Having completed the first leg of the Eye of Fire Expedition, the Cosmos changed course towards what Commander Altsain had dubbed Black Hole Country.

During conversations with other commanders, she had heard that there was an area near the galactic core (SHROGAEI UU-X E1-5269) that was dominated by neutron stars and black holes and, having never seen the latter, decided to incorporate this into her voyage.

Even with the Cosmos’ near 60 light year jump range, this leg would still require 215 jumps.

14,865 light years from home: A strange sight greeted the commander as she jumped into a new system – a brown dwarf that supported a truly massive ring system. She was glad that it had failed to become a proper star, as that would have destroyed the rings.

A spooky sight awaited the commander as she flew the Cosmos into the twilight world of rings…

15,084 light years from home: A neutron star, the first of many the Cosmos would fly past on this voyage. Regrettably, the presence of a passenger meant that Commander Altsain was unable to get a leg up onto the neutron highway, using the star’s jets to boost her frame shift drive. She promised that, on her next big voyage, she would travel alone…

20,756 light years from home: Commander Altsain had witnessed a pink gas giant once before on a long-ranged voyage, but it was good to see that it was not a one off. The commander likes pink gas giants.

20,756 light years from home: Eep! Commander Altsain flew into Black Hole Country and she did not like it. Crashing out of supercruise, ship overheating, warning lights blinking everywhere…

After a couple more black holes, the commander decided not to risk the Cosmos further and instead plotted a route to the Eye of Fire, the destination the explorer Alan Robertson had chartered the ship for.

The commander still had no idea what an Eye of Fire was, but was becoming keen to find out.