I bought a Beluga again this morning to see if I could like it and take it with me on Distant Worlds 2 and explore and help build the new station. I have to say Supercruise handling is very good for a ship its size, as well as normal space flight. I was able to outfit her with everything I need and want for this trip. Definitely a luxury ship as befits of the Saud Kruger ships. But she runs hot. Very hot. Planetary takeoffs would overheat my ship. Fuel scooping would overheat her as well as even charging the FSD in the black. I spoke to a few CMDRs and mechanics at Jameson when I returned from a brief exploration jaunt and they all recommended engineering to offset her behavior. I love that 128T fuel tank; it is glorious for exploration since I am not too worried about gaps in scoopable stars. But I do not think the overheating is something I wish to invest time in engineering her. For now I am going to recoup some of the money invested. Do I go for some passenger runs or do I try some mining now that we have better tools?

Doing missions in the area to help appease an engineer so I can upgrade my bi-weaves. Lots of pirate activity in LHS 449. I have been interdicted 3 times already. The first was a Sidewinder so I took care of it quickly. The second one was a Federal Gunship. I have one of those in Jameson so I know what they can do. I'm keeping my distance but I set navigation to Sol in case I have to jump out. I would rather this not turn ugly since my Atlas-1 is not equipped to fight a Gunship. I'm using this Krait as a general purpose mission runner. I'm fairly confident I can escape, I would just rather avoid the whole thing.

"Drop 20 T of whatever you are carrying. You have 15 seconds to comply before this turns ugly."

I knew it. Time to show some teeth and deploy hardpoints. I start charging my FSD and boost past him very close and I am turning around. Wait, radar says the Gunship is...leaving?

"Frame shift charge detected."

Well, I did not expect this. Did he not want to fight? Maybe he thought I wouldn't deploy hardpoints? In any case, I'm out. Let's go to Sol and deliver these black boxes before this gets any more interesting.

Still working on preparations for the expedition. It has taken longer than expected. It is not just the indecision as to which ship to take with me, but how to outfit the ship to be better prepared for what might happen. I am still going in my Gojira. My trusty Type-10 that served me well during the Autumn Odyssey. I just flew the Corvette to get some combat vouchers and, man, I love flying that ship. So nimble in both normal space and supercruise. I just do not like the canopy. I cannot see below and I am so accustomed to it on my Gojira for landings.

I do not know what to do as the Corvette would let me be more prepared for any eventuality. But the Gojira's cockpit helps me explore better I believe...