The long arm of Perseus

[Azriphail]

I had no idea it would be such a long trip. Im currently making my way up the Perseus arm and getting antsy about where i might attempt a crossing dependant on star density, the journey is becoming its own story.

Prologue

The noise of populated space feels like the build up of pressure in your ears when you swim to deep. It's bearable, persistent and wholly uncomfortable, you become most aware of it once its removed.

Early March 3301
It had been weeks since Aziraphale had returned from his previous expedition. He sat hunched over an outrageously over priced eranin pearl whisky at a dirty bar in Chacornac Orbital. The outpost orbited in the Wiradjuri system on the fringes of Empire controlled space. Even this far out on the edge of the ‘civilised’ bubble the weight of voices from the customers in the outpost bar was oppressive, invasive and unavoidable.

The conversations drifted in to Aziraphales mind. One group provided a banal diatribe against the latest reality show and the vapid personas that were being broadcast. A second group derided the price of beer and its mark-up over the market price. From the far corner he heard an excited vocal battle from techno-nerds of the relative merits of ordinance load out on the latest gunship versus the vulture. A group of hardened jocks arguing how the rules of cqc should change to make the latest craze more entertaining for the spectators.
The minutiae of the various participants own shallow lives barrelled unfettered into his consciousness.

Aziraphale felt ill prepared to deal with these people. Why are they here in this bar? Out there, in the vast deep black, there might be a world, an entire planet that each of them might lay claim to, undiscovered like a jewel suspended in a seam of fossilised carbon. How could that knowledge not tempt them away from this vile place and their vacuous lives? Aziraphale could feel the familiar pull in his heart and let it consume him. He downed his drink and winced, savouring the burn as it hit his throat. He slung on his worn wax coat and wide brimmed hat and left the bar to make his way back to the dock. As he made his way through the suffocating crowds he could feel the pressure easing. A smile began to well up from deep inside until finally he let out a soft chuckle.

It was time to escape back into the void.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

I have just about finished the Perseus arm. I crossed over the fairly obvious little 'bridge' down by the bubble, and have been moving up the arm towards where it joins the centre of the galaxy ever since. From the sparsity of tagged systems I have seen, I suspect this is not a well travelled route. It looks like I could cross onto the arm Sol is on at any point now, though I want to keep going for a little while yet. At least I know that in fast travel mode I can get home in, say, 15-20 hours, so if Horizons news makes a return urgent, I can always rush home.

 

[Azriphail]

16.03.3301

I should have sent this log a while back. I left civilisation some time ago. I set out from Wiradjuri on a path ‘east’ towards the rim. This is a route I had travelled on a previous expedition, the aim then was to survey and catalogue a number of neutron stars. The earlier trip had been fairly mundane, a necessary task in order to familiarise myself with my equipment. I also used it to earn some much-needed funds to enable this expedition.

I will travel toward the end of the Perseus arm and document a crossing core ward to the Sagittarius arm via the Orion spur shallows or tenbris areas. This log is being written and sent from the Synuefuae sector although I expect to be many light years further out on my journey by the time this reaches anyone.

These first few kylies have been a relaxing operation. Like slipping into a warm bath after a day in the snow cutting logs. My muscle memory began to return after only a few hundred light years.
1. Jump and then throttle down as the countdown appears.
There is a moment of relaxation to take in the view of witch space as I zoom through the space between quantum plains. On arrival at a new system there is a moment when the heart races. As the main star fills the field of view I glance around frantically is this a close binary? Will I need to take evasive action? Will I be quick enough? If there is no immediate danger, then I can relax and get on with business.
2. Scan for system bodies
Once the scan completes I switch to system view to look for points of interest. There is another raise in pulse as the systems bodies are displayed, will there be an earth like, an ammonia world or a water world, how may planets of value, any record breakers, or terraformables?
3. Carry out detailed scans of any unusual, rare or high value bodies.
The chances of finding the rarer bodies are slim; on my previous ‘long’ expedition I discovered only one earth like over the course of my 12 kylie journey. That feeling was amazing though, seeing it hanging in the black, a beautiful blue sapphire in a mire of pitch. This was a world that that no other eyes had lay on. I imagine any creature or life form on the surface might also be staring up at me, an unfamiliar star moving swiftly across their familiar sky.

It’s not true what people say, you can loose your virginity more than once.

 

[golden_eye]

I like the narrative you are using for the log into/log. Good luck on your journey!

 

[Azriphail]

23.03.3301

Recent progress has been slow, out here temptations come thick and fast. Each system scan delivers a new clutch of undiscovered jewels. At first I resist and move swiftly from sun to sun, but as the hours tick by turning into days I need something to engage my mind. I need something that will fire the imagination, something that will exercise the neurones.

I began taking detailed scans of main stars in systems without other bodies, then I stretch the parameters to include rarer high value bodies, water worlds, ammonia worlds, earth likes and terra formable candidates. When I return the scans to Universal Cartographics they will provide an indelible record of my expedition path. Some explorers detest this approach to surveying. ‘Cherry Picking’ they call it.

Well they can they can bite my sweaty, cramped a*s.

If I took the time to scan each system completely I would loose too much momentum on my journey and the likely hood of failing in my true goal would increase drastically.
Today after scanning a water world that was third in line on a binary system with over twenty other bodies I oriented the starboard canopy window towards sol, dropped cecks, and passed wind. To all the cherry picker detesters, I fart in your general direction.

What you going to do about it...

 

[Azriphail]

24.03.3301

The air filters are acting up.

Yesterday’s act of defiance against snobbish explorers back in the bubble has been circulating as the bad smell it is for 18 hours.

I had to depressurise the cockpit to ‘freshen things up’ as a result I have lost another days progress.

I will stop cherry picking over the coming days in order to catch up the distance.

 

[Azriphail]

01.04.3301

Bazinga!!!

NS
|_ BH
|_ K
..|_ HMC
..|_ HMC
..|_ WW(tfc)
..|_ ELW
..|_ GG-III
....|_ PM-RS

For those that don’t understand the short hand. Neutron star primary, it’s binary is a black hole with a small K type as the tertiary 30,000ls out. Round the K are 2 high metal content planets, a terra formable water world, an earth like and a gas giant with a pristine metal ring system.

I left the whole lot un-scanned as I remain committed to catching up my lost progress.
To those that follow, I wish you the best of luck hunting for “The Jesters Swag Bag”.

 

[Azriphail]

05.04.3001

Jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skIm, jump, scan, sHim, jump, scAn, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, sTim, jump, scan, sEim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skiM, jump, scan, skim, Yump, scan, Skim, jump, scan, skim, jEmp, scan, sLim, jump, scan, skim, Fump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skIm, jump, scan, skiW, jump, scan, skim, jump, scAn, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scaN, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, sTim, jump, scan, sTim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scOn, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, Dcan, skim, jump, scan, skIm, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, sEim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, sHim, jump, scan, sEim, jump, scan, skim, jump, sLan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jumP, scan, skim, juMp, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jEmp, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, Skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, sLim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim, jump, scan, skim.

 

[Azriphail]

09.04.3301

Ah crap, I really screwed up. A real rookie mistake. Over the last week it had been a long boring haul to the edge of the Orion-Perseus Gap and I needed a pick me up. So I took on a few brews with my dinner pouch. I had been using a neutron star at Synuefuae BN-Q D6-37 as a way point, it was only a few jumps away so I was getting ready to turn in.

Never jump into neutrons tired.

At jump +1 from my target with the countdown ticking I throttled down and clipped out the flight couch. I had to hit the head urgently to lay cable. As I took care of the necessary I felt the ship lurch gently out of hyperspace and come to rest. From my seat on the alloy throne I could imagine the main star filling the canopy.

Twenty seconds later there was another, unexpected, lurch, this time more violent with a disorienting spin that bought a pinch of adrenaline. The emergency lights began strobing along with the chime of an alarm from the bridge. I cut short my dealings and hobbled as fast as I could back to the bridge with a little sick rising into the back of my mouth, I would certainly need a change of under crackers if I made it out of this.
I entered the bridge and was hit by a wall of searing heat. Smoke was streaming from the control console along with dancing electrical sparks. Over the top of the alarms was the gut churning sound of creaking and cracking from the glass of the canopy as it faced the heat and gravitational stresses from the star that filled my view.

I let fly a heat sink as I jumped into the pilots couch and angled the controls to swing the ship rear end to the star. Next I throttled up, hit the boost and felt the couch envelop me under extreme G. Turning my head to acknowledge the list of active modules I turned off every heat generating item I could. My ship moved away from the sun under the inertia of its boosters.

The ball of molten demon bile out side was still close enough to have raised the heat levels back over the 83% mark. As the temperature rose steadily I switched the thrusters back on along with the frame shift drive, I targeted a secondary system body and engaged the jump drive.
I hunted wildly to find my escape vector as the heat register began topping 100 and I winced as I hit boost. Time to drop the accumulated heat again:

- Disable the thrusters.
- Disable fsd.
- Let loose my second heat sink.

The heat drained out of the ship once more and calmed my smoking cockpit as my ship made its way towards the escape vector that would release me from this fiery great balls up.

It was the briefest of respites, the temperature continued rising relentlessly. In no time it was back over 80. For the 3rd time in as many minutes the ships internals were taking heat damage.

Again I cycled the fading thrusters. I dropped my 3rd and final heat sink and powered up the fsd to get me into super cruise. In one final attempt to put me out my misery the internal temperature spiked to 120 as the ship creaked into super cruise. Once in super cruise the ship moved far enough from the star to allow the heat levels to stabilise. At a safe distance I throttled down fully facing the depths of space. After triple checking my heading and throttle I returned to the head where I promptly threw up, turned round and finished crapping myself.

At least I was alive.

 

[Azriphail]

10.04.3001

10.04.3301

Sleep came in fits and start after yesterday’s unscheduled close quarters “fuel stop”. I spent the day assessing the damage to the ship, it was a task well suited to a tired mind that needed focusing.

The ships modules took a pretty good kicking, low 80% redundancy in a lot of them. The worst hit seems to be the cargo hatch at 72%. Luckily I’m not carrying anything of value in the hold and I don’t plan any shopping trips in the near future. This level of damage is significant enough to consider aborting my mission.

An Auto Field Maintenance Unit can repair this type of module damage, Its a relatively cheap, light weight machine that takes up very little space internally. You need to provide supplies to ensure it can do its job but they are not expensive when compared to the price of a well upgraded explorer vessel, or the human life they can save if said ship got to close to a star.
Any half salty explorer would readily confirm the merits of the AFMU. Such an explorer would tell you that anyone planning to make a long expedition into the depths of space, alone, without an AFMU would either have to be insane or a complete tool.

Let me be clear, I am NOT insane. It would appear however I am a massive, gargantuan scale blunt as a spoon, bent as a bent thing, cacking great big tool… I am aware of this with a level of certainty I have had about few other things in my life.

I know this because I did not fit aforementioned AFMU…

My reasoning for not fitting an AFMU was that i wanted to shave weight blah blah increase jump range blah faster progress blah de blah blah. Right now its really rather irrelevant, given my current situation. I realise I did not carry out a comprehensive risk assessment on the decision when I was leaving dock.

Note to future self, when making decisions that might impact life expectancy and other future self’s existence’s. Do not be a tool!

Aaaaannnnyhooo. At this particular moment my biggest concern is not the module damage, or the hull which is holding at 89% integrity. Its the canopy. The rapid internal heating and cooling cycles of the heat sinks coupled with the very high external temperatures and gravitational stress from the star have caused fractures where the canopy meets the hull. Even with an AFMU this could not be fixed.

I should definitely abort; the 10kylie(ish) return trip might easily see the canopy blow. The most un-toolish thing to do is definitely to head back.

I will begin re-planning my routes once I get some sleep.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

I have now finished my round trip up the Perseus Arm: am (happily) selling my data - should only take a week or so ...

 

[Azriphail]

12.04.3301

After some sleep and a day moping around looking at which return route I might take back to the bubble, I realised I am only one hop out from my Neutron star way point, Synuefuae BN-Q D6-37, or as I will henceforth refer to it, “The tip of Perseus’ tool”. There are a few reasons I might consider making that hop.

1. I need to make a clean jump as a way to get back in the saddle. So to speak. This will put me at ease after recent events. One jump at a time I need to get moving again.
2. As a stick in the ground if I want to return out this way The tip of Perseus’ tool is a nice easy to find point of interest. Unlike towards the core, out here towards the rim there are not many Neutron stars.
3. Neutron stars are valuable bodies, Univeral Cartographics will pay good credit when you turn the data on them in. 60kcr buys a lot of t-cut and looking around the ship I am going to need that extra coin.

This is not a decision to rush into. I will sleep on it and decide what to do tomorrow.

 

[Azriphail]

12.04.3301

Earlier today new improved un-toolish Aziraphale stepped away from the bridge to perform an in-depth risk assessment weighing up the risk/benefits of jumping onto The tip of Perseus’ tool. Meanwhile old, bad, tool like Aziraphale remained in the pilots chair while the analysis was being done and performed his own assessment It went like this:

• I have to make more jumps to get home.
• The first one might be core ward and might earn me 30,000 credits.
• OR
• The first one might be rim ward and will definitely earn me at least SIXTEY THOUSAND credits.
• it.

“Friendship drive engaged”

New improved un-toolish Aziraphale was VERY disappointed. Old, bad, Aziraphale had a massive grin on his face and got a bit of a semi as he eagerly jumped on to The tip of Perseus’ tool.

 

[Arnoldo]

+1 Rep Sir

 

[Azriphail]

12.04.3301

I don’t want to wake up in a neutron system. I am a danger to myself bumbling around when I wake without the added danger of having to navigate around a hard to spot stellar remnant. So I made one more jump out of the newly discovered tip Perseus’ tool.

Before logging off I began scanning the ships galactic map at how I might make my return trip to the bubble. I think I have see a really rare gem. It will take me out a little deeper rimward, its pretty much the opposite direction to home, but if I take it easy the canopy shouldn’t be a problem. Oh boy, its an exciting prospect.

I should give it more consideration than my last decision. I will sleep well with a smile on my face this cycle.

 

[Azriphail]

15.04.3301

I have spent the last three sleep cycles reviewing the star charts and formulating a set of new objectives. I am a little upset that my expedition will be cut short due to my own ineptitude. Rather than making an epic journey to the far reaches of the Perseus arm and crossing the void between galactic arms I am instead going to head back to the bubble to refuel and repair my vessel. Its disappointing to be sure, but not without some positive aspects. I am now comfortable with the lesser goal of “shaking the wrist of Perseus”.

• I am at the edge of the Vella Molecular Ridge
• I will cross from the Orion Spur to the Perseus Arm aiming for what I believe to be the Perseus Null Sector.
• From there I will travel spinward along Perseus towards the Rossette and Jelly fish nebula.
• My final leg will be a sedate journey back towards sol taking in some of the more well traveled and documented points of interest.

As a bonus my new route will provide an opportunity to explore the recently spotted stella oddity, I expect to close on it within the week.
Perseus you have been a fine adversary. You may have won this battle, I shall be back to conquer you another time.

 

[Andrew Gaspurr]

Good luck out there and may the winds be on your back!

 

[Azriphail]

24.04.3001

I have begun the next major leg of my journey with my first traversal of the Orion Perseus Gap. My first dozen or so jumps “off the edge” of the tightly clustered Orion Spur into the gap was an uneasy feeling like stepping off a high dive board into a pool, although not as immediate. I had not appreciated how the constant view of the bright core systems in my vision has been such a gentle comfort. Children must feel a similar sense of comfort from the presence of a parent in their periphery vision as they learn to use a bicycle.

A few sleep cycles ago I turned rim ward. The core is out of my view on the ships stern. I am moving deeper into the Orion Perseus Gap and with each jump the star density decreases. Initially I found I would experience a moment of vertigo as I navigated to the bridge to continue my journey when I awoke. If I looked out the cockpit there was a physical reaction that felt like I was being sucked through the cockpit into the blackness ahead of me. I have now learnt to focus on my feet as I move to the pilots couch. I have also begun to orient the ship to face a moon or planet before I rest so I have a local body in my field of view when I wake.

This is one small technique that would have been easier to know about in advance rather than learn it on the job. I have no doubt that as my journey takes me into new scenarios there will be many other techniques to devise.

 

[Azriphail]

01.05.3301

The solitude out here is suffocating. I am beginning to long for human contact during the long periods of travel between the systems I decide to survey.

A side effect of facing a system body before rest is the chattering from the scanners as they pick up the material composition of the moon or planet. I believe this audio artefact has been manipulated by my mind to deliver what I am pining for most.

I was woken by voices in the bridge two sleep cycles ago. Or at least it felt that way. It may have been a dream of being woken by voices. Or a hallucination in the period shortly after waking before I had taken on caffeine.

On a positive note one of the voice was my own. So I am only half crazy at most.

 

[Azriphail]

08.05.3301

I have made slow progress away from the densely populated Orion spur out into the Orion-Perseus Gap.

This leg of my journey has required me to be more vigilant in my planning. I cannot rely on the ships route plotter alone to provide a safe path as I am hitting regular stellar doldrums where scoopable stars are separated by swathes of brown dwarfs.

Every five or six jumps I find myself manually re-plotting my course to a system I can scoop at to ensure I keep my fuel tank above 30% full. It has slowed my progress but it has kept me more engaged.

I estimate hitting my way point in the next day or two.