04/08/335: Report 1

The exit lies near B-431, which emits lethal radiation and should be avoided at all costs for the time being.
We had to make emergency maneuvers to avoid being cooked on arrival.

The entire system is filled with a massive planetary fragment field the locals call Almeria.
Scanners picked up several interesting sites, and the field itself appears rich in unknown minerals. Unfortunately, we also intercepted Corsair traffic.

That means no sightseeing. We move fast, keep quiet, and get out.

Almeria feels almost civilized compared to Fischer, which says terrible things about my standards now. It’s still a murderous debris field wrapped around a radioactive nightmare, but at least the rules look like normal physics again.

The crew actually laughed when the first friendly freelancer ping came through later on. Not because it was funny, just because it was the first normal thing we’d heard in days. Turns out ordinary greed and radio chatter can be very comforting.

05/08/335: Report 2

The farther we get from Fischer, the less I feel that pull to turn around and dive back in.
Most of the crew are finally starting to feel normal again. Morale has improved, especially after we detected the familiar signal of the Deep Omega entry network.

So far, the only patrols we’ve encountered have been friendly Zoners and freelancers.

This should be my last report on Phoenix’s first Deep Omega expedition.

It’s dangerous. Worse than dangerous, really. But I think there is a future there. If we’re stubborn enough, or stupid enough, to carve one out.

One final observation for whoever reads this with clean boots and a full fuel reserve: Deep Omega is not just hostile space. It changes people. By the end, even the ship sounded different to me. Or maybe I did. Either way, we came back with more than charts, ore samples, and casualties. We came back with a direction.

Also, for the quartermaster: yes, Bob still owes two scanner casings, one emergency medkit, and a folding kettle he swears was “lost heroically during contact with alien machinery.” Don’t let him write his own reimbursement form.

Douglas out.