Ishum’s Reach

Commander TheNekkbreaker reporting from Oevasy SG-Y d0.

~.*.~ Here I am in Oevasy SG-Y d0, also known as Ishum’s Reach, named for its original discoverer, Sam Ishum. He first arrived here in 3302, and four years later, I have too. 65,647.34ly from Sol, there’s nowhere further to go.

~.*.~ The jaunt over here from Beagle Point was not as difficult as I expected. Once or twice I hit dead ends: stars that were too far from any adjacent to reach with the limitations of my FSD. I backtracked and continued choosing stars that got me closer and closer to my objective. I used FSD injections three times, though I’m sure it could have been done with less if I had been more patient. The longest jump I made was just over 106ly.

~.*.~ The system itself is more impressive than Beagle Point. It is a binary system and features two terraformable worlds and a water world. In addition, there is a ringed planet some distance out from one of the parent stars that is the furthest planet from Sol. It has a moon colloquially known as Salome’s Reach, which is the furthest object from Sol we know of within the galaxy. I visited it, mapped it, landed, and took the pictures I’ve traveled across the galaxy for. The most striking thing about the system is the wall of darkness that surrounds it, broken only by a few stray stars (ones that didn’t quite make the cut for furthest from Sol), several distant galaxies, and the Milky Way itself. There is no star field at Ishum’s Reach, this is the end of the world. This is how the ancients must have felt staring out across the ocean, how the first astronauts must have felt gazing into the night sky, and how the Federation must have felt when they set their sights on the stars.

~.*.~ But I won’t be passing into or across this inky black. We haven’t worked that one out yet. I will be turning my ship about and setting a course for Explorer’s Anchorage, nearly 40000ly from here. I intend to travel below the plane of the galaxy several hundred lightyears to improve my chances of finding unexplored worlds and making new discoveries. It will be a long haul, but I’m looking forward to seeing the largest black hole in the galaxy before returning home. Should only be a few weeks. Here goes nothing.
~.*.~ ???
~.*.~ I would have signed off just now, but even as I finished writing this log another commander dropped out of warp at the main star. Hail and well met, CMDR Spudman2112, the system is yours. I will leave the solitude to you. o7, I’m out.