Star Control Discussion Board

...along with 20 units of the radioactive element astatine.

I've always thought it's just a little bit amusing that you can fly around with tons of astatine (longest-lived isotopes have half-lives on the order of hours...) in your cargo bays. Not only does it not kill your entire crew with radiation poisioning, or melt through the hull, but it's all still there when you go to turn it in at the starbase!

oldlaptop wrote:

...along with 20 units of the radioactive element astatine.

I've always thought it's just a little bit amusing that you can fly around with tons of astatine (longest-lived isotopes have half-lives on the order of hours...) in your cargo bays. Not only does it not kill your entire crew with radiation poisioning, or melt through the hull, but it's all still there when you go to turn it in at the starbase!

Very interesting, and I’ve often wondered the same thing. One possible explanation could be that their advanced technology is able to keep the radioactives in some type of stasis, where the natural decay period is dramatically reduced or completely eliminated altogether. This could probably also include some kind a containment field which prevents the radioactive properties from poisoning the crew and melting the hull.

I’d also like to add that I’ve theorized that gases could possibly be kept in some sort of sophisticated inflatable balloons, as opposed to tanks that would take up cargo space even when empty.

I've long theorized that radical size manipulation is the core of propulsion systems. That would necessarily include interaction rate manipulation.

Stasis fields are referred to in game text once. They're a known thing, anyway.

Sa-Matra's asteroid shell

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Captain's Log - Jan 28, 2156 - Zeeman

Barely a hop, skip, and a jump and we're in the Zeeman System, a supergiant white star with likely the hottest temperature in this part of the galaxy, and it also has 6 planets, all of which are in the hot zone:

Planet 1 - Yellow Gas Giant
Planet 2 - Small Green
Planet 3 - Small Green
Planet 4 - Cyan Gas Giant
Planet 5 - Medium Cyan
Planet 6 - White Gas Giant

Looking back, if it weren't for Zeeman, probably none of us would be here now, considering the heroic efforts taken by Captain Burton to have the gumption and wherewithal to order the Cruiser Tobermoon into the scorching hot Zeeman sun and detonate their Nuclear Missiles to fool the Androsynth squadron into thinking that the Tobermoon was destroyed. It's also hard to believe, after our brief moment in HyperSpace to arrive in this system so quickly, that the crew of the Tobermoon had done the reverse trip in their crippled Cruiser that took almost a week!

Interplanetary Long-Range Sensors show a merchant ship of the Melnorme currently orbiting the cyan gas giant nearby, eagerly awaiting our 217 units of bio-data -- er, I mean... our much appreciated business. Perhaps we'll pay them a visit to feed the Precursor translation computer some dialogue for it to analyze and process the appropriate questions and responses whenever we encounter those particular groups.

We have plotted a planetary exploration path: 4-5-3-2-1-6

We will set course for the 4th planet, which will likely allow us to intercept the Melnorme Trader. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Jan 28, 2155 - Zeeman, Near Planet 4

We met with the Melnorme, and after they acquired all of our bio-data, we asked the first 7 questions about current events. This seemed the most logical choice, since I wanted to make sure to include the information about Admiral ZEX and the Shofixti females he has on Alpha Cerenkov I, and it may also serve well in the future to have the information learned about the Ur-Quan shipwrecked somewhere in Alpha Pavonis, as well as the obscure hints mentioned about the strange dimensional portal that opens for a time, starting on the 17th day and lies somewhere between the Chandrasekhar and Columbae constellations, and finally, the knowledge of the red probe owners located in Beta Corvi may prove useful when we search them out, which if our frequent encounter rate continues to escalate, shall likely be more sooner than later.

As we are approaching the 4th planet, our Short-Range Sensors are showing that the planet has 4 moons: 2 Yellow, 1 Cyan and 1 Violet, in that order.

We have adjusted our exploration path accordingly: m1-P-m2-m3-m4

We will set course for the 1st moon. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Jan 28, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 4, Moon 1

We have just entered orbit of a Treasure World with a 2.18 atmosphere with class 3 weather, a small mass (0.08 e.s.) but a high gravity for its small size (0.67g), a searing hot 3014° C, and 13 humongous deposits of precious metals! Hopefully this is an indication of what planets in this system can yield, since the mineral density is flowing up to the surface constantly due to the heavy volcanic activity and molten surface, which I optimistically expect may result in producing literally rivers of silver and gold on the surface, and perhaps on other worlds like this one in the rest of the system!

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Zelnick out.

Supplemental:

This moon is like one big smelting furnace, leaving us big liquefied globs of iridium, platinum, silver, palladium and gold! We used 4 trips to obtain 343 units in total of precious metals! Very nice!

We will set course for the planet. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Jan 29, 2156 – Zeeman, Planet 4, Moon 3

After visiting the cyan gas giant, which had a boiling hot (or boiled hot, since we're talking about gas) 3729° C temperature, we traveled to the 2nd moon, a Urea World with a scorching hot (and probably with boiling urine) 3892° C, but only had common minerals, so we have just entered orbit of the 3rd moon, an Opalescent World with no atmosphere, but still has an ever so slightly toasty temperature of 2785° C, class 4 tectonics, a tiny mass (0.01 e.s.) with a low gravity (0.16g), 3 deposits of common minerals and 2 deposits of lanthanides.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Zelnick out.

Supplemental:

We gathered 52 units of silicon and 31 units of rare earths, including samarium and gadolinium.

We have set course for the 4th moon. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Jan 29, 2155 – Zeeman, Planet 4, Moon 4

We have just entered orbit of an Yttric World with a thick 4.78 atmosphere and class 5 weather, class 4 tectonics, a mass of 0.07 e.s. and 0.53 gravity, a very hot 3355° C, and 5 fairly large deposits of rare earth elements.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Zelnick out.

Supplemental:

We gathered 129 units of ytterbium from the surface.

We have set course for the 5th planet. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Jan 29, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 5, Moon 1

As we approached the 5th planet, SRS showed it has 2 moons, and we scanned the 2nd moon first, which turned out to be an Alkali World with a thick 4.58 atmosphere, a hot 3108° C temperature, class 4 weather, and 6 large deposits of base metals, so we left there and proceeded to the 1st moon.

And I think we just hit the jackpot! We have just entered orbit of a Lanthanide World with a 1.56 atmosphere, 2865° C temperature, class 6 tectonics, 0.03 mass with a 0.40 gravity, and an amazing 22 deposits of lanthanides, some of which are quite huge!

We will dispatch the Lander at once. Zelnick out.

Supplemental:

If rare earth elements happen to be imbedded in a planet, one of the best recipes for that planet to make them available is to start with tremendous amounts of high temperatures with a (planet)side of molten lava, and then stir in some seismic activity to the point of crust upheaval... and Voilá! Tons of lanthanides! However, the extremely hazardous conditions overtaxed the Lander's safety measures on a couple of occasions, so we used the time portal to restore any lost personnel.

We used a total of 6 trips and gathered 443 units of lanthanides, including cerium, praseodymium, terbium, lanthanum, samarium, gadolinium, promethium, and neodymium. Very good!

We will set course for the planet. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Jan 31, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 2

The 5th planet was an Organic World with a 2.22 atmosphere, 2855° C, class 3 tectonics, and 6 deposits of common minerals, and the 3rd planet was an Acid World with a 2.00 atmosphere, a 3276° C temperature, class 3 weather and tectonics, and 9 deposits of common minerals, so we headed for the 2nd planet.

Score! We have just entered orbit of a Quasi-Degenerate World with no atmosphere, but it still has a sizzling temperature of 3533° C, class 4 tectonics, and 1 gigantic deposit of exotic minerals, which, if the pattern holds, is presumably degenerate matter.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Zelnick out.

Supplemental:

We acquired 24 units of degenerate matter from the surface. Awesome!

We have set course for the 1st planet. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 1, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 1

On our way to the 1st planet, we got within close proximity to the Zeeman sun, and it was a pretty impressive sight as we soared past, and luckily for us, our navigational shields protected us from its intense heat. As we approached the 1st planet, SRS showed it also has 2 moons, and the 2nd moon was a Selenic World with a 1.84 atmosphere, a super-hot temperature of 4429° C, class 3 weather and tectonics, and 9 deposits of base metals, and the 1st moon was a Urea World with a 67.0 atmosphere, a super-mega hot 4995° C, class 7 weather, class 6 tectonics, and 5 deposits of common minerals, so we proceeded towards the planet. And…

May I have the envelope please? And the winner… of the “Hottest Planet of the Year" goes to...(drumroll)...Zeeman 1! Congratulations! Its 5179° C temperature is soooo hot (audience: "How hot is it?") It's so hot...that, uh…it’s just really hot, okay? (rimshot) Anyway, there's nothing else of importance about this big hot yellow gas giant, so we'll be moving on.

We have set course for the 6th planet. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 2, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 6, Moon 2

As we approached the 6th planet, SRS showed it also has 2 moons, so we headed for the 2nd moon, and it’s an Oolite World with a 60.6 atmosphere, a scorching 3450° C temperature, class 6 weather, class 3 weather, a small mass (0.02) that still has a 0.36 gravity, 12 deposits of lanthanides and 5 deposits of precious metals. The violent weather is impossible to avoid, so we'll keep each expedition brief and try to pick up at least 4 deposits each time, which some of these are of substantial size, so this should bring in good returns.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Captain out.

Supplemental:

After using the time portal a few instances to deny the Grim Reaper his prize, we obtained 259 units of rare earth elements, including ytterbium, holmium, erbium, thulium and lutetium; the 99 units of precious metals were mostly from iridium, with one deposit containing palladium, and we accomplished the entire task in 5 trips.

We will now set course for the 1st moon. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 2, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 6, Moon 1

I think I've enjoyed our trip to Zeeman! ...Well, besides the people temporarily dying on the surface part. We have just entered orbit of another Lanthanide World, this one has a thick atmosphere (1.74 atm), a blazing hot temperature of 2561° C, class 6 tectonics, small mass (0.03 e.s.) with a 0.40 gravity, and 14 deposits of rare earth metals.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Captain out.

Supplemental:

In the 3 trips, we acquired 279 units of lanthanides, including gadolinium, samarium, terbium, lanthanum, cerium and praseodymium.

We may even have to rename "Rare Earth Elements" on the periodic table to "Common Zeeman Elements", since upon entering this system, we have obtained 1143 units of lanthanides in total! And those were just the kind that were readily available on the surface! (Not to mention the 442 units of precious metals.)

However, after cross-referencing our ship's computer, some of the names for different elements have been categorized differently than they used to be, whereas what was once a base metal or radioactive has sometimes been switched with a rare earth, and vice-versa, along with several other discrepancies. I assume it's probably something else the Chenjesu are responsible for, likely instituted for the purpose of making the current periodic table coincide more towards a standard universal elemental conformity.

We will set course for the planet. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 2, 2156 - Zeeman, Planet 6

We have just entered orbit of the 6th planet, a white gas giant with nothing unusual about it, so we'll be moving on.

We have set course for Beta Mira. Captain out.
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I’ve decided to leave my log excerpts in “raw” form this time for Beta Mira.

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Captain's Log - Feb 4, 2156 - Beta Mira

We have just arrived on the outskirts of the Beta Mira System, a small blue star with just 2 planets in orbit, both of which are in the cool zone:

Planet 1 - Orange Gas Giant
Planet 2 - Medium Green

We will set course for the 2nd planet. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 5, 2156 - Beta Mira, Planet 2

We have just entered orbit of a Primordial World with a thick atmosphere (2.02 atm), but its far orbit (8.32 a.u.) has resulted in a low temperature (-129° C), plus it has class 3 weather, class 8 tectonics, 5 commons and 1 base metal, so we'll be moving on.

We have set course for the 1st planet. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 5, 2156 - Beta Mira, Near Planet 1

As we approached the 1st planet, SRS reveal it has 4 moons: 1 Cyan, 1 Yellow and 2 Green, in that order.

We have added an exploration path: m3-m2-m4-P-m1

We will set course for the 3rd moon. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 6, 2156 - Beta Mira, Planet 1, Moon 3

We have just entered orbit of a Quasi-Degenerate World with no atmosphere (-111° C), class 4 tectonics, and 3 exotic minerals!

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Supplemental:

We found 38 units of degenerate matter on the surface.

We have set course for the 2nd moon. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 6, 2156 - Beta Mira, Planet 1, Moon 2

We have just entered orbit of a Lanthanide World with no atmosphere (-111° C), class 7 tectonics, and 17 lanthanoid deposits.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Supplemental:

176 units of rare earth elements? Is that all? I think I got spoiled by Zeeman!

We have set course for the 4th moon. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 6, 2156 - Beta Mira, Planet 1, Moon 4

We have just entered orbit of a Green World with a 2.18 atmosphere, a temperature of -111° C, class 3 weather, class 5 tectonics, 4 deposits of lanthanides, and 15 biological lifeforms!

We will send down the Lander. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Supplemental:

It took just 2 trips for us the gather the 157 units of rare earths, including neodymium and praseodymium, as well as 5 "pineapple trees" (see Alpha Saurus II) and 10 of the round orangish lifeforms with long, white cilia (see Alpha Wolf IVa) for a total of 90 units of bio-data.

We will set course for the planet. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 6, 2156 - Beta Mira, Planet 1

We have just entered orbit of an Orange Gas Giant with a temperature of -111° C, and there's nothing unusual about it, so we'll be moving on.

We have set course for the 1st moon. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 6, 2156 - Beta Mira, Planet 1, Moon 1

We have just entered orbit of an Opalescent World with no atmosphere, class tectonics, 8 common minerals, 1 noble gas and 2 rare earths.

I find it a bit peculiar that every moon (including this one) of the innermost planet, along with the gas giant itself, registered a temperature of exactly -111° C regardless of atmosphere (or the lack thereof), weather, mass, radius or tilt. It is a curiosity that will have to remain a mystery.

We will dispatch the Lander to the surface. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Supplemental:

We gathered 6 units of samarium, 7 units of argon, and 38 units of common elements, including arsenic and silicon.

We will set course for Alpha Cerenkov. Since we are probably approaching VUX territory, we are now going to Yellow Alert. Captain out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 10, 2156 - Alpha Cerenkov

As soon as we entered HyperSpace, InterStellar Long-Range Sensors detected 2 bogeys, both on intercept courses, coming from downspin and coreward, which leads me to believe they are either Slylandro Probes... or possibly VUX Intruders! We managed to slip past them and have just entered the Alpha Cerenkov System, another small blue neutron star with 9 planets in orbit:

Planet 1 - Medium Green
Planet 2 - White Gas Giant
Planet 3 - Medium Green
Planet 4 - Small Yellow
Planet 5 - Small Orange
Planet 6 - Small Yellow
Planet 7 - Orange Gas Giant
Planet 8 - Green Gas Giant
Planet 9 - Medium Blue

InterPlanetary Long-Range Sensors show the innermost planet is in the green zone, while the next 5 are in the cool zone, and the last 3 are in the cold zone. Considering the variations of planet sizes, colors and classifications, the possibilities of life and high mineral density are pretty good... but unfortunately, the possibilities of VUX presence is equally as high, which will keep navigation and science stations on our toes!

Our primary objective in this system is to make contact (hopefully peaceful contact) with Admiral ZEX and either obtain some Shofixti females or at the very least find out what ZEX would like in exchange for them. As crazy as it seems, the very fate of the Shofixti race may well depend on our success or failure...so we cannot fail!

Since the Melnorme gave the specific location of Alpha Cerenkov I as the location of Admiral ZEX, it's very tempting to immediately head to the innermost planet, but I would at least like to stop off at the 8th planet since it very close to our current position. From there we can head to the 1st planet and work our way outwards: 8-1-up-2-up-5-left-7-downright-3-downleft-6-right-4-downright-9.

We will set course for the 8th planet. Maintain Yellow Alert Status. Zelnick out.
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Captain's Log - Feb 11, 2155 - Alpha Cerenkov, Near Planet 8

As soon as we began approaching the 8th planet, SRS revealed it to have a contingent of VUX Intruders orbiting it! The klaxons sounded the Red Alert as the VUX quickly detected our presence and altered course to intercept, and shortly thereafter the VUX captain was on our viewscreen, voicing a not-so-subtle position of how they were going to destroy us!

The ship's commander sat behind an elaborate and ornate console with an assortment of levers and buttons while various screens and consoles with yet even more switches could be plainly seen in the background, all with their own specific configurations with flashing lights and blinking buttons, and all having an abundance of color that was only matched by the various medals, ribbons and other commendations on the VUX's uniform.

The VUX captain sat there looking at us with a piercing stony glare with a very large singular eye that seemed to look right through me, while two whip-like tentacles, which functioned as arms, gently caressed the knobs nearby. The VUX's unique appearance seems gross at first glance, and even somewhat frightening, especially considering they have what appear to be literally snakes on top of their heads that writhe, wriggle and snap their little jaws, to which I couldn't help but think of Medusa, a mythical Greek being that had snakes for hair, and was thought to be so ugly, so disgustingly horrible-looking, that even one glance in her direction would immediately cause somebody looking at her to turn to stone!

In fact, it's difficult to tell by the VUX's physiology whether they are aquatic, because of their octopus-looking tentacles, or reptilian, because of their green and scaly skin texture (plus the aforementioned snake appendages,) or amphibious, because of sharing aquatic and reptilian features, or possibly none of the above OR perhaps even a combination of all of those traits! As we were being "greeted," so to speak, the VUX's snout wiggled back and forth while an elongated tongue whipped in and out while speaking, much like that of an anteater ingesting termites, but it really rather had the appearance of “tongue-typing,” so it made me wonder if the tongue was somehow being used to tap out messages into what would presumably be a highly complex translator, kind of like a VUX typewriter of sorts. Curious.

Unfortunately, in any event, the message being conveyed was not one that could be misconstrued as friendly; the VUX’s crass and matter-of-fact demeanor had an air of confidence that insinuated that if and when they chose to carry out their threats, they would be able to do so in a swift and efficient manner, and there didn’t appear to be much room left for diplomacy. On the contrary, the more I attempted to reason with them the more it exacerbated the situation, since the overall VUX culture is bent on the mindset that Humans are atrocious, vile beings that are so ugly, we are now deemed to be an abomination by VUX standards.

I still did my best to treat the situation as having salvageable possibilities, so I attempted to apologize for the insult made by Captain Rand those many years ago that has resulted in the hostilities and sour relationship between our two species, but it was of no use… the VUX broke off communications and attacked. Well, at least they attempted to attack, all three vessels warped in one-by-one at a far enough range to be outside their own weapons’ range but just inside our own range, and the guided Hellbore Cannons made short work of all three VUX vessels.

Little did I realize at the time that my troubles were just beginning…
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