I got the Basilisk sample.

I dropped into a threat level 6, immediately went into silent running, dropped a heat sink, and got behind the Basilisk with FA off. Then I fired the limpet. Fortunately the Basilisk hung around long enough for me as there were a few wrecks it was scanning, so the limpet completed its job and detached. This time I successfully collected it into my cargo hold. I was able to follow the Basilisk the whole time with a mixture of FA on/off. The whole time it paid not attention to me (just how I liked it). Interestingly, when the limpet detached with the sample the Basilisk turned and started scanning it. When it jumped out I finally turned silent running off. It helps to have a cool running DBX with an engineered power plant. It also helped that there were no other Thargoid vessels present.

Thargoid samples! They REALLY do not like it. Hardly surprising. They do get very angry and I need to be able to go faster. The Thargoids are FAST compared to my slightly engineered cool running DBX. Still need to leearn. They certainly live up to their reputation.

Woohoo!

I did the mining for Selene Jean and how have grade 5 access to her. The mining, which I was inexperienced at, was oddly satisfying. I did get better at it. Although it doesn't at present (26/02/2018) earn many credits, it is a fun activity, requiring a degree of strategy. I mined mostly at planetary rings, figured out how to determine which rings had which content, etc. I would definitely recommend ship launched fighters.

I'm now going to gather materials for the upgrades.

TTFN and o7 for now.

Hello, and welcome.

I want access to Selene Jean. She does however require a lot, even just to talk, and it involves mining. I've not done much mining, so I looked for advice and found Delkar. Specifically I'm mining in Delkar 7 ring A (pristine metal). I've refined 13 units of painite there already, so it is doable. Selene Jean requires 10 units of painite to start doing work, and requires that a prospective client have mined and refined 500 units of any type of ore. I need about another 56.

I started doing this in an Asp Explorer and now moved on to a Cutter. The Cutter is the better choice for me as it can carry 4 size 2 mining lasers and has a greater cargo capacity.

I now need to figure out the sweet spot for number of limpets to carry in order to end up with a full load of cargo and no more limpets. Is there a reliable formula for this? If there is, I don't yet know it.

Hi there

I recently visited Dav's Hope. An interesting site to say the least, with a story of corruption and a lack of concern for human life, and a desperate attempt to survive and escape.

Anyway, I recently discovered it has a lot of rare manufactured materials for engineering, in my case a grade 5 overcharged powerplant on my FDL.

One thing to note, it's more fun in open with others driving around also on the hunt for materials.

TTFN for now, and o7.

I've been running rescue passenger missions picking up refugees from 'The Oracle' in 'Pleiades Sector IR-W d1-55' when I decided to check out the 'Distress Call' approximately 106ls away. I should have known and taken note of Admiral Akbar. The Thargoids are still in the system after attacking 'The Oracle' station and wrecking what looks like an entire battle fleet. I was not equipped to take on a Thargoid, especially on my own, and in a hulking Cutter that was not fast enough to run and jump. I got annihilated.

I should have been more cautious, and also paid attention to other Commander's accounts. Also, I was not aware that there is an active Thargoid surface site in the system. Oops!

Lesson learned.

I made it. I'm not at Trade Elite, and I have the badge to prove it! I used my Imperial Cutter with 784 cargo units capacity to get there.

I'm now engineering my Cutter, and have also outfitted it for combat. Seems to be very effective. To add to that I have now ventured into ship launched fighters with a crew member for the first time. I am liking it.

I'm well on my way now to Trade Elite in a Cutter. I'm currently at 77% Tycoon. I did approx. 8% in about 3 hours or so. One way on Imperial Slaves and the other way on Animal Monitors. The route is between Karbudj / Shirazi Station and Apurui / Hereford City.

The Imperial Slaves are more profitable as is expected. Hopefully markets will pick up later on a different route.

Interdictions from pirates are not common but do happen. It is totally possible to evade them in a fully laden Cutter.

Once I get to Trade Elite, that will be my second Elite rank. At which point I will make a cheeky purchase on the ED store to mark it, an elite rank pin and keyring. I know that's a little cheesy, but I like it.

I'm about to start the final 50% push towards Trade Elite. To that end I've ranked up with the Empire to the level of Duke and got a Cutter. It really drifts. I've loaded it out for trade, so lots of cargo space and NO SHIELDS. I have found that docking often causes hull damage in a ship the size and weight of a Cutter, especially when fully laden. Therefore, I have sacrificed some cargo space for a docking computer (don't hate me too much). Much more effective that a shield as a shield would require more power, and I would loose more cargo space. At least this way I can avoid damage.

When I finally get to Trade Elite, I can finally get the Trade Missions I would like to carry out.

TTFN