The stars are not a place, but a question.

[Tom Bacon]

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon - First entry
Stardate 3311.121 – currently somewhat 2k Lightyears from Colonia into Thors Rest

I am Commander Tom Bacon – and I've been out here for weeks now.
After a long career as the captain of a mining vessel in service of the Federation, loyal to President Winters, I finally hung up that job for good. The payouts were always solid, often even excellent – but my life? A daily grind of jump plans, laser noise, and supply routines.

With my severance package, I bought myself a brand-new Corsair.
Not a ship that excels in any one field – it's no superior fighter, no top-tier freighter. And there are far better options for long-range expeditions. The Series 5 FSD barely manages 44 light-years per jump. There are faster ships, tougher ships, more efficient ships.
But this one? She's a beautiful all-rounder. And I like her. I like my Normandy.

Why? Why would someone like me need another ship?

Because I'm on the move.

Finally free to do what I want.
So I just went – headed for Colonia, without the Colonia Highway, without the Neutron Superhighway. I went straight through the middle, jump by jump. The Normandy behaved admirably: when I arrived in Colonia, the damage was minimal, the FSD still at 89 %. A good ship – no miracle of engineering, but my home.

Colonia was… a success, yes – but oddly unfulfilling.
Missions, unlocking engineers, more mining – again? No. That’s not why I left.

I have no concrete plan. No map, no target, no noble research project.
But there’s a hollow place in my chest that I want to fill.

I don’t want to hear the sound of limpets anymore, or the dull hum of mining lasers, or deal with the constant alerts caused by idiots trying to steal my cargo.
I want to experience something that men my age are usually denied.

I know I’ve been lucky.
Being able to afford a ship like this is a privilege. Most workers out there couldn’t dream of it. But so what – I have it, so I’d better make something of it.

I added an Auto Field-Maintenance Unit to the Normandy – and just took off again.
Jump by jump – and I’m currently in the Dryoea Flyuae SA-K C10 system.

I was used to logging my mining results – the onboard computers make that easy.
But keeping a log of a journey that has no destination? That feels strange.
Only today did I think: Maybe I should do it anyway.

By now, I’ve discovered countless new planets, scanned all sorts of biological life – and even charted three Earth-like worlds.
We’re not allowed to land on them, of course. But I would have loved to.

I don’t really know what drives me.
Maybe it’s the emptiness. Maybe it’s hope. Maybe just the need to leave something behind – even if it’s only this record of my journey.

If you’re interested, I’ll post occasional FTL fragments and thoughts from my log here on the net. Not always spectacular. Not always structured. But honest.

Because sometimes, when the sky gives you no answers,it helps to ask a question.

 

[ꝁestrel]

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

 

[Jaffz]

I'm not sure what the question is but I know that the answer is a minimum of 2000 tonnes of cargo space

 

[AngryAntz]

I'm not sure what the question is but I know that the answer is a minimum of 2000 tonnes of cargo space

or 42

 

[TansyShade]

I'm not sure what the question is but I know that the answer is a minimum of 2000 tonnes of cargo space

Hehe, you are right.

 

[space voyager]

I have no concrete plan. No map, no target, no noble research project.
But there’s a hollow place in my chest that I want to fill.

Heh, SO TRUE. Arguably a feature of Elite, but it does get problematic. I needed like a year off but eventually I came back.

 

[Tom Bacon]

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.128 – currently in BLU AESCS RZ-D B13-5
Day 16

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

Apologies. I mistook this quadrant for a place of meaning. Won’t happen again. But supersize my existential crisis and hold the fries. Or better yet – point me to the next black hole on the menu.

I’ve now completed over 200 additional jumps.
Well – probably more. It’s easy to lose count when everything starts blending together. Jump, scan, occasionally a deep scan for biosignatures. Rinse and repeat.
According to my analysis, I’ve landed on over 100 planets by now – the vast majority of them marked with my first footfall.
A small part of me feels proud of that.
Even if no one else will ever set foot on these rocks, even if no one will remember the names of these systems – I was here.
And in a galaxy this vast, that means something. Because meaning isn’t given by others. It’s made by being present — fully, quietly, and alone.

Sometimes, when I’m in the cockpit staring at the scan results of yet another bacterial bloom on a wind-scoured rock, I think back to my mining days.
Over a decade of labor – carving out tons of void opals, platinum, osmium. Hauling them across pirate-ridden systems.
Constant risk, constant wear, constant stress. And what did I make?
Just enough to buy a Corsair and outfit her to an “acceptable” standard.

Now?
With just a little over 100 biological samples – most of them taken from moss, spores and glowing fungi – I’ve racked up 1.5 billion credits in exploration data.
Let me say that again.
One hundred samples.
One-point-five billion.

No pirates. No haulage. No hull damage. No limb broken.
Makes you wonder what this galaxy actually values.
What it rewards.
Slow, hard, honest work? Or the novelty of a wanderer who bothers to poke a stick at an alien mushroom?
Yesterday, I found a Fonticulua that looked like a loosely wound bath sponge – radiant, delicate, almost… ornamental.
Beautiful, really.
According to my ship’s EDI AI, that single organism is worth 95 million credits.
Ninety-five. For one sample.

I mean, sure – I’ll take it. I’d be a fool not to.
But still: why?
It’s just exodata.Not a gemstone you can hold. Not a platinum ingot with mass and weight. Just numbers. Coordinates. Spectral tags. Something to feed into a lab back in the Bubble.

Meanwhile, I hear platinum prices are skyrocketing again – because President Winters needs an economic advantage over Grom. More leverage, more power, more fuel for the political machine. What the hell is this?
Don’t get me wrong – I welcome fair pay.
But this?
Is there no upper limit to greed anymore?
Or have we all just agreed that value is whatever someone is desperate enough to chase?
Well.

Normandy remains extremely reliable.
Those prismatic shields are a dream – they’ve already saved me from more than one stray rock.
Still, I’m starting to worry about the power plant. Since it can’t be repaired, seeing it drop to 95 % condition feels… unsettling.
The hull isn’t pristine anymore either – down to 94 %, and of course, I didn’t bring any repair limpets. Rookie mistake.
I never needed them before. I thought I wouldn’t this time, either.
So now I’m considering whether I should head back toward the Bubble. Maybe re-outfit, reinforce a few systems, then continue my journey from there.
But I’m torn.
The far rim of the galaxy still calls to me – a vast silence, waiting.
Yet with only 44 light-years of jump range, the Corsair isn’t exactly the ship for it.

Until I decide, I’ll keep searching this quadrant for signs of life.
You never know what might be out there – just waiting to be seen.
cu o7

 

[Tom Bacon]

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.136 – currently in Dryoea Flyuae AA-A H69
Day 24 since departure

I’ve made up my mind: I’m heading back to the Bubble. I’ve already set course. Beeing, what I am, I record this, while on the Move since 2 Days.

As much as I love the silence out here, the state of my reactor and hull is starting to worry me. The Corsair was never built for long-range exploration – not really. And while I’ve made her work, her design has limits.

Take bio-scanning, for instance. The downward visibility is atrocious.
Crouching nose-down over godforsaken rocks in narrow canyons, chasing faint Fungoid signals? It’s not just tedious.
It’s risky.

Right now, I’m about 120 jumps from Rhea.
Not exactly a quick detour. But what the hell – it’s not like I’m in a hurry.
When i am back, I´ll have done about 1100 Jumps – Wow!

According to my AI, I’ve collected over 4 billion credits’ worth of biological data.
That number still doesn’t feel real.
And that’s not even counting all the first footfalls, Earth-like worlds, and undiscovered systems I tagged along the way.

Now I find myself wondering where to turn all that in.
Because floating around with that kind of net worth attached to your cockpit…
it changes things.

It’s strange.
I was never the kind of pilot who cared much about money.
My job was always simple: get the cargo home, safely.
But out here? With no station in ten jumps’ radius, no workshop, no place to patch up the cracks – it’s different.

And this time, it’s my cargo.
My value. My wealth.
Not Federation property, not someone else's shipment.

And damn it – it was just… flying.
Landing on spheres that have spun through forgotten systems for millions of years, unnoticed, unnamed –
until I showed up.
And now? Now they mean something.

What will I do with the credits?

Buy a Fleet Carrier?

I never planned to. Never even thought about it.
Why would I?
And yet… here I am. Thinking about it.

---

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.131 – currently en route to Rhea
Day 19 since departure

The homebound journey continues.
I’ve scanned nearly every system I passed with the FSS and logged dozens more biosignatures. But I only set down on one or two planets – not out of disinterest, but necessity.

Interesting systems I’ve marked on the star map. I’ll return one day.
For now, the focus is the flight itself.

---

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.133 – currently en route to Rhea
Day 21 since departure

I made a mistake.
Got too close to a star – the first time in years.
Hull integrity dropped to 78 %.
Embarrassing. And dangerous.

The internal modules are holding, thanks to the AFMU – but I’m running low on materials to keep it powered.
So I’ve stopped touching down. I mark what I find. I move on.

No more risks. Just the road home.

Funny how the way you see things changes over time.

In the beginning, this was a journey for the journey’s sake.
Every star felt unique. Every new planet had its own weight.
The colors, the nebulae, the strange lights in distant skies – they stirred something.
Wonder. Reverence. Maybe even joy.

But then… familiarity crept in.
Ah – another G-class sun. More Frutexxa. A nebula, again.
The extraordinary became routine. And the routine became background noise.

And now?
Now that I’ve seen the credit values stacking up…
everything shifts again.

A glimmering spore patch isn’t beauty anymore – it’s 4.6 million.
A glowing crystal formation isn’t strange – it’s a payout.
Each scan becomes a ledger entry. Each discovery, a transaction.

And just like that, the galaxy feels smaller.
Not because it is – but because I’ve started measuring it in numbers.

And that, more than the heat damage, might be the most dangerous thing of all.

---

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.134 – docked at Ito Orbital, Rhea
Day 22 since departure

Made it.
I’m back.

The first thing I did? Ship repair. Of course.
You take care of your ship – it takes care of you. That’s the deal.

I had planned to keep the paint the way it was.
All those scars. Every scratch a memory.
But I signed the service order too fast, wasn’t thinking.
Now she looks brand-new – clean, polished… unfamiliar.
A facelift, I suppose. But it feels like someone else’s ship now.

I liked the shabby look.
It told a story.

Still – it is what it is.

Now the question is: what next?

---

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.135 – docked at Ito Orbital, Rhea
Day 23 since departure

It’s quiet.

Not the silence of deep space – not that vast, indifferent hum.
No, this is the silence after. The kind that creeps in once the adrenaline fades and the systems are back online. When everything is working again… and you’re left alone with the question:

What now?

Over five billion credits now sit in my account.
I had to check the number twice.
All from scanning spores, landing on forgotten rocks, and pointing a nosecone at nothing in particular.
No void opals. No corporate contract. Just the long way home.
A number I never thought I’d see. Not in one lifetime.
And yet – it doesn’t feel like a triumph. Just a balance sheet.

I could buy a Fleet Carrier.
Have it named, staffed, painted in matte black or deep rust.
Set out with my own gravity well, my own floating home.
Command a bridge crew. Call the shots. Be someone.

But that was never the dream.
In fact, I don’t think I ever had a dream. Just a direction.
And for the first time… I’m not sure which way that is.

I’m not tired. Not really.
But I feel something else. Not doubt. Not fear.
Just – weight. The kind you only feel once you stop moving.

Maybe I’ll move again soon.
We’ll see.

Of course I’ll keep going.
But where to? For what purpose? No idea. I’ll have to think about it.

But first:
A real sleep.
A real shower.
And – most of all – a real cup of coffee.

 

[Doctor Dread]

If you find an Outfitting there, see if they sell 9E cargo racks, or 8E Tardis.

 

[Tom Bacon]

If you find an Outfitting there, see if they sell 9E cargo racks, or 8E Tardis.

Damn, I knew I forgot to install the Infinite Storage Paradox Module.
Would’ve saved me the trouble of pretending this Corsair isn’t bursting at the seams with spore data, crust scans, and enough bacterial microreadings to re-seed half the galaxy.
No 9E cargo racks in sight, though.
But I’ve marked a rock in Dryoea Flyuae that sounded hollow. Might’ve been a disguised TARDIS. Or a Dalek Dyson Sphere?

Either way – if anyone sees an 8E TARDIS for sale, tell ‘em Bacon’s looking.
Preferably in matte black.

PS: And if someone stumbles across a 10E Quantum-Folding Cargo Duct, do let me know. I’ve got space for paradoxes.

 

[]M[]

I keep checking on this thread to see when there'll be a new installment in this series, in earnest or otherwise - i hope it hasn't come to this forum just to die, like so many other good ideas?

 

[Doctor Dread]

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon - First entry

I have no concrete plan. No map, no target, no noble research project.
But there’s a hollow place in my chest that I want to fill.

Tom, I'd like to give you one suggestion if I may:

Search for SYROOMEOU FG-Y G8 or SYROOMEOU FG-Y G2 on the galaxy map. It's the top of the world - some of the highest positioned systems directly above Sag A. There's maybe one or two systems even higher, but I couldn't reach them many years ago when I went there with my then-long-range Anaconda of ~60 LY.

The view up there is absolutely mesmerizing. You see all of the galaxy below you, and you feel detached from it all. Worth just sitting there for a couple of days, sipping a nice single malt and having a "Benson, Arizona" moment.


(The only problem for you is your jump range, unfortunately it calls for 80+ LY, cause systems are rarified up there. Making a 86LY Mandalay is a breeze, and it will be worth it I guarantee.)

 

[Tom Bacon]

Hello Commanders!
Oh, I will continuing this series.
But at the moment, I had to realise that my Corsair is useless when it comes to expeditions.
I've now returned to the Bubble and got myself a Mandalay. And what can I say? She wants to FLY.
Except that I basically bought the Corsair just because it looked cool and invested my credits badly - I am pretty happy.
Right now, I'm grinding materials and unlocking engineers – something I've always considered pointless – just a mechanic to keep pilots engaged. But it's necessary. Now my Mandalay has a range of 78 LY – I'm sure I can optimise that a bit more – with the engineers, of course.

I can't wait to get back out there and leave all the scheming with all the community goals behind me. If they want war here soon, I want to be gone.

I can only offer you one screenshot at the moment, taken on a Iceplanet in my Mandalay "Endevour" - I didnt bother to make more from Material grinding – please be patient, I don't get to the PC as often as I would like due to RL. That will change again in 2 weeks.

Tom, I'd like to give you one suggestion if I may:

Search for SYROOMEOU FG-Y G8 or SYROOMEOU FG-Y G2 on the galaxy map. It's the top of the world - some of the highest positioned systems directly above Sag A. There's maybe one or two systems even higher, but I couldn't reach them many years ago when I went there with my then-long-range Anaconda of ~60 LY.

The view up there is absolutely mesmerizing. You see all of the galaxy below you, and you feel detached from it all. Worth just sitting there for a couple of days, sipping a nice single malt and having a "Benson, Arizona" moment.


(The only problem for you is your jump range, unfortunately it calls for 80+ LY, cause systems are rarified up there. Making a 86LY Mandalay is a breeze, and it will be worth it I guarantee.)

This is a most welcome Advice. And I take this as my next Goal - so really Thank you for that!
Fly safe, fly well Commanders o7!
Tom Bacon out

 

[CMDR_XOR]

Greetings CMDR Tom,

I feel the need to reply to this. I mean, it's a nice piece of prose, kept me interested.

Welcome to the void, the big black. It's what I and many others like to call home.

Note: If any of the information below is already known to you, please ignore, this post is based on what I have read which may or may not have given me an idea about what you do or do not know.

First port of call is EDastro dot com and it's interactive map. Now some may say this is immersion breaking, but I beg to differ. It's a super valuable service that arguably should have been part of the galaxy map from the beginning.

Using it and the filters DSSA/IGAU/STAR you will find the permenantly and semi-permenantly placed fleet carriers (hereafter refered to as FC's), dotted throughout the galaxy and when you do see it (for the first time) you realise - you are never that far from somewhere to call a haven.

For context:

DSSA is the "Deep Space Support array", a plethora of FC's dotted strategically around the galaxy, open to all and offering amongst other things repair, rearm, refuel.
IGAU is Intergalatic Astronmical Union (the squadron I am proud to belong to) - Many FC's posted around the galaxy, supporting our squadron surveys and expeditions, but open to all for services ( but they can move)
STAR is Strategic Tritium and Rescue initiative, a network of FC's dedicated to being tritium depots, carrier rescue ships and services for explorers.

I can not say how many 1000's or 10's of thousands these networks have helped, I just know they are the backbone of what long term explorers depend upon.

I will not run through what all the filters do on EDastro, just take a look yourself and see what you find interesting.

I'll give you an example - the first really long trip I did was because I found something on EDastro that piqued my curiosity. I was looking through the planetary nebula (there are lots) and I found something in the Trojan Belt Region called "The Eye of Horror", located at FLIMBUAE CA-A e2. It's a planetary nebula POI (point of interest) and I just loved the name the community had given it and had to see it for myself - it was a long trip, but well worth it - it was spectacular to look at and from about 10 jumps out, I could see this blue space cloud approaching me, getting larger with each jump.

Suffice to say, if you have the inclination, there are many wonders out there to be seen and experienced (flying through your first lightening storm lagrange cloud is a must!)

Several times you have mentioned "What next?", "I feel a need.. ..for something" - To this I will answer, for me, the squadron I belong to. IGAU is a non agression pure exploration squad, the galaxy is our home, our playground and we feel comfortable flying inside it - We have our own goals that are all emergant and not tied to what the game offers the casual player, surveys and expeditions that look to unravel mysteries and anomalies. We are finders of things, we look beyond what is known and try to make sense of the unknown.

As to exploration in general, know that Exobio data is meaningless in powerplay 2, this you can (and should!) sell on any FC you run across with a vista genomics enabled - currently there is no penalty for selling this kind of data anywhere and you will get full value. Cartographic data is a different story, It is worth a lot of powerplay merits to the right faction (Looking at you Li-Young Rui) and obversely is also discounted by -25% if you sell it on any FC in deep space, so be aware of that. However, selling it in the bubble, to the right faction can get you up to a +100% bonus, making 100k credits be actually 200k credits with lots of powerplay merits to boot.

Do not lose the wonder of exploring systems, planets and scanning exobiological samples, us humans have an inbuilt "what's over the next hill?" sensibility and you should embrace it and let it take you whereever it may.

You might be asking "Who is this.. ..person giving me this information?" - CMDR XOR, I am 52 bilion in assets and just about to crack 1 million LY travelled - and this is just factual and not a boast - there are way way more players out there who have done a lot more, but I felt it important to give basic credentials. My carrier is part of the IGAU network on EDAstro, Don't Panic II, located at Dryaa Pruae PX-U d2-0 in Empyrean straights.

If you are curious about what 3rd aprty apps I am using to help exploration, I use EDHM (hud mod), EDD (discovery), EDObscore (Observatory) with plugins, Astroanalyitca, Bioinsights and Evaluator, EDJP (journal processor)

Anyhow, enough rambling from me.
If you would like clarification on anything, please feel free to ask.

CMDR XOR [IGAU]

 

[Tom Bacon]

IGAU

I consider myself more of a casual player – I hate PvP more than anything – I will never understand how a PvP player, who mostly just shoots at every ship exiting a Station, can still claim "that it is an absolute must in order to get better".
Better at what? But, I digress.

That's very valuable information, Cmdr XOR!
I have to thank you for that.
This series is intended to be a kind of log that recounts my travels from my role-playing perspective. I'm an old hand and I also love the old version of role-playing, as it used to be played analogously on game boards in real Live like Dungeons and Dragons - even Warhammer and so on. beeing Austrain, i loved to play "Das schwarze Auge" (The black Eye).

As I already wrote, I unfortunately don't get to play the game much at the moment, just enough to farm materials, visit tech brokers and do some engineering.
I had one allready and a couple of Phase Alloys – but then I couldn't outrun a Thargoid Vessel and lost it^^. The next step would be to unlock Sirius to gain access to their engineer. This is something I avoided years ago because I found it pointless after earning all the other permits. Now I have to catch up.

I also joined the Elite Dangerous German group back then because I didn't want to fly the game in solo mode only – but unfortunately, the group is as good as dead today. Something I also attribute to the fleet carriers introduced at the time. Now most of the Members are scattered across the galaxy, colonising systems (which I find interesting from a Roleplaying Perspective) – but thats why you hardly meet any of Group-players in the bubble anymore.

I have some Credits in my account, but I'm not ready (perhaps not yet) to buy a fleet carrier. I love the expeditions as they used to be years ago. It was much riskier, you had to plan better when you whrer out and 50k LY away from any Service stations. And maintaining an FC is also a financial commitment - as far I understand it - that I don't want to make yet. I dont like to be forced to do mining, Exobio and so on, just to keep my FC up and running.

So, my question is: is there a way to join the IGAU group – even if I'm just a small explorer who wants to travel the galaxy armed with only a Mandalay – or are there certain requirements to meet?
And if so: I don't remember how to do it – where to register or how such an invitation works – I took a 5-year break due to real life and only returned to the game about 2 months ago.

Thanks for your advice, Cmdr, much appreciated. o7

 

[CMDR_XOR]

You are more than welcome!

ED has one of the best communities out there - there are so many players who are willing to point you in the right direction.

I have some Credits in my account, but I'm not ready (perhaps not yet) to buy a fleet carrier. I love the expeditions as they used to be years ago. It was much riskier, you had to plan better when you whrer out and 50k LY away from any Service stations. And maintaining an FC is also a financial commitment - as far I understand it - that I don't want to make yet. I dont like to be forced to do mining, Exobio and so on, just to keep my FC up and running.

Indeed. Basic carrier cost is 5 billion. But it is unwise to set it up without the explorer basics: Refuel, repair, rearm, cartographics, vista genomics and others as you see fit. This will be anyware between 7-8 billion. I think a lot of players with deep space carriers take the same approach as myself - I didn't force getting credits, I just got them as I was helping the squadron with it's expeditions and objectives. Then (albeit with the slight hiccup of commisioning the FC in the wrong place) I commisioned my carrier, put all the services I wanted on it and gave it 10 billion in funds. Its currently sitting at about 9.7 billion funds with a weekly upkeep of 18.2 million, which if my math is correct means it's good all by itself for the next 10 real time years.

I sense you may be like myself - you want to know how much money so that you don't have to worry, hence the answer.

I wouldn't worry about an FC personally until you are comfortable with your ship, your engineer unlocks and your system permits. It might be nice to have as a long term goal though.

So, my question is: is there a way to join the IGAU group – even if I'm just a small explorer who wants to travel the galaxy armed with only a Mandalay – or are there certain requirements to meet?
And if so: I don't remember how to do it – where to register or how such an invitation works – I took a 5-year break due to real life and only returned to the game about 2 months ago.

IGAU is not an ingame "group" (if this is what you meant), it's a squadron of likeminded players. Some of us play in open, some solo, some private groups. What links us together is our discord, which is quite busy talking about we are currently doing.

The only real requirements is PC+odessy along with some 3rd party apps running to help populate online DBs as you explore.

Please feel free to look over the rules and regs and new member checklist at IGAU

o7 CMDR

 

[Tom Bacon]

IGAU is not an ingame "group" (if this is what you meant), it's a squadron of likeminded players. Some of us play in open, some solo, some private groups. What links us together is our discord, which is quite busy talking about we are currently doing.

The only real requirements is PC+odessy along with some 3rd party apps running to help populate online DBs as you explore.

Thank you very much! I understand – that sounds really interesting!
I've already checked out your Discord a bit, but I still need to familiarise myself with the apps. I'm really grateful for this – it makes Exploring fun. I am excited to start again.

From now on, I'll slip back into my role as an ageing (well, that's not really a role) miner who wants to experience and marvel at a few more things before the gods, or whoever is in cahrge, do the final call.
o7

 

[CMDR_XOR]

Thank you very much! I understand – that sounds really interesting!
I've already checked out your Discord a bit, but I still need to familiarise myself with the apps. I'm really grateful for this – it makes Exploring fun. I am excited to start again.

From now on, I'll slip back into my role as an ageing (well, that's not really a role) miner who wants to experience and marvel at a few more things before the gods, or whoever is in cahrge, do the final call.
o7

Correctly correctington - ED has only superficial objectives at best. Being part of a like minded group adds the zing and zest to the game. The exploring, scanning bios and systems becomes something secondary you do in the process of reaching for a primary, group goal.

I feel this is what most people lack in ED when playing pure solo. A goal, an objective, a rasion d'être, a Grund zu sein.

BTW, this CMDR is also a bit of an old fart - I saw the original star wars in the cinema so that dates me

Sometimes this kind of dialogue can come across as "pushy" - this is not my intent - I, like many here have only one intent - I'll show you doors, you can choose to open them if you wish.

o7 CMDR

 

[Tom Bacon]

Captain’s Log – Commander Tom Bacon
Stardate 3311.163 – docked at Trader’s Rest, Laksak

For a while, I wasn’t sure what to do next. A Fleet Carrier?
No – not now. Too much commitment, too many systems to maintain, and I don’t have the credits to keep one properly fueled and staffed anyway.
And besides – that’s not where my fire lies.

Still thinking like a miner – rushing for output, cutting corners. So I thought: Colonia. Straight shot. Get it done fast.
That turned out to be… very optimistic.
I took my new Mandalay Endeavour, shiny and barely broken in, and rushed it out toward Colonia via the Neutron Highway. The plan seemed simple enough: quick engineering, grab the materials, visit the few engineers out there, and get it all done in one sweep.
But of course, it wasn’t.

Out there, everything is different, scarcer, more repetitive. Why, in the name of the void, didn’t I gather the materials back in the Bubble before launching into the unknown like some overeager pup leaping into a river?
To top it off, I managed to wreck my fully A-rated Mandalay on a meaningless rock moon. A stupid approach, a miscalculation – and the next thing I knew, I was in my survival pod, listening to the sound of my own breath. I wasn’t in a rush anymore. Just afraid.

The Pilot’s Federation picked me up quickly. Still, I had time to think. I decided not to rebuild the ship out there. No. I’d make the long flight back to the bubble as a passenger and do it properly – in familiar territory. After all, what’s the point of five billion credits if you can’t use them to do things right?

I need to go back out there. I need to see wonders again – and this time, I have to guard against the trap: that dull rhythm of jumping, scanning, assessing, and moving on to the next. Not again. Not like that.
This time, the journey is the goal. It doesn’t matter when I get there. It doesn’t even matter where “there” is.

So, to get there: its Engineering. That’s the first step.
Endeavour has to get lighter, more efficient, more mine.
Back at Jameson Memorial, I brought my old mining Cutter out of storage – and occasionally flew my even older Krait Phantom. I went out, shot Braintrees, gathered whatever I could. I visited ole Commander Jameson’s crash site, scanned his beacons, and did long, boring loops around Dav’s Hope like in the old days.
I don’t know how many collection runs it took to refill my reserves. Too many. But the time passed, and the goal stayed in sight: to get out there again.
I finally acquired the last missing permit: Sirius. And surprisingly – thanks to the many rescue missions I flew during the Thargoid war – I found myself already allied with Sirius Corp. Didn’t even check!
One small win. A little light in the void.
Golf clap, please.

Some things never change. Material traders, for example – still the worst extortionists in the galaxy. We pilots risk our lives in asteroid belts, carving precious metals from rock and ice, while those traders sit comfortably behind terminals and trade our effort for scraps. But hey – who really wants to change the galaxy? It is what it is.

Yesterday I met Commander Doctor Dread and Cmdr XOR. Two old-timers – and I mean that with the utmost respect. Over a couple of beers, we talked late into the night – comparing stories from two very different lives among the stars.
Hearing what they seen, what they had done, makes my past life as a miner feel even duller than I already knew it was.
Doctor Dread recommended I visit the SYROOMEOU FG-Y G8 or G2 systems.
Apparently, they’re among the highest stars relative to Sagittarius A* – way up above the core. Or is it technically below? I’m not even sure.
I’ve seen a few images. They’re staggering. Just imagining it: to be suspended in the dark, utterly alone, looking down on the heart of the galaxy – nothing above, everything below. That’s not just a view. That’s something else entirely.

XOR also told me about IGAU – the Intergalactic Astronomical Union – a wide network of carriers, support structures, and mapping efforts spread across the stars. That made me reconsider the carrier idea. If hundreds of platforms already span the galaxy, then maybe the right thing isn’t to own a home, but to follow the lights others have left behind.
Commander Doctor Dread, Commander XOR – if you ever read this: thank you. You’ve rekindled something in me I thought I’d long since burned out.

And now, she’s ready. My new Mandalay Endeavour, cloaked in midnight black, stretches her jump range to 81 light-years. I even gave her some cosmetic touches – winglets, spoilers, auxiliary fins besides her stubby nose. She looks fantastic.

My Cutter Nostromo has again earned her place too! During the recent trade war, I moved just shy over 22,000 tons of semiconductors. The upgraded power distributor I received in return is simply perfect for exploration – smooth, stable, efficient.
And the credits I earned more than paid for the loss of Endeavour One in Colonia – five times over.

What’s left? Just one more run to fill up my raw materials for synthesis. Then I’ll install two Auto Field Repair Units, the repair limpet controller, and I’ll be done.
And then I’m ready.

My first course is already set: I’ll return to the systems I marked during the homeward leg of my last expedition – only marked on the star map and rushed past too quickly.
This time, I’ll scan them thoroughly. I’ll land. I’ll take samples.
Carefully. Slowly. With attention.

The galaxy hasn’t changed.
But I have.

Time to get back to work.
o7 – Tom Bacon out.

 

[Tom Bacon]

Correctly correctington - ED has only superficial objectives at best. Being part of a like minded group adds the zing and zest to the game. The exploring, scanning bios and systems becomes something secondary you do in the process of reaching for a primary, group goal.

I feel this is what most people lack in ED when playing pure solo. A goal, an objective, a rasion d'être, a Grund zu sein.

BTW, this CMDR is also a bit of an old fart - I saw the original star wars in the cinema so that dates me

Sometimes this kind of dialogue can come across as "pushy" - this is not my intent - I, like many here have only one intent - I'll show you doors, you can choose to open them if you wish.

o7 CMDR

OOC
Not at all "pushy" - you opened said "door" for a new angle of sight. Thank you.
And btw: I also saw Star Wars at the cinema the first time. I am close to 60 Years ... >sigh<
o7