Captain's Log

• November 28th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Yorktown II

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  We have completed much needed repairs on the Yorktown II. The entire inside of the ship has been painted black to increase morale. Our new storage rooms have also been installed.

  As I was drinking my coffee this morning, my terminal began to blink. It was another Artemis signal coming from a holo-terminal inside this very system.

  I immediately ran for my ship and traced the signal to a nearby planet. The signal was coming from a long abandoned radio tower. I switched on the receiver and there, standing in front me, was Artemis himself.

  The signal grew weaker and weaker. I realized that the signal would need to be boosted in order to continue my conversation with Artemis. So, I laid down a signal booster on every planet inside the system. When Artemis returned, he instructed me to use his translation module to become friends with the local Vy’keen population so that I could ask them to help me to locate Artemis. This module not only cost a fortune to install, but required me to hop around a planet scanning random Vy’keen artifacts.

  I had my suspicions that the entire endeavor was some sort of wild goose chase. When I could finally talk to the local Vy’keen commander, he informed me that the Artemis coordinates were a forgery.

• November 20th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Guythimar

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  We have returned to Guythimar with all of the supplies from Sabn Omega. The crew is quite exhausted from condensing all of the materials and bringing them back and forth from the freighter. The Guythimar sunset was beautiful underneath the Thanksmas tree. We all had a lot to be thankful for. For starters, I was thankful that Captain Flanagan wasn’t here demanding back his extremely comfortable captain’s chair. I guess I should also be thankful that the rescue mission from New Leyto was a giant success.

  Captain Jones and I finished unpacking my base on Guythimar. Bat cave 2 has been deployed. We set off across the planet and discovered a few waypoints.

  The Guythimar base received a faint signal from.... Captain Flanagan! Damn it! I’m going to have to return his captain’s chair. I still have a few hours yet to enjoy it.

• November 19th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Ekiton | Location: Sven1

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  We arrived at Sven 1 and asked for permission to land. Oddly enough, no one answered our call. I decided to do a quick fly-over and noticed that the base was completely empty, no signs of life. After I landed on the pad, I did a quick scan of the departures. Captain Flanagan had left the base with his team over three months ago and had not been back. I found that to be a bit odd. When I went inside, I found the interior to be in immaculate condition as if all of the occupants had simply left to go on a quick space walk. Captain Flanagan even had an amazing office made of glass that had.... a swivel captain’s chair! Also, in my good fortune, I found that Flanagan had a few warp cells in his supply room. I quickly gathered both items...loaded them up. I left a note on his desk that instructed for him to meet us on Guythimar when he returned. I also left him an IOU note for his very comfortable swivel chair which I promised to return to him at our very next encounter. I hopped back in my ship and flew away wondering whether I needed to send an alert to command about his mysterious disappearance. I decided to wait and see. After all, I wasn’t in a giant hurry to return his chair.

• November 18th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Guythimar

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  The hard work was finally about to begin. The fleet had just finished construction on our new freighter, the USS Yorktown II. The crew all settled into their new battle stations. Our first mission would be to return the freighter to the Sionek System to collect all of the building materials that we had left behind on Sabn Omega and New Leyto. Lucy informed me that we only had enough fuel to make it to the Ekiton system, so we would need to stop into Captain Flanagan’s base, Sven 1, for fuel and to resupply. Over the intercom, Lucy told the crew to prepare to warp. I sat down in my Captain’s chair and was immediately disappointed. The damn thing didn’t spin. I am not sure how the builders of this ship expected me to Captain a vessel from a chair that does not spin. This would simply not do and would need to be fixed as soon as we arrive to Sven 1.

• November 17th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Guythimar

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  After a couple more entries on Captain Jones’ portable computer, the portal was correctly calibrated for Guythimar. One by one the team went through to lovely Guythimar. Oh and what a site to see it was! Flowing green hills with brilliantly colored mushrooms. It was a cross between Alice in Wonderland and the Shire from Lord of the Rings. We took a short range teleporter over to review Captain Jones’ amazing progress on our HQ. Lucy nearly broke down in tears when she saw our very neatly made bed that looked out over the ocean. Lobo of course jumped up and down on the bed, throwing the sheets into a disarray and the pillows onto the floor. The serene moment instantly evaded us.

  Outside, Captain Jones’ team was busy decorating for the upcoming New Thanksmas celebrations. A tree was brought in an hoisted into place. Hot cocoa was passed out for all to enjoy while we watched the sunset over the water. It was good to finally be home.

• November 16th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Sionek | Location: New Leyto

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  What a glorious day yesterday was! We created the ridge and saw the portal from a distance. The New Leyto sandstorm season had lifted! I could see clearly now across a large distance. The colors were vibrant throughout the entire valley. On the road to the portal, we found a shack with an intercom and a note for how to activate the portal which we quickly did. Out stepped Commander Jones and Commander Patterson! In the distance, we heard a loud screeching sound. It looked like a naked man riding a giant flying dragon. The dragon swooped down and landed just a few feet in front of us. The jolly, overweight, naked man jumped down with a smile on his face. It was..... STEVE???

  Steve replied, “Hey Captain! I bet y’all all thought I was dead! I did too! Turns out when I ate that cracker, I shrank into the size of a tiny particle and started drifting away with the wind. Luckily this here butterfly was kind enough to see that I was in trouble. It turns out we were both after the same mushroom that could make us both bigger so we set off on an adventure. Once we were both back to life size, I figured you would be at the portal by now and Sammy here knew the way and offered to continue our trip.”

  Steve glanced over at the portal and yelled, “Guythimar here I come!” Before Captain Jones could protest, Steve ran butt-ass naked into the portal and disappeared. Captain Jones began to scream that the portal had not been correctly calibrated for his body weight. When I asked him where Steve just went, he did a few calculations, looked up and grimly said that it looked like a random planet in the Alpha quadrant.

• November 13th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Sionek | Location: New Leyto

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  Finally, some good news. The sandstorm has cleared and we should be to the portal on Tuesday evening. We still haven’t heard from Commander Jones, I sure hope he has a rescue plan and that everything is ok.

  We continue to make great progress towards the portal. If the conditions stay clear, we might even arrive early. The crew are all in great spirits, last night we even managed to make a “campfire” using our rover’s C.A.M.P. module and enjoyed the New Leyto stars. If you closed your eyes, you might actually think you were enjoying a campfire on earth. Of course, this illusion immediately goes away when you open your eyes and see your fellow “campers” bolted to their chairs around a holographic fire display. I must say that the suit’s campfire module does a fantastic job simulating the smell and the heat from an actual campfire. Speaking of smells, it is time to change Lobo yet again.

  As the vehicle rumbled along the path today, my body began to ache. I can’t complain too much. I am in great shape for a 1,400 year old synth. Besides, with all of the advancements in bio-engineering, I can easily purchase a new body after we have been rescued. Living forever without aging has some upsides. It is amazing what the scientists were able to figure out when they logged everyone’s DNA in order to cure the 2020 pandemic. It turns out that the “vaccine” was actually a military exercise to further the synth research. Despite this research, people didn’t start modding themselves until 2077, the year of the Great War. Living forever wasn’t exactly a choice. We all went underground to avoid the fallout, only to wake up in lovely West Virginia as a synthetic human. We were exact copies of our former selves. Our old bodies, destroyed. The “human” race would go on forever.

• November 12th 3420 | Marcus Jones | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Guythimar

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  Finally had my long-awaited meeting with the self-proclaimed "portal expert", a wizened old Gek. Two-thirds of what he told me was wild speculation and rumor, but the other third was invaluable. He explained that each portal has an "address", a unique sequence of glyphs that identifies it among all others. More than that, he expounded at length on various patterns that emerge when one examines large sets of these address sequences—patterns that might allow me to deduce the address of the New Leyto portal. I thanked him, paid him his fee (it wasn't cheap), and rushed back to the Guythimar portal to apply what I'd learned.

  After charging the portal with the necessary resources, I crossed my fingers and dialed in the most likely sequence.

  The portal activated.

  I took a deep breath and stepped through.

  The experience of using a portal is very different from the fade-out-fade-in sensation of standard teleportation, or the stretched, hazy quality of a hyperspace jump. For an instant, I felt like an insect with compound eyes, seeing a million million landscapes all at once...and then there was just one, and I was standing in it.

  I checked my coordinates. I was on New Leyto! It worked! I immediately transmitted news of my success to Captain Stevensen and his crew. Their path to Guythimar is open.

  ...well, except for the fact that they'll explode if they eat any of our food…

  My next step will be to establish a laboratory on New Leyto, to do a proper analysis of the planet's fauna and flora. With any luck, we'll soon find a cure for this "dietary lock-in" problem.

• November 10th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Sionek | Location: New Leyto

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  We have finally arrived at Captain Jones’s supply ship! As Captain Jones surmised, the ship did not survive the re-entry to our planet’s atmosphere. The ship was scattered across a large debris area the size of a football field. Luckily, Captain Jones had packed the supplies in indestructible containers. Steve was the first person to open one of the crates and pulled out a package of gamma weed cookies. He took one bite, smiled at me and then his entire body vaporized into a fine red mist. Steve is dead! I have ordered everyone to stay far far away from Captain Jones’ supplies until further notice. Luckily, none of us have really even needed these supplies because we have gained the ability to eat anything on this planet. However, it appears that we CANNOT eat anything off of the planet. I have sent the findings back to Captain Jones. Needless to say, our trip towards the portal has been delayed given these unfortunate circumstances. The crew needed time to properly bury and mourn the loss of Steve *AGAIN*.

• October 27th 3420 | Marcus Jones | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Guythimar

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  Just had word from Captain Stevensen that the New Leyto wildlife is edible after all. Which means that, technically, they don't really need me to send that supply ship...the one that could blow them all to kingdom come if the hyperdrive shuts off a nanosecond too late.

  The ship is already on its way. I can't recall it.

  Really hope my calculations were correct…

• October 27th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | Region: Ajauri | System: Sionek | Location: New Leyto

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  The rest of the crew stayed up late into the evening of our last entry debating who would be the next taste tester. Exhausted from hunger and the debate, we decided to head to bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a stir from the outside. I jumped up, grabbed my laser pistol, and ran outside ready to defend the camp. The extreme darkness on New Leyto prevented me from seeing hardly anything at all. From the sounds, whatever it was sounded like a moaning Zombie like creature that was feeding on the dead animal Steve had just eaten. I ran back to the vehicle and turned on the lights! It was Steve! Steve looked up from his dish and said: “Sorry Captain I didn’t mean to scare you! I woke up famished. Kind of a strange question, but what the hell happened to me? I woke up in a pile of my own filth in the middle of a ditch. Man this sure is a tasty animal!”

  The next day, the camp faced an extreme choice: not eat the animal and starve or eat the animal, vomit, shit ourselves, pass out and live! One by one we all took a bite. Needless to say, none of us wanted to stay at that smelly camp location for very long, so we have continued our trek which we have slightly altered to the north to rendezvous with Captain Jones’ supply ship.

• October 23rd 3420 | Marcus Jones | Region: Ajauri | System: Bloche-Vut | Location: Guythimar

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  I've reestablished contact with Captain Stevensen. He's dangerously low on supplies. I would fly over and drop some off, as I did before, but that's suddenly gotten a lot more complicated.

  Apparently, not everyone who fled Sabn Omega was as careful as I was with their decontamination procedures. Over the past few weeks, settlers in several nearby star systems have reported localized outbreaks of the invasive lifeforms. (Thankfully, all were tamped down quickly.) In response, some of the local Vy'keen militias banded together and declared the entire Sionek system a no-fly zone. These guys are not friendly, and even if I can get past them once, I don't care much for our long-term survival odds in this sector if we tick them off.

  I don't have any other methods of getting to New Leyto: I don't have the right teleporter permissions, and I still haven't cracked the portal network.

  Then I remembered my new ship.

  

  She's a hunk of junk that I found abandoned. I was going to scrap her, but she'll hold together long enough for the plan I have in mind.

  I've cobbled together a way to fly the ship remotely. I'll load her up with supplies, fly her out to a remote part of the system where no sensors are scanning, point her towards Sionek and New Leyto, and hit "go" on the hyperdrive. One-way flight. Captain Stevensen gets his supplies, and the militias can't trace it back to me.

  The tricky part is on the far end. The ship needs to come out of hyperdrive just before it hits the atmosphere, so the militias don't have a chance to shoot it down. It'll be coming in fast, but if my calculations are correct, most of the supplies will survive the impact.

  Of course, if my calculations are wrong, the crater will be the size of a small city, and Captain Stevensen and his crew will be vaporized.

  But if I do nothing, they'll starve to death.

  They say fortune favors the bold…

• October 23rd 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  More bad news. We ran out of food supplies and had to resort to hunting and scavenging local food supplies. Given that we are not familiar with this planet nor its lifeforms, one of us had to volunteer to be the “poison tester”. Steve, feeling extremely lucky and blessed to be alive, eagerly volunteered for this task.

  Unfortunately the very first animal he killed, cooked, and consumed caused him to nearly immediately vomit into his space helmet. He started blindly running away from the camp screaming over a small hill. Samantha from our group was following closely behind but stopped short when she saw Steve’s vomit and diarrhea floating away in the low gravity towards the unusually beautiful sunset.

  Needless to say, Steve didn’t make it. We carefully documented the animal so as to avoid it in the future. So far, no one else has volunteered to be a taste tester. We will camp here until we can come to an agreement.

• October 20th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that Steve didn’t die when he was swept off of the cliff! In fact, he fell into the arms of a friendly, autonomous, robotic, surveying mech. Once the sand storms cleared, Steve and his Mech joined the “wagon train” as we continued West. Unfortunately, we ran into a river and were faced with two choices: we could try to ford the river or we could look for an easier way to cross further downstream. We decided to ford the river which ended up being a gigantic mistake. Two of the vehicles were swept away. We only made it out alive because Steve had the mech dive in and rescue us from near certain death. Thank God for Steve!

• October 15th 3420 | Marcus Jones | Guythimar | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I'm still waiting for this "portal expert" to actually pick a time and place to meet; he’s rescheduled three times so far. Not that the delays matter much, since Captain Stevensen is apparently stuck in a sandstorm. I say "apparently" because there's no way he can get a signal out though that weather. I can't even determine his location. I hope he's doing all right.

  In the meantime, I've been putting in a lot of work on the new Guythimar base. (I tried to rope Captain Patterson into helping me, but no dice.)

  

  Lookin' pretty nice, if I do say so myself.

  I stripped what I could from the "Geronimo 4" base: the storage containers, plant cuttings, my workers' stations, most of the solar array. Left the empty buildings. They were mostly wood anyway, and I have no idea how to decontaminate wood short of burning it. And who knows, someone might stumble across the old place and put it to use—as an emergency shelter against the tentacles, if nothing else. I planted some message modules with directions to Guythimar, just in case.

  

  Anyway, the new base is shaping up to be even better than the old one. Next I'll start work on the bunkhouse, so Captain Stevensen and his crew will have somewhere to sleep.

  I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had my crew here with me. My old crew. Rodriguez...Sasaki...Jackson, the old cuss...

  Oh, I have my overseer and my other base workers, and they do a fine job when they're not plotting to drive me crazy. But they're not my crew.

  I miss my crew.

  I don't even know if they're dead or alive.

  Well, I know some of them are dead. I saw two of the escape pods get blown to hell.

  But I couldn't tell which was which.

  When I remember that last battle, I think...maybe falling through a black hole to nowhere was a blessing in disguise. Maybe it's better not to know.

• October 9th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  It has been a hell of a few days since our last update. The good news is that we found a trading outpost with a pair of alien guides ironically named Lewis and Clark that claimed they could show us the way to the portal. The bad news is that the New Leyto sandstorm season is upon us that made flying there impossible; we would have to slowly drive a caravan across an area the size of the American West to get there.

  The trip started out innocently enough, but then we ran into problems. One of our tires blew out while crossing the first mountain range. One of our mechanics, Steve, was blown off a cliff after a 200 mph gust appeared out of nowhere while he was changing the tire. Luckily our vehicles have giant rods that can be pushed into the ground to stabilize the vehicles. We have been stuck here ever since. I will continue to send updates once we begin to move, which I hope will be soon; this vehicle is really starting to have a horrific smell coming from Logan Bob’s diaper pail.

• October 3rd 3420 | Marcus Jones | USS Absurdly Dignified | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Another surprise today—Captain Patterson has returned to the local cluster! We rendezvoused in the Makvabar system. He still hasn't found a cure for the alien mutagen that turned him into a horrible fish-man, but otherwise he seemed in good health.

  I quizzed Patterson on his knowledge of the ancient portal glyphs, hoping he might have picked up some tidbits on his travels. Unfortunately, he knew even less about them than I did.

  Disappointed, I joined Patterson in surveying several new planets, including Eithon, a garden world in the Vodanda-Ilib XII system. I am astonished by how many of these planets we've overlooked in our own backyard. The local economy is only so-so, but the weather is fine and the wildlife is particularly striking.

  

  

  

  On another planet, we found an enormous structure that served as a historical archive for the native Vy'keen.

  

  After some negotiation, they allowed us ten minutes of access to the main data core. I was hoping to dredge up some long-lost portal lore.

  

  But the archive interface AI had its own priorities. We left with a new appreciation for the finer points of Vy'keen poetry, and nothing more.

  I parted ways with Patterson soon after. He had taken a contract from a local traders' guild that could no longer wait, and I had received an urgent message from a Gek merchant of my acquaintance. She claimed that she could put me in touch with an expert on the history of the portals. For Captain Stevensen's sake, I hope this lead pans out…

• September 29th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  We are ready to embark on the month long journey to find the portal on New Leyto. The only problem is, we don’t have a working economy scanner. Hopefully this isn’t like finding a needle in a haystack! I’ve sent word to Captain Jones to test the portal on Guythimar to make sure that it works. As you know, before any long journey, we must update the log with who is on the risky mission in case any of us get lost.

  On this trip, we have myself, Captain Lyle Stevensen. I am the commander of the USS Yorktown. I specialize in communicating with everyone else that does the actual work of this mission. If people only knew how to effectively communicate with one another, I would be out of a job. I am 5’9 and have no hair. My eyebrows are brown as is my beard. If you find my vehicle, my space suit, you will notice that they are all black and yellow after my favorite comic book character: Batman.

  Next up, we have first officer and the love of my life, Lucy Stevensen. Lucy is a talented, talented, talented pilot and I am not biased at all. This mission would simply not be feasible without her navigating us through the up and downs. She is 4’11 what they would call a midget back on earth. Of course, her spacesuit is pink because she is obsessed with hello kitty which is odd because she is from Europe, not Asia.

  Finally we have our son: “Logan Bob” or Lobo Stevensen. Lobo isn’t talented at anything yet, he is just a child. His spacesuit is yellow because it matches his favorite toy: a box of Cheerios.

  There are a crew of 13 others with us but I am too tired to type and they are not that important.

• September 27th 3420 | Marcus Jones | Guythimar | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Guythimar it is! But we have another problem. Capt. Stevensen's family situation has limited his transport options: he told me that the standard teleporters do not recognize his baby alien's bio-signature, and hyperspace travel would be dangerous for one so young. Hence, his insistence on using the ancient planetary portal network. It's the only way to get the child out of the Sionek system.

  Since a connection between two portals can be initiated from either end, I decided to start where I already was. With the aid of some charts purchased from the local space station, I was able to locate Guythimar's planetary portal.

  

  Unfortunately, I couldn't decipher some of the glyphs in the portal interface. I'd already heard of these glyphs and even spent some time researching them, so I wasn't going in completely blind. Still, I couldn't figure out how to initiate a connection with New Leyto. I just didn't know enough.

  Information on these glyphs is very scarce. It will take me some time to dig up the needed data. I'm polling my contacts for leads.

  In the meantime, I've started work on the new base. It's rumored that portals release strange energies at the moment of activation, so to be safe, I'm building on the other side of a low ridge. If the walk proves too onerous, we can set up some short-range teleporters later.

  

  The giant arrow isn't strictly necessary, but I'm hoping my fleetmates will get a kick out of it.

• September 27th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I’ve just received word from Captain Jones that a suitable replacement planet has been located, Guythimar! We’ve been saved! I’ve given the team the portal coordinates. It will be imperative that we find the portal on New Leyto to aid in our escape. I’ve instructed Captain Jones to deconstruct what he can and rebuild the new base next to the portal on Guythimar. We will deconstruct our bases here on New Leyto and bring our supplies through the portal here to Guythimar, then will portal back to Sabn Omega to deconstruct our base there as well.

• September 26th 3420 | Marcus Jones | Guythimar | Region: | System: | Location:

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  We've had a stroke of luck. I found a strong candidate for resettlement back in the Bloche-Vut system, only 122 light years from our current home.

  Guythimar is a lovely planet. Green hills, blue seas, golden skies, and remarkably calm weather. Plus, the thriving Bloche-Vut economy would give a boost to our trade operations. Sentinel presence is about average, but you can't expect a world to be perfect.

  

  Loftusal XIV, in the same system, is a potential backup candidate. It's just as lush, but the weather seems more unstable. The skies darken frequently, and the locals warned me about "poison cyclones", though fortunately I didn't encounter any.

  

  I transmitted my findings to Capt. Stevensen. I won't pull up stakes until we're in agreement.

• September 25th 3420 | Marcus Jones| USS Absurdly Dignified | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Made my run to New Leyto to resupply Capt. Stevensen. Bad weather frustrated my landing attempts, so I had to switch to plan B: jettison the cargo pods and pray none of them landed on his head. I would have liked to see him face-to-face, but there will be time enough for that. Right now, as he reminded me, I need to focus on my mission: finding a new home planet.

  I began my search by visiting Radforr VIII, the heretofore uncharted fourth planet in the Sionek system. (Not sure how we missed it earlier...) Unfortunately, it was radioactive, very stormy, and inhabited by giant sandworms. This might take a while.

• September 25th 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I’ve been reading over the reports coming from Captain Jones and it doesn’t look good. It appears that the weather system on Sabn Omega has suddenly changed for the worst and is no longer sustainable. I have also received word that our ship repairs will be delayed.

  I’ve sent captain Jones instructions to abandon the planet, find a new home for us and relay the portal coordinates to the 7th fleet so the rest of us can safely escape. I’ve instructed the teams here to find the portal on our planet at all costs. May God help us all.

  Stevensen out.

• September 24th 3420 | Marcus Jones | Sabn Omega | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I woke up when a tentacle tried to strangle me.

  While I was sleeping, Sabn Omega was corrupted by invasive lifeforms. All the native flora is gone. In its place are twisting, writhing masses of tendrils, more animal than plant. Some of them came up through the floorboards. They tie themselves into knots and bulbs, oozing and pulsating and glowing with a sickly light.

  It's horrible. I don't understand how the entire planet could have changed so quickly. Even the air has turned gray and sour.

  

  

  

  Everyone at the trading post has fled. I don't blame them.

  It took me the better part of the day to free the Crimson Duck from the growth covering the launchpad. I'm still checking to make sure nothing got into the engines. My mission to resupply Capt. Stevensen has been postponed until tomorrow.

• September 23rd 3420 | Marcus Jones | Sabn Omega | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I've discovered that I don't have any logs from the past year. No, it wasn't a virus this time. I bought a speech-to-text plugin for my suit software some time back, and it has some very odd default settings, which I didn't notice until now. Settings like "always overwrite the previous file" and "transcribe the user's snoring, it might be an unknown language." Sigh.

  So, to summarize the past year:

  • I built a new base on Sabn Omega, close to Capt. Stevensen's base, at his request. The views at "Geronimo 4" are far better than what I had at Sporedrip Overlook (though I haven't torn that down completely), and my farming operation is twice the size. The only oddity is that Capt. Stevensen installed an experimental cloaking device on his own base, and it seems to be on the fritz. Some days I look over and his base is there, other days it isn't.
  • I acquired a new ship, the Crimson Duck. She doesn't handle as well as the Javelin Red—in fact, she handles like a brick on an ice rink—but she's got a lot more cargo space (especially after the upgrades) and her shields can take anything the pirates throw at me.
  • The Artemis situation is...resolved. I honestly don't know if I succeeded or failed. Though now I have -null- to converse about the nature of existence with. Just once, I'd like to meet a mysterious stranger who talks about the weather and what they had for lunch.
  • I fell out of love with autonomous mining units. They have a bad habit of turning up empty if you look the other way for too long. Either the units are glitching into reverse and pumping the minerals back into the ground, or thieving animals are filching the shiny stuff right out of the retrieval box. I'm hoping I'll have more luck with the industrial-scale deep mineral extractors.
  • I had a series of encounters with those big red spheres in the "Atlas Interface" stations. They kept giving me blueprints for smaller spheres to build. (Is that how they reproduce?) After I presented them with the last one, I was informed that my efforts had given birth to a new star. They didn't tell me where it was. I guess I was supposed to take their word for it?
  • I think that covers it. I probably could have gotten even more done if I had actually been working for the full year. But between the teleportation delay glitches, the hyperdrive temporal shielding failures, and that one disastrous cryo-sleep experiment, I had a lot of...let's call it "downtime."
  • As for the rest of the fleet, I haven't seen any of them in ages. Left their bases behind and scattered to the four winds. Not even a transmission. I'd send out my own messages, but I have no idea where to aim them. I hope they're doing all right. This galaxy isn't short of dangers.

  Addendum: I just received a transmission from Capt. Stevensen! I can't believe he's been on the next planet over this entire time. The signal is surprisingly faint… Trying to pinpoint his exact coordinates so I can send my response. If he needs supplies, I'll bring as much as I can carry.

• September 23rd 3420 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  …..shhhh…. do you copy….. ahh…. it’s working! 7th fleet if you can hear me? It appears as though the virus that had been plaguing our communication systems this year has been resolved by an unknown automatic update of some kind. We had ventured out to New Leyto to check on our mining operations and were stranded by a dust storm and then hit by a virus which prevented us from communicating or leaving the planet. Specialist Lucy clicked on some sort of unknown alien communication which completely shut us down. I guess after they found out we really weren’t paying their ransom, they let us off the hook!

  This update could not have come at a better time; our supplies are running dangerously low and I feared that we may have been lost forever. We desperately need to regroup the 7th fleet. Our capital ship is under repair at the moment, but we should be ready for departure by mid November, my how time flies. We will be returning to Sabn Omega shortly after. Stevensen out.

• September 15th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | USS Yorktown | Region: | System: | Location:

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  One of our crew members, Sargent Lucy was bitten by an alien while out on patrol. We rushed her to the operating room but it was too late, a baby alien was rapidly growing inside of her. Given that I was a skilled surgeon back on Earth, the crew agreed that I was the only one that could save her life so I performed the surgery alone. I had to make Lucy numb but awake. I held one of her hands while performing the surgery with the other. Something happened to me when I pulled the baby alien out of her abdomen with one hand. I felt an enormous sense of love for Lucy and the baby alien. I immediately collapsed to the ground in pure joy and passed out. It had nothing to do with all the blood. When I awoke, one of my hands was still holding onto Lucy and in the other the most beautiful alien that we’ve ever seen. Lucy looked at me an I looked at her. No more frost crystals for me I thought! I’ve got a family now!

• September 1st 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | USS Yorktown | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I abruptly awoke on the bridge of the USS Yorktown at 3am. My room was full of smoke. I started to panic, then I realized that the smoke was just from the cigar that was burning in the ashtray near my bed. A perfectly safe place for an ashtray I thought to myself. I looked over in the bed next to me and saw the most beautiful alien life form sleeping next to me. After I rubbed my eyes, I realized I must have been hallucinating again. Damn frost crystals. Nothing in the bed except a yellow stain where I had pissed myself. Damn frost crystals. I got up to wash the sheets and grab a cold class of alien milk. As I came back from the mess hall, I stopped in front of the entrance to the bridge of the ship. This is why I love my job I thought as I stared out across the bridge of the ship at the vast star system that lay before us. We’ve been stationed in this star system for nearly a month. On Sabn Omega, we built one of the finest HQs in the fleet. Inside, we built a treasury to store a 1,000 units of 16 different resources. We also established a farm to harvest a crop of Starbulb. On New Leyto, we established a Uranium mine and gamma weed farm. Speaking of gamma weed, I haven’t yet tried to smoke that.... I headed back to bed..

• August 25th 3419 | Marcus Jones | USS Absurdly Dignified | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Gathered a few resources. Re-established the teleporter at Cactusbite Colony on Seusiouxf Ibos. And most importantly, I finally snagged the recipe for advanced ion batteries. Auto-miners, here I come!

• August 25th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | Sabn Omega | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Base Renovations are complete. I have added a batcave + a treasury. I invited everyone over for a quick visit.

  

  

• August 24th 3419 | Marcus Jones | The Anomaly | Region: | System: | Location:

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  The anomaly was a kind of space station that seems to have warp capabilities. Particularly ugly on the outside, but the inside was stunningly advanced. Makes the other stations look like country stores. It also seems that the interior might be bigger than the exterior? I'll have to take some measurements next time I visit.

  I introduced myself to the proprietors of the station, Nada and Polo. Friendly enough, but their conversations tend towards the cryptic. They remind me of my overseer. I'd love to get all three of them in a room together. I could make a drinking game out of it: take a shot every time they mention dreams and visions, or cycles of rebirth, or being outside reality, or they pronounce the word "traveller" as though it has a capital "T"... on second thought, I would die of alcohol poisoning.

  The station's other inhabitants proved more helpful. I met a dozen species that I'd never even heard of before, all ready and willing to trade. Except the base blueprints vendor - he just taped a note to his kiosk saying "Back in five meznarks, help yourself". (I don't know how long a meznark is, but I have yet to see the guy.) I zeroed in on the bio-dome plans as a potential substitute for my still-malfunctioning hydroponics tables, but the blueprint was very sketchy. It seemed to assume that the builder already knew 90% of what to do, so it only supplied the missing 10%. I realized that I needed a good amount of salvaged data to fill in the missing pieces.

  On a lark, I spun through the "recent connections" log on the station's teleporter (who knew it had one of those?) and picked the first name that looked interesting: Snovoku IX. Turned out to be a three planet system: one irradiated, one cactus-covered, and one "spiny". (I also spotted something that looked like a wormhole entrance, though I steered away from it.) Fortunately for me, the non-spiny planets had a lot of architectural data for salvage. My current theory is that a roving band of general contractors were playing pirate, burying their "treasure" on every planet they came across. Granted, that doesn't make any sense...but neither does any other theory, and mine is more fun than the others.

  After another visit to the anomaly station, which now appears to be stalking me, I received a surprise communication from the original sender of that distress signal that summoned the station in the first place. Her name is Artemis. She's a friend of Nada and Polo. Given that it's been over a month since the signal was first sent, I was very surprised to find that she was still alive. What little I could gather from her was - you guessed it - cryptic. The only point I really understood was that she was pinned down by sixteen enemies. Personally I'm uncomfortable with two enemies - you never know if one is sneaking up behind you while the other one distracts you. I felt bad for her, but was I really equipped to deal with a force that size? I went back to Nada, to try to feel him out on how urgent this whole rescue thing really was; he told me that I should listen to Artemis's plea if it really was Artemis, and not listen to it if it was an impostor, and be cautious if it was some kind of alternate version of Artemis. Sadly, this was actually more helpful than I expected him to be.

  I returned to my base to install the new biodome and mull things over. Just as I was finishing my renovations, I got a surprise message from Captain Stevensen, who told me that he and Captain Flanagan were very interested in the "foaming planet" I'd spotted in the Ruziam System. We rendezvous at the nearby space station and headed down. Bubbles. Bubbles everywhere. Even the animals were bubbles. There was also a fair bit of gold on the surface, so at Captain Stevensen's suggestion we set up a mining station. We came off with a big haul - enough for me to make enough solar panels to add a second biodome to my base. I barely recognize the place.

• August 24th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | Oniquer Tau | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Per the command's orders, Vice Admiral Jones and I examined the foaming planet Oniquer Tau for important fleet resources. Upon landing, we discovered that the planet had a large amount of Gold, an important resource for building solar panels so we established a gold mine which added over 4,000 gold to the fleet’s resources. At an impromptu galactic council meeting, a new system for storing fleet resources was decided upon. The treasury has been notified.

• August 23rd 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | Sabn Omega | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I’ve researched and setup batteries and solar panels at our bases on New Leyto and Sabn Omega. New Leyto had a plethora of buried technology modules which made this a quick process. The teleporters are now online allowing for easier base access. Given that our hydroponics systems are no longer working, I’ve instructed my agricultural technician to begin planting crops that are suitable to the environments found at each base.

• August 22nd 3419| Lyle Stevensen | Sabn Omega | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I’ve continued setting up our new Starbase on Sabn Omega. Finding copper on the planet was unusually difficult. Found a crashed transporter, added it to my fleet. Spent some time on the anomaly chatting with strangers. My quest to find Artemis finally has begun. Requesting a supply drop + assistance setting up base power on Sabn Omega when the fleet is available.

• September 20th 3419 | Marcus Jones | USS Absurdly Dignified | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Finally decided to try tracking down this anomaly that my sensors picked up ages ago. I knew it would take a few warp jumps. From Ricedenho to Huladebir (6-body system, picked up a shield upgrade at the station), from Huladebir to Cenaean (rescued a freighter, but declined to accept it as a gift; also bought a hyperdrive upgrade), from Cenaean to Ruziam (home to a "Foaming Planet", whatever that is), from Ruziam to Eltsyno-Najin, to Kahollyow IX (with its "Abandoned Planet"), to Altano (B-Class rifle for sale)...I stopped at no planets, only stations. The signal seemed to dance away from me, always a few star systems ahead. I gave up and returned home.

  Then I tracked down a distress signal in my own home system and it summoned the anomaly to me. Funny how that works…

• August 19th 3419 | Marcus Jones | USS Absurdly Dignified | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Found and excavated a local ruin. I dug up a chest with a jar of skulls inside, which I sold for a lot of money. I'm curious as to what the buyer is planning to do with the skulls, but maybe it's for the best that I don't know. Aside from that, I made a quick trip to Pingwold V to mine some uranium, and I shaved a few extra pieces off my base to reclaim the carbon. Still have no idea how to re-power my hydroponics trays. The wiring on those things is a nightmare.

• August 18th 3419 | Marcus Jones | Ipswi VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Re-established teleporter functionality at Pingwold V and Ipswi VIII. Started work on an ammonia-and-copper mining outpost on my home planet of Achi 62/I7, though I'm out of advanced ion batteries again, so who knows when I'll be able to finish it.

  Also, I had to tell my exocraft specialist that his wife and child had been brutally murdered. So that was fun.

• August 18th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | USS Yorktown | Region: | System: | Location:

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  After reading my ship’s manual and talking over the issue with Jones, I realized that my technology must have some sort of virus. I hopped in my ship and headed to outer space where I could perform a reboot of my ship’s systems according to the manual. Powering down the spacecraft went smoothly but, I fear that I was unable to turn the damn thing back on. I drifted into a black hole and awoke, badly damaged on a strange planet in a system far, far away. My current spacecraft is beyond repair, but thankfully I found another close by thanks to my scanner. My current objective is to get things in order and head back to Sabn Omega as soon as I am able to build a teleporter. If this doesn’t clear the viruses, I’m not sure what will......

• August 17th 3419 | Marcus Jones | Ipswi VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Everything in my base broke.

  Up until now, I was leeching excess dark energy from the teleporter network to power all my base's functions. But there was some kind of quantum resonance cascade through the whole network that...you know what, the details aren't important. The point is that the tap has been shut off, and there's no way to turn it back on again. Teleporter: offline. Hydroponics trays: offline. Trade terminal: offline. I couldn't even open the locks on my storage containers. I needed a new power source.

  I set off in my new exocraft to locate and salvage some useful tech. It was an interesting excursion. I found that my on-board computer had lost the data entries for several of the local minerals and plants, forcing me to re-scan them. (That virus again?) On the other hand, I found several genuinely new plant types, including one I'm calling "jade peas". And the craft allowed me to raid a supply depot for some rare, high-market-value resources. And then there was the hyperdrive upgrade I found in a lost probe. It turned out that the module came with a built-in micro-AI that instructed me on how to install it. Instructed me repeatedly. Incessantly. Without reprieve. I tried to shut off my comm-links, but it forced them open. I was about five seconds from destroying the whole thing just to get some peace and quiet.

  ...And then there was the part where I accidentally activated a cloaking device that I didn't even know the exocraft had. It's remarkably hard to hop back into a car when you can't see where the car is…

  Eventually I gathered enough tech to piece together some power options, which I tried out back at my base. The bio-generator looked promising at first, but it guzzled condensed carbon at an insane rate; I fed in all the CC I had on hand before I even realized what was happening. I switched to a battery-backed solar panel array. The set-up costs were very heavy (I had to go to orbit to gather enough gold, fending off pirates along the way), and I'm not 100% convinced even now that I'm storing enough power to last the whole night...but it's still better than the bio-generator. Now, if I could just figure out how to wire the hydroponics tables into the grid, I'd be back to where I was before...well, not counting all my teleporters on other planets…

• August 17th 3419 | Lance Flanagan | USS For Pete's Sake | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Returned to my base today to find that someone had stolen my starship launch pad. I suspect Rear Admiral Stevensen. He probably “commandeered” it for “official fleet business” or something. Anyway, I built a new one and also found that my base had grown too big and required supplemental power sources, so I rigged that up too. For some reason my hydroponics trays are no longer functional. I’ll have to look into that later. [Edit note: The planet used to be abundant in Pure Ferrite, but all of those minerals have mysteriously vanished. New minerals appear in their place which only contain Ferrite Dust. Fortunately they refine at a rate of 1:1, so just a minor setback. I’ve also determined that my mining laser now does more damage the hotter it gets, dealing nearly 3x damage at maximum heat. Is this a side effect of the extensive modifications I’ve installed?] I wrapped up the day with a visit to Nada and Polo. Man they made some major updates to their ship. I wish they would share some more of that tech with me. On the plus side they did spot me an upgrade for my multitool that increases resource gathering by 50%. I may have to double up on that one!

• August 14th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | Sabn Omega | Region: | System: | Location:

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  When I awoke from my slumber, I felt like I was suddenly smaller. I walked outside and looked at my spacecraft and felt like an ant. I’ve got to quit smoking those frost crystals. As, I started to look around, I immediately realized that my base had lost power from a mediorite shower. My teleporter was offline. Damn was that annoying. I was going to have to build a power station or evacuate to my base at New Leyto. I was growing tired of this planet anyways, so I decided that the best course of action was to permanently move to New Leyto. I deconstructed the base and moved to new leyto. When I arrived, I had forgotten what a crappy planet New Leyto was, so I was immediately frustrated. This was not a day for a hangover. I had remembered from reading Captain M. Jones’s log that there was a beautiful earth like planet in this system called Sabn Omega. I knew I had to colonize it. I was able to establish the Sabn Omega HQ at a local trading outpost. As soon as I did, Captain Raymond Patterson swooped in to check it out. He agreed that this was a very nice planet. I taught him how to drive an Exocraft. His eyes lit up as we drove straight up one of the tallest cliffs I’ve seen. This is a game changer he said. As night came, I stood on the edge of the cliff looking out, thinking to myself that this world looked like the one the elders would talk about; the ancient world of Halo.

• August 13th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | IPSWI VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I decided to go back to visit my exocraft scientist on IPSWI VIII. After completing various chores at his request, I now have both a weapon and a mining laser on my Exocraft. As my eyes grew heavy, the Universe whispered to me in the breeze: “Tomorrow will bring even bigger changes.” it said.

• August 11th 3419 | Marcus Jones | Ipswi VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  After hitting nothing but dead ends on the advanced-ion-battery front, I decided to postpone my auto-miner project and headed to Ipswi VIII to mine some paraffinium by hand. Unfortunately, when I got back to base and started to expand my star bulb plantings, I found that I was also desperately short of star bulb cuttings. So back to Ipswi VIII I went. What followed was a long series of short hops across the planet surface, looking for star bulb groves. I raided several manufacturing facilities along the way, and while none of them had the advanced ion battery blueprint I wanted, a few stocked the batteries themselves. I had three batteries by the time I rounded up enough star bulb cuttings to return to base.

  After planting, I used my three batteries to set up three auto-miners: a paraffinium miner and a copper miner on Ipswi VIII, and a uranium miner on Pingwold V. Unfortunately the uranium miner went on the fritz and started producing copper instead. I suspect the radioactive decay of the uranium is triggering a teleportation after-effect in the machinery, causing the ore to swap places with copper ore from elsewhere...I need to figure out how to break the entanglement without actually tracking down the copper source.

  I also welcomed an exocraft specialist to my base today. Once I'd cobbled together my first circuit board (the fruits of my farming labor), my overseer insisted that the time was right to hire one...which is a far cry from his previous stance. Every time I'd mentioned the topic up until now, he'd acted like he had never heard of exocraft and was profoundly uninterested in learning more. I thought about hiring a specialist without his approval, but frankly I'm afraid he would sabotage any co-worker he didn't like. He loves a good grudge more than almost anything. But no point dwelling on that now. All in all, things are looking good: the farm is running smoothly, my first exocraft is under construction, and I even have a trade terminal now (so no more running downhill to the outpost). With a bit of luck, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

• August 11th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | Erittlei Major | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I accompanied Captain Flanagan on a trip to one of the harshest planets I have ever seen. I somehow activated a sentinel air force that followed me into space, and continued to follow me despite having activated my hyperdrive. The forces would respawn with even more ships if I shot one of their crew members down. Just when I had lost all hope, my ship froze in some sort of space/time continuum and I blacked out in pure fear and exhaustion.

• August 11th 3419 | Lance Flanagan | Erittlei Major | Region: | System: | Location:

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  My calculations were correct. The farming section of my main base yields exactly enough resources to produce a circuit board each time I harvest. $$$. I made a visit to Nada and Polo before embarking on today’s adventure. Nada gave me the blueprints for an Emeril hyperdrive and Polo gave me the blueprints for the Indium drive. Soon I’ll be able to visit green and blue systems. Today I departed for Luyski X, the first red system we’ve discovered. There were only three planets. The first, Bamp, contained interesting geometric shapes...like 3D octagons. The weather is described as “memories of frost.” The second planet, Irth, didn’t have anything remarkable, but I didn’t spend much time there. The final planet, Erittlei Major, was the harshest I’ve seen. It was extremely toxic and I don’t think Captain Stevensen was prepared for what he warped into. We discovered an interesting phenomenon. During the intense toxic storms, which occurred often, storm crystals exposed themselves in fair abundance—but only during the storms. These crystals net about 750k units for a stack of 5. Another potential income boon. Make sure to have advanced toxic protection and a stock of ammonia. One last note, a robot named Apollo (who claims he used to be an organic being) keeps hassling me to do work. I’ll have to check in with the rest of the 7th Fleet to see if they know anything.

• August 10 3419 | Lance Flanagan | USS For Pete's Sake | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Today I expanded my agriculture station on my primary base Sven HQ, which is in the Ektion system. If my math is correct, I should be able to harvest the plants with enough materials to create 1 circuit board each day. Circuit boards go for about 900k units on the galactic trade market, so this should prove to be a good income earner. I knew my pea farming days would come in handy.

• August 9th 3419 | Lance Flanagan | Lepusch | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I returned to Lepusch in the Sionek system to establish a base. My hopes are that I will continue to be able to find metal fingers on this planet for Uranium production.

• August 8th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Establishing a Mine on New Leyto I was able to colonize a mining operation on New Leyto in the Sionek System. It appears as though there will be a healthy amount of: Copper, Uranium, Sodium and Cobalt. I am running low on Magnetized Ferrite. I teleported back to Nerdnes HQ, flew to a planet and mined a ton of Magnetized Ferrite. I am now fully ready to begin my mining operation on New Leyto.

• August 7th 3419 | Marcus Jones | USS Yorktown | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Captain Stevensen invited Captain Flanagan and myself aboard his freighter in the Ektion system, so that we might warp to a new system in search of uranium. I stepped aboard very gingerly, remembering the fiasco of my last ride with him. Fortunately I was able to make it from the hangar to the bridge without incident. Captain Flanagan was not so lucky; he only made it halfway before he got ejected into the vacuum of space. I swear that monstrosity is held together with scotch tape and twist ties. Either that, or it's deliberately booby-trapped. (Frankly I wouldn't put it past Captain Stevensen.)

  We eventually got Captain Flanagan back on board, and made it to the new system, Sionek, in one piece. (Miraculously.) The system had three planets, and we each chose one to explore first. My planet, Sabn Omega, was gorgeous: blue skies, lush green grass, and trees everywhere. You could almost take it for old Earth, except for the orange oceans. Shame the sentinels are so aggressive. In between dodging them, I was able to take a substantial number of Star Bulb cuttings before building a teleporter and heading home.

  Back at home, my cactus was finally ripe, so my farmer deigned to teach me the art of Star Bulb cultivation. This soon sent me back out to the stars to mine more paraffinium. Well, almost: I'm actually searching for the blueprints to the Advanced Ion Battery, so I can build an Autonomous Mining Unit, so it can mine the paraffinium for me (I'm getting a little tired of mining by hand). Sadly, I haven't found it yet. On the other hand, I did find a gorgeous fighter at one of the space stations; after some haggling with its Vy'keen owner, the Javelin Red is now mine. Coincidentally, it wasn't long after that when I came across an abandoned craft on a planet surface. So now I'm up to three ships. This third is in very rough shape though, and I lack the resources to do proper repairs. I may keep it solely so I can get some trade-in value if I acquire a better ship later.

• August 7th 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | Ipswi VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  I left the Yorktown and descended to my base to speak to my exocraft technician who informed me that he needed Paraffinium from a tropical planet in order to build my exocraft platform. A quick scan of the 7th fleet’s discoveries yielded a planet called New Yelsha in the Gunnas System. Upon warping there, the AI informed me that I had been awarded the surveyor medal as it had been my 20th warp trip. On the way into New Yelsha I was attacked by a pirate vessel, which I promptly defeated and was awarded another stripe for the defeat. I immediately found a spaceport on New Yelsha and identified a local stash of Paraffinium using my scanner.

  The locals warned me that the Sentinels were very aggressive on this planet so I decided to fly to the deposit. As soon as I landed at the deposit and began to mine, a level 2 Sentinel walker popped up over the hill and began its attack. Terrified, I returned to my ship only to find that I was out of launch fuel. I initiated emergency protocols and send out an SOS signal. No response. With my time running low and few other options, I sprang from my ship and decided to run for it. Luckily I had my terrain manipulator on me and began to dig a cave. This worked and the sentinels deactivated. Although they deactivated, the sentinel walker still circled my ship. I decided to try to gather the necessary materials for the launch thruster while I waited until dark. Just as I suspected after dark, the walker had left and I was able to continue the mission by gathering the Paraffinium and constructing some launch fuel.

  

  I am returning to my base to talk to my exocraft technician with the necessary building supplies to construct my exocraft.

  

  Captain Svendsen arrived and we set out for an afternoon survey of the moon. I welcomed Captain Svendsen aboard the Yorktown to show him the new renovations that had been completed.

• August 7th 3419 | Lance Flanagan | USS For Pete's Sake | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Today’s events started with a distress signal from Capt Stevensen. Apparently he had fallen into a sticky situation with a sentinel walker, but by the time I got the old ship online, he managed to escape home. I was in need of Paraffinium in order to plant Star Bulb, so I teleported to Stevensen’s HQ, because I knew his moon was rich with it. We set out together in our Roamers, and it turns out I had already mined most of the Paraffinium in the area, so our journey took some time. We also were able to use the advanced scanner on the Roamer to locate a drop pod! Capt Jones warped into the area and we determined it best to board Capt Stevensen’s freighter and explore a new system. Shortly before departing, I was minding my own business aboard the freighter when Capt Jones saw fit to somehow toss me out the airlock where I nearly died. I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but he claims it was an accident. I’ll have to keep my eye on him.

  Upon reaching the new system, Sionek, we discovered three planets, so the three of us split off. I’m not sure what was available on Stevensen’s planet New Leyto, but it was one of the largest planets I’ve ever seen. The ring system seemed to go on forever. I explored a small toxic planet, Lepusch, where I found an ancient ruin that was mostly buried. I was able to dig up three keys that opened the ancient chest, which contained a rare hoop over 1,000 years old. It seemed pretty worthless to me, but it scored over 600,000 units on the trade network. The most curious thing about that ruin was that there were no toxins present despite being out in the open. Before leaving the planet I discovered multiple instances of “metal fingers,” and I left with over 1000 uranium! Capt Jones’s planet, Sabn Omega, was lush, and of course high security. I decided to visit when he reported little sentinel activity, and it was quite a beautiful planet, though I’m not sure if there’s any significant resource value.

  I teleported back to my base. My base computer had uncovered the archived blueprints for a launch pad, which I quickly installed on the side of my headquarters. This will save me a lot of launch fuel! Such good news until my fleet commanders comm’d in and shared with me that all three of my frigates were damaged on their last voyage...utterly worthless. I repaired them and thought I had seen enough for one day. Before going to sleep I was determined to look at the nearest red system, since my new hyperdrive is capable of reaching them. While scanning the system, I unintentionally engaged the warp drive...so much for going to sleep. Upon reaching the destination, Luyski X, I encountered a monstrous freighter—far bigger than any I had seen by a factor of 3—and it was under pirate attack. I defended the freighter and its captain invited me aboard. He was extremely grateful for my assistance, and he seemed like he wanted to give me the freighter, but it was for a price of 90 mil units. I quickly left the area and teleported home. I’ll have to return to scout the planets another day.

• August 4th 3419 | Marcus Jones | Ipswi VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  My scientist finally gave me the plans for a circuit board. Apparently his mind was elsewhere. Literally - he told me that he uploaded his mind to another star system for a vacation and left his body here in the base. For three days. The "conversations" we had were just his species' equivalent of "To leave a voicemail, press 1 now". I'm sure he's laughing at me now, assuming that Korvax can laugh.

  My current problem is with my farmer. I need to grow star bulb for these circuit boards, but he refuses to teach me about it until I hand in some cactus flesh. And I do mean hand in. He's no more than five meters from the hydroponics table himself, but does he ever harvest anything? No. He refuses to accept any crop yields unless I personally place them on his desk. Anyway, I tried to convince him to teach me about star bulb while the cactus was growing, but the Gek has never heard of multitasking. He just tutted over my "lack of focus". Ugggh. This wise-old-mentor shtick is getting on my nerves. Maybe it was a mistake to hire the first lifeform who asked for the job.

• August 3rd 3419 | Marcus Jones | Ipswi VIII | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Dang virus. Wiped my logs AGAIN. Backups too. Where was I...

  Captain Stevensen invited Captain Flanagan and myself to his base on Ipswi VIII to help him lure and then fight off a Sentinel Walker. In hindsight, I should have asked him how big a Walker is before I showed up. Three stories high, fires a laser beam as thick as my torso, and if the laser misses it can just step on you. Somehow we managed to take one down with our peashooters, but then two more showed up. At one point I hopped in my ship and flew 10 km away, and there was one waiting for me when I landed! Eventually the alert died down...at which point Captain Stevensen informed us that his on-board computer had glitched (is that where I caught this virus from?) and he hadn't been able to record any combat metrics, so the whole thing "didn't count". And so we went through the whole thing again...and it "didn't count" again. I ran for the teleporter before he could suggest trying a third time.

  After that, I decided to devote some time to my hydroponics work. I was able to gather some cactus cuttings from Seusiouxf Ibos, a planet in the Bloche-Vut system that I found in Captain Flanagan's map data. The teleporter access codes that I've received from Captains Flanagan and Stevensen have been extremely valuable; I can't remember the last time I needed to go to warp in search of resources. I found that the weather on S.I. is pleasant enough during the day, but freezing at night, and the wildlife is rather aggressive. I constructed a teleporter anyway.

  Back at Sporedrip Overlook, I planted the cactus cuttings and then finished adding the roof on the second story. No more toxic rain indoors. But my overall progress on the base is still stymied by the circuit boards issue: my overseer insists that his work cannot proceed without them, yet my scientist refuses to tell me how to construct them. In fact, he seems not to even hear me when I ask, though he is perfectly willing to discuss other topics. Have I stumbled into the middle of some obscure alien feud? Or maybe the Korvax is affected by this virus as well…

  On top of all this, I was able to squeeze in two brief rendezvous (rendezvouses?) with Lieutenant Patterson. His on-board computer still refuses to synchronize with the teleporter network (this virus, I swear), but he seemed in good spirits despite his hardships. I gave him some of my excess oxygen, and he cracked a joke about me stealing all the nearby copper before he could get to it.

• August 3rd 3419 | Lyle Stevensen | New Leyto | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Lieutenant Commander Jones discovered Ipswi VIII and established a base on our moon. I planted a crop and am waiting on it to grow. While waiting, I took off to go look for Vykeen Daggers and had no success. I encouraged Captain Flanagan from the USS For Pete’s sake to aid in the search for the mysterious Vykeen Daggers. After lengthy struggle to find vykeen Daggers, it was determined that the system we were searching for had no economy. We quickly departed for another vykeen system where the daggers were acquired at a trading post. I returned to base, turned in the daggers and harvested my fungus which had grown. After a successful voyage to harvest some balls, we returned to base to turn them in. Our scientists were able to fully research the exo-craft technology. The sentinel forces attacked our base so I issued an immediate evacuation of all personnel and materials back to his Frigate, the USS Yorktown. The battle with the Sentinels had been lost, but the war was far from over. I brought the USS Yorktown up to full readiness so that I could explore the mysteries of the universe from the comfort of my pottery barn captain’s chair. After the team had moved into the freighter, we performed some renovations, making the freighter smaller. We turned in the scrap for several hundred thousand units. We acquired a new x-wing fighter craft.

• August 3rd 3419 | Lance Flanagan | USS For Pete's Sake | Region: | System: | Location:

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  “Take the space tour,” they said. “It’s completely safe,” they said. There I was, happily traveling to the moon when there was a bright light followed by an explosion. Next thing I know I’ve woken up on some infernal planet with no clue how I got there. I think I nearly died at least 20 times in the first hour, but I started to catch on. After getting access to a ship I met a number of strange alien races, and individuals keep calling me Traveller—maybe bc I travelled so many freaking miles to get here, and I can tell “here” is nowhere near home. Well at least I know one thing for certain—who I am: a ridiculously successful pea farmer from Minnesota that’s just trying to survive. The good news is there are a few friendly faces out here that will make surviving a little easier. There’s Capt Jones who is a very keen observer. His skills will definitely be an asset. There’s also Capt Patterson d, who just recently arrived, but he’s somehow related to Capt Jones, so I’m sure he’ll become useful soon enough. Then there’s Capt Stevensen, or as we used to say back on Earth, the “Wild Card.” I heard he’s been known to invite folks onto his freight just to space them as he warps off to another systems, leaving them to die under the cold grips of the vacuum. That aside he’s also been pretty helpful. Now that I’ve been blasting around these alien systems for at least a month or so I figured it was time to start documenting.

  I was able to accomplish a few things on 3 Aug:

  • Killed a large sentinel force with the aid of Captains Jones and Stevensen. We even killed a Walker. I was able to extract its brain and use it in the creation of a Conflict Scanner which will aid me in my future endeavors. The Vykeen weaponsmith that works for me actually tasked me with these sentinels. I suspect he thought it was a death sentence, perhaps for him to take over my base himself, but I’m still here, buddy.
  • First Cadmium drive installed on my starship. This will allow me to warp to Red systems. I’m wondering if I should have installed this on my freighter instead, which would have allowed the other Captains to travel with me even if they didn’t have that technology yet.
  • Created an oxygen harvester at my base that is powered by carbon. I shouldn’t run out of oxygen any time soon. -Hired another frigate to accompany my freighter. This one is a support frigate that will aid my other two economy-based frigates on their lengthier missions. Hopefully it’s worth the Units.

• July 29th 3419 | Fleet Admiral John Cummings | USS Alamo | Region: | System: | Location:

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  Weeks after EMP blast. USS Alamo Location Unknown Fleet Admiral John Cummings A glorious war at the edge of the galaxy they said. Home by Festivus they said. No one mentioned that we would be up against a giant unmanned robot army, surrounded by systems of toxic planets with aggressive animals. Then, a mysterious ship appeared with devastating emp technology. Luckily our AI caught the signal in time and warped us quickly into the closest blackhole. Our escort squadron wasn’t as lucky. We’ve been radioing them for weeks with no response. Heading back into the blackhole is too dangerous and we are running low on supplies. We are initiating emergency protocols and are heading back towards home, the center of the galaxy. If they are alive, I hope those boys rely on the survival skills they learned at the academy.