Atlas
I am in charge of identifying expansion targets in Outpost 17. Each day, I point the gravitational lens at a new, unexplored portion of the sky. I haven’t found a target yet, and my post stretches on for years. Normally, there isn’t much luck in voids, but today I feel lucky. Let’s try a part of the cosmic void. We’re searching for a medium sized star, ideally white or yellow, just entering its main sequence. I know that any system worth colonizing needs a relatively large gas giant nearby to act as a secondary shield, deflecting stray asteroids and radiation. And… hit!
Now comes the delicate work of closer observation. I plan a careful pass through the system, mostly aligned with the ecliptic plane to ensure optimal visibility of planetary orbits. Let’s reach the Hill radius of the gas giant, where gravitational influence is strongest, for the best possible data. Should I send one of my last probes? I wonder if I can hitchike one instead.
I don’t have many probes left, and I’ll definitely get demoted if I burn them all without finding a candidate. I prefer using a comet anyway, it’s almost invisible to the rest of the galaxy. Outpost 19 got blown up after their probe was detected last year. Wouldn’t that be just my luck. There we go, Atlas will pass close enough to me for an observation intercept before passing through the system with minimal course adjustment. Perfect.
I launch the equipment and carefully adjust the comet’s trajectory. All that remains is to sit back and watch the universe unfold. If this is a stable system, I should be able to knock a few years off of my post and settle down on the new expansion with priority access.