The venture ship 
USSA AVENTURA was the first vessel to set down on the ocean planet, Dakka, in 5 O.E.
Image of the approach to "Mount Everest" captured by USSA Aventura crewman, Hand Abulaji
USSA Aventura was a modified Drakonwing class exploration ship with a crew of 23. Its captain was High Pilot Marcus Aumbi.
The Aventura would have been equally at home on land or sea, but setting down on dry land had practical, symbolic, and legal benefits. After discussion of four different locations proposed, High Pilot Aumbi ordered the ship be landed on a tiny volcanic plateau, 38 km across. The island's highest point was 149.5 meters above Dakka's sea level which, excepting the massive Torrin Chimneys near Dakka's south pole, made it the planet's highest point. Aventura's crew jovially named the place "Mount Everest". Today it is nexus of the Everest Skyplug and is home to over 100 million people.
The Aventura's mission had been financed by an Earth-based political league of the Southern Hemisphere. 60 days after landing, the crew got word of the power-sharing pact signed by the Three Agencies in the wake of the Great Forgetting and Wars of Realignment. Realizing that the mission would need continuing support if a permanent colony were to be established on Dakka, High Pilot Aumbi immediately claimed the planet for Your Agency. This simple bit of pragmatism on Aumbi's part had a substantial effect on the distribution of power for generations to come.
Acceptance of the Reticulan presence was virtually universal at that time. Nevertheless, the crew of the Aventura were surprised - and unnerved - to spot Reticulan disks, apparently tracking them, when they arrived at Dakka.
"How far do you have to go to get away form these awful little bastards?" High Pilot Marcus Aumbi is said to have remarked on spotting the first Reticulan ships at Dakka.
