So, where to start. When reading with great excitement the great Soontill news, I thought - Yeah, why not go out there as well and find it or even Them? How hard can it be? It took a while until things got really going on my end and was finally ready for my 1st trip into the dark. While making some credits in my ok combat fitted Cobra, and doing some trade runs in my medium outfitted T6 - you get by now that I'm not Mr. 5B Credits - there was a rumor that the Unknow Artefact resembles a cart wheel.
.
A cart wheel, ok, while recalling the Cartwheel Galaxy, I looked it up and it turned out to be in the Sculptor constellation.
Naturally, I looked up the stars of this constellation, partially located in the Empire system but up to ~1700 ly downwards of it, and found another amazing object called R Sculptoris - described as "R Sculptoris is an asymptotic giant branch semi-regular variable red giant star located 1,500 light-years (460 parsecs) away [from Sol] in the constellation of Sculptor. Observations have revealed a spiral structure in the material around it. The spiral is suspected to be caused by an unseen companion star." Let's have a look at this spiral
Yeah baby! That's something I'd like to see! As a result I parked my T6 and got myself the best explorer little money can by - a Hauler, stripped of nearly anything, but got a class A fuel scope and top notch FSD, best scanner to get Level 3 scans + basic shields (maybe They! are out there?) and ... Hmm, I recalled an old saying "One Does Not Simply Jump into Achenar" i.e. you just don't go out there, a plan please, or a goal to keep sanity, maybe? Ok, the goal was to visit all major stars of the Sculptor constellation and scan everything. Sounds like a plan? Here we go, in a Hauler, unarmed and with a jump range of 28Ly, easy.
.
So, for what ever reason I decided to dock - oh yes, interdiction and some damage - and I recalled an image of a wreck on a landing pad, maybe a fellow explorer turned to crisps or when the FSD decided to get to close to a star - my confidence went a bit down.
Some fuel, all repairs done and a last 'fresh food' meal and back to work - Stars of Sculptor, here we come. One by one, each major system will be scanned, 100% - discovered before or not - with a final destination, R Sculptoris and the amazing view on the spiral.
.
On my way out, still in Empire space in Theta Sculptoris I came across Hauck Dock, a military outpost - the 1st one I ever saw. The pods on the right rotated and remembered me on some lab work, incubating something.
On we go, soldiering on from star to star, passing planet after planet, closer to my final goal - R Sci. There have been a few amazing views...
... and a hard recall on the famous trucker commercial Don't watch SpaceBoobs while in SC, i.e. nearly resulted in an involuntary planetary landing...
... and the usual stuff - early signs of SpaceMadness. And with SM kicking in, I had a moment of Sure, I can land here and take a walk on this boiling rock! What can go wrong? Luckily the rare Heike Tea was ready to drink - just needs 2 days to reach the right point - so it is not dissolving your guts or melts your brain. The smell of it got me back on track - It can regenerate time travelers, some say. Fairytales ...
Many Ly's and jumps later, more tea, some heat damage from speeding into the scoop-able zone at 75% speed, followed by the loss of the main controller aka flight stick which I had to temporarily replace with the backup steering aid - a piece of equipment used in the past and called a mouse (what the hell is a mouse? yupp, not a country boy) - I managed to get closer to my final destination - R Sci.
.
Of course not. On my way I faced a challenge - Kappa-2 Sculptoris or HD 720. Where the F* is it? Is it me or is my navigation system going nuts - Dude I'm just a few hundred Ly's out here. The galaxy map says its there, but where exactly is there and why can't the system plot a route there - there is no need for a pass or so. Is it The impossible star, hidden form us? by whom? must be them. THEM! OMG! as they used to say in the colonies back on earth.
Ok, next thought, why not get as close as possible to it - Blanco 1 Sector QE-N B8-O - and set the marker on Kappa-2 Sci and ... jump straight into this hidden system? What could go wrong with that plan - besides being not armed and in a ... remember ... a Hauler. At this point I worried for the 1st time that my trusted Hauler - which had varying names, such as Daula the Explaura or Reliant R. - is maybe not the best choice and that I should have earned a few more credits for a DBX?
.
Whatever, jumping to Blanco 1 Sector QE-N B8-O, selecting Kappa-2 Sci from the Gmap - actually you have to enter HD 720, otherwise the system doesn't show up!!! Selected destination, aligned the ship and 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... FSD engaged!!! Jumping into the unknown. Witchspace, still witchspace - this takes for ever. How long should it take, not this long, or? There must be something, someone involved. Them? again them - are they there : Thargoids!
And here they are ...
Great, new panties, ejecting the old one out of the heat vent, Someone might think they are a brown dwarf, if there is something like categorizing objects by smell.... Scooping fuel, scanning all objects (feel free to look up HD 720) and marching on.
The rest of the trip was - how to say it best - boring. Some few really beautiful sights, but nothing to what I hope to see - next stop then - R Sci.
A few jumps later - R Sci! My destination and end of this trip. The goal I set, all stars and objects scanned to the last detail, one last system missing - R Sculptoris and its hidden companion! Selected the final destination, aligned the ship and 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... FSD engaged!!! And ...
That's it, I fueled up at the next sun to the left and returned to the so called civilized space and landed on the 1st dock that was really close to the nav point. For three reasons, 1st. after not having landed on a pad in a while and sitting in a Hauler equipped with lousy thrusters .... you get it - a floating dock is much easier to land on compared to a rotating letter box with lots of traffic, 2nd. there has been rumors of powers going ape, and 3rd, news of better trained pilots.
Later, after having sold my data and a few drinks, the verdict: After 2 weeks out there, would I do it again? Yes, absolutely. What I would do differently? A different ship & guns. Having a plan and a goal what to achieve helped a lot and prevented me from taking a spacewalk in my underpants. So, a bad trip? Not at all, I didn't find The wheel in space aka the spiral and its buddy aka R Sci, or a black hole, or Thargoids or an UA, but I discovered some untouched systems, got a sense for the vast size of our galaxy being a point in our universe, got 2.5M credits. Best, I discovered a hidden system Kappa-2 Sculpturis aka HD 720. Go, look it up. That's something to tell my grandchildren of - if I return from my next expedition, to actually have kids, ... ah, 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... FSD engaged!!!
.
A cart wheel, ok, while recalling the Cartwheel Galaxy, I looked it up and it turned out to be in the Sculptor constellation.
Naturally, I looked up the stars of this constellation, partially located in the Empire system but up to ~1700 ly downwards of it, and found another amazing object called R Sculptoris - described as "R Sculptoris is an asymptotic giant branch semi-regular variable red giant star located 1,500 light-years (460 parsecs) away [from Sol] in the constellation of Sculptor. Observations have revealed a spiral structure in the material around it. The spiral is suspected to be caused by an unseen companion star." Let's have a look at this spiral
What a beauty!
Yeah baby! That's something I'd like to see! As a result I parked my T6 and got myself the best explorer little money can by - a Hauler, stripped of nearly anything, but got a class A fuel scope and top notch FSD, best scanner to get Level 3 scans + basic shields (maybe They! are out there?) and ... Hmm, I recalled an old saying "One Does Not Simply Jump into Achenar" i.e. you just don't go out there, a plan please, or a goal to keep sanity, maybe? Ok, the goal was to visit all major stars of the Sculptor constellation and scan everything. Sounds like a plan? Here we go, in a Hauler, unarmed and with a jump range of 28Ly, easy.
.
So, for what ever reason I decided to dock - oh yes, interdiction and some damage - and I recalled an image of a wreck on a landing pad, maybe a fellow explorer turned to crisps or when the FSD decided to get to close to a star - my confidence went a bit down.
Some fuel, all repairs done and a last 'fresh food' meal and back to work - Stars of Sculptor, here we come. One by one, each major system will be scanned, 100% - discovered before or not - with a final destination, R Sculptoris and the amazing view on the spiral.
.
On my way out, still in Empire space in Theta Sculptoris I came across Hauck Dock, a military outpost - the 1st one I ever saw. The pods on the right rotated and remembered me on some lab work, incubating something.
On we go, soldiering on from star to star, passing planet after planet, closer to my final goal - R Sci. There have been a few amazing views...
... and a hard recall on the famous trucker commercial Don't watch SpaceBoobs while in SC, i.e. nearly resulted in an involuntary planetary landing...
You, my chocolate friend, made me poo, kind of...
... and the usual stuff - early signs of SpaceMadness. And with SM kicking in, I had a moment of Sure, I can land here and take a walk on this boiling rock! What can go wrong? Luckily the rare Heike Tea was ready to drink - just needs 2 days to reach the right point - so it is not dissolving your guts or melts your brain. The smell of it got me back on track - It can regenerate time travelers, some say. Fairytales ...
Landing gear - let's do this
Many Ly's and jumps later, more tea, some heat damage from speeding into the scoop-able zone at 75% speed, followed by the loss of the main controller aka flight stick which I had to temporarily replace with the backup steering aid - a piece of equipment used in the past and called a mouse (what the hell is a mouse? yupp, not a country boy) - I managed to get closer to my final destination - R Sci.
.
Of course not. On my way I faced a challenge - Kappa-2 Sculptoris or HD 720. Where the F* is it? Is it me or is my navigation system going nuts - Dude I'm just a few hundred Ly's out here. The galaxy map says its there, but where exactly is there and why can't the system plot a route there - there is no need for a pass or so. Is it The impossible star, hidden form us? by whom? must be them. THEM! OMG! as they used to say in the colonies back on earth.
Hello? Is there anybody in there? And how do I get in?
Ok, next thought, why not get as close as possible to it - Blanco 1 Sector QE-N B8-O - and set the marker on Kappa-2 Sci and ... jump straight into this hidden system? What could go wrong with that plan - besides being not armed and in a ... remember ... a Hauler. At this point I worried for the 1st time that my trusted Hauler - which had varying names, such as Daula the Explaura or Reliant R. - is maybe not the best choice and that I should have earned a few more credits for a DBX?
.
Whatever, jumping to Blanco 1 Sector QE-N B8-O, selecting Kappa-2 Sci from the Gmap - actually you have to enter HD 720, otherwise the system doesn't show up!!! Selected destination, aligned the ship and 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... FSD engaged!!! Jumping into the unknown. Witchspace, still witchspace - this takes for ever. How long should it take, not this long, or? There must be something, someone involved. Them? again them - are they there : Thargoids!
And here they are ...
not ... nothing, just a regular system ... a few WSS, USS, SSS...
Great, new panties, ejecting the old one out of the heat vent, Someone might think they are a brown dwarf, if there is something like categorizing objects by smell.... Scooping fuel, scanning all objects (feel free to look up HD 720) and marching on.
The rest of the trip was - how to say it best - boring. Some few really beautiful sights, but nothing to what I hope to see - next stop then - R Sci.
Some nice views:
A few jumps later - R Sci! My destination and end of this trip. The goal I set, all stars and objects scanned to the last detail, one last system missing - R Sculptoris and its hidden companion! Selected the final destination, aligned the ship and 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... FSD engaged!!! And ...
How could they have been so wrong? What went wrong? Really? Nothing they said in the star maps and catalogues was there. It appears to be just another regular system. No mystical spiral, no hidden companion - just a nice Carbon star! For sure a PhD student had a few drinks, got out his Spirograph, made some crazy notes and handed it in as his dissertation - and got his PhD... Thank you, Mr. PhD for dragging me out there!
That's it, I fueled up at the next sun to the left and returned to the so called civilized space and landed on the 1st dock that was really close to the nav point. For three reasons, 1st. after not having landed on a pad in a while and sitting in a Hauler equipped with lousy thrusters .... you get it - a floating dock is much easier to land on compared to a rotating letter box with lots of traffic, 2nd. there has been rumors of powers going ape, and 3rd, news of better trained pilots.
Good to be back
Later, after having sold my data and a few drinks, the verdict: After 2 weeks out there, would I do it again? Yes, absolutely. What I would do differently? A different ship & guns. Having a plan and a goal what to achieve helped a lot and prevented me from taking a spacewalk in my underpants. So, a bad trip? Not at all, I didn't find The wheel in space aka the spiral and its buddy aka R Sci, or a black hole, or Thargoids or an UA, but I discovered some untouched systems, got a sense for the vast size of our galaxy being a point in our universe, got 2.5M credits. Best, I discovered a hidden system Kappa-2 Sculpturis aka HD 720. Go, look it up. That's something to tell my grandchildren of - if I return from my next expedition, to actually have kids, ... ah, 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... FSD engaged!!!
....and back in my beloved Cobra, looking for the next adventure
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