The Logs of IMG|RV-Endeavour

[Biggles]

Log Entry № 1: Dr. Magnus Stern, Aland Shipyard (Omega-3), 24/07/22 A.S.

With continuing uncertainty over the Gallic government's attitude to IMG operations in the Taus and BMM pushing into Omega-7 driven by the colonisation of Planet Sprague the decision was taken by the Board of Guildmasters to secure funding for the commission of a "Corvo" class exploration frigate to be built on Corfu Base to facilitate and expand IMG's Deep Space exploration and prospecting operations. I, as director of Research and Exploration, was appointed Captain.

Seven months had passed when I received a notification in my neural net to say that construction had been completed. I immediately arranged to fly to Corfu in another research vessel, the IMG|RV-Discovery, a "Voyager" class freighter, along with Dr. Price and Mr. Fisher, two of my oldest and most trusted acquaintances.

Departing Freistadt

It was an uneventful voyage, passing through Omega-9 , Omega-11 and Omega-41 and finally Omicron Theta. The resident Zoners on Corfu were very hospitable and received us warmly. We all inspected the exterior and interior of the ship (which only contained the bridge and cargo hold as per my instructions), and found everything entirely satisfactory. I then carried out a small launching ceremony and broke the bottle of Rheinbier we had brought for the purpose over the bow of the ship, officially christening it as the IMG|RV-Endeavour after the great ancient research vessel.

After some brief flights around Planet Pygar (totalling around two hours) to test the ship's avionics and propulsion systems, we returned to Corfu and stayed the night.

In Orbit above Planet Pygar, Corfu Base visible in background

We left early the next morning with myself and Dr Price in the Endeavour and Mr. Tucker in the Discovery. We parted in Omega-7, with the Voyager returning to Freistadt and the Corvo continuing on to the Koeln system where, over 3 days, the vessel was fitted with ALGs proprietary radiation-resistant Lead/Iridium armour at Wuppertal Refinery, and loaded specialist scientific equipment from Heisenberg Research Station into the hold.

We then travelled to Aland to complete the outfitting of the ship - the fitting of a powerful scanner for exploration missions, a small mineral processing unit to investigate smaller samples and industrial CT scanners to probe larger rocks, 5 Gunboat "Battle Razor" Tachyon-Antimatter Cannons for self defense, an astronomical observatory, three fully outfitted research labs, crew quarters and a "BGM-GEN" Missile turret modified to be capable of launching probes. Work is currently ongoing, and is not scheduled to end until next week.

The Endeavour being outfitted in dry dock at Aland

Yesterday Dr. Fisher arrived on Aland. She is a freelance xenobiologist and medical doctor who will fly with us for the next few months. This brings the the ship's current complement up to 5 members:

Captain: Myself
Chief Officer: Dr. Deborah Price
Chief Engineer: Mr. Charles Tucker
Electrotechnical Officer/2nd Engineer: Mr. Franz Oberth
Medical Officer: Dr. Sarah Fisher

The plan is to start our mission by exploring and charting the Omegas and Taus, areas where there is already a large IMG presence and shipyards capable of servicing a vessel of this size, which will allow us to fully test the vessel and iron out any issues before setting forth into the Omicrons and Sigmas.

I am still short of several crewmen. I have been asking around in the bar, but so far take up has been slow, due in part, I believe, to circulating rumours of a huge and highly lethal Nomad and infectee population in the deep Omegas and edgeworlds. Dr Fisher assures me that these rumours are likely highly exaggerated, but they are enough to dissuade many guildmembers and freelancers.

Apologies for this rather boring first log item as we set everything up. The next entry will document the first expedition and observations inside the Omegas which should be more interesting!

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Aurora — Wingman — Forumlancer — ALG