels, we saw a little energy signature.  Took a bit to locate one and get in close for a scan, which the computer identified as a P07-Type Anomaly.  After the shot, we got a little too close, and it definitely discharged something that ate into the shields, but nothing too serious.

One jump over in the Lyed YJ-I d9-0 system we were able to find one more bio signature off the Cannon list, the P05-Type Anomaly.

Mikayla managed to get the vid cam working again, and we were able to capture this short clip of the anomaly when you get too close to it.

We made it to Eorgh Hypa RR-U c19-0, the key was to get back into the center of the arm, then the nav computer could figure out a route.  We dropped in and scanned the local NSP, and found a Roseum Gyre Pod.  It was interesting, but we got to close, and this crazy thing shoots out clouds of corrosion slime of some sort.  We got some on the hull, but luckily it didn’t burn completely through.

We did attempt to use the Research limpet on it, and was rewarded with a Pod Shell Tissue sample.  Not exactly sure who would want this, but I’m sure it will bring in a few credits somewhere.

So getting to Jongoae UX-L d7-0 wasn’t too bad, we stuck the center of the galactic arm and cruised along.  Not much in the way of neutron stars out this far, so it was just standard jump and bump along.  3 NSP in this system, all appeared to be of the Proto-Lagrange type.

This one had Aurarium Gyre pods, which seemed extremely docile.

We were actually able to get really close to it, and it never responded with any maneuvers of any kind.

We sent in a probe, and it came back with an Outer Tissue Sample.  Since this one was an outer tissue sample, makes me wonder if the other one was an inner tissue sample.  Still haven’t found a good place to sell these yet.

We submitted another ticket to the good folks at Cannon, about the Viridis Gyre Tree.  Our computer was bringing it up as Viride Gyre Tree, which we are assuming is the same thing.

We also found some Aurarium Gyre Trees, spinning along side the Viride ones.  Quite a show really, makes me wonder if they spin from the solar wind?

Finally, there were some Lindigoticum Ice Crystals as well, you know the ones that freeze everything they come close to.

The next stop on the route planner has us going to Drokoe QK-X b34-0, which is 279 jumps, and across the gap.  The way it’s drawn, i don’t even think there are stars there for us to jump through.  The downsides of being out on the arms of the galaxy.  Going to need to do some galnet digging and see if there is a route we can take.

Being so far out from the galactic center certainly does give you a different perspective on things.  Everything we’ve ever know is all located in there somewhere.

Of course, when you turn and face the other direction, it’s just black….

After much searching and false hope, I did mange to find someone else who had jumped the gap, and provided some systems.  There were some issues though with the names, but I was able to plot a route using these systems as a guide.  Not sure if it is the most optimal, but at least I didn’t hit any dead ends, and it certainly was better than backtracking.  I did have a jump range of 67 Ly, along with plenty of materials for FSD boosting:

1    HYPAO AEWSY ND-K D8-0

2    HYPAO AEWSY IX-L D7-0

3    HYPAO AEWSY DR-N D6-0

4    HYPAO AEWSY XP-P D5-0

5    HYPAO AEWSY XP-P D5-0

6    HYPAO AEWSY LX-U D2-0

7    HYPAO AEWSY CL-Y D0

8    HYPAO AEWSY RL-Y D0

9    HYPI AEWSY NF-A D0

10    DRYO AIN VT-Z D13-0

11    DRYO AIN RN-B D13-0

12    DRYO AIN QN-B D13-0

13    DRYO AIN PN-B D13-0

14    DRYO AIN IW-E D11-0

15    DRYO AIN EQ-G D10-0

16    DRYO AIN AK-I D9-0

17    DRYO AIN WD-K D8-0

18    DRYO AIN TX-L D7-0

19    DRYO AIN PR-N D6-0

20    GONGAO GH-S D5-0

21    DRYO AIN HF-R D4-0

22    DRYO AIN EZ-S D3-0

23    DRYO AIN AT-U D2-0

24    DRYO AIN XM-W D1-0

25    DRYEAE AIN EG-Y D0

26    GROEM JO-Z D13-0

Took a snapshot of the nav computer, to give a rough indication of the path we took back, which is in the blue circle.  The other path lower on the screen, is where we entered.

So it was a major set of jumps to get to Drokoe QK-X b34-0.  We repaired the FSD at least twice in that trip. Mikayla did the plotting of systems over the bridge one at a time, which was very time consuming, but in the end we made it across, and got back on to the neutron highway.

This system had two NSP.  The first we cam across contained two types of Ice Crystals.  Prasinum, and Roseum.  I believe this might have been another Viride Lagrange cloud, but unfortunately the computer won’t scan the same cloud twice.

We also found this little Flavum Bullet Mollusc.  Definitely shaped like a bullet.

The second NSP was a little bit of an oddity. We dropped out of supercruise on it, but we couldn’t keep up with it, even at full engine power in the FarOutDude!.  It just kept pulling away.  Mikayla jumped into the pilot seat and turned the ship around to come up in front of its path, so that it would go past us.   After a couple of tries she managed to fly right through it, but nothing ever came up on our scanners.  “Maybe those Bullet molluscs go for a spin every once in a while?” Mikayla pondered.

Just a few hops over, in NGC 3199 Sector EB-X c1-6 we were to find a couple more Bullet Mollusc.  The first NSP we dropped into turned out to be a Rubicundum Lagrange Cloud.  Never seen something so red in my life.  “It looks like something massive blead to death out here!” comment Mikayla.

Within that red cloud, we did find some purpureum metallic crystals

We also found a Lividum Bullet Mollusc, one of the two we needed from this system.

Here we used the remote camera, and caught us looking at a mollusc who was looking at us it seems.

In the next NSP we found some Rubeum Crystals, a stark contrast of Red in this what we think is a viride cloud.

And the sensors picked up a Viride Bullet Mollusc.  Glad to cross him off the list.

Managed to get the remote camera in for a close picture…..

Maybe a little too close, the Viride variety appear to be rather aggressive, shooting charges into shields and rubbing up against the ship.  Maybe it was just trying to be friendly, but we didn’t stick around to find out.

We dropped in on: Drokoe FU-O b39-0.  “I’m picking up some Ruins on Planet C 7” said Mikayla as she scanned the system.  “Are those guardian ruins?  Can we go check them out?  I never got to go with you when we were back in the bubble, I would love the chance to see them.”

“I don’t know, last time I visited a site, I was accosted by some pretty old tech that still seemed to be working, or at least working enough to put holes in scarab crawlers!” I replied warily.  “Ah comn, we’ve got 4 scarabs in the hold, we can risk one can’t we?” she asked.

“I suppose, but we bail at the first sign of danger,  I’m not risking the ship on that ancient tech.”

We touched down and scanned for any signatures, but only found a few small power sources, and nothing that looked harmful.  We checked out some ancient codex, but there wasn’t much to decipher that we could find.  They do show some strange patterns.  Guardian tech did always freak me out a little, so cold and alien.

At our approach in a couple of locations, some of the tech turned on, and these relic towers would rise out of the dirt.  They contained this blue glowing prism.  Mikayla thought they were extremely interesting and had us bring one on board so that she could study it closer.  I didn’t like the idea, but it didn’t seem harmful, so no use in fighting about it.

“Ok, let’s get back to the hunt here, I think we are supposed to be looking for that Rubeum Bullet Mollusc in this system.  Let’s head over to that NSP.” I called out.

We dropped in and were able to find these guys, and boy were they angry little fellows.  We found them in a tight cluster, and they aggressively ate at our shields, which just about dropped before we could boost away.  Definitely not to be trifled with when in packs.

It definitely was an eerie Lagrange cloud with the star barely able to shine through.

Drokoe AN-H d11-6 a nice little Proto-Lagrange Cloud at 5K Ls

Between the Albidum Ice Crystals and the Albidum Silicate Crystals, this particular NSP appeared to have had all of its colour sucked out.  It was the most bland grey/white I have seen in a long while, especially on this trip.

We did find the Cereum Bullet Mollusc.  Sorry for the poor picture but the creature was aggressive and attacked our ship when we tried to get close for a picture.

We noticed two other NSP in the system, and thought we would check them out.  Set the cruise control and went to get a cup of coffee.  I thought it was odd that the cruise control hadn’t started the slow down process yet.  When I returned to the captain’s chair I realized my mistake, it was 500k Ls away.  5 Light Days, ya ok that isn’t a good measurement, but its far, so I might as well go get dinner after I finish this cup of coffee.

So in the two NSP at the 500K Ls, we ran across Purpureum Crystals, Roseum Ice Crystals, Cereum Bullet Molluscs, Rubeum Metallic Crystals, and as seen here in the photo, Rubeum Silicate Crystals.

We also found a Viride Bullet Mollusc, and when we scanned it, we found a new “trait”, not exactly sure what that means, but the computer looks a little funky on the text, so perhaps its just an error

We scanned the planets, since we were out this way, but didn’t find anything.  Onto the ~250 jumps to the next system!!!!!

Jump Jump Jump, scoop scoop scoop, you sort of get into a rythym.  Hyphaups HC-M d7-1, we found a Rubeum Rhizome Pod.

a couple of jumps away in Hyphaups NI-K d8-0 we found: Purpureum Rhizome Pod

a few more jumps into Oodgosly AM-D d12-7, and a Blatteum Quadriparte Pod

a few more jumps into  Oodgosly AH-D d12-10 and we have Prasinum Ice Crystals

The computer also marked out some Albidum Quadoparite Pods in this system.

Don’t let the name pod fool you, these are definitely some very large creatures, although they appeared docile to our ship.

A second type of Quad Pod in the system, the Caeruleum type.

Found Viride Quadripartite Pod a couple of jumps over in the Oodgosly GI-B d13-11 system.we had to turn down the music on the ship, these had an interesting gurgling sound to them.

We were definitely deep out in the east side of the galaxy in the system of Coesky DW-U d3-0.  We were here to find Gypseeum Rhizome Pods, and we did, but thank goodness we still had some fsd injections, because the system was a little difficult to reach.

So at the farthest most reaches to the east in the Tenebrae region, in the system:Dryeou Fleau XJ-A d0 we found Roseum Ice Crystals

Flavum Ice Crystals

Prasinum Silicate Crystals

Purpureum Silicate Crystals

Rubeum Silicate Crystals

Candidum Rhizome Pod

Cobalteum Rhizome Pod

“Well Mikayla, that was definitely a system worth coming out this way for, and at least it wasn’t as bad as the Xibalba region, only a few manual jumps with the FSD booster.”  I commented after a long day of scanning.  “I agree commander, the next zone though is quite a few jumps away, and I am afraid this is a gap we won’t be able to jump.” said Mikayla slightly disheartened.  “You are right, we are going to have to back track a bit through Lyra’s Song it seems” I moaned, “nothing worse that backtracking, but I guess its what needs to be done.”

“Not only that, commander, but the basic travel plan has it at 325 jumps!  I’ll see what I can come up with on the Spansh on galnet, hopefully it provides some good news”

After a bunch of work on the star charts and plotting, we agreed that a central route down the center of the arm seemed the most efficient, at least time wise. So we plotted a course, and started jumping.  Mikayla took over after a few hours, and I hit the bunks for a bit of shut eye.

I rolled out of the bunk, and said to myself, “Less beer next time.”  I got dressed and headed up to the flight deck, and thought, well “maybe more brandy instead of beer”.

“Hey Mikayla, how come we are stopped? I thought I would be up for the last leg, we aren’t there yet are we?” I asked.

She replied, “No, I was jumping through systems and just happened to notice that this system had an NSP, and we needed to let the auto repair fix the drives, so I thought it was a good stopover point”

“Find anything interesting?”

You bet, the system is Phooe Aod PY-I d9-3 and there appeared to be some Proto Lagrange Clouds.

Rubellum Peduncle Tree

Cairuleum Peduncle Tree

Candidum Peduncle Pod

Viride Peduncle Tree

Prasinum Metallic Crystals

I managed to get an external shot on that last metallic crystals.

“I did manage to take you picture you might find funny” giggle Mikayla, as she shouted at me “THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!”

“okay, okay, I will take over, get some rest, its still a number of jumps to the next system.”

Braisao ZP-V d3-16 was the target, and it was up there with the long stints.   While jumping, I pulled a few jugs of beer from the cargo. I tuned in the Galnet to an old set of radio waves of a “Late Show”, something called “Hashtags”.  Old videos are sometimes the greatest to get through a long string of jumps.   Turns out this system is nearly a forest filled with trees and posd, starting with a Viride Peduncle Tree.

Candidum Peduncle Pod

Caeruleum Peduncle Pod

Ostrinum Peduncle Tree

Rubellum Peduncle Tree

Gypseeum Peduncle Pod

Caeruleum Peduncle Tree

So I finished scanning that system, and figured I’d get a run to the next system.  On the route, I came across another system that had a few NSP that weren’t on the schedule, but hey since we are out this far, I decided to drop and take a look.  System: Myiesoae WU-M d8-7.  Found a Purpureum Peduncle Pod for my troubles.

Onwards to the next system on the list!

So landed in Phreia Byio PU-K c10-0, and managed to find the two pods from this system, Purpureum Peduncle Pod

And the other Rufum Peduncle Pod. hehehe Rufie Pods.  “I heard that” said Mikayla, as she came up on to the bridge. “Ya just trying to keep it light, still a lot of systems to go!”

Finally made it to Joorai NI-K d8-163, and there is a really interesting anomaly here, a P12-Type Anomaly

trying to get a little closer

A few jumps more and we were in Joorai NI-K d8-9, looking for some anomalies..  we found the  P09 first

P09

In the same system we also found the P08

P08

One jump more into Joorai NI-K d8-115, and we found a Type P14

Before it started to affect our systems, I was able to grab an external shot

A number of jumps to finally get to Plua Chruia IB-X d1-5, Mikayla and I took turns at the helm and repairing the FSD drive, but we eventually got there.  found the Albidum Chalice Pod in this system.

an external view

That crystal was a lingdigoticum silicate crystal we also found in this proto lagrange cloud

Mikayla cranked through a number of systems and brought us into Syrivu DL-P d5-2, and we were able to grab a couple of shots of these Ostrinum Chalice Pods

Also had the external camera working in this system, and so were able to grab a shot of that pod with the crystals in the back

“Ok, I think my shift is over” said Mikayla, “these planets are starting to look like chocolate chip cookies.  You take over, I’m getting some food and hitting the sack.”

After what felt like a billion jumps, made it into Ploea Brou BL-Y b14-5, and I was able to locate the Rubeum Squid Mollusc.

Busted out the external ships camera, and as the ship says “Far Out Dude!”

A little closer this time, we found these roseum squid molluscs hiding in an asteroid belt, all by themselves.

couple of hops over in Flyeia Byoea UK-Q b24-6, and we find some Puniceum Squid Molluscs

such little guys, so cute!

Flyeia Byoea GE-K c11-32 Abulum Squid Mollusc

Ploea Brou RH-D c12-27: Caeuleum Squid Mollusc

Pyra Dryoae ET-O d7-7 : Caeruleum Chalice Pod

Iorady EI-B d13-0: K13-Type Anomaly.

“They look like torches in the darkness, especially way out here on the north edge of the galaxy” I commented.  “Let me see if I can grab a snapshot from the external camera.

“So I have to ask Commander, why does it smell strongly of burnt electronics throughout the ship?” asked Mikayla.  “Well, a few systems back, and L class start had a ridiculous exclusion zone, so large in fact that when I jumped into the system I didn’t even see the edge of it, and I sort of ran into it.” I answer sheepishly.

“That’s not great, and the integrity of the ship is also way down, those Neutron boosts really do a number on this ship” said Mikayla as she scanned over the system reports.  “I heard the new Deep Space Support Array (DSSA) has been setup, and there is one close by in Beagle Point, just 1000 Ly away.”

“Dang, I wasn’t planning on being back in Beagle point so soon, but I guess that’s the next stop if you say we need the repairs” I replied.  “Yes we need them, and I think we both need a break from the ship, it will be good to see some new faces.”  commented Mikayla.

So we set a course and a few jumps we were in Beagle Point, Turned out they had a tourist sign even in this system.

As tradition would have it, when in Beagle Point, we raise a solute to Zy.

“These carriers certainly bring the light of civilization to the darkness of the Galaxy” I commented as we flew in to the Distant Worlds Carrier [V2W-85Z]

“To think, we were looking at the galaxy from the opposite side just a short time ago” bemused Mikayla.

It cost us a few credits, but the deck crew took care of the standard repairs.  When we got into the interior though, they told us that it needed some major overhauls, and that our integrity was at 0%.  I told them to ignore my personal life and just fix the ship.

Oh and put some lipstick on it.

Both Mikayla and I took some time aboard the carrier, meeting new people and relaxing while the work was being done to the FarOutDude!

It wasn’t long before the work was completed, it the ship was restocked, and the paint had dried.  Time to get back to work on this adventure.

So we were heading to the next system on the list, but it was a bunch of FSD boost jumps on the systems, but we came across Pyraea Euq AF-R d4-0 , which had the two next items we needed on the check list, first being Cereum Aster Tee

Along with the Cereum Aster Pod

System: Pyrooe Dryiae ZQ-C d0 we found Puniceum Aster Pod

System: Cliewoae DS-H d11-0 : Rubellum Aster Pod

Also found the same Aster Tree

Cliewoae UF-L d9-0: Prasinum Aster Tree

Finally after a number of specific FSD boosts to get to Cliewoae VA-L d9-0, we found 5 of the items we needed in this system:Rubeum Ice Crystals

Purpureum Ice Crystals

Lindigoticum Aster Pod

Flavum Silicate Crystals

Albidum Ice Crystals

This was all in the Proto Lagrange Cloud, which we had previously scanned in other systems

“Well that was a stint and half” commented Mikayla. “The longest jumps between systems we have on our map, started at 389, but glad the Spansh software on the galnet was able to bring that down. So here we are in the Flyoo Groa SO-Z e0 system, looking for Stolon Trees and Pods”.

“Stolen?” I asked.

“No Stolon, and don’t start with the puns…” replied Mikayla.

“Alright, alright, you snap some shots while I fly.” I sulked.

We found them in the Roseum Lagrange Cloud

Stolon Tree

Stolon Pod

After such a long set of jumps, we noticed that one of the DSSA ships was in this system, so we stopped in at the Solsen’s Alastor for a few light repairs and supplies, but mostly just to get off our ship and see some other people.  It does get lonely out here in the deep.

Nearly as many jumps as that last stint to Aiphaisty YE-A d130 we managed to find the lifeform we were looking for, a Q07-Type Anomaly

“They sort of look like white eyeballs” said Mikayla, “they kinda creep me out”

According to the logs, we were about 60% the way through this trip, and here we are in the Dryu Chraea FH-D d12-49 system at a proto lagrange cloud.  “You aren’t going to like this one commander” snickered Mikayla, “Space Kale”

“Even the galaxy has it’s vegetables jokes i suppose” I responded, but at least it seems that the Anomaly here, Type Q01 appears to like the stuff.

“Approaching Wembeau KM-V e2-12 ” said Mikayla as we dropped out of the hyper jump.  “Where’s the star?” I asked in a bewildered state.  “Stop stop stop, turn away” shouted Mikayla, “It’s a black hole!”

It is a little odd to be dropping in and not seeing the shining light of a star, or the beams of a neutron, just some very weird light distortion.  Not much else can bend a whole galaxay except for black holes.

After a little hunting around the system we found the L03-Type Anomaly

“They are like beacons in this dark cloud” commented Mikayla as she scanned them all.

Another set of jumps to get to Xothuia EG-Y g95, where we found a Viride Lagrange Cloud

We also found some Solid Mineral sphere, more space poop. “I wonder if they ate the Space Kale at the system a while back….”

Found the Lindigoticum Bulb Mollusc we came for in this system.

We stared it down intensely, while we launched a research probe.

“EWWW, Brain tissue?!?!” Mikalya.

A couple of hops to Eorl Bre TE-L c23-51, and we find a Luteolum Lagrange Cloud

Viride Bulb Mollusc

“EWWW, Double EWWWW, Mollusc Fluid !?!?!” Mikayla.

Eorl Bre ZP-E d12-276 contained a Caeruleum Lagrange Cloud

We found the Luteolum Bulb Mollusc in this system, and we were able to launch a research limpet.

“Comn, these mollusc samples are gross” said Mikayla, “Oh and the mollusc fluid sample, I still don’t know how you manage to get a ton of it on the ship, its leaking.  I have a tray catching it, but we need to repair that module to keep it from flooding the hold with goo.”  “Oh and I won’t be cleaning it up if it does break” informed Mikayla.

In the system Vegnue UE-Q e5-33 we found the Viride Parasol Mollusc

In another lagrange cloud we found the Luteolum version of the Parasol Mollusc

After a quick jaunt to the region known as Newton’s Vault, we doubled back to hit Vegnue AG-O e6-199and find the  Lindigoticum Parasol Mollusc

We keep checking things off the list, headed into Vegnoae QO-I d9-2277 and we found the E02-Type Anomaly

Phleedgaa JS-I d10-280 after much searching, we found the E03-Type Anomaly, and they were certainly tricky little guys, always wanting to run away.

We reached the 70% on the distance mark when we jumped into Dryio Bloo YE-A g1518.  This system was a very bright O class star, and it had a very dark Rubucundum Lagrange Cloud.

That bright star and dark cloud really made these purpureum metallic crystals almost glow.

what we were really here to find though were these Lingigoticum Capsule Molluscs.  They were friendly for the most part, but when they got close to one another they would emit some sort of energy.  One tried it with my ship, and luckily the shields were up.

“You remember that time we invited that recruit from Moxon’s Mojo that one time, and after feeding him too many lavian brandies he puked his guts out in the hold?  Ya, that’s the colour of this cloud.  I don’t think I am going to want to come back to Dryio Bloo LT-Y d1-1089 any time soon”  Mikayla said with some disgust.

“Alright Viride Capsule Mollusc detected and scanned” I announced.

“Hey Hey, these guys like to get frisky!” I shouted.  “Got a picture of the action!  just don’t get too close unless you bring the protection shields!”

What was supposed to be a quick hop over to  Dryio Bloo LT-Y d1-311 turned out to be a 380K ls ride out to a NSP to find these little critters.

So we jumped into Wepaa BA-A g524, and thought alright a close NSP to the main star, and we found an  E04-Type Anomaly

But then to find the K05 type we needed to fly a long way out

This fiery little devil certainly liked to play

Seems we were on the hunt for a lot of K type anomalies in the Wepaa GG-Y f343 system.

K06-Type Anomaly

K04-Type Anomaly

K08-Type Anomaly

“Argh this scanning computer will only scan a lagrange cloud once in each system” I rumbled as I banged my fist off the console.  “This system, had a Caeruleum Lagrange Cloud and a Croceum Lagrange Cloud but we already scanned them in this system and so they won’t show up here”

“Luckily we can still scan the anomalies, like this K03 type”

And this K01 type

“Alright buckle in Mikayla, we are gonna see how many of these systems and sights we can burn through at top speed. We will celebrate after we get a decent chunk done.” I prompted Mikayla.  “Righto Commander, time to make some progress” replied Mikayla.

Next up Eol Prou IW-W e1-1868.  “WTF, Lindigoticum  Umbrella Mollusc, but we already scanned that in some other system because we didn’t get the first scan…. clearly we need to optimize this route for future people”

System: Asura  Had apparently already found Luteolum Umbrella Mollusc

We submitted another issue to the cannon site as they had this listed as Virens, when our scanners picked it up as Viride, we assumed it was a simple naming issue.

System : Dryoea Flyi II-S e4-6870 we found the luteolum storm lagrange cloud

We dropped onto the planet 3 a a, and we found the different speices of tubers all at site 4

At the storm cloud, we also found the K12 Type Anomaly

We were also to find a number of crystals, but we had already scanned them in other systems: Prasinum Metallic Crystals, Rubeum Metallic Crystals, Flavum Metallic Crystals

System: Agnairy JH-U e3-2113 we found the Viride Lagrange Storm Cloud

found the T01-Type Anomaly, it was just barely a dot in the sky, and a flighty little thing to try and scan

System : Byoomao JC-B d1-3681 found the K10 anomaly

System: Myriesly MS-T e3-3831 we found the T04-Type Anomaly.

Found P13-Type Anomaly in the Nyuena ID-Z c1-10 system

Fiesty little guys definitely sparked when we got too close

“I don’t know what he’s doing back there, but he’s been at it a long time” thought Mikayla to herself, “I hope he is ok”.  In any case, it looks like we have reached the top, at least according to this beacon in  Nyuena RO-Z d184

Found the P15, scanned, and logged.

“Oooh those are some pretty trails these anomalies leave, so magical” said Mikayla to herself.  “What is he doing back there, and what’s that smell?  He knows his shift is coming up i hope”

Diving into the Myriesly HR-N e6-4354 system, we found a storm cloud of the Viride Type.  “Hang on back there” relayed Mikayla over the comms, “Some turbulence in this system”

After a little searching I was able to find the Q02-Type Anomaly, and get a shot of it.

Seeing the Anomaly, along with that raging storm in the background was truly inspiring.

a few hops over in Myriesly CB-F d11-2373 inside of an asteroid field, I the found the Q06-Type Anomaly

There was this little cute one that was checking out the asteroid, well maybe not so cute when you get to close, as it just burnt a couple of holes in the hull.  Went right through the shields as if they weren’t there at all.

L05-Type Anomaly found in the Byoomao MI-S e4-5423 system.  “I may have to go back there soon and see what’s going on, its almost time for his shift, and that smell has changed, well it changed a few times i guess now” thought Mikayla

Couple of hops through the core of the galaxy to get to Stuemeae KM-W c1-342, and here we are looking for the K11 Type Anomaly.

System: Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 found the L04-Type Anomaly.  They were away from everything just kinda floating out there in space

“I think he must have broken something in the hold, cause that smell has come back” thought Mikayla.  “Luckily there is a station in this system, so I’ll set it down there, and we can fix whatever he has busted in the back, and get up and stretch a bit. The Explorer’s Anchorage, guess we will see how many anchors there are in the pilot’s lounge.”

Mikayla left the ship and spent some time aboard the Anchorage for some RnR.  After some time she returned to the ship to find the Commander ready to depart, and the smell seemed to have departed.  “We need to, of course, stop by The Center!” I told Mikayla,”just one hop over, and then on our way”

System: Juenae OX-U e2-8852, Rubicuncum Lagrange Cloud… wait a minute that is supposed to be a Roseum Lagrange Storm Cloud….. uh oh time to send another report.  Hopefully there is one close by…

We did find the L01-Type Anomaly in the system though.

System: Phraa Pra HH-U e3-1354 we found the T02-Type Anomaly

This tiny little anomaly just flitted about, and seemed to be friendly.  Then it completely phased through the ship like it was nothing!  It didn’t seem to affect any systems at least, but what a scare!

Oh we got some feedback from the Cannon group over the galnet, it appears that the next closest location for that Roseum Storm Cloud is Phleedgaa UJ-Q e5-185.  Oh man, that’s like 2 regions away, in the wrong direction…… Well we needed to get to Ryker’s Hope anyway.

Nice, was able to get the Roseum Lagrange Storm Cloud in the Phleedgaa UJ-Q e5-185 system, so there is at least one known location for it

So that was like nearly a 40K LY detour….. well back to the grind of jumping!

Back on track in Shrogeau GG-Y e119, found a Rubicundum Lagrange Storm Cloud

Same system, but a different NSP we found the P03-Type Anomaly

Shrogaae KK-A d2672, we found the Rubeum Octahedral Pod, it looks like an 8 sided dice.  Noisy little things, and if you get too close the release a cloud of spores.

A system over in Shrogaae KK-A d983, we found Niveum Octahedral Pod

We also found these Chryseum Void Heart, which either spring from the octa pods, or they eat them one of the two

more 8 sided dice in Shrogaae KK-A d1049.  We found Viride Octahedral Pod

Caeruleum Octahedral Pod located in Shrogaae KK-A d1791.  Keep rolling those dice.  Pushed a bunch into some spinning asteroids and that sent them flying!

Gru Phio DV-W d2-440  We landed on planet 5 D A and headed to the biological site #1.  I’m not sure if there is something wrong with the scanner, but we drove around and scanned what appeared to be the same type and colour of tubers, but they came up as the following four.  Odd, but that’s for the scientist to figure out.

Now we are making some progress, heading into Gru Hypai DL-X e1-20 looking for the K02-Type

Jump Jump Jump and we are in Blaa Hypai OZ-O d6-16 taking a shot of Lindigoticum Bell Molluscs

Eeshorks WO-A e191 we came upon Viride Reel Molluscs, and these look like oreo cookies that someone has eaten the center out of.  Very odd indeed

Eeshorks QI-B d1496 the next system over, and there is a Luteolum Reel Mollusc.  Well ok they appear to be all stuck together for some reason….

Greae Phio DT-G d11-1570 for the Lindigoticum Reel Mollusc

Blu Ain QC-M d7-3330.  We found a P type anomaly

Graea Hypue DC-T d4-84 landed on planet 1, and found this very odd Amphora plant, nothing like it so far else in the galaxy that I have seen at least.

And on the same planet, the last of the brain trees needing to be scanned!

Eodgorsts TX-C b13-3 looking for the Q05 type anomaly, and wow this is the most gray boring place it seems, hopefully these are exciting little guys.

Found the Q05 types, little green lights playing among the asteroids.

We got to close, and these little guys sure put out the heat!

Skaudai YP-O e6-17 looking for Gypseeum Bell Molluscs, and there they are!

Ellaisms QX-U e2-43, looking for P02 types, second to last of the P types to find!

Pru Aescs NC-M d7-192 looking for the last p type, number 01!  P01-Type Anomaly

Nyeajaae DA-Z a27-2 for the last of tubers, the viride kind

Trifid Sector FW-W d1-233 for a lividum collared pod

Trifid Sector DL-Y d157, supposed to find a Roseum Lagrange Cloud and a Rubicundum Lagrange Cloud, but we’ve already been through those in other systems, as well as purpurpeum metallic crystals, which we had also previously seen, so really we are looking for Albidum and Rubicundum Collared Pods

Rubicundum Collared Pod

Albidum Collared Pod

Trifid Sector BQ-Y d244 for the last collared pod, the Blatteum.

HD 160167 looking for the Caeruleum Gourd Mollusc

Traikeou SE-P d6-16 for the Purpureum Gourd Mollusc

Prai Hypoo CY-C b3-1 was the next system, and here we found the Blatteum Bell Mollusc

In System: Ovomly AA-H d10-13   Looking for Caeruleum Torus Mollusc

a couple of hops over to Ovomly SS-K d8-8 and we are looking for  a Viride Torus Mollusc

System: Ovomly HG-O d6-0  This one has 5 items we are looking for, a plethora of space oddities

Blatteum Torus Mollusc

Rutulum Calcite Plates

Viride Calcite Plates

Luteolum Calcite Plates

Lindigoticum Calcite Plates

The white dwarf as the primary star in this system makes everything utterly dark, thank goodness this ship has night vision, otherwise I don’t know how we would have picked anything out at all.

Ovomly DA-Q d5-16 found the Rubellum Torus Mollusc

What felt like a billion hard jumps to get to Cyuefoo LC-D d12-0,including a bunch of hand boosting to get out there, we found a L09-Type Anomaly

At the edge of the galaxy, it really is cold and lonely

The L09 just phased right through our ship with no effect

Byaa Thoi MI-B d13-0 last system on the list for that final K07-Type Anomaly

Mikayla came out onto the bridge “How come you didn’t wake me on that last shift?”  I replied “Well you remember that smell?  I boxed up some Mollusc fluid, Lavian Brandy and Fice in the Mollusc Membrane and strapped it to the outside of the ship.  That neutron boosting did wonders to the concoction, and after a few glass, i was wired and couldn’t stop jumping.” 

“You didn’t record any of our personal logs”  Said Mikayla as she scanned over the console, “That could get you in trouble with the Feds for neglecting your duties.

“I will get them added after I get some sleep, and a chance to recuperate.  Really don’t recommend drinking that stuff, unless you are prepared to go for hours”.

Route Taken

“Where to next commander?” asked Mikayla.

“Well, according to the computer, there are only two regions we haven’t been to yet, the Formadine Rift and the Elysian Shore.” I suggested.

“oooh” said Mikayla “I hear there are some serious ghost stories in the Formadine Rift, like real ghost ships.  That sounds like a fun next target.  Are we going to continue with the Cannon Challenge, and explore those few new items?  I hear there are some new molluscs being discovered!”

“Yes absolutely, but let’s check a few other items off the list before we go on another round trip around the galaxy.  I’d like to get back to the bubble for a bit and take care of some business.  I hear the Thargoids might be making a resurgence.” I told Mikayla.

And indeed there was a ghost ship, which we found.  Called the Zurara, supposedly sabotaged after dropping beacons.  For a ghost ship is certainly didn’t look sabotaged, almost like it was once again ready to roll, although the logs from the ship clearly laid it out differently.

Thank goodness for the DSSA, we stopped at the Frontier Sanctuary for some rest, and to plan our next set of jumps.

Mikayla and I did a whole lot of galnet searching, coming up with a list of potential sites, composed mostly of tourist beacons and codex archive entries. Roughly 622 systems to visit, with just over 900 items to see.  Definitely a trip, and we should be able to incorporate those other missing items from the Cannon list.  Ya I see Beagle point in the list again, we will see if we truly need to go there for a third time or not.

Onwards!