Sol 120
923 kTi

I spent a bit of the morning putting down another few new drills and made north in the rover. I think I should give it a name, something affectionate, something that shows exactly how much I appreciate how much easier this thing has made exploration.

I'll call it the Shitbox.

Now now, before you judge me, I do mean that as a term of endearment. We've all had the one car or bike or floater that only worked if you held the stick a certain way, or if you had to keep one hand raised at all times, or if you had to skip breakfast just so it wouldn't get overburdened. And those are vehicles you either love or you hate, most of the time it's both. That's how I feel about this bucket of bolts. It goes from point A to point B and nothing else. So the Shitbox it will be.

The Shitbox handled the slope down into the gulley fairly well. The further I went, the more that the walls rose up around me, so either I'll leave the thing behind and climb my way back out or I'll have to drive back out the way I came. But whatever the case, I came out into a long canyon system that stretched well to the north.

This probably isn't too relevant, but just like my first tests with it the rover left tracks in the soil behind me as I drove. Being so low, the atmospheric pressure down here is higher, which means that it'll retain water more easily. This will probably be one of the first places that ends up flooding, though I'd personally prefer if this remained a giant canyon rather than becoming a big lake. I've heard that the Mariner Gulf on Mars was spectacular to walk through when it was a dry canyon.

I don't call the shots on that though. More relevant was that I found another wreck. This one was a whole lot smaller and in worse shape, but when I pulled out a data file it had the following log entry:

Pʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ sᴄᴀᴠᴇɴɢᴇʀ. Lᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴍɪssɪᴏɴ: Rᴇᴄᴏɴɴᴀɪssᴀɴᴄᴇ.

Aɴ ᴀʙɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ɴᴜᴍʙᴇʀ ᴏғ sʜɪᴘs ᴏғ ᴠᴀʀɪᴏᴜs ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴɪᴇs ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴅɪsᴀᴘᴇᴀʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ Iᴢɪᴛɪᴀʟ Pʀɪᴍᴇ sᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ. Gᴏ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ғɪɴᴅ ᴀɴʏ ɪɴғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.

Pʀɪᴍᴀʀʏ ᴏʙᴊᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ:

- Iɴᴠᴇsᴛɪɢᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ, ғɪɴᴅ ᴀɴʏ ʀᴇᴀsᴏɴs ᴡʜʏ sᴏᴍᴇ sʜɪᴘs sᴇᴇᴍ's ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴠᴀɴɪsʜᴇᴅ.

Sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅᴀʀʏ ᴏʙᴊᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇs:

- Fɪɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴏғ ᴀɴʏ ʜᴏsᴛɪʟᴇ ʟɪғᴇ

- Iᴅᴇɴᴛɪғʏ ᴀɴʏ ᴄʀᴀsʜᴇᴅ sʜɪᴘ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ʀᴇsᴘᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏʀᴘᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴs

- Rᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ ᴡʜᴇʀᴀʙᴏᴜᴛs ᴏғ ᴀʟʟ ᴍᴇʀᴄʜᴀɴᴅɪsᴇs ғᴏᴜɴᴅ

So this poor git ended up getting got by whatever it is that makes this planet fatal to technology. Sucks to be him I guess, but there's not a whole lot that I can really glean from this. He was one guy acting of his own accord, and he just ended up in a bad situation. I can only hope he was rescued.

Speaking of, I wonder what happened to that one guy whose base I came across. Forgot what he was named, though. Maybe I'll give it another look.

Sol 121
941 kTi

Back at Eta Base again. I figure I'll stop here for a while and try to work on the Shitbox some more. There isn't a whole lot that I can do with what I've got, but what I can do is fiddle around with some of its systems. As it happens, I found a way to jerry-rig a small antenna onto it so that I can receive transmissions from...I dunno, whoever happens to want to try and message me.

Tomorrow's trip is going due west from here and seeing what I can find, if anything. Not sure if I will though, it seems like there's a pretty nasty dust storm that way.

Sol 122
967 kTi

I underestimated what 'nasty' could mean on this planet. The Shitbox could go further than I probably could have in just my exosuit, but even then the glass was starting to crack and the metal was getting eaten away. I had to turn back after less than a kilometer. Whatever's that way can wait until I come back around next time.

It's mostly annoying to know that that kind of storm was partly my doing. The atmosphere gets denser, storms get stronger. For the most part that's fine in places like Beta Base, but the sand over that direction is a lot coarser. It's like driving through a sandblaster.

So now I'm back at Eta Base, using up some of my all-important resin to try and fix the cracks in the window. I guess we'll go south tomorrow then.

Sol 123
981 kTi

While driving south today I realized I was in the same neck of the woods as that cave of uranium ore. It's not all that important but it does mean I'm still in the same area that I've explored before. After that the trek continued south. There's a lot of low areas around here, almost like natural ramps leading into depressions in the ground. I'm stopped in one of them now, parked by a satellite that was another victim of this planet. It did have some useful salvage, though, particularly some datachips that I can decode later.

There's another one to the southwest. I think I could make it before the end of the Sol.

Sol 123(2)
989 kTi

Alright, I'm glad I did. Because it turns out Ikhlas survived.

I have zero idea how he made it this far, much less without a multitool. We're kilometers from the Harinth wreck, but he managed to make it all the way out here and set up a second base.

So Ikhlas didn't die out there, which is nice to know. But that just means I don't have any idea what actually happened to him. If he made it this far, he probably made it even further than that. The issue there is that there's nowhere to make it to.

There's another log file here that he left behind.

Iᴛ's ʙᴇᴇɴ sɪx ᴍᴏɴᴛʜs sɪɴᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴀsʜ, ᴀɴᴅ I'ᴍ ʙᴀʀᴇʟʏ sᴜʀᴠɪᴠɪɴɢ. Mʏ ᴍᴀɪɴ ɢᴏᴀʟ ɪs ᴛᴏ ʙᴜɪʟᴅ ᴀ ʀᴏᴄᴋᴇᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜɪs ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ. Tʜɪs ᴘʟᴀɴᴇᴛ ɪs ᴄᴜʀsᴇᴅ, I ᴄᴀɴ ғᴇᴇʟ ɪᴛ. I'ʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴀsʜ sɪᴛᴇ, I ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴀ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ ʙᴀʏ, ᴀ ғᴀʟsᴇ ᴡᴀʟʟ sᴏᴍᴇᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɴᴇᴀʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɪɴ sᴄʀᴇᴇɴs, ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ's ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ, I ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀʀᴅʟʏ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ...

The man either died on his way back to the Harinth or he did what he wanted to do here and got away. But I've never hear about him. If there was a man who managed to escape the crash of the Harinth and could have confirmed it, he'd be famous and wealthy. I have to assume he died.

But he's lasted at least six months here. He might have actually done it. And he made all this without a multitool, the absolute madman. Hell, it's still in decent condition, I was able to bring it back online and now it's a base for overnight travel. Which is useful, considering that I can refresh my supplies of oxygen, and he had a few packs of food spare. That's another few days of travel thanks to him.

This man is my hero. I don't care if he made it off the planet or didn't. He made it this far with even less than I had. If I make it off this planet and I'm not killed or sent back to Planet Crafting at Sentinel's orders, I'm going to make sure people know his story. For now, I'm going to just rest for a while. It's nice to have something akin to a bed to sleep in.