This is the first in a new monthly feature in the Gazette, in which we catch up with CCN’s biggest projects and find out what progress they’ve made over the last few weeks.

The Exploration Wing

CCN’s Exploration Wing is run by the First Great Expedition and is–unsurprisingly–the largest project within CCN, with almost 200 members. We caught up with the leaders of the project – Cmdrs Wishblend, Finwen and Satsuma.

Satsuma told the Gazette:

“The last two weeks has seen the CCN Exploration Wing transform from the original, completely freeform idea of simply being a forum for explorers to being a slightly more organized group with an identity and a mission: to explore the areas around Jaques Station. The Outer Core, the Festival Grounds, Fallows and Colonia proper. We remain a loosely organized group but with more of an identity, now.”

In the past two weeks the Exploration Wing continued to survey data for the Galactic Mapping Project, added or updated 19 points of interest, as well as points of interest for the General Colonia Catalog.

In addition, work has continued on scouting out basecamps for the upcoming Colonia Core Circuit Expedition, neutron stars for the Neutron Highway Project, and the task of scouting new basecamps along the Colonia-Bubble route has begun.

Outside of exploration proper, Cmdr Alesia continues to write her Cartography Report column in the Gazette.

Cmdr Finwen is planning some small trilateration missions for explorers, to test the upcoming latest incarnation of their incredible cartography tools, and Cmdr Wishblend is planning a highly exciting cryptic location search around Colonia, as a sort of exploration treasure hunt. Rumour has it that there may be some paintjobs for the winners! Citizens are advised to stay tuned to the Exploration Wing channel for updates.

Colonia Nebula Project

The CNP continues to gather pace, although change is on the horizon. Now standing at 74 members, the CNP is one of the highest-profile CCN projects, and is correspondingly ambitious – to catalog all astronomic bodies of interest for the colony’s future expansion.

So far, 1,579 objects have been scanned in 281 stellar systems. From these, 320 planets which are candidates for colonisation have been discovered.

The process for logging this data has so far been a laborious and manual one. It is testament to the dedication of its members that the CNP has made such great progress in so short a time. However, Nebula Project Coordinator Cmdr EfilOne is quietly confident that, mid-way through October, new tools will be unveiled, which will revolutionise the CNP’s processes.

“No more forms,” EfilOne told your correspondent. “Soon… you guys won’t even need to send data any more. It will be done automatically.”

Exciting times indeed for the Colonia Nebula Project!

Events

The Colony Events are the heart of Colonial life. The inestimable Cmdr Mosta has been joined by Cmdr Petroph as Events Head of Staff to share the load.

“Two popular recent events were Suicidewinder Chicken, in which Commanders flew to a certain altitude near Colonia Hub and plummeted back down, and, more recently, Gravity Limbo, in which players flew down a mountain with flight assist off and level out to fly underneath two hovering Anacondas,” Petroph told the Gazette.

“Both events had a great turnout, with the Gravity Limbo event being the most successful so far and most challenging for all skill levels.

“More recently, Commanders Branches “Sparkles” OfSins and Gerbilz have joined the Events Team. With more events staff coverage and more minds to brainstorm the next exciting event, things can only get better from here. We hope to see greater turnouts for more exciting events planned in the near future.”

Colonia Militia Forces

The CMF now consists of no less than eleven groups: the Twin Candles (made up of independent pilots), GalCop, the Imperial Expeditionary Force, the Children of Raxxla, the LOSP, the Iridium Wing, SEPP, the Corsarios de Heimdal, the Galactic Combat Initiative, the Prismatic Imperium and the Terran Colonial Forces. All of these have entered into a mutual defence agreement for the Colony.

September saw the creation of the Colonial Marine unit. The Marines are the Colony’s first line of defence and represent its most experienced pilots. Currently, seven Commanders have earned the requisite Militia Merits to be promoted to the rank of Marine.

There are currently several high-profile Militia operations ongoing. Operation ‘Guardian Angel’–which involves pilots patrolling the mysterious Scutum-Sagittarii Conflux region–has so far been completed by ten pilots. In addition, the CMF committed two pilots to supporting the recent open order for materials to assist Latugara PLC’s drive to build outposts on the route between the Bubble and Colonia, which was successfully completed this week.

For the month of October, Colonial Marine Tharrn has spearheaded a mining initiative to increase resource production for the Colony (see below). The CMF have mobilised resources to support this in Operation Heavy Metal, which will run for the whole month, and rewards Militia pilots for providing escort to miners.

Further ahead, the biggest CMF operation of 3302 will surely be the Christmas Carriers Convoy. This is planned to be the largest freight convoy in human history, and will involve huge numbers of independent haulers and carriers making the journey together from the Bubble to Colonia, bringing much-needed supplies and delicacies for the holiday season.

The CMF has committed to providing the escort for the Convoy. Wings of escorting Militia will be lead by Colonial Marines, and will protect the Convoy throughout the hazardous journey. Militia members looking to get involved should register their interest here.

Mining and Rockrats

There are several important projects going on in Miners and Rockrats at present. One is Cmdr Tharrn’s ‘Mining for the Shipyard at Jaques’ initiative, in which he has placed an open order for certain crucial metals and minerals to be delivered to the markets at Jaques Station.

Cmdr YinYin plans to map the Colony’s Resource Extraction Sites, which will detail for the first time the enormous resources available on our doorstep in Colonia. Your correspondent has seen the project as it stands, and it is impressive! Any readers interested in contributing should contact YinYin on CCN.

Media

CCN’s Media projects continue to grow and evolve. The Colonia Gazette team now sits at eight, with two guest contributors. There are now ten people involved in CCN’s video creation, spread between video editing and live camera work.

All CCN events are now broadcast live from CCN TV. You can see the video editors’ creations here.

Our next Progress Report will be published in mid-November.

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Featured Image courtesy of Cmdr Michael Dartmoor.

Special thanks to Commanders Alex Ringess, EfilOne, Petroph, Wishblend, Satsuma and YinYin.