The Thargoids have attacked the Coalsack and Witch Head nebulas. I'm going there to rescue Empire peeps for the rank.

There is always time to appreciate the sights, though...

Tsao Propect in the Lembass system, with the Witch Head nebula in the background.

Around the time of the recent abandoned base discovery in the Coalsack Nebula, the wreck of an Anaconda was found in GCRV 65988. At the time I tried to find it, but was unable to locate it. After the recent trade CGs for making new capital ships I noticed I was close by and gave it another go.

This time I approached GCRV 65988 B 1 until I dropped out of orbital cruise and started gliding towards the surface. Only at that point did the location of the wreck appear in the Navigation panel. The wreck is located at -17.7930/149.3275.

There were three cargo racks that just produced some chunks of Antimony and Ruthenium. There was also an encrypted data core that was only worth about 180,000Cr.

Both the Djabara tip off:

and the HIP 1742 tip off:

were very high security surface installations. The only way to scan these installations was to fly my Python right up to the data point and scan at close range. The message was the same in both cases:

Corporate Data Log: That's them - the Greenventure Group. I know they have a reputation for being environmentally friendly but they ain't. Three of the systems they terraformed last year had rare flora and fauna that they just wiped out to make way for colonisation. I have all the evidence I need. This is the big one - this is gonna make me rich...

Each scan was worth about 1.6MCr.

The tip off to Svarogich led me to a surface installation with a lot of scanners.

All I needed to do was scan five public data points for some scan materials, 1.8MCr core data package, and the following message:

Corporate Data Log: They said their new product was safe as houses, but I've spent the past year reverse-engineering it. And what did I find? Onionhead! That's what I found! Concentrated Onionhead in an energy drink! No wonder it's so popular. Anyway, I'm presenting my evidence to the authorities. They'll make sure this gets out to the public. Boy, am I going to be famous!

I got the same message scanning a single Core Terminal. No opposition, no fines or bounties. Very simple. On to the next ones.

While rescuing people from Kepler Orbital three "tip off" missions appeared in my inbox!

I've returned Flamin' Help to Alioth and climbed back into my trusty Python to check these out.

Tip Off 1

A communiqué for you, Commander.

Our operatives have found some high-value data at a settlement belonging to our competitor. We would appreciate your help scanning it so we can keep ahead of them.

The location is in the Svarogich system, on Svarogich 3 a. The precise location is: Lat: 2.15, Lon: -84.56. This message is also uploading the encryption key you'll need to access the data core.

It's likely someone is already there. They won't be invincible, but you should be prepared for trouble.

Remember, someone might already be on the way there, so you could have competition.

I'm sure you won't have any trouble.

Tip Off 2

Hi, Commander,

Our operatives have found some high-value data at a settlement belonging to our competitor. We would appreciate your help scanning it so we can keep ahead of them.

Location is: Lat: 26.73, Lon: 140.65, on Djabara 2 d in the Djabara system. Our source also passed on an encryption key for the data core. We've uploaded it into your systems.

You'll probably encounter some folks who aren't happy with your mission. Take whatever precautions you think are necessary.

Report back as soon as you can. Good luck.

Tip Off 3

For the attention of Commander Werdna,

This needs to be on the low-down, Commander. We've got a lead on some high-value data. If you can recover it, maybe we can put it to good use.

Location is: Lat: 26.21, Lon: 168.95, on HIP 1742 B 5 a in the HIP 1742 system. Our source also passed on an encryption key for the data core. We've uploaded it into your systems.

A word to the wise: expect a little opposition. This site hasn't been the best-kept secret.

Time is of the essence so move fast.

Hope it goes will. See you soon, Commander.

For the last couple of days I've been doing rescue runs at Kepler Orbital in Atropos.

I've switched to my Ember Orange Orca "Flamin' Help". I'd originally intended it to be another exploration ship in my fleet, but decided I had enough of those already and it would be good for a rescue ship.

With minimal 3A shields, it can fit 92 economy passengers. There are bigger ships, but the Orca is fast and manoeuvrable. Engineering has brought the idle heat down to 12-16%. I can get in and land without a heatsink, and only need to fire one off to get out without taking any damage (usually).

I'm sitting at 100% Post Commander rank now. I have no idea how much more I've banked up, but I'm going to continue rescuing while I can.

I have a "Tip Off" mission that I received today that I will investigate once the station moves to its 'repair' phase.

I got a tip off a yesterday while doing missions for my Federation and Empire rank:

Ah yes, Commander Werdna, something for you.

We have the location of a crashed ship carrying some interesting data. Our source tells us a clean-up crew is on the way, so you only have a few days to collect the data.

You need to land on Pleiades Sector IH-V c2-16 D 2 in the Pleiades Sector IH-V c2-16 system. The location is at: Lat: -4.54, Lon: 138.94.

We've put an encryption key into your systems to help you access the core.

Be as fast as possible or someone will beat you to it.

Hope it all goes to plan, Commander.

I decided to switch to my Diamondback Explorer "Oooh Shiny" - it's been a while since I flew her, and I've always enjoyed flying the DBX.

Of note is that it is the exact same planet that my alt, Miriel Byrde, got for her first tip off. The Lat/Lon and story were different, though.

Once I got there, I found a log entry:

It's been 14 days since the crash. Supplies are running low and with limited medical equipment, we're in pretty bad shape.

Jenkins is still unconscious...I think it might be best for everyone if he doesn't wake up.

I don't know what I'm saying. Help will come. It must!

I also got a 885,727Cr Wreckage Data Package.

As part of the developing Thargoid story line in the game I visited the Sidewinder crash site on HIP 69200 1 b:

I think I'm going to leave the mysteries to the experts and resume working on my Federation rank.

I decided last night to head off to the Coalsack Nebula and see what was happening with the latest Thargoid story.

Musca Dark Region PJ-P b6-1 3 has a great many interesting points of interest. The first was the Geological Survey 23B at 11.86/-38.01:

There were some Comms Logs to scan and materials to pick up. In the distance was a green glow...

A mere 11.2km away is a Thargoid Barnacle site with a wrecked SRV at 11.65/-38.10:

Scanning the SRV just produced a scanned data transaction. It's otherwise just a regular barnacle.

About 419km away at 19.51/-34.35 was a crashed Thargoid ship:

About 3Mm away from there I noticed a strange "Human Signal (0)" and decided to investigate. Once there I couldn't see anything, but noticed it was moving! About 150m/s in an exact westerly direction (heading 270). On re-logging, however, the signal was gone. Just a glitch!

After a couple of days working my Imperial Rank from Viscount up to Duke, I was able to purchase three new Imperial Cutter hulls. One of them I more-or-less A-rated and fully engineered:

Still no name for it, yet. The other two hulls are "just in case" while the price is cheap. All purchased from Hiyya Orbital to get the 15% Li Yong-Rui discount on top of the temporary 20% discount of the recent Community Goal.