I had always been intending to fly my Beluga Liner on Distant Worlds 2. I'd always got tangled up in the toast rack and so hated flying it for general use, but flying it for exploration without needing to dock - perfect!

Prior to Beyond Chapter 4 I had been intending to role-play a floating hotel for commanders, and had a few Luxury Passenger Cabins installed.

When the update released the locked internal slots for general use, those plans were thrown away for something more pragmatic. I decided to configure for service/support/tour guide roles, and to be able to contribute to the planned mining CGs.

That means my Beluga "Esra Taf" has a ship-launched fighter hangar with 2 Guardian fighters and multi-player-friendly mining equipment (mining lasers, abrasion blaster, sub-surface missile, seismic launcher - all turreted). It's also got repair and fuel transfer limpet controllers.

However, even though the Beluga has a lot of space, there's not quite enough for what I want. So I've created two configurations: Flight and Mining.

The Flight configuration has a 5H Guardian FSD Booster and 4G SRV Hangar. The Mining configuration has a 5D Collector Limpet Controller and a 4A Refinery. Everything else stays the same. I'm leaving the Limpet Controller and Refinery back in the bubble and hope to transfer them to a station close to the mining CG as required.

Here I'm testing the Esra Taf in the mining configuration looking for Void Opals in the ice rings of Delkar 9:

I think this run got me something like 44 Void Opals and 18 Grandiderite (almost filled the 64T cargo rack before I ran out of limpets).

The Esra Taf has a G5 Low Emissions Thermal Spread Power Plant, with G5 Clean Drives. Idle temperature is 15%, which is enough to stop pirates scanning her, but more importantly allows maximum rate fuel scooping without overheating. Jump range in Flight configuration is 51.68Ly.

Distant Worlds 2, here I come!

• Flight Config
• Mining Config

Just a Cyclops, but it took several goes nevertheless. I finally achieved success with Gauss Cannons.

In the excitement and desperation to conduct repairs, I forgot to take any pictures!

Well, that's it, I've ticked that box. I'm not really a combat person, I'll leave the Thargoids to others. I might brush the dust off my T9 and haul some station repair materials, though.

Sometimes it seems everything is placed on the dark side of the planets/moons. So when you visit something and it's well lit, you just have to take a photo!

This is the Guardian structure on Col 173 Sector ME-P d6-92 B 5.

More weapons blueprints...

I've just finished Ram Tah's second mission. I wouldn't call them exciting, but they are a nice change with a bonus of unlocking access to some fancy modules and weapons.

I had been interested to find out how many Guardian related resources you could acquire just doing both of Ram Tah's missions, but without camping at a site and relogging. My policy was to just visit each site on a list required to finish each mission. Obelisks would be scanned at each site in order to finish the mission, plus any other active obelisks that I happened to pass. At the structures, I completed a blueprint run once at those sites where it is possible.

After completing Ram Tah's first mission I had: 150 Alpha (max), 150 Beta (max), about 60 Delta, about 100 Epsilon and 150 Gamma (max). I've been reading about a lot of commanders complaining about having to acquire 76 Epsilon data points to unlock the Guardian SLFs. Based on my experience, they haven't even done the first Ram Tah mission once.

After completing Ram Tah's second mission I had maxed all the obelisk data points (150 each), got 3 module blueprints, 8 weapon blueprints, maxed out the power cells (200), conduits (250) and technology items (200). Plus about 170 weapon parts and 80 wreckage items.

On my way back to Meene, I also jumped into a system that happened to have a Guardian Beacon in it, so I grabbed the key, visited the related site, and got a vessel blueprint too.

My recommendation is to do Ram Tah's missions. They are clearly the intended path to unlocking all the Guardian technologies. Visiting different sites breaks up the game play, plus the cash rewards don't hurt either. Just doing the two missions has allowed me to unlock 3 Guardian modules, 1 Guardian vessel and 8 Guardian weapons. Only 3 modules, 2 vessels and 6 weapons to go.

Having got the Gnosis story done and dusted, it was time to return to Ram Tah's second mission at the Guardian Structures. This time I tried Synuefe SP-F b44-0 C 1 - very much easier to land. Activating all the pylons looks cool.

The final step is to scan the databank to get a blueprint to unlock some Guardian technology.

This particular site gives out weapon blueprints.

Last night I arrived, like many others, at the Gnosis hoping for a month of exploration, discovery, and science!

Of course, it didn't work out like that. When I logged on tonight there were several commanders already in the instance fighting the Thargoids. I took the opportunity of distraction to slip away.

Before I left, I visited the Barnacle forest in the system: Outotz ST-I d9-6 2 a @76.20,-78.42

This Gnosis thing is a little disappointing. I had hoped for something more exploration-oriented, rather than combat oriented. My DBX is not set up for that sort of thing. It's a cool-running stealth design. It idles at about 12% heat, low enough for Thargoids to ignore it while collecting tissue samples. I'm going to return to my previous goal - completing the second Ram Tah Guardian mission.

I decided it was time to experience the Guardian Structures, so I picked up Ram Tah's second mission and headed out. First stop was Synuefe TP-F b44-0 CD 1 where I found the site in complete darkness, perched seemingly on the side of a mountain with rough terrain all around.

I'd read that using a Diamondback Explorer made landing a lot easier, but it was still a struggle.

It turns out this site isn't even active, and there is no blueprint to pick up. However, it's all going to have to be put on hold for a while, as there is some activity brewing on the Canonn megaship The Gnosis - it might be jumping deep into Thargoid territory! I'm going to see what's happening.

I decided to take my DBX to Skardee 1, without heatsinks. It only got up to about 115% heat - very much cooler than my Python.

This particular base is Hollis Gateway, on Hermitage 4 a at -53.7548/157.5843.

This was the final site on my settlement/INRA base tour, which was completed nearly a month ago.

Since then, I've prepared for the next Small Worlds Expedition by fitting out and engineering my Dolphin. Squeee!

Stuart Retreat is on HIP 15329 A 3 c at -62.6134/-44.2569.