Freelance Report: Searching for Jaques

It is almost a month since Jaques departed from Gliese 1269 to Beagle Point in his specially modified Orbis Starport. Pilots from the Distant Worlds Expedition and the FGE exploration wings have been eagerly awaiting Jaques’s arrival.

Jaques’s travel time was originally predicted to be about one week, but this time passed with no sign of the space station. Many pilots remained hopeful that Jaques would arrive in time for the end of the Distant Worlds Expedition on the 5th of June, but the closing ceremony was conducted without him.

With the expedition over, anxiety started to take hold of the remaining pilots. Many were depending on Jaques to replenish supplies and make essential repairs for their onward journeys.

Fearing that the starport might have suffered an accident, searches of planets in the Beagle Point region were organised, led by Commander ‘Erimus’ Kamzel. On the 12th of June, almost twenty pilots conducted an intensive search around the base camp on Darwin’s Legacy, covering nearly 20,000 square kilometres, but no sign of the spaceport was found.

The search took place in almost total darkness, at low altitude. Several ships and SRVs suffered damage, and one pilot ran out of fuel, necessitating rescue by the Fuel Rats. With hope all but lost and the risks to pilots becoming ever greater, the search was reluctantly called off.

Commander Mad Billy