“Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” – John Swigert, Astronaut, Apollo 13 Pilot

9.10.yc120 Saisio < Okomon < The Forge

“Chief!” I yelled as soon as I exited my pod, dripping goo along the deck plates, not an ounce of clothing on.

The sound of running footsteps grew louder as he approached, then he appeared from the corridor, skidded to a stop, eyes darted too and fro not sure where he should and shouldn’t look. “Ah… you want to get some clothes on kiddo?”

“No! No I don’t.” In this instance, I guess you could say my capsuleer god complex kicked in, “I want to know what the hell is wrong with my ship.”

Now he locked eyes with me. “Well, what the hell is wrong with your ship?”

“Seriously?” Exasperation clearly escaped me, I’m usually much more laid back. “Aura is reporting the interdiction nullification system has failed and she’s not able to give me a clear cut reason as to why.”

I raised my eyebrows at him with a ‘well?’ question on my face.

“Don’t look at me like that, kiddo, I’ll have to check it out.” He tried to look stern, but I could clearly see the amusement in his eyes. “And for gods sake, put some clothes on, you’re gonna give this old chief a heart attack.”

I took in a deep breathe, then sighed heavily. He was right, of course, and I wasn’t exactly mad at him. It wasn’t his fault after all. I nodded in agreement, then took a towel off of the nearby refresher station and wrapped myself up.

OOC: Just how does an RPer reconcile in game changes like ship balancing in their storylines? Lol

This post I thought I’d take a look back at my ships I’ve flown on my journey so far. Some I left behind because skills allowed me to move into something better suited for the job. Others were left behind for balancing changes. Some served their purpose. Sadly, I don’t have fits for all of them, I didn’t keep some of them and wished I had, but the main ones that helped me achieve a significant goal, I do have in my hangar.

Cosmos

‘Cosmos’, Condor class, the ship I set out from my home world of Saisio, visiting High and Low Sec systems, taking pictures of every planet along the way, which you can see in my Gallery here.

[Condor, Cosmos]

Damage Control I

Medium Shield Extender I
EM Ward Amplifier I

Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Explosive Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I

‘Discovery’, Buzzard class, came next after having expanded my skillset to fly covert ops ships. This one served me well for most of my journey through Empire space. Unfortunately, I don’t have the fitting setup I had used, nor the ship.

Discovery

Towards the end of my Empire space travels, the Sisters of Eve ships came out and I knew when I first laid my eyes upon them, I had to have one. These are a thing of beauty and functionality. ‘Voyager’, Astero class, joined my fleet and I finished Empire space with this ship.

Voyager

[Astero, Voyager]
IFFA Compact Damage Control
‘Halcyon’ Core Equalizer I
‘Halcyon’ Core Equalizer I
‘Halcyon’ Core Equalizer I

1MN Afterburner I
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
Thermal Dissipation Amplifier I
EM Ward Amplifier I

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Core Probe Launcher

Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Small Low Friction Nozzle Joints I
Small Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I

Hornet EC-300 x10

Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16

‘Jester’s Trek’, Tengu class, the ship that made the Kessel run… sorry, wrong galaxy. This is the ship that saved my life on many occasion as I made my trek through Null Sec and then went on to finish all of Known space without a single ship loss. What a ride, love this ship. Of course, due to ship balancing changes, this configuration is no longer valid, but it was fun while it lasted.

Jester’s Trek by Rixx Javix

[Tengu, Jester’s Trek]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Warp Core Stabilizer II

50MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Federation Navy 100MN Afterburner
Cetus Scoped Burst Jammer
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Field II

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Core Probe Launcher
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II
Rocket Launcher II

Medium Core Defense Field Extender II
Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints II
Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints II

Tengu Core – Electronic Efficiency Gate
Tengu Defensive – Covert Reconfiguration
Tengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Propulsion – Interdiction Nullifier

Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Caldari Navy Inferno Rocket x300
Nanite Repair Paste x25
Tengu Defensive – Supplemental Screening x1

‘Jester’s Trek’ was retired to my hangar, but my next ship ‘Wanderer’ was based on the same design with a few special modifications, like Festival Launchers!. I started the last phase of my journey to explore all of New Eden with ‘Wanderer’ when I entered Thera for the very first time and begun my wormhole space explorations.

[Tengu, Wanderer]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Warp Core Stabilizer II

50MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Federation Navy 100MN Afterburner
Cetus Scoped Burst Jammer
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Field II

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Sisters Core Probe Launcher
Festival Launcher
Festival Launcher
Festival Launcher

Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints II
Medium Low Friction Nozzle Joints II
Medium Core Defense Field Extender II

Tengu Core – Electronic Efficiency Gate
Tengu Defensive – Covert Reconfiguration
Tengu Offensive – Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Propulsion – Interdiction Nullifier

Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Barium Firework x150
Tengu Defensive – Supplemental Screening x1

After about 3 months based in Thera, I began to see I would have to venture deeper in wormhole diving as there simply wasn’t enough system rotation going on daily basis to expect everything would eventually connect to me. Also, I realized I was going to have to change up ships, because the Tengu wasn’t able to transverse the small wormhole connections. So, ‘Pioneer’ was added to the fleet.

J161119 VI, Moon 1, Pioneer

[Raptor, Pioneer]
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II

EM Ward Amplifier II
Thermal Dissipation Amplifier II
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender
Medium Azeotropic Restrained Shield Extender

Improved Cloaking Device II
Sisters Core Probe Launcher
Festival Launcher

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Barium Firework x50

Now, a few years later, since I had left Saisio to begin my wormhole space explorations, I find myself returned to dock again, with another issue, with interdictors. Seems my trusty Raptor is losing some functionality. I would have gone with the Crow, but it’s difficult and/or costly to get it under a 2 second align time, so, we now have ‘Sojourner’, a Malediction class interceptor. Really happy with it so far and almost wish I had done this one to begin with… almost. 😉 Either way, it’s turning out to be a nice ship to fly.

Sojourner

[Malediction, Sojourner]
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Inertial Stabilizers II
Damage Control II

1MN Afterburner II
Scan Pinpointing Array II
Scan Acquisition Array II

Improved Cloaking Device II
Festival Launcher
Sisters Core Probe Launcher

Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I
Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I

Sisters Core Scanner Probe x16
Barium Firework x50

That’s my fleet of ships so far. Each one has been a joy to fly in its own right, but each upgrade has been nice as well. Can’t really say I’m disappointed in any of them, they’ve served me well.

Fly clever!

31.8.yc120 J000186 < H-C00332 < H-R00032

I sighed.

Ran my fingers through my hair.

Planted my face upon my palms.

Forced my breath out. Raspberry loudly sounded.

Chuckling, I dropped my hands away then sighed again. Tedium quickly turned to boredom as I lost myself in wormhole space. How long has it been now since I’ve seen the inside of a station? How many more systems to go? No, don’t look, just keep going. My friends must think I’m a nut.

I needed to chill.

“Aura”, I spoke, “Play something from my Grandfathers playlist.”

Without replying, Aura began to play.

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing, stretching every nerve
Had to listen, had no choice
I did not believe the information
Just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom, boom, boom
“Son”, he said, “grab your things, I’ve come to take you home”

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
‘Til I thought of what I’ll say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom, boom, boom
“Hey”, he said, “grab your things, I’ve come to take you home”
(Hey, back home)

When illusion spin her net
I’m never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don’t need a replacement
I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom, boom, boom
“Hey”, I said, “you can keep my things, they’ve come to take me home”

Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel

“Negative…” Aura stated.

“Negative?” I replied. “Negative what?”

“Negative what?” Aura asked.

“You said negative. Why?” I asked in return.

“I am afraid I do not know what you are referring to, Katia.”

Great, now my computer was going stir crazy as well. “Run a full diagnostic on yourself, Aura.”

“Of course, Katia.”

“The most effective way to do it, is to do it” – Amelia Earhart, American Pioneer

13.4.yc120 J225111 < D-C00196 < D-R00021

I received some mail recently from a like minded explorer asking about touring all of New Eden. There’s a hand full of us capsuleers who’ve tried this. Some have succeeded and some have failed. It’s a monumental task to be sure, one that is wrought with danger not only from those who would wish you harm, but the internal demons that will haunt you as well.

Here’s their letter. I’ve withheld their name for security reasons.

I was considering doing a tour of every system in Eve…starting with Kspace of course, and was told you might be of some help. I’m not even really sure where to start. Is there an easier way to track systems other than ticking them off on a spreadsheet? Is there an optimal route? What should I stop and see on the way?

I really have no idea how to get started and any advise you could give would be much appreciated!

My response:

I’ve been where you are, so I hope I can provide some useful insights to help you get started. Some of it will depend on your approach. Most of those, if not all, that have done it before, have taken the get it done quickly approach and were prepared for the ship losses that would come with that. It usually takes about 3 months to do all of K-Space with that approach, including Null Sec. There have been a handful of folks who’ve completed it, but most give up. There’s nothing wrong with that approach either, just depends on what your goal is. To see if you can, want to see the cluster, etc.

I took a very different approach. When I started, the new graphic updates of the nebula backgrounds and planets were being upgraded to what they are today. So, I took a much slower, calculated approach, taking a picture of every planet in every K-Space system. You can see my gallery of that effort here. It took me 3 game years to complete it and I used every tool I could find, like DotLan to help look for game camps, Pirates Little Helper (which I don’t think is around anymore), Eve Who to learn about the folks in the area I was in, etc. Because of that approach, I completed all of K-Space without losing a ship. But it is very slow, tedious, boring, and you have to have a lot of patience and luck.

Completed! 26.11.yc117 (Nov. 26th, 2015)

You can check out my blog here where I documented some of my story going along (unfortunately, I lost the early forum post when I started so it’s not the complete journey). You can also check out my flight log here, where you can see the path I took. As to where to start, I’m somewhat of a roleplayer, so I had written up a history of my character and a home world, Saisio in the Forge Region, and just went from there. I just took it region by region, keeping track via a spreadsheet. The one thing I wished I had done, that I didn’t start doing until I started W-Space, was to drop a personal bookmark in every system. That would have been another way to keep track.

Please feel free to reach out to me again with any questions. I just say go for it, accept the ship loss before you undock, have 2 or 3 duplicate ships sitting in your hangar ready to go. Be bold, plan ahead, lots of luck, and fly clever!

I failed to answer one of their questions which is what to see along the way. Well, that’s an easy one to answer, there’s no better source than Mark726’s Eve Travel.

I do wish the best to anyone that takes on this endeavour. It’s quite the acomplishment when you finally finish all of K-Space. I had no idea, well, I had some idea, that W-Space would be the greatest challenge yet. Over 52% of W-Space explored so far on my own journey to explore all of New Eden, making that over 82% overall.

One day I’ll finish…

42 Jumps Home

Fly clever!

“I intend to live forever. So far, so good.” – Steven Wright, Comedian, Writer

31.3.yc120 J233449 < D-C00229 < D-R00023

First of all, wanted to give an anonymous shout-out, not sure if they wish to be known or not, but you know who you are. Waking up one day to continue my journey, I was alerted there was a contract assigned to me which contained a very generous gift of the New One Eden Astero skin. My favorite ship. Very kind, thanks so much! (I’m sure they didn’t know my birthday was coming up today.) I’m still smiling! 🙂

I wanted to share this, but I’m sure capsuleers are aware of this, maybe there are some that aren’t. Having been traveling wormholes for over 2 years now, early on, I had noticed and had meant to mention this before. In known space (Empire and Null Sec) it’s easy to determine the region of space you’re in by looking at the starry background sky. Going from one region to the next, a capsuleer will notice how the background changes from the different vantage points throughout the cluster. The same holds true for Anoikis. In fact, there was an effort called Project Compass that tried to determine the location of wormhole space compared to known space by various means, one of which was the study of background star locations. You can read more about that project here and here. I should also mention (shame on me!) my own corps efforts in this regard which you can learn about here.

I’m not trying to do anything like that. Rather my intention is to show that Anoikis, also broken up in regions, you can determine which region you are in by studying, visually, the background. The region names are somewhat cryptic, but straight forward. In general they are broken up as follows: Region A (A1, A2, A3), Region B (B4, B5, B6, B7, B8), Region C (C9, C10, C11, C12, C13, C14, C15), Region D (D16, D17, D18, D19, D20, D21, D22, D23), Region E (E24, E25, E26, E27, E28, E29), Region F30, Region G31 (Thera), and Region H32 (Frigates only).

Here’s the backgrounds you can expect to see by Region, with the exception of H32, which I don’t have enough from just yet to confidently say one way or the other. But I will list an image here in case others can confirm or deny the background from that region.

“A” Regions

.

“B” Regions

.

“C” Regions

.

“D” Regions

.

“E” Regions

.

Region “F30”

.

Region “G31”, Thera

.

“Region H” (Frigates Only)

.
One thing interesting to note that I’ve noticed about Region “H” so far, is the background is very similiar to the Thera background. But I do have a couple of images that are different enough that I can’t say for sure all “H” region systems share the same background. It could have been because I was looking in a different direction and didn’t think to take note of the remainder of the sky around me and how it compared to previous “H” region systems.

As far as a status on my journey, so far so good, and we’re on track.

Fly clever!

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius, philosopher

1.3.yc120 J140932 < D-C00209 < D-R00021

J224826 V

Wanted to provide a quick monthly update. So far, I’ve been able to maintain my goal of 3 new systems explored daily on average. If I can continue to hold this pace, then it’s my hope I’ll be able to lay out and present an aggressive plan to finish during the last quarter of this year. Stay tuned.

To date, overall, I’ve explored 6,449 systems out of 8,035 making that 80% of all New Eden. That includes 1,248 systems out of 2,604 for 47.9% of wormhole space.

J000461

“The years, the months, the days, and the hours have flown by my open window. Here and there an incident, a towering moment, a naked memory, an etched countenance, a whisper in the dark, a golden glow these and much more are the woven fabric of the time I have lived.” – Howard Thurman, Author

31.1.yc120 J160311 < B-C00038 < B-R00005

Signal Cartel, a beacon of light in a bleak universe. For 9 years, I’ve sailed the dangerous darkness of New Eden’s seas. Today marks my 3 year anniversary, proudly flying the colors of Signal Cartel. What an honor it’s been and a pleasure to see the corp grow into what it is today. I’ve been told that I have the privilege of being the non-leadership member with the most tenure. Most of my fellow corpmates would probably say, Katia who? I’m very much the quiet one, in the background, going about my adventure, in my own way. But behind the scenes, I’m very much involved and I would like to think that my DNA has left some mark on the corp as well as promoted some of its growth. I know when we began and over the years, I’ve had many tell me directly it was my blog and adventure that has inspired them to explore and for some, join the corp as well. I’m simply humbled that I’ve had a positive influence upon the New Eden community. So, here are two things I’d like to reflect on for my 3 year anniversary. One where the corp has had a positive impact on me and one that I believe I had a positive impact on the corp.

The Credo. For the most part, I’ve always flown with the mindset that is our corp Credo, but I had never put it down into words and I had never seen it so elegantly put into words before. When Signal Cartel was formed and I read up on it, I couldn’t believe that there before me, in words, was exactly how I tried to fly in New Eden. The decision to join was a no brainer and I would have joined even earlier than I did, but I was deep in Null Sec on my journey and had to find a wormhole connection back to Empire in order to dissolve Sagan Explorations, my corp. To dissolve a corp and join another, I had to be in a station and it took a week for me to find the right connections back to a high sec station so I could take care of that and submit my application to Signal.

It was the Credo that spoke to me from the beginning and it continues to influence me to this day as it has evolved. It’s the light I focus on in my travels and helps to keep me aligned. Capsuleers either get it or they don’t. Some of those who don’t try to change it, so I can’t thank Johnny Splunk and Mynxee enough for the hard line stance they take of protecting the Credo against those who don’t necessarily fit well with the corp and try to change it. It’s the essence of who we are and if it doesn’t click with you, then this is not the corp for you. If the heart of it should ever drastically change, then that will be the day that the light of Signal dies.

This is something I have to take credit for as it’s the greatest thing ever to be part of the influence that made it happen. I’m positive that I was the first to say it in the context of Signal Cartel. My blog post title, Can’t Stop the Signal, posted the day I joined, a week after Signal was formed, quickly became our motto and I smile every time I see it. (Being a big Firefly fan, it was the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the corp name, I knew it was fitting.) Never once did I think it would catch on like it did and it’s still used today. Like I said, I really don’t like self-recognition, but this one I just have to as I’m so proud to be a part of Signal and to know that in some small way, my DNA has indeed influenced what we are today.

Now for a quick update on my goal of exploring at least 3 new systems per day. I’m happy to report that as of today, I’ve explored 100 new wormhole systems. An average of 3.2 per day. I’m hoping to, and if I do, maintain this pace, that sometime later this year I’ll be able to enact my last phase of this leg of my journey. More details to come in the months ahead.

Fly clever!

“Exploration is all about the jump, not the stargate.” – Katia Sae

01.01.yc120 J212224 < E-C00247 < E-R00025

J121516 VI

Looking over the numbers of my explorations for this past year, it dawned on me that I pasted my 8 year anniversary of exploring all of New Eden. Beginning on December 1st, yc111 (2009) my start was a rocky one. I completed 70 K-Space systems that month, but for the whole of the following year, yc112 (2010), I only managed to complete another 68 systems. In yc113 (2011), I fared better, but still weak with 641 systems explored. The next two years, I had stepped away from my explorations, adding no more systems to my completed list.

(OOC: Was a rough couple of years, having lost my mother and then my father, as well as a best friend of mine. My free time and my priorities changed up a great deal, not to mention my enthusiasm for any kind of personal enjoyment.)

In yc116 (2014), I returned to my explorations with a determination and enthusiasm to finish what I had started. That year, not only had I explored an additional 2,180 systems, I also completed Empire space and begun my explorations of Null Sec. Completing Empire had renewed my determination and in yc117 (2015), I not only managed to complete more systems, 2,242 to be exact, I also completed all of Null Sec.

With the completion of all of K-Space, both Empire and Null, the thought to retire had crossed my mind, especially since I was all docked up and hadn’t suffered a ship loss through my explorations. What better way to finish? Well, that was just it, in order to be true to my original personal mission to explore all of New Eden, then I had to include wormhole space as well. Say what you will about the challenges and difficultly of staying alive in K-Space, especially Null Sec, I knew W-Space would be an even bigger challenge. The pace I had set the previous 2 years would not be able to be maintained because of the randomness of connections and not being able to plan a route.

J212224 V

So, the start of yc118 (2016) marked the beginning of my wormhole explorations. That year I completed a total of 528 systems, less than a quarter of the pace I had in K-Space. Wormhole space was indeed going to take much, much longer. My only goal for yc119 (2017) was to do more than I had the year before, which I just barely managed to do with 532 systems completed.

Which brings us up to date, yc120 (2018), and what is my goal for this year. My K-Space pace was an average of 6 systems per day. My W-Space average is around 1.5. I’d like to double my pace to 3 new systems found each day. Keep in mind, that’s new, previously unexplored systems I’ve not found yet. There are days where I only find systems I’ve already visited, which seems to be about 50% of the time, which means I have to explore 6+ systems per day at least. My main issue is time, it takes a lot to scan down and explore connections. Also, as more are found, the pool of those systems I need to find, becomes smaller and therefore harder to find. It sounds easy and is, to find 6+ W-Space systems in a day, but when 50%+ are ones you’ve already visited and you only want new ones, well, now you understand the difficulty and challenge to explore all of wormhole space.

Let’s do this.

J150112 III

“And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?” – Jalaluddin Rumi, Poet

26.8.yc119 J212302 < E-C00293 < E-R00029

J103242 III

Exploration. Exploring: to traverse for the purpose of discovery. Discovering: gain sight or knowledge of something previously unseen or unknown. Are we, as New Eden capsuleers, explorers? There are a total of 8,035 systems in the New Eden cluster. 5,201 Known space systems (K-Space), 2,604 Wormhole space systems (W-Space), and 230 unreachable Jove space systems. With the exception of Jove space, capsuleers routinely visit each and every one of these known systems that were previously discovered long ago. No new insights, no new knowledge, the same old suns day in and day out.

J164147 XI

Our current level and access to ship and gate technology doesn’t allow us to reach the nearby Jove systems, let alone expand beyond our current accessible known systems. So, no, we’re not explorers, not truly at least according to the definition. The age of exploration is long past until a new age can begin when advances in tech open the gates to systems beyond our current reach. Then, there will be another great rush to explore.

Yet, I still call myself an explorer of New Eden. Why? Simply because, even though there are no new unseen or unknown systems to reach, for those that I’ve not visited yet, they are unknown and unseen by me. Exploration in New Eden is a journey into one’s self, very much a personal endeavor, as it stands today. The thrill of seeing a new sun I’ve not seen before, still conveys the same feelings of awe and grandness as the new first one I visited in my home system of Saisio when I began.

J212302 VI

Today, I’ve just completed my 900th W-Space system which means I’m now one third complete with wormhole space, just over 34%. That brings my total systems explored, which includes K-Space, to 6,104 or 76% of all of New Eden. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of my journey so far is not the number of systems I’ve visited, but the fact I’ve not lost a ship as of yet.
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.
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Fly clever, seek and find what’s previously unknown and unseen by you, but most importantly, be true to your explorer’s heart.

J160459 II

“Well you’re bigger, tougher, meaner, rougher. Dirtier and uglier and sneakier and trickier,
You wanna shoot me with a gun, cut me with a knife.
Take your bare hands baby rip out my eyes. You knocked me to the floor then you bit me in the neck.
Well, hit me again cause I’m not dead yet.”
– Styx, “Not Dead Yet”

11.6.yc119 J123746 < D-C00206 < D-R00021

((OOC: Sorry for the long delay between updates. It’s summer time now, at last, and hopefully that means real life commitments will ease up and give me some time to post a little more often. I’m going go for at least once a month updates, if nothing else.))

“Katia, that makes your six-thousandth system explored”, Aura stated in her monotone voice then paused. “and you are not dead yet.”

I raised an eyebrow at Chester, my slaver hound, who only looked at me with indifferent eyes, while his head rest between his massive paws spread out in front of him laying down on the cabin floor. I continued to stare, which only provoked him to raise his head, with what seemed like a smile on his face, until he realized there was no treat involved from my look.

Dumbfounded, I replied, “Aura, are you developing a sense of humor?”

“Developing would imply growth, evolving, a period of time to study and become better at a given task.” Aura continued in her iterative explanation. “I assure you, I need no such process.”

I chuckled, mostly to myself, even though Chester cocked his head, dropping his jaw into a pant, in anticipation that a treat was forthcoming.

“Katia? I fail to see the humor in your reaction.”

“Exactly!” I proclaimed. “Which tells me all I need to know.”

“Katia, if I may…” Aura persisisted.

“No, you may not.” I grinned as I knew if I didn’t stop her now, she would never cease to explain. “Six-thousandth system, huh? I guess this does call for a celebration.”

Now it was Chester’s turn to raise an eyebrow my way as I reached in a drawer behind me and tossed him treat.

“Congratulations Chester, we’re not dead yet.”

“Once human beings realize something can be done, they’re not satisfied until they’ve done it.” – Frank Herbert, Author

31.12.yc118 J102407 < C-C00086 Constellation < C-R00010 Region

#MyEVEStory by Rixx Javix

To be called a Stargazer by my homeworld, Achura (Saisio III)… that would be the pinnacle of all that I could achieve. I’m not one for stereotypes, they generalize far too much and individualization is lost. Yet, I can’t deny how typical I am of my kind. At least if you believe all that you learn about the Achur from the widely available public resources.

It is true: I am reclusive. I am an introvert. I have little interest in material things. I am deeply spiritual. I do desire to unlock the secrets of New Eden. I am one of those Achur pilots you’ve heard about that has left the confines of our homeworld and have set sail for the stars.

For those that don’t know me or my mission, you can learn more from one of those public resources. I’m currently in Phase III of my mission, which is to visit every system in New Eden. Phase I, Empire Space, began on December 1st, yc111 (2009) and was completed on July 4th, yc116 (2014). Phase II, Null Sec began on July 9th, yc116 (2014) and was completed on November 26th, yc117 (2015).

J104632 VII

On January 3rd, yc118 (2016), I began Phase III, to explore all of wormhole Space (W-Space). My first stop was Thera, where I was welcomed by my corp, Signal Cartel, and after the celebrations, I set sail to continue my main mission. I spent the first few months based out of Thera. It was only after a week of exploring W-Space from Thera, that I encountered my first duplicate system, a system I had already visited. After encountering more and more duplicate systems over the next couple of months, I decided it was time to wander. I spent maybe a month wandering from hole to hole, before settling into a class 5 wormhole that appeared to not be lived in that contained a class 6 static connection. I wanted to focus on class 6 wormholes and see how many I could find based out of one system. I spent about 6 months, between that wormhole, a little more wandering, and then settling into another class 5 with a class 6 connection. Somewhere during that time, I changed out ships as well, from my Tengu to a Raptor, in order to take advantage of the small wormhole connection types. The time was well worth it as I did find 90 out of the 118 class 6 wormholes, but it was very slow going.

Too slow, really. As a comparison, you can see I discovered a total of 529 wormhole systems during yc118. Compared to my progress from the prior two years in

J161119 VI, Moon 1, Pioneer

K-Space, which was over 2,000 systems per year for yc116 and yc117, I’m now exploring at a quarter of the speed that I was before. With there being 2,604 wormhole systems that we know of, this journey at this pace will take another 4 years and that’s not taking into account the difficulty to find the systems I need in a timely manner. As more and more systems are found, the hay stack grows, and the needle becomes more difficult to find.

…

As I let that sink in, but before I could spiral down the hole to where those thoughts were leading me, Chester nudged me in the back. Chester, the slaver hound gift that Mynxee gave me when I visited Thera, before I departed for this phase of my journey. I named him after my Grandfather and he, like my Grandfather, have been an inspiration to me to keep going. There really couldn’t have been a better gift, because at times when I’ve sailed too close to the abyss and think my mind is lost, Chester is there… encouraging me… “my little Stargazer.”

Jester’s Trek by Rixx Javix