Beagle Point

Commander TheNekkbreaker reporting from Beagle Point.

~.*.~ I’m not dead. I suppose that’s the first order of business. As I made my final jump into Beagle Point, my heart was pounding. I had taken a few precautions against interdiction and death, but the determined barbarian CMDR can destroy a ship far better equipped than mine, and no amount of wit can change that.

~.*.~ But all was quiet as I dropped out of witch space. I honked, then scanned the system properly. I took in the sights, read the beacons, took some pictures, and landed on the third planet. It was all over very quickly really. I was unprepared for how abruptly the end would come. It’s a strange feeling, being so far from the nearest being I could call a person, yet knowing that many thousands have passed this way before me. One can almost see the system filled with the pioneers of the second Distant Worlds mission. Would that I could have been there. But I am here now, and rightly proud. I’ve accomplished that which I set out to do. My jaunt to Sagittarius A* became a journey to Colonia, and that in turn became a pilgrimage to the famous Beagle Point.

~.*.~ There’s nothing particularly special about this system. It’s very ordinary by Milky Way standards: a K class star, nine planets, and none of those remarkable in any way. But the people that have come before are quite remarkable, particularly and most famously CMDR Kamzel, who discovered the system in 3301 and dubbed it Beagle Point in honor of his recently passed companion, Jack the beagle. More recently, CMDR ChrispyToast commissioned a memorial for his own beagle, Zylophone. I visited that memorial myself just a few hours ago.

~.*.~ o7 Zy, o7 Jack.

~.*.~ Most recent of all, of course, was the Distant Worlds II mission which rendezvoused at this very memorial, and may have placed it here, though I am not sure. These brave explorers are the reason I can’t find a pristine system within a thousand lightyears of here. To these prolific commanders I bid o7 as well, you certainly were thorough. Godspeed to you all.

~.*.~ The question “what’s next” is rattling about in my head, but before I consider it too thoroughly, there is one more thing to do. I must at least try to accomplish Ishum’s Reach. I will not turn my ship about until I have made a good-faith effort. Ishum’s Reach is, naturally, the furthest system from Sol in the galaxy. It is the absolute pinnacle of deep-space exploration. The challenge I face is the extreme low density of the star clusters at the edge of the galaxy. Systems can be as far apart as 200ly out here. My challenge is to find a path through these stars that requires no more than about 110ly per jump. This is where the materials I gathered weeks ago will come in quite handy, as I will have need of them for FSD boosts. Another report will follow in the coming hours regarding the level of my success.