Toast to Toast Century

Retard kept the groove rolling. YT and Zombie guided the mission
through strange new frontiers. Pywaket loomed from on high.
H4ckw0r+th wookiee'd like a wookiee should be. And Q led us on the
Century of the Century.

We preflighted like we meant it, showed off on the chin-up bar, and
planned the route using three maps, a website, LD50 via subspace
communicator, and Q's native-born deep-space savvy. At first launch
we gathered at Ft Bartlett to observe the ritual known as Waiting for
Q-dot. This having achieved success, Pywaket navimagated our journey
to the official Start of the Century: the Friendly Toast, Cambridge.

(I don't know about y'all's breakfast. My beverage tasted like St
Joseph's Baby Aspirin and my toast was bigger than my head.
Fortunately this was all about the fuel, and this is not a restaurant
review board.) Pilots Buckminister and Boom Boom joined to see us
off, and Iscariot put in a surprise(d) appearance.

Having been made flight-ready, we saddled up and prepared for the VERY
LONG HAUL. Retard blasted the formal SCUL accompaniments and we set
of triumphantly for a quick rendezvous in the Davis Constellation.
Then it was wormholes away, by the glare of the Evil Day Star, with
Zombie in somewhat shaky charge of the route.

Wormholes, g-wells, waterways of great beauty, the poorly-maintained
spaceways of Winchester -- our intrepid group blazed on, maintaining a
steady pace of Fleet Speed +25%! We paused to visit SCUL's memetic
ancestors and Zombie's close friends near the Quannapowitt Nebula,
where ships were repaired and pilots were refreshed. YT took over the
lead, guiding us unerringly through ever-wilder depths of space. At
one point a large herd of boviniform aliens caused all pilots to
communicate with cries of "MOOO! MOOO!" Later, as the Evil Day Star
set to the traditional SCUL incantations, we passed fields of such
great beauty that Q was nearly swept into their orbits -- but he
bravely clung to his ship, waiting to lead us all to 1A and the realms
of his princely home.

As for 1A, we p0wnzrd that road. That is all.

Just as darkness swept the land, Q led us to another destined mark
upon our journey: the Clam Shack. Pilots refueled and added spacesuit
layers for the chilly depths of outermost space. Zombie, deprived of
braaaaains, had the baklava. A light-year or so later we paused for
unsavory snacks, much to the delight of the natives, who plied us with
songs and stories. Even the native ST's could not resist the glory of
SCUL!

At Plum Island, a crisis intervened: the gang deeply desired to go
exploring, but Zombie's knee had other ideas. We briefly split into
two teams, one lying around eating lemon cookies and space candy,
while the majority forayed out to see the dim shapes of wing-ships and
many, many falling stars. Upon our joyful reunion, our Mission Leader
declared it a requirement that at least one falling star be observed
by every single pilot, that the Perseids might look favorably upon the
wishes of SCUL, and so it was done.

Onwards the ships cruised. We were deep in the groove and covering
the light-years. We sailed through abandoned pleasure planets, but
would not be swayed from our mission by their sad, empty, locked-up,
elaborate playgrounds.

Just as weariness and cold threatened to overtake
us, a galaxy in need of enlightenment appeared on the horizon! Q led
us in to collect high-fives and crush cups, and the civis demonstrated
their native customs of drinking and screaming, not
unfamiliar after all.

At last, in the wee-est of the wee hours, we arrived at Palace Q.
Warm beverages and soups were consumed, and there were civilized
facilities for the rotation of fuel. After a brief pause, we set out
again, in order to blast the Funk in Honor of the Evil Day Star at the
appropriate time (with the aid of a boost from the Fairies, via
MosfetGrrl).

YT was knighted by H4ckw0r+th with all due ceremony, catapulting
herself to
the revered status she deserves. THREE CHEERS FOR PILOT YT! -- and a
reverent hug to Pywaket, the Ancestor of Us All.

Mission Leader Q's exuberance knew no bounds. He led us through the
Wormhole of Terror (where I saw another bunny, and personally
spacewalked), past the revivified ancient temples of his people, and
*almost* to yet another strange and distant galaxy. However, the
pilots were hungry, and our final destination was close enough that we
caught its scent. So we landed at our Ultimate Destination, the
Friendly Toast, NH! The locals received us with appropriate reverence
and awe, gifts were exchanged, and breakfast was served.

Afterwards transport some pilots and ships took the transport back to the
Palace, but the most rode on, passing civis on their ships and
collecting hi-fives before we reconvened. The Revered Q-Engenderers
provided kind hospitality, and Buckminister arrived with transport for
all, returning us with an uncanny swiftness to Ft Bartlett.

IT TOTALLY ROCKED, Y'ALL. IF YOU WEREN'T THERE YOU SHOULDA
BEEN!

Toast to Toast -Complete Route
Toast to Toast - Do Not Miss Spaces

SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS:

cow orker on tricycle in wormhole

three bunnies

some swans

some white egrets

a bird that went "mew mew"

a doe with three fawns

shooting stars (the perseid meteor shower)

post-apocalyptic beach season

a nice st in a small town

a million water lilies

a guy harvesting lily roots

INTERCEPTED TRAFFIC: PILOT CHATTER

That's what h4ckw0r+h said!! Ha ha ha ouch.

Guys I entered everyone's medals of Century, Patronage, Strength,
Diplomat and Injury.

Y'all should enter MRC and field repair bonuses

I put in HAL that Skylab doesn't have a rear retro no more and
Delirium's main thruster is dragging. Anything else? I entered
what I know of -- h4ckw0r+h

(do we list upgrades to ships anywhere? ooh-la-la is keeping that
basket, EZ Raider is keeping the rack and curbburner's skull now
lights up.) These can be entered
on the HAL pages for those ships if desired, but it's not actually
necessary since no action is required. Other than enjoyment.

Nap time.

OTHER NOTES, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

H4ckw0r7h peeing on a still-smoldering fire such that a fearsomely
awesome display of steam and smoke appeared to issue forth from his
loins

Knighting

Plum Island airport; ghostly glider shapes

Hampton Beach deserted

"What are you doing?" "Riding bicycles."

Newburyport happy to see us

Abandoned ship in the river

TinkerBoost

Threading the needle (elevated, crumbling bicycle path

Sunrise over the water

Passing a civvie ship on mile 93

Rambling painter telling stories at the minimart, laughter echoing
down the street afterward

"Is that a HARV?"

WORTHY NAVIGATION ROUTES:

east side of river (mystic??)

horn pond wormhole