I'm camped out on a rocky planetoid somewhere more than ten thousand light years from Sol. I'm past halfway to Colonia. There's no turning back now. Sitting back in the Heidegger (That's what I've decided to name my trusty Asp Explorer), I try to contemplate the fact that I am probably the only living thing that exists for billions of miles in all directions, and the only thing between me and instant death is a thin sheet of plexiglass. It's a sobering thought.
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| Home from Home |
The haul from Eagle's landing to Sacaqawea Spaceport was the longest single leg of my journey. It was five thousand light years - took me two days when factoring in the extra time to scan new systems. I've made so many first discoveries on this journey. So many, in fact that they start to lose all meaning. I'm alone out here and I think it's starting to get to me.
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| I was the first person to ever set foot on this world. |
I didn't spend long at Sacaqawea. I'm going through something right now, I can feel it. I've spent so long alone with the universe that talking to other people before I reach my destination is anathema. I just hope that When I DO reach colonia I'm able feel normal again. Right now I barely feel human.
I got some two hundred and fifty light years from Sacaqawea before I fell asleep mid jump. I woke suddenly, covered in sweat, the angry alarms shrieking at me "WARNING! TEMPERATURE CRITICAL! TAKING HEAT DAMAGE!" My view port was filled with blinding orange light as I streaked full throttle towards a K class star.
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| Getting trapped between two stars is never a pleasant experience |
Barely able to think, I zeroed the throttle and yanked the stick back. The ship had already emergency dropped from supercruise and I knew I wouldn't last long this close to the star. I dropped a heat sink, alighned to my escape vector and punched the FSD. Once I got away from the star I slowed and turned so that I could view the nemesis which almost claimed my life.
And I witnessed something incredible.
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| Coronal Mass Ejection |
I'm sure the seasoned explorers reading this will scoff, but this was the first time I had witnessed a coronal mass ejection (CME) first hand. Sure, I'd seen solar prominences countless times, but actually seeing the stellar mass being spurted out into space? It was breathtaking. The sight made me reflect on all the moments the universe had amazed me since I left Worlidge Terminal over a year ago. White Dwarfs. Neutron Stars. The system where life began. And then I realised how little of the galaxy I'd seen, and what other treasures lay in store for me to discover. This journey has changed me, and will continue to change me, and that's exactly why I need to do it.
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| I won't ever be the same. |
I'll sign off with a quote from my ship's namesake:
"Tanscendence constitutes selfhood" - Martin Heidegger
If I take death into my
life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the
anxiety of death and the pettiness of life - and only then will I be
free to become myself.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/martin_heidegger_363004
If I take death into my
life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the
anxiety of death and the pettiness of life - and only then will I be
free to become myself.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/martin_heidegger_363004
If I take death into my
life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the
anxiety of death and the pettiness of life - and only then will I be
free to become myself.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/martin_heidegger
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