Formidine Rift... what is it?

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The ultimate "assumption" here is trusting the words of David Braben (or not). He definitely said "it's out there and we know the place" maybe with marginal different wording.

Yes... but he apparently only said that to Drew Wagar, not to the community... so he could still backtrack on that.
 
Breaking it down using using generalizations or to put it mildly, keep it simple stupid.

Clue -Watch your six: = look behind you, typically most of us will see the Milky Way when traveling to the Rift or while in the Rift depending on the angle. Is there something special we should see when looking back at the galaxy? A marker of some sorts?

Clue - The core of the problem: First we need to define the problem, which definition best meets this criteria?
1. Don't know exactly where to look.
2. Don't know exactly what were looking for?

1-a. Using the keyword "core" which is commonly known and referred to as the core of the galaxy this must be a play on words, therefore we can assume that core in this case means either, core of the rift, core of a sector, core of a system. Watching our six we can look behind us and see the core but this offers little help.

2-a. Thargoids or worse are most always referred to as coming from the rift or have been seen on the other side, therefore we can safely assume that we are looking for some kind of alien presence, ship wreckage, traces of their existence, or even them.

So the core problem can be narrowed down to 1-a where to look as 2.a provides enough information even though still vague.

Clue - The etymology of the name Kahina: Diviner or fortune teller, this clue is too ambiguous and is considered noise for now.

Clue - Formidine: Translated from Latin = Dread/Fear, no systems or areas equate into a similarity of the words dread/fear, there is a lot to be feared out in the rift, or the sense of dread when you hit a dead end but so far that's about it. This clue is noise for now.

Clue- Depends on who goes looking: This is just a reference on the nature of the individual who goes looking, do they have the patience, the willingness to search the enormous expanse, nothing special is required other than the ability to read between the lines of the clues given, and the sheer patience to keep at it.

Because of the sheer size of the area in question the Rift plus the outer arm, without any other substantial information this will take a very, very long time to find, it can't be the Bovomit sector as it is currently locked out, and I don't think the key to unlock has been in place since launch, or has it?

So to sum up all the madness, were looking for a system that has been accessible since launch that should in theory contain some sort of evidence of an alien presence.
 
Not a problem... just another part of the mystery that needs to be unraveled. I think in one of Drew's non-canonical "oolite" stories Raxxla turned out to be hiding in plain sight and was... Lave's moon!
Yes, but Lave's moon also simply disappeared one day... Which suggested that it wasn't really a moon.
 
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Breaking it down using using generalizations or to put it mildly, keep it simple stupid.

[SPOILER}Clue -Watch your six: = look behind you, typically most of us will see the Milky Way when traveling to the Rift or while in the Rift depending on the angle. Is there something special we should see when looking back at the galaxy? A marker of some sorts?

Clue - The core of the problem: First we need to define the problem, which definition best meets this criteria?
1. Don't know exactly where to look.
2. Don't know exactly what were looking for?

1-a. Using the keyword "core" which is commonly known and referred to as the core of the galaxy this must be a play on words, therefore we can assume that core in this case means either, core of the rift, core of a sector, core of a system. Watching our six we can look behind us and see the core but this offers little help.

2-a. Thargoids or worse are most always referred to as coming from the rift or have been seen on the other side, therefore we can safely assume that we are looking for some kind of alien presence, ship wreckage, traces of their existence, or even them.

So the core problem can be narrowed down to 1-a where to look as 2.a provides enough information even though still vague.

Clue - The etymology of the name Kahina: Diviner or fortune teller, this clue is too ambiguous and is considered noise for now.

Clue - Formidine: Translated from Latin = Dread/Fear, no systems or areas equate into a similarity of the words dread/fear, there is a lot to be feared out in the rift, or the sense of dread when you hit a dead end but so far that's about it. This clue is noise for now.

Clue- Depends on who goes looking: This is just a reference on the nature of the individual who goes looking, do they have the patience, the willingness to search the enormous expanse, nothing special is required other than the ability to read between the lines of the clues given, and the sheer patience to keep at it.

Because of the sheer size of the area in question the Rift plus the outer arm, without any other substantial information this will take a very, very long time to find, it can't be the Bovomit sector as it is currently locked out, and I don't think the key to unlock has been in place since launch, or has it?

So to sum up all the madness, were looking for a system that has been accessible since launch that should in theory contain some sort of evidence of an alien presence.[/SPOILER]

We can assume nothing.

"Watch your six" is also just common pilot-talk. Putting too much emphasis on what might be an off-hand phrase might lead us down a wrong path.

The "core" of the problem may not be a play on words at all. It could actually be a reference to the galactic core. Maybe once we reach the rift we should stop following the Riedquat/Reorte line and set our course across the rift on a line from SgrA* through the R/R line at the edge of the rift. Or, as has been suggested, it might be a reference to Sap 8 cores. Honestly it might be that we can't identify what the "core" is until we actually understand what the "problem" is.

In Drew's non-canonical fiction the Thargoids came from the Rift. Perhaps they entered our space because they were chased out of their own?
 
In my google searches I found an old 16th Century text containing the words "Commander" and "Formidine" on the same page. Funny coincidence but please don't take it as a serious hint. This one is a dead end:

books.jpg
 
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Didn't the "Palin incident" suggest a connection to RAXXLA?
Dark clothed figures, lightning quick disposal of escorts and
a surgical kidnapping of the Doc?
Smells like a breadcrumb to the next step of the story,
hints to find the mistery.

More likely INRA or CIEP.

Edit: Or one of the major powers intelligence services.
 
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We can assume nothing.

"Watch your six" is also just common pilot-talk. Putting too much emphasis on what might be an off-hand phrase might lead us down a wrong path.

The "core" of the problem may not be a play on words at all. It could actually be a reference to the galactic core. Maybe once we reach the rift we should stop following the Riedquat/Reorte line and set our course across the rift on a line from SgrA* through the R/R line at the edge of the rift. Or, as has been suggested, it might be a reference to Sap 8 cores. Honestly it might be that we can't identify what the "core" is until we actually understand what the "problem" is.

In Drew's non-canonical fiction the Thargoids came from the Rift. Perhaps they entered our space because they were chased out of their own?

Had the same idea about the intersection between the R/R line and a line from Sgr A*...But think that would put the coordinates way north of the Formidine Rift. Not sure, though.
 
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Had the same idea about the intersection between the R/R line and a line from Sgr A*...But think that would put the coordinates way north of the Formidine Rift. Not sure, though.

Plus the fact that nobody knows where exactly the Rift starts. That would open the search arc by quite a bit...
 
Nope... a sermon by some minister named "W. Chub".

Ah, thanks, though it did sound very similar; although written in Teutonic, the English translators (same period, perhaps they all had a similar style back then) reminded me of that general theme of speaking. That and the replacement of S for F or whatever it was ("And they themfelves, not finning or underftanding...", reminds me of "Thocrates, the thouthern thea thtrangler...").

Nice find either way, +rep
 
On my way to the rift I stopped at BD+55 191 in the middle of the NGC 281 nebula.
This system has one landable planet BD+55 191 AB 1, that yields Niobium, Cadmium, Vandium and Chromium.
Unfortunately I didn't find any Germanium but still this planet gave me 2 upgrades to 50% FSD boost.
 
You don't probably have a link handy, or could you tell me the origin of this disappearance?

Also, can we exclude (from history(?)) that Lave 2 was initially this moon and has broken out from Lave's orbit as a result of a cosmic catastrophe? With just 0.0438 earth masses I could imagine this, though it must have been a huge bang to throw a planet beyond the Castellan belt. And what is with outpost Warinus. Look at its orbital period (1,008.0D). To me it looks as if it could have lost its initial gravitation center at some point and now orbiting the center body.
I think it was in Mutabilis, Oolite Saga. But this is not official lore though...
 
Had the same idea about the intersection between the R/R line and a line from Sgr A*...But think that would put the coordinates way north of the Formidine Rift. Not sure, though.

Wouldn't you need at least a third line to triangulate (esp. In 3D space)? Math is not my strong point.
 
Wouldn't you need at least a third line to triangulate (esp. In 3D space)? Math is not my strong point.

Considering that the RR plane is ~48 it could be a 2 line intersection and extending the line from Sgr A* due south, calculated coords would be at about 35 : 48 : 43, closest system being Ackcanphi. (and Pandemonium at 34 : -114 : 46).
 
What about plotting a line along just the X,Y axis of the RR line... and then plotting a line along the X,Y axis of Sagittarius A* and Rho Cassiopeia? And then explore the Z coordinate along the point where those two lines intersect?
 
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