Quick Delivery Job

 A quick delivery job to Grendel (Skvortsov Dock) led me to notice a load of planets with Major reserves. 

So I took some time to explore a local rocky planet. Note the amazing rings around that mini-star!

 A bit more driving - a few materials collected.

 And ultimately I found some personal weapons with a short lived guardian!
I must say I didn't find any more materials than in the common reserves found earlier in Neritus around the military installation.

Federal Military Installation

On approach to the military station with 544 tonnes of Structural Regulators.

Coming in to land!

Landed...goods sold.

'Vette

Rear Admiral

Every commander needs to do their bit for charity and so I headed over to Tun where most Federal Admirals have done their time. A really uninspiring place but people in need of help so I did my duty and after around 1.5 M credits of charity missions they took pity on me and the Fed Aux Navy have promoted me to Rear Admiral. All I needed to do for them was secure a shipment of progenitor cells for the Tun governor.

Planetfall

So having persuaded the Core Dynamics sales rep to let me have a spin in the Federal Corvette I slipped him CR2000 to take me off to a local planet and have a go in the new scarab.

Time to start trading again

In my ever widening search for good trading I have left Rhea again looking for the best trade route.

I've heard from traders coming back from Imperial space that there is a good profitable route in Torval's territory which could

The gossip is that the following route is HOT:

Ngalkin (Frechet Station) 657ls Performance Enhancers → Regira (Samuda Dock) 271ls

Apparently they will also pay good money for Gold on the reverse run!

Update: the round trip is making (1692 + 1093) 2785 CR per ton PROFIT.

This is a good thing as I've worked out that I'll need over 250 M CR for a decent spec Federal Corvette!

Before departing though I tried out a top specced Cobra with Pulse disruptor lasers in a pirate hunt mission (which vanished half way though).

I have to say they weren't much good. First I'm not that good at fixed lasers (it takes me ages to grind down enemy shields). Second the pulse disruptors really don't do much damage.

Anyway Here is a shot of my Chrome Cobra Which I sold after this experiment for around 7M CR

Heading back to Rhea

Now I've earned a few million I'm heading back to Rhea to do my duty next week helping Felicia Winters.

Trading my way to a corvertte

I have headed off into my old Alliance friends territory where they have the best traders in the Galaxy!

Why am I leaving behind Winters' space you may ask. Well they just have better deals in the alliance!

after I've done my bit for fortification each week, I'll head off to do some trading and hopefully I'll be able to afford teh Corvette when it comes out.

GD 140 (Liwei Terminal) 61ls Resonating Separators → LP 377-78 (Gaspar De Lemos Port) 123ls

Pilots License

Federal Corvette

I feel a little hard done by because on paper the imperial clipper looks to be better. I have just Ranked up to Lord in the Imperial Navy in case it turns out that the clipper is the best ship.

In the meantime I've had a preview of the Federal Corvette when the guy in the local dealership in Jameson orbital took me for a spin!

May Jameson's ghost have mercy on me

Oh dear. In anticipation of the federal corvette being permitted for sale to commanders I have done the unthinkable. I swore I'd never go back to a trading ship after the horrid T7.

But I have! I traded in my beautiful A Rated Python for a T9 beast.

With the Python I kept on getting into trouble and wasting credits when other players gunned me down or I accidentally hit a capital ship (see first image below).

Below that is a picture of the horrid thing. I only hope as I fly back from the Jameson memorial to Rhea that this thing will make me enough money to sell the cursed thing.

Approach to Ito Orbital

After a hard days work hunting down pirates & smugglers in a nearby system....see those lasers from a pesky Eagle.

I return home to Rhea - you can see a nice view of Ito Orbital. My ship sports my Minutemen Livery - that reminds me I must change to my Winters whites now!

Later I head out to Broglie ring in Rhea to sell illegal salvage. Looks like a cold planet!!

Post Captain promotion

I'm please to say that my efforts in the Federal Navy Auxiliary Fast-Track Program have finally been recognised.
I took a courier mission but I've added a few other mission screenshots below for anyone who interested in the types of mission available. The missions are still all available but they won't  promote me again!

 This is the destination of the courier trip I ran:

HIP 38747 must become a Winters system - based on colour scheme alone

Winters Preparation Cayley Settlement in HIP 38747

Because some muppets (or 5th columnists) have been prepping a loss making system (see below) I decided to get some propaganda to HIP 38747.

When I arrived I realised this HAS to be a Winters Wolves system. If only for the colour scheme!

 Not a moon but a rock and metal planet with a CO2 atmosphere with amazing rings.

Back in Winters Wolves Livery and trying out 2 Large Pulse Lasers and a Beam

I'm back in the White Wolves Livery now having completed many Minutemen missions. Now it is time to make sure the Winters fortification gets under way.

I did decide to ditch one of my pulse lasers so I have now got:
Two Large 3E Gimbaled Pulse lasers
and a Large Gimbaled 3C Beam laser

plus the usual 2 Medium F2 Multi cannons for tearing up the hull once the shields are down.

Interestingly I don't seem to be over heating the ship with the Beam much but that is because I have set my main fire-group to :

PRIMARY
Pulse
Pulse
Multi-cannon
Multi-cannon

SECONDARY
Beam laser

This means I can keep the beam boiling up the target but if it over heats I can stop using it by releasing the second fire button and let the cannons & pulses keep going.

The verdict: Great - I really find this combo is quick at stripping off the shields and then the multi cannons start tearing up the hull.

Great Minutemen missions

I have had some really good pirate hunting missions for the Minutemen recently. One was even 1.2 million CR for 35 pirates!

When on my missions I have adopted my Minutemen livery rather than my usual Winters Wolves white:

My first Minutemen Paycheck

I can't believe it they actually paid up!

I've been hanging with the player group called the Minutemen for months now - my kind of guys. They always said they would come though in the end & cough up some readies.

I never believed it though. Still good times. But now they are here - finally a Minutemen has been voted in an one of the systems is now officially under new Minutemen management. L 190 to be precise.


Here is my first view of a Minutemen star port (not sure who that independent CMDR on my scanner is up to - doubtless some MnM black op):

And my first mission