Hey folks,
Do you find exploration too boring to do it yourself, whilst curious how it feels like? Have you too much time on your hands and just want to sink it into something pointless? Perfect! Here's the thing: Just as I'm writing this, my first exploration trip concludes. For any serious explorer it was a mere walk in the neighbourhood, but for me it covered the most important targets to visit in the galaxy. Primary target: the Flame Nebula within Barnard's Loop. This is meant to be a mixture of a travel report, some rp elements and shameless screenshot spam. The goal was to get exploration started, and to get at least the rank of Surveyor/1 million profit from exploration.
Loadout!
But before I start, I must just as shamelessly promote a completely unrelated thread, in which I already posted the prequel to this odyssey. The Thargoid and Fer-de-Lance!
Prequel:
The moment you decide to enter the fields of exploration can be compared to the moment you finish a requiem for a star. After years that follow years, the weight of the past would grow to become the only thing that keeps itself from growing too big to devour you and with that itself. Only when a star dies its mass stops keeping its matter from expanding beyond stability, allowing it to undo what has shown so brightly. What is left is a nebula of life-forming matter. After a person allowed the past to undo himself, all that is left are the still vibrating emotions leading him into a new life. Emotions that need to be transported, and need matter to be transported through. In an interplay of waves they build the base to what even the highest fall, through the matter of stars and by the energy of life. In their most perfect form they become a song, a requiem for the star without which they never could have been. The star, a flame, that shines within humans whose nebula is named Soul.
After having left the ideals of the past behind and having overcome the intrigues of modern times, I soon had to face the problems of my new life. I already had made my first blind jump away from the mad fight over resources.
It took a while for the flight computer to calculate a route. When it finished, I was quite surprised to see that I didn't have a new set destination to lock. I checked my map. No course set. It threw me off by quite a bit. The chosen destination, way between me and my final destination, was well within the 1000 light years radius the current software allowed. I had to turn off the engines and focus my mind back on what was on hand.
Setting a course into the unknown wasn't the same as navigating the bubble. It followed a verbal dispute between me and my flight computer. A bad habit taken over from my hot-blooded hunting days. We came to agree to half the distance again and buy and AFMU first. Soon enough, I was enjoying the warm sunrays of a young expedition:
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The first few hundred light years went smooth. The greenhorn I was, I flew through them like through any other civilized system. Scoop, jump, repeat. Only when I reached the borders of the Witch Hear region, the end of the calculated route, exploration senses deep in me began to tickle. It wasn't a deeply hidden desire for the unknown as one might expect though. No, it was the Child of Dark, that made its call for me. Just sitting there, between the Witch Head and Barnard's Loop.
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From there on, progress began its long way down in swiftness and importance. I got acquainted with the Witch Head as my first visited nebula. Little did I know at this time about the tiny planetary nebulas that contain but one star. I took my time to explore the region, and only when I felt satisfied I continued. And yet, the only satisfaction lay within the certainty of something even bigger waiting for my arrival.
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Barnard's Loop was coming close, and the flight computer had in the meantime managed to set a course into the heart of Flame Nebula, the centre of Barnard's Loop. Once again things took a faster pace. I was sitting between two sleeping giants, anticipating every of their calm breaths. The faster I went, the more I felt their vividness. The Witch Head Nebula almost seemed to cut the milky way in half with its sharp contours, while the Ever-watching eye grew constantly.
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With time, the Flame Nebula set itself off the picture. For the first time I saw it not as the iris of a big whole, but as something separate, something that can fascinate by its own uniqueness alone. My ship was now shrouded in a wild mixture of colours. The wildest mixtures of chemical compounds turned my starboard view into a saturated blue, carrying the graze of purple. To my portside, the dried blood of the giant turned space into a deep red. It was the first revelation that came to me. The Ever-watching eye, Barnard's Loop, was not centred on us. Now that I was here, on the horizon, not just gazing at it in wild daydreams, I knew it. The two giants were not sleeping. The one was slaughtered, his body turning blue in the icy coldness of hearts. The other giant is widely awake, mourning, the blood of his friend still on his hands. Of him, whom he was unable to safe.
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Did the sudden solitude turn me mad? How could I ponder such nonsense? Or was it? My mind wandered as I slowly passed the Orion and Running Man Nebulae. Running man, a suiting name. Didn't all those who came here before, just like me, run away from something? By any means, denying to be running towards answers would be foolish. Yet, behind every seeming gate, there was just another box of new questions.
Pictures: (I hate the super cruise star dust line things)
It didn't let loose of me. The idea was clinging. Those giants, driven further from the core than we ever were. What if it was not guilt the Ever-watching eye was looking at, but disparity? Both giants, eternal foes, one the negative of the other? Locked in an eternal fight? The red giant: Love, desiring the unity of the word's fabric, in an eternal, perfect harmonium. The other: Discord, desiring to drive the fabric apart, into endless fragments of the one great Sphairos. The core of the galaxy is by many brave explorers reported to be greatest of such, and yet nothing like it.
Once Love ruled over the galaxy. Every particle existed in perfect harmony to the other. Then somewhen, somehow, a tiny disconuity was born. Firstly unseen by Love, ever growing, until it tore the equilibrium apart. In one large blast the Sphairos must have blasted, creating the world of diversity we know today. From then on, Discord stood on the field next to Love, overtaking him rapidly by the momentum of surprise.
By the law of Anánke they were doomed to fight each other for eternity. Until, eventually, the disparity became too great and Love fell. Next to his dead body he sat down, in full respect of his only foe. From there he watches the world unfold, in ever-growing, unchallenged disparity. The blood of Love still in his eye, and the dead, cold body to his feet. The Sphairos longsince had ended to exist, and the age of Akosmía saw its greatest times, to the point where we are now.
Lost in thoughts I circled several systems. In trance from the dense lights shining from Orion's region, my mind seemed to wander a course that was no longer set by my consciousness while I scanned rocks of ice. Until I turned around.
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I stood at the world's gate. It was Tartarus without Ceberus. With all that power surrounding us, there is nothing to hold us back but ourselves. To seek answers within the borders of the gate now seemed like an attempt to read the writings on a box from the inside. I had to get back on track fast. The Loop had to be circled for data, and then the Horsehead nebula, the first thing beyond The Loop, would have to be investigated. From here, it looked like a wall of gas, with something incredible guarded behind.
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Things soon came back to normal. My mind still was a bit dizzy, but I was actively cruising the nebula again. The first water worlds and earth likes of the journey were showing up, things turned good indeed.
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Although the presence of the Horsehead Nebula never really left the frame...
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...With the Ever-watching eye always just behind my shoulder.
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Soon this path proofed its rightness. It brought me my fist undiscovered system, and deep within this Elysian fields at that! The regret of excitement soon follow: I still swear it's a skull, no matter what the bartender says about my bill size.
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Properly blue(ish) planet and lined nebulae. (I said rp elements, not rp only, after all...besides, pictures! I'm still officially ranked tourist at this point, after all.) Also red miky way. Reasons.
No shadowplay without suns (yes, I use an nVidia). Pictures! And oh, the memories...
“Sun”
But let's get a little serious again for a moment. The Horsehead's call has led me, and a journey seems to come to an end.
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“Serious”
Soon afterwards: arrival. It indeed is a wall. What is it protecting?
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A decision had to be made. Turn around and conclude it as planned? Or venture beyond the mysterious wall? I couldn't pass directly through it and would have to go around. It would take time and effort, for a possibly low margin. And I don't mean that in character only either! The closest thing behind it was around 17,40 ly, while I would even with an empty tank not exceed, with much good will, 17,10 ly.
Driven by an unconsciouness unrest I plotted a course just to see how much extra work exactly it would take. I think to remember it were around 37 jumps. Fair enough, I thought. There's some small dark region above it, so I may as well give that one a pass.
What shall I say? Things got dark and sharp. Beautiful from below though. I think at this point I left the initial shock of solitude behind me. I dare not to think what other commanders must have went through in their early exploration days. I can say from myself to be relatively used to solitude. It's my thing. But out there, whole new level.
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Oh, and somewhere in between: first neutron star! Yay! Or not? Came unexpected. Too unexpected!
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Behind Barnard's Loop things began to lighten up. Sanity returned and undiscovered systems suddenly were a real thing. Perhaps we should build a station there to grow the happiest colony yet?
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Soon it had to happen. As we all know, in this world always happens Soon. So, Soon I hit the end of the line. The ending of the broken bridge whose sign the wall was. I had to backtrack 10 to 20 systems before. 16 light years jump range don't leave much choice if moving away from the core constantly. This time, it looked worse than usual. No matter how I twisted and turned, moved hundreds of light years up, I just couldn't get any further.
A familiar feeling rose in my chest. I had to turn off the engines and get some time in the silent back of my ship to grasp it. Realization had hit me once again. Until today I'm unsure how or when it happened. Behind The Loop Complex I had seen the Seagull Nebula. It wasn't the farthest. The Monkey Head was still some light years behind that one. And yet, I measured my progress on it since I left The Loop Complex behind.
Perhaps it was the memories on the seagulls flying free above the silent sea, their screams in my ears and the salty sea in my nose. On top of our light house, I had smelled freedom the first time. Now I wanted to fly free, like the seagulls of my childhood. I couldn't. Too much burden was still laden on my shoulders. It may sounds obvious that a Seagull can't fly freely with class 3 lasers bound onto its wings. A Python, however, learns that lesson only if it wants to. Weapons were no means of safety. They were a necessity, a nuisance bound to my wings by a cruel society. Not should it be my target to move the galaxy freely if needed by weapon force, but to travel it unarmed and spread the freedom of heart, not the freedom of muscles.
A long time I sat there, starring back at the disk of the milky way and The Loop Complex above it, a vision I never had before in my life. Without having to turn my head, at least. Should I really return into civilization again? The GalMap sprang up, and stood open a good while. “California Nebula,” I thought eventually, “lies on the way back, somewhat.” Few moments later, a waypoint for a new partial course was set and the Frameshift back online.
Oh dear.
Pictues:
Oh dear.
“Can't take too long,” I thought during the first jumps. I wouldn't have stood wrong, wasn't it for my slight miscalculation of what's known to mankind. Come on, how many commanders did travel from behind The Loop Complex to the California Nebula? Can't be many for what I can tell, because about every third system was completely untagged. The bad thing is that I was excited about it all the way through! Ice planets, brown dwarves, gas giants, rocky planets, you name it. All scanned. In every unseen system. Granted, after everything I got first exploration boni on about every page of data I sold. Still, I wasn't able to track down a single one of them!
Sure, there were earth likes, water worlds, with up to 28000 credits as pure bonus for first discoveries. A system worth 200000 credits plus? Just on that road. But honestly, it's the 40+ objects ice planets systems that keep in the memory on the first trip.
Pictures:
More pictures?
The journey from The Loop Complex to the California Nebula was what thought me the first true steps of proper exploration, really. While the trip to and around The Loop Complex was way more exciting, this monotonous cruise through unexplored space was where I learned to distinguish between a water world and a high metal content planet, at least roughly.
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It was really fun being the first to cruise through many different kinds of systems. And not to far from home space at that. Once more, there's another player disagreeing with basically any “everything looks the same” comment. The trick is that you first have to learn how to perceive before you can judge.
Things don't get that close all the time for certain!
After a longer time than I'm willing to admit, I arrived at California Nebula. At first glance it seemed disappointing compared to what I saw back in The Loop Complex. I gave it a chance nevertheless, and it has its good sides. One of them being me! Ha, the travelling has worn down my paint job quite a bit.
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Turned out the California Nebula really wasn't that far off. Not that I thought it would be. Some 800 light years from civilization. The point of return was almost inevitable! Then it happened: I saw something in the sky and thought for the very first time: “Ohh, shiney!”
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A 300 light year chase followed, before I gave up without coming any closer on a perceivable level. I couldn't track it down in the GalMap either.
Gladly, somewhere in the middle I turned the camera around, and saw the mighty Loop Complex hiding behind the California Nebula, who himself chose to hide behind a planet. Given he shows me his back, I don't think he's too happy about being the first row soldier.
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Then I thought: everyone likes screenshots in ice fields! Everyone likes screenshots of nebulae! I've got both!
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An earth like later, how it happened I've forgotten, I set course for T Tauri. The cruise brought me considerably closer to inhibited space. So close, in fact, that a strong signal source popped up. I, of course, went right into it. Of all things, it was some Fer de Lances battling Vultures. Far away from any space station! I left them alone, and went to chill out between two rings of an ice moon.
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The journey itself was surprisingly short. The arrival at T Tauri itself, however, caused a few... confusions. Well, read for yourselves! (Pictures inside!)
From there on it went off to the Pleiades Nebula which also caused confusion! (Pictures inside)
There are some pictures, however, that aren't linked above:
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On my way away from all this confusion I crosses some eco planets and... a disco sun? No wonder I ran mad in such company!
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At least I was close to home space. This allowed more frequent signal sources to appear, and some serious long-range scavenging happened (hint: not profitable). All this happened when I decided to visit Solaris during my runaway. Of course, being all alone, nobody was around to tell me it's under Permit lock due to the nuking of the local Thargoids back in the days. So, some hunting happened and I went over to the Coalsack.
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More scavenging. A dead Imp. Do you ever see Python wrecks? I don't think so. Originally I was hunting for convoys that transported secret stuff into Solaris, but no luck on that end.
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A dark region behind a star, a squared dark region and a ringed brown dwarf (to hell with you, show don't tell!)
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Volcanic? Volcanic. Dark region? Dark region. Greedy sun? Greedy sun.
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The shame when you have to think about where you've taken what screenies at. Those should be Chamaeleon, right below the Coalsack. It is just very hard to focus near civilisations. Luckily the Coalsack can be summed up in one picture:
Then, on the way down towards the Lupus Nebula I encountered a very blue system. You maybe wonder how I happened to travel from the California Nebula to the Coalsack, as they are on different ends of the bubble, and why I then from there went even further down. I guess it is what those bewildered long-range explorers in bars refer to when they say “get kissed by the Child of Dark”. Anyways, it was so blue even my steam turned blue. The following includes 9 pictures including close ups, so vary:
Now, once you enter the Lupus region things get complicated. There are dark regions. A lot. When you leave one behind, you'll have to fear not to stumble over the next right away. Lupus has two sectors, Ophiuchus three, Pipe two and in between are smaller ones like the Snake Nebula. It is really, really the only zone that I have yet seen where one could apply “everything looks the same”. Because, in this zone, you have to look very closely to see the differences.
Those shall be my last screenshots thus: the IC 4604 sector, I think the Lupus B region, loot, and, eh, I think Rho Ophiuchi with my Python in front. Following after that, the selling highlights will be listed!
Selling session P1
“Is that all?” I hear you ask? Why, yes! I must confess there is nothing to follow. Oh, no, please don't be sad! It was not my decision. You see, when I closed all the selling stuff, the game crashed! Just like that! I argued with the game, but to no avail. “I need to put new decals on my ship!” I begged. But alas, it didn't start back up without my command. And when I came in? My ship was just in the miserable state in which it returned! Despite having repaired it from around 64% hull and 0, nothing% integrity! Mind you, that were over 800 000 credits repair costs. After selling all of this, the Freedom Party of Alpha Centauri really liked me, so there is no background for sabotage.
“How long did all this take you?” I hear another one ask? I dunno! Lost track of time completely. Approximately took me as long as it takes you to count to 13 million, as that's how much profit I made from all of that. Decent enough, given the original goals (who remembers the first lines?). Propellered me from abour 33% Mostly Aimless (Tourist) to 62% Pathfinder (Discoverer). Yes, Pathfinder is translated as Discoverer in the French localization. Awesome, isn't it?
But that shall be it for now. Thanks all! I guess! (And don't you complain about the length. On this tour I've made 773 screenshots. This got throughout filtered already.)
Do you find exploration too boring to do it yourself, whilst curious how it feels like? Have you too much time on your hands and just want to sink it into something pointless? Perfect! Here's the thing: Just as I'm writing this, my first exploration trip concludes. For any serious explorer it was a mere walk in the neighbourhood, but for me it covered the most important targets to visit in the galaxy. Primary target: the Flame Nebula within Barnard's Loop. This is meant to be a mixture of a travel report, some rp elements and shameless screenshot spam. The goal was to get exploration started, and to get at least the rank of Surveyor/1 million profit from exploration.
Loadout!
But before I start, I must just as shamelessly promote a completely unrelated thread, in which I already posted the prequel to this odyssey. The Thargoid and Fer-de-Lance!
Prequel:
To start off my day in Elite, I went into a local HiRes zone, to see if there's some fun to be had, before heading out into other systems. When I arrived, around 45 kilometres away from the centre, my sensors showed not much between small rocks and giant asteroids. To my luck it didn't take long for the first Python to drop in. Our both ships were piloted closer to each other, scanning the potential prey. One for cargo, the other for bounty. He may not has found any cargo within my bays, I, however, found a tasty bounty on his head. "Haha," I thought, "a worthy enemy!" and opened fire.
Lasers were deflected by shields, chaffs were launched, steel was melted. Our both ships danced a deadly tango through the extraction side, otherwise a source of wealth and security for every upcoming system. Not this day. More than once each of us saw massive asteroids pass only inches from our cockpits, which stood so fragile against the deadly void. The dance found its end only when the pirate's hull visibly cracked, and his power plant imploded. I took a short time to admire the skill he fought with. A true master in his craft but not prepared for the dangers out in the dark.
In the meanwhile my radar had filled up. Some miners must have reported an increased activity of pirates, as multiple Eagles and Vipers of the local police force were patrolling only a few kilometres away from me. Soon, far below, I spotted lasers firing behind asteroids into multiple directions. Curious and with the smell of fresh pirates in my nose, I gave full power to the engines that ran soundless. I had turned down the sound system before take-off.
Scanning the participants for bounties, I soon was joined by the new arrivals. To the left and right, a personal escort of Eagles formatted. Either my previous help for the Federation struck waves, or they just appreciated the second-line firepower.
On four kilometres distance the scenario revealed its twisted façade. An Asp was holding its ground against two veterans in a Federal Dropship and a Vulture.
"Renegades," I said to myself as the light of the smaller crafts' afterburners lit my canopy. "Freedom does not mean the absence of morale."
I deployed my hardpoints and opened fire on the Dropship from two kilometres, with a gentle bitterness on my lips. The Asp had managed to take its shields down to fifty percent, and it was not before the Dropship's shields went down that he managed to rearrange its movement vectors to bring his weapons on me. It was a hopeless measure though. With his comrade being chased away by the police, he now saw himself outnumbered by a angry Asp and a bloodthirsty Python. Soon enough, the Spartan beauty of his hull was denigrated into a pile of space dust. A brief look at the Asp revealed that its shields may were taken down, but its hull stood barely scratched. We had not come that late to the party, it seemed.
On the radar I saw the Eagles still fighting the Vulture kilometres away. I already was turning my ship into their direction, ready to leave the Asp to its own business, when something scanned my ship. Surprised, I took a look at the nearby contacts. An Imperial Clipper had sneaked up from behind. Before I had a chance to turn around, the Asp already had opened fire upon the newcomer. The commander in the Clipper must have been as surprised by this as much as I was, given he had completely ignored him to this point. I lost no time to scan him for bounties. The third big fish, and not taken a breath yet! En lifstrid I krig, they would say back in Erlik.
I couldn't lose time with old memories though. The Clipper, now giving all the attention to the Asp it could want, was shredding through its shield like hot knifes did cut through the butter you got on Orcas every morning.
My weapons once more found their target and started to decimate shields. Unlike the Dropship, the Clipper insisted on his part of the Asp, what to the luck of the Asp wasn't made easier by the return of the Eagles. The Clipper threw itself around asteroids to shake off the unlikely odds that were supposed to just be easy profit. Or so I though. His run into the asteroid belt must have given him enough time to make a call, as another Python jumped in, much to the disliking of the police.
Quickly, the small conflict developed a character as chaotic as a battlefield. Keen to keep my eyes on the biggest opponent on the field, I immediately switched target on the second Python of the day, who returned the favour with glee. Again I found myself dancing through the asteroids with an opponent who had mastered his craft, but this time with ever growing entourage on both sides. I saw a Viper throwing a run-by laser volley onto the pirate's shields while I was getting into position to target his power plant. Simultaneously though, the faster Clipper had managed to break free from the Asp and the Eagles and had opened fire on my rear.
My shields went down rapidly, and the energy in my weapons was depleting. Finding myself heckled, I boosted up the engines, dropped a chaff and took advantage of two shield batteries. The five seconds for the batteries to kick in nearly were enough for the enemies to punch through my defence. Unnervingly shortly before my paint job would be redesigned, I saw the slim silhouette of a ship charging in the upper-right corner of my canopy, weapons glowing hot and firing straight past me. It was the Asp again! The madman was going to charge past me, straight into the line of fire of five large hardpoints. I could do nothing but watch him shoot past.
Now given the time for my batteries to do their job and the heat to be vented out, I took a forced breath and watched from the second line. Now, like I just was moments ago, the Asp manoeuvred through the both ships, with all kind of smaller ships following after. Somewhere in the third line another Dropship had jumped in, but that was the problem of the local police alone. Aligning myself to get back to rescue my helper, a Diamondback Scout shot past my cockpit, chased by another Vulture. This was escalating! I had to ignore most of the crafts and the occasional lasers hitting my still recharging shields; the Asp was down to thirty percent already!
On full speed I re-engaged on the heavily damaged Clipper. All five guns blazing, I drained all I could get out of my afterburners. With the Clipper's shield generator seemingly taken out by the Asp, I set for collision course. My shields were sent instantly back down to nothing as the sharp nose of my Python cut through the long neck of the Clipper like a guillotine.
Again, I threw on batteries, turned, and was just able to see the Python blowing a ship that I couldn't identify anymore into pieces. "The Asp!" I screamed and threw my head around. My spine shook in relieve as the Asp was still to be seen on my starboard side. Together with some smaller ships, I once again opened fire on the aid of him who's bygone in the void.
A relentless assault between angered Pythons followed. The lust for blood and vengence drove us both into madness, transforming every Joule of energy our power plants would give us directly into firepower. Sidewinders and Eagles alike who dared to cross our firing arcs got blasted within the blink of an eye. Those who were smart enough, kept the battle under themselves. Other fighter pilots whjo tried to lure the enemy on their six into the devastating exchange of lasers went through the danger fruitless.
Only when a Python imploded in an enormous explosion, humanity returned to the battlefield. One side now without cruiser support, the police quickly gained the upper hand in the battle and slowly turned the proxy war back into the shape of a regular bounty hunt. I myself was reduced to a mere stationary space defence for allied pilots to return to, while I checked my contacts for the Asp.
A few kilometres below I found him. Shields slowly recharging on most ships, and the battle slowly dying down or splitting apart into small conflicts, I turned my nose towards him. There was another ship before him, but the contact was lost before I could identify it. I gave half throttle to the engines to pay him a visit and see who this brave pilot was. Turned out he was a miner. As soon as he was alone, began to penetrate an asteroid with his mining laser.
"What a man," I thought, shaking my head. "Engages the most dangerous ships one could find in such a place with a mining laser."
Behind me, the remaining encounters found a swift end when heavy police reinforcements jumped in. They managed to call two Anacondas in to clean up the extraction side. A bit late, for my taste. And still, there he was. Shields still heavily decimated from combat, he already was only minding the profit of his profession again. Jock McSporran, a deadly pilot of the Andhirmi League. They sure must be proud to have such brave pilots amongst them.
There I also saw another Clipper that jumped in. I didn't care. I was done for the day. Not so the Asp. I was still out of range, with my engines turned off. When his mining laser stopped, I feared for the worst. The Asp took a straight course, and so did the Clipper, accompanied by a Viper that I hadn't seen yet.
"Maniac!" I screamed into the turned off intercoms. "21% hull! You won't stand a chance!" Unwilling to see him gone, I boosted up my engines and went straight after him. No time on my hands to properly scan the new arrivals for crimes, I directly opened fire on the Viper to get it off my new friend. The manoeuvre worked, and I was gifted with the attention of them both. Against what happened before, it now was my only will to receive as much damage as possible. I saw the Asp going down to nine percent as I drifted between him and the Clipper without any flight assist keeping my weapons off the imperialist. I didn't care for the politics. I didn't care for why the Empire arranged raids on resource extraction sides of the Federation. There was just the blasted Clipper I longed for, to save my new friend. I didn't care for me, and sent all energy I had on my hands into the weapons.
With the two ships soon gone, my blood slowly started to cool down. A few moments of peace settled down. There was only I and the Asp, flown by this inspiring miner, and the silhouettes of the police's Anacondas far above. I turned on the sound systems of my ship again. The silence had become too stressful.
"Under attack," was the first it stated. Taken aback by this, I checked for other ships that I could have overseen. There were none. I turned to the Asp which had gotten out of my vision while I was busy teaching the old girl how to talk again. He was firing at me. Irritated, I checked the reputation screen with a hunch. There it stood, wanted. Attacking ships without having them scanned for crimes was widely regarded a crime, and my efforts to save this man should be no exception. And as such, as I turned into a criminal myself, this very man followed his cold protocol. To obliterate what stands against the law. The Anacondas were closing in from above well visibly, looking through the upper canopy with my head laying rested in the most expensive chair money can buy; the one next to me empty as ever.
I gave full energy to the systems and just let the situation sink in. Sure, I could make a stand. What I did was right. To kill me would be murder, and self defence is an important right. The Asp would go down before any ship could possibly arrive. I threw a quick glance on my shields, which were still holding up strong against the fire of the miner's Asp. And alone against two Anacondas plus acquaintances... isn't that the challenge every Python commander should seek? Probably, but this wasn't the time. I wouldn't kill him. It was time to follow the call of the Flame Nebula. The Ever-watching Eye. I would leave the system.
I turned away from him, even waved. Then, out there, back in the silent nothingness, just above the rings of Andhrimi 6, I opened the navigation panel and let the navigation computer calculate a course. Final destination: Trapezium Sector AF-Z C5. I never truly expected to find salvation in combat. But out there, somewhere, I will find it.
"Friendship Drive charging," I thought to hear like so many times before.
My thoughts drifted back to Erlik again...
Lasers were deflected by shields, chaffs were launched, steel was melted. Our both ships danced a deadly tango through the extraction side, otherwise a source of wealth and security for every upcoming system. Not this day. More than once each of us saw massive asteroids pass only inches from our cockpits, which stood so fragile against the deadly void. The dance found its end only when the pirate's hull visibly cracked, and his power plant imploded. I took a short time to admire the skill he fought with. A true master in his craft but not prepared for the dangers out in the dark.
In the meanwhile my radar had filled up. Some miners must have reported an increased activity of pirates, as multiple Eagles and Vipers of the local police force were patrolling only a few kilometres away from me. Soon, far below, I spotted lasers firing behind asteroids into multiple directions. Curious and with the smell of fresh pirates in my nose, I gave full power to the engines that ran soundless. I had turned down the sound system before take-off.
Scanning the participants for bounties, I soon was joined by the new arrivals. To the left and right, a personal escort of Eagles formatted. Either my previous help for the Federation struck waves, or they just appreciated the second-line firepower.
On four kilometres distance the scenario revealed its twisted façade. An Asp was holding its ground against two veterans in a Federal Dropship and a Vulture.
"Renegades," I said to myself as the light of the smaller crafts' afterburners lit my canopy. "Freedom does not mean the absence of morale."
I deployed my hardpoints and opened fire on the Dropship from two kilometres, with a gentle bitterness on my lips. The Asp had managed to take its shields down to fifty percent, and it was not before the Dropship's shields went down that he managed to rearrange its movement vectors to bring his weapons on me. It was a hopeless measure though. With his comrade being chased away by the police, he now saw himself outnumbered by a angry Asp and a bloodthirsty Python. Soon enough, the Spartan beauty of his hull was denigrated into a pile of space dust. A brief look at the Asp revealed that its shields may were taken down, but its hull stood barely scratched. We had not come that late to the party, it seemed.
On the radar I saw the Eagles still fighting the Vulture kilometres away. I already was turning my ship into their direction, ready to leave the Asp to its own business, when something scanned my ship. Surprised, I took a look at the nearby contacts. An Imperial Clipper had sneaked up from behind. Before I had a chance to turn around, the Asp already had opened fire upon the newcomer. The commander in the Clipper must have been as surprised by this as much as I was, given he had completely ignored him to this point. I lost no time to scan him for bounties. The third big fish, and not taken a breath yet! En lifstrid I krig, they would say back in Erlik.
I couldn't lose time with old memories though. The Clipper, now giving all the attention to the Asp it could want, was shredding through its shield like hot knifes did cut through the butter you got on Orcas every morning.
My weapons once more found their target and started to decimate shields. Unlike the Dropship, the Clipper insisted on his part of the Asp, what to the luck of the Asp wasn't made easier by the return of the Eagles. The Clipper threw itself around asteroids to shake off the unlikely odds that were supposed to just be easy profit. Or so I though. His run into the asteroid belt must have given him enough time to make a call, as another Python jumped in, much to the disliking of the police.
Quickly, the small conflict developed a character as chaotic as a battlefield. Keen to keep my eyes on the biggest opponent on the field, I immediately switched target on the second Python of the day, who returned the favour with glee. Again I found myself dancing through the asteroids with an opponent who had mastered his craft, but this time with ever growing entourage on both sides. I saw a Viper throwing a run-by laser volley onto the pirate's shields while I was getting into position to target his power plant. Simultaneously though, the faster Clipper had managed to break free from the Asp and the Eagles and had opened fire on my rear.
My shields went down rapidly, and the energy in my weapons was depleting. Finding myself heckled, I boosted up the engines, dropped a chaff and took advantage of two shield batteries. The five seconds for the batteries to kick in nearly were enough for the enemies to punch through my defence. Unnervingly shortly before my paint job would be redesigned, I saw the slim silhouette of a ship charging in the upper-right corner of my canopy, weapons glowing hot and firing straight past me. It was the Asp again! The madman was going to charge past me, straight into the line of fire of five large hardpoints. I could do nothing but watch him shoot past.
Now given the time for my batteries to do their job and the heat to be vented out, I took a forced breath and watched from the second line. Now, like I just was moments ago, the Asp manoeuvred through the both ships, with all kind of smaller ships following after. Somewhere in the third line another Dropship had jumped in, but that was the problem of the local police alone. Aligning myself to get back to rescue my helper, a Diamondback Scout shot past my cockpit, chased by another Vulture. This was escalating! I had to ignore most of the crafts and the occasional lasers hitting my still recharging shields; the Asp was down to thirty percent already!
On full speed I re-engaged on the heavily damaged Clipper. All five guns blazing, I drained all I could get out of my afterburners. With the Clipper's shield generator seemingly taken out by the Asp, I set for collision course. My shields were sent instantly back down to nothing as the sharp nose of my Python cut through the long neck of the Clipper like a guillotine.
Again, I threw on batteries, turned, and was just able to see the Python blowing a ship that I couldn't identify anymore into pieces. "The Asp!" I screamed and threw my head around. My spine shook in relieve as the Asp was still to be seen on my starboard side. Together with some smaller ships, I once again opened fire on the aid of him who's bygone in the void.
A relentless assault between angered Pythons followed. The lust for blood and vengence drove us both into madness, transforming every Joule of energy our power plants would give us directly into firepower. Sidewinders and Eagles alike who dared to cross our firing arcs got blasted within the blink of an eye. Those who were smart enough, kept the battle under themselves. Other fighter pilots whjo tried to lure the enemy on their six into the devastating exchange of lasers went through the danger fruitless.
Only when a Python imploded in an enormous explosion, humanity returned to the battlefield. One side now without cruiser support, the police quickly gained the upper hand in the battle and slowly turned the proxy war back into the shape of a regular bounty hunt. I myself was reduced to a mere stationary space defence for allied pilots to return to, while I checked my contacts for the Asp.
A few kilometres below I found him. Shields slowly recharging on most ships, and the battle slowly dying down or splitting apart into small conflicts, I turned my nose towards him. There was another ship before him, but the contact was lost before I could identify it. I gave half throttle to the engines to pay him a visit and see who this brave pilot was. Turned out he was a miner. As soon as he was alone, began to penetrate an asteroid with his mining laser.
"What a man," I thought, shaking my head. "Engages the most dangerous ships one could find in such a place with a mining laser."
Behind me, the remaining encounters found a swift end when heavy police reinforcements jumped in. They managed to call two Anacondas in to clean up the extraction side. A bit late, for my taste. And still, there he was. Shields still heavily decimated from combat, he already was only minding the profit of his profession again. Jock McSporran, a deadly pilot of the Andhirmi League. They sure must be proud to have such brave pilots amongst them.
There I also saw another Clipper that jumped in. I didn't care. I was done for the day. Not so the Asp. I was still out of range, with my engines turned off. When his mining laser stopped, I feared for the worst. The Asp took a straight course, and so did the Clipper, accompanied by a Viper that I hadn't seen yet.
"Maniac!" I screamed into the turned off intercoms. "21% hull! You won't stand a chance!" Unwilling to see him gone, I boosted up my engines and went straight after him. No time on my hands to properly scan the new arrivals for crimes, I directly opened fire on the Viper to get it off my new friend. The manoeuvre worked, and I was gifted with the attention of them both. Against what happened before, it now was my only will to receive as much damage as possible. I saw the Asp going down to nine percent as I drifted between him and the Clipper without any flight assist keeping my weapons off the imperialist. I didn't care for the politics. I didn't care for why the Empire arranged raids on resource extraction sides of the Federation. There was just the blasted Clipper I longed for, to save my new friend. I didn't care for me, and sent all energy I had on my hands into the weapons.
With the two ships soon gone, my blood slowly started to cool down. A few moments of peace settled down. There was only I and the Asp, flown by this inspiring miner, and the silhouettes of the police's Anacondas far above. I turned on the sound systems of my ship again. The silence had become too stressful.
"Under attack," was the first it stated. Taken aback by this, I checked for other ships that I could have overseen. There were none. I turned to the Asp which had gotten out of my vision while I was busy teaching the old girl how to talk again. He was firing at me. Irritated, I checked the reputation screen with a hunch. There it stood, wanted. Attacking ships without having them scanned for crimes was widely regarded a crime, and my efforts to save this man should be no exception. And as such, as I turned into a criminal myself, this very man followed his cold protocol. To obliterate what stands against the law. The Anacondas were closing in from above well visibly, looking through the upper canopy with my head laying rested in the most expensive chair money can buy; the one next to me empty as ever.
I gave full energy to the systems and just let the situation sink in. Sure, I could make a stand. What I did was right. To kill me would be murder, and self defence is an important right. The Asp would go down before any ship could possibly arrive. I threw a quick glance on my shields, which were still holding up strong against the fire of the miner's Asp. And alone against two Anacondas plus acquaintances... isn't that the challenge every Python commander should seek? Probably, but this wasn't the time. I wouldn't kill him. It was time to follow the call of the Flame Nebula. The Ever-watching Eye. I would leave the system.
I turned away from him, even waved. Then, out there, back in the silent nothingness, just above the rings of Andhrimi 6, I opened the navigation panel and let the navigation computer calculate a course. Final destination: Trapezium Sector AF-Z C5. I never truly expected to find salvation in combat. But out there, somewhere, I will find it.
"Friendship Drive charging," I thought to hear like so many times before.
My thoughts drifted back to Erlik again...
The moment you decide to enter the fields of exploration can be compared to the moment you finish a requiem for a star. After years that follow years, the weight of the past would grow to become the only thing that keeps itself from growing too big to devour you and with that itself. Only when a star dies its mass stops keeping its matter from expanding beyond stability, allowing it to undo what has shown so brightly. What is left is a nebula of life-forming matter. After a person allowed the past to undo himself, all that is left are the still vibrating emotions leading him into a new life. Emotions that need to be transported, and need matter to be transported through. In an interplay of waves they build the base to what even the highest fall, through the matter of stars and by the energy of life. In their most perfect form they become a song, a requiem for the star without which they never could have been. The star, a flame, that shines within humans whose nebula is named Soul.
After having left the ideals of the past behind and having overcome the intrigues of modern times, I soon had to face the problems of my new life. I already had made my first blind jump away from the mad fight over resources.
It took a while for the flight computer to calculate a route. When it finished, I was quite surprised to see that I didn't have a new set destination to lock. I checked my map. No course set. It threw me off by quite a bit. The chosen destination, way between me and my final destination, was well within the 1000 light years radius the current software allowed. I had to turn off the engines and focus my mind back on what was on hand.
Setting a course into the unknown wasn't the same as navigating the bubble. It followed a verbal dispute between me and my flight computer. A bad habit taken over from my hot-blooded hunting days. We came to agree to half the distance again and buy and AFMU first. Soon enough, I was enjoying the warm sunrays of a young expedition:
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The first few hundred light years went smooth. The greenhorn I was, I flew through them like through any other civilized system. Scoop, jump, repeat. Only when I reached the borders of the Witch Hear region, the end of the calculated route, exploration senses deep in me began to tickle. It wasn't a deeply hidden desire for the unknown as one might expect though. No, it was the Child of Dark, that made its call for me. Just sitting there, between the Witch Head and Barnard's Loop.
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From there on, progress began its long way down in swiftness and importance. I got acquainted with the Witch Head as my first visited nebula. Little did I know at this time about the tiny planetary nebulas that contain but one star. I took my time to explore the region, and only when I felt satisfied I continued. And yet, the only satisfaction lay within the certainty of something even bigger waiting for my arrival.
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Barnard's Loop was coming close, and the flight computer had in the meantime managed to set a course into the heart of Flame Nebula, the centre of Barnard's Loop. Once again things took a faster pace. I was sitting between two sleeping giants, anticipating every of their calm breaths. The faster I went, the more I felt their vividness. The Witch Head Nebula almost seemed to cut the milky way in half with its sharp contours, while the Ever-watching eye grew constantly.
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With time, the Flame Nebula set itself off the picture. For the first time I saw it not as the iris of a big whole, but as something separate, something that can fascinate by its own uniqueness alone. My ship was now shrouded in a wild mixture of colours. The wildest mixtures of chemical compounds turned my starboard view into a saturated blue, carrying the graze of purple. To my portside, the dried blood of the giant turned space into a deep red. It was the first revelation that came to me. The Ever-watching eye, Barnard's Loop, was not centred on us. Now that I was here, on the horizon, not just gazing at it in wild daydreams, I knew it. The two giants were not sleeping. The one was slaughtered, his body turning blue in the icy coldness of hearts. The other giant is widely awake, mourning, the blood of his friend still on his hands. Of him, whom he was unable to safe.
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Did the sudden solitude turn me mad? How could I ponder such nonsense? Or was it? My mind wandered as I slowly passed the Orion and Running Man Nebulae. Running man, a suiting name. Didn't all those who came here before, just like me, run away from something? By any means, denying to be running towards answers would be foolish. Yet, behind every seeming gate, there was just another box of new questions.
Pictures: (I hate the super cruise star dust line things)
It didn't let loose of me. The idea was clinging. Those giants, driven further from the core than we ever were. What if it was not guilt the Ever-watching eye was looking at, but disparity? Both giants, eternal foes, one the negative of the other? Locked in an eternal fight? The red giant: Love, desiring the unity of the word's fabric, in an eternal, perfect harmonium. The other: Discord, desiring to drive the fabric apart, into endless fragments of the one great Sphairos. The core of the galaxy is by many brave explorers reported to be greatest of such, and yet nothing like it.
Once Love ruled over the galaxy. Every particle existed in perfect harmony to the other. Then somewhen, somehow, a tiny disconuity was born. Firstly unseen by Love, ever growing, until it tore the equilibrium apart. In one large blast the Sphairos must have blasted, creating the world of diversity we know today. From then on, Discord stood on the field next to Love, overtaking him rapidly by the momentum of surprise.
By the law of Anánke they were doomed to fight each other for eternity. Until, eventually, the disparity became too great and Love fell. Next to his dead body he sat down, in full respect of his only foe. From there he watches the world unfold, in ever-growing, unchallenged disparity. The blood of Love still in his eye, and the dead, cold body to his feet. The Sphairos longsince had ended to exist, and the age of Akosmía saw its greatest times, to the point where we are now.
Lost in thoughts I circled several systems. In trance from the dense lights shining from Orion's region, my mind seemed to wander a course that was no longer set by my consciousness while I scanned rocks of ice. Until I turned around.
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I stood at the world's gate. It was Tartarus without Ceberus. With all that power surrounding us, there is nothing to hold us back but ourselves. To seek answers within the borders of the gate now seemed like an attempt to read the writings on a box from the inside. I had to get back on track fast. The Loop had to be circled for data, and then the Horsehead nebula, the first thing beyond The Loop, would have to be investigated. From here, it looked like a wall of gas, with something incredible guarded behind.
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Things soon came back to normal. My mind still was a bit dizzy, but I was actively cruising the nebula again. The first water worlds and earth likes of the journey were showing up, things turned good indeed.
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Although the presence of the Horsehead Nebula never really left the frame...
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...With the Ever-watching eye always just behind my shoulder.
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Soon this path proofed its rightness. It brought me my fist undiscovered system, and deep within this Elysian fields at that! The regret of excitement soon follow: I still swear it's a skull, no matter what the bartender says about my bill size.
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Properly blue(ish) planet and lined nebulae. (I said rp elements, not rp only, after all...besides, pictures! I'm still officially ranked tourist at this point, after all.) Also red miky way. Reasons.
No shadowplay without suns (yes, I use an nVidia). Pictures! And oh, the memories...
“Sun”
But let's get a little serious again for a moment. The Horsehead's call has led me, and a journey seems to come to an end.
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“Serious”
Soon afterwards: arrival. It indeed is a wall. What is it protecting?
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A decision had to be made. Turn around and conclude it as planned? Or venture beyond the mysterious wall? I couldn't pass directly through it and would have to go around. It would take time and effort, for a possibly low margin. And I don't mean that in character only either! The closest thing behind it was around 17,40 ly, while I would even with an empty tank not exceed, with much good will, 17,10 ly.
Driven by an unconsciouness unrest I plotted a course just to see how much extra work exactly it would take. I think to remember it were around 37 jumps. Fair enough, I thought. There's some small dark region above it, so I may as well give that one a pass.
Seeing small dark regions equals scanning asteroids in worth..
What shall I say? Things got dark and sharp. Beautiful from below though. I think at this point I left the initial shock of solitude behind me. I dare not to think what other commanders must have went through in their early exploration days. I can say from myself to be relatively used to solitude. It's my thing. But out there, whole new level.
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Oh, and somewhere in between: first neutron star! Yay! Or not? Came unexpected. Too unexpected!
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Behind Barnard's Loop things began to lighten up. Sanity returned and undiscovered systems suddenly were a real thing. Perhaps we should build a station there to grow the happiest colony yet?
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Soon it had to happen. As we all know, in this world always happens Soon. So, Soon I hit the end of the line. The ending of the broken bridge whose sign the wall was. I had to backtrack 10 to 20 systems before. 16 light years jump range don't leave much choice if moving away from the core constantly. This time, it looked worse than usual. No matter how I twisted and turned, moved hundreds of light years up, I just couldn't get any further.
A familiar feeling rose in my chest. I had to turn off the engines and get some time in the silent back of my ship to grasp it. Realization had hit me once again. Until today I'm unsure how or when it happened. Behind The Loop Complex I had seen the Seagull Nebula. It wasn't the farthest. The Monkey Head was still some light years behind that one. And yet, I measured my progress on it since I left The Loop Complex behind.
Perhaps it was the memories on the seagulls flying free above the silent sea, their screams in my ears and the salty sea in my nose. On top of our light house, I had smelled freedom the first time. Now I wanted to fly free, like the seagulls of my childhood. I couldn't. Too much burden was still laden on my shoulders. It may sounds obvious that a Seagull can't fly freely with class 3 lasers bound onto its wings. A Python, however, learns that lesson only if it wants to. Weapons were no means of safety. They were a necessity, a nuisance bound to my wings by a cruel society. Not should it be my target to move the galaxy freely if needed by weapon force, but to travel it unarmed and spread the freedom of heart, not the freedom of muscles.
A long time I sat there, starring back at the disk of the milky way and The Loop Complex above it, a vision I never had before in my life. Without having to turn my head, at least. Should I really return into civilization again? The GalMap sprang up, and stood open a good while. “California Nebula,” I thought eventually, “lies on the way back, somewhat.” Few moments later, a waypoint for a new partial course was set and the Frameshift back online.
Oh dear.
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Oh dear.
“Can't take too long,” I thought during the first jumps. I wouldn't have stood wrong, wasn't it for my slight miscalculation of what's known to mankind. Come on, how many commanders did travel from behind The Loop Complex to the California Nebula? Can't be many for what I can tell, because about every third system was completely untagged. The bad thing is that I was excited about it all the way through! Ice planets, brown dwarves, gas giants, rocky planets, you name it. All scanned. In every unseen system. Granted, after everything I got first exploration boni on about every page of data I sold. Still, I wasn't able to track down a single one of them!
Sure, there were earth likes, water worlds, with up to 28000 credits as pure bonus for first discoveries. A system worth 200000 credits plus? Just on that road. But honestly, it's the 40+ objects ice planets systems that keep in the memory on the first trip.
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More pictures?
The journey from The Loop Complex to the California Nebula was what thought me the first true steps of proper exploration, really. While the trip to and around The Loop Complex was way more exciting, this monotonous cruise through unexplored space was where I learned to distinguish between a water world and a high metal content planet, at least roughly.
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It was really fun being the first to cruise through many different kinds of systems. And not to far from home space at that. Once more, there's another player disagreeing with basically any “everything looks the same” comment. The trick is that you first have to learn how to perceive before you can judge.
Things don't get that close all the time for certain!
After a longer time than I'm willing to admit, I arrived at California Nebula. At first glance it seemed disappointing compared to what I saw back in The Loop Complex. I gave it a chance nevertheless, and it has its good sides. One of them being me! Ha, the travelling has worn down my paint job quite a bit.
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Turned out the California Nebula really wasn't that far off. Not that I thought it would be. Some 800 light years from civilization. The point of return was almost inevitable! Then it happened: I saw something in the sky and thought for the very first time: “Ohh, shiney!”
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A 300 light year chase followed, before I gave up without coming any closer on a perceivable level. I couldn't track it down in the GalMap either.
Gladly, somewhere in the middle I turned the camera around, and saw the mighty Loop Complex hiding behind the California Nebula, who himself chose to hide behind a planet. Given he shows me his back, I don't think he's too happy about being the first row soldier.
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Then I thought: everyone likes screenshots in ice fields! Everyone likes screenshots of nebulae! I've got both!
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An earth like later, how it happened I've forgotten, I set course for T Tauri. The cruise brought me considerably closer to inhibited space. So close, in fact, that a strong signal source popped up. I, of course, went right into it. Of all things, it was some Fer de Lances battling Vultures. Far away from any space station! I left them alone, and went to chill out between two rings of an ice moon.
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The journey itself was surprisingly short. The arrival at T Tauri itself, however, caused a few... confusions. Well, read for yourselves! (Pictures inside!)
From there on it went off to the Pleiades Nebula which also caused confusion! (Pictures inside)
There are some pictures, however, that aren't linked above:
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On my way away from all this confusion I crosses some eco planets and... a disco sun? No wonder I ran mad in such company!
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At least I was close to home space. This allowed more frequent signal sources to appear, and some serious long-range scavenging happened (hint: not profitable). All this happened when I decided to visit Solaris during my runaway. Of course, being all alone, nobody was around to tell me it's under Permit lock due to the nuking of the local Thargoids back in the days. So, some hunting happened and I went over to the Coalsack.
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More scavenging. A dead Imp. Do you ever see Python wrecks? I don't think so. Originally I was hunting for convoys that transported secret stuff into Solaris, but no luck on that end.
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A dark region behind a star, a squared dark region and a ringed brown dwarf (to hell with you, show don't tell!)
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Volcanic? Volcanic. Dark region? Dark region. Greedy sun? Greedy sun.
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The shame when you have to think about where you've taken what screenies at. Those should be Chamaeleon, right below the Coalsack. It is just very hard to focus near civilisations. Luckily the Coalsack can be summed up in one picture:
Then, on the way down towards the Lupus Nebula I encountered a very blue system. You maybe wonder how I happened to travel from the California Nebula to the Coalsack, as they are on different ends of the bubble, and why I then from there went even further down. I guess it is what those bewildered long-range explorers in bars refer to when they say “get kissed by the Child of Dark”. Anyways, it was so blue even my steam turned blue. The following includes 9 pictures including close ups, so vary:
Now, once you enter the Lupus region things get complicated. There are dark regions. A lot. When you leave one behind, you'll have to fear not to stumble over the next right away. Lupus has two sectors, Ophiuchus three, Pipe two and in between are smaller ones like the Snake Nebula. It is really, really the only zone that I have yet seen where one could apply “everything looks the same”. Because, in this zone, you have to look very closely to see the differences.
Those shall be my last screenshots thus: the IC 4604 sector, I think the Lupus B region, loot, and, eh, I think Rho Ophiuchi with my Python in front. Following after that, the selling highlights will be listed!
Selling session P1
“Is that all?” I hear you ask? Why, yes! I must confess there is nothing to follow. Oh, no, please don't be sad! It was not my decision. You see, when I closed all the selling stuff, the game crashed! Just like that! I argued with the game, but to no avail. “I need to put new decals on my ship!” I begged. But alas, it didn't start back up without my command. And when I came in? My ship was just in the miserable state in which it returned! Despite having repaired it from around 64% hull and 0, nothing% integrity! Mind you, that were over 800 000 credits repair costs. After selling all of this, the Freedom Party of Alpha Centauri really liked me, so there is no background for sabotage.
“How long did all this take you?” I hear another one ask? I dunno! Lost track of time completely. Approximately took me as long as it takes you to count to 13 million, as that's how much profit I made from all of that. Decent enough, given the original goals (who remembers the first lines?). Propellered me from abour 33% Mostly Aimless (Tourist) to 62% Pathfinder (Discoverer). Yes, Pathfinder is translated as Discoverer in the French localization. Awesome, isn't it?
But that shall be it for now. Thanks all! I guess! (And don't you complain about the length. On this tour I've made 773 screenshots. This got throughout filtered already.)
